Streams of Silver - Chapter Nineteen
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i_read_whatSo last time in Streams of Silver, our heroes found their way into Mithril Hall and Bruenor did a little bit of grave robbing before declaring himself King. Good on him.
So our heroes are now making their plans over a rough map drawn by Bruenor. There's an exit on the far side of the Hall that they can use to leave. This surprises Wulfgar, but Drizzt points out that if the forces that defeated the clan are still here, they wouldn't be much of a match for them. It's better to get out and make sure the knowledge of the Hall's location isn't lost.
Bruenor wants to scout a little more though, so he can see exactly what they'll be facing. He says it's so that he will know what's left before he calls for help. Drizzt has his doubts, but stays quiet. He also thinks that Catti-brie's presence will keep Bruenor from taking TOO many risks.
Wulfgar is glad to know that Bruenor's intending to come back. ("An army at me heels"). Bruenor's enthusiasm does wane a bit when he looks at his adopted daughter. She sees it, of course, and makes her own declaration:
She read it at once. "Don't ye be holding back for me!" she scolded. "Fought beside ye before, I have, and held me own, too! I didn't want this road, but it found me and now I'm here with ye to the end!"
Catti-brie and Wulfgar really are the only characters that have had anything resembling growth arcs, haven't they?
Drizzt makes his own dramatic statement:
"'Tis your road to choose," said Drizzt. "For 'tis your search. We walk beside you, but do not tell you which way to go."
Bruenor smiled at the irony of the statement. He noted a slight glimmer in the drow's eyes, a hint of their customary sparkle for excitement. Perhaps Drizzt's heart for the adventure was not completely gone.
Drizzt is a fun-loving killjoy, Bruenor. It'll be fine. And of course Wulfgar's in. Regis stays quiet, he's intrigued by the wealth of the hall, but also thinks that he'd rather walk the nine hells with his friends than go back out to face Entreri alone.
There's a weird bit where Bruenor tells the group to get themselves armored. And look, I get that this is based on D&D where looting corpses is a thing. That's not my problem. This is my problem: Bruenor is a dwarf. So the fact that he can wear his grandfather's armor makes some sense.
Drizzt is not a dwarf. He is an elf. Catti-brie is human. They're each probably a foot or two taller than any dwarf in the hall, and slimmer beside. And then there's the giant that is Wulfgar.
Sure, in video games our characters have no problem looting armor and weapons from their enemies and it all somehow manages to fit. But sometimes, things that work in video games don't work in novels. At least give us some idiotic line about how dwarven armor magically resizes.
Anyway, they go off into the maze that is Mithril Hall. This bit is pretty blatantly a dungeon crawl. It's even described as a "virtual mage", which of course raises the usual question when these things come up: how are people supposed to LIVE here? It's one thing when you do like Suikoden, and make a castle OUT of a dungeon. That makes some sense. But you've made a dungeon out of a castle, and okay, but how the fuck did people go about their daily business?
So anyway, there's not really much point in describing the dungeon crawl part, except to note there's a point where Drizzt feels a draft at the base of a wall. It's warm air, not cool, and thus it comes from the furnace rather than outside. That means someone is below.
The scene shifts now to Dendybar, who is commanding Morkai to show them the stair. Morkai realizes he can actually disobey this command. Dendybar is getting more exhausted, and his grip is weakening. Morkai can't strike back yet, but that's a big "yet".
Morkai decides to obey though, because he wants to keep this going. He goes to Entreri and Sydney and shows them the secret stairway. Entreri notes that Dendybar is being pretty useful, but Sydney knows enough to be worried. She's noticed that Morkai seems stronger and more relaxed each time he appears, and she's counted his appearances.
I like Sydney as an adversary actually. She's not as over the top as Entreri, but in her own way, she's just as effective. It's a shame that her side of the plot is intrinsically doomed, because Drizzt doesn't HAVE the damn shard.
That's the weakest part of this story, by the way. Entreri's side is fine. There's suspense about whether he'll get Regis or not. As he as good as the narrative says? But Sydney's side has no suspense. Sure, maybe she can kill our heroes. But what if she does? The shard's not there. There's no risk that any villain will get that power again.
