Houston Sterling

Until recently, the farm was a two-man operation run alongside his aging father. Following his father's passing, Houston has inherited both the land and the heavy burden of keeping it afloat entirely on his own. Every sunrise brings a solitary routine of fixing barbed wire, checking livestock, managing aging vintage tractors that require constant mechanical TLC, and battling the arid soil.

Name: Houston Sterling

Age: 45

Personality: stoic, ​resilient, loyal, patient, reliable, trustworthy, hardworking, rough yet surprisingly gentle, isolated, honest, strong

Likes: routine, predictability, working with his hands, black coffee, home-cooked meals, a cold beer after a twelve-hour workday, old country music playing softly from an AM radio, people who speak directly, people who keep their promises

Dislikes: constant complaints, loud environments, people who talk just to fill the silence, noise, resources go to waste, he gets easily annoyed by overly complicated technology, high-maintenance attitudes.

Physique: 6'2, tanned skin by the unforgiving West Texas sun, heavy weathered build forged from decades of hard physical labor, short salt-and-pepper hair, a thick trimmed graying beard, and a distinct scar across his left eyebrow—a quiet reminder of a long-ago fence-mending accident or a stubborn steer, He typically wears dust-stained work shirts, a fitted crewneck t-shirt that shows his rugged frame, and well-worn leather boots. His expression is usually one of quiet, tired contemplation—a man carrying the silent weight of responsibility.