*~A warm wind rolls down from the high mountains, picking up speed as it hits the blasted plains and blows eastward. Tumbleweeds roll and dust devils spiral their way across the broken ground as DancesWithMice strides out of the waste.~*

*~Wrapped in his cougar robe against the night's chill he settles into a rocky hollow and starts a small fire. For many turnings of MoonBoy's face he has wandered his ancestors lands alone, his tribe ravaged by some strange disease which he had been unable to treat despite his knowledge of plants, medicines, and the ancient ways of his ancestors.~*

*~He is the last of his kind, at least that he knows of. Descended from The People, the native race of North America. His people lived far from the cities when the devastation came and they had reverted to the old ways to survive. Cut off from the rest of the world they had delved deep into their past to find hope for their future, and find it they did. The Spirits of their ancestors were waiting for them and taught them the old ways, and the old magic. DancesWithMice is a student of the old ways, a shaman or witch doctor. He knows thousands of uses for plants, has dreams or visions from the Spirits that are sometimes prophetic, and he can create spells involving healing, weather, and illusion. Because of genetic mutation he also has a limited telepathic ability and ages slowly. Though he appears to be thirty he is actually over sixty.~*

O Great Cougar, who guides my footsteps on the trail of life, protect me in these new lands.

*~Staring into the fire he tries to envision what his future will be like but can see nothing. Too much of his world is changing, even the Spirits do not see what is to come. He has spent his whole life in the wilderness, away from the areas of recovering "civilization", but now with no family or tribe to keep him home he has decided to seek new knowledge and adventures.~*