Back to the main campaign, and Cody’s Faith is seen in blood red reality; Live by the gun, die by the gun.

The group gathered at the Homestead Inn to discuss Mungo Lachlan. Cody was under pressure to settle a debt and believed killing Mungo would clear it. Webster and Winter, the bounty hunters currently searching for Mungo, wanted him alive.

After listening to the discussion, Winston carefully revealed that he believed Mungo was staying in Room 7 of his inn.

A plan was quickly devised. Several members of the group would stage a conversation outside the room, claiming that a Deputy was about to break in. The intention was to panic Mungo into leaving. Meanwhile, two others would wait on the veranda and intercept him as he fled out of the window. They would then take him somewhere secluded and, gulp, kill him.

Before the plan could be put into action, Webster and Winter arrived at the inn. They questioned Winston about Mungo's whereabouts. Winston claimed to know nothing. Webster appeared unconvinced but remained polite. Burton Winter was in no way polite and suggested searching the premises, but Webster advised against it, and the pair eventually left.

Later that evening, after closing time, Isaac, the barman, approached Winston. Isaac suspected that the mysterious guest in Room 7 was the man everyone was looking for and suggested they work together and share any reward money. Winston denied that Mungo was staying there, but Isaac clearly did not believe him. Concerned that Isaac might interfere, Winston drew a pistol, tied him up, and locked him in the cellar. Hog tied!

With Isaac out of the way, the group's plan proceeded without difficulty. They successfully lured Mungo from his room, captured him, and searched his belongings. Among his possessions, they found a collection of coded papers, but headed up with the New Mexico Mercantile Corporation logo and address.

They then took Mungo to the edge of town near a farm. Realising his situation, Mungo desperately tried to bargain for his life. He claimed to possess valuable information about Clarence King and his intentions for the town. According to Mungo, King had plans for the Homestead Inn and wanted control of the entire property. Mungo insisted he knew far more and could prove it if given the chance; it was all in the coded papers, but only he could decipher them.

Cody considered, paused for a second, eyed Mungo with cold, hard eyes and then shot him dead.

The others departed, leaving Cody to deal with the aftermath. Shortly afterwards, several local farmers arrived to investigate the gunshot. Cody showed them Mungo's body and claimed he had caught a cattle rustler. Satisfied with the explanation, the farmers left him to it. Cody then transported the body back to the Sheriff's office.

Meanwhile, Winston remained at the inn. Before long, Webster and Winter returned. This time, they were far more direct. They pressured Winston into showing them Room 7. Finding it empty, they became visibly frustrated. They left angry and suspicious, but without any clear understanding of what had happened.

At the Sheriff's office, Cody's encounter with the bounty hunters was considerably less cordial. Webster and Winter were furious that Mungo had been killed. They demanded to know what had happened and were particularly interested in the papers recovered from him. However, the coded documents were nowhere to be found.

Although they were not entirely convinced by Cody's explanation, they could not prove otherwise. After conducting a brief search of the Sheriff's barn and finding nothing, they abandoned the investigation.

Concluding that Mungo was dead and the trail had gone cold, Webster and Winter left town to report the news to Clarence King in Santa Fe.

Meanwhile, Winston, Cody, Dutch and Diago poured over the coded papers, drawing a blank. They considered handing them over to Danny; he or his estranged sister might have the smarts to figure it out.

TTRPG Thoughts:

Another Docity roll failed, so Cody shot Mungo! A loss of one point of Doubts, but I wonder if this should have more impact. Cody was desperate, the debt having been hanging over him for a long time, but is he a killer? I’ll discuss with the player.

This is a great example of a group of players avoiding the happy path in a scenario and going off piste. I enjoy these moments, it has actually opened up some interesting new opportunities for me as a GM to present new challenges for them, as we move into the penultimate scenario.

To be fair, the whole group rolled like demons; their plan, well considered, succeeded at every point, so fair enough to give them the benefits of this - it was high risk, with big consequences.