Recursive fanfic: Forgotten Realms
Sep. 12th, 2023 04:50 amA Venture of Mutual Benefit (3568 words) by Somariel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Jarlaxle Baenre
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast
Summary:
Once Jarlaxle had Zaknafein's body moved to a cache in a different city, he moved on to the next step in his plan for arranging his friend's resurrection: locating Zak's son.
Even without the ill-advised attempt to use the boy who had to be Drizzt's son as bait, Jarlaxle would have considered the Promenade of the Dark Maiden the most likely place for Drizzt to end up.
With the boy, Jarlaxle felt it was the only place that Drizzt would consider safe.
And so, he sent word to his lieutenant in Skullport to have everyone watch for a drow of Drizzt's description among the guards for the Promenade's trade caravans.
Somewhat more than eight months later, he finally received the word that Drizzt had been seen among the guards for the most recent caravan.
With Zak's son now verified to be at the Promenade, Jarlaxle sent to his Skullport lieutenant the sealed letter he had written, with instructions for it to be passed on to Drizzt, through the Promenade's caravan master if necessary.
Given that it was the sense that he was being watched that had led Drizzt to decide he would not accompany this caravan, Shana was somewhat concerned about the fact that she was now being watched.
But before she could decide what to do about it, the sensation ended. And not too long afterwards, one of the guards escorted an unknown drow male to her.
"Caravan Master?" the male said.
"That is who I am," Shana replied. "Who are you, and what is your business with me?"
"I am Jornil," the male answered. "As for my business, my leader seeks a parlay with Drizzt Do'Urden."
Well, that certainly explained why he'd been being watched last time.
Then, moving slowly, Jornil drew a sealed roll of parchment out of his belt pouch, and held it out to her. "This letter contains the details."
Shana took the letter cautiously, noting as she did so that it seemed heavier than parchment alone should be, and slipped it into her own belt pouch.
"I will see that it reaches the appropriate party," she said. Which, at least at first, meant Qilué, not Drizzt, but she wasn't going to tell that to this man.
"Thank you." Jornil inclined his head respectfully, then turned and walked away, followed by the guard.
Drizzt could not help but be concerned by the fact that a stranger apparently wished to speak with him, but Qilué had checked the letter over quite thoroughly, and it was entirely free of any sort of traps or magic, nor did the sending stone it was wrapped around bear any trace of other magics.
So while Kastan was off at lessons, he settled into a chair in the outer room of their suite, broke the seal, set the sending stone aside, and began to read.
Drizzt Do'Urden,
I do not know if Zaknafein ever spoke of me, but I was a long-time ally of his.
And as such, I would like to request a meeting with you at the Dimmed Lantern, to discuss potential cooperation for a venture of mutual benefit.
The sending stone enclosed with this letter is paired to one held by my lieutenant in Skullport, to facilitate swift communication if you wish to negotiate about the requested meeting.
Jarlaxle, leader of Bregan D'aerthe
Well. If this was a trap of some sort, it was a well-baited one.
Tucking both the letter and the sending stone into one of his belt pouches, Drizzt went to go find Elkantar.
He had questions that needed to be answered before he made any decisions about what to do, and even if the other man couldn't answer them, he ought to be able to tell Drizzt who could.
Given the Dimmed Lantern's reputation for neutrality, Drizzt had not felt it was necessary to negotiate anything, and had simply used the sending stone to pass along that he was willing to meet Jarlaxle on the Promenade's next trading run.
However, out of an abundance of caution, he had also asked Elkantar about the possibility of arranging some sort of backup not connected to the caravan.
That request had ended up getting turned over to Qilué, and resulted in him receiving another sending stone, which was paired to one held by Qilué's sister in Waterdeep, who apparently had a habit of using polymorph to discreetly keep tabs on what was happening in Skullport.
From his half-lounging seat in the parlor's conversation area, Jarlaxle observed Zak's son carefully as the other drow crossed the room and took a seat in the chair opposite Jarlaxle's.
And even though it would make convincing him more difficult, Jarlaxle was actually quite pleased to see a hint of suspicion on the boy's face and in the way he held himself.
"You are Jarlaxle?" the boy said, not quite managing to keep that suspicion out of his voice.
"I am," Jarlaxle replied. "And you are Drizzt Do'Urden, son of Zaknafein and that viper known as Malice."
Drizzt could not help a flash of amusement at that description of his mother, but he quickly tamped it down.
