Vierna's Legacy Askew, a blending of AUs
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tales_of_faerunVierna's Legacy Askew (3516 words) by Sharpest_Asp
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, Original Elf Character(s), Regis [The Legend of Drizzt Series], Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Background Relationships, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast
Summary:
That proved to be an opening for her to use, as they had left a friend behind, one not truly suited to holding power without a strong backing. Vierna received a message back that she would have word before the spring.
When Regis had first dealt with the shadowy messengers offering to reinforce his holdings as the Pasha, his skin had twitched. Once he knew for certain they were drow, using strange magic to protect themselves above the faerzress, his heart had quailed.
They'd been very persuasive, though, as Regis was a self-identified coward who preferred his wits to stay alive by. Slipping away in the dead of the night felt entirely too familiar to him —
— and not to be repeated twice as a pair of red eyes caught his attention in the dark passage.
He didn't actually see the one that caught him with the crossbow bolt.
The 'message' was a very frightened, comfortably-sized halfling. While her Lord had little use for non-elves among the Surface folk, halflings often ended up under their sway as thieves and spies.
Vierna could tell that was not going to be the case with this one, given how he'd been delivered to her all trussed up and pushed through a shadow gate.
"I would apologize for my colleagues, except I am glad to finally meet you, Regis of Calimport," Vierna said in Common, watching him squirm beneath the faerie fire lamps. She gestured, and all of his bindings fell away, before she indicated the chair near her dais. "Please, be comfortable.
"I do not wish you harm."
"Pardon, Lady — "
"Vierna. Vierna Do'Urden."
Her interruption had a peculiar effect. He did know her name… and he found a spine, plus resolve, as he took the chair stiffly and glared at her.
"Then I definitely don't believe you, and I won't help you."
Damn. Her brother had painted her as one of his problems. Well, that couldn't be helped; she had had to preserve the illusion she served the Spider, after all.
"Not even to aid him in regaining his father?" she dangled as bait, watching the halfling undergo yet another transformation of his features. Hope for his friend, wariness at her… and he tipped his chin up.
"Convince me, and maybe I will carry a message."
Oh he was a brave one, for his friends! Such a peculiar weakness among those who tipped closer to good than evil, but for now, she would use it, and all of her charm, to get what she wanted.
Regis found himself traveling within the month, having been fed well, treated with kindness, and having his head filled with Vierna's words about Drizzt, and about the man she claimed as their father. That struck a chord; Regis knew Vierna was the one sister Drizzt had complicated feelings over.
Even attaching himself to traders out of Waterdeep made the journey take longer than he would have wished, but by late spring, he turned off to go up the road to Mithral Hall, anticipating seeing his friends with joy. Catti-brie and Wulfgar should be married, Bruenor would be a proper king now, and Drizzt?
Drizzt had to be loving the land. He'd often said he missed the trees of the south after all.
The guards he finally reached did not know him — nor did Regis know them, making him panic slightly he'd found the wrong dwarf hall! — but a dwarrow runner was sent for someone. Lespur, however, did know him when she came out, and she grinned broadly.
"Lasted longer than me king wagered; I'll have tae collect me winnings, Rumblebelly."
"I should be offended," Regis said, not admitting that Bruenor had probably been right on the real time he'd lasted. "Hi, Lespur. May I come in, or am I going to have to wait out here? I've got a message I need to get to Drizzt."
"Och, ye'll not be findin' our elf in the Hall," Lespur told him. "But ye come in. Bruenor'll be glad tae see ye."
"What happened to Drizzt?!" Regis asked, even as he moved to Lespur's side. He did not want to have to walk all the way back across the continent, but if something had happened, he'd have to.
"Naught but fallin' hard for softer ways," Lespur said with a chuckle. "He's back and forth, 'tween us and the city o' Silverymoon, and all over the lands between them.
"Bruenor keeps twittin' him that he's lookin' for a wedding of his own."
Regis's eyes widened immensely to hear that; surely Bruenor had to be wrong. "What's Catti-brie think?" he asked as they worked their way into the Hall.
"Willnae say; holds her thoughts close, she does." Lespur blew out her breath irritably, and started ranting about the negotiations that had seen their princess married. Regis half-listened, while his brain tumbled over Drizzt's possible relationship. He remembered the very odd way Drizzt had come to defend Alustriel Silverhand's actions at the city.
