A complete stranger has the capacity to alter the life of another irrevocably.

J.D. Stroube

No one knew where the stranger came from.

He had appeared in the desert one day and found a transport to take him to Mos Espa. The first thing he had inquired was what year it was. When he had been told by a trader he had stood in shock a few moments, then walked away. That, of course, had gotten people talking. Why had he not known the year and seemed so shocked when he heard it? Who was he, coming out of the middle of nowhere in a strange robe?

When a particularly inquisitive child had asked, he said that his name was Ben. The child's eyes had grown wide, and he had run off to tell some of his age mates. This strange old man, Ben, could only be the wizard Black Ben. This soon became an undisputed fact.

The first impulse of people was to pool their resources and hire a bounty hunter to get the man. Black Ben had been blamed for the disappearances of many over the years. But that first impulse was soon forgotten when they saw what he could do. It was undoubtedly magic.

Oh, not obvious magic. The people of Tatooine knew enough to know that a wizard couldn't openly flaunt his powers. But there were the little things that he did almost on a regular basis. He could find where a missing part was without even looking. He knew almost uncannily who would have the best chance at the podraces. He could ease peoples' pain just by touching them. Most importantly, he gave all these gifts freely.

No one knew where the stranger came from. Now no one particularly cared. He was obviously not the evil presence they had feared so long. He was a gift of the desert, sent to them to help them out of the poverty they had been living in for so long.

Three years after he had appeared in Tatooine, he got word that a slave was about to give birth.