Companions of the Hall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may not meet a proposed guideline for notability (see Wikipedia:Notability (fiction)). If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand or rewrite the article to establish its notability. The best way to address this concern is to reference published, third-party sources about the subject. If notability cannot be established, the article is more likely to be considered for redirection, merge or ultimately deletion, per Wikipedia:Guide to deletion. This article has been tagged since January 2008.

This Forgotten Realms (D&D)-related article or section describes fictional characters in a primarily in-universe style. Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective.

This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. Please help improve the article with a good introductory style.

In the fictional Forgotten Realms setting, an adventuring group comprising Drizzt Do'Urden, and his closest friends, Bruenor Battlehammer, Catti-Brie, Wulfgar, and Regis. Their name derives from their home of Mithral Hall, of which Bruenor became king at the end of The Icewind Dale Trilogy. They are commonly referred to as the Companions of the Hall both by Drizzt himself and other people in Icewind Dale and the Northern Sword Coast and Silver Marches. Their adventures had repercussions throughout the Realms, including the death of Yvonnel Baenre, the head of the most powerful House in Menzoberranzan, and the defeat of Akar Kessel, the power hungry mage.

Contents 1 Drizzt Do'Urden 2 Bruenor Battlehammer 3 Cattie-Brie 4 Wulfgar 4.1 Appearance 4.2 Biography 4.3 Early years 4.4 After resurrection 4.4.1 Return to Icewind Dale 4.5 Aegis-fang 4.6 References 5 Regis 5.1 Story 5.2 Appearance 5.3 Personality 5.4 References 5.5 Weapons 6 References

[edit] Drizzt Do'Urden

Main article: Drizzt Do'Urden

[edit] Bruenor Battlehammer

Main article: Bruenor Battlehammer

[edit] Cattie-Brie

It has been suggested that Catti-brie be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Main article: Cattie-Brie

[edit] Wulfgar

This article is about the Forgotten Realms character. Wulfgar is also the name of a minor character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf.

Dungeons & Dragons Character
Wulfgar
Homeland	Icewind Dale
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Age	Around 35
Class	Barbarian
Alignment	Chaotic Good
Universe	Forgotten Realms

Wulfgar, son of Beornegar, is the barbarian hero of Icewind Dale in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and one of the Companions of the Hall along with Drizzt Do'Urden, Catti-brie, Regis the halfling, and Bruenor Battlehammer. He is the creation of R.A. Salvatore.

Wulfgar was originally planned to be the main protagonist of the Salvatore's first series (Icewind Dale trilogy), which was initally to be set in Moonshae islands. As soon as the background was changed to Icewind Dale, Drizzt Do'Urden was invited as Wulfgar's sidekick, and succeed him as the main protagonist in following novels.^[1] Wulfgar returned to the major role in The Spine of the World novel.^{[2] [3]} He also appears in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn computer role-playing game as minor NPC.

[edit] Appearance

As described in "The Crystal Shard", Wulfgar is roughly seven feet tall, blond-haired and blue-eyed (common for the barbarian tribes he hails from), and developed his awesomely muscled physique when he was in servitude to the dwarf Bruenor Battlehammer for five years—working alongside dwarves, who are renowned for being tireless. Wulfgar is broad-shouldered and thick-chested with a wiry waist, and his arms have been described as thicker than a fat dwarf's thighs. Despite his bulk, he's moderately graceful. He's also relatively young and has a boyish face, and eventually grew a beard.^[4]

Wulfgar once lifted a three-hundred-pound man with one arm, and then threw him. Also, when he challenged King Heafstaag, a mighty barbarian leader, Wulfgar literally crushed the King's head like a melon with his bare hands; even while enduring Heaftaag's spine shattering bear hug.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

As a youth, Wulfgar was the flag bearer for Heafstaag, king of the Elk Tribe. He participated in barbarian invasion of Ten-Towns, where Bruenor Battlehammer, a dwarf, knocked out Wulfgar with a blow to the head. After the battle, when the people of Ten-towns were slitting throats of the barbarians not quite dead, Bruenor spared Wulfgar. Instead of death, Breunor sentenced Wulfgar to five years and a day of service to Bruenor. Wulfgar took to the forge and, over time, changed his opinion of Bruenor from a slaver to a father. Bruenor crafted Aegis-fang with Wulfgar in mind. When Wulfgar's sentence was almost up, Bruenor bade Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, to teach Wulfgar how to fight.

