I Read What?!

So last time, we had more Drizzt pontification. But thankfully, we're back at the story proper.



Anyway, we rejoin Drizzt and Belwar. They're doing some shenanigans, by the look of it: setting up a fake camp with the hope of keeping Malice's attention away from Blingdenstone.

That seems reasonable. Honestly, I'm not sure why no one thought of doing this before making Drizzt leave to begin with. But I like the svirnebli, so I'm not going to judge them badly for not thinking about it.

Drizzt also hopes that it might convince his family that he is still in the region and intends to remain. Apparently, he does not, though by his question to Belwar, he hasn't really decided on a destination. To Belwar, any direction is as good as another: he doesn't know of any cities or settlements closeby.

Drizzt decides to go west. And I'm finding myself wondering how they determine direction underground. Magic maybe? Or some kind of drow or svirnebli racial ability? Seems more useful than a globe of darkness, all things considered.

Or faerie fire. Have we ever seen Drizzt even use faerie fire?

Oh, I spoke too soon. Hilariously, the very next paragraph explains it:

“A wise course, it would seem,” agreed the burrow-warden. Belwar closed his eyes and attuned his thoughts to the emanations of the stone. Like many Underdark races, deep gnomes possessed the ability to recognize magnetic variations in the rock, an ability that allowed them to judge direction as accurately as a surface dweller might follow the sun’s trail. A moment later, Belwar nodded and pointed down the appropriate tunnel.

The perils of writing these reviews in real time. I considered deleting it, but I'll leave it up instead. Well played, Salvatore.

So Belwar's decided that now is a good time to gently prod Drizzt for some answers. He notes that when Drizzt had learned that he was the reason for the drow activity, he seemed a bit "weak in the knees". Belwar asks if they're that bad.

Drizzt doesn't answer right away, though he chuckles, showing he's not offended by the question. And hey, apparently King Schnicktick isn't all bad: he's sent a gift:

“Hold,” said Belwar. He reached into his pouch and produced a small coffer. “A gift from King Schnicktick,” he explained as he lifted the lid and removed a glowing brooch, its quiet illumination bathing the area around them.

Drizzt stared at the burrow-warden in disbelief. “It will mark you as a fine target,” the drow remarked.

Belwar corrected him. “It will mark us as fine targets,” he said with a sly snort. “But fear not, dark elf, the light will keep more enemies at bay than it will bring. I am not so fond of tripping on crags and chips in the floor!”

Aw. I knew that dude was okay at heart. Though I'm surprised the light's not blinding them entirely. Drizzt isn't really a fan of it at all, which is understandable. But I see the logic that a lot of underdark creatures won't be a fan as well, and I guess since we're dealing with tunnels, we don't necessarily have to worry about the light giving them away at a distance.

We don't actually hear the tales that Drizzt tells Belwar about his family, but given that Dinin chopped off Belwar's hands, and Dinin is, to be honest, one of the nicer/more morally gray family members, I'm sure Drizzt can tell a lot. They don't use the brooch all the time. Sometimes stealth is better, sometimes warding things off is better. Guen helps guard.

We're told they travel for a "tenday". They're still in tunnels that Belwar knows. Apparently Belwar has a lot of stories that generally run in the same direction (gnomes mine stone), Drizzt enjoys the stories anyway. He shares his own stories: from the Academy, and his stories about Zaknafein and the gym. He even shows Belwar the double thrust and parry of deep metaphorical symbolism. He demonstrates the drow hand code to Belwar, and even contemplates teaching him.

Belwar has a hammer and pickaxe for hands, if you recall. (I actually didn't. For some reason, I thought he had actual mechanical hands. But maybe he has replacements, or I just misremembered.) Belwar appreciates the offer anyway.

Still, it might be useful for Belwar to understand the code. If Drizzt does need to communicate silently, or if they do run afoul of another drow group.

Anyway, Belwar and Guen have become friends too. Apparently Guen likes to lay on Belwar while he sleeps. And actually, that sounds really cozy. Also heavy, as Guen is apparently six hundred pounds. Belwar doesn't mind, though he pretends like he does. Then again, he uses rocks as pillows.

It's very cute. Cats.

