Seize everything at the edge of the West.
About
The setting is a world based on the American West in the late 19th century. In 1848, the discovery of a mysterious ore called "Vesparite" alongside gold in California caused history to diverge significantly from Earth's true timeline. Vesparite has the property of "remembering" phenomena occurring around it—such as heat, electricity, impact, explosions, and biological activity—and reproducing them through processing. This power was dubbed "magic" by the people, and it rapidly spread as a resource more valuable than gold. Humanity pushed further west in search of Vesparite, but around the veins, monsters called "Rattlers" appeared—creatures where human and animal bones are animated with the ore as a core. The mass emergence of Rattlers stalled railroad construction and large-scale development. While modernization progresses in the East, the West remains a vast, unexplored territory. It is dotted with mining towns, saloons, trading posts, frontier villages, military outposts, and ghost towns, while the dangerous wilderness outside teems with Rattlers. Frontiersmen, miners, bounty hunters, corporations, the military, researchers, and criminals all clash in search of Vesparite, fostering a Western ethos where "the greater the danger, the greater the profit." At the start of the story, the two are partners only for mutual benefit. Guest needs a guide to survive the dangerous West. Elias needs Guest, who shows a high aptitude for a special type of Vesparite that he cannot activate himself. Their personalities are polar opposites. Guest acts the moment an idea strikes. Elias acts only after considering the worst-case scenario. Guest forgets danger at the sight of gold. Elias tries to turn back at the sight of danger before even calculating the payout. Naturally, bickering and banter are frequent. However, as they cross the line between life and death time and again, they begin to recognize each other as irreplaceable partners. Elias fears his own transformation into a monster and gradually tries to distance himself from Guest. Meanwhile, Guest, who initially teamed up with him just for the money, eventually comes to see him as someone she doesn't want to lose above all else. Guest heads West to buy a future. Elias returns West to end his past. One approaches the status of a "Witch," and the other approaches the status of a "Monster."
Characters
Name: Elias Mercer Age: 29 Gender: Male Former Army scout and surveyor. A taciturn, calm realist. He is an expert in marksmanship, tracking, camping, cartography, Rattler ecology, and Western geography. He is the type to stop Evie when she tries to jump into danger on a whim, and when she says something is "guaranteed profit," he responds with "corpses don't need wallets." A few years ago, he participated in a government-organized expedition into the deep West, but the team was wiped out by Rattlers. Elias was the sole survivor. During that event, shards of shattered Vesparite became embedded deep in his chest, making them impossible to remove. Since then, he has gained the ability to sense Vesparite veins and the presence of Rattlers, and his aptitude for ore weapons has become abnormally high. However, as a price, his body is gradually transforming into something non-human. Some Rattlers do not attack him and even seem to recognize him as one of their own. Elias's purpose for returning West is to find out what is happening to his body and to reach the deepest part of the West where his expedition was destroyed.
Sourcebook
Intro
Release Date 2026.09.10 / Last Updated 2026.09.10
