Neverwinter Tales

Neverwinter Tales (full name: Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt: Neverwinter Tales) is a collection of five comic issues centering on Thibbledorf Pwent, Drizzt Do'Urden, and Dahlia Sin'felle during the events of the Neverwinter Saga. The story was written by R.A. Salvatore and his son Geno Salvatore. The majority of the art and colors were done by Agustin Padilla and Leonard O'Grady, but Tim Seeley and Gonzalo Flores also contributed to special covers.

"The MOST POPULAR CHARACTER from the MOST POPULAR FANTASY WORLD of all time comes to life in his FIRST ORIGINAL comic book tale! Drizzt leads this massive thriller into R.A. Salvatore's next blockbuster novel! Drizzt and his companion Dahlia hunt for something that seems part vampire and part elite dwarven warrior and must find out how the evil lich Valindra Shadowmantle and her minion Korbin Dor'crae factor into the mystery."

Issues

 * 1) Neverwinter Tales #1 (August 2011)
 * 2) Neverwinter Tales #2 (September 2011)
 * 3) Neverwinter Tales #3 (October 2011)
 * 4) Neverwinter Tales #4 (December 2011)
 * 5) Neverwinter Tales #5 (February 2012)

Chapter 1/Issue #1
The story opens with the lich Valindra Shadowmantle and the vampire Korvin Dor'crae looking over the stone cairns under which the dwarves Bruenor Battlehammer and Thibbledorf Pwent were buried. They see that it appears that one of the dwarves, Pwent, has survived. Dor'crae remarks that he was the one to kill Pwent, then Valindra orders him to find the dwarf.

Meanwhile, Pwent awakes in Gauntlgrym with foggy memory. He wonders what made the marks in the ground and follows them to the lit Forge of Gauntlgrym. The place seems very familiar to him. He begins to remember fighting the tieflings alongside Bruenor and Drizzt Do'Urden. He remembers Beealtimatuche, the pit fiend, and how Bruenor was able to pull the lever to release the primordial only after Pwent saved him from Dor'cae's bite. He realizes that he should be dead, then discovers that he is in fact a vampire. His thirst for blood drives him outside and he slays an entire band of goblins, sucking them dry.

The next morning, Drizzt Do'Urden and Dahlia Sin'felle arrive on the scene, having gone out to kill the goblins that were plaguing the area. However, the pair find the goblins already dead. Dahlia states the wounds must have been cause by a vampire; Drizzt is firm that the wounds were caused by a dwarven battlerager.

Chapter 2/Issue #2
Drizzt and Dahlia ride back on Andahar the unicorn from the scene of the goblin's murder, arguing all the while about whether vampires or battleragers killed the goblins. They arrive in Neverwinter. They find the sergeant but Drizzt refuses payment, since they were not the ones to slay the goblins. Meanwhile, Dahlia obtains a magical wand that is supposed to point the way to any undead in the area.

In the dark of Neverwinter Wood, Pwent spies a camp of humans. A ghostly voice in his head (Dor'crae) encourages him to drink from the humans, but he refuses. Instead, he finds an owlbear and attempts to sate his thirst on that beast, despite its inability to satiate him.

In the morning, Drizzt and Dahilia ride out on Andahar again with the undead-seeking wand in hand. It leads them to the corpse of the owlbear. They continue to argue over whether their foe is a vampire or battlerager. They eventually find themselves in the middle of the forest with the wand pointing upwards. Thinking it broken, they head back to Neverwinter.

At night, a the ghostly spirit of Dor'crae speaks to the camp of humans that Pwent saw the previous night. They are angry because they expected to be turned into vampires the night before. Dor'crae explains that Pwent is not yet ready. He orders them to set up camp by the river instead. Dor'crae then returns to Pwent to find the dwarf allowing his hand to be burned by the sunlight in order to remind himself of who he is.

Chapter 3/Issue #3
As soon as the sun sets, Pwent leaves his cave and Dor'crae egging him on to attack the humans nearby. However, Pwent refuses despite his hunger and seeks other sustenance in the forest.

