The ride back to the Good Fortune Tavern was just as terrifying as his ride to the Queen’s Palace. Devin forced himself to keep his eyes opened as they swerved and ran through the streets of Mossglenn Depot. He did allow himself to grab the side of the carriage as tightly as he liked though.

Once he arrived, he tossed the driver fifteen silvers and was about to throw in another one for a tip, but thought better of it. The man would likely just indulge more in his Bloodroot, or worse, find some new exciting drugs to partake in.

“Thanks for the help, friend,” he waved to the driver as he left. He noted, somewhat frustratingly, the driver was now plodding along at a normal, if not a bit slow, rate. Shaking his head he made his way into the tavern.

His group had not left the table since he left. He found them standing around the table, excitedly talking and drinking. Their swaying, even Teryn, told him they had had quite a few drinks since he left. He walked over to Nell at the bar.

“Strongest mead you have please,” he said in a low voice.

“Bad time at the Hub or with the Queen?” Nell asked as she uncorked a small barrel. She poured a golden liquid into a waiting mug. Devin watched the liquid froth slightly and allowed a small smile.

“Both, but it’ll get better. We’ve paid our dues, it’s time for things to turn out better for the Black Boar Band. Put this one on the rent tab.” Devin grabbed the mug and took a deep drink. The sweet mead burned slightly as it washed down his throat, but was delicious. He imagined he could taste the flowers the mead started as, floral and light in his dry mouth. With a mighty gulp he downed the mug.

He set it down and tapped the side, “Put this one on there too.”

Nell refilled his mug with a raised eyebrow. She did not offer any judgment beyond that. It would be bad form for a tavern keeper and purveyor of alcohol to question her patrons drinking habits. With a quick glance around Devin saw only a few other souls in the tavern tonight. Nothing out of the ordinary.

He strode over to his guildmates and stood behind Teryn and Murton. No one from the group looked up at him as he approached. He cleared his throat and Murton spun around. His eyes swam a little as he focused on Devin.

“Sorry lad, I didn’t hear you come up. But look! We’ve created the best ad for a new member this town has ever seen!”

He grabbed a side of the paper, nearly as large as he was and covering the whole table, and lifted it with Teryn on the other side. The two of them beamed as Devin looked over it.

‘Crave Excitement, Live for Adventure, Need Experience?’ it read across the top. ‘Come join The BBB and get all of those things and more! Meet at the Good Fortune Tavern.’ Underneath the words at the top were drawings of crude goblins, treasures, beer, and weapons. The drawings were actually very detailed, making Devin wonder who drew them in the current state of intoxication all three displayed.

Devin glanced back and forth between the two holding the banner, their faces beaming with pride, then at Griff standing silently behind it. Even he seemed to have a small glimmer of pride on his face, but that could just be the light from the fire throwing shadows on him. He went back to the banner and smiled.

“I like it, really you guys, it’s really, really great. But, where is our name? When people see BBB they are going to assume its the other guild.”

“We thought about that, and went with it. If you look down here,” Teryn pointed to tiny print at the bottom of the banner, “You can see it says Black Boar Band.”

“Aye, we wanted to lure people in with the BBB, then once they are here, regale them with our amazing team and they’ll hafta join!” Murton piped in.

Griff grunted.

Devin’s stomach twisted slightly for employing the same tactic the contract giver had pulled on him earlier, but seeing how proud his team was of their efforts, he could not bring himself to stop them. He nodded. “Perfect. Now when are we going to hang this up?”

“Already taken care of Devin. Griff here is going to plaster it somewhere he knows will get the most traffic.” Teryn explained.

Devin looked to the large man and raised an eyebrow. Griff just nodded slowly.

“All right then. Well, since our recruitment banner is finished I vote we hang it now, get some drinks, and have a well deserved relaxing evening.”

His idea was met with varying levels of agreeance. Murton looked forward to resting, Teryn to drinks, and Griff, well who knows which part Griff cared for most? Griff took the banner in his massive hands and walked off with it, out into the late night. Teryn and Murton sat on the booth and Devin plopped down in a chair.

“Any idea where he is going to hang it?” he asked.

“As if he’d tell us,” Murton snorted. Teryn waved at Nell, holding up three fingers.

“You ordering for us?” Devin said.

Teryn turned to him, her face mildly surprised. “Oh, I suppose I could do that. No, those three I waved were for me.”

“How many have you had tonight, Teryn?” Devin gaped at the sorceress.

Her eyes glazed over a little and she started counting on her fingers. After the second pass on all ten fingers Devin held his hand up.

