Second day as a Covian peasantSmedly's InvestigationEver since I got threatened an' pushed into the pond by tha' strange fellow who thought i'd been ear-wiggin' his conversation, it 'as been playin' on me mind wha' the pair could o' been talkin' about to 'ave provoked such a paranoid reaction.
Hobbits ain't too curious by nature, the affairs of tall folk are their's and their's alone, but me mother always taught me tha' if there is somethin' botherin' ye then ye should go confront it lest ye be dwellin' on it day an' night without a moments rest.
With me mother's wisdom guidin' me, I set out back towards the orchard in Cove to see if I could learn anythin' of the meetin' between the guard an' the stranger.
I soon located in the gap in the orchard through which I saw them both, and began to head in tha' direction through the apple blossom trees. Arrivin' out the otherside I found myself on the dirt track leadin' up towards the Cove lighthouse. I were sure it were the spot where I saw the men talkin', it were just off to the side o' the road where I found two sets o' large footprints facin' eachother.
I scoured the ground lookin' fer any clues tha' might give an indication o' who the stranger was or wha' his business was with the guard. But... who was I kiddin'! I ain't one o' them ranger folk or an elf, I 'ad no idea what I should be lookin' for. All I found on the ground was one crown, an' usin' all my investigative skills I deduced either one o' them has holes in his pockets or they be careless with their earnings!
I got up off me hands an' knees, dusted meself down and looked around for anythin' else tha' might be of help. In the distance, further along the path an' uphill somewhat I saw the lighthouse, an' whats more I saw an outline o' someone in the top-most window starin' down at me.
As wi' most folk I meet on me travels, I gave the figure a wave an' the outline waved back. Then it twigged... if whoever is up there can see me from way up high then there might be a possibility tha' he or she had seen the pair talkin' the other day!
I flipped the coin I found up in the air, tucked it in me apron pocket and made me way up to the lighthouse. The door were open so I wiped me feet and began climbin' the wooden stairs to the top. Obviously the lighthouse weren't designed for short hobbit legs, 'cause the climb took all the breath out o' me. Pantin' an' wipin' me sweaty brow, I approached the person tha' I guessed must o' been wavin' at me.
His name were Lucias an' he told me he were a warrior who had been escortin' a noble from Trinsic to the Mayoress' office here in the lighthouse. To my good fortune, I learnt he had arrived here two days ago wi' his charge an' he had indeed been up here watchin' the two strangers talk on the path towards the lighthouse.
The man were reluctant to talk, p'raps on account o' the fact tha' he didn't notice much from way up here or maybe the swine were holdin' out for a few crowns for his information. I decided i'd play into his little game, an' offered to pay him ten crowns for whatever he knew. Offer accepted, I dug around for ten crowns from me apron pocket... one o' the crowns i dug out were the one I found on the road but curiously I felt compelled to stick tha' one back into one o' me trouser pockets..
I handed over the gold, an' the tall warrior spilt all he knew. Which weren't much! He didn't hear a word of the conversation, nor could he tell much about the nature of the conversation as they mostly had their backs to him so their expressions were hidden.
I began wonderin' why I wasted my crowns on this chap, when he suddenly provided me with a gem o' information tha' might prove very helpful in me snoopin'. He only caught a glimpse of the guard as he turned for a moment, but he said there was no mistakin' it. He recognised the guard instantly, an' shared the name with me in exchange for the gold....
I left the lighthouse and headed back into Cove proper thinkin'
"I knew I recognised tha' shiny bald head from somewhere..."Kegs for Mister DracoAfter a good mornin's snoopin' I thought I'd better put me extra-curricular activities to a halt an' get back to me work as Mister Banedon's apprentice. I travelled along the coast to his shop an' checked the supply chest which he gave me a key for. Both the kegs an' logs were gone, an' in its place Mister Banedon 'ad left me over 2,500 crowns for me effort.
With wages like tha' I decided I'd deposit them in the bank an' get workin' straight away on some more supplies for me master. I travelled back to the tavern kitcen an' began calculatin' wha' I'd need to provide Mister Draco with ten new kegs for his potions.
After much deliberatin' an addin' up, then takin' away, then addin' up again 'cause I made a mistake, I worked out that I would need 250 logs for barrel staves and barrel lids, and 70 ingots for barrel hoops and barrel taps.
I decided to set off to collect the wood first, and trotted off into the woods south-east of the tavern. With three days lumberjackin' behind me, I were gettin' pretty good at it, an' it took only half an hour to cut off all the branches I'd need to fashion into lids and staves.
I carried the bundle of branches in a loop of rope slung o'er me shoulder and forced my way back through the dense woods towards the direction of Cove. A short journey later I had passed through the town gates an' left the logs in a pile against the wall of the bank. Next on me list were the ingots i'd need for the metalwork of the barrels.
I plucked off a small pick on me tool belt an' headed south from the bank. In the distance I could already see a healthy team o' miners hard at work collectin' iron ore from the base o' the mountain. I approached the group an' asked if they'd mind me joinin' in with them. A happy bunch they were, an' their attitude were 'the more the merrier'.
It 'as been a while since I did any minin' an' me arms were soon throbbin' from havin' to pound at tha' stone for ten straight minutes without findin' much ore. Fortunately I didn't need to collect tha' much, an' the others miners were happy to contribute to my small pile wi' bits o' ore that were too small for them to bother workin'. With a small sack of rubble an' ore I headed to the forge outside the church to smelt it down.
All the wood an' ingots collected, the day were drawin' in so I decided i'd go an' finish me work within the safety of the town walls. I set up a workbench, laid out me tools an' materials, an' begain fixin' together the barrel hoops an' staves to form barrels. With the barrels complete I used a small hand drill to bore holes into th'wood and fix in some barrel taps. Many hours later I had knocked together ten whole potion kegs for Mister Draco.
One at a time, I rolled the potion kegs down a well trodden path along the coast towards Mister Draco's shop, keepin' me eyes open fer any sign o' rogues or deadlings. Fortunately they must've all been off pesterin' other folk 'cause I didn't meet a single soul on me ten journeys back 'n' forth from Cove.
I closed the supply chest, locked it, then wandered back to the tavern for the evening wondering what business the bald guard had with such an' hostile an' paranoid bearded chap...
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