August 3rd, 3018, Tharbad

Aye, many have heard of the place called Rivendell, the realm of Elrond the Halfelven, but none know the way. The "last homely house" some call it, a refuge for the wayward traveler. Rangers from the north lands come to Tharbad sometimes, and they know where it is hid, but they tell little of their secret ways, and no ranger can now be found, not unless he wishes to be found. The innkeeper speaks with them when they pass through and drags out of them what tales he can. From their talks, he gathers that I should leave the road and follow the river Greyflood north, until I come to a fork in the waterway. To the left will be the river Hoarwell and to the right the Loudwater, Bruinen in the Elven tongue. The Loudwater will slowly angle to the mountains and somewhere between that river and the mountains should lie the valley I seek.

Of Halflings though, the people knew more. I was told that most of them lived northwest of here, in a place called Shire, where few men ever go, but that some also lived near the crossing of the North-South road and the East-West road, in a town called Bree.

A Southerner agreed, saying that he was returning from Bree and had seen many of the little folk, so apparently they are real and not legend. I now must decide whether to seek these Halfings, or continue on my quest for Rivendell. One is a sure thing now, the other, still a legend.

Boromir