The Orc King

The Orc King, a fantasy novel by American author R. A. Salvatore, is the first book in the Transitions series. The plot opens approximately six years after *The Two Swords*. Drizzt Do'Urden now carries Twinkle and Icingdeath, while Cattie-Brie wields her magical bow, Taulmaril. He defeats a bandit group called Casin Cu Calas, who wear black and kill Orcs in their sleep within the Orcish Kingdom of Many-Arrows. Drizzt becomes angry when a bandit mentions Bruenor Battlehammer's past alliance with Orcs as a weakness.

Obould II (Many-Arrows), the heir to the Many-Arrows throne, visits a "beautiful" Orcish maiden who is to marry an elf from the Glimmerwood (formerly Moonwood). The narrative then shifts to the "past," where Drizzt and his companion Innovindil return from Ellifain's grave. Orcish shaman conspire against Obould and summon the half-ogre, half-orc Clan Karuck. Clan Karuck attacks Innovindil and her clan, killing her and her Pegasus. Hralien and a friend find her corpse. Another drow, Tos'un, who helped instigate the Orcish war, lives alone nearby. Hralien hunts Tos'un, suspecting he masterminded the ambush due to its organization. The true mastermind is a powerful Gnomish wizard named Jaculi, trained by Illithids and other creatures, who has secretly controlled Clan Karuck's shaman for centuries.

In Mithral Hall, Drizzt accompanies Bruenor to a place they believe is the lost dwarven home of Gauntlgrym. With Regis and the dwarves Thibbledorf Pwent, Torgar Hammerstriker, and Cordio Muffinhead, they enter a cavern filled with powerful, otherworldly monsters. Regis and Drizzt doubt the location is Gauntlgrym, as the buildings look above-ground. After battling two monsters from the Plane of Shadow, they enter a large building with statues of Orcish and Dwarven scholars and tapestries of Orcs and Dwarves living together. A dejected Bruenor takes scrolls and returns to Mithral Hall.

Cattie-Brie and Wulfgar search for Colson, Wulfgar's surrogate daughter. With help from Alustriel, ruler of Silverymoon, they find her in Nesmé. Wulfgar leaves the Companions of the Hall to return Colson to her birth mother, Meralda, in Auckney, then departs for Icewind Dale and the Tribe of the Elk. Cattie-Brie, saddened, returns to Mithral Hall with Alustriel.

To avenge Innovindil, Hralien asks Drizzt to capture Tos'un Armgo, who wields the sentient sword Khazid'hea, previo