The year is 8013 BC. One day, these lands will become Oklahoma. For now, though, they are ever disputed between the Apaches, the Wichitas, the Caddos, and the Tonkawas.
In the east, the Caddos are the strongest of the four tribes. They live in platform mounds, whenever they don't hunt or gather. Neighborhoods of these mounds exist surrounding large levelled open plazas. By night, religious services are hosted here.
In the north, the Wichitas cultivate their farms. They use their charms to weave the Three Sisters (i.e. maize, beans, and squash) together in the same gardens. It works like a charm, every time. Otherwise, they take refuge in their grassy farm huts.
In the south, the Tonkawas attend to their tipis. They've domesticated the coyote and the red wolf. They wield knives, swords, and axes sculpted from quartz stone. For certain reasons, Tonkawas cannibalize both their own kind, and foreigners.
In the west, the Apaches attend to their tents. Their travois also need maintenance, every now and then. Bison hunts happen frequently.
This story begins in the East...in Caddo country. Here, the Red River influences much. There are woods, and there's bottomland. Much of it remains to be tilled...although a Caddo village is seldom far away.
Over a forest of willows and cottonwoods, the sun sets. The shadows grow long. This spot is pretty far from the river. But then, the harder it is to find, the more ideal it is for burying treasure...
From the future, a time pirate thinks so, too. From a portal in midair, such a time pirate emerges. He's Iranian...and he's come from a long way off. He's armored, and has brought an energy rifle; one that's MUCH more versatile than it looks.
He's not a VILE thief, but he works for VILE's predecessor agency. In his time, they call him Agent Tango. With a bag full of loot, he changes his rifle into a shovel, and starts digging a hole.
Much time passes. It gets dark, all around him. The raccoons creep forth, and surround him. Many of them get too close. As paranoid as he is, he can't afford to give away his position. But then, this far back in history, he doubts that a sighting of him would make the papers. And with good reason: the newspaper hasn't been invented yet.
At last, he likes the depth of his hole. He empties his bag into it.
An old brass lamp is among his loot. It seems a bit strange, among the loot. Alas, there is a reason Agent Tango has stolen it. With luck, it'll be safe here for some time. With luck, the Caddos won't find it before white settlers do.
He buries it. He smooths out the soil atop the hiding place. He cleans his shovel, and turns it back into a rifle. With a bracelet, he opens another portal, leaps through it, and vanishes...taking the portal with him.
In Agent Tango's absence, it stays buried...for the most part. Caddo men come out here to hunt. Every now and then, there's a duel of sorts. For three many long weeks, the hoard stays buried.
In time, another portal opens near here. This time, someone else comes through. It's not Agent Tango. She's not armored, masked, or armed, either.
Meet Dee Linquent. She's a VILE thief...and hence, on the run from ACME. She's also been sent, by VILE, to fetch a relic. VILE has inherited a record of where Agent Tango buried his loot. Since then, a team of VILE thieves has nicked it from Countess Cleo's palace. Not that it matters, these thieves include Rob Burr, Clement See, Barry Koodah, Les Ismore, and Buggs Zapper. They're friends with Dee.
What Dee wears is blue and revealing. Her hair is blonde and short. She's got a small body. She's got high-tech bracelets on both hands. She's thought about acquiring gauntlets...but has repeatedly decided against it.
Among other things, there's a metal detector in her bracelets. She uses them to find Agent T's hoard.
She hesitates, each time she hears a slight sound. She knows what lives out here...and she knows WHO lives out here. She doesn't fancy an encounter with them. Nobody out here has seen a white girl before...let alone one with blonde hair...
Her heart stops, when she hears an eagle shriek. It shouldn't; a lot of ancient civilizations, after all, revered the eagle. Even so, Dee once had a very bad experience with a condor, while doing a job in the Incan Empire. She dares not elaborate on the details.
At last, her bracelets click. She's found the hoard. Either that, or there's gold coming down from Canyon, Texas that even a great historian like Dee doesn't know about...
She's surprised, when she looks down and sees she won't have to dig for at least one piece of it. It already sits on the surface...almost as if it was expecting her. But that's just ridiculous, of course. It's been three weeks, after all, since Agent Tango left his hoard here.
Or rather, it's been three weeks if you're the loot. For VILE and its parent agency, it's been more like three centuries. Hell, Agent Tango was probably a Pinkerton as well as a pre-VILE agent...
It's the brass lamp...from Ancient Iran. Oh well; at least IT found its way to the surface, and not the gold. Otherwise, V.I.L.E. would be in MUCH hotter water than it is...so to speak...
And yet...there's something a bit...familiar about this brass lamp. In fact... Dee's pretty sure she once caught Ann Tikwittee, her arch-enemy at ACME, with it one time, while the latter was manhunting the former... Or, WOMANhunting, rather...
Someone approaches. And they don't sound like they're alone. Frightened, Dee turns in the direction of the noise, and braces herself. She'd...probably use her resources better, if she sought out a hiding place...
Before she can, though, a huge cloud of dawn magic erupts from the lamps spout. It engulfs her, and traps her inside of itself, despite Dee's better efforts to free herself...
The approaching crowd is almost upon the lamp...if not Dee. The dawn magic retreats back into the lamp, vanishes, and stays put. The lamp now casts various charms on itself...rendering itself both invisible and intangible.
A troop of Tonkawa cavalry rides through the woods. They're mounted aback great wolves. (Again, the Tonkawa are champion dog breeders.) They're riding through Caddo country. Hence, they might as well be stealth cavalry...
The wolves march right through the lamp, without touching or feeling it. They don't even see it...or smell it; another charm the lamp's put on itself. Not that it's necessary; after three weeks, the lamp wouldn't smell like anything except the red dirt of the Red River Valley...and maybe skunk musk, depending on its luck. Red wolves do a lot of hunting in these woods. Sometimes they hunt skunks, which comes back to bite them. It literally sprays them.
They take a while...but they pass. In their absence, the lamp becomes re-visible and re-tangible.
Ahead, the wolf at the rear stops, and turns his head. Alas, his rider's in a hurry. He kicks him, and the two move on. The wolf sneezes, as he helps the spear-wielding Tonkawa ride away.
Up in a nearby tree, a Caddo boy has seen everything. He's also seen the time pirate. Hence, he's seen her get kidnapped, and dragged into a lamp a fraction of her size. She's probably still in there. Alas, he's not sure what to think.
Sylvain comes down from the tree. He takes the lamp, and scurries off with it.
Inside it, little Dee struggles to become accustomed to her new environment...and to being a fraction smaller than she's used to. Most wouldn't struggle so much. Where she is...isn't exactly austere. The company isn't terrible, either.