Update: The key and some stolen goods have been recovered!
My friend and I are newbies. We share a small farm with a palisade. I entrusted him with the only key to the gate.
This morning I log in and find a runestone in my house next to my bed. It reads:
"You are idiots! You forgot to close the door and left the key in the cupboard! Epic fail! Pwned!"
The thief stole every chicken from the coop, and all my bone glue and rope.
Then he took the key and locked the gate on his way out. We are trapped inside. If we travel to our hearth fires, we will be trapped outside.
I contacted our neighbor with ranging and it turns out this thief has been on a crime spree in the neighborhood. A thief referred to as "ajup"
We are near the south edge of the world map. The thief's home is northwest of us and has a palisade. If you are reading this, please return our key. We are idiots and deserve to have all our valuables taken. But being trapped on my own farm forever is not cool.
Once you're done laughing at us, lecturing us about alts, etc. If anyone would like to assist us in either retrieving the key or breaking down the gate, you can demand any reward you choose.