As I spoke to the inhabitants of Clegur, a few tales touched upon the notion of the nearby “Ratlaw” being occupied by not so nice outsiders. First it was small stuff, a lost book, a pack with an heirloom – but eventually a merchant opened up about people capturing hobbits, and keeping them at Ratlaw.

I decided that I would have to intervene, and under the cover of darkness, I approched the bandit camp.

The darkness served me well, and I infiltrated their camp without many problems, bringing down a few sentries to ease any escape captives might need to make without me. I quickly located the lost heirloom and a few hobbits, confirming my worst suspicions. The deeper I went into their camp – the more bandits I encountered. I continued to create escape routes by taking out sentries and patrols, and as I worked my way into the camp, I also happened upon the lost book – what luck!

By the time I had liberated most of the hobbits through stealth, I decided I could not let these villains continue to harass the countryside. I took out a few of the higher officers on my way out – bands like these tend to disintegrate through infighting if there is not enough authority to go around, and left before the sun went up.

With that matter concluded, I will continue around the Stoor Vales to some of the other villages here, to look for more clues as to the presence of the Uruks.