Contents
- 1Introduction: Danger to the Multiverse
- 2Chapter 1: Return from Neverdeath Graveyard
- 3Chapter 2: The Wizards Three
- 4Chapter 3: The Lambent Zenith's Last Voyage
- 5Chapter 4: The Ruined Colossus
- 6Chapter 5: Death House
- 7Chapter 6: Night of Blue Fire
- 8Chapter 7: Tomb of Wayward Souls
- 9Chapter 8: The Dragon Queen's Pride
- 10Chapter 9: The Betrayer Revealed
- 11Chapter 10: The War of Pandesmos
- 12Chapter 11: Eve of Ruin
- 13Appendix A: Bestiary
- 14Appendix B: Character Dossier
- 15Appendix C: Secrets Tracker
- 16Credits
Chapter 11: Eve of Ruin
[image: Vecna is nearly done weaving his Ritual of Remaking. The heroes are the multiverse's only hope]
To defeat Vecna and save the multiverse, the characters must reach the Cave of Shattered Reflection in Pandesmos and disrupt Vecna's ritual. Before that, the characters must navigate the demiplanes Vecna has already created and find a way to access the lich-god's ritual chamber.
Running This Chapter
The characters can return to the sanctum in Sigil to rest and confer with Alustriel and Tasha before they head to the Cave of Shattered Reflection. If the characters don't return to the sanctum, they find their way to the cave without trouble from their position in Pandesmos.
The majority of this chapter takes place in Vecna's Grasp, a small cave network where the characters must dismantle three demiplanar unrealities that hint at Vecna's plans to reshape the multiverse. Each demiplane contains an encounter or short exploration sequence. The characters can dismantle these demiplanes in any order, so read through all three—the "x," "x," and "x" sections—before running this chapter.
Once the characters dismantle the three demiplanar unrealities, they can proceed through a new opening in Vecna's Grasp that leads to the Cave of Shattered Reflection.
Character Advancement
The characters must be 20th level when this chapter begins.
Power of Secrets
The characters can use the unspent secrets they've collected throughout this adventure in their final confrontation with Vecna. See the "x" section later in this chapter for more information.
Reunion in Sigil
At the end of chapter 10, the characters learned that Vecna is performing his ritual at a site in Pandesmos called the Cave of Shattered Reflection. At some point after this revelation, the characters receive a message via a Sending spell from Alustriel offering to provide more help once the characters are ready. If the characters don't plan to return to Sigil, encourage them to do so.
If the characters return to the sanctum in Sigil, Alustriel and Tasha convey the following information:
- Demiplanes. Alustriel and Tasha know that Vecna's plans for the multiverse hinge on the potent secrets he has collected. Vecna has already used these secrets to create three demiplanes that are reachable from a small cave network in Pandesmos called Vecna's Grasp. To reach the Cave of Shattered Reflection, the characters must first destroy these demiplanes, which are the lich-god's early attempts to remake reality. The demiplanes are harbingers of what's to come if Vecna isn't stopped.
- Ending Unrealities. Each of Vecna's three demiplanes is an "unreality" constructed from a specific secret. The secret is represented by a unique item in the unreality called a "manifested secret." Alustriel and Tasha don't know the details of these manifested secrets, but they assume the items appear as important objects and bear the lich-god's symbol: a shriveled hand clutching an eye. To dismantle an unreality, a character must find its manifested secret, touch the item to focus the power of their Vecna's Link into it, and infuse the item with potent magic from an artifact such as the Rod of Seven Parts or a high-level spell. (See the "x" section for more information.)
- Teleportation Ward. A crystalline barrier surrounding the Cave of Shattered Reflection wards against teleportation magic. To reach the cave, the characters must first travel to Vecna's Grasp. Thanks to their supernatural connection to Vecna, the characters can teleport to Vecna's Grasp from anywhere in the multiverse.
Vecna's Grasp
Vecna's Grasp is a cave network in Pandesmos. Other than Vecna, only the characters can reach this cave network—and only because they carry Vecna's Links. No portal is needed to get them there; the characters need only think about entering Vecna's Grasp, and the power of their Vecna's Links will transport them directly to x. From Vecna's Grasp, the characters can reach Vecna's demiplanar unrealities and dismantle them, causing the large crystal at the center of Vecna's Grasp to disintegrate and leaving a pit in the floor that leads to the Cave of Crystal Reflection.
