Tuuli stoops to pet Lucky, and when the group leaves, Lucky stays behind. Lucky will settle at the edge of the porch (outside, so on the ground) and watch the tin cup rope lock, and/or anything else that happens. (He will be more than 100 ft distant, so no telepathy, but if he sees something of note, he will run to the place the party is.)

The kitchen – and the house in general – is eerily quiet. Broken furniture lay undisturbed against one door to the kitchen, the tied rope and tin cup against the other. Nothing has tried to open either door in the past few minutes, nor is anything making any sounds whatsoever from within.

Leaving Lucky to guard the house, the party heads off toward the first "X" house, about a quarter of a mile distant. The sun is getting a little lower, the shadows getting longer, and the day has grown humid, even with the breeze. The sky is pink with dust. The party is able to reach the first house without incident, and make temporary shelter within. (You may receive the benefits of a short rest.)

Assuming Lucky does not turn up in a kitty panic, Tuuli will let the hour go sitting outside and watching the big house we just left. She fingers the drones on her bagpipes as if playing, but does not blow, it seems unwise to attract attention out here. Eventually she sets about cleaning the instrument, checking the reeds, etc.

(She has nothing that resets on a short rest.)

Baldar sits and tends to her wounds. She also holds her symbol of Moradin and a faint ethereal glow helps to stitch her up a little more.

(Rolled one hit die for 7 HP and Lay on Hands 4 more.)

Walt paces throughout the empty house, but he can't seem to settle down. It's too quiet in there. He joins Tuuli outside, though he takes up a spot at the other end of the house so he can have some time to himself. He takes a seat on the red clay leaning up against the house, digs out his waterskin and woodcarving tools. He takes a few swigs of water and begins finishing up the details on his latest project. He loses himself in his work and basking in the sunlight

This is his favorite time of day. He has fond memories of watching the sun dip below the horizon along the Emerald Gulch. He would often stare at the ocean or sometimes turn towards the mountains and watch the peaks light up with alpenglow. He would often stay out late enough to see the first stars light up in the night sky before heading home.

The hour passes quickly. Walt looks down at his project and he smiles. 

"I think we're done. I hope she likes it."

Walt stands up, dusts off the red clay and rejoins his friends. 

Tuuli stands as Walt walks back over, sorting her stuff, swinging the pipes back behind her. "The quiet here is unnerving," she says, then smiles at Walt. "What you carving there, Walt?"

Bendrak tries to patch up his wounds, digging some cracked fingernails out of his skin with some disgust,

Hit Dice: 21

or with the right die:

14

Second Wind gets me to full and resets at the rest.

“Y es, quite unnerving.” Walt smiles a sheepish little grin in response to Tuuli’s question. “Actually, this is for you. It’s a muddler…to use while making drinks at the Cat.”

Walt hands Tuuli an finely crafted muddler made of a dark knurled hardwood. On the handle it features an intricately carved cat with a long bushy tail that swirls and winds around the stem. As the bushy tail extends down the handle it takes on the appearance wispy clouds blown on a breeze.

”I hope you like it.

A quiet hour passes. A forlorn breeze blows through the overgrown fields. Shadows lengthen. Crows occasionally land to peck at insects on the rotting plants, but there are no signs of people or other animals. Wheat and corn struggle to grow in the fields here – it's clear that something’s probably wrong with the soil. You see more raised paths through the dirt, like mole tunnels, though no creatures are evident. There is obviously a strange blight here; it has spoiled the farmland.

Lucky remains absent.

Where to next?

Tuuli gasps, and holds the muddler with both hands, cradling it. She blinks a lot. A lot a lot. Then she sniffles. Then she launches herself at Walt in a giant hug (though she barely weighs anything). "This is the nicest thing, with all this... death <sniffle>, around and you <sniff> made me this, and..." She just holds on tight.

Walt is taken aback by the hug. He thought to brace himself, but she felt so light and airy. Almost like a gentle breeze.

”I’m so glad you like it! I…I planned to give it to you much earlier but I struggled to find a nice piece of wood that spoke to me. I had to do some bartering with a vendor in the Night Market, but it was well worth the wait. In all honesty, it was nice to have something to work on throughout this situation. It helped me cope with this madness.” 

