The beetle-faced Boxcar Bugger was sheriff of Beetleton, a desert town in the heart of the Canyonlands. On this hot summer day, he was patrolling Outlaw Plain to the west of town. Little did he know that an ancient curse plagued this land. He was wondering why there were no outlaws to cuff when suddenly the ground shook and millions of razor teeth Canyonolas gnashed through the ground behind him.
Boxcar ran as fast as his beetle legs could carry him, but the Canyonolas still gained on him. He decided to scale the butte that was closest to him because he thought it would be more difficult for the monsters to chase him vertically. Boxcar had sticky legs, so his climbing ability was quite good. But the Canyonolas chewed their way up the butte like it was nothing.
When Boxcar reached the top, he had time to take in the panorama of several winding rivers snaking through the sandy mountains all the way to the enormous cliffs that signified the great river. It looked like the land had been sculpted into a wicked pose of chaotic sandstone. While Boxcar took in the view, a Canyonola came within inches of biting his feet. No sooner had he realized this than the ground shook again. The Canyonolas had unwittingly chewed the beautiful butte off balance.
“Balderdash! Ya beetle bitin' buzzards!", cried the sheriff.
Boxcar Bugger bounced his beetle bum off the beautiful butte and tumbled to the canyon floor. As the world split and shook, several of the stumbling canyonolas tried to bite him as he fell, but Boxcar beetled his way around them with his swift agility. They splashed into the river below and were carried over some rapids all the way to the great river.
Poor Boxcar had to balance himself on his round back to keep from drowning, but the silly canyonolas tried to eat the water and ended up drowning.
"Bumblin' belligerent buffoons," mumbled the sheriff to himself.
Now Boxcar was alone, and he tossed and turned through the bumpy white rapids of the great river. The enormous canyon was the widest in all the world. It was fed at random intervals by all the smaller rivers joining it. Boxcar had no idea where he was going because none of the other beetles of Beetleton had ever strayed this far from home. Luckily, he found a piece of wood to settle himself on. But soon the rapids grew even more severe as the elevation differential got higher. Boxcar was going down the ferocious river canyon at a crazy speed. Shadows loomed all around him. The canyon got narrower, the walls rose ever so high- high enough to block out the sky, leaving only a tiny sliver of blue sky for Boxcar to see.
Ahead came a dark cavern where the river tunneled through the side of a sandstone mountain. When it turned pitch black, Boxcar and his piece of wood fell down an unseen waterfall into complete darkness. Boxcar quickly protected his body from the fall by orienting his beetle back downwards.
When he hit the water, poor Boxcar became unconscious as he drifted ashore. When he awoke, great treasures awaited him. He had landed ashore the ancient, lost city of Salaman. The buildings were made of gold, and they shined over all the cavern walls to reveal a background of earth-carved mosaics. Many of them depicted snakes that were eating the canyonolas.
Boxcar knew little of the people who'd lived here, but he did know this was a popular destination for treasure hunters all over the southern continent. From Rumrim to Gambria, pirates and vagabonds dreamed about discovering the city that had disappeared from the surface centuries ago. It was said that the greatest treasure of all Serenity was hidden here: a spring that poured an eternal amount of water.
"By bonanza!" he exclaimed. "Finding that could make me richer than the Sultan of Pyramidos." He instantly scurried to find the wondrous marvel. The greedy beetle, unfazed by his near-death experience, searched the ancient golden city from end to end, until he found it.
And wouldn't you know it, just as he was becoming exhausted of thirst, he found a bronze canteen with wavy engravings all around it. He drank and drank and drank until he could drink no more. The weary sheriff realized that he'd drank far more than the canteen's volume could possibly allow. Boxcar leaped for joy at this revelation. He had found the spring of eternal water!
He climbed out of the cavern and back into the canyons, spending many days trying to find his way home through the arid desert, knowing that the magic canteen would quench every thirst the sun mustered out of him. He returned to Beetleton a hero and his legend was spread all over the desert of Orion. Because the canteen brought so much irrigation to Beetleton, they called it the Rainmaker.
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