<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">Miss. Dresner was displeased, to say the least, when she awoke in Happy Alex to see that almost every Drifter had hit the road. It was apparent that the other Drifters in the group had the foresight to know a bad idea when they saw it – Maude, on the other hand, was entirely too intrigued to not join Amos and his ragtag band of Drifters. <br/><br/>After a day of rest they were headed over some rickety bridge to WEDO, to do what exactly, Maude was still not entirely certain. There was the vague idea that this mission would restore the world to its former glory, but there were no details beyond that. Even Maude felt that the mission had a stupid, idealistic ring to it but she knew an opportunity such as this would not come up again. So, she went along with Amos and the others. <br/><br/>As if to add to the absurdity of everything that was happening to her, a lone man approached the party. Instinctively, Maude's body tightened. Being a single woman, wandering the expanses of Filgaia, led to many confrontations that she would have rather avoided. It had also led to a legacy of Maude being tensed to react to any aggression people brought with them. Strangers simply were not to be trusted.  However, the leader's cheerful greeting let Maude release a small amount of nervous tension and observe the newcomer. <br/><br/>He brought not outright aggression with him and his weapon was holstered. Though not entirely trustful of the stranger, Maude calmed down. After all, did she really trust any of these Drifters? No, of course not. Not all Drifters were bad people, but a pretty large handful were violent, rude, and at times acted like sociopaths. Something about the desert and the sand made people uninhibited. This lack of inhibitions was not always a good thing. <br/><br/>Maude introduced herself at Amos' request, “Hello, Stranger. I'm Maude Dresner,” she smirked, “<em>Drifter Extraordinaire</em>.” <br/><br/>In the back of her head, Maude thought con woman extraordinaire was a more accurate name. Yet, the last thing she wanted was for her party to think she was some sort of <em>criminal</em>. In her experience, she found that most people have an exceedingly difficult time realizing the though she's been known for stealing – it was always stealing from the wealthy. Rather, stealing seemed a inaccurate term, Maude viewed it more of a form of wealth redistribution. <br/><br/>Continuing to walk with the group as they introduced themselves, Maude realized that most of them had horses. She had nothing of that sort. Of course, Maude thought to herself bitterly, that she took the train assuming whatever needed to be done would be done <em>in</em> Happy Alex. That was not the case. Here she was, traveling, a day's travel by foot. Part of Maude regretted not challenging someone in the town to a game of cards or dice, but it was such a small town and the last thing she wanted to do was piss of the captain of this makeshift group of heroes by cheating someone in his town out of  a horse. <br/><br/>So, she walked, attempting to keep a smile planted on her face as everyone introduced themselves. The team seemed pleasant enough – perhaps, just perhaps, this wasn't the stupidest journey she had decided to embark on. </span>