| “ | No brother of mine! Traitor to House Do'Urden! Traitor to all drow! With Drizzt's sacrifice, I will again find Lolth's favor, will again... | „ |
| ~ Vierna announcing her plan to kill Drizzt. |
| “ | Now all your pitiful friends are dead, my lost brother! | „ |
| ~ Vierna provoking Drizzt. |
Vierna Do'Urden is a major antagonist of R.A Salvatore's The Legend of Drizzt, serving as a supporting character The Drow Trilogy and one of the two secondary antagonists of Legacy of the Drow (alongside Errtu). She was the youngest daughter of the drow House Do'Urden, and the only one who survived its downfall. Although she started off unusually kind, she was eventually indoctrinated into the vicious drow way of life. Because of this, she spent the final years of her life hunting her brother, who she blamed for the downfall of their house. She was the daughter of Malice and Zakneifen.
Appearance[]
Like most drow, Vierna had white hair and ebony skin.
Personality[]
| “ | Vierna never showed the intense wickedness of our mother- or, more particularly, of our older sister Briza. Perhaps there were good times in the solitude of the house chapel; it is possible that Vierna allowed a gentler side of herself to show through to her baby brother. Maybe not. Even though I count Vierna as the kindest of my sister, her words drip in the venom of Lolth as surely as those of any cleric in Menzoberranzan. It seems unlikely that she would risk her aspirations toward high priesthood for a mere child, a mere male child. |
„ |
| ~ Drizzt on Vierna. |
Initially, Vierna was the kindest of the Do'Urden siblings. She wasn't sadistic, like Briza, completely obedient to the ruthless matron Malice, like Maya, or dangerously power-hungry, like Dinin. When training Drizzt, she did not enjoy beating him, despite being forced to, and did so as little as possible. She felt compassion for her little brother, compassion that she and those around her unfortunately misinterpreted as lust. She would occasionally question Lolth's will, but after being severely reprimanded this, she began to keep her thoughts to herself and reproached herself for considering heresy. Nonetheless, when Drizzt openly insulted the Spider Queen, she tried to kill him in an act of mercy, instead of turning him into a drider, and when he left the drow city, she was the only member of the family even marginally worried about his safety. She was also the only member of the family who felt any regret whatsoever for killing Zaknafein.
However, after years of indoctrination to Lolth, in addition the fall of her house making her desperate to regain the Spider Queen's favor, Vierna became cruel and callous, sentencing her own brother to a fate worse than death simply for questioning her. She became obsessed with killing Drizzt, blaming him for the fall of their house, and delusionally believing that sacrificing him would somehow allow her to regain power. She also began to go insane, ranting and raving at those around her about her plans, which made less and less sense. Despite her ruthlessness, however, a small part of her kept the compassion of her youth, and when she was killed by her little brother, that small part of her was glad that it had ended that way.
Synopsis[]
Part of House Do'Urden[]
| “ | Zaknafein: You are sad. Vierna: A pity. House Do'Urden must give much to repay Drizzt's foolish deed. I would have enjoyed watching the two of you together in battle. Zaknafein: House Hun'ett would not have enjoyed the sight. Cry not... my daughter. Vierna: Take your lies to your grave! Zaknafein: Deny it as you choose. |
„ |
| ~ Vierna ultimately choosing Lolth over her father. |
Vierna was born the second daughter of House Do'Urden to Malice and Zaknafein. Like all drow women, she trained to be a priestess of Lolth in Arach-Tinilith.
When she was nearing the end of her Academy years, Malice gave birth to Drizzt, who they initially planned to sacrifice because he was the third boy. However, when Nalfein was killed, he became second boy, allowing him to be spared. Vierna was tasked with raising him, despite having a younger sister. Raising Drizzt, she taught him the ways of the drow, but tried to be as kind to him as possible. On one occasion, he failed to clean a statue, and first daughter Briza forced Vierna to beat him.
At some point, she became a priestess and instructor at Arach-Tintlith. During Drizzt's graduation, she saw him leaving the party and followed him. It was then that he told her that he hated Lolth and the things that she made the drow do. Horrified, Vierna took to the Claw Rift, to feed him to driders. However, Malice intervened, saving Drizzt due to his usefulness but threatening him. She then brought both siblings back to the Do'Urden compound.
A few years later, House Do'Urden discovered that another house was plotting against, but was confident that they were in Lolth's favor. However, a yochlol revealed to them that they weren't, because of the actions of one of their members. Malice discovered that Drizzt had spared a high elf child during a surface raid, and that Zaknafein had known about his and been proud of him for it. She swore to sacrifice her son, but he was away from the compound at the time, and Zaknafein told her to sacrifice him instead. The priestesses of house Do'Urden happily complied, except for Vierna, who reluctantly helped prepare him for the ritual. During said ritual, Zaknafein told acknowledged her sadness and told her he was her father. Vierna refuted the claim and continued preparing for the sacrifice. After discovering that his father was dead, Drizzt left Menzobarranzan. Vierna helped the rest of her family try to find him but failed.
Over the next ten years, House Do'Urden fought House Hun'ett, the house who had been plotting against them. Eventually, they emerged victorious, but were still not in Lolth's favor because Drizzt was still alive. Malice made several attempts to kill her son, first by sending out Briza and Dinin, and later by having a resurrected and possessed Zaknafein attempt to kill him.
Both attempts failed, and House Baenre sent destroyed the house, killing all of the family members. However, Vierna was spared.
Hunting Drizzt Do'Urden[]
Several decades later, Vierna enlisted mercenary Jarlaxle and his troop Bregan D'aerth (including one of her only two surviving family members: Dinin) in the task of capturing Drizzt. Yvonnel Baenre, matron mother of House Baenre, sponsored her quest and provided her with even more soldiers. Vierna's plan was to regain the favor of Lolth by sacrificing her sacrilegious brother, and then accuse House Baenre of wiping out her house, in order to somehow rebuild House Do'Urden.
In order to lure Drizzt into the Underdark, Vierna and Jarlaxle met with human assassin Artemis Entreri, who had a grudge against Drizzt and wanted to beat him in single combat. Jarlaxle told Entreri that if he led Drizzt into Vierna's captivity, he would get the fight he so desired. Meanwhile, Vierna ordered a goblin tribe to attack scouts from the Dwarven city of Mithral Hall to confirm that her brother was there. He was.
Around this time, Dinin questioned Vierna, calling her insane. For this, Vierna transformed him into a mindless and mutated drider.
Entreri successfully lured Drizzt into the Underdark, and Vierna's troops came in, putting her brother to sleep with a dart. Upon his reawakening, Vierna told him what had happened to their house, which, to her anger, he met with apathy. Vierna planned to bring him to Menzobarranzan for the sacrifice, but first, she had to fullfill her end of the bargain and let Entreri fight him. However, Drizzt refused to fight, and the group was attacked by the dwarves of Mithral Hall, allowing him to escape.
Vierna had her troops fight the dwarves while she hunted Drizzt through the tunnels. Using her new-found favor from Lolth, she summoned a yochlol, which hurt the dwarf troops.
She soon found her brother, accompanied by the dwarf Thibbledorf Pwent, who she incapacitated with her whip. She then fought Drizzt and lost. As she died, she looked more serene than she had in years, and Drizzt apologized to her for ending her life and killing any chance at redemption she had.
Trivia[]
- Centuries later, Zaknafein would consider Vierna's fall to Lolth to be his greatest failure.
- Vierna is the third drow to become obsessed with killing Drizzt Do'Urden, after Masoj Hun'ett and Malice.
External Links[]
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The Legend of Drizzt Villains | ||
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