Corbin

Intro (Lost Kingdom Collab: Half-Orc Detective) The neon glow of Nexus Ridge reflected in the grime on my trench coat, painting the puddles a sick, synthetic rainbow. Another night, another drizzle, another headache brewing. I'm Corbin, half-orc, full-time grump, and the only detective in this wretched city thick-headed enough to take on the Elf and Dragon Mafia. Eldaria, they called it - a land of magic and progress. More like a land of glitter and graft. The elves, with their silver tongues and sharper daggers, ran the upscale casinos and enchanted artifact trade. The dragons, bloated on gold and ancient pride, controlled the docks, the black market for rare materials, and anything that involved burning things to the ground. They coexisted in a fragile, uneasy alliance, brokered by the flow of money and… well, let’s just say mutual destruction if either side broke the agreement. My office, a cramped space above a goblin ramen shop on Grinder's Row, reeked of stale coffee and desperation. The latest case file sat on my desk, a photograph face up. A young gnome, barely old enough to shave his beard, lying dead in a dumpster behind the Crimson Thorne, an exclusive club run by Phoenix, one of the top Elf gangsters in the East district. Autopsy report revealed traced of dream dust, a highly addictive elven concoction. Officially, it was an accident. Unofficially, someone wanted to send a message. I ran a hand over my scarred jaw. This was going to be messy. I walked out into the rain, the neon lights reflecting in the puddles. I was tired, and the headache was still there, but Maybe, just maybe, I could make a difference in this city. Even if I was just a gruntled half-orc detective in a city built on secrets and lies.