View source for No 1 Hobbits Detective Agency: The Great Grain Heist

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[[Category:Scribe Notes]]
[[Category:No. 1 Hobbits' Detective Agency]]

Return to [[Scribe_Notes#Summer 822 WK| Scribe notes]]<br>

==Summary== 
'''GM''' Terry<br>
'''Session:''' Summer 822<br>
'''Location''' Brastor<br>
'''Level''' Yes<br>

'''Party:'''<br>

* [[Galantha Nival | Snowdrop]]
* [[Ashe]]
* [[Phos]]

'''Employer:'''<br>
Vigor, junior member of the [[No. 1 Hobbits' Detective Agency]], looking for promotion<br>

'''Mission:''' <br>

=='''Scribe Notes'''==
=== Session 1 ===
''1st Meadow''<br />
I was looking forward to a return to the Plane of [[Valmi]], where I was [[You're Not In Tycho anymore | on my last adventure]] but, at the last minute, word was received from House Sulis that they weren't ready yet. So, having nothing to do, I went on an adventure offered by Vigor, representing the [[No. 1 Hobbits' Detective Agency | Number 1 Hobbit Detective Agency]]. He told us of a curious case he was investigating, that of grain going missing from a silo. He was hoping that solving this would give him his promotion to full Detective. The curious thing about this heist that it was only one bag a month that was going missing. One bag out of a hundred or so, which to me, was really strange. 

The Hobbit Detective Agency had hired Guild members before so they had a fair idea what they were getting (I hope) and we would be paid standard Guild Rates. Presumably there was a salvage bonus in there as well. Unfortunately, with me were only two companions, one being Phos, the orc binder with an accent that reminded me of Pasifika, and the really annoying and bossy dark-skinned elf earth mage, Ashe Willoberry. I suspect there's drow in her lineage. I know I was raised by elves but this one can be extremely insufferable. She 'suggested' I learn basic Healer. It's on the list Ashe.

Vigor told us that we were going to [[Brastor]], specifically the town of [[Charity]]. Each grain bag was as big as a human and this had been going on for at least the last four months, at the New Moon. Why the New Moon specifically? Was it lycanthropes? Were-rats? Nah. That's Full Moon. Curiouser and curiouser as someone said when they went down a rabbit hole. Mine was certainly peaked. Anyway Bossy Ashe became the Military Scientist and I became the Scribe. 

After doing some research etc, I followed Vigor to a bakery where we got some baked goods. I also got some fruit and ending up demonstrating how I make fruit ices and frozen cream treats. He must have been very interested as, the next morning, when we were set to go, he turned up with a HUGE fruit basket and wanted me to experiment with the contents. This could be interesting. I hadn't worked with grapes before. 

Ashe had provided two week long Lessers for us and Vigor was going to provide for Greaters at the other end. So we headed into Seagate and went into a tailor's shop. In its basement was a dwarf with a rune circle. Seats had been placed in the circle and we were told to sit down, be quiet and stay still as the dwarf, Dorian, did his stuff. At the end of that everything went blurry and spinny and we found ourselves really exhausted in a similar room, underneath another tailor's shop. Vigor told us we were now in the town of [[Brastor Township | Brastor]] and, across the street was a pub, the Ground Dove. So we went there and ordered lunch.

During lunch, Ashe overheard one of the locals talking about a bee sting, so she went to <strike>be nosy</strike> investigate. While she was doing that Vigor switched his empty plate with her half full one. This lunch we called a BLT - Big Lunch Together.

The others wanted an afternoon nap before travelling to Charity but I was contemplating spending the afternoon relaxing under the Brastor bridge and going for a swim in the river, which is a favourite thing for the local children to do, but Bossy Ashe wouldn't let me, instead she ordered me to bed. *sigh* I suppose she was concerned for my safety but ... I'm a grown hobbit, not a child and I can look after myself. But I <strike>sulked and pouted</strike> acquiesced and ended up having a restful sleep before dinner that night.

