Zaknafein Do ' Urden Zaknafein Do ' Urden was the famed weapons master of House Daermon N ' a ' shezbaernon more commonly known as House Do ' Urden . He was also Drizzt Do ' Urden ' s father , his mentor and his dearest friend . It was he who gave Drizzt the courage to leave Menzoberranzan and trained him to become an excellent warrior . Zaknafein also played a great part in shaping his personality , protecting his son from the truth of Menzoberranzan for as long as he could . Description . The drow weapon master was strong with thick white hair . Personality . Zak delighted in killing the priests of Lolth . He hated the passionless evil they represented , and saw chances to kill them as a way of fighting against it . He had a strong and willful personality , in contrast to the status quo submissiveness that was seen in other drow males . Matron Malice took note of it , but often said nothing because it was that quality that made him even more desireable to her . He also believed in honor and hated the idea of killing children . He was proud when he found out that Drizzt didn ' t kill a moon elf child . Relationships . Zaknafein was heavily involved in his son ' s martial training . He taught Drizzt to think creatively in a fighting situation and trained his muscles to respond to such thoughts . He insisted that improvisation was the mark of a good warrior . It is through Zaknafein ' s tutelage that Drizzt developed the dual - wielding fighting style common among the drow , and that allowed Drizzt to become known as one of the greatest swordsmen in Faerûn . Life in Menzoberranzan . Zaknafein was born a commoner in Menzoberranzan . In time his skills attracted the attentions of Malice Do ' Urden and he quickly became patron of House Do ' Urden , which allowed him to take the surname , Do ' Urden . In order to break his spirit and make him behave more as a true drow , Malice and her daughter , Briza Do ' Urden conspired to have him murder a goblin disguised as a drow ( a trick the pair would later successfully use on Drizzt ) . However , the untimely death of Malice ' s mother led to them abandoning the attempt . During his time as patron , Zak sired one child with Malice , Vierna . Zaknafein sincerely hoped his daughter would share his values and personality and he clashed frequently with her mother over Vierna ' s future , although he was forced to watch his daughter become corrupted by the evil tenets of Lolth . Sometime after Vierna ' s birth , Zaknafein was replaced by Rizzen Do ' Urden as patron and served House Do ' Urden only as Weapons Master , although he continued to be Malice ' s occasional lover . . In time , Zaknafein became known as the finest weapons master in Menzoberranzan , but most importantly , he was good beyond the ability of his kin . Noble , kind - hearted , and strong in his own way , he did his best to live by his principles , in a world where greed overcomes compassion and ambition overrules all . He also had a mysterious friendship with Jarlaxle , leader of Bregan D ' aerthe , and gained a rival in fellow weapons master , Dantrag Baenre . He was said to be the " greatest weapons master to ever cross blades in Menzoberranzan " . As such , he can be considered as one of , if not the , greatest swordsmen in drow history . Malice longed to kill him several times over the centuries but did not both because of her own desire for him and because Zaknafein had proven himself to be a tremendously capable fighter who delighted in killing drow , particularly priestesses , which came in handy as House Do ' Urden continued to climb the ranks in Menzoberranzan by eliminating Houses further up . He also trained countless Do ' Urden warriors , including Vierna , Maya and Dinin . Not long before reaching his fourth century , Zaknafein took part in House Do ' Urden ' s assault on House DeVir . He took his customary role of assassinating the fifth House ' s priestesses . He was shocked at the power of Malice ' s assault , powered by the birth of Drizzt . During the raid , although Zak relished the opportunity of killing priestesses , he took a moment to mourn the death of the DeVir children , wondering if drow children were born evil . Returning to House Do ' Urden , following the successful annihilation of House DeVir , Zak was pleasantly surprised to find his son still alive following Dinin ' s murder of Nalfein in order to become Elderboy . Ten years later , his daughter , Vierna confided in him that the boy was different and very talented . Meeting Drizzt for the first time , Zak was unable to contain a smile when the young drow unknowingly spoke out of turn , embarrassing Vierna . Malice revealed her intention for Drizzt to study at Sorcere and replace Nalfein as House Wizard . Zaknafein , who had little respect for wizards , was able to convince her to allow Drizzt to become a fighter instead . Malice snidely remarkesd that she should have expected nothing less , given the boy ' s heritage , but Drizzt missed her point . Zaknafein immediately found Drizzt a kindred spirit and that the young drow possessed an innocence and idealism that Zak felt compelled to protect and preserve . The pair would spar frequently and Drizzt learned a great deal from Zaknafein , and Zaknafein trained Drizzt using two finely crafted drow long swords in the dual wielding fighting style common among drow warriors . The two got into an argument over the " double cross down " parry , which Drizzt argued was incorrect as it had no appropriate counter . When Drizzt grew to the age of twenty , Malice ordered the young drow be sent to the Academy for further instruction . Knowing that the Academy would have ruined Drizzt strong morals and shattered his innocence , Zaknafein pleaded with Malice to allow Drizzt to remain within the House , promising to make him the finest Weapons Master in Menzoberranzan history . Malice did not doubt his word , but sent Drizzt anyway , mostly because she enjoyed seeing Zaknafein in pain . Unwilling to allow Drizzt to become corrupted and becomea soulless killer like the rest of his kin , Zaknafein attempted to kill his son during a sparring match shortly before Drizzt was due to leave . Ultimately , Zaknafein was unable to bring himself to murder his son , although the pair had a falling out and ended up parting on bad terms . Zaknafein was filled with pride when Drizzt returned from the Academy having graduated at the top of his class for nine of the ten years he spent there . All the same , he was afraid to interact with his son , fearing that Drizzt had become just another evil drow fighter . As Drizzt continued to gain a reputation as one of the most promising warriors in Menzoberranzan , Zak continued to have mixed feeling about his son ' s success . When Zak heard that Drizzt had apparently killed a surface elf ( Ellifain Tuuserail ) during a raid , Zak was filled with rage . . Upon discovering Zaknafein ' s sacrifice , Drizzt left Menzoberranzan for the wilds of the Underdark . Zaknafein was later brought back through Zin - carla to hunt his son ; the spirit - wraith found Drizzt and fought him in the Acid Aerie . Ultimately , Zaknafein fought through the mental barriers , aided by Malice giving him back too much of his mind ( so as to be able to use more of the skill he had in life ) and he hurled himself into the chasm to prevent himself from killing Drizzt .