[Diamond18]

A paunch middle-aged Hobbit with graying hair entered the auditorium, glancing around suspiciously. She stood in the corner for a little while, observing the shocking blue transformation and departure of Lush. “I thought her purity was a bit put on…” Lousewort Chastitybelt muttered to herself. But she had little time to dwell on the scarlet woman of the Downs, as the poisoning of Mithadan soap opera unfolded upon the stage with numerous subplots. This was all quite shocking to the Hobbit, and she shook her head at the shocking behavior exhibited by even the Mods in this strange place.

Finally, after a while, she caught sight of the person responsible for dragging her to this party. Diamond stood up in her seat and applauded loudly when Estelyn received the Canon Award for the RPG Most Faithful to the Spirit of Tolkien. Diamond, as the woman responsible for such Tolkien-True characters as Pimpiowyn Took (the daughter of a hobbit lass and a man) and Vogonwë Brownbark (the half-elven son of the third cousin of King Thranduil, thrice removed) was thrilled to see the woman who had made this possible, acknowledged with such a prestigious award. A true Patron of the Arts, was Estelyn Telcontar!

Filled with these heady feelings of gratitude and admiration, Diamond leapt up and dropped her beer can as she tried to instigate an impromptu wave for Estelyn, the Parody Queen. Doing thus, she made herself visible to the Hobbit lurking in the corner. Lousewort cautiously made her way over to stand by Diamond’s seat.

“I want to go home!”

Diamond paused and glanced at her. Sighing, she muttered, “Oh, go sulk somewhere else, you wet blanket.”

“You said there would be a donation to the Garden Club in this, and you lied!” Lousewort accused, pointy a pudgy finger at Diamond.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you find the lady in the breastplate?”

“Yes, and I tried to speak with her, but she ignored me completely!” Lousewort complained. “I stood at the bar for hours trying to find out if she had a contribution, but all that got me was being subjected to watching hours of wanton drunkenness!”

“Maybe she didn’t notice you,” Diamond suggested. “Hobbits are awfully small. Perhaps you didn’t speak up loud enough. Now, look over there, in the front row. She’s sitting there with her Hobbit escort. Now would be the best time to approach her.”

Lousewort looked where Diamond pointed, and was about to refuse to comply. But then she considered the great expenses which had been expended to purge the Shire of that flagitious article a few weeks back. Not to mention how much it had cost to arrange the protest outside the Party. The Garden Club was feeling the pinch, and as the Treasurer had resigned recently to start a brothel in the South Farthing (not that the GC would publicly admit this) it was up to Lousewort to take care of funds.

“All right,” she agreed reluctantly. “I will try again.”

She walked up to the front row and sat down next to the odd looking sheildmaiden and the bespectacled Hobbit. She cleared her throat and said, “Um… Excuse me…”

[ May 06, 2003: Message edited by: Diamond18 ]