Cuthbert Lockton-Lloyd
At a Glance
| Playbook | The Explorer (reskin of The Initiate) |
| Player | Duncan |
| Notable Items | Magic pocketwatch (receives Order messages), ancient sword |
| Affiliation | The Order |
Background
A member of the Order — a secret organisation with a bestiary of known monsters and cryptic communications. Carries an ancient sword and a magic pocketwatch that vibrates to deliver messages from the Order. Has access to the Order's records, including descriptions of creatures like howlers.
Notably: has not heard of Germany.
Abilities & Items
| Item / Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Magic pocketwatch | Receives and sends messages from/to the Order; vibrates on delivery |
| Ancient sword | Can be used to examine/identify monster tracks or signs; can draw rune circles on the ground to briefly trap creatures |
| Precognition | Can retroactively prepare items or know things before they happen — his memories of past and future appear to overlap |
Notes & Loose Threads
- Received Order message: "The youngest Durgin must never produce offspring." Wrote back: "Do you want me to cut off his balls or something?" Order replied in Session 2: "By any means necessary. Top priority."
- Physically stepped into the saloon brawl in Session 1 — took a bottle slash across the shirt (survived via chest plate)
- Lay down next to the paw prints to compare their size — confirmed the creature profile matches howlers in the Order's bestiary
- His solution to property disputes: piss in a line
- His memory of the howler bestiary entry is simultaneously precognitive and a memory — he recalls both writing it and reading it at the same time; his relationship with time is strange
- Cannot operate Ms March's repeating rifle; does not understand modern cartridge ammunition; believes bullets are significantly less pointy than expected
- Was surprised to learn the Holy Roman Empire did not last one thousand years
- Tried to show Ms March his blood magic execution of the final howler as proof of the supernatural — she immediately shot the body in every wound and walked away
- Has been told he is overbearing; in Session 3 downtime, tried asking Richie Durgin if he wants children — Richie was put off
- Messaged the Order: "Don't worry. Not over. Still working on it."
- Is now studying Doctor Webb's bedside manner and wants tips on how to speak calmly
- In Session 4, was unaffected by the cornfield spores — did not see a vision of anyone dead
- Used his precognition to retroactively stock a bottle of moonshine — warned the gang it killed a monkey; proved effective against the algae
- Lost a shoe to the quicksand created by collapsing the second mound (Kate: "that's the glitch of your magic")
- Revealed in Session 5: time-travelled from one hundred years ago and does not currently know his full mission; used to teach history; the Order looks forward in time to ensure events are stable
- Used precognition this session via broken matchstick consultation: gained +3 forward for Mystery 3 (now +2 remaining); foresees the Hatchetts will arrive from the West road (the first thing they'd encounter is the sheriff's tent)
- Knows something helpful from the foresight but will not tell the others what it is
- Whispering to Alfie during the Bart persuasion made Bart suspicious; Bart stormed off
- Did not introduce himself to Earl (missed the social cue)
- In Session 6: successfully liquored up and befriended Retta and Merv, briefly; punched by Retta when he stepped between her and Alfie — now Unstable; attempted to dispel whatever is blocking Merv's mine memory — failed; learned Merv is not under a spell or curse but something else is wrong; side effect made Merv sympathetic to the party
- In Session 7: burned a second Luck point (2 total spent); shot Max through the throat with the 45 Colt (double harm); dived off the balcony to avoid the return fire; healed self with blood magic (drew a circle of blood, snorted it off the floor — Ms March's brain did not register this); put hands into Max and hired hand's brains and sensed a wide-reaching presence that said "EVERYWHERE" before ejecting him
- In Session 8 downtime, messaged the Order about the brain-controlling entity: "Discovered local entity controlling people through direct communication with their brain. Any information on entity types appreciated." The reply named it — The Hollowed Ones. Infection. Sounds like stage one. — before being replaced by a message that did not fade: "Not your mission. Stand down. Sending warden to collect." Cuthbert has been explicitly pulled off this thread and an Order warden is incoming
- In Session 8, wary of eating or drinking after learning the Hatchett condition was a disease, refused to sample Farmswatter's tonic until Doctor Webb could check it — took a −1 penalty until he found a drink (resolved at the drinks tent); distracted H.G. so Ms March could investigate the waggon; was the only party member H.G. tried to lure to the back with a free sample
- In Session 9, floated the theory that the Order's "Not your mission. Stand down." order is a Hollowed Ones forgery — it appeared only after the first message faded rather than printing from the watch
- Failed to stab Farmswatter (hit the door, then claimed he was aiming at a dangerous spider); talked Ms March into handing over her whiskey — but only after she made him agree verbally — and doused the mother cactus, stripping its fleshy armour (alcohol is the weakness)
- Cast a whiskey-fuelled sphere of magical moisture at the cactus (a chime-like sound) — performing magic openly right in front of Ms March, who still refuses to register it; later wielded her repeater like a musket for a clean hit
