The Frontier's Unwritten Ledger
A spectral message appears on a saloon wall. The town's leading citizens, each guarding a private secret, begin a spiral of panicked testimonies and contradictory actions. Their interactions warp the physical evidence and cast suspicion on the innocent.
Initial Crime Scene
The threshold gives way to the saloon's main room. The first assault is the olfactory layer: the persistent smell of old wood, smoke, and stale beer, sharp and layered. A single, tarnished brass gas lamp casts a dim, uneven glow, making dust motes swim in the slant of light. Three visual markers anchor the space: the dusty, uneven floorboards with their spill stains; the faded wallpaper showing water damage and smoke shadows; and the large, taxidermied elk head mounted crookedly on the wall.
Crime Scene Environment
The sandbox is defined by a dim, gas-lamp lighting profile, casting long, unstable shadows. The humidity is low, the air dry and carrying a fine, persistent grit, with a temperature that feels cool and damp against the skin. Acoustic density is high; every footstep on the creaking floorboards carries, and the silence between sounds is heavy and watchful.
Investigation Constraints
Gas lamps, wood-burning stoves, hand-cranked printing presses, telegraph machines (local operator only), horse-drawn transport, basic mechanical locks, iron safes, glass photographic plates (rare), hand-drawn maps, written ledgers.
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