"Your letter said that you are seeking my cooperation with something that will benefit both of us.
"But anyone who does business in Menzoberranzan—as I know you must, if you truly were an ally of my father—only does so with the approval of the Ruling Council.
"So I truly wonder how whatever you have in mind could benefit me, when I have rejected that abomination they worship."
Jarlaxle smiled. "I only ascribe to the Council's dictates as far as is needed for the business I do within Menzoberranzan.
"And this particular venture is one I intend to keep as far from that city as I can."
From the look on Drizzt's face, it seemed the idea of merely paying lip service to the tenets of Lloth's faith had never occurred to him.
But as useful as it was to receive confirmation of the boy's goodly nature, it was how he would respond that held Jarlaxle's true interest.
And after a moment of silence, Drizzt spoke. "What is the venture, then?"
"I was able to convince Dinin to retrieve Zaknafein's body from your House's crypt.
"But while I now have it safely stored under stasis in another city, I have no clerics I would trust with his resurrection, nor the diamonds needed for the spell.
"And my ability to obtain the diamonds is limited by what I can do without drawing attention to the endeavor."
Keeping himself from gaping at Jarlaxle's explanation took significant effort on Drizzt's part, and he wasn't able to keep himself from staring at the other man in stunned shock.
But a slight shift in Jarlaxle's posture shook him out of it, and he asked the one question that had immediately occurred to him.
"What do you plan to do if the venture is successful?"
"My hope is to put Zaknafein in charge of Bregan D'aerthe's outpost here in Skullport," Jarlaxle said. "But it will be his choice as to whether he accepts the position or wishes to remain with you."
That answer eased the major concern Drizzt had, but he knew he was still too much in shock to actually make a decision right now.
So he sighed, and said, "I need some time to consider this properly."
Well, that was not the answer that Jarlaxle had wanted, but it wasn't an outright refusal either, and the shock that Drizzt had been unable to hide made it understandable.
"Shall we agree to meet again the next time the trade caravan comes, then?" he asked.
"That... sounds reasonable to me," Drizzt replied.
After several days spent discussing Jarlaxle's proposal, Drizzt and those he had consulted agreed that the offer had been made in all honesty, and Drizzt should accept it.
Discussion then turned to how Drizzt could work on obtaining the needed diamonds without detriment to his responsibilities as Kastan's father.
And that was when the Tall Ones presented Drizzt with a tempting offer.
Upon hearing about the venture—and Drizzt strongly suspected Ysolde's hand in that—they had decided it was a worthy one, and proposed that anytime Drizzt started to feel restless, he should send word to them, and few of them would find a ruin to assist him in clearing out, with all treasure from such forays going towards the diamonds needed.
Drizzt was somewhat reluctant to accept, even with encouragement from Ysolde and her parents, but the arguments made in favor of it—leaning heavily on the importance of family, and giving Zak the same chance to experience freedom that Drizzt and Kastan now had—eventually convinced him.
So when he met with Jarlaxle again, a mutually pleasing agreement for cooperation was worked out, including Drizzt retaining the sending stone—and Jarlaxle taking possession of the one it was paired to—in order to communicate when necessary.
In the nine and half years since Vierna had escaped Menzoberranzan, she had never been able to locate her wean-son.
Which was why it had been such a surprise for her to see, as she passed through a corner of Skullport's market square on her way back to the Temple, that he was one of the guards for the trade caravan that had just arrived from the Promenade.
Drizzt had left with that caravan as well, and now, with the next one scheduled to arrive later in the day, Vierna had arranged to have people watch to see if he came with it again.
And when the watchers reported that he had indeed arrived and left with it—though he had apparently gone elsewhere in the city for a bit—she started considering how to approach him.
When a male drow in cleric's robes, wearing Vhaeraun's mask, approached the caravan, Shana remembered that Drizzt had again noticed the sensation of being watched with the previous caravan, and she couldn't help but feel a bit amused by the repetition of events.
Natoth stopped a few feet out of sword range of the caravan's guards, clearly displayed his empty hands as a sign of peaceful intentions, and said, "I bear a message for Drizzt Do'Urden."
On hearing that, Shana moved to easy conversational distance from the priest, and replied, "Drizzt is not here, but I am the caravan master, and can pass your message to him."
That possibility had been anticipated when he discussed things with Vierna, so Natoth simply nodded.
"A fellow cleric of my Lord requests a meeting with him, at the Dimmed Lantern."
