Disclaimer: See the Prologue.
Chapter Two
Decent into the Darkness
Upon entering the cave Drizzt pulled a map out of his belt-pouch. This map detailed the route from the cave where he now stood, all the way to Blingdenstone, the city of the deep gnomes. It had been given to him by one of his truest friends, a deep gnome by the name of Belwar Dissengulp, in Drizzt's escape to the surface. It included a wide route around one certain cavern. This was because, at the time in which the map was drawn, that cavern and the tunnels around it were the territory of the mind reading, mind-controlling, tentacle-limbed evil creatures known as Ilithids. Drizzt planned to cut time from the route by passing through the city. This was not from self-confidence in his ability to defeat them, nor from thinking he was immune to their psychic attacks, but because the Ilithids no longer lived.
When he escaped from Menzoberranzan, he wandered around in the underdark for years, until he met entered Blingdenstone. He lived there for a few years, until it was reported that there was a vicious creature in the tunnels, coming toward Blingdenstone, and hunting for him. He left Blingdenstone, but was joined by Belwar, and together they set off. A creature that had, through magic, been transformed into a hook horror, a huge, rocky-skinned, clawed, and beaked predator of the underdark joined them. During the three's travels, they had been captured by the Ilithids, and made slaves. This did not stop the vicious hunter, though. The hunter was an undead corpse, brought back to life by the evil magic of Lloth. The corpse possessed the body, and the skills with blades, of Zaknafien, Drizzt's father and mentor, the only drow that Drizzt had ever cared about. Because the corpse did not truly possess a rational mind, it walked into the city, immune the Ilithid's attacks, and slaughtered all of them. Drizzt and Belwar had barely escaped with Clacker's help. However, the corpse did not stop, and at their next meeting, the undead beast killed Clacker, sending Drizzt into a rage. During the battle, in order to give Zaknafien's body the skill to beat Drizzt, Matron Malice (who was, in a sense, controlling it) let her control slip. Zaknafien, the real Zaknafien, became conscious, and, in order to stop himself and save Drizzt, he threw himself into the acid lakes below the natural catwalk where they were battling.
Remembering this brought Drizzt's mind back to the map. He could go straight through the cavern, which would cut a day or two off of his journey. He hoped that, with luck, he could avoid meeting up with any unfriendly creatures. Thinking about Alustriel and all the other people he cared about, he set off, heading into the deep, deep darkness.
He walked through the caverns of his younger years, avoiding contact with as many creatures as he could, sometimes with Guenhwyvar, his magical panther, by his side, sometimes without. He made his way through the Ilithid city, and through the acid lakes. He continued, eventually finding a Deep Gnome mining party as he neared Blingdenstone. He kept his guard up, knowing that the Deep Gnomes, in this situation, were most likely to attack first ask questions later. Alertness was a way of life in the Underdark, the only thing that will keep you alive. The only problem is that many of the younger Gnomes will take alertness for total paranoia, and, upon seeing something out of place, will attack, or scream and run away, both of which are bad ideas in the underdark. So Drizzt waited, and, when he felt the time was right, he stepped out of the shadows in front of the leader of the party. Upon seeing him, many of the gnomes started drawing their weapons, or readying their pickaxes.
"Halt!" Drizzt said, using the language of the Svirfnebli, which he had learned in Blingdenstone so many years ago. "I mean you no harm!"
"Why should we believe you, Drow?" The leader of the party said. Like many Drizzt had met during his journeys, he used it as a curse, spitting it out. "You could be the head scout for a raiding party, come to kill us."
"I assure you I am not. Most Drow, even the most scholarly, never learn Svirfneblin, because if they ever met one, the Gnome would be dead before any words were said."
"So? You Drow might have decided to try to trick us by using one who does know our language to make us relax."
"That could be the truth, but I must ask you, do you know Belwar Dissengulp?"
"Of course I do, what Gnome doesn't? Especially me, seeing how he's my uncle."
That was interesting, Drizzt decided. He knew this Svirfnebli. His name was Rantar Dissengulp. He and Drizzt had played together when they were younger. He'd file it away for later. "Do you have any memory of an occasion where Belwar took in a Drow?"
"Yes, but that was years ago. What does that have to do with anything? He said that it would never return."
"I see. Do you remember any distinctive features of this Drow?"
"I can't see how it's any buisiness of yours, but he had purple eyes. Wait a second. Take off that hood."
Drizzt took off the hood of his cloak. "It has been a long time, Rantar."
"DRIZZT! Is that you? I thought you were never coming back!"
"Would that I could have come back under better circumstances, my old friend."
