Streams of Silver - Chapter Fourteen

[kalinara]

So last time, more trolls. Our ostensible heroes are run ragged. But now they're out of the Trollmoors, so god willing, we'll get to more interaction and less fight scenes. (I can't quite believe I'm saying that, but while fight scenes are fun to read, they make for dull review/recaps.)



So we start off with Wulfgar setting Regis and Bruenor down and collapsing in pain. It seems I owe Mr. Salvatore an apology. I'd complained that the injuries last chapter seemed there only to show how stoic our heroes were. But perhaps they're actually going to be significant.

Drizzt realizes that they have to camp, even though it's closer to the Trollmoors than he likes. He examines Wulfgar's leg, finding a dismembered hand still grabbing it. Ew. Also dangerous.

The hand is still ambulatory even and tries to scurry away when Drizzt burns it. Drizzt is impressed again by Wulfgar's badassery. As he should be. Wulfgar's unconscious now, and Drizzt decides to keep watch. But just this once, Salvatore lets Drizzt be a tiny bit less than a total paragon: he falls asleep.

Fortunately, everything's fine and they're woken up by Bruenor grumbling about his lost axe. Everyone engages in some cheerful banter about whether or not Wulfgar should have taken the axe and left Bruenor behind, or whether Bruenor's nose could be mistaken for an axe head. It's cute and everyone is clearly very relieved to be alive.

Everyone's basically convalescing now, but the forest is nice and soon they make their way to Silverymoon. And well:

They all felt the sensation of hope and relief when they glanced down upon that magnificent sight, but none felt it more keenly than Drizzt Do'Urden. The drow had hoped from the earliest planning of their adventure that its path would take him through Silverymoon, though he had done nothing to sway Bruenor's decision in choosing a course.

We're told that Drizzt had learned about Silverymoon not long after he arrived in Ten Towns, which raises the interesting question of who exactly would have told him. He notes that if he hadn't been at least somewhat tolerated in Ten Towns he might have searched for the place, since Silverymoon has a reputation of accepting anyone regardless of race.

There's a rather nice bit about how Drizzt has always thought about visiting, but chickened out, afraid that it would turn out to be a fantasy. As annoying as I find the whole fear-of-drow being compared to real world racism aspect of the story, I think this bit really resonates.

So they get to the Moonbridge, which is apparently invisible. And I'm just a bit annoyed. What is the point of an invisible bridge? That sounds more dangerous rather than less. What if someone panics? How exactly do you tell where the edge is? What do animals sense?

This is the sort of nonsense I'd expect from the Harpells, not a legendary city.

Happily, Wulfgar's character growth has been consistent:

Wulfgar and Regis watched the spectacle of the flying wagon in blank amazement. The barbarian had overcome many of his fear's of magic during his stay in Longsaddle, and he was truly looking forward to exploring this legendary city. Regis had been here once before, but his familiarity with the place did nothing to lessen his excitement.

See, the advantage of a character who has flaws is that by overcoming said flaws, we get a real sense of growth and movement for the character, Drizzt.

So they get to the guard post. We're told, though they are not, that this is the same post that Entreri's group passed four days ago, and these are even the same guards.

We're told this, of course, for the contrast. They admitted an actually evil party, but as soon as they see Drizzt, they tell him to go away and that he can't pass. Unlike the Nesme scouts, they're not particularly rude about it, but they see it as their duty. The others can enter, but Drizzt can't. Drizzt is crushed.

I'm a little intrigued by what this would do to Entreri and Sydney's plans if Drizzt isn't allowed in the city. Entreri would be happy enough, I suppose, since this predates their rivalry, but Dendybar would definitely not be.

So as usual, Bruenor goes on a tirade about how Drizzt is worth a dozen of the guards. Drizzt urges the others to go in, he'll wait outside. And for once I won't actually mock his martyr tendencies. Salvatore did a good job of convincing me that Drizzt really did put a lot of hope in the fantasy of being accepted somewhere, and I genuinely buy that this is devastating.

Bruenor refuses of course, and Wulfgar, who has been rapidly growing into the wisest and most moderate person in the group says that Bruenor should enter, as anger shouldn't defeat their purpose, but Wulfgar himself will remain with Drizzt.

Bruenor won't have it though, and he marches toward the road. Regis follows, because as much as he loves creature comforts, he's loyal to his friends more. The guard tells them that they can camp anywhere and that they won't be disturbed by the Knights of Silverymoon or any monsters.

I just said I wouldn't mock Drizzt's martyr tendencies, but sometimes Salvatore really makes that difficult:

Drizzt nodded, for though the sting of the rejection had not diminished, he understood that the guard had been helpless to change the unfortunate situation. He started slowly away, the disturbing questions that he had avoided for so many years already beginning to press in upon him.

