Session 2 — Mystery 1, Part 2

Session Info
Session # 2
Date Played 12th April 2026
In-Game Date
Mystery Mystery 1 — The Howlers

What Happened

The session resumes exactly where the last left off: the gang stranded outside the Durgin Homestead, guns trained on them from inside, Luke colt drawn, after Ms March accidentally asked about his butt. Alfie attempts to dive behind March's horse Dewey for cover ("Dewey, save me!") — Dewey responds by pooping on him and kicking him. Richie calls from inside that the next shot won't miss.

Dr Webb works to calm Luke, reassuring him the gang means no harm. Cuthbert asks whether the Durgins' original offer still stands — come inside, no weapons — and he and Doctor Webb lay theirs down. Luke makes clear he is counting: twenty-seven weapons between them. Alfie, still sheltering behind Dewey while waving his guitar, asks whether the guitar counts.

Cuthbert attempts to cast magic on Luke — a discreet handshake in which he traces runes on Luke's palm with one finger. Luke jumps back, alarmed. Meanwhile, Alfie tries to charm the Durgins into trusting him, fails spectacularly, and is shot through the hand for his trouble. Ms March tosses her Winchester repeater to Cuthbert and heads towards where she thought the shot came from — wrong direction; no one's there. Luke throws Cuthbert's ancient sword to the ground. Cuthbert dives for it, face-first into dirt, and is temporarily blinded.

Alfie, bleeding and running out of options, offers himself as a hostage in exchange for the rest of the party being allowed to leave. Hamish accepts — and drags Alfie inside. He notably leaves his youngest son Richie outside. ("The rest of you can be food for the wolves.") Doctor Webb, maintaining eye contact with Luke the whole time, slowly and visibly picks up his scalpel — and quietly reminds him that as a doctor, he can examine any ailment that might be troubling him. Luke, interested despite himself, kicks Doctor Webb in the face (but with somewhat reduced enthusiasm) and drags him inside in a headlock.

From somewhere on the property: SNAP. A male scream.

Cuthbert, left outside with Ms March's repeater, attempts to shoot Luke in the back — but can't figure out the gun. ("March! Where's the powder? Where do I put the bullets?") Ms March calls it a sign from God that they should try talking again; she asks Luke if they can still take the original offer and go inside without weapons. Luke tells her the time for talking is over, and enters the house with Doctor Webb.

Inside, Alfie and Doctor Webb are each tied to a table. They offer what they have: Doc offers medical assistance, Alfie offers entertainment. The Durgins, it turns out, love She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain. Alfie only knows the first verse. Doctor Webb knows the second ("she'll be riding six white horses"). They sing it in a round. Richie joins in. It is, objectively, a success.

Outside, Ms March gives Cuthbert an ultimatum — find a magical solution while she investigates, or she'll come back and burn the house down. She walks to the front of the homestead and finds Joseph Cranfield caught in one of the Durgins' beartraps. He came armed with his family shotgun, having seen trouble at the house. Ms March frees him from the trap, takes the trap for her inventory, tears a strip from her dress to make a tourniquet for his leg, and drags him back. Meanwhile, Cuthbert precognises a Molotov cocktail into existence — retroactively having prepared one. He suggests using it to drive the Durgins out, or blocking a doorway with a portal.

Inside, Alfie grows increasingly desperate, singing louder and making up lyrics based on whatever he can see. He hopes those outside can hear him. And then — something changes. His voice goes shrill. There is a charge in the air. His facial features shift. All windows pull inwards. An implosion of air. Glass flies into Alfie.

He is now medically Unstable. He also appears to be able to do magic with his voice.

(Sean marks his fifth Experience of the night — eligible to level up later.)

Doctor Webb, working the room, calmly observes that both families believe the other is circling their house at night to keep them awake — which means both cannot be correct. A third party must be responsible. He also points out: if Joseph Cranfield had been outside the Durgin property last night, he would have triggered one of their traps. He didn't — because he just triggered one today. The logic lands. Hamish, more worldly than his sons give him credit for, agrees the Doc "speaks sense." He is willing to make a truce.

