Recaps

Tang and the Mind Flayer planned to incite influential men in Lightless City into a revolt, using Tang’s disguise as Vincent to reach them. After Shalti embraced Tang, the chapter ended with the Spider Silk Matron Mother believing a crack in the Goddess’s statue meant her deity had returned.

• Tang told the Mind Flayer to target resentful men rather than slaves, and the spy identified the exiled Vincent Spider Silk as a potential leader.
• Tang revealed he could assume Vincent’s identity and learned that the Hero Tavern was a place to meet the city’s influential men.
• After the Mind Flayer and the spy left, Tang thanked Shalti for saving him and asked what the Mind Flayer had said during their telepathic exchange.
• Shalti embraced Tang when he offered her a hug, then hurried away, leaving Tang to suspect her floral scent reflected her emotions.
• The Spider Silk Matron Mother prayed beneath the Goddess’s statue until a fresh crack appeared, which she took as a sign that the Goddess had returned.

Tang, disguised as Vincent, sought out Sir Raffi at the Hero Tavern and revealed that he had killed Priestess Sarah after she tried to sacrifice him. Raffi learned Sarah had lacked divine power, leaving him startled and caught between sympathy for Vincent and fear of the consequences.

• Sir Raffi tried to stop a tavern brawl, but a cloaked man swiftly knocked out the two fighters with a scimitar.
• Tang revealed himself to Raffi as Vincent and explained that he had returned from the outpost, where Sarah had released slaves and two Kling had escaped.
• Tang told Raffi that he had killed Sarah, prompting Raffi to consider reporting him before the tavern owner, controlled by an Intellect Devourer, interrupted.
• Tang showed Raffi his scarred face and described how Sarah had used him as bait while attempting to kill him and the escaping slaves.
• Tang told Raffi that Sarah had no divine power, and Raffi reacted with shock.

Tang used Sir Raffi’s doubts about Lolth’s abandonment and the declining power of the Matron Mothers to test whether Drow men might join a movement for dignity. He began recruiting through a men-only half-price promotion at the Hero Tavern, while planning the next stage of his campaign.

• Tang argued that the gods had abandoned the Drow and that the Spider Silk Family used the Hunt to the Death to preserve its rule, prompting Sir Raffi to confront doubts he had long suppressed.
• Tang urged Sir Raffi to question Lolth and join a movement against discrimination, but Raffi left without reporting him to the Spider Silk Matron Mother.
• Tang told the tavernkeeper, an Intellect Devourer, to attract men with half-price drinks during the Birthday festivities, and the announcement drew cheers and skepticism from the Drow patrons.
• Tang wrote that the promotion had fired the first shot of resistance and explained that gathering a crowd was the first step toward spreading his message.
• Tang checked that he had 69,437 followers, noted that Shivana had won captured Beastfolk over to him, and saw more male Drow heading for the tavern as he prepared his next step.

Ten days after Vincent’s prediction, Sir Raffi returned to the Hero Tavern and found its owner and patrons embracing ideas about male Drow challenging their society. Tang Xin arrived with Shalti and publicly ordered her around, leaving Raffi and the tavern’s patrons stunned.

• Sir Raffi entered the crowded Hero Tavern and heard male Drow discuss murders, abusive noble families, and male Drow being hunted.
• The tavern owner gave Raffi a free drink and defended his belief that men should keep their earnings, prompting Raffi to accuse him of being brainwashed.
• The tavern owner declared that he and the tavern’s male customers would awaken and work toward a new future for male Drow.
• Tang Xin arrived with Shalti, ordered her to buy beer, and shocked the patrons when she obeyed him.
• Tang Xin made Shalti apologize to two male Drow and clean their table, while Sir Raffi and the others stared in disbelief.

Tang used his public display of Shalti serving him to stir male Drow’s ambitions and recruited Rafi to help expose the truth behind the Kling Sacrifice. Rafi agreed to see the truth, and Tang tasked him with gathering oppressed nobles for their coming action.

• Tang had Shalti wipe wine from his mouth while the tavern’s male Drow watched him act as her master.
• Tang invited Rafi to sit with him and argued that Rafi secretly wanted power and freedom from the matriarchal order.
• Tang told Rafi that Lolth had abandoned the Drow and that the sacrifices were political theater, then promised to reveal the truth on the day of the Kling Sacrifice.
• Rafi said he did not believe in Eilistraee but wanted to witness the truth about the sacrifice.
• Tang said they would enter the temple openly and asked Rafi to gather capable nobles who were oppressed by the system.

