The Trouble in Lindley [IC]

[Rathgar]

"Well, I'm off. All those who are coming with me should follow me." Saying that the green-clad halfling exited the Drunken Ox, mounted his riding dog, and began the two hour trek to the town of Lindley.

Once the group was on the road, the halfling began to speak again. "In all this time I forgot to introduce myself. The name's Shim Longbranch. I'm a hunter who lives just outside of Lindley. It's a little late to go after the bees tonight. They don't come out at night, anyhow. Our innkeeper, Brindel Butterstitch, has agreed to give you free room and hoard until you've finished your task. Feel free to ask me any questions while we're on the road, but since I just came back from a hunting trip when I heard about the bees, the information I have will be quite limited. Anything I don't know, you can ask the mayor in the morning. He's set aside a time to brief you on the ins and outs of the sitiation."

[Ezeze]

Zoe

Zoe chats amiably, asking Shim questions without giving him time to answer. "Has this happened before? Do you normally have a bee problem? Of the non-giant kind I mean. How giant is giant? Are we talking a little larger then normal? Size of a cat? Size of a horse? Or size of 'oh gods is that a Dragon!'? Have you recently angered any wizards? is there a heavy magical field around Lindley? Who sent you to get us? Do we get free wine if we save the crop? How many bees are there? Are they gathering in a particular place? Have you found a hive? How much honey do you think a giant bee would make?"

[Weezer]

Uriel

"Ye gods Zoe, let the man speak" Uriel says smiling slightly "I'd ask some questions but Zoe seems to have asked all the questions that can be asked."

[DJDeMiko]

Oskar

"I been up here on the groun fer a few years yet anna must tell ye lads that the thought of all that booze in trouble just brings a skip to me heart.

I am curious though, these bees normal creatures round yer parts or are they coming from other parts?"

[Rathgar]

"Hold your horses, missy! I don't know the answers to most of those, seeing how I just got back into town when I got sent on this errand. What I can tell you is that we normally don't have a problem with bees. The mayor oughta be able to tell you more about the bees than I can. What I can answer are any questions pertaining to Lindley itself."

[Ezeze]

Zoe

Zoe blushes slightly and relents, continuing the walk in silence - at least for now.

[Stycotl]

Kados Warhound

Taking long strides beside the halfling and his dog, Matsi and Cagua trotting happily to his right flank, Kados says, "If they are dormant now, this might be the best time to get rid of them. When we get into town, we should see if we can find someone that knows where their hive is. Anyone have any alchemists' fire?"

[Ezeze]

Zoe

Zoe twirls her fingers through her hair "No, I don't have any alchemists fire... But I have the real thing."

[Stycotl]

Kados smiles, a benevolent, though toothy smile, "That works even better."

[Sir Shadow]

Fenris walked in silence, listening carefully to the others talking. It appeared that the female amongst them was a spellcaster, and he wasn't so fond of those. The others seemed interesting enough, especially the large one dwarf. The small sturdy man's love for good alcohol was evident, and the boy felt the two would get along fabulously.

"I'm from further north, so I'm not too familiar with the towns around here. So just how big is Lindley?

[Rathgar]

"Now there's a question I can answer. We aren't that big, seeing how there's exactly six score of us. Well, I guess with the passing of the sheriff, we're down to five score and nineteen. Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry to go get help that I forgot to mention where the bees were."

After traveling for just over an hour and a half, the group reaches the crest of a hill. Peering over the hill, everyone can see a small town lit by the bright light of the full moon. To the left are rows of what appear to be walls of green, and beyond the village by nearly a quarter mile is a large gorge with a quite impressive covered bridge crossing it. "Well, here we are. I'll take you strait to the inn. While you speak to the innkeeper and set things up, I'll go get the mayor so he can tell you what all's going on. He'll know a lot better than me."

[Weezer]

Uriel

Waling towards the inn Uriel gives it a quick scan from habit, looking both for escape routes and for anything out of place. He moves up to the door of the inn and approaches the innkeeper and says "Hello, I'm Uriel, here to help with the bee problem. Shim said you had rooms for those who volunteered."

[Sir Shadow]

Fenris followed the group toward the inn, not really having anything else to do. Sauntering along with his hands interlocked behind his head, Fenris followed Uriel to greet the innkeeper. "Aye, I'm with him." The boy said with jabbing a thumb toward the man.

[DJDeMiko]

Oskar

Oskar follows the others in and scans for a bar.

"Friends, brothas, where mighta simple dwarf get his drink on? My travels have created quite a parch in me throat and a nice cup of ale would wet my whistle andwe might tell each other a bit about ourselves seein as we are going to be on a team togetha."

[Rathgar]

When the newly recruited bee hunters arrived in town, they could see that it was a small town in more ways than one. Everything in this town, every building, every sign, and even the wells were smaller than their counterparts in most of the civilized world. It was as though everything was built for halflings, which was indeed the case.

Shim began to take the recruits to the inn. "I know this isn't the most lavish place you've probably ever stayed in, but it ought to do. Hopefully you can all fit in here. We don't normally have the big folks around here. Well, now that you know where the inn is, feel free to go in and get settled. As for me, I'm off to get the mayor." With that, the hunter rode off down the street.

*****

As the heroes ducked in through the entrance to the inn, they are greeted by an older halfling clad in purple attire who bears the appearence of one who hasn't had much sleep lately. "I didn't think you'd be here so soon! That Shim sure is good at finding things. By the way, I'm Brindel Butterstitch, and this is my inn, the Inn of the Red Roof. We aren't exactly built for the larger folk like yourself, but we do have two rooms for those of unusual size like yourselves. Those rooms only have two beds apeice. However, for the normal sized folk, like you, kind sir dwarf, you can have your own room. Otherwise, you'll have to decide who's sharing with who. We can keep your dogs in the kennel here. Being a halfling community, we know how important canines can be.

