THIS IS MY FAVORITE ENTRY FROM DRIZZT
DO'URDEN
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They are the
absolutes,the goodly gods and the evil friends, forever
locked in the struggle for the souls of the mortals. The
concept that is Lloth is purely evil; that of Mielikki, is
purely good. As opposite as black and white, with no gray
in between.
Thus are the concepts, good and evil. Absolute, rigid.
There can be no justification for a truly evil act; there
is no shade of gray. While an act of good often brings
personal gain, the act itself is absolute as its measure
is based on intent. This is epitomized by our beliefs in
the pantheon, but what of the mortal races, the rational
beigns-the human and the races of elvenkind and
dwarvenkind, the gnomes and the halflings the gobliniods
and the giantkin? Here the question muddles, the absolutes
blend.
To many, the equation of simple: I am drow, drow and
evil, thus i am evil.
They are wrong. For what is a rational beign if not a
choice? And there can be no evil, nor any good, without
intent. It is true that in the Realms there are races and
cultures, particularly the goblinoids, which show a
general weal of evil, and those, such as the surface
elves, which lean toward the concept of good. But even in
these, which many consider personifications of an
absolute, it is the end individual's intents and actions
that ultimately decide.I have know a goblin who was not
evil; I am a drow who has not succumbed to they ways of
his culture. Still, few drow any fewer goblins can make
such claims, and so the generalities hold.
Most curious and most diverse among the races are the
humans. Here the equation and the expectations muddle most
of all. Here perception reins supreme. Here intent is
often hidden, secret. No race is more adept than humans at
weaving a mask of justification. No race is more adept of
weaving a mask of excuses, at ultimately claiming good
intent. And no race is more adept at believing its own
claims. How many wars have been fought, man against man,
with both armies espousing that god, a goodly god, was on
their side and in there hearts?
But good is not a thing of perception. What is "good" in
one culture can not be "evil" in another. This might be
true of mores and minor practices, but not of virtue.
Virtue is absolute.
It must be. Virtue is the celebration of life and of
love, the acceptance of others and the desire to grow
toward goodness, toward a better place. It is the absence
of pride and envy, the willingness to share our joys and
to bask in the accomplishments of others. It is above
justification because it is what truly lies in each and
every heart. If a person dose an evil act, then let him
weave his mask, but it will not hide the truth, the
absolute, from what is naked within his own heart.
There is a place within each of us where we cannot hide
from the truth, where virtue sits as a judge. To admit the
truth of our actions is to go before that court, where
process is irrelevant. Good and evil are intents, and
intent is without excuse.
Cadderly Bonaduce went to that place as willingly and
completely as any man I have known. I recognize that
growth within him, and see the result, the Spirit Soaring,
most majestic and yet most humble of human
accomplishments.
Artemis Entreri will go to that place. Perhaps not until
the moment of his death, but he will go, as we all must
eventually go, and what agony he will realize when the
truth of his evil existence is laid bare before him. I
pray that he goes soon, and my hope is not born of
vengeance, for vengeance is an empty prayer. May Entreri
go of his own volition to that most private place within
his heart to see the truth and, true harmony that he can
never know along his present course.
I go to that place within my heart as often as I am able
in order to escape the trap of easy justification. It is a
painful place, a naked place, but only there might we grow
toward goodness; only there, where no mask can justify,
might we recognize the truth of our intents, and thus, the
truth of our actions. Only there, where virtue sits as
judge, are heros born.
-Drizzt Do'Urden
