“His name is Tano,” Rosalia said as they crisscrossed the busy streets. The seas of people parted for the mage but somehow still bumped into Hazen who was beside her.

“He’s the big guy, it's pretty obvious,” she said. “Though the place is probably empty at this hour anyways. Too many customers got rowdy while celebrating the Dark Lord’s fall, and he ended up giving enough black eyes to scare them away for days.”

“Why do you want me to talk to him? Can’t you just recruit him?” Hazen asked as they reached the splintered door of a small, bruised building. The broken sign above it read “The Fortress.” Hazen had never seen a bar so misnamed.

“Tano trusts me,” she said. “But he’ll want to get a measure of who he’s working with. I can’t convince him to like other people.”

“Anything else I should know?” Hazen asked as she pushed the door upon and it creaked into eternity.

“All the damage here was done by him throwing people out, slamming them around, etc. Be careful.” She gestured to the several human-shaped holes in the ‘The Fortress’ floorboards and the 12-seater table split in half down the middle. It was somehow still standing as the two pieces leaned into each other.

“Oy Rosalia, you haven’t been around in a long minute,” a booming voice said. Hazen swiveled to see a hulking man in the corner righting a few lopsided chairs.

“That arch magus is a real witch,” Rosalia said. “She’s got us all on a tight leash, but I’m here now. And I might want to be going elsewhere. My friend here can tell you about it.”

“Hi-” Hazen began but he was cut off as the massive man pointed his stubby index finger at her.

“Down to business and no talking?” Tano, the barkeep, said. He lowered his finger after a moment. “Eh, at least you didn’t try sneaking in, all invisible to steal my beer this time.”

“I’ll never make that mistake again,” Rosalia said. “You thought I was a mouse and pretty much destroyed the space right in front of me.”

“You still rob me, I can just see you do it now,” Tano sighed

He turned to Hazen and his brown eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

“Rosalia and I are forming an adventuring group sir,” Hazen said. “She suggested we get you to join as a brawler. My name is Hazen, I’m-”

“I don’t give a damn what your name is,” Tano said, leaning in close to Hazen. “And I’m no ‘sir.” The barkeep didn’t make Hazen look small exactly, but there was no question he was bulkier.

“That’s why his business is so bad,” Rosalia said. “He never bothers to learn his customers’ names.”

Tano ignored her and placed both his meaty hands on Hazen’s shoulders. He squeezed. “Show me why I should work with you. Prove to me that you’re strong enough.”

Hazen breathed deeply and his heart beat slowed. He thought of Master Anders’ advice- ‘finish things as quickly as possible.’ He always conveniently forgot the second part- ‘unless that means you’ll come bother me sooner.’

Hazen gripped Tano’s wrists, then swung the larger man over his head, and into the ground behind him.

Rosalia gasped and backed up towards the door while Tano groaned amidst a plume of splinters and dust.

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To his credit, the larger man got to his feet quickly, cracking a chair as he used it to pull himself up.

“That’s not what I meant,” Tano grumbled and glared at the younger man. “Prove your strength by drinking with me. Show me you can hold your own.” He stalked off to the grimey, beaten down bar counter engraved with a hundred idle customers’ lazy graffiti.

“Ah wait,” Hazen said, and gulped. Once again it wasn’t going to matter how much he prepared, he was going to fumble a chance.

“I don’t drink,” Hazen said. “I’m sorry, I can’t compete with you in this.”

Tano dropped the stained cup he had just picked up and let it roll on the counter. He stomped back towards Hazen, whose shoulders slumped.

The large barkeep clapped him on the back. “That’s admirable lad!” The big man said with a wide grin revealing several missing teeth.

“It takes a lot of will power to avoid peer pressure and not drink. What’s your reason? Recovering alcoholic, don’t like the taste, or something religious? It certainly makes you lose control and causes too many fights,” Tano finished, shaking his head, completely oblivious to all the damage he regularly caused.

