The last time he was here, it smelled like cattle. There was no way he was going to get involved in the hunting of spirits on Kilimanjaro, but the interview included free transport and accommodations. Nathaniel was never one to turn down the chance to explore a new corner of the Earth.

Now, Nairobi smelled of diesel fuel, cheap Indian food and despair. Like so many other places. Nathaniel screwed up his nose, hefted his small bag of worldly belongings, and headed towards the train depot. Last stop before the mountain and the mass driver into space.

*****

Nathaniel Jones had been on the fast track to academic stardom. Born into an upper middle-class family of means in 2048, he enjoyed the benefits of an excellent education at fine schools, and a loving, nurturing family environment. The fact that he manifested as a troll was no problem to his family and friends, though the emergency C-section to keep his size from killing his mother was a concern. Premature birth left its mark, too, leaving Nathaniel weaker than normal throughout his life. Weak for a troll, that is.

Even as a child he was well read and analytical, and early on he showed a talent for languages. His love, however, was archaeology. From an early age, he would rather explore a burned out farmhouse than run in the fields, or study the skeleton of a fish on the shore rather than swim to the island offshore.

During university, his life transformed as he Awakened. The magic manifested through the adept path, and Jones focussed his talent into enhancing his performance as a student and scientist. His analytical mind sharpened; his memory became prodigious; his concentration unshakeable; and languages came with little practice at all. Nathaniel earned a scholarship for graduate work at the prestigious University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. There he pursued studies in both Mesoamerican archaeology in the Oaxaca Highlands of Aztlan, and in early Aryan studies in north-east India. He earned temporary positions at several universities, and finally landed a tenure-track position at the University of Toronto, an up-and-coming school in his field. The Anthropology Department's reputation and Jones' grew with each successive publication. His excavations in remote regions taught him not only of the past, but how to deal with brigands and spirits angry to be disturbed. Ancient sites held many Spirits of Man, that in particular came to despise Nathaniel for putting 'science' ahead of their sacred places.

This idyllic life came to a crashing end in 2072. At an exciting excavation in India, Nathaniel unearthed a strange document. Encased in a bone tube, written in Sanskrit and illustrated with puzzling images, it piqued his curiosity. He began to translate it immediately, with the help of his two assistants. Even in the first evening it offered tantalizing suggestions of an earlier manifestation of magic in the world, and went so far as to implicate the existence of beings that lived incredibly long lives through that forgotten age. This document was of incalculable importance, he thought. How prophetic, for him at least.

A commotion outside his tent drew his attention. When he returned to the tent, his assistants were dead ... murdered. And the document was gone. He raised the alarm, but to no avail. The thief had escaped. What was worse, Nathaniel himself soon became the prime suspect in the crimes. Evidence appeared linking him to the murders. The trial was set, and with money raised by selling his family home, Nathaniel sought the best legal help he could. Try though he might to offer himself for magical scrutiny to prove he was telling the truth, the laws of India forbade the use of magic, arguing that it was easily twisted and misdirected, and that such use opened a slippery slope away from the evidentiary base of the rule of law. In the end, Nathaniel's investment paid off, because his lawyer won the case, though many felt it was on a technicality. Nathaniel thought he was free to continue his career.

The archaeological community thought otherwise. He was held in suspicion, still. What's more, racial slurs arose. "What would you expect from a troll?" "Their true nature always comes out in the end." Friends and colleagues abandoned him. The tenure review committee back in Toronto found 'errors and omissions' in his work that justified terminating his employment. His trust in the innate goodness of people was shattered, and his career was destroyed, notwithstanding the victory in court. Nathaniel figured there was only one way to restore his reputation: bring the real criminal to justice.

He travelled back to India, and with a few bribes and some canny thinking, he picked up the trail of the document. It led him to Washington, where he uncovered an artifact smuggling ring that had received the document. The exposure shut down the operation, and brought Nathaniel, bound and beaten, to the the ringleader of a deeply entrenched crime syndicate, known to the world only by his code name, The Blind Man.