Cuthbert is invited inside. He introduces himself as "very trustworthy." He brokers the deal — the Durgins and Joseph will stand watch together against the external threat; everyone agrees it isn't each other. Hamish sends Richie outside to help the others. ("Boys, I didn't ask y'all's opinion.")

Outside, Richie, armed with a revolver and very eager, explains how firearms work to Cuthbert in detail. Cuthbert is genuinely grateful. Dewey is put in the barn. Cuthbert returns the Winchester to Ms March.

Inside, Doctor Webb is untied and sets to work. He discreetly tells Luke he can still look at that rash — Luke says he may seek him out at a later time. Doctor Webb completely heals Joseph. He partially heals Alfie — but the price is his own: he experiences phantom pain and takes Harm on Alfie's behalf.

Based on a study of the stride of the paw prints, Cuthbert realises the creature has unusually long legs — the size of a small human (five and a half feet) but with long, distended limbs. Its weak spot: the knees. Cuthbert experiences a peculiar double memory — he simultaneously recalls writing and reading the howler bestiary entry, as though the moment of precog and the moment of memory are the same moment. Richie helpfully tells the group they're "weak in the knees." Cuthbert makes sure to clarify this phrase does not apply to himself and Ms March.

Hamish, judging Alfie to be no threat whatsoever, unties him and hands him a banjo. Alfie tunes it to guitar tuning. The two groups settle in and wait for dark.

Light falls faster than expected. Ms March chainsmokes through the wait.

Cuthbert hears something along the main road: faint movement, and the voice of a child. "Help me." Could be Artemis. He heads off to intercept the boy before he walks into a trap.

(Duncan marks his fifth Experience of the night — eligible to level up later.)

It is not Artemis.

The Howlers arrive. Coyote-type beasts — but wrong. Long distended legs. Eyes that look in the dark like two pinpoints of silver light. Mouths that are too wide, teeth that go back too far. They have learned to imitate human voices. One pounces on Cuthbert, leaving him in extremely bad shape. Ms March, sprinting towards the noise, runs headlong into a second howler. They both stop, equally surprised. It howls.

Doctor Webb exits the house, finds a matchbox in his magic bag, and sets two large fires in the dry field. The light floods the scene. The howlers recoil.

Three howlers in total. The fight begins.

Richie fires at the one on Cuthbert. Hamish fires at the one near Doctor Webb — who is being circled by a creature making the sound of a crying baby. Doctor Webb is unnerved but not fooled. Cuthbert rolls his Molotov cocktail to Richie with the instruction: "Give it." Ms March fires her handcannon Sunday Morning at her howler. It finds out the hard way that wherever you hit Ms March, you hit her Bible — she's sewn covers into her clothing as armour.

Alfie lights the banjo on fire. ("That's my favourite banjo!" Hamish calls. Alfie is already running.) He charges outside — and hears what sounds, unmistakably, like Cuthbert's voice saying: "G'day mate, that's my leg, that really hurts." He falls for it. The howlers, it turns out, have been watching and listening.

Doctor Webb charges at his howler with his poisoned scalpel. A howler attempts to tear out his throat. He burns his first Luck point and ducks the strike, taking no Harm. A second howler mimics a baby crying — Joseph bolts out of the house with a lantern, calling "Lilybelle! Is that you?" It isn't. Hamish fires at Doctor Webb's howler; with three of four legs now damaged, it appears keen to retreat.

Cuthbert drives his sword point into the earth, drawing runes in a circle around his howler. The spell snaps the creature in place — just long enough for Joseph to shoot at it, just long enough to prevent immediate retaliation. Cuthbert looks to Ms March: "See that — that is actual magic!" By the time she turns around, the spell has already faded. It just looks like someone kicked up some dust.

Ms March fires at Cuthbert's trapped howler. The creature — or perhaps all three of them in unison — throws her own words back at her.

MS MARCH: That's all you got?
HOWLERS: That's all you got?
MS MARCH: I do not sound like that.

