The Story So Far

Season 1
591CY: A group of bandits led by the half-orc Old One-Tusk murder the captain of the militia and his loyal followers in Ironstead. They are overthrown by a group of villagers and heroes during a fake feast. The next day, a goblinoid army led by a crimson-clad hobgoblin attempts to sack the village, but they are defeated by the Heroes of Ironstead (as the small group comes to be known). Fergus Boghole wounds the hobgoblin in charge of the invasion, leaving him with a large scar across his face. The wood elves, assisted by some of the aforementioned heroes battle the goblinoids within the Heartlands. After a year, many of the goblin burrows are rooted out.

592-595CY: With the wood elves distracted by the war against the giants, the goblinoids regained a strong foothold in the forest. The Heroes of Ironstead set out to dislodge them from their forward outpost inside a ruined keep. They scouted a group of goblinoids augmented by a tribe of orcs before engaging the enemy. When victory seemed within grasp, the scarred hobgoblin rushed into battle from the bowels of the ruins, flanked by the leader of the orc tribe. The heroes nearly fell, but they were kept in the fight due to the tremendous efforts of Felca. The scarred hobgoblin turned invisible and fled the battle before being felled, and then the heroes slew the rest of the enemies. Sadly, Ethrond was slain during combat. His body was interred by Felca, with a pale silverwood tree growing from the site of his burial.

An old forest hag offered the Heroes of Ironstead a chance to draw cards from her magical deck, and there were many interesting effects. A large, forboding castle sprung into existence beside Ironstead, with Vestra as its apparent ruler. She is beloved by her subjects in Ironstead, and all seemed well until an assassination attempt by hobgoblin assassins left her disfigured. Garrak constructed a quarry outside of the town, and he began to build a new mustering hall for the Knights of the Hart, including Ser Aethis the Tenacious. Prince Boghole was granted a large estate on the outskirts of the village, and he also started to train the ladies of Boghall to be his eyes and ears in the nearby areas. Vestra, with the help of Odac, began to mentor several wood elves from the surrounding area who displayed sorcerous powers. Amari ventured into the nearby forest and completed the ritual to create her own druid grove, creating a sanctuary for all woodland creatures. With divine ingenuity, Tomsk upgraded the capabilities of his forge, making it into a marvel by any standards. Business began booming as the Knights of the Hart moved into the city, filling the coffers of the smithy. Osvald spent some time away from Ironstead sailing the high seas. He happened upon a shipwreck that contained a magical cutlass.

The heroes descended into the dungeons below Saltwood in search of a cursed treasure hoard. They overcame many difficulties, and at the end they fought the spirit of an evil tyrant. Two items of note found in the hoard were the Corehammer and some legendary gauntlets of Dwarven make.

After dealing with the cursed hoard, the heroes decided to help the wood elves with the giant problem. Instead of simply waiting for them to come, they set off into the hills to fight the towering foes. After killing several hill giants, they saw a two desperate situations: a village of hill dwarves fighting for their lives and a group of Elven Knights of the Hart engaged with giants. Most of the party decided to help the elves, but Garrak and Tomsk decided to help the dwarves. The battle with the dwarves turned dire when frost giants approached. Though Garrak fought valiantly, he was nearly killed and all but a few dwarves, saved by Tomsk, were murdered. A small group of Elven knights were saved, for which they swore an oath to repay the favor.

The heroes then returned to Ironstead for several months, tending to their daily responsibilities. Then, a young gray elf approached seeking their aid in breaking the siege of the Timeless Tree. They traveled toward the tree and fell prey to several goblinoid ambushes, the last of which revealed that the young gray elf was actually a disguised hobgoblin. When they reached the tree, they saw the nearby forest burned to the ground and goblin siege engines assaulting the tree. A small group of goblins were compelled to worship Pelor along the way, and they were instrumental in the plan that would take the heroes to the lair of the Scarred One. Amari transformed into a giant badger and dug a tunnel under the main tower of the hobgoblin encampment. Once inside, they fought their way up until they had encountered the Scarred Hobgoblin. After a close encounter with a wyvern that suddenly developed a taste for goblin meat, the heroes vanquished the commander, with Amari delivering the killing blow via a scroll of acidic arrows. Sadly, they found Osvald ripped to pieces in a tent inside the encampment. Once the Scarred Hobgoblin had been slain, the goblins were routed and devastated by magical fire from the elves of the tree. The gray elves rewarded the heroes and sent them on their way back to Ironstead.

