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A lonely figure, broad and short in stature, capered along the banks of the River Celduin, or Running as it was called in the common tongue. Although the loud, inane singing and at times reeling gait would have caused many to judge him to be a harmless lunatic, the more careful observer would have noticed a certain wariness about him, and known that he would be ready to answer any given threat in a heartbeat.
Suddenly the inane rhymes the creature had been chanting took on the distinct quality of a song.
'I travel forth from Erebor,
Pause at the hall's of folk of Dale,
After that, in my stupor,
I pause to look for proper Ale,'
The deep, guttural voice bellowed out the words of the popular bawdy ballad with a heart-felt enthusiasm, though the voice of the singer left room for hope.
Gortek Mad-Eye bellowed the final words of the song and gave a high-pitched, maniacal cackle. He was in a great mood today. His journey to Umbar and back, a long trudge across the Brown Lands, had proven to be quite a success. His ventures with some of the corsair-folk had yielded a hefty prize, which he had mostly lost carousing and gambling in the Corsair City. But he was always ready for another adventure, and as an explorer he had rarely the need to suffer tedium for long.
While these happy thoughts raced through his head, he arrived at the junction of the two rivers, Celduin and Carnen.
Just as he was begining to look for a place to rest,he noticed a line of smoke drifting skywards from the close by copse of trees. Deciding that it would be nice to have some company, he made towards the small wood.
As he approached the strangers campsite, his movements became stealthier and his earlier air of jolliness was replaced by one of immaculate watchfulness. He hadn't heard of orcs making their way this far upriver for years, but you could never be too carful.
He strained his senses to the utmost, sniffing the air in an attempt to identify the creature who had made its resting-place here. His keen nose was disturbed by the delicious scent of cooked meat, but he did catch a faint scent that was not orc by any standards. Rather, it had the smell of a human, albeit quite different from most.
Still, he usually got on famously with humans, and so he dropped his stealthy approach and strode into the small clearing. A man sat there, tall, dark and gaunt, preparing a delicious looking joint of meat over a fire. Gortek saw the stranger look at him, measuring him from head to toe's. Gortek greeted him.
"Greetings, human. Would it be too much asked to share yer fire?".
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