To Hobbiton For Some Sweets
With Winter finally over and the snows receding, Bree returned to life again.
The five adventurers, lingering in the Pony after a satisfying breakfast, are approached by the proprietor, Barnabas Butterburr. He tells the group of the Bree Spring Festival being held in little more than a week. His wife, the very dramatic Mrs Butterburr, has tried to win the Festival's Cake Prize every year for the last five years. Sadly, the quality of her baking does not match the measure of her stubbornness. And with each year's loss, poor Barnabas suffers the brunt of her disappointment.
This year, though, Butterburr believes he has a plan that can swing the odds in his wife's favor. Bluespeckle Took in Hobbiton is renowned for her sour candies. Barnabas figures that with the delicious sour candies perched atop his wife's cakes (masking the taste), Mrs Butterburr stands a fair chance at taking the ribbon. In exchange for a sack of plump Bree potatoes, Ms Took should gladly hand over a basket of her candies.
The heros agreed to carry the potatos to Hobbiton for the trade. Setting out on the Great Road under a warm Spring sun, the party made poor progress with the dwarf Froig unable to find a solid path under all the muck left over by the thaw. The slow track gave the hobbit Rooty too much time to ponder the dread lingering from the unnatural Winter and a shadow began to grow in her heart.
As Froig continued to struggle with his pathfinding, Elskulf flanked the company, keeping an eye for dangers. Unfortunately, with his attention diverted towards his companions, the Barding caught his foot on a tree root and badly twisted his ankle. Good fortune favored the company as the sprain was not as bad as first thought and, with some masterful healing by Rooty, the Captain was back on his feet in no time.
The company found a dry place to rest for the night. Balahir, keeping watch from a low hill, spied a orc hunting party heading for the camp. Thanks to the elf's keen sight, the company got the drop on the orcs and opened the battle with an ambush. Using arrow and steel the company made quick work of the orc kin with only Froig suffering an injury.
Investigating the dead bodies, Damian and Froig discovered that each had been branded upon the heart with a bastardized verion of the dwarven rune for war.
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