Chapter 1: Into Haranshire

Aldeera greets the Squire with a handshake. "Aldeera," she says by way of introduction. "I must say that we had a devil of a time getting it here. There was a group of bandits on the road that nearly bested us, but in the end, we routed them."

Hanzel, leaning on his staff, nods. "Yeah, most of them were posing as ordinary farmers so they could ambush people." He gives Marlen a smile. "I'm Hanzel, by the way."

Squire Marlen leads you past the door and another guard that was posted behind it, on the inside of the house, as you introduce yourselves. The corridor looks clean but rather bare, occupied but not exactly lived in. The "office" isn't any better, a small, spartan room with a basic desk and chair, a couple of stools and some filing cabinets that seem to be packed floor to roof with scrolls. Clearly this is a one man workspace, maybe able to accommodate a visitor or two, but between all of you, with weapons and backpacks, it feels pretty cramped.

"Bandits, you say? Yes, well, it's not unusual round these parts, but they usually attack merchant caravans, or maybe the odd mining transport. Why would they attack you? Must have been some prize you were carrying for the wizard, no? And where exactly did that happen? Authority in Haranshire is divided between two noble families, so depends on whose land they're stirring up trouble. And what about the rest of you, then?"

"I'm Almadel. These here are Devon and Caradoc."

"They attacked us because they must," spits out Umbar. "We had a box and we had clothes and food. By their nature, they had to attack us and try to take them. For had they not, would they have been bandits?"

He blinks, suddenly seemingly embarrassed by his waxing poetic. "Umbar."