A picture by Wildigard
This is a summary of a roleplaying adventure that took place in Michel Delving on 28th June 2020.
It all began on a busy
Friday night at the Dragon. Miss Pycella was waitressing once again, trying to
compensate for all the mess she had done in the past at the inn. However,
things would soon get even messier because, during that same night, Potty’s tab
got mysteriously lost. Barmy was furious and blamed Pycella for losing the tab
notes. He demanded that Pycella would pay a hefty sum for the tab or waitress
at the Dragon for evermore (supposing she wouldn’t lose any more tab notes).
However, as Pycella was once more sitting in her garden and holding her belly,
she came up with a plan. Namely, all that belly holding had led to some baby
rumours which had reached the ears of Pycella’s uncle Toggo. He wanted to send
their family heirloom rug for the new-born. Well, don’t ask me why. Babies need
rugs, eh? Anyway, Pycella thought that she could trade this rug for the missing
tab and save herself from the eternal waitressing duties. Now she only had to
wait for the Quickpost to deliver the rug safely to the Dragon… Surely nothing
would go wrong there!
And yes, we can always
rely on the Quickpost when it comes to losing deliveries. They managed to bring
the rug all the way to Michel Delving, but then it got mysteriously lost.
Pycella was devastated, but she didn’t want to give up. So she asked her
friends to come and search the missing rug with her.
On Sunday 28th
June, Pycella was standing in front of the Quickpost office, waiting for
potential rug searchers. She didn’t need to wait for long. One by one, hobbits
popped up in front of the post office, some streaming from the road, some
pouring down from the roofs. Fidgit rolled to the scene and asked if they all
would get free drinks on Potty’s tab afterwards. And then came Potty who had
tried to recruit some bounders for the search, but they were too busy standing around
their statue. One bounder came though: master Piper who had gotten a permission
to help out with the search. There was also Davlo, Saelo, Amorey, Dulcena,
Demelsa, Nimelia, Simbo, Nannie, Lina, Tibba, Nonette, Wildigard, Acorne, Aodhfin,
Gammer, Nawagrim… Twenty hobbits! “With this many hobbits about, that rug is
gonna have a hard time staying in hiding”, Miss Nonette noted. Many asked if
there were any news of the missing rug. Davlo suspected that the culprit was
Barmy himself, while Fidgit wondered if it was the mayor who was standing close
to the post office. Miss Dulcena looked around at the crowd and said: “With so
many folks out here, maybe we can all make a new rug if we can’t find the
missing one.” Nimelia shook her head. “I don’t make rugs, I just arrest rug
thieves.” Nonette added: “Also, that sounds like hard work.” Nawagrim seemed
well prepared for anything, wearing his helmet for some reason. “Yer dressed
quite robust for a rug search, Nawagrim!” noted Miss Lina who had just leaped down
from the nearby roof. “I thought it sounded dangerous!” Nawagrim explained
while cautiously looking at Gammer who was wielding a mean-looking fish, ready
to slap any rug thieves. “I recommend stayin’ on her good side,” noted Piper,
nodding at Gammer. Saelo said that someone should grab the fish, and for a
moment, there was some confusion if the fish was the official suspect in the
rug investigation. “There is somet fishy goin’ on with that rug!” Potty agreed.
Lina suggested that they could all just skip the rug search and look for Potty’s
missing tab instead, but Potty just shook his head and waved a finger at Lina,
saying: “Priorities, Miss Lina! Priorities!” The argument didn’t have a chance
to proceed into the phase involving flying rotten apples, as Pycella pounced onto
the edge of the nearby flowerbed and shouted to get everyone’s attention. The
rug search had officially begun!
A picture by Aodhfin
After thanking
everyone for coming, Pycella quickly recapped the events that had led her to
this trouble. The hobbits listened and whispered amongst themselves. With all
this “never give up” spirit, Pycella seemed well set for eternal waitressing
duties, Miss Lina noted. Then, Pycella looked at the crowd. “Anyway, we need
some folks of intelligence on this sort of mission. Quest. Thing.” Nonette
shouted: “You’ve come to the right place!” Suddenly, Pycella drew a small pie
slicer out from her skirts and held it in the air, trying to look like some
brave rug raid leader. “What say you?” she asked and took a dramatic pause.
“What say you?” she repeated. “Thing!” Miss Lina shouted back, and someone blew
a trumpet. “One rug to rule them all!” Amorey shouted. “Sure I am intelli…
smart,” Miss Acorne nodded. Miss Pycella looked pleased. “Now, maybe we go and
see if we all fit in to that Quickpost office?” she suggested. Everyone nodded.
