The young woman was absolutely beaming as they left the tavern. She looked around the rundown district they made their home with what seemed like new eyes. Everything was a delight, including the carriage that ran past and nearly splashed them with what Devin could only hope was mud.

The sun had risen by the time they left, beginning its long ascent to the peak of the sky, before tiring and finding a place to rest on the western horizon. It shined down on their backs as they strolled along the riverfront toward the Hub, promising a warm day. Winter was trying its damndest to sneak in at night, but the sun seemed to be saying, ‘not quite yet season of cold, it's barely autumn and I am clinging to my rule as summer’s god.’

The river gurgled quietly beside them as the group strode alongside it. They had just left Darkmeat District behind and the colossal hall that was the Hub loomed before them. Devin frowned slightly at the building, remembering last night's events. He would make sure they did not take a contract from that same group and read the fine print this time.

Murton had elected to stay behind at the Tavern and get the travelling packs ready for everyone. They were a little suspicious at first, fearing some form of trickery or hazing at Shia’s expense, but he was adamant he would partake in no such activities. Devin still gave him a warning against it, and they left him behind. He seemed to be better now that the shock of losing his sausage had worn off, but he rarely gave the new girl a second glance.

“How long have you been in Mossglenn Depot, Shia?” Teryn asked.

The girl shrugged, “All of my life actually. Well, I was born and grew up on a farm just to the north east of here, but came into town for markets and supply visits.”

“Have you ever been to the Hub?”

Shia pointed to the monolithic structure dominating a bridge that spanned the Trite. “That thing? No, I’ve never been inside it. This is as close as I’ve ever gotten to it actually, we typically kept to the Guerra district. You know, cheaper goods and more welcoming to the, uh, not so rich class.”

“The common people, rather than the loaded assholes who think their shit don't stink but still pawn it on the southern districts,” Devin said with a slight resentment he did not fully intend.

“Uh, sure.” Shia said, glancing sideways at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I don’t mean to sound bitter. I just don’t have many pleasant memories with the people on that side of the river.” He waved across at the larger, cleaner buildings across the watery expanse.

Barges and galleases floated lazily down the stream, heading for the harbor. A few brave souls pulled the rows of oars on their galleas’, heading upstream to try to trade with some of the other river towns. Occasionally a boat covered in armor platings with scorpion ballistae mounted on the side travelled by, heading upriver for some unknown contract they had just agreed to. River travel was faster than foot for most destinations, but the cost tended to exclude groups like the Black Boar Band.

The group walked in silence after that until they reached the steps of the Hub. They ascended with Griff in the lead, his large form clearing a path through the mass of people flowing every which way. On his own Devin had no trouble navigating nimbly through the swarming bodies, but when you needed a group to go through, a bull like Griff was a godsend.

As they entered the building Devin heard Shia gasp behind him. The Pillar of Opportunity rose before them, covered in its familiar, to him at least, splash of colors and contracts. He tapped Griff on the shoulder and led the group to a wall near the entrance without any counters or people. Around them a sea of colors and bodies massed, pushing for the pillar and counters with no sign of organization.

“Ok, I am going to have Griff make a path for us to the Pillar. We stick together and find a contract. It’s really important we stick together. If you find yourself separated, just wait at the entrance until we all meet there again.” His gaze landed on Shia as he finished this. She gave a small nod and squeezed in closer towards the group.

“We are looking for something relatively easy, just a test run of sorts. Let’s look for the possibility of combat. Also, it must leave the city, we need to get out and stretch for a good test. Agreed?”

Griff grunted while Shia and Teryn both nodded. As they turned to leave Shia piped up, “Does Murton have a preference?”

Devin waved a hand toward her as he started to follow Griff to the Pillar. “He just wants combat to use that ridiculous axe of his.”

Following Griff’s bulk, they made a nearly straight line toward the Pillar standing at the center of the room. Griff got in close towards it then circled around to the other side. He pushed his way to its wall, earning a few glares that quickly dissipated once they saw his size. Griff stepped back a little and shuffled the three other members in front of him in the bubble he had created. Anyone else who tried to dart in was met by a glower and growl from him, and they quickly disappeared back into the crowd.

Devin, Teryn, and Shia poured over the board, trying to find something to meet their needs.

“How about this one?” Teryn said, pointing to a flyer asking a group to kill a goblin tribe.

“Eh, that might be a little too soon,” Devin declined, shooting a quick look toward Shia. Teryn winced a little and nodded.

“What's that one?” Shia asked, pointing to the monstrous banner that circled the entire Pillar.

“A fucking joke is what that one is,” Teryn grumbled, shaking her head at the banner. One of her eyebrows came untucked from behind her ear and she absentmindedly tucked in back in as she shook.