"I will relay the request," Shana said, "but it is up to him if he will accept."
"Understood," Natoth said. "If he chooses to accept, he should ask the bartender for Kaiyeth, the next time your caravan comes."
Shana nodded in acknowledgement, and returned to her supervision of the unloading.
After the Vhaeraunite cleric's request had received the same intense discussion and dissection that Jarlaxle's proposal had, Drizzt had decided to accept it, if only to find out what Vhaeraunites wanted with him.
Qilué had made the same arrangements for backup as she had for Drizzt's first meeting with Jarlaxle, and now Drizzt stood outside the parlor the bartender had directed him to.
And after a deep breath to steady himself, he knocked on the door.
A voice from within called for him to come in, so he opened the door and entered the room. A masked cleric—female, by the way the robes draped her body—was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs on the far side of the parlor, a pair of maces on the floor beside the chair.
Firmly setting aside the twinge of wistfulness that seeing a priestess with paired maces generated, Drizzt closed the door, then crossed the room to take a seat facing the priestess.
Once he was settled, the priestess spoke. "I am sorry, little brother."
And even as he clamped down hard on his shock at recognizing the voice, she removed the mask, revealing herself to be Vierna.
"I am so sorry I didn't realize how wrong Lloth's teachings are until after you and our father had both come to harm because of them."
Drizzt didn't respond immediately, but once he had reviewed all the information he had about the situation—the choice of meeting here at the Dimmed Lantern, what Jarlaxle had been able to tell him of her when he asked about the House's status, the impossibility of faking the mask Vhaeraun gave his clerics, and most of all, that immediate and unprompted apology—he replied.
"I forgive you." Then, allowing a hint of mischief to creep into his voice, he added, "Vehna."
Vierna couldn't help but laugh in half-hysterical relief for a moment, as Drizzt showed that he was still the same strange child who had caused her so much vexation.
But she quickly pulled herself back under control, and said, "Oh, I am so glad to see you again, Drizzt. And see you well and whole, even."
"I owe my son credit for much of that," Drizzt said, "as it was only in seeking to do right by him that I truly began to give proper consideration to my own wellbeing."
As surprised as she was by how casually Drizzt spoke of his son, given how the boy had come to be, Vierna knew better than to comment on that. So she addressed the other surprise in her brother's statement.
"Well, he's undoubtedly better off with you than with his mother. But can I ask how that came about?"
"Based on the information I have," Drizzt said, "his mother chose to ally herself with House Do'Urden, resulting in a plan to use him as bait in a trap for me.
"Which proved fatal for both her and Briza."
Vierna hummed thoughtfully. "So Malice is down to just one daughter. That's a precarious situation for any House, but it would be especially so for the Ninth, even without the disfavor.
"I wonder how much longer it'll be until the two of us and your son are the only Do'Urdens left?"
"Actually," Drizzt said, "Malice isn't. But given why, it's rather surprising she's lasted for this long since Briza's death."
Vierna arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh?"
"She 'won' against the Fifth House, but was forced to adopt the former Matron as her eldest daughter."
"Interesting. Though I'm curious as to how you know that. I didn't think the Promenade had the right resources to acquire that information."
"It doesn't," Drizzt agreed. "I received it from the leader of Bregan D'aerthe."
Well then. "And how did that meeting come about?" Vierna asked.
"He was seeking my cooperation in... mmm, a business venture isn't fully accurate, given that it has a personal aspect for him, but it's a good enough description."
"What in the Abyss could he possibly have thought you might agree to aid him with?"
Drizzt's entire face lit up with satisfied amusement. "Jarlaxle's price for Dinin's entry into Bregan D'aerthe was the retrieval of our father's body from the House's crypt."
Vierna froze, staring at Drizzt in complete and total shock. Did that mean...?
"He asked you to help with acquiring the diamonds needed for Father's resurrection." She said it flatly enough that it wasn't actually a question, but Drizzt answered anyway.
"Yes. And to provide the cleric to cast the spell, since he doesn't have any that he trusts enough to do it."
Vierna could well understand such a distrust. And it also gave her an avenue by which she might be able to contribute to the resurrection.
"Well, that's just one more incentive for me to continue getting better," she said.
"It would certainly be quite helpful if you are able to cast the spell," Drizzt agreed.
The conversation moved on from there, touching on the plans Drizzt had made for acquiring the diamonds before turning into a more general catching up with each other.
