Scareship_Issue8

one day the Hums found themselves dispossessed of their village
by Pinkerton guns hired by a craggy feller that went by the name
of Starr... Andrew Newton Starr.
Ole Newt Starr was a wealthy Scotsman what had made
hisself a fortune in the new world as sole proprietor of the Starr
Mining Company. He’d first brought his strange ways and
handsome daughter, Isabelle, to Colorado during the gold rush of
ʼ59, and his ambitions left no room for those what had come before
him. But his ambition was surely the only big thing about him. Ya
see, Ole Newt suffered from a distinct smallness, of both body and
soul.
The Humbaba, on t’other hand, were a brave band, mighty in
spirit, and fierce warriors, too. Still, there ain’t been a bow or spear
ever devised by man that could stand up to a Gatling gun. And so
the massacre of Rook came to be known as the “Battle of
Humble’s Wood” in the history books. The Hums what survived
fled south through the forest, settling on the other side of them
woods, disappearing like ghosts into the mountains.
So then, with peace having broke out like a rash, the town
belonged to Starr… lock, stock and many a smoking barrel. And in
the years that followed, Uruk became a populous, sprawling and
rowdy town, mispronounced by visitors and locals alike as
“Rook.” And since that was what they called it, then that was what
it was.
Starr set hisself up on a ranch north of town, on the shore of
Lake Thannat, accompanied by his beautiful daughter, Isabelle.
Izzie Starr was a piece of work, by all accounts. A tall, paleskinned,
white-haired, red-eyed, finely featured albino, she walked
like her feet was too good to touch the ground, and carried herself
like a fancy figurine what was spun from sugar. But Izzie was a
carnivorous bitch in heat… more mantis than maiden, some said.
And the opium-smoking Chinee in town, they called her “the white
dragon.” Despite it all, ole Newt loved his daughter… she was the
only thing either of them ever loved, most likely.
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