Once the companions reached Gauntlgrym, everything happened so fast.

They met with King Bruenor Battlehammer, who invited them to feast with delegates from five different factions and discuss what could be done about this demon incursion. Driz’zt the drow ranger was there, too, as well as Pike and Eldath and even Glabbagool.

King Bruenor suggested the party strike a deal with Davra Jassur who represented the Zhentarim. She had a contact in the trade post Mantol-Derith who knew the way to Gravenhollow, an ancient and secret stone giant library. But Reschi already had a magic ring, given to him by the devil Bazelsteen, that could help the party find the path to Gravenhollow, so they didn’t need Davra’s help after all.

Before heading back into the Underdark, Goder, Pike, and Sauerkraut snuck away from the rest of the party to rob the Zhentarim delegation.

After that, they journeyed into the depths for days and days. They stumbled upon the remains of deep gnome refugees slaughtered by rampaging demons. A few days later, a swarm of chasme demons buzzed overhead, and the companions were wise to avoid them. Eventually they reached the shores of Darklake. From here, Reschi led the group down a seemingly endless tunnel. They heard singing from up ahead—a basilisk, which they circumvented.

Finally they arrived at Gravenhollow. Beyond the great basalt gates lay the biggest library any of them had ever seen.

After they got inside, a galeb duhr detached itself from the wall, introduced itself as Hourm, and offered to show the adventurers to wherever they wanted to go.

They soon discovered that time passed differently here. Past, present, and future all blended into one. The companions met Bruenor Battlehammer and Driz’zt, and Elminster, and even Graz’zt. Sauerkraut was not happy to see the demon lord, as he was still kinda mad about the body snatching and attempted murder thing.

Elminster told them that the demonic incursion was caused by a wizard named Gromph Baenre of Menzoberranzan. He refused to say more.

Graz’zt was convinced that Lolth, Queen of the Demonweb Pits, was behind this. It wouldn’t be the first time her agents in the Abyss lured her enemies into throwing themselves into struggle.

Goder revealed the stonespeaker crystal that Hgraam had given him back in Gracklstugh. Elminster taught the kobold how to use it, and so he witnessed a vision of Gromph summoning the demons—except the spell didn’t work right. Lolth’s influence on Gromph changed his spell! The wizard ended up summoning more demons than he could control, as well as a bunch of powerful demon lords!

The companions had a lot of questions. Why didn’t the celestials do anything about this crisis? Why wasn’t Elminster providing more than just vague clues? Why hadn’t the demon lords all come into the Material Plane before this? Why didn’t they just go home on their own? What about the devils?

Elminster told the party that another wizard was here looking for them, by the name of Vizeran DeVir. Hourm took them to find this wizard.

Vizeran told them that he knew how to defeat the demon lords. After years of research and gathering spell components, he came up with a ritual that would do the trick. But he didn’t want to speak of it here, where the walls literally had ears. He asked the party to meet him at his tower to discuss the matter in private.

And so to Vizeran’s tower they went.

Here the wizard explained his whole plan. His ritual was called “the dark heart,” and it would radiate a summons throughout the Underdark using the faerzress —an irresistible call drawing the demon lords toward it, where hopefully they would all kill each other. With their physical forms destroyed, their essences would return to the Abyss. But Vizeran didn’t want to plant the dark heart by himself. This was where the adventurers had a part to play. He requested their aid in protecting him while he performed the ritual.

Pike remembered Vizeran from his time in Menzoberranzan. The wizard did not follow Lolth as the other drow usually did, and it was Gromph Baenre who engineered Vizeran’s disgrace and exile for not being a follower of Lolth. Pike trusted him, but the other party members weren’t so sure.

Vizeran suggested performing “the dark heart” ritual in Menzoberranzan itself, which would surely lead to a genocide of all the drow in the city. He was really set on vengeance here. The companions did not approve of that plan. But they still wanted his help in defeating these demons. So they agreed to follow along… for now…

Sauerkraut snuck away again to steal anything from Vizeran’s tower that wasn’t magically trapped.