Mizzil

Once in Menzoberranzan there was a woman with three living sons and no daughters. This, of course, made her very unhappy, far more so than usual, for she had once vowed to send a daughter to take her place as a priestess. If she could not do so, she feared that Lloth would be angry with her.

Up came her eldest son, and said, "Mother, disguise me as a woman and I will go to Arach-Tinilith to be a priestess."

She was very much afraid at this, that he would be found out, and so she tested him. He dressed as a woman, but when she asked him a question as he left the house he forgot to disguise his voice, and so she would not let him go.

Her second son came to her and said, "Mother, disguise me as a woman and I will go to Arach-Tinilith to be a priestess and take your place."

She would not help him, but let him disguise himself, but when he tried to dress as a woman he could not pass, and so she would not let him go.

Her third son, a boy known as Mizzil, came to her and said, "Mother, I will take your place, if I can."

"How can you succeed where your brothers failed?" she asked of him, but let him try.

Mizzil, in secret, purchased a certain enchanted leather belt and put it on, transforming him entirely into a woman. His mother then sent him off, quite happily.

In Arach-Tinilith, he adapted swiftly to the new way of things, and became a successful priestess-in-training. However, a rival, investigating Mizzil's past, discovered a rumour that his mother had borne no daughters.

"How can we prove it?" she asked of an ally.

"We can set the spiders loose. We will know if Mizzil is male by that."

They therefore loosed a number of tamed spiders amongst the group. Mizzil, however, saw the look in their eyes, and thus knew to be careful, not flinching from the spiders and treating them instead with respect.

"We still need to prove it," his rival insisted later.

Her ally suggested, "We will take Mizzil with us to choose priestess garb."

They took Mizzil with them, but Mizzil again saw the look in their eyes. Thus, he put on the clothes of a priestess, showing no discomfort about the body they revealed.

"There must be a way!" His rival was furious by now.

"A surprise attack, and see which weapons are chosen," her ally decided.

And so they staged an ambush by suitably manipulated males, and watched Mizzil closely. Again, they were thwarted, as Mizzil reached swiftly for the whip of fangs rather than a sword.

With this, Mizzil's rival seethed, but decided to bide her time.

At their graduation, however, there was one final test, and under the touch of a yochlol, a Handmaiden of Lloth, Mizzil's mind was read and his secret revealed.

For his blasphemy, he was transformed into a drider, his family were executed, and all was well once again in Menzoberranzan, without a male straying from his ordained place.

A/N: A little jarring? Maybe. But this is a drow tale, with drow social and religious mores. Story is an adaptation of the many tales of a young woman dressing as a man to serve her father's place when he's called to return to a ruler's service. You might recall it from Mulan, but the particular Western version touched upon here is known as 'Mizilca.'
And, as a bonus to anybody who's been patient enough to reach this point, I present an alternate ending to the tale, as it might look in secretly altered versions of the book, or from less fanatical drow locations... or more heretical.

With this, Mizzil's rival seethed, but decided to buy her time.

Her triumph was not to be, however, as Mizzil had so deeply transformed that he fooled all around him. In his new form, he became a strong priestess, and served in his mother's place for a great many years.