Homeland - Chapter Twenty-Eight
Apr. 12th, 2022 11:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalinara posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
i_read_whatSo last time, Drizzt's parents made some decisions for him, and we learned why there's only one drow living in Icewind Dale.
This time, well, it's the penultimate chapter. So let's waste it with a sidequest.
I actually am reasonably invested in Drizzt's pseudo-romance with his magic cat, but given what happened last chapter, this feels kind of tangential. Maybe if we reversed the order, and let Drizzt have his pre-ordained moment of triumph and then turned it bitter, it would feel less jarring.
So we join Masoj. He's waiting for Guen to come back from killing Drizzt. And indeed, Guen does return. Her muzzle is wet with blood, even, so Masoj is pretty elated. This gives Drizzt a chance for a dramatic entry.
“It is done?” Masoj asked, barely able to contain a shout of elation. “Drizzt Do’Urden is dead?”
“Hardly,” came the reply. Drizzt, for all his idealism, had to admit a tinge of pleasure as a cloud of dread cooled the elated fires in the sinister wizard’s cheeks.
“What is this, Guenhwyvar?” Masoj demanded. “Do as I bid you! Kill him now!”
Guenhwyvar stared blankly at Masoj, then lay at Drizzt’s feet.
Hee. Okay, that is pretty great.
Anyway, Masoj is learning the downside to being a wizard (honestly, I always thought Salvatore is a bit too dismissive when it comes to wizards in these books, but what can you do) - Drizzt is only ten feet away and thus Masoj can only manage maybe one spell.
...I mean, you could shove burning hands in his face? I've always found that a useful deterrent in Dungeon Hack?
But anyway, Drizzt is having fun taunting some information out of him.
“I understand,” Drizzt continued calmly. “House Hun’ett and House Do’Urden are to battle.”
“How did you know?” Masoj blurted without thinking, too shocked by the revelation to consider that Drizzt might merely be goading him into a larger admission.
I like Masoj as an adversary, but he's better as a shadow than a direct opponent. There's not even a question of who'd win here. That said, Masoj is not alone:
“I know much but care little,” Drizzt replied. “House Hun’ett wishes to wage war against my family. For what reason, I cannot guess.”
“For the vengeance of House DeVir!” came a reply from a different direction.
Alton, standing on the side of a stalagmite mound, looked down at Drizzt.
Nice. Okay, Salvatore, I have to admit, I dig the structure of this. Guen laying down at Drizzt's feet paralleling Alton's appearance to even the odds.
Drizzt points out that House Hun'ett doesn't care about DeVir's vendetta, which is true. But Alton cares. Drizzt points out that he hadn't even been born when the battle took place...which isn't entirely true, if we recall. Malice used her labor pains to fuel her magic, so Drizzt actually did have a pretty important role. Not that these dudes know that.
Alton finally resorts to childish name-calling, saying Drizzt is a filthy Do'Urden, and that's all that matters.
Masoj orders Guen to be gone, and Guen gets her own little fuck you by looking to Drizzt for HIS approval before vanishing. Drizzt just calmly tells Masoj that only Guenhwyvar owns Guenhwyvar. It's a nice beat, as Guen gives a low growl that might have been a mocking laugh and disappears.
Seriously, teach Guen a polymorph spell and we'd have the best couple ever!
That said, we're told that Guen is, for the first time, hesitant as she makes her way down the "planal tunnel". She really didn't want to leave.
And you know, as much shit as I tend to give Drizzt, I admit, he proves his cleverness here by offering to make a deal. Alton is against it, but Masoj is intrigued to think that Drizzt could prove useful to their struggle against House Do'Urden.
Drizzt isn't willing to betray his family, per se, but he does have a deal to offer:
“Give me the figurine, Masoj,” Drizzt continued, undaunted. “Guenhwyvar never belonged to you and will serve you no more.”
Masoj stopped laughing.
“In return,” Drizzt went on before the wizard could reply, “I will leave House Do’Urden and not take part in the battle.”
“Corpses do not fight.” Alton sneered.
“I will take another Do’Urden with me,” Drizzt spat at him. “A weapons master. Surely House Hun’ett will have gained an advantage if both Drizzt and Zaknafein—”
It's not a bad idea, but Masoj rejects it immediately. They prepare to fight. Two wizards though...that could get tricky.
