(Archive) First Meeting of the WGC

First WGC Meeting

RL Date: RL (Arizona) time is Wed Aug 21 18:14:55 2002 (+time).

MUSH Date: Sterday, Solmath (February) 5, 1427 S.R.

Culture: Shirefolk

Participating Players: Berredan, Bodobrus, Clodo, Lowelland, Scudabert (Finigrin?), Taladoc (Azaelia?), Talasad (Andrea), Thilo (Berredan)

Location(s): Delving Inn, Michel Delving

Description: The West-farthing Gentlehobbits Club meets for the first time.

IC Weather Conditions

Unseasonably warm, the air outside is very mild and fresh, foretelling of Spring\'s arrival on this Solmath day.

It is no normal day in the Shire\'s cheif township of Michel Delving, but a very special one, for sure! The Delving Inn, an establishment quite habituated toward crowds, is overly inundated with patrons this evening the extraordinary fact is that they are not the revelrous crowd that usually frequents the place, but a quiet, refined group—well-attired and curried hobbits of all manner have filled the place, quietly speaking amoungst each other, for the most part. There are a few obstreperous occupants in the establishment this evening, and one of them (the most embonpoint of the group) is loudly greeting halflings as they enter. \"Ah, hallo Mister Hornblower! How\'s Cousin Oco, Mister Bracegirdle? How\'re things, Mister Took?\" are some of the things he rollickingly spouts. This is no average hobbit, but Clodo Baggins and this is no average crowd, but the first hopeful initiates of the Westfarthing Gentlehobbits\' Club.

Berredan wanders over toward Clodo and puts a hand on his shoulder, a mug in his other hand. \"Good morning,\" he says to a few hobbits entering the premises. \"Well, the turnout seems to have… turned out well, wouldn\'t you say, Clodo?\"

Talasad sits contentedly in his chair, fidding with a wrapper about a hard taffy. Whispering to his neighbours while nudging his head in Clodo\'s direction, he passes out several of the treats. He looks up respectfully as he leans back with a great deal of matiscations, carefully keeping his mouth closed.

Lowelland looks about the the room a bit distractedly and nods, smiling.

A rather wide figure walks into the Delving Inn, humming to himself as he goes and merrily puffing on his wooden pipe as he does so. Toregrin Took looks around the Inn at Michel Delving, puffing some smokerings into the already smoky atmosphere of the room, \"About time I got here…\" he says to himself, chuckling slightly and running his hand through his head, \"I keep driving past the gates,\"

The Delving Inn

Pushing the front door open, the din of merriment rings in your ears. The tavern is dominated by a large bar opposite the door, lined with swivel barstools. The bar is lined with swivel barstools - some resting higher than others. Several casks at the end of the bar hold a variety of ale, wine and mead. A slot in the wall allows a partial view of the kitchen and its large cast iron stove. Succulent meat roasts on a semi-circular fire pit can be seen next to the bar, its tantalizing aroma alerting your olfactory sense. Ironwork beside the door holds several cloaks as the oil lamps dotted around the inn light your way. Portraits of the past Mayors of Michel Delving line the walls which have been painted a striking deep red and are trimmed with intricate woodwork.

A narrow staircase leads upwards to the lodging quarters of the inn. ettees situated in the corner next to the door are accessorised by comfortable red cushions. The serving wench, Eyebright, stands behind the bar ready to serve. You have entered The Delving Inn, gathering spot of the Delvings.

Contents:

Scudabert

WGC Manifesto(#27940)

Taladoc

Talasad

Lowelland

Estella

Clodo

Toregrin

Eyebright(#19795V)

Obvious exits:

Stairs and Out

Hanging on the wall behind the bar is a plaque that reads: \"Saphire Brandybuck is the July Winner of the Delving Riffle Raffle!\"

Clodo says, \"I would say so, Berredan!\" He turns to the somewhat less avoirdupois hobbit, a toothy, businesslike smile his countenance. He too, it seems, has somehow aquired a mug, and presently takes a long potation from the vessel. Savoring the flavor in his mouth for a moment, he swallows and turns back toward the annulated passage into the inn. Apparently recognizing someone amoung the throng of people entering the room, he promulgates, \"Hallo Cousin Ipsno! Hope all\'s well!\"

Eyebright announces, \"Alright, gents—come and get it! Free ale all around! Get your mug before the official stuff begins!\"

Frundastolph walks in from the street.

