Catti-Brie

Chosen of Mielikki

Catti-Brie was a female human whose birth name was Cataline. She was born in Mirabar, but after her mother died during childbirth, she moved with her father to Termalaine in the Ten Towns. Sadly, he father was also killed during a goblin attack on the town. This goblin raid was fought off by clan Battlehammer led by the adventurer and dwarven king, Bruenor Battlehammer. When Bruenor found the now orphaned Cataline, he decided to adopt her, shortening her name to Catti and adding the shortened version of Brienne (the female equivalent of Bruenor) making her Catti-Brie.

Later in life, Catti-Brie would become an adventurer herself, becoming one of the Companions of the Hall and adventuring companion of Drizzt Do’urden. Her relationship with Drizzt would eventually blossom, leading to their marriage.

Description

Catti-Brie was a beautiful woman with blue eyes and auburn hair. She had an hourglass spellscar which she acquired when she was struck by the blue fire of the spellplague. She often wore a white flowing dress she’d had commissioned from the Shade Enclave which she wore with a black shawl.

When she began adventuring with Drizzt, her kind, tolerant temperament made her the kind of emotional, moral compass Drizzt needed and he leaned heavily on her guidance and wisdom. Her adopted brother, Wulfgar, also leaned on her advice and common sense, making him wiser and kinder as a result.

History

When Drizzt first arrived in Icewind Dale, it was Catti-Brie who first warned Drizzt that he was being hunted by Roddy McGristle. She saved his life but in the process was captured. Drizztz managed to rescue her though and it was Catti-Brie’s good opinion of Drizzt that persuaded others to trust him, particularly her adopted father, Bruenor Battlehammer who later became a close friend of Drizzt’s.

When Catti was a teen, she visited Brynn Shander with a pair of dwarves to the home of Regis. There, they were attacked by the assassin Artemis Entreri who was seeking a ruby Regis had stolen from Artemis’ employer, Pasha Pook. The dwarves were killed and Catti was tied to a chair and interrogated. Catti was terrified of her captor and did whatever he asked of her as he took her with him to chase down Regis. Eventually, however, she managed to convince a mercenary working with Artemis to distract him while she escaped back to Mithral Hall.

With Regis under threat from Pasha Pook and his guild, Catti and the other Companions of the Hall went to Calimshan to defeat Pasha with Regis taking over the guild. During this time, Catti and Wulfgar fell in love and intended to be married, however, disagreements over Wulfgar’s desire to live according to the traditions of his tribe gave Catti second thoughts. Soon after this, Wulfgar appeared to have been killed in a rockfall.

Soon after this, with threats from Menzoberranzan against Mithral Hall, Drizzt embarked on a suicidal mission to stop any more attacks from the drow. When following Drizzt, catti was captured by Jarlaxle Baenre and was convinced to work alongside Artemis Entrere to rescue Drizzt. The 3 barely managed to rescue Drizzt and only just made it back to Mithral Hall to warn them of an impending drow attack.

During this time, Catti and Drizzt began to develop romantic feelings towards each other but chose not to act on this due to Wulfgar’s recent (presumed) death and Drizzt’s own awkwardness. They continued to fight together, working with an alliance of surface dwellers, the Svirfneblin of Blingdenstone and the dwarves of Mithral Hall to repel an attack from menzoberranzan.

Following so much time in the underdark, Catti and Drizzt decided to exercise their wanderlust by becoming pirate hunters on the sea of swords. In doing this, they joined the crew of the Sea Sprite.

After 6 years sailing the seas, Catti and Drizzt were called back to Icewind Dale as Wulfgar had been returned by balor Errtu. Wulfgar was in a fragile state having been tortured for those 6 terrible years, often with images of Catti who he could barely stand to look upon for the torturous reminders her sight brought back. He ended up striking her and fled his former comrades in shame.

Wulfgar’s former companions chose to let Wulfgar make his own way seeing that he needed a new start and instead took Crenshinibon (a crystal shard) to be destroyed, but unknowingly placed it into the care of Jarlaxle.They did decide to look for Wulfgar years later when they discovered that outlaws were being branded by Wulfgar’s symbol, the Aegis-fang. When they rediscovered Wulfgar, they found that he’s since married and adopted a baby daughter.

While scouting, Catti was caught in an ambush by a group of orcs. She managed to fight off many of them but was nearly overcome before Wulfgar rescued her. The encounter, however, led to permanent damage to her leg which the clerics were unable to fully heal. She was able to walk again but this injury forever hampered her ability to fight.

Catti-Brie’s eventual demise came during the spellplague when she was struck by a strand of the weave and her spirit was caught within the shadowfell. Bruenor, Jarlaxle and Drizzt attempted to save her by taking her to Cadderly but in doing so, they had to fight a dracolich, the manifestation of the dragon Hephaestus and the illithids Yharaskrik, they were unable to rescue her spirit from the Shadowfell and she was taken to a private heaven by Mielikki, though she was granted one final night with Drizzt before she departed.

Reincarnation

After being dead for decades (though to Catti-Brie, it felt like just a few tendays), the Companions of the Hall were all offered the opportunity to go to their God’s final place of rest or to be reincarnated as the same race and sex to which they had previously been born. They each chose reincarnation with Catti being born again in the Anauroch desert to Kavita and Niraj. She was given a new name, that of Ruqiah though she retained some of her natural abilities from her former life at a young age.

Ruqiah was taught in the ways of magic both by her mother (who was a mage) and by the Shade Enclave who had kidnapped her as they recognised her magical prowess. When Lady Avelyere of the Shade Enclave discovered Ruqiah was Mielikki’s chosen, Ruqiah knew she needed to escape, faking her death in order to do so.

Eventually, Catti made her way back to Icewind Dale, meeting back up with the rest of the Companions of the Hall just in time to save Drizzt from his mortal wounds.

Abilities

In her first life, Catti-Brie was an extremely talented archer, but when born as Ruqiah, she struggled to regain these talents, instead become highly adept in the magical arts. Her powers came both from the divine source of Mielikki and through the arcane arts, allowing her to cast powerful magics as Ruqiah from a young age. She also favoured certain druidic spells such as call lightning as well as her ability to shapeshift into a wolf, owl, hawk and eagle.

Appearances

As a member of the Companions of the Hall, Catti-Brie is featured often in literature and games including:

Books

Video Games

• Baldur’s Gate II: Shadow of Amn
• Arena of War
• Neverwinter
• Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
• D&D Dice Adventures
• Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance