Streams of Silver - Chapter Seven
Mar. 22nd, 2020 01:53 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, our gang met some barbarians, and Wulfgar made a friend. A friend who ended up forcibly merged with a pegasus totem and sent to kill our guys. As tends to happen. Anyway Wulfgar is sad now, and I am sad for him.
So this time, we're not rejoining our "heroes". We're back with our adversary: Artemis Entreri. Apparently, Entreri did ultimately make it to the City of Sails and is waiting at a campsite outside the city. This happens to be the same campsite that our heroes used, which we're told is not a coincidence. Entreri is basically mimicking their actions to a t in the hopes of getting a better understanding of them. Which sounds cool, but doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. Also, it's contradicted by the next paragraph, where Entreri talks about his frantic pace. This will not be the first time that Salvatore hypes up Entreri with blatantly contradictory statements.
There is something a bit different though, as Entreri happens to observe some campfires to the north, on the road to Ten Towns. He thinks he himself is being followed, and he's trying to bait his pursuers in closer. We do get some nice melodrama here though:
Into the night he rode, confident in the darkness. This was his time, where every shadow added to the advantage of one who lived in shadows.
Ah, Entreri, you are a fitting rival for Drizzt.
Anyway, Entreri decides to go investigate: he finds a merchant caravan, and in it, he finds Catti-brie.
Entreri slipped up between the next two wagons and peeked over the side. The speakers stood a short distance from him, behind the next wagon, peering into the night in the direction of his camp. Both were dressed for battle, the woman wearing her sword comfortably.
"I have underestimated you," Entreri whispered to himself as he viewed Catti-brie. His jeweled dagger was already in his hand. "A mistake I shan't repeat," he added, then crouched low and searched for a path to his target.
I didn't have to share that passage, but I find Enteri's habit of monologuing from the shadows so charming. Anyway, Catti-brie's accent mangles some gratitude to the caravan owner ("I'm owing to ye, as Regis and the others'll be."), and she and the caravan dude share a moment of silence.
Silent, too, was the approach of death.
Oh my god. Anyway. Entreri grabs Catti-brie by the neck to prevent her screaming and murders the other dude. She's paralyzed again "before the horror of Entreri" and watches helplessly as he takes her dagger and pulls her along with him. She asks herself again why she can't call out, and Salvatore, this doesn't get any less frustrating because you're lampshading it.
Catti-brie is supposed to be a trained fighter, but you've gone out of your way for one book to keep her out of any action. Now you're finally giving her a plot, but it relies on her being a helpless hostage. And yes, in the real world, it's perfectly understandable that someone would be frozen in fright after an attack like this. But this isn't the real world, and it's notable that none of the other characters, including fucking Regis, are put into this situation.
So anyway, Entreri wants to know why she's following him. She lies and claims that she often travels with merchants as one of the duties of a soldier of Ten-Towns. Entreri decides he won't kill her: instead, he'll use her to make sure that Regis's friends won't help him. He's also semi-framed her for murder, using her dagger to kill other merchants, though he doesn't really think anyone would believe it. But it's another psychological weapon against Catti-brie.
I do like Entreri as a villain. It's clear that Salvatore is having a lot of fun writing him, and he's definitely a lot more formidable than anyone in Crystal Shard. I just wish he'd do better by Catti-brie:
"Catti-brie did not reply to the assassin's statements with any sign of emotion. No, she told herself, it won't be like that!
But deep inside, she wondered if her determination only masked her fear, her own belief that she would be held again by the horror of Entreri's presence, and that the scene would unfold exactly as he had predicted.
Sigh.
Anyway, Jierdan shows up at Entreri's campsite, while Entreri returns, Catti-brie securely bound and gagged. (Though she fully believed, to her own disgust, that her own terror made the bonds unnecessary.) Salvatore hilariously hypes up Entreri with more contradictions:
Jierdan dropped the pack back to the ground, frustrated, for its contents were merely standard traveling gear and revealed nothing about the owner. The soldier was a veteran of many campaigns and had bested man and orc alike a hundred times, but he was nervous now, sensing something unusual, and deadly, about the rider. A man with the courage to ride alone on the brutal course from Icewind Dale to Luskan was no novice to the ways of battle.
So anyway, Jierdan finds a blade at his throat, and he and Entreri have a chat. Jierdan reveals he has been sent to meet him, and that his master desires an audience. Entreri is pissed off that someone dared spy on him, but Jierdan shrugs, stating he's only a courier. He offers his assistance at the gate, but Entreri is all "fuck your gate" and intends to use the wall instead.
Now of course this encounter is full of the requisite Entreri-shilling, but Jierdan gets to be calm and composed as opposed to paralyzed with terror. I suppose I should give Salvatore the benefit of the doubt: that he intends overcoming fear to be a character arc for Catti-brie. But it annoys me nonetheless that a girl who was raised by dwarven warriors, who befriends dark elves, and was involved in offscreen fighting against mind controlled armies is now basically shoved into the damsel role here.
