Valdaris had been in the city for barely an hour and he was already being press-ganged back into the service of the Grand Army. It was entirely typical, though he clearly had other things on his mind such as drinking and whoring and gambling; and he snorted with derision and a modicum of amusement at his friend’s antics. This chubby little spruiker who now propositioned them spoke of making a man of them, for the princely sum of a copper a day, but clearly this little man hadn’t done a single proper day of work in his whole life! What’s more, he didn’t even seem to notice the way these two men, each of them veterans, held themselves as they approached; with a seemingly casual swagger concealing the underlying alertness of a man who has stared death in the face on more than one occasion.<br/><br/>“Noooo…” he said dismissively as he patted the man on the shoulder, “It is my friend here that you should be more interested in.” He said haughtily, “This one still owes me twenty silver from our last game of dice… though it will take some time to pay that off on a single copper a day! Though, I would know, what is the recruitment drive for anyway?”<br/>