And before Drizzt left to return to the caravan, he and Vierna agreed to keep in touch through letters sent with the caravan while Vierna worked to acquire a pair of sending stones for them.
Time passed, the hoard of diamonds was started and slowly grew larger, and Vierna steadily progressed as a priestess of Vhaeraun.
About five years after the reunion with Vierna, one of Drizzt's ruins clearing forays ended with him and the accompanying Tall Ones going to Silverymoon for healing and rest.
A visit to Mielikki's Glade during that stay provided Drizzt with an explanation for his innate skill with animals and ease in the wilds, and after careful consideration of the pros and cons, as well as in-depth discussion with Vierna, the Tall Ones, and Qilue, Drizzt and Kastan moved to Silverymoon, taking up residence in the Palace at Alustriel's insistence.
Kastan's schooling continued with the pages and other children in the Palace, and Drizzt himself began ranger studies at the Glade.
Finding sparring partners among the Knights in Silver led to Drizzt also receiving employment as a teacher for the squires and even some of the Knights, and soon enough, he and Kastan were firmly established in the city.
1351 DR, summer
In the seven years since he had started studying at the Glade, Drizzt had learned that a ranger's dreams could sometimes be the first indication of a threat that needed to be dealt with.
So when he had the same dream—one of an unfamiliar landscape permeated by a background sense of evil—three nights running, he knew better than to ignore it.
Meditation in the Glade after his sunrise vigil turned the feeling of unease threaded through the dreams into a strong pull to the north and west, so when he returned to the Palace, he sought out Korvallen.
A page was able to tell him that the elder elf was still in his quarters, and his knock on the door was answered swiftly.
"Drizzt?!?" Korvallen exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
It wasn't unheard of for the ranger to seek him out casually, but it was too early in the day, and Drizzt's expression was too serious, for Kor to think that was the case this time.
"Ranger dreams with an urgent pull," Drizzt replied.
"Well, come in and tell me about them, then." Kor opened the door fully and waved the young drow inside.
Drizzt had settled himself on the couch by the time Kor turned away from the door, and once the Knight had taken his own seat, Drizzt began.
"The last three nights, I've been having the same dream, of snow-capped mountains, with cliffs of ice nearby, and a background sense of evil permeating the entire area.
"Meditating in the Glade this morning yielded a pull—more of a yank, really—to the north and west.
"If I'm remembering the maps correctly, the Icewind Dale is in that direction, and is enclosed by the Spine, the Reghed Glacier, and the Sea of Moving Ice."
"But it would take you weeks to get there on foot, or even by horse, and the pull is strong enough that you don't think you can afford to take that time," Kor finished.
"Precisely."
Kor reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, then sighed. "I'll go talk to Alustriel, then, get her to find out which of the boys can quickly get here with their pegasi."
"Thank you," Drizzt said.
Within two days, three Tall Ones had arrived with their pegasi, and a fourth had started flying north, planning to meet them north of Luskan.
Meeting up went well, but a day later, as the group was flying over the area of the Spine known as the Throat, Drizzt suddenly shuddered in his seat behind Andy.
"Are you alright?" Andy asked.
"The sense of evil just spiked," Drizzt said.
And after a moment of scanning the terrain below them, he was able to pinpoint it to a group of orcs making their way down a side valley toward the pass the pegasi were following.
"There!" he said, using dancing lights to draw Andy's attention in the right direction.
"Right," Andy replied, then sent Kairthon into a swift descent that was quickly copied by the others.
As they got even closer, Drizzt saw a glowing green crystal held by an orc wearing a shaman's regalia, and a moment later, a slithering, insidious voice started talking inside his head.
Acting on instinct, he dropped a globe of darkness on the shaman, and then things descended into chaos.
A few days later, safely back in Silverymoon after having delivered Crenshinibon to Elminster for safekeeping until a method of destruction could be determined, Drizzt took out the amethyst that Vierna said matched his eyes, and sent to her.
~We can expect to have the rest of the diamonds needed for Father within a week or so.~
~Really?~ Vierna's tone was one of open surprise. ~Did you clean out a dragon's hoard? Because I didn't think we were that close.~
~We weren't,~ Drizzt confirmed. ~But the Silverhands have decided to donate the rest in order to thank me for "a major service to the Realms".~
~You'll have to tell me about it when you bring the diamonds,~ Vierna replied.
