Weird West Fantasy Noir

Once the Republic Marshals brought order to the chaotic lands along the Frontier, facing dangers both human and supernatural with ancient wisdom and a six-gun —but that was a long time ago. Destroyed by conspiracy and betrayal, all that remains of that secretive order is one nameless man on a trek though the West seeking revenge on the woman he blames for the Marshals' fall and his disgrace. When a visitor from our world joins him on his journey, they together must confront the horrors of a strange land, the mysteries of the past and the real meaning of their quest for justice.

The world of Tellus is what 19th Century Earth would have looked like if the stories of Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Lovecraft and William Hope Hodgeson were real. History in this world moves slower. The old faiths persist and civilization never conquered the dark corners of the map, at least not without being inextricably changed. Technology and culture takes a little longer to evolve in this land, as people here tend to spend more time pursuing their elaborate revenge plots or trying to avoid being the next sacrifice to the Outer Gods rather than advancing science or statecraft. Imagine Cormac McCarthy by way of Edgar Rice Burroughs, though a little less testosterone-drenched than that description would imply.

Three caveats: First, there are deep mysteries here, including how such a world came to be and who controls it. Second, this world is not wholly unconnected from our own. There is a historical point of divergence, but in the distant past. To paraphrase Twain: history in this world is not a repeat of our own, but it does often rhyme. And finally, this is not a setting that lends itself to happy endings.