Surely — no, he had to be imagining things.
Regis decided, after talking to Bruenor, who arranged to send a bird looking for Drizzt, to go find Catti-brie. She always knew the right things about their friend, being the one he was closest to. He had been kind of amazed that Bruenor had actually hired a rook-master and let a rookery be built, but it made sense to have fast communications.
Catti-brie was out in Settlestone, and all too easily persuaded away from the women of the tribes. She hugged him tight, and guided him to a comfortable place to sit.
Regis noted it was in view but not earshot of others, leading him to wonder if barbarian idiocy was weighing on Catti-brie.
"So I have come to find a new home," Regis said with a sigh, "because things got hot. And I have a message for Drizzt, but he's not here, and the dwarves think he's involved with the Lady?"
Catti-brie shook her head. "Me elf makes his own choices. Ye always have a home here, and me Da better have made that clear," she added fiercely, making Regis chuckle.
"Showed me my room himself," Regis admitted shyly. "C'mon, Catti, tell me about Drizzt? You're his best friend outside of Guen!"
She studied him long and hard, before answering. "He's making those choices, aye, but best not tae press him over them. He ne'er expected tae find a chance at such and it's a bit more complicated for him."
"I won't, Catti, I promise," Regis said.
Hopefully Drizzt didn't get upset with him for the message he had.
Sharrevaliir had to smile as the bird, a gorgeous kestrel, came directly to Drizzt to be relieved of its message. "Why did the king opt for falcons instead of pigeons?" he asked curiously as Drizzt was removing the tube.
"Better adapted to the mountains, able to hunt for themselves, and … they imprinted better with me, when I helped him make the choice," Drizzt answered, before laughing at the imperious demand for a reward. "Here," he said, giving up a piece of jerky from his pouch.
Drizzt then freed the message, read it, and sighed. "I have to leave again. Our friend Regis is there, needing me."
Deysa stomped the ground, not liking that. They had been intending to do some exploration together while Alustriel dealt with all the headaches of trade season.
"We could take you; Deysa's sturdy enough for two now," Sharr invited. "Here, bird. Come to me so he can write his message."
The kestrel complied, well-trained, and waited patiently for the return message.
"If you wish to? I don't mind the run back."
"If I take you, I will be able to tell Alustriel how long we are losing you for." Sharr's words were firmly coaxing, entirely too happy to spend time with their new lover now that he had settled to the idea of being a part of their lives.
"This is true." Drizzt got the message back on the bird, watching her go, before Deysa lipped at him, adding her coppers that she wanted to help. "Alright, beautiful. I'll let the two of you take me back."
"I'll let Alustriel know not to expect us for a few days," Sharr said.
Deysa saw them to the river gate, now able to open both ways, and where they had set up guest quarters for those allowed entry to the upper Hall. She went off to go explore, while Sharr and Drizzt waited in the receiving hall that had been shaped in the rock near where most of the heaviest fighting against the duergar had taken place.
It did not take much past both men washing up from the travel for Regis to show up, his face lighting at Drizzt until he took note of the elf with him.
"Regis, this is Sharrevaliir Silverhand," Drizzt introduced.
"I've heard a few tales, Saer," Sharr said cheerfully. "And your work on Drizzt's amulet is stunning."
That eased Regis a bit, even as he wondered at the surname. Obviously he needed to learn more about the local families of note.
"Drizzt, it's good to see you. Pleasure to meet you, Saer," Regis said, bobbing a nod at the elf in his very fine armor and clothing. "You came fast! Did the bird find you on the road? I must have just missed you if so."
"No, Sharr rides a pegasus, and Deysa, his friend, was willing to convey me," Drizzt said, glowing a bit with his joy at that privilege.
"Oooh. And I heard you met a gold dragon too!" Regis said. "To put an end to that stupid crystal."
"Yes." Drizzt ducked his head a little. "But, you said you had a message? Pray tell me that Entreri is not why you fled? I was told he'd been killed."
"He was," Regis said, and then he looked at Sharr more closely. "The Tall One, was he your son?"
"Fourth born," Sharr agreed. "Though each set of twins swear we mixed up the order at times."
Regis had to chuckle at that, but it added a strangeness to the situation with Drizzt. He wouldn't have thought his friend —
— well, people found relationships in all shapes.
"No, it's not about Entreri at all. I wound up with a drow problem."