“We really could use a rug shot, so we know what it looks like,” Shirriff
Nimelia commented in her professional manner, as they walked in.
Suddenly the small
Quickpost office was fully packed with hobbits, many of them staring at the rug
on the floor. “THERE’s a rug!” Nimelia said, pointing at the large blue rug on
the office floor. “Needs the roll test though,” Fidgit said and rolled on the
rug, trying his best to not knock anyone down. “Funny they lost it right here,”
Nawagrim wondered and scratched his helmet head. However, Pycella sighed and
shook her head. “Nope, this is not it…” she said. “The lost rug was a green
one.” Saelo smiled. “Green one? That’s what I call taste!” Nimelia took a
poetic pose and wondered: “What mean thug would steal a green rug?” Tibba had
an idea: “Perhaps we could drop a couple of green dyes while nobody is looking?”
That caught Simbo’s attention: “Green dyes? I can make some!”
A picture by Wildigard
At that point, Pycella
had walked to the Quickpost lad who has taking care of the office and poked him
gently. “He’s in for a scolding,” Miss Lina noted. Pycella cleared her throat.
“So, you said that the rug was lost when it reached Michel Delving?” The Quickpost
lad sighed: “Yes, it came fine to our post office, but then it disappeared
mysteriously. I think it was stolen! That’s what the bounders found out before
they departed for the inn for further innspections. The burglar left some clues
though. The bounders found this where the rug package had been. It’s covered in
something very sticky, like glue,” told the lad, holding out a small, dirty
note in his hand. “A true glue clue!” Lina said, while others wondered if it
was slug glue. “The plot comes unglued!” Nimelia said. “Was there anything
else?” Pycella asked the lad who shook his head: “Nothing much. However, I have
heard that there have been traces of this mysterious glue all over Michel
Delving. It seems that the culprit is here, somewhere.” Nonette said it sounded
like their smallest cousin, though she’d not be able to lift a rug. Simbo was
busy inspecting a box for pies and Piper wondered if the rug chopped up and
turned into something else, looking at Saelo’s backpack suspiciously.
Meanwhile, Pycella inspected the note that had stuck into her hand. It wasn’t
Potty’s tab, it was too small to be that one. Moreover, it had riddles written
all over. Before anyone would pull the rug from under everyone’s feet and dye
it green, Pycella suggested she would read the first riddle (that might lead to
their rug and culprit). “A ruggle?” Miss Tibba pondered, and Nonette got into
her riddle solving pose. Before Pycella had a chance to open her mouth, someone
already guessed the answer was “duck”, the traditional answer to any riddle
imaginable. Pycella shook her head and read the riddle out loud:
Feller with a good
hearing
Is eyeing a teapot
of love
While old friends
keep talking
“I reckon a toad wrote
that note,” Fidgit concluded. “Toads are sticky.” A teapot of love? Ears? Old
friends? Quite vague hints! Nimelia sighed. “That rug is doomed.” Pycella
scratched her head. “Is there a place in Michel Delving with all these things
present?” she wondered. “Maybe old friends hang out in the Inn!” Nonette
suggested. “Can’t be wrong ter check an inn,” Tibba agreed. Nimelia said that
going to the inn is a very bounderly strategy.
A picture by Aodhfin
So they all headed
towards the Bird and Baby, closest inn to the post office. On their way,
Nimelia patted her pickaxe and noted that they could turn over every stone in
Delving until they found either a teapot, or the rug. “Never seen hobbits move
so fast,” Miss Demelsa observed as the thirsty hobbits streamed into the inn.
There were some fine rugs at the inn too, but they were all red. Nimelia walked
straight to the counter. “Right, I’ll have the usual! Oh, no, wait, I am here
on business.” Many hobbits were heavily occupied at the counter, inspecting the
ale kegs of love, ordering riddle solving ales, pie, and whatnot. “Can I order
a green rug? That would speed things up,” Nimelia said. Piper the Bounder was
inspecting a pint of Carlo’s finest. Some hobbits headed to the back room and
spotted something in the corner. A rabbit! “He must have good hearing!” Lina
noted. She also spotted a lovely teapot with a heart on it on the nearby table.