596-598CY

During this time, the heroes spent two years working around Ironstead and conducting training on their own. Tolliver, a young visiting noble, spent this time training his own abilities at his family estate with high-paid tutors. He returned to Ironstead as a bard with a focus on martial prowess due to his tutelage under Garrak.

(Tomb of Tethrion Staghill) Around this time, a strange person was found wandering around Ironstead. They were acting as if in the grips of madness, and they through themselves onto a random campfire. After investigating this, the party found that the Defiled Glade near Furyondy was reporting all manner of people acting crazily, and there were attacks from undead creatures as well.

The party traveled to the glade and found an old tomb thanks to the help of a hermit near the outskirts. The tomb was that of Tethrion Staghill. After fighting through the undead guardians of the tomb, the party came to a door locked with a strange mechanism. They then went down two different hallways that led to the elemental planes of ice and fire. Dashwyn used his speed and agility to run into the plane of fire and steal a shard from a bronze dragon to open the door. He then attempted to do the same on the ice plane but was stopped by a remorhaz. After slaying the beast, the party opened the door and found what remained of Lord Staghill. They defeated him and cleared the curse affecting the glade.

(Defeat of the Underking) Upon returning to Ironstead, the party investigated the ruptures in Garrak's quarry. Through some mishaps, they found themselves stuck in the Underdark. After stumbling upon a duergar outpost, they turn around and begin to backtrack. A duergar merchant offered them passage out of the underdark if they killed a troll in the underground lake. It turned out to be a fomorian, but they managed to kill the creature. Watching overhead were some deep gnomes who offered the party a chance to help them destroy the duergar outpost. The plan was to drop bombs on the duergar from caves above them and the party would drop down and defeat the leader. However, the deep gnomes were betrayed and a duergar attack came early. The party quickly rode on the gnomish rails to the duergar outpost and took out several guards before assaulting their leader, the Underking. The Underking proved to be a worthy foe and smashed the ground to bits under them. After finally beating him, they avoided being taken captive by some dark elves. Then, their deep gnome contact Shroobgroob showed them the way out of the underdark. They caved in the entrance and covered up the entrances at Ironstead, hoping never to return to the hellish underground realm.

(The Butcher of Chendl) Vestra then decided to purchase some glasses to correct her vision problems. Upon arriving in the Furyondy capital of Chendl, the group visited several shops, but Garrak was acting strangely. They observed a man watching them leave the magic shop and they pursued him. After running him down, they discovered he had meant to rob them outside of town. It was then that the ghost of Old One-Tusk decided to strike.

It possessed Garrak and he rampaged across the city killing innocent civilians and guards alike. The guards finally subdued him and were escorting him to the barracks when the party decided to free him. With some wonderful misdirection from everyone involved, Dashwyn grabbed Garrak and ran into an alleyway with Amari transformed into a cat. They hid in some garbage and waited for the guards to leave. The rest of the party went peacefully to the barracks and were held for questioning. Dashwyn and Amari went to hide Garrak's hammer, and when they returned, they found that he had escaped. Garrak, possessed by One-Tusk, went to the Dwarven district and murdered several people before stealing a mallet and a horse. He made a hasty getaway with Amari in pursuit as a horse. Garrak attempted to fling himself upon her, but she threw him to the side. However, Garrak was able to best her in combat and get away. The guard captain told the party to track him down, and so they did. They eventually found him in his home village, Gravel Ridge, and he had a noose around his and his wife's neck. Coming back to himself for a moment, Garrak slashed his wife's noose and went tumbling down a cliff. Fergus fired an eldritch blast at the rope and saved his life, but One-Tusk was not done. After a fight where he possessed several people, One-Tusk disappeared into the ether. Garrak's wife, Nola, wanted nothing to do with him, and he found that she had given birth to a son while he was away. He left his wedding ring and all the gold in his possession before leaving the village just as he had nine years ago. He turned himself in once back in Chendl, and a priest from the Heironean monastery performed a ritual to scry his soul. Since they knew he had been possessed, they simply fined him 2,500 gold pieces, which the rest of the party paid. With a heavy heart, Garrak left the city with the rest of his people.

