Freja and Budokai, along with Nor Nidrah the dwarven geologist were leading the company's mounts when they found themselves entering an area of rolling foothills. The narrow footpath from the quarry road slowly began to wind back and forth to avoid the hills rather than going overtop them and the way became unnecesarily long and tedious. So, instead of following it, the party of three and their beasts kept the wildly winding path to their left and walked along the tops of the hills in the straighter path.
A good half mile later, they noted that the path opened into a proper lane bordered by planted flowers and hedgerows and crossed to rejoin it. Looking back they saw that had been walking along the tops of several homes for some distance. Round shuttered windows and great round doors built into the hillside betrayed the presence of several halfling holes, meanwhile, irate halflings had emerged from many of them and stood watching their progress.
When they inquired after a nearby inn, the pointed pipe stem of a farmer set them continuing in the same direction. They followed the lane to the Bird and Baby -- a proper wooden building set along a row of similar ones built upon the shores of a small lake and backed against a grassy common. Children were swimming and splashing on one sandy shore as halflings with poles were fishing a few hundred yards away. On the other side of the buildings, in the grassy common, a group off 100 halflings seemed to be having an open air party among some tables and chairs left out for that purpose. Meanwhile, the lane they had been following continued to wind around the lake and off to more hobbit holes for as far as the eye could see, before it was seen snaking over hills and coming almost full circuit to where they had first picked it up a mile away. In the distance were great fields burgeoning with some crop.
The innkeeper of the Bird and Baby was bothered by having received business on a Sunsday -- not a proper day for travel, he reminded the party. Fortunately, he added, his establishment had grand ceilings in each room which rose to a height of six feet. He was able to put them up in cozy, if tight, accomodations at 14 silvers apiece, per night. He sent two of his sons to see to the party's multitude of horses.
The party was no sooner settled in, then a barrel-chested halfling sporting a braided golden cord over one shoulder, and girt about the waist with a wide belt and scabbarded shortsword upon his hip, came calling. There were three other halfling toughs behind him, each also with braided shoulder ornament and these carrying stout oaken staves.
The armed halfling introduced himself as Arvo Chubbshanks, Reeve of the Shire. The men with him were duly deputized under section 9 of their code of laws, he warned. The four of them were proper lawmen and would be sent to accompany the party withersoever they went during the duration of their stay. Swearing in new lawmen on a Sunsday was not normally proper, he reminded the party. So their visit was already something of an imposition. He urged them to keep the peace of the shire and patted his short sword for effect. "I don't want to have to use this." he intoned solemnly before striding off to other duties.
One of the deputized halflings took up station in the inn's great room while the other two checked-in to the rooms adjacent to those enjoyed by the party, and sent for a platter of roast mutton and tomato sandwiches, and some ale.
Later, the party was joined by three halflings they had met a few days earlier along the quarry road. The whole shire was abuzz with news of the stranger's arrival, and they came by to hear their tales of defeating the dragon-taming giant. Nor Nidrah tittered nervously at that and went to drown himself in wine, as Freja and Budokai told them their party hadn't actually finished the deed, as yet. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all, drinking and smoking until the wee hours. The next morning, feeling ill at ease, Budokai and his boy Jarvis set out to rejoin the main party, leaving Freja to acclimate herself to the ways of her halfling hosts.
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