Somewhere, West Virginia, USA.

"Holy Mary Mother of God!" One of the rail yard workers exclaimed as the gathered humans looked up at Sloth as he skewered another handful, for him, of boar.

Sam had told Clive that the boys were curious and wouldn't let it go. It was affecting their performance. At least that was the reason Sam gave Clive, but he was sure even he was curious to see a real giant.

So that was how Clive and over 30 other humans, Sam included, now stood in amazement at Sloth. Except Clive of course. It didn't faze him much, but then he had to remind himself that just until a few minutes ago giants were nothing more than myth to them.

Yet here stood a myth in the flesh. Well, here he SAT. Clive was almost expecting Sloth to be overwhelmed by the number of humans, but he seemed content to just carry on eating his pork. Clive was sure it was because he was here. If he wasn't then Sloth might've been more uncomfortable.

"So he just hangs out here eatin' boar?" Sam asked.

"Yup. As far as I can tell." Clive answered.

Sam gazed at Sloth for a few moments longer before he turned to the rest.

"Alright! You lot had your fun! Now back to work!"

The group of humans sighed and groaned like boys being told that it was time to leave the fair. But they followed Sam away, though more than a few glances were cast back as Sloth waved goodbye.

Clive was worried it might be a bit much for Sloth. But he didn't seem to care. He wasn't sure if it was just his general attitude or being that big just meant that he was confident that he wasn't in danger. Being better fed and warm does much to ones mentality.

Back when he first saw Sloth he was practically starving and lost. He damn near bolted in fear and uncertainty. Now? If it had been the Sloth of now then he probably wouldn't even care if he saw Clive or the halflings and just continued on his way.

At least that was what Clive hoped as he said his goodbyes as well. He was pretty confident that he had nothing to worry about when it came to Sloth and the rail yard boys. They seemed more like kids that saw a elephant at the zoo. His concern was the halflings potentially pulling something.

Not that he wasn't deaf to their worries. But the plain of it was that Sloth wasn't a threat. Why make him one? Same thing applied to the kobolds and Kilpa. They were minding their own business at Jeb's, why go looking for a fight?

It made no sense to Clive. It really did almost feel like he was in medieval England. He bet if they were put up near Old York then they'd probably be better off. But they weren't in Old York, they were in West Virginia.

The more Clive thought about it the more that maybe opening a school would be a good idea. Get the halflings at least up to Enlightenment thinking. Maybe with them not being in, what Hamish explained, a fantastical medieval dark age they might even just give up child marriage! Among other things.

But Clive wasn't that hopeful. He fully expects that if he opened a school then those that showed up would be more out of curiosity than to actually learn. His teachers would always quote Yoda. 'Do, there is no try.' He hated it.

But right now they might have a point. Not like he had anything better to do right now, thought Clive as he passed the remains of the short-lived lumber camp. After Clive's revelation about Sloth, the halflings and humans that were working on gathering lumber had quickly packed up and moved to an area that WASN'T potentially home to a giant.

Stolen story; please report.

They were probing the eastern woods. But the idea of running into Morty was something they didn't want to deal with. At least the humans weren't. The halflings haven't had the "joy" of getting into the mess that was the history of the Duvals of Somewhere.

So that left the south of them. Plenty of wood, away(ish) of the giant, and far enough away from Morty. While they were doing that there were talks about expanding the farmland when spring comes. The hothouse would keep them till then. Though if the halflings were smart they would tighten their belts to make it last.

But given how much they eat, and how often, it wouldn't surprise Clive if they wanted 100s of acres of land just to keep feasting like they usually do. Even when Hamish brought it up to Clive that they might starve when winter came, they were still eating like they usually did.

Speaking of feasts. As Clive returned he saw the halfling colony abuzz with activity as they were setting up a feast... again. Though they called it a festival. Specifically the Harvest Festival. It was, as the name implied, to celebrate the harvest. But with no harvest some had a hard time coming to terms apparently the polar opposite seasons between their world and ours.

Not for long though. They weren't going to pass up the opportunity to feast. It just seemed a matter of decorum that was the main issue. But given Clive's opinion, and their apathy at what exactly to celebrate, they decided to go with the fall celebration.

