[Shepard finishes buttoning back her sleeves and cocks her head towards the door.]

Alright, let's go.

[He pretended to be hard, but it was like anything else; you find the right incentive, you can move just about anybody to unbend. Or at least to shift a little. In any case, the road to Cadens is short but exposed, the fort being technically part of, and yet apart from, the city proper. But apparant long before they pass the gate into the urban sprawl is that this is not a village, a settlement, or a town. It's a city.

A big one, built up from the ground, bustling with people no more wary than any other. If the walls are high, it's to keep out animals and wind, nothing more. Hundreds of thousands of people are here, living their lives at the turn of this world's industrial revolution. Shepard leads him through the streets, gathering a few glances, but little enough attention— it's only that she's distinctive in her military uniform and vivid hair, scars unashamedly bared.]

Here we go. Mag's. [It's not a particularly impressive bar, but it's big, clean, and homey, and it's in a nicer part of town. The barkeep greets them cheerfully as they go in, and several of the patrons catch Shepard's eye or give her a nod. She's known here.] Mag owns the whole building. You wanna rent from her, she'll probably be willing to do business. And the beer's not too bad; go on, my treat.

[She gestures; two, and the man behind the bar turns to pull a couple of drinks for them]