Dressed in utilitarian coveralls, the elf was standing in the middle of the courtyard, tall and thin like all of his race, the sides of his long blonde hair woven into decorative braids that hung from each temple in the latest Miami fashion. On his back was a plastic haversack, in one hand a wooden staff covered with living vines, and hunched on one of his shoulders was an albino ferret. Both of them were staring at a ragged piece of red cloth the elf held in his hand.