Tree Planting in Shadowdale

The servant of her lord Unterminox, Songbird, is seen wandering around the quieter areas of Shadowdale, apparently aimlessly studying the ground. There's an air of concentration though about her and she takes her time.

She walks around the still-cold ground by the pond near Elminster's ruined tower, and by the great pond behind the Church of Bane. Then east around the houses almsot up to the walls. Over the next days she then walks North, past the old crypt, and further north to the river that flows thrugh teh farmlands. She spends some time there along the banks of the river and then north along the shoreline.

She's also seen chatting to a small and not very attractive dwarf with purpose.

Having reached a deal, Bolim begins to head into the woods daily to begin fulfilling the agreement they'd made. Songbird had asked him to fetch saplings from within the Cormanthor so they could be planted within the town. The dwarf heads as far as Shadowdale Wood instead, figuring the trees there and those here are all the same, and with a small shovel he begins to dig up the saplings.

Late in the evening, Bolim returns to town, his large loot bag full of young saplings. Well, not really, you see, because he's a dwarf and plants are all the same and to be honest, he wasn't really paying the best attention when she was giving him the details because he was instead picturing in his head himself naked, diving into a swimming pool of gold coins.

Bolim arrives, and presents her with the bag. It contains some saplings as requested (4/10 of the content), but among them are random dead branches, a few large flowers and shrubs he'd pulled up, and even a large stone with a clump of moss hanging from it. The dwarf, pleased with his work, presents these to Songbird for planting.

She takes the bag and opens it, looking through the, well, complete mess inside.

" some of these are going to be useable, but quite a few aren't what I asked for. Ill go through them and see what's useable"

And she does, finding maybe twenty five good saplings of hazel, hickory, and the other trees she'd named. The rest of the accumulated clutter she puts back in the bag.

" I'm sorry, those others are unusuable. Half of the good ones are small, the other half more established. I'll pay two hundred and ninety gold".

"Oi!" He plucks out the mossy rock. "This be fine fer plantin! Ye see?" The dwarf kicks some dirt aside, then drops the rock on the ground and kicks some dirt back toward it.

"Ye be pluckin apples from this tree in no-time." The dwarf grumbles some more. "Tree-fitty an we part ways."

"No, I'm afraid that won't work. We had a contract for five sorts of trees and that - that's, well, it's a rock. The rest are not going to bear apples either.

If you can provide more of the trees I named, then we can arrange more payment, but they do need to be the ones that were named. "

She holds out the two hundred and ninety gold

The dwarf snatches the bag of gold away. "Fine, I bring ye more saplins in a few days. But I'm takin me rock with me!" Bolim scoops the rock up from the ground and waddles away.

The ground is cold and hard still, but the end of winter is in the air.

Lord Unterminox' servant begins to go out and about within Shadowdale Central with a spade. She begins to dig holes deep enough and broad enough for many little saplings that seem to be brought out of the Lord's apartment tray after tray.

She's arranged a little bit of compost with a local farmer and a handful of it goes into each small hole with the little treeling.

Hickory, nut-bearing hazelnuts, walnut and many fruit trees; pear, cherry, apple, plum; peach and persimmon. Chestnuts that would become glorious in summer, providing shade and endless entertainment for small boys with conkers. Graceful, stately beeches. A few cedars even, even more stately and with sweet scented wood that could be worked by fine craftsmen, many years in the future.

She planted them around the pond and old sinkhole in Shadowdale, and along the banks of the rivers slightly north. Tiny groves of three or four along side farmers' boundaries, where they allowed it. Where the orcs had raided and the land lay fallow, she planted here and there, and along the banks of the tiny streams between fields.

It was a lot of work and at times she was late home, sweaty from slamming the spade into hard ground and sharpening it as often as needed.

It's very cold ground though and hard work; soon her hands are blistered. She hesitated, thinking about asking the Temple of Plenty to help, but afraid to in the light of recent tensions. In the end, she started to ask for help from anyone who would be willing to assist her.

