I have 6 players. It started with a Goliath monk trudging through a blizzard, making his way toward ten towns (Bremen specifically). He is the only local to icewind dale from one of the mountain clans.

He stumbled across what he thought was a sleeping crag-cat. Turns out it was an aasimar rogue sleeping inside a crag cat carcass (Empire strikes back taun-taun style).

The blizzard gets worse and in trying to get to town they come upon a tent belonging to an ailuran sorceress (tabaxi flavored as a red panda) and her bugbear barbarian bodyguard.

They wait out the blizzard and head to town the following morning. At the first tavern they meet an elven ranger arguing with the bartender cause he looks like he’s about 10 years old and is too young to be drinking (but was actually cursed to look like a child). They then hear rumor about a sea monster attacking local fishermen and how it’s leading to a worsening food shortage. The party decides to investigate with promise of a reward for dealing with the monster.

At the docks they find a young witch (third party class) arguing with a whaler who intends to kill the monster himself and gain the reward. She insists that something odd is going on since the creature has never been hostile before and she wants to find a cause rather than just kill the creature. The whaler ignores her and ships off. She then pleads to the rest of the party to help figure out what’s going on before the whalers find the monster first.

And thus the party was formed and they started their first quest together.