“Actually, yes, I am short of lovely people to drink with every night, but that’s because most of them died from famine, some died due to banditry, and the rest of them are either scattered around the Empire looking for work like I am or stubbornly refuse to give up our dead village, starving to death; and the only other living member of my family and clan, as far as I know, has fallen back to prostitution to sustain herself,” he said, cheerfully enough, picking from the river fish on his plate and reducing it into bones. The salt was just right; the tavern keep was consistently a good cook! “But if not a mage, Kat, then what’s your role here in the party? I don’t mean to, say, [i]offend[/i], but what can you do with just one arm?”