Just as the companions are setting out, Artemis arrives in Ten-Towns, soon locating Regis' abandoned home and finding Catti-brie there.
The companions travel across the northlands towards Silverymoon, encountering barbarian tribes, an eccentric wizard family (the Harpells) and the soldiers of Nesme, who react to Drizzt with hostility, forcing the companions to divert across the Evermoors, also known as the Trollmoors, an ordeal that almost makes an end of them.