The party is made of people from different parts of Svimozhia who all run a sugarcane farm together in the Zhano Headlands. The party is named The Rolling Harpooners and their farm is called The Lush Perch. They have several farmer neighbors who trade and cooperate for everyone's benefit. The farms are built around alluvial fans of rich minerals deposited by rivers running into higher elevations. The Lush Perch is a week's hike (or a day or two ride) away from the large port city Monom-Ahnozh, and also the same distance away from two smaller towns (Homish, a slave trade hub, and Narmish, an elfy logging town).
In Monom-Ahnozh, a lot of laborers and domestic servants have been going missing and sometimes getting murdered and mutilated. The Maids' Guild has been sponsoring the party's efforts to recover kidnapped servants and stop the kidnappers. The party discovered that a new sect of the Vicelord has been abducting dozens of people, mostly maids and younger adults. Also, a nearby active dairy farm called Violet Rusk is a base of the abductors, and at least 3 missing maids have been moved there.
The demo begins with the party on the road 400' outside the Violet Rusk palisade, on their horses with their weapons, armor, and items. They have any mercenaries with them that they wanted to bring from The Lush Perch. It is 5AM on an overcast spring day.
In this scenario, metal weapons and armor are made of bronze but don't have the usual -2 penalty or whatever (it's what everyone's wearing). Potions are all in engraved brass flasks.
The player's horses are unarmored coursers. Movement rates are C 5 / W 25 / T 30 / C 35 / G 40. They provide the rider +2' reach, +2 attack, and +2 defense when stationary. When trotting the bonuses are +6 defense and +1 damage die to medium opponents with any melee weapon; a horsing weapon uses +2 damage dice. The horse will try to bolt away upon taking a single point of damage (DR 2).
| Job | Name | Race | Gender | Approximate Age | Additional Notes |
| Chamberlain | Yarnish | Human (Ohzvin) | Male | 70 | Maintains Dwarven protocols for sugarcane buyers |
| Butler | Izo | Human (Meznam) | Male | 29 | Knows the local poisons & antidotes |
| Farrier | Mino | Human (Meznam) | Female | 48 | Prefers working at night |
| Groom | Mizna (Mino's Husband) | Human (Meznam) | Male | 50 | |
| Groom | Navish (Mino & Mizna's Daughter) | Human (Meznam) | Male | 25 | |
| Groom | Narvi (Mino & Mizna's Son) | Human (Meznam) | Male | 23 | |
| Zularan's mercenary | Sulkro | Hobgoblin (Kargi) | Female | 23 | |
| Zularan's mercenary | Wrogga | Hobgoblin (Kargi) | Female | 21 | |
| Zularan's mercenary | Davuu | Human (Renaarian) | Male | 16 | |
| Sisi's mercenary | Lanozh | Human (Zazahn) | Male | 26 | |
| Sisi's mercenary | Mewna | Human (Zazahn) | Female | 24 |