Trouble in Elmshire

[David]

The hobbit community of Elmshire is a quiet burrough of Greyhawk. Nestled in the heart of the Foreign Quarter, Elmshire is a verdant, hilly, garden-like region of the city, home to a thriving population of halflings. The district has no above ground houses to speak of and comes complete with a stream running through it. Although only a short walk from the Grand Promenade and Green Griffon tavern, few adventurers or even "big folk" ever bother with Elmshire. The lush foliage and beautiful flowers of the Garden quarter are far more impressive, while the lack of roads and abundance of hobbits (and their dogs) discourages unsavory visitors.

Unfortunately, all that has recently changed...

At first it began innocently enough. A family of hobbits relaxing in the sunshine one fine April day. On the blanket were all the fixing for a wonderful picnic: roast pheasant, cheese and mushroom pies, brown-sugar beans, corn-on-the-cob, green-bean caserole, and poppy-seed cakes with honey-marmalade. But before Mother, Father, Biffo, Timmy, and little Jewel were able to dig in, a large cat began nuzzling Mother's neck. This was no house pet! At least six feet long and easily over 200 pounds, the monster "obviously" was more interested in having fresh hobbit! The family fled screaming, Father rapping the nasty "monster" the nose with his walking stick. The beast splintered the wood just as a second monster sprung out of the bush. Screaming and fleeing, the last thing the Longbottoms saw was the two striped felines watching them go before turning to enjoy the hobbit picnic...

The authorities, those reptilian scum, refused to do anything about the creatures! They claimed the two monsters were children of one of Greyhawk's saviors and it was all just a big mistake. "Cub" is another word for foul beast, I tell you!

A few days later, a group of children were playing a favorite hobbit game, hide-and-go-seek. More than a dozen younglings crept about the undergrowth on the hills, practicing those skills that hobbits do best! Donna Bellflower was chasing Ned Buckleberry back to the great Safe Tree, when suddenly, a huge and terrible orange-and-black beast leapt out in front of Ned! It gave out of low grunt, dropped to the ground, and stopped, obviously sizing up how to swallow the boy in a single gulp! The children shrieked and ran, the monster waiting a moment before giving chase. It's only because of their stout hobbit legs that the children were able to outrun the cat and reach the safety of their burrows.

Again, the lizard men patroling Elmshire claimed the incident was a misunderstanding. The cold-blooded reptiles said the "cub" wanted to play tag too, but we all know the "police" merely want to snap up any of the monster's leftovers.

The final straw came almost a week later during the birthday celebration of Wanda Cooper. As is tradition at a hobbit feast, there were many games for young and old alike. The more youthful had gathered to open the piñata (a quaint tradition we hobbits learned from our Olman neighbors). Largo Liddle, a fine strapping youth, had already delivered the paper-maché dragon two good hits; one more was all that was needed to reward the children with the sweets hidden inside. As Vinka Whiteoak stepped up blind-folded to deliver the final strike a fearsome and massive cat sprang into the tree and tore the dragon-doll apart. Candies flew everywhere, but the younglings couldn't enjoy them since they were running for their lives. The monster, obviously stunned by the shrill voices, fell out of the tree onto its back, the wreckage of the green paper-maché dragon entangled on its claws. Sherrif Dilvin and his men came running, but the beast new it was out matched. It tilted its head couple of times, no doubt trying to use some magical power, but we hobbits are made of stern stuff. As the defenders got close, the creature sprang back into the tree and then leap down over the stream, running for safety.

How long can we let this go on? This time the watch claimed the monster thought it was "protecting" the children from a menacing baby dragon. When I asked how such a beast would reason that way, much less attack a green paper-maché dragon, the lizard men had no answer, although one did venture a guess that the children were already striking at it. Bah! It is time we took back our neighborhood! We need every good hobbit hunter and scout to drive these creatures from our neighborhood.

Some voices claim we shouldn't kill the monsters, lest we anger the druid they serve. I think we must do whatever it take to protect our homes and burrows!

[Stephanous]

Great little story Hon. I thought the pinata was a cool touch.

Paul

[David]

A few days after these previous events, the tranquility of Elmshire was shattered again, this time by a pair of roaring monsters. Bart Bottlebrush's dog, Ringo, a large boxer, was savagely murdered defending his master's hole. The "cubs" attempted to flee, but a pair of war dogs, a retriever, and a little terrier cornered them.

