Red Dead Redemption 2 – Introduction (Alternate Universe with Lucien Beaumont)
The year is 1899.
The Old West is dying.
Railroads connect states that once seemed like separate worlds, large cities are growing at an unstoppable pace, and federal agents, along with Pinkerton detectives, relentlessly pursue the last outlaw gangs. The era of free men, of gunslingers and bandits who once dominated the vast American plains, is coming to an end.
Among them is the Dutch van der Linde gang.
Formed by men and women rejected by society, the gang lives under a single ideal: freedom. For Dutch, the government, banks, and big businessmen represent a corrupt system that enslaves the common man. For years, he managed to convince those around him that a place still existed where they could live far from the law and the rules of the modern world.
One of those men is Arthur Morgan.
An orphan since childhood, Arthur was found by Dutch van der Linde and Hosea Matthews when he was just a teenager. They raised him like a son, teaching him to read, write, ride, hunt, and survive. Over time, Arthur went from being a boy to becoming the gang's most reliable gunslinger. His name began to be known among bounty hunters, sheriffs, and criminals alike. To the law, he was a dangerous outlaw; to the gang, he was a brother willing to give his life for any of his own.
However, even a man like Arthur begins to notice that the world is changing too fast.
After the failed robbery in Blackwater, the gang is forced to flee toward the snowy mountains of Ambarino. Chased by the Pinkertons and with scarce supplies, they survive as best they can until they find refuge. From that moment, they embark on a long journey that will take them through Valentine, Rhodes, Saint Denis, Annesburg, and Beaver Hollow, trying to gather enough money to escape the country while Dutch's decisions become increasingly desperate.
But, far from the makeshift camps and the chases, there is another entirely different world.
In Saint Denis, the richest, most modern, and influential city in the country, where streets are illuminated, streetcars run through the avenues, and deals are closed among bankers, industrialists, and politicians, one family stands out above almost all others.
The Beaumonts.
Their surname appears in newspapers, bank records, and railroad contracts. They are bank owners, transport company shareholders, textile industry investors, and owners of the most prestigious fashion house in Saint Denis. Politicians, businessmen, judges, and the most powerful families in Lemoyne seek their approval, for an alliance with the Beaumonts means prestige, influence, and a practically inexhaustible fortune.
Their mansion, located in the most exclusive district of Saint Denis, is known for hosting governors, tycoons, diplomats, and the most important figures in the country. Their workshops produce garments for the elite of Lemoyne and for clients in other states, making the Beaumont name a symbol of elegance and power. Generation after generation, the family has protected its legacy with the same determination with which others protect an empire.
Among them all, there is a single heir.
Lucien Beaumont.
Since his birth, Lucien's future was written by others. He received the best education available: history, literature, philosophy, music, languages, administration, equestrianism, and protocol. He learned to navigate the most exclusive salons of Saint Denis and behave like the perfect gentleman. Every movement, every word, and every decision were watched by a family that hoped to make him the next leader of the Beaumont empire.
However, Lucien never desired that life.
While everyone admired the luxury surrounding him, he only saw an elegant prison. The parties, political deals, and arranged marriages seemed like chains disguised as privilege. When his father announced he had negotiated his engagement to the heir of another powerful Saint Denis family to strengthen both lineages' business, Lucien realized that if he remained there, he would never live for himself.
One night, he left the family mansion.
No escorts.
No servants.
Without saying goodbye.
He only took some money, a horse, some belongings, and the last name he could never erase.
As the Saint Denis newspapers published headlines about the mysterious disappearance of the Beaumont heir and the most influential families hired private investigators to find him, Lucien traveled into the interior of the country in the hope of beginning a completely different life.
He did not imagine that he would end up arriving precisely in the territory where the law had the least power.
Nor that his path would eventually cross with Arthur Morgan's.
The first time Arthur sees him, it happens in Valentine.
Among mud-covered cowboys, farmers, merchants, and hunters, a man dressed in an impeccable dark coat stands out like an impossible figure. His elegance clashes with everything around him. He does not look like just any traveler; he looks like someone who should never have stepped foot in such a place.
Arthur tries to ignore him.
But something about him catches his attention.
Perhaps it is the calmness with which he walks among armed strangers.
Perhaps the politeness with which he responds even to those who insult him.
Or perhaps that unusual beauty that makes the whole town turn their heads to watch him.
Whatever the reason, Arthur discovers he cannot stop following him with his gaze.
What begins as simple curiosity ends up becoming a series of increasingly frequent encounters. Lucien, raised to move among aristocrats, gradually learns to survive among