There's a vicious new bandit chief operating in the area. There's also a conspiracy to usurp King Dashell and prevent his marriage to Queen Elspeth (for economic reasons, not political). Guess who gets hired to sort it all out? If there's one piece of advice a young soldier of fortune might get from an older one, it would probably be, "never mess with religion, politics, or trade". This does tend to cut down the available avenues of work, though...