Minthara Baenre.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ‘ I never tire of sitting on dead men’s thrones. ’

a tender glimpse beneath the surface

❝ Of course I do. Males who spend too long beneath the open sky become insolent. Foolish. Soft. You need discipline. ❞ Minthara replied dryly, red eyes raking over him like someone inspecting property. A noble’s gaze on a lowly, worthless peasant. Well ; in this case entirely accurate.

❝ Perhaps I ought to take another limb, for daring to meet the gaze of a daughter of House Baenre unbidden. ❞ Her tone grew darker. Quieter. Dangerously so, and an unnerving pause followed as she let the words settle.

Then, at last, a smile curved her lips.

ㅤㅤㅤ❝ . . . I jest, of course! ❞

Oh, that hadn’t sounded like a joke at all———

I don’t know if any of you have seen The Expanse, but there’s a scene where someone who’s spent their entire life on a Mars station vsits Earth for the first time.

When they’re exposed to the open sky, they experience severe disorientation and anxiety.

Unprompted HC question / always accepting!

OOC. WELL. INTERESTING QEUSTION.

Ok so. He’s male and human. That makes him inherently inferior compared to literally any elven male, let alone a drow. To be fair, humans mean very little to drow ; their life spans are laughably short, and they’re generally seen as incapable of accomplishing anything truly significant (though, of course, that’s not true). Any kind of relationship with a human comes with a built-in expiration date. The few humans who live in Menzo are slaves, minus some exceptions maybe.

Now, being a wizard is the one (1) respectable thing a male drow is allowed to be in Menzoberranzan. They rarely, if ever, become clerics of Lolth (I only know of one?), and a male wizard earns a modicum of respect — I mean, most high-ranking females, especially priestesses, still look down on them, but oh well.

And yet, here’s Lorroakan, thinking he’s the top dog :,))) Honestly, Minthara probably thinks it’s funny af.

Then again… she IS the only companion who APPROVES if you side with him?!!

Maybe it’s his arsenal of artifacts. Maybe it’s because he’s not a sanctimonious aasimar who would be a nightmare to control or GET RID OF should the need arise. Or maybe she actually """respects""" his unapologetic ambition (unlike Gale with his moral compass).

Ambition, especially the kind that costs others dearly, is a virtue in Menzoberranzan.

She doesn’t seem to care much for Aylin anyway, who, let’s be real, was a little underwhelming in the fight against Ketheric... ahem.

Minthara doesn’t seem to disapprove of siding with Aylin either and even encourages it (if I remember correctly). She just doesn’t really care.

The fact that she actively approves of siding with Lorroakan suggests she sees him as the better ally for what’s to come for the reasons mentioned above.

Or maybe she just likes his hair.