Catti-brie

Catti-brie was a female human and a friend and later wife to Drizzt Do'Urden. She was a member of the Companions of the Hall and, later, a chosen of the goddess Mielikki. She was reincarnated as a Bedine girl named Ruqiah in 1463 DR.

Description
Catti-brie was beautiful, auburn-haired, and blue-eyed.

When Catti-brie was struck by the blue fire of the Spellplague in 1385 DR, it gave her a spellscar in the distinctive form of an hourglass, the lower half of which was nearly filled while the top half had only a small sliver of bruising.

In her second life, despite her new heritage, the reincarnated Catti-brie appeared much the same as in her first body: she had thick, light brown hair with red highlights and blue eyes. She also had a spellscar on each arm: a seven-pointed star on a circle of red on her left forearm (the symbol of Mystra) and a unicorn's head on her right forearm (the symbol of Mielikki). After the Weave began to return, her spellscars turned red.

In 1483 DR, Catti-brie wore a long, white, flowing dress that looked like one she wore in Iruladoon. She had commissioned it in the Shade Enclave. She often wore it with a black shawl.

Personality
Catti-brie was kind, tolerant, and pragmatic. Moreover, she grew into the role of emotional compass for her adventuring companions, guiding both Drizzt and Wulfgar (prior to his time in Errtu's clutches) into wise action with her common sense and clear insight.

In her second life, Catti-brie was very confident and trusting in her goddess, Mielikki, to the point that she was so strongly anti-orc that it made Drizzt somewhat uncomfortable.

Early life
Catti-brie's mother died while giving birth to her in 1339 DR, and subsequently her father moved with her from Mirabar to Termalaine in the Ten Towns. Her father was killed in a goblin attack on Termalaine, which was turned away by Clan Battlehammer's dwarves, led by Bruenor Battlehammer, who found the young Catti-brie and decided to adopt her as his own child. Her name before adoption was Cataline, although she did not remember her original surname. Cataline was shortened to "Catti" and Bruenor added on the name Brienne, which was a feminine version of the name Bruenor. This was shortened to "brie", hence her name, Catti-brie.

She was the first to befriend Drizzt when he arrived in Icewind Dale in 1347 DR. She took a great personal risk to warn Drizzt about the presence of the bounty hunter Roddy McGristle. The bounty hunter captured her, but Drizzt saved her, defeating Roddy in battle. Her good opinion of Drizzt and this event were instrumental in persuading Bruenor of Drizzt's good intentions, leading the dwarf to push Roddy away from the Dale on pain of death. She also befriended Wulfgar when the young barbarian was indentured to Bruenor from 1351 DR to 1356 DR after the Reghedmen attack led by Heafstaag.

Teens
As a girl in her mid teens, Catti-brie was at Regis' house in Bryn Shander with two dwarves after Cassius had told her that Regis was to have his possessions removed. She and the dwarves were there to undertake the task but they were attacked by the assassin Artemis Entreri who was pursuing the halfling because he'd stolen a ruby pendant from Entreri's employer, Pasha Pook of Calimport. He killed both the dwarves and tied her to a chair, interrogating her and then setting off after Regis with her in tow. Catti was terrified of the wiry killer, fearing she would never be able to stand against the assassin, and even when she wasn't bound by him, she was so apprehensive that she did exactly as he told her. However, she also developed a grudging respect for him because he never used his obvious power over her to do anything other than make her follow him and answer questions. After traveling as his captive, she managed to free herself of her fear of him over a long period. Eventually, Catti-brie managed to persuade Jierdan, a mercenary companion of Entreri's, to create the distraction she needed to escape her captor and rejoin her father & friends. She succeeded in freeing herself from him, taking a tumble down a rocky outcropping and running to Bruenor just outside Mithril Hall which the group had only recently rediscovered.

She was crushed when she saw Bruenor apparently fall to his death in Mithral Hall but overjoyed when it became apparent that he'd survived, despite the fact that Regis had been kidnapped by Entreri shortly after she'd escaped him. She and her father joined up with Drizzt and Wulfgar on the way to rescue Regis just in time to help save them from a pirate attack.