Drizzt was happy to meet an old friend, as well as to come into the company of the Gnomes, who he was worried might attack him. Rantar was joyous that his old friend was alive, well, and back. All of the other Gnomes were utterly confused. Their leader, as well as their hero, was friends with a Drow Elf? How was this possible? Were not all Deep Gnomes told to avoid the Dark Elves, and to attack if there were no other choice? Then why, if those things are true, was Rantar chatting with this Drow as if they were best friends.
The truth was, that when Drizzt still lived in Blingdenstone, they had been best friends. So they had a lot to catch up on; but that didn't happen until later, and, to the other Gnomes, was really totally irrelevant. While all of this was running quickly through the heads of all the Gnomes present, Drizzt and Rantar were still talking.
"How are you, Elf? And Guenhwyvar?"
"I almost lost Guenhwyvar while trying to rescue one of my friends, but we were reunited, and she is doing fine."
"I'm glad the cat is well, but how are you?"
"I am well, but I fear that I am not here for pleasure. I must get to Blingdenstone immediately."
"You are lucky, then, because we were just heading back ourselves. Would you accompany us? Having a Drow of your abilities on watch would certainly help our chances of survival."
"I will, and thank you. Company is something that I have sorely missed since I reentered the Underdark."
"Very well then, let us depart."
They traveled for roughly three days. Of course, being underground, there was really no way to tell. As they traveled, Rantar explained to the other Gnomes about Drizzt, which caused great relief. Drizzt spent the rest of the trip telling the Svirfnebli about his travels and adventures above ground. When they arrived at the gate of Blingdenstone, armed guards met them.
"Who goes there?"
Rantar replied, while Drizzt kept in the shadows. "It is I, Rantar Dissengulp, bringing the third mining party back to the city."
"Why is there a Drow Elf with you?"
Drizzt stepped forward and lowered the hood of his cloak.
"I am Drizzt Do'Urden. I have come to see Belwar Dissengulp."
This caused many of the guards confusion. They talked among themselves for some time, before questioning him.
"What does Belwar Dissengulp have instead of hands?"
"A hammer and a pickaxe, that may be set to 'humming' by saying a magical incantation."
This apparently impressed the guards, because they looked startled for a moment, and then said, "We have been expecting you, Drizzt Do'Urden. Please enter. Belwar and the council are waiting the council chamber."
With that, the great doors of Blingdenstone swung open, and six days after he had enter the cave, Drizzt Do'Urden, the renegade Dark Elf, stepped inside.
Please read and review. This is my first try at actual Fanfiction, so be gentle.
Chapter Two
Decent into the Darkness
Upon entering the cave Drizzt pulled a map out of his belt-pouch. This map detailed the route from the cave where he now stood, all the way to Blingdenstone, the city of the deep gnomes. It had been given to him by one of his truest friends, a deep gnome by the name of Belwar Dissengulp, in Drizzt's escape to the surface. It included a wide route around one certain cavern. This was because, at the time in which the map was drawn, that cavern and the tunnels around it were the territory of the mind reading, mind-controlling, tentacle-limbed evil creatures known as Ilithids. Drizzt planned to cut time from the route by passing through the city. This was not from self-confidence in his ability to defeat them, nor from thinking he was immune to their psychic attacks, but because the Ilithids no longer lived.
When he escaped from Menzoberranzan, he wandered around in the underdark for years, until he met entered Blingdenstone. He lived there for a few years, until it was reported that there was a vicious creature in the tunnels, coming toward Blingdenstone, and hunting for him. He left Blingdenstone, but was joined by Belwar, and together they set off. A creature that had, through magic, been transformed into a hook horror, a huge, rocky-skinned, clawed, and beaked predator of the underdark joined them. During the three's travels, they had been captured by the Ilithids, and made slaves. This did not stop the vicious hunter, though. The hunter was an undead corpse, brought back to life by the evil magic of Lloth. The corpse possessed the body, and the skills with blades, of Zaknafien, Drizzt's father and mentor, the only drow that Drizzt had ever cared about. Because the corpse did not truly possess a rational mind, it walked into the city, immune the Ilithid's attacks, and slaughtered all of them. Drizzt and Belwar had barely escaped with Clacker's help. However, the corpse did not stop, and at their next meeting, the undead beast killed Clacker, sending Drizzt into a rage. During the battle, in order to give Zaknafien's body the skill to beat Drizzt, Matron Malice (who was, in a sense, controlling it) let her control slip. Zaknafien, the real Zaknafien, became conscious, and, in order to stop himself and save Drizzt, he threw himself into the acid lakes below the natural catwalk where they were battling.
Remembering this brought Drizzt's mind back to the map. He could go straight through the cavern, which would cut a day or two off of his journey. He hoped that, with luck, he could avoid meeting up with any unfriendly creatures. Thinking about Alustriel and all the other people he cared about, he set off, heading into the deep, deep darkness.
