Chow Yun-Phat and Elder Jedidiah Smith arrive in Fargo ND via the Northern Pacific rail line and head to the Senate Saloon to get a drink. Todd Johnson arrives in Fargo ND via the St. Paul rail line and heads to the Senate Saloon to find a card game. Upon arriving at the saloon they overhear an old indian drinking heavily and telling a tale in the corner. The man tells a very dark story and the room is completely enraptured until he is disrespectfully interrupted by the bartender. After finishing his tale and answering some inquiries from the party, he walks around the corner and takes his own life. Aside from the rush of looters to take valuables this does not raise much of a commotion.

Afterwards, Todd invites a patron to a game of cards while Chow and Jed ask some of the other patrons about the nature of the story the old indian told. They learn that it is the Lakota legend of the end of the world. When Todd’s luck at poker takes a turn for worse, he taps into his magic to try and change it. When he does, his spell backfires and he is severely injured. Seeing a blatant display of magic from a stranger frightens the other card player and he runs from the saloon in terror.

Todd decides to seek rest for the night at the Sherman Boarding House. Chow and Jed rent a room at the Headquarters Hotel. Chow and Jed come to find that Todd’s magical display at the saloon wasn’t the only display of arcane ability that night as while they are enjoying fine cigars in the hotel lobby, a lynch mob forms outside to hang a magic user in the street by torchlight.

All three rush to the aid of this unknown magic-user and Todd again uses his magic to chase the mob away with a summoned cloud of locusts, spewing forth from his mouth. After a few words, all four then make their way to the stranger’s camp just outside of town.

Around his fire, Jerome Crow Dog introduces himself to the party and elaborates on the Lakota legend they heard at the saloon. He warns the party that these wonton displays of magic have a tendency to scare those who don’t understand them. He then tells them that there are those who have begun to master using this new magic among his people in the Northern Badlands. Jerome tells the party to seek their knowledge and help in mastering their powers. After they share a pipe around the fire, the party then decides to retire back at the Headquarters Hotel.