Unrealities
The unrealities connected to Vecna's Grasp are manifestations of Vecna's plans to remake the multiverse. These potent demiplanes exist outside time and space. Each unreality is dangerous, both in the immediate sense while the characters explore it and in the long term for the denizens of the multiverse.
The characters can reach an unreality by traveling down one of the three tunnels in Vecna's Grasp. Once the characters enter an unreality, the only way for them to leave is by finding and touching the demiplane's manifested secret, then injecting the manifested secret with enough magic to dismantle the unreality.
Manifested Secrets
Each unreality section notes the unreality's manifested secret. This is a secret that Vecna made foundational to his plan to reshape the part of the multiverse the unreality depicts. Each unreality's manifested secret is represented by an object that, although not "real" in the characters' reality, looks real in the demiplane and bears Vecna's symbol.
Locating the Manifested Secret
An unreality's manifested secret is an important item integral to the unreality. Whenever a character is in an unreality, the manifested secret's symbol of Vecna glows with purple light. The character can see this glow at any distance and through solid objects. The closer the character gets to the unreality's secret, the brighter the symbol glows. When the characters are near the manifested secret, they instinctually know how to dismantle that unreality.
Dismantling an Unreality
To dismantle an unreality, at least one character must touch the unreality's manifested secret. Meanwhile, the same or a different character must do one of the following:
- Expend 1 charge of the Rod of Seven Parts
- Expend a spell slot of 7th level or higher
As soon as the charge or spell slot is expended, the unreality disappears. The demiplane melts away, fades into nothingness, or shatters into countless fragments, making it clear it has been dismantled.
When a demiplane is dismantled, everything inside it is destroyed except for the characters, who are teleported to the mouth of the unreality's corresponding tunnel in Vecna's Grasp. Thereafter, that unreality's tunnel no longer reflects images of the unreality, and after 50 feet, the tunnel terminates at a featureless, obsidian wall.
After all three unrealities are dismantled, the crystals in x shatter, clearing the way to the Cave of Shattered Reflection, which is described later in this chapter.
Vecna's Grasp Features
Areas in Vecna's Grasp have the following features.
Ceilings
The ceiling is 40 feet high in x and 10 feet high in the tunnels leading away from that cavern.
Lighting
x and x of Vecna's Grasp are unlit. Area descriptions assume the characters have a light source or some other means of seeing in the dark. Unrealities in E2 have bright light.
No Teleportation
As long as Vecna is conducting his ritual, teleportation magic doesn't function in this place or any of the connected demiplanes. There is an exception to this rule: thanks to their Vecna's Links, once the characters learn about the existence of Vecna's Grasp, each of them can use an action to transport themself to or from x, provided the location they're coming from or traveling to isn't one of Vecna's demiplanar unrealities or the Cave of Shattered Reflection.
Walls and Floors
Vecna's Grasp is composed of magically reinforced obsidian. Each 5-foot-square section of obsidian has AC 20, a damage threshold of 30, 60 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
Vecna's Grasp Locations
These locations are keyed to map 11.1.
E1: Kaleidoscopic Cavern
Characters who use the magic of Vecna's Link to transport to Vecna's Grasp appear in this chamber. Read the following to set the scene:
Characters who examine the central crystals see that they seal an enormous hole in the cave floor like a cork. This hole leads down to the x, but the characters can't bypass the crystals or make their descent until they explore the side tunnels (areas E2a–E2c) and destroy the demiplanes connected to them.
E2: Unreality Tunnels
Each of the three tunnels in Vecna's Grasp connects to a different demiplanar unreality. A tunnel's walls reflect vague, phantasmagoric scenes of the unreality at the tunnel's far end.
A creature can walk up to 50 feet down a tunnel and remain in Vecna's Grasp. To the creature, the tunnel appears to go on forever. After 50 feet, the creature passes an imperceptible threshold. Crossing that point causes the creature to leave the tunnel and appear in the tunnel's corresponding unreality. The link is one-way, so the creature can't leave the unreality and return to the tunnel.
E2a
Images of Kas the Betrayer flicker on the walls of this tunnel. In each reflection, Vecna torments Kas, who appears powerless against the evil god. Characters who cross the threshold appear in the unreality described in the "x" section.
E2b
Hazy scenes of civil unrest—peasants rioting, buildings burning, and soldiers enforcing martial law—reflect in the walls of this tunnel. A character who studies the images recognizes they take place in Neverwinter. Characters who cross the threshold appear in the unreality described in the "x" section.