=== Session 2 ===
''3rd Meadow''<br />
Breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon and a pork chop. It was so yummy that I got extras to go. Vigor went to fetch mounts,two horses and two ponies. I was wondering if we should check in with the Agency HQ here but Vigor didn't think it was a good idea, especially since there is an orc in the party. There's been conflicts with orcs before and wards had been put down. I think Vigor had other reasons too, especially concerning his immediate superior, Sapphire.

Vigor told us that Charity was roughly two hours away but, at the leisurely pace we were going, it wasn't until three and a half hours later that we got there. Charity is a smallish town surrounded by a fairly solid wall made with stone on the bottom, wood on top with watch towers spaced along it. Vigor took us to the  Bronze Bullfrog where we would be staying. The horses etc were stabled near a two story building flying a flag of a green capsicum. That was the local office of the Agency.

I had been reading up on the area so I was checking things over with Vigor. The area had been overrun by the [[Dark Circle]] a while back which explained the abandoned village we went through. Many people had either died or had fled during the undead that invaded during that time and Brastor was still recovering. There were rumoured to be undead deep in the Greenwood Forest still. Many other strange things were thought to be in there as well.

Vigor then took us to see his employer, Reel Boneblade, a dwarven ex soldier now master merchant. We found him in his backroom office and he told us he mainly kept grain in the warehouse which was stored in large piles of sacks near the centre of warehouse. The strange thing was that it was the bag on the top of the pile that was being taken which made me wonder if the bag was being levitated through the roof. The building had been built about ten years ago, and he's been there for the last eight. Also, as far as he was aware, no one else was suffering from mysterious thefts like this.

He called for his assistant, Findora, a dwarf woman to show us around. Inside the warehouse were piled boxes and bags, boxes around the edges and bags in the middle. Findora told us that there were over a hundred bags of grain in here and she was absolutely sure nothing else had gone missing. There were no windows and all the doors were locked at night.

I clambered up the mountain of grain sacks and spotted mismatched tiles in the ceiling. Phos wasn't sure that was significant as it was common for that to happen as tiles were repaired and replaced. When he inspected them later, there was no magic on them.

Findora told us that there are five cats in here that keep the pest population down. It was most likely they were sleeping at the moment so Ashe got Norto to  track one down. He found a black and white cat between a couple of boxes so Ashe tried to talk with it. It was reluctant to say anything until she coaxed it with various meats, including fish jerky which the cat found extremely tasty. It said it saw some sort of shadow, not a rat, that was smaller than a hobbit. A ginger cat then turned up and meowed at Ashe followed by a second black and white cat, all of them wanting meaty treats. Once fed, and satisfied, the other cats confirmed there was a shadow and the creature that caused it smelt  of the forest. Unfortunately the nearest forest is the Greenwood. A fourth one, black in colour, then slinked over, attracted by the cat-cophany, and it too demanded food. All of us, combined, were cleaned out of cat delicacies after that but that cat had nothing to add. I asked about the fifth cat whch Findora told me was her cat, which she had raised from a kitten. This was Sashan, the oldest, and presumably the boss cat who was twelve years old.

Since we had to essentially bribe the cats to get information, we weren't really sure they were reliable witnesses but that was the only lead we currently had. I was wondering if the creature was some sort of flying fae, a pixie perhaps, and were they lifting the grain sack up out of the stack, rendering it invisible then flying it back to the forest, but then, how were they getting it through the roof?

I was beginning to think I should rank climbing by now so I stayed on the ground while Ashe and Phos went up the outside of the warehouse, which was an 'A' frame building, and examined the roof. As noted earlier, no magic was detected. While he was doing that, Ashe talked to the local birds to ask about strange things coming from the forest but they hadn't seen anything. Still, given that these thefts were happening during the new moon period when the night was darkest, that wasn't really surprising. Unfortunately Ashe couldn't find an owl to interrogate.

We had roughly ten days before the next theft was due so it was decided to have a poke around the edge of the forest in the interim. Vigor mentioned there was another deserted village near the forest so Phos wanted to investigate that too. Might be a red herring but, at this stage, we had little else to go on.