Then she put the stone away, and moved to start making the needed preparations for the resurrection and the care Zaknafein would need afterwards.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Forgotten Realms, The Legend of Drizzt Series - R. A. Salvatore
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Vierna Do'Urden, Jarlaxle Baenre
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast
Summary:
Business deals, reunions, and a common goal to unite them all.
A continuation of ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
senmut’s fic The Right Bait.
A Venture of Mutual Benefit
Once Jarlaxle had Zaknafein's body moved to a cache in a different city, he moved on to the next step in his plan for arranging his friend's resurrection: locating Zak's son.
Even without the ill-advised attempt to use the boy who had to be Drizzt's son as bait, Jarlaxle would have considered the Promenade of the Dark Maiden the most likely place for Drizzt to end up.
With the boy, Jarlaxle felt it was the only place that Drizzt would consider safe.
And so, he sent word to his lieutenant in Skullport to have everyone watch for a drow of Drizzt's description among the guards for the Promenade's trade caravans.
Somewhat more than eight months later, he finally received the word that Drizzt had been seen among the guards for the most recent caravan.
With Zak's son now verified to be at the Promenade, Jarlaxle sent to his Skullport lieutenant the sealed letter he had written, with instructions for it to be passed on to Drizzt, through the Promenade's caravan master if necessary.
Given that it was the sense that he was being watched that had led Drizzt to decide he would not accompany this caravan, Shana was somewhat concerned about the fact that she was now being watched.
But before she could decide what to do about it, the sensation ended. And not too long afterwards, one of the guards escorted an unknown drow male to her.
"Caravan Master?" the male said.
"That is who I am," Shana replied. "Who are you, and what is your business with me?"
"I am Jornil," the male answered. "As for my business, my leader seeks a parlay with Drizzt Do'Urden."
Well, that certainly explained why he'd been being watched last time.
Then, moving slowly, Jornil drew a sealed roll of parchment out of his belt pouch, and held it out to her. "This letter contains the details."
Shana took the letter cautiously, noting as she did so that it seemed heavier than parchment alone should be, and slipped it into her own belt pouch.
"I will see that it reaches the appropriate party," she said. Which, at least at first, meant Qilué, not Drizzt, but she wasn't going to tell that to this man.
"Thank you." Jornil inclined his head respectfully, then turned and walked away, followed by the guard.
Drizzt could not help but be concerned by the fact that a stranger apparently wished to speak with him, but Qilué had checked the letter over quite thoroughly, and it was entirely free of any sort of traps or magic, nor did the sending stone it was wrapped around bear any trace of other magics.
So while Kastan was off at lessons, he settled into a chair in the outer room of their suite, broke the seal, set the sending stone aside, and began to read.
Drizzt Do'Urden,
I do not know if Zaknafein ever spoke of me, but I was a long-time ally of his.
And as such, I would like to request a meeting with you at the Dimmed Lantern, to discuss potential cooperation for a venture of mutual benefit.
The sending stone enclosed with this letter is paired to one held by my lieutenant in Skullport, to facilitate swift communication if you wish to negotiate about the requested meeting.
Jarlaxle, leader of Bregan D'aerthe
Well. If this was a trap of some sort, it was a well-baited one.
Tucking both the letter and the sending stone into one of his belt pouches, Drizzt went to go find Elkantar.
He had questions that needed to be answered before he made any decisions about what to do, and even if the other man couldn't answer them, he ought to be able to tell Drizzt who could.
Given the Dimmed Lantern's reputation for neutrality, Drizzt had not felt it was necessary to negotiate anything, and had simply used the sending stone to pass along that he was willing to meet Jarlaxle on the Promenade's next trading run.
However, out of an abundance of caution, he had also asked Elkantar about the possibility of arranging some sort of backup not connected to the caravan.
That request had ended up getting turned over to Qilué, and resulted in him receiving another sending stone, which was paired to one held by Qilué's sister in Waterdeep, who apparently had a habit of using polymorph to discreetly keep tabs on what was happening in Skullport.
From his half-lounging seat in the parlor's conversation area, Jarlaxle observed Zak's son carefully as the other drow crossed the room and took a seat in the chair opposite Jarlaxle's.
And even though it would make convincing him more difficult, Jarlaxle was actually quite pleased to see a hint of suspicion on the boy's face and in the way he held himself.
"You are Jarlaxle?" the boy said, not quite managing to keep that suspicion out of his voice.
"I am," Jarlaxle replied. "And you are Drizzt Do'Urden, son of Zaknafein and that viper known as Malice."
Drizzt could not help a flash of amusement at that description of his mother, but he quickly tamped it down.
