<<NOTE: This was one of those sweet moments when a GM teaches PC's its not all about how hard you can swing a sword or how bitg a fireball you can throw.>>
In the first years of Circle of the Forge their renown was not yet established and so they, like many begening adventuring parties, took on body guard and escort jobs to help pay their way. They were hired on by Marcus Dalton, head of a growing Merchant House to escort some precious cargo on a fairly long journey.
While hired on to guard the merchant Marcus Dalton and his wares who has 2 other Body guards (Stefan Siemans and Humfried Hoechst) with him. HIs cargo is in sealed boxes 4'x2'x18" and loaded onto a train of mules. Stefan is aloof and regards the party as amateurs, Humfried is friendly, a good cook andspends time talking and joking with the party.
After a few days travel the train is attacked by some goblins, the party easily beats them off and feel good about themselves.
A few days later they come across a the scene of a battle, blood, dead goblins and horses scatterd all over the road. They find one man alive, Magnus Mach, who is bleeding and barely concious. That night Humfried whispers to Gwen that he suspects Magnus is not what he seems, those wounds are fresh, but the goblins and horses had been dead for many days. The party settles into camp eating a hearty meal keeping a watchful eye on both Magnus and Stefan suspecting he might be in on it and they may be in for an ambush.
Unfortunatly for them while Magnus's wounds are indeed minor cuts and his groginess comes from a mild dose of Manbane, he is only a decoy. While they are busy watching Magnus and Stefan, Humfried skillfully posions the food with Manbane, a common drug used to knock people unconcious, or at the very least make them groggy and un-cordinated.They figure it out too late, after they have all eaten their fill, and just as bandits begin attacking from the woods. Most of the party manages to not pass out and those keep the bandits at bay, and load up both thier friends and Marcus on the mules(strapping them on like baggage), , and race them off into the night, dodging arrows and fighting off the persistant bandits.
Eventually after several hours they lose them, and exhaustedly lead the mules on till morning to make sure they leave them in the dust.
Needless to say Marcus was extremly happy with thier work, and hired them on several future delicate missions, notably the Sahudese Escort and exploration of the Quasquentin Dungeon.