Wulfgar was not so forgiving. "You have wronged him," he said to the guard when Drizzt moved away. "Never has he raised sword against any who did not deserve it, and this world, yours and mine, is better off for having Drizzt Do'Urden about!"

The guard looked away, unable to answer the justifiable scolding.

Of course, Drizzt understands the guard's position. And he is free to do that because Salvatore's other characters will always defend him. But is the scolding justifiable?

This guard doesn't know Drizzt, admittedly. But again, drow elves in this universe universally (at least as far as any characters know) engage in genocidal murder. It's not fair to Drizzt, at all. But that's not the same as being unjustified.

I've said it before, and I will say it again everytime this comes up (...and it will be a LOT over the course of this series), but this is NOT the same as real world racism.

Wulfgar does slip up when he criticizes the unjust command, because the guard is not about to hear anyone criticize Lady Alustriel. He says that her commands are beyond their wisdom. Is he a fanatic? Or is this a hint that not all is what it seems?

Bruenor is a clever bastard though, he positions their camp just a bit farther down, in clear sight of the guard. He had noticed the guard seemed uncomfortable and guilty. He doesn't really think it'll do much, but he wants to play on the guard's guilt a little. Which, fair enough. He focuses on their next destination: Sundabar and then Citadel Adbar.

While Regis and Bruenor bicker, Wulfgar goes to join Drizzt in his brooding. He makes a few attempts to draw Drizzt into conversation, then decides to respect his privacy. Drizzt himself is still pretty heartbroken, and we get a litany of his troubles:

The stars came out and, found the drow still standing alone beside the Rauvin. Drizzt had made himself vulnerable for the first time since his initial days on the surface, and the disappointment he now felt triggered the same doubts that he had believed resolved years ago, before he had ever left Menzoberranzan, the city of the black elves. How could he ever hope to find any normalcy in the daylight world of the fair-skinned elves? In Ten-Towns, where murderers and thieves often rose to positions of respect and leadership, he was barely tolerated. In Longsaddle, where prejudice was secondary to the fanatical curiosity of the unsinkable Harpells, he had been placed on display like some mutated farm animal, mentally poked and prodded. And though the wizards meant him no harm, they lacked any compassion or respect for him as anything other than an oddity to be observed.

Now Silverymoon, a city founded and structured on tenets of individuality and fairness, where peoples of all races found welcome if they came in goodwill, had shunned him. All races, it seemed, except for the dark elves.

It is of course melodramatic. And honestly, I doubt it's "all races". I don't know that we see an orc, troll or illithid in the city either. But they don't count because they're monsters, I suppose.

The inevitability of Drizzt's life as an outcast had never before been so clearly laid out before him. No other city, not even a remote village, in all the Realms could offer him a home, or an existence anywhere but on the fringes of its civilization. The severe limitations of his options, and even moreso, of his future hopes for change, appalled him.

He stood now under the stars, looking up at them with the same profound level of love and awe as any of his surface cousins had ever felt, but sincerely reconsidering his decision to leave the underworld.

Okay, so the doubts are understandable, but really? You WERE accepted in the Ten Towns. Grudgingly at first, but eventually you did impress enough people. Agorwal gave you an open invitation to stay in Termalaine! You could live with Bruenor, who adores you, and there's no indication that the dwarves share the humans' prejudice. You won over at least one barbarian.

The problem is that Drizzt doesn't want the acceptance he's gotten. He doesn't want to live with dwarves or barbarians. He also doesn't want to work for acceptance in the Ten Towns. And you know, that's fine. But it doesn't make me as sympathetic as I ought to be to his plight.

But THEN, something happens:

Then the enchanting light was gone, and standing before Drizzt was a woman, her hair shining silver and her sparkling eyes holding years of experience and wisdom within the luster of eternal youth. She was tall, taller than Drizzt, and straight, wearing a gown of the finest silk and a high crown of gold and gems.

This is Alustriel of course, the Lady of Silverymoon. And to be fair, this is a LOT less flowery a description than we'll see in Ed Greenwood's stuff.

(For those less familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, Ed Greenwood is the guy who created the Forgotten Realms setting. He seems to be very very fond of the idea of supremely powerful, magical and otherworldly beautiful women. See: The Seven Sisters.

At the risk of suggesting too much about an author's personal life, I think Greenwood has a type.)

So anyway, Alustriel knows about Drizzt and "the Companions of the Hall" (name courtesy of Harkle Harpell.) She tells Drizzt that she's the one who prevented him from entering the city. This makes Drizzt curious, because, well, she's here now.

"I felt I must explain," she replied.