To be a bit productive and helpful, Clive decided to call the other local farmers and ranchers and invited them over to the celebration. They would more than likely get along with the halflings, given their shared interest in animal husbandry and agriculture.

Hamish came by earlier today to apologize to Clive. Though Clive knew he didn't entirely mean it, especially with Addie next to him glaring at Hamish. But to save Hamish a bit of marital trouble Clive buried the hatchet as it were. To get things back on track Clive asked Hamish and Addie what the Harvest Festival was all about.

What they said was pretty much most festivals around fall. Food, dancing, music, drinking. It wasn't much different between what humans would celebrate. Though the halflings did mention that there was a bit more fornicating towards the end of the night! Then again that wasn't entirely different either. Booze and sex almost always came around at the end of parties.

Though from the sounds of it the halflings get quite a bit more promiscuous than humans do! Addie mentioned that a lot of children were conceived around the Harvest Festival, and not all of them were from their supposed fathers! At least that was among the lesser families and common folk.

For the more respectable halflings, like the Hambingers and other families, even the Big Families, it was seen as uncivilized. After all, if family is a avenue to prestige and wealth you wanted to make sure it was well invested in. Which meant that they didn't partake in such wanton promiscuity which would no doubt result in some lesser family potentially getting a seat at the big kids table because a family member got a bit too much to drink and now the family of pure blonds now have a dark-haired runt of questionable heritage.

Clive had zoned out when Addie told him about a 6th cousin of hers that got knocked up during the festival. She was downgraded to lesser status for it. Disowning was anathema to the halflings and was incredibly rare. Getting kicked to lesser status was the next best thing.

It was like being socially marked. She was still of higher status, but she wouldn't be able to be wed to anyone of higher status. Which meant she was stuck in a societal rung that she wouldn't be able to move from. Apparently it was akin to being exiled.

Clive politely excused himself before the two could go even more in-depth in their family history and the various petty scandals. It was making his head spin! It was like Game of Thrones without the random bits of murder.

He was feeling better about opening a school. Anything was better than the mess of social webs that was halfling familial politics. So that was what he did. He went over to the humans and borrowed some stuff and made a sign that simply read SCHOOL in big letters.

He placed it near a table and brought over his books and waited. He didn't wait long however as some halflings came by and showed interest! Until get described what it was he was doing. Then they gave him a polite farewell and wandered away.

That's how it was for over an hour. Some would be a bit curious and walk over to see what he was doing, then excuse themselves when they found out what it was. It was like none of them cared! Not one of them wanted to learn! It was like trying to teach Sloth all over again. But at least he learned a couple things before he got bored.

He didn't even bring out the heavy stuff either! Just basic stuff that any child would learn in school! Yet even the kids didn't care. The couple odd children that showed interest would be pulled away and chided.

He'd probably have better luck teaching gorillas to speak, Clive thought as a halfling couple gave him a duo of polite nods and walked away. Well so much for that idea.

It seemed the halflings were very much stuck in a medieval mentality. Even the kids were expected to learn how to work the fields, herd animals or learning how to raise a family. Education like what Clive wanted to give was seen as a wasteful thing. Only the Big Families could afford such a luxury as an education. Even then they were usually specially selected tutors.

Clive honestly felt lost now. Everything was being worked on. Their homes and the hothouse were being built. The Harvest Festival was being organized. Sloth was alright.

He didn't really have anything to do anymore. He had no work since the railyard was closed down. Jeb and Morty had their own things to deal with, so no game session.

After about an hour of getting polite curiosity and even more polite excuses, Clive packed it up and went back to his tent. Not much else he could do. A college graduate, and it was wasted yet again. At least at the railyard it was put to SOME use. But now it just felt worthless. It wasn't, looking around as everything that was being built said that much.

But it still felt like he was without purpose. Like a boss that told people to do something and was now just waiting for it to get done. He thought about maybe talking with Kilpa, but she was still stewing.

As he picked up a book once more and returned to his page he realized that he was just bored. Nothing to do with no one except wait for something to happen. At least there was the festival to look forward to.

A night of dealing with yet more halflings. At least there would be humans there so he wouldn't go completely insane, thought Clive.