“There’s some old fellas nattering here,” Nonette said, pointing at the elderly
hobbits standing in the room. “Anybodee carry a rug past ya?” Miss Acorne
asked. Simbo pondered if the rabbit ate the rug. Piper looked at the old
fellows in the room. “I know these chaps. Bookworm types. They’d never take a
rug, unless there was something to read on the backside of it.” Pycella walked
to the teapot and peeked inside. There was something there! “Tea?” Tibba asked.
“Oooooh ale?” Master Aodhfin asked hopefully. Pycella then pulled out some sticky
pine needles. “Pine? No Pie?” Simbo sighed. Pycella shook her head. The needles
had stuck to her hand. “You’ve started a collection, Pycella!” Nonette giggled.
“I’ll not shake Pycella’s hand today...” Lina nodded. When Piper was inspecting
a book one of the bookworms was reading, the others wondered if there was a
pine tree in Michel Delving. Well, maybe they could get more clues by looking
at the other riddles in that sticky note? Pycella read the next one.
That place where
the hammer falls
And treasures lie
in plain sight
Look into the box
“Ah, the forge?” Tibba
said. “Anywhere Nimelia is...” Lina said, looking at Nimelia who was already
clutching a forging hammer in her hand. “Just tell me what you need hammered!”
she said with excitement. Miss Acorne scratched her head: “A vault has
treasures!” Nonette nodded: “Maybe it’s the vault-keeper fellow. He’s the
thief! I knew it.” Yet Pycella thought the answer might not be that
straight-forward. “Is there another place with a hammer, than the forge?” she pondered.
“The auction house,” Nannie noted. “Ah, that’s a great idea, Nannie,” Nonette
agreed. “Oh! And treasures abound at the auction house!” Dulcena added. The
eager hobbits headed for the auction house, yet some could not pass the counter
without ordering more drinks for the road. “An ale, and fast!” Lina shouted at
Carlo, pounding her fist on the counter like an auctioneer. Others were
shouting their orders of drinks and snacks with a pace that made Pycella happy
that she wasn’t waitressing at this inn (as of yet). Nimelia was waving her
hammer at Carlo. “An ale and a snack for the road! Half a hog should do!” When
all were set, they continued to the auction house that was on the other side of
Michel Delving. Good that everyone had something to drink and munch on their
way. Piper had taken the other half of Nimelia’s hog. Pycella hadn’t ordered
anything, because it would have stuck to her hand too. The hobbits strolled
through the night-time town, all finding their way to the auction house in the
end. “A drink is very distracting for adventurous Hobbitses” Saelo noted,
sipping his homemade ale that he carried in his backpack.
A blurry memory by Wildigard
At the auction house,
there were rugs, but wrong colour again. There was a small green piece of cloth
over the auctioneer’s stand, but it was too small for a rug. “It won’t grow
like my belly either,” Pycella grinned. “The thief wouldn’t have auctioned it
off by chance?” Dulcena wondered. “Whatever the highest bid is, I DOUBLE it!”
The others were also interested in the auctions. “Can we bid on pies?” Fidgit
asked. Amorey hopped behind auctioneer’s stand and shouted: “Going once, going
twice, SOLD! to the chubby hobbit with gravy stains,” pointing at Simbo. “Err..
Which chubby hobbit with the gravy stains?” Potty asked, looking at his stained
old tunic. Wildigard was fuelling Piper the with some take-away mead, wine and
ale. Meanwhile, Lina had spotted a box in the middle of coin piles. “Hey, here
is treasure in plain sight!” she shouted. All gathered around the box, at least
those who were not busy with bidding on pies and eating snacks. Pycella looked
into the box and pulled out some pumpkin pieces, all sticky with glue. “Bah not
a sausage...” Fidgit sighed. Pycella shivered. “I lost my appetite for today.” The
pumpkin pieces got stuck in Pycella’s hands too. Everyone else was scratching
their heads. Was someone making a sticky slug pumpkin pie? This was getting
very mysterious! “So someone broke a pumpkin then tried to glue it back
together?” Piper wondered. Lina grinned. “It’d be fun when someone bit into it,”
she said, and Piper nodded: “I tried that on my folks once. Spent a week pulling
weeds.” Then Pycella remembered that there was still one more riddle in the
note that was stuck to her hand. Maybe that would lead them further? She read
it out loud:
A bull is eyeing
hobbits
Next to a company
of three who ate too much straw
Very tricky! Was there
a bull somewhere in Michel Delving? Maybe at the Stables? Nannie said that
there are some cows by the road to Little Delving. Maybe it meant those? Or
maybe there was a bull at Sandson’s farm? “Maybe it’s not a real bull?” Pycella
thought. “Bullseye, some sort of archery-type place?” Dulcena suggested. “The
training halls,” Amorey nodded. The halls were almost next door, so the hobbits
decided to check. “I still reckon it has something to do with sausages,” Fidgit
said hopefully.