And indeed, when they ride into Luskan, Catti-brie is untied and ungagged, but Entreri's hold upon her was no less binding.. Basically he told her he'd kill her if she makes a foolish move and then Bruenor would suffer. I feel like Catti-brie could have just decided to go with him to see what he'd do, and maybe be in a position to help her friends when he caught up to them. But that's not the direction Salvatore wants to go in, so okay. She better get a decent resolution to this plot.
Anyway, Jierdan bribes them through the North Gate, with a week's pay. Hope he gets reimbursed. But he figures that if it buys him Dendybar's favor than it'll be worth it. They make it to the Hosttower, where Entreri and Jierdan have a really stupid pissing contest. Entreri wants to know who Jierdan works for, Jierdan says they'll meet him soon enough. And they start threatening each other, which is idiotic because they're right outside the fucking tower.
Catti-brie does note the exchange, wondering if she can exploit her captors' mistrust to her advantage. Yay!
Entreri wins the cock measuring contest, so Jierdan dramatically declares that he serves Dendybar the Mottled, which is a name that Entreri recognizes. He's happy, so he tells Jierdan to take him to Dendybar. God, that was pointless.
So they go in to meet Dendybar. Dendybar has a "fabulous luncheon" set before him that he offers to Entreri and Catti-brie. Entreri commands her to eat, but she refuses. He backhands her which startles Dendybar's underlings, but makes Dendybar himself happy. He proposes an alliance, and freely tells Entreri what he knows about our heroes' adventures in the city. Entreri realizes that Dendybar basically wants to use him as a hunting dog to sniff out the prey. This doesn't seem to bother him.
He does give Jierdan a passing cryptic warning about vultures eating after the cat feasts, which pisses Jierdan off. He wants to kill Entreri after he finds Drizzt, but Dendybar warns him outright that Enteri is out of his league. He intends the mage, Sydney, be the one to keep an eye on Entreri instead.
Meanwhile, Entreri and Catti-brie leave the Hosttower, each lost in their own thoughts. Catti-brie in particular has many questions of the who, what, where, why variety. Happily, this has revived her spirit and courage, and she knows her friends will need her.
I'm enjoying seeing Catti-brie try to figure out what's going on from her perspective as Entreri's unwilling traveling companion, but I'm still annoyed at the clumsy way Salvatore puts her in that situation. And as annoyed as I am by the cowardice plot, I will also be annoyed if this is the last we see of it. Catti-brie deserves a triumph damnit.
So this time, we're not rejoining our "heroes". We're back with our adversary: Artemis Entreri. Apparently, Entreri did ultimately make it to the City of Sails and is waiting at a campsite outside the city. This happens to be the same campsite that our heroes used, which we're told is not a coincidence. Entreri is basically mimicking their actions to a t in the hopes of getting a better understanding of them. Which sounds cool, but doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. Also, it's contradicted by the next paragraph, where Entreri talks about his frantic pace. This will not be the first time that Salvatore hypes up Entreri with blatantly contradictory statements.
There is something a bit different though, as Entreri happens to observe some campfires to the north, on the road to Ten Towns. He thinks he himself is being followed, and he's trying to bait his pursuers in closer. We do get some nice melodrama here though:
Into the night he rode, confident in the darkness. This was his time, where every shadow added to the advantage of one who lived in shadows.
Ah, Entreri, you are a fitting rival for Drizzt.
Anyway, Entreri decides to go investigate: he finds a merchant caravan, and in it, he finds Catti-brie.
Entreri slipped up between the next two wagons and peeked over the side. The speakers stood a short distance from him, behind the next wagon, peering into the night in the direction of his camp. Both were dressed for battle, the woman wearing her sword comfortably.
"I have underestimated you," Entreri whispered to himself as he viewed Catti-brie. His jeweled dagger was already in his hand. "A mistake I shan't repeat," he added, then crouched low and searched for a path to his target.
I didn't have to share that passage, but I find Enteri's habit of monologuing from the shadows so charming. Anyway, Catti-brie's accent mangles some gratitude to the caravan owner ("I'm owing to ye, as Regis and the others'll be."), and she and the caravan dude share a moment of silence.
Silent, too, was the approach of death.
Oh my god. Anyway. Entreri grabs Catti-brie by the neck to prevent her screaming and murders the other dude. She's paralyzed again "before the horror of Entreri" and watches helplessly as he takes her dagger and pulls her along with him. She asks herself again why she can't call out, and Salvatore, this doesn't get any less frustrating because you're lampshading it.
Catti-brie is supposed to be a trained fighter, but you've gone out of your way for one book to keep her out of any action. Now you're finally giving her a plot, but it relies on her being a helpless hostage. And yes, in the real world, it's perfectly understandable that someone would be frozen in fright after an attack like this. But this isn't the real world, and it's notable that none of the other characters, including fucking Regis, are put into this situation.