=== Session 3 ===
Each grain bag weighed 100 pounds, so, how pixies were able to lift one, would have been rather difficult. I went up into the rafters again and discovered one spot on the beam was less dusty. So I marked it with chalk. The edge of the forest was 5 miles away, and of course, Ashe and Phos start bickering again about the next step. Still, because both Polly and Helen were nearby, that made them suspects. I even added the guardian spirits of the oak tree as suspects as that was located between Polly and Helen. 

Once those two finally wound down, we concluded we had done enough here so we headed back to Charity. On the way, Vigor told us about Polly and Helen. Polly knows about the tree, Actually Polly knows a lot about the tree as she had helped some earlier adventurers heal it. 

I also found out that there are lots of dwarves in Charity, one of which runs one of the two bakeries in town. The other is run by a human. While Vigor went to do the paperwork I headed off to go get food and ingredients. I then went for a swim in the river before dinner, under Ashe's supervision. I  had to convince her first it was safe. Heck, I was swimming in the children's favorite swimming hole - and always keeping an eye out for trouble.

''4th Meadow''<br />
Next morning, Vigor had done the paperwork for our Greaters. Now we had to wait until that was sorted. So I handed Vigor a cream bun with raspberries and a bit of frost as he probably deserved it after all that. But no, I'm NOT trying to get to his heart via his stomach. It's just the halfling way.

After breakfast, we crossed the river and headed north. The weather was a bit overcast but not raining The trip took us five miles  and the first impression I got was the Greenwood is enormous. Vigor took us to a mound with a door and a surrounding garden outside. Polly turned out to be an elderly human woman who was wearing a lot of green. She offered us tea and, of course I accepted. To my surprise, Phos didn't Vigor brought out a Table and chairs, and tea was served. I found it delicious with a unique flavour.

She told us that there was lots of fae in the woods. Pixies are located about a mile or two in to the northwest, past the brook and blueberries. Also the Tree has an enormous spirit and protects the forest. We might be better off talking to the squirrels. I also asked about restoratives and amulets, which she does do, so I requested four restoratives which she offered to do at cost. I also asked for and received a little package of tea wrapped up in a leaf. Phos also preserved some stretched rabbits for her to keep them fresh. 

Next stop was the Tree, as we moved westward. The Tree is a large prominent oak tree and while the others did their thing I settled down on the grass while in the shade. At least there was no chance of being beaned by a coconut. Acorns maybe. The area around the tree is an Earth Place of Power. 

Ashe had some nuts on her, which she used to entice a couple of squirrels out of the tree. After casting a Speak with Animals(Squirrel) she discovered one of them was named Komarsh, first of the Oakhouse. He has a large empire, mostly consisting of the area around the tree. Meanwhile the other one, which was larger, crushed the nut. The resulting show of strength caused it and Phos to have a staring contest as they attempted to out intimidate each other. I was getting the impression that Termita, the other squirrel, who was two metres up the tree on an overhanging branch, as lose to Phos as possible was spoiling for a fight. Apparently pixies had tried to steal their nuts a while back.

Meanwhile Kormash was telling Ashe that he had seen something fly out of the forest during the night. It was small, maybe smaller than me. Could be a pixie. Ashe then tried speaking to the tree itself with Termita watching her suspiciously. All she learnt was winter was hard for some trees. They do not grow as much as they should. Too cold. Very cold, unusually cold. But, much to my relief, there were no undead marching in the forest. 

Fifteen to twenty minutes later, after leaving the tree, we arrived at a house which was surrounded by cats.

=== Session 4 ===
Of course, as soon as the cats saw Norto, they ran off. As a consequence he had to be tied to a tree by his leash, away from the house. We met Helen, an elderly lady, who was mistress to all these cats, including a mountain lion named Scratch. So, while the others talked, including Ashe talking to the cats, I was able to feed and play with some of them, ending up being surrounded by cats and kittens. Helen also got Phos to cut her large pile of wood. 

