"No? Why wouldn't they? It's right there."

"They'd have their own! I mean I guess they could just to sound sufficiently local but colour me sceptical."

"They have to invent their own words? Do you have your own words?"

"They don't need to invent their own words just their own reasons, 'you're a woman' is only a valid excuse around here and it's masking the racism whereas they could just say 'I have a code that goes against serving nonhuman species equally' or some such."

"First one's so much shorter, though!"

"It's also false!"

"In the most technical of senses, I suppose that could be considered the case till I have a real big dinner, but they don't know that!"

"The—what?"

"I have been informed that the important thing about being a woman is being able to get pregnant! Elves don't have that always-on - can you imagine, we live hundreds of years -."

"Oh. That's—well, yes, but I meant that it wasn't true that that was their reason, come on, keep up."

"For one thing they don't ask about whether I'm fertile at the moment, yes. Are you saying the true spirit of law requires honestly accounting for your decisions to strangers on demand?"

"No, like I said, it could be they're just using the local sexist lingo just to fit in or something but, again, colour me sceptical."

Giggle.

There's the Onyx, complete with price sheet and unusual adventurer diversity according, though Belmarniss is the only drow.

Unsurprising.

"You have a particular MO to find interesting sponsors?"

"I usually don't go after the sponsors directly, I listen in for things I could help with and try to get in on a party. You?"

"When I go after sponsors in these kinds of places I tend to look for parties that need a healer most desperately. Every party wants a healer, but some will be crushed without one."

"You might have better luck with that strategy abroad, actually, clerics of Abadar are significantly more mercenary than most. It's the monetary theology, I think."

"I'm neither a cleric nor a follower of Abadar, but yes I would expect so."

"Yes, I know, you're an 'Abadar fan', but your competition for the healer slot is mostly clerics by volume."

"Maybe I should try fishing for adventures elsewhere next time I find myself elsewhere."

"I keep hoping I'll have an excuse to go to Tian Xia. I speak the language and everything."

He whistles. "Rather far away. How come?"

"Oh, see the world, experience the variety of cultures, try the food, nothing earthshaking."

"How come you know the language," he clarifies, "given how far it is."

"Drow aren't grown up for a hundred ten years, they stuff a lot of education in us."