Chapter Summaries

Be'lakor prepared to challenge Aaron over control of the Abyss, while Lolth's silence and House Baenre's decline destabilized the Underdark. Aaron armed the enslaved duergar prince Enrique Steelshadow and set him on a revolt, leaving the Underdark on the brink of a major uprising.

• Be'lakor concluded that Aaron had not truly ascended to godhood and sought allies to drive Lolth out and claim her portfolio.
• House Baenre lost its grip on Menzoberranzan as Lolth continued to withhold divine magic, deepening unrest among the Drow and their slaves.
• At Ched's smelting works, the Drow overseer whipped Enrique Steelshadow, and an unknown voice urged the duergar prince to choose freedom.
• Aaron's orbital strike killed the Drow guards, and supply drops equipped Enrique and over a hundred duergar slaves with weapons and gear.
• Enrique accepted Aaron's offer, and Aaron named the newly armed duergar rebels the Chaos Dwarfs as the uprising began in December 1368.

Nastya embraced the dangerous promise of upheaval as Enrique Steelshadow led a Duergar rebellion against House Miri in Ched. After the Duergar army breached the castle and a mysterious weapon killed the archmage Faerun, Enrique’s soldiers turned from Laduguer and resolved to become Chaos Dwarfs.

• Nastya weighed her fear and excitement at the chance to help free her world from Lolth.
• At the end of 1368 Dalereckoning, House Miri’s control of Ched weakened after Lolth’s divine magic vanished and Enrique Steelshadow raised a Duergar rebellion.
• Enrique led more than fifteen hundred newly armed Duergar against the Drow castle, using crossbows, firelocks, grenades, and a magical explosive to break through its defenses.
• When the Duergar’s advance faltered, Faerun, Gromph Baenre’s Legendary-rank apprentice, joined the battle, but a guided torrent of molten material killed him and swept through Drow soldiers.
• The Duergar cheered Faerun’s death and resolved to abandon Laduguer and become Chaos Dwarfs.

Aaron used divine support and rebellion to help the duergar and their allies capture two drow cities, while Grudge collected the souls of hundreds of drow priestesses. He then arrived in Gracklstugh with Nastya and Viconia to recruit the red dragon smith Shybochard and expand the campaign against Lolth.

• Aaron empowered Prince Enrique's duergar, while Aegir persuaded House Miri's kobolds to rebel and join the assault on Ched City.
• Prince Enrique's troops broke through the drow defenses after the giant and ogre slaves changed sides, and Matron Mother Miri summoned Grudge, who took the souls of more than three hundred drow clergy in exchange for aid.
• Enrique declared the Chaos Dwarfs' allegiance to Aaron and called on duergar slaves across the Underdark to unite, then led the growing rebellion to conquer Tiddar.
• Aaron, Nastya, and Viconia arrived in Gracklstugh to seek the help of Shybochard, a red dragon smith whom the duergar planned to kill and replace.

Aaron secured Shybochard’s support for a coalition attack on Menzoberranzan as factions across the Underdark mobilized against Lolth’s absent rule. He met Eilistraee and urged her to delay entering the Weave Pits, revealing that he feared losing her, Nastya, or himself in a direct confrontation with Lolth.

• Aaron noticed that duergar in Gracklstugh were behaving strangely, then met the red dragon smith Shybochard with Nastya, Viconia, and Aegir.
• Shybochard agreed to contact the deep dragon lords and help attack Menzoberranzan after Aaron promised prosperity for him and his allies.
• Laduguer and Diinkarazan issued decrees urging their followers to join the resistance, while factions throughout the Underdark began pursuing their own gains.
• Aaron met Eilistraee in an abandoned deep gnome city and warned her that Lolth might still be gathering power.
• Aaron urged Eilistraee to wait before entering the Weave Pits, explaining that he wanted her and Nastya to survive; Eilistraee asked whether he was worried about her.

