diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css b/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
index 6353bab..f417138 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
@@ -242,6 +242,60 @@ code, pre { font-family: var(--font-mono); font-size: 0.9375em; }
 .site-footer__inner { padding-block: var(--space-4); }
 .site-footer p { margin: 0; }
 
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------- home --- */
+/*
+ * The one hand-written page. A visitor who lands on / is not here to use the
+ * app - they are deciding whether to trust it - so the page leads with the
+ * vision in display size and drops to reading size for everything after.
+ */
+
+.hero {
+  padding-block: var(--space-2) var(--space-5);
+  border-bottom: 1px solid hsl(var(--border));
+  margin-bottom: var(--space-5);
+}
+
+/* The label above the vision statement. Small and quiet: it says what the
+   sentence below it is, and the sentence is the thing worth reading. */
+.hero__eyebrow {
+  margin-bottom: var(--space-2);
+  color: hsl(var(--muted-foreground));
+  font-size: 0.8125rem;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  letter-spacing: 0.06em;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+}
+
+/* Bigger than an h1 anywhere else in the app, and clamped so it stays a
+   headline on a phone instead of becoming five short lines. */
+.hero h1 {
+  margin: 0;
+  font-size: clamp(1.75rem, 1.2rem + 2.4vw, 2.75rem);
+  letter-spacing: -0.02em;
+}
+
+.hero__cta { margin: var(--space-4) 0 0; }
+
+/* Sentences, so they get the narrower measure the body copy elsewhere gets by
+   accident - .site-main is 800px wide, which is wide for a paragraph. */
+.prose { max-width: 62ch; }
+
+.prose h2 { margin-top: var(--space-5); }
+.prose h2:first-child { margin-top: 0; }
+
+/* The easter egg, and the reason this class exists at all: a horse that turns
+   up only with ?stampede should look framed, not like a broken hero image. */
+.stampede {
+  margin: var(--space-6) 0 0;
+}
+
+.stampede img {
+  display: block;
+  width: 100%;
+  border: 1px solid hsl(var(--border));
+  border-radius: var(--radius);
+}
+
 /* ------------------------------------------------------------- controls --- */
 
 label {
@@ -282,8 +336,13 @@ input[type="radio"] + label {
    breathing room without touching _form.html.erb. */
 form > div { margin-bottom: var(--space-3); }
 
+/* .button is for links that act - "Create an account" on the home page. It
+   rides the same rule as the real controls so a link-button and a submit
+   button cannot drift apart; the three declarations after are the ones a link
+   needs and a <button> already has. */
 input[type="submit"],
-button {
+button,
+.button {
   padding: 10px var(--space-4);
   border: 1px solid transparent;
   border-radius: calc(var(--radius) - 4px);
@@ -295,8 +354,15 @@ button {
   cursor: pointer;
 }
 
+.button {
+  display: inline-block;
+  color: hsl(var(--primary-foreground));
+  text-decoration: none;
+}
+
 input[type="submit"]:hover,
-button:hover { background: hsl(var(--primary) / 0.9); }
+button:hover,
+.button:hover { background: hsl(var(--primary) / 0.9); }
 
 /* button_to ... method: :delete posts a form carrying a hidden _method=delete,
    which is the only thing distinguishing "Destroy this person" from any other
diff --git a/app/views/home/index.html.erb b/app/views/home/index.html.erb
index 3485ac1..da0b77c 100644
--- a/app/views/home/index.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/home/index.html.erb
@@ -1,11 +1,45 @@
-<h1>heading</h1>
-<p>Hi</p>
-<%= image_tag "horse.jpg", alt: "Horse", class: "horse-image" %>
-
-<% if user_signed_in? %>
-  <p> <%= link_to 'Sign out', destroy_user_session_path, data: { turbo_method: :delete } %> </p>
-<% else %>
-  <p> <%= link_to 'Sign in', new_user_session_path %> </p>
-  <p> <%= link_to 'Sign up', new_user_registration_path %> </p>
-<% end %>
+<% content_for :title, "Along With You" %>
+
+<section class="hero">
+  <p class="hero__eyebrow">Our vision</p>
+  <h1>No one faces a medical journey overwhelmed by information, uncertainty, or alone.</h1>
+
+  <%# The one action on the page, and the only place in the app that offers to
+      make an account - the header carries Sign in and nothing else. Hidden
+      once you have one: a signed-in visitor already has the whole nav. %>
+  <% unless user_signed_in? %>
+    <p class="hero__cta">
+      <%= link_to "Create an account", new_user_registration_path, class: "button" %>
+    </p>
+  <% end %>
+</section>
 