Until someone else evens the odds:
Before Drizzt ever decided his course of action, the issue was settled for him. A cloud of smoke engulfed Masoj and he fell back, his spell disrupted with the shock.
Guenhwyvar was back.
...can she...can she DO that?
This actually inspired me to go do what I wasn't going to do and check Chapter 7 of the Crystal Shard for comparison. And it's actually a very different version of events. Some parts are the same (Guen being used to hunt down Svirnebli), but Masoj is alone and basically Drizzt just shoves a scimitar in his guts in more of an assassin ambush rather than a fair fight.
It's interesting to see how the character concept has evolved over the books, though to be fair, just up and shivving a guy didn't really seem like Drizzt's style even as far back as Crystal Shard.
Anyway, no mention of this ability to appear of her own free will there. But it's pretty awesome anyway.
So Guen goes after Alton, who tries to use his nifty wand. It...is less than effective. Drizzt goes after Masoj, who has used the distraction of Alton's wand to recover a bit. He pulls out a mirror image spell and what looks like an Isaac's missile storm (not sure whether it's greater or lesser, Drizzt is annoyingly imprecise). Drizzt is still going.
This is when Masoj decides to be an idiot and draws a dagger instead. Seriously dude? You're not going to win a melee fight with Drizzt "Gary Stu" Do'Urden. Be real here.
Meanwhile, Alton and Guen are still fighting. And Alton's wand breaks in half and explodes on him. Oops. The resulting fireball knocks both Drizzt and Masoj over. And Masoj is a fucking idiot again:
“Now Guenhwyvar belongs to no one,” Masoj sneered, tossing the figurine to the ground.
Seriously, dude? You were one of the smarter characters for most of the book! But he does at least go back to spell-casting. And credit where it's due, it's a fun fight scene. Masoj slings spells. Drizzt dodges and attacks. He thinks Guen is dead.
OH, okay, I get it. They think Guen died in the fireball, THAT's why Masoj tossed the figurine away. Criticism rescinded, mea culpa.
Gameplay and Story temporarily meet when Drizzt taunts Masoj, asking him how many spells remain. And Masoj, well.
Masoj fell back when Drizzt looked up at him, when the burning light of those lavender orbs fell upon him like a pronouncement of doom. He had seen Drizzt in battle many times, and the sight of the fighting young warrior had haunted him through all the planning of this assassination.
But Masoj had never seen Drizzt enraged before. If he had, he never would have agreed to try to kill Drizzt. If he had, he would have told Matron SiNafay to go sit on a stalagmite.
What spell was next? What spell could slow the monster that was Drizzt Do’Urden?
Sorry dude, you're a barely named flunky bad guy and he's the Forgotten Realms most famous Gary Stu besides maybe Elminster. You're fucked. And indeed:
A hand, glowing with the heat of anger, grabbed the lip of the ledge. Masoj stomped on it with the heel of his boot. The fingers were broken—the wizard knew that the fingers were broken—but Drizzt, impossibly, was up beside him and the blade of a scimitar was through the wizard’s ribs.
“The fingers are broken!” the dying mage gasped in protest.
Drizzt looked down at his hand and realized the pain for the first time. “Perhaps,” he said absently, “but they will heal.”
Not exactly the assassination described in Crystal Shard, but admittedly pretty fun.
So Drizzt limps away. There's no use for stealth because the fireball explosion heated up the mound pretty fucking bright, and no one's going to miss it when they wake up. I like this bit:
Pieces of Alton DeVir lay scattered at the bottom, around the wizard’s smoldering robes. “Have you found peace, Faceless One?” Drizzt whispered, exhaling the last of his anger. He remembered the assault Alton had launched against him those years ago in the Academy. The faceless master and Masoj had explained it away as a test for a budding warrior.
“How long you have carried your hate,” Drizzt muttered at the blasted bits of corpse.
Poor hapless Alton DeVir. He was screwed at the start of the story, and things just got worse from there. One could hope that most of his time pretending to be an important mage was at least comfortable. But it was always going to end this way. Menzoberranzan is rough on its children.
But Drizzt is really concerned for Guen. He takes Masoj's figurine, but doesn't dare call her. Astral travel is taxing. If she was injured, she'll need time to recuperate. He just hopes she's still alive.