Aaron and Eilistraee agreed to fight Lolth together, while Eilistraee mistook Aaron’s strategic commitment for romantic devotion. Halisstra brought Eilistraee’s followers to the surface and discovered that Cormyr had gathered a vast army to support them against Menzoberranzan.

• Aaron told Eilistraee that he trusted only her and explained why they would risk their true bodies to attack Lolth, and Eilistraee agreed to fight beside him.
• Aaron ordered Eilistraee to gather her followers and Halisstra so they could surround Menzoberranzan with a hundred thousand troops.
• Halisstra doubted that Eilistraee’s small group of followers could challenge Menzoberranzan and questioned why she had turned from Lolth.
• Vanessa led Halisstra and the Drow refugees to the surface, where Halisstra struggled to adjust to the daylight.
• Halisstra saw Alusair, Cormyr’s assembled army, and its allied forces, then became convinced that Lolth would be defeated.

Gromph Baenre confronted Triel Baenre about the crises engulfing Menzoberranzan, while Alusair led an immense allied army into the Underdark to besiege the city. Aaron’s forces captured a young Baenre paladin, who recognized him as the Whip of Lolth.

• Gromph Baenre entered Triel Baenre’s chamber and warned her that duergar forces, surface armies, and other enemies threatened Menzoberranzan.
• Triel Baenre agreed to convene the Ruling Council and muster the city’s armies, insisting that Lolth had everything under control.
• Alusair arrived outside Menzoberranzan with an allied force exceeding one hundred thousand, and Aegir announced Aaron’s promise of three days of plunder after the city fell.
• Nastya recognized a captured young House Baenre paladin as a Lolth-sworn paladin of vengeance and threatened to send her to Enrique.
• Aaron arrived, and the captive paladin recognized him as the Whip of Lolth.

Aaron captured Minthara Baenre and used a false vision of Lolth to make her reveal Menzoberranzan’s fears and agree to submit. The siege began on January 18, 1369, but the city’s defenses held; as enemy armies surrounded it, Aaron prepared to unleash a transformed statue of Eilistraee against the city.

• Nastya identified Minthara Baenre as a young paladin with a connection to Lolth, and Aaron entered her mind and impersonated the Spider Queen.
• Aaron’s false Lolth restored Minthara’s paladin powers, ordered her to disclose Menzoberranzan’s situation and feign surrender, and Minthara agreed.
• Enrique Zharr’s siege towers were destroyed, but his Infernal Guard and Alusair’s Purple Dragons annihilated the drow spider knights.
• Triel Baenre and Gromph Baenre learned that deep gnomes, orks, giants, dwarves, derro, and mind flayers were approaching or attacking around Menzoberranzan.
• Alusair warned Aaron that a prolonged siege would cost too many Cormyrean lives, and Aaron revealed that the attacks were a cover for his plan involving a giant statue of Eilistraee and Lolth.

Aaron used a colossal, magically empowered Eilistraee statue to break Menzoberranzan’s defenses after three days of siege. With the defenders routed and the moat crossed, the allied army charged into the city and captured it.

• Aaron studied Menzoberranzan’s formidable defenses as the allied army’s siege stalled and its chaotic evil troops began to doubt him.
• Aaron prepared four Chaos rituals using Drow heads and summoned the Four Chaos Gods’ power into Eilistraee’s statue.
• A hundred-meter Eilistraee colossus appeared before the city, swept the walls with laser beams, and killed hundreds of defenders.
• The colossus’s Nurgle’s Breath devastated the Drow defenders, and Aaron ordered the allied army to advance.
• A Rainbow Bridge crossed the moat, allowing the Chaos Dwarfs and Cormyr’s forces to storm Menzoberranzan, which fell after three days.

Aaron’s forces overwhelmed Menzoberranzan and captured much of the city as Lolth remained silent and the Drow defenses collapsed. Gromph Baenre opened a rift to the Abyss, bringing Be’lakor, Malkizid, and Graz’zt into the battle, where Be’lakor claimed he had become a god.

