Line #70 Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spiderqueen_six.png]]
2	''War of the Spider Queen'' is a six-book series written by several authors and overseen by Creator/RASalvatore. It takes place in the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms.
3
4	The series follows the adventures of a group of [[OurElvesAreDifferent Drow]] as they search for the reason that Lloth, their goddess, has fallen silent. Their quest will take them around the world, and under it. Meanwhile, back at Menzoberranzan, the status quo has been upset.
5
6	''The books and authors are as follows:''
7	* ''Dissolution'' - Richard L. Byers
8	* ''Insurrection'' - Thomas M. Reid
9	* ''Condemnation'' - Richard Baker
10	* ''Extinction'' - Lisa Smedman
11	* ''Annihilation'' - Philip Athans
12	* ''Resurrection'' - Paul S. Kemp
13
14	There is a [[Characters/WarOfTheSpiderQueen character sheet]].
15
16	!! ''War of the Spider Queen'' contains the following tropes:
17	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: ''Splitter'' and Gromph's magical vorpal blade.
18	* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: [[spoiler: Danifae]] had this in [[spoiler: her Reaver-induced hallucination.]]
19	* AffablyEvil: Pharaun and Aliisza among others.
20	* AlasPoorVillain: Ryld's death, as he pretty much gave everything up for a women he barely knew and was unsure actually cared about him. Halisstara's fate as well given the huge crisis of faith she ends up having.
21	* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Gracklstugh and the Scoured Legion attacked Menzoberranzan thanks to [[spoiler: Nimor's]] influence.
22	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Being Drow, naturally the whole cast. Also see: ChronicBackstabbingDisorder
23	%%* AndShowItToYou: Jeggred to [[spoiler: Ryld]].
24	* AnyoneCanDie: Six companions set out from Menzoberranzan, picking up two along the way. Guess how many survive?
25	%%* BadassBookworm: Pharaun and Gromph.
26	%%* BarBrawl: Ryld seems to have an affinity for them.
27	* BreakTheHaughty: Quenthel in ''Insurrection''. She got better, however.
28	* BrotherSisterIncest: Greyanna thought this was occurring between Pharaun and her twin sister. She later offers herself to Pharaun in exchange for his loyalty only to have him laugh in her face.
29	* ButThouMust: Invoked. Sure, Ryld and Pharaun, feel free to decline the mission given to you by the priestess of Lolth. She will then feel free to play her favorite game with you: torture you in various and creative and most of all ''skillful'' ways until you die. Then, get resurrected and get to do it all over again. Repeat until the priestess is bored. Was it mentioned that this priestess will most likely be a relative of yours?
30	* CarnivalOfKillers: Gromph sending various demons after Quenthel.
31	%% * CantArgueWithElves: Drow are full of themselves.
32	* ChekhovsGun: Gromph uses the light crystal he took from Sluuguth to dispatch Nimor.
33	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: It's a story about Drow in the Forgotten Realms, this trope was a foregone conclusion. The main characters of the series spend more time trying to kill each other than they do on their actual mission. Notably, [[spoiler:Valas]] is the only member of the main party who does ''not'' betray someone else in the party or the party as a whole during the series.
34	* CobwebJungle: Because everything having to do with spiders is sacred to Lolth, it's actually a crime to destroy a spider web in Menzoberranzan.
35	%%* ColdBloodedTorture: Done to Faeryl.
36	* ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind: Subverted in the [[spoiler: three-way deathmatch between Quenthel, Danifae, and Halisstra. Halisstra hit Danifae with one just as the latter was about to kill Quenthel. It didn't take, unfortunately.]]
37	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Pharaun
38	* DogPileOfDoom: While on the Ship of Chaos, lots and lots of rats swarmed Jeggred to try to take him down. It didn't work.
39	* DoorOfDoom: The door to Lolth's personal domain in the old Demonweb Pits.
40	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Menzoberranzan.
41	* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Danifae.
42	* EyeScream: After Gromph is blinded he has his subordinates take a captive's eyes for a transplant, using a sharpened spoon.
43	* FinalBattle: No less than three of them: [[spoiler: Gromph vs. Dyrr, the entire party vs. the yugoloth army and the MeleeATrois between Quenthel, Danifae, and Halisstra.]]
44	* GreatEscape: Ryld and Pharaun get one in ''Dissolution'' [[spoiler: attempting to escape from the alhoon's cult.]]
45	* HandSignals: The drow have an entire language of these.