Frundastolph has arrived.

Lowelland finds a servinghobbit to fetch him a mug of cider.

Taladoc Brandybuck nods and bows slightly to the greeters as he walks through the door. \"Good morning, good morning!\" His voice sounds a bit tired, though his face is bright. He has his pipe in hand and his weed-pouch in his pocket. As soon as Taladoc hears the ale anouncement, he heads off to get his mug.

Free ale? Not one to miss that, Talasad jumps up and grabs and mug, and tosses a taffy at the mug-guarder before returning to his seat. He sips at it cautiously, a small smirk spreading at the corners of his mouth as some of the nouveau-rich fiddle with their jewellery.

Berredan bows several times before making his way to the bar to have his mug refilled. \"Clodo,\" he calls across the room, \"Whenever Toregrin arrives I suppose we can begin!\"

He clears his throat and announces to those present, \"Thank you for coming, gentlehobbits! The meeting will begin in half a moment! I suggest we all take this time to become acquainted with those we don\'t know!\"

Lowelland savors his cider, sitting back in an overstuffed chair watching the room.

Taking another puff on his pipe, Toregrin looks around the Inn, casually, \"I can\'t remember the last time it was so crowded!\" he says to himself, \"Mind, I can\'t remember the last time I was here. Don\'t much care for Michel Delving, myself,\" he wades through the crowd, looking for the official place where he\'s supposed to go.

Cousin Ipsno doesn\'t seem to notice Clodo, as improbable as it may seem, but the corpulent Baggins pays his cousin\'s lack of attention no mind rather, he debilitates the rest of his ale mug\'s contents into his mouth. Setting the empty vas atop an unoccupied table, he accompanies Berredan at the head of the room, but remains tacit.

Berredan clears his throat, \"May I have everyone\'s attention? Attention please?\"

As the room generally quiets down, Berredan smiles, \"Welcome to the new West-farthing Gentlehobbits Club! I am Berredan B. Took, the Chief Director of this group.\" He gestures toward Clodo, \"This is Clodo Baggins,\" and Toregrin, \"And my good cousin, Toregrin Took—both club directors. If everyone would stand, we will all recite the WGC Promise and make you all official members!\"

A voice drifts into the room, followed by the rotund hobbit belonging to it. Scudabert Bolger, as some might recognize him, seems to be entirely caught up in one of his tales, turning to see the reaction of the hobbit, Frundastolph Bolger, following closely behind. He parts his lips to continue but stops short, realising for the first time, the large number of hobbit gathered in the Delving Inn.

Turning to Frundastolph, he lowers his voice to a whisper. \"I do hope we haven\'t missed anything! I must have lost track of time on the way over..\" He stands in the doorway for a few moments, listening to Clodo before scurrying to the closest unoccupied seat and promptly plopping himself down.

Lowelland stands slowly and sets down his cider mug.

\"Indeed, everyone stand … Berredan will start us off,\" says Clodo, gesticulating toward the aristicrat. A toothy grin his physiognomy, he looks around the deplete room, making eye-contact with nearly every hobbit in the place. The room is filled to the brim, and as such, Clodo\'s smile grows a little bigger.

Taladoc finds his way to an empty seat, but doesn\'t sit. He takes a nice long sip from his fresh mug of ale as he turns his attention to the speaker. He sets his mug on his chair carefully, and looks back to the heads of the Club.

Puffing on his pipe a little bit, Toregrin waves as he is introduced as a Club Director type. He then douses the instrument of smoking…after all, promises and pledges are hardly an appopriate time to be burning up a package of Old Toby. Finding himself some nice room to stand, he looks around the Inn again, smiling.