(Fountainspring Follies) As they were leaving, one of Fergus's "informants" told him of the situation in Fountainspring. It seemed that several noble families were fighting among each other. The main rumor was that some undead were attacking farms in the area. Upon arriving in Fountainspring, the party saw three men of different houses bickering, but then Lord Greenrow interceded and bade them stop. He spoke with the party and told them that he needed some peace in the city and he would reward them. The party set about gathering information. Garrak and Tolliver spoke with the dwarf nobleman Tagrin Lowhearth, and they investigated the site of the attack. Garrak found muddy footprints that looked to belong to a short humanoid. Amari traveled about the town as a grasshopper to gather information. The most unusual bit she heard was Lord Ironoak saying that two men from the mill disappeared into the woods and he hoped it would be enough. Vestra and Fergus enjoyed some Elven firewine while Fergus's working girl collected information. The two revelers convinced a serving girl and some of her friends to join them for recreations in one of the nicer rooms of the Stonepride Inn. Altogether, the group learned of many things. Some halflings were skulking around the Stout Warren. Kobolds apparently were back at the Weeping Cave. Undead came from the direction of Tyrant's Ridge. There was an old ruined trading post to the northwest of the city. Hextor's Rend was a ravine rumored to have been created in a great battle between that god and Heironeous, and some think it was linked to the disappearances. An old hermit named Bardarl lived near Tyrant's Ridge. Lord Ironoak was having trouble with some of the shipments going missing. Targin Lowhearth had his fields attacked by undead wielding black steel weapons. Lady Foxham's mine was experiencing explosions, tunnel collapses, and strange creatures frightening the miners. And finally they learned that Lady Foxham's son Vendros had gone missing. They also met a drunk dwarf named Grippledak who told them of wizards attacking him and stealing his coins while he was throwing rocks at squirrels. He said that these wizards lived in a tower to the north.

(The Herald of Vecna) The first lead they decided to follow up on was Tyrant's Ridge. Garrak attempted to speak with an old dwarf hermit, but he only received two crossbow bolts for his trouble. They made their way to a ruined castle atop the ridge and explored the site, finding a metal hatch under some clustered rocks. Garrak beat down the hatch, and they descended into the darkness. After fighting some cultists, they discovered that these robed figures bore the mark of Vecna. They made their way to a large room in time to see a ritual completed. Several cultists slit their throats and their blood flowed into a man on the floor who was missing an eye and a hand. After narrowly defeating him, they found his signet ring proving that he was indeed Vendros Foxham. Fergus read through a tome bound in human skin. Although he couldn't make out most of it, he did find some notes that said they were searching for someone of Regwyn's bloodline and returning his soul to a vessel would aid in the coming of Vecna. There were also notes that mentioned that other believers had managed to nearly complete their missions as well. Among the treasures they found were a flying carpet, which plummeted them to the ground when they attempted to use it. They restrained the carpet in a metal chest and left it with Adeline in their inn room.

(Fountainspring Continued) The party reported back to Lord Greenrow who rewarded them for dealing with the menace of the Vecna worshipers. During this time, the party took another look at the situation in the town to determine their next course of action. They decided to look at Hextor's Rend to the west of town. As they descended into the ravine, they saw all manner of bones, most of them humanoid. An old man walked out and conversed with the group. One thing led to another and the old man revealed his true form: a bone devil. After a harrowing battle, the party destroyed the bone devil and claimed a strange looking bronze puzzle box. None of the group could figure out the puzzle box, so they decided to leave it in the room with Adeline. They were then attacked by some halflings who were bringing a hapless peasant to the ravine for the bone devil. One of the bandits were captured and told the party that Lord Ironoak had hired them to abduct travelers and merchants and bring them to the ravine. They informed Lord Greenrow of Lord Ironoak's involvement with the bone devil, and he confessed. Garrak and Tolliver also went out and talked to the old hermit again, beating him into submission. When the dwarf came to, he explained he was a smith and sold black iron weapons to several people around the area. Garrak convinced the dwarf, who eventually relented and told them his name was Krem, to leave the area and travel to Ironstead to take over the forge.