- Healed Ms March with a blood-and-magic-chalk paste smeared onto her
- Lost his Order pinky ring — the hourglass signet — in the vat of viscera while searching the waggon, without noticing it was gone
- Frustrated to lose Farmswatter as a source; wondered aloud whether he could talk to the dead; drove the waggon and Farmswatter's body to Ms March's tent to spend a week investigating
- In Session 10 downtime, established how to question the dead: reaching Farmswatter's soul would require travelling to a different plane, but he can summon a corpse's memories to briefly reanimate it for a conversation. The ritual needs multiple casters
- Solved the Richie Durgin directive psychically rather than physically — he made a powder that removes the desire to have children, teleported into Richie's bedroom at night, and blew it in the boy's face. Richie sneezed, woke, and yelled to the whole family that Cuthbert was in his room; Cuthbert teleported back to his tent. The Order sent a congratulatory message
- Woken on Thursday morning by an Order warden holding a sword to his throat: Jacob Johnston, a peer from his Order training whose voice he recognised but whose name he could not recall. Jacob outranks him and is to return him to his original time. Cuthbert is keen to go back but wants to keep investigating Hole — he argues the recall is due eventually, not now
- Then received a team from 1983: Darla Backsplash, Gina Caramonte and Walker Bueller, who follow his orders (Jacob's ruling: Cuthbert's official order is to give orders to himself and the trio). He was never given period-appropriate clothing by the Order before being sent to Hole
- Has filed no paperwork for the entire mission; Gina, enamoured, volunteered to do all of it
- Outed Alfie's curse to the Order moments after objecting to Doctor Webb outing him as a time traveller; admitted to the team 'I know I'm a lot'
- Punched in the face by Ms March for proposing they also bring Earl back to life — a plan he had not run past her. His view: the Order can change time, so why not raise the dead. Doctor Webb and Alfie both challenged whether the Order should play God on matters unrelated to saving the world
- Led the ritual (with Alfie and Jacob casting, the trio and Doctor Webb assisting) that reanimated H.G. Farmswatter — and had not preserved the body at all in six days, to Doctor Webb's horror
- Sped the waggon up as it passed the Durgin residence and would not tell Doctor Webb the real reason
- Shot by Ms March at the hot springs while naked, weaponless and in the water, after failing to persuade her he is not the cause of Hole's supernatural happenings; she held his face under. He then grabbed her and teleported away — and missed, landing them somewhere wet, musty and pitch dark instead of Dan Randy's saloon
Session History
| Session | Key Moments |
|---|---|
| Session 1 | Stepped into saloon fight; received cryptic Order message about Richie Durgin; identified tracks as possible howlers using Order bestiary and ancient sword; lay next to the paw prints for comparison |
| Session 2 | Attempted (failed) palm-rune magic on Luke; precognised a Molotov cocktail; brokered the Durgin/Cranfield truce; trapped a howler in a rune circle; executed the final howler with blood magic; received Order's urgent reply; confused by guns; hit 5th XP (eligible to level up) |
| Session 3 | Asked Richie whether he wants children (put off); messaged Order to cover himself; lassoed alongside Alfie by Ms March; used magic to collapse a red algae mound into a sinkhole of gooey sludge; cannot identify what the phenomenon is; "I'm going to use that to attack your dad" |
| Session 4 | Unaffected by the cornfield spores; beheaded diseased corn to break Doctor Webb's hallucination; wiped tears from Alfie and March for magic; collapsed second mound (lost a shoe in the resulting quicksand); looked into the future and retroactively stocked moonshine; restrained by algae fibres at the hot springs; teamed with Doctor Webb to destroy the final algae; "I loved that shoe" |
| Session 5 | Whispered to Alfie during the Bart persuasion — made Bart suspicious; soaked in hot springs; revealed he is a time traveller from 100 years ago who used to teach history; used broken matchstick divination for +3 forward (now +2 remaining); foresees Hatchetts arriving from the West; knows something helpful but won't say what; did not introduce himself to Earl |
| Session 6 | Got Retta and Merv talking over whiskey; successfully deflected Earl question; stepped between Alfie and Retta — punched in the face by Retta; now Unstable; called upstairs by Ms March to examine Merv's eyes; attempted to dispel Merv's memory block (failed); learned Merv is not under a spell or curse — something else; side effect of magic: Merv is now sympathetic to the party |
| Session 7 | Tried to collect blood from Merv for a spell — Merv wasn't bleeding enough; witnessed Merv go slack then be shot by Max; cycled options (howler / chalk / sword / Colt) — chose the Colt; burned Luck to shoot Max through the throat (double harm); burned a second Luck point to dive off the balcony and survive the return fire; landed in bar with the team; healed self with blood magic (snorted blood circle off floor); investigated Max and hired hand's brains with Alfie; made contact with presence — "EVERYWHERE" |