Tang and Rafi continued preparing a movement of male Drow to storm the Temple on Sacrifice Day, though Tang worried that their rebellion was progressing suspiciously smoothly. Their plan was thrown into crisis when the Matron Mothers moved the sacrifice forward to that night’s Silent Hour.

• Rafi’s account described how Drizzt persuaded Masters of Arms, including Christian, to consider joining the rebellion, while one Red Spider Master was secretly replaced by a Mind Flayer after trying to betray the others.
• Tang told Rafi that nearly five thousand men had gathered without attracting the Matron Mothers’ attention, and admitted he did not know who was ensuring the rebellion went unnoticed.
• Tang insisted that they continue with the plan because he needed the [Golden Beacon] to restore Yiwu’s energy, and Rafi agreed to meet him outside the Temple on the day of sacrifice.
• As Tang and Shalti left the tavern, a spy warned them that the Matron Mothers had departed the Temple early and were heading toward the Kling estate.
• The spy revealed that the ritual preparations had gone smoothly and the sacrifice had been moved forward to that night’s Silent Hour.

Tang learned that the Spider Silk Matron Mother had advanced the Kling sacrifice by eight days, forcing him to change his plan to free the captives. She invited Tang and Shalti to attend the ceremony that night, and Shalti quietly clarified that she had cherished him.

• A spy warned Tang that the Spider Silk Matron Mother had moved the sacrifice forward and was taking a shortcut to the Kling estate.
• Tang and Shalti pretended to be engaged in their usual bedroom routine until Christian arrived to escort Tang to the Spider Silk Matron Mother.
• The Spider Silk Matron Mother praised Tang's conduct, invited him and Shalti to join her family, and said they could attend that night's sacrifice.
• Tang learned that every family's Matron Mother, priestesses, and favored Consort Fathers had to attend the ceremony at the Spider Temple, so he decided to contact the Mind Flayer and revise his plan.
• Shalti caught Tang by the sleeve and told him, "It wasn't that I didn't cherish you."

Tang and Shalti joined the Spider Temple’s Sacrifice Day ceremony, where Kling’s captives awaited execution and Night Shadow spoke with Nightingale about their family and her lost hopes. The ritual began with the Spider Silk Matron Mother stabbing the Spider Academy’s top graduate, leaving Tang’s rescue plan unresolved.

• Tang crossed the web bridges with Shalti and entered the Spider Temple, where Night Wind, Nightingale, Night Shadow, and the other Kling captives awaited sacrifice.
• Night Shadow challenged Nightingale’s faith in Tang and spoke about protecting Kling, losing her faith in Lolth, and regretting her estrangement from her children.
• Nightingale and Night Shadow discussed Night Wind’s life on the surface and the choices that had led to Kling’s downfall.
• Tang and Shalti stood at the back as the Spider Silk Matron Mother entered with a naked Drow girl, identified as the Spider Academy’s top graduate.
• The Spider Silk Matron Mother pierced the graduate’s chest with a serrated dagger as the sacrifice began.

Tang resisted the Spider Silk Matron Mother’s seductive ritual and used a gamble and a burst of fire to ignite the webs holding Kling’s members, giving them a chance at freedom. The temple erupted in flames as the captives recognized that their rescue had begun.

• Shalti watched the Drow perform ritual blessings on a wounded girl, while Tang saw magic keeping her alive until the Silent Hour.
• The Spider Silk Matron Mother denounced Kling as traitors, then filled the temple with blood mist that drove the Drow into a frenzy.
• The Matron tried to take Tang away from Shalti, but Tang persuaded her to lead them behind a pillar while Chris contacted the Elder Brain.
• Tang pretended to roll a die, then hurled the Matron’s lamp toward the ceiling and struck it with his flaming Lute.
• The lamp exploded, spreading fire through the temple and setting alight the webs holding Kling’s members, who realized they could be freed.

Tang’s magical fire disrupted the spider temple’s ritual, but the Spider Silk Matron Mother used Phase Spiders and her remaining divine power to recapture the advantage. As she strangled Night Shadow and promised she would soon see Lolth, a tremendous crash sounded behind her.

• The Spider Silk Matron Mother struck Tang with Critical Wounds after his Counterspell failed, leaving him wracked with pain.
• Phase Spiders attacked the escaping Klings, but Night Shadow controlled the magical flames and drove the spiders away as the Klings rescued one another.
• The Spider Silk Matron Mother ended the red mist’s enchantment and ordered the Drow to extinguish the fire and recapture the captives.
• Some Drow fled, while the remaining priests cast Create Water and filled the temple with steam.
• The Spider Silk Matron Mother fought Night Shadow, protected herself from the flames, and trapped Night Shadow with a spectral whip around her throat.
• A tremendous crash sounded behind the Spider Silk Matron Mother, and she turned to ask what had happened.