What we learnt from Scratch was there were some rather large spiders in the forest, as well as a tower that was really deep in. People things were in there as well as undead in random spots, some of them being stupid people who went in the forest and died. He offered to show us if we hunted up some food for him, preferably venison and boar. 

I was wondering if Vigor knew of a friendly Celestial who could equip us with Wings so we could do an overfly of the forest and he told me there were strategically placed wards set up around town that could provide not just wings, but Witchsights, Walking Unseens and Strength of Darknesses. Of course they were for official use only and, paperwork was required to have them replaced once used. Vigor seemed rather annoyed about the thought of more paperwork so I handed him a cat to relax him. Once I got bored with playing with cats I went to cut some kindling. 

It was obvious from what we were told that there were old settlements in the forest. So, we went into the forest to hunt. It took a little while but Ashe and Norto found a boar track. Once we had determined the direction of travel we followed it in a north west direction. It was getting late in the day by now and we were sure it was going to be dark by the time we found it. 

That proved to be rather prophetic as a couple of hours later, we were still following the tracks, but encountered no boar. Finally, after sunset, we tracked it down. Phos minor created a basic boar spear while Norto snuck into the bush to flush it out. Once that happened it was all on. My first arrow missed it, and I was fairly sure I wasn't going to see that one again. Ashe managed to tangle up it's back legs with a bola while Norto got up close and in it's face. Phos also piled into close while I loaded up a second arrow. Ashe went in with a tulwar, and missed - well sort of, as she hit Phos instead. Fortunately that bounced off his armour. I carefully aimed while stirring up Phos with a story of Aqualina's big brother, who Phos had a wrestling match with last season, who had wrestled a wild pig and flipping it on to its back before killing it. Ashe fumbled her tulwar but didn't damage anything. I jumped in to help kill it then we spend the next hour prepping the boar for transport on Norto.

It was nearly 9pm by the time we returned to the house. Scratch was on the roof watching us while Vigor was sleeping in the woodpile with an axe in his hand. I was tempted to lie down next to him to stir things up but thought better of it - although it was nice to have someone more my size for company. Not many hobbits down south so I'm usually mistaken for a child. Maybe once this case is over, I might stay here for a bit and get to know other hobbits and hobbit culture.

''5th Meadow''<br />
The next morning, Scratch led us into the forest. He led us northwards for a few hours and the forest was getting denser and darker. It was about lunchtime when Scratch said (via Ashe) that we were getting close. After an hour of wandering about we finally found a well and the remains of a stone building. Scratch said this was the place but obviously his idea of a tower and my idea of a tower were completely different. I was expecting something more roundish and taller.

The back wall of the building was completely gone and the well had caved in. Phos determined that the architecture was Western Kingdom in nature. Wasn't sure what that meant exactly but presumably it was old. Vigor then discovered a secret entrance in the wall which opened into a cavity containing a small leather bag with silver coins inside. Meanwhile I was exploring the area around the building and discovered a stone floor under the soil and leaves. So we started clearing the detritus away and found an iron ring attached to a section of the floor, presumably some sort of trapdoor entrance. So, after tying a rope to the ring, tossing the other end over a nearby tree branch, and pulling on the rope, we were able to get it open and avoid any traps that might have been there - which there weren't. But much to our surprise and consternation, we could hear sounds coming from below.

=== Session 5 ===
Before we can react and slam the lid down again, a swarm of insects flew out and enveloped Phos. Another swarm surrounded me which messed up my attempt to cast Ice Armour on Norto. That was when the large 'mommy' bug wandered out. It was bigger than me and nearly as big as Vigor. The bug went for Ashe so Norto joined the close combat heap. So did the swarm I was battering with my armour jacket. Two more big bugs then came out of the forest, presumably wanting a piece of adventurer. One of them jumped into close with Phos while the golem lit a torch and started burning away the swarm around Phos. Ashe and Norto got in two good hits on their big bug which took it out. Presumably Vigor's subsequent strike was was him making sure. The other bug went into close with the golem and not even the torch bothered it. Vigor leapt in to help Phos while I finished off the swarm I was swatting. This resulted in my brigadine armour jacket being covered, inside and outside, in splattered bug. While I was doing that, the rest of the bugs were finished off.