He had all of Drizzt's attention then, and it looked… serious. Bruenor had mentioned Drizzt intended to scout below the Hall, but hadn't made time for it as of yet.
"They came, offering to be the muscle I needed, and implying I could stay as the figurehead," Regis said. "I really didn't like them more than the were-rats, so I was going to just leave, and let Lavalle deal with them.
"Only, that was kind of what they expected, and caught me."
"Regis!" Drizzt moved to where he could actually get a hand on his friend then.
"I'm fine. They tied me up, threw me through some kind of gate, and I came to looking at a drow priestess. She'd even lit several lamps with fire like yours, except blue," Regis told him. "She was… kind of nice to me, but that's because of what she wanted."
"And that was?" Drizzt asked, a cold pit in his stomach now.
"For you to come talk to her," Regis answered. "She's your sister. The one that raised you, and she's a follower of Vhaeraun. Said she always was and that it was very, very hard keeping you as safe as she could and not be exposed for a Masked Traitor."
Drizzt sat back, hard, on Regis's divan, shocked.
"You know this is still possibly a trap?" Sharr asked him, just to make certain he was thinking over all aspects. "We don't want to see you hurt again by other drow."
"I know, I just… she's Vierna, and she was always different, and she is my father's daughter," Drizzt told him.
"Very much so!" Regis interjected, glad of that opening. "She wants to know you are well but she also wants your help to get him back! Because she said, and these are her words, 'he suffered too much to not have a chance to live free'."
"The honey is smelling sweet," Sharr said calmly. "But … can you trust it not to be honey of madness?"
Regis wanted to glare, but honestly? Maybe it was good to have someone throwing up warning signs that wasn't involved.
"I can't not go," Drizzt said softly. "You know how much losing Zaknafein ravaged me.
"If there's a chance? I will risk it."
The elf sighed. "Saer Regis, where was this priestess?"
"In Skullport."
"I guess that's where we're going. Or at least to Waterdeep," Sharr said. "Do you mind if we do this the quicker way, give your sister less time to prepare for your arrival?"
Drizzt looked at Sharr with a slow shake of his head. "I will accept the teleport, but none of you are going with me, you especially."
"We can talk about that back in Silverymoon," Sharr said, steel in under the velvet of the words… and Drizzt dropped it.
For now. That just made Regis more curious.
Alustriel came away from talking to her sisters to find Kor, Sharr, and Drizzt still politely 'debating' the course of action.
"Laeral cannot assist," she said in a brief pause. "Qilué, on the other hand, will aid. And invites you, Sharr, to come stay with her while she provides a guide and back up to escort Drizzt to Skullport."
Sharr looked vaguely triumphant, Drizzt resigned, and Kor settled back. He might not like drow in general, but Alustriel's sister would keep his heart-brother safe.
"You will have to wait for after my evening activities for me to take you, Drizzt. My suggestion is to go rest in the Glade; it may be some time before you are back there."
"Agreed, Alustriel," he said. "I will." He got up and departed then, leaving her to look at the other two men.
"You both need to understand he was alone for long enough that putting others at risk on his behalf is entirely too foreign. Especially given the loss of his friend, and how those poor farmers met their end."
Sharr opened his mouth, shut it, and then nodded instead. "Come on, Kor; I'm stealing you for the day."
"Good."
Drizzt had greeted everyone he'd met previously, rested the night in the care of the Promenade, and then with a fighter and a wizard, he'd gone to Skullport.
Those two were staying with allies now, and the wizard would be checking on Drizzt at set intervals as he approached the Temple of Vhaeraun. He was, of course, stopped by the guards at the gate.
"I'm here to speak with Vierna Do'Urden," he stated clearly, hands away from his hilts.
"Why?" one asked with a sneer.
"What my comrade means," the other said, "is that you aren't known to us."
He met that one's eyes, face set in a solid skepticism. "Look at my eyes and what I wear, then say that again. I am certain my sister left word with you."
She flinched, just slightly, and Drizzt knew his sister had power from the woman's whirl away and sharp gesture to follow her.
His eyes had to adjust inside the temple itself; they seemed to use spells to block outside light from entering. He could already feel the headache coming on, but given the stress of this situation, he wasn't surprised.
At least the ever-present sense of evil around him was muted, less active.