When Akar Kessel came to conquer Ten-Towns, Wulfgar resumed his father Beornegar's quest to kill the white dragon Icingdeath (Ingeloakastimizilian). With the help of Drizzt, Wulfgar challenged and killed Icingdeath, earning the title Dragonsbane. The dragon killing scene was criticized by Dungeons & Dragons' fans for violating the game rules, as both characters were of low level. Salvatore was quoted replying:"I'll let the poor game designers fret about the proper levels for characters. I just write stories." ^[5]

With this deed to his credit, he was able to challenge King Heafstaag to combat for leadership of the tribes. Wulfgar defeated Heafstaag, gaining rulership of the Tribe of the Elk, and led the tribes to the aid of the people of Ten-Towns. He also fell in love with Catti-brie, Bruenor's adopted human daughter.

Wulfgar followed Bruenor and Drizzt in their campaign for Mithril Hall and struggle against assassin Artemis Entreri. After Mithril Hall was conquered, Wulfgar resided there. His barbarian attitude, chauvinism and jealousy led to rift between Catti-brie, Drizzt, and himself. When a drow party from Menzoberranzan captured Drizzt, though, Wulfgar followed his friends to resque. In the battle with a yochlol, Wulfgar caused a ceiling to cave in on himself, and the handmaiden, in order to keep it from killing Cattie-brie. His companions believed he was dead.

[edit] After resurrection

Wulfgar's death received mixed reception and affected some Forgotten Realms fans. It led to debate between author and TSR publishing house. Editors ordered Wulfgar's resurrection in "Passage to Dawn" after the fans' request, and despite Salavatore's argument. Recently, though, Robert was quoted saying "I'm really glad I brought Wulfgar back. When I was writing Spine of the World, I came to appreciate making something of what Wulfgar had gone through. When I wrote that book, I sent it to my editor and I said, 'Half the people are going to love this book, and the other half are going to hate it. It is what it is, and there's nothing I can do about it.'"^[6]

In "Passage to Dawn", it was explained, that yochlol dragged Wulfgar to the Abyss and its master Lolth, who later gave Wulfgar to the demon Errtu, so that the demon would watch over the drow city Menzoberranzan during the Time of Troubles. When Errtu was summoned by a wizard, he escaped and brought Wulfgar with him. He was tortured and humilated in the hands of the demon. Drizzt and company defeated Errtu and sent him back to the Abyss, but during his time as Errtu's prisoner Wulfgar's mind was almost broken. He later wound up attacking Cattie-brie during a hallucination, an occurrence which caused him much mental anguish.^[7] In an effort to stop the harm he was doing, Wulfgar broke off from the Companions of the Hall, and wandered the North for a time, eventually finding himself at a tavern called the Cutlass, owned by Arumn Gardpeckk.

"The Spine of the World" portrays Wulfgar descending into alcoholism. The barbarian eventually became the bouncer of Arumn's bar and the lover of the barmaid Delly Curtie. Josi Puddles, Arumn's cowardly friend, stole Wulfgar's hammer, fearing that when Arumn decided to fire the huge barbarian, Wulfgar would use the hammer to tear down the bar. Wulfgar was then accused of the attempted murder of Captain Deudermont of the Sea Sprite, with whom he had sailed several years earlier. He was then taken to the Prisoners Carnival, a vicious show run by the Magistrate Jarkheld, where felons (even ones innocent of the crimes accused of) were tortured in various fashions until they admitted to the crimes accused of, so that they might be killed swiftly. Wulfgar and his friend, Morik the Rogue, who had been accused of the same crime, were pardoned by Captain Deudermont, and took to the road after being banished from the city and refusing to once again sail with the Captain. Wulfgar then for a short time tried to, without alcohol, shut out the memories of his time with Errtu, and the horrible tortures he had suffered with him. After an incident in the small fiefdom of Auckney, involving the young king's wife and a lie concocted to save her illegitimate child, Wulfgar and Morik left with a young child, and Wulfgar was finally able to banish his demons without alcohol, after being shown an act of massive courage by the king's wife when she had nothing to gain from the act. He and Morik then headed back to Luskan for a short time. After apologizing to Arumn for his destructive behavior, and to Delly for not returning her feelings, Wulfgar and Morik parted ways and he left Luskan with Delly and their unnamed child at his side.