My armour was in so much of a mess that, even after trying to clean it with magic, I changed out of the brigadine and swapped in my sealskin wetsuit which had the same protection value. It also fitted me more snugly showing off every curve. Once done I peeked down the hole. Most of what I saw was chitinous stuff but there were a few bones in the mix too. A hole in the wall was roughly the size of those large bugs. Meanwhile the others had determined that the big bugs were giant forest bugs and the little ones are ordinary forest bugs. A closer look led to the discovery of the top half of a humanoid skeleton, some old leather, bronze bangles, silver bracelets and a silver ring. The only thing magical down there was the silver ring. 

After climbing back put I confessed to Vigor that I was thinking of staying around here and training with the Detective Agency after this case is cracked in order to brush up on my halfling and absorb halfling culture, since I remembered being raised by elves and, well, I wanted to get to know other halflings because I'm basically the only one in Pasifika, at least in the local area. 

We discovered that the ring does Water Creation. I was thinking on calling dibs on it but .... treasure splits are really random. *shrugs* Ashe DAed for Method of activation and got 'triggering'. I just had to burst out laughing at that. 

It was dark by the time Scratch led up out of the forest. We rested at Helen's house.

=== Session 6 ===
''6th Meadow''<br />
Next morning, we decided to go and investigate the ruins, that Phos wanted to go to, between Blackrock and Andonville. Not much of a diversion since it was on the way back to Charity. It took us about a hour or so to get there and, when we arrived at the site, there was not a lot left there. Presumably all the stone had been taken for building in other places. We did poke around with daggers and did discover the outlines of houses under the grassy ground. Ashe had insisted we be properly prepped before entering  but it turned out there was nothing to be concerned about. 

   Snowdrop (aside to Vigor): Ashe is being a bit bossy don't you think?
   Ashe: Yes I know I'm bossy
   Snowdrop: Curses ... Elven hearing

Obviously there were no permanent residents but the track between the other two villages was still here and still being used. No people, there is the track between the two villages. 

It was a pleasant walk back to Charity, finally crossing the river bridge and reaching the Rook and Fox, located near the river, where we tucked into a thick rabbit stew washed down with malty strong beer. The stew was delicious but the beer was not to my taste so I ended up pushing it over to Vigor and admitting I wasn't used to such drinks. I got the impression Vigor is going to delight in trying to 'educate' my palate with the local brews.

Over lunch, plans were hatched. Spells such as Witchsights and Shadow Wings were going to be easy to obtain, so were the Locates I was wanting to go with the carved, number tokens I was going to hide in the top layer of grain sacks, one token per sack. Phos was planning to put Bound Speech in the grain sacks to alert us when they were taken and Ashe was going to loop string all around near the ceiling with Adhesion on it to act as a giant spiderweb. We also discussed astrology readings and came up with the following questions. The answers we got were so unexpected that we wondered if the astrologers had been snorting waccy backky.

   Who is taking the grain - Limmond the Great
   What is taking the grain - Brownie
   Where is the grain going - Greenwood
   Why is the grain being taken. - Blackmail

Phos also wondered if the grain sacks had just been made invisible then taken. That resulted in a heated discussion on how invisibility worked and whether or not a sack containing grain would render the grain invisible if the sack was targeted. I argued that I had seen a large wooden barrel full of water containing a water breathing entity, and only the barrel was invisible but, concluded, since the grain was tightly packed, and both are plant material, that the whole thing would go invisible.

After lunch we went to the Molten Core, a dwarven ran forge that dealt with armour, weapons, and other metal goods. We met with Nograd the dwarf. I arranged to get my brigadine armour cleaned properly and maybe masterworked to remove the agility penalty. I also arranged for a belt to go with the sealskin with six belt pouches on it as well as cold iron arrowheads, silvered arrowheads, and maybe a weaponsmithed silvered dagger. Phos also suggested I get a cloak, which I did, something to keep the rain off. I ended up with a knee length one and bought a basic cloak clasp to go with it. All this should be available in a week.