The chapter ends here. And well, sorry Drizzt, but things are about to get worse.
...and I'm going to need to choose a replacement book soon. Oops.
This time, well, it's the penultimate chapter. So let's waste it with a sidequest.
I actually am reasonably invested in Drizzt's pseudo-romance with his magic cat, but given what happened last chapter, this feels kind of tangential. Maybe if we reversed the order, and let Drizzt have his pre-ordained moment of triumph and then turned it bitter, it would feel less jarring.
So we join Masoj. He's waiting for Guen to come back from killing Drizzt. And indeed, Guen does return. Her muzzle is wet with blood, even, so Masoj is pretty elated. This gives Drizzt a chance for a dramatic entry.
“It is done?” Masoj asked, barely able to contain a shout of elation. “Drizzt Do’Urden is dead?”
“Hardly,” came the reply. Drizzt, for all his idealism, had to admit a tinge of pleasure as a cloud of dread cooled the elated fires in the sinister wizard’s cheeks.
“What is this, Guenhwyvar?” Masoj demanded. “Do as I bid you! Kill him now!”
Guenhwyvar stared blankly at Masoj, then lay at Drizzt’s feet.
Hee. Okay, that is pretty great.
Anyway, Masoj is learning the downside to being a wizard (honestly, I always thought Salvatore is a bit too dismissive when it comes to wizards in these books, but what can you do) - Drizzt is only ten feet away and thus Masoj can only manage maybe one spell.
...I mean, you could shove burning hands in his face? I've always found that a useful deterrent in Dungeon Hack?
But anyway, Drizzt is having fun taunting some information out of him.
“I understand,” Drizzt continued calmly. “House Hun’ett and House Do’Urden are to battle.”
“How did you know?” Masoj blurted without thinking, too shocked by the revelation to consider that Drizzt might merely be goading him into a larger admission.
I like Masoj as an adversary, but he's better as a shadow than a direct opponent. There's not even a question of who'd win here. That said, Masoj is not alone:
“I know much but care little,” Drizzt replied. “House Hun’ett wishes to wage war against my family. For what reason, I cannot guess.”
“For the vengeance of House DeVir!” came a reply from a different direction.
Alton, standing on the side of a stalagmite mound, looked down at Drizzt.
Nice. Okay, Salvatore, I have to admit, I dig the structure of this. Guen laying down at Drizzt's feet paralleling Alton's appearance to even the odds.
Drizzt points out that House Hun'ett doesn't care about DeVir's vendetta, which is true. But Alton cares. Drizzt points out that he hadn't even been born when the battle took place...which isn't entirely true, if we recall. Malice used her labor pains to fuel her magic, so Drizzt actually did have a pretty important role. Not that these dudes know that.
Alton finally resorts to childish name-calling, saying Drizzt is a filthy Do'Urden, and that's all that matters.
Masoj orders Guen to be gone, and Guen gets her own little fuck you by looking to Drizzt for HIS approval before vanishing. Drizzt just calmly tells Masoj that only Guenhwyvar owns Guenhwyvar. It's a nice beat, as Guen gives a low growl that might have been a mocking laugh and disappears.
Seriously, teach Guen a polymorph spell and we'd have the best couple ever!
That said, we're told that Guen is, for the first time, hesitant as she makes her way down the "planal tunnel". She really didn't want to leave.
And you know, as much shit as I tend to give Drizzt, I admit, he proves his cleverness here by offering to make a deal. Alton is against it, but Masoj is intrigued to think that Drizzt could prove useful to their struggle against House Do'Urden.
Drizzt isn't willing to betray his family, per se, but he does have a deal to offer:
“Give me the figurine, Masoj,” Drizzt continued, undaunted. “Guenhwyvar never belonged to you and will serve you no more.”
Masoj stopped laughing.
“In return,” Drizzt went on before the wizard could reply, “I will leave House Do’Urden and not take part in the battle.”
“Corpses do not fight.” Alton sneered.
“I will take another Do’Urden with me,” Drizzt spat at him. “A weapons master. Surely House Hun’ett will have gained an advantage if both Drizzt and Zaknafein—”
It's not a bad idea, but Masoj rejects it immediately. They prepare to fight. Two wizards though...that could get tricky.
Until someone else evens the odds:
Before Drizzt ever decided his course of action, the issue was settled for him. A cloud of smoke engulfed Masoj and he fell back, his spell disrupted with the shock.
