THE ABYSSAL PLAGUE:
BEHIND THE SCENES

In a dark dimension beyond the known planes of existence, the Chained God thirsts for freedom. Infusing his will into the residue of a long-dead universe—scarlet liquid shot through with veins of silver and flecks of gold—he sends this liquid crystal between worlds to prepare his way. But his will is not the only force that drives the Voidharrow.

Imbued with the power of the Voidharrow, the dragon Vestapalk creates a horde of demonic minions to spread the Abyssal Plague across the Nentir Vale. But the threat is not contained within a single world: Faerûn and Athas must contend with their own outbreaks of tainted demons and virulent disease. Will the Voidharrow consume the multiverse? Will the Chained God break free? Or will the heroes of the age put a stop to the Abyssal Plague?

The Abyssal Plague is an event that spans the geography of Dungeons & Dragons. Seven novels and a five-part novella tell its story across three worlds, and its insidious reach extends into roleplaying products such as Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale and future seasons of D&D Encounters.

With Shadowbane, the story of the Abyssal Plague is nearing its end. This is the second book (following Bruce Cordell’s Sword of the Gods) that tells the story of the Plague’s intrusion into the world of the Forgotten Realms, even as the central story of the Abyssal Plague has been unfolding in DUNGEONS & DRAGONS novels written by Bill Slavicsek, Don Bassingthwaite, and James Wyatt.

The Abyssal Plague story is something of an experiment. We at Wizards of the Coast wanted to see if we could create an event that would bridge our disparate novel lines, encouraging readers who are loyal to just one of our worlds to try reading books set in others as well. We also wanted to orchestrate a shared experience between novel readers and roleplaying gamers. The full fruition of that effort is yet to come, but it’s something we’ll be doing again in future years.