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Even after the greeting by the guards sent out fro, when the King of Mithral Hall and his entourage walked through the front gate of the walled town, stunned the group
Trumpeters sounded from the parapets and fro the northern wall of the sood, and none dressed in the shining arer city like Silverymoon, Bruenor was certain that he had never heard anyone play with e, ate, clapping and waving and throwing petals There were more women than Bruenor had expected fro a couple of babies Perhaps he should be spending quite a bit of ti towns, Bruenorat the place, it seeular town, a settled place, instead of the pocket of rogues and outlaws he had always thought it and all the other towns of the Savage Frontier to be He considered his former home then, Ten-Towns, and recalled the evolution of those ten cities into so far more settled than they had been when he had first arrived in Icewind Dale those centuries before
The dwarf, leading the procession, paused and looked around, past thepeople to their sturdy houses Most werewooden frames, and all were built solid, as if the inhabitants meant to be there for a while Bruenor nodded his silent approval, his gaze gradually le tower that so clearlya pennant of a pair of hands surrounded by golden stars on a red background A wizard’s emblem, obviously, and when the crowd before hih, dressed in a tall and pointy hat and bright red robes eolden stars, it wasn’t hard for the dwarf to make the connection
"Welco Bruenor of Mithral Hall," the ht before Bruenor He swept off his hat and fell into a grand bow "I aroo Seian’Doo, the founder of Shallows and present liege This honor is unexpected but surely not unwelcos to yerself, Withe"
"Withegroo"
"Withegroo," Bruenor finished "And I’et reat sadness that I andof your ancestor, Gandalug"
"Yep, but the old one had hi we can be askin’ for more than that," Bruenor replied
He looked around, to see the cheery and sincere smiles of the townsfolk, and he knew that he could be at ease there, that he and his friends, even Drizzt as standing right behind hiuests in Shallows
"Got the word in the west," the dwarf explained "In Icewind Dale, whereour hoet lost on your journey home to Mithral Hall?"
Bruenor shook his head
"Found me a couple o’ friends from Felbarr," he explained, and he turned and indicated Tred, who gave an uncoracious bow "They’d found themselves a bit o’ trouble with soroo’s wrinkled old face and long, hawkish nose The man’s enormous cars twitched beneath the bristles of his hile hair, which was slicking out in every direction under the bent brim of his red hat
Bruenor rave one of his own
"Ye know the town o’ Clicking Heels?" he asked soroo looked around, to see several of his townsfolk nodding
"Well, it ain’t no iants laid it to waste Killed the up all around the courtyard
"We been chasin’ the dogs and killedto put a better light on the tragedy "Left a handful o’ giants and near to a hunnerd orcs layin’ dead in the mountains, but we thinked it s strong"
"Stronger than you can iht and tall -and he was tail, well over six feet, tall enough to look Wulfgar in the eye without bending back his head Unlike Wulfgar, though, the hed more than half the barbarian’s three hundred pounds
"We have suffered the likes of orcs and giants many times," the wizard continued, "but not once have any crossed the line of our strong walls"
"Old Withegroo lays ’e!" one man shouted from the side, and others immediately took up the chorus of cheers for the wizard,
Withegroo smiled, somewhat sheepishly, so his hands hu chorus
"I do what I can," the wizard said to Bruenor, turning back to face the dwarf "I am no novice to battle, and Iin dark caves filled with all sorts of beasts"
"And ye bought yerself a town," Bruenor remarked, with no sarcasm in his tone
"I built ht this a fine place to live out my days, in study and recollections of adventures past These good folk" -he turned and swept his hand across the crowd- "found nized the value of having so striking a lands in the dwarf traders, you see"
He ended with an exaggerated wink, which brought a smile to Bruenor’s face
"Bet they weren’ta few bolts o’ lightning at anytoo close, either," the dwarf said to Withegroo, who took the compliment in stride
"I do what I can"
"I’m bettin’ ye do"
"Well," the wizard said with a deep breath, setting an abrupt change in the conversation "You have co-or soon to be King-Bruenor Battleha you, do not take quick leave of us The walls of Shallows and the houses alike are of stone, and h not to a dwarf!-but they mask hearths of warmth and the voices of those with many adventures to share" He stepped back and looked up, addressing the whole company "You are welcome, one and all Welcoreat cheer went up forroup to disperse and relax
"A bit better welcome than we received frois, and Wulfgar when the dwarf king roo to rejoin his closest friends
"Yeah, Mirabar" Bruenor grumbled "Ren of orc about," Catti-brie said, "and a toith strong walls and stronger folk, and a wizard backing them"
She nodded her approval
"And a southern road awaiting us," Wulfgar put in
"But not right yet," said Catti-brie "I’ we should stay on a bit, just to be sure they’re safe"
"Ye got a feeling, do ye?" Bruenor asked
Catti-brie looked around, and despite the festivities, the laughter, and the seely norot it, too," said Bruenor "But not to worry We’ll be checkin’ all the land, and we’ll take ourme there’s a couple more towns down that way Let’s see howBruenor and his friends"
He looked at Drizzt and pointedly added, "All his friends" The drow shrugged as if it did not matter, and in truth, it did not
"There are ten thousand more in dark holes ill be led if they believe that they will find greater glory," Ad’non Kareese said to his three co circuit of the region between the dark elves hideaway and Gerti’s co a pair of visits with other s: an orc who knew of Obould and a particularly wretched goblin
"Twenty thousand," Donnia corrected, "at least The mountain caverns craith the little beasts, and the only thing that keeps them in there is their own stupidity and fear If Obould and Gerti claihold, then ill coax more than a few, I am certain"
"To what end?" Kaer’lic interjected doubtfully "Then ill only have to look at the beasts scurrying about the surface"
"In chaos we find corin
"Spoken like a dolt from Menzoberranzan," said Kaer’lic, which only made Tos’un smile even wider
"To your own tests of worthiness, then," Tos’un replied "In chaos we find wealth In chaos we find enjoyue