Its the coldest winter on record. It came early and buried the land in snow. It would not be so much of a problem if the fighting this year had not been so devastating. Now there are barely enough fighting men to go around and most of them are stationed on the border to protect against any surprise attacks. Between the early winter and enemy advances the crop yields were quite low and there's barely enough to go around. With the kingdom in this weakened state goblins have become rowdy and started attacking villages and stealing what little food they have and stories of spectral black riders stalking the roads have become common place. The noble houses in the northeast have been wiped out it recent decades and have not been replaced so the mayor of Merandin, the largest nearby city has taken it upon himself to deputize anyone left who can solve the problem.
This will probably be casual, but I could be convinced to bring this up to advanced. I'd like to have at least a small group, but I like to think that a large group would be fine. If you have any questions feel free to ask them. I'm sure the above leaves a lot to be desired as far as details are concerned.