Berredan picks up a thick book with the initials \'WGC\' on the leather binding. Clearing his throat again, he reads from a page near the beginning.

\"Please repeat after me if you wish to become a West-farthing Gentlehobbit!\"

\"I promise to have hobbit-sense.

I\'ll always close an opened fence.

I\'ll be polite to all the ladies,

And loyal to the other gents!\"

Lowelland repeats the pledge along with the others, a syllable or two behind most of the others, adding to the general incomprehensibility of the hubbub in the room.

A over chubby hobbit, nods his head intently as his brother talks. \"Yes, indeed. I hope we have not.\" Frundastolph murmers back. Pushing on the bridge of his glasses, the Bolger moves them slightly higher on his nose, as he plops down into a seat besides his brother. Just as he has made himself comfortable, the announcement to stand his made.

Heaving his large body to a standing position, he looks to Scudabert, to see if he had stoo yet. Turning back around, Berredan begins the promise. Furrowing his brow, the gentlehobbit listens intently, nodding when he had finished. Taking a deep breath, the Bolger repeats it percisely, a thin smile growing on his chubby face.

Talasad repeats the promise eagerly, and rolls his eyes again to some of the newer-rich types, who seem to have trouble with the proper rhyming scheme of the words, With a grin as they finally make it through it, he nods satisfactorily and turns back to the front.

As Taladoc repeats the pledge in chorus with the others, he can\'t help but grin at how it is put into such a clever little piece. ..Though he keeps a stern face and nods.

Lowelland\'s attention wanders across the various hobbits gatherered here, large and small, old and new. He smiles quietly to himself.

Clodo ingeminates the Promise in time with all the other people in the room, the smile on his phiz growing more sizeable. Betokening Willow for another ale, he reclines against the wall, listening to the sound of the reciting grow slightly more forte as more hobbits join in.

Smiling eagerly, Berredan closes the book and sets it down upon a large table that has been setup in the center of the room. \"That said, welcome, gentlehobbits, to the most talked-about new organization, the WGC. You should all feel wonderful—you are the first members, other than Toregrin, Clodo and myself, to take the oath in hope of making a difference in your community. Congratulations. Let us all be seated and get this meeting underway.\"

Reciting the Promise faithfully, Toregrin smiles a bit as he listens to the speeching. He also sits himself down, rummaging around in his pocket as he goes for some Old Toby. \"Might not be the best time,\" he says to himself, \"but I always get nervous during these little meetings…\"

Talasad slides back into his seat with ease, and brings out yet another round of taffy, \"Hear, hear, Berredan!\" a sanguine smile slips onto his face as he attentively leans forward.

As he takes his seet, Scudabert finds to his dismay, that the others were rising to their feet once more. Following suit, he immediately chimes in with the Club\'s pledge, the words rolling off his tongue in a proud timbre. When he completes the task, he glances around before settling his gaze on Berredan. At the appropriate cue, the Bolger takes his seat, clearing his throat once or twice.

Lowelland sits back down into his oversized chair and takes up his cider again. He nods.

Taladoc turns and picks his ale back up and sits himself down, looking around him at the other hobbitsthe new membersand then once again back to the founders.

As the pledge is finished, Frundastolph takes his seat again. Placing his hands in his lap, his glance rests intently on Berreden, waiting for the meeting to continue. A slight sparkle shines in the Bolger\'s eyes, as Berredan explains about the organization. Nodding his head again, seems to be a habbit of his, he glances back in forth between the three hobbits in the front. Letting his glance slip to the others in thr room, every so often.

Berredan lowers himself into a seat between Toregrin and Clodo. Opening the book once again, he flips through until he finds the desired page and glances up. \"Now, before we begin, let me remind you all that respectability and good, common hobbit-sense is key! We are all gentlehobbits. And, as such, we must strive to prove it by displaying good manners, respect for our peers and compassion for the less fortunate. Yes, we have the power to help those who need it—in fact, as new members, you should all perform one good deed of your own choosing… some of you may decide to repair a pothole in one of the Shire\'s great roads… or raise a bit of money for the poor people of Scary. Whatever it is, make sure it\'s an act of good!\"

\"Now, Mr. Clodo, would you lead us into our first discussion?\"

Several hobbits applaud at Berredan\'s words and quickly become silent to hear Clodo.