They finally stopped outside a room, and the sneering guard stayed with him while the woman went in. After a couple of minutes, she emerged.
"She will see you."
"Thank you, Saers," he said with the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice.
He stepped inside, every nerve strung tight for the least sense of danger. Only… it wasn't anything but a workroom, with books and components and one drow woman in cleric's robes.
"Drizzt."
She was focused on his entry, standing in front of a work table, and he took in just how much less irritated with the world she seemed.
"Vierna. Or do you demand 'Priestess' here too?" he asked, pushing his limits, judging her reaction.
She laughed. The sound of it was not mocking or cruel, and she moved toward him.
"Vierna, or sister, my little brother, is all I wish to hear from you." She held her hands out to him, palms up, and he rested his wrists there, clasping hers. The strong grip that answered was soothing to that part of a drow boy that had yearned for something different from the woman raising him.
"You look well, sister."
"As do you, Drizzt." She let go of one wrist and slid the other grip to his hand, taking him over to the divan to sit. "I must admit, I did not expect you so quickly; did you take up wizarding ways after all?"
He snorted, shaking his head. "Not for lack of people encouraging such." He then got a little mischief in his voice. "I tend to follow my sister as much as our father, having a calling toward divine magic — apparently."
She blinked. "That is what a 'ranger' is? Someone divinely magical?"
"So they tell me. I don't have formal training in it," Drizzt admitted. "And I will never be comfortable asking for it, but others say it does happen when I am in need."
"The human goddess, Mielikki, is so generous with you?"
He gave a short nod, still a little uneasy that She was, but if it let him protect others, he would accept it.
"Then I am pleased, for your sake, my strange brother," Vierna told him. "Do you know why you cannot be scried?"
"Originally? Lloth's doing. Using me as a chaos magnet, we think," Drizzt told her. "Now? Protection put in place specifically against clerics of evil deities." He gave her hand a squeeze. "Sorry; my allies don't trust Lloth not to tie up loose ends some day."
"I understand that concern," she told him fervently. "As I will always be a target for Her people, given what I did."
"Shall we share, truthfully, everything now?" Drizzt invited. "I wish to know of you, the real you, and I know you must want to know about me, given Regis said you kept asking him questions.
"Thank you for being gentle with him."
Vierna gave a nod to that, and began her side of the tales.
The trio of good drow made it back without adventure — in Skullport, anyway. Drizzt had dealt with one of Undermountain's pests on the way back before either of his allies could process what it was.
They'd only stayed two days, but plans had been made to find a more neutral place to spend time together later.
"Will it be an imposition, Lady, for messages to be passed to your merchants for me? I did not want a sending stone that could track me, not yet."
"I appreciate your caution, and it will be fine," Qilué promised. "We do, on occasion, manage trade with the temple people. As they have more reliable access to proper foods from the Underdark."
"Vierna had mentioned," Drizzt said, settling a little more firmly into the arm Sharr had slung along his shoulders. He was slowly coming to terms with them having the beginnings of an alliance, of a plan.
"So it was all legitimate?" Sharr asked, catching Elkantar's smile at that sign of physical comfort.
"Yes! She needs me to find the diamonds. She will work harder to be able to handle the resurrection. And cultivate the wizard it will apparently require."
"Given your stories of him, she may not be able to," Qilué pointed out. "Depending on if he is more firmly in the center of the alignments. There's a difficulty, when the alignments don't match."
Drizzt sucked in a breath. "Those are details we will need to learn; she intended to set one of the wizards she can trust into locating father's soul, to open him to the idea that we are trying."
"I hope that goes well. I am very intrigued to meet a man that could sire such a good man, and a daughter devious enough to lie to the Spider for so long," Elkantar told him.
"Makes two of us, my friend," Sharr said, before he looked at Qilué. "We'll stay another day or two, if you don't mind?"
"Not at all," she said, knowing it would be good for Drizzt to settle before going home.
"You are a pushy elf," Drizzt muttered.
"And you love being pushed," Sharr said evenly, amused… and hopeful for the drow of his heart.
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, Original Elf Character(s), Regis [The Legend of Drizzt Series], Vierna Do'Urden
Additional Tags: Background Relationships, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast
Summary:
With Entreri dead, Vierna's attentions turn to Regis instead.