• The Chaos Dwarfs charged into Menzoberranzan, and their assault drove the Drow matrons to withdraw their troops from the walls.
• Aaron led Cormyr’s army across the Rainbow Bridge as Selvetarm chose not to intervene and other besieging factions breached the city’s defenses.
• Laduguer, Diinkarazan, Gruumsh, and the Mind Flayers used their powers and forces to enter Menzoberranzan, sealing the city’s defeat.
• Aaron’s army attacked House Baenre while the Eilistraee Colossus and his forces destroyed its Driders and black widow spider guardians.
• The male Drow abandoned the defense and fled through secret tunnels, while Gromph Baenre realized the city was lost.
• Gromph cast Transplanar Dimensional Link, opening a rift from the Abyss through which Be’lakor, Malkizid, and Six-Fingers Graz’zt emerged; Be’lakor declared that he had ascended to godhood.

Aaron withdrew from Lolth’s main temple and let Malkizid open Lolth’s Hoard, where the seal transported him into Eilistraee’s divine realm. Eilistraee and Aaron killed Malkizid, and Eilistraee asked Aaron to stay with her as she continued her campaign.

• Be'lakor, Malkizid, and Graz'zt arrived above Menzoberranzan with an expanding army of demons and Yugoloths.
• Aaron ordered Alusair and Nastya to retreat from Lolth’s main temple, predicting that someone would open its sealed hoard.
• Malkizid deciphered Lolth’s seal and entered the hoard, triggering a trap that transported him to Eilistraee’s moonlit divine realm.
• Grudge attacked Malkizid with Waukeen’s divine magic, but he dispelled her next assault before Eilistraee struck him with Drach'nyen’s power.
• Eilistraee revealed that she had absorbed Vhaeraun and risen to intermediate deity rank, while Malkizid prepared to attack her.
• Drach'nyen seized and devoured Malkizid’s head, and Eilistraee asked Aaron to stay with her to the end.

Aaron killed Malkizid, divided his divine power among himself, Eilistraee, and Grudge, and used an illusion to keep the other deities from discovering the death. As the armies looted and evacuated Menzoberranzan, Lolth finally appeared and began drawing the invaders into her ascension ritual.

• Aaron, Eilistraee, and Grudge killed Malkizid, and Aaron distributed his divine domains among himself, Eilistraee, and Grudge.
• Aaron used Malkizid's memories to learn that his Yugoloth army was the main force behind the attack, then ordered Grudge to seize the Blood Rift and Eilistraee to prepare to strike the Abyss.
• Aaron ordered Alice and Alusair to evacuate the Cormyrian troops and Chaos Dwarfs, who plundered House Baenre's hoard as other factions rushed to seize treasure.
• Lolth remained silent while the invading forces looted Menzoberranzan, and the gods descended in their true forms to surround her hoard.
• Lolth appeared, declared that the invaders would become fertilizer for her ascension ritual, and unleashed violet light from beneath Menzoberranzan.

Lolth returned to Menzoberranzan, trapped the invaders, and dragged the city into the Abyss. Aaron and Eilistraee survived the fall into the Demonweb Pits, where Aaron summoned Greater Daemons and their legions to face Lolth.

• Lolth appeared during the siege, causing Gruumsh and the armies outside Menzoberranzan to retreat while she sealed the city in a vast web.
• Lolth activated the divine power she had planted beneath Menzoberranzan, destroying the Eilistraee Colossus and triggering the city's collapse into the Abyss.
• Alusair reassured the Cormyrians that Aaron had planned for the disaster, while Big Dragon Aegir rallied them to follow into the Abyss.
• Aaron and Eilistraee emerged from Menzoberranzan's ruins in the Demonweb Pits, and Eilistraee realized her mother had been pretending to be absent.
• Aaron called on divine favor and summoned four Greater Daemons and their Chaos Daemon legions as reinforcements against Lolth.

