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“If it depends on my origins, rest assured, that you really have had some travels. I do dwell on these northern lands, have dwelled here, most of my life.”, said Reddie Sundry, some amusement in his smile for his newly-found comrades’ speeding high spirits, and continued: “But to be truthful with you both, I’m not a local. I come from lands east from here, and as such, I am a stranger as you are. A cheer for that to begin with?” He smiled openly to both gondorians and they smiled back. It seemed, they felt at ease together and they drank together. Reddie felt good just to sit here with these strangers.
Just as Reddie was about to make a question concerning the two gondorians’ being here at the northern outposts of civilized Middle-Earth, a loud crash went into the air. They all turned to look for the cause of this distraction and saw a young lady laying at the floor with a broken chair. They looked at each other and smiled, snickered a bit, and toasted again. Reddie shook his head and said jokingly “You should never tend a young lady more than one beer, after that they both lose their legs, and forget their heads. That’s an old saying around where I come from. I have sometimes wondered, whether it really is true, but the world seems to be proving it, day after another”. They all laughed again.
Then there was an odd silence. It started from Bredan, who was the first to notice. Then Farael got up to the situation. Reddie came to understand the reason of the quick silence only after hearing soft words being uttered quite near to his head: “Hello. Sorry to distract you. My name is Naria”. Reddie blushed somewhat, but concealed it bravely. His hand didn’t shake noticeably when he shook hands with Naria in his turn.
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