So then we transition into a notable event. Drizzt sees a red glow in the distance and urges Belwar to put out the light. Guen is on the astral plane at the moment. There's really no alternative route, so Belwar decides boldly that they should just see what it is.

And so they do: it's something called Baruchies. "Crimson spitters" - some kind of glowing red moss that gives off a choking spore. Belwar is surprised that Drizzt never encountered it before. Drizzt spots a path through it, per Belwar, that's normal. A big caterpillar, called a grubber, likes to eat baruchies, and makes the path.

My brain, being what it is, is now stuck on Belwar using a caterpillar as a comparison. Are there caterpillars underground? Is it reasonable for Drizzt to know what a caterpillar is? Google tells me that some caterpillars do burrow. So...maybe?

I find this ecosystem curious.

So they get to see a grubber:

“Quite a sight!” he heard Belwar call, and he couldn’t deny the truth of the deep gnome’s words when the grubber made its appearance. It was huge—bigger than the basilisk Drizzt had killed—and looked like a gigantic pale gray worm, except for the multitude of little feet pumping along beside its massive torso. Drizzt saw that Belwar had not lied, for the thing had no mouth to speak of, and no talons or other apparent weapons. But the giant was coming straight at Drizzt with a vengeance now, and Drizzt couldn’t get the image of a flattened dark elf, stretched from one end of the cavern to the other, out of his mind. He reached for his scimitars, then realized the absurdity of that plan. Where would he hit the thing to slow it? Throwing his hands helplessly out wide, Drizzt spun on his heel and fled after the departing burrow-warden.

Up close and personal! Drizzt does manage to escape the thing eventually. Apparently while grubbers are peaceful, they're not inclined to share their spore-moss, and it saw Drizzt as a rival. This is Belwar's revenge for being used as a cat napping place. Drizzt takes the prank with good humor, appreciating how much more fun and interesting the Underdark is when he has company.

And there's a way out. Sort of: a tunnel between some seven feet of stone. And apparently Belwar has a few more interesting tricks, as he uses some weird deep gnome magic to make his hands "hum" - then starts digging through the rocks. Belwar gloats a bit: his people wouldn't go through all the trouble of crafting him such fine hands without making them magically swanky!

So they resume the journey, all lucky and fun.

Until, we get the ominous transition telling us that , a few days later, their luck changes.

So this segment starts with the discovery of a green glow. Neither feel easy about that, so Guen is summoned. Drizzt leads the way toward it, and Belwar follows.

And just to tug at the sentimentality:

“Be careful,” Belwar said. Drizzt only smiled in reply, touched at the sincerity in his friend’s voice and thinking again how much better it was to have a companion by his side. Then Drizzt dismissed his thoughts and moved away, letting his instincts and experience guide him.

Aw.

Anyway, the light is coming from a chamber below. Belwar doesn't know what could cause it. So they go to find out. Some more swanky underdark scenery is shown to us:

They came into a wide and high chamber, its ceiling far beyond their sight and a lake of green-glowing foul-smelling liquid bubbling and hissing twenty feet below them. Dozens of interconnected narrow stone walkways, varying from one to ten feet wide, crisscrossed the gorge, most ending at exits leading into more side corridors.

Ewww. A place filled with acid and walk ways. I feel like this would be a very useful place for a suspenseful final battle at some point in the future. Belwar theorizes that it's wizard's work: that much acid in one place isn't natural.

They cautiously travel: Guen leads the way, because she's heaviest and can spring away if things go wrong. Belwar, cutely, is worried about what would happen if she falls in. Drizzt isn't sure, but reasons she ought to be able to escape to her own plane and be okay.

They meet something new:

A weird-looking creature stepped out from one of the numerous side passages. It was bipedal and black skinned, with a beaked bird’s head and the torso of a man, featherless and wingless. Both of its powerful-looking arms ended in hooked, wicked claws, and its legs ended in three-toed feet. Another creature stepped out from behind it, and another from behind them.

It apparently looks something like a weird cross between dark elf and bird. The narrative suddenly turns into a monster manual:

“Hardly,” Drizzt replied. “In all of my life, I have never heard of such creatures.”

“Doom! Doom!” came the continuing chant, and the friends looked around to see more of the bird-men stepping out from other passages. They were dire corbies, an ancient race more common to the southern reaches of the Underdark—though rare even there—and almost unknown in this part of the world. Corbies had never been of much concern to any of the Underdark races, for the bird-men’s methods were crude and their numbers were small. To a passing band of adventurers, however, a flock of savage dire corbies meant trouble indeed.

