Summoning Kobolds At Midnight: A Tale of Suburbia & Sorcery.

Sherry-By-The-Bend.

"Ah tha' feels nice." The halfling declared as he and the handful of others in charge of the hothouse came in from the cold and snowy outside and into the warm, albeit a tad humid, inside.

"Yeah, though it is nice ta be able ta open tha door 'nd get a refreshin' breeze unlikes usual fieldwork." Another replied as they got their gear together and began their duties.

"Speak fer yerself. Cannae wait till winter ends. Seems like we barely got a spring 'fer comin' 'ere." Yet another gripped as he started digging into the soil of one of the garden boxes.

"Ah, none too bad it ain'y. Just means tha wife is extra snuggly she is." He said as he trimmed some overgrowth.

"'Ave a dozen lil ones already I does! Wit 'nother on tha way! Ifin she were any 'snugglier' she'd smother me!" He said as his hands brushed against something that felt like a rock.

"Oh tha poor dear. Well, she wouldn'y be a widow fer long."

"Ifin she does do me in, I'll 'aunt any bastard tha' dares- HARVEST MOTHER'S SWOLLEN TEATS!!!" The halfling cried out as he pulled the rock from the soil only to find a human skull.

The startled halfling stumbled back and cursed as he tripped over a thick root. The others ceased their duties and turned around at their friend's cries. Only to see said skull flying through the air and nailing one of them in the face.

"Wha' in tha Seven Hells is tha'?!" One of them cried out as his two mates were in various stages of either panic or pain.

"Ain'y no damn rock tha's fer sure!"

The two halfling stared in morbid wonder and curiosity at the skull covered in soil and detritivores that had taken shelter in the warm moist soil of the hothouse from the cold and snow outside.

Their third mate groaned as he laid on the ground clutching a broken bleeding nose for his troubles.

"'Oh tha Hells did it get 'ere!?"

The eyes of one of them went wide and he turned to his mate.

"'Member when those lot done attacked?!"

"Yeah, why?"

"'Member those folks tha' 'old upped in 'ere said? Tha' tha veg done protected 'em?!"

"Yeah?"

"'Didnae find no corpses o' those bastards did we?"

"No. No we didnae."

The halfling pointed to the skull with an almost sense of reverence.

"Bet me best hen we jus' did."

The two, soon joined by their third mate that finally realized his chums weren't going to assist him, stared at the skull before glancing up at the hothouse filled to the brim with vibrant veg and produce.

"'Enry? Were this you?" One of them asked as they turned to look at the shrubbed halfling in the center of the hothouse.

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What seemed like a response came as the sound of foliage moving filled the hothouse. The three halflings turned and saw as a thick nest of roots slowly broke through the ground and wrapped around the skull and dragged it back into the warm moist soil.

The halflings stared at the place where the skull once sat for a long moment before turning back towards the shrubling.

"Should we tell Hamish 'bout this, ya ken?"

"Nah, he's already a bit queer 'bout all this. Best keep mum 'bout it."

"Yeah, 'sides, wouldn'y wanna worry 'im. Just got a wee one. Then tha' whole kerfuffle with Mayor Cliven."

"Right. Best not worry him. We'll just... tidy up a lil 'fore he gets 'ere." One of them declared as he and the other two went through each and every garden box in search of other morbid curiosities.

Yet they barely found any more. Certainly considering there were supposed to have been several others that broke into the hothouse during the attack. Yet all they found were a handful of smaller bones, and even those were dragged deeper into the rich soil by root and vine.

Before long, no evidence remained of their macabre discovery. All the better when Hamish showed up.

"Harvest Mother's knickers it's freezin' out there."

He shook off the powder from his coat and sat it aside as he got his gardening gear on. He turned and found his three mates standing about looking around.

"Tha Hells are you lot doin'?"

The three halflings jumped at his voice. Like they barely even registered he had come in. Hamish's eyes went wide when he saw the broken nose of one of his mates.

"Dumphy?! Wha' 'appened ta yer nose?!"

Said halfling looked to the other two, who quickly shook their heads. He turned back to Hamish.

"Jus'... fell o'er a root is all."

Hamish shook his head and grabbed some trimmers.

"Swear, barely blink 'nd this place turns inta a forest."

"NO!!!" The three halflings cried out before Hamish could cut at some swollen roots along the ground.

"Wha's tha matter with you lot?!"

"It's jus'..." One of them said but couldn't find a proper and quick enough excuse.

