Simon knows of a band of Rangers that patrol the Gnarley Forest called, naturally, Rangers of the Gnarley. The group is said to number almost 200 Rangers, primarily humans but with some half-elves as well. The word in the woods is that the group is led by seven Ranger Knights. [That would be seven 9th level Rangers.] However, word is that their patrols are often kept busy skirmishing with numerous humanoid war bands in the region. Simply put, there is no shortage of work for 200 Rangers, including seven Ranger Knights.
About the Suss Forest, Simon has heard some things, but not as good, it seems: Legend holds that deep within the Suss Forest lie the ruins of a magnificent city of the Suloise people that was built when they fled the destruction of their homeland in the Rain of Colorless Fire. The city promised to be a great bastion of wealth and power for the Suel people, but just when it seemed that all was well, disaster struck. Tales say that it was as if the forest opened its great maw and swallowed the city whole. Some said that it was the evil that the Suel people carried within their hearts from their ancient homelands that consumed the city as it had their empire before. Others whisper that the splendor of their city ignited a deadly jealousy within the hearts of the nearby Dwarves, and thus were the seeds of their destruction sown. Still others say that the Suloise had bargained, promised, and even threatened some Lower Powers to achieve the heights of wealth and power that they did, and that those Powers bided their time until the Suloise were ripe for plucking and then called in their debts in full, only the most insignificant of which were monetary.