Afterwards, they traveled north to seek out the wizards that Grippledak had told them about. They did indeed find a tower that was magically trapped with all manner of strange traps. When they finally overcame the traps, they ascended to the top of the tower to see none other than Grippledak magically bound in the final room. After freeing him, he explained that he had accidentally activated the defenses at the tower while perusing a tome. He had told the party of the wizards so that they would meet with him under secrecy. Grippledak actually turned out to be an agent of the Circle of Eight. He told the party that he hoped they would have seen him before they dealt with the cult, but he nevertheless told them he would stay in touch in the future. It was shortly after this that the party was set upon by a group of cultists and the newly re-summoned bone devil. After a valiant fight, the party was slain.

(Hell) The party awoke in a prison chamber covered in gore and bones. The very walls themselves shifted with screaming faces that poked and prodded at their prison walls. They were surprised to see Adeline there, and they found out that she had died while protecting the puzzle box in the inn. After slipping their bonds, they left the bone devil's lair and headed out into the upper level of hell. The skies were black and the landscape charred. A cutting wind shifted the black sand around as fireballs constantly pummeled the ground. It was here that the party laid eyes upon hundreds of devils marching on the horizon. They also spied a city seemingly made of brass-like material in the distance, as well as a strange looking mountain surrounded by pools of differing colors. After further investigation, the pools seemed to be Tiamat's lair. It was around this time that the party realized that time was passing in a strange manner, and that they did not need food, water, or sleep.

After a few altercations with devilish forces, the party disguised themselves as devil footsoldiers and freed a large demon toad from captivity. They followed the demon toad to the gates of Avernus, the between realm of the River Styx. There, they waded into battle aided by the demon toad, which was struck down in the fighting. In the aftermath, they talked with a yugoloth who said that they could be ferried back to the material plane for the price of a soul or an artifact. Garrak offered up his soul without hesitation, but the party convinced him that finding an artifact would be a better choice. At first, they considered sneaking into the Brass City, but seeing as how it was swarming with thousands of devilish forces, they opted to return to the bone devil's lair. On the way, they met a strange man named Silas Seacastle, a rakish looking man with a massive demonic looking arm. He agreed to accompany them on their journey. The adventurers then rushed into the room and defeated the bone devil before it could even respond, but the devil's stone guardians proved a mighty challenge, almost laying waste to the party. Silas captured the puzzle box from the bone devil and fled, fearing for the life of the party. They vanquished the stone guardians and met up with Silas. Finally, they returned to the Yugoloth and made it back to the material plane. They then returned to Ironstead for some much needed rest.

599CY

(Lord Redwald) After a year of taking care of various tasks, Ironstead continued to grow, with word of its appeal spreading throughout Furyondy. The mysterious man Silas Seacastle left the village to find his own way in the world. Likewise, a strange thing occured when Vestra, along with the castle Saltwood Fortress, mysteriously vanished. Grippledak, the Circle of Eight agent, sought out the party and informed them that the Vecna cult was gaining in power and accomplishing many of their goals. He employed the party to travel to the village of Honeyview south of Greyhawk to investigate a man named Lord Redwald to determine exactly what his connection to the cult was.

The party traveled to Honeyview and saw a rather lavish estate belonging to Lord Redwald overlooking the village. They scouted the area looking for a way in, and eventually they learned that peasants were being brought in and then corpses were being brought out afterwards. They planned to waylay the corpsebearers and interrogate them, which they did (though one of them was brutally murdered by being thrown from the path by Amari transformed into a deer). The guard told them that Lord Redwald help tournaments underneath his estate, which was comprised of a network of tunnels dug out by dwarves. With this information, the party headed back to the estate. Amari turned into a giant badger and tunneled under the walls. Then, the party waited until nightfall and sprung forth from the ground and murdered the guards around a cellar door before they could react. They made their way down into the stone halls of Lord Redwald's estate and dealt with several magical traps and guards. Eventually, they made their way into his study and found books related to the Shrine of Tamoachan, a godlike vampiric entity who was holy to the Olman people of the Amedio Jungle. It was then that an imp appeared and revealed an unwelcome truth, Lord Redwald was a rakshasa, an evil shapeshifter of immense power.