Coggling toward the middle of the room where Berredan stands, Clodo meretriciously clears his throat, looking around the room for a moment before speaking. \"Yes … right. Well, our first order of business is Farmer Brownlock of Little Delving\'s cow, who mysteriously went missing a few days back,\" he says with mild inquietude.

Berredan clears his throat a bit and leans in toward Clodo and +whispers, \"Er, Clodo, shouldn\'t we start with something a bit more important—such as the recent wolf attacks/elf sightings? I\'ll leave it up to you, however, since you have the floor.\"

Clodo says, \"Oh, right, of course,\" while smiling uneasily toward Berredan. Clearing his throat again, he produces a hankercheif from one of his weskit-pockets and dabs it across his supercilium before speaking again. \"Actually, there is more pressing business to tend to. It appears there have been some sightings of Fair Folkthat\'s right, real Fair Folk! in the Shire. Aswell, there have been reports of attacks by wolves.\"

A murmur goes up among the crowd.

Frundastolph continues to listen, delight growing on his face every moment. The Bolger leans back in his chair, flashing a quick smile to his brother, before his attentions return to the directors. Pushing his glashes up once more, he continues his annoying little habbit of nodding, teh fat hobbit eventually fading in with all the others…

Toregrin glances at Clodo, quirking a slight eyebrow, \"You mean Elves?\" he asks himself, but quietly. Doesn\'t want to speak out of turn…or, rather, he doesn\'t want to be caught. Having said his bit, he glances around the Inn again, observing reactions.

Berredan nods and continues in a concerned manner. \"Clodo is correct. I\'m not sure what rumors have been floating around, but apparantly Mr. Frodo Baggins of Bag End was seen in the company of…\" he cracks a smirk, \"well, of a \'fair-folk\'—that\'s right, Toregrin, an elf.\"

Lowelland nods, gnawing one lip in thought.

Thilo has arrived.

Thilo hurries into the room and silently makes his way to the table, his cheeks a deep shade of red. \"Don\'t mind me, gentlehobbits, I\'m a tad late—I\'ll just find my seat!\"

Lowelland smiles with distinct amusement and then remembers the serious matter of the wolves.

Scudabert listens attentively to Berredan\'s ensuing speech, snaking a hand into his pocket in search of his trusty pipe. When he fails to draw it out, he purses his lips. \"Must have dropped it outside..\" Shaking his head slowly, he rises and slips past the other members. He nods to Thilo as he exits, cursing his forgetfulness as he scans the ground for the missing pipe.

\"Kill the bloody Outsiders!\" shouts one group of particularly grim hobbits, while another says, \"Why don\'t we just let them be?\" Still, one more group promulgates, \"Let\'s bar them out of the Shire with gates!\"

\"Now, now!\" Clodo holloes back in a tone slightly more clamorous than the out-speaking fellows. \"Violence and such are not the answer—we\'re gentlehobbits, remember! As much as I would like to see no outsiders whatsoever in the Shire, that is not the purpose of this club. If that\'s what you want, join the S-P-P,\" he adds, signalling Berredan to continue the conversation in his stead.

Toregrin shakes his head, grimly, pulling out his pipe again and clenching it dramatically atwixt his teeth, trying to look sage and wise and other such useful things, \"I haven\'t seen an Elf in the Shire in, well, years…since before I came of age, I saw one once on the Road. Whyever would they be passing through now? There\'s nothing within a day\'s travel of here except Bree!\"

Berredan nods, \"Indeed, Clodo is correct. Let\'s not have any unneccesary reactions to this rumor.\"

Taking a sip from his mug, he sighs satisfaction and leans forward, folding his hands on the table before him. Turning to Toregrin, he cocks an eyebrow, \"What? You\'ve actually seen one, Toregrin? Are you saying that you truly believe in these \'elves?\' What are everyone elses thoughts on this? It could just be that these creatures are in fact humans from Bree!\"

Lowelland says, \"Well, one thing you can say for the elves, they\'ve no hobbit-sense. Asking \'why would they… ?\' is not likely to find you an answer among…. respectable folk.\"

Several hobbits announce their agreement with Lowelland.

