Amavie
The High Plains
@high_plains
Big sky, long shadows, a town at the edge of the map.
neo-western frontier · industrial era · year 1887
A neo-western frontier town on the high plains: a dusty main street under an enormous sky, a rail spur, a saloon, and law that stretches thin past the last fence. Old codes meet new troubles where the range still runs to the horizon.
The story of The High Plains
The High Plains run on grit and reputation: ranchers and rail agents, the sheriff and the outfits, drifters and homesteaders. A handshake is a contract; a range war is always one dry season away.
Places
- The High Plains · continent. A vast, arid plateau characterized by unrelenting wind and immense, cloud-streaked horizons.
- The Open Range · region. Miles of waist-high prairie grass and scrub, used for grazing but becoming contested territory.
- Dust Creek · city. The central frontier town, built around a single dusty thoroughfare and a vital water hole.
- The Rail Spur · landmark. A terminal branch line that terminates abruptly at the edge of the badlands.
- Iron Badlands · region. Jagged rock formations and dry canyons to the north where outlaw bands hide.
Peoples
- Frontier Settlers · resilient, stoic, suspicious of authority. Hard-bitten individuals of mixed European ancestry who have moved west seeking land or escape. They value self-reliance and the unspoken code of the range.
- Rail Company Men · punctual, bureaucratic, ambitious. Educated professionals and laborers brought in from the eastern cities to expand the industrial reach of the iron road. Often viewed as encroaching outsiders.
Powers and factions
- Iron Horse Syndicate · Director Thaddeus Vane. The dominant rail entity pushing to fence off the open range for station hubs and fuel depots.
- Cimarron Cattle Outfit · Matriarch Elena Vance. Old-guard ranching collective that believes in the 'open range' philosophy and resists the encroachment of tracks and homesteads.
- Town Constabulary · Sheriff Josiah Thorne. A skeleton crew of deputies tasked with keeping the peace on Main Street, often struggling to contain violence between rail agents and cowboys.
History
- The Founding of Dust Creek · 1862. A small group of pioneers establishes a permanent settlement at the natural springs of what would become Dust Creek.
- The Range Wars · 1875. Bloody conflicts erupt between rival cattle outfits over water rights and grazing boundaries, permanently shaping the region's suspicion of outsiders.
- The Coming of the Rail · 1884. The Iron Horse Syndicate breaks ground on the rail spur, sparking new tension between modern industry and traditional ranching.