It's a waste. Sydney's a much much better villain than Akar Kessell. She deserves to be more of a threat than he was.
So Sydney and Entreri make it to the hidden door. Unfortunately for them, Sydney can't get it open with her magic. Entreri is doubtful of the whole thing, but she orders Bok to break down the door. Slowly, gradually, it does.
Back in the hall, our heroes hear the noise. Drizzt can guess what it is (...of course he can.). Catti-brie can guess too, but in her case it's less authorial fiat omniscience and more that she remembers how Bok destroyed a wall in Silverymoon. They can't figure out what direction the noise is coming from with the echo though, so neither of them say anything about it.
...why? Wouldn't it be better to warn the group?
So now we get the first combat encounter of the dungeon, as weird dark shapes attack. Catti-brie and Bruenor have trouble hitting it, Wulfgar's about to use Aegis-Fang, but Catti-brie suggests using the torchlight instead. He does, and it works well until he trips over Regis. Catti-brie grabs the torch herself.
Drizzt knows the monsters. Of course he does. But I suppose the fact that these are underground monsters makes his miraculous knowledge a bit less irritating. And indeed, they are commonplace in drow lands. Drizzt conjures faerie fire around them, making them quite visible. They can't dodge the attacks anymore, so they flee.
Our heroes continue on, with Wulfgar carrying Regis. Bruenor is having doubts and disturbing questions about this whole venture. He's realizing this doesn't feel like he's returned home, and everything is despoiled and ruined. Aw. Wulfgar and Drizzt understand, this was exactly what they were worried about. Bruenor is not as enthused about taking back his home, and part of him just wants to flee and never return. He does feel like he needs to "cross the top level" at least though, as a respectful gesture both to his dead kin and to the friends who've been supporting him.
They make it to the center of the level. Tomorrow, they should reach the gorge that will either represent the way out (Drizzt's preferred choice) or the way deeper (what Wulfgar really wants). Wulfgar realizes that Drizzt's own feelings about his upbringing is causing him to battle unpleasant memories. But honestly, Drizzt has been a prick about this trip since Crystal Shard. Long before they actually went underground.
Anyway, the contemplation is over when Bok crashes in the room, kicking Regis and Catti-brie aside, and going for Drizzt.
Now Drizzt, of course, wasn't surprised. He'd slipped into the shadows and is going to try to secure the door against others. Sadly, Bok has magic detection abilities and spots him. And then Entreri comes in, and we get the first meeting of a legendary rivalry.
Entreri entered the chamber right after Bok, using the commotion caused by the golem to slip unnoticed through the door and off into the shadows in a manner strikingly similar to the drow.
As they approached the midpoint of the oval room's wall, each was met by a shadow so akin to his own that he had to stop and take measure of it before he engaged.
"So at last I meet Drizzt Do'Urden," Entreri hissed.
"The advantage is yours," replied Drizzt, "for I know naught of you."
"Ah, but you will, black elf!" the assassin said, laughing. In a blur, they came together, Entreri's cruel saber and jeweled dagger matching the speed of Drizzt's whirring scimitars.
And so it begins. Honestly, I remember finding the rivalry itself rather tedious. But Entreri's side of things does end up unfolding into a really interesting arc, which culminates in a few books where he's one of the central protagonists that I remember being really quite good. And some of the more recent, post spellplague, books actually allow their dynamic to develop into something complex and interesting.
Sadly, Drizzt never really gets parallel growth as I recall. He remains the same noble, pontificating, judgmental martyr in the most recent books as he's been in this series. (If anything? He gets worse.) But who knows, maybe I'll see more to appreciate now.
So anyway, Wulfgar and Bruenor are pounding at the golem. Regis is stunned and useless again. Catti-brie is getting up, though she spends a moment to appreciate [t]he spectacle of grace and skill of the combatants.
Sydney is also distracted, because that's what girls are here for: to admire the prowess of the men. Melodramatic prose is melodramatic.
