The saga of Drizzt Do’Urden has captivated readers for decades, but in R.A. Salvatore's latest book, the spotlight has shifted to a new generation. The Finest Edge of Twilight follows Breezy, the daughter of Drizzt and Catti-brie, as she struggles to carve her own identity in a world that already reveres her parents as legends.

We sat down with R.A. Salvatore, author of the Legend of Drizzt series, to talk about legacy in the Forgotten Realms, morality in heroic fantasy, and why Breezy’s journey may be his most personal tale yet.

• A Story About Legacy
• The Heart of a Hero
• R.A. Salvatore's Tips for Running Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
• The Finest Edge of Twilight Excerpt

A Story About Legacy

Proving yourself a hero in the Forgotten Realms isn't an easy task. It's a perilous path, fraught with tough decisions.

It's a path that most don't choose, but rather have thrust upon them.

For Breezy, the daughter of two of the greatest heroes the Realms have ever known, her journey to greatness isn't only about being a hero. It's about stepping out from the shadow of greatness.

“The question in her mind is, if she accomplishes something, is it because of where she came from?” said Salvatore.

“Is she ever going to be able to get out from under her parents' legendary tales? I think that’s something that I wanted to explore with her.”

The Weight of Inheritance

For Salvatore, writing Breezy’s story became a way to explore the weight of inheritance and the struggle of living up to lofty expectations. He explained that while Breezy benefits from the guidance of legendary mentors, she can’t simply rely on her name.

“You’ll see legacy can only take you so far. Breezy is going to be competing against some pretty powerful forces in the world. And the question is, does she stand on her own, and does she succeed?”

The Heart of a Hero

At its core, the Legend of Drizzt novels have always been about more than sword fights and sorcery. They wrestle with deeper questions of morality and how the choices of a few good people can stand in the way of darkness.

“The Legend of Drizzt novels, first and foremost, are about ethics. That’s what they’ve always been about… the hero isn’t the guy with the biggest sword. It’s the person with the biggest heart,” said Salvatore.

Enter, Jarlaxle

Despite Breezy's claim that she's different from her mother and father, Salvatore carries that same vision into Breezy’s journey—though it is shifted by who she decides to surround herself with.

“That’s where Jarlaxle comes in, because Jarlaxle is putting her out there on the edge of the limb, and he’s got the saw cutting the limb off. She’s got to find a way to get off of it herself. He’s trusting her. He’s treating her like an adult—an individual who's self-accomplished.

“Jarlaxle’s really morally tougher. He is altruistic, but you have to earn his altruism. So Bree’s trying to navigate that as well because Jarlaxle’s not her parents and doesn't exactly share their view on the world.”

R.A. Salvatore's Tips for Running Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

Writing in the World of Dungeons & Dragons

Salvatore has spent decades writing within the framework of Dungeons & Dragons. Like any DM with this much experience under their belt, he's learned to use the game's mechanics to create limitations and excitement in his stories.

“I follow the rules that enhance the story. I bend the rules when I have to, but I try not to too much because I want someone running an adventure to say: I could bring these characters into my campaign.”

Using the Lore of the Forgotten Realms

When asked what advice he’d give to Dungeon Masters and players looking to tell their own stories in the Forgotten Realms, Salvatore’s answer was simple: Use the official content as a springboard to adventure, but don’t stop there.

For Salvatore, the beauty of the Forgotten Realms has always been in its open spaces—the blank corners of the map waiting for adventurers to leave their mark.

“Don’t get stuck just in the areas that have been super developed,” mentioned Salvatore. “When I started in the Forgotten Realms, all that came out was the Gray box set… The beauty of the Gray box set was that you’d see Longsaddle, and it gave you one very evocative paragraph about it.”

It’s that spirit of collaboration and curiosity that he believes defines the Realms. Every mountain range, ruined keep, or quiet fishing village can hold a story worth telling—especially when you let imagination lead the way.

Carving Your Own Path

“You don’t have all the answers. Even if you stay in modern times in the Realms, you don’t have all the answers. That’s what makes it fun,” he said. “Maybe there’s another ruin. Maybe there’s another ice cave. Maybe the dragon wasn’t the only one. Maybe something’s floating in on the Sea of Moving Ice.”

And if you ever lose your way in this vast, storied world? Salvatore offers one last bit of practical wisdom: “We don’t have any answers? Well, we should go to Candlekeep, right? That’s there—and use it as a tool. And don’t be afraid to break the rules. But don’t kill Drizzt.”