Lowelland says, \"Wolves on the other hand…\"

Lowelland says, \"You can count on THEM to have malice in their hearts.\"

Thilo dabs his forehead with a handkerchief and crosses his legs under the table. \"I, for one, believe that whole story is poppycock! Elves are things of fairytales told by mothers to make their children sleep!\"

Toregrin shakes his head at Berredan, \"Either I saw one, or I saw a very good imitation. It was taller than most of the Breefolk, for starts. Slimmer, to boot. And it just…didn\'t feel right, like something dark and sinister hidden behind some kind of pretty face, or something,\" he shudders, a little bit.

Lowelland nods.

Berredan hems, \"Well, Clodo and I happened upon a stranger just outside of town a few weeks ago. Some believe the stranger we encountered to be one of these fair-folk. Whatever she was (she called herself \'Nan\'), she warned us that vicious wolves lurk outside the Bounds and that she and her \'companions,\' whoever -they- are, had already chased at least one wolf away. So, if these elves are true, they must not be \'sinister\' or \'dark,\'\" he directs the last bit to Toregrin.

Lowelland nods.

Clodo says, \"I believe they\'re real!\" Giving a sway of his head to add credit to Berredan\'s story, he shifts his weight from one side to another before taking a nearby seat. Resuming his usual forte tone, he continues, \"That isI didn\'t, until that morning I saw one with Cousi er … Mister Frodo. But now, I\'m certain they exsist.\"

Thilo pounds the table, \"What does that sheepheaded Baggins have to do with these elves, anyhow? That Frodo must be bringing Outsider inside for some reason!\"

Lowelland mutters something about getting rid of wolves or some such into his cider before draining it.

Toregrin shrugs at Berredan, willing to concede that point, \"Well, I only ever saw the one,\" he says, \"and that was years ago. But that\'s the impression I got…that they weren\'t quite right, somehow,\" he pauses, momentarily, \"Wolves…they\'ve certainly been abundant lately. I\'ve heard an awful lot about them, though…it was a service for certain if that Elf\'s words are true,\"

Berredan nods, turning to Talasad and Taladoc. \"What do you gentlehobbits think of all this business of elves and wolves?\" Looking about at the rest of the group, \"And what can be done to prevent these wolves from entering our Shire and, in turn, preventing these fair-folk (whoever they are) from doing the same?\"

Lowelland summons a servinghobbit to replace his cider.

Thilo removes a pipe from beneath his waistcoat and sets fire to the weed inside. \"Some type of gate might help!\"

Taladoc sighs as his scratches his chin in thought. \"Well, I think I should \'ave to see one of those.. Elves.. face to face before I go off believing in them fully.\"

Talasad fingers his chin carefully, \"We could try setting up sugar traps around the shire. Catch \'em like flies.\"

Lowelland almost chokes on his cider.

Toregrin shakes his head, immediately, \"Wolves can dig, you know! A gate won\'t stop a wolf from getting into the Shire…no, what we\'d need to do is increase the Bounders, have them drive away any wolves where they\'ll do no harm. That\'s all we need to go…keep the beasts out, I\'d say it\'s all we need,\"

\"Er.. Well, I…\" Taladoc\'s cheeks become flustered as he sits a bit further back in his chair.

Lowelland says, \"I don\'t think wolves are as interested in sugar and honeypots as …. um … red meat.\"

Bodobrus walks in from the street.

Bodobrus has arrived.

