She should have known better. The surface-dwellers had a few wonderful expressions for moments like these, and Lolth bitterly rolled each one through her deific mind. The acorn never falls far from the tree. Just a chip off the old stone.
Like father, like son.
Drizzt Do'Urden travelling to the surface for a raid against a tribe of moon elves should have been a triumphant occassion, and Lolth longed to see her chosen weapon against her foes unleash the power of spellfire he contained within him. She ached to watch the infidels burn to cinders. But no silver flames came forth--did he, indeed, have it any longer?--and Drizzt Do'Urden killed no elves. Instead, he saved one, a girl child.
Logically, Lolth could have placed the blame on herself, for making such a hasty choice: a score of years had passed since she'd made the fateful error of giving the power of spellfire to the young drow. She could also have blamed Matron Malice for sending him to Melee Magthere, not Sorcere. Lolth was rarely logical, of course, so it was upon Zaknafein's shoulders she deposited her anger, and Matron Malice would know of her displeasure soon enough. With a sharp gesture, she sent a Handmaiden to tell the plotting matron of House Hun'ett, who desired the fall of the ambitious Ninth House, that a member of House Do'Urden had grievously erred.
Upon returning to their home Drizzt Do'Urden's older brother, Dinin, proudly told his family of his own successes in battle against the surface elves, and the brutal "slaying" of the elf child by Drizzt. Though Lolth knew the truth of the girl's fall in the battle, Dinin's erroneous statement produced a satisfyingly disgusted expression on Zaknafein's handsome features. She recalled how the weapon master despised the necessary murder of noble children in the perpetual power struggles in Menzoberranzan... and now he believed his own son to be a child-killer.
The youngest Do'Urden cast his sire a glance that bespoke a thousand hate-filled words. So Drizzt, so very like his father, despised the elder dark elf? Lolth cared not why, she was too thrilled with the sudden turn of events. This conflict would come to blows, she knew, a battle between master and student--each challenging his own fears of what he saw in the other. Drizzt would win, she decided, and at long last the traitorous Zaknafein would be dead, defeated--in the greatest of drow ironies--by his own son!
Just as she had foreseen, the two powerful warriors met in the halls of House Do'Urden. There, they exchanged harsh words veiled with half-hearted tones of friendship, agreeing to meet after Drizzt's patrol returned again and settle their dispute. Each went away vowing to himself that he would slay the other, slay the monster.
So great were the ironies of the impending duel to death that Lolth could only marvel at the circumstances that precipitated this fight. She would have loved to have followed the thoughts and moods of both warriors every hour until their fated battle, but the duties of a dark goddess called, and Lolth delighted in answering.
House Hun'ett, having plotted and schemed for nearly thirty years, had finally been rewarded for their patience. Lolth disapproved of their choice of first strike--her precious spellfire-wielder--but she wouldn't deny them the death of the youngest son of House Do'Urden. The opportunity for the strike came swiftly for Masoj Hun'ett, who above all others in his family truly hated Drizzt. Having sensed this budding rivalry years ago, Lolth urged the proud mage to greater levels of hatred, for she had long desired to see the two young drow battle one another for supremacy!
On patrol in the caverns outside Menzoberranzan, Drizzt and Masoj's group encountered a roving band of svirfneblin miners. The deep gnomes, as was their standard battle tactic, summoned a great earth elemental to slow their drow pursuers and fled. Though their companions gave chase, Drizzt and Masoj stayed behind to battle the earth elemental. Caution led Masoj to conceal himself with an invisibility spell while the younger dark elf and the mage's pet panther attacked the elemental together.
Minutes later, the fight was going well for the secondboy of House Do'Urden, despite the loss of the panther. Masoj was becoming restless, but then Lolth gave him an idea. Withdrawing a bar of silver from his component pouch, the young wizard sent a bolt of lightning flying across the cavern. A portion of the blast struck the weakened elemental, but the majority hit Drizzt solidly. The young warrior was blasted from his feet and slammed against the wall, then he fell limply to the cavern floor. Satisfied with her work, Lolth gathered her will in the Abyss and waited for his soul to arrive in Myrkul's domain.
It did not. Merely stunned, Drizzt soon regained his feet, only to be clouted upside the head by a concealed svirfneblin and knocked flat once more.