Vierna's Legacy Askew
Back-tracking to Calimport, where the ship that had borne her brother to Waterdeep had last come from had proven frustrating. Eventually the allies they had there, through Vhaeraun's temple in one of the cities under the desert, were able to tell her of the adventure her brother and his party had embarked on in those southern lands.That proved to be an opening for her to use, as they had left a friend behind, one not truly suited to holding power without a strong backing. Vierna received a message back that she would have word before the spring.
When Regis had first dealt with the shadowy messengers offering to reinforce his holdings as the Pasha, his skin had twitched. Once he knew for certain they were drow, using strange magic to protect themselves above the faerzress, his heart had quailed.
They'd been very persuasive, though, as Regis was a self-identified coward who preferred his wits to stay alive by. Slipping away in the dead of the night felt entirely too familiar to him —
— and not to be repeated twice as a pair of red eyes caught his attention in the dark passage.
He didn't actually see the one that caught him with the crossbow bolt.
The 'message' was a very frightened, comfortably-sized halfling. While her Lord had little use for non-elves among the Surface folk, halflings often ended up under their sway as thieves and spies.
Vierna could tell that was not going to be the case with this one, given how he'd been delivered to her all trussed up and pushed through a shadow gate.
"I would apologize for my colleagues, except I am glad to finally meet you, Regis of Calimport," Vierna said in Common, watching him squirm beneath the faerie fire lamps. She gestured, and all of his bindings fell away, before she indicated the chair near her dais. "Please, be comfortable.
"I do not wish you harm."
"Pardon, Lady — "
"Vierna. Vierna Do'Urden."
Her interruption had a peculiar effect. He did know her name… and he found a spine, plus resolve, as he took the chair stiffly and glared at her.
"Then I definitely don't believe you, and I won't help you."
Damn. Her brother had painted her as one of his problems. Well, that couldn't be helped; she had had to preserve the illusion she served the Spider, after all.
"Not even to aid him in regaining his father?" she dangled as bait, watching the halfling undergo yet another transformation of his features. Hope for his friend, wariness at her… and he tipped his chin up.
"Convince me, and maybe I will carry a message."
Oh he was a brave one, for his friends! Such a peculiar weakness among those who tipped closer to good than evil, but for now, she would use it, and all of her charm, to get what she wanted.
Regis found himself traveling within the month, having been fed well, treated with kindness, and having his head filled with Vierna's words about Drizzt, and about the man she claimed as their father. That struck a chord; Regis knew Vierna was the one sister Drizzt had complicated feelings over.
Even attaching himself to traders out of Waterdeep made the journey take longer than he would have wished, but by late spring, he turned off to go up the road to Mithral Hall, anticipating seeing his friends with joy. Catti-brie and Wulfgar should be married, Bruenor would be a proper king now, and Drizzt?
Drizzt had to be loving the land. He'd often said he missed the trees of the south after all.
The guards he finally reached did not know him — nor did Regis know them, making him panic slightly he'd found the wrong dwarf hall! — but a dwarrow runner was sent for someone. Lespur, however, did know him when she came out, and she grinned broadly.
"Lasted longer than me king wagered; I'll have tae collect me winnings, Rumblebelly."
"I should be offended," Regis said, not admitting that Bruenor had probably been right on the real time he'd lasted. "Hi, Lespur. May I come in, or am I going to have to wait out here? I've got a message I need to get to Drizzt."
"Och, ye'll not be findin' our elf in the Hall," Lespur told him. "But ye come in. Bruenor'll be glad tae see ye."
"What happened to Drizzt?!" Regis asked, even as he moved to Lespur's side. He did not want to have to walk all the way back across the continent, but if something had happened, he'd have to.
"Naught but fallin' hard for softer ways," Lespur said with a chuckle. "He's back and forth, 'tween us and the city o' Silverymoon, and all over the lands between them.
"Bruenor keeps twittin' him that he's lookin' for a wedding of his own."
Regis's eyes widened immensely to hear that; surely Bruenor had to be wrong. "What's Catti-brie think?" he asked as they worked their way into the Hall.
"Willnae say; holds her thoughts close, she does." Lespur blew out her breath irritably, and started ranting about the negotiations that had seen their princess married. Regis half-listened, while his brain tumbled over Drizzt's possible relationship. He remembered the very odd way Drizzt had come to defend Alustriel Silverhand's actions at the city.
Surely — no, he had to be imagining things.
