Greyhawk Rebooted - 576CY
but it soon came to broadly define arcane
spellcasters, especially those with a
decidedly evil bent. Within another ninety
years the Kingdom of Sulm, the first great
Flan kingdom, came to prominence, also
founded by an Ur whose name is lost to
history.
Few names in the long history of
the Flanaess conjure such frequent
nightmares though as the Whispered One,
Vecna. Though the once supreme lich
ruled a kingdom of antiquity, his name has
become synonymous with pain, suffering
and the price of dabbling in magics not
meant for the ken of mortal minds.
In -747 CY this lowborn boy by the
name of Vecna was born in the Flannae
city of Fleeth, which was located in the
Sheldomar Valley. He was initially trained
by his mother, Mazzel, in the art of magic,
before she was executed by the government
of Fleeth for practicing witchcraft.
Vowing revenge, Vecna wandered the
Flanaess seeking a path to power. Finding
his way to Galap-Dreidel’s now-destroyed
tower he discovered in its library a book
from the Suel Imperium entitled “The
Fate of Tilorop”. From this point forward
he secretly began to worship Tharizdun.
Vecna eventually assumed a mastery of
the dark arts achieved by no mortal before
or since. For the next quarter decade
Vecna studied “The Fate of Tilorop” and
was driven by an insatiable lust for
immortality.
As Vecna’s power grew he attracted
evil men, humanoids and extra-planar
entities to his banner and began building
a grand Empire of the Spidered Throne
in Sheldomar Valley centered near the
modern-day Rushmoors. Conquering tribe
after tribe, Vecna began to experiment
with his new subjects for the “Ultimate
Solution to Death.” Many undead were
created in his experimentations.
44 Greyhawk Rebooted 576CY is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan WotC Content Policy.
In -719 CY Vecna finally perfected
the technique required for lichdom and
transformed himself. He then corrupted
and twisted his people, and, through
his breeding program, now had a host
that far outnumbered any of his possible
rivals. Between -712 CY to -699 CY Vecna
marched against Haradaragh and after
six long years of siege, the first Flan city
fell. Those unfortunate residents who
survived the siege were transformed into
undead creatures to a man.
After conquering nearly all the Flan tribes
in the Sheldomar, he finally turned his
vengeance to Fleeth, intentionally leaving
that city as the last jewel to be plucked.
Vecna laid siege to the city of Fleeth with an
army of arcane spellcasters and undead.
Legend has it that Vecna was nearly slain
in this battle by clerics channelling the
power of Pholtus, the god of light, however
he was rescued and brought to safety by
one of his apprentices, a cambion named
Acererak.
Vecna eventually recovered and on the
verge of conquering Fleeth, the officials of
the city came before him to beg for mercy.
They offered up the entire city and her
wealth if only Vecna would spare the lives
of her citizens. Instead, the lich had the
entire city gutted, the governors’ wives
and children executed before their very
eyes, their staring heads displayed upon
a vast pile of viscera and gore. As a final
show of “mercy,” Vecna then granted the
officials leave to depart, and promising
them his protection for the rest of their
lives. With his vengeance satisfied, Vecna
retired to his tower and immersed himself
in more arcane research.