 Lief, Barda and Jasmine join the group after a misunderstanding when a man from their group, Otto, is killed by one of the Masked One's phantoms.They are very strict and are distrustful towards newcomers into their group.They also have a deep hatred towards the kings of Deltora for the fact that Ballum, their founder, was driven from his palace by deceit from Elstred's advisor Agra (a servant of the Shadow Lord) and so Lief and his friends are forced to take fake names for themselves to disguise themselves.