[@Shikaru] [@Gentlemanvaultboy]

Aldis was about to return the greeting when the explosion happened. Immediate tension filled the Sentinel as he turned his attention to the plumes of oddly colored smoke pouring into the sky. After a moment he recognized the explosion as being from the Librarium, an unpleasantly common occurrence, and he relaxed his grip on the hilt of his sword. A small frown on his face, he let his gaze turn away after assuring himself that, as always, no real harm had been done.

Intent to return the greeting forgotten, he raised an amused eyebrow as Sarah comforted a stray chipsqueak. Instead he turned his attention back to the woodcutter, once more patiently waiting for him to conclude his business. He didn't have to wait long, as the jovial man soon launched into a sales pitch. The man spoke with only the smallest tone of unease, even someone as wary and alert as himself only barely noticing.

"A paramour? I'm hardly the type for such things, Mr. Mohsteady." The Sentinel chuckled, giving a wry shake of his head. His expression smoothed into a serious, although friendly, look. "No, I'm afraid I have little need for your wares at the moment. I wished to ask you if you'd given any thought to joining the sentinels yourself? A man such as you would do well among our ranks, even as a temporary member."

Protecting the town was a serious matter, and required diligence. Not to mention there was the risk of those who lacked character, attempting to use an overblown sense of new authority to their advantage. Then there was the actual danger of fending off monsters and bandits, among other things. Some recruits gave little thought to those risks, merely seeing it as a source of excitement and adventure without leaving home.

Aldis only vaguely knew Mohsteady, but it was well enough to assess the kind of person he was. He himself had seen the woodcutter staring at the Sentinel HQ with a conflicted look, and light gossip going around about if the woodcutter would join or not would have filled him in regardless. He wasn't simply offering the honeyed words of a recruiter when he said he thought the man would do well, and would be dissuading him instead if he thought otherwise.