A picture by Aodhfin
The hobbits walked to
the training halls, eating most of poor Hugo Broadbelt’s pie on their way in. Once
inside, everyone started to inspect the place. “Where’s the bull?” asked
Fidgit, probably ready to eat it. Piper straightened his hat and walked to some
trainers. “These two fellas look mighty suspicious. Where were you when Pycella’s
rug was stolen? Huh?! I ought to put you in the lockholes. I’ve got my eye on
you. and don’t you forget it!” Potty greeted his former trainer Lilabet and
then spotted something nearby. “Oh! A bow! Yer think they will let me try one?”
he asked hopefully. And there, a bullseye target for archers! “The bull is
here! Or rather his eye,” Nimelia observed. “Training dummies are filled with
straw. And there’s three of them,” Gammer noted, pointing her fish at the
training hall dummies. “Might be someone should interrogate these straw dummies
then. One of them could be the culprit,” Miss Dulcena suggested. Before anyone
could stop her, Lina was smacking one of the dummies. “Yer questioning the
dummies, Lina?” Pycella asked. “Well, I wanted to hit somet...” Lina shrugged.
Then Pycella saw something on the floor next to the dummies. “Something fell
off the dummy when miss Lina hit it” she said. “Not stuck very well then. It’s
probably safe!” Nonette suspected. Everyone held their breath (except for
Piper, who was still interrogating the trainers) while Pycella lifted a mathom
from the floor, also sticky with glue. “I’m glad it was not a red pointy hat
that fell of that dummy!” Potty grinned. “Gluethon, it seems,” Saelo observed.
It must belong to the mathom house! However, the glue mystery was still
unglued. “Does all this glue mean we should stick together? I am bamboozled!”
Saelo shrugged. “What a way to treat mathoms...” Lina noted with disapproval.
“Maybe it can be washed,” Aodhfin suggested. “Should we bring it to the Mathom
House then? Would serve them right...” said Tibba while Simbo was peeking under
her hat and looking for the lost rug. “Let’s go glue Brombard’s Foxtail!” Lina suggested,
and off they went.
“I have a bad feeling
about this,” Piper said, as they ascended the steep road towards the Mathom
House. “Imagine us heading to the mathom house...” Lina muttered. “Things get
lost there. Maybe that’s what happened to the rug,” Nimelia suspected. “If it’s
lost there, they broke it too, I bet”, Lina commented. “On the other hand, them
might have twenty green rugs...” Tibba said hopefully while munching on her
snacks. Once inside, Piper was already attacking another Foxtail with a hard
stare and questions. Then they saw the pine tree in the corner, and a pumpkin
by the fireplace. There was also a slug in a cage. “All yer bits are here
including big boxes,” Nannie said to Pycella. “This must be where they make the
glue,” Potty said, eyeing the slimy slug. Meanwhile, Piper had progressed from
interrogations to the keg inspection. “This must be the crime scene!” Nimelia
concluded. “The thief must be here!” Acorne nodded. At this point, many of the
hobbits were already helping themselves at the feast table. It had been a hard
climb up the hill after all. “That tiny pink oliphaunt looks way too innocent!”
Potty said, pointing at the oliphaunt figure on display. Aodhfin headed to the
cellar that was full of ale while Simbo got stuck to the slug. Well, at least
they had found the source of the glue. Now, they just needed to find the
culprit…
A picture by Aodhfin
Then, Pycella saw a
trace of glue leading upstairs. And there he sat, on the staircase, a lad
covered in glue. “Woha!” Nimelia exclaimed. “Has he glued himself down?” The
lad had labels in his hands. “He’s been a bad lad. They made him sit in the
corner,” Piper noted. “Been there many times myself,” he added. Dulcena was
feeling bad for the poor glued hobbit. “Perhaps he has glue on his bottom and can’t
get up?” Simbo wondered as well. Well, the culprit or not, the lad could not
escape Pycella’s questions. She asked him if he knew something about the Michel
Delving glue mystery. He sighed. “I knew someone would find out. I meant no
harm! It was just an experiment! See. I have always wanted to be a mathom
seeker. A famous one. Me and Master Slugwise had a promising future ahead of
us.” Pycella looked confused. “Slugwise? The plot thickens!” Nimelia said. “That’s
an... interesting name,” Dulcena added. The lad continued. “Yes. I wanted to
make him a slug who tracks mathoms! See, the Mathom Society made a few riddles
that would lead to particular places in Michel Delving where mathoms were
hidden. It was like an initiation, you know.” Nimelia scratched her head. “The
Mathom Society looking for the Mathoms they lost, eh?” The lad sighed. “I am
not good in riddles, but master Slugwise could sniff them out for me. So with
his help, I could discover them mathoms and the places they were hidden in.” Acorne
nodded. “I knew that slug was involved.” Lina said: “Initiation, eh? I never
knew slugs could sniff…” Saelo sighed. “I will need a two-hours-long bath after
this nevertheless.”