"Your letter said that you are seeking my cooperation with something that will benefit both of us.
"But anyone who does business in Menzoberranzan—as I know you must, if you truly were an ally of my father—only does so with the approval of the Ruling Council.
"So I truly wonder how whatever you have in mind could benefit me, when I have rejected that abomination they worship."
Jarlaxle smiled. "I only ascribe to the Council's dictates as far as is needed for the business I do within Menzoberranzan.
"And this particular venture is one I intend to keep as far from that city as I can."
From the look on Drizzt's face, it seemed the idea of merely paying lip service to the tenets of Lloth's faith had never occurred to him.
But as useful as it was to receive confirmation of the boy's goodly nature, it was how he would respond that held Jarlaxle's true interest.
And after a moment of silence, Drizzt spoke. "What is the venture, then?"
"I was able to convince Dinin to retrieve Zaknafein's body from your House's crypt.
"But while I now have it safely stored under stasis in another city, I have no clerics I would trust with his resurrection, nor the diamonds needed for the spell.
"And my ability to obtain the diamonds is limited by what I can do without drawing attention to the endeavor."
Keeping himself from gaping at Jarlaxle's explanation took significant effort on Drizzt's part, and he wasn't able to keep himself from staring at the other man in stunned shock.
But a slight shift in Jarlaxle's posture shook him out of it, and he asked the one question that had immediately occurred to him.
"What do you plan to do if the venture is successful?"
"My hope is to put Zaknafein in charge of Bregan D'aerthe's outpost here in Skullport," Jarlaxle said. "But it will be his choice as to whether he accepts the position or wishes to remain with you."
That answer eased the major concern Drizzt had, but he knew he was still too much in shock to actually make a decision right now.
So he sighed, and said, "I need some time to consider this properly."
Well, that was not the answer that Jarlaxle had wanted, but it wasn't an outright refusal either, and the shock that Drizzt had been unable to hide made it understandable.
"Shall we agree to meet again the next time the trade caravan comes, then?" he asked.
"That... sounds reasonable to me," Drizzt replied.
After several days spent discussing Jarlaxle's proposal, Drizzt and those he had consulted agreed that the offer had been made in all honesty, and Drizzt should accept it.
Discussion then turned to how Drizzt could work on obtaining the needed diamonds without detriment to his responsibilities as Kastan's father.
And that was when the Tall Ones presented Drizzt with a tempting offer.
Upon hearing about the venture—and Drizzt strongly suspected Ysolde's hand in that—they had decided it was a worthy one, and proposed that anytime Drizzt started to feel restless, he should send word to them, and few of them would find a ruin to assist him in clearing out, with all treasure from such forays going towards the diamonds needed.
Drizzt was somewhat reluctant to accept, even with encouragement from Ysolde and her parents, but the arguments made in favor of it—leaning heavily on the importance of family, and giving Zak the same chance to experience freedom that Drizzt and Kastan now had—eventually convinced him.
So when he met with Jarlaxle again, a mutually pleasing agreement for cooperation was worked out, including Drizzt retaining the sending stone—and Jarlaxle taking possession of the one it was paired to—in order to communicate when necessary.
In the nine and half years since Vierna had escaped Menzoberranzan, she had never been able to locate her wean-son.
Which was why it had been such a surprise for her to see, as she passed through a corner of Skullport's market square on her way back to the Temple, that he was one of the guards for the trade caravan that had just arrived from the Promenade.
Drizzt had left with that caravan as well, and now, with the next one scheduled to arrive later in the day, Vierna had arranged to have people watch to see if he came with it again.
And when the watchers reported that he had indeed arrived and left with it—though he had apparently gone elsewhere in the city for a bit—she started considering how to approach him.
When a male drow in cleric's robes, wearing Vhaeraun's mask, approached the caravan, Shana remembered that Drizzt had again noticed the sensation of being watched with the previous caravan, and she couldn't help but feel a bit amused by the repetition of events.
Natoth stopped a few feet out of sword range of the caravan's guards, clearly displayed his empty hands as a sign of peaceful intentions, and said, "I bear a message for Drizzt Do'Urden."
On hearing that, Shana moved to easy conversational distance from the priest, and replied, "Drizzt is not here, but I am the caravan master, and can pass your message to him."
That possibility had been anticipated when he discussed things with Vierna, so Natoth simply nodded.
"A fellow cleric of my Lord requests a meeting with him, at the Dimmed Lantern."
