Homeland - Chapter Eleven
Nov. 8th, 2021 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, Drizzt got subjected to a very nasty "test" by his horrible family, and Zaknafein proved that he is his son's father by angsting about his future.
So we start the chapter with Zaknafein and some dramatic monologuing about weapons:
Zak slid one of his swords from its scabbard and admired the weapon’s wondrous detail. This sword, as with most of the drow weapons, had been forged by the gray dwarves, then traded to Menzoberranzan. The duergar workmanship was exquisite, but it was the work done on the weapon after the dark elves had acquired it that made it so very special. None of the races of the surface or Underdark could outdo the dark elves in the art of enchanting weapons. Imbued with the strange emanations of the Underdark, the magical power unique to the lightless world, and blessed by the unholy clerics of Lolth, no blade ever sat in a wielder’s hand more ready to kill.
Other races, mostly dwarves and surface elves, also took pride in their crafted weapons. Fine swords and mighty hammers hung over mantles as showpieces, always with a bard nearby to spout the accompanying legend that most often began, “In the days of yore …”
Drow weapons were different, never showpieces. They were locked in the necessities of the present, never in reminiscences, and their purpose remained unchanged for as long as they held an edge fine enough for battle—fine enough to kill.
Drow are cool, y'all.
Anyway, Zak goes off to watch Drizzt practice. His narration waxes eloquently about Drizzt's "uncanny precision" and the way the scimitars flow in his hands, "[i]nterweaving with uncanny precision, each blade seemed to anticipate the other’s moves and whirred about in perfect complement."
Zak thinks that Drizzt may soon become a master beyond Zak, but dramatically whispers the question of whether Drizzt has the heart of a drow warrior. He hopes not, but worries either way that Drizzt is doomed.
Drizzt greets him with a smile, and Zak continues to angst:
Zak paused to take note of Drizzt’s smile. A facade? Or had the young drow really forgiven himself for his actions against Maya’s champion. It did not matter, Zak reminded himself. Even if Drizzt had recovered from his mother’s torments, the Academy would destroy him. The weapons master said nothing; he just came on in a flurry of cuts and stabs that put Drizzt immediately on the defensive. Drizzt took it in stride, not yet realizing that this final encounter with his mentor was much more than their customary sparring.
Drizzt proclaims that he'll make Zak proud, which makes Zak scowl. He calls Drizzt a dancer and attacks.
Zak monologues while doing so, asking Drizzt if he knows the emotions of murder and if he's reconciled himself to the act he's committed. He gets more and more intense about it and jeez:
“Ah, the pleasure of plunging your sword into the bosom of a high priestess,” Zak taunted. “To see the light of warmth leave her body while her lips utter silent curses in your face! Or have you ever heard the screams of dying children?”
Drizzt let up his attack, but Zak would not allow a break. The weapons master came back on the offensive, each thrust aimed for a vital area.
“How loud, those screams,” Zak continued. “They echo over the centuries in your mind; they chase you down the paths of your entire life.”
Someone needs to get this dude therapy.
Anyway, Zak continues to monologue and seems actually to be trying to goad Drizzt into killing him. Drizzt is indeed getting the upper hand, when Zak uses some device thing to blast light in Drizzt's face. Drizzt recovers quickly though. He accuses Zak:
“Treachery,” Drizzt growled again. “Do you so hate to lose?”
“Do you not understand?” Zak yelled back at him. “To lose is to die! You may win a thousand fights, but you can only lose one!” He put his sword in line with Drizzt’s throat. It would be a single clean blow. He knew that he should do it, mercifully, before the masters of the Academy got hold of his charge.
Zak sent his sword spinning across the room, and he reached out with his empty hands, grabbed Drizzt by the front of his shirt, and hoisted him to his feet.
As good as this book has been, Salvatore trips up a little here. Drizzt has been raised in drow culture, and while it's implied that Vierna was a little soft on him, and Zak has been trying to instill non-drow values, he's ALSO spent his adolescence serving his mother. Why on Toril would "treachery" be surprising? He sees it every day.
Anyway, Zak explains the light is a trick of the clerics. He seems to be attempting to placate Drizzt now. Drizzt is still pretty pissed off. He also has a good question:
“It is your way,” snarled Drizzt. “You grin when you speak of murdering clerics of the Spider Queen. Do you so enjoy killing? Killing drow?”
Zak could not find an answer to the accusing question. Drizzt’s words hurt him profoundly because they rang of truth, and because Zak had come to view his penchant for killing clerics of Lolth as a cowardly response to his own unanswerable frustrations.