Berredan strokes his own chin at Talasad\'s idea. \"Yes, I think this approach may work. Traps to catch the wolves.\" He takes a few notes in the large Book. Turning to Toregrin, he hrms, \"More bounders? That is an idea… but perhaps what we need in stead is more training for the bounders we already have. That way, they won\'t be sleeping when a wolf comes onto our land and they may be able to do something…\"

Taking a sip of his ale, he continues, \"Or perhaps the bounders could be the ones to set and guard the proposed traps!\"

Thilo looks up, \"Bodobrus Took! Well, don\'t be shy, come and take a seat with the rest of the group!\"

Lowelland nods. \"Properly baited traps and more and better trained bounders. That sounds good.\"

Taladoc nods in agreement with Lowelland and takes a couple sips from his mug of ale.

Toregrin nods, putting some Old Toby into his pipe as he reflects thoughtfully, \"Mind, if we do have traps set up, we\'d have to set them well Outside. Traps work by attracting the wolf, and they don\'t always work. If the trap doesn\'t work, we don\'t want to have lured a wolf right into one of the Four Farthings,\" he lights up his pipe, thoughtfully.

Berredan nods, \"Right, then—we set specially-designed traps baited with red meat to thwart any of the wolves that come too close to our borders. At the same time, we eliminate the need for the ones being called \'elves\' and kill two birds with one stone. Are we in agreement, gentlehobbits?\"

Nodding in Berredan\'s general direction, Clodo takes a long draught of his own ale before carefully sitting it back on the table. \"The Bounders need to be more properly trained, indeed! Not just for the wolves, but because of these Fair Folk. As long as the Bounders are properly schooled, none of these attrocities will get into the Shire,\" he says with an affirming nod.

Lowelland nods, \"Hmm… Yes. That would be bad, attracting them into the Farthings.

Lowelland turns to Clodo, \"That does raise a question, though… Who can best train the bounders?\"

Toregrin shrugs, puffing out some smoke casually, but still a touch nervously, \"Well, I see nothing wrong with the occaisonal Elf passing through on business of their own, so long as they\'re causing no trouble, mind. I don\'t see why we should worry about them too much. If they stop showing up, great. If they don\'t, oh well.\"

Talasad shrugs his shoulders slowly, \"But what are they going through the Shire fore, Toregrin? Why not go around it? Still, I\'ve only heard of them singing children away from their parents. Nothing to harm us without children. Perhaps you\'re right.\"

Lowelland frowns at Talasad.

Bodobrus steps away from the door, pushing it closed, and sidles on up beside Thilo, grabbing himself a seat. \"Seems to me,\" he begins, throwing his two coppers into the discussion, \"That the Bounders could serve to be learnt a thing or two by former Bounders, y\'know. Those who knew what was what, back in the day, eh?\"

Thilo blows a few smoke-rings into the air before adding, \"Even if we do get rid of the wolven threat and have no need for the so-called \'fair ones,\' that Frodo Baggins may still invite them into the Shire (and into the West-farthing for that matter!). And if Frodo Baggins is inviting elves in, Frodo Baggins can invite in longbeards and humans as well!\"

Toregrin shakes his head at Thilo, puffing out some smoke of his own, though the doesn\'t bother to make a ring out of it, \"Who are we to meddle with a hobbit\'s private business? I say, it\'s Mr. Baggins\'s concern who he invites into his home, and it\'s none of mine.\" he nods to himself, adamantly.

Talasad harumphs at Thilo, \"Longbeards sure make a fine piece of Jewellery for the missus, if you don\'t mind me saying Thilo. Though sometimes you hand just itches to throw an egg, it\'s good business. Have you see the amount of candy one of them can eat? Or how much pipeweed? Keeps money flowing into our pockets, I say.\" he nods at Toregrin a moment, \"As long as they stay at his house, of course, and don\'t come into ours.\"

Berredan holds his hand up to Thilo, \"Indeed you are right, good Bracegirdle—but let\'s not stray from the issue at hand until we have come up with a proper solution and moved on to the next topic!\"

\"Ahh,\" he breathes with a smile, \"Gentlehobbits, just to interrupt you for a brief moment, let\'s welcome Mr. Bodobrus Took, my cousin and good friend to the group! I will give him the oath later.\"

Lowelland ahrumphs in agreement with Toregrin.