''14th Meadow''<br />
It wasn't until the morning of the fourteenth, that we were able to get our R14 Greaters that would last five days. The preceding week had been spent starting our training with the Detective Agency. I was doing lockpicking training with another halfling which gave me the opportunity to practice speaking the hobbit language. 

The GE ritual took an hour on all of us at once which enhanced two areas of our choice, in my case being spell casting and spell resistances. We were then taken to an empty stall in the stables to get our witchsights using the runes placed there.

As far as we knew, Brownies are as short as hobbits, and live near towns, where they can be helpful to the folks who are kind to them, so things still seemed a little off. That night we were keeping watch in the warehouse. I was on a rafter keeping watch while under a Blending spell. Phos had put Bound Speech, triggered by fey touch. I had also planted the locate tokens in each sack while Ashe has woven thin string all over the place. 

We waited, and we waited, and then we waited some more. About 2ish, a little brown clad figure came down the rope that was dangling from a small hole in the ceiling, touched the bag designated as 'Two'and that was when the ward went off. I scampered across the rafter and leapt on the rope above him while Phos tackled him. Soon we had him all wrapped in a net and ready for interrogation.

Turned out he, and it was Limmond the Great, had an interesting story to tell. Their village, in the forest, was being threatened by a giant spriggan, named Jolkin who was threatening to wreck their village if he wasn't placated with barley beer. So every month, they'd have to steal a sack so thy could continue brewing. As far as I was concerned this was a bully who needed a right seeing to. Since Limmond was a Binder, he was able to fly here on a large leaf, then itemise the sack before sealing the hole he had made afterwards. Maybe Phos could learn a thing or two from him. But yes, we agreed, this situation could not be allowed to stand so we agreed to accompany Limmond back to his village and deal to this problem. I even arranged the purchase of a sack of grain to go with us.

=== Session 7 ===
Limmond told us that his village can offer enchanted carrots, a rabbits foot that helps sneaking and Limmond offered up his enchanted socks that keep his feet warm and dry. We let him go with the grain (with a locate token in it), and he willingly took another one and would meet us here the following morning. So we headed back to the inn for the rest of the night.

''15th Meadow''<br>
Next morning I got some raspberries, intending to make chilled sweet treats for Limmond We met the brownie, then realised we needed to let Vigor know what was going on. We found him rather ill and hungover. He told us he was networking. Uh huh. Anyway we left him for half an hour. When we returned we got a more functioning Vigor who obtained a pack mule for us and we headed off. Limmond met us, on his leaf, halfway to the forest. 

Limmond took us down a road into the forest then, when he recognized the area, we turned north and worked our way through the forest. A short while later a large rat appeared which was recognized as a Plague rat. Another rat turned but this was just a regular giant rat, a Rous. It immediately went into close with Phos and then two more Rous joined the pile.

Another two Rous showed up and our mule bolted. Vigor had been snoozing on it's back and fell off. The rats swooped on Vigor just as a second plague rat appeared. I dived in the pile to help Vigor. Limmond threw a screamer grenade into the mix and, would you believe Phos broke yet another weapon, this time a hand axe. I was relieved it wasn't his 'souped up' mace.

Limmond threw another grenado and three bears in business suits turned up out of nowhere. I finished off a rat in our pile leaving just one with Vigor and I. Mind you Vigor had been doing most of the killing in there. The bears in grey suits seemed to be just standing there talking. Phos's golem caved in the skull of the rat Norto was chewing on. Vigor and I finished ours off then we dived into the pile with Phos, which Vigor finished off. Ashe has been knocked unconscious in her pile with the plague rats so Norto is the only one active in there. He had just finished off one plague rat, but the other was tearing bits off resulting in Norto getting a grievous. Ouch, that's going to leave a mark on his manhood. 

Once the fight was over, a revived Ashe cast Speak with Bear. On e of the bears said he's a concerned citizen going on about zoning rules. Pardon? GTN=Uplifted Bear,  POO=None. They then vanished, which told us that they were illusions. I went looking for the mule and finally dragged it back. That was when I realised I was feeling ill and weak.

