Descartes was a vampire illusionist who came into possession of a magical staff know as the Mansion of Solitude. The staff contained an extradimensional mansion inside of it. This structure allowed vampires to sustain themselves from the enchanted food within without the need for drinking blood. A number of reformed vampires took up residence in the staff where they could avoid feeding on living people. Unfortunately the staff was found by Descartes. He wanted to use the magical item for his own nefarious purposes, but he couldn’t as long as it was occupied.

Descartes found his solution with Terroc and his band of adventurers. Descartes disguised his nature with illusion spells and entered Shalemstead. He hired Terroc to clear the staff of vampires. The mage and his companions entered the Mansion of Solitude and destroyed all of the reformed vampires with a magical mace. They emerged, but were betrayed by Descartes. The evil vampire fled west from Shalemstead to a ring of stones where his coffin was protected by his thralls. Terroc followed and defeated Descartes. The vampire ran away once more taking the Mansion of Solitude with him, but his place of power and his cult of followers were destroyed.

Hugs Greenly was a human merchant infected with wanderlust. He amassed a small fortune to retire, but wished to continue traveling rather than settle down. Wishing to see something other than the trade routes he’d followed, Hugs headed into the Terror Mountains north of Shalemstead. He saw high peaks, dragons, and stunning waterfalls.

While in the wilds, Hugs came upon a dungeon full of monsters and treasure. Realizing the opportunity and challenge of this find, he organized an expedition to slay the monsters and retrieve the treasure. Hundreds of people were hired to dig into the dungeon and recover the valuable loot within. Hugs’s expedition force cleaned out the first two levels of the dungeon, but a monster on the third floor proved too powerful for the company. It emerged from the deep and slaughtered the entire group. Hugs Greenly died with his employees.

Unknown to Hugs, the dungeon was built by a lich known as Phodesiade. The lich had captured an unknown god. He sought to harvest the god’s power for his own, but every method he attempted failed. He finally struck a bargain with the deity. Phodesiade built a powerful dungeon of five levels. If the dungeon was emptied within one hundred years, the god would grant its power to the lich. If it remained occupied by monsters, Phodesiade would release the god. Unfortunately for Phodesiade, the time limit expired. The god broke free from its imprisonment and slew the lich. However, the dungeon remains, ready to be conquered by any worthy adventurer.