“It’s kind of like the ultimate quest. Its asking for something impossible and promises an impossible reward in return. There’s no use even looking at it, it's insane.” Devin explained.

“Huh,” Shia simple said as she continued to stare up at the banner. Devin returned his gaze to the Pillar and found exactly what he was looking for.

“Ahh, here we go!” He pointed to a small paper pinned to the pillar that simply said ‘Kill Bandits, Get Paid.’ Underneath the title was the name of a small town, Thorton, a couple of hours away from Mossglenn Depot to the southeast. Teryn shuffled over and read the notice before giving a quick nod.

“Combat against a likely easy enough foe? Sounds good to me. As a bonus it’s doing a good deed as well!” She said.

“Perfect.” Devin reached up and pulled a tab off the bottom of the banner that read ‘Counter 47, Contract 87G5.’ After pushing around the pillar, he found the counter back near the entrance of the Hub. Luckily, it was not the same contract giver he had worked with earlier. That would have spelled the end of this mission very quickly.

As he started to walk away towards the counter he felt a tug at his right shoulder. He whipped around, ready to give someone an earful for tugging on his armor, and found Shia pointing toward another banner.

“What about this one?” she asked.

“We already have one to do.”

“I know, but this one is a delivery to the same town, why not double up and get two done at once?”

Devin frowned. Taking more than one contract was not expressly forbidden, but it was looked down upon by an invisible set of norms everyone somehow seemed to agree by. It was set in order to combat bigger groups and guilds from sweeping in and taking all the contracts. Though, they tended to do that anyways by designating groups within the guilds that would each take a contract, ensuring the guild could get as much as they want.

“Eh, alright, grab that one too. What harm could it do?” he said. Teryn looked at him with raised eyebrows, then shrugged.

“More money for all of us, I suppose. Just don’t tell Murton the new girl suggested it or he may be a bit outspoken towards it.”

Shia looked at Teryn questioningly, “What, why would he be upset that I mentioned it?”

“He is easy to forgive a slight enough to move on with his life, but will use it to latch onto any other slight or feeling that you are changing the dynamic. It just takes time, he's a stubborn ass of a dwarf.” Terny explained.

“Oh, all right then,” Shia still looked confused.

Devin chuckled lightly and tugged a tab from the banner. Looking over it read ‘Counter 47 Contract 88G5.’

“Oh, excellent. These two are at the same counter and through the same contract giver. Let’s get these stamped and we can get moving.” He tapped Griff and pointed at counter 47. Griff nodded and started pushing through the crowd. Well, push is a strong word. Griff mostly just walked toward the counter and the smaller folk fell to the side like wheat before a scythe.

Halfway toward the counter Griff ran into a woman just as large, if not slightly bigger, as he was heading in the direction he had just come from. They kept walking towards each other until they stopped mere inches form each others faces. With a sinking heart, Devin realized who this giantess was.

“Out of the way, pipsqueak,” Massive Mona growled at Griff. For people who did not know her, her voice could catch them by surprise. When most see the massive hulk of a women they expect her to have manlike qualities, a deep voice, and perhaps be a bit on the slow slide. Mona was none of these.

Yes, she was gargantuan, but she was also as lithe as a trapeze artist. She took great care in her appearance and spoke with a near songlike eloquence, her light voice more at home in the throat of a soother than a fighter.

Griff grunted at her, one eyebrow raised. People around the group were slowing, some even stopping outright, watching as the two monoliths squared off against one another. Devin glanced around and did not see any of the other core members of Bronn’s Buybale Blades and silently thanked whatever gods were watching him right now. The last thing they needed was a confrontation with the inevitable fine they could not afford and jail sentence that followed.

“That wasn’t a request, tiny. I told you to move out of my way,” Mona was speaking in a dangerously low tone. Griff’s mouth moved into a snarl as the two stared at each other. Devin did now know what had happened between the two of them to cause such animosity, and he was not sure he wanted to know.

“Come on, Griff,” Devin came alongside his friend and pulled at his arm to get him to move over. “This fight is just not worth it.”

Teryn joined Devin in tugging on their guildmates arm. Devin could have laughed at how comical her tiny hands were on the thick trunks Griff called arms if the danger in the air wasn’t one spark away from exploding. Finally, Griff managed a grunt and stepped toward them, letting the woman walk by.

“Thanks dear,” she sneered as she walked by, “You always were a pushover, letting me get my way.”

Griff stiffened at her taunt, his face turning a shade of red they had only ever seen on Murton. Devin felt the muscles in Griff’s arm working furiously, his fists two balls. After several breathless seconds Griff took a long inhale of breath. He let it out and the red dissipated. He nodded toward Devin and Teryn and started walking toward the counter.

Devin and Teryn both released their breath at once. They started laughing as they realized they both had been holding their breath and had not been aware of it. As they started to follow Griff toward the counter Devin saw Shia, still standing still, eyes wide and threatened to be swallowed up by the crowd moving once again.

Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward them, “Let’s go, young one.”

“What the hells was that all about?” she asked, wide eyes now on Devin.

“No idea,” Devin said, shrugging. “They have never liked each other. Griff came to us that way, actually. If he wants to tell us what happened he will.”

He caught up with Griff and Teryn at the counter and left Shia with them. She was working on something furiously in her mind, oblivious to everything around them at this point as she watched Griff. The large man simply stood there, scanning the crowd with his impassive face having returned.

Devin walked up to the counter.

“Ticket please,” the woman behind the counter was an orc. Her skin was a light green and her bottom canines jutted slightly from her mouth. She was bald with elf like ears sweeping back along her head.

Devin handed over the two stubs and watched carefully. He had never tried to do two at once and was curious to see how she would react.

The woman grabbed them both and held them up. She frowned as she looked over the two numbers on the stubs.

“You are aware that these are two different tickets, right?’ she asked, the tusks impeding her speech slightly.

He nodded, “I am. I saw they were for the same area and from the same company as was hoping I could grab them both at once rather than grab one, then send a proxy to grab the other, effectively doing the same thing while wasting-”

“I know its a waste of time,” she interrupted. “And frankly I think it's stupid and a law that's not a law put in place to enable to bigger crews to reap more rewards.”

“So, you’ll let me take them both,” Devin asked, a slight bit of hope creeping in.

The woman eyed him for a few moments, her lips pursed. Finally, she said, “Yeah sure. It’s not an official policy to say no. I can’t make any promises when you come to cash them though and recommend using a proxy for that.”

With that she stamped the tickets and handed them back.

“You can pick up the shipment at Helven’s Forge near the gate heading south from Guerra. Show them this ticket and they’ll hand it over. Have a nice day, sir.” She flashed him a smile that sent a couple of butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. He managed a goofy smile back and mumbled a quick thanks before turning back to his group.

“We are golden everyone, we have both and can head out now!” he exclaimed, displaying the two stamped tickets.

“Really, she let you do both?” Terny asked.

“Yeah, she was great. Feels the same about this system as I do actually. Really nice woman too,” he responded with a broad smile on his face.

“I bet she was,” Teryn said, glancing toward the orc and smothering a grin.

Devin eyed her, raising an eyebrow as he did.

“She hasn’t stopped looking over here since you left. I swear, I’ve seen trolls with more subtlety. Did you even get her name?”

Devins stomach flipped a little, angering the butterflies and waking more. “Oh shit, I did not. Would it be stupid to go back and get it now? I should have asked her up front huh? It would be stupid to-”

“Just get your ass over there,” Teryn gave him a small push toward the counter. He tried to walk over in what felt like a suave manner but likely came across as stiff and awkward.

“So, I uh, never got your name,” he said.

“Dahlia,” she answered with the same smile that sent everything aflutter in him.

“Dahlia,” he repeated softly. “Mines Devin.”

“Devin,” she said back to him.

“I’ll uh, I guess I’ll see you when I get back.”

“I look forward to it, Devin,” she said, waving him off as he left.

He approached the group and found them smiling. Even Griff managed a small smile as he looked at the rogue. Shia was smiling but still had a far away look in her eye.

“What?” Devin asked.

“Looks like the ‘never has time for anyone else’ Devin has found himself a catch,” Teryn teased.

“Aw, shut it, let's get out of here. We are wasting time trying to talk about my personal life.”

Griff grunted in a way Devin found suspiciously near to a laugh. Following the large man, they made their way back toward the entrance and down the steps of the Hub. As they walked back along the river, Shia startled them all.

“Your wife! That’s why you hate her so much right? I can’t think of any other reason two people would be so at each other's throats than that. In fact, I saw it with my aunt and uncle, they acted near the same, minus the threat of violence that could kill everyone around them.”

The group all stopped and turned to stare at her. She was beaming again, like a mage who solved the mystery of Tumulon’s Replicating Arcane Missiles.

“Shia,” Teryn started, “I don't think she is his wife. That seems like a pretty large jump to make just based on one interaction you’ve seen between them. I have seen no less than seven and this one was the most peaceful I have ever seen. It was downright friendly compared to the others. Plus, he probably would have mentioned it if he was married, especially to her.”

“And were you seriously dwelling on that this whole time? You looked kind of in a daydream or something, but I figured it was shock,” Devin added.

Shia’s smile faltered a little as the two looked at her. She looked up toward Griff, almost pleadingly.

“Griff, am I right? Is she your wife?” she asked.

Griff stared at her for a few seconds before turning west and starting to walk along the river. Her smile dropped completely and a shadow of shame fell over her face. As the group started to follow Griff again he glanced back over his shoulder at her.

“Was,” he said.