The Ridgemoor Chronicle

The year is 1874. Deep in the rugged West, far off the beaten track, lies the wounded and ravaged district of Ridgemoor. The Civil War is over, but what it left behind is scorched earth, dried-up rivers, and a land where the law never took firm hold.

In the years of anarchy, cattle barons, administrators, and soldiers withdrew. Marauding bands and a relentless drought drove out the last vestiges of state order. Ridgemoor became a no-man's-land – rich in rumors and mineral resources, poor in hope.

Finally, Silas J. Montgomery returned from the east, a former cavalry officer with a past and aspirations. With a hastily recruited retinue of mercenaries and deserters, he occupied the deserted town of Radish Ridge. For a brief moment, hope flickered: order seemed within reach, stability possible.

But the promised gold mines failed to materialize. Pay dried up, discipline crumbled, and from Loyalty turned to greed. Montgomery's men turned against those they were meant to protect. Farms were plundered, settlements burned to the ground, saloons reduced to smoldering ruins. Those who didn't flee were forced to join the outlaws – in order to survive.

Despite everything, Ridgemoor did not fall apart. Under the authority of President Rettich 'Ret' Rettington and his followers, the land remained part of the state – claimed, but barely controlled. This frontier was too vast, too dangerous, too fragmented to be held by troops.

Instead, a new chapter began: Land is entrusted to those willing to take responsibility, establish order, and uphold the law. Through the strength and will of its new settlers, lands can be managed, towns founded, and Ridgemoor repopulated.

Ridgemoor doesn't wait for heroes. It waits for those who will become them and remain them.

President Rettich 'Ret' Rettington