Though Wulfgar initially resents the dwarves and his indenture, he grows to respect and even love Bruenor, like his own father who had died years past.ĭuring this time, the failed wizard Akar Kessel, left to die in the Spine of the World, finds Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard, a magical, sentient crystal with the ability to lend power to its wielder, make tower sanctuaries in the likeness of itself, and insinuate itself into the minds of others, including that of its wielder. Bruenor teaches him to smith and mine, and comes to love him like a son. Bruenor tells the people of Ten Towns that if not for Drizzt Do'Urden, they would now be dead, which grants Drizzt a measure of acceptance and respect in Icewind Dale.įive years pass, with Wulfgar indentured to the dwarves. Bruenor also defends the wounded and unconscious Drizzt, slamming Kemp to the ground and breaking the nose of his lieutenant when he finds them kicking the injured drow. After the battle, Bruenor saves him from being killed in cold blood by the townspeople, instead taking the young man, Wulfgar, son of (the late) Beornegar into his care. Bruenor then slams the youth with his shield, rendering him unconscious. Meanwhile, Bruenor clashes with a young barbarian standard bearer, who breaks the shaft of his banner over the dwarf's head to no effect. He wounds Heafstaag many times, including a stab to the stomach that should have been fatal, but the king manages to survive and escape after wounding Drizzt. Drizzt personally meets the barbarian king, Heafstaag, in combat. Regis, on the council of Ten-Towns, uses persuasion and a magical hypnotic ruby pendant to convince the stubborn leaders of the towns to work together to thwart the barbarian attack.īecause of the warning and their unified efforts, Ten-Towns and the dwarves successfully repel the barbarian attackers. When the Dale's native barbarians band together to slaughter the people of Ten-Towns, whom they view as invaders, Drizzt, with his drow stealth and ranger's knowledge of the terrain, discerns their plan and relays the information to his friends, the halfling Regis and the dwarf Bruenor. He roams the tundra, hunting down yeti and giants that threaten the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale. The first book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, it was his first published novel.Įven in the remote far northern region of Icewind Dale, the renegade dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden is not fully accepted, except by the dwarves whom he had eventually befriended. The Crystal Shard is a 1988 fantasy novel by American writer R.

The crystal shard book