<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/0Ol70fq.png)</div><div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/UX9I4iF.jpg)</div><br/><em> "I'm glad I didn't decide to just clothe myself in magic and walk naked in this day's heat or this would be very awkward." </em>Jain said with a slight hum to herself as the guardsmen watched the elven woman transform into a half demonic form, albeit an amazingly attractive one.<br/><br/><em>"What... never seen a tiefling before?  Are we done? Did you want to check my undergarments too to make sure they're really abyssal leather?"</em>Alana chides the guardsmen as she changes into her natural form, the yellow faire fire disappearing as she does so.<br/><br/>The two guards, both male and dressed in plate, glance at each other for a moment.  The left one, a dragonborn soldier with coppery scales sneers and makes an audible grunt of disgust.  But the second, a human man chuckles and said,<strong>"Well, if you're insisting that your undergarments need to be inspecting, I suppose I could always volunteer..."</strong><br/><br/>From behind however there was a clicking noise as Commander Rekterinias snapped her jaw shut loudly and she gestured to the door on the other side of the entry room,<strong>"Enough foolishness, the high lord protector awaits, time is money."</strong><br/><br/>Jain leans over towards Alana and said in a teasing tone, but one loud enough for the guards,<em>""I think they would love to search you but I think they too have to remember that insulting the invited guests and having them turn around because they took it too far would reflect poorly on them? Still I couldn't blame them for hesitating a little rather than just letting you pass, you are a gorgeous woman after all. Who wouldn't want to see, touch, and inhale the aroma about you?"</em><br/><br/>The comment caused the draconian guard to look away pointedly and the human man to cough into his hand to hide laughter, and fail.  But Commander Rekterinias stepped around the two women and opened one of the large double doors that led into the building proper.  Her face seemed to be a mask of barely restrained anger and embarrassment, and she ushered the two women onwards.  The hallway beyond forked into three paths and she led them straight, and up a set of stairs, but muttered to them,<strong>"You're as much a tiefling as I am a craw wurm.  I've known quite a few teiflings in my day, and none of them ever had elven features or wings."</strong><br/><br/>Then at the top of the stairs, another hallway, and near the stairs a large wooden door, emblazoned with the symbol that matched the badge Alana was wearing.  The commander reached her hand out and said, "I'll take that back now if you don't mind."  Then waited for Alana to return the item before re-affixing it to the right pauldron on her armor.<strong> "I would suggest a bit more decorum and a little less levity before meeting the High Lord Protector if I were you than you've showed previously,"</strong>the blue scaled dragonborn said, nodding at both women.  Then in a voice that was muttered under her breath she added,<strong> "Though you do as you wish, I was opposed to hiring outside help anyways."<br/></strong><br/>Then with that the commander pushed open the door to the office and gestured for the two women to enter, though she herself remained out in the hall.<br/><br/>Inside was another blue scaled dragonborn, though this one's scales were tinted with white in a few places, a sign that she was older, at least into her middle age.  Yet her form was one of a woman in the peak of her life.  Her arms showed ropy muscles beneath the blue and white scales, her neck was firm, and her stomach was taut beneath snug scale mail armor.    She was sitting at a large stone desk, writing something, but looked up as the women entered.  Her eyes were gold and yellow and shined with the undeniable gleam of wisdom and experience.  Her face was unreadable however as she kept her face a neutral mask, giving away no emotions.<br/><br/>On the wall behind her hung a massive greatsword, one that pulsed with a white glow softly.  The scabbard was well oiled and cared for, though also well used.  Quite literally everything about this woman bespoke efficiency and ability.  Even her office, while busy with papers and maps and charts on the wall, also had a sense of intensity to it.  There wasn't a hint of dust, and the curtains were drawn back from the second story windows on one side of the room, letting in a huge amount of bright afternoon light.<br/><br/>She stood and waited for the door to close before nodding to Alana,<strong>"Miss Sunsorrow, glad you could come.  I have a job that requires absolute secrecy and I need an outside source to find something for me."</strong><br/><br/>She drew open a desk drawer and drew out a small bag, tossing it to Alana she said,<strong>"downpayment on the task if you can promise me absolute privacy, and quadruple that if you get the job done and retrieve a missing item."</strong><br/><br/>Alana's first thought was that the bag felt somewhat light, there were maybe a few more than fifty coins in the small sack that was tossed her way.  But the drawstring was open and as Alana caught it, it was clear from the shiny metallic silver from inside that these weren't gold coins, but platinum dragons, quite a hefty retainer fee.  Of course, that was assuming that Alana and her new partner Jian took the job.  The high lord protector nodded towards the raven haired mage and said,<strong>"and who's this then?"</strong>