Wulfgar and Delly then traveled to Waterdeep, where Wulfgar took up with Captain Deudermont and the crew of the Sea Sprite in search of the pirate to whom Josie Puddles had sold his warhammer. After giving up his sea based search he travelled into the northlands in search of the pirate Sheila Kree. He eventually met up with his old friends, whom he had abandoned months earlier. With their help (and to a smaller degree Morik's, who had been sleeping with the female wizard of Sheila Kree's crew) he recovered his hammer, after facing an entire clan of ogres. Catti-Brie then sunk Shelia Kree and her crew as they tried to flee to the sea.

When Thibbledorf Pwent and the Gutbuster Brigade arrived, bearing news that Gandalug Battlehammer had died, Wulfgar and his family travelled with his old companions, and the entire clan of Icewind-Dale Battlehammer dwarves, to Mithril Hall so that Bruenor could resume his reign. Sometime afterward, Bruenor decided to look for another lost dwarven homeland called Gauntlgrym, and the dwarf's closest friends accompanied him, along with five hundred dwarves. On their trek through the Spine of the World, the caravan came upon the ruin of the small human settlement Clicking Heels, which had been sacked by a multitude of Orcs and Frost Giants. Later they picked up the only two survivors of an expedition from Citadel Felbarr, which had been similarly destroyed. Bruenor then determined that himself, Drizzt, Wulfgar, Catti-Brie, Regis, and a small detachment of dwarves, would see if other villages in the region had also been sacked. Wulfgar assured Delly that he would rejoin her at Mithril Hall after a short time.

During their trek, the group entered the small town of Shallows, a small (approximately 120 people and a local wizard) prosperous community. It was during this time, that while out on patrol, one of Shallows militia teams encountered a large force of Orcs and was slaughtered, with only one survivor managing to escape and hide. The lone survivor then sped back to Shallows and told of the Orc force. When the attack began on the town, Wulfgar was charged with holding an entire section of the towns defensive wall, with Regis, Bruenor and his dwarves, the towns militia holding the rest(Drizzt had been unable to get inside the walls before the assault began), while Withegroo the wizard and the towns archers(Catti-Brie among them) firng over the walls from the top of his tower in the center of the town. He performed admirably, holding the wall against the massive force of 1000 Orcs. Repelling grapplers and sweeping aside those few who crested the wall, Wulfgar was unmovable, even after countless hours when exhaustion began to set in. Unfortunately many townspeople still fell during the first assault, due to the 10 Frost Giants who tirelessly hurled boulders against their defenses. When the first assault ended, it left a third of shallows defenders dead, and many more orcs. Unfortunately, after the last push by Bruenor and his dwarves to clear out the Orcs from in front of Shallows main gates, he fell unconscious, having sustained many blows that would have felled a lesser Dwarf. During this time, Regis left to try and make his way to one of the Dwarven outposts. When the attack began again, the defenders once again managed to hold their fortifications against the invasion. Unfortunately, Bruenor's second in command, Dagnabbit, fell before it even started, when a giant thrown boulder struck Withegroo's tower where he stood shouting commands to his forces, killing him and three other Dwarves. After the second assault was fended off, the towns walls lay in rubble and many more defenders had fallen, Wulfgar, Catti-Brie, Withegroo and their depleted forces emerged from the rubble and managed to stave off the last attack. After Withegroo cast his last fireball ever and killed many more orcs, Wulfgar stood unmovable against the sea of Orcs that swept against them, and continued to swing his hammer until the press lessened, leaving him and the defenders confused as to why it had stopped. A large wooden idol of Gruumsh One-Eye was then rolled in to the Orc encampment by a caravan of odd Orcs and pack animals. When the idol began to open the orcs crowded around, and were slaughtered by the emerging Gutbusters.. The orcs and pack animals then threw off their druid enchanted cloaks, revealing themselves as Regis, the Bouldershoulder brothers and a small force of Dwarves.

