So here's my idea:

The Poacher, the Knightbarian, and Bango Baggins are working together and have been contracted by a desperate group of merchants concerned about strange happenings in the woods of late: disappearances, raids, etc. beyond the usual attacks on caravans by bandits. So, they wanted us to go find out what was what from the Witch, and then to act accordingly. This meets the "we don't know exactly what information we're getting" tally and leaves a lot of details just nebulous enough for the GM to work with.

I'll make a post for now, but it won't reference this information for now. I'll only use this information if you guys like it, [@BangoSkank][@ClocktowerEchos].