From the introduction:
Nyth is a small fishing village three days journey east of Merodoc. The town's location on a small sheltered harbour makes it a good base for many fishermen. Nyth would be a wealthy village except that the inhabitants are being bullied by a guild of thieves which demand large cuts of their profits as protection from whatever unnamed horrors that may lurk nearby (namely pirates and the thieves themselves). The thieves operate out of an old manor house, which they found to be an excellent base for their pirate activities. At first they simply wanted the villagers to supply them with food, but a moralistic mayor, Hamman, proclaimed that his town would not associate or help pirates and proposed to starve them out. Angry at this the thieves then attacked fishing boats as they returned to town with the day’s catch. They also raided a number of outlying farms and stole crops and cattle.