In The Two Swords, Delly fell under the powerful will of the sentient sword, Khazid' hea, and was slain by orcs. Townspeople took Colson, without telling Wulfgar. Wulfgar, grieving, is determined to find his adopted daughter.

[edit] Return to Icewind Dale

Now, with the release of The Orc King, Wulfgar's quest to get his adopted daughter back continues. In the novel, he and Catti-Brie go to Silverymoon, trying to find Cottie, the woman who took Colson, and through Alustriel, they find that she and the girl had gone to Nesme, where many refugees have gone to build new homes. After Cottie, who has lost everything dear to her, finally gives up Colson, Wulfgar finally tells Catti-Brie that he will be taking Colson back to her true mother, and that he will return to Icewind Dale, to become anew in his former tribal life. He says that he wants to find a wife and have a family, and that the comforts of Mithral Hall cannot keep his spirit contented. After returning Colson to her true mother in Auckney, Wulgar returns to the frigid northlands of Icewind Dale, content in his decision.

[edit] Aegis-fang

Aegis-fang (derived from the mythical shield Aegis) is the weapon of Wulfgar. It was forged for him by his adoptive father Bruenor Battlehammer while he was in servitude of the dwarf king. It was Bruenor's finest creation. Its head is made from pure Mithril with a diamond coating magically adhered during the forging and an adamantite shaft. Its head is engraved with secret magical inscriptions of Moradin which are covered by the symbols of Dumathoin, "keeper of secrets under the mountain", the dwarven god of knowledge, and Clangeddin, the dwarven god of battle.

It is a large and heavy, perfectly balanced Dwarven war hammer +5. When thrown at any giant or giant-class monster, that monster is struck dead (although a powerful Frost Giant named Biggrin was able to take the hit, though it gashed the side of his head and dropped the fifteen-foot-tall giant to the floor. Any person not standing over 6'5" and with considerable strength will have a hard time wielding it properly, though even someone of lesser strength can feel the flawless balance. It is magically attuned to Wulfgar and will reappear in his hand upon command.

Wulfgar has been trained extensively with this weapon. He has used it in two battles against dragons, one being named Shimmergloom the other Icingdeath, both times ending in victory. He also used it in a battle beside Drizzt Do'Urden and Bruenor Battlehammer against the balor, Errtu, again ending in victory for the companions.

[edit] References

• American McGee's Alice makes a reference to Aegis-Fang; the main character's weapon has the "mildly magical ability of returning to the hand after thrown".

[edit] Regis

This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Regis (jokingly called "Rumblebelly" by Bruenor Battlehammer), the halfling from the Forgotten Realms, is a major character in R. A. Salvatore's series of novels detailing the adventures of the drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden.

[edit] Story

He is the least martially capable of the Heroes of Icewind Dale (a forgivable fact when one considers that the others are Drizzt himself, the mighty barbarian Wulfgar, the dwarven king Bruenor Battlehammer, and a gifted archer named Catti-Brie). He mainly plays his part by using a magical ruby pendant to influence the minds of others. He does carry a small mace, however, and has used it on occasion, usually to speed things along when his friends are slowed by enemies.

He obtained the pendant by stealing it from Pasha Pook, head of the thieves' guild in Calimshan. Regis had once been one of the finest thieves in the guild, until he set his eyes on the forbidden fruit that was the Pasha's powerful pendant. After stealing it, he fled north to the farthest reaches of Faerûn, beyond the Spine of the World mountains to Icewind Dale, where he befriended Drizzt and Bruenor.

