"We tried to at first," says Cedric, "but Garulf has been through wars in the west, it's said, and though we hill folk like to think that we're tough, he's tougher. The first time they asked for money, John Acre, our smith, stood right up in front of them and told them where to go. They clubbed him senseless and took him off, slung over the back of a horse. The next morning, we woke up to find one of John's arms in the village square. The morning after that, it was his leg. The next, his head. We got the message.
"Here's what we're dealing with," he continues. "One of Garulf's lackeys will arrive here in a week, and we've been told that for every day we don't pay, he'll have his men drown one of us in the river as 'motivation.' That's why we were armed when you arrived. We don't have the money that he's asking for, so we figured it would be better to stand and fight. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to my work. Bandits or no bandits, spilled beer is hell to clean once it dries in."
You leave Cedric to his work and return to where the Tribe of the Red Bear are camped on the edge of the village. From what Cedric has said, there is still plenty of time for your tribespeople to rest and recover from their journey before Garulf's forces arrive.