Session 4 — Mystery 2, Part 2

Session Info
Session # 4
Date Played 3rd May 2026
In-Game Date —
Mystery Mystery 2

What Happened

Back in the Cornfield

The spores from the first collapsed mound have dissipated, but the gang still carry a shimmer in their hair and skin. They move away from the second mound's aura and brush dust off each other. Alfie doubles up his bandanas. Ms March is the centre of the spoke — each of the other hunters tied to her; or, if you prefer another metaphor, she looks like a dogwalker and the others are her waggy-tailed charges.

When they re-enter the aura of the second mound, Alfie and Cuthbert feel a muted sound quality, their vision fading in and out — but they resist. Ms March and Doctor Webb are not so fortunate. Both go glassy-eyed.

Ms March sees a vision of her brother in the field. His neck is snapped, his mouth wide, his expression frozen in terror. She yells "Augie!", cuts her rope with Alfie, and runs toward him.

KATE: Jokes aside, Ms March, you take one Harm.

Doctor Webb stands where he is — but he is now surrounded by every single patient he tried to save. He mutters quietly, repeatedly: "I'm sorry."

DOCTOR WEBB: Should have known better. Could know better. Would know now.

Alfie follows Ms March and restrains her. He tries to talk her down.

ALFIE: It's not real. It's not real. I saw my father and he's dead.

He lightly slaps her. She temporarily confuses him with her brother — "Augie, what has gotten into you?" — but she does believe his words, and drops to her knees. Alfie reties himself to her.

ALFIE, to Cuthbert: It's happening to them.

MS MARCH: Did you see which way he went? [pause] No. No. I don't want… a plant to be the boss of me.

Meanwhile, Cuthbert approaches Doctor Webb:

CUTHBERT: Could I convince you it's just corn?
DOCTOR WEBB: Even if that's true, they're still dead and it's probably my fault.

Cuthbert suggests they rejoin the others. Doctor Webb looks in that direction and sees several of his failed patients. Cuthbert beheads some of the diseased corn, dispelling the illusion. The two make their way back.

The Spores Come Back Around

No sooner are the gang reunited than the spores find Alfie and Ms March in turn.

Alfie looks at the real Ms March and sees a doppelganger — a fleshy featureless mask where her face should be. A few feet away, an illusion of her seems, to him, entirely real. He points his machete at the real Ms March and begins backing away, dragging her.

Ms March, for her part, believes she is being held at knifepoint by her brother. He looks different this time — his neck is intact, his face as it was before the bad times. She is so relieved to see him that she walks toward him with open arms.

BRENDAN, gleefully: Are you two still tied together?

They are.

Doctor Webb cuts through both hallucinations with a single observation: the person standing in front of each of them is real — Alfie is in front of Ms March, Ms March is in front of Alfie. The logic is enough to pull them both back. Ms March realises she is not reunited with her brother.

She is in pain. She had felt the hope of a reunion she thought would never happen.

Ms March kneels for a while, looking sad, not quite ready to let go. Alfie kneels beside her; the rope hangs taut between them. He drops his machete arm and sits quietly. Doctor Webb joins them on the ground.

Cuthbert Takes the Second Mound

Cuthbert wipes tears from both Alfie and Ms March — material for magic. He casts. The second mound collapses from the roots up, crumbling into gooey sludge. The spores begin to dissipate.

The moistened ground, however, becomes quicksand. Cuthbert is trapped.

The gang experience residual flashes of the hallucinogenic effect as the spores clear. Ms March pulls her bandana down to inhale the last of them — she wants to see her brother one more time.

ALFIE: What are you doing? It's over, it's over!

She experiences brief flashes of Augie's face and voice as Alfie talks. Doctor Webb, remembering how the whiskey cleared Bart's eyes at the saloon, produces a hip flask and gives everyone a swig. The moisture from the alcohol dissipates the remaining spores from their faces.

Cuthbert throws his rope out. The others pull him free — but he loses a shoe to the sloppy ground.

KATE: That's the glitch of your magic.
CUTHBERT: I loved that shoe.

The ground is turning to sludge. They need to leave now.

What's Coming Out of the Creek

As they emerge from the Northern entrance of the cornfield, Ms March spots something. The red mass on the corn is receding — but the source of the effect is coming from outside the field. The fibrous mass has gone from red to black. It is spreading quickly across the ground, like something alive. A trail of it leads away across the field, emerging from a creek.

The fibres are thin on the corn, but grow thicker — as thick as shoelaces — the closer you get to the water.

CUTHBERT: Should we get more alcohol?
MS MARCH: Finally someone's talking sense.

MS MARCH: Do you understand cause and effect?
CUTHBERT: No. That's one of my problems actually.

Doctor Webb pours alcohol on the fibrous trail. It hisses and turns to ash.

Bart's Farmhouse — The Truth

The gang circle round and reach Bart's farmhouse. Bart looks eager when he sees them arrive.

