Darkness Rising

As bandits roam the countryside, stealing both valuables as well as cattle a few brave villagers of Northpines sets out, following a group of highwaymen to try and deal with the menace threatening their otherwise peaceful way of life.   After a discovering the bandits camp, they manage to fight them off. In the process they free a captive which teaches some of the villagers how to tap into the arcane. This Individual calling herself Taliesin suspect these bandits isn't robbing at random, she suggests they are stealing cattle for a reason... To support a coming invasion from the Old Kingdom.   During the battle one of the Bandits, a mercenary by the name of Samson Tee surrenders, horrified as he learns what it is he was part of. Adding to Taliesin's suspicions he reveals he was part of a mercenary group tasked with protecting riverboats carrying cattle down the river towards Steelmill. The boats were to depart at First Snow. As a show of good faith he shows the villagers a stash of valuables the Bandits had amassed.   And so the villagers set out to investigate and if need be, stop the bandit menace and thwart the rumored invasion.