Hazen’s eyes widened while Rosalia’s stifled chuckle turned into a snort. Then he shrugged in response. Anders had told him to never drink. He figured that was because it would dim his faculties and make him lethargic, but really Anders simply didn’t want the young man to develop a taste for alcohol and pilfer his own stash.

“I need a break and fresh air,” Tano said. “I’m happy to join you on a few adventures Rosalia, but you clear your tab with me with your share of the reward moneys.

“I’ll make some bark look like gold and give that to you,” Rosalia chuckled.

***

Hazen and Rosalia left to find their party’s final member while Tano closed up the bar. They cut through the town and everyone kept several feet away, not even bumping into Hazen this time.

“Are you doing something to drive them away?” Hazen asked.

Rosalia smiled mischievously. “I can control the direction of illusions cast on myself,” Rosalia. “Basically, I can dictate who sees it. This one is directed at everyone around me but you.”

“What do you look like?” Hazen wondered.

“Whoever the people here most want to avoid. This illusion is attached to each individual’s perception, so I don’t have to determine the exact image myself,” Rosalia said. She was rubbing her hands together as she spoke, excited to talk about her magic. She explained more details about the mechanics and Hazen nodded, feigning understanding.

They made it past the edge of the town towards a field. A short, stout woman was drawing a bow and aiming at a circular target. A small crowd stood nearby. They backed away upon seeing Rosalia but then suddenly stopped, confused.

Rosalia gave a sheepish smile. “Almost forgot to drop the spell,” she said. “Now watch.”

The woman with the bow hadn't paid any attention to their arrival. She was focused solely on a single point. She released 5 shots in a row, hitting the target dead center with the first shot, and then hitting the first arrow with the second, and so on.

Hazen whistled as the crowd applauded. “She’s good,” he said.

“The best in Harwich,” Rosalia agreed. “But…”

“Dina has the highest point total as usual,” A big bellied man said. “Now for the final target.”

The circular target was replaced with a lump of hay shaped vaguely like a horse. The spot where its heart would have been was painted red.

Two other archers came up and fired 5 shots each while Dina waited, her bow dangling in her hand as she looked at her feet. The two did reasonably well, hitting the red spot a couple times each, and getting close with most of the other shots.

Dina’s turn came next. She looked up, focused on the target, pulled back the drawstring and released her arrow in one perfect motion.

It missed the hay horse-model by three yards.

“What?” Hazen said as the crowd murmured and Dina fumbled for her second arrow.

“Dina is a prodigy,” Rosalia said. “But she can’t hit a living target. Or anything that even looks vaguely like a living target.”

“She wouldn’t be much help on an adventure then,” Hazen said.

“Ah, but a little help goes a long way,” Rosalia said. She waved a hand in the air right before Dina shot.

The arrow struck the red spot this time, dead center. The next arrow split the first, and the final two arrows did the same.

Dina pumped a hand in the air in triumph as the crowd applauded.

“The winner is Dina for the 8th season in a row,” the announcer said. The crowd swarmed around the woman while the two other contestants were comforted by a smattering of friends and family.

“I made Dina see the target as a circle rather than an animal model,” She explained as they waited. “I can affect anyone’s perception of me or those I cast a spell on. But to make someone see a target I haven’t cast a spell on differently, I generally need to touch them. Luckily I’ve cast this spell through touch on Dina before, so now I can cast it again from a distance.”

“I see,” Hazen said as he scratched his nose, very much not seeing.

Dina broke away from the crowd after a few more minutes, carrying a shining gold trophy and a jingle sack of coins. She made a beeline straight for Dina.

“Where were you?!” the archerer asked Rosalia through gritted teeth. “You were supposed to come by before the match, hours ago!”

“I got delayed,” Rosalia said. “But still, I made it in time and helped you out. I’m still working on figuring out a way for the spell to be activated without me present. You’ll need to be careful when that happens- don’t want you mistaking people for targets.”

“I know, I know,” Dina said, waving Rosalia’s remarks away. She took a deep breath and slouched a little. “Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rosalia said. “And instead of paying me in coin, I’m thinking that maybe you can compensate me in a different way. Might be a good way of testing this spell… with moving targets.”