A rebellion by the male Drow erupted in the temple as the Mind Flayer incited them to attack the women, and Rafi killed the Matron Mother of Poison Sting with a Fireball. Tang then commanded the Spider Silk Matron Mother to release Kling and kneel, leaving her stunned by his survival and control over her.

• The Mind Flayer led armed male Drow into the temple and ordered them to attack the Matron Mothers and Consort Fathers.
• The men joined the assault, and Rafi rejected the Poison Sting Matron Mother's claim that she had granted him freedom.
• Rafi killed the Poison Sting Matron Mother with a third-ring Fireball spell.
• Tang commanded the Spider Silk Matron Mother to release Kling, and she obeyed despite her surprise.
• Tang explained that he had survived her Critical Wounds spell and commanded her to kneel.

Tang helped the men rebel against the Spider Silk Matron Mother, while Night Shadow condemned her devotion to Lolth and explained the Drow’s decline. As the rebels celebrated and the Mind Flayer withdrew under warning from the Elder Brain, Tang’s shout triggered the Silent Hour.

• Tang used Command to force the Spider Silk Matron Mother to kneel before Lolth’s statue as the men charged into the temple.
• Tang explained that he had rekindled the men’s resistance, and Night Shadow blamed the matron mother’s devotion to Lolth for the city’s ruin.
• The rebels overwhelmed the priestesses, questioned their faith, and began discussing how to kill the kneeling matron mother.
• The Elder Brain sent a psychic warning that drove the Mind Flayer and Intellect Devourers away from Tang and the Golden Beacon.
• Tang noticed that Christian and other familiar faces were missing, then silenced the crowd with a shout.
• The Spider Silk Matron Mother smiled and told Tang that the Silent Hour had come.

During the Silent Hour, Lolth descended into the temple and trapped the gathered Drow in spider silk, confirming to Tang that a real deity had appeared. Lolth killed Sir Raffi and turned on the Spider Silk Matron Mother, while Tang used [Shut up] to stop the Matron Mother from speaking.

• As darkness spread through the temple, Tang saw Lolth’s avatar appear and ordered Shalti to run, but spider silk bound them and nearly everyone else.
• Lolth suspended the Drow in webs, and Sir Raffi demanded to know why the men had to live beneath women’s rule.
• Lolth confirmed that she had decreed the Drow’s social order, then cut Sir Raffi into pieces with tightening strands of silk.
• The Spider Silk Matron Mother tearfully addressed Lolth, but Lolth ordered her to show her devotion without speaking and tossed her a dagger.
• Night Shadow warned that Lolth wanted the Matron Mother dead, and Tang used [Shut up] as she began to question the deity.

Tang Shi interrupted Lolth’s judgment to keep the Spider Silk Matron Mother from provoking the deity further, then deduced that Lolth had secretly encouraged the Drow’s upheaval for her own amusement. He ended the chapter facing Lolth’s threat and bargaining to keep his mouth intact so he could provide the spectacle she wanted.

• Tang Shi used [Command] to stop the Spider Silk Matron Mother from speaking and told Lolth he only wanted to avoid being dragged down with her.
• Lolth wounded the Spider Silk Matron Mother’s throat when she angrily defended herself, leaving her unable to speak clearly.
• Tang Shi accused Lolth of secretly helping his plan and seeking to provoke conflict among the Drow for entertainment.
• Tang Shi reasoned that Lolth’s appearance was only an avatar and that she might lack the ability to descend in her true form.
• Lolth praised Tang Shi’s Silver Tongue, cut his cheek, and demanded that he give it to her; Tang persuaded her to spare his mouth so he could provide a good show.

Lolth forced Tang, Shalti, and the Drow into deadly tests of betrayal, demanding that loved ones kill one another to earn freedom. As Nightingale fought her mother, Lolth turned her attention to Tang and Shalti and used crimson mist to ensnare Shalti, prompting Tang to step forward.

• Lolth exposed Tang and Shalti as surface dwellers, undermining the Drow men's rebellion and dismissing it as a farce.
• Lolth released Tang and Shalti, gave them spider-silk daggers, and ordered them to kill each other or lose their souls.
• Lolth arranged the captives into small arenas and revealed that Night Shadow's children were the targets of her test of betrayal.
• Nightingale explained that Night Shadow had helped her and Night Wind escape, then fought their mother as Night Wind hesitated.
• Lolth declared that Tang and Shalti's hesitation had ended, ensnared Shalti in webs, and made her inhale crimson mist as Tang stepped forward.

