God of middle-earth (9/n)
Some weeks had passed since Dundro returned from his adventure. He resumed his normal life albeit changed, especially so by the strange vial he had collected from a passing horde of Orcs.
Up til now, Dundro had resumed his usual activities such as catching up with his friends, tending to his exotic plants, transcribing Bilbo’s book, exploring the remainder of the treasures at Bag End, and so on. The days were long and time trickled slowly, giving Dundro more time to do what he liked.
Up til now, that this. Dundro woke up to a different sort of day, not a day of adventures, no, but something slightly.
Dundro was aroused early in the morning by a great din. This was in itself extremely perplexing. He got up, exceedingly curious and rushed outside to investigate the source of the noise. No sooner than he had left the house, he was swallowed up by a congregation of Hobbits all headed down the road. Dundro approached a portly, red-faced man and questioned him where the crowd was headed to. He informed Dundro that they were making for Farmer Sandy’s residence, where he was about to make a major announcement. Huh, wondered Dundro.
Farmer Sandy was a farmer by trade, holding a high social class amongst the hobbits from all over the Shire. His repute was largely attributed to his astonishingly mouth-watering, lamb, chicken and mutton. Not only that, he grew and sold the most succulent vegetables around. And thus he grew to great acclaim as remember, Hobbits had an extremely high regard of food.
A few minutes of brisk walking later, they approached the large Hobbit-hole that was Farmer Sandy’s residence. Erected by the side of the hill was a great tent, under of which Farmer Sandy had placed a number of chairs. Some speech he’s giving, noted Dundro. Not long after he had taken his seat, Farmer Sandy appeared on the stage.
“My dear Hobbits,” he announced sorrowfully. “I have called upon you all today for I wish to make an Announcement. Not just any announcement, but an Announcement. I shall attempt to make it brief, but it is with much grief I would like to Announce that almost half of my sheep, cows and lambs have been killed.”
His statement drew a collective gasp from his audience. Scarce could they imagine life without Farmer Sandy’s scrumptious meat. What a torture that would be!
He wasn’t done. “I have also discovered, to my shock, that around half of my fields have been ravaged overnight.” This was too much for the Hobbits to bear. Most jumped up from their seats in outrage. No more steamed radish? No more buttery potatoes? NEVER!!!!
Farmer Sandy calmed (or attempted to) his audience. “I am calling upon you all to assist me in locating the culprit. A bounty of 5000 gold coins lies upon his head!"
This statement drew oohs and aahs from the crowd. He continued to moan and curse the perpetrators for quite a while in the same vein. After which he released the crowd which dispersed, chattering amongst themselves.
Dundro was intrigued by the Announcement. It was rather suspicious. Half the livestock and half the crop? Dundro approached Farmer Sandy and asked him if he could take a look at the damage wraught. This drew a look of slight surprise from the old man, but he agreed nevertheless.
Dundro proceeded behind the (Hobbit) hole to arrive at the farm. Farmer Sandy was right. It looked as if around half of his livestock was brutally killed. Slash marks were visible here and there. This narrowed down the list of suspects considerably in Dundro's mind. He walked forth, his stomach wailing at the loss of potentially heavenly dinner. He peered into the mess of bodies and limbs.
Something caught his eye.
It was a shiny, metallic object embedded in the body of a poor calf. Dundro pushed away some of the bodies to take a closer look, in morbid curiosity. He grasped it and tugged lightly. It gave away and Dundro was holding said shiny metallic object.
It was, in fact, a sword. But not just ant old sword. This blade was crudely shaped and squarish. It belonged to only one person (or persons, for that matter).