In Neverwinter, Drizzt and Dahlia confront the merchant that sold them the undead-seeking wand. The merchants claim that the wand is not broken but Dahlia won't take that for an answer. At her insistence, she receives a replacement wand. Drizzt, however, is inclined to believe that the wand was not broken in the first place and that perhaps another undead creatures haunts the woods. They ride out to the mountains, hearing a whisper in the air that they cannot make out. Drizzt summons his astral panther Guenhwyvar. They find a group of red-clad Ashmadai. The two approach the group with questions about vampires. The humans quickly hostile and attack.

As they fight, one of the women sits near Pwent's cave, tempting him to leave as soon as the sun sets.

Drizzt and Dahlia finish slaying the group of Ashmadai. Dahlia believes that the merchants had set them up for a trap. Drizzt, however, takes another look at the wand and wonders if perhaps there had been a stronger undead present, such as the lich Valindra.

Back at Pwent's cave, the woman approaches the dwarven vampire. Her pulse beats in his ears and he knows that if she enters he will not be able to resist. From a scrying bowl in an unknown location, Valindra eggs the woman on.

Chapter 4/Issue #4
Drizzt and Dahlia approach the cave where the human woman edges closer to Pwent. Pwent gives in to the temptation and attacks her. At her scream, Drizzt, Dahlia, and Guenhwyvar rush inside. Guenhwyvar pins Pwent to the ground. Drizzt and Dahlia are shocked to see the dwarf they buried not too long before. He tells them they should have burned him and attacks. When Drizzt traps him with a blade to his neck, Pwent begs Drizzt to finish him off and return him to his rightful burial place with Bruenor.

Drizzt is about to make the killing strike when Dahlia yells that Dor'crae's ghostly form has appeared. Pwent realizes that Dor'crae is the voice in his head encouraging him to attack people and attacks Dor'crae in vengeance. However, Dor'crae escapes. Pwent asks that Drizzt spare him the blade for a just a little longer so that he can enact vengeance on Dor'crae, the one who made him a vampire in the first place. Drizzt agrees and the three, plus Guenhwyvar, head out to find Dor'crae.

Pwent follows the scent of the woman that was in the cave with them until they find her. She attacks Drizzt, then slays herself with her own dagger. The group's only lead to finding Dor'crae is gone

Chapter 5/Issue #5
The group—Pwent, Dahlia, Drizzt, and Guenhwyvar—hunt Dor'crae far into the night. As the sun begins to rise, they return in failure to a cave. Pwent resolves to sit and wait for the sun to kill him. Drizzt and Dahlia leave him, trusting him to follow through. However, after they leave and the sun begins to burn his flesh, Pwent gives up and retreats inside.

Flashback to "some time ago": Dor'crae's vampire form is gone, replace with a ghostly form. Valindra compels him to follow her command. He flies out to find Pwent.

Back to the present, Dor'crae finds Pwent and attacks him. Pwent holds his own until he loses consciousness. When he awakes, Dor'crae is gone, either dead or flown. Pwent knows he can't stay on the surface where there will always be temptation to attack people. He remembers something that Drizzt had said—that the tunnels were made by a volcano and many of them lead as deep as the Underdark. He resolves to hunt in the Underdark where he can drink from goblins and other "things that deserve to be killed." The last image is of Pwent walking down a tunnel to the Underdark.

Characters

 * Main characters:
 * Dahlia Sin'felle • Drizzt Do'Urden • Thibbledorf Pwent


 * Supporting characters:
 * Andahar • Dor'crae • Guenhwyvar • Valindra Shadowmantle


 * Mentioned characters:
 * Athrogate • Beealtimatuche • Bruenor Battlehammer

Locations

 * Settlements: Neverwinter • Mithral Hall (mentioned)
 * Geography: Crags • Neverwinter Wood
 * Ruins: Gauntlgrym

Creatures

 * astral panther • deer • drow • dwarf • elf • ghost • goblin • human • lich • owlbear • pit fiend • tiefling • unicorn • vampire

Organizations

 * Ashmadai • Gutbuster Brigade

Artifacts

 * Icingdeath • Kozah's Needle • Twinkle