Two months pass surprisingly quickly once things get going. You've broken the spirit of evil that held the town in it's grasp, freeing it to grow again. Your continued efforts quickly begin to bear fruit...
Mayor Hambley seems to do reasonably well, for a slightly incompetent recovering alcoholic. His first few weeks of sobriety are spent dealing with sorting out the various deeds that the dead marshal had taken. He holds public hearings for townsfolk to come forward with (sometimes scant) evidence to their houses, businesses, or plots of land. Many buildings still go unclaimed and the mayor basically annexes them for resell by the town to folk coming into town. As for the roles you've taken an interest in he pretty much leaves you to your own devices.
The assayer confirms that (to the best of his ability) the mine appears to indeed be viable for mining. The mayor pays him to travel to Denver and work out a deal with a company to come and work the mine. By the end of April the Merrimac Consolidated Mines Company sends it's own assayers out, and by mid May the town population has started swelling with miners and workers supporting them.
Jeff, good ol' Jeff, takes up residence at the Crystal River hotel. After a couple of weeks of freedom he comes to Seamus to ask about being a deputy again. He says his main skill is shooting a gun, and that their ain't much in the way of legitimate call for that around town aside being a lawman. If you turn him down, he accepts it without an argument but you find he leaves town within a couple of days.
The dry goods store reopens a week or so after we wrapped up, receiving a delivery of fresh goods from Rusty Bend.
Tom Blackfeather, the livery owner, offers to put up your horses for the cost of feed since he feels you kept his wagon from getting stolen (in addition to the other stuff you've done to help the town).
Along with the mining company a new doctor arrives. He seems a decent enough fellow, no strange obsessions that you notice. If you haven’t cleaned out the doc's place by the time he arrives he has... questions about the last one. Either way, soon after taking up residence he hires the carpenter to put a window in the surgery, to get some real light in there.
The church is nearly repaired. Out of town workers were brought in to replace the windows, and the glasswork proceeds apace. The bell is still cracked but rings true in the wind.
Amberlee finds that while it was closed down the library wasn't entirely bare. It may not rival anything back east but there were some boxes of books (most even in readable condition). Her efforts there, and getting the school house operating again, endear her to the womenfolk of the town a few of whom offer their assistance in running the school and library now that they aren’t (as)fearful for their lives. There is a small apartment above the library that you can take possession of, should you wish. The pay of a school marm isn’t much, but it supports you and you get some tips and donations from parents and some townsfolk who seek out your religious learnings. You’ve managed to pocket $75.
Seamus finds that being a sheriff in a dead town and one in a boom town are two very different things. As miners and other folk come to town things get more rowdy. Fights and such mostly, but drunkenness and other petty crimes as well. Hiring more deputies becomes, if not a necessity, a really good idea. You obviously can take up residence in the jail, should you desire too, but it’s not strictly necessary. With pay yo come out ahead $150.
Gentleman Jim settles in at the Jewel Theater. The mayor gives a deal on the rent to help you get started. Your girls (Mary, Ann, Elizabeth, Emily and Ellen) don't take to much advantage of your protective nature. Business is slow, generally, until the mine company hits town. After all is said you come out ahead to the tune of $500. The claim you manage to sell for another $200, split that however you were going to.
Sunday June 1 1879
Fierce winds usher in the month of June carrying the peal of thunder through the valley, the wind fueled peal of the church bell nearly covered by the sound. As dawn's light cracks the horizon the mine works are already going, and the church is stirring with workers checking for damage from the night’s storm. The town’s streets are already busier than high noon just a few months ago. A town on the verge of collapse has become a bustling small town, barely recognizable as the dawn’s sun dries up the night’s rain.
(And this is where the game will pick up, should the game pick up after Earthdawn and Pathfinder and such… assuming there isn’t a new shiny, like Fate..)
