I am still considering the situation with this board, give me a couple days of my system posting, I have given up on our last server, if it comes back, we'll go back I suppose. So any work done here needs to be documented there, in the main thread anyway. I'm still thinking.
I'll make a new main thread here soon though, enjoy a break and look forward to leveling, work on your character sheets, see what level 3 will do for you, and we'll be on our way. The encounter with the bandits isn't necessarily over yet, they're all still alive at least even if they're near death and unconscious. If you're so concerned with who they are, perhaps you could stabilize them and interrogate them. Yes, there's always a risk that they were a surprise party waiting to celebrate the trader's birthday.