Bro Finds His People (And They're A Mess)
Bro finally made it to the Yuirwood. He’s walking through the forest he’s dreamed about for seven years. And it’s nothing like he remembers.
That right there is the whole mood of these three chapters.
Chapter 15: The Forest That Forgot Him
Bro has been following Rizcarn for three days. The Yuirwood they’re traveling through is so different from his childhood memories that he wonders if they’re in a completely different forest. The sky has been storming since the morning after they met. He can’t get a fix on direction. And the places they pass through are strange. One day they scale a ridge of shattering slate in blinding rain. Another day they push through undergrowth so thick it tears skin.
The forest feels hostile. Or at best, indifferent. This is not the warm green home Bro remembers from being twelve years old.
They arrive at Rizcarn’s camp. And here’s the thing. Rizcarn has gathered a band of about thirty Cha’Tel’Quessir who are following him from tree-family to tree-family, summoning people to the Sunglade for a full moon gathering. He’s preaching about waking the old gods, making the trees remember, bringing back Relkath and Zandilar and the ancient Yuirwood powers.
Some families listen. Some walk away shaking their heads. One tree-family, Deep Well, straight up ran them off. But Rizcarn keeps collecting followers.
And Bro watches all this with growing unease.
The Problem With Dad
Here’s what gets under Bro’s skin. These Cha’Tel’Quessir all call him “Rizcarn’s son.” Not Ebroin. Not Bro. Not even Ember, the nickname they gave him when he was twelve. Just “Rizcarn’s son.” They don’t expect anything from him except to exist as an extension of his father.
Most of these people followed Rizcarn before. Before the supposed death. Before Bro and Shali left the Yuirwood. They’ve just picked up where they left off seven years ago, like nothing happened. Like Bro’s entire adolescence of grief and displacement was a commercial break.
Bro can see the doubt on the elders’ faces. They follow Rizcarn not mindlessly, but without asking the questions they should be asking. Questions like: what exactly happens at the Sunglade? What does “waking the trees” actually mean? What are we signing up for?
Bro hasn’t asked those questions either. But at least he knows he should be asking them.
At night, while everyone else sleeps, Bro sits on his pallet clutching the Simbul’s knife. Rubbing its studded leather hilt has become a habit. Sometimes he pulls it out and stares at the wavy patterns in the blade until he loses himself. He whispers to the absent queen: “I was a squirrel for an afternoon. A squirrel would’ve had more sense than to do what I’m doing.”
That line hit hard. He’s starting to think maybe the Simbul was right. Maybe a worthy goddess wouldn’t have let Shali die just to get a horse into the Yuirwood.
Chapter 16: Meanwhile, In Evil Wizard Land
We cut to Aznar Thrul in Bezantur. The Zulkir of Invocation is having supper on a balcony overlooking the slave market, because of course he is. He keeps his predecessor Mari Agneh imprisoned and enchanted somewhere in the city. He’s cruel. He’s effective. And he’s bored.
A woman arrives. She’s connected to the intelligence operations, part of the network that watches Aglarond and the Yuirwood. Thrul takes her to his bedchamber (she comes clothed, a “little disappointment” to him). But she’s a challenging partner, which raises questions he files away for later.
The real information comes after. She tells Thrul that Mythrell’aa’s House of Illusion in Tilbrand has sent agents northeast, toward the Aglarondan forest. So the Thayans aren’t the only ones interested in whatever’s happening in the Yuirwood. The Zulkir of Illusion has her own game running.
Thrul’s reaction: “What does this mean, woman?”
Her answer: “That we are not the only ones looking for something in the Yuirwood. That we will not be alone when we find it.”
This chapter is short but it sets up something important. Multiple Thayan factions are now converging on the Yuirwood, each with their own agenda, and none of them fully understand what they’re walking into.
Chapter 17: Elves Arguing About Ancient Mistakes
This chapter is the real gem. The Simbul travels to Everlund, near the High Forest, to meet with three elven sages that her sister Alustriel arranged. And the meeting goes sideways in the best possible way.
