"But the nearest settlement past ours is easy over a week's march! Ain't none of us 'ad the Coin for rations to last that long... That be a month's pay for serfs!" The one bandit argued to Yarith, though was shot down soon enough by the looks of everyone around him. It was clear though it was just frustration, they weren't going to be attacking again after the swift take-down they just suffered. The leader of the group nodded his head to Yarith, "Settlement is a couple miles yonder..." they explained, pointing a direction along the trodden mud and gravel road in the sands. "Tis a shrinking community in a dirt steading. It's the battle that did it... We got a militia for the defences, though ain't enough people for proper defences, like."<br/><br/>The bandit leader shook his head, "Ya don' wannabe goin' round the settlement and avoidin' it... The village ain't exactly safe though you'll be headin' straight inta the fire if ya take the other path round..." his speech grew to be more insistent, "Near us there was an ol' tower what held one of dem wizardin' folks... Well, coulda been a vampire even... We dunno. What I do know is that villagers were going missin' and found dead, there'd be sightings of Monsters round the tower. Well 'course we all had enough and took it to 'em like... Musta been a spy in the village though an' told 'em what was gonna happen... Met us in the big sand dune field right 'tween our two places and the battle happened... They'd don't call that field 'Blood Red Dunes' for nuffin now. The village is right on the way out, we lost that battle and half our men to the fiend..."<br/><br/>To the story of the bandit, Yarith may notice the increasing entertained smile growing on Shadowe's face, "So what are your thoughts<em>on that</em>for a development, dear Paladin?" he grinned.