Journal, 341st Entry: Ancient Iron, The Misty Mountains

Dear Mother and Father, This has been the longest trip for ore we have ever made. Rua heard that there is Ancient Iron and Ancient Silver in the Misty Mountains and nothing would do but that we go there and find some. We went through the Shire to Bree, then on to the Forsaken Inn. After that there was only wilderness for miles and miles according to Rua. The only place that is remotely civilised is Ost Guruth, a lonely outpost tucked into some foothills. From there we travelled to the Last Bridge, the entryway to the Trollshaws, which is a rather dangerous place to be, but Rua knows where it is safe to camp and we didn't have any trouble going through. Only once when we were forced to travel at night to reach the outpost of Thorenhad did we hear a troll stamping along the road, so we quickly hid ourselves in the bushes. Rua peeked through the bushes as it passed. He is not afraid of anything and probably would have stood his ground if I had not been with him! I was too scared to look but I heard the tramp of it's feet and felt the ground shaking as it went by. We waited half an hour before leaving the safety of the bushes and arrived at Thorenhad near midnight. Rua knows there is Dwarf Iron in the Trollshaws, but the lure of Ancient Iron was too strong for him so the next day we crossed the Bruinen Ford to the High Moors and then went on to Rivendell, which is a wonderful elven place. I'm not sure if you can call it a city. The buildings are elegant and highly decorated. Rua has friends everywhere it seems and is on fairly good terms with the elves there. At least, they let him pass through without any trouble. He tries to sell his tools at each of the places we come to, though not to the elves. He does quite well for himself and I have never gone wanting for anything. I guess good tools are always appreciated. And his are dwarfcraft after all. He always says 'Guid tuils'll last un a lifetime. Luk efter yer tuils an' they'll luk efter un.' After Rivendell we climbed a steep valley into the Misty Mountains themselves. Rua knows ways and caves through the mountains and we don't often have to set up camp in the snow. The stuff is unbearably cold. There was little or no food for the ponies and I was starting to worry they would starve. Strange beasts roam the snows and packs of wargs can be found here and there so I for one felt safer inside a cave. Of course then you have the threat of goblins, but they are usually weak and more scared of us than we are of them unless they are in large numbers. Then Rua says we should steer clear. And we never forget to put up our trusty bellstring. We stayed in the mountains for about two months, during which time we visited a dwarven outpost named Hrimbarg. Rua brought a portable forge as usual and we spent some time there smelting the ore we found into ingots. Wood was sometimes difficult to find to stoke the forge so then we just filled the saddlebags with ore and moved on until we found a wooded area. The ore was also difficult to find and I was so tired of the cold by the time we left! Dwarves don't seem to feel the cold as much. We must have been away from home for about four months, for the Harvest Festival had just started when we finally arrived home. Your loving Zara