The Chaos Gods’ armies invaded the Weave Pits while Aaron sought the Chosen needed to reach Lolth’s sanctuary. Be’lakor was trapped between Lolth and Demogorgon, and as the Chaos Gods urged Aaron to intensify the assault, he began a ritual of his own.

• Skarbrand, Carlos, Ku’gath, and N’Kari led their daemon legions in an assault on the Weave Pits as Eilistraee watched and then went to find Halisstra with Aaron.
• Aaron searched for Nastya and planned to gather the Chosen, whose presence was needed to open Lolth’s sanctuary in the Astral Plane.
• Lolth unleashed Demogorgon against Be’lakor, who tried to surrender before fleeing and insulting her.
• Khorne gave Be’lakor the Axe of Judgment, but Lolth expelled Khorne’s power and struck Be’lakor with a venomous stinger, forcing him to flee Demogorgon again.
• Aaron recognized that the chaos of the invasion also aided Lolth’s ascension ritual, then began chanting as symbols of the Chaos Gods’ power appeared within him.

Aaron traveled through a chaos portal to a Drow estate, where Nastya had discovered a massacre that brought back painful memories of her past. Drizzt and Aaron comforted her, and she ended the chapter realizing why Lolth chose a Yor'thae.

• Aaron used a chaos ritual to open a portal and traveled to a Drow estate while ordering Skarbrand and the other Greater Daemons to keep attacking Lolth's strongholds.
• Aaron found the estate's residents slaughtered and Nastya standing among the bodies, shaken by what she had seen.
• Nastya accused herself and Aaron of repeating Lolth's cruelty through their own sacrifices and bloodshed.
• Drizzt recounted how Lolth had tormented his family and urged Nastya to make amends rather than remain trapped by her past.
• Aaron and Drizzt reassured Nastya that the Drow could choose a new future, and Nastya recovered enough to thank Aaron.
• Nastya told Aaron she understood the logic behind Lolth's choice of Yor'thae.

Lolth’s multiversal summons for her Chosen shook elves and gods across Realmspace, while Aaron urged Corellon and others to join the war against her. As the Abyssal Crusade’s invasion began, six Chosen emerged, including Aaron’s half-elven daughter Eleanor Salian.

• Nastya explained that Lolth’s Chosen had to have experienced betrayal or a crisis of faith, and she destroyed the manor after speaking with Aaron and Drizzt.
• Lolth’s summons of “Yor’thae” spread from the Weave Pits across the multiverse, terrifying elves and provoking Corellon.
• Aaron threatened Corellon with war unless the elves took a stand, and Corellon agreed to join the fight and send Barrel Moonflower with the Evermeet Swan Legion.
• Aaron broadcast a recruitment appeal across Realmspace as surface armies began landing in the Weave Pits.
• Lolth’s intensified summons revealed six Chosen: Quenthel Baenre, Nastya Baenre, Halisstra Moran, Danifae, Minthara, and Eleanor Salian, leaving Aaron shocked that Eleanor was among them.

Aaron prepared to seize Lolth’s [Chaos] portfolio by sharing the Four Gods’ authority with chosen demigods, while the Chosen and their armies gathered for the battle against Lolth. Halisstra committed herself to Eilistraee’s cause, Lolth’s call rallied the drow, and Eleanor arrived with the sword tied to her dream.

• Aaron learned that Eleanor and the Silver Hand Legion had arrived as Abyssal Troopers, then ordered Samir and Morgan to execute the Crimson Protocol and contacted Bael.
• Aaron explained that Lolth’s sanctuary lay in the Phlogiston Sea, where everyone’s power would be compressed and the Divine Realm could be detonated, and agreed that the Chosen had to face her trial.
• Eilistraee blessed Halisstra through a dance and urged her to help end Lolth’s tyranny so the drow could return to the surface.
• Danifae rejected her doubts and pleaded for Lolth’s forgiveness, while Graz’zt offered to help her.
• Lolth’s call rallied the drow, and Quenthel appointed Triel and Gromph to escort her to Lolth’s sanctuary.
• Eleanor arrived despite Aaron’s wishes, carrying the celestial-steel sword connected to her dream, and announced herself to Aaron.