Regis made a good living in the harsh Ten-Towns region, carving scrimshaw out of the bones of knucklehead trout, before joining Bruenor in his quest to reclaim Mithril Hall.

Regis was born in or near Calimport far to the south. His earliest recollections are of a childhood spent on the streets, begging and stealing. Eventually Regis caught the eye of Pasha Pook, master of the most powerful of the city's many thieves' guilds. Regis did not disappoint his new master, but he became greedy. When Regis discovered Pook used a magic ruby pendant in his dealings, Regis stole it and then had to go on the run from Pook. Pook proved more determined than Regis anticipated though, and wherever he went, Pook's men soon followed.

Regis' flight finally brought him to the frigid climes of Icewind Dale, where he believed not even Pook's hired thugs could find him. There he befriended Bruenor Battlehammer and Drizzt Do'Urden, often reluctantly joining them in one adventure after another. After a time, the assassin Artemis Entreri tracked Regis down. During the treck through the, then duergar controlled, Mithril Hall Artemis stole him back to Calimport. Regis' friends tracked the assassin back to the streets of the Calimshan Kingdoms principal city, rescued their halfling friend, and killed Pasha Pook. Drizzt defeated Artemis Entreri in the sewers beneath the guildhouse seemingly ending the threat from the skilled assassin, leaving him crippled and broken. Regis remained in Calimport for a time, but he was eventually driven out and back to his friends by Entreri.

In "the Legacy", Entreri has once again tracked down Regis, and, using the magical mask taken from Agatha's hoard, taken on the appearance of Regis, Impersonating him and betraying the rest of the Companions of the Hall into Menzoberranzan, before being defeated by Drizzt in combat. Regis is discovered alive, but tortured, and has a final revenge on Entreri.

Regis has since settled into his life of adventure by his friends' sides and become a chief advisor to King Bruenor Battlehammer.

In the book "The Lone Drow", while Bruenor Battlehammer is on his deathbed, Regis becomes the steward of Mithril Hall, and eventually finds a way to save Bruenor's life.

In his past adventures with his friends, he has kept himself to the back. But, in more recent adventures, he has become more daring and braver, even helping plan the defenses of Mithril Hall when the drow invaded in the "Legacy of the Drow" book series.

[edit] Appearance

Regis is barely 3 feet tall and so chubby he's earned the nickname "Rumblebelly," bestowed by Bruenor and the usage has spread. One of his hands has only two fingers and one thumb after Artemis Entreri removed two fingers with his dagger, leaving them to taunt Drizzt and Wulfgar whilst pursuing him in "The Halflings Gem". Whilst the first finger was severed to punish Regis for slowing their journey to Calimport, the second was used to enrage and lure Wulfgar into a trap in the thieves guild sewer entrance where a falling portcullis sealed him in a room with a hydra.

[edit] Personality

He enjoys nothing so much as comfortable living. He can be quite subtle and equally crafty, though he is by no means cruel in any way. He has also grown wise over the course of his many misadventures and gained an ability to see things his friends often miss. Regis abhors violence and will do his best to avoid it. However, when he must enter battle, he tries to support his allies with sneak attacks against their enemies.

[edit] References

There is a small reference to Regis in the popular PC game Neverwinter Nights expansion, Shadows of Undrentide. When the main hero speaks with a merchant in Hilltop Forest and asks if the merchant has any rare items, he speaks of a halfling with a ruby pendant, that the halfling never meant to sell it, and that he just kept playing with it. He regrets the bad deal he had made with the halfling. Although he never declares his name, it is a definite suggestion that Regis had been there and had used his Ruby Pendant to persuade the man.

[edit] Weapons

His main piece of adventuring equipment is a mace made for him by Bruenor which first appeared in "The Crystal Shard" when he used it to kill deBernezan during the Barbarian raid on Ten-Towns. However, he is more notorious for using his ruby pendant to manipulate the thoughts of others, getting them to see things "his way", which has gotten him into trouble as often as it has gotten him out of it. Also, he had once used Artemis Enteri's dagger to kill a drow.

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)