The companions journeyed to Calimshan, where they successfully defeated Pook's forces, whereupon Regis took over Pook's guild, and returned to Mithral Hall, where the occupying duergar were defeated and Bruenor crowned king. During this time, Catti-Brie and Wulfgar had fallen in love. After her father's coronation, the couple planned to be wed but Wulfgar's desire for them both to live up to his tribal traditions became increasingly stifling to Catti-brie and she began to have second thoughts. In 1357 DR, drow from Drizzt's home city of Menzoberranzan attacked Mithral Hall, and, during the fighting, Wulfgar was apparently killed by a rockfall.

She followed Drizzt when he journeyed back to Menzoberranzan in a suicidal attempt to stop another attack on Mithral Hall but was eventually captured by Jarlaxle, who had taken a fancy to her. Jarlaxle then manipulated Cattie-brie and Artemis Entreri into working together to rescue Drizzt from being tortured and the three warriors barely escaped the city in time to warn the dwarves of the impending drow invasion. Catti had also picked up the sentient sword Khazid'hea, which enhanced her melee combat abilities.

In preparation for the imminent drow invasion, Catti-brie defeated Berkthgar in single combat to ensure the loyalty of Wulfgar's kin in Settlestone then, after being temporarily possessed by Khazid'hea, beat it in a battle of wills. Catti and Drizzt avoided developing their burgeoning romance, deciding to remain friends because of her fiancee Wulfgar's recent death and Drizzt's own insecurities. The drow invaded shortly after, pitting the entire army of Menzoberranzan against an alliance of surface forces and svirfneblin from Blingdenstone. The drow were defeated and, bored with a life stuck in the tunnels of Mithral Hall thereafter, Catti-brie and Drizzt exercised their wanderlust by becoming famous pirate hunters on the Sea of Swords as part of the crew of the Sea Sprite.

Adulthood
The two spent six years adventuring at sea until they were called back to Icewind Dale, where Wulfgar was returned alive by the balor Errtu. Wulfgar had been tortured for the entire time that his friends thought him dead and his mental state was too fragile for him to stay with his former wife-to-be, especially since her image had been used so frequently as part of the torture. He ended up striking her and, ashamed, fled south, away from his former comrades.

Instead of following him, Catti-brie and her remaining friends let Wulfgar go, and instead took Crenshinibon to be destroyed, unknowingly placing it into the hands of Jarlaxle. They then started on a quest to locate Wulfgar when symbols of his hammer, Aegis-fang, started showing up branded on outlaws. Wulfgar, also looking for Aegis-fang, reconnected with his old companions but with a new wife and adopted baby daughter in tow.

In 1370 DR, Bruenor returned to Mithral Hall to once again be crowned its king, taking his friends with him. While scouting north east of Mithral Hall, Catti-brie snuck up on a pair of orcs at a campfire east of Shallows before realizing it was an ambush. She was outnumbered heavily and succumbed to the stones, spears, and other weapons used against her, but not before slaying a number of the orcs. She thought that she was going to die, but was rescued by Wulfgar who single-handedly eliminated most of the rest of the orcs, causing the remainder to flee.

Her leg was badly injured after a giant-thrown boulder crushed it and clerics found it difficult to fully heal the injury. Cattie-brie never fully recovered from the wounds her leg suffered and her combat performance was hampered by it, even though she was able to walk again.

Wizard training
In 1372 DR, during an assault led by Grguch, chieftain of Clan Karuck, on a wall and bridge under construction by Silvaeren wizards led by Alustriel Silverhand herself, Alustriel loaned Catti-brie a ring and a wand and told her the command words for them. In testing that she could say the words correctly, she accidentally created a magic missile; fortunately, the wizards were occupied by the orcs, so no-one saw that she'd unintentionally caused the wand to fire. Having been used to using her bow or her sword, she felt as if she'd be more of a burden in the fighting, that is, until she used the powerful ring she'd received from Alustriel. She quickly became more familiar with the power and was able to loose a series of fireballs that exploded, incinerating many orcs. With her leg hampering her warrior training and Khazid'hea now being wielded by the drow Tos'un Armgo, Cattie-brie decided to take Alustriel up on her offer of training as a wizard, becoming one of Alustriel's apprentices in Silverymoon.

