May 24th, 1884
Sutter’s Flats TX


Sutter’s Flats is located a mere 10 miles from the Mexican border, roughly 100 miles west of San Antonio, Texas. The town rests in a region of low, grassy hills dotted with the occasional scraggly cottonwood tree. Although the Bayou Vermilion railroad passes relatively nearby, there’s no direct rail access to the town and no regular stage routes service it. In short, Sutter’s Flats is not a regular stop for anyone.What town there is consists of a livery, general store, and a small saloon named The Lonely Crow. These few establishments serve as a supply point and news source for a few local ranchers, and a place for their hands to spend money on Saturday nights. Sutter’s Flats isn’t even large enough to support a part-time marshal. Folks here tend to their own problems and are the very definition of “rugged independence.”Any stop in town inevitably leads to a visit to either the general store or The Lonely Crow, mainly because there’s nowhere else to go.

THE LONELY CROW
This watering hole also has two dusty rooms for rent by the day, week, or month. The rooms are nearly always unoccupied. On alternate Sunday mornings, a circuit-riding preacher commandeers the main room of The Lonely Crow to host his sparsely attended sermons. The Lonely Crow serves coffee, lunch, and dinner. Both meals consist generally of beef and beans, though sometimes it may have another type of beans, and on special occasions, beans with a hunk of bacon. The bar sports a wide range of alcohol from watered-down whiskey to watered-down tequila…and nothing in between.

PETTINGER'S SUPPLY
The general store’s owner, Frank Pettinger, has most common items on his shelf at a 25% markup due to the difficulty of keeping them in stock.

(OOC: You have all ended up here for one reason or another. It's mid-morning, and with not much going on, you are hanging out at the Lonely Crow or visiting the supply store.
I'll give everyone the opportunity for an introductory post or two and then roll into things....)
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:00, Fri 09 July 2021.

Charlotte needed to get out of this place. And without a railroad nearby, stealing the means to do so quickly with would turn this godforsaken place into a zero-horse town, so that plan was out.

Practicing her usual means of supporting herself would mean skinning the few ranch hands still willing to approach the poker table or the faro layout for all they were worth, and that quickly make her the kind of unpopular that involved a gun or a rope in the dark, even if she kept it straight and kept Mr. Hoyle's tricks out of it.

The low traffic was the reason she'd ever come here, paranoid from hearing a rumor that someone in the last city had caught a whiff of her New Orleans bounty. It had actually been comforting, initially. But between room rent, board, and lack of the sort of work she was accustomed to, comfort was running out.

So she sat at the Lonely Crow's faro layout, nursing some water that might have been in the same room as a bottle of tequila once and letting her cigar burn down in her hand.

Her adventure was going to end badly if she couldn't get some money soon. Gossip said someone was hiring cowboys in Sutter's Flats, and a meager six silver nickels said she couldn't say no.

There was no point hanging around the supply store, looking at things she couldn't afford. Katy slipped into the pleasant shade of the Lonely Crow and sat with a glass of tepid water, wishing it was something stronger. Or food.

May 24th, 1884
Sutter’s Flats, TX



About mid-morning, the sound of horses and a wagon draws more attention than it probably would have otherwise. An older man rides next to a wagon driven you a younger woman, probably in her late teens, and stop outside the supply store. They speak for a moment before they tie their horses and head over to the Lonely Crow, nodding at Katy as they enter.

He clears his throat and knocks trail dust off his clothes before introducing himself.

“Howdy, strangers. Name’s Bill Sutter. I know most everyone hereabouts and I didn’t recognize you, so I wanted to say ‘Welcome to Sutter’s Flats.’ Just to clear things up, the town’s named after my daddy. He was the first settler in this area, but that’s as far as my connection goes."

He shakes his head before continuing.

"Aw, Hell. I ain’t no good at small talk. I’m lookin’ for some extra hands. I’m gettin’ ready to pull up stakes. Bayou Vermilion has got a stranglehold on the cattle trade ‘round these parts, due to being the only railroad within hundreds of miles, and calling the prices they offer highway robbery is an insult to bandits.”

Bill pauses to gauge the everyone’s reaction, then continues.

“That bein’ the case, I’m gonna take my herd and leave, so to speak. I’ve got a solid crew, but I’m shy a few hands. I’m lookin’ for experienced trail riders, but I’ll settle for anybody who knows which end of a gun the bullet comes out of. Pickin’s is gettin’ slim and I want to get on the trail before we get too far into spring. Nobody comes to Sutter’s Flat if they’ve got anywhere else to be, so I figured I’d make you the offer.”
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:39, Fri 16 July 2021.

Charlotte tried her best to not jump at the offer. She'd been waiting for a reason to leave, but that was no reason to sell herself short.

"Just folks to scare away bandits and wildlife? Where you headed, anyway? Your astute observation aside, there's a place or two that's worse than here, as far as I'm concerned."

Ray sat just a hair straighter. The auburn woman, clad in tan trousers, a white man's shirt and a vest that almost, but not quite, matched her trousers heaved a sigh. Money was tight, jobs were scarce, and the last dozen years had straggled her from here to there, slowly it seemed, on this side of the two great rivers that bisected the continent. Across the back of her chair were not one but two coats - a dark-colored duster and over top that, a long-tailed frock coat tailored for her gender.

Taking the pocket watch from the vest pocket, she flipped it open for a moment, then slid it back, adjusting the chain that draped across the front of her vest and sighed once. "Interesting," she said, her contralto voice almost clear of that Boston accent, "I'd have to ask about the pay - like you said, times are hard everywhere."

She smiled, communicating her definite interest then reached inside her vest and pulled out a slim wooden case and took from it a thin cigar and lit it, giving herself a halo of grey-white smoke.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:28, Sun 18 July 2021.

Valerie had sat in an innocuous, cramped in her chair in no small part due to the fact she was careful to keep at least one limb in contact with a long, well made and well worn rifle scabbard.  Whatever was in there must have been massive, its length laughably comparable to Valerie's height, as it dwarfed the much handier and quicker Winchester repeaters in size.  She'd at least had some time to get all her hair tied back for once, it seemed no matter what she did a few strands always worked loose.

She'd been waiting quietly, not calling attention to herself, not bothering anybody.  And this was apparently what she'd been waiting for.  Taking the scabbard in hand, she walked over to Sutter.  She asked a single question.

"Where."

Granted, it was somewhat ambiguous question, but she figured the context would give it the correct meaning.

Katy perked up.

"I'm in."

Just like that. Her father had often complained she was impulsive. But, with so little of her money left, this felt like an offer delivered by angels. Though Bill Sutter was an unlikely-looking angel.

"I've been riding almost since I could walk, and I can shoot."

Even if her target had been the old bucket her brothers had hung from a tree.

"Rousing speech, and a considerable offer around these parts, sir!" a well dressed Smith popped in from just outside the entrance at the tail end of everyone's responses. He seemed distracted and took a half step back outdoors, checked both ways down the street with some expectation before a second later turning back inside. Derby hat removed in one hand also carrying a large doctor's bag, he offered the other for a handshake to Sutter.

Beginning again, "Smith, happy to make your acquaintance, I'd also like to know where..." he acknowledged Valerie and her shared concern with a polite nod "... perhaps you could tell us on the way there?"