Chapter 9 preamble

One thing that always strikes me is how reckless humans tend to be compared to other good races, I mean it doesn't make sense to compare humans to dark elves, goblins and other creatures with selfish and malevolent purposes of.Menzoberranzan is certainly not a safe place, and most dark elves die long before their physical limit is reached, but I believe this is more a place to do with ambition, religious fanaticism, and a certain amount of arrogance. question.Every dark elf, in their incomparable self-confidence, rarely foresees the possibility of his own death, and when he dies, he often confuses himself that dying in the service of Lolth, who admires disorder, will only bring him eternal life. Glory, let him stay forever in the temple of the Spider Queen.

The same can be said of goblins and the like, creatures who, for whatever misguided reasons, tend to rush headlong toward death. Many races, including humans, often justify dangerous actions, even war, on divine grounds, and there are a host of facts that make it noble to die for the sake of great justice. But aside from fanaticism and various war cultures, I've found that humans tend to be the most reckless of the good races.I have seen many wealthy humans venture to Ten-Towns for vacation, to sail the icy and deadly waters of Loch Dürden, or to climb the precipitous Cairn of Cairn, a realm of peril.They risk everything for a little achievement.

I admire their decisiveness and self-confidence. I suspect that this spirit of aggressive risk-taking stems in part from the short span of human life expectancy.A forty-year-old human who risks his life may lose twenty years, maybe forty, maybe in extreme cases sixty, but a forty-year-old elf who risks his life will lose centuries!Therefore, as a human being, there is a sense of urgency and urgency, which elves, including light elves, dark elves, and dwarves will never understand. And there is a zest for life that this eagerness arouses beyond the knowledge of an elf or a dwarf.I see it in Catti-brie's beautiful face every day - this love of life, this eagerness, this desire to fill the needs of each day, hour, and moment with experience and joy .In such a strange paradox, I have seen this eagerness only increase when we thought Wulfgar was dead, and in talking to Catti-brie, I have learned that this thirst for experience, Even at great risk, as often happens to humans who have lost a loved one, as if to remind themselves that they need to squeeze as much vitality as possible into the remaining years before death is imminent.

What a wonderful worldview, but also how sad it seems that there is a price to be paid in order to correct the often ordinary path. I may live seven, even eight centuries.So what way should I go?Be lazy and live in a quiet and contemplative way like an ordinary elf in Tolier?Dancing under the stars every night, living your days in reverie, contemplating the world around you?Both are indeed worth pursuing, and dancing under the night sky is a joy I will never give up.But I know I have more to do.I must seek adventure and experience.I take this cue from Catti-brie and the rest of humanity and remind myself to fill my path with every beautiful sunrise.

The less time is wasted, the fuller is life, and a life of decades can, in a sense, be longer than a life of centuries.How else to explain the achievements of a warrior like Artemis Entreri?He could defeat many veteran drow warriors ten times his age.And how to explain the fact that most of the great mages in the world are not elves but humans?They have spent decades, not centuries, contemplating the mysteries of the magical web. I was really lucky to come to the surface and find a companion like Catti-brie.I believe that this is the mission of my existence, not just the purpose, but the meaning of life itself.What opportunities might I find if I combine the span of my species' life with the compactness of human life?What joy might I lose if I followed the more patient and settled path?Signposts dotted the winding road, reminding me that there was so much to lose, avoiding mountains and canyons, traversing flat ground, sacrificing the chance to climb high for fear of facing deep ravines.

Elves often forego intimacy with humans, rejecting love because they know it cannot logically be a long-term partnership by the elves' definition of time. Alas, a philosophy doomed to mediocrity. We need to be reminded every now and then that sunrise only lasts a few minutes.But its beauty can burn in our hearts forever. —— DrizztDo'Urden