I kind of like that bit. It's not just that Zak is raising Drizzt as best as he can, but Drizzt is changing him too.
It's like the parry a few chapters ago. Zak has been using it for a long time, coping with Menzoberranzan the best he can, but it's a losing game. Zak is hard pressed to stay sane, let alone make any real positive headway into anything. Drizzt wants more than that.
But right now, he's mad at Zak for trying to kill him. Zak explains basically that he's trying to show Drizzt what their people are. And he admits his fear: that either Drizzt will get murdered by drow assholes or become one. Either way, Zak will lose him.
The next morning, Dinin comes for Drizzt. Drizzt has been keeping an eye out to see if Zak would attack again or say farewell, but he's pretty sure Zak won't do either. He's processing. He thinks of Zak as a friend, that they had a deep bond, and he doesn't understand any of this.
Drizzt, your dad spent his life in a horrible society filled with institutionalized and personal abuse. I think it's fair to say he probably didn't have a Zak of his own, or even a Vierna, and thus he's learned imperfectly the lessons he's tried to teach you.
Dinin gets his own moment with Drizzt, as the latter looks out the balcony at Menzoberranzan and asks "what is this"? I hope he's speaking metaphorically, because we know the kid went outside. He watched an execution.
Dinin unknowingly echoes Zak:
“This is the world,” Dinin replied, though Drizzt’s question had been rhetorical. “Do not worry, Secondboy,” he laughed, moving up onto the railing. “You will learn of Menzoberranzan in the Academy. You will learn who you are and who your people are.”
In a way, this reminds me a bit of the old She-Ra series from the eighties, when Adora is aghast to learn her adoptive family (who rule over a place called "the Fright Zone") are evil. But more annoying because at least they were intentionally tricking Adora, where no one's trying to pretend to be nice toward Drizzt.
The chapter ends with a glimpse at Anton De'Vir. He's watching the brothers and thinking about the old days with his family. We learn a little more about what pissed Lolth off. Ginafae had wanted a member of a drow party dead, and used deep gnomes to do it. The deep gnomes are the drow's worst enemy in the underdark, so Lolth took offense.
Alton is now watching Drizzt and Dinin and is thinking about how his hatred hasn't dissipated in twenty years.
So we start the chapter with Zaknafein and some dramatic monologuing about weapons:
Zak slid one of his swords from its scabbard and admired the weapon’s wondrous detail. This sword, as with most of the drow weapons, had been forged by the gray dwarves, then traded to Menzoberranzan. The duergar workmanship was exquisite, but it was the work done on the weapon after the dark elves had acquired it that made it so very special. None of the races of the surface or Underdark could outdo the dark elves in the art of enchanting weapons. Imbued with the strange emanations of the Underdark, the magical power unique to the lightless world, and blessed by the unholy clerics of Lolth, no blade ever sat in a wielder’s hand more ready to kill.
Other races, mostly dwarves and surface elves, also took pride in their crafted weapons. Fine swords and mighty hammers hung over mantles as showpieces, always with a bard nearby to spout the accompanying legend that most often began, “In the days of yore …”
Drow weapons were different, never showpieces. They were locked in the necessities of the present, never in reminiscences, and their purpose remained unchanged for as long as they held an edge fine enough for battle—fine enough to kill.
Drow are cool, y'all.
Anyway, Zak goes off to watch Drizzt practice. His narration waxes eloquently about Drizzt's "uncanny precision" and the way the scimitars flow in his hands, "[i]nterweaving with uncanny precision, each blade seemed to anticipate the other’s moves and whirred about in perfect complement."
Zak thinks that Drizzt may soon become a master beyond Zak, but dramatically whispers the question of whether Drizzt has the heart of a drow warrior. He hopes not, but worries either way that Drizzt is doomed.
Drizzt greets him with a smile, and Zak continues to angst:
Zak paused to take note of Drizzt’s smile. A facade? Or had the young drow really forgiven himself for his actions against Maya’s champion. It did not matter, Zak reminded himself. Even if Drizzt had recovered from his mother’s torments, the Academy would destroy him. The weapons master said nothing; he just came on in a flurry of cuts and stabs that put Drizzt immediately on the defensive. Drizzt took it in stride, not yet realizing that this final encounter with his mentor was much more than their customary sparring.
Drizzt proclaims that he'll make Zak proud, which makes Zak scowl. He calls Drizzt a dancer and attacks.
