CHAPTER TWO - The Lovers and The Witch


In the City of Lights under the rule of the Autocrat, there lived a beautiful young commoner. She was full of life, strong willed, and enjoyed talking with the myriad of visitors that came to the city. During one of her daily strolls she met a young man who was unlike any other visitor she had ever met. He was a solider from the Militant's army, very quiet, and had a very straight face. She was quite intuitive when it came to people, and she noticed that he never had any kind of expression on his face whatsoever. He later admitted that he was unable to smile or frown as he had forgotten how and as a result his face had turned to stone over time. This did not suit the woman at all. She became determined to make the man smile again. So they continued to meet every time he visited the city, and she always had a long list of stories and jokes waiting to share with him. He always listened intently, and as time past he eventually was able to express a small smile and this delighted the woman intensely. This delighted the man as well, but he was still learning how to show it. Over time, they both realized that they cared for each other immensely and they were always the happiest when they were together. They decided to get married and the idea of living the rest of their lives together put the biggest smile on the man's face. They were truly happy.

Now, the young couple was eager to start their new life together, so they moved away from the City of Lights to a small town deep within the Meadowsland where the man's best friend lived. By the gates of the town stood a giant green dragon that was frozen in time by an old evil witch who also lived there. None of the town inhabitants knew she was a witch as she had enchanted the entire town with a spell of disguise so no one could see her for who she truly was. They only saw her as an innocent old inn keeper. That is, all except the young common woman - she did not know of witches, but she knew the old woman was different somehow.

The witch could tell her enhancements had no affect upon the woman and this displeased her. She wanted to get rid of the common woman, and thought to herself, "Surely, someone so beautiful thrives off the attention others give her. If everyone in town hated her - she will want to leave." So she cast a spell of disfavor to make all the townspeople dislike her. The spell worked but not as the witch intended. They did hate her - but most kept their dislike of the woman to themselves. The woman sensed no one liked her, but she was strong willed and didn't care what others felt about her. She was happy living there, and was determined to stay. The woman merely stopped talking to people and reduced the amount of time she spent outside her home.

Weeks had past and the witch became upset that the woman still had not left. "This is taking too long - she can ignore strangers, but I'll give her something she can't ignore," she thought. She found a much stronger spell, a spell of jealousy, and cast it upon the man's best friend. This seemed to work better as the best friend and the woman bickered all the time now. The hatred of the town folk and the verbal disagreements with her husband's friend made the woman even more desolate, but she merely withdrew from the town entirely. By this time, she had a child on the way so she didn't mind spending most of her days in her home, only leaving when she was by her husband's side.

Finally, the witch finally had had enough. "If she won't leave on her own, I'll have her removed," she thought. She waited until the woman's husband left for work one night and cast one of the strongest spells in her arsenal, the spell of personal desire. In the realm of powerful magic users it was a low level wish spell but the highest any mere mortal could ever manage, being difficult to master and had to be performed exact or it would not work. She bound the name of a woman to a scroll, inscribed the desired deed using the head of a pin, then buried it in the secretest part of the casters home. The completed spell caused a group of Imperator soldiers to appear and they immediately rushed into the woman's home. She tried to fight back but there were too many. She cried for help, but her cries were ignored and help never came. The soldiers tied her up and drug her away. Finally, the woman was gone and the evil witch was happy.


5 pm - an hour out from Cottonwood Cove

There is nothing quite like tracking through the Mojave wastes. If the giant wildlife doesn't get you, the gangs of assholes definitely will. Killed 3 bark scorpions, 4 giant ants, 6 feral ghouls, and ran like hell from 7 giant radscorpions. At least I didn't have to hide in the back of a bus for 6 hours from one like I did on my first trip to the Mojave Output.

I set up a small camp within an outcropping of rocks - can never have too much cover, especially if the wrong person or thing walks up on you. I flip on my pip-boy on and started reading:

We, the representatives of the Consul Officiorum, have this day bargained and purchased from Jeannie May Crawford of the township of Novac the exclusive rights to ownership and sale of the slave Carla Boone for the sum of one thousand bottle caps, and those of her unborn child for the sum of five hundred bottle caps, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. We warrant the slave and her young to be sound, healthy, and slaves for life. We covenant with the said, Jeannie May Crawford, that we have full power to bargain and sell said slave and her offspring. Payment of an additional five hundred bottle caps will be due pending successful maturation of the fetus, the claim to which shall be guaranteed by possession of this document.

