Sojourn - Chapter Two
May. 9th, 2023 07:54 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 tomorrow, I'm heading out on a trip. I'm going to try to keep posting during the time period, but well, don't be surprised if I end up distracted.
Last time, Drizzt met a skunk and killed some gnolls. And if I know my Drizzt, I'm sure he's about to angst about that soon.
Called it:
“What have I done?” Drizzt wondered aloud. Truly, he did not know. The gnolls had spoken of slaughtering children, a thought that had evoked rage within Drizzt, but what did Drizzt know of the conflict between the gnolls and the humans of the village? Might the humans, even the human children, be monsters? Perhaps they had raided the gnolls’ village and killed without mercy. Perhaps the gnolls meant to strike back because they had no choice, because they had to defend themselves.
...that seems like really contrived angst. Drizzt has been on the surface for four weeks now. He has presumably watched the inhabitants of the valley for this long, and he can't figure out that children (while annoying) are generally not evil?
It goes on:
“Who am I to pass such judgment?” Drizzt went on, talking to himself more than to the cat. He turned from Guenhwyvar and the dead gnoll and moved to a leafy bush, where he could wipe the blood from his blades. “The gnolls did not attack me, but they had me at their mercy when they first found me in the stream. And I repay them by spilling their blood!”
Drizzt spun back on Guenhwyvar with the proclamation, as if he expected, even hoped, that the panther would somehow berate him, somehow condemn him and justify his guih. Guenhwyvar hadn’t moved an inch and did not now, and the panther’s saucer eyes, shining greenish yellow in the night, did not bore into Drizzt, did not incriminate him for his actions in any way.
I enjoy the implication that Guen is ignoring Drizzt's melodramatic nonsense. She really is the best girlfriend he's had. He's forced to remember that sometimes Guen disobeys him. She even went back to the Astral Plane once without being dismissed. She's fine with this.
Drizzt finally unclenches, reassuring himself that the gnolls were pretty blatantly evil in their words and intents. He lacks conviction though.
I know I said, last chapter, that it'd be interesting if Salvatore played with the idea of Drizzt not knowing conventional morality. But...I mean, this is a little contrived. "Let's go murder children" is pretty unmistakable.
Drizzt does decide to watch the humans. He realizes that if he's going to remain on the surface he has to understand his neighbors better. I have no complaints about this, it's a good plan.
That said, Drizzt still makes me roll my eyes even when I agree with him:
Drizzt nodded as he considered his own words. It had already been proven, painfully proven, that he could not remain a neutral observer to the goings-on of the surface world. Drizzt was often called to action by his conscience, a force he had no power to deny. Yet with so little knowledge of the races sharing this region, his conscience could easily lead him astray. It could wreak damage against the innocent, thereby defeating the very principles Drizzt meant to champion.
To be fair, Drizzt has no real idea of humans. They haven't really come up in his curriculum at the Academy, except in Sorcere, where it's basically "don't be like human wizards". Drizzt has apparently made a lot of assumptions about that. And also to be fair, he has met a human wizard - the one who transformed Clacker.
So Drizzt watches a farmhouse. There are three adult men, of different generations. Four kids: a daughter "just coming into womanhood" (not sure how he can tell, but okay) and three boys.
There's a fair bit of observation, but the gist in the end is that these folk seem more like the people in Blingdenstone than Menzoberranzan. So probably not evil. He's sleeping a little easier now.
So he keeps watching the humans and the more they play fight, and even the occasional real fight (with an adult resolving things) the more he decides that he was right, and decides that if any gnolls or goblins decide to attack, he'll go all Drizzt on them.
Of course, spying on humans is risky, and indeed, on day four, the youngest of the kids has wandered off, avoiding chores. He heads into the mountains, and of course, Drizzt and Guen follow. Good thing too, as the kid is in peril: hanging from a log spanning a huge crevasse.
BUT...when Drizzt comes to rescue him:
The boy had other ideas. As soon as he recovered from the shock of seeing the strange elf, he swung himself to a ledge on the stone bank opposite Drizzt and pushed the log from its perch. Drizzt quickly backed off the log as it tumbled down into the crevasse. The drow understood then that the boy had never been in real danger but had pretended distress to flush out his pursuer. And, Drizzt presumed, if the pursuer had been one of the boy’s family, as the boy no doubt had suspected, the peril might have deflected any thoughts of punishment.
Clever kid!
Unfortunately, Drizzt only speaks drow. And he's been discovered. Guen seems like she'll go after the child, but it's only to pin the kid down. This time, the kid's cries for help are real. I feel like this might not help since you don't have a common language, but cats are cats. At Drizzt's command, Guen lets him up.
The boy asks what Drizzt is. And well:
Drizzt held his arms out to the sides to indicate that he did not understand. On impulse, he poked a finger into his chest and replied, “Drizzt Do’Urden.” He noticed that the boy was moving slightly, secretly dropping one foot behind the other and then sliding the other back into place. Drizzt was not surprised-and he made certain that he kept Guenhwyvar in check this time-when the boy turned on his heel and sprinted away, screaming “Help! It’s a drizzit!” with every stride.
...well, at least he might not mention he saw a drow?
The chapter ends with Drizzt and Guenhwyvar shrugging in bemusement, which seems a bit odd given that, as far as they know, the kid might be going to tell everything now. But it's not like Drizzt and Guen can't make themselves scarce pretty quickly, I suppose.
