grammar - What does ば do in this sentence?

What does ば do in this sentence? I am familiar with it as a conditional but it doesn't seem right here.

早朝と言っても人影がまばらにあって、露店の準備をしているホビットもいれば、僕と同じ冒険者のドワーフ達が徒党を組んで何か話し合っている。これからダンジョンへ向かうんだろう。

I interpreted the first sentence as

If there were hobbits that were preparing stalls, then they would talk to adventurers, like me, join their party, and then discuss something together. After that they would head probably head towards the dungeon.

But then this sentence followed after, so I don't think I interpreted the first sentence correctly.

僕もダンジョンへもぐる装備を身に付けて神様から逃げ出し...もとい部屋から出てきたから、傍{はた}から見れば彼らと似ったり寄ったりかもしれない。

Thanks.

Answer

「露店{ろてん}の準備{じゅんび}をしているホビットもいれば、～～～」

In this sentence, 「ば」 is used to express juxtaposition.

Usually, one would expect it to be in the form of 「Aも～～ば、Bも～～だ/です/である」, but you are obviously not reading a very serious piece of writing and the author did not use the second 「も」.

"there were a group of hobbits doing ~~ and a group of dwarfs doing ~~"

「傍{はた}から見{み}れば～～～」

Here, 「ば」 expresses "conditional".

"If/when seen from the outside"

Examples taken from プログレッシブ和英中辞典's entry for 「ば」, section 2:

「彼{かれ}はゴルフもやればテニスもやる。」 "He plays not only golf but also tennis."

「彼には妻{つま}もあれば子{こ}もある。」 "He has a wife, and a child as well."