01-13-1996 (Heather, James, Gary, Glenn, Rich)
After the epic voyage that was Dragon Mountain, we return to our home in Saltmarsh. Ulthar is anxious to talk shop with Gandalf, but Gandalf leaves, saying he has business to conduct. Looking for a little excitement, we go to Callahan's, but a sign on the door reads "Closed for Repairs". So we go instead to a tavern in Saltmarsh, where we find that we have grown famous in our absence. Everyone is anxious to drink with us and a peddler is even selling "House of Force" t-shirts. Apparently the town has grown to three times its size, largely because of our reputation. Monsters, it seems, don't dare to venture near the home of the Motley Force. The town is prosperous, and the farmers reap good crops from the fertile soil. While we are pleased to hear this, it is a bit of a letdown after all of our adventuring. Eventually we return home in a horse cart, slightly drunk.
All of us have disturbing dreams. Ulthar dreams he is shackled and forced to kneel before Dernameth. Before he can speak, Dernameth smiles and extends his arm with a thumb pointing down as a hooded executioner lops off Ulthar's head.
We are awakened by a terrific crash, and find our house in flames. We look outside and see Dernameth himself, demanding that we come out and fight. He is accompanied by a veritable horde of minions, so we try to escape invisibly by the back door, but to no avail. Although Dernameth himself does not attack (except to have fireballed the house), his two-story tall Night Walker plows right through the burning house to attack us, while the rest (dozens of skeletons, zombies, juju zombies, monster zombies, and two drow generals on hunting spiders) engage us in a pincer attack as they come around the house. "Take him alive and bring him to my castle!" says Dernameth, pointing at me. "Kill the rest and lay everything waste!" The head of Garry's brother Bill rolls to rest at my feet and a massive battle ensues (which takes over four hours in real time to resolve). In an attempt to destroy the night walker, I cast a wall of iron and drop it on him, but he turns out to be immune to spells up to and including fifth level. Unfortunately, what is left of the house is now crushed under a slab of iron, along with all our belongings. After the battle, we find a few items of treasure, including 5600gp and an Amulet of Magic Resistance 20%, which Ulthar takes. We travel toward Saltmarsh, realizing that all the vegetation in the surrounding countryside has been destroyed. After surviving an attack by poison spiders, we meet refugees from Mentrey, who look zombified: their eyes glow red. They demand to know why we have done this to them. Later, we come across Gandalf, and follow him to a 10' X 10' hut that looks much larger on the inside. He tells us that he knew this was going to happen. Nectos, demon-lord of Dernameth, has destroyed Mentrey. The Abomination, a mutated radioactive dragon, destroyed Saltmarsh. Pontilver has been destroyed by Infreata.
Gandalf also fills in the missing pieces of Ulthar's family history, which he had been unable for so long to remember. Dernameth is a half-elf, and the brother of Gandalf. Their father was an Aquarian elf, and their mother was human. (Ulthar's mother Dara was the later child of the elven father and an elven female. He has two brothers, Linus and Loki, and a sister.) Dernameth, Olaf (Ulthar's father), and Bandalorr (Ulthar's teacher) were good friends, heroes of the Aquarian Elves. When they killed the witch king, all three were cursed. Only Bandalorr failed to escape the terrible rotting disease and senility which the curse brought on. Dernameth, who was also an alchemist, searched for a cure. Meanwhile, the old Aquarian king had died, and Olaf was made the new king. Dernameth was jealous, but knew that he could never become king himself because he was only half-elf. Dernameth married Olaf's sister, Sydrell. Eventually, Dernameth fell into the study of necromancy. Bandalorr had been helping Dernameth try and find a cure for his curse, but ended his work with Dernameth and began tutoring young Ulthar instead. One day, undead appeared in the land of the Aquarians. Olaf insists that Dernameth stop his research, but he continues, becoming ever more powerful and secretive. Around this time, Dernameth and his wife conceive a child, which is stillborn. The child would have been a Drow! Dernameth takes the child and disappears into the woods for weeks, returning a new man. He says he has buried the child and apologized to Labelas Enoreth for his dabbling in necromancy. He announces a cure for Bandalorr, but the final, extremely rare ingredient is also the final ingredient for the potion to make oneself a lich. Sydrell, who blames Dernameth for the death of their child, leaves him, and Dernameth is driven to take the terrible path to lichdom. Bandalorr dies, and Gandalf attends the funeral. He now takes over Ulthar's training. Around this time, zombies reappear in the land. Olaf exiles Dernameth for life, promising his death if he returns. Dernameth vows revenge. Years later, at the summer solstice festival, Dernameth, now a lich, returns and wreaks terrible havoc on the Aquarians, until Olaf surrenders to stop the carnage. Dernameth, however, returns the next day to complete the destruction. Ulthar's Auntie Sydrell (Dernameth's wife!) takes Ulthar and his best friend Sven to safety, but Sven runs away. Dernameth strangles Sydrell before Ulthar's eyes (just as he much later murdered Olaf in the House of Force), then casts forget on him and sends him wandering, at which point he meets the Motley Force and these chronicles eventually begin. Of course, when he first meets the future Motley Force, its members include Nanuuk (James' dead fighter) and Findorr (Gary's dead thief).
Gandalf tells us that he is Prophet of the Oracle. There were once three Aquarian artifacts; we are to find them and combine them to form one that will raise the sunken palace (Dernameth's house), help to destroy Dernameth, free the Aquarians, and restore Talislar. He gives us a silver egg to help us find the Great Fane of Lolth and help us get to the Demonweb Pits, where we will find the first artifact.