Session 25: Nobles and Knights Report

General Summary

In a forest clearing, not far from the hamlet of Dogville, there stood a little house. In front of this little house there was a little pond filled with clear and fresh water. On the other side of the little pond stood a wooden fence. Strangely enough, the wooden fence had no gate, having only a large opening where a gate should have been. What is even stranger is that neither the fence nor the opening served any purpose, for the creatures it corralled were far too large to care about a little wooden fence.   In the middle of the night, under the light of the two moons of Irminsul, these creatures, giant geese the size of horses and their even larger mother with five heads, were making a terrible ruckus. Loud honks sounded through the night, waking up most of the nearby forest dwellers in alarm. The owner of the little house was not awoken, as she was still up. Light still burned within the hut and spilled out across the little pond as the front door opened.   Auntie Patty, a fey hag of some power and reputation, stumbled out into the cold night air.
“Enough with the noise already, damned devil geese. I can’t even hear myself think in there. One more honk out of any of you and my sisters and I are having stuffed goose for diner tomorrow.”   As the honking died down, Auntie took the time to survey the area. While they could be annoying at times, the geese were great watchdogs, alerting her to anyone approaching her cabin. The area seemed clear. No-one came walking out of the brush and save for some rocks, the nearby pasture was empty. Auntie sighed and slowly hobbled over to the empty pasture. When she neared one of the rocks, she gently tapped it with her cane.
“You know that trick doesn’t work on me, Quin. What do you want?”   The rock suddenly sprouted arms and legs and stood up. A tiny head with a long beard appeared, seemingly having been tucked away before.
“Can’t fool you, Auntie. Sorry for bothering you. Did I wake you?”   The hag turned around and began her slow walk back to the hut.
“No, I was still up. I’m packing. Something tells me I won’t be welcome here much longer.”   The small grey gnome waddled after the hag and easily caught up.
“The nobles? You met them? I haven’t, yet.”   “Yes, I met them. They left, I think they figured out who I was and were a little intimidated. But it won’t last. It never does. They will find their courage and they will be back, making demands in the name of justice or honor or another of those silly human concepts.”   They reached the open doorway, and the hag stepped back inside. Quin hurried after her, knowing that she would close the door behind her, if he was inside or not.
“Kill them?”   The inside of the cabin was a mess. Books, bags of herbs and jars filled with liquids were strewn about everywhere. Auntie picked up a large leather sack and began gathering objects, seemingly at random, and placing them inside. It wasn’t long before the contents of the sack were far greater than its normal volume.
“I could, but then the Circles would be mad, they would petition the King who would then want to meet the entire Coven to complain. Leaving is less of a bother.”   “And I? What should I do? They haven’t come to me yet. Maybe they won’t find out about me?”   “Oh, they will. I have a feeling they will be at your little court soon enough. In a few nights time probably. Deal with them as you see fit.”   “Any help?”   Auntie stumbled over to a pile of goods in a box labeled “toss”. After rummaging around for a moment, she pulled out two stones. She rolled them to Quin across the ground.
“Here, you can have these. They seem right up your alley.”   The little fey picked up both stones and examined them.
“Are these…?”   “Yes. Do you know how to wake them?”   Quin gave the hag an offended look.
“Of course. I like them. They won’t be enough though. If the nobles want a fight…”   With an exasperated look on her old face the hag returned to her packing.
“I’ll send Leo to help.”   “Just Leo?”   Slowly, Auntie Patty placed the Sack down on the floor. With a grin she turned to face her little visitor.
“Don’t push it, little lord. I have already given more than I should for far too little. If the word gets out, people might think I have gone soft. Maybe I should exact a heftier price than just the possibility of relieving me of a nuisance. An eye maybe, or a few feet of beard?”   With a squeal the little grey fey creature turned and fled from Aunties cabin. He could hear the hag’s harrowing cackle all the way back through the dark woods and towards the ruined church he called home.