Tang resisted killing Shalti, who was under Lolth’s charm, and found a way to disrupt her enchantment while Lolth watched. He embraced and kissed Shalti’s ear, but she drove her dagger into his chest, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Shalti escaped the web and attacked Tang with a poisoned dagger, but his resistance protected him from the venom.
• Tang defended himself without striking Shalti down, while Nightingale and Night Wind fought their mother and learned Lolth would remain until Silent Hour ended.
• Night Wind warned Tang about the deadline, and Tang realized Lolth could not stay in the Junkyard forever.
• Tang used a Dwarf-friendly Laughing Spell to make Shalti falter, then dropped his dagger and embraced her, kissing the tip of her ear.
• Lolth believed Tang had chosen to sacrifice himself, urged Shalti to betray him, and Shalti plunged her dagger into his chest.

Lolth prepared to kill the survivors and take Tang’s soul, but Tang exposed her failures and used Shalti’s redirected Domination to set a trap. The chapter ended as crimson flames burst from Tang and raced along the spider silk binding him.

• Lolth let Tang bleed while she turned back to Night Wind, Night Shadow, and Nightingale, expecting the survivors to die when the Silent Hour arrived.
• Night Wind lowered his dagger rather than kill Night Shadow, and she wounded him before admitting that she and Nightingale had been trying to protect the others from Lolth.
• Lolth contracted her webs, suspended the surviving Drow, and killed those who had escaped their fights, revealing that she had never planned to let them go.
• Tang, still alive under Heroism, taunted Lolth with knowledge of her betrayal of Corellon and her exile to the Bottomless Abyss.
• Tang revealed that Shalti’s Domination had shifted to him, and Lolth bound him in spider silk to extract his soul.
• Crimson flame erupted from Tang and spread along the spider silk, shocking Lolth.

Tang Weinberg escaped Lolth’s soul-binding web with Asmodeus’s hellfire, and the two deities confronted each other over who would claim his soul. Lolth offered to torment Tang for Asmodeus, while Tang remained caught between their competing claims.

• Tang’s flames burned through Lolth’s spider silk and freed the drow, while Night Shadow used Fire Control to protect them from Lolth’s renewed attack.
• Asmodeus appeared through a Lava Eye and revealed that his hellfire was meant to claim Tang’s soul; Lolth recognized him and challenged his interference.
• Tang told Lolth to get in line for his soul and admitted he had gambled that Asmodeus would appear because the devil’s mark had already claimed him.
• Tang provoked Asmodeus by suggesting he could leave and let Lolth kill everyone, while Asmodeus accused him of trying to manipulate a god.
• Lolth reminded Asmodeus that he could not manifest an avatar there and offered to hand Tang over so she could make him suffer.

Asmodeus drove Lolth from the Temple after she tried to claim Tang, then offered Tang a bargain that Tang refused. Tang survived the inferno and reunited with the fleeing Drow, but a sudden scream about spiders left him facing a possible new threat.

• Asmodeus attacked Lolth's avatar with hellfire, freeing the Drow and forcing them to flee the Temple.
• Night Shadow led the Spider Silk Matron Mother and the others toward the exits, while Tang urged Shalti and Night Wind to escape.
• Lolth threatened to hunt Tang, but her avatar melted away in the flames as Tang mocked her and Asmodeus.
• Asmodeus offered Tang wealth, power, women, or a way out of the Junkyard in exchange for staying away from the Northern Lands, but Tang refused and insulted him.
• Asmodeus withdrew after warning Tang, and Tang emerged from the mist alive but naked, explaining that his clothes had burned away.
• A scream about spiders rang out beside Tang, who gripped his Lute and feared Lolth had not truly left.

Tang rallied the survivors trapped in the Temple as black widows and driders attacked from outside. With the stained glass cracking and the drow turning on one another over weapons, he proposed opening the doors a little at a time to fight the spiders in smaller groups.

• Lolth's curse brought black widows and driders against Tang and the survivors, and Tang deflected a volley of arrows with his Lute before fleeing to the Temple.
• The survivors barricaded themselves inside, but black widows began striking the stained-glass windows, which soon started to crack.
• As the trapped drow argued over their scarce weapons, a Spider Academy noble seized a weapon and sparked a fight that spread through the crowd.
• Tang stopped the brawl with a strike from his Lute and ordered everyone with weapons to gather by the doors.
• Tang proposed opening the Temple doors a crack to let in small groups of spiders and defeat them in turn, but the drow tried to pass the weapons back and forth.

