Rain Out West

in the American West in an alternate 1880s. For the last fifteen years, the West has been suffering from a phenomenon known as the Acid Rain. Nobody knows exactly when it began. Rain that once brought life to the frontier now burns through flesh, leather, wood, and eventually even steel. A normal storm can kill an entire town in minutes. Because of this, settlements have become isolated. Towns are built around enormous metal shelters, travelers carry acid-proof ponchos, and every saloon, church, train station, and ranch has a reinforced underground room. The West has become a harsher place because of it. Water is more valuable than gold. Safe land is controlled by powerful companies. Towns fight over wells and underground reservoirs. Most people believe the Acid Rain is a natural disaster.