"Jus' wha'?" Hamish asked suspiciously.

"Jus'-"

Just then, the door to the hothouse opened up and a couple of the heads of the Big Families entered. They beamed when they spotted Hamish.

"Ah, Hamish! Jus' tha man we was lookin' fer!"

Hamish quirked a brow at their presence.

"Oh?"

"Yeah! Come, we need ta talk 'bout Mayor Cliven. Yer mates with him yeah?" One of them said as they gathered Hamish's coat and handed it back to him.

"Well-"

"'Course you are! Anyways, he 'nd his lass buggered off with tha colony's finances 'nd aren'y keen on sharin' where it be now. So we were wonderin' ifin you could talk ta-"

The three watched as Hamish and the heads of the Big Families left the hothouse. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to where the leafy green frozen form of Henry still stood watch in the center of the hothouse.

"Wha're we gonna do now?"

"Nothin'. Like we said, we keep mum 'bout this. 'Enry, in time, will let folks know wha's wha'. Fer now? We jus' tend ta things." The one halfling said before picking up a trowel and burying the roots and vines deeper into the soil so that Hamish believed they had trimmed and cleared them.

-----

He wished he could tell them all now, Henry thought from... somewhere. He wasn't really sure where or even what he was now. All he remembered was him using his Arbormancy to help the veg grow. A flash of green light. Then nothing. But not a void nothing, but like he was taking a deep nap.

He was only barely conscious of his surroundings and goings on for some time, he was only vaguely aware of his "limbs" moving or being moved. But it barely registered with him in the slightest. It weren't until he heard cries and screaming that it felt like he finally woke up.

Then it was like he was back in his own body. Weaving the green magic of arbormancy to protect his kith and kin. Grape vines lashed like whips, tomatoes flung like slings, squash thrown like hammers.

It was similar to how he used his arbormancy. But where before it was like using a tool, now it felt like he was moving his own body. Every veg in the hothouse was linked to him and he could move and flex it as if it were muscle.

At least for a time. He's felt half asleep since and it's only gotten worse. After dealing with those gobshites and turning them into fertilizer, he's felt exhausted. What little bouts of energy he's gotten has been spent either keeping that damn nosy gnome out of the tinkerings of the hothouse, and keeping his kin fed.

Most of the time he was in this dream like state. Where he was conscious of his surroundings but little else. Voices sounded muffled like he was listening them through a wool barrier. But he could still get a sense for what was being spoken. The way the air changed depending on their tone.

It wasn't exactly hard to figure out what had his mates worried and scared when they discovered one of the skulls of the ruffians he had mulched. He also knew that in his current state he wouldn't be in much of a position to keep the more fearful of them from trimming him down to nothing.

He couldn't allow that. It took what little energy he had left to bury the bones deeper into the soil and away from Hamish and those that would see him removed like a weed. But he weren't a weed. It was because of him that the hothouse was so ripe and plentiful. Why they've managed to keep up their feasting despite the dark weather outside.

If they got rid of him before spring came in this world, he was sure they'd be in dire straits. As long as he still held breath in his body, whatever it was at the moment, he wouldn't allow them to go hungry or starve. Not for a single moment.

He just hoped the lads could keep Hamish and others like him busy in the meantime. He only had so much energy at this cold and dark time. Most of it went to feeding his kin. But some of it he was holding in reserve for times like when they were attacked.

The colony was at risk. What his kin didn't know was there were evil coming for them. He could sense it. As his roots dug deep and connected with the green around him he knew. There was something to the east making its way towards them. Something evil. Something hungry. Something that reeked of goblin hoo-ha.

But even that paled compared to what he felt just beyond that. What even the green around them and even that nearing evil feared. Some ancient being. Something that wasn't right. Something that gnawed at everything around it.

He didn't know what it was. What either of the two things were. All he knew was that they were trouble and threats to his kith and kin. If it weren't for this damn weather he'd show at least the evil goblin thing what a halfling arbormancer could do!

But he couldn't. Just what he's had to do has been exhausting him. If they were attacked again, he'd have to spend what energy he had left to keep them safe. If it were the thing to the east, he'd have trouble. If it were the thing further east of that? Well, he wasn't sure if even at his full strength he could even come close.

Either way, he needed time. Time and some decent weather. Some real sun would be nice. Maybe a bit of mulch wouldn't hurt. His thoughts turned to complaining as he slipped back into his usual semi-concious state once more. Only faintly aware of the colony beyond.