"Odd...even for a world deciding meeting, this is taking too long..." Caelum muttered as he folded his arms under his cloak. "See? I t'ld ye s'mthin was off," Garran said as he returned Cadogen's wine, wiping the vestiges off of his lips, "wh'n an ill wind blows tis best to turn away fr'm th' headwind." Caelum knew individually waht those words meant...but no diea what that idiom went. He was about to retort about nonsensicality when he felt a buzz on his belt. Lifting up a glowing rune card to his ear, he heard a familiar voice. "Are you currently in Adalrich, Caelum?" he heard amidst rhythmic hums and occassional explosions.
"Father...how goes your research in the College?" he asked, a half-smile lighting up his lips. 
"Volatile, as always," the father replied, an especially loud explosion causing both of them to wince on both ends of the line, "but it's a good thing you've arrived when you have."
"What do you mean father?"
"You know of how we erected personal barriers around the homes of the members of the Council of the Righteous? There has been a breach in the home of Councilman Vates."
"Were those not the barriers that I personally erected?"
"Indeed."
"I will...look into it."

"I'm going to go check on the meeting," Caelum announced as he gripped the card tighter, stepping towards the council building. "Th'n I'll come too," Garran said, standing up and stretching out his muscles."I think it would be better for me to continue alone," Caelum replied, not looking back, "you lack the authority that I do."
"Whaddya mean?" the pirate replied, indignant, "I be Garran! Pirate Lord! Commander of-"
Caelum shoved a rune card in front of his face. "A pirate lord you may be, but you do not have one of these," he said as he waved the card, "unlike your uncouth criminal society, we seraphim have an organised hierarchy." With that, the seraphim flexed his yellowed wings and left, slowly drifting towards the entrance. "Who needs a hiraky?" Garran shouted as he ambled after him, drawing up next to him. A sudden caconophy behind him stopped both of them. A sudden mob had surrounded something and was pelting it with insults. "...I'll d'l w'th it," Garran muttered as he swung around, the sea mine flailing behind him. Calum chuckled. Always looking out for others, that man...

"I request entry to the council meeting chambers," Caelum said to the apathetic looking receptionist who continued to flip and stamp his way through paper work. "A meeting is currently is session so i am afraid I cannot let you in," he replied as he re-inked his stamp. "Look up, good sir," Caelum hissed through his near paralysed face. With a heavy sigh, the receptionist looked up and started. "I am Caelum Adalbern, joint Arbiter of Adalrich Security," he said as he showed the card to the receptionist, "I ask you again...I require entrance to the council meeting chambers." Speechless, the receptionist stood up and bowed. "I'm very sorry sire, you see I've had many requests today to enter the hall and-"
"Enough, sir," Caelum said, cutting him off, "just lead me to the meeting chamber."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I see deliberations are going well..." Caelum commented lightly as he stepped around the slowly spreading pool of bile below Neon. Looking at Hagumi, he nodded his head before turning to the council and taking a deep breath. "Council members," he declared, his voice echoing around the room and amplifying the gravity of his words, "I regret to inform you that there was an intrusion mere hours ago into the home of Councilman Vates and have reason to believe that he has come to harm." Looking at the messenger who stood to the side of the room, he divined his message from his fidgeting. "I believe that you have already been informed of his death then?" he asked. Justica nodded wordlessly. "I thought you said your wards were impenetrable, Arbiter?" Munus hissed poisonously, "that was why we gave the contract to you and your kin. I have a mind to strip you of your rights for misleading us!" A moment of silence passed as Caelum stared Munus down. "You twist my words, Master of Defense," Caelum replied calmly, "I said at the time, and it is clearly written within our contract, that the wards are proof against all KNOWN forms of magic, of which selected knowledge was granted to be by yourself, was it not?"
