The Cursed Earth is full of people who have lost everything. Some lose their homes to raiders, others to mutants, and a few unlucky souls simply find themselves in the wrong place when the wasteland decides to bite back. Slau Dha lost his to Mega-City One.
Before becoming a wanderer, Slau Dha was a dinosaur rancher, riding the trails of the Cursed Earth and making a living in a world where keeping livestock could be just as dangerous as keeping yourself alive. It wasn't an easy life, but it was his life. He had a homestead, a town to call home, and a family waiting for him when his travels were done.
Then came the radiation. While Slau was away, pollution from Mega-City One poisoned the land around his home. By the time he returned, the damage was done. His homestead and the surrounding town had been devastated, and his family were dead.
There was nothing left for him to save. No home to rebuild. No familiar faces to find. Just the remains of the life he'd once known and the knowledge that the city had reached out into the wasteland and taken everything from him.
Slau Dha walked away from the ruins a broken man. He travelled the Cursed Earth with little purpose, drifting from place to place and carrying his grief with him. The trails he'd once ridden as a rancher became roads to nowhere. Whatever future he'd imagined for himself had been buried beneath the radioactive dust. Until eventually, his wandering brought him to Whiteley.
There's something about the town that caught Slau's attention. Perhaps it was the fishing community, the worn streets, or the stubborn determination of people trying to make a life in a world that seems determined to grind them down. Whatever the reason, Slau fell under Whiteley's sway and found himself drawn into the life of the settlement.
For a man who had lost his home and family, perhaps Whiteley offered something he hadn't realised he was searching for: somewhere to belong.
But the Cursed Earth rarely lets anyone forget the past. And for Slau Dha, the ruins of his old life are never far away.
Character Notes
Name: Slau Dha
Role: Settler
Former life: Dinosaur rancher
Home: A homestead and town destroyed by radiation caused by Mega-City One's pollution
Current location: Whiteley, on the edge of the Cursed Earth
Slau Dha is a reminder that the consequences of life inside Mega-City One don't stop at its walls. Out in the Cursed Earth, people are still paying the price, and sometimes, the people who survive have to find a new reason to keep going. But Slau Dha is still viewed as the outsider in Whiteley. Picking up odd jobs around town in exchange for food and basic supplies. His small hideout is located outside the town and he knows not to visit during September for the Thinning month. But sadly for him visitors never listen to his warnings about visiting during this time, when will these people ever learn?
Until next time thanks for reading.
