Vimak knows that the Four Holds of the Wolf's Head were taken over by undead during the Dread. In his goliath village, stories were told of the fearsome undead enemies that now swarmed the Wolf's Head. Many goliaths over the centuries have taken pledges to defeat these undead conquerers. None have succeeded.

Vimak grew up knowing a valiant goliath warrior named Dawnbreaker. She was a shaman who received vision from the stars, and a fighter who wielded a massive sword carved from the bones of a fire giant. One day she left on a vision quest, and never returned.

About a year has passed since Vimak's nightmare about the Death House. Though many events were murky, Vimak remembered clearly the vision he had in the crystal orb: a pale giant standing over a valley.

In asking about this vision, Vimak learned something startling; Dawnbreaker herself had received a similar vision from the stars. She had ventured off to the Valley of the Fallen Stars in the Wolf's Head in order to find this giant and defeat it. Dawnbreaker, in her meditations, had learned from the stars that the giant somehow held the Valley of the Fallen Stars in chains. She had also learned its name: the Pale Fellow.

The last message that came back to the village was a letter written by Dawnbreaker, well-worn and barely legible from its long journey. It described a small barony of Rothvel at the edge of the Valley of the Fallen Stars. Dawnbreaker had signed