Ack!...  Well, I thought I was going to get a chance to sit down and start typing up Drizzt's first Journal entry and a post for The Turn in the Road today in Word Pad, but here it is almost 6pm - which leaves me only 3hrs before bedtime, with two more loads of laundry to have to get done and put away before 8pm tonight.   On top of that, I have to somehow obtain layout maps of Mithril Hall (the interior layout of rooms), A city map of Silverymoon, and a copy of the poster sized map of the Underdark of Faerun. Today Rizzen got a giant 62"x42" world map of Toril hung on our bedroom wall. Last night we printed it out and this morning he got the white edges trimmed off the sheets and for most of the morning today he sat and glued/scotch taped the thing together and about an hour ago we finally got it hung. And can you believe, that Toril map took 42 sheets of paper to print it on! We also have a pathline made with red string and some pins laid out on the map to guide a Neverwinter Mod he's going to be programming. It starts at Mithrill Hall and winds down through the eastern side of Toril and ends at the city in The Forest of Amlan. It'll be a several thousand mile venture - litterally a wordwide trip for the adventuring parties. Once we get the main boards completed we'll have to think of the main storyline, plot, side quests and that whole routine. And I have a feeling I'll be doing most of the scripting and the entirety of the story, lol. If I could put up a decent pic I would but this damn webcam I have can't see things if they're not within 2ft of the damn lens, grr.

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7:25pm - Ok, one more load of laundry to dry and put away, now all I need is my hair to speed-dry for me and I'll be all set. I hate goin' to bed with shower-wet hair, the mornings after always turn out to be a hair-disaster day, lol. Heh, if I can ever get my brain together and convince Drizzt to come over and sit down with me I just might be able to get a start on one post or other this eve before I have to mandatorily crash for the night, but first.... CIGGY!!!!  C-ya'all on the boards.

     I finally found the time to start setting some stuff up tonight after my pc nearly fried both my hard drives on me earlier.   So, as an introductory to what in the nine hells I'm up to now, I'll begin with this blog. This will kinda be a dual purpose blog, documenting the lives of both me and my rpg character Drizzt, sometimes we both can be a little hard to keep track of these days, lol. The format of the entries will be easy to figure out. The top section will be my character's journal entries, then there will be a line spacer, and following that will be my personal entry. Within my character's journal, he'll post entries similar to the ones you find throughout the novels  - his thoughts, feelings, concerns and the current events taking place around him. This can become a great way for other rp'ers in the same thread to keep track of thread events or for those not involved it can serve as a means of just checking in to see what the storyline is doing and the imact it has on the character I role play. And then there's my little blurb after my character's journal entry. Here you'll find my latest happenings in my personal life, and notes to everyone concerning when I may or may not be around the boards - as I see it, why clutter up our boards with silly stuff like that anyway? Or sometimes I may post my infamous "bright ideas"... example, web journals and blogs on SQ. After giving a little more thought to that, I'll be adding a permanent Blog link page up on site (the first chance time permits) where if any other members who have or want a blog/web journal either for themselves, their character(s), or both can post their link. Although from time to time I may still post onsite for things that members should vote on or post questions/suggestions/etc about. Just one note: This is a private area, only those I have invited can view these pages, so word of this isn't to leak to anyone who don't know about it. Those of you who have special permission I'll post here so we all know who's in and who's not, subsequent invitees I'll also post in here.

• Eranil
• Ouija
• Vondrei/Leese
• Lotiel
• Narmor
• Severna/Valthrae
• Tebryn
• Shakti
• Zephyer

     This is the main group of us so far that is allowed access within these few space pages. I'm sure there will be more to follow at future dates, but for now, this will be the "insider gang", Drizzt and his OOC's closest accomplices.... lol! Everyone and then some should be here from L'Renor Velve already...

     Ok, well I'm outta here for now. The next entry will be a "normal" journal entry. Anyone who wants to participate with this web journal/blog thing for you and/or your character(s), just post a comment here or on SQ, either way I'll find it. Tonight though, you'll find your humble OOC posted before the famous ranger, yeah, the male can wait his turn, lol!! This is to also give those of you who are not familiar with the journal entreis from the novels a bit of a taste of what to expect in upcoming entries that Drizzt writes himself. Another note: remember, your character's don't know what's in the private journals of other characters (unless somehow specified in the thread) and this isn't meant as a platform for godmodding. It is simply an add-on to the main story to bring a more overall richness to the flow and ebb of the current events. Ya'all may also use the comments after every entry to post your own character's journal if you don't want to spring and make a blog from scratch yourselves. Ok, now I'll quit running my mouth and let Drizzt have his say....