The Chaos Gods decided to use Be'lakor to kill Lolth’s six Chosen and then Lolth, while Aaron and the other Chosen prepared to enter her sanctuary. Minthara was left without attendants as the group approached Lolth’s ascension ritual.

• Minthara froze at Lolth’s call but obeyed and advanced toward the Spider Queen’s sanctuary.
• Aykafra led Lolth’s forces as they held the Chaos army in a fierce battle across the Weave Pits.
• The Chaos Gods gathered and agreed to welcome Lolth as the Queen of Chaos so they could pursue their ambitions through her.
• The Chaos Gods ordered Be'lakor to kill Nastya, Eleanor, Minthara, Quenthel, Halisstra, Danifae, and finally Lolth, and he agreed while plotting against them.
• Aaron and the other Chosen selected their attendants for the sanctuary, but Minthara had none.

Aaron, Drizzt, and Nastya entered Madeleine City to reach Lolth’s sanctuary, but a Drow ambush and the arrival of Undead King Orcus interrupted their approach. The chapter left them facing Orcus as he appeared in the city.

• Minthara struggled to find reinforcements until Barrel Moonflower and a half-orc offered to help her.
• Aaron briefed Eleanor, Charlotte, and Alusair on the dangers inside Lolth’s sanctuary and confirmed that their allies were preparing to act.
• Aaron, Drizzt, and Nastya traveled to Madeleine City, where Nastya explained how Lolth had drawn the city into the Abyss and kept Maralas asleep.
• Demon-touched Drow ambushed the trio, and Aaron used a Thorn Wall to shield them before striking back with a molten-gold storm.
• A scarlet pillar rose inside Madeleine City, and Undead King Orcus appeared before Aaron and his companions.

Aaron fought Undead King Orcus in Madeleine City while Drizzt and Nastya faced Demogorgon and Graz'zt on their way to Lolth's Refuge. As Lolth prepared her ascension ritual, she discovered a powerful intruder in her refuge: a black-armored giant arguing with Magnus.

• Undead King Orcus attacked Aaron with his undead army and Balors, while Drizzt and Nastya continued toward the teleportation point.
• Aaron destroyed Orcus's undead forces and Balors with powerful spells, then fought Orcus directly as a Great Unclean One.
• Drizzt stayed behind to confront Demogorgon after the Abyss and Lolth's favor strengthened him, while Nastya went ahead.
• Nastya encountered Graz'zt near the teleportation point and accepted his challenge to a duel.
• Lolth discovered a powerful black-armored intruder in her refuge, who furiously argued with Magnus about bearing the burden of the Daemon Worlds and the title of Chaos Warmaster.

Abaddon was teleported into Lolth’s sanctuary and slaughtered its spiders, disrupting her planned ascension ritual. As her Chosen battled Orcus, Demogorgon, and Graz’zt’s foes, Lolth realized Tzeentch’s spell had changed her selection rules and drawn unwanted entrants into her sanctuary.

• After his defeat and the Chaos Gods’ demand for a Penitent Crusade, Abaddon was teleported by Magnus into a strange world filled with spiders.
• Abaddon and his chosen Chaos Marines attacked a fortress, fought through its spider defenders, and killed enormous numbers of them.
• Orcus and Great Unclean One Aaron exchanged devastating attacks, while Drizzt fought Demogorgon and Nastya ambushed Graz’zt.
• Aaron’s Oracle of Change spell altered Lolth’s requirements for her Chosen, allowing many kinds of beings to qualify.
• Abaddon and other unexpected entrants appeared in Lolth’s sanctuary, derailing her plan to ascend, and Lolth was left dumbfounded.