Regis decided, after talking to Bruenor, who arranged to send a bird looking for Drizzt, to go find Catti-brie. She always knew the right things about their friend, being the one he was closest to. He had been kind of amazed that Bruenor had actually hired a rook-master and let a rookery be built, but it made sense to have fast communications.
Catti-brie was out in Settlestone, and all too easily persuaded away from the women of the tribes. She hugged him tight, and guided him to a comfortable place to sit.
Regis noted it was in view but not earshot of others, leading him to wonder if barbarian idiocy was weighing on Catti-brie.
"So I have come to find a new home," Regis said with a sigh, "because things got hot. And I have a message for Drizzt, but he's not here, and the dwarves think he's involved with the Lady?"
Catti-brie shook her head. "Me elf makes his own choices. Ye always have a home here, and me Da better have made that clear," she added fiercely, making Regis chuckle.
"Showed me my room himself," Regis admitted shyly. "C'mon, Catti, tell me about Drizzt? You're his best friend outside of Guen!"
She studied him long and hard, before answering. "He's making those choices, aye, but best not tae press him over them. He ne'er expected tae find a chance at such and it's a bit more complicated for him."
"I won't, Catti, I promise," Regis said.
Hopefully Drizzt didn't get upset with him for the message he had.
Sharrevaliir had to smile as the bird, a gorgeous kestrel, came directly to Drizzt to be relieved of its message. "Why did the king opt for falcons instead of pigeons?" he asked curiously as Drizzt was removing the tube.
"Better adapted to the mountains, able to hunt for themselves, and … they imprinted better with me, when I helped him make the choice," Drizzt answered, before laughing at the imperious demand for a reward. "Here," he said, giving up a piece of jerky from his pouch.
Drizzt then freed the message, read it, and sighed. "I have to leave again. Our friend Regis is there, needing me."
Deysa stomped the ground, not liking that. They had been intending to do some exploration together while Alustriel dealt with all the headaches of trade season.
"We could take you; Deysa's sturdy enough for two now," Sharr invited. "Here, bird. Come to me so he can write his message."
The kestrel complied, well-trained, and waited patiently for the return message.
"If you wish to? I don't mind the run back."
"If I take you, I will be able to tell Alustriel how long we are losing you for." Sharr's words were firmly coaxing, entirely too happy to spend time with their new lover now that he had settled to the idea of being a part of their lives.
"This is true." Drizzt got the message back on the bird, watching her go, before Deysa lipped at him, adding her coppers that she wanted to help. "Alright, beautiful. I'll let the two of you take me back."
"I'll let Alustriel know not to expect us for a few days," Sharr said.
Deysa saw them to the river gate, now able to open both ways, and where they had set up guest quarters for those allowed entry to the upper Hall. She went off to go explore, while Sharr and Drizzt waited in the receiving hall that had been shaped in the rock near where most of the heaviest fighting against the duergar had taken place.
It did not take much past both men washing up from the travel for Regis to show up, his face lighting at Drizzt until he took note of the elf with him.
"Regis, this is Sharrevaliir Silverhand," Drizzt introduced.
"I've heard a few tales, Saer," Sharr said cheerfully. "And your work on Drizzt's amulet is stunning."
That eased Regis a bit, even as he wondered at the surname. Obviously he needed to learn more about the local families of note.
"Drizzt, it's good to see you. Pleasure to meet you, Saer," Regis said, bobbing a nod at the elf in his very fine armor and clothing. "You came fast! Did the bird find you on the road? I must have just missed you if so."
"No, Sharr rides a pegasus, and Deysa, his friend, was willing to convey me," Drizzt said, glowing a bit with his joy at that privilege.
"Oooh. And I heard you met a gold dragon too!" Regis said. "To put an end to that stupid crystal."
"Yes." Drizzt ducked his head a little. "But, you said you had a message? Pray tell me that Entreri is not why you fled? I was told he'd been killed."
"He was," Regis said, and then he looked at Sharr more closely. "The Tall One, was he your son?"
"Fourth born," Sharr agreed. "Though each set of twins swear we mixed up the order at times."
Regis had to chuckle at that, but it added a strangeness to the situation with Drizzt. He wouldn't have thought his friend —
— well, people found relationships in all shapes.
"No, it's not about Entreri at all. I wound up with a drow problem."