Spellplague
In the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, Catti-brie was struck by a strand of the falling Weave (part of the Spellplague) during her meditations and got caught between two planes of existence: the Shadowfell and the Prime Material Plane. Her body remained on Toril, but her mind was caught between the Shadowfell and reliving her life. Drizzt took her to Mithral Hall where eventually Bruenor and Drizzt decided to take her to Cadderly with the help of Jarlaxle and a disguised Athrogate. Drizzt, Bruenor, Jarlaxle, and Athrogate teamed up and escorted her comatose form through to Spirit Soaring. Once they arrived, they faced the threat of a dracolich, the Ghost King, which was, in fact, a manifestation of the dragon Hephaestus, combined with both the illithid Yharaskrik and the spirit of Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard. Although through Cadderly's sacrifice, the Ghost King was sealed away, no solutions to Catti-Brie's deadly trance were found. The quest ended in sadness several days later when Catti-brie's spirit was pulled out by the goddess Mielikki, but it could not be returned to the world of the living in her state. She was granted one last night with her beloved Drizzt.

Catti-brie's and Regis's bodies were buried in two side-by-side cairns in Mithral Hall.

Afterward, her spirit, along with that of Regis, were taken away to a private heaven created by Mielikki: a small pocket dimension containing little more than a forest, some hills, a glade, and a pond, that was part of, yet separate from, Toril, but based partly off the memory of the Companions of the Hall of a world before the Spellplague. Catti-brie danced and sang continually within the forest and it was hinted that she became closely linked to the dimension and was in fact the spirit protector of all within, while Regis was simply a guest. It was unclear as to whether the strand of the Weave within her yet remained.

Reincarnation as Ruqiah
After decades (although it appeared as mere tendays to her) learning the song (magic) of Mielikki in Iruladoon, Mielikki gave Catti-brie and the other Companions of the Hall (minus Drizzt) the choice of proceeding to their professed gods' home planes or being reincarnated as a mortal newborn of the same race and sex as their first mortal form. All the companions chose rebirth with the understanding that they were to train themselves and meet at Kelvin's Cairn in 1484 DR to aid Drizzt.

Catti-brie was reborn on the spring equinox (Ches 19 ) in 1463 DR as a Desai Bedine girl named Ruqiah in the Anauroch desert near the Shade Enclave. Her parents, Kavita and Niraj, were both mages although they kept the fact hidden from the Netherese. From a very early age, Ruqiah was able to use her link to Mielikki to call down divine power and she remembered the basic arcane magical training of her former life. At age five, she called down lightning from the heavens to slay two Netherese assassins (Untharis and Alpirs De'Noutess) sent by Parise Ulfbinder, who intended to kill her parents and kidnap her.

In 1469 DR, she came to the attention of the powerful Netherese witch Lady Avelyere who kidnapped Ruqiah and took her to the Shade Enclave to study magic. Ruqiah became homesick for her parents and Lady Avelyere gave her special permission to visit her parents once a tenday. During these visits her mother would teach Ruqiah arcane spells.

The Netherese had suspected that Ruqiah was Mielikki's Chosen for some time but it wasn't until Lady Avelyere charmed Ruqiah that they confirmed their suspicions. Ruqiah discovered that Avelyere knew her secret, faked her own death, and fled the Shade Enclave for the Silver Marches.

Interlude
After fleeing Netheril, Catti-brie spent several years (1479 DR to late 1482 DR) under the alias of Delly Curtie studying magic with the Harpell family of Longsaddle after her arcane magic failed her (an indication of the return of the Weave). When she learned that Avelyere was close to finding her location, she made her way to Icewind Dale in late 1482 DR, settling in Bremen and waiting for her friends to return. She retained her alias and had agreements to provide her services to several innkeepers and others in the area, such as Darby Snide at the Knuckleheader tavern in Bremen. She learned of Regis's arrival in Lonelywood and helped save him from ruffians from Ship Rethnor.

