Bandit troubles

Bandits are raiding caravans to the south east of Last Hope, near the hamlet of Stonewold.

Introduction

The notice at the Last Hope Mercenary Company instructs interested parties to report to Foryanna Gallister, a merchant at the town market.
Foryanna is a human female with long brown hair arranged in a plait. She thanks the party for their interest, and tells them that her caravans have recently come under attack from a bandit gang near Stonewold. She is a fruit merchant, and is puzzled as to why her caravans appear to be the only ones being targeted.
She offers the party 25 GP each if they are able to stop the bandit menace and reassure her that her goods will be able to make safe passage in and out of Last Hope.

Background

A woman in Stonewold has been infected by Soulstone after her son retrieved a chunk of it from the bottom of Stonewold Lake. 
A much-loved and respected member of the village, the residents have been desperate to help her. The village herbalist has discovered that lemons appear to abate the symptoms of the affliction. In desperation, and driven by love for their mother, the woman's three sons have banded together and attacked Foryanna's wagons as they have passed close to the village, stealing the fruits and giving them to the herbalist who makes tinctures from them to alleviate the woman's suffering.
Only the herbalist is aware of the brothers' scheme, and turns a blind eye to their banditry as she too is devoted to the afflcted woman.
Meanwhile, a rival merchant has paid a band of half-orc brigands to waylay Foryanna's wagons before they even reach Stonewold, though they are unaware of the brothers. 
If the party investigate, they are caught up in the conflict between the two groups of bandits, as well as the moral dilemma surrounding the afflicted Stonewold woman.

Initial investigations

Plot type

Intro quest

Parent Plot

Job board quests