"I will relay the request," Shana said, "but it is up to him if he will accept."
"Understood," Natoth said. "If he chooses to accept, he should ask the bartender for Kaiyeth, the next time your caravan comes."
Shana nodded in acknowledgement, and returned to her supervision of the unloading.
After the Vhaeraunite cleric's request had received the same intense discussion and dissection that Jarlaxle's proposal had, Drizzt had decided to accept it, if only to find out what Vhaeraunites wanted with him.
Qilué had made the same arrangements for backup as she had for Drizzt's first meeting with Jarlaxle, and now Drizzt stood outside the parlor the bartender had directed him to.
And after a deep breath to steady himself, he knocked on the door.
A voice from within called for him to come in, so he opened the door and entered the room. A masked cleric—female, by the way the robes draped her body—was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs on the far side of the parlor, a pair of maces on the floor beside the chair.
Firmly setting aside the twinge of wistfulness that seeing a priestess with paired maces generated, Drizzt closed the door, then crossed the room to take a seat facing the priestess.
Once he was settled, the priestess spoke. "I am sorry, little brother."
And even as he clamped down hard on his shock at recognizing the voice, she removed the mask, revealing herself to be Vierna.
"I am so sorry I didn't realize how wrong Lloth's teachings are until after you and our father had both come to harm because of them."
Drizzt didn't respond immediately, but once he had reviewed all the information he had about the situation—the choice of meeting here at the Dimmed Lantern, what Jarlaxle had been able to tell him of her when he asked about the House's status, the impossibility of faking the mask Vhaeraun gave his clerics, and most of all, that immediate and unprompted apology—he replied.
"I forgive you." Then, allowing a hint of mischief to creep into his voice, he added, "Vehna."
Vierna couldn't help but laugh in half-hysterical relief for a moment, as Drizzt showed that he was still the same strange child who had caused her so much vexation.
But she quickly pulled herself back under control, and said, "Oh, I am so glad to see you again, Drizzt. And see you well and whole, even."
"I owe my son credit for much of that," Drizzt said, "as it was only in seeking to do right by him that I truly began to give proper consideration to my own wellbeing."
As surprised as she was by how casually Drizzt spoke of his son, given how the boy had come to be, Vierna knew better than to comment on that. So she addressed the other surprise in her brother's statement.
"Well, he's undoubtedly better off with you than with his mother. But can I ask how that came about?"
"Based on the information I have," Drizzt said, "his mother chose to ally herself with House Do'Urden, resulting in a plan to use him as bait in a trap for me.
"Which proved fatal for both her and Briza."
Vierna hummed thoughtfully. "So Malice is down to just one daughter. That's a precarious situation for any House, but it would be especially so for the Ninth, even without the disfavor.
"I wonder how much longer it'll be until the two of us and your son are the only Do'Urdens left?"
"Actually," Drizzt said, "Malice isn't. But given why, it's rather surprising she's lasted for this long since Briza's death."
Vierna arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh?"
"She 'won' against the Fifth House, but was forced to adopt the former Matron as her eldest daughter."
"Interesting. Though I'm curious as to how you know that. I didn't think the Promenade had the right resources to acquire that information."
"It doesn't," Drizzt agreed. "I received it from the leader of Bregan D'aerthe."
Well then. "And how did that meeting come about?" Vierna asked.
"He was seeking my cooperation in... mmm, a business venture isn't fully accurate, given that it has a personal aspect for him, but it's a good enough description."
"What in the Abyss could he possibly have thought you might agree to aid him with?"
Drizzt's entire face lit up with satisfied amusement. "Jarlaxle's price for Dinin's entry into Bregan D'aerthe was the retrieval of our father's body from the House's crypt."
Vierna froze, staring at Drizzt in complete and total shock. Did that mean...?
"He asked you to help with acquiring the diamonds needed for Father's resurrection." She said it flatly enough that it wasn't actually a question, but Drizzt answered anyway.
"Yes. And to provide the cleric to cast the spell, since he doesn't have any that he trusts enough to do it."
Vierna could well understand such a distrust. And it also gave her an avenue by which she might be able to contribute to the resurrection.
"Well, that's just one more incentive for me to continue getting better," she said.
"It would certainly be quite helpful if you are able to cast the spell," Drizzt agreed.
The conversation moved on from there, touching on the plans Drizzt had made for acquiring the diamonds before turning into a more general catching up with each other.