46	* HitchhikerHeroes: Halisstra and Danifae. [[spoiler: Of course, since the original party had a hand in making them hitchhikers in the first place, it also ended up being a case of TeethClenchedTeamwork at first.]]
47	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Pharaun uses an illusion spell to trick one of the alhoon's spells into destroying him instead of Pharaun.
48	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: OneWordTitle "-tion" words.
49	* IneffectualDeathThreats: Quenthel constantly makes them to Pharaun throughout the series. [[spoiler: It's eventually averted near the end of ''Resurrection''.]]
50	%%* LovableRogue: Pharaun and Valas
51	* LovableTraitor: Pharaun, to Ryld. His traitor status with the others, notably Quenthel, is much more vitriolic.
52	* MakeRoomForTheNewPlot: Congratulations, Ryld and Pharaun, you helped stop the slave uprising! Now go find out what happened to Lolth.
53	%%* MoreDeadlyThanTheMale
54	* MolotovCocktail: The stonefire bombs. Not only did they act as their real-life counterparts, they literally ''burned through stone''.
55	* NoEndorHolocaust: The aftermath of [[spoiler: the destruction of House Agrach Dyrr]] was never actually seen in story. Noticeably averted, however, during [[spoiler: Dyrr and Gromph's battle in the Marketplace.]]
56	** Well, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday that's life in Menzoberranzan]].
57	* NoHonorAmongThieves: Pharaun barely hesitated before [[spoiler:leaving Ryld for dead]] in ''Dissolution''.
58	* OffhandBackhand: [[spoiler:Vhaeraun]] does one with magic when [[spoiler:Quenthel attacks his priest]].
59	* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Things on the receiving end of one of Pharaun's ''Bigsby's (whatever) Hand'' spells are typically subject to this.
60	%%* RedEyesTakeWarning: ''[[OhCrap Run.]]''
61	%%* ReligionOfEvil
62	* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: A good portion of ''Dissolution''.
63	* RoyalRapier: Pharaun starts off with a pimped-out ''dancing rapier'' that turns into a ring when he doesn't want it around. Helpfully, the [[FlyingWeapon dancing]] part bypasses the fact that he's a scrawny elf wizard.
64	* ShaggyDogStory: The heroes spend over five novels and several months to [[spoiler:find out what happened to Lolth and how to fix it. With probably only about half an hour of marching before they finally find her, she wakes up all by herself and was never in any trouble to begin with.]]
65	** [[spoiler:The entire "crisis" was Lolth's plan to lure drow to her so she could find a suitable Chosen, or Yor'thae. Note the symbolic similarities between the constant rivalry among the drow and Lolth's spiders eating each other until the strongest one emerges.]]
66	** As 5th edition, the Demonweb Pits are back in the Abyss and Lolth has lost some of her power.
67	* ShapedLikeItself: Book 4 has:
68	-->She pressed her lips against his, kissing him.
69	* SiblingRivalry: Quenthel and Gromph spend much of ''Dissolution'' trying to assassinate each other to various levels of failure. It gets to the point where it could be considered a RunningGag.
70	** Greyanna and her sister, and then later Greyanna and Pharaun, all during the first book. This is pretty common among drow, however. Relatives are rivals, not friends.
71	* SnakeWhip: Favored by Quenthel. Heck, favored by all of Lolth's priestesses, due to its [[WhipOfDominance connection to sadism and oppression]]. A whip made of snakes is a status symbol among the clergy, and all know how to use them to full effect.
72	* StatusQuoIsGod: Despite the hype, the only thing that actually changed as a result of this series was Lolth's domain, the Demonweb Pits, moving from a layer of the Abyss to its' own Plane, and even this later got undone in 5th edition.
73	* SwordAndSorcerer: Type 1 with Ryld and Pharaun.
74	* SummonBiggerFish: [[spoiler: Both Quenthel and Danifae summoned bigger fish (namely a klurichir and a giant spider hoarde) against the yugoloth army in ''Resurrection''.]]
75	* TakingOverTheTown: [[spoiler:The Jaezred Chaulssin took over the ruins of Ched Nesad after its destruction. They fully intend to rebuild it, as the beginning of the process was shown at the end of ''Resurrection''.]]
76	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The shift of the Demonweb Pits from being a layer of the Abyss to its own Plane had already been revealed several years before the first novel was published by the 3rd Edition Guide To The Forgotten Realms.
77	* WalkIntoMordor: In order to get to the Planes of Soulfire, you have to walk through the Pass of the Soul Reaver. [[spoiler: And survive a MindRape while you're there.]]

Context Literature / WarOfTheSpiderQueen