Tulli and Walt miss the fleeing coyote as it disappears into the tall crops. Unless anyone has any further actions, combat is over.

The old man lets loose a string of curses. His arm is still bleeding a little, but his wound, once quite gory, was magically mended to a large degree when he was revived.

Lady Dre and the Proclaimer manage to get the horses under control and stop the wagon, albeit up the road a little way. "Coyotes," replies Lady Dre to Baldar as she climbs out of the wagon and wipes the sweat from her brow. "Yes. The Rattle is full of them. Ruthless."

"Thank you," says the old man to Tuuli with a bit of a drawl. "I'm Polder. Uncle Polder. Those things would eaten me if you hadn't been comin' through just then." He invites you all to water your horses and refresh yourselves, gesturing to his nearby farm.

"Someone should go after the wounded one, it'll attack on sight in that condition." Tuuli approaches the others. "How did you encounter them? Are they naturally this aggressive?"

Walt watches the coyote disappear into the crops before joining his friends. “I don’t like the idea of leaving that beast to suffer. They will be quite dangerous in its current state,” Walt pauses as he considers the options. “But I’m worried about what other beasts lurk in the forest. Especially with Baldar and Bendrak still badly wounded.”

He looks towards his wounded friends.”Baldar. Bendrak. What say you? If you’re up for it, I will do my best to track the beast. If not, perhaps we should rest at Uncle Polder’s farm.”

Bendrak shakes off his wounds and fumbles for his crossbow, but loses sight of the fleeing coyote in the field before he can get a shot off. He puts himself back together and waves toward Walt.

"Catch the thing if you can. I'll keep busy guarding the farm."

Tuuli is waiting to hear from the people (person) who lives here about whether they should pursue, and how the encounter started.

(Combat is over or paused. Anyone may act. Anyone wishing to track the coyote may make a Survival check.)

"There's always trouble in the Rattle," says Uncle Polder. "But I don't think we'll see that one for awhile. But there's plenty more out there. I got lucky today. I was just out pulling weeds when that pack surprised me. Thank you again."

"I've spent many seasons here. Hoping to survive another one. My Pact will watch for that coyote. Please, come into my home! Rest as long as you need." He points forward, where a wood-frame, single-story building with a large porch can be seen further down the road at the end of the field, bounded by trees.

Tuuli will relax, put up her bow, (dig around in the bodies for some of the arrows she launched), and follow Uncle Polder to his house. Lucky comes running up and she flies him up to her arms with a swirl of wind. "How many seasons have you been here?" she asks.

As Tuuli digs some arrows out of the coyotes, Walt will investigate the bodies to see if anything seems amiss. He’ll be looking for signs of disease or poisons and discoloration in the eyes similar to what we found with the afflicted farmers. Once he’s finished checking out the animals he’ll follow everyone to the farm. 

Nature check: [Tooltip Not Found]

Ooc: Something seems to have gone wrong with my roll. Maybe I messed up the syntax. I’m on my cell so I’ll roll in DnD beyond and give the result below. 

Nature check: 19

"Awfully big Coyotes," Baldar says mostly to herself as she hobbles to follow Uncle Polder and the others. "Ye've done well to survive out here as long as ye have if the beasties grow that big. I gets the impression it takes a stout heart to eke out a livin' here in The Rattle." 

Once at the farm, she tries to wash up best she can, then finds a place to settle down with her axe laid over her knees. "I'm gonna need at least an hour or two to rest up and get me wind back, if that's alright."

"Many seasons," responds Uncle Polder, walking to his farmhouse with a pronounced amble. "I've dedicated myself to making this farm work and helping my Pact survive. I understand what it is to survive the Rattle—and what you can leave behind here. I’m all about helping this community."

Walt sees that the coyotes were healthy, with normal eyes and no signs of disease. They have many old scars - these beasts had been in many fights.

Polder brings out some food for the party – stew and biscuits. "You can spend as long as you like here."

He leads the horses to water. In the distance, you can see a handful of other farmhouses in the surrounding area. Uncle Polder’s farmhouse is one of the largest in the group. (Everyone may take a short rest.)