M. Scribonius Libo Drusus et al.
Administrators of M. Licinius Crassus, Consul Officiorum ab Famulatus

I remember what Boone said the day I showed him this - It'd be like them to keep paperwork. If that were true for Jeannie May, it was even more so for the Legion slavers. If they went to all the trouble for a bill of sale, they must keep impeccable records. The plan is simple - sneak in, see what records I can find, and sneak back out. All I have to do is wait for nightfall - it would be the best time to try this. Most of the legionaries would be asleep - and the less awake soldiers the better. I flip on my pip-boy radio to Mr. New Vegas, grab a bottle of vodka, and get to waiting.


1:30 am

I'm walking along a paved road heading towards the heart of the cove now. The area is bowl shaped, surrounded by mountains and rocky terrain on the east and west sides, with a river on the north side. The road is lined with lit torches, and I see a few tall wooden poles scattered around...and a few people crucified on them. Why the hell am I out here again? I force myself to keep moving. As I get closer, I see a rock with some writing on it: "The Sun is Killing Me". Nice. I walk up to examine it - turns out to be hollowed out. Finally a bit of good luck. I open it and find some sundries in there - old ammo, some bobby pins- the kinds of things that come in handy out here in the Mojave. Can't imagine anyone leaving this behind... unless I'm the first to find it. I grab a few items out of my gear bag and throw it inside for safe keeping. Better to travel light for this one.

I head south of the cove, and take position above a nearby outlook. I scan the area using the scope of my rifle - there are several buildings and tents scattered around, further out a pier - I see the occasional guard walking but no where near the amount of people I expected. I look at the tents and see several sleeping soldiers - which should make this go easier. Near the tents, I see a white two story building donning the red flag with the bull of the Legion. None of the other buildings are marked like that - probably means that's the one I'm looking for. I switch my stealth-boy on and head in to check the place out.

I head upstairs first - looks to be the living quarters of someone important. The room is deserted, but looks recently lived in. There's a desk in the middle of the room and a sleeping area to the back right. I check the desk first - find a sheet of paper containing some Legion patrol notes, some slave transactions and communications with Caesar. Doesn't look like what I'm exactly looking for, but I fold it up and put it in my pocket anyways. I also find a collection of NCR dog tags in the desk drawer as well - that's a bit troubling. Guess I should expect that kind of thing here of all places. I pocket those as well. I check a few lockers and don't see anything else helpful. I decide to check out downstairs.

The bottom floor looks to be an area for more general use. There are several file cabinets, a desk with a radio, a few gun cabinets, stacks of supply crates - that kind of thing. I check the desk and find nothing. I check the file cabinets and find a ledger listing slave transactions and some NCR attack plans. I pocket both, hoping the ledger will contain the info I'm looking for. My stealth-boy is about to run out, so I figure it's time to get the hell out. As I turn around to head out the door, four legionaries walk in. GREAT, just great. I'm crouching in the far corner of the room opposite the door, hesitating to move. Sometimes quick movements under cloak can be seen, so I start inching my way very slowly towards the exit. Luckily the room is a bit dim and the legionaries don't seem to notice me, far more concerned with discussing the latest gossip around camp. I'm nervous that my stealth-boy is going to run out before I can get out of here, so I pull out my spare. I can daisy chain them together and extend my stealth time, so I clamp the new one onto my pip-boy and flip it on.

And that's when all hell broke loose. Something about the stealth-boy and pip-boy did not get along - both sparked and while the stealth-boy did keep me invisible, it also was focusing the light of my pip-boy creating a halo affect. I looked like a giant light bulb. The legionaries jumped back in surprise when it happened, and I make a mad dash to the door. I try to push through the door, but 2 legionaries tackle me down to the ground. I struggle under their weight - kicking and punching to get them off. Right about that time, I looked up and see the bottom of a boot about to hit my face. Everything goes black after that.