Trouble in Miller's Bend - Part 1

Session 1 Recap

General Summary

Having spent the last month in unemployment following their discharge from The Red Blade Mercenaries, Rayne, Bara, and Qas meet up at the Dancing Keg Inn for some drinks over lunch to figure out what they want to do with their lives. The party is approached by Wrellen Demiers, the proprietor of the establishment, and Rayne's landlord, to see what's troubling them, and they tell him of their situation. They all agree that a group with their skills and history could make a good living as sellswords, but the party has no idea where or how to begin. Wrellen, being a relatively well-connected man, suggests that he might know of a job that suits their particular skills to get their foot in the proverbial door. After all, he states, getting started is the hardest part of any new venture. The party agrees, and Wrellen tells them about a group of troublemakers in the tiny hamlet of Miller's Bend that have caused the locals to look for outside help. He clarifies that the people of Miller's Bend aren't looking for a lethal solution, if possible, they just want to get rid of the problem. The party decides to accept the job, agreeing to pay Wrellen a percent of the reward as a "finder''s fee." In exchange, he gives them the name of a contact in Miller's Bend, and describes the group of miscreants as a gang of young men causing problems like vandalism, drunken disorderliness, and general harassment of the good locals. Finishing off their meal, the party decides to leave town first thing the following morning, heading back to their homes to start prepping for the job. At first light, the party meets up a the Dancing Keg and heads south towards Miller's Bend to meet with their contact, a man named Andrew Sandberg. Late the following evening, they arrive at a small tavern just inside the limits of Miller's Bend. They find a table near the door and take their seats, deciding to order some drinks and a meal before getting down to business. While waiting, however, they witness a gang of rowdy young patrons in matching orange scarves, deep in their cups and troubling the tavern keeper and his barmaid. The party holds their tongues as the harassment ramps up over time, until an accidental spillage causes one of the drunks to verbally assault the young barmaid. She apologizes timidly, trying to back away from the fuming patron, but things grow tense as the young man grabs her and threatens to "take her back to the camp and teach her some respect." Having seen enough, the party leaps to her defense, storming over to the table as most of the other patrons in the tavern start quickly exiting the building. The young men, drunk on both power and wine, try to stand up to the party, pulling out their daggers and hurling insults. One of them, half-blind from intoxication, tries to stab Qas in the chest with his dagger, but the point fails to penetrate her armor, sending him stumbling into her instead. Things look like they might turn violent when Qas, covered in knives and standing tall at almost seven feet tall, looks down on the poor sod and gives him a wicked, fanged grin, ordering the "hatchling" to sit down before he gets hurt. The boy wets himself of the spot and trips back into his chair as the rest of the party presses in, cowing the remaining drunks with their overwhelming presence. Before things get too out of hand, however, the apparent leader of the gang, who had been observing the events unfold from another table, calls his men off. As they affect a stumbling retreat from the tavern, the leader stops by the innkeeper, paying for their meals and leaving a hefty "tip" with the innkeeper for the trouble caused. Afterwards, the party tends to the employees - Bara focusing on the physical and emotional well-being of the girl, while Rayne and Qas question the innkeeper. The pair introduce themselves as none other than Andrew Sandberg and his niece, Cindy, and explain that the gang arrived in town unexpectedly a few weeks back. Since then, they have been causing increasing levels of trouble in the area, much like the altercation witnessed that night. While things with the gang rarely got out of hand, if things ever went too far, the leader would step in and bribe the locals to "forget" the altercation. The party then explains that they were sent by Wrellen, and were there to drive out the miscreants, much to the immediate relief of the locals. In thanks for their efforts, Andrew offers the party free food and lodging while they work on the problem, explaining that each morning the local constable eats at the tavern, and that they should speak with him next. The party accepts and heads to bed for the evening, planning to start looking into the issue the following morning.