“It’s ok, that's enough for me to know. How in the world do you manage to keep it all down? Aren’t you ever, you know, worried about what it’s doing to you? Don’t get me wrong, I love a good drink or three, but damn Teryn. You can drink anyone under the table.”

“We did not join this band to discuss our personal problems. If someone wants to discuss them, they bring them up. Don’t go prying, boy,” Murton slammed his mug down on the table, a small bit of red wine sloshing out onto his hand.

Devin glanced at the dwarf who was clearly past the point of a fun buzz and well on his way into the hole of belligerent drunk. He knew Murton had some issues with his past relating to his inability to cast any spells paladins usually could, but the issue was never pressed before.

“It’s all right Murton, I don’t mind talking drink,” Teryn answered. “To me it is not a weakness or sign of addiction. As an elf-”

“Half elf,” Murton interjected.

Teryn shot Murton a glare that would’ve melted rock, had she focused her studies on fire instead of ice before continuing.

“As an elf, Alcohol does not affect me the way it affects some of the other, shall we say, less durable races of the world. It takes time to affect me, and I need much greater quantities to affect me. Perhaps as I drink more I do become more tolerant, lending itself to the cycle more. But my immaculate elven body,” she waved a hand down her front in emphasis, “Can handle more alcohol and handle it better than any of you. Even the long lived dwarves.”

“Plus, getting drunk is fun,” Murton mumbled as he took a sip of wine.

Teryn laughed, “Yes, that too.”

Devin shook his head at the two guild mates. How in the world he ended up with friends like this was beyond him. He was lucky to have them, but damn. It can be funny how broken people can somehow find one another and congregate together.

He did not feel like going down that thought path tonight, and fortunately for him, Nell arrived with a drink for Murton, Devin’s mead, and three drinks for Teryn. She placed a small shot glass filled with a vitriolic smelling black liquid at the seat next to Devin.

“For Griff, when he gets back,” she explained, before walking away with a half smile. Devin watched her go, wondering if there was anything between her and their mountainous friend Griff. She always said she had a husband, Dell, but he had never actually seen the man. He had heard him call from the kitchen, but that could be anyone masquerading as a husband for any number of reasons. Another thought not worth dwelling on tonight.

Devin grabbed his mead and took a long draft. It was a different one from the one he had when he came in. This one was more caramel colored, with hints of apple along with the honey notes. As he drank, he could feel the tension being released from his body. He leaned back in the chair and took another sip.

A silence fell over the table. It was not an uncomfortable silence, but one shared among friends who simply had nothing to say at that exact moment. Devin actually found it comforting, knowing there are people in this world who are comfortable enough to sit next to him and not feel the need to fill the void with idle noise. That silence was broken by Murton.

“So uh, since we are all sufficiently drunk,” He looked over at Devin, “Are you drunk enough?”

Devin nodded, his head starting to swim slightly, “I am getting there, but enough you may continue with whatever it is you are going to ask.”

Murton cleared his throat, “What, uh, what happened to Froderick? I’ll be honest, I don't really remember. I just remember we won't talk about it, but when Griff mentioned it earlier it really made me wonder.”

Devin winced at the name again, but then furrowed his brows, Come to think of it, he could not remember exactly what happened to that member.

“Was he even a ranger?” he asked.

“See, that's what I’m talking about! I don't even remember what he looks like, let alone what in the hells happened to him.”

Teryn was laughing quietly and shaking her head. “Oh you poor creatures with your muddled, quick life minds. Poor Froderick met a horrific fate. In fact, he was…. Or maybe…” She looked down at her drink, puzzled.

“That’s strange, I just had the event in my head and now I can’t even remember any sort of circumstance around it.”

They all sat quietly for a moment, scouring their thoughts and memories to find out what happened to their ill fated member.

“Do you think Griff knows?” Devin asked. Murton snorted into his wine again, but sat it down and looked up toward the ceiling. Teryn ran her tongue over her teeth, looking into the fire in the hearth behind and to Devin’s right.

“Probably,” they both answered at the same time. This caused the group to break into a fit of giggles, the disturbing idea they could not remember something washed from their memories with the help of alcohol.

They stayed up well into the late hours of the night, or early in the morning for some folk, discussing tales of their fallen comrades and taking bets with each other on how long the new one would last.

As the night wore on and the drinks started to slow, Devin stood up from the table. The room seemed to sway around him, unable to settle on one specific spot. He mumbled a good night of sorts, or that’s what he thought he said, and stumbled toward the stairs. Using the railing as a guide, he managed to stumble up and find his room. With a crash, he fell into his bed as the world continued to spin around him. Before he fell asleep he wondered where in the hells Griff went.