"And?! What does it have to do with this!?" Munus said, spittle flying out of his mouth as Justica held him back. "Let the seraphim speak, Munus," she said, eyeing Caelum cautiously. "Thank you, Councilwoman Justica," Caelum said with a little bow, before turning back to Munus, "Now if you will recall, Councilman, was it not you who forbade me from entering the forbidden archives? Citing that anyone with knowledge of those magiks will inevitable grow corrupt? Even after both Councillors Vates and Verum gave their permission?" Munus' glare intensified. "I will leave this argument as is for now, but back to the matter at hand. I believe the perpatrator of this incident used a form of arcanism not known to the general public if they are able to infiltrate past the wards, unless they are capable of siege level magicks at a moments notice, which poses another problem entirely." With a wave of his hand, metal cards appeared in front of him and spread out to form a hollow rectangle which promply filled with dim green light. Figures and symbols appeared and started to scroll across the new medium. "What is this?" Ardal asked, drawing closer. "This is a monitor of mana levels around Vates' home," Caelum explained as data continued to flow, "as you can see, the levels remain constant, meaning that it was not forced open, but rather infiltrated through some means. This, of course, rules out the Daeva as a perpatrator," he said, glancing down at Neon to see a slight flash of appreciation, "but if it is, it would not be without Seraphim or Human help."
"Which means that someone is trying to incite a war..." Macto said, stroking his beard sagely, "but then agin we do not need to agree with your views, Arbiter."
"Indeed you do not, Councilman, but I brought these theories to you for a reason. I would like unrestricted access to the site for a period of time, with all other restricted."
"Thats preposterous!" Munus exploded again, his face red, "if we prevent our own investigators from entering, how will we find the perpatrator!? The trail will have gone cold by then!"
"Calm, Councilman," Caelum replied, closing the monitor, "I only require it for a few moments, little more. I would like to investigate matters on my own before anything is touched."
Justica steepled her fingers as she leaned forwards. "And...if we allow you access, do you believe you can track this murderer down?"
Munus turned to his equal, affronted. "Do you really believe that someone like this will be able to find the facts out? Maybe he was the one who let him in in the first place!"
"Of course this probably would not have happened if you had just agreed to let the Arbiter into the forbidden archives, Councillor," Verum said snidely, "Vates would perhaps still be alive."
"I say we let the scene stay open to him for a day. But no more," Justica said as she looked back down at Caelum, "is that sufficient?"
Caelum nodded. "I will make it so. I also request that I be able to take some assistants in with me."
"...Granted" Justica replied, "Any objections?"
Munus looked like he was about to pipe up, but he settled for glaring.
"I will proceed onto the case immediately," Caelum said with a bow.
"I will follow him," Neon declared, managing to make herself look official once more, "if one of my kind has wrought this damage then i wish to see it with my own eyes. If it is so, then I will suffer the consequences."
The council remained silent. "I will also request Queen Neon's presence," Caelum said calmly, "No-one would know a daeva's claws better than her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Roight," Garran declared, smashing his mine into the ground with a mighty crash, leaving a crater in the road, "wha' be happenin' o'er 'ere?" The crowd grew silent at the sudden surge of sound, turning to stare at the pirate, behind which hurried a few other figures. "This, this...creature! He's a murderer!" shouted a human, though his voice quivered a little bit. Raising the eyebrow of his one good eye, Garran looked down to see a kneeling Daeva. With scaly skin and claws the size of daggers, it was obvious to see he was different from everyone else around him. A flash of recognition in his mind sparked action. "Y'know, I be gettin' real sick a' people judgin' people based on wh't they are," Garran said as he drew closer to the human. Leaning down, he picked him up by the neck of his shirt and lifted him up, "b't 't be worse wh'n a boy be cryin' wolf at a rock." Drawing him to eye level, he smiled his broken-toothed smile and chuckled, the right side of his face splitting open to reveal way more teeth than should ahve been seen, "Now th'n, why don't ye explain what be happenin' here?"
"I...I will not be cowed by such beastly methods!" he stuttered as he struggled against the pirate's grip.
"Who s'd anythin' 'bout a cow, lad?" Garran said, the visible muscle of his right cheek twitching as it drew back further to reveal his gums. The crowd muttered as this giant manhandled their ring leader with no visible effort. Dropping him onto his arse, Garran placed his arm on his hip. "Ye'd better have proof of th's creature's crimes, 'r we be havin' a real problem. As if to punctuate the statement, the mine rolled back into the crater, creating a clatter. The crowd drew back. Offering an arm to the daeva, he said. "Ye, ye be w'th th' Queen aye?"