Gildrim starts in his chair. "Eh? Hrumm." He stops with mouth agape. If he says that he is the very dwarf, then they'll be wanting to know what happened, how he evaded certain death, and why he's back here now with new companions. But if he denies all knowledge, the villagers will no doubt spin wilder and wilder stories about his supposed demise at the hands of lizardfolk. And has Erf been keeping a low profile at Sister Anemone's, or has the gregarious green fellow visited Cragger's Rest?
"Eh, sit ye doon, sit ye doon, an' whit woud ye say tae a drink oan my purse?" he says to gain time. Well, if Cyian's past performance here is anything to go by, then honesty is the best policy.
"Ye may nicht recognise me noo, but that wis me, last muin. Ah made it oot ay th' swamp in ane piece, as ye can see! Frae th' north, sae Ah didnae come back throu Cragger's Rest. Ye knaw, Ah saw nae but ane lizardfowk an' he wisnae sae saivage."
Gildrim hastens on. "But thaur wis deid ghouls, an' a cockodrill mair than twice as lang as this table, an' a snake near as big. An' we didnae find whit we wis lookin' for. Weel, some ay us hae left off th' sairchin', but Ah thocht Ah'd mak ane mair trial."