| Session 8 | (Downtime) healed; messaged the Order about the brain entity — learned it is The Hollowed Ones (infection, "stage one") and was ordered to stand down as a warden is sent. (Market) "Not one of us believes in magic, not one"; "I love a cure"; loudly asked H.G. about penis enlargement; refused to drink the tonic until Doctor Webb checked it (−1 until he found a drink); distracted H.G. so Ms March could look in the waggon; quenched his thirst and hunted for clues with Alfie; lured toward the back of the waggon by H.G. with a free sample |
| Session 9 | Theorised the "stand down" order is a Hollowed Ones forgery; failed to stab Farmswatter (hit the door, blamed a spider); won Ms March's whiskey with a verbal yes and doused the mother cactus to strip its armour; cast a whiskey sphere of magical moisture at it (openly, in front of Ms March); fired her repeater like a musket for a clean hit; healed Ms March with a blood-and-chalk paste; lost his Order ring in the vat unnoticed; drove the waggon and Farmswatter's body to Ms March's tent for a week's study |
| Session 10 | (Downtime) worked out he can reanimate a corpse from its memories; magically removed Richie Durgin's desire for children with a powder blown in his face during a night-time teleport raid — Richie woke and yelled to the family; the Order sent congratulations. (Thursday) Woken by warden Jacob Johnston's sword at his throat, then handed a team from 1983; argued his recall is due "eventually"; admitted 'I know I'm a lot'; punched by Ms March for proposing to resurrect Earl; led the ritual that reanimated H.G. Farmswatter and got the grove's location; asked the 1983 contingent if racism still exists; sped past the Durgins' without explaining; shot by Ms March in the springs and held under the water, then teleported them both away — and missed |
| Session 11 | Landed in total darkness nude but for his pocket watch — the only item on him, and the thing that teleports him; stepped away from Ms March to be harder to shoot; failed to resist the hum and took −1 ongoing; told Ms March he had turned Jacob down and would leave Hole if she asked; laid out his philosophy that you should assume you know nothing; has never seen a god or devil but has seen a wolf with too many fucking knees; lost control of his body to the hum, walked deeper into the cave and tried to force a shoulder into a narrow crevice (Duncan burned a Luck point on Act Under Pressure); broke free when the hum began to sound wrong; memories of it are hazy; called upon the fates to return them to the springs (second Luck point burned to guarantee the destination); made Darla second in command against the Order's hierarchy; collapsed and had to be carried; recounted the ordeal but omitted the private conversation; revealed Hole is his first ever mission; cut himself with his own sword clearing sand at the grove and was shot with spines by three tiny cacti; picked up the mining village toddler |
Quotes
"I'm going to make it our business."
— Session 1
"So are you taking bets on this or what?"
— Session 1
"Well, first of all, it's fun…"
— Session 1, responding to Ms March asking why they chase ghosts
"March! Where's the powder? Where do I put the bullets?"
— Session 2, attempting to fire Ms March's repeating rifle
"These bullets are a lot pointier than I'm used to."
— Session 2
"Hello everyone! I'm very trustworthy."
— Session 2, entering the Durgin house
"See that… that is actual magic!"
— Session 2, after trapping a howler in a rune circle; Ms March had already looked away
"See, this is what I said! Proof!"
— Session 2, after making the final howler vomit blood; Ms March immediately shot the body in each wound and walked away
"I loved that shoe."
— Session 4, after losing it in the quicksand
"We tried it on a monkey once. Died."
— Session 4, producing the moonshine
"No. That's one of my problems actually."
— Session 4, when Ms March asked if he understands cause and effect
"More like trying to inject some lead."
— Session 4, after Ms March claimed she was trying to inject levity
"IT'S VERY PRETTY HERE. VERY RELAXING."
— Session 5, calling across the hot springs to Ms March
"I do know something helpful, but I can't tell you what it is."
— Session 5
"Alright, fine. I'll relax quietly."
— Session 5
"Not one of us believes in magic, not one."
— Session 8, meeting Doctor Webb's family
"Well, I've got good news for you. I love a cure."
— Session 8
"What if we want to make our penises bigger?"
— Session 8, yelled out to H.G. Farmswatter
"I'm used to spiders being awfully dangerous where I'm from."
— Session 9, covering for missing a stab at Farmswatter and hitting the door
"You saw that one, right?"
— Session 9, after casting a whiskey sphere in plain sight of Ms March
"If we're keeping a specimen, we're taking the baby. Kill the mama."
— Session 9
"Everyone I knew is one hundred years dead. The only thing I want to do is figure out why the fuck I'm here."
— Session 9
"I know I'm a lot."
— Session 10, to the team; Ms March choked on her pancakes
"What may I do for you, Ms March?"
— Session 10, naked and weaponless in the hot springs with Sunday Morning against his head
"They only put me somewhere something is wrong and I try to fix it."
— Session 10, on the Order, when Ms March asked if he was straight from Hell
"Okay, the thing has definitely got into my head. We've got to get out of here."
— Session 11, yelling to Ms March after breaking free of the hum
(Reported, not verbatim) — he has never seen a god or devil so cannot comment on whether they exist. He has however seen a wolf with too many fucking knees.
— Session 11, in the dark; Ms March said listing the various fucked up shit they have seen together was not helping his case