1.0 The Hobbits Grove

[slug]

Annisetti - Female Elf, Fighter/Mage/Thief
Brock Ironbright – Male Dwarf , Fighter/Cleric
Henry Underton  – Male Hobbit, Fighter/Thief
Evolynne Yarskire  – Female Gray Elf, Mage/Thief
Alaric Black  – Male Human, Paladin

October 26th 2013
01 – The Hobbits Grove

The party are in a hobbit village enjoying the renowned brandy and pies grown from the local pears. There is a commotion as a disheveled hobbit enters the pub and goes into a back room for an urgent meeting with the local council. We eavesdrop and find that the hobbit and his companions were attacked by a giant, they were returning from a visit to local druids who had given them an antidote for some trees which were dying and likely poisoned.
The council asks for help and the party step forward to help with the prospect of a small reward (150 GPs).
We head out and walk the path to the druids to try and find track which we do in a grove with a number of startlingly lifelike statues. After leaving the grove we are assailed by large flies which though easy to kill do inflict a number of wounds on the party.
Later in the day we spy humanoids in a crude camp. Annisetti and Henry sneak down to spy on their camp, Henry returns to the party to report our findings, 5 hobgoblins and returns with Evolynne only to find Annisetti moved from her position in the likelihood that the sneaking was noisier than they had hoped. Sure enough a barrage of arrows from three hobgoblins instantly felling Annisetti who was hit by two of them, Evolynne quickly casts a spell which sends two of them to sleep as the other party members wade into the fight which is soon over. Brock questions the creatures and finds they were making camp and there were no more of them. Wounds are bound and unconscious elves are healed. We continue on the giants trail.
We spy a very large house on a small hill and as we are scouting it we are met by a wood elf called Keth who wants to join us. Keth seems not to be the sharpest tool in the shed as he shouts down the chimney if there are any giants down there and as we enter the house calls out again before disappearing into one of the rooms.
As we enter a kitchen we are attacked by a mountain lion, after some mauling we manage to drive it away. Keth suddenly reappears in the kitchen and Alaric detects evil on him. We warn the others. The missing hobbits are found trussed up in a cupboard; they are released and told to stand by the entrance. We loot the place and find the missing potions the druids had given to the hobbits.
Just then we hear giant footsteps and look outside to see a winged creature take off from the position Keth was noted moments before. The hobbits flee as soon as the word giant is mentioned. As the party leave the house the giant spots them and hurls rocks knocking out Brock and Alaric – great our only two healers. If those rocks had hit others int eh party it might have meant instant death. Wet throw our comrades over the horse and dodge around the side of the house and make as much distance as we can before finding a campsite.
We make the decision to return to the Hobbits grove before our comrades regain their senses, meaning we are shorthanded for the journey and guard duty. We are assailed by a deranged gnoll and later a spitting beetle before we see the village.
Once there we hand over the antidote which is quickly administered to the pear trees and they make a splendid recovery.
We ask questions of the council regarding the poisoning and discover that an visiting hobbit arrived at the village shortly before the trees were poisoned and he had gone missing the same time we rescued the hobbits from the giant. We seek out this hobbit by the name of Happy “Gilmore” Summers. Once again the paladin detects evil and we come to the conclusion that this “hobbit” might well be the same creature named Keth we encountered at the giants house. We tie him up and question him and he admits to poisoning the trees telling us he was approached by a rival pear farmer named Eulyn Neal in a neighboring village.