Last time, Drizzt met a skunk and killed some gnolls. And if I know my Drizzt, I'm sure he's about to angst about that soon.
Called it:
“What have I done?” Drizzt wondered aloud. Truly, he did not know. The gnolls had spoken of slaughtering children, a thought that had evoked rage within Drizzt, but what did Drizzt know of the conflict between the gnolls and the humans of the village? Might the humans, even the human children, be monsters? Perhaps they had raided the gnolls’ village and killed without mercy. Perhaps the gnolls meant to strike back because they had no choice, because they had to defend themselves.
...that seems like really contrived angst. Drizzt has been on the surface for four weeks now. He has presumably watched the inhabitants of the valley for this long, and he can't figure out that children (while annoying) are generally not evil?
It goes on:
“Who am I to pass such judgment?” Drizzt went on, talking to himself more than to the cat. He turned from Guenhwyvar and the dead gnoll and moved to a leafy bush, where he could wipe the blood from his blades. “The gnolls did not attack me, but they had me at their mercy when they first found me in the stream. And I repay them by spilling their blood!”
Drizzt spun back on Guenhwyvar with the proclamation, as if he expected, even hoped, that the panther would somehow berate him, somehow condemn him and justify his guih. Guenhwyvar hadn’t moved an inch and did not now, and the panther’s saucer eyes, shining greenish yellow in the night, did not bore into Drizzt, did not incriminate him for his actions in any way.
I enjoy the implication that Guen is ignoring Drizzt's melodramatic nonsense. She really is the best girlfriend he's had. He's forced to remember that sometimes Guen disobeys him. She even went back to the Astral Plane once without being dismissed. She's fine with this.
Drizzt finally unclenches, reassuring himself that the gnolls were pretty blatantly evil in their words and intents. He lacks conviction though.
I know I said, last chapter, that it'd be interesting if Salvatore played with the idea of Drizzt not knowing conventional morality. But...I mean, this is a little contrived. "Let's go murder children" is pretty unmistakable.
Drizzt does decide to watch the humans. He realizes that if he's going to remain on the surface he has to understand his neighbors better. I have no complaints about this, it's a good plan.
That said, Drizzt still makes me roll my eyes even when I agree with him:
Drizzt nodded as he considered his own words. It had already been proven, painfully proven, that he could not remain a neutral observer to the goings-on of the surface world. Drizzt was often called to action by his conscience, a force he had no power to deny. Yet with so little knowledge of the races sharing this region, his conscience could easily lead him astray. It could wreak damage against the innocent, thereby defeating the very principles Drizzt meant to champion.
To be fair, Drizzt has no real idea of humans. They haven't really come up in his curriculum at the Academy, except in Sorcere, where it's basically "don't be like human wizards". Drizzt has apparently made a lot of assumptions about that. And also to be fair, he has met a human wizard - the one who transformed Clacker.
So Drizzt watches a farmhouse. There are three adult men, of different generations. Four kids: a daughter "just coming into womanhood" (not sure how he can tell, but okay) and three boys.
There's a fair bit of observation, but the gist in the end is that these folk seem more like the people in Blingdenstone than Menzoberranzan. So probably not evil. He's sleeping a little easier now.
So he keeps watching the humans and the more they play fight, and even the occasional real fight (with an adult resolving things) the more he decides that he was right, and decides that if any gnolls or goblins decide to attack, he'll go all Drizzt on them.
Of course, spying on humans is risky, and indeed, on day four, the youngest of the kids has wandered off, avoiding chores. He heads into the mountains, and of course, Drizzt and Guen follow. Good thing too, as the kid is in peril: hanging from a log spanning a huge crevasse.
BUT...when Drizzt comes to rescue him:
The boy had other ideas. As soon as he recovered from the shock of seeing the strange elf, he swung himself to a ledge on the stone bank opposite Drizzt and pushed the log from its perch. Drizzt quickly backed off the log as it tumbled down into the crevasse. The drow understood then that the boy had never been in real danger but had pretended distress to flush out his pursuer. And, Drizzt presumed, if the pursuer had been one of the boy’s family, as the boy no doubt had suspected, the peril might have deflected any thoughts of punishment.
Clever kid!
Unfortunately, Drizzt only speaks drow. And he's been discovered. Guen seems like she'll go after the child, but it's only to pin the kid down. This time, the kid's cries for help are real. I feel like this might not help since you don't have a common language, but cats are cats. At Drizzt's command, Guen lets him up.
The boy asks what Drizzt is. And well:
Drizzt held his arms out to the sides to indicate that he did not understand. On impulse, he poked a finger into his chest and replied, “Drizzt Do’Urden.” He noticed that the boy was moving slightly, secretly dropping one foot behind the other and then sliding the other back into place. Drizzt was not surprised-and he made certain that he kept Guenhwyvar in check this time-when the boy turned on his heel and sprinted away, screaming “Help! It’s a drizzit!” with every stride.
...well, at least he might not mention he saw a drow?
The chapter ends with Drizzt and Guenhwyvar shrugging in bemusement, which seems a bit odd given that, as far as they know, the kid might be going to tell everything now. But it's not like Drizzt and Guen can't make themselves scarce pretty quickly, I suppose.
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Date: 2023-05-10 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-05-10 03:53 pm (UTC)= Multi-Facets.
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Date: 2023-05-15 06:56 pm (UTC)