E2c
This tunnel's walls flash violent scenes of Vecna slaying, dominating, and imprisoning other gods in the vast emptiness of the Astral Sea. A character proficient in the Religion skill recognizes these deities. Characters who cross the threshold appear in the unreality described in the "x" section.
Torment of Kas
[image: When Vecna remakes the multiverse, he'll punish Kas with an eternity of suffering]
When the characters cross the threshold in area E2a, they appear in an alternate reality of Oerth, where Vecna has captured and imprisoned his archrival, Kas the Betrayer.
Read the following to describe the scene:
This unreality depicts Keoland, Kas's homeland on Oerth, as Vecna envisions it for his new multiverse. In this version, the entire nation has been transformed into an inhospitable hellscape. The ruined structure in the distance is all that remains of a castle Kas once called home and is the unreality's only noteworthy structure. The sun hangs along the horizon.
The unreality distorts distance such that characters who move toward the castle seem to get farther away from it. However, if all the characters move toward the hanging sun, the castle seems to move closer to them. Only by moving toward the sun can they reach the castle, which is a trek that takes 1 hour on foot.
If the players can't figure out how to reach the castle, have the characters make a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check to recall that this unreality is a reflection of Vecna's hatred of Kas; as a vampire, Kas would loathe and fear the sun, so the sun is the key to witnessing Kas's torment.
When the characters reach the castle, read the following:
Castle Locations
The following locations are keyed to map 11.2.
K1: Ruined Bailey
The hulking figures the characters saw from afar are two cadaver collectors (see appendix A). The monstrous war machines sift through the rubble of this ruined courtyard for remains. They attack creatures on sight, eager to add more corpses to their collections.
K2: Statues of Vecna
Each statue is a Medium object with AC 13, 20 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
If a creature deals damage to a statue, each creature in the unreality must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw as psychic shock waves ripple throughout the unreality, taking 11 (2d10) psychic damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.
K3: Receiving Room
The armored figure is a death knight who stands guard in this ruined hall. It is indifferent toward creatures that enter this chamber and hostile toward creatures that try to leave area K4 or x. As soon as it sees a creature leave area K4 or K5, the death knight moves to intercept and slay the escapees.
K4: Fountain of Blood
Vecna included this fountain of blood in his unreality to taunt Kas, who knows it's here but can't drink from it while chained in area K5. If the Kas in this unreality is destroyed, the fountain activates, causing another imagined Kas to emerge from the burbling liquid mere moments later. Kas is then supernaturally teleported into area K5, where he is shackled as described below. In Vecna's version of the multiverse, even oblivion offers his archrival no respite.
Vision of Vecna
If the characters look at the surface of the fountain's liquid, they see a glimpse of Vecna conducting his ritual in the Cave of Shattered Reflection. A character who examines the reflection sees Vecna kneeling in a crystal-lined chamber. The lich-god's eye is closed as he murmurs silent incantations. In his outstretched hand, Vecna holds a volatile, light-consuming orb of magical energy that resembles a black hole. The reflection in the fountain is illusionary; Vecna can't interact with any creature in this chamber, and vice versa.
K5: Kas's Chamber
This is Vecna's imagined version of Kas the Betrayer (see x). Unlike the real Kas, whom the characters encountered in the previous chapter, this imagined Kas is despondent and has no interest in fighting. Kas doesn't recognize the characters and is open to speaking with them, though he is bored by any topic of conversation that doesn't involve his own predicament. As long as he is shackled, Kas's speed is 5 feet, and he is unable to leave the room. The ball he's shackled to can't be moved, even by magical means.
This Kas doesn't know he's not real and can't comprehend the notion, but he understands that Vecna doomed him to this prison. He doesn't realize that this shattered keep was once his home on Oerth. Like the real Kas, this one bears an intense hatred toward Vecna, though in this form he is powerless against the archlich.
Manifested Secret
In Vecna's twisted unreality, Kas is shackled with his legendary sword, but he is forever unable to use it. The Sword of Kas is this unreality's manifested secret.
Kas willingly lets a character take the Sword of Kas if convinced the characters can destroy Vecna, better yet, if convinced that relinquishing his weapon will enable him to destroy Vecna someday. A character can make a DC 25 Charisma (Persuasion) check to try to convince Kas using either line of reasoning. If the characters fail to persuade him to relinquish the sword, Kas snarls and insults them, but he won't fight. If a character tells Kas that his prison is actually a shattered version of his home in Keoland, Kas howls in fury and gives over his sword immediately, asking the characters to take down Vecna.
