The Second Council of the North concluded safely after the Companions interrupted a three-headed assassination/corruption plot. The royal house of King Bard mourns for the poisoning death of a trusted handmaiden of Queen Una, but it might have been far worse: the Queen might have drunk a lethal dose from her cup at the banquet table, and the King (or his good friend, King Dain) might have been struck by an arrow from a would-be assassin lying in ambush during the hunt. With winter coming, hardships might have been far worse if a deluded Woodman had not been prevented from unleashing a cage of diseased rats into Lake-town's granary.
Pictured here are several of the heroes: The wood elf Nemir [wrong portrait, sorry], and newcomers Achernar of Lake-town and Rothror, Dwarf of the Blue Mountains.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...chmentid=27214
The Council itself maintained cooperation between the Kingdoms of the north and extended their practice of jointly addressing major issues, even if little was resolved. Threats were identified and trade matters discussed: trade delegations are headed west, south, and east from each people and an effort by Woodmen and dwarves to rebuild the Old Forest Road received tacit support, or at least no opposition, from the assembled kings. A notable issue unresolved is the growing demand for timber from Mirkwood and whether the elves' dominion over the forest will be respected or whether farmers and frontiersmen may fell trees.
Threats include reports of slavers, orcs in the forest, goblins multiplying at Mount Gunbadad, and wargs aggressively stalking travellers and settlers in the north Anduin vales. Even darker rumours fly from the south of Mirkwood, where shadow is seen growing once again.