He returned to the other adventurers still not quite sure, having basically been told to go away. Krovis was not convinced that the men were the bandits they were looking for, and stepped forward from cover to talk to them and confirm that they were bandits, and not вЂ“ say вЂ“ circus performers. Atop a nearby wagon stood a wooden cage that held a black bear. The trip took a little over three hours to make, and after a few false leads, they came upon a cave, with six men sitting outside it, sharpening their blades. The next day, the group travelled to find the bandits. Some of the adventurers went to the local inn, the Swinging Sword, while others stayed at the local boarding house, Mother YalanthaвЂ™s. The adventurers considered the distance to the locations Harburk suggested вЂ“ about ten miles to the southeast вЂ“ and decided to investigate early the next morning. He was not hard to find, sitting on a step outside the store smoking a pipe, but he informed the adventurers that they were more than welcome to chase up the bandits that had been attacking merchants вЂ“ he didnвЂ™t have time to keep law and order in Red Larch, work for Jalessa Ornra, the head butcher, and travel the roads in search of bandits as well! He did give the group a few likely locations where the bandits might be hiding, before finishing his pipe and returning inside to resume his job. One of the patrons in the tavern drunkenly demanded to know why the bandits had been taking all of his fish hooks вЂ“ something the adventurers assured him they would keep in mind.ДЄs it turned out, Harburk was a busy man вЂ“ with butchering. Speaking with the proprietor, the adventurers learnt that the local constable (and butcher), Harburk Tuthmarillar would likely be the person to ask. TheyвЂ™d heard rumours of bandit activity, but little more. The discussion, after introductions were made, turned to the troubles in the area. It was a ramshackle affair, and dark within, perfect for meeting in the minds of most of the adventurers вЂ“ although Thumbalina would have preferred somewhere outdoors. The six adventurers, their names and identities having been told to each other by their mentors in the factions вЂ“ the events caused by the Cult of the Dragon, two years previous, being fresh in the minds of the powers that be, and the benefits of co-operation likewise вЂ“ met in the local tavern, The Helm at Highsun.

The LordsвЂ™ Alliance, always alert to problems that beset the trade routes, had sent three men: Diablo, a dragonborn warlock sage, Grigori, a goliath bard and spy, and Krovis Thorn, once a pirate, now plying his warrior trade to protect his companions.ДЇinally, they were met by Thumbalina, a mountain dwarf who had been raised by goliaths, and whom was native to the area.

Accompanying him was Jandor (Jesse), a fighter, sent to protect Gimbel from coming to an untimely end. His talents for criminal behaviour had soon been realised by the Zhentarim, and they had sent him here as a promising agent to discover what was causing the trouble and вЂ“ if possible вЂ“ to subvert it for the Black NetworkвЂ™s ends. There was Gimbel (Noah), a forest gnome of the west. The adventurers? Their names and stations? Let me lay out for you their details, so far as I understand them. As these things happened, it was in the small town of Red Larch, in the Dessarin Valley, that a group of six adventurers met and began their investigation into the rumours of trouble that had been coming from this land. 1st Mirtul, 1491 DR.ДЄdventures begin in small places.

Princes of the apocalypse