The Asterion ship was reaching the harbor and the horn had just sounded its arrival.
In a calm corner shaded by the wall of a tavern, two half-elves were sitting on stools; one was coloring a drawing while the other, eyes squinted, kept moving his head between the ship and the sketch depicting it.

"And what brings you here, my dear friend?" said the one holding the crayon, in a neutral tone.

"Why, the answer is half in the question. Friend-Ship of course." Nehlin replied jokingly, taking care to pronounce each term while looking in the appropriate direction. "Now Luren, since there is plenty of tension between the various factions, the Guild is insistent that we do-"

"no politics", Luren cut him short, irritation seeping into his voice.

"Nothing offensive, no." And as the wind blew and the Asterion flag fully revealed itself, Nehlin didn't miss the revulsion in Luren's expression.

"Hmm? Aha! This part of the flag isn't quite right, now is it?", said Nehlin while pointing at the drawn emblem. Nothing explicit was shown, but although Nehlin had no clue on how the changed emblem could be insulting to the Asterion, it didn't take a historian to know that there is symbolism in there; not the polite sort, knowing Luren's style.

"Ugh, fine." Luren tore the page off and was about to throw it to the wind when Nehlin caught his hand. "You shouldn't tempt fate." he said, locking his eyes into Luren's. For emphasis, Nehlin's half-elf ears grew eyes and ears of their own and nodded seriously in agreement. 

If it helped alleviate the mood, Luren showed no sign of it; he simply took the paper, scribbled something with a metalpoint and dropped it to the ground. Whatever was now drawn, Nehlin didn't look at it. His duty lied in informing his friend, the rest being an artist's decision to make.

Luren then packed his affairs and left, saying no word in between. But silence could be more hurtful than words, or so Nehlin felt.

The illusionist sighed and cancelled his craft, revealing no pointy ears and no stool; on cue, he fell on his butt and began rubbing his aching knees. "Ouch" he muttered, while gazing in direction of the ship.