Refreshing rains for shrooms and hobbits

While the warm summer temperatures still linger in the hobbit lands, the inevitable autumn showers will cool things down little by little. The sun will become lazier and will not climb so high up in the sky, and it will take a break on grey cloudy days. While the summer flowers will start to wither and sweep away with the winds, mushrooms will take over the lands, providing some good food for many shroom enthusiasts. Many hobbits are also looking forward to the rain and cooler air after another hot summer season. Of course, the weather gammers stay pessimistic as ever, warning folks of possible storms, floods, muddy and slippery streets, stuck burrow doors, flying garden dwarfs, and whatnot. Should that all happen, it is good to have a fully laden pantry or a cellar at hand, which is easy to arrange, since the harvest seems to be particularly good this year. That is probably thanks to the extra loud Shire wassail that took place early this year when wassailers visited the Shire farms and drove nasty spirits away by spilling on them and making loud noises. Well, some hobbits are known to do these things all year around, just to be sure, and it might lead to a better harvest, especially if you spill a lot of nutritious drink on your vegetables.

Autumn is the grumping season

The Farmer’s Faire has been quite popular this year, attracting folks from all over the Shire and beyond. This has led to some difficulties in the small villages around the Hobbiton area that are not used to this kind of hectic traffic. The Green Dragon Friday gatherings have moved into exile from Bywater for the duration of the festival, but the market mania has still been affecting the meet-ups at other Shire inns. Sometimes the roads have been so busy that hobbits headed for the Friday inn event have not been able to reach the event, or they have gotten so much road dust in their eyes that they have not been able to see others at the inn when they have finally reached it. One Friday, hobbits even gathered in the Yondershire at the Roaring Bull, but the place was so packed full that the hobbits hardly had space to spill their drinks. It also didn’t help that the local taxidermist had decided to stick half a bull into the wall, so that it also took up a good amount of space as well. The Green Dragon patrons are happy to return to Bywater on 11th September, unless the Mayor has not wiped out the whole area of edibles by that time.

The Mayor is not the only thing to cause grumbling. The elderly in particular seem to find reasons for being grumpy in almost everything these days. Another thing that they find infuriating is that not many around them pay any attention to their mutterings. To make things right, some have gotten the idea to arrange a meet-up where they could grumble away as much as they would like around some like-(grumpy)-minded hobbits that might even lend them an ear. It remains to be seen if they can organize themselves into having such a meeting.

There are already some old grumps who are complaining very loudly about such events, because “In my day, we never needed to organize gatherings, we just gathered somewhere and grumped anyway!”.

Bark at the harvest moon

In the summertime, hobbits tend to get lazy, at least when it comes to special events (especially popular are weddings with extensive banquets). This laziness culminated with the return of The Lazy Hobbits Club that provided some assistance at Farmer Maggot’s farm in Bamfurlong. Their main effort went into testing his mushrooms and going through the latest Shire gossip.

As autumn arrives, the event calendar starts to fill up quickly. It already started with the annual Bards Day concert at the Ivy Bush in Hobbiton, where hobbits gathered to celebrate the old bards, Ronald Dwale in particular. Another pawsome event is the Four Farthings Bree Combine Dog Show, this time taking place at a new location by the borders of the Shire and Breeland on Sunday 20th September. 

While the furry attendees will do their best, the two-footed visitors can shop for foods and other goods, maybe hear some poetry and even adopt a pup if they need one.

Around the same time as the dog show takes place, pierates will sail down the Brandywine again, often leaving some of their loot washed ashore. They might also climb aboard some Shire inns. On 25th September, we might see some at the Green Dragon Friday as well, dance to their shanties and listen to their tales. In addition to pierates, also other treasure-seekers are on foot: there are rumours about a secret fishpipe smokers treasure hunt that involves riddles. 

Knowing the Shire gossip, the hunt might not remain a secret very long, and might even find its way to the local newspapers. If not, just keep an eye on those who are using “fishpipes” (probably the sort of pipes that you smoke with, not the bagpipes, although they sometimes do catch fire as well and start to smoke). And if you should miss these secret gatherings, there are also rumours of many upcoming birthday parties, and not just the Baggins’ birthday party. The Baggins are absent, but other notable hobbits will celebrate their birthdays with a grand birthday bash at the Bartunnel cidermill on Saturday 10th October with music by the Missing Mugs, plus food and drink. In any case, it is a good idea to keep an eye on the local newspaper and noticeboards, or visit the Green Dragon on Fridays, where you should hear the latest gossip and news straight from the horse’s mouth. Or from a hobbit’s mouth, depending who is hosting.

Deeper into autumn, as the days get darker, the hobbits’ imagination suddenly goes wild (usually around the time when the first cider and wine batches are ready to be tested). Spooky tales and events spread over the hobbit lands here and there. The strange door to the very neglected and dusty burrow under The Hill opens up again. Even though the place is rumoured to be haunted, many hobbits still venture inside, claiming that the scariest thing in the vicinity is standing on the Bag End porch, not inside the cellar. Around this time, there are usually some scary events in the Shire, involving dressing in spooky costumes and sharing chills with terrifying tales and songs. 

Probably the scariest event taking place is the clock fiddling that will mess up the Shire calendars on both sides of the Big Pond in the end of October. For one week, the clocks will show different times in different parts of the Shire. The good thing about this clock fiddling is that you will get one more hour of sleep in the night, unless you spend that extra hour by having nightmares on the clock fiddling.

However, even during these gloomy times, hobbits will also seek comfort and cheer, for example by gathering for tea, going on easy strolls, or meeting up for poetry and other creative activities. In such times, it feels really good to be in the Shire. We wish happy autumn days to all hobbits, even the grumpy ones!

((OOC: This is the seasonal Shire forecast where we aim to provide common pointers and ideas for hobbit roleplay in LOTRO. If you have ideas for upcoming issues, please contact Pycella (pycellawoodberry[a]gmail.com).  ))