Some background is required

Following our total party wipe, we rerolled characters and began again. Last week just the ranger and wizard were able to adventure so we looked for something to do. We found a small town, a four hour ride from the other big city that we have been based in, and found a crypt that needed cleaning out of undead. We made pretty short work of it. A few zombies and a necromancer were all we found. The loot was good 12 gold trade bars with a strange conglomerate of two mage guild symbols on them, and some gems and gold, etc. There was also a large pit or hole that we thought might go somewhere else and the ranger got a disease.
Off to the big city to talk to mage guilds to find out why they might have strange guild symbols on them. First guy offered us 1500gp to just forget the whole thing, the parties mage found this suspect. The next few offered just standard rate, and I forget what the other guy said.
Needless to say we tried to go back and sell them for 1500 and got turned down. So the moneychanger changed the 12 bars for us, we got the ranger cured of his disease and we rested.