//hop in if your char is interested !


It's very cold ground though and hard work; soon her hands are blistered. She

A young woman, dressed in a black robe watched the servant from afar, the expression on her face were hard to read but it could have been something like curiousity. Niobara followed her, still keeping the distance though. Each time she passed a newly planted sapling she looked at it for some moments..then moved on.

After some days of following the servant she finally walked up to her, a glint of surpise flashed over her face as she noticed the heritage of the servant.

Why are you doing this? *she asked with a calm voice* I never thought your kind would be interested in..planting.

*her gaze wandered from the womans face to her hands and back*

Is this some sort of punishment for you? *her voice made clear she thought no sane person would try to plant something while the ground is still cold and hard, unless when forced*

She answers the woman, putting a hand in the middle of her back and arches it to ease the ache from digging.

"Punishment? No! not at all. They've been growing in the apartment where it's warmer for weeks. Bat guano for compost too. But young saplings need to go out in early spring, or the summer heat will be too much for them. It is a bit cold isn't it though? The snowdrops and crocuses are coming through though and there's even a few buds on daffodils. I hope we have some slightly warmer days soon though"

She smiles.

Niobara grimaces slightly as she hears about bat guano but nods to the rest.

"Some warm days yes, would be good for the saplings eventhough i don't mind the cold. However you still haven't answered my first question. Why are you doing this, at all?

*Niobara leans on her quarterstaff in a relaxed manner*

" Because trees are pleasant and gracious. Shade in summer and beauty all year round. And useful for fruit, nuts, and wood.

Shadowdale will be better for some trees.

If you like you can help? "

Iwean sees Songbird planting trees and watches to see if there are any problems with the work she is doing. He also continues to check his own plantings to ensure they are surving.

After a while she begins planting again, not really seeing the figure in the distance. If Iwaen checks, there's no problems with the way she's doing the planting, though hopefully a harsh cold snap won't come.

She keeps on, moving to plant willows by the rivers and streams for their lovely falling branches and whippy, springy wood. There's a lot of land fallow now towards the west and it takes her some days to plant all the ones she's planned there. In her master's apartment, the many trays of little pots are emptying gradually and being cleared away, possibly to his approval. Only a few dozen trays are left now.

Satisfied she needs no assistance he continues his rounds.

Over the next days she heads up the road to the North Shadowdale area.

To her surprise she finds small saplings already there, clearly deliberately planted. She puts the tray she's carrying down and regards them. She checks them for health and at last, quietly pleased, wanders around looking for any areas the mystery planter has missed.

As the days and weeks pass she checks the saplings regularly. Some show signs of flourishing, some show signs of not doing so well.

She tries to seek out Jim Dillon or Iwaen, leaving notes for Jim in the Temple of Chauntea and word with the ranger at the camp for Iwaen

Iwean hears about Songbird looking for him. In his patrols he will search for her. If he finds her outside Central Shadowdale he will approach her. "Greeting Songbird, hope things find you well. I heard you were seeking me."

"Oh hello. Thank you.

Yes, I was wondering if you could look at the saplings and see if there's anything I can do to encourage them. I've been putting rotted manure that's nearly compost around their base, me and a woman who's on punishment by the zhents. Some of them aren't doing very well. I mean, not every sapling will take, but if there's anything more I can do to help them - ? "

"Sure let's take a look at them." Iwean will accompany Songbird as she checks her saplings. He will check the compost making sure its composting properly. He'll check the saplings for general health and any infestations. He also look for signs of the blight or plague that's been hitting the land. He'll also check the tress around the areas also.

From time to time, when she thinks no one's looking, Niku would check on some of the saplings and make sure to spread some rotted manure around the saplings that don't have any.

She notices the nutritious manure. Not quite sure who set it there, still she's pleased. She keeps an eye on them over the weeks and asks Iwaen to keep an eye on them too for disease. She's heard of blight and she really doesn't want to see it here.

Iwean replies, "I'm not sure where it came from. It appears to be natural manure but I'll keep an eye out."