Exile - Chapter 2

[kalinara]

So last time, we caught up with House Do'Urden's machinations back in Menzoberranzan, met one of the series's most famous recurring characters, and watched the sword of damocles dangle a bit over Matron Malice's head.

This time we're...going to see Drizzt wandering around in the Underdark.

I'm starting to see why I don't remember very much of this book, honestly. While the House politics are always fun, Drizzt is at his least interesting when he doesn't have other characters to interact with.



So as mentioned, we've rejoined Drizzt. He's not doing all that great for himself, to be honest. He's living in a cave (which, to be fair, isn't all that different from his life in Icewind Dale), and his food source is a rothe herd that's just been scattered throughout the tunnels.

He's been marking the passage of days as scratches in the wall, which is depressing. He's not sure that he's remembered to scratch each time. He's also wondering if it really matters. I'm wondering how he keeps track. In Menzoberranzan, they had that heat-infused clock, Narbondale, or whatever it was called. Here, in the wilderness, how would he tell?

He does have some light: a glowing fungus which normally would be painful to drow eyes, but Drizzt's used to it. It gives him a sense of security.

Drizzt isn't completely alone, however, we learn as he heads toward a mushroom grove. There's a race called the myconids, or fungus-men, "a weird cross between humanoid and toadstool" who live here. They're not exactly welcoming, but they don't seem to mind Drizzt passing through if he keeps his weapons sheathed.

The fungus-men found Drizzt’s appearance disgusting—as disgusting as he considered them—but they did indeed understand that Drizzt had destroyed the basilisk. For many years the myconids had lived beside the rogue drow, each protecting the life-filled chamber that served as their mutual sanctuary. An oasis such as this place, with edible plants, a stream full of fish, and a herd of rothé, was not common in the harsh and empty stone caverns of the Underdark, and predators wandering along the outer tunnels invariably found their way in. Then it was left to the fungus-men, and to Drizzt, to defend their domain.

Drizzt really is a judgy little git, isn't he?

Interesting cultural note: crossing arms over your chest is a commonly accepted signal of peace in the Underdark.

a) How to people see it?
b) How does that work for life forms with no limbs?
c) Drow really have a signal for peace?

I'm being mean though, I like that there are practices and signals. It's a nice touch.

Anyway, a myconid spews up some spores on Drizzt. Drizzt is okay with that, because he recognizes this type of spore as a means for telepathic communication. Apparently, the mycanids have just undergone some kind of succession crisis. This new one is the king now. But fortunately, it's happy to keep the same deal: Drizzt gets his part of the cave system, the mycanids have the grove and everything's happy.

Apparently this was the point of Drizzt's visit: to make peace with the new king. (The old one met his end via basilisk.) Drizzt gets thoughtful:

Off at a swift pace, Drizzt leaped the five-foot-wide stream and padded out across the thick moss. The chamber was longer than it was wide and it rolled back for many yards, turning a slight bend before it reached the larger exit to the twisting maze of Underdark tunnels. Around that bend, Drizzt looked again upon the destruction wreaked by the basilisk. Several half-eaten rothé lay about—Drizzt would have to dispose of those corpses before their stench attracted even more unwelcome visitors—and other rothé stood perfectly still, petrified by the gaze of the dreaded monster. Directly in front of the chamber exit stood the former myconid king, a twelve-foot giant, now no more than an ornamental statue.

Drizzt paused to regard it. He had never learned the fungoid’s name, and had never given it his, but Drizzt supposed that the thing had been his ally at least, perhaps even his friend. They had lived side by side for several years, though they had rarely encountered each other, and both had realized a bit more security just by the other’s presence. All told, though, Drizzt felt no remorse at the sight of his petrified ally. In the Underdark, only the strongest survived, and this time the myconid king had not been strong enough.

In the wilds of the Underdark, failure allowed for no second chance.

Honestly, Drizzt is kind of a dick. I like that though. You don't shed the cultural conditioning of years without a lot of work. Drizzt's made a start, but he's got a ways to go.

So Drizzt finds his beasts (snacking on cave rat along the way, ew). On the second day, he summons Guen to help, and they're able to find some of the herd and herd them back to their usual spot.

Eventually, Drizzt has to give up on the rest, and starts to head home, before he hears the sound of distant hammering. Hm. I take it back, this chapter might not be as boring as I thought.

Drizzt follows the sound and finds the svirfnebli, a race of deep gnomes who are the bane of my existence when it comes to typing a recap, but otherwise aren't so bad. We're reminded that Drizzt once led a patrol against them and defeated an earth elemental. The thought pains him now. He remembers being held prisoner and treated reasonably well, though with the acknowledgment that the gnomes would probably kill him eventually.

Drizzt remembers his rescue:

Drizzt’s comrades, though, led by Dinin, his own brother, had stormed in, showing the deep gnomes no mercy at all. Drizzt had managed to convince his brother to spare the svirfneblin leader’s life, but Dinin, showing typical drow cruelty, had ordered the deep gnome’s hands severed before releasing him to flee to his homeland.

Drizzt shook himself from the anguishing memories and forced his thoughts back to the situation at hand. Deep gnomes could be formidable adversaries, he reminded himself, and they would not likely welcome a drow elf to their mining operations. He had to keep alert.

Drizzt is lonely though and the voices are welcome, so he starts following the deep gnomes for many days. He doesn't summon Guen for this: she could use the rest, and he gets comfort from the distant sound of chatter. And this is a nice, sad line: "He needed to hear the gnomish voices more than he needed the simple necessities of survival."

Okay, I have to admit, this whole solitude chapter is better than I was expecting it to be. Good on Salvatore.

This is pretty cool:

The mining troupe had come to a long and wide stairway, ascending between two walls of absolutely sheer and uncracked stone. To the side of the stair was an opening barely high and wide enough for the wheelbarrows, and Drizzt watched with sincere admiration as the deep gnome miners moved the carts to this opening and fastened the lead one to a chain. A series of taps on the stone sent a signal to an unseen operator, and the chain creaked, drawing the wheelbarrow into the hole. One by one the carts disappeared, and the svirfneblin band thinned as well, taking to the stairs as their load lessened.

Drizzt waits until there are only two left, and when their backs are turned, he jumps into the cart. This may not have been the best idea. But in for a penny. Drizzt gets out of the cart and creeps around. He gets to catch a glimpse of the svirneblin city:

Drizzt wanted to go in there! He wanted to jump up and rush through those doors, give himself over to the deep gnomes for whatever judgment they deemed fair. Perhaps they would accept him; perhaps they would see Drizzt Do’Urden for who he truly was.

Sadly, or perhaps wisely, Drizzt hesitates and misses his chance:

The massive stone doors closed—and the moment of flickering light in Drizzt’s darkening heart died—with a resounding crash.

Aw. Okay fine. I'm a little sympathetic here.

Anyway, he leaves, sadly. Contemplates summoning Guen, then puts the statuette away. Then he goes to hunt for food, his "primal instincts" distracting him from his angst as he goes off to suffer alone.

The chapter ends here.