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“Lolth was within every reasoning being, that dark and selfish side of the mind. A disease, an infection, most often suppressed to a great degree. But not when Lolth got these beings under her thrall. Then the malignancy did grow, and the dark thoughts emerged. Even as he considered that, Kimmurriel better understood why Lolth had tried for the hive mind multiple times-and was probably still trying to infect the illithids now.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Relentless

“Lolth holds the motivations of an infection, a disease, not a goddess. She does not guide. Rather, she afflicts. She yearns to find that within each of us that is chaos and unleash it, and she will take whatever path she sees most clearly to inflict her glorious catastrophes.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Relentless

“Weirdly, Callidae had freed him of his fear that because he was drow, there was perhaps something wrong about him, something within him that even he could not truly trust. Callidae had shown him that Drizzt was not a fraud, and was not unique among the drow people—theories that both the controlling drow matrons and the prejudiced non-drow constantly advanced. It was Lolth, not the drow.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Glacier's Edge

“We do not know Lolth’s feelings for Drizzt Do’Urden,â€� Eskavine said. “Ever has she been coy about that particularly minor player in her grand game.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Relentless

“You ask us to surrender the poison House Baenre has held for millennia? To give up all that our Matron Mother Yvonne the Eternal spent centuries building?â€�

“Give it up or have it taken from us, with no chance of future recourse,� Sos’Umptu calmly replied.

Matron Zeerith sucked in her breath audibly, her old lips flapping in a great harrumph. Her own fate was at stake here, surely, as Zhindia Merlarn positively hated her and had long accused her of heresy because of her elevation of men in her family.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Relentless

“Kimmuriel informed them that to the illithids, Lolth was not a goddess at all. She was a manifestation of malevolence, an infection. Lolth was a bitter bit of a reasoning being promoting pride and envy, greed and power, but nothing more. She was a whispered internal lie coaxing the speaker and listener, one and the same, into a deepening gloom.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Relentless

“The truth is, you don’t know Menzoberranzan. Not even you, Jarlaxle, who has spent your life trying to figure it out. You cannot understand the hope that brought us to the great cavern those millennia removed. Yes, hope. It was not anger that brought us there, nor fear. It was hope. We fled a world of tyrant queens and insane kings, a place of unending war and injustice. We found a sanctuary, a deep cave, full of Faezress magic—though we did not understand that at the time—and easily defended. A sanctuary, I say, and indeed that is what the word ‘Menzoberranzanâ€� then meant in the ancient tongue of the drow. “A hundred families,â€� she continued. “Ten thousand dark elves. And each had a say in their family, and each family had a voice in the Plenum, and the largest families spoke those concerns in the Conclave, which you now—and only—know as the Ruling Council. We were not rulers then as much as servants, heeding the words of all the drow. And it was Lady Lolth that led us there, before she was called the Spider Queen.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Relentless

“Ah, yes, true that,â€� Jarlaxle agreed, feigning defeat. “It escaped me that you are without the strong sense of irony to go that delicious route.â€� Jarlaxle turned to the others. “So we have it, then,â€� he declared. “It was the illithids, a grand and brilliant plan! Or it was Lolth herself, ever making chaos for her enjoyment. Or it was one of her great rivals, then—perhaps Demogorgon!—blowing up the whole damned Lolthian world on Faerun.â€� “Or it was nothing at all beyond the epiphany of two women in position to make a difference,â€� Entreri said dryly. He sighed and shook his head, then looked up at Wulfgar, who stood beside him. “You see, my friend?â€� he asked with sarcasm exceeding that of the others. “This is why we can’t have good things, good thoughts, simple joy, or hope.â€� Jarlaxle laughed loudly at that, amused. But there really was a nagging doubt here, about all of it. The most important lesson he had learned in his desperate struggle to survive in Menzoberranzan was that nothing—nothing!—was as it seemed. Not ever. But how he wanted to believe that this time would be different.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Relentless

