As Deputy Warden of the West, Shae cannot ignore the theft of Valardin arms and armor, and certainly not the murder of innocents while masquerading as servants of House Valardin. She will gather what knowledge of the perpetrators responsible such as she can, and taking a pack of Keaton hounds with her, and start the long process of hunting down the offenders, accepting the assistance of those who offer it. Using her knowledge of the Oathlands' geography, she'll start the search in those areas they are most likely to hide, and expand from there, relying on her skills as a tracker to assist her in such, as well as the testimony of those who may have seen persons in Valardin armor violating the orders of Prince Edain, and Princess Alis.

Kedehern is a staunch supporter of the notion that non-combatants should be treated as such, and as such looks unkindly on those who would impugn the name of Valardin by slaughtering prodigals and those that wish to bend the knee, while wearing the markings of the house. While no great hunter of criminals, he recognizes that the type of people who would commit such actions are likely not going to surrender without a scuffle, and so he's there to help ensure the safety of those who are at work seeking them out, and to assist in their subjugation so that they can be brought forth before the High Lord Edain for judgement.

Veronica's likely the best-equipped Keaton to conduct long range hunting and pursuit of criminals and brigands. With her knowledge of the criminal culture of the wilds and her tracking and survival skills, she'll help the team move more efficiently and reduce time wasted turning over fruitless stones in pursuit of clues.

Norwood joins with his step-daughter to go look for the thieves. (Also, bandits suck, okay? Seriously. Go steal from someone else. Or just don't steal. Become a beekeeper instead. It's more fun.) While not an investigator himself he'll add to Shae's tracking acumen with Bayberry (dog!) and Steadfast (horse!) at his side (I love my animals). If it comes to a fight he'll fight, but this time... he'd really rather avoid having to kill anyone. That Butcher of Reaver's Bog really bothers him. Maybe he could reclaim some of his honor?! Or maybe he'll just kill more people (which would be okay, because see above, bandits suck.)

Adalyn goes along, though not to help with the finding of people, but rather to ensure that once found, they're caught. She's not interested in killing anyone if other options present themselves, but if push comes to shove, she'll use force. Until such a time as that's required, she's just going to hang back and otherwise keep out of people's way, except for the occasional bad joke.

Bandits suck. This is known, but sometimes the choices created by them are even worse. It's a case in point as they relentlessly track down bandits, in particular any masquerading with House Valardin arms and armor. The first such group is the Abandoned clan called Clan Blood Oak, up in the hills near the Cloudspine. They seemingly have been completely annihilated. Where there great camp used to be there, there's only ash. Perhaps they just burnt all they owned and went to ground, but it seems odd they would have left some Valardin arms and armor behind.

And then there's an entirely different matter.

Veronica hears rumors of 'men raiding in House Valardin arms and armor' near the Lycene border, which might have something to do with the uptick of banditry in that area. It is surprisingly easy for Shae, Norwood, Adalyn, Kedehern and Veronica to track the group down, and they are a band of outlaws calling themselves 'the Brothers of Sanctum'. Now, technically they are Abandoned in that none are sworn to any house in the Compact, but that's only 'technically'. Each of the men and women in 'the Brothers of Sanctum' are criminals who have fled trials, dodged their sentences, or are wanted for a wide range of crimes or are evading an exile. More often than not, Abandoned often are that group, not necessarily born into it, which often confuses how the Compact feels about them.

Now, when facing 'the Butcher of Reaver's Bog' and his men (and his step daughter), the relatively small group of bandits dressed in House Valardin arms and armor decide not to resist, and instead immediately ask for quarter... in return for revealing just how they came into their arms and armor, which aren't actually stolen from Sanctum or House Valardin's armories.

No, there's a band of Ravashari, this particular clan called the Rataravi, who have been forging very close copies of Valardin arms, armor, banners and surcoats and selling them to bandits. Now punishing them would normally be straight forward, but there are a few issues.

First, the Ravashari as a group are notoriously hated in the Oathlands, because they often are indistinguishable as Prodigal or Abandoned, with their exact status of having bent the knee being an open question. Much of the Oathlands traditionalists consider them traitors who continue to deal with Abandoned, and House Rivenshari who is sworn to Greenmarch certainly catches quite a bit of that bias. Secondly, it sounds like this particular group (the Rataravi), have been operating out of Riva, which is House Rivenshari's domain, and using them to blend in... meaning that any arrests there might justify the worst biases of the biggest bigots and hardline traditionalists in the Oathlands, who are trying to purge Abandoned (and Prodigals) in the Oathlands.

So whether this comes to light is really up to them, and just what they do about it.

Bandits suck.