Pycella wasn’t
finished yet. “There’s this one thing that needs explaining though. You see, a
rug disappeared from the Quick Post office. Do you have any idea where it is? Did
you glue it somewhere?” The lad blushed crimson: “Well, that’s where things
didn’t go so well. See, Master Slugwise has some appetite for old rugs…” For a
moment, everyone was as silent as someone had just glued their lips together.
Then they started groaning and muttering. “‘s a Minna-slug!” Lina concluded,
referring to Minna the Pig at their kin hall, also an animal who liked to eat
all old stuff, mostly mathoms. “Invite him for next Friday!” Tibba suggested. “He
ate the rug?!” Pycella gasped with horror. The lad smiled nervously. “Yes, he
did. That’s when I decided it would be wise to keep him locked out in the
Mathom House. Saw that cage in the hall? That’s him inside.” Lina grinned. “Slugwise
is not so rugwise, then,” she said. “Maybe if she’s nice to Barmy it’ll only be
half-forever?” Nawagrim said comfortingly. “Well, at least I am not stuck yet,”
Pycella said, pointing at the lad who was glued to the floor. “Quite forward of
you, Pycella!” Nonette agreed. “Poor lad, though. But he deserved all, maybe
worse,” Saelo said. “Well, you can always just take off yer pants” said Pycella
to the stuck lad and headed back to the hall to scold he slug with her sticky
hand.
A picture by Aodhfin
“Well, technically we
found the rug!” Nimelia said as they wandered back downstairs. “Yer think Barmy
will approve?” Lina wondered. “Maybe you should have the lad and the slug do
the bartending for eternity,” Nonette suggested. Potty inspected the slug in
the cage. “Yer think he’s still digestin’?” Saelo pulled out is dagger to
threaten the slug, but then realized how silly he looked like. Nawagrim removed
his helmet, finally feeling safe to do it. Pycella went to the cage and got
into the scolding position, waving her sticky hand. “Master Slugwise! What have
you done?! I never thought a slug would lead me to my doom…” Acorne comforted
Pycella. “I say make the slug do yer waitressin’!” she said. Saelo shook his
head. “Nay, Acorne, I wouldn’t prefer glued tankards,” he said. “But that way
ya could hold onto the tankard,” Acorne noted. “Time ter fetch them green dyes,
Master Simbo,” Tibba whispered, nodding at one of the Mathom house rugs. “Dastardly
slug, you owe us a rug!” Nimelia scolded the rug in the cage. “Maybe we can
sell Slugwise to the Quickpost, and buy a rug from the money?” Nimelia
wondered. “Oh am sure Miss Ambrinna could find a use fer him,” Nannie agreed. Pycella
sighed and looked at the other hobbits. “Well, at least the mystery got solved!”
Lina raised a finger: “Half-mystery solved, at least! I still wonder where
Potty’s tab is.” Fidgit hopped up. “I know where Potty’s tab is! In his
pocketses!” Everyone’s eyes were suddenly on Potty who was wriggling under his
hat. “There must be a reason he never wants to remove that hat...” Lina
muttered. Gammer sneaked to Potty and peeked under his hat. “No peekin’ under
the hat!” Potty shouted, clinging to his hat. “Keep a slug under yer hat, then
yer hat won’t fall off!” Fidgit advised.
