War of the Spider Queen

The background of the series takes place in the matriarchal Drow society of Menzoberranzan, the ancestral underground city of the Drow, in the year 1372 DR[18] (Dale Reckoning). Lolth, goddess of the Drow, has gone silent and is no longer affording spells to her priestesses. The females attempt to keep this a secret, but soon they are found out, and males begin disappearing from the city for unknown reasons. Pharaun Mizzrym, a magic user, and Ryld Argith, a warrior, are sent by the Archmage of Menzoberranzan, Gromph Baenre, to discover the cause of these missing drow. The two are attacked several times by Pharaun's sister Greyanna, who is in a power struggle for her household, and trying to kill Pharaun for aligning with their other sibling. Pharaun and Ryld press on, and discover a group of renegade males who are planning a hostile takeover of the city using the thousands of kobold, goblin, and bugbear slaves of the city as their army. When the duo attempt to infiltrate the renegades' base they are captured by its leader, the Illithid Lich Syrzan. Using his magic and trickery Pharaun escapes and leaves behind Ryld, who manages to fight his way out of the hideout. In a sub-plot, an emissary from the Drow city of Ched Nasad, Faeryl Zauvirr, is attempting to leave Menzoberranzan. Matron Mother Triel Baenre forbids this, and has Faeryl captured and tortured by her Draegloth son, Jeggred Baenre. The insurrection of the males is crushed by the physical and arcane strengths of Menzoberranzan, and the city remains under female control. Concerned that others may gather the courage to attempt another take over, Triel sends a group to discover the cause of Lolth's silence and bring an end to it, first by traveling to Ched Nasad. The group is made up of Triel's sister Quenthel, her son Jeggred, Master of Sorcere Pharaun Mizzrym, Master of Melee-Magthere Ryld Argith, a mercenary named Valas Hune, and the emissary Faeryl Zauvirr, in order to secure ties within Ched Nasad.[19][20][21]

The group of six travel to Ched Nasad, a neighboring Drow city headed by House Melarn. Along the way, the group are attacked by a group of Tanarukks, minions of the warlord Kaanyr Vhok. Leading them is Aliisza, an insatiable Alu-Fiend, who takes an instant liking to the powerful, witty, and attractive Pharaun Mizzrym. When they reach Ched Nasad, the city is in unrest and upheaval, and Quenthel discovers that Lolth has abandoned Ched Nasad as well. As an ulterior motive for sending the group to Ched Nasad, Triel had ordered them to retrieve goods co-owned between House Melarn and House Baenre. Ambassador Faeryl Zauvirr betrays the group to her mother Ssipriina Zauvirr, head of a Mercantile House in Ched Nasad that works for House Melarn. Ssipriina Zauvirr has developed a plot to overthrow Matron Mother Drisinil Melarn, and have her house ascend to become one of the ruling Houses in Ched Nassad. Matron Mother Drisinil Melarn is tricked by Ssipriina Zauvirr and Quenthel and Jeggred Baenre are taken captive while in the warehouse holding the goods. Valas, Ryld and Pharaun meanwhile, off on their own missions, are eventually convinced to join the others at House Melarn in the belief they are being held as guests. There they meet Halisstra Melarn and Danifae Yauntyrr, the daughter of the Matron Mother and her battle captive. Soon after arriving at House Melarn, the city comes under attack from a clan of Duergar, and Pharaun, Ryld and Valas are able to rescue Quenthel and Jeggred. House Melarn is destroyed, but the group escape along with Halisstra after Jeggred kills Faeryl, and Pharaun saves Danifae from dying in the rubble of the house. The city is utterly destroyed in the attack, which is actually planned and executed by Zammzt, a member of the Jaezred Chausslin. The group escapes the destruction, and Halisstra along with Danifae join their group to find the cause of Lolth's silence.[22][23][24]

The group, now seven strong, plan a trip to Lolth's domain, the Demonweb Pits. They travel along the surface to seek the followers of Vhaeraun, male Drow who seek to overturn female dominance. Halisstra is captured by followers of Eilistraee, but she kills her captors and escapes, where she is found by followers of Vhaeraun. Quenthel asks the High Priest of Vhaeraun for assistance, and after a test he agrees to bring the group's spirits to the Demonweb Pits along with himself. When they reach Lolth's domain, she is blocked off inside a construct, and will not answer their prayers. The priest then betrays them by gating Vhaeraun into the Pits, where he plans to kill Lolth and become the dominant Drow deity. Selvetarm, Lolth's protector, engages in battle with Vhaeraun, during which Jeggred kills the priest and the group is sent back to the temple of Vhaeraun. They decide to go back to the Underdark, where they will make another attempt to contact Lolth in the Abyss.