At the appointed time—the spring equinox of 1484 DR—Catti-brie and Regis ventured up Kelvin's Cairn and found Drizzt, mortally wounded, and at the same time Bruenor showed up on the scene. By the grace of Mielikki, Catti-brie was able to heal Drizzt. Wulfgar also appeared, and so the Companions of the Hall were reunited once again.

New Outlook
"Where's the babies' room?"

- Catti-brie, referring to killing newborns, after stating that she would have taken and used the blade herself

Despite the old companions being reunited, Catti-brie's views and personality drastically changed, which was noted by each of her companions. From once caring about the different races of Faerûn, and believing that even goblins should not be cut down until parlayed with, the reborn woman became extremely zealous. She began to strongly advocate genocide, even to the extent of slaughtering newborn babies. Catti-brie even stated that she would take the blade herself to kill young children and even infants. Despite various logical arguments from the other Companions of the Hall, such as notable examples of goodly orcs and goblins like Nojheim, as well as factual evidence that orcs and dwarves coexisted for centuries in Baffenburg, she would have none of it. She even directly contradicted herself, first yielding that there may be exceptions to goodly goblinoids, to then stating that there were not, directly afterwards. Her lover, Drizzt Do'Urden, compared her radical attitude to those of the wicked matron mothers of Menzoberranzan.

Reunited
The Companions, reunited, traveled to Gauntlgrym to release Thibbledorf Pwent from his curse of vampirism. Along the way, they stopped in Longsaddle, where the Harpells gave her a scroll and a blood-red sapphire ring to serve as a phylactery to trap Pwent's soul. However, Catti-brie instead used the ring to entrap the lich Ebonsoul's soul, forcing her to later capture Pwent in Wulfgar's horn of summoning. In Gauntlgrym, the Companions learned about the entrapment of Artemis Entreri, Ambergris, Afafrenfere, and Dahlia Sin'felle. The Companions aided the first three in escaping, but Catti-brie was forced to collapse a tunnel on Dahlia in the battle between the proxy of Lolth (Dahlia) versus the proxy of Mielikki (Catti-brie). The Companions believed Dahlia dead.

The Companions then headed back to Longsaddle, where the Harpells released Pwent, although his soul remained in the horn of summoning. They headed out for Mithral Hall, but stopped in Nesme to take a stand against orc and goblin attacks involved with the Darkening. Catti-brie used her formidable magic, both arcane offensive and defensive spells, as well as healing magic, during the siege. The Companions left after a time; soon after, Nesme fell to the horde.

Skills
In her first life, Catti-brie was a skilled archer. However, in her second life, due to having no practice, she struggled with the bow and arrow, much preferring magic.

In her second life, from a young age, Catti-brie was able to cast both divine and arcane spells. She was able to use healing magic from Mielikki from the age of five. She was well-versed in both new and old arcane magic, and was particularly fond of flashy evocations. She also had an affinity for druidic magic, including the spell call lightning. Until her shapeshifting left her upon the return of the Weave in 1479 DR, she was able to shapeshift into the following forms: wolf, owl, hawk, and eagle.

Possessions
Catti-brie was armed with the bow Taulmaril and the sentient sword Khazid'hea: As of 1372 DR, Drizzt used Taulmaril more often than Catti-Brie did.

After acquiring Khazid'hea from the corpse of Dantrag Baenre, Catti-brie spent some time trying to control its rebellious consciousness. The sword was a sentient artifact that wished to be wielded by the best fighter in the land. With Dantrag being defeated in battle by Drizzt, it assumed the shape of a unicorn on its pommel to lure the renegade drow with the image of his deity. Catti-brie assumed ownership instead, and the sword managed to compel her to try and force herself upon Drizzt as a manifestation of the Khazid'hea ' s desire. She emerged from the battle of wills weary, but totally in command of the sword, even being able to change its sentience to good. She never allowed it to control her movements and could block out the weapon's telepathy with nary a thought, though, towards the end of the battle with the orcs for control of Mithral Hall, the blade did take control over her, but only through the fact that she was near exhaustion. Years later, the sword was taken from her while she was asleep in her quarters in Mithral Hall. She feared for the wielder knowing how powerful the sword's sentience could be.

