Part 2: Leg 2
Aldaron draws little attention as he slips into camp, appearing some moments after Jari. Without ceremony, he simply sits himself on his bedroll in the darkness of the hollow, exactly as if he'd been there all along.
He can tell at a glance that something has been revealed in camp during his absence, Diarmoc's tear-stained face is clue enough, though he wouldn't want to venture a guess as to what.
"Thomas, why don't you take first watch, while we are still awake," he ventures. "We four can debate the rest of the night's allocation between us."
He signals Haldan, Nór, and Perry with his eyes and a subtle jerk of the chin, indicating they should withdraw a distance so they can speak in private. Once they follow him into the hill's deeper shadows, a place where they can see both Diarmoc and Jari without being overheard, he watches Thomas make his first stuttering patrol of the camp. "These are dangerous lands," he begins, before dropping his voice to a whisper.
"I followed Jari some way from the camp. The dwarf is a difficult quarry, skilled and cunning, and he was at pains not be followed. I almost lost him, would have if not for luck. Once he was well clear of the camp, he stood atop the crest of a hill and whistled a birdcall. Obviously a signal. Given the way he was facing and the prevailing wind, it was meant for someone off to our east, in the valley itself I would guess." Aldaron pauses and glances about, making certain nobody is listening who should not be. "I don't know what game Jari is playing, but after hearing Gilraen's words, I wouldn't discount Jari being in league with the orcs who killed the travellers."
He stops, his face fixed in a frown. "Did Diarmoc yield any more about their intentions?"
OOC: I'm assuming here there will be time to speak wbile we organise watch, so I took a liberty in pushing ahead with giving Aldaron's account.