Background:
Rusty is a Gifted who was raised in a mundane household in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA. His father is a biochemist and his mother is a high school
history teacher. He was surrounded by the preeminence of rational, scientific
thought and the richness of history. He has two sisters, one older and one
younger.
Through his childhood and early teens, Rusty was a Cub Scout and then Boy
Scout. He liked camping, swimming, and the other activities in his Boy
Scout troop. He learned first aid and how to shoot a rifle and pistol for
merit badges. His family took many vacations, often to locations of
historical or scientific interest.
Rusty was pretty happy until puberty. He began having recurring nightmares.
Many of his nightmares revolved around a future where mankind is hunted
openly by horrific inhuman entities. At about the same time, his Mindhands
talent emerged. He suddenly realized that his world was not as he had been
taught and it sent him searching for answers.
He found some answers at a local occult bookstore. There he found books
about parapsychology, the occult, and paganism. He was already a voracious
reader, so he cruised through the classic books on each of those topics.
Then he noticed a bulletin board posting for a public pagan ritual at
Halloween. He went to it, telling his parents that friends were having a
party. He enjoyed being in the company of those who at least believed that
powers of the mind existed, even though all he met were mundanes. He kept
his abilities to himself. He also discovered girls at these events, and
they seemed eager to flirt with him and more.
When he was seventeen, after a year of hanging out in the local pagan
community, he found his first Gifted. Or, more accurately, she found him.
The priestess of a Wicce coven saw him at a public ritual and immediately
recognized his potential. At the feasting afterward, she approached him and
struck up a conversation. After gauging his interest and receptiveness with
her Mindsight, she Mindtalked to him, saying, "Have you ever met
someone else who was Gifted?" He dropped his plastic cup of juice and
gaped at her. After he wiped up the floor to cover his shock and
excitement, she invited him to attend her coven to see if he liked it. He
eagerly accepted the invitation. When Rusty was comfortable with his coven
mates, he told them of his nightmares. They, in turn, told him of the
Reckoning, and how his dreams fit in to it. Three months later, he was
formally initiated into the coven.
When the time for college came, Rusty stayed in the Twin Cities area to
stay close to his coven, attending the University of Minnesota, and
majoring in Medieval History. He picked up some web programming skills
while putting together a medieval history website. For extra money, he has
designed several other websites.
Now a Junior, he has left Minneapolis for a year of foreign study at the
University of St. Andrews in the Medieval History department. He'd be
open to finding a coven in Scotland, but has no connections. He keeps in
email contact with his friends, family and coven back home.
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