Thanks to his contact with Trist, He Xi was no stranger to this race from the Underdark.
But among the Drow Elves, Trist counted as a rare anomaly.
Most Drow worshipped the capricious Spider Goddess and followed brutal matriarchal laws.
In that sunless underground world, intrigue, betrayal, and murder were merely the basic courtesies of daily survival.
Female Drow in particular held absolute power and status within their communities, which often meant extreme danger as well.
A high-ranking female Drow priestess possessed enough cunning and methods to make even the most scheming politician pale by comparison.
And the figure huddled in the dim corner before them, slight and even somewhat withdrawn-looking, was precisely a female Drow.
But He Xi did not react at once, casually withdrawing his gaze.
He was not someone who jumped to conclusions based solely on racial stereotypes, but when encountering a female Drow, he could not afford to lower his guard.
"Guests, find yourselves a seat first!"
The middle-aged man with the square face had already come around from behind the bar, warmly leading them toward a wide solid-wood square table in the middle of the hall.
"Have a look at what you'd like to eat. Oh, right—I'm Kai, the owner of this inn."
"Ale? Hot," Ulag said as he climbed onto a high-backed chair with both hands and feet. "For food, just bring us that bubbling meat stew from earlier. Smells pretty good."
After they had ordered, Kai called toward the kitchen, "Jiali, warm up the ale, and bring five servings of today's stew and some fresh-baked bread."
"Okay!" a clear female voice answered from the kitchen.
Grot spoke up. "Innkeeper, we'd like to ask about two people."
"We're not sure if they're from this town. A man and a woman—the man's called Glen, the