The other part of the book focuses on a mysterious drow named Nimor Imphraezl, the so-called "Anointed Blade" of a group called the Jaezred Chaulssin. Nimor incites two groups—the legions of the warlord Kaanyr Vhok and the duergar army of Horgar Steelshadow—into attacking the drow at Menzoberranzan, taking advantage of Lolth's silence. First the Lichdrow Dyrr imprisons the Archmage Gromph Baenre, doling out another blow to the city's magical strength. Then Nimor, acting as a drow commander from Agrach Dyrr, informs Triel Baenre of the invasion, who sends the Army of the Black Spider to the Pillars of Woe to defeat the duergar invasion before they reach Menzoberranzan. The army is sent into a trap as the Legions of Kaanyr Vhok join the duergar, along with House Agrach Dyrr, who turn on their own people to obliterate a third of the drow army.[25]

The main focus of Extinction is on the journey of Ryld Argith and Halisstra Melarn in the world above, as well as the siege of Menzoberranzan. After abandoning the group, Halisstra and Ryld run into followers of Eilistraee once again; however, Halisstra, being shaken in her faith in Lolth, joins the Eilistraeens' order. The two fall in love, an emotion normally unknown to the drow. After killing a spider, an unforgivable act in pure defiance of Lolth, Halisstra is told her destiny is to find an ancient magical blade, the Crescent Blade. The blade is said to be able to cut through anything, and she soon realizes she is to use it to kill Lolth. The blade, however, has been lost in the Cold Fields, and Halisstra travels to find it, Ryld following without permission. The guardian of the blade is a worm, and after both are killed, Halisstra and Ryld defeat the worm and flee to the forest with the Crescent Blade, where they are healed by the Eilistraeens.

The remaining five members of the group (Quenthel, Jeggred, Danifae, Pharaun, and Valas) search for another route to the Abyss in order to find Lolth. Pharaun summons the demon Belshazu, who is Jeggred's father, in order to find the location of a Ship of Chaos, which can traverse the planes to Lolth's Domain. They are told to travel to the underwater city of Zanhoriloch in Lake Thoroot where they are to speak to Queen Oothoon, who apparently knows the location of the ship. After some tricks, primarily manufactured by Pharaun, the group make their way through a dimensional portal to the Lake of Shadows, home of the Ship of Chaos. They board the ship and imprison its demon captain, though the ship requires souls to be fed to it in order to shift to the Abyss.

In Menzoberranzan, Gromph Baenre escapes his prison with the help of his rat familiar Kyorli and a mindflayer whom Gromph promises great power, and then subsequently kills. He immediately helps bolster the defense of the city against the duergar and tanuruuk armies that have reached and begun to lay siege to Menzoberranzan. Gromph and his most trusted associates at Sorcere attempt to kill Nimor Imphraezl, but their spells are either turned against them or Nimor uses one of his rings to retreat to the plane of shadow before he can be killed. Taking advantage of this, Gromph tricks Nimor into holding a triangle of light, and when he retreats to the shadow plane, he is trapped there, for a patch of shadow is required in order to return to the material plane. The magic from the triangle blinds Gromph however, and he is forced to view the world through the eyes of his rat familiar.[26]

Beginning on the Ship of Chaos, Aliisza the Alu-fiend secretly helps Pharaun to connect mentally to the ship. In need of supplies, Valas and Danifae travel to the Drow city of Sschindylryn on Danifae's request, knowing former house mage Zinnirit Yauntyrr resides there. Zinnirit dispels the magic bonding to Halisstra, making Danifae a free Drow. She subsequently kills Zinnirit and steals his ring of teleportation. Rashuub, Demonic captain of the Ship of Chaos, makes several attempts to kill Quenthel, Jeggred and Pharaun, including gating in other Uridezu's to attack the Drow. Quenthel is seriously injured in the attack and becomes ill, during which time she appears to lose some faith in Lolth and becomes increasingly dependent on the conscious vipers of her whip. Jeggred's allegiance to Quenthel begins to falter as she becomes increasingly despondent, and he slowly comes under the influence of Danifae. Using her new ring, Danifae takes Jeggred to the surface with her to kill Ryld and Halisstra, and after a long battle Jeggred murders Ryld. Halisstra on the other hand returns to her sisterhood, heartbroken at the loss of her love, and believing it was Quenthel who ordered the death of Ryld based on a story Danifae manufactured. When Jeggred and Danifae return to the ship, Pharaun guides the group on the ship to the Abyss, with the help of Aliisza being the main factor in their success. When they reach Lolth's domain, they find it destroyed, Lolth gone. Suddenly the priestess' spells are restored to them, meaning Lolth is alive and has again begun to speak. They realize she has removed herself from the Abyss, and they go in search of her, guided by her call for her Yor'thae, Lolth's Chosen. Valas leaves the group at this point, his contract to guide Quenthel fulfilled.

