November 10, 1886. Texas.

As the last surviving members of the Saquin Nation make a desperate attempt to escape to the relative safety of Mexico, they are unaware that they have played into the hands of the bloodthirsty Captain Tobias Bruckner. Under orders to bring in Chief Grey Bear, the warrior-brave Tal'Set, and the remaining Saquin without bloodshed, Captain Bruckner reneges and springs a deadly ambush. Bruckner is a man possessed. Called "Red Snake" by the Native tribes of the Southwest, he has hunted the Saquin for years.

The great Chief Grey Bear, one of the most brilliant and respected of the Native American Chiefs falls victim to a sniper's bullet, and Captain Bruckner orders the slaughter of the remaining Saquin people. As the bullets fly, Tal'Set and the remaining Saquin braves leap into battle, exacting a terrible toll on the Indian Hunters even as they are cut down one by one. Himself mortally wounded by Bruckner in the battle, Tal'Set cuts through the Cavalry troops and embraces Bruckner in a deadly melee. War club and Saber clash, and at the height of the battle, a cave-in sends Tal'Set and Bruckner tumbling into a mysterious underground cavern covered in ancient symbols and strange artifacts.

Tal'Set is dying. Bleeding to death from a bullet wound to the liver. Desperate to avenge the death of his people, Tal'Set once again locks in mortal combat with Bruckner. As his blood spills onto the ground, an otherworldly reaction is triggered, and the entire chamber becomes a storm of light and electricity. A shot goes wild and strikes a powder keg that has tumbled into the chasm. The blast brings the roof of the cavern down as Tal'Set is blown through a mysterious portal and into a world the likes of which he has never dreamed. The Lost Land.

Exhausted and dying, Tal'Set is brought back from the brink of death by the Mysterious Seer TarKeen. Tal'Set awakens with the memories of his dying people still fresh in his mind. Having been discovered by a group of refugee hunters, Tal'Set is taken to the fortress of the River People where the beautiful Mayana, under the watchful eye of the Great warrior Djunn and the "Wise Father", the leader of the River people, nurses him back to health. Once healed, Tal'Set embarks on a journey to discover the meaning of his presence in the Lost Land. Through a series of conversations and confrontations with TarKeen, Tal'Set learns that his presence in the Lost Land is not a coincidence, and that the death of his people was ordained so that he might embrace a higher purpose and become "Turok", the "Son of Stone", protector and savior. Confused, angry and alone, Tal'Set rejects TarKeen's story, refusing to accept what he has been told.

As he battles with his own demons, Tal'Set becomes a reluctant participant in the brutal War that is raging in the Lost Land. Motivated by his feelings of isolation, Tal'Set agrees to help the people of the Lost Land battle for their lives against the Evil Lord Tyrannus, leader of the reptilian hordes. Bent on a "Holy Mission" to purify the Lost Land through slaughter and misery.