Zak monologues while doing so, asking Drizzt if he knows the emotions of murder and if he's reconciled himself to the act he's committed. He gets more and more intense about it and jeez:
“Ah, the pleasure of plunging your sword into the bosom of a high priestess,” Zak taunted. “To see the light of warmth leave her body while her lips utter silent curses in your face! Or have you ever heard the screams of dying children?”
Drizzt let up his attack, but Zak would not allow a break. The weapons master came back on the offensive, each thrust aimed for a vital area.
“How loud, those screams,” Zak continued. “They echo over the centuries in your mind; they chase you down the paths of your entire life.”
Someone needs to get this dude therapy.
Anyway, Zak continues to monologue and seems actually to be trying to goad Drizzt into killing him. Drizzt is indeed getting the upper hand, when Zak uses some device thing to blast light in Drizzt's face. Drizzt recovers quickly though. He accuses Zak:
“Treachery,” Drizzt growled again. “Do you so hate to lose?”
“Do you not understand?” Zak yelled back at him. “To lose is to die! You may win a thousand fights, but you can only lose one!” He put his sword in line with Drizzt’s throat. It would be a single clean blow. He knew that he should do it, mercifully, before the masters of the Academy got hold of his charge.
Zak sent his sword spinning across the room, and he reached out with his empty hands, grabbed Drizzt by the front of his shirt, and hoisted him to his feet.
As good as this book has been, Salvatore trips up a little here. Drizzt has been raised in drow culture, and while it's implied that Vierna was a little soft on him, and Zak has been trying to instill non-drow values, he's ALSO spent his adolescence serving his mother. Why on Toril would "treachery" be surprising? He sees it every day.
Anyway, Zak explains the light is a trick of the clerics. He seems to be attempting to placate Drizzt now. Drizzt is still pretty pissed off. He also has a good question:
“It is your way,” snarled Drizzt. “You grin when you speak of murdering clerics of the Spider Queen. Do you so enjoy killing? Killing drow?”
Zak could not find an answer to the accusing question. Drizzt’s words hurt him profoundly because they rang of truth, and because Zak had come to view his penchant for killing clerics of Lolth as a cowardly response to his own unanswerable frustrations.
I kind of like that bit. It's not just that Zak is raising Drizzt as best as he can, but Drizzt is changing him too.
It's like the parry a few chapters ago. Zak has been using it for a long time, coping with Menzoberranzan the best he can, but it's a losing game. Zak is hard pressed to stay sane, let alone make any real positive headway into anything. Drizzt wants more than that.
But right now, he's mad at Zak for trying to kill him. Zak explains basically that he's trying to show Drizzt what their people are. And he admits his fear: that either Drizzt will get murdered by drow assholes or become one. Either way, Zak will lose him.
The next morning, Dinin comes for Drizzt. Drizzt has been keeping an eye out to see if Zak would attack again or say farewell, but he's pretty sure Zak won't do either. He's processing. He thinks of Zak as a friend, that they had a deep bond, and he doesn't understand any of this.
Drizzt, your dad spent his life in a horrible society filled with institutionalized and personal abuse. I think it's fair to say he probably didn't have a Zak of his own, or even a Vierna, and thus he's learned imperfectly the lessons he's tried to teach you.
Dinin gets his own moment with Drizzt, as the latter looks out the balcony at Menzoberranzan and asks "what is this"? I hope he's speaking metaphorically, because we know the kid went outside. He watched an execution.
Dinin unknowingly echoes Zak:
“This is the world,” Dinin replied, though Drizzt’s question had been rhetorical. “Do not worry, Secondboy,” he laughed, moving up onto the railing. “You will learn of Menzoberranzan in the Academy. You will learn who you are and who your people are.”
In a way, this reminds me a bit of the old She-Ra series from the eighties, when Adora is aghast to learn her adoptive family (who rule over a place called "the Fright Zone") are evil. But more annoying because at least they were intentionally tricking Adora, where no one's trying to pretend to be nice toward Drizzt.
The chapter ends with a glimpse at Anton De'Vir. He's watching the brothers and thinking about the old days with his family. We learn a little more about what pissed Lolth off. Ginafae had wanted a member of a drow party dead, and used deep gnomes to do it. The deep gnomes are the drow's worst enemy in the underdark, so Lolth took offense.
Alton is now watching Drizzt and Dinin and is thinking about how his hatred hasn't dissipated in twenty years.