"His name's Gord.  He's a wizard, or something like that - he says someone named Gorum gave him magic.  And he used some magic to let Merry speak his language!"

Frodo looks excited but also dubious.

(The Westron word 'wizard' translates as 'mage'.)

"I can't do it again today, I prepared different spells. I could give it to more people tomorrow, but not all of you at once - not for twenty-four hours, anyway, I could do all of you for a few hours."

"What gods are worshipped around here? If I don't recognize any of them, then I'm probably not from this world." (The Hallit word, like the English one, isn't precise enough to mean 'planet'.)

Merry answers in Kellid without bothering to translate.  "I don't think we worship any 'gods'.  Unless the king counts; we invoke him sometimes?  At least, not us hobbits.

"Er - there isn't an actual king around here, not since before my grandfather was born.  But we still name him at the Free Fair and put him on our coins and things."

No gods, no kings? How very Rahadoumi of them. Strider was firmer on the idea of gods, though, so Gord isn't going to just take Merry at his word.

"Worship can be very different, depending on the god and the people. But it's always about being and doing the kinds of things that god cares about and wants to see more of in the world. Whether that's singing, painting, fighting evil, perfecting yourself, fighting for a cause, enforcing the law, trading, travelling to see the world, selflessly helping others, getting rich, raising your family - there are many gods out there. And then they choose people who are, or are doing, what that god likes to see, and give them magic, and those are clerics. Sometimes the gods intervene themselves or send messengers, but that's very rare in comparison - a historical event, not an everyday one." 

"Can you keep translating for the others? Strider looks like he had something to say," he nudges.