Violence abounds. Let's dig in.
Last time, our intrepid SAVE envoys did some digging into the disappearance of former envoy Vince Jessup, recently released from prison for murders he evidently committed under influence of the Unknown. The envoys' investigation led them to his former cellmate, Franklin Wray, who had been in prison for killing a man named Timothy Fossly. Fossly's uncle, Gregory, had a piece of land out in rural Oregon, and Jessup had apparently said something about going to Oregon, so the envoys decided to drop in on that property to see if Fossly still lived there. It was, as they say, a long shot.
Mohammed, Beth Anne, Jordan, and Blake (joining them after getting done with work) head out to Oregon. Jennifer, remember, had decided to stay behind and act as a point of contact, and BB got hung up visiting his own PO (his player wasn't feeling well). The envoys drive for a goodly portion of the day, and get to the property just as the sun is setting.
The property consists of three buildings - a two-story house, a barn, and a garage. The envoys pull down the badly-maintained gravel drive and survey the area. It's snowing, and it's quiet and still. They decide that Mohammed and Beth Anne will go up and knock; no need to get everyone involved.
They walk up and knock. In the quiet, Beth Anne hears a noise from the basement, a kind of mechanical "crunch" sound. It sounds familiar, but she isn't sure why. An old man answers the door. He's careful at first, but then lets them in and introduces himself as Jack Gordon. Mohammed asks his connection to Greg Fossly; Gordon says Fossly died, he thinks, but he bought this place a couple of years back, through a realtor. Mohammed Senses the Unknown and gets a strong feeling - there's a creature of the Unknown present. He doesn't know if it's Gordon, though.
Mohammed, wishing as always to be the best interrogator he can be, uses Telepathic Empathy on the man, and his breath catches in his throat. Gordon may or may not be a creature of the Unknown, but he wants Beth Anne and Mohammed to suffer and die. He doesn't even want it in an angry way, he wants it in a more visceral, basic-need sort of way. Mohammed, realizing that the characters are a little out of their depth here, thanks Gordon for his time and starts heading back.
He gets in the car and relays this information to the others, but as they're reversing, there's a sickening noise from under the car and it lurches and stalls. Jordan and Blake get out, and see Gordon walking toward them. The envoys grab pistols, just to be on the safe side, but Gordon is all concern when he approaches. Jordan looks under the car, and sees that the axel is completely bent. There's nothing in the driveway that could have done that; that's the work of the Unknown.
Gordon helpfully offers for the envoys to come inside and use the phone. They agree, but keep wary. Mohammed distracts Gordon by talking to him, listening to his stories about being in the Marines in WWII, and comes to the conclusion that these stories are probably true, but not Gordon's - he's telling someone else's life. Mohammed has dealt with inhuman people before, but never someone so truly devoid of emotion or empathy. Gordon reads like a serial killer.
The others look around. On his way in, Blake peeks in the window of the garage, and sees vehicles - one large enough to be a tractor - but not in much detail. He checks the kitchen (where the phone is), and calls AAA. They take a while even figuring out where the envoys are, and then tell Blake it'll be hours before anyone can get out there. He thanks them, silently hoping he'll live that long.
Beth Anne finds a door leading down to the basement. On the inside of the door is a list of initials - some are just ??. The last one on the list is VJ. Two up from that is GF, and a bunch up from that is TF. A victim's list? She photographs it and shows it to Jordan.
Jordan, meanwhile, searches the kitchen and finds a pistol strapped under a cabinet. She takes it, despite not knowing much about firearms - at least if she has it, Gordon doesn't. She also finds a blossom, resembling a thistle, but with an odd scent. She shows it to Beth Anne, who identifies the odor - blood. This isn't a natural plant.
Beth Anne, Blake, and Jordan sneak downstairs and find a workbench, with apparatus for filling shotgun shells (which was that "crunch" that Beth Anne heard earlier; she's a farm girl, she knows how to make ammo). There's also a wall dedicated to hammers - claw hammers, sledge hammers, all kinds.
Upstairs, Mohammed mentions that maybe they should find his friends. "Let's," says Gordon, and focuses on him.
Mohammed falls to the ground, writing in pain. The damage isn't much, but it feels like his ribs, damaged in the last case, are breaking all over again. The others hear him cry out and come running, but Gordon is gone, and the front door is open.
Jordan goes to the door to peer out, and hears a small "crack" from out in the dark. A puff of blood emerges from her back, and she collapses, shot. The others drag her in and help her get steady, and then realize she's pretty badly hurt. She's OK for now, but she needs medical attention. The phone rings, and Mohammed answers - it's AAA for Blake. He puts Blake on, and the woman tells him that it might be morning before a truck can get out there. She can call emergency services for him if he needs that. Blake, figuring that sending an ambulance here is going to get people killed, declines, but gets the number to the nearest hospital (it's two hours away, of course).
The envoys search the house, and find more firearms, but no evidence of dead bodies or anything Unknown. Beth Anne leaves her body and goes out to the garage, and finds a truck (the keys to which Blake found earlier), and a tractor (which clearly doesn't run). She then goes to the barn, and finds its interior is completely overgrown with those weird thistles. They all seem to grow from a couple of patches near the back of the barn. She walks around the outside of the barn and finds a man standing there staring at the house. He turns to look at her, and she realizes he's hollowed out, full of vines, and his eyes are two of those thistle blossoms. He "looks" at her for a moment, then turns to stare at the house.
She walks around back, and finds Gordon hiding, holding a shotgun, watching the back door. He doesn't seem to notice her, but of course she can't do anything to interact with him.
Beth Anne returns to her body and reports the situation. The envoys decide that waiting is a bad idea - sooner or later Gordon will attack. As if to underline the point, the lights go out, as does the heat.
They know where Gordon is now. They decide to hit the garage and burn the obviously-Unknown plants. They figure Blake and Jordan will head out there, and Jordan will use her Line of Defense power to ward the barn - maybe that'll kill the plants outright, maybe not, but it's a start. Mohammed and Beth Anne will watch from the front door, since Gordon will probably come around from the back.
Jordan and Blake head out, and the man that Beth Anne saw tackles them. Jordan draws a circle around it, but gets Blake in there, too, so the creature claws at him, but can't quite gain purchase. He turns a sawed-off shotgun he found on the thing and fires, but it keeps moving.
Meanwhile, there's a thump from above Mohammed and Beth Anne. Mohammed figures that Gordon is on the roof, and runs up. Beth Anne, for her part, succumbs to her Drive ("to be free") and runs to the garage to get the truck working.
Mohammed finds the upstairs window leading to the roof in time to see Gordon fire a rifle (this hits Blake in the shoulder, but of course Mohammed can't see that). He fires at Gordon, but misses, and Gordon points at him and picks him up without touching him, flinging him out the window and into the snow. Mohammed lands well, taking minimal damage, and fires back blindly, but of course he can't see enough to aim.
Gordon shoots Blake again, and Blake panics, bashing the creature repeatedly with a hammer. Jordon, meanwhile, gets into the barn, draws a ward on the wall, and watches as the plants wiggle, trying to get away from it.
And then she just sprays paint thinner around and burns it.
The plant-zombie crumbles, and Blake tries to stand. Gordon fires again, dropping Mohammed, and Beth Anne gets the car rolling and pulls up to them. Blake helps the others into the truck, and they take off, bleeding, injured, into the night.
They make it the two hours to the hospital and claim that they broke down while driving through Oregon and this old guy started shooting, but they (that is, Beth Anne; everyone else is in treatment) don't give the police enough detail to find the place, they hope. They also call the ranch. They need reinforcements. They're going back.
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