Condemnation is a fantasy novel by Richard Baker

Richard Baker (game designer)

Richard Baker is an American author and a game designer who has worked on many Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings.-Early life, education, and military:...

, set in the Forgotten Realms

Forgotten Realms

The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...

 setting, based on the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

. It is the third book of the War of the Spider Queen

War of the Spider Queen

War of the Spider Queen is a New York Times best-selling series of novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe published by Wizards of the Coast. The series contains six books focused on the drow and their principal deity Lolth. Each of the six novels in the series is written by a different author...

 hexad.

Plot summary

This is the third book in the War of the Spider Queen series. After emerging from the portal that they used to escape the city of Ched Nasad, the drow party plans its next phase of the mission. They decide to consult a priest of Vhaerun to see if any of the other deities know what has become of Lloth. Valas Hune knows where such a priest can be found and believes that this priest may help them in their quest.

Valas' friend is far away, however, and the last thing that the party wants is to travel a huge distance to get to them, so on Pharaun Mizzrym's advice they decide to shadow walk to get there. The journey has some minor battles but nothing this group can't handle. They end up back in the Underdark after their journey and in the Domain of the duergar

Duergar (Dungeons & Dragons)

In Dungeons & Dragons fantasy, the duergar, or gray dwarves are a cruel and evil subrace of dwarves.-Publication history:The duergar are named after the dvergar of Norse mythology, who were the builders of Gleipnir...

. It becomes evident that to get where they are going, they must travel through the home city of the duergar and will need passports to get through unharmed. The group rests for days in the city while they search for means to obtain these documents.

Meanwhile in Menzoberranzan

Menzoberranzan

Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders, is a fictional city-state in the world of the Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. It is located in the Upper Northdark, about two miles below the Surbrin Vale, between the Moonwood and the Frost Hills...

, Gromph Baenre learns of an impending duergar invasion, and rushes to alert the ruling council until the lichdrow Lord Dyrr stops him. A duel is fought in Gromph's own sanctuary, but the lich prevails and imprisons Gromph in a glass sphere.

Eventually, Matron Triel Baenre does learn of the impending duergar attack (Nimor Imphraezl posing as a drow commander from House Agrach Dyrr informs them), and the decision is made to send Menzoberranzan's army to the Pillars of Woe to destroy the duergar. Nimor's trap is thus set.

The Army of the Black Spider is almost utterly destroyed in the ensuing encounter (and would have been if it were not for the ferocity of House Baenre

House Baenre

House Baenre is a fictional clan of drow in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, created by R. A. Salvatore.A family born to the drow race the Baenre family is the family which has reigned in the fictional Underdark city of Menzoberranzan for over 2000 years...

 troops). The army limps back to Menzoberranzan, leaving a token force behind to slow the duergar.

Quenthel Baenre's drow party eventually escapes the duergar city and makes it to Valas' contact (Halisstra Melarn is captured by surface elves during this journey). They are told by Valas' priest friend to journey to Myth Drannor

Myth Drannor

Myth Drannor, formerly known as Cormanthor, the City of Song, is a fictional elven city in the Forgotten Realms world. It is located in the area called Cormanthyr.-Fictional history:...

 and acquire a magical item. After an intense battle with devils and a beholder, the group finally returns.

The last part of the book entails the party's journey to the Abyss

Abyss (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Abyss or more fully, the Infinite Layers of the Abyss, is a chaotic evil-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of alignment-based Outer Planes that form part of the standard Dungeons & Dragons cosmology, used in the Planescape...

 (in astral form, not physical) to inspect for themselves what has happened to Lloth. They come to a great barrier to Lloth's domain in the shape of a huge visage of a female face. They are powerless to get through the barrier and are about to give up when the god Vhaerun materilizes and strikes the visage with his godly power. He is about to break through when the god Selvetarm (Lloth's guardian) materializes and fights him. The drow party realizes that the power of the gods is too much for them and must kill the priest of Vhaeraun to escape the Abyss. They flee the stronghold of the priest stunned and shaken.