Sydney, just outside the doorway, was likewise distracted, for the battle between the dark elf and Entreri was unlike anything she had ever seen, two master swordsmen weaving and parrying in absolute harmony.
Each anticipated the other's movements exactly, countering the other's counter, back and forth in a battle that seemed as though it could know no victor. One appeared the reflection of the other, and the only thing that kept the onlookers aware of the reality of the struggle was the constant clang of steel against steel as scimitar and saber came ringing together.
The fighters slip into an alcove, which frees up Sydney to shoot Wulfgar and Bruenor with her magic wand. Okay. Catti-brie, YOU can do something too, right?
Something else is happening though: Bruenor hears a rumble in the floor, which he vaguely recalls from childhood. He's not sure what it is, but it is BAD. And suddenly a tremor collapses the alcove on top of Drizzt and Entreri.
Bruenor is frozen and grief-stricken, while Catti-brie drags fallen Regis to safety. Regis is unconscious dead weight a LOT in this book, I realize. You'd think Salvatore could do SOMETHING with the guy. Besides making him a rapist.
Anyway, the chapter ends here. With Sydney and Bok fleeing one way, Catti-brie, Regis, Wulfgar and a despairing, broken Bruenor fleeing the other. Drizzt and Entreri are seemingly dead, but if you believe that, I have some land in the Trollmoors to sell you.
So our heroes are now making their plans over a rough map drawn by Bruenor. There's an exit on the far side of the Hall that they can use to leave. This surprises Wulfgar, but Drizzt points out that if the forces that defeated the clan are still here, they wouldn't be much of a match for them. It's better to get out and make sure the knowledge of the Hall's location isn't lost.
Bruenor wants to scout a little more though, so he can see exactly what they'll be facing. He says it's so that he will know what's left before he calls for help. Drizzt has his doubts, but stays quiet. He also thinks that Catti-brie's presence will keep Bruenor from taking TOO many risks.
Wulfgar is glad to know that Bruenor's intending to come back. ("An army at me heels"). Bruenor's enthusiasm does wane a bit when he looks at his adopted daughter. She sees it, of course, and makes her own declaration:
She read it at once. "Don't ye be holding back for me!" she scolded. "Fought beside ye before, I have, and held me own, too! I didn't want this road, but it found me and now I'm here with ye to the end!"
Catti-brie and Wulfgar really are the only characters that have had anything resembling growth arcs, haven't they?
Drizzt makes his own dramatic statement:
"'Tis your road to choose," said Drizzt. "For 'tis your search. We walk beside you, but do not tell you which way to go."
Bruenor smiled at the irony of the statement. He noted a slight glimmer in the drow's eyes, a hint of their customary sparkle for excitement. Perhaps Drizzt's heart for the adventure was not completely gone.
Drizzt is a fun-loving killjoy, Bruenor. It'll be fine. And of course Wulfgar's in. Regis stays quiet, he's intrigued by the wealth of the hall, but also thinks that he'd rather walk the nine hells with his friends than go back out to face Entreri alone.
There's a weird bit where Bruenor tells the group to get themselves armored. And look, I get that this is based on D&D where looting corpses is a thing. That's not my problem. This is my problem: Bruenor is a dwarf. So the fact that he can wear his grandfather's armor makes some sense.
Drizzt is not a dwarf. He is an elf. Catti-brie is human. They're each probably a foot or two taller than any dwarf in the hall, and slimmer beside. And then there's the giant that is Wulfgar.
Sure, in video games our characters have no problem looting armor and weapons from their enemies and it all somehow manages to fit. But sometimes, things that work in video games don't work in novels. At least give us some idiotic line about how dwarven armor magically resizes.
Anyway, they go off into the maze that is Mithril Hall. This bit is pretty blatantly a dungeon crawl. It's even described as a "virtual mage", which of course raises the usual question when these things come up: how are people supposed to LIVE here? It's one thing when you do like Suikoden, and make a castle OUT of a dungeon. That makes some sense. But you've made a dungeon out of a castle, and okay, but how the fuck did people go about their daily business?
