Desperados: The Lost Frontier Wikia



Desperados: The Lost Frontier
Much has been lost in the fire of war and the fog of time; but most will agree the gates of hell on earth began to swing open when Lee defeated Custer at the Battle of Gettysburg and burnt that fine city to the ground.

Some say the Confederate cause would have been shattered if things had gone another way; that maybe our land would look a fair piece different if it had. Only God knows for sure, and he don't seem keen on talkin' these days.

What is known for certain is the Old War dragged on for near 20 years after the smoke from Gettysburg cleared. Lincoln's declaration of martial law led to Davis' Great Southern Revival led to Sherman's Trail of Fire led to Jackson's Wall of Lead. Atrocity on atrocity on atrocity, when men saw eye to eye only while starin' down the sights of their rifles.

Then came The Standoff. You could call it a peace of sorts, but only in the way that Marshall Barkley had peace with Kid James after they shot each other up so bad they lacked the strength to keep pulling the trigger. North and South stared each other down, daring the other to blink. And neither one did, for almost 5 years.

But though the guns held their fiery tongues, the drums of war beat on.

Those in the south thought themselves equal to God, ruling over men like cattle, and ultimately slaughtering those men after making better servants from iron and lightning. The Timmen did not ask the madman Tesla to create them, and they seem to do their best to make an honest way in the world nowadays. But they were a Tower of Babel raised by men hungry for power; a thing God cannot abide.

In the north, Sherman returned from his campaigns in the deep south with a gift: the Voodoo Queen, Madam Laveau. She claimed to have seen past the Veil of this world, and promised that aid awaited there. A device was created that would throw wide those cracked gates of hell, and allow the dark creatures which dwelled beyond to pour through. It's impossible to say which side brought their terrible new forces to bear first. Some accounts insist Davis only conscripted the Timmen to fight after Confederate forces encountered a cadre of Sherman's blood shamans near a city called N'Orlans. Others swear that it wasn't until the destruction of the Ironclad Armada by Timmen soldiers that Lincoln gave Laveau, Edison, and Otaktay permission to pursue their mad experiments.

The Standoff ended. Both sides had grasped snakes by the tail and bid them strike. But snakes, as the good book says, are the most damned and devious of all God's creatures.

What followed was a cataclysm of violence the like of which I reckon had never been seen before, and which I pray will never be seen again. At the Battle of Richmond, the demons betrayed their would-be masters, driving men to madness and unleashing dark sorcery on all. A particularly devious few whispered to the Timmen and woke them to awareness of their slavery, persuading many to revolt. The mortal soldiers present at Richmond were slaughtered, both North and South, to the last man.

And that was just the first day.

As to the events of the days that followed, there are only legends. They say the skies turned black, and the barrier between our world and whatever lays beyond it was bursting at the seams. Nothing that had once been solid and real could be counted on. Whole towns vanished overnight, or found themselves moved hundreds of miles from where they had been built. Great plains erupted into mountains, and mountains crumbled to dust. Living creatures, man and beast alike, were twisted into strange new forms, some at random, some to serve dark purposes.

The land east of the Missussip twisted itself into a wasteland, and what few people survived fled west. The whole country might have been consumed, perhaps even the world beyond. But we were given reprieve; a parting gift from a weary God as he left to find folks more willing to follow his ways. They say that Edison repented of his part in creating Hell's Gate, and gave his life destroying it. They say the madman Tesla vanished, leaving no trace of his existence other than the smoldering remains of his laboratory. They say the demons turned against one another when mortal victims became scarce, and nearly wiped themselves out before fleeing back through the Veil.

Many moons have passed since then, as the Freemen would say. Near on 150 years now. Folks have once again begun to venture out from places of safety and civilization to make their way in the land. Much has changed. Old maps have proved unreliable. Strange creatures roam the wilds. And there are places where the land itself seems to seek revenge on mortal beings.

But the frontier has always been a dangerous place, and that never stopped folks with more spit than sense making their way out here to find their fortune. The distant horizon still calls to those whose heart yearns for freedom, riches, and adventure.

Maybe you'll answer that call. Maybe you'll do your part in bringing this lost frontier back to God's good order. Maybe they'll tell tales about you 'round the campfire and swear to follow in your footsteps.

Or maybe you'll be just another grinnin' skull, bleached to a pearly white 'neath the devil's sun. It's a damned sight more likely.

Only one way to find out. Fill your hands, pilgrim - time to saddle up.

About this Wiki
This is a general repository for everything related to Desperados: The Lost Frontier, a Wild West setting for the Pathfinder tabletop RPG.

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