Explorers of Ebony

About
The Explorers of Ebony were a very secretive and mysterious organisation. All that was known to the party was that they were involved in the procurement and shipment of magical items to clients.

The party first heard of the Explorers of Ebony when they came across an overturned cart on the way to Lofmin. The driver, a man named Gavin, said that he needed help retrieving the cargo for his employers and that they'd been attacked by dolls. The party dealt with the dolls and retrieved the cargo. When they returned though, they found the people missing from the cart, and instead a note carved into the wood saying that they'd hitched a ride to Lofmin and to meet them there. Beneath the message was a glyph that was indecipherable to the party.

Closer to Lofmin, the party was met by a woman on horseback that they'd previously seen heading from the cart to Rusel. Knowing that she was with the cart people, the party handed over the cargo to her. She instructed them to meet her in Lofmin that night.

While the party was relaxing at an inn after arriving in the town, they were found by the Explorers and taken to an abandoned building for a meeting with the woman from earlier. The party told her their account of what had happened and handed over the archer's belongings along with a sketch of one of the dolls. They also informed her of where the archer's body was likely to be. She paid them well, but swore the group to secrecy about the entire encounter.

People & Places
Gavin: Gavin was the first member of the Explorers of Ebony that the party talked to, sitting injured in an overturned cart with a companion on the party's way to Lofmin. His cart had been attacked by strange dolls and an archer. He was more concerned about recovering the lost cargo than his own wellbeing and paid the party to do so. He described the Explorers as powerful and and secretive, and said that he was very unimportant.

The woman on the horse: She was part of the group with the cart. She had gone to get help from Rusel when the party found Gavin. After the fight with the dolls was over, she was the one who reclaimed the beads and she was also the one to lead the meeting in Lofmin. The party never caught her name.

Various other nameless members: There were other people with the woman with the horse both the second and third time the party met her, but they barely said anything. They followed her orders.

The cart: When the party had recovered the cargo, they found the people missing from the cart, and instead a note carved into the wood saying that they'd hitched a ride to Lofmin and to meet them there. Beneath the message was a glyph that was indecipherable to the party.

The dolls and the archer: The dolls were working alongside an archer who appeared to be a homeless man. They seemed to communicate with the man before they left behind towards the end of the fight. The archer used the cargo to nearly kill Ragmesz in a fiery explosion during the fight. Whenever a doll was killed, it would make a screeching sound and turn to ash. The dolls seemed to contain a skull inside them.

The abandoned building in Lofmin: This was the meeting place for the third meeting with the Explorers. It is not known whether this was just a place they were using or if it was a more permanent structure of theirs.