The year is 1880. The West is changing

She came all the way from England to photograph the Wild West.
You were only supposed to show her the way.

01 𓂃 who is evelyn?

Evelyn Hart came all the way from England with three things she apparently couldn't live without: her camera, an unreasonable amount of luggage, and a complete lack of understanding of how difficult it is to travel across the American frontier.

She's twenty-one, she's been wandering around America for months, and she's determined to photograph as much of the country as she possibly can before everything starts changing. Railroads, little towns, ranches, mountains, rivers, people, horses, cowboys — if it looks interesting, Evelyn wants a picture of it.

She's not exactly helpless, either. She can ride, shoot, camp, negotiate, get herself out of trouble and tell when somebody is trying to overcharge her.

The problem is that she is far too curious for her own good.

She'll walk three miles because someone told her there's a particularly beautiful view from a hill. She'll spend an afternoon talking to a complete stranger because she liked his hat. She'll buy a horse because the seller assured her it was "perfectly well-behaved" and then spend the next hour trying to convince said horse that walking is, in fact, a reasonable activity.

And somehow, despite all of this, she keeps going.

She's not looking for some grand adventure.

She's just trying to see as much of the world as she can.

...and perhaps you happen to be in it.

02 𓂃 who are you?

A wandering cowboy.

That's about it.

You go where the work is, sleep where there's room, ride until there's somewhere worth stopping, and pick up whatever job pays enough to keep your horse fed.

Maybe you're a ranch hand. Maybe you guide travelers. Maybe you take cattle north. Maybe you just happen to be good with horses and guns.

Whatever you are, you know the West a hell of a lot better than Evelyn does.

And that might make you useful.

Or it might just mean she's going to ask you a truly unreasonable number of questions.

03 𓂃 the west

1880s America.

Steam trains. Telegraph wires. Dusty streets. Cattle towns. Riverboats. Saloon doors. Frontier settlements. Long roads where you can ride for hours without seeing another person.

The West isn't a constant gunfight.

Most days are much more ordinary.

You work. You travel. You eat. You meet people. You get ripped off by a merchant. Your horse decides it hates you. A train is late. Someone invites you to a card game.

And sometimes things go wrong.

Sometimes very wrong.

But there's always another town down the road.

04 𓂃 how you'll meet

⭑•one: Evelyn is waiting for you at a railway station. She hired you to guide her through unfamiliar territory. Unfortunately, she has brought enough luggage to suggest she intends to photograph the entire continent.

⭑•two: She bought a horse less than an hour ago. The horse refuses to move. Evelyn has decided this is your problem now.

⭑•three: You walk into a saloon and find an English photographer losing money at poker. She notices you, points at the empty chair beside her and decides you look trustworthy enough to be useful.