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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 3394622" data-attributes="member: 11760">Chapter 3 Little Hamlet in the Big WoodsIt is the 24th day of Wind, in the 721st year of the Imperial Age.Frost no longer coats the ground at dawn in Midwood, and humans, dwarves and gnomes have spilled out of their homes to celebrate barefooted throughout the barony, in the Feast of Frost's Leaving. Everyone seems to be wearing green in celebration of the coming spring and food and drink dyed green can be found on every table.But while most of the commoners set aside these four days for revelry, serious work to prepare for the new planting season is already underway.In Middleborough, the past month has been spent in preparation for the coming season. The commoners have been pruning and staking the baron's grapevines and plowing the fields of Midwood Farm, with the baron's strips of land being fertilized with manure.In Foxton on Moss, most of the last weeks have been spent ripping out shrubs and other plants that have snuck onto the sheep meadows since the end of Moons, and shepherds are watching over their flocks as they give birth to the new generation of lambs. Likewise, the dwarves of the community have young colts being born, watching over the sometimes difficult labors of the mares.And in Maidensbridge, where chicks follow their mother chickens around the muddy streets, Bailiff Russell Bailey is seemingly everywhere, with Renraw Kem in his wake, scribbling notes furiously at his master's command, tallying up seeds and the stores of dried apples, noting the supplies of remaining cider and whether all such supplies have made it through the winter intact. They roam the orchards, noting which trees will need special attention and jotting down who will be responsible for doing so. Katadid Leach trails behind them, taking down orders for this insecticide and that fungicide and frequently being distracted by interesting blossoms or bird calls.Through the trees, Renraw can see the bright green mountain watching him. The long-awaited response letter from St. Feldin's College of Abjuration sits in the ledger like a bookmark, still unopened, as the bailiff had dragged him out of the house to work at the same time as he delivered it to the bookkeeper.Later today, The Cat & The Fiddle will play host to a musical tournament, and the bailiff has announced the winner of the competition will receive a masterwork instrument, to be made especially for the musician and paid for by the baron. Tock Chandler watches as his competition warms up.Already the gnome Heda Littlelark can be found on a barrel outside the tavern, playing her concertina and dancing a little jig, quaffing green beer between songs, to the delight of some of the orchard workers. Ebuferpaly Potentloins, in his first time back to Maidensbridge since he was so gravely wounded outside Fibber's Cairn, has been put to work by the bard, keeping her mug full and periodically lowering the number of coins in her hat, so that no one feels that they don't have to be too generous as she plays.The head of Clan Glangirn, Argus Glangirn, and his thick-necked sons are in the hamlet as well. Argus sits on a bench in front of the smithy, bare-skinned where the straps of his overalls expose his thick shoulders, tuning his banjo and speaking quietly to Therurt Glangirn. They are eyed suspiciously from across the street by several dwarves from Clan Farrin. Constable Ward Bridger and Tucker Gallaway keep an eye on them both.The kobold Fiddler has not shown up yet, and no one expects him to until closer to sundown. Although the Fordhams deny it, everyone agrees the music tournament's start time was pushed back to allow the kobold to attend, thus increasing interest and the numbers of the hungry and thirsty crowd filling the tavern.Emmerson Grant listens to the music and revelry from the chapel across the muddy square. He has been informed the bishop will be visiting Maidensbridge sometime this week, and at the constable's suggestion, has been at work scrubbing away years worth of moss and mud, although the lichen between the stones and growing on some of the sturdier timbers resists all effort at removal.Hazel Sawyer keeps an eye on her little sister and brother while her mother prays in the chapel quietly. Aspen has been acting especially distant lately, although she still put in a great deal of effort into her appearance this morning and has been rewarded with rather more attention from the local boys -- and young men -- than Hazel is comfortable with, even if Aspen seems to be doing little to encourage them. Reed, on the other hand, has gotten into a mock axe-fight with some of Tosh Bergin's seedy relatives, and the boy keeps asking the gnomes if he can play with their weapons. The gnomes always glance up at Hazel watching before refusing.Emus has wandered back inside The Cat & The Fiddle, followed by his new friend, having drained his bladder of green beer off in the trees with Ragglus Chaplin a moment before. He's a bit too tipsy to notice -- or care -- that Ragglus has not returned with him.At this moment, Ragglus is sober and getting more so by the second. A pair of beefy hands holds his wrists behind his back and blood is pouring down his nose and from his split lip. Erilon Farrin, the brother of the dwarf holding him, Dalarn, brushes the dirt from his split knuckles as he prepares to hit Ragglus again."Once upon a time, you bucket of crap, you had a lot to say about our sister's appearance, didn't ya?"His fist sinks into Ragglus' stomach."I reckon it was Ciderfest," Dalarn volunteers."I reckon it was." Erilon hits Ragglus across the jaw with a double-fisted club. "Got anything smart to say now, boy, or is you only brave enough with a crying girl?"</blockquote>

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