So anyway, there's not really much point in describing the dungeon crawl part, except to note there's a point where Drizzt feels a draft at the base of a wall. It's warm air, not cool, and thus it comes from the furnace rather than outside. That means someone is below.
The scene shifts now to Dendybar, who is commanding Morkai to show them the stair. Morkai realizes he can actually disobey this command. Dendybar is getting more exhausted, and his grip is weakening. Morkai can't strike back yet, but that's a big "yet".
Morkai decides to obey though, because he wants to keep this going. He goes to Entreri and Sydney and shows them the secret stairway. Entreri notes that Dendybar is being pretty useful, but Sydney knows enough to be worried. She's noticed that Morkai seems stronger and more relaxed each time he appears, and she's counted his appearances.
I like Sydney as an adversary actually. She's not as over the top as Entreri, but in her own way, she's just as effective. It's a shame that her side of the plot is intrinsically doomed, because Drizzt doesn't HAVE the damn shard.
That's the weakest part of this story, by the way. Entreri's side is fine. There's suspense about whether he'll get Regis or not. As he as good as the narrative says? But Sydney's side has no suspense. Sure, maybe she can kill our heroes. But what if she does? The shard's not there. There's no risk that any villain will get that power again.
It's a waste. Sydney's a much much better villain than Akar Kessell. She deserves to be more of a threat than he was.
So Sydney and Entreri make it to the hidden door. Unfortunately for them, Sydney can't get it open with her magic. Entreri is doubtful of the whole thing, but she orders Bok to break down the door. Slowly, gradually, it does.
Back in the hall, our heroes hear the noise. Drizzt can guess what it is (...of course he can.). Catti-brie can guess too, but in her case it's less authorial fiat omniscience and more that she remembers how Bok destroyed a wall in Silverymoon. They can't figure out what direction the noise is coming from with the echo though, so neither of them say anything about it.
...why? Wouldn't it be better to warn the group?
So now we get the first combat encounter of the dungeon, as weird dark shapes attack. Catti-brie and Bruenor have trouble hitting it, Wulfgar's about to use Aegis-Fang, but Catti-brie suggests using the torchlight instead. He does, and it works well until he trips over Regis. Catti-brie grabs the torch herself.
Drizzt knows the monsters. Of course he does. But I suppose the fact that these are underground monsters makes his miraculous knowledge a bit less irritating. And indeed, they are commonplace in drow lands. Drizzt conjures faerie fire around them, making them quite visible. They can't dodge the attacks anymore, so they flee.
Our heroes continue on, with Wulfgar carrying Regis. Bruenor is having doubts and disturbing questions about this whole venture. He's realizing this doesn't feel like he's returned home, and everything is despoiled and ruined. Aw. Wulfgar and Drizzt understand, this was exactly what they were worried about. Bruenor is not as enthused about taking back his home, and part of him just wants to flee and never return. He does feel like he needs to "cross the top level" at least though, as a respectful gesture both to his dead kin and to the friends who've been supporting him.
They make it to the center of the level. Tomorrow, they should reach the gorge that will either represent the way out (Drizzt's preferred choice) or the way deeper (what Wulfgar really wants). Wulfgar realizes that Drizzt's own feelings about his upbringing is causing him to battle unpleasant memories. But honestly, Drizzt has been a prick about this trip since Crystal Shard. Long before they actually went underground.
Anyway, the contemplation is over when Bok crashes in the room, kicking Regis and Catti-brie aside, and going for Drizzt.
Now Drizzt, of course, wasn't surprised. He'd slipped into the shadows and is going to try to secure the door against others. Sadly, Bok has magic detection abilities and spots him. And then Entreri comes in, and we get the first meeting of a legendary rivalry.
Entreri entered the chamber right after Bok, using the commotion caused by the golem to slip unnoticed through the door and off into the shadows in a manner strikingly similar to the drow.
As they approached the midpoint of the oval room's wall, each was met by a shadow so akin to his own that he had to stop and take measure of it before he engaged.
"So at last I meet Drizzt Do'Urden," Entreri hissed.
"The advantage is yours," replied Drizzt, "for I know naught of you."
