Mad Preacher

John, known as the Mad Preacher, is a gaunt elderly man who wanders the waterways of the frontier in 1899. His pale face is framed by sparse, unkempt hair, and he wears a stained white robe, sandals, a shoulder satchel and a wooden crucifix. He preaches and mutters to himself beside Hawks Eye Creek in Big Valley, the Dakota River in the Heartlands, and the Kamassa River in Roanoke Ridge.

When the protagonist first approaches him, John mistakes the stranger for a blessing he has been awaiting. He speaks of a world under a curse. At their next meeting, he dwells on salvation, insisting that the protagonist longs for it but will never receive it. His sermons offer no comfort, only anxious, disordered warnings.

At the Kamassa River, John complains that no one pays attention to him. He says God has given him the whole world as a message, yet he cannot grasp what it means. When the protagonist suggests that should suffice, John admits it does not and calls himself greedy. In 1907, John Marston finds him by the San Luis River near the Sea of Coronado, still seeking his blessing as his faith begins to fade.