Almost entirely new party. The five new members were hired by Sheriff Kelter to join the southern army of Rhudaur. The southern army was being expanded due to the rebellion of Lord Fardwith. The commander of the army Lorn Haltrat had sent the party out on a mission. He had learnt that Fardwith had become interest in supposedly empty land north of the last bridge. The party were to travel to the area and scout it out. This mission was considered secret and was to be kept low key.

The party had set out from Minas Brethil and after six days of journeying in the wilderness reached the general location described by Haltrat. The going had been quite tough, they had to travel through near impenetrable forest. Only the Elves, Calorn and Trieal, had not been discomfited by the terrain. On escaping the clutches of the last stretch of forest the could see a Castle in the west. This certainly was a feature of note, so they set forth to investigate it further.

On approaching the Castle sounds of battle could be heard. As the group got closer the sounds died away. Through the main gates a scene of carnage was available. A lone Orc with an obviously broken arm was slitting throats amongst a large pile of bodies. The Orc looked up and seeing the approaching party it ran for the keep. Ignoring the filthy creature the group entered the courtyard. Several human bodies could be seen amidst some dead Orcs. An unconscious dwarf was found collapsed atop an Orc. The dwarf's hammer had been driven almost straight through the Orc's chest. The group decided that this was not a good place to stick around. So grabbing the occasional interesting looking weapon they hauled the dwarf south into the forest.

After a number of hours the Dwarf regained consciousness. He was named Thorin. Supposedly he had been mapping the area for Lord Fardwith in return for passage over the Last Bridge. During the mapping process himself and his party had discovered the castle and attempted to loot it with unfortunate consequences. He also mention that a man named Ulric had once travelled with his group. Ulric Bors' brother had been killed a few weeks previously. Bors was most upset.

Thorin led the group to the baggage of his last party. Much rummaging occurred, Calorn was seen to find a Dwarven Stone that interested him greatly. Elonil was determined to have another look in the castle. With the Elves covering her see snuck up to the walls. From inside she could her movement. Four Orcs approached the gateway. They seemed to have little interest with affairs out side the Castle. Instead they blocked up the gate using the remains of the ancient door. Elonil gave up and returned to the party.

Taking most of the recovered baggage including two horses the party headed set out. They reckoned Commander Haltrat would be most interest to hear of the castle. Also Thorin had much information about the disposition of Fardwith's Forces. The party realised that they would never get the horses through the rough terrain from whence they had come. After questioning Thorin they resolved to travel south-east to a tributary of the Mitheithel. They would then be able to follow the tributary east.

This plan worked for two days. However at that point the tributary petered out. A large patch of particularly dense forest lay ahead of the party. It had taken them two days to pass through it further to the north. The humans and Bravd argued extensively about circling round to the south so that the horses would not have to be abandoned. In the end though they gave in. All gear was removed from the animals and with a smack on their rumps they were set free. It took a day and a half to travel through the forest. After that another day was spent travelling east to the road. Once on the road it only took six hours to reach Minas Brethil.

The main feature of Minas Brethil was an old tower. Around this stone tower a wooden fort and village had developed in recent times. The party were questioned briefly at the gates they sent to the tower. From there Sheriff Kelter sent them up to the top of the tower. From there the party spoke at length with Commander Haltrat. Thorin spent much of this time secluded in the cellar.

It was decided that the party including Thorin should head south. From there they would travel from settlement to settlement in an attempt to determine how much land Fardwith controlled. They party would also attempt to learn how many troops were stationed in what areas, where they: were getting food from and also where the troops were intending to Winter. Haltrat appointed Bors the head of the group. He also paid the party the very significant sum of 20gp each for their last mission. The group headed down to the village to restock supplies with the intention of setting out the following morning.