A picture by Aodhfin
Luckily for Potty,
everyone was feeling a bit peckish, and the fully laden feast table in the hall
got their attention. “After all that excitement I feel a bit sluggish,” Demelsa
said. “Another job well done by the Bounders I’d say,” Piper said happily,
finding himself a good spot at the table. Pycella sighed. “Now I need to
waitress at the Dragon for evermore.” Lina smiled. “A happy outcome for all!”
she said, adding, “well, for us, at least! Of course, yer will get a couple of
weeks off when that belly grows a bit larger.” Pycella rolled her eyes. Potty
shrugged. “Barmy doesn’t know what the rug looks like does he? We’ll just bring
him another rug!” Nonette patted Pycella on the shoulder. “Someday you’ll find
a barter that doesn’t get stolen or eaten!” Pycella smiled. “Well, things could
be worse. At least I am not stuck to the floor in the Mathom House! And I can
always dodge the waitressing by hosting instead!” Everyone agreed it was much
better to be stuck at the Dragon than in the Mathom house. “I’d like to be
stuck....in the cellar of the Bird and Baby!” Fidgit said. “If your belly grows
very large, I can take over some shifts if you want... Like a few of them, not
all of them,” master Aodhfin said. “Now there’s a fine gentlehobbit,” Tibba
said, loading her plate. “I’d volunteer to stand in for you on occasion, but I
insist on sampling each pint before it goes out,” Nonette said. “Quality
control, after all.” Potty looked up from his plate. “We can make the
waitressin’ easier! We can order a few beers at once instead of separately!”
Pycella beamed. “Yer all so very kind and helpful!” she said. “All in a day’s
work, Miss Pycella,” Piper nodded. “Fortunately, the Mathom House has its own
Slug Lockholes.”
A picture by Aodhfin
And so they all sat
around the table, discussing the rug case and serving food and drink to poor
Pycella who couldn’t use her sticky hands for eating and drinking. She wondered
if Miss Almi, her former nanny and a bath lover, would give her a good scrub afterwards.
When everyone had had a good share of the food, it was time to dance a bit to
Amorey’s lute playing and singing. Everyone did their best to spill drinks and
food on the Mathom house rugs. Tibba was leaning over to Nawagrim and explaining
about how to feed someone who got glue on their hands. Nawagrim thanked Tibba
for her advice and said to Pycella: “Now I can help yer grow yer belly even
more!” After a few songs, everyone was starting to feel a bit sluggish. It was
time to take a nap! “I need to solve the mystery of my pie,” Simbo said. “It
went missing again.” Tibba pulled Simbo’s sleeve. “Don’t forget them green dyes.
This rug would look lovely in green.” she said, pointing at a rug on the floor.
“100 you wanted, wasn’t it?” Simbo asked. Piper walked to Pycella. “I’m glad
the mystery is finally solved. Please let me know if anything else turns up
missing. I’ll be happy to search all of the taverns,” he said and waved
good-bye. And everyone left the Mathom house and master Slugwise with their
bellies full and minds at ease. Expect for Pycella who was bound to have a very
thorough bath in near future.
The End.
----
Background for this
event
I got the idea for
this event pretty early, already in December 2019. Miss Ambrinna (our Quickpost
lass) milks slugs to make slug glue for the stamps, so I thought maybe there
could be a slug-related accident in Michel Delving where the post office was. The
original idea was that someone would send a rug to the Dragon as a gift for
Barmy, but the rug would disappear on the way. But then, the current (very
worn-out) Dragon rug got a good scrub during the Yule days, so a new rug was
not really needed. Well, I decided to wait a bit so that the dust would
literally settle on the rug and there would be a need for a new one. Then,
during the spring, something happened at the Dragon.
I was waitressing during
a busy night at the Dragon. There was much chatter and action going on, and I
was close to the counter. Suddenly I saw Potty behind the counter, and he grabbed
some papers. Ha! I knew it was the tab notes he took. I think no one else saw
what he did, as things were quite busy at that moment. Later in the kin chat, Potty
wrote that he threw some papers into the fire. The tab was no more! At that
moment, the cogwheels started to spin in my head and I came up with the plan
described in the above story. So in a way, this adventure was a communal
effort. I love how the interactions of others can give inspiration for new
events and stories. Even during this adventure, the others contributed how it
turned out. For example, I hadn’t thought that the culprit in the Mathom House
had actually glued himself to the floor (and he was even in charge for labels,
according to his own NPC talk)! That notion came from the other participants.
Thank you all for
taking part in this adventure! It might have been a bit chaotic and it was
sometimes hard to herd 19 hobbits, but I hope everyone had fun. Oh, and now I
don’t have to make up more excuses why I am waitressing at the Dragon. I like
the waitressing part (even though my roleplaying might make you think
otherwise), as much as I love hosting the Dragon. Of course, if anyone else
would like to do some waitressing at the inn, please have a go! It is a nice way
to liven things up a bit.