The Finest Edge of Twilight Excerpt

Part One - The Other Side of the Chasm 

Autumn, Dalereckoning 1508 

My name is not “Drizzt’s daughter.” 

My name is Brie, but not in honor of my mother, Catti-brie. You’ve heard of her, I expect, heard of both of my parents. 

Drizzt is the hero of Menzoberranzan, the slayer of the white dragon Ingeloakastimizilian, the man who forged peace between the barbarian tribes and the settlers of Ten Towns. He is a legend among those in Menzoberranzan who forsook the ways of the Demon Queen of Spiders, Lady Lolth, and he is the bane of those who follow her diabolical plans. He helped the dwarfs retake Mithral Hall, then brought Bruenor Battlehammer to Gauntlgrym, where King Bruenor now reigns as the center point of the proud Delzoun dwarfs. 

So many adventures he has walked, doing good as he believed, helping as he may. He is among the finest swordsmen in Faerûn, and skilled enough in the Way of the Open Palm to take the title of Grandmaster of Flowers in the Monastery of the Yellow Rose if he so chose—and if he had not promised the late Grandmaster Kane that he would not. 

So of course he will not, for Drizzt Do’Urden is ever true to his word. 

He is admired, he is loved, he is feared, and he is loathed. 

I admire him. I love him. He is my father. I am Drizzt’s daughter. 

But my name is not “Drizzt’s daughter.” 

Catti-brie is the most unlikely of heroes. An orphaned human child, raised by dwarfs in a cave in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale, where few would have survived into adulthood. But she did. Survived and thrived. She became a fine warrior—so skilled with her bow, Taulmaril the Heartseeker—as a member of the Companions of the Hall, the five adventurers who forged their way. And when she was injured, she found a new course—two, actually: one as a wizard and one as a priestess of Mielikki. And not just any wizard, for she was scarred by the disaster known as the Spellplague. And she was surely no ordinary priestess, either, for she became the Chosen of the goddess Mielikki, a hero who passed through death back to life, fighting as Mielikki’s avatar against the Avatar of Lolth. 

And she won. She always wins. She always finds a way. She is no less a hero than my father, and I am Catti-brie’s daughter. 

But my name is not “Catti-brie’s daughter.” 

In truth, my name is not even Brie. It is Briennelle Zaharina Do’Urden, and I am given that name not for Catti-brie. Only the surname matches that of my parents. 

My name comes from my grandfathers, with Briennelle a play on the feminine version of Bruenor, and Zaharina the drow feminine name for Zaknafein. 

Yes, Bruenor, King Bruenor, with the wealth of a dwarven lord and three armies at his command, and Zaknafein Do’Urden, considered still the greatest weapons master ever to wage battle in Menzoberranzan, and now a two-time champion in Cazzcalci, the great bloodsport, fighting for the Biancorso Whitebears of the Scellobel borough in frigid, faraway Callidae. 

“Hail, King Bruenor!” they cry whenever my maternal grandfather walks the ways of any city in the north. 

“Perte miye, Zaknafein!” the aevendrow cry whenever the great Zaknafein walks onto the icy arena under the lights of the Merry Dancers. 

I am their granddaughter, and though I bear a derivative of their names, my name is my own. 

I am Brie. Brie Do’Urden. 

I have heard all the tales of my parents and their friends, recounted breathlessly by people who tell me how blessed I am and how lucky I must be and how wondrous my life must be. 

I have heard all the tales, too many times. 

My name is Brie. 

I answer to Brie, I take responsibility for Brie, and for Brie alone. 

Well, or to Breezy. I rather like that. 

Pleased to meet you. Hope you learn my name. 

But when you meet my children, should there be any and should you meet them, learn their names, the ones they forge on their own. They will not be “Breezy’s daughters.” 

—Brie “Breezy” Do’Urden 

Reprinted from The Finest Edge of Twilight: Dungeons & Dragons by R. A. Salvatore. © 2025 Wizards of the Coast. Published by Random House Worlds, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. 

A New Chapter in the Legend

The Finest Edge of Twilight is a new saga in the Legend of Drizzt and the Forgotten Realms. Breezy faces the weight of legacy, the tests of her training, and the ethical questions that define true heroism.

As Salvatore himself said, “I put my characters under pressure. I try to see things from their perspective and try and find the answers they would find. And maybe those answers help me come clearer in my own mind about how the world works.”

Mike Bernier is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.