Companions of the Hall

The Companions of the Hall are a fictional group of characters from a series of R.A. Salvatore novels set in the Forgotten Realms.

The five-person group includes Drizzt Do'Urden (drow ranger), Bruenor Battlehammer (dwarf king), Catti-Brie (human fighter/mage), Wulfgar (human barbarian), and Regis (halfling rogue).

The characters form the main or supporting cast in most of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels. Drizzt is the titular protagonist of the Legend of Drizzt series.

Drizzt Do'Urden

Bruenor Battlehammer

Cattie-Brie

Catti-brie (spelled in later publications as "Cattie-brie") is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms setting, based on the Dungeons & Dragons RPG. She is the creation of author R.A. Salvatore. She was named after his daughter Caitlin Brielle after the editor suggested The Crystal Shard needed a strong female character.^[1]

Overview

Catti-brie's mother died in childbirth, and her father moved with his daughter from Mirabar to Termalaine, one of the Ten Towns. For three years, he was quite successful—but then a goblin ended the man's life. All of Termalaine might have fallen to a goblin onslaught but for the dwarves of clan Battlehammer rushing from their valley to turn back the horde. Bruenor himself saved the orphan girl from death. When the smoke cleared, he claimed Catti-brie as his adopted daughter.

Catti-brie has no memories of the time before Bruenor took her in, but she had a pleasant childhood with the dwarves. During the five years Wulfgar spent in Bruenor's service, she helped him to break the bonds of his barbarian upbringing and bring out the compassion and intelligence that was inside him. The bond between them continued to grow stronger as they adventured together with Bruenor, Regis, and Drizzt Do'Urden, and at one time were betrothed. But then tragedy struck their relationship when drow seeking the death of Drizzt attacked Mithril Hall, and Wulfgar was killed by a yochlol (a minion of the spider queen Lolth) and later given by Lolth to the demon Errtu.

Catti-brie was the first person in the Icewind Dale to accept Drizzt, although she was very young when Drizzt came to know her. Catti-brie possesses a stubborn and tough dwarf personality due to her foster-father. Catti-brie was one of the Companions of the Hall, and had a tentative, on-off romance with Drizzt through many of the books. This tension finally culminated in The Two Swords, when Catti-brie and Drizzt finally became lovers.

Catti-brie's dwarven upbringing is clear throughout the series. She is portrayed various times during their adventures as having the same accent as the dwarves she grew up with.

For quite a while Catti-brie mourned the loss of Wulfgar, but as time passed she found herself falling in love with Drizzt. When Wulfgar returned from his apparent death, it caused a great deal of mixed emotions in Catti-brie. Wulfgar fled his friends, eventually finding his own way and accepting Catti-brie's burgeoning relationship with Drizzt (a matter that was finally settled in The Two Swords, the third book in the Hunter's Blades trilogy).

When Regis was being chased by Artemis Entreri, Catti-brie was held prisoner by the assassin. After the finding of Mithril Hall she discovered Taulmaril the Heartseeker, Gift of Anariel, Sister of Faerûn, in the destroyed Hall of Dumathoin. For several years she also carried the sentient blade Khazid'hea otherwise known as "Cutter", the sword that she took from the body of Dantrag Baenre, after defeat and death at the hands of Drizzt. Khazid'hea was stolen by an enthralled Delly Curtie, who was shortly after slain by orcs. Drizzt found the weapon, but lost it in a battle with the orc king Obould Many-Arrows. It was recovered by an exiled drow named Tos'un Del'Armgo, who was in league with the orcs.

In combat, Catti-brie usually supported her friends with Taulmaril and her limitless supply of arrows. She was not hesitant about entering melee, however, and would charge into combat with Khazid'hea at the ready, generally confident in her ability to dominate the blade. However, she was recently wounded by a giant-thrown boulder during the defense of Mithril Hall from the legions of Obould Many-Arrows. This lasting injury has forced her to largely forgo the use of traditional melee weaponry, being physically unable to fight as she once did. To compensate, she has instead started learning magic under the tutelage of the illusionist Nanfoodle and Lady Alustriel.

In The Ghost King, Cattie-brie is touched by a strand of the failing Weave of Magic and put into a comatose state from the effects of the Spellplague. She spends the entirety of the book reliving her memories, and it is discovered that she is caught between realms in a place known as Shadowfell. She eventually dies as a result of the effects and is taken to a personal heaven by Mielikki.

In The Companions, the first book of the series The Sundering, it is revealed that Catti-brie, along with Regis, Wulfgar, and Bruenor, were gathered together in Mielikki's personal heaven to be given a choice to aid Drizzt against Lolth at a future date by being reborn into new bodies. Catti-brie, Regis, and Bruenor choose to temporarily forgo the choice to seek the afterlife in order to save Drizzt, while Wulfgar chooses instead to seek the afterlife and his family after the Companions of the Hall. She is reborn among a Bedine family with her full knowledge intact, and subsequently lives with them, then with a coven of mages in Netheril, and finally makes her way to the appointed rendezvous with Drizzt, an event that takes place coinciding with the ending of the previous Drizzt novel, The Last Threshold.

