Suddenly you are no longer sitting comfortably in Ray Jay's library hob-nobbing with the gods. You find yourself standing in a courtyard under a brilliant starlit sky. Surrounding you are the white walls of a great castle. The air is cool, but pleasant and particularly invigorating, especially compared to the foul stenches of the Hells.
Set up upon the grass within the courtyard are many large tables and benches, heaped high with piles of appetizing food. You see venison, boar, and roast turkeys; fruits and vegetables; breads, cakes and sweets. Also here are casks of beer and wine. There is music in the air, and elves everywhere. It is obvious that a feast is about to begin.
You have been to this place before, years ago. For this is Greyhall, the stronghold of Valdar the Elf Lord of Dorian, considered mighty among his kind.
It is February 10, 1370. The members of your group are as follows: Rynd, Op Code, Orlon, Norton, Phillie, Alamak, Robert, 8 light riding horses, Honk, Who Knows, Phil Donahue, Oh Well, Ragwort, Chicken, Omegeron, Hardboard, Teldin Moore, Neemar 11th, Neemar 9th, Neemar 12th, Arrrgh!, Scared Stiff II, Diggoruss Gorey, Woody, Rodenstock, Spitz, Aredhel, Nova, and Yogi.
Out of the crowds of prancing elves you see Valdar himself approaching.
"Welcome to my feast," he says, "Now get those horses away from my salad bar!"
After you oblige him, he continues:
"Thank you for accepting my invitation. It has been quite a few years since you last visited. For tonight, please eat, drink and make fools of yourselves as humans will. Tomorrow we must talk seriously."
So, you spend a wild night making merry. After all that you have been through in the past months - both in the Hells and before that in the Temple of Elemental Evil - it is a welcome chance to relax. Chicken of course drinks too much and barfs all over Omegeron. He never did get on too well with Paladins.
The next morning dawns bright and sunny. There is a taste of spring in the air already, here. After a hearty breakfast, you are led into a large conference room. Valdar is there already, awaiting you with a pointer and flip charts. For the first time you notice how big his ears are.
"While you have been gallivanting about the multiverse, Evil has been rearing its ugly head right here in my backyard, so to speak. I am seeking a few good adventurers to take care of it," he says, waving his pointer. "Here's the scoop. As you may or may not be aware, we Elves do a lot of commerce up the west coast here, both on ships and up the Elven Coast Road. Recently, several problems have cropped up. It seems that a band of pirates has taken to raiding our ships. In the past month they have captured and sunk four of our merchant vessels. Through stealth and magic, we have managed to locate their stronghold. Rather than waste Elven blood in trashing the place, we thought that we would ask you to take it out. Any treasure you find would be yours to keep, and would constitute your payment for the job.
"As if pirates weren't bad enough, we have run into problems with our caravans on the Elven Coast Road, too. It seems that a pack of dragons have taken up residence in an old dwarven mining complex near the town of Inner Sanctum. Not only are they terrifying the local population, they are disrupting our trade on the Coast Road. As well, they have attracted all sorts of other evil creatures to the area. We would like you to go in and clear them out, if you can. Once again, any treasure you find would be yours.
"So, are you interested? Stiff? Orlon?"
Valdar looks at you expectantly. You do not disappoint him.