Chapter 22 preamble

There is a sect on the mainland of Faerun that summarizes the sins of human nature into seven deadly sins, the first of which is pride.Here I am always thinking of the arrogance of kings, who claim to be gods, or at least claim to have conversed with gods and are therefore endowed with power. It is but one of those sins that deserve eternal doom.One doesn't have to be a king to be struck down by vanity just as much.My ranger mentor, Monterey Dibloch, warned me about this, but his teaching was about complacency. "A ranger travels often alone, but never far from his friends," explained the wise man. "A ranger knows his surroundings and knows where to find allies."

Monterey believes that pride is blindness, a blurring of introspection and reason, and overconfidence.The pompous man travels alone without heeding where to find allies. When I found the net of Menzoberranzan surrounding me, I realized my mistake, my arrogance.Haven't I forgotten the allies who got me through this in my pretensions?With all the rage fueled by Wulfgar's death, and the undue worry about Catti-brie, Bruno, and Regis, I never thought my friends could take care of themselves.It's all my fault for what happened, I used to think so, so it's my own responsibility to put things back on track.But personally, that's impossible.

I went to Menzoberranzan to find out the truth, to end the conflict, even at the cost of my own life. What a fool I am. Pride told me I was responsible for Wulfgar's death; pride told me I was the one who set things right.Sheer arrogance prevented me from having a candid discussion with my friend the dwarf king, who had the strength to stand against any drow that came. When I was on the rocks of the Isle of Roth, I realized that I was going to pay for my arrogance; it was only after that that I realized that other dear friends would also have to pay for it. It was a spiritual failure when I realized that pride was the cause of such loss and pain.Pride invites you to the pinnacle of personal triumph, but the wind is always stronger in the high places than in the low places.The next thing is to fall.

— Drizzt Do'Urden