He had all of Drizzt's attention then, and it looked… serious. Bruenor had mentioned Drizzt intended to scout below the Hall, but hadn't made time for it as of yet.
"They came, offering to be the muscle I needed, and implying I could stay as the figurehead," Regis said. "I really didn't like them more than the were-rats, so I was going to just leave, and let Lavalle deal with them.
"Only, that was kind of what they expected, and caught me."
"Regis!" Drizzt moved to where he could actually get a hand on his friend then.
"I'm fine. They tied me up, threw me through some kind of gate, and I came to looking at a drow priestess. She'd even lit several lamps with fire like yours, except blue," Regis told him. "She was… kind of nice to me, but that's because of what she wanted."
"And that was?" Drizzt asked, a cold pit in his stomach now.
"For you to come talk to her," Regis answered. "She's your sister. The one that raised you, and she's a follower of Vhaeraun. Said she always was and that it was very, very hard keeping you as safe as she could and not be exposed for a Masked Traitor."
Drizzt sat back, hard, on Regis's divan, shocked.
"You know this is still possibly a trap?" Sharr asked him, just to make certain he was thinking over all aspects. "We don't want to see you hurt again by other drow."
"I know, I just… she's Vierna, and she was always different, and she is my father's daughter," Drizzt told him.
"Very much so!" Regis interjected, glad of that opening. "She wants to know you are well but she also wants your help to get him back! Because she said, and these are her words, 'he suffered too much to not have a chance to live free'."
"The honey is smelling sweet," Sharr said calmly. "But … can you trust it not to be honey of madness?"
Regis wanted to glare, but honestly? Maybe it was good to have someone throwing up warning signs that wasn't involved.
"I can't not go," Drizzt said softly. "You know how much losing Zaknafein ravaged me.
"If there's a chance? I will risk it."
The elf sighed. "Saer Regis, where was this priestess?"
"In Skullport."
"I guess that's where we're going. Or at least to Waterdeep," Sharr said. "Do you mind if we do this the quicker way, give your sister less time to prepare for your arrival?"
Drizzt looked at Sharr with a slow shake of his head. "I will accept the teleport, but none of you are going with me, you especially."
"We can talk about that back in Silverymoon," Sharr said, steel in under the velvet of the words… and Drizzt dropped it.
For now. That just made Regis more curious.
Alustriel came away from talking to her sisters to find Kor, Sharr, and Drizzt still politely 'debating' the course of action.
"Laeral cannot assist," she said in a brief pause. "Qilué, on the other hand, will aid. And invites you, Sharr, to come stay with her while she provides a guide and back up to escort Drizzt to Skullport."
Sharr looked vaguely triumphant, Drizzt resigned, and Kor settled back. He might not like drow in general, but Alustriel's sister would keep his heart-brother safe.
"You will have to wait for after my evening activities for me to take you, Drizzt. My suggestion is to go rest in the Glade; it may be some time before you are back there."
"Agreed, Alustriel," he said. "I will." He got up and departed then, leaving her to look at the other two men.
"You both need to understand he was alone for long enough that putting others at risk on his behalf is entirely too foreign. Especially given the loss of his friend, and how those poor farmers met their end."
Sharr opened his mouth, shut it, and then nodded instead. "Come on, Kor; I'm stealing you for the day."
"Good."
Drizzt had greeted everyone he'd met previously, rested the night in the care of the Promenade, and then with a fighter and a wizard, he'd gone to Skullport.
Those two were staying with allies now, and the wizard would be checking on Drizzt at set intervals as he approached the Temple of Vhaeraun. He was, of course, stopped by the guards at the gate.
"I'm here to speak with Vierna Do'Urden," he stated clearly, hands away from his hilts.
"Why?" one asked with a sneer.
"What my comrade means," the other said, "is that you aren't known to us."
He met that one's eyes, face set in a solid skepticism. "Look at my eyes and what I wear, then say that again. I am certain my sister left word with you."
She flinched, just slightly, and Drizzt knew his sister had power from the woman's whirl away and sharp gesture to follow her.
His eyes had to adjust inside the temple itself; they seemed to use spells to block outside light from entering. He could already feel the headache coming on, but given the stress of this situation, he wasn't surprised.
At least the ever-present sense of evil around him was muted, less active.
They finally stopped outside a room, and the sneering guard stayed with him while the woman went in. After a couple of minutes, she emerged.