She also possessed a magical Cat's Eye circlet that allowed her to see her surroundings in a light as bright as in a moonlit night. It was given to her by Fret courtesy of Alustriel Silverhand of Silverymoon.

After she began her training as a wizard, she wore the robes of Jack the Gnome. She also adorned herself with a small dagger, an assortment of wands, and a pair of powerfully enchanted rings, one of which she claimed could bring the stars themselves down from the sky.

In 1484 DR, Drizzt gave Catti-brie the magical ruby ring band he had retrieved from Brack'thal Xorlarrin. She discovered that the ring was attuned to the Elemental Plane of Fire: it protected her from flame, it allowed her to speak and understand Ignan, and it gave her the ability to communicate telepathically with the primordial Maegera. She later accidentally summoned a fire elemental with the ring.

Drizzt Do'Urden
Catti-brie was the first person in Icewind Dale to accept Drizzt, although she was very young, just eleven years of age, when Drizzt came to know her.

Catti-brie was torn between her romantic feelings for Drizzt as an extension of the companionship they had developed, and the thought of any potential children they might have turning into outcasts because of their drow characteristics. Their differing lifespans, with the short-lived nature of humans compared to the long lives of elves, was also of concern to her. However, they were happily married for eight years before her death, and upon her reincarnation she and Drizzt married once more with Catti-brie becoming pregnant with their first child sometime afterwards.

The birth of Drizzt and Catti-brie's daughter Briennelle Zaharina—named for both of her grandfathers, Bruenor and Zaknafein—during the war between all the houses of Menzoberranzan around and beneath Gauntlgrym in 1488 DR was truly magical. The child had auburn hair, like her mother, and her eye color was like her father's, except a deeper, jewel-toned purple. Brie-Zara's skin tone was somewhere between her parents' coloring, like a pink flower at dusk in hue.

Bruenor Battlehammer
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 raid ended the man's life. All of Termalaine might have fallen to a goblin onslaught but for the dwarves of Clan Battlehammer turning 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 regarded Bruenor as her father, not having many memories of her parents.

Wulfgar
Catti-brie and Wulfgar had been romantically involved and she and Wulfgar were due to be married. However, when Wulfgar fell to the yochlol that Drizzt's sister Vierna Do'Urden summoned, he was thought dead after collapsing the cavern with his mighty warhammer Aegis-fang.

Catti-brie next met Wulfgar when helping to defeat Errtu and banishing him back to the Abyss for another hundred years. Unfortunately for Wulfgar, Catti-brie had recovered from his loss over the years and while adventuring with Drizzt on the Sea Sprite. Although she was uncertain of her feelings when the two met again, she helped him to recover from his suffering at the hands of Errtu. Seeing that Wulfgar was not the man she had once known, however, her feelings remained cloudy and ultimately they remained friends.

Catti-brie had been doubtful about the marriage before Wulfgar was thought dead, as his pride and protectiveness over Catti-brie was beginning to take its toll on their relationship. Furthermore, her adventuring spirit was not ready for his barbarian lifestyle where wives are not held in high regard and were not permitted to go on adventures, stifling her free will, which she hated, and continued to adventure regardless.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Crystal Shard • Streams of Silver • The Halfling's Gem • Sojourn • The Legacy • Starless Night • Siege of Darkness • Passage to Dawn • The Silent Blade • The Spine of the World • Sea of Swords • The Thousand Orcs • The Lone Drow • The Two Swords • The Orc King • The Pirate King • The Ghost King • "The Dowery" • "Iruladoon" • The Companions • Night of the Hunter • Rise of the King • Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf • Archmage • Maestro • Hero


 * Video Games
 * Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn • Arena of War • Neverwinter • Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms • Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance


 * Board Games
 * The Legend of Drizzt Board Game

Connections
Catti-brie Catti-brie