Tang and the Drow defended the Temple against a spider swarm and the driders, briefly turning the tide with fire, magic, and coordinated attacks. After the stained glass broke and Tang's charm spell expired, the spiders began dropping in from the roof.

• The Drow held the Temple doors while Night Shadow's priests set fire to the spiders climbing above the entrance.
• Tang used the Spider Silk Matron Mother's [Spider Climb] spell to reach the cracked stained-glass window and charmed the drider outside, stopping it from breaking through.
• A drider forced its way through the spiders and killed Drow, causing the defenders to panic until Tang's [Hope Lighthouse] restored their resolve.
• Night Shadow ordered the Drow to close the doors and kill the spiders and driders inside; the Kling assassins and Shalti helped defeat them.
• The stained glass shattered after Tang's [Charm Monster] expired, and the Drow saw spiders jumping down from the roof.

Tang and the Drow escaped the Temple’s spider swarm with help from Yiwu and reinforcements from Lightless City. As the fight spread across the suspension bridges, Tang faced the Drider again while the spy urged the troops to rescue the Matron Mothers and welcome Mother back.

• Tang fought off the Drider with help from Night Wind and Nightingale, but a vast swarm of spiders then targeted him.
• Yiwu used the Concentric Ring to protect Tang from targeted attacks, blasted spiders away, and showed him images of fighters outside the Temple.
• Tang ordered the Drow to break out, and Night Wind and Shalti led them through the doors toward the arriving Lightless City soldiers and slaves.
• The Ritual Group and Tang slowed the spiders’ escape from the Temple while the Drow joined the battle on the suspension bridges.
• The spy used a spider-silk badge to rally the troops to save the Matron Mothers, as the Drider broke through Tang’s flower barrier and vowed not to fail Mother again.

After Lolth abandoned Lightless City, Tang used his apparent divine favor to free the slaves and assert control over the Drow. He then directed the survivors toward the Mind Flayers’ lair, whose location the spy identified as the cliff beside Dark Lake.

• Tang healed the survivors with Resting Melody and declared the slaves free, but Luo Blackgland challenged him.
• Matron Mother Blackgland slapped Luo and made her apologize to Tang, who promised the family could keep its place in the city.
• Tang freed the slaves, ordered the Matron Mothers to honor the male Drow who fought the spiders, and used Commanding Aura to make the Spider Silk Matron Mother bow and thank him.
• When the Drow suspected the Matron Mothers might be controlled by Mind Flayers, Tang announced that he knew where their enemies were hiding.
• The spy revealed a hidden passage in Christian's bedroom and concluded that the Mind Flayers’ lair lay at the cliff beside Dark Lake.

Tang led Drow and freed slaves to expose and destroy the Mind Flayer lair, then spared the surviving Mind Flayer in exchange for cooperation and its research on Conch Ships. With the Doomsday countdown seeming inconsistent and a star-crossing vessel offering a possible escape, Tang turned to discuss what came next with Ye Ying Kling.

• The Mind Flayer ordered Christian to scout the cavern after the Elder Brain sensed an intruder, then learned that ten thousand people were approaching.
• Tang arrived with the Drow and slaves, exposed the Mind Flayers' role in Lightless City's troubles, and rallied the crowd to attack.
• The crowd overwhelmed the Mind Flayers, and a Beastfolk serf struck the Elder Brain with a rake, contaminating its brine pool and killing it.
• Tang stopped the crowd from killing the Mind Flayer and demanded that it accept blame for the Temple incident and hand over its Conch Ship research.
• Tang noticed the Doomsday countdown appeared ten days off, considered the Conch Ship beneath Dragon Gold City a possible path forward, and turned to Ye Ying Kling to discuss what came next.

Tang and Night Shadow planned a new political order for the Drow and asked the Spider Silk Matron Mother to remain as its symbolic ruler. The chapter left her preparing to address the gathered people while Tang considered Night Shadow’s invitation to join them.

• Night Shadow argued that the Spider Silk Matron Mother had been shaped by Drow society and deserved a chance to change, and Tang agreed she might be more useful alive than dead.
• Night Shadow proposed keeping the Spider Silk Matron Mother as nominal ruler while Matron Mothers shared political authority, and Tang compared the plan to a constitutional monarchy.
• Night Shadow said she would try to change the beliefs Lolth had left behind and seek the people’s support, while asking Tang to lend his influence until she secured her position.
• Night Shadow invited Tang to join their effort, and the Spider Silk Matron Mother realized the conversation was turning intimate.
• Tang and Ye Ying Kling stood beside the Spider Silk Matron Mother as she addressed the crowd in Spider Plaza.