Guenhwyvar was back.
...can she...can she DO that?
This actually inspired me to go do what I wasn't going to do and check Chapter 7 of the Crystal Shard for comparison. And it's actually a very different version of events. Some parts are the same (Guen being used to hunt down Svirnebli), but Masoj is alone and basically Drizzt just shoves a scimitar in his guts in more of an assassin ambush rather than a fair fight.
It's interesting to see how the character concept has evolved over the books, though to be fair, just up and shivving a guy didn't really seem like Drizzt's style even as far back as Crystal Shard.
Anyway, no mention of this ability to appear of her own free will there. But it's pretty awesome anyway.
So Guen goes after Alton, who tries to use his nifty wand. It...is less than effective. Drizzt goes after Masoj, who has used the distraction of Alton's wand to recover a bit. He pulls out a mirror image spell and what looks like an Isaac's missile storm (not sure whether it's greater or lesser, Drizzt is annoyingly imprecise). Drizzt is still going.
This is when Masoj decides to be an idiot and draws a dagger instead. Seriously dude? You're not going to win a melee fight with Drizzt "Gary Stu" Do'Urden. Be real here.
Meanwhile, Alton and Guen are still fighting. And Alton's wand breaks in half and explodes on him. Oops. The resulting fireball knocks both Drizzt and Masoj over. And Masoj is a fucking idiot again:
“Now Guenhwyvar belongs to no one,” Masoj sneered, tossing the figurine to the ground.
Seriously, dude? You were one of the smarter characters for most of the book! But he does at least go back to spell-casting. And credit where it's due, it's a fun fight scene. Masoj slings spells. Drizzt dodges and attacks. He thinks Guen is dead.
OH, okay, I get it. They think Guen died in the fireball, THAT's why Masoj tossed the figurine away. Criticism rescinded, mea culpa.
Gameplay and Story temporarily meet when Drizzt taunts Masoj, asking him how many spells remain. And Masoj, well.
Masoj fell back when Drizzt looked up at him, when the burning light of those lavender orbs fell upon him like a pronouncement of doom. He had seen Drizzt in battle many times, and the sight of the fighting young warrior had haunted him through all the planning of this assassination.
But Masoj had never seen Drizzt enraged before. If he had, he never would have agreed to try to kill Drizzt. If he had, he would have told Matron SiNafay to go sit on a stalagmite.
What spell was next? What spell could slow the monster that was Drizzt Do’Urden?
Sorry dude, you're a barely named flunky bad guy and he's the Forgotten Realms most famous Gary Stu besides maybe Elminster. You're fucked. And indeed:
A hand, glowing with the heat of anger, grabbed the lip of the ledge. Masoj stomped on it with the heel of his boot. The fingers were broken—the wizard knew that the fingers were broken—but Drizzt, impossibly, was up beside him and the blade of a scimitar was through the wizard’s ribs.
“The fingers are broken!” the dying mage gasped in protest.
Drizzt looked down at his hand and realized the pain for the first time. “Perhaps,” he said absently, “but they will heal.”
Not exactly the assassination described in Crystal Shard, but admittedly pretty fun.
So Drizzt limps away. There's no use for stealth because the fireball explosion heated up the mound pretty fucking bright, and no one's going to miss it when they wake up. I like this bit:
Pieces of Alton DeVir lay scattered at the bottom, around the wizard’s smoldering robes. “Have you found peace, Faceless One?” Drizzt whispered, exhaling the last of his anger. He remembered the assault Alton had launched against him those years ago in the Academy. The faceless master and Masoj had explained it away as a test for a budding warrior.
“How long you have carried your hate,” Drizzt muttered at the blasted bits of corpse.
Poor hapless Alton DeVir. He was screwed at the start of the story, and things just got worse from there. One could hope that most of his time pretending to be an important mage was at least comfortable. But it was always going to end this way. Menzoberranzan is rough on its children.
But Drizzt is really concerned for Guen. He takes Masoj's figurine, but doesn't dare call her. Astral travel is taxing. If she was injured, she'll need time to recuperate. He just hopes she's still alive.
The chapter ends here. And well, sorry Drizzt, but things are about to get worse.
...and I'm going to need to choose a replacement book soon. Oops.