<i><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'"><span style="font-size: 18px"><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">The sounds of leather boots on carved stone sounded out through the gilded and dim halls. A young man with deep star sapphire hair and haunting whitish blue eyes walked with stubtle urgency deeper into the ruins.<br/>
A thick leather trench coat clad his form, the rims of which were decorated by elven runes that glowed a faint blue in the dim light. His undershirt and jeans matched his dark hair, while a pair of symbols on the backs of his fingerless leather gloves depicted a snowflake catching fire.<br/>
Though it appeared he wore nothing of value, this was proven wrong when he was suddenly stopped by a pair of elite water elf guards, to whom he showed a thin gold necklace around his neck that ended in a crest. The golden crest was simple in design, depicting three mermaids with intertwined tails to create a celtic clannad design.<br/>
Not a word was passed between the man and the guards, but just as if he had uttered a password they stepped aside to let him pass through a warded gate.<br/>
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On the other side the man appeared in a brathtaking undersea cave. Flourescent algae lit up the massive area dimly, revealing a cave made entirely of carved sapphire. Faint light bounced off the surface of the otherwise tranquil waters surrounding a smoothed cliff, casting watery images against the walls.<br/>
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Pausong to reach his hand into his belt, the man drew out a sealed scroll before carefully approaching the cliffside. The cave itself reached deep under water, and the deceptively calm inky black waters were the audience chambers of three of the most powerful beings still willing to call earth home.<br/>
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Breaking the seal on the scroll the young man slowly unravelled it, and suddenly the bound figure of a young woman seemed to fall from the white papers to the stone floor below!<br/>
Her attire was gone save for her undergarments, but a life of living in riches had left a distinguished luster upon her supple frame and long dark hair. <br/>
The dark elf noble lady glared up at the young man with daggers in her eyes...but he paid her no heed. His job was complete, though he was not on time...this mission was a delicate one as it dealt with the politics of the city above.<br/>
"Lazuli!! Tempest and Twilight...It is I, Orion. I have come to report on the inquiry you had me looking into on the disappearance of a servent of yours that was sent to look into some sufferages of the lower class." Taking his medallion from his neck he cast it into the black waters welow the cliff. "...my arrival is past due, but what was supposed to be a mission to catch a rat lead to a nest of vultures. Twenty percent of the taxes meant to go towards the reconstruction project were instead diverted into the pockets of the Orchid family...who were also hiring subpar workers in the guise of the most talented... in what was to be Lazuli's eternal palace upon the cleansing of the sky and water." Motioning to the woman with one hand he held the scroll over the ocean with the other. "This has a list of confiscated evidence. The woman here is laura orchid, the one who oversaw the scamming and whom used the funds to throw lavish parties of great excess. She awaits your judgement."</span></span></span></i>