"You need not justify your decision."

"But I must," said Alustriel. "For myself and my home as much as for you. The rejection has hurt you more than you admit." She moved closer to him.  "It pained me as well," she said softly.

"Then why?" Drizzt demanded, his anger slipping through his calm facade. "If you know of me, then you know as well that I carry no threat to your people."

She ran her cool hand across his cheek. "Perceptions," she explained. "There are elements at work in the north that make perceptions vital at this time, sometimes even overruling what is just. A sacrifice has been forced upon you."

"A sacrifice that has become all too familiar to me."

"I know," Alustriel whispered. "We learned from Nesme that you had been turned away, a scenario that you commonly face."

"I expect it," Drizzt said coldly.

"But not here," Alustriel retorted. "You did not expect it from Silverymoon, nor should you have."

Is it weird that I kind of enjoy the interaction between Alustriel and Drizzt? They're both so dramatic. I vaguely remember liking their dynamic much more than Drizzt's eventual romantic fate (which always squicked me just a little even when I was a teenager.)

So Alustriel explains, a bit cryptically, that there are secret alliances and threats of war, and because of that, she has to choose the greater good over one individual. Apparently, having a drow elf in the city would implicate her in something. She tries to elaborate and it doesn't completely make sense, but it does come with a fair bit of Drizzt shilling:

"You are not just any drow elf," Alustriel explained. "You are Drizzt Do'Urden, a name that is destined to be heard throughout the Realms. For now, though, you are a drow who is fast becoming visible to the northern rulers, and, initially at least, they will not understand that you have forsaken your people.

"And this tale gets more complicated, it seems," Alustriel continued. "Know you that I have two sisters?"

Drizzt shook his head.

"Storm, a bard of reknown, and Dove Falconhand, a ranger. Both have taken an interest in the name of Drizzt Do'Urden - Storm as a growing legend in need of proper song, and Dove . . . I have yet to discern her motives. You have become a hero to her, I think, the epitome of those qualities that she, as a fellow ranger, strives to perfect. She came into the city just this morn, and knew of your impending arrival.

"Dove is many years younger than I," Alustriel went on. "And not so wise in the politics of the world."

"She might have sought me out," Drizzt reasoned, seeing the implications that Alustriel feared.

Now this is interesting, because there's a bit of a retcon coming up. Or sort of anyway. If I recall correctly, Dove Falconhand will play a role in the last book of Drizzt's origin series, which is set maybe ten or twelve years before present day. But to be fair, I'm not sure that Dove and Drizzt actually have any direct interaction.

Alustriel admits she herself would have sought an audience with Drizzt too. And there is perhaps a hint of an undertone that the audience would not entirely be about her admiration of his character. Well done, Mr. Salvatore.

Anyway, Alustriel knows what they were looking for, and because she felt bad about banning Drizzt, she had gone to look for the information herself. Sadly, there isn't much. She knows that Drizzt and company intend to go east to Sundabar and beyond, but she thinks it's a mistake. Based on her research and knowledge, she thinks Mithril Hall is to the west.

Maybe so, but Drizzt comments that they've come from the west and the search for people with the requisite knowledge has taken them east. Alustriel agrees that they might find some information from Helm of Sundabar, but the Citadel Adbar dwarves will be less helpful. Apparently they had come through Silverymoon while looking for Mithril Hall in the past and returned unsuccessful.

She does have a suggestion though: there's a place called "Herald's Holdfast" to the west, and it's "an ancient bastion of accumulated knowledge". Alustriel has already informed the herald about the group and he's willing to sit with them.

Alustriel warns him not to get his hopes up and suggests that the danger that drove the dwarves from Mithril Hall came from within the mine. Alustriel has a few more gifts: a "potion of remembrance" that will allow Bruenor to access forgotten memories to be used only when their search seems near to an end, and some food and medical supplies.

Drizzt, like many men, is cheered by a beautiful woman giving him gifts. More seriously, he's happy to hear that under normal circumstances he would be accepted into Silverymoon, and that his good deeds and reputation have gotten some positive notice. And our chapter ends here.

This was actually a pretty good one. We see, yet again, the issues that come with Drizzt's race. And Salvatore does a good job of focusing less on the bigotry issue and more on the emotional toll that repeated rejection takes on Drizzt. I will always argue that the surface dwellers have the right to be afraid, but that doesn't mean I can't sympathize with Drizzt. His situation sucks.

Drizzt's situation is a crap metaphor for racism, but it IS a good challenge for a character, and when Salvatore focuses on that aspect, it works very well. And it's fun to see two very over the top characters interact here. Drizzt is a lot more tolerable when he's not the most dramatic person in the room.