Lord Redwald then appeared from thin air and told the party he was imprisoning them and they would be forced to fight for his entertainment. They were led into a chamber full of all manner of creatures including some orcs, a red dragon, and other ferocious beings. While sitting in their heavily warded cell, the party mulled over their options. They spied a simple lamp locked in a cell nearby. With that a plan was hatched: get out of the cell and summon the djinn from the lamp, hoping it was benevolent. Garrak prayed to Moradin, but he was unheard. It was then that Fergus knelt in the dank cell and began beseeching Heironeous for help in their hour of need. With a flash of lightning, the wards of the cell disappeared and Fergus stood holding aloft a sword made of pure lightning. He rushed to the cell containing the lamp and used the energy of the sword to undo the magic. The party rubbed the lamp vigorously and brought forth a genie who granted them a singular wish. They used the wish to leave the prison and return to the outskirts of Ironstead.

(The Shrine of Tamoachan) After returning home, the party talked with Grippledak who informed them that some agents from the Circle were coming to Ironstead and someone would have to stay behind to greet them. Grippledak offered his services to the group to deal with what lay in the shrine, and they decided to leave Tolliver behind in Ironstead. Krem offered his services as well, but he was left behind. At this time another agent of the Circle appeared, a rogue named Ander. He joined the party and they set off toward Greyhawk to find passage to the jungle. They hired a decent ship and fought off several monsters on their way before arriving, three months later, in a small village in the northern jungle. They hired a young lady to guide them through the jungle, and after several ambushes, they came within sight of the shrine itself, which was a large stone pyramid ascending from the twisting, ruinous jungle. When they approached, they heard chanting, and then a spectral visage appeared before them. It was a twisted skeletal face with flesh barely clinging to the bone. The figure was missing its left eye and it spoke of itself as the demigod Vecna. With a resounding crash, the ground beneath them was sundered and they fell into darkness.

After gathering their bearings, the party made their way through the dungeon underneath the shrine. Along the way they saw many oddities such as detailed dioramas, a giant crayfish, a zombie centaur, and a two headed python. After finally making their way out to the sunlight again, they found themselves standing at an altar, which opened up to reveal many treasures. So far, only Fergus and Ander had taken any treasure for themselves. They had both began to feel the affects of the curse for their transgressions. The party decided not to take any of the loot, though they did notice some ceramic jars and one seemed to be missing. Inside the jars were desiccated organs, and the heart seemed to be missing. It was then that they saw the visage of Vecna again. When he was done speaking, his tongue turned into a naga, which battled the party.

Once the naga was slain, the genie from before appeared with the party's magic carpet. The party used the carpet to fly back to Ironstead. There, Garrak's wife greeted him and said she needed a place to live. He gave her the use of his house while he found other lodging. The party decided to take this time to dedicate themselves to training their skills in order to deal with Lord Redwald, the rakshasa. It was at this point that Garrak decided to devote himself fully to Moradin, and he began walking the path of a paladin. Ander also sought employment within Boghall. After roughly three months, Grippledak returned to report that there was a new lead in Gran March.

599-602CY

The records are a bit incomplete on these years in the chronicles of the Heroes of Ironstead.

What is known is that they traveled to the region known as Gran March to look into a lead in Hookhill. After some investigating, they were led to the town of Turamil and to a secretive enclave of Vecna worshipers. While in these ruins, they battled a beholder. During the battle, it looked as if death was coming for the party, but Krem and Tolliver teleported in and received killing blows. Tolliver himself was turned to ash. Lord Redwald fought the party and teleported away before being killed. Afterwards, the party brought Krem back to life, and Garrak vowed to return Tolliver to the mortal plane somehow.

