The Iron Hounds

The Iron Hounds are a group of Bandits that Officialized themselves as a mercenary Group on the Western edge of the Bleakstone Mountains. They remained "legitimate" until their practices were observes by local villages. The local people did not take well to children being abducted and trained as killers, nor their neighbors being slaughtered in the process. When this was found out the Hounds had two options, stand and fight now that they had been found out or turn tail and run to where they were unknown and start anew.
They chose the latter and during their migration they were approached by a stranger, promising power and fame if only they obeyed a master. The Hounds leaders agreed and they were rewarded with magical weapons and items that enabled them to serve as a vanguard to their new master. The leadership of the Hounds had always shared Lycanthropy among themselves as a means of increasign their prowess in battle but now they shared it with all deemed members and they recruited more widely than before from various bandits they cam across, as they needed more men to meet their master's demands. 
They assisted the Imperial Defector Trajan in killing an Ancient Green Dragon for information she held then slunk back into the shadows. They emerged months later as their increased numbers began amassing near the Kingdom of Graymark. For what purpose was unclear but it could not be good.