The west was once a frontier - a place of self-made ponies. From all walks of life they would come, eager to make their fortune or find fulfillment.

Ever since chemists and alchemists discovered that high-grade kerosene could be refined from the black sludge, ever since the advent of gasoline and combustion engines, wells have sprung up all across the world.

For the dying town of Appleton, the Oil Rush has been a godsend - even after the gold and silver dried up with the Everfree River, cash began to pour in like a tidal wave as the residents began advertising the black slick that ate away at everything - the sulphur and alkaline in the air.