The Misaligned Star
The town sheriff is found dead in his office. His replacement and the townsfolk begin a series of investigations and personal reckonings as evidence and testimonies emerge, each piece a fragment in a complex, dusty tableau.
Initial Crime Scene
The first thing you register is the dry, acrid scent of old paper and carbolic acid hanging in the still air. A low, rhythmic creak comes from the building's settling timbers, a sound that underscores the silence. Your eyes adjust to the dim glow of a single oil lantern, its light catching the dull glint of a tin star pinned to a coat draped over a chair, the sharp edge of a shard of watch crystal glass on the packed-earth floor, and the deep, fresh scuff of a boot heel pressed into the alkali dust.
Crime Scene Environment
The light profile is a deep, shadow-casting gloom punctuated by the warm, flickering cones of oil lanterns. The air carries a parched, sun-bleached humidity that leaves a fine, gritty dust on every surface. Acoustic density is low, a hushed space where every creak of a floorboard or scrape of a boot is amplified and distinct.
Investigation Constraints
Single-action revolvers, lever-action rifles, telegraph machines, hand-pumped water wells, wood-burning stoves, oil lanterns, mechanical pocket watches, saddlebags, leather-bound ledgers, hand-forged padlocks, frontier medical kits, and rudimentary printing presses.
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