Ned is one of the town smiths—and unbeknownst to the town residents, a part-time bandit. Ned stops into the Merry Halfling a couple times a week to see if there are any merchants or nobles who have recently arrived or are getting ready to leave town. In either case, he tries to engage them in “friendly conversation” in order to glean whether or not they are worth waylaying when they get outside the city.[1a]
When this turns out to be the case, he heads out to the bandit cave that same evening in order to give Rudiger the information. Ned always makes certain to be back at his forge before the ambush is sprung, lest his role in the attack be revealed. Thus, he portrays himself as more simple than he is; he is constantly making mental notes about those with whom he speaks.[1a]
Ned is young and physically fit, with a thick scruff of blonde hair. He tends to wear his leather apron even when not at his shop, and he is perpetually smudged with soot. His only other distinguishing feature is a tattoo of a gold crown being pierced by an arrow over his left breast—the mark of the bandits.[1a]