“Nor have I ever encountered such creatures,” Belwar agreed. “But I do not believe that they are pleased to see us.”

So...if neither Drizzt or Belwar have encountered these things, how do we know they're dire corbies?

It's pretty obviously going to be a fight. Belwar enchants his hands, while Drizzt leads them further - hoping to get as close to an exit as possible before they fight. And woo, fight scene!

I'm not recapping the whole fight scene, of course. But Guen gets to play cat vs. bird for a bit. So how do underground giant birds work? I'm assuming they can't fly...but I digress, sorry. Drizzt plays defensive, "refusing to loose the killer within him", oh brother.

Belwar, since he's not a moody git, is just zapping the shit out of birds with his hammer hand. He notices Drizzt's internal struggle and plays the time honored friend-of-Drizzt role of yanking his head out of his ass, verbally speaking;

“Magga cammara!” Belwar screamed. “Fight them, dark elf, and fight to win! They will show no mercy! There can be no truce! Kill them—cut them down—or surely they shall kill you!”

Drizzt hardly heard Belwar’s words. Tears rimmed his lavender eyes, though even in that blur, the almost magical rhythm of his weaving blades did not slow. He caught his opponent off balance and reversed the motion of a thrust, slamming the bird-man in the head with the pommel of his scimitar. The corby dropped like a stone and rolled. It would have fallen from the ledge, but Drizzt stepped across it and held it in place.

Oh brother.

Anyway, there's still fighting. At some point, the corbies get Guen into a trap and she falls toward the acid...

Hearing the elated shouts of the bird-men behind him, Belwar spun about just in time to see Guenhwyvar’s fall. Drizzt, too engaged at the time—for another corby flailed away at him and the one he had dropped was stirring back to consciousness between his feet—did not see. But the drow did not have to see. The figurine in Drizzt’s pocket heated suddenly, wisps of smoke rising ominously from Drizzt’s piwafwi cloak. Drizzt could guess easily enough what had happened to his dear Guenhwyvar. The drow’s eyes narrowed, their sudden fire melting away his tears. He welcomed the hunter.

Corbies fought with fury. The highest honor of their existence was to die in battle. And those closest to Drizzt Do’Urden soon realized that the moment of their highest honor was upon them.

...their highest honor. Oh brother.

You know what was great about Homeland? There wasn't that much of this nonsense.

So now Drizzt's gone to his angry murder place, and the corbies aren't lasting long. Drizzt very nearly gets trapped the same way that Guen did (a suicidal corby and a giant rock from above)...

Belwar believed that Drizzt’s life had come to a crashing end.

But the hunter sensed the peril.

A corby reached for Drizzt. With a flash of the drow’s scimitars, both its arms flew free of their respective shoulders. In the same dazzling movement, Drizzt snapped his bloodied scimitars into their sheaths and bolted for the edge of the platform. He reached the lip and leaped out toward Belwar just as the suicidal boulder-riding corby crashed down, taking the platform and a score of its kin with it into the acid pool.

Drizzt's too cool for that.

There is a moment of genuine suspense though when the onyx figurine falls out of Drizzt's torn cloak and almost lands in acid, but Drizzt catches it with his feet. Things look dark: there's a shit ton of advancing corbies yet. But Drizzt has a plan:

“Swing me!” Drizzt growled so powerfully that Belwar obeyed before he even realized what he was doing.

Drizzt rolled out and came swinging back toward the walkway, and when he bounced into the stone, every muscle in his body jerked violently to aid his momentum.

Through the power of narrative badassery, Drizzt ends up carving a path to the nearest exit and they make it, the chapter ending with frustrating shrieks of "Doom! Doom!" fading behind them.

I think that was the first big fight scene in the book. At least the first one where we were supposed to believe there was real danger (as opposed to poor hapless Briza and Dinin). I mocked it, but mostly out of affection. It wasn't too bad.

It's both good and aggravating to see that Drizzt is reclaiming his purple prose. Or maybe, since this is a prequel, we're watching him develop it in the first place. I anticipate much eye-rolling in the future.