In the Western Dry, most water holes will kill you if you drink from them. There's not more than a half-dozen within a three-thousand square mile area that's even fit to drink from--and then just barely tolerable. So it was a miracle when our small clan discovered Sweetwater Spring; for it insured our survival. Emaciated and dehydrated, we were all in pretty bad shape by the time we stumbled across the spring. We had always been a small clan, but by the time we found the spring, we numbered a bit less than two-dozen folks, and most of them were adults. The desert had proved too hard on most of the children. There were five and only one was an infant. We always called that first trek half way across the Dry our "Path of Tears." A hundred-seventy-one graves of our family are strung along that trail all the way back to the Green. We had called our little bit of the Green home back to the days right after the sky stone struck and changed everything. For a hundred years, we were isolated from other people--in fact, thought we were the only survivors of the Destruction. Then one day, we discovered that neighbors had moved in just to the east of us. There were several clans, all much more numerous and powerful than our clan. It wasn't long before they attacked us and drove us from our ancestral home, pushing us far out into the Western Dry and posting warriors to see that we did not try to come back. It was a death sentence. Nobody willingly entered the Dry. Only its eastern fringe had been explored and then not very much or well. No one knew what, if anything, lay beyond those barrens. If there were fertile lands, it likely was already in the possession of bigger, stronger clans than ours. The Dry would either be our abode or our grave, and the latter appeared to be the most likely. The only mercy our conquerors allowed was the use of our vehicles and to load them up with enough fuel to carry us out into the Dry a good nine-hundred miles. We were also allowed to take water, but no food. I don't think they were trying to help us survive; just to expire far beyond their sight and consciences. We created a little settlement around the spring, using our larger surviving vehicles as dwellings and named it, the spring, and our clan Sweetwater. The first few years were hard, but we learned to respect the Dry and its ways and it rewarded us and let us grow strong. We explored it and learned where its secret treasures of metals, minerals, and precious stones were hidden. We used those to barter for things we needed but could not get from the desert like gasoline, vehicle parts, cloth, medicine, and so on. We claimed the other good watering places and the few patches of grass and shrub. We traded for a breeding pair of sheep and of goats, which became the progenitors of our small herds. We keep them small so as not to destroy the sparse grazing areas. The Sweetwater Clan has prospered here. There are several hundred of us scattered over the Dry. The rare wanderer, such as yourself, is treated as clan while you sojourn among us. Eventually, we will send you on your way with food and water--and a reminder that we are a vigilant folk, who intend to keep what is ours. Credits: Character: DAZ V4 figure with "Victorius Face Pack for V4" by Syyd (RNDA); "Mask's V4 pureSkins" by MaskEdit (Renderosity); "Dixie Hair" by Lady Littlefox (Renderosity). Clothing: "Real Jeans Set for V4" by Billy-t (Renderosity). Vehicle: "Roaring Out of the Wasteland! - Trader Vehicle" by kalebdaark (Renderosity). Bus: Originally a "South Park" freebie that I retextured and made more realistic looking, then added props from kalebdaark's "Nomad Bus." Weapon: from the wonderful "BVH SWAT" freebie set for V3 by Baron_Vlad_Harkonnen. Scrub: "Scrublands" by Modualz (RDNA). Terrain: modeled by me in Bryce 5.5, using a DEM of an area west of Tucumcari, New Mexico. Texture by Jonathan Allen. Sky: created by me.