The next lead the party had on Vecna was in a blighted land known as the Sea of Dust. This area was decimated by foul magics during the ancient times of human history when the Suel Empire was all but destroyed by inconceivable magics. As the party crossed the area, they found that their magics would not work, and they were beset upon by ghosts who nearly killed them all. Once they reached a fortress in the desert, they slaughtered the defenders and fought their way to a room deep inside with a throng of chanting cultists. With a few well-placed spells, the chanters were destroyed and some magical ruins were activated, which opened a floating ebony coffin. From it emerged the avatar of Vecna.

As the avatar came into being, a beam of energy ripped through the ceiling, and the avatar floated toward the spiraling black stone circles floating above the fortress. As he channeled the latent magic of the area around him, a portal formed in the stones, and Vecna unleashed the pent up energy into the portal. It was then that the sky dimmed and blood rained down upon the Flanaess. The party learned that Pholtus, the god of light, had been slain.

The blood rains brought massive devastation to the land, and the party did all they could to help alleviate the damage. Amari used her magics to heal the land as they traveled, and druids from all over came to repair what they could. The ancient beasts of the land, vestiges from a time before even the elves, came out to correct the imbalances and corruptions upon the lands. Eventually, the blood rains subsided.

It was also during this time that Fergus shunned his previous path and fully devoted himself to the way of the hexblade, with his new magical bone spear at his side.

Amari was visited by a fey spirit and spent some time in the Feywild. She decided to pledge herself to the service of Ehlonna, and she was granted the power to summon a unicorn. She also learned that the mysterious vines on her side could be used to channel immense amounts of druidic power.

Garrak also became the Speaker of Moradin around this time, gaining the ability to speak with an authority even above Dwarven kings. His twisted, evil plate armor was transformed into golden metal, and his trusty ram was also transformed into a war mount.

603CY

(Defense of Furyondy) This year saw the party given a grim choice: go to Keoland to stop Vecna's infiltration pursuits or face the swelling horde of Iuz's forces on Furyondy's northern front. The party chose the latter.

The party decided to muster every ally they could find. The group of hill giants who had been pacified by an eccentric cloud giant agreed to help if they were given their own land in Furyondian borders. The wood elves pledged to continue fighting as they always had. The Knights of the Hart called their warriors from across the land to head north. The gray elves of the Timeless Tree wanted too much in return for their attendance, but they would continue to defend their lands.

Their allies in place, the party marched north to meet the beastmen armies. After some fighting, they heard of some beastmen conducting a ritual, which they managed to quash. With powerful magics, the party bent the summoning power to their will and were aided in combat by a walking hillside.

It was a long battle, but the beastmen were finally beaten back. However, it took a toll on all involved. The Knights of the Hart were nearly wiped out, and a great many wood elves fell as well. Ironstead itself nearly fell to an onslaught of demons from the northern hills. However, there was no time for lamentation. The heroes quickly made their way to the frontlines of Furyondy's northern borders. There they secured a keep and made their stand against Iuz's forces, but it wasn't enough. Though they fought valiantly and nearly routed the dark one's armies, the Heroes of Ironstead were slain under the cruel horde.

(The Abyss) The souls of the slain defenders were sent into the chaotic swirling abyss. They awoke on a bare stone platform, with no real idea on how to navigate it. Through a lot of trial and error, they managed to make it through several scenes of intense horror (including a tower of undulating flesh that threatened to suck them into its orgy of pleasure and pain). Eventually, they found themselves in a strangely washed out land that was eerily silent. While traveling, they found a tavern full of strange fellows, and, as they supped, a garishly dressed man came in with a letter from his master imploring the heroes to save his town. The heroes decided to see what lie in this adventure...

(Ravenloft) The heroes arrived in Ravenloft and quickly went about trying to determine what was going on in this place of despair. They spoke with a beleaguered priest and a distraught mother before making their way to the camp of the gypsies. It was there that the mystical Madam Eva read of their fates and told them about the dark master who lived in the castle on the hill: Strahd Von Zarovich.