He walked through the caverns of his younger years, avoiding contact with as many creatures as he could, sometimes with Guenhwyvar, his magical panther, by his side, sometimes without. He made his way through the Ilithid city, and through the acid lakes. He continued, eventually finding a Deep Gnome mining party as he neared Blingdenstone. He kept his guard up, knowing that the Deep Gnomes, in this situation, were most likely to attack first ask questions later. Alertness was a way of life in the Underdark, the only thing that will keep you alive. The only problem is that many of the younger Gnomes will take alertness for total paranoia, and, upon seeing something out of place, will attack, or scream and run away, both of which are bad ideas in the underdark. So Drizzt waited, and, when he felt the time was right, he stepped out of the shadows in front of the leader of the party. Upon seeing him, many of the gnomes started drawing their weapons, or readying their pickaxes.
"Halt!" Drizzt said, using the language of the Svirfnebli, which he had learned in Blingdenstone so many years ago. "I mean you no harm!"
"Why should we believe you, Drow?" The leader of the party said. Like many Drizzt had met during his journeys, he used it as a curse, spitting it out. "You could be the head scout for a raiding party, come to kill us."
"I assure you I am not. Most Drow, even the most scholarly, never learn Svirfneblin, because if they ever met one, the Gnome would be dead before any words were said."
"So? You Drow might have decided to try to trick us by using one who does know our language to make us relax."
"That could be the truth, but I must ask you, do you know Belwar Dissengulp?"
"Of course I do, what Gnome doesn't? Especially me, seeing how he's my uncle."
That was interesting, Drizzt decided. He knew this Svirfnebli. His name was Rantar Dissengulp. He and Drizzt had played together when they were younger. He'd file it away for later. "Do you have any memory of an occasion where Belwar took in a Drow?"
"Yes, but that was years ago. What does that have to do with anything? He said that it would never return."
"I see. Do you remember any distinctive features of this Drow?"
"I can't see how it's any buisiness of yours, but he had purple eyes. Wait a second. Take off that hood."
Drizzt took off the hood of his cloak. "It has been a long time, Rantar."
"DRIZZT! Is that you? I thought you were never coming back!"
"Would that I could have come back under better circumstances, my old friend."
Drizzt was happy to meet an old friend, as well as to come into the company of the Gnomes, who he was worried might attack him. Rantar was joyous that his old friend was alive, well, and back. All of the other Gnomes were utterly confused. Their leader, as well as their hero, was friends with a Drow Elf? How was this possible? Were not all Deep Gnomes told to avoid the Dark Elves, and to attack if there were no other choice? Then why, if those things are true, was Rantar chatting with this Drow as if they were best friends.
The truth was, that when Drizzt still lived in Blingdenstone, they had been best friends. So they had a lot to catch up on; but that didn't happen until later, and, to the other Gnomes, was really totally irrelevant. While all of this was running quickly through the heads of all the Gnomes present, Drizzt and Rantar were still talking.
"How are you, Elf? And Guenhwyvar?"
"I almost lost Guenhwyvar while trying to rescue one of my friends, but we were reunited, and she is doing fine."
"I'm glad the cat is well, but how are you?"
"I am well, but I fear that I am not here for pleasure. I must get to Blingdenstone immediately."
"You are lucky, then, because we were just heading back ourselves. Would you accompany us? Having a Drow of your abilities on watch would certainly help our chances of survival."
"I will, and thank you. Company is something that I have sorely missed since I reentered the Underdark."
"Very well then, let us depart."
They traveled for roughly three days. Of course, being underground, there was really no way to tell. As they traveled, Rantar explained to the other Gnomes about Drizzt, which caused great relief. Drizzt spent the rest of the trip telling the Svirfnebli about his travels and adventures above ground. When they arrived at the gate of Blingdenstone, armed guards met them.
"Who goes there?"
Rantar replied, while Drizzt kept in the shadows. "It is I, Rantar Dissengulp, bringing the third mining party back to the city."
"Why is there a Drow Elf with you?"
Drizzt stepped forward and lowered the hood of his cloak.
"I am Drizzt Do'Urden. I have come to see Belwar Dissengulp."
This caused many of the guards confusion. They talked among themselves for some time, before questioning him.
"What does Belwar Dissengulp have instead of hands?"
"A hammer and a pickaxe, that may be set to 'humming' by saying a magical incantation."
This apparently impressed the guards, because they looked startled for a moment, and then said, "We have been expecting you, Drizzt Do'Urden. Please enter. Belwar and the council are waiting the council chamber."
With that, the great doors of Blingdenstone swung open, and six days after he had enter the cave, Drizzt Do'Urden, the renegade Dark Elf, stepped inside.
Please read and review. This is my first try at actual Fanfiction, so be gentle.