The Muddy Ghoul Inn...

The young woman seemed happy for Ezlan's quick invitation to sit with them.  She smiled and awkwardly pulled at one of the big chairs with her good hand.

"I guess I'm not looking for anything, really," she began.  When Nemeia interjected, the woman gave pause and looked at her, then to Eomer as he walked after her on unsteady feet.  After a moment she seated herself, although her eyes held some uncertainty.

A round of drinks arrived swiftly and the woman's eyes lit up when she saw an extra mug, presumably for her.

"Well, I saw what happened with Dagston."  She lowered her voice and glanced around nervously.  "He and Maddox didn't get along... but he's not usually so disagreeable."  She perked up and laughed, saying, "The first time I came through here, a couple years back, the team leader seemed to get along smilingly with him!"

A 'couple years ago' and the woman seemed like she would have been too young to begin adventuring.  She bit her lip then spoke up again.

"You probably don't care about all that...  Well, uh, Maddox is North of here a couple days.  I was left behind because of... well," she gestured to her arm.  "They've been chasing a group of bandits dangerously close to the swamps.  I think they tried hiding in the scrubs."

The 'scrubs' werent a secret.  Most people saw it as part of the swamp.  In fact, it was a swath of land just before the swamp proper that became overgrown with tall weeds and carnivorous flora.  Trap roots and strangle thorn were well known hazards along with bite bugs and disease carrying ticks.  It was also a favored home to the ever aggressive giant dire pigs which cause so much trouble to small trade caravans; the ten-to-twelve foot tall hogs were only too happy to drag a horse or a man into the thickets for a meal.