Bloody House on the Prairie?

Looking for Turnips?

General Summary

From the apex of the slopes at the end of the last session, Coin and Gnoll could see across a valley to the west to a small cabin that showed signs of being occupied. They followed the overgrown trail with little difficulty, pausing to tend to their wounds from the incident in the ruined house.
As they got closer to the cabin, they woke up some chickens. They also noted a trail of blood outside the slightly open door, which raised the question: was that a trail leading in or out? The chickens seemed like plain, normal farm fowl, so they bravely moved to the cabin. This time, Gnoll knocked first and called out an inquiry before swinging the door open to reveal more blood on the floor and a body face down on the bed inside.
The half-elf they found turned out to be alive, but heavily wounded. Coin healed him and he regained consciousness, jolting awake and calling out "Nawk!" (Or possibly "knock?" I mean, there were clearly strangers in the cabin with him, right?) He seemed a little dazed and confused, identified himself as Hanny, and claimed to have been attacked while out searching for turnips. His story didn't really seem to hold up to investigation, though, seeming to be inconsistent and missing important details. He was concerned about something left on his donkey, Zoh, but was cagey about details. Further questioning just made him more agitated until suddenly he made a roll off the bed, quite impressive for someone so recently wounded, drew a punch dagger from somewhere and tried to stab Coin.
A short fight ensued, with Hanny trying his best to puncture whoever was closer and the party trying to protect themselves, but reluctant to kill this crazy man. Both Coin and Gnoll tried diplomacy, but couldn't get through to him. A disarm attempt didn't quite make it, nor did a trip or an intimidate. Hanny scored a hit or two on Coin, causing Gnoll to cry out "Don't touch my tree lady!" Eventually, seeing little alternative, Coin stabbed him with a dagger, wounding him enough to push him back to unconsciousness.
In a very Chaotic Neutral way, the party left Hanny tied up and unconscious and left to follow the blood trail to investigate farther. They found the big outcropping where he claimed to have been attacked, but could see no evidence of an attack and even less evidence of turnips. As they got closer to the seam with Torn Lofte, they heard a donkey bray and Zoh trotted over to them, evidently glad to see people. They also found more blood and a dead halfling on the ground near the bottom of a ladder against the cliff at the seam.
Checking the body, they found wounds in the back like you'd expect from a punch dagger. They also found footprints on the ground that seem to indicate there were three beings present during a scuffle, but one seemingly disappeared in mid-stride. (Probably a summoned creature of some sort.)
Returning to the cabin, they secured Zoh in the little barn, making sure he had food and water, then remembering to remove his saddlebags and harness before leaving him there. In removing the saddlebags, they found a minor bag of holding containing an assortment of scrap metal, some only chunks, some from scrapped tools, but nothing seeming particularly valuable.
As they were preparing to leave the area and head back to the rail tunnel, they heard crying and mournful wailing from inside the cabin. Going back inside they found a distraught Hanny, still tied up on the bed, but seemingly more coherent, at least initially. In the conversation that followed, he slammed back and forth from despair over having killed Nawk, who turned out to be his husband, to claiming that he lived alone in the cabin, to ranting maniacly about something called a Copper God, with claims that he had been chosen to serve, and that the Copper God would rule over all in the end. Eventually he wound down to crying into his pillow and the party left him tied up, intending to return to report the events to Rithan and get some help with / for Hanny.
Of course once they got close to the tunnel site, Rithan came running out yelling at them "Get in the cart, we're leaving right now," as she turned back and fired her crossbow down the tunnel. Nezi ran out after her, down the ramps, carrying a bundle of his research samples. With no time to inquire about the situation, Coin and Gnoll jumped into the cart, calling for Nan to join them.
Next time we'll pick up at the start of fleeing whatever's coming out of the tunnel that's got Rithan and Nezi so worried. What's the worst that could happen?

Rewards Granted

Minor bag of holding containing 50 lbs. of scrap metal

Character(s) interacted with

Rithan  Nezi Hanny Tikel (deranged half-elf in the cabin) Nawk (at least his dead body) Zoh (a very nice donkey) A flock of chickens

Notes

I love the roleplaying in this session. The players have been roleplaying since the beginning, of course, but it was clear that they're starting to really get a feel for their characters!

World Date
10 Mat 282 SR

Report Date

13 Feb 2021

Primary Location

Scrimpt

"Hanny? Do you need a cookie?" - Gnoll the Gnome.