The Bestiary Band
Joseph Cardinal had a very silly idea. Monster attacks were on the rise, especially after the War of the Dragon. He'd seen it first hand. Cardinal (as he was called) took a position of adviser to the king in his middle twenties, and by the time he reached close to thirty he began development on a project many considered insane. The categorisation of the worlds monsters. This was before guilds emerged so the plan was to sell the book (he dubbed it simply, The Bestiary) to kingdoms in order to train town guards , or to small bands of adventurers.
Cardinal would recruit Chiara, a human warrior and spell sword who did mercenary work for Gauntlet for a time. He would snag her as an independent after hearing of her prior experience as a monster hunter. Chiara was from Vanreth, though like many in Gauntlet had revoked her house name. Chiara was to be the one to actually fight monsters while Cardinal recorded the information, as well as help give tactical combat advice.
After some discussion, Cardinal would decide the two needed help from both someone who knew a bit more about magic and someone a little more adept at fighting. After a trip to the Hilt, they would recruit Mornthel - a seared Elvish cleric dedicated to the Lanousse - from the university. Unknowingly sniping a recruit that the Astral Hand was grooming. Mornthel was very dedicated to learning about undead and ways of stopping it, leading to her becoming a key part of the writing process for the entries on undead creatures.
In Vanreth, the Band would encounter Sebastian Navarro, a Half Elf from the dunes who was looking for help dealing with a blue dragon. The Band assisted, with Nav joining them - he was a horizon walker ranger and an expert in the extra planar.
The final humanoid member of the crew was a Dragonborn named Kirgin who the group freed from a slave pit in the underdark, upsetting some drow in the process. Kirgin dedicated himself to their adventure. He was an expert in hand to hand combat thanks to his times in the slave pits, and well versed in dragons.
Finally, the group was joined by the young owlbear named Nutmeg. Nutmeg was adopted by Cardinal after finding it orphaned during a territory dispute.
They would see help from many allies, encounter many enemies including some faces from the growing guilds and those they upset, but all would survive the ordeals and the Bestiary would be published to great acclaim. Though outdated now in many aspects, it's still a respected source used by many guilds. No one has attempted the same thing since, meaning it still remains the only true look at a good portion of the worlds monsters.