As Tuuli releases Walt he wipes a tear from his eye. Walt has traveled far from home, often spending weeks at a time on his own in the wilds. He didn’t know how much he missed true friendship until meeting his friends at the Citadel.

Once, she has stitched herself up, Baldar moves outside the house. Not wanting to interrupt Tuuli and Walt's moment, she waits for an opportune time to walk up. 

"Right, I'm feeling a wee bit better. As much as I hate ta say it, I think we have to go back to that house and disturb those farmers to get into that cellar or whatever that Lucky found. Those hands move through the ground; hand prints painted in red mud; the blighted crops: there's somethin' wrong with the earth here."

Should the others agree, Baldar starts heading back to the house they had come from.

Tuuli wipes her eyes and steps away from Walt a little quickly as Baldar come out to join them. "Look what Walt made me," she says, showing Baldar the cat-carved muddler. Then she settles and listens to Baldar's ideas.

"Oh, that makes a lot of sense. They crawl... dig... whatever through the ground, getting all muddy, and those are the prints we're seeing. It seems like the area is infested..." she eyes all the "mole" tunnels around. "I can't help but wonder where the hands came from, and if we're going to find people missing any."

She pauses a moment, "Hey, has anyone noticed if they are left or right hands, or both?"

Walt composes himself and nods in agreement at Baldar and Tuuli's assessment of the situation.

"I agree. It's beginning to look like the source of this blight comes from below. Whether it be underground...or maybe even underwater."

He looks towards the ground and traces the mole tunnels with his eyes.

"These hands. I'm...I'm trying to make sense of this but I.." Walt pauses briefly and stares off in the distance as if focusing on something on the horizon. His left eye begins to twitch and he purses his lips. 

"Hands. Hands! Aunt Dellie said Kianna often draws images of hands grasping at her friend pulling him beneath the surface of the lake. The hands in that house and in their room. Were they coming for Kianna? We should get going."

The sickly fields remain quiet. There are no signs of life or movement. The tiny tunnels seem haphazard upon closer examination; many have collapsed on themselves.

Tuuli gets a distant glimpse of Lucky, bathing himself near the porch of the house.

"Walt's right. We need to help these people, and that underground area is our best lead so far."

Tuuli's eyes flash. "We should try to lead those farmers out and get around them, or hit them from a distance, though..." she falters, "I don't want to hurt them. Maybe we just try to sneak in to the room when they leave? Let's try the idea where we have Lucky lead them out, and we go into the room from the other hallway? Or... maybe they can't open doors, and we can come in from the dining room door and close the door to the hallway behind them? That's probably too much to hope for, that doesn't make any sense."

Bendrak snaps awake from a half nap at the mention of hands pulling someone under. "I think you've hit it, friend! Let's move then, we'll talk on the way." 

He grabs his axe and starts making for the door. "Or, we could make some snares from rope that could quickly bind the farmers before they could attack anyone."

“Yes, let’s start moving. It’s getting late in the day, who knows what lurks these fields after sunset.”

Walt slowly begins making his way towards the large house, scanning the fields as he goes. 

“This might be risky…but I have an idea. The farmers didn’t react to us when we opened the door and they didn’t awaken when we fight off the hands.” He pauses momenta before continuing. “Awaken. Maybe that’s it. Back in Promise, the farmers attacked when the Awakening song was sung by the locals. That name always seemed…odd to me. Awakening song…what if these afflicted, zombie like people are triggered, or awakened,  by that song?”

“Maybe we can send Lucky in there and have him gently paw at the farmers and see if they react? We can keep our distance and take it from there.”

Tuuli looks a little green at the prospect of Lucky being that close to harm but nods. “That makes sense. We hide around the corner in the hall and Lucky goes and smacks one of them.”

Baldar considers Walt's words, "Aye, it's possible, but I got the feeling the Awakening song was sung all day in Promise. Why did it waken the farmers that came to attack, and not these four standin' in the kitchen like they are guarding something?" She grits her teeth, mentally preparing herself for the possibility of having to fight innocent people once more. "I think it's a good plan to send Lucky in. Let me check there's no more nasty hands ready to surprise us, then make sure I'm in position cos I ain't too stealthy like."

When everyone seems ready, Baldar will move in and quickly check all the rooms for more hands, starting with the living room, bedroom, then the dining room. If she sees none, she will take up position outside the dining room door.