The characters can dismantle this unreality by touching the sword and performing one of the actions detailed in the "x" section earlier in this chapter.
Neverwinter's New King
[image: Vecna plans to turn Lord Neverember into a death knight who will subjugate the city's population]
When the characters cross the threshold in x, they appear in an unreality where Vecna commands control over the city of Neverwinter in Faerûn.
In this unreality, Vecna turned Lord Neverember into a loyal death knight and iron-fisted tyrant. Neverember has turned his servants into wights and his opponents into dust.
Read the following when the characters arrive in the Neverwinter unreality:
Map 11.3 depicts this location.
[image: Map 11.3: Neverwinter Square]
If the characters make their presence known, Lord Neverember orders the twelve wights below the balcony to apprehend the characters and place them in the gallows. Lord Neverember doesn't join the fight unless the wights are destroyed or the characters attack him.
If a character tells the awestruck crowd that Lord Neverember is not the rightful ruler of Neverwinter and succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, the mob breaks into a violent frenzy. In this case, the mob distracts the wights so the characters can focus their attention on Lord Neverember.
Lord Neverember (use the death knight stat block) is unwilling to part with his crown; he fights the characters to withhold the symbol of his rulership.
Manifested Secret
The secret that Lord Neverember is not the rightful ruler of Neverwinter is represented by Vecna's symbol emblazoned on Neverember's crown. The characters can dismantle this unreality by touching the crown and performing one of the actions detailed in the "x" section earlier in this chapter. A character can touch the crown only while Lord Neverember has the incapacitated condition or after he has been destroyed. Magic can't lift the crown from Lord Neverember's head while he has at least 1 hit point.
Dead Gods
[image: An astral dreadnought consumes a dead god in Vecna's new reality]
When the characters cross the threshold in x, they appear in an unreality where Vecna has usurped the power of every other god in the multiverse and scattered the dead gods' bones across the Astral Sea.
Read aloud the following when the characters arrive:
The behemoth is a dying astral dreadnought that's being preyed on by six eye mongers (see appendix A for both stat blocks). The dreadnought has only 150 hit points remaining, it has no remaining uses of its Legendary Resistance trait, and its flying speed is reduced to 20 feet until its hit points are fully restored. The eye mongers focus their attacks on the astral dreadnought unless the characters stop them.
The astral dreadnought is called Arekanz. Arekanz has been consuming dead gods, but in this unreality, Vecna spitefully cursed the gods' remains to contaminate the dreadnought and induce its certain death. Arekanz is suffering the effects of the curse. It is so wracked with pain that it doesn't defend itself except to use its Donjon Visit legendary action.
A character who succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check recognizes Arekanz as an astral dreadnought, a creature that has a demiplane where its stomach should be. Everything the dreadnought swallows ends up there. The character also knows that if the dreadnought dies, the demiplane inside it will be destroyed, leaving everything in it to float aimlessly in the Astral Sea.
Blue Feather of Habbakuk
Within Arekanz's demiplanar donjon is a blue phoenix feather marked with the symbol of Vecna unreality's manifested secret. In this unreality, this single feather is all that remains of Habbakuk, a god on the world of Krynn and one of the many gods Vecna intends to destroy as part of his ritual. Any character with proficiency in the Religion skill recognizes the feather as the remains of Habbakuk. The characters must retrieve the blue phoenix feather so they can use it to dismantle this unreality.
Arekanz's Donjon Locations
In this unreality, before Vecna slew his rival deities and fed their remains to Arekanz, the archlich turned each rival to stone. From where creatures first appear in Arekanz's demiplanar donjon, the shattered remains of these deities stand between the party and the unreality's manifested secret to the east.
The following locations are keyed to map 11.4.
G1: Crumbling Mound
Characters who end up in Arekanz's demiplanar donjon arrive here.
The area of the hazardous scree is marked with dotted lines on the map. When any creature takes a step on the scree, the scree collapses. That creature and any other creatures within the marked area must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or fall down the cliff and onto the floor of the valley 100 feet below, taking 35 (10d6) bludgeoning damage.
G2: Sword Bridge
Three eye mongers (see appendix A) swallowed by Arekanz lurk below the sword. They attack any characters who cross the sword bridge.
G3: Horror's Fissure
The fissure is 30 feet deep. As the characters approach, it shudders as a cosmic horror (see appendix A) slithers out of it from the east to feast on the characters' minds and bodies.