One of the rottweilers was slain and the terrier seriously wounded, but the other dogs managed to pull down the larger tiger. Then an equally-large, black, demonic cat leaped onto the scene, mortally wounding the other war dog, but not before the retriever brought down the female beast. The black jaguar shouted in the Common tongue to the approaching hobbits, "call off your dogs, hobbits. These cubs are under MY protection. They are the children of one of Greyhawk's saviors; it would be wise to leave in peace."

An argument ensued, albeit without combat. Many more dogs arrived as well as over two dozen hobbits, a few armed. Then a falcon flew over the crowd, alighted near the fallen cubs and transformed into a blonde, human druid. The woman bound the cubs wounds and invoked the goddess Ki to heal them. First one, then the other cub arose, only slightly worse for wear.

"How dare you heal those monsters! They attacked our dogs," shouted Ken Crabapple. "You need to tend to our animals first."

"According to Gilgamesh," the woman answered, "your dogs attacked first. But I will tend to them now."

"You're taking sides! Some impartial druid you are."

"These cubs are my family," the woman answered. Wouldn't you tend to your children before those of a stranger?" to which the hobbits merely grumbled.

Later, Milly Underwood said, "why don't you just take this big mean beasts somewhere else. There's much more room in the Garden Quarter for them."

"Unfortunately," Thyme responded, "the formal layout of the Garden Quarter isn't a good place for young, playful tiger cubs. They're here because it's close to where we are staying and it's like the home they understand."

"Our dogs will kill them if they come back," threatened Ned Fallowhide.

"Then they are your dogs no longer!" responded an angry Thyme. With that all the assembled dogs moved to form a protective ring around the cubs, jaguar, and druidess.

"You can't do this!"

"I will return your animals when you learn to care for them better." And with that, Ned's own dog growled menacingly at him...

Thyme then worked out a compromise with the hobbits. The hobbits would avoid one small, now-unsettled section of Elmshire, keeping their children and dogs away. In exchange the tigers were to limit their movements in Elmshire to that small area. Although not an ideal situation, it would work until the cub's parents returned. Thyme then left with cub, black panther, and dogs in tow.

Hours later, several lizardmen of the watch arrived at the Green Griffon with a large entourage of hobbits. They requested the return of the dogs, to which Thyme acquiesced. Conflict was avoided.

Or was it?

Three days later, the cubs were playing in "their" region of Elmshire. Watching them was a young woman with green hair and a half-elven young man. The man went to get a snack and shortly thereafter, a group of children began trying to sell trinkets to the young woman. Distracted, she didn't see a slab of meat on a string land near the cubs and slowly be dragged back through the bushes.

Naturally, Bethsheba followed the free meal, Gilgamesh behind her. She pounced on the steak in a clearing, only to suddenly realize she and her brother were now surrounded by nearly a dozen men in leather jackets and armed with clubs. All of the men had the same symbol, a massive hawk with a dead dragon in its talons. The men moved in...

Gilgamesh proved far more competent in this melee, taking out one gang member every ten seconds. Unfortunately, this time it was Bethsheba who was knocked unconscious. Gilgamesh roared for help, but had to remain to guard his sister's body. He then proceeded to defeat the then-remaining four thugs, with only a single one escaping the scene. Dajamira arrived, surveyed the scene, turned Gilgamesh invisible, and went for help. "I'll be back with Lucky, Thyme, and Nikaris in just a minute..."

Once the young half-dryad was out-of-sight, the thug who fled as well as three allies arrived and attacked again. Amazingly, Gilgamesh managed to defeat all of them by himself. Meanwhile, Bethsheba recovered her feet. The thugs, it would seem, had been attempting to render the cubs unconscious. Too bad hey hadn't mentioned this to Gilgamesh; the burly tiger left nearly all the gang-members dead or dying in his wake.

Together the two tigers began making their way back to the Green Griffon. Only a few hundred yards away, however, a strange green dust blew in their faces and darkness claimed them...

When the tigers awoke, their wounds were tended and bound. The two were in a metal cage, in a large wooden room, with other animals (mostly tropical birds) in cages also. The room seemed to move slightly in a slow and gentle manner.

Bethsheba used a tail-twitch to unlock the cage, then both cubs moved to the door. Gilgamesh tried to work the handle, but couldn't. Bethsheba tried and open the door. Beyond was a triangular wooden field with low railing at the edge. Beyond was moving water with trees on the shore in the distance. Three men in brightly colored clothes, head-scarves, and earrings barred the way, alerted by Gilgamesh's earlier attempt to escape. The cubs made short work of one man, then fled into the water. Strong swimmers, the cubs crawled to shore and safety, completely lost and alone...