Doctor Webb volunteers immediately to break the news — to the visible relief of the others. He explains: Bart's family were illusions, a hallucinogenic effect. The gang all saw the dead too. None of them saw the same people.

MS MARCH: They were never there. We were tricked like damned fools. By fuckin' cabbages.

Bart is devastated — he wished so hard.

Alfie tries to console him but fails, convincing Bart only that Alfie is the crazy one. Bart runs inside and returns with a rusty pitchfork, demanding everyone off his property.

Ms March, with Cuthbert's support, points Bart in the direction of the spores still drifting near the field.

MS MARCH: Hurry. You might miss them.
BART: Alright, I'll rescue them myself.

Bart runs off.

ALFIE, once Bart has gone: That's mean.
NAT: I go inside for alcohol.

The gang finds rum and brandy in Bart's farmhouse.

To Those Loved and Lost

Doctor Webb is asked who he saw in the field. He pulls a little black book from his bag — a list of every single patient he has failed to save. He keeps it as a reminder to be better; to never forget them. These were the faces he saw.

Alfie hopes Doctor Webb keeps a counterpart record, or this path could turn dark. Doctor Webb confirms he keeps a record of successes too — it is at his tent.

Ms March shares that she saw her little brother, August — Augie. Alfie saw his dad. What about Cuthbert?

CUTHBERT: Nah, I was fine.

They raise a toast: "to those loved and lost."

Ms March reminds Doctor Webb there is a name in his little black book that both of them wish was still alive. Doctor Webb says nothing. Cuthbert asks who — Ms March cocks Sunday Morning, and everyone drops the subject.

To the Crick

ALFIE: To the crick!
SEAN: I immediately fall over.

Ms March starts to say "you watch yourself, Augie" — then catches herself.

The gang makes flaming torches from the corn, takes the rum, and follows the snakelike fibrous trail toward the creek. Doctor Webb pours alcohol along the trail as they go; it hisses and ashes behind them.

Alfie asks Cuthbert whether he has ever performed an exorcism. Cuthbert says exorcisms are not the sort of thing the Order does. Ms March makes a mental note to ask Alfie about that later.

MS MARCH: Hatpins can be a useful thing.
ALFIE, wryly: If only I had a hat…

The fibres combined with the corn to create something new — moving. If you attack them, they will attack back.

MS MARCH, after threatening Cuthbert with a gun when he suggests she had been crying: I'm trying to inject some levity.
CUTHBERT: More like trying to inject some lead.
MS MARCH: Can I use that?
CUTHBERT: Sure.

Tactics Near the Hot Springs

At the edge of the hot springs, the gang discuss how to handle what's ahead. Doctor Webb asks Alfie whether he can repeat the trick that smashed the Durgins' windows. Alfie claims he didn't consciously do it — he thought the howlers did it.

Cuthbert looks into the future and retroactively learns to stock a bottle of moonshine. He produces it now, warning them it is unfit for human consumption.

CUTHBERT: We tried it on a monkey once. Died.
CUTHBERT: I'm still coming into my own powers. Don't worry about it, Ms March.

Alfie and Ms March tie alcohol-soaked rags to their knives. Ms March rigs a device to soak her bullets in alcohol as they emerge from the barrel. Doctor Webb and Cuthbert untether from Ms March.

MS MARCH: Gentlemen, should we tread recklessly?

She belatedly realises the gang should have soaked their boots in alcohol too. They've committed now.

The Hot Springs — Six Algae Bushes

The fibres are thickest at the hot springs. Some are as thick as an arm. Most of the holes in the springs are clogged. Several algae bushes grow in the pools.

MS MARCH: Goddammit, this is the one relaxing place in this shithole and now I can't do my skinny dipping.

NAT: Would you say the floor is lava?
KATE: I would say the floor is lava.

CUTHBERT, choosing to give Alfie a +1 forward instead of Ms March: You're going to be fine, you're not going to die. Alfie, take this.
MS MARCH: Alfie, if you're in trouble, you get out of here.

Alfie and Ms March are still tied together — both savvy enough to cut loose if it comes to it.

First algae: Ms March destroys it with a single bullet. Its tendrils snake back toward her — she is restrained and pulled to the ground, dropping her alcohol topper.

Second algae: Alfie chops the tendril restraining Ms March, frees her, and kills a second algae. White mucusy sap lands on his hand — it creeps up his skin and burns through the flesh. He is rendered Unstable, taking 2 Harm. He can see the muscles and tendons on his injured hand.

Third algae: Doctor Webb stabs it with his poisoned scalpel while Cuthbert pours moonshine on it. It is destroyed — but as it goes, it wraps around Doctor Webb's neck and drags him down into the hot springs. Cuthbert pours more moonshine into the pool; Doctor Webb is freed.

KATE: You are freed, Doctor Webb, but you are in hot water.
BRENDAN: Figuratively and literally.

Alfie screams as the sap burns him. Ms March pours alcohol on his hand — but is sprayed in the face herself. The sap is sticky; if not removed, it will burn through flesh. Ms March dips her face in the spring water. It doesn't work.