“Jarlaxle considered that for a while, a smile growing as he heard in his mind the shaky voice of an old elf describing a city of drow. Not Menzoberranzan, not Chad Nasad, not in the Underdark at all. And one not devoted to the Demon Queen of Spiders.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Starlight Enclave

“Jarlaxle shrugged. “I come from Menzoberranzan. I know the influences an overpowering demon—or demonic bent of a magical item—can hold over people. Over otherwise good people. It is the story of my city, after all, of my kin.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Starlight Enclave

“Drizzt chuckled, but felt a pang within that honest laughter. This was the childhood he had never experienced, the carefree creation of giggles that too few got to enjoy. He wished he had played this game with Zaknafein, though he couldn’t even imagine the possibility of any such playfulness with his mother, Malice. Such a waste of life itself, he thought, given what he knew now, what Kimmuriel had helped the priestess Yvonnel and Matron Mother Quenthel Baenre reveal of the hopeful beginnings of Menzoberranzan before it had descended into its current, joyless reality. Before the way of Lolth, where the tension and excitement of chaos swirled away the pleasures of simplicity and love.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Starlight Enclave

“Dear sister, it is not hard to convince a mortal to believe that which she wants so badly to believe,â€� Eskavidne explained. “It is not hard to suggest deeper reason for mere coincidence, or to create patterns in events unrelated. These mortals yearn for a deeper truth—a hint of such a thing holds a powerful allure. And they seek an orderly multiverse about them, fanatically seeking patterns when none exist, and praying, ever praying, for a controlling figure to parent them.â€� “And so now Kyrnill Kenafin knows what she knows, and anyone trying to convince her otherwise will be met with a wall of doubt,â€� Yiccardaria reasoned. “And anger,â€� said Eskavidne. “Great anger. Violent anger.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Glacier's Edge

“Protect none,â€� the godlike Spider Queen finished. “You have rolled the stones from the mountaintop. Enjoy their paths of destruction.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“Worshipping Lolth in Menzoberranzan isn’t a matter of faith—hardly! It’s not even obeisance, or any expression of deserved respect or gratitude or any such thing. No, it is blind obedience, a subjugation of one’s own will stemming from either a hunger for power—such as with many of the ruling matrons—or simple, logical terror for almost everyone else”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“I do not know how high the ladder of evil deeds such truth climbs, honestly. I have seen wicked dictators of every species and culture to match the vileness of the most zealous Lolthian priestess. I have witnessed truly evil people, from dwarfs to halflings to humans to elves to drow, and everything in between and every species or culture only a bit removed. So perhaps there are some individuals who have within them a natural evil. Or perhaps even with them, even with the most wicked, like Matron Zhindia Melarn or the magistrates of Luskan’s carnival, who torture accused criminals with such glee, there were steps in the earlier days of their personal journey which corrupted them and brought them to their present state. That is a question that I doubt will ever show an answer, nor is that answer truly the most important factor, for in the present, in the moment, in their own actions, these folk, as with us all, bear responsibility.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“One snarled at him and lifted a four-headed scourge of living, hissing snakes his way. A second crossed the hands of her outstretched arms before her in the spider symbol, thumbs as pedipalps, eight fingers as legs—a typical casting pose for a Lolthian priestess—while the third dropped a globe of darkness over the group.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“And there, too?â€� Catti-brie asked, indicating a lower point, a shelf not much higher than the floor of the rift, where a cluster of giant stalagmites lay at a strange angle, some broken, some still showing their full tips, and one even hinting at the glow of faerie fire. “That is what remains of House Oblodra,â€� Gromph told her. “Thrown in here by Matron Mother Baenre in the Time of Troubles nearly two centuries ago. They sought to use the silence of Lolth to their advantage with their psionic powers. Lolth didn’t like it.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“And the shadows went away, revealing Sos’Umptu as a drider! But she kept growing, and no, she was not a drider, for she was beautiful, not bloated in abomination. Too beautiful to look upon. Beautiful and terrible all at once, and huge, dwarfing the driders about her, bigger even than the jade spider constructs that had come in from the entry. And Yvonnel understood and knew she was doomed. “Behold!â€� the creature that had been Sos’Umptu demanded. “I am the avatar of Lolth. Kneel to me. Beg for my mercy.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“I do not make mistakes.â€�

“Your minions will die by the thousands here in this war.�

The giant being shrugged. “Mortals die. It is what they do. And how they die is my pleasure and my power.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“Lady Lolth,â€� the avatar corrected. “The Demon Queen of Spiders. Queen of the Demonweb Pits, the Mother of Lusts. You have heard all of these?â€� Yvonnel didn’t respond. “And the truest,â€� the avatar continued, “the Weaver of Chaos. I do so enjoy the unpredictability of the world. To roll the stones down the uneven mountain and watch their bounces and deflections.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“Yvonnel shook her head, not sure if this creature before her was diabolical or rational at that moment.

“It did not matter,� the avatar said to her. “Do you not understand? Your actions? The ‘truths� you learned? They did not matter.�

“Then what does matter?�

“My pleasure. My chaos. My power. Me. Just me.�

“Then what future?�

“Who cares?� The avatar laughed at her, and it was sincere, she knew.

“You care enough to bless the matrons,� she said.

“Do I?�

“You care enough to start wars—in the Silver Marches, in Gauntlgrym, in your own City of Spiders!�

“The ultimate chaos. War.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“She laughed even louder and that answer told Yvonnel the truth. Lolth wasn’t angry with her. Anger would imply that Lolth cared

. “What am I to do with you?� the avatar said.

“You will never have me, foul beast.�

“I already have you.�

“You will never have my heart.�

“But I will have fun nonetheless.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“I do not lie. You know that I do not. You may find wealth in one of these cards. You might find items of great magic. You might find allies of great power, or enemies beyond you. You might find curses or blessings, your greatest wishes, your greatest fears.â€�

“What games do you play?�

“I’m not playing this game—you are.�

“What is the game, though?�

“One that entertains me.�

“F¾±±ð²Ô»å.&°ù»å±ç³Ü´Ç;
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“A beautiful drow woman. Too beautiful. Painfully beautiful. It was not an emissary of Lolth, she knew. No, no. It was the image of Lolth herself, reaching out to her from the Abyss. Sos’Umptu fell to her knees, as did every other drow in the Fane of the Goddess.

“Many of my handmaidens have come to Menzoberranzan, my city,� Lolth said. Sos’Umptu wanted to look upon her, but dared not lift her gaze.

“They brought me here, to you, in full confidence that you would be an acceptable and accepting host.�

“I pray you found me acceptable.�

“Indeed, Sos’Umptu Baenre. Indeed. Rise now, I command. Look upon me. Let me see the love in your eyes.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“Tsabrak scoffed at her. “How long have you lived here? Freedom? You are free to do the best you can, based on your loyalty to Lolth and your inner strengths. On your physical, magical, and intellectual prowess. And, of course, your gender. That you, a noble priestess of a powerful house, daughter to one of the ruling matrons of Menzoberranzan, should—â€�

“Suppose that is not what I want?â€� Saribel interrupted. “Perhaps my heart does not condone that which I see all about me.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“It is hardly just the matrons and their priestesses, though. As this has sorted, there seem many more against our revolution than for it.â€�

“For many reasons, though,� Zak reminded.

“Fear of their matrons and of Lolth, of course. Or simply fear of this unknown future the Baenres have offered. They know the way it’s been, for the entirety their lives, even for those whose lives have spanned centuries. They know their place within that truth. They know the boundaries, the lines not to cross, the acts that give them gain and those that offer only pain. What do they know of this promised world beyond Lolth, particularly when it, too, from their perspective at least, will be under the designs of House Baenre?”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior

“You came here thinking of this as a war against Lolth and all that she stood for,â€� Zak offered. “Perhaps we think of it instead as a rescue mission to get those who would abandon Lolth out of this prison she has built within this cavern.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Lolth's Warrior