"Ah, but you will, black elf!" the assassin said, laughing. In a blur, they came together, Entreri's cruel saber and jeweled dagger matching the speed of Drizzt's whirring scimitars.
And so it begins. Honestly, I remember finding the rivalry itself rather tedious. But Entreri's side of things does end up unfolding into a really interesting arc, which culminates in a few books where he's one of the central protagonists that I remember being really quite good. And some of the more recent, post spellplague, books actually allow their dynamic to develop into something complex and interesting.
Sadly, Drizzt never really gets parallel growth as I recall. He remains the same noble, pontificating, judgmental martyr in the most recent books as he's been in this series. (If anything? He gets worse.) But who knows, maybe I'll see more to appreciate now.
So anyway, Wulfgar and Bruenor are pounding at the golem. Regis is stunned and useless again. Catti-brie is getting up, though she spends a moment to appreciate [t]he spectacle of grace and skill of the combatants.
Sydney is also distracted, because that's what girls are here for: to admire the prowess of the men. Melodramatic prose is melodramatic.
Sydney, just outside the doorway, was likewise distracted, for the battle between the dark elf and Entreri was unlike anything she had ever seen, two master swordsmen weaving and parrying in absolute harmony.
Each anticipated the other's movements exactly, countering the other's counter, back and forth in a battle that seemed as though it could know no victor. One appeared the reflection of the other, and the only thing that kept the onlookers aware of the reality of the struggle was the constant clang of steel against steel as scimitar and saber came ringing together.
The fighters slip into an alcove, which frees up Sydney to shoot Wulfgar and Bruenor with her magic wand. Okay. Catti-brie, YOU can do something too, right?
Something else is happening though: Bruenor hears a rumble in the floor, which he vaguely recalls from childhood. He's not sure what it is, but it is BAD. And suddenly a tremor collapses the alcove on top of Drizzt and Entreri.
Bruenor is frozen and grief-stricken, while Catti-brie drags fallen Regis to safety. Regis is unconscious dead weight a LOT in this book, I realize. You'd think Salvatore could do SOMETHING with the guy. Besides making him a rapist.
Anyway, the chapter ends here. With Sydney and Bok fleeing one way, Catti-brie, Regis, Wulfgar and a despairing, broken Bruenor fleeing the other. Drizzt and Entreri are seemingly dead, but if you believe that, I have some land in the Trollmoors to sell you.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-30 01:56 am (UTC)/perks up at Suikoden mention, just finished replaying V
Though none of the ones I've played have you turn a dungeon into a castle. Instead you find one, and in III the castle's even occupied the whole time, you're just helping repopulate it.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-30 08:46 pm (UTC)Suikoden 1 is probably the best example, because Toran/??? Castle was basically just a monster-inhabited island before you get control of it. Suikoden 2's castle was originally Neclord's lair. I actually haven't played any of the later ones though. :-)
no subject
Date: 2025-05-01 12:59 am (UTC)Of the three I've played, Tierkreis's HQ was technically a dungeon, but you barely spend any time in it as one. It's the second hostile location in the game, and it literally appears out of nowhere right after the first dungeon. Your party finding an object inside that makes them realize it didn't exist before is what kickstarts the plot, so it's more notable for that, and for what you can glean from the world it was originally from.
III has Budehuc Castle, which was always an inhabited working castle, though it had fallen into disrepair with only a skeleton staff until a new lord inherited it and decided to restore it to its former glory. The three main protagonists all come across it independently and think the project is worth helping with, signalling when they can start recruiting Stars by sending people there. It doesn't become HQ until Chapter 4 (out of 5) when the protagonists' paths merge and you have to choose who the main hero is.
I haven't played IV, but from what I've read, it sounds like HQ is a fleet, so it was probably never a dungeon. V starts off with you exploring old monster-filled ruins, but those only control a sluice gate forming a lake, and when it's opened and the lake starts to drain, you discover a castle hidden inside. The castle itself is uninhabited and pristine, and the dungeon ruins stay a dungeon through the entire game.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-01 01:28 am (UTC)