The Drow Queen of Glaley [Very NSFW]

[NPCs]

Obi is sitting-- kneeling really-- right on the other side of the door with his head down and an expression of rapt servitude on his face. Just like always. "How may this male serve your splendor?" he fawns. Just like always. In the other room, Paerle wrinkles her nose, though discreetly.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Please prepare tea and snacks for myself and our guest. Thank you." She turns away without waiting for him to reply, biting her tongue a little. She still hates interacting with him. Noire! Get your ass out here! 

[Paerle Emerison]

"Which 'thank you' does 'thank you' translate to?" Paerle asks, then makes a face. "Did that even make sense? I know the idioms and such sound more off than that, but that's what I have the most trouble, ah, wrapping my head around. How can a language function with so little nuance in the particulars?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

"It was designed to be a language for trade and common ground between species," she points out. "So it was deliberately designed with as little nuance as they could get away with when the humans created it. That way they didn't have to learn as much."

[Paerle Emerison]

Leaning back a little, Paerle stares at nothing for a few seconds. "That... that explains a great deal," she finally says slowly, a note of outrage in her voice. "How barbaric."

[Coquette Blacquin]

She shrugs. "It's my understanding that Low Drow was created under similar circumstances, to facilitate trade among races that were incapable of picking up on the nuances of High Drow." There's Noire, at long last. That imperious tone could belong to none other.

[Paerle Emerison]

"Low Drow was created as a simplified language so that uneducated, broken slaves could grasp at least the fundamentals," Paerle corrects her sister-electi. "Not a very, ah, positive fact of our history but I try not to shy away from what we come from."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Right: those of inferior races, put into their place." She sighs. "I understand that Grandmother is trying to forge a new way of existing for our people, but I do wish that certain among the Gnomes understood their innate inferiority." 

[Paerle Emerison]

There's a slight but noticeable pause before Paerle responds, her tone casually curious. "Oh? Someone troubling you, sister dear?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

She waves a hand. "Just a small incident, a week ago. A very rude woman competing with me for the single-occupancy restroom. I am certain none of the family would behave in such a manner."

[Paerle Emerison]

Paerle looks briefly disappointed by that answer; perhaps she was hoping for some more dramatic or scandalous? Coquette does get some of the same vibe from Paerle that she used to get from the more socially motivated noblewomen in Glaley. The younger ones that is. "Ah yes, that sort of thing can be so very vexing, can't it? But things are well otherwise?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

"As well as they can be. This little one is on pace with her sisters, making me ill nearly every morning."

[Paerle Emerison]

Paerle's eyes widen. "Her sisters?" she exclaims, reminding Coquette that she'd only really shared the bulk of her story with Feythal. 

[Coquette Blacquin]

Something in her eyes dims. "Oh yes. This will be my third child, all of them long-lived, though this will be my first Drow child. The other two were... taken from me."

[Paerle Emerison]

The drow hisses, an angry, lethal sort of sound. "Who dared to take a child of EmerIson?" she demands.