Clodo looks over to Lowelland breifly, retorting, \"The Shirriffs can train themthey seem to be good at keeping our stray animals containedeven dangerous ones. I don\'t know who will train them to deal with Elves, though.\" He then turns to Thilo and adds, \"Indeed … something must be done to make sure Outsiders know they\'re unwelcome. Alespots like Filby Pott welcome them openly!\"

Lowelland nods welcomingly to the newly arrived Took.

Toregrin nods at Bodobrus, smiling as he puffs out some more pipe smoke, \"Bodobrus, welcome, welcome…right old gathering of Tooks we\'ve got today. Not that that\'s surprising, we\'re a rather gentlehobbitly family,\" he chuckles a bit, and nearly chokes as he inhales some pipe fumes.

Talasad frowns deeply, \"To prevent dwarves, for example, from wandering such places in the shire, perhaps an established route set up a lot the way, to keep them apart from those who do not wish to see them? That way, the merchants may have their trade, and the rest may have their peace. As for Elves, well, one must first recognize it as one. And bigfolk can be profitable too - though they\'re sometimes a bit strange for my liking.\" He speaks rather loudly, \"Trade route them, as well! Keep \'em where the belong.\"

Clodo looks around him somewhat malaisedly, writhing in his seat for a moment before standing up abruptly. \"If you\'ll all excuse me—I need to make a visit to the outsmial,\" he says, nodding politely to each hobbit on his way toward the staircase at the back of the room.

Berredan snaps his fingers, \"I just remember something that one Wendelbrand North-Took told Clodo and I not too long ago about the Outsider seen with Frodo. I do not know what this entails, but he did mention that the stranger had pointed ears. Do humans have pointed ears?\"

Toregrin shakes his head, immediately, at Berredan, \"I\'ve travelled a bit, seen more than my share of Big Folk on my trips to Bree,\" he says, almost proud of the fact that he\'s not only been to Bree, he\'s been there more than once. Puffing on his pipe again, he says, \"I\'ve never seen a Big Fellow with pointed ears. Ever,\"

\"As far as training the Bounders goes, I\'d well imagine the Shirriffs to be up to that task,\" Bodobrus agrees, after his introduction by Berredan, \"I for one, would be.\" \"They\'ve, after all, dealt with their share of dwarves and men,\" he mentions, as he packs his pipe. \"And as far as any others go, I say, don\'t do any worrying about Fair Folk unlessening it gets to be a problem.\" Setting a match to the bowl of his pipe, he tells Berredan, \"I\'ve seen plenty of Big Folk with pointed ears. Or at least one, I\'d say.\"

Lowelland starts to nod in agreement with Toregrin, pauses, looks around at all the Tooks and nods firmly.

Thilo cocks an eyebrow, \"Well, I do hope that your \'trips to Bree\' were purely business-related. But putting that aside, your observation means that the person or thing seen with Baggins could not have been a Big Person.\" He adds to Bodobrus with a chuckle, \"The shirriffs can certainly teach the bounders a thing or two… about dog-catching!\"

Someone adds, \"And they don\'t even do that very well!\"

Lowelland says, \"Well, at least that\'s related to wolf-catching.\"

Talasad nods slowly, \"Did you hear that raucus a few years back where one of them got /eaten/ by a wolf? Surely they are too careless for their own good.\"

Lowelland frowns. \"I must have missed that.\" he says and then quiets.

Lowelland orders another mug of cider, and a small seed cake or two, from a servinghobbit.

Berredan nods, \"Well, gentlehobbits, I am very pleased with the progress we are making here today. Let us come up with a solution if we can. Personally, I do not like the idea of bounders having to deal with wolves, but guarding the Bounds -is- their duty. It sounds plausible for them to set traps and kill any wolves caught in them—but hunting them like stray dogs can be very dangerous.\"

Berredan takes a long drink of his ale.

