I'll take the bottle. [ A nod in return, quick and decisive. ] The others are easy enough to find, but thank you. I'm really only after items that are somewhat harder to find. Anything rare or very unusual.

Also, this incense--do you have sticks only or cones as well?

[ She's something of an incense aficionado, though she isn't weird about it like some people he's met in the past. ]

I use incense for aromatherapy in my medical practice, so I like to keep an assortment on hand.

[ So she begins to delicately inhale the various aromas, picking out ones she likes. Her brow arches at the medicine seller's secretive grin, but doesn't find him unsettling compared to some of the people she's dealt with in her line of work.

Meeting his eyes, Lingsha returns the smile and nods. ]

Oh? What does that help entail? And how much does it cost?

Well, now I'm curious. I can certainly make it worth your while, either with cash or even, perhaps, an exchange. I have an extensive collection medicinal compounds and tools, many of which I've formulated myself.

[ She lowers her voice conspiratorially. ]

Even the blood of a red dragon purported to grant immortality, but that one is by far the most precious elixir I possess.

Nor would I trade it lightly.

[ Because she's the red dragon. It's her blood. She's hundreds of years old, though not actually immortal by any means. ]

No obstacle? Interesting. I'd like to know how you manage that but I assume it's a trade secret. I really don't have anything particular in mind. Although...

[ She hums and taps her chin. ]

The preceptors would hate me for meddling, but I don't suppose you've come across any drugs that can reverse infertility?

Rest assured, I won't be disappointed if this case is beyond your ability to cure. Even some of our greatest healers haven't managed to cure it.

[ In other words, it really would be a miracle if he had something in his box that could cure this particular ailment. ]

It doesn't only pertain to me, you see, but to my entire species. The Vidyadhara gave up our ability to reproduce thousands of years ago in favor of an endless cycle of rebirth, but in the end all that means is that our numbers are doomed to dwindle until we're nothing more than a memory in the cosmos. There have been a few of us who have sought ought a means to revert us to a state where we're able to reproduce naturally, but their efforts haven't born any fruit, as it were.

[ It's a huge ask, and she knows that. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask, does it? The worst outcome is that he doesn't know. ]

I suppose what I'm most interested in is any insight you might have.

If you mean trading the natural cycles of reproduction for our hatching rebirths, it was so long ago now that there are no records left detailing the exact means of the transition. That's part of the problem: how does one undo such a change when we no longer know how it was initiated? Beyond that, the preceptors would sooner kill any who try to restore the cycle than lose their power. They are our governing body, you see--the ones who raise and teach the hatchlings.

[ She's very certain that they had a hand in the downfall of the last elder who tried to change the status quo. ]

They might be content to let our species fade into obscurity, but not all of us are.