Weapons

Taulmaril the Heartseeker

Taulmaril was a gift to the Mithral Hall dwarves by Lady Anariel, Sister of Faerûn. The bow is made of wood enspelled not to break or scratch, and the quiver held 20 silver arrows, when one was used the quiver magically replaced it. The bow was used by Catti-brie until she was later crippled and eventually died, then the bow was used by her husband Drizzt. Part of the weapon's enchantment (passed to the arrows when they're fired by it) is that the arrows are imbued with crackling energy in flight that causes them to deal far more damage than would be typical for a normal arrow. The energy scorches targets, can set flammables alight, but does not seem to have any particularly enhanced effect upon cold-based creatures.

Another property of Taulmaril the Heartseeker is that the arrow, when fired from the bow, travels at super high speeds compared to a normal bow, allowing it to blast through enemies even clad with armor.

Khazid'hea (Cutter)

Khazid'hea was the evil sentient blade Catti-brie wielded during The Legacy period, the blade having a wicked design all its own and the ability to communicate with its user as well to change the shape of its hilt; the super sharp blade could also cut through stone. Khazid'hea could easily take over the minds of others in its search to be wielded by the dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden, by its measure the greatest fighter in the world. Catti-brie, however, was able to overcome the sword and put it to deadly use, though soon Khazid'hea left her hands, eventually leading to the death of Delly Curtie, Wulfgar's wife, and falling into the hands of another drow. The sword's ego, it seems, could not stand Catti-brie's use of Taulmaril.

Catti-brie came into possession of the sword in Starless Night, after Drizzt killed the late Dantrag Baenre, the highly skilled owner of Khazid'hea, in furious combat. The sword offered itself to Drizzt by fashioning its hilt into the shape of a unicorn's head, a symbol of Drizzt's Goddess, Mielikki, but Drizzt refused, saying "I favor the scimitar," and so Catti-brie took up the blade instead.

The sword's name, Khazid'hea, literally means cutter in the drow language.

The Blade itself is sentient and greatly wishes to be wielded only by the best. It will take over the mind of the "owner", as evidenced by its manipulation of Delly Curtie, Wulfgar's wife, and subsequently several foolish orcs, in order to get to Drizzt Do'Urden in the book The Two Swords. Later when Drizzt takes the blade back from an unfortunate orc soldier, he uses it in vicious battle with Obould, the cruel orc king. He loses Khazid'hea in this battle and Obould, instead of using the devastating blade to his advantage, throws it down a mountainside, where it finally comes into possession of Tos'un Armgo-who is undoubtedly of alike mind.

Appearance

Catti-brie is pictured as being beautiful, she stands 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)^[2] and has slender and deceptively delicate frame.^[3] Cattie-brie's hair is auburn in color.^[4] Her eyes are deep blue.^[5]

Regis

Regis (jokingly nicknamed "Rumblebelly" by Bruenor Battlehammer for his insatiable appetite), 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.

Story

He is the least martially capable of the Heroes of Icewind Dale, who 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. The Guildmaster Pasha Pook held a prized collection of 12 identical rubies and would put them on display, however one of them was magical and could ensnare the minds of any looking into save for those of impressive willpower. Regis unknowingly stole the only magical ruby of the set, possibly influenced by its own magical power though more likely his naturally 'sticky fingers'. At first surprised at how irrate the Pasha became from this theft, he had 11 others after all, Regis fled and did not discover the gems magical property until several years later when Drizzt realized what it was and taught Regis how to use it. 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 trek through the, then duergar controlled, Mithral 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 lair, taken on the appearance of Regis. He impersonates the halfing after capturing him and betrayes the rest of the Companions of the Hall into the endless tunnels of 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.

Regis tries to save Cattie-brie with his magical pendant in The Ghost King, but ends up in the same condition as Cattie-Brie. He, like Cattie-Brie, dies and is sent to Mielikki's private heaven.

In The Companions, the first book of the series The Sundering, it is revealed that Regis, along with Catti-brie, Wulfgar, and Bruenor, were gathered together in Mielikki's personal heaven to be given a choice to aid Drizzt against Lolth at a future date by being reborn into new bodies. Regis, Catti-brie, and Bruenor choose to temporarily forgo the choice to seek the afterlife in order to save Drizzt, while Wulfgar chooses instead to seek the afterlife and his family after the Companions of the Hall. He is reborn to a halfing family with his full knowledge intact, and subsequently lives and trains with an assassin family until unearthing a lich, before finally making his way to the appointed rendezvous with Drizzt, an event that takes place coinciding with the ending of the previous Drizzt novel, The Last Threshold.

Appearance

Described as "short even by halfing standards" Regis is barely 3 ft 0 in (0.91 m), has curly hair and features that have been described as "cherubic" chubby and has an insatiable appetite, thanks to which 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.

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.

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.

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 vampiric dagger to kill a drow. In the later books he is given a mace that he uses often.

Wulfgar

References

• Donovan, Dale and Paul Culotta. Heroes' Lorebook. (TSR, 1996).
• Grubb, Jeff, Kate Novak, David E. Martin, Jim Lowder, Bruce Nesmith, Steve Perrin, Mike Pondsmith, and R. A. Salvatore. Hall of Heroes (TSR, 1989).
• Salvatore, R. A. The Crystal Shard (TSR, 1988).
• Salvatore, R. A. Streams of Silver (TSR, 1989).
• Salvatore, R. A. The Halfling's Gem (TSR, 1990).
• Salvatore, R. A. The Legacy (TSR, 1992).
• Salvatore, R. A. Starless Night (TSR, 1993).
• Salvatore, R. A. Siege of Darkness (TSR, 1994).