I Read What?!

So last time, Wulfgar got separated from the group and fought a Hydra. Drizzt also got separated and fought Artemis Entreri. The latter ran off though.



We're back with Wulfgar, whose hurting a lot worse than he'd let on. In fact, he's busy clutching a wound in his arm, "hoping to stem the flow of his lifeblood." That sounds pretty fucking bad.

He's feeling alone. But he's also thinking he was right to send his friends away, since they couldn't have helped him. He can at least still move his arm, though.

-

We switch to Drizzt, who I care considerably less about right now. Sorry, Drizzt. He's chasing Entreri. Both are, of course, experts at moving silently. Drizzt is also getting to narratively monologue:

But Drizzt felt confident in the turns he took, as if he were being led along by the same reasoning that guided Entreri. He felt the assassin's presence, knew the man better than he cared to admit, and Entreri could no more escape him than he could Entreri. Their battle had begun in Mithril Hall months before - or perhaps theirs was only the present embodiment in the continuation of a greater struggle that was spawned at the dawn of time - but, for Drizzt and Entreri, two pawns in the timeless struggle of principles, this chapter of the war could not end until one claimed victory.

Okay then.

Entreri gets the jump on Drizzt. This time, he's not taunting. Instead, he's quick and vicious, trying to use the surprise advantage to finish his opponent. Drizzt recovers quickly though. But Artemis has another trick: he spits sewer water in Drizzt's "lavender eyes".

--

To Bruenor and Catti-brie now. They've caught sight of the combatants just as Entreri "played his wicked card". Sadly, they're relegated to useless observers, of course:

"Drizzt!" Catti-brie shouted, knowing that she couldn't get to him, even get her bow up, in time to stop Entreri.

Bruenor growled and bolted forward with only one thought on his mind: If Entreri killed Drizzt, he would cut the dog in half!

Maybe you'll get to be useful next time.

--

It looks like Entreri will win, but:

At that horrible moment, Drizzt could not disagree with the observation, but the drow's next move came more on instinct than on any calculations, and with agility that surprised even Drizzt. In the instant of a single, tiny hop, Drizzt snapped one foot behind Entreri's ankle and tucked the other under him against the wall. He pushed away and twisted as he went. On the slick floor, Entreri had no chance to dodge the trip, and he toppled backward into the murky stream, Drizzt splashing down on top of him.

Drizzt gets Entreri in the eye with the crosspiece of his scimitar. Advantage Drizzt now. Entreri gets to be the desperate one, and he acts by punching out - slamming Drizzt's face with the butt of his weapon, and splattering his nose onto his cheek. That sounds unpleasant. But Drizzt is a pretty dude, so I'm sure he'll recover.

This is when Bruenor and Catti-brie arrive. She's got him in his sights, but...

"Hold!" Drizzt growled in a tone that froze Bruenor in his tracks and sent a shiver through Catti-brie's spine. They both gawked, open-mouthed, at Drizzt.

"He is mine!" the drow told them.

Seriously dude? Have you forgotten that you've got a friend in danger that you're trying to rescue? Catti-brie shooting Entreri would solve a lot of fucking problems right now. Entreri uses this chance to get away. Drizzt pulls on his stupid mask and follows.

--

Back with Wulfgar, who by the way? Is totally a better man than Drizzt, to wit:

The realization that his delay might bring danger to his friends - for they had gone rushing off to search for some way to meet him back on the street - spurred Wulfgar to action. He clasped Aegis-fang tightly in the hand of his wounded arm, forcing the injured muscles to respond to his commands.

What's that? Consideration?

Anyway, Wulfgar thinks about Drizzt, and draws inspiration from his ability to completely sublimate fear and replace it with pointed fury.

WHAT? Dude, fuck off with that. The rage empowering thing has ALWAYS been a barbarian trait in D&D. Wulfgar didn't learn it from a fucking drow ranger.

Anyway, he pulls himself together and runs off, ready to fight. And soon finds himself to an octagonal shaped guardroom where he gets to beat the shit out of a bunch of guards. One, a puny rogue tries some shenanigans by locking the door and throwing away the key, only to find himself picked up and thrown THROUGH the door. Wulfgar isn't playing around.

He continues invading, until he smells wererats.

--

Back to Entreri, who was waiting for Drizzt as he came up the grate. But Drizzt, of course, was running up with his hands free and had his scimitars already crossed over his head when he came up. Then they fight in the street.

It's a fun fight. Entreri's at a disadvantage though, with both left arm and left eye useless. But then Drizzt's mask falls off:

"Caught in a lie?" he whispered wickedly.

Drizzt understood.

"A drow!" Entreri shrieked to the multitude of people he knew to be watching the battle from nearby shadows. "From the Forest of Mir! A scout, a prelude to an army! A drow!"

Oops. Entreri gets away as a very anxious mob starts closing in on Drizzt. Fortunately, Bruenor and Catti-brie get up in time to ward them off. And really:

"Back away!" the dwarf grumbled. "Suren there be no evil here, except for the one ye fools just let get away!"

One man approached boldly, his spear leading the way.

A silver explosion caught the weapon's shaft, severing its tip. Horrified, the man dropped the broken spear and looked to the side, to where Catti-brie had already notched another arrow.

"Get away," she growled at him. "Leave the elf in peace, or me next shot won't be lookin' for yer weapon!"

The man backed away, and the crowd seemed to lose its heart for the fight as quickly as it had found it. None of them ever really wanted to tangle with a drow elf anyway, and they were more than happy now to believe the dwarf's words, that this one wasn't evil.

...well, that resolves the problem nicely and anticlimactically. It's almost like Drizzt maybe never needed to rob that poor Banshee at all?

Then they hear some commotion down the lane. Wulfgar! Drizzt is torn between chasing Entreri and helping. Catti-brie reminds him of his priorities:

"Yer friends need ye," Catti-brie reminded him. "If not for Regis, then for Wulfgar."

Drizzt shook his head in self-reproach. How could he even have considered abandoning his friends at that critical moment? He rushed past Catti-brie, chasing Bruenor down the road.

...poor Regis.

Anyway, we shift scenes to LaValle. He's gone to get some magic device called the Taros Hoop. He thinks it's incredibly dangerous. Pook, not being a wizard, just thinks of it like a toy. LaValle tosses Guen's figurine to Pook, who pockets it to deal with later. Apparently, the Hoop is designed to allow one to breach the astral plane. And indeed, LaValle has found their quarry:

LaValle spoke a command word, and the hoop focused in on a bright, well-lit grayness, a scene in the Astral Plane. There sat Regis, leaning comfortably against the limned image of a tree, a starlight sketch of an oak, with his hands tucked behind his head and his feet crossed out in front of him.

Okay, so Regis is fine. But his friends don't know that, and I feel like Drizzt at least should care more.

They're interrupted by Rassiter, who announces the fighting below. But Pook is preoccupied and orders LaValle to get Regis. He does, grabbing Regis by the hair and yanking him back through the portal. Oh well.

The chapter ends with this renewed peril.