yeah i do see the disparity of this situation with what haitham says! i would love to get clarity on the situation in-game, but desert people not being afforded the same privileges does sadly track with what we know... if kaveh thought about the suffering of desert children it would 100% make sense for him to be all the more willing to help.

for what it's worth i'd like to clarify that i am not as stubborn about believing NO ONE IN SUMERU SUFFERS EVER as my one tweet may have suggested & am certainly interested in learning further details about both the keychain story and the state of sumeru's healthcare! but i am very trusting of alhaitham's knowledge because he's had yet to lead us astray, so for him to state a fact about his own country's policies + be wrong about it, implying ignorance, seems inconsistent with his character and role. of course, the fact that sumeru offers free healthcare does not mean it's a well-managed system or that the vulnerable sector would even take what is given (we see this in real life all the time) so it's possible for him to be technically correct but also for kaveh to still seek alternative ways to help, and kaveh would not be wrong for that! but hmm, perhaps my dissatisfaction then lies with the way alhaitham simplifies such a complex issue when you'd assume him to be intelligent enough to address the nuances. perhaps his logical (and inherently privileged) brain does not understand why those in need would not seek help from official channels rather than seedy merchants?

there's definitely a lot to debate about, as this issue clearly proves, and i do wish to keep an open mind for further information when kaveh is released!