And before Drizzt left to return to the caravan, he and Vierna agreed to keep in touch through letters sent with the caravan while Vierna worked to acquire a pair of sending stones for them.
Time passed, the hoard of diamonds was started and slowly grew larger, and Vierna steadily progressed as a priestess of Vhaeraun.
About five years after the reunion with Vierna, one of Drizzt's ruins clearing forays ended with him and the accompanying Tall Ones going to Silverymoon for healing and rest.
A visit to Mielikki's Glade during that stay provided Drizzt with an explanation for his innate skill with animals and ease in the wilds, and after careful consideration of the pros and cons, as well as in-depth discussion with Vierna, the Tall Ones, and Qilue, Drizzt and Kastan moved to Silverymoon, taking up residence in the Palace at Alustriel's insistence.
Kastan's schooling continued with the pages and other children in the Palace, and Drizzt himself began ranger studies at the Glade.
Finding sparring partners among the Knights in Silver led to Drizzt also receiving employment as a teacher for the squires and even some of the Knights, and soon enough, he and Kastan were firmly established in the city.
1351 DR, summer
In the seven years since he had started studying at the Glade, Drizzt had learned that a ranger's dreams could sometimes be the first indication of a threat that needed to be dealt with.
So when he had the same dream—one of an unfamiliar landscape permeated by a background sense of evil—three nights running, he knew better than to ignore it.
Meditation in the Glade after his sunrise vigil turned the feeling of unease threaded through the dreams into a strong pull to the north and west, so when he returned to the Palace, he sought out Korvallen.
A page was able to tell him that the elder elf was still in his quarters, and his knock on the door was answered swiftly.
"Drizzt?!?" Korvallen exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
It wasn't unheard of for the ranger to seek him out casually, but it was too early in the day, and Drizzt's expression was too serious, for Kor to think that was the case this time.
"Ranger dreams with an urgent pull," Drizzt replied.
"Well, come in and tell me about them, then." Kor opened the door fully and waved the young drow inside.
Drizzt had settled himself on the couch by the time Kor turned away from the door, and once the Knight had taken his own seat, Drizzt began.
"The last three nights, I've been having the same dream, of snow-capped mountains, with cliffs of ice nearby, and a background sense of evil permeating the entire area.
"Meditating in the Glade this morning yielded a pull—more of a yank, really—to the north and west.
"If I'm remembering the maps correctly, the Icewind Dale is in that direction, and is enclosed by the Spine, the Reghed Glacier, and the Sea of Moving Ice."
"But it would take you weeks to get there on foot, or even by horse, and the pull is strong enough that you don't think you can afford to take that time," Kor finished.
"Precisely."
Kor reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, then sighed. "I'll go talk to Alustriel, then, get her to find out which of the boys can quickly get here with their pegasi."
"Thank you," Drizzt said.
Within two days, three Tall Ones had arrived with their pegasi, and a fourth had started flying north, planning to meet them north of Luskan.
Meeting up went well, but a day later, as the group was flying over the area of the Spine known as the Throat, Drizzt suddenly shuddered in his seat behind Andy.
"Are you alright?" Andy asked.
"The sense of evil just spiked," Drizzt said.
And after a moment of scanning the terrain below them, he was able to pinpoint it to a group of orcs making their way down a side valley toward the pass the pegasi were following.
"There!" he said, using dancing lights to draw Andy's attention in the right direction.
"Right," Andy replied, then sent Kairthon into a swift descent that was quickly copied by the others.
As they got even closer, Drizzt saw a glowing green crystal held by an orc wearing a shaman's regalia, and a moment later, a slithering, insidious voice started talking inside his head.
Acting on instinct, he dropped a globe of darkness on the shaman, and then things descended into chaos.
A few days later, safely back in Silverymoon after having delivered Crenshinibon to Elminster for safekeeping until a method of destruction could be determined, Drizzt took out the amethyst that Vierna said matched his eyes, and sent to her.
~We can expect to have the rest of the diamonds needed for Father within a week or so.~
~Really?~ Vierna's tone was one of open surprise. ~Did you clean out a dragon's hoard? Because I didn't think we were that close.~
~We weren't,~ Drizzt confirmed. ~But the Silverhands have decided to donate the rest in order to thank me for "a major service to the Realms".~
~You'll have to tell me about it when you bring the diamonds,~ Vierna replied.
Then she put the stone away, and moved to start making the needed preparations for the resurrection and the care Zaknafein would need afterwards.
