Our heroes seem lost as to what they should do next and stumble upon some less than reputable types.
Dungeons and Dragons isn’t always about killing monsters. Sometimes there’s shopping. Occasionally there might be some gambling. Not to mention convenient recaps of the previous 24 chapters of your journey. After so many epic encounters, it’s fair to give our adventurers a relaxing day picking out new clothes.
Of course there’s still some battle. And this encounter will have an effect on them for quite a while. An effect they don’t even realize yet.