"She will see you."
"Thank you, Saers," he said with the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice.
He stepped inside, every nerve strung tight for the least sense of danger. Only… it wasn't anything but a workroom, with books and components and one drow woman in cleric's robes.
"Drizzt."
She was focused on his entry, standing in front of a work table, and he took in just how much less irritated with the world she seemed.
"Vierna. Or do you demand 'Priestess' here too?" he asked, pushing his limits, judging her reaction.
She laughed. The sound of it was not mocking or cruel, and she moved toward him.
"Vierna, or sister, my little brother, is all I wish to hear from you." She held her hands out to him, palms up, and he rested his wrists there, clasping hers. The strong grip that answered was soothing to that part of a drow boy that had yearned for something different from the woman raising him.
"You look well, sister."
"As do you, Drizzt." She let go of one wrist and slid the other grip to his hand, taking him over to the divan to sit. "I must admit, I did not expect you so quickly; did you take up wizarding ways after all?"
He snorted, shaking his head. "Not for lack of people encouraging such." He then got a little mischief in his voice. "I tend to follow my sister as much as our father, having a calling toward divine magic — apparently."
She blinked. "That is what a 'ranger' is? Someone divinely magical?"
"So they tell me. I don't have formal training in it," Drizzt admitted. "And I will never be comfortable asking for it, but others say it does happen when I am in need."
"The human goddess, Mielikki, is so generous with you?"
He gave a short nod, still a little uneasy that She was, but if it let him protect others, he would accept it.
"Then I am pleased, for your sake, my strange brother," Vierna told him. "Do you know why you cannot be scried?"
"Originally? Lloth's doing. Using me as a chaos magnet, we think," Drizzt told her. "Now? Protection put in place specifically against clerics of evil deities." He gave her hand a squeeze. "Sorry; my allies don't trust Lloth not to tie up loose ends some day."
"I understand that concern," she told him fervently. "As I will always be a target for Her people, given what I did."
"Shall we share, truthfully, everything now?" Drizzt invited. "I wish to know of you, the real you, and I know you must want to know about me, given Regis said you kept asking him questions.
"Thank you for being gentle with him."
Vierna gave a nod to that, and began her side of the tales.
The trio of good drow made it back without adventure — in Skullport, anyway. Drizzt had dealt with one of Undermountain's pests on the way back before either of his allies could process what it was.
They'd only stayed two days, but plans had been made to find a more neutral place to spend time together later.
"Will it be an imposition, Lady, for messages to be passed to your merchants for me? I did not want a sending stone that could track me, not yet."
"I appreciate your caution, and it will be fine," Qilué promised. "We do, on occasion, manage trade with the temple people. As they have more reliable access to proper foods from the Underdark."
"Vierna had mentioned," Drizzt said, settling a little more firmly into the arm Sharr had slung along his shoulders. He was slowly coming to terms with them having the beginnings of an alliance, of a plan.
"So it was all legitimate?" Sharr asked, catching Elkantar's smile at that sign of physical comfort.
"Yes! She needs me to find the diamonds. She will work harder to be able to handle the resurrection. And cultivate the wizard it will apparently require."
"Given your stories of him, she may not be able to," Qilué pointed out. "Depending on if he is more firmly in the center of the alignments. There's a difficulty, when the alignments don't match."
Drizzt sucked in a breath. "Those are details we will need to learn; she intended to set one of the wizards she can trust into locating father's soul, to open him to the idea that we are trying."
"I hope that goes well. I am very intrigued to meet a man that could sire such a good man, and a daughter devious enough to lie to the Spider for so long," Elkantar told him.
"Makes two of us, my friend," Sharr said, before he looked at Qilué. "We'll stay another day or two, if you don't mind?"
"Not at all," she said, knowing it would be good for Drizzt to settle before going home.
"You are a pushy elf," Drizzt muttered.
"And you love being pushed," Sharr said evenly, amused… and hopeful for the drow of his heart.
Tags:
- au: canon divergence,
- author: sharpest_asp,
- category: multi,
- character: catti-brie battlehammer,
- character: drizzt do'urden,
- character: elkantar iluim,
- character: qilué veladorn,
- character: regis,
- character: sharrevaliir,
- character: vierna do'urden,
- rating: general audiences,
- threesome: alustriel/drizzt/sharr,
- warning: no warnings apply
