You find yourselves in Brindal, a small town of mostly humans, half-elves, and dwarves.  Specifically you find yourselves in the Antler and Thistle, a bustling little tavern filled with people drinking, chatting, and generally seeming to have a good time. 

You've all found yourselves here, meeting for the first time, due to a combination of family recommendations and odd happenstance.  Over the past few weeks, Brindal has had some problems with hobgoblin attacks, the most recent of which ended with the Hall of Valor being looted and several members of the village being kidnapped!  This meeting has been arranged for you to introduce yourselves to each other and hopefully figure out how to rescue the villagers, and perhaps get a bit of treasure and fame at the same time.

In the back an obvious group of ruffians play at cards, with several unsavory types, mostly human but a few dwarves and half elves, make you watch your goods.  Despite their looks, most of the ruffians are obviously not battle trained and even versus the lot of them any one of you feel confident you could take them. 

The group next to you however, is a bit different.  Four dwarves, bright red shocks of hair, cropped close to their heads, and looking as if they could be brothers save for the fact that one of them appears a good thirty years older than the other three.  For the most part they're being raucus, having a good time, but they're also eying your table, and not in a friendly way.