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An Autumn Fair in Halabor  by Soledad 2 Review(s)
DeniseReviewed Chapter: 4 on 11/23/2008
I love all these strong Old Folk women who people your Halabor stories. Strong men, too, but they would not make it without the women behind them. Wise Manissa, to lead Eudo to the right conclusion by deduction instead of outright telling him what to do. (And wise Eudo to so value her!) And ha! that the desire to talk came from the other side too! Love the deal cut: Nogga is more Eudo's "people" than the wolves of Lebennin. Argh! that this historic contract was no doubt thrown in disarray by the orc raid that demolished the town. Hopefully something continued on even past that.

Mogh's observances are always refreshing and enlightening. I really like this: Dunlendings did not make friends easily but were doggedly faithful to those they had made. As well as the lovely discussion of family ties and care; these are a long-established people with deep roots and an individual culture, after all, not the near-animals some PoVs might make of them.

I also like this tie: ...as they had surprisingly good relations to the bearded race, going back to the times when Thorin Oakenshield and his family had lived in exile in Dunland. Yes, not everyone would see Dunlendings as enemies, and it's cool to be reminded that we only get one perspective in LotR. :)

Author Reply: As I said, I enjoyed writing the Dunlendings a great deal. They were modelled after the Welsh as portrayed in Ellis Peters' books... just a little more savage. And the fact that Thorin and Co. lived among them is canon, so I thought they couldn't be all that bad if they got along with the Dwarves so amiably.

The Hanse of Lebennin is another thing I had great fun with. I've posted its history and a description of the main towns to the Otherworlds discussion board, if you're interested.

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 4 on 12/26/2007
Good--they've come to a necessary alliance that will see both parties doing better in the end. And with Elvish customers who would undoubtedly prefer to buy from open locals than from grasping corporate types, they'll do well in the short and long run.

Author Reply: WEll, they were still in business ten years later, so I guess the alliance worked out.

I greatly enjoyed doing something for the Dunlendings for a change, they are another shamefully underused race, put down summarily as "the enemy", who therefore have to be evil *and* ugly. As if things would ever be that simple!

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