After plunging into the dark depths of Castle Ravenloft, the heroes recovered many artifacts of great power and set about destroying the accursed vampire Strahd. After a tense battle, the heroes were victorious, and with the vampire's death, a portal back to the material plane opened. The heroes returned to find that not much time at all had passed in their absence. Iuz had apparently ceased his incursions into Furyondy, and the country had managed to fortify its borders. For a while, the heroes found some peace.

Season 2
605CY

(Free City of Greyhawk) The party learned that their comrade Grippledak had went missing whilst searching for an artifact, the Horn of the First Unicorn, which can purge the powers of even the most wicked creature. The heroes decided to depart for Greyhawk, but before that happened, two strange occurences took place. A frail, old man approached Fergus and said he had been travelling for two years to watch over the heroes. When asked why, he simply said that Pelor had told him to. He told them that his name was Bjorn Cinderheart, and the heroes accepted him into their company, all except for Garrak that is. Garrak decided he needed to test this old man's mettle, so he drew the Corehammer and approached him menacingly. As he did so, Bjorn transformed into a robust, young perfect specimen of a warrior. The old rusty sword also transformed, shedding its rust and becoming a glowing beacon. Garrak narrowly won over the newcomer, but his doubts were quelled.

The second strange occurrence was that Fergus heard his spear whispering in the night. It told him that he must murder his former masters and swear allegiance to the spear itself. Fergus went to his master's servant in Boghall and ended her life, and then he was teleported to the Nine Hells, where he killed his master. The spear then beckoned him to drink from his master, so he did so. This resulted in Fergus becoming a vampire.

Fergus explained his new predicament on the ride to Greyhawk (on the magic carpet). The others were upset, especially Amari who was distraught over the corruption that Fergus seemed to be fostering. Nevertheless, they made their way to Greyhawk and received many fawning looks from the commoners on the streets. Many rushed out to greet the heroes, except for the Chief Constable Sir Gavin Ambus. He warned the heroes not to be making waves in the city, and he told them to come to him before they went tearing the city apart.

The heroes had some exploits in the city whilst shopping and preparing, and they then went to see Otto, a founding member of the Circle of Eight. He gave them a list of names to look into for their investigation. They decided to first check in with the wizard's guild and its master Kieren Jalucian. On their way, they realized that no one was on the street around them, and all the sounds around them sounded strangely muted, they were then beset by several different ambushes. The last assailant was a vampiric creature streaking through the air. They were badly wounded from the ambushes, so they ran away, narrowly avoiding the creature. After composing themselves, they continued on to the wizard's guild.

Finding no answers there, they kept looking. Eventually, they found that the leader of the Society of Magi was more sinister than originally believed. As they went to confront him, they found a portal in his office. Through the portal, a woman in a robe emerged. She introduced herself as Syranna and enlisted the party to help her infiltrate a place known as the Doom Vaults, which was being used as Rary. Delving into the area they found many foes including a mangled kraken, necromancer creating flesh golems, and a demilich. They eventually found out that Rary was siphoning off the essence of those chosen by their deities to impart immortality/godhood upon himself. After dispatching the demilich, the heroes destroyed the phylacteries of Rary's lich conspirators. Upon leaving, Syranna bestowed the Horn of the First Unicorn upon the party and told them to meet with the retired leader of the Assassin's Guild, Turin Deathstalker, who just so happened to be her uncle.

Turin offered the party any one item from his vaults. Immediately upon entering, Fergus heard something calling out to him. Underneath an old burlap covering was the legendary Sword of Kas. The bone spear melded with the sword and Fergus felt a new found power growing within himself. Afterwards, Garrak was contacted by Moradin who sent him to face off against a red dragon. As he felled the beast, the dragon's hoard melted down and swirled around the Corehammer, finally completing its construction. Amari was also gifted with an ancient elemental necklace by the Fey Queen Tatiana. For his continued devotion to Pelor, Bjorn was granted full use of Sunrise's powers, and the sword became a glowing blade of pure energy. Phelros also received a package from his homeland containing the ancient Elven artifact called the Oathbow. Armed with these new weapons, the heroes decided to plot out their next action. It was then that Grippledak hesitantly told the heroes of a place where one of Vecna's phylacteries was kept: The Tomb of Horrors.