027 - You mean, dragons are for real?

November 15th, FA 15

Only Halin, Irina and Finbert were sitting at a table of the Slapfoot, the premier inn in Michel Delving. The company was celebrating Finbert's and Arnadil's recovery from the foray in Annuminas with a trip to the capital of the Shire. As the snow storm worsten, Galdor and Arnadil decided to return to Bywater so as not to miss the dice contest. The three remaining company members were promised to sample Wesfarthing Honey Ale on the following day. They met Nimrodel, a Noldor elf from Rivendell on his way home from Grey haven. The mounting storm convinced him to stop by the Slapfoot Inn and sample the rustic charms of the Shire. Nimrodel and the company got acquainted and engaged in small talk. 

Around about 1PM, a hobbit bursted into the inn, his head bloodied. His name was William Barrow, a pig farmer living at the edge of town. He walked to the bar and explained that there was huge monsters, maybe wargs, ravaging his farm stead. The roof in the kitchen collapsed and a beam hit him on the head. He told the company that he had locked his wife and kids in the safety of the underground barn. Irina applied bandages to control the bleeding and treat William's shock.  The company and Nimrodel agreed to go have a look: if there are wargs on the loose in the Shire, someone has got to do something about it.

The company braved the storm and wound their way to the Barrow's farm. Irina could hear deep growling, Halin thought that he saw a grey shadow high in the treetops. They climbed around the hole in the ground. When they reached the crest of the hill, they saw three large and angry wargs. They seemed arrayed in a circle as if they were to be attacked from all directions. All of a sudden, a disproportionately strong gust of wind seemed to converge on the wargs. Even at their size (SM+2), they had to grip on the ground to avoid knockbacks. A small drake hatchling dropped from the treetops and jumped on one of the wounded warg to deliver a powerful hit with its tail. The warg got knocked over and rolled as the drake jumped back to the treetops.  Some of the company attempted to find concealment in the snow, but in vain as the drake spotted them at the crest of the hill. The drake stared directly at the company and let out a powerful roar. As the roar rolled through, a large swirls of wind concentrated all of the flying flakes into a nearly solid jet of snow. Halin and Finbert dodged the bulk of it, Nimrodel had to cower to protect his face and keep his footing while Irina flew 2 yards backward, throwing her bow in a random direction and sinking in the snow.  The company was unsure of how they should be handling this situation. The drake, however, made it easier for them by leaping across the clearing and disappearing in the forest to the North-West. The wargs had left the place while the PCs were busy resisting the drake's storm attack. All that was left was a bit of warg blood on the snow, and a lot of shattered and smashed treetops. Branches were ripped and strewed as the drake threaded his way with the speed of a lightning through the bare canopy of the forest. 

The company, now pretty sure that the danger was gone, returned into the farm through its shattered roof. They looked for the wife and children in the adjoining barn. They didn't want to mention the drake and were terse.  They told them to rush to the Slapfoot and tell everyone that the wargs had gone.  They also told them that they would be tracking them down... in the middle of a snow storm.