As for drinks, the bees have cut into a lot of what is available, but I think I can part with one glass of wine for each of you. Don't worry about the price this one's on the house."

[Ezeze]

Zoe

"I wont be using the kennel, if its all the same to you. Fenris has been with me since he was a puppy. He knows how to behave himself, don't you boy?" Zoe scratches the huge wolf behind the ears as if he was a lap dog, and Fenris fixes the halfling with his best 'who, me?' expression. "Sleeping arrangements can be maded once we've spoken with the mayor. Shim went to get him."

[Stycotl]

Kados Warhound

The barbarian sat by the door to the inn, just outside, and let his dogs recline at his feet. "I think I will sit out here until the mayor arrives, and enjoy the fresh air."

With that, he sets his longbow upon his lap and sifts through the sounds of the night, listening in particular for anything that sounds like a large insect or a group of insects. The breeze is soft and smells of fresh rain, and both of the goliath's dogs are calm and quiet, eyes closed, catching what little bit of sleep they can between travels. Kados remains awake and alert though, fingers interlaced atop his bow.

[Weezer]

Uriel

Accepting the proffered glass of wine Uriel sits at a table facing the door and waits for the Mayor, while slowly sipping his wine.

[Rathgar]

In through the entrance to the inn walks an elderly male halfling wearing a nice suit with a couple of relatively fresh blood stains on it. As he entered, Brindel shouted out to him.

"Mayor Appletop, these here people are here to take care of the bees!"

The mayor responded to the innkeeper. "I'm glad to see that they have come so soon." He then turned to the newcomers. "So, I'm sure that you've heard so far about the bees attacking our people as we try to produce our wine, and that they have a hive in the bridge, right? We need you to get them out of that bridge and off of us. In the morning, I'll take you to the infirmary so that you can speak to some people who went with the sheriff to handle the bees. They can give you a first hand account of what you're up against. Me, as both town mayor and town healer, I've been really busy for quite some time."

[Sir Shadow]

Fenris Fimbulwinter

Fenris sat cross-legged on the ground by the bar with his eyes to the door. As a man in a suit walked in, a faint tang of blood preceded him. The boy was familiar with the smell, but before he could ask who it was, the innkeeper dispelled his question. So this is the mayor, huh? Healer, too? If he's been seeing to the patients, does that mean he's the only healer?

"Um... is there any chance we can ask a few questions?" Fenris looked at the older halfling with bright eyes. "I was just wondering how long the bees have been harrassing you guys..."

[Ezeze]

Zoe

Addressing the Mayor, Zoe asks "have you seen them yourself?"

[Stycotl]

"The bridge, eh? We might want to go do some recon tonight to see if we can get rid of them while they are all in their hive. We might even be able to net the thing in order to keep them from escaping, and then immolate the whole bunch of them at the same time."

[Weezer]

Uriel

Immolation is very good, I agree that we should try to get them while they're asleep in their hive. TUrning to the Mayor Uriel extends a hand in greeting and says I'm Uriel, by any chance do you have a map of the hive and its surrounding environs?

[DJDeMiko]

Oskar



"Hmmm, don't know much bout no M O lation, but I got an axe and it's done me right against creatures big and small in the past. I'm willing to try out yer idears though, might be fun."

[Rathgar]

The mayor appeared shocked and began to speak in hurried tons. "Woah woah woah woah woah, we can't have that. That bridge is the only way across the chasm for miles, if you damage it, we won't be able to ship our wine across it. The town of Daggershire lies on the other side of that chasm, and that's where the vast majority of our wine is shipped. The destruction of that bridge would be almost as bad as just leaving the bees put.

"As for checking on them in the middle of the night, that was the sheriff's idea. He thought they'd be easier to take out because they were less active. In reality, that just meant that they were all present to defend the hive. He perished in the attempt, and the remainder of the posse he gathered for the task, well, they all are under my medical supervision right now.

"All I've seen of these bees has been them off in the distance, but as I said, there are people you can talk to in the morning that can give you a first hand account of their capabilities. For now, they need their bedrest."

[DJDeMiko]

Oskar

"Alright, a nice sleep and then some bee killin."

[Sir Shadow]

Fenris Fimbulwinter

Fenris crossed his arms and fumed silently, somewhat upset that his question had been ignored. "You should at least be able to tell me when they showed up and how long they've been a problem... and exactly how are they bothering you? What? were they being hostile?"

[Rathgar]

The mayor turned to the man they call Fenris. "I'm so sorry I missed your question. I was concerned about the bridge that I missed it. They only arrived a couple of days ago. Sure is amazing how quickly they built that hive in that time. But anyway, they started attacking the people who were making the wine in order to get at the freshly squeezed grapes. The people who were stomping the grapes had to evacuate. There's not much they can do about bees the size of a riding dog. If any of you have any more questions you want answered now, go ahead and ask it. Otherwise, we all need to be getting to bed. We've all got a long day ahead of us."

[Sir Shadow]

Fenris Fimbulwinter

"Thank ye, that's all I needed to know!" The young man smiled. Since it was the bees that had caused the problems, he didn't feel at all bad about exterminating them. Though, he thought, if I could catch one...

[Weezer]

Uriel
"Aye, its getting late and the beds are calling me." Uriel says to the mayor before turning to his companions "So whose sharing a room, I have no problem sharing."