Paths of Darkness
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Paths of Darkness is the fourth series of novels about the character Drizzt Do'Urden written by R. A. Salvatore.
[edit] Works included
- The Silent Blade (1998)
- The Spine of the World (1999)
- Servant of the Shard (2000)*
- Sea of Swords (2001)
*Servant of the Shard (2000) is also the first book of the Sellswords series, which follows Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri.
Paths of Darkness series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
[edit] Plot summary
In The Silent Blade Wulfgar tries to come to terms with his freedom from the Abyss...and fails, fleeing from his friends to the port city of Luskan where he finds a job as a bouncer in return for a room and spirits, which he has become dependent on to dull the pain of his recent past. Many miles to the south Artemis Entreri returns to his hometown of Calimport, only to find that a lot of things have changed in his old thieves guild...and many more will change if he and his new Drow sponsors have anything to do with it. Drizzt himself travels with the rest of his friends to see Cadderly Bonaduce who has said he will attempt to use his powers as the chosen of Deneir to destroy Crenshinibon. Drizzt and co. are duped by Jarlaxle and his lieutenants who impersonate Cadderly and take the crystal shard for themselves.
In The Spine of the World Wulfgar and his new friend, Morik the Rogue are convicted of the attempted murder of Wulfgar's old companion Captain Deudermont, a crime they did not commit. Morik the Rogue is an unscrupulous human who comes along as a traveling and drinking companion to barbarian hero Wulfgar, and is a close, but not necessarily trusted, friend. Wulfgar's mighty warhammer Aegis Fang is stolen and sold to a notorious pirate. They narrowly avoid the horrors of Luskan's prisoner's carnival and set out to become bandits on the roads surrounding the city. They prove to not be very proficient at it, though, and soon become involved in the politics of a backwater town in which the peasant fianceé of the local lord bears an illegitimate child. Wulfgar is blamed, but is helped to escape, and adopts the baby girl as his own.
The Sea of Swords is the story of how Drizzt and his friends try and track down Wulfgar's magical hammer Aegis Fang. They stop Wulfgar's new wife Dellie Curtie from being murdered in Waterdeep and are eventually reunited with Wulfgar himself with help from their old crewmate Robillard of the Sea Sprite. They track down the pirate Sheila Kree, the one who bought the hammer back in Luskan and who has now turned it into a symbol of her power. They discover her cohabiting in a cave complex with an ogre clan which she has bent to her will. There, Drizzt is faced by Ellifain, the elf child he saved when he was a part of the drow surface raid. She blames him for killing her mother; they fight and he unintentionally kills her, and with a little help from Morik the Rogue they succeed in taking back Wulfgar's weapon. Wulfgar then takes his family to Mithral Hall to live with his old friends.
