Sometimes the best technology is magic...when that happens it is best to travel to worlds where such things are commonplace and incidentally...cheap. Often you deal with some the most unusual life forms...like Medusai and of course...Elves.
On a side note all elves somehow instinctively know that Obsidian is not a true elf, except Celestial elves suggesting they also may not be true elves. When encountering elves of an species other than Celestial Obsidian is at best treated with discourtesy and at worst, hostility. He has not yet figured out why other elves don't like him. Sadly he probably never will.