*****

The Blind Man studied Nathaniel over the rim of a glass of scotch. "You impress me, Dr. Jones. And so few do. The frame-job should have had you languishing in an Indian prison for decades."

"I'm not the one who belongs in prison." Nathaniel replied.

A deep belly laugh erupted from his captor. "Who belongs where is of no consequence in this world, poor boy. Who wins and who loses, that is all that matters.

"Look, kid. I like you. You pulled out of a good scam and you have pluck. Good for you. But, you are bad for business. So here is how it will go down. You have forty-eight hours to get out of any place where I do business. Do that, and I will leave you alone. But you show your face anywhere in my territory, and we are enemies. And there is only one way that situation will end."

Nathaniel spread his hands wide to either side, as much as the two massive men who held him would allow. "I have no idea where you operate. How am I supposed to know where to go?"

Another laugh. The blind Man turned and walked away. The two thugs released Nathaniel. "That's your problem, bright boy. Figure it out."

*****

Twenty hours ago a dirigible had floated over Washington, and Nathaniel, advertising an adventure of a lifetime. "Talented, but no hope of advancement? Looking for someplace really different? Evo Corporation is hiring for Mars City and a frontier of limitless opportunity. Follow the AROs to our 24 hour recruitment centre."

It appeared that experience with satellite imagery, excavation, and deep-pattern analysis were marketable skills in the farthest place from The Blind Man Nathaniel could find.

Dr. Nathaniel Jones

Metahumanity: Troll {40}

Qualities {-2}

Adept
Analytical Mind
College Education
Linguist
Martial Arts (Kiai- level 2) : +2 for Attacks of Will
Maneuvers: Focus Will; Iaijutsu
Bad Rap
Spirit Bane (Man)
Hung Out to Dry
Prejudiced (biased: humans)

Attributes {440}

BOD 6
AGI 3
REA 3
STR 6
CHA 4
INT 4
LOG 5
WIL 4

MAG 6
ESS 6
EDG 3

INI 7 (1 IP)

Adept Powers (6 pts.)

Astral Perception
Enhanced Perception (4)
Eidetic Sense Memory
Three Dimensional Memory
Analytics (4)
Linguistics
Missile Mastery
Power Throw (3)

Initiations (3) {48}

Cognition
Centering
Inner Strength

Active Skills {138}

Perception 2 (+4) INT
(visual) (+2)
Assensing 1 (+4) INT
Negotiation 2 CHA
Etiquette 3 CHA
(tribal) (+2)
Instruction 2 CHA
Survival 2 WIL
(desert) (+2)
Navigation 1 INT
First Aid 1 LOG
Chemistry 1 (?? +1 ??) LOG [when this was a Knowledge skill, College Education added 1. Now? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ]
Data Search 4 (+2) LOG
(academic) (+2)
Pilot Ground Vehicles 1 REA
Dodge 1 REA
(ranged) (+2)
Throwing Weapons 3 AGI
Pistol 1 AGI
(semi-automatics) (+2)
Unarmed Combat 2 AGI
(martial arts) (+2)
Astral Combat 1 WIL
(spirits) (+2)
Arcana 1 LOG

Knowledge/Language Skills {79}

Archaeology 5(6)
Physical Anthropology 3(4)
Cultural Anthropology 2(3)
Linguistics 2(3)
Mythology 3(4)
(Indo-European) (+2)
Materials Science 1(2)
Civil Engineering 1(2)
Astronomy 1(2)
Satellite Imagery 1(2)
Mathematics 1(2)
Accounting 1

English N
Nahuatl 1(3)
Zapotec 1(3)
Spanish 1(3)
Hindi 1(3)
Urdu 1(3)
Sanskrit 1(3)
French 1(3)
Mandarin 1(3)
Japanese 1(3)
Kiswahili 1(3)
Arabic 1(3)
Or'Zet 1(3)
Sperethiel 1(3)

Gear 7,500 nuyen {3}

Still to be figured out, but he's running with what he can carry