+<section class="prose">
+  <h2>Our mission</h2>
+  <p>
+    Provide healthcare professionals with free tools to help individuals
+    organize important medical information, so individuals receiving a critical
+    health diagnosis can focus on their care and make better informed decisions.
+  </p>
+
+  <h2>Support the work</h2>
+  <p>
+    Along With You is given free of charge to those facing a health challenge.
+    It is our hope that having the information you need right on hand will give
+    you one less thing to worry about, and let you know that many are along with
+    you.
+  </p>
+  <p>
+    If you would like to make a donation to Along With You, visit
+    <%= link_to "alongwithyou.org", "https://www.alongwithyou.org" %>.
+  </p>
+</section>
+
+<%# The horse used to be the whole home page. It is an easter egg now: the URL
+    has to ask for it. params.key? rather than reading the value, so a bare
+    ?stampede - nothing after the name - is enough. %>
+<% if params.key?(:stampede) %>
+  <figure class="stampede">
+    <%= image_tag "horse.jpg", alt: "Five horses at full gallop, kicking up dust" %>
+  </figure>
+<% end %>
diff --git a/test/controllers/home_controller_test.rb b/test/controllers/home_controller_test.rb
index eac0e33..1162cd9 100644
--- a/test/controllers/home_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/controllers/home_controller_test.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,56 @@
 require "test_helper"
 
 class HomeControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
-  # test "the truth" do
-  #   assert true
-  # end
+  # For the signed-in case below. There is no users fixture and no global
+  # Devise test setup yet, so this class brings its own.
+  include Devise::Test::IntegrationHelpers
+
+  test "should get index" do
+    get root_url
+    assert_response :success
+  end
+
+  test "index speaks to visitors" do
+    get root_url
+
+    assert_select "h1", /No one faces a medical journey/
+    assert_select "a[href='https://www.alongwithyou.org']"
+  end
+
+  test "index does not repeat the header's account links" do
+    get root_url
+
+    assert_select ".site-main a[href=?]", new_user_session_path, count: 0
+    assert_select ".site-main a[href=?]", destroy_user_session_path, count: 0
+  end
+
+  test "index offers a visitor an account" do
+    get root_url
+    assert_select ".hero a[href=?]", new_user_registration_path, text: "Create an account"
+  end
+
+  test "index does not offer an account to someone who has one" do
+    sign_in User.create!(email: "signed-in@example.com", password: "password",
+                         confirmed_at: Time.current)
+
+    get root_url
+    assert_select ".hero a[href=?]", new_user_registration_path, count: 0
+  end
+
+  test "index hides the horse" do
+    get root_url
+    assert_select "img[src*=?]", "horse", count: 0
+  end
+
+  test "index shows the horse to anyone who asks for a stampede" do
+    get root_url(stampede: "")
+    assert_select "img[src*=?]", "horse"
+  end
+
+  # A bare ?stampede - no equals sign, no value - parses to a nil value, so the
+  # view has to ask whether the key is there rather than what it says.
+  test "index shows the horse for a valueless stampede" do
+    get "/?stampede"
+    assert_select "img[src*=?]", "horse"
+  end
 end