First off, the Simbul hates formal gatherings. She’d rather eavesdrop from a chandelier disguised as a candle (yes, she’s done this before). But Alustriel would just come drag her there anyway, so she goes. She even puts on a gown that isn’t torn, frayed, or stained. Big day.
The sages are not who Alustriel expected. Different elves showed up. That’s the first sign this meeting matters more than anyone planned.
They sit on silk cushions. They drink ice-cold nectar. They offer the Simbul honey-glazed shortbread, her favorite dessert. A peace offering, clearly.
And then the Simbul tells them everything. About Zandilar, the twilight horse, Bro, her visions. She even tells the story of Lailomun Zerad for the first time ever. It makes Alustriel cry. The elves are less emotional about it.
But here’s where it gets really good. The sages start arguing with each other. And through their argument, we learn the actual history of the Yuirwood.
The Yuir elves were wild elves, Sy-Tel’Quessir. When they came to the forest, there were already people there. Humans or something like humans, with their own gods. The elves and these ancient forest people merged. Their gods merged. Zandilar was a maiden who “fell in love with the forest and it gave her one of the old names.” She defended the Yuirwood by riding a gray horse straight to the drow temples, trying to seduce the dark god Vhaeraun and steal his secrets.
One sage calls her a traitor. Another says she was a martyr whose faith was never broken. An ancient elven woman who was actually there says Zandilar suffered as only gods can suffer but never gave in.
The argument gets heated. Knives come out (literally, one elf keeps fondling his knife pommels). Alustriel tries to pull the Simbul away telepathically. The Simbul shakes her off. “The conversation’s just starting to get interesting.”
The key revelation: the Yuir elves and their gods voluntarily gave up their essence to the forest to protect its secrets. They agreed to be forgotten. But the Cha’Tel’Quessir were born anyway. Zandilar saw to that. Because “there must always be passion and hope.”
And now the Cha’Tel’Quessir are whispering the forbidden names. And the old gods are waking up. The elves are terrified.
After they escape back to Silverymoon, the Simbul’s summary to Alustriel is perfect: “The Yuirwood’s getting its most ancient gods back, and I don’t know what that means because the Tel’Quessir either don’t know themselves or won’t trust a human with the truth.”
The chapter ends with the Simbul transforming herself into a Cha’Tel’Quessir sell-sword. Brown hair, burnished skin, wine-and-sable leathers, a spear, and a sword. She goes undercover.
My Thoughts
These chapters are where the book really starts clicking on all cylinders.
Bro’s disillusionment is the standout. He spent years dreaming about the Yuirwood, about his people, about belonging somewhere. And now he’s here and it’s not what he imagined at all. The forest is different. His father is manipulative. The Cha’Tel’Quessir treat him like an accessory. Nobody is asking the questions that need asking.
That moment where he whispers to the Simbul’s knife, half-wishing he’d let her take the horse? That’s a kid realizing the dream was better than the reality. It’s heartbreaking.
And the elven sage chapter is just excellent worldbuilding. Lynn Abbey takes what could have been a boring lore dump and turns it into a heated argument between people who lived through the history they’re debating. You learn everything you need to know about Zandilar and the Yuir elves, but you learn it through conflict and emotion, not exposition.
The fact that even the immortal elves don’t agree on what happened? That’s how real history works. Nobody has the full story. Everyone has their angle.
The Simbul going undercover at the end is the perfect cap. The most powerful woman in Aglarond is about to walk into the forest as a nobody with a sword. That takes either supreme confidence or desperate concern. Probably both.
Previous: Mythrell’aa’s Long Game and the Thayan Web
Next: The Simbul Goes Native and Thay Calls a Meeting
Book Details
- Title: The Simbul’s Gift
- Author: Lynn Abbey
- Series: The Nobles, Book 6
- Setting: Forgotten Realms (D&D)
- ISBN: 0-7869-0763-0