So anyway, Entreri wants to know why she's following him. She lies and claims that she often travels with merchants as one of the duties of a soldier of Ten-Towns. Entreri decides he won't kill her: instead, he'll use her to make sure that Regis's friends won't help him. He's also semi-framed her for murder, using her dagger to kill other merchants, though he doesn't really think anyone would believe it. But it's another psychological weapon against Catti-brie.
I do like Entreri as a villain. It's clear that Salvatore is having a lot of fun writing him, and he's definitely a lot more formidable than anyone in Crystal Shard. I just wish he'd do better by Catti-brie:
"Catti-brie did not reply to the assassin's statements with any sign of emotion. No, she told herself, it won't be like that!
But deep inside, she wondered if her determination only masked her fear, her own belief that she would be held again by the horror of Entreri's presence, and that the scene would unfold exactly as he had predicted.
Sigh.
Anyway, Jierdan shows up at Entreri's campsite, while Entreri returns, Catti-brie securely bound and gagged. (Though she fully believed, to her own disgust, that her own terror made the bonds unnecessary.) Salvatore hilariously hypes up Entreri with more contradictions:
Jierdan dropped the pack back to the ground, frustrated, for its contents were merely standard traveling gear and revealed nothing about the owner. The soldier was a veteran of many campaigns and had bested man and orc alike a hundred times, but he was nervous now, sensing something unusual, and deadly, about the rider. A man with the courage to ride alone on the brutal course from Icewind Dale to Luskan was no novice to the ways of battle.
So anyway, Jierdan finds a blade at his throat, and he and Entreri have a chat. Jierdan reveals he has been sent to meet him, and that his master desires an audience. Entreri is pissed off that someone dared spy on him, but Jierdan shrugs, stating he's only a courier. He offers his assistance at the gate, but Entreri is all "fuck your gate" and intends to use the wall instead.
Now of course this encounter is full of the requisite Entreri-shilling, but Jierdan gets to be calm and composed as opposed to paralyzed with terror. I suppose I should give Salvatore the benefit of the doubt: that he intends overcoming fear to be a character arc for Catti-brie. But it annoys me nonetheless that a girl who was raised by dwarven warriors, who befriends dark elves, and was involved in offscreen fighting against mind controlled armies is now basically shoved into the damsel role here.
And indeed, when they ride into Luskan, Catti-brie is untied and ungagged, but Entreri's hold upon her was no less binding.. Basically he told her he'd kill her if she makes a foolish move and then Bruenor would suffer. I feel like Catti-brie could have just decided to go with him to see what he'd do, and maybe be in a position to help her friends when he caught up to them. But that's not the direction Salvatore wants to go in, so okay. She better get a decent resolution to this plot.
Anyway, Jierdan bribes them through the North Gate, with a week's pay. Hope he gets reimbursed. But he figures that if it buys him Dendybar's favor than it'll be worth it. They make it to the Hosttower, where Entreri and Jierdan have a really stupid pissing contest. Entreri wants to know who Jierdan works for, Jierdan says they'll meet him soon enough. And they start threatening each other, which is idiotic because they're right outside the fucking tower.
Catti-brie does note the exchange, wondering if she can exploit her captors' mistrust to her advantage. Yay!
Entreri wins the cock measuring contest, so Jierdan dramatically declares that he serves Dendybar the Mottled, which is a name that Entreri recognizes. He's happy, so he tells Jierdan to take him to Dendybar. God, that was pointless.
So they go in to meet Dendybar. Dendybar has a "fabulous luncheon" set before him that he offers to Entreri and Catti-brie. Entreri commands her to eat, but she refuses. He backhands her which startles Dendybar's underlings, but makes Dendybar himself happy. He proposes an alliance, and freely tells Entreri what he knows about our heroes' adventures in the city. Entreri realizes that Dendybar basically wants to use him as a hunting dog to sniff out the prey. This doesn't seem to bother him.
He does give Jierdan a passing cryptic warning about vultures eating after the cat feasts, which pisses Jierdan off. He wants to kill Entreri after he finds Drizzt, but Dendybar warns him outright that Enteri is out of his league. He intends the mage, Sydney, be the one to keep an eye on Entreri instead.
Meanwhile, Entreri and Catti-brie leave the Hosttower, each lost in their own thoughts. Catti-brie in particular has many questions of the who, what, where, why variety. Happily, this has revived her spirit and courage, and she knows her friends will need her.
I'm enjoying seeing Catti-brie try to figure out what's going on from her perspective as Entreri's unwilling traveling companion, but I'm still annoyed at the clumsy way Salvatore puts her in that situation. And as annoyed as I am by the cowardice plot, I will also be annoyed if this is the last we see of it. Catti-brie deserves a triumph damnit.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-28 02:11 pm (UTC)But I enjoying Artemis Entreri's ridiculousness more than I am enjoying Drizzt's! Drizzt is getting on my nerves.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-30 04:11 am (UTC)