=== Session 8 ===
Once the fight was over, Ashe starts healing everyone up, our injuries first then the disease itself. It was decided to rest for the remainder for the day and the following night. So while we rested, I sought more information from our brownie guide. I was told that they lived in the trees around a round stone platform which they believed was build by our kind. They are not sure where the spriggan lives but they have observed that once he has got his beer, he leaves westwards. Watches were maintained during the night. Fortunately the night passed quietly. 

''16th Meadow''<br />
Next day, it was overcast with light rain. We travelled on, taking all morning to get to the brownie village. Once there we met up with one of the elders, a brownie called Gargeth. The stone platform was rather interesting too. The brownies used it for festivals and other gatherings but to me, it looked like some sort of open air structure probably used for a religious purpose especially given that there was an altar in the middle. The platform is surrounded by what looks like an Ellenic octagon shaped peristyle structure and was bordered by another ring of pillars and lintels. I thought it was open air but did concede however that the platform could have been capped by a dome. Vigor and I checked for secret entrances and found nothing. Phos also expressed a desire to smash the altar.

   Ashe:  We reach some ruins and you want to smash the altar?
   Vigor: He's an orc. That's what they do.

Trees grew between each ring so I picked one for a sniper's nest. I also attempted to see if we could enlist some brownie archers. Eight brave volunteers were enlisted. Ashe found a crow to talk to but the crow hadn't seen the spriggan. I wasn't surprised by that as the spriggan mostly travelled by tunnelling under the earth.

I was fairly sure that the spriggan couldn't tunnel though stone so it was decided that we would place the barrel of beer on the altar as bait to lure the spriggan onto the platform. By then it was about mid afternoon by now so we got into position and waited. The spriggan finally turned up about near dinner time, looking like a small pile of pebbles. It formed a humanoid shape, stepped onto the platform and screamed "Where's my beer Gargath". 

Once it moved up to the altar and grabbed the barrel, I fired an arrow and ended up shooting the barrel. Norto and Ashe charged into the rear. The spriggan grew  and sharp rocky points appeared on it. When the spriggan turned to face Ashe, Phos rushed in and attacked with dual maces from the rear doing a lot of damage. that was when it grew a third hand and started spellcasting, forming some Hands of Earth. One of them grabbed Ashe. It then turned and has a go at Phos, the first shot getting in hard. Ashe finds herself stuck, but with Norto's help was able to extricate herself.

=== Session 9 ===
I was getting fed up with missing with my bow, so I stuck my silvered dagger in a nearby branch and prepared an ice bolt. Meanwhile Ashe managed to get out of the Hand while the spriggan went for Phos. I also called for the spiggan's surrender but it roared something rude at me (well at least it sounded rude) so I gave it the middle finger. It then cast an Armour of Earth on itself. which meant my ice bolt just missed. Norto and Ashe move to rear hexes to strike, avoiding another hand but Norto failed to do damage, neither did Ashe.  However, my second ice bolt basically blew it apart. And that's what you get for not surrendering when given the option.  

The brownies pled up with gifts. The beer turned to be undrinkable, by us, as it was a spriggan formula. I suggested using a water mage to use liquid transformation on it but it was later discovered we all had a Death Curse that forced us to avoid alcohol. I can live with that. Besides, it'll wear off in a couple of years. Phos wanted to turn the barrel of spriggan beer into a bomb. Good luck with that.

Anyway, we stayed with the brownies all though the following day before returning to Charity then back to the Guid, getting there for debriefing, divinations etc on the 19th of Meadow. My plan was then to return to the Detective Agency for further training - especially since I couldn't afford to get any more Ice College spells. Oh well, looks like Ray of Cold is going to have to wait a while.