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     Vendui' lu' Al'doer to my journal. Those of you whom have read the novels, I'm sure may find some similarities with these journal entries as to those "I" wrote in the books. As we all may know, Bob is taking a bit of a hiatus from "us" writing my story, but that doesn't mean the excitement has stopped in my life now does it? So, now in my sudden spare time I have found myself a place to "socialize" and adventure, with plenty of opportunites to make new friends, and reunite with old ones from around the Realms. I hope you find these future musings of mine to be insightful, or perhaps even inspiring *glances over to Ouija  * But for now, I leave you with a refresher of "my" last journal entry from The Two Swords (written originally by RA Salvatore) entitled, "A Winter Respite"

     "Do you know what it is to be an elf, Drizzt Do'Urden?"

     I hear this question all the time from my companion, who seems determined to help me begin to understand the implications of a life that could span centuries - implications good and bad when one considers that so many of those with whom I come into contact will not live half that time.

     It has always seemed curious to me that, while elves may live near a millenium and humans less than a century, human wizards often achieve levels of understanding and power to rival those of the greatest elf mages. This is not a matter of intelligence, but of focus, it seems clear. Always before, I gave the credit for this to the humans, for thier sense of urgency is knowing that their lives will not roll on and on and on.

     Now I have come to see that part of the credit for this balance is the elven viewpoint of life, and that viewpoint is not one rooted in falsehood or weakness. Rather, this quieter flow of life is the ingredient that brings sanity to an existance that will see the birth and death of centuries. Or, if preferable, it is a segmented flow of life, a series of bursts.

     I see it now, to my surprize, and it was Innovindil's recounting of her most personal relationships with partners both human and elf that presented the notion clearly in my mind. When Innovindil asks me now, "Do you know what it is to be an elf, Drizzt Do'Urden?" I can honestly and calmly smile with self-assurance. For the first time in my life, yes, I think I do know.

     To be an elf is to find your distances of time. To be an elf is to live several shorter spans. It is not to abandon forward-looking sensibility, but it is also to find emotionally comfortable segments of time, smaller life spans in which to exist. In light of that realization, for me the more pertinent question thus becomes, "Where is the range of comfort for such existances?"

     There are many realities that dictate such decisions -  decisions that, in truth, remain more subconscious than purposeful. To be an elf is to outlive your companions if they are not elves; even if they are, rare is the relationship that will survive centuries. To be an elf is to revel in the precious moments of your children - should they be only half-elf blood, and even if they are full blood - and to know that they may not outlive you. In that instance, there is only comfort in the profound and ingrained belief that having these children and these little pockets of joyful time was indeed a blessing, and that such a blessing outweighs the profound loss that any compassionate being would surely feel at the death of an offspring. If the very real possibility that one will outlive a child, even if the child sees the end of it's expected lifespan, will prevent that person from having children, then the loss is doubly sad.

     In that context, there is only one answer: to be an elf is to celebrate life.

     To be an elf is to revel in the moments, in the sunrise and the sunset, in the sudden and brief episodes of love and adventure, in the hours of companionship. It is, most of all, to never be paralyzed by your fears of a future that no one can foretell, even if predictions lead you to the seemingly obvious, and often disparaging conclusions.

     That is what it is to be an elf.

     The elves of the surface, contrary to the ways of the drow, often dance and sing. With this, they force themselves into the present, into the moment, and though they may be singing of heros and deeds long past or of prophecies yet to come, they are, in their song, in the moment, in the present, grapsing an instant of joy or reflection and holding it as tightly as any human might.

     A human may set out to make a "great life", to beocme a mighty leader or sage, but for elves, the passage of time is too slow for such pointed and definitive ambitions. The memories of humans are short, so 'tis said, but that holds true for elves as well. The long dead heros of song no doubt bore little resemblance to the perceptions of the current bards and their audience, but that is true of elves, too, even though those elf bards likely knew the principals of their songs!

     The centuries dull and shift the memories, and the lens of time alters images.

     A great life for an elf, then, results either of a historical moment siezed correctly or, more often, it is a series of connected smaller events that will eventually add up to something beyond the parts. It is a continuing process of growth, perhaps, but only because of piling experiential understanding.

     Most of all, I know now, to be an elf is not to be paralyzed by a future one cannot control. I know that I am going to die. I know that those I love will one day die, and in many cases -  I suspect, but do not know! - they will die long before I. Certitude is strength and suspicion is worthless, and worry over suspicion is something less than that.

     I know, now, and so I am free of the bonds of the future.

    I know that every moment is to be tresured, to be enjoyed, to be heightened as much as possible in the best possible way.

     I know, now, the failing of the bonds of worthless worry.

     I am free.

-Drizzt Do'Urden