After Halisstra returns to her sisterhood, she and two others are sent to journey into the Abyss and kill Lolth. Halisstra is still confused by her religious beliefs however, and the turmoil often boils over for her. She too can hear the call for the Yor'thae, and follows it throughout the Abyss. Meanwhile, in Menzoberranzan, Gromph has his eyes magically and surgically replaced by those of a traitor from House Agrach Dyrr. Gromph engages in a battle with the Lichdrow Dyrr in order to turn the tide against the armies attacking the city. After a long, grievous battle, Dyrr nearly attains victory with the help of Nimor before Lolth restores the priestess' powers, and Triel turns the tide in Gromph's favor. Gromph allows his staff to release all of its power, destroying the staff but also destroying the physical manifestation of Dyrr. With Lolth again affording spells to her followers, the Drow gain the upper hand in the battle, and the Scoured Legion of Kaanyr Vhok retreat, leaving the Duergar for dead. Gromph, aware he must destroy the Phylactery of Dyrr or the Lichdrow will regenerate, begins to draw up a plan with his fellow Masters of Sorcery, which is carried out in Resurrection.[27][28]

The book begins with the yugoloth Inthracis, a denizen of the Abyss. The Masked Lord Vhaeraun visits Inthracis, and orders him to kill the Yor'thae, promising him the highest position of power among his order. Halisstra and her fellow priestess' of Eilistraee continue their journey to kill Lolth, but soon decide they must kill the Yor'thae in order to kill Lolth, and Halisstra believes that person to be Quenthel Baenre. Quenthel meanwhile, her strength and faith fully restored, continues to move towards Lolth, fully in the belief that she is the Yor'thae. Jeggred is now fully devoted to Danifae, and Pharaun's allegiance leans towards Quenthel, though no trust is held between them. The two groups meet at the Pass of the Soulreaver, a portal separating Lolth's home from the rest of the Demonweb Pits. Halisstra's fellow priestesses, Feliane and Uluyara, are killed and Halisstra is fatally wounded by Danifae. Cursing the betrayal, and lack of intervention by Eilistrae, she renounces her faith yet again, returning to the darkness of Lolth. She manages a healing spell, saving herself from death, and she follows Danifae, Quenthel, Jeggred and Pharaun into the Pass of the Soul Reaver. In order to pass over to Lolth's realm, the females who enter the pass undergo tests of faith, including viewing themselves in the future having been rejected as the Yor'thae.

Once past the Pass of the Soul Reaver, the group come upon the Planes of Soulfire, and the army led by Inthracis. Quenthel summons a great demon to assist their fight, while Danifae calls upon Lolth to send millions of spiders to their aid. Pharaun meanwhile takes on Inthracis himself, and eventually defeats the yugoloth. With the battle raging, Halisstra joins the others on the Planes of Soulfire, and after sacrificing Pharaun to the spider horde, the three priestess' make their way to Lolth's tabernacle. Once inside, Danifae is the first to be destroyed, consumed by one of the eight manifestations of Lolth. Suddenly seven of the manifestations attack the eighth, and from the carnage steps Danifae Yauntyrr, the Yor'thae. Quenthel is ordered to go back to Menzoberranzan and be restored as the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith. Halisstra, however, is punished for her unforgivable acts of disloyalty and sacrilege, and is ordered to serve as Lolth's Lady Penitent. Upon her exit from the tabernacle, Quenthel sacrifices Jeggred to the new incarnation of Lolth, allowing spiders to feed on his flesh.

In Menzoberranzan, the invasion has been squashed, and House Xorlainn lays siege to the traitor house Agrach Dyrr on orders from Matron Mother Triel Baenre. The phylactery of the Lichdrow Dyrr is hidden away within the house, and Gromph Baenre undergoes a mission to breach the wards placed around the house and destroy it. Using scrying techniques, he discovers the phylactery is hidden within the house's temple, and disguises himself to gain entry. Once inside, he engages in a battle with an obsidian golem, the protector of the phylactery. When he overcomes the golem, he finds the phylactery in its center. Once he passes the wards on the stone, he cleaves it with an enchanted axe, destroying Dyrr forever. Upon the destruction of the phylactery, the temple is magically destroyed, but Gromph teleports out in time.[29][30][31][32] Thus ends the War of the Spider Queen.