"What brings you out this way?"

Tuuli is excited about the food, and settles in to eat. She answers around a mouth full of biscuit, “Well, we were in Promise, and there were some folks possessed by something that made them attack people, and one was a Mr. Cato, and Aunt Dellie told us he was from here, and also that she was worried for her goddaughter, Kianna, and we said we’d come take a look. This is good!”

Bendrak eagerly thanks his host and eats probably more than he should. "You see any otherwise kind folk with murder suddenly on their mind lately?"

Hit die on short rest: 8

"I know Cato. I know Kianna, too. I know the farm Kianna works at, though it’s part of another pact. It’s not far from here. People in the Rattle mostly stick close to home, so the pacts don’t interact all that much, you see."

He puts on a kettle and begins to brew something aromatic.

"I remember helping Kianna’s pact set up early in the season. I keep an eye out for people who might not be a good fit for life in the Rattle—and Kianna seemed to have things on her mind other than farming. But everyone deserves a good life. I like to help people."

"But I don't know anything about people going mad like this. There’s always trouble in the Rattle, but I can’t recall any unusual problems this season. Just the damned coyotes and other wild beasts. The crops have been good."

He begins to pour from the kettle into mugs and hands them around. It has a bitter scent, smelling of vegetables and herbs.

Walt gladly accepts a cup of tea. He holds the cup up to his nose and inhales deeply before taking a sip. “Thank you for the tea. It reminds me a bit of tea my wife’s mother made from various herbs and mushrooms she foraged.”

Walt listens to Uncle Polder speak as he enjoys his tea. “Could you elaborate on Kianna’s…situation? What else might have been on her mind?”

Baldar takes a sip of tea, then carefully puts it aside. It was perfectly tasty, but didn't have enough ale in it, which is the only way tea should be drunk in Baldar's opinion. She finishes up bandaging her wounds and rests her back against the wall. Living in The Rattle certainly seemed like a hard life.

"What about the beasties? Have ye seen anything unusual with them? More active, larger, a little crazy-like perhaps?"

"I dunno," responds Uncle Polder to Walt, "She's a bright kid, but she didn't seem like the farming type. Although when Kianna and others of her pact came to our pact a couple weeks ago to trade for tools, she seemed to be embracing life in the Rattle. She spoke of how happy she was that someone named Culley was coming to join her soon. So maybe she's come around. It's not an easy life here." 

"The beasts haven't changed" he adds, to Baldar, "they've always been a bit crazy. Wild, hungry. Coyotes, bulettes, and other things. Some whisper of strange magic that manifests without warning, causing unusual weather and reshaping the soil. Some believe these effects might be connected to ancient magics affecting the land or the will of the gods. But I'm not one to get religious. As far as I've seen, the Rattle hasn't changed much since I've been here. But the Ribbon’s soil grows less fertile each year, they say. More and more folks from the south are migrating up here each year."

“That’s very interesting. We keep hearing how the infertile soil in the Ribbon is driving folks to more fertile yet dangerous lands. Other than agriculture and farming, has the Ribbon ever been known for any other anything else? Have there ever been any other peoples or cultures present in the area than those that we’ve encountered here and in Promise?”

As Walt waits for replies, he’s going to watch Proclaimer Tungsten Ward and Lady Dre to gauge how they reacts to what Uncle Polder says.

Pardon my ignorance I am not from the area, but what do you mean when you refer to the pacts of the area? Are these pacts family units?”

Insight check: 18

Bendrak is getting a bit drowsy after gorging himself, but stands up with a start and starts pacing at the doorway.

"Strange magic or not, nothing a good blade can't take care of. We should move on then. Girl's missing and people losing their minds..."

He waits for a few minutes and then abruptly exits and resumes his pacing outside.

Tuuli is busy listening and stuffing her face with biscuits. With Bendrak's declaration, she kind of looks back and forth at the others, then says, muffled, "Imuf shee fim okre ey," and goes outside. Lucky trails after her.