G4: Shrine of Habbakuk
The statue reflects Habbakuk, a god of animals and druids revered widely on the world of Krynn.
Manifested Secret
The characters can dismantle this unreality by touching the feather and performing one of the actions detailed in the "x" section earlier in this chapter.
If the astral dreadnought dies while the characters are searching its demiplanar donjon for the manifested secret, the demiplane ceases to exist, and everything inside it appears around the dreadnought's corpse, including the characters and the feather. A character who spends 1 hour sifting through the ejected detritus finds the feather.
Cave of Shattered Reflection
Once the characters have dismantled all three demiplanes connected to Vecna's Grasp, the large crystals in x shatter to dust, opening the way to Vecna's ritual chamber: a mythic cavern called the Cave of Shattered Reflection. In existence since the earliest days of the multiverse, the cavern has the ability to harness beings' life force and reveal fundamental truths to those inside. Here, Vecna twists the powers of the cave to fuel his ritual to unravel the multiverse and remake it to his specifications.
Cave Features
The Cave of Shattered Reflection has the following features, as shown on map 11.5.
Crystal Walls
Most of the walls are made of a translucent, purple crystal that is immune to all damage. Creatures on opposite sides of a crystal wall can see each other vaguely, provided they are both within 5 feet of the wall. Sound, including the sound made by the Chime of Exile, can't pass through crystal walls.
Diamond Doors
Portals made of translucent, solid diamond are set into the crystal walls. Creatures on opposite sides of a diamond door can see each other vaguely, provided they are both within 5 feet of the door.
[image: The Cave of Shattered Reflection is dotted with diamond doors]
With the exception of the door in x, each side of each diamond door is set with a large ruby, the other with a large sapphire. (These are depicted on the map in red and blue, respectively.) Each side of the door is also etched with a sigil. This sigil matches the sigil on another door in the Cave of Shattered Reflection. Map 11.5 shows five pairs of identical sigils, labeled A1 and A2, B1 and B2, C1 and C2, D1 and D2, and E1 and E2.
Teleporting between Sigils. When Vecna or a creature carrying Vecna's Link touches a diamond door's gemstone, the doorway teleports the creature to the nearest unoccupied space next to the other door with a matching secret sigil.
The side of the destination doorway on which the creature appears depends on which gemstone the creature touched to teleport. If the touched gemstone was a ruby, the creature appears on the side of the destination doorway set with a ruby. If the touched gemstone was a sapphire, the creature appears on the side of the destination doorway set with a sapphire.
Lighting
The cave is bathed in eerie purple light, providing bright light.
Limited Teleportation
As long as Vecna is conducting his ritual, diamond doors are the only form of teleportation magic besides Vecna's Fell Rebuke reaction that functions in this place. The cave's crystal walls don't restrict where Vecna can teleport using Fell Rebuke, although he still must be able to see his destination.
Empowered by Secrets
In the Cave of Shattered Reflection, secrets are power. Depending on how many secrets the characters kept throughout this campaign, they might be more powerful in this cave than they would otherwise be.
Before running this part of the adventure, refer to the tracking sheet in appendix C. Tally the number of secrets the party has learned, and write the sum in the Total Secrets Learned box. Then add the number of secrets the characters traded for benefits, and write the sum in the Total Secrets Revealed box. Subtract the Total Secrets Revealed from Total Secrets Learned and write the result in the Secrets Kept Box. Consult the Power of Secrets table to determine what additional powers, if any, the characters have in the Cave of Shattered Reflection.
These powers are cumulative. For example, if the characters kept seven secrets, they start the encounter with inspiration and also can see clearly through the cave's crystal walls.
Power of Secrets
| Secrets Kept | Additional Power |
|---|---|
| 0–2 | — |
| 3–6 | Each character starts the encounter with inspiration. |
| 7–10 | Characters can see clearly through the cave's crystal walls. |
| 11–14 | The first time each character enters the Cave of Shattered Reflection, the character benefits from the effects of the Haste spell for 1 minute. The characters don't suffer from lethargy after the spell ends. |
| 15–17 | Characters have advantage on any Constitution saving throws made in the cave. |
Cave Locations
These locations are keyed to map 11.5.
R1: Shattered Grotto
When the crystal mass in x of Vecna's Grasp shatters in front the characters, read the following:
The pit is 500 feet deep. Its sides are composed of obsidian near the top and purple crystal closer to the bottom. The howling winds and lights are expressions of Vecna's hoarded secrets. The pit is filled with wind strong enough to blow out torches. Attack rolls in the pit have disadvantage due to the wind.
