I Read What?!

So we've made it to another section, which means yet another journal entry to disrupt the flow.

Actually, this one isn't too bad. We're not in the middle of a pretty traumatic murder-revenge storyline, so there's less of a perceived disruption of momentum.

And it does make some sense that the recent events might turn Drizzt introspective...which is why it's annoying that the journal entries seem to be written quite a ways into the future.



So this is a page only. But I live for the excuse to be lazy. We start with Drizzt musing over Lloth and religion. Perhaps understandable, after his experiences with Lolth/Lloth, he was pretty cautious to embrace the idea of a different god.

This is actually interesting:

After witnessing the carnage of Lloth’s workings, I was not so quick to embrace the concept of any god, of any being that could so dictate, codes of behavior and precepts of an entire society. Is morality not an internal force, and if it is, are principles then to be dictated or felt?

So follows the question of the gods themselves: Are these named entities, in truth, actual beings, or are they manifestations of shared beliefs? Are the dark elves evil because they follow the precepts of the Spider Queen, or is Lloth a culmination of the drow’s natural evil conduct?

We know Lolth exists in this universe, but these are interesting questions. Later setting developments add some interesting perspective too. Especially when we read the stories of the initial fall of the drow. Arvandoor vs. the Ilythiiri was very much a two sided conflict. And the eventual-drow were not measurably worse than the gold elves who persecuted them, except that they ended up turning to someone more evil than Corellon Larethian for help.

Of course, then there's the question: is Lolth more evil than Corellon? She planned to betray him for power, sure. But he's the one who damned an entire race, many of whom were not guilty of her treason, to the Underdark. He's the one who basically made sure this entire race had no one else to turn to. (I mean, okay, Vhaerun and Eilistraee went too, but they don't have the power for direct confrontation.)

Drizzt is good. Zaknafein was good, or at least good leaning neutral. Jarlaxle is a bit more borderline. One of the best evil villains in Forgotten Realms is Sun Elf Kymil Nimeson. There is an element of societal morality, but individual morality ALSO counts.

But then we have characters like Vierna or Dinin. They lack Drizzt or Zak's innate goodness. But they also seem to lack some of the more cartoonish evil tendencies of the others. Maybe in another society, Evereska or Silverymoon or even Waterdeep, they could have had a different path. Maybe.

Hey, look, Drizzt. I can navel gaze in writing too.

So Drizzt isn't sure about gods and their reality. Which means that, soon, we might see that come into question. Lolth isn't the deity for Drizzt. I'm not sure Vhaerun or Eilistraee have been invented yet. So where does he go...we'll find out, of course.