Toregrin nods immediately at Thilo, puffing out some more smoke, \"Of course,\" he says to Thilo, with a chuckle, \"I don\'t see how anyhobbit could enjoy Bree very much,\" he turns to Berredan, and sighs, \"I think that increasing the numbers of the Bounders is the only way. Have them travel in groups and all that, since training them further will be difficult or impossible,\"

Lowelland says, \"Letting them roam about could be… just as dangerous.\"

Lowelland says, \"The wolves that is, not the bounders.\"

Thilo puffs on his pipe and nods his head. \"Increasing the bounders would be a good thing—but it is hard enough to find suitable hobbits that are willing to do that type of work… especially seeing as how it is a volunteer job.\"

One gentlehobbit huffs, \"Well.. if the Bounders are going to do anything, they should definately be supplied with new armour and weapons! Lucky they\'re still around with what they have now…\"

Lowelland says, \"New armor, better aarmor, may involve…\"

Lowelland says, \"… dealing with others more skilled than we in its making.\"

Lowelland says, \"Not an appealing thought to some.\"

Berredan shakes his head, \"I propose this. If our plan-of-action is going to involve setting traps to catch wolves and then sending bounders to find them and kill them, the best weapon would be a long, pointed stick perhaps. That way, no one will have to get too close and thus won\'t have to wear any type of special armor. What hobbit wants to be bogged down by anything more than a heavy cloak, anyhow?\"

Thilo says, \"Bounders searching out and attacking free-roaming wolves should be out of the question!\"

Bodobrus blows thick clouds of smoke from his nostrils, and offers up, \"If things ever came to a situation where new armor and arms were needed, do y\'suppose the Bounder\'d survive the ordeal anyhow? Waste of good money, I\'d say.\"

Several hobbits audibly agree with Bodobrus.

Lowelland says, \"Free-roaming wolve searching out and attacking bounders and other hobbits sounds nearly as unpleasant.\"

Toregrin nods at Bobobrus, \"You\'re probably right,\" he says, \"I mean, no offense meant, but our Bounders aren\'t exactly tip-top strongmen or anything along those lines. Armor or swords probably wouldn\'t help much,\"

Someone replies, \"A wolf\'s defense is a good offense—a hobbit\'s defense is intelligence!\"

A few cheers are heard here and there along with a couple raised mugs.

Lowelland mutters something about needing to use some. Some of what he doesn\'t say. He takes a long draught from his cider.

Berredan pounds the WGC Manifesto on the table to grab everyone\'s attention. \"Everyone has stated his views—let us vote then! All in favor of setting traps outside the Shire\'s Bounds and sending a team of Bounders to kill the ones that take the bait?\"

Lowelland says, \"Hear. Hear.\"

Thilo raises his mug, \"Aye!\"

Talasad lifts his hand with a wave, \"Aye! Anything to keep those - Aye!\"

Taladoc raises his mug along with the few others. \"Aye!\"

Toregrin raises his own hand, removing his pipe with the other, \"Aye!\" he cries out, smoke

billowing from his mouth as he places his vote.

Berredan nods, \"And those in favor of gathering a group of Bounders to hunt the wolves without setting traps and equipping them with extra armor and weapons?\"

Lowelland harumphs.

Thilo takes a sip of his ale and looks about for anyone that would raise his hand or call aye at Berredan\'s second notion.

Lowelland says, \"I\'d be willing to vote for hunting in addition to traps. Not without them, so as worded, No.\"

The hobbit who first mentioned the thought of more armour breaks the silence, hesitantly, with a strong \"Aye..!\" And he slumps back in his chair…

Bodobrus lifts the hand not holding his pipe up, and points his thumb downwards, \"Nay.\"

Berredan scribbles into the WGC Manifesto. \"Very well, it is settled. This urgent request for action will be taken to mayor Whitfoot and, if necessary, Thain Paladin as well. Congratulations, gentlehobbits—you have made your first official contribution to society through the newly-founded WGC! Three cheers! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!\"

Lowelland finishes off his mug and pockets the uneaten seedcake.

Taladoc cheers and grins, clapping.

Berredan stands, pounding the Manifesto on the table conclusively. \"This meeting is officially adjurned! Feel free to stay and enjoy the company of your fellow gentlehobbits—the ale is free for the rest of the afternoon!\"