Climbing down the pit's smooth walls without climbing gear or magic is perilous. A creature must succeed on a DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check to do so, falling to the bottom of the pit on a failed check.
The bottom of the pit is a flat, cylindrical chamber of smooth crystal. When the characters reach the bottom of the pit, two Undead monsters emerge from the pit's walls and attack the party. The monsters use the death knight stat block and represent potent secrets Vecna has hoarded.
One monster's hands and arms drip with blood, representing a king who secretly murdered his sibling. The other monster has no facial features, representing a famed individual who lied about their identity.
An opening on the east side of this area connects to area R2.
R2: Threshold
The first time a character comes within 5 feet of the crystal wall, a peculiar reflection of that character appears in the crystal. The reflection mirrors the character's appearance except for their face, which wears a twisted sneer. This is a mirror shade (see appendix A). It attacks the character once, then flees to area R3.
Psychic Hum
The tunnel east of the door emanates an unpleasant humming sensation into creatures' minds. Though painful, the hum doesn't deal damage. Once a character crosses the threshold to area R3, the hum intensifies in volume and begins to deal damage (see the "Amplified Hum" section of area R3 below).
Diamond Door
The diamond door in this hall connects the two halves of this room. Vecna or a character carrying Vecna's Link can teleport to the opposite side of the door simply by touching the ruby set into the door's diamond surface.
R3: Ritual Chamber
Four mirror shades (see appendix A) lurk within the crystal walls. (If the characters already destroyed the one in x, there are three mirror shades in this chamber instead of four.) The mirror shades are servants of Vecna tasked with slaying intruders. The mirror shades use their Mirror Movement trait to move through the crystal walls.
Amplified Hum
Any creature other than Vecna and his mirror shades that starts its turn here must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or take 5 (1d10) psychic damage.
Door Maze
The crystal walls divide the area into discrete chambers. To reach Vecna, the characters must use the diamond doors and figure out how to reach the central chamber (labeled "Vecna" on map 11.5).
Ten diamond doors are set into the crystal walls. Each door has a ruby on one side and a sapphire on the other, and each door is etched with a sigil, as described earlier in the "x" section. The doors, their gemstones, and the etched sigils—represented with labels—are marked on map 11.5.
Characters can teleport to Vecna's central chamber by touching the ruby gemstone on one of the following doors: A2, B1, C1, D1. The characters might need to use some trial and error to figure out which doors lead where. If the characters struggle, allow any character proficient in the Arcana or Investigation skill to figure out which doors lead to where the characters want to go.
Confronting Vecna
Read the following when the characters enter the central chamber where Vecna weaves his ritual:
Vecna the Archlich (see x) is weaving his Ritual of Remaking. He is too focused to pay the characters any mind unless they confront him directly. Vecna is funneling energy into the ritual in addition to the power of the secrets his cult gathered, so the lich is considerably less powerful than he normally is. Unlike the characters, Vecna can move through this area as if its doors were normal.
To achieve victory, the characters must reduce Vecna to 50 hit points or fewer. A character then must use the Chime of Exile to target Vecna, which requires a clear line of sight to him. If a character wields the complete Rod of Seven Parts in this encounter, that character feels the artifact's yearning to preserve the order of the multiverse and stop Vecna's ritual. Each time a character strikes Vecna with the rod, Vecna takes an extra 35 (10d6) psychic damage.
When the characters do this, read the following:
The Chime of Exile sends Vecna hurtling toward his home world of Oerth. Moreover, the sudden cessation of Vecna's ritual causes a chain reaction that destroys the Cave of Shattered Reflection and Vecna's Grasp. Everything except Vecna is sucked through a portal to the Astral Sea, which is where the characters find themselves afterward. As if to punctuate the end of their quest, each character's Vecna's Link vanishes as their connection to the lich is severed.
Conclusion
With Vecna banished to Oerth and his ritual foiled, the characters have saved the multiverse from ruin. (If the characters fail, the multiverse becomes a terrible place indeed!)
Characters who return to the sanctum in Sigil are greeted by Alustriel and Tasha, who immediately begin planning a magnificent celebration in honor of the characters' heroics.
Though stymied, Vecna is far from undone. He might stubbornly attempt to destroy and re-create the multiverse again, or he might formulate a new scheme to bend the cosmos to his will. Either way, it will be some time before a new band of adventurers must rise to defeat the archlich once again.