Exiled from her home for acquiring the Windwalker amulet, the beautiful dark elf Liriel Baenre wanders to the surface world, accompanied by her companion Fyodor. But even far from the dark haunts of Menzoberranzan, she is not safe from the vengeance of her arch-enemy, fellow drow elf Shakti Hunzrin. As she and her friend sail the dangerous seas of the Sword Coast, the drow priestess plots a terrible fate for them. Meanwhile, in the dark depths of the earth, the spider queen Lolth weaves her own webs of terror and treachery . . .