The Legacy Begins

INTRODUCTION

Veronika Kovalevsky

Random Traits: Technophobe, Vegetarian, Charismatic, Mooch, Green Thumb

Lifetime Wish: Bottomless Nectar Cellar

Veronika was born into a family of subsistence farmers in the far-off nation of Soviet Brussia. When Veronika was but twelve, her father died in an accident involving a llama-drawn cart and a steep cliff. Unable to work the land on her own, Veronika's mother sold the farm, and migrated the family to the United States of Omerika. Working as a waitress was barely enough to support Veronika and her two younger brothers. They lived in a dingy trailer home for some years, living off canned tomato soup.

When Veronika was sixteen, she ran away from home, and hitchhiked around Omerika. She made a living from odd jobs and lived under a lean-to made from scrap wood and a tarp. Hiking through the Omerikan wilderness taught her a great deal about survival. She can find edible berries in a pinch and knows how to distill a mean cactus nectar.

Aimless travel wore her down over the years. She lacked purpose, and it was only a matter of time before she was killed by a pack of wolves in the Omerikan hinterlands.

With her last few crumpled dollar notes, she purchased a bus ticket to Anne Arbor, Mishigan, and began squatting on a vacant lot near the city center. She aims to make an honest living in food services. However, perhaps a little moonlight nectar distilling could put some extra dosh in her pocket.

  

Veronika, lacking references, is snubbed by the town bistros and restaurants. Thankfully, dingy little diner on the edge of town is only too happy to employ her!

That's one thing taken care of. Now, if she's going to fit in here without being labelled a good-for-nothing welfare-collecting hippy, she will need to learn a little about the local traditions and form a close-knit group of friends. She finds a discarded road map in the gutter, and locates the local library.

There's no one here on a Sunday morning. After browsing some of the tourist guides, she tries to use one of the computers. Several excruciating hours of locating the start button lately, she manages to set up a messaging account. This seems a good way to meet the locals!

Browsing through the list turns up a middle-aged conversationalist named Michael, and a fairly dull man named Matthew. Oh, well. At least he's a vegetarian, like Veronika! That should substitute for actually having anything in common. After she's done trying to extract a food wrapper from the CD-ROM drive with a screw driver, the computer emits a few sparks and a plume of smoke. It's... probably time to meet some of the patrons downstairs. 

A man named Lucky Jenkins is the first to greet her. Veronika notices that his eyes are a stunning shade of blue. Perhaps they grow some particularly potent spice in these parts...

The other patrons that drifted in during the afternoon were either bulky construction workers, or wailing children.

Veronika decides to head over to the local pub for the remainder of the evening. She orders a drink from the hip and considerably clumsy barista, and mingles with the other townsfolk. A nice young man named Tanner Rice introduces himself, and the pair are chuckling and swapping tales in no time! This is a good start. He's clean shaven, wearing a pressed shirt, and very polite. Veronika thinks she ought to purchase a new outfit for social situations. A grease-stained singlet and a pair of grubby shorts aren't going to do wonders for first impressions. At least Tanner doesn't seem particularly judgmental  As it turns out, he is a moderately successful writer, unmarried, and around the same age as Veronika. They become friends rather swiftly over some drinks and a plate of onion rings. 

All good things must come to an end. The pub finally closes in the wee hours, and Veronika heads out onto street. Tanner excuses himself and runs off to hail a cab, leaving Veronika in the pouring rain. Not wishing to travel all the way to the chilly canyon she calls home, Veronika heads to the alley behind the bar and sets up her bedroll. It's a long and uncomfortable night.

In the morning, she scavenges a soggy jam doughnut from a trash can, and heads over to the diner to work. It's a long and dreary day, but the more frugal business folk come in throngs to buy their burnt coffee and uneven raisin toast. At the end of the day, there's a nice wad of cash in Veronika's hand, and a pile of dishes she didn't have time to wash in the other. Without running water on her home lot, Veronika returns to the library to scrub the pots and pans as quietly as possible. She pondered hiring a contractor to dig out a little basement shelter for her. It would be necessary when the Winter season rolled in.

After another uncomfortable sleep, Veronika repeats the last day. Discarded breakfast. Scrounge around the local marshland. Today, she finds a few sparkling quartz crystals. She once stayed in a naturalist commune who favored this kind of stone. Something to do with Feng-shoe-ee. 

Veronika wanders around picking flowers for a couple of hours. Whilst plundering the hospital gardens, she meets a well-endowed woman from abroad. Anuba Rahotep notices Veronika's disheveled state, and offers a few words of encouragement before leaving to catch her flight home. Veronika heads to her shift, and exits the diner with another chunk of cash, and a shirt saturated with fryer oil. It might be time to work on a side business.

In the morning, Veronika decides to head out to the more rural part of the city.

There's a Summer festival happening near the east mountains, and a nice little cabin resort tucked away on a cliff side. She 'borrows' the use of their bathroom facilities while the cleaning maid is making her rounds.

Hey! Maybe Tanner would like to come to the festival with her. She gives him a ring on her brick-like mobile phone and heads over.

Wow! This place is like nothing she has ever seen before. There's so much color, joyful music, and activity. Tanner saunters over to talk to her about the fantastic pea soup they're serving at the kiosks. Veronika makes a mental note to find some seeds, grow some tomatos, and serve him a mouthwatering Brussian specialty of her own.

They have a photo taken together in a tent, and then enter a hot dog eating competition with none other than middle-aged Michael! Veronika steals a sideways glance at him. He is prim, proper, and has an obscenely affluent look about him. Hopefully he doesn't recognise her from the message. Thankfully, he darts off to vomit out a pile of partially-digested bread as Veronika revels in her victory.

Tanner and Veronika spend some time on the skating rink...

...predominantly on their posteriors.

Veronika swallows her inhibitions, and strikes up a conversation with Michael. He blathers on about a place in town that sells fine jewellery, commenting that opals would suit her.

Fortunately, he is easily distracted by a few wayward celebrities, and Veronika wanders off to try the spray tanning machine. The results are mediocre at best.

At the end of the night, it's time to go back to the city side of town, and hunker down in the library. Before she straggles up into the cold concrete stairwell, she notices the familiar face of Lola Belle. Veronika knows her from the billboards around town, though she's not quite sure what the well-dressed woman is famous for. Regardless, Lola is civil, and signs an autograph for Veronika. What a day!