The band found a resting place, and Gavin went on a scouting trip, and two of his men came with him. In a clearing in the forest, they met two other Outlaws coming the other way. Instantly Gavin, Roger, and Althalos drew their weapons. The other Outlaws held out their hands in a sign of peace. Gavin's group relaxed a little.
"Do not worry, friends. We have found you at last. We've heard a lot about you, Gavin, and your band. We too, became sick of the character of other Outlaws and struck out on our own. We traveled through Loreos and stumbled upon a castle and were captured by the guard. It was not a large castle, but it was heavily fortified. The nobleman who lived there came by our cell after we had been there a few days. He was very friendly. Apparently the guards had reported we were calm and unruly, which was unusual for Outlaws. The nobleman was curious about us. We told him our stories. The nobleman, whose name was Lord Crewe, mentioned your name, Gavin. I told him I had heard of the name and we were searching for him to join his band. The nobleman told us if we ever found him, we were to give him this."
One of the Outlaws handed a small sack of something. Gavin peered inside. It was a sack of gold and jewels!
"He told me to give that to you, for he owed you a debt from months ago."
Gavin scratched his head.
"A nobleman of Loreos? Giving me money? My, my. This certainly is a pleasant surprise. But I can't recall... helping a nobleman?"
"He mentioned a ransom of some kind, after being captured by you. Apparently you hadn't tortured him or asked for a large sum of money."
"Ah, that's right. We did capture him and his men. Two of his band went to fetch the ransom money. Not too much, just enough to get by, food and extra money for trading, you know. It seems that there still is gratitude in the world. Perhaps Loreesi aren't as stuck up as they're always made out to be... or at least some of them."
"Well, Gavin, sir, we were wondering if we could join your band. I'm Carac the Assassin and this is Tybalt."
Gavin looked closely at both of them.
"I have only one rule. There is to be no backstabbing, both literally and figuratively. We may be Outlaws, but we try to follow a code of conduct. 'If you don't want something done to you, don't do it to another person.' It's that simple."
Both Carac and Tybalt agreed.
"Good, I'm glad to have you both on board."
And so Gavin's band gains another two members!
Thanks for looking!
-Gavin of Lockwood