Fourth algae: Alfie deploys Dire Circumstances — the same move he first used unconsciously at the Durgins' in Session 2, when it shattered the windows inward. This time with intent. His voice rises to a crescendo — a sound like the THX logo — and a burst of energy emerges from his mouth, setting the fourth algae alight. A simple monotone voice in his head says: "that's it." Ms March, face-down in the water, misses the whole thing.

Fifth algae: Cuthbert moves to attack, but the fibres beneath his feet wrap around his leg and restrain him. Sap sprays at Doctor Webb — acid-hot on his clothes and flesh. Ms March hauls herself out of the water and stabs the fifth algae, destroying it — though the sap corrodes her knife in the process.

Sixth algae (final): Alfie deploys Dire Circumstances a third time. More controlled now — he produces a sudden burst of silvery flame. The voice in his head says: "very good." Cuthbert and Doctor Webb team up on the final algae, pouring moonshine on it; terrible harm, and it is destroyed.

All six algae bushes have been destroyed. Mystery 2 is resolved.

Aftermath

Alfie passes out from pain and effort. Ms March calls for Doctor Webb — but he is already running.

Doctor Webb stabilises Alfie and heals his 2 Harm using magic balm. Ms March pours moonshine over her face; the sap dissolves.

The gang calls out for Bart. Clunking footsteps. He emerges from the dark, tears streaming down his face.

BART: I couldn't find them.

He notices the moonshine.

BART: Is that moonshine?
ALFIE & DOCTOR WEBB: (after a beat) Nooo…

The Mystery

Threat

What was it? A living organism — the red algae — spreading through air via spores and iridescent dust, and through ground via fibrous red algae. It deformed the corn at Fletchley Farm, produced hallucinogenic dust that showed visions of the viewer's dead, and grew into mobile algae bushes in the hot springs that could restrain victims and spray corrosive white mucusy sap. Its source was a creek near the hot springs. Bart's visions of his dead family and his physical deterioration were both caused by years of exposure to the dust.

How was it stopped? Cuthbert's magic collapsed both cornfield mounds. The fibrous trail to the creek was burned with alcohol. All six algae bushes at the hot springs were destroyed by the gang — Alfie using Dire Circumstances twice (voice burst and silvery flame), Ms March with alcohol-soaked bullets, Doctor Webb with a poisoned scalpel and moonshine, Cuthbert with moonshine. Alcohol proved the most effective weapon throughout.

Clues Found

Outcome

Resolved. Both mounds collapsed; all algae destroyed. Bart's family were not there — but the truth offered him no comfort.

Key NPCs This Session

Name Role What Happened
Bart Fletchley Homesteader, widower Given the truth about his family's illusions; refused to believe Alfie; retrieved his pitchfork; directed toward the spores by Ms March; returned tearfully to find the gang, the moonshine, and his family gone

Loose Threads

Moves & Highlights

XP & Advances

Notes

Memorable quotes:

ALFIE, to Cuthbert: It's happening to them.

KATE: Jokes aside, Ms March, you take one Harm.

DOCTOR WEBB, muttering: Should have known better. Could know better. Would know now.

MS MARCH: Did you see which way he went?
MS MARCH: No. No. I don't want… a plant to be the boss of me.

CUTHBERT, to Doctor Webb: Could I convince you it's just corn?
DOCTOR WEBB: Even if that's true, they're still dead and it's probably my fault.

ALFIE: It's not real. It's not real. I saw my father and he's dead.

MS MARCH: They were never there. We were tricked like damned fools. By fuckin' cabbages.

MS MARCH: Hurry. You might miss them.
BART: Alright, I'll rescue them myself.

ALFIE, once Bart has gone: That's mean.
NAT: I go inside for alcohol.

CUTHBERT: I loved that shoe.

CUTHBERT: Should we get more alcohol?
MS MARCH: Finally someone's talking sense.

MS MARCH: Do you understand cause and effect?
CUTHBERT: No. That's one of my problems actually.

MS MARCH: Goddammit, this is the one relaxing place in this shithole and now I can't do my skinny dipping.

NAT: Would you say the floor is lava?
KATE: I would say the floor is lava.

CUTHBERT: We tried it on a monkey once. Died.

CUTHBERT: I'm still coming into my own powers. Don't worry about it, Ms March.

MS MARCH: I'm trying to inject some levity.
CUTHBERT: More like trying to inject some lead.
MS MARCH: Can I use that?
CUTHBERT: Sure.

MS MARCH: Hatpins can be a useful thing.
ALFIE: If only I had a hat…

ALFIE: To the crick!
SEAN: I immediately fall over.

KATE: You are freed, Doctor Webb, but you are in hot water.
BRENDAN: Figuratively and literally.

BART: I couldn't find them.

BART: Is that moonshine?
ALFIE & DOCTOR WEBB: (after a beat) Nooo…

Other notes:

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