Haven Cross Bandits

## Location

Haven Cross Bandits are mostly located in the woods and along the roads surrounding the town of Haven Cross.

## About

Haven Cross Bandits is a broad term that could apply to any bandit found near Haven Cross, but more specifically applies to those involved in the Battle of Haven Cross. It is unknown how organised they are. It is entirely possible that this title covers multiple small groups rather than one larger one.

## People

Most members of this group are unnamed, as there is little interaction with them other than combat and occasionally some questioning. There are a few notable exceptions to this, however:

* **Carl** was the name of the bandit who murdered Donny Clearletter for the documents he was carrying and to stop him from completing his task. He was captured, taken to Viren then executed by its guards.
* **Daniel** was a bandit scout from one of the encampments found during the Battle of Haven Cross. He was mentally tortured by Asimoff and eventually killed.
* B.M. is a set of initials associated with the Haven Cross Bandits, being found as a signature on documents at one of the bandit camps during the battle. There was also a Viren crest on other documents nearby, making it likely the the initials stand for Big Marco. Big Marco also greatly expanded his business right around the time of the fight. It is unknown how closely he is involved with the bandits, or even if the initials really belonged to him.

## History

The area where Haven Cross currently sits was originally filled with bandits. Lord Haven arrived from Elinstad and defeated them, creating the town of Haven Cross in their place and opening a safe route between Elinstad and Viren in the process. Some families who had been in the area before Lord Haven came (such as Martin's family) saw him and the rest of Haven Cross as being no better than the bandits they defeated. Due to this history and the original purpose of the town, Haven Cross has had to withstand many attacks by bandits and is particularly vigilant against them.

The first encounter the party had with bandits who were a part of this group took place while escorting Donny Clearletter to Viren. During the first night of the trip, Donny was murdered in his tent by a bandit named Carl, who was part of a larger group that was mostly based in the cliffs across the road from where the party was camping. Upon killing Donny, Carl immediately retrieved a letter from his body. When the bandits had been captured, the party read the letter and discovered that the purpose of Donny's trip to Viren had been to gather supplies for the defense of Haven Cross. The party continued to Viren to complete the job in his stead.

During the trip back from Viren, the party was ambushed on a bridge. They managed to kill most of the bandits involved, but one managed to escape and ran north. The party didn't follow, choosing instead to continue to Haven Cross with their cargo.

Upon returning to Haven Cross, the party found the town preparing to fortify itself for the upcoming battle. After turning in the cargo, the group was chosen as one of the teams assigned to take out the camps surrounding the town.

While scouting out the area around their designated camp, the party were spotted by a bandit scout named Daniel and a fight ensued. Daniel and one of his companions were captured. The party agreed to give them a night's rest in exchange for information. After waiting, however, the only information the bandits gave was that they were going to raze Haven Cross to the ground to regain their territory, costing the party a day. Daniel and his companion were then killed and the group went on towards the camp.

The Camp contained a series of tents in a clearing with a river, with one tent being larger than the others. The party defeated the bandits, with Penny collapsing the large tent in the process. Upon searching the area, the party found notes related to some sort of device that was going to help the bandits achieve their goal. They sent Asimoff's raven back to Haven Cross Adventurer's Guild with a note to try and warn them. As a part of the information on the device, they discovered that the group sent to destroy the camp containing it had been defeated. The party decided that since their job was done, they would go in their place and try to destroy the camp and the device.

The second bandit camp was a lot larger than the first, featuring two long rows of tents. The 'device' turned out to be a large bull-headed battering ram. The party took too long to survey the situation and the battering ram began moving before they could act. They decided to try and beat the battering ram to Haven Cross, perhaps setting up a trap along the way. This plan failed when they were ambushed in the woods. The fight was tough, with Asimoff being knocked unconscious and Claire not being far behind. The party were found by Daniella, who gave them a place to spend the night and told them to recheck the camp.

While rechecking the camp that had previously held the battering ram the group found more bandits, which Asimoff, Penny and Dain convinced they were merchants. The ruse eventually ended in battle and the party killed the bandits. After the fight, the party found notes implicating Viren and B.M. in the bandits' side of the battle, as well as a book titled "How to Find Love in an Enemy Camp" by Gloria Glitter.

At this point the party headed back to Haven Cross to see what had occurred. They found the city ruined and burning, with many bandits still inside. The party killed and captured their way through the town, helping survivors when they could and discovered that while one battering ram had been stopped, a second one that they were not aware of had gotten through.

Upon reporting what had happened to Haven Cross' council, the party found that Lord Haven wanted to rebuild and was not interested in pursuing the cause of the attack. John Mercy had other plans however, secretly meeting with the party and tasking them with quietly investigating Viren.

## Notes & Trivia

* While technically bandits that were near Haven Cross, Doobely's captors did not seem to be related to any other bandit groups in the area. Their surviving member became an employee of Doobely's owner and is no longer a bandit.