MS MARCH: I suck.
(Howlers look at each other)
HOWLERS: I suck. I suck.

After a session of near-unbroken failure rolls, something shifts. Sean, Brendan, and Duncan each roll a 13 on their finishing attacks.

Alfie kills his howler with the flaming banjo. The banjo is destroyed. The howler's silver eyes flash as it dies. It says, in Cuthbert's voice: "ow."

Doctor Webb drives his scalpel into Ms March's howler so hard the leg comes off. One howler remains.

Cuthbert wants this last kill to be unambiguously magical — something Ms March cannot explain away. He uses the Molotov cocktail as a direct source of arcane power. Blood explodes from the last howler's eyes, snout, and throat. It vomits blood. Blood sprays from every wound.

"See, this is what I said! Proof!"

Ms March is silent for a moment. Then she shoots the howler in each spot it was bleeding from. Providing, for the record, a perfectly rational explanation for every injury. Then she walks away.

Doctor Webb heals Cuthbert — but in doing so takes on more phantom pain. He becomes Unstable. Ms March performs first aid and stabilises him.

Cuthbert's pocketwatch vibrates. He finally has a reply from the Order. Their full exchange now reads:

The youngest Durgin must never produce offspring.
Do you want me to cut off his balls or something?
By any means necessary. Top priority.

The Mystery

Threat

What was it? Howlers — supernatural coyote-type beasts with long distended legs, silver pinprick eyes, and a maw that goes back further than it should. They mimic human voices with uncanny accuracy. They had been prowling both homesteads — responsible for the Durgins' slashed pig, the tracks around the Cranfield house, and the whistling heard at night.

How was it stopped? All three howlers were killed by the gang in a night fight outside the Durgin Homestead — with the Durgins and Joseph Cranfield fighting alongside them. Alfie killed one with a flaming banjo. Doctor Webb dismembered another with his poisoned scalpel. Cuthbert executed the third with blood magic using a Molotov cocktail as a power source.

Clues Found

Outcome

Resolved. All three howlers killed.

Key NPCs This Session

Name Role What Happened
Hamish Durgin patriarch Trusted Doctor Webb's reasoning; brokered truce with Joseph; fought alongside the gang
Luke Eldest Durgin son Dragged Doctor Webb inside as a hostage; interested in getting his rash examined; joined the defence
Richie Youngest Durgin son Fought outside with Cuthbert and Ms March; explained guns to Cuthbert; 14 years old
Joseph Cranfield Cranfield patriarch Found in a beartrap outside the Durgin property; fully healed by Doctor Webb; fought alongside the gang

Loose Threads

Moves & Highlights

XP & Advances

Notes

Memorable quotes:

ALFIE, waving his guitar while sheltering behind Dewey: "Does this count as a weapon?"

LUKE: "I can count and I know you all have twenty-seven weapons between you."

HAMISH, taking Alfie inside: "The rest of you can be food for the wolves."
NAT: "Did he leave his son outside??" (He did.)

CUTHBERT: "March! Where's the powder? Where do I put the bullets?"
CUTHBERT: "These bullets are a lot pointier than I'm used to."

MS MARCH: "Cuthbert, is there any weird fucking shit you can do?"

CUTHBERT, entering the house: "Hello everyone! I'm very trustworthy."

CUTHBERT to Richie re guns: "I'm going to need you to explain that one day."

CUTHBERT: "See that… that is actual magic!"
(Ms March turns around after the spell has already faded. It just looks like dust.)

HAMISH: "Boys, I didn't ask y'all's opinion."

HAMISH, to Cuthbert: "You've got a deal, funny man."

JOSEPH: "I'm not so good on my feet so I should be in a place with chairs."

RICHIE to Doctor Webb: "You think you're pretty clever, don't you, Doc? I've got my eyes on you."

HOWLERS: "I suck. I suck."

CUTHBERT: "See, this is what I said! Proof!"
(Ms March silently shoots the howler in every bleeding spot, walks away.)

Other notes:

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