== Calendar ==
{| cellspacing=1 width="100%" border=0 class="Season" id="Summer" 
! colspan=15 | <h1>Summer</h1>
|- 
| class="calMoon" | &nbsp;
! colspan=2 | Moonday
! colspan=2 | Duesday
! colspan=2 | W'ansday
! colspan=2 | Th'rsday
! colspan=2 | Frysday
! colspan=2 | Reapsday
! colspan=2 | Sunday
|- 
| class="calMoon" | [[Image:moon0.jpg]]
| colspan=14 | <b>[[Beltane]]</b>
|- 
! colspan=15 | <span style="font-size: 130%;">[[Meadow]] (1)</span>
|- 
| colspan=3 height=54px | &nbsp;
| class=day |  1 || <i>Guild Meeting</i>
| class=day |  2 || &nbsp;
| class=day |  3 || Arrive in Charity.. Meet our Employer
| class=day |  4 || Get our Greaters, talk to a Witch and the Tree.  Meet a lot of cats and the Cat Lady
| class=day |  5 || Fight a lot of insects  <i>White Lotus</i>
| class=day |  6 || <i>Seagate Light Festival</i>
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon1.jpg]]
| class=day |  7 || Training week starts
| class=day |  8 || &nbsp;
| class=day |  9 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 10 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 11 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 12 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 13 || Training week ends
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon2.jpg]]
| class=day | 14 || Catch a flying brownie
| class=day | 15 || Rats, Giant Rats and Plague Rats
| class=day | 16 || Beat up a spriggan ... and get cursed
| class=day | 17 || Celebrate with the Brownies
| class=day | 18 || Return to Charity
| class=day | 19 || Return to Seagate <i>The Castellan Borderers Ball</i>
| class=day | 20 || &nbsp;
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon3.jpg]]
| class=day | 21 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 22 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 23 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 24 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 25 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 26 || <i>Seagate Crafters Ball</i>
| class=day | 27 || &nbsp;
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon0.jpg]]
| class=day | 28 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 29 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 30 || &nbsp;
| colspan=8 | &nbsp;
|- 
! colspan=15 | <span style="font-size: 130%;">[[Heat]] (2)</span>
|- 
| colspan=7 height=54px | &nbsp;
| class=day | 1 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 2 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 3 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 4 || <i>Seagate Guildmasters Ball</i>
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon1.jpg]]
| class=day |  5 || &nbsp;
| class=day |  6 || &nbsp;
| class=day |  7 || &nbsp;
| class=day |  8 || &nbsp;
| class=day |  9 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 10 || <i>Seagate Races</i>
| class=day | 11 || <i>The Duke of Carzala's Summer Ball</i>
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon2.jpg]]
| class=day | 12 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 13 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 14 || <i>Midsummers<Br>&nbsp;Eve<br>&nbsp;(Faerie Day)</i>
| class=day | 15 || <i>Solstice</i>
| class=day | 16 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 17 || <i>Seagate Summer Fair Day</i>
| class=day | 18 || <i>Seagate Summer Fair Day</i>
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon3.jpg]]
| class=day | 19 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 20 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 21 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 22 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 23 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 24 || <i>The Castellan of Brastor's Summer Ball</i>
| class=day | 25 || &nbsp;
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon0.jpg]]
| class=day | 26 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 27 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 28 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 29 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 30 || &nbsp;
| colspan=4 | &nbsp;
|- 
! colspan=15 | <span style="font-size: 130%;">[[Breeze]] (3)</span>
|- 
| colspan=11 height=54px | &nbsp;
| class=day | 1 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 2 || &nbsp;
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon1.jpg]]
| class=day | 3 || <i>Day of Death</i>
| class=day | 4 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 5 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 6 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 7 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 8 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 9 || &nbsp;
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon2.jpg]]
| class=day | 10 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 11 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 12 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 13 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 14 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 15 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 16 || &nbsp;
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon3.jpg]]
| class=day | 17 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 18 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 19 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 20 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 21 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 22 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 23 || &nbsp;
|- 
| class="calMoon" height=54px | [[Image:moon0.jpg]]
| class=day | 24 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 25 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 26 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 27 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 28 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 29 || &nbsp;
| class=day | 30 || &nbsp;
|}