Ah, the opinions on drow. Charynrae had experienced a variety of opinion in her time above ground. There were the cautious, who would be polite in public but concerned behind closed doors. And the outright fearful, who would freeze, or run, as if she were a predator. The firebrands that were convinced that all Drow were the enemy. The curious (mostly children). The ones who desired drow (sometimes, an incredibly easy way to make money).
The precious few that ignored drow the way they ignored everyone else were a treasure.
She had known of some cities not being open to all, but had not realized the extent. "I assumed that only the important cities were done as such," she said. It was no real surprise. The only real difference between beings above and below the surface were that denizens of the Underdark were honest. No creature of the shadows sincerely pretended to be worthy of trust. Humans, elves, what-have-you on the other hand- they would swear up and down they would never do you harm while plotting how to stab you in the back.
Even though she had seen many since leaving the Underdark, it took a moment for her to picture it: blue sky. Faerie fire could be blue, so it was one of the easier colours to place. Purple and green, too, and she knew yellow well only because it was almost painful to look at in many of its forms. She could spot the faintest difference in shades, but naming the tone of a thing was always a challenge. There was little variation in colour in the dark, and so it was not used as often to describe things, nor did it have to be as precise as it sometimes was on the surface.
She pondered their situation as they walked in silence. She had been walking in the shadows that fell across a wide path in a forested area, near a stream, but not the open water. She, too, remembered a flash; it had blinded her. And then… nothing.
“Are you not cold, Amal?” she asked, glancing back at him. He was incredibly bare for a human in these conditions; perhaps his bulk helped ward off the cold, but usually they all bundled up regardless. Her eyes flitted across the scars on his chest before she turned back to lead the way again. Scars in the Underdark brought mixed feelings to many, a sign that you weren’t fast enough, but you had survived.