One of the bandits stands outside on the path and demands that you pay 200 gold to walk past. If you intimidate her she lets you go and hopes that her friends don't notice but if you refuse then the big fight starts and the whole bandit gang gets involved.
I usually just intimidate her but Arissa doesn't like it when I do that so this time I tried a sneaky attack on her instead and... it obviously didn't work.
Also, just before this, I got ambushed by four cultists. Wait- Four??
There's usually only three.
Never mind. Attack them all with a big shout!
Upon closer examination the "extra one" turned out to be M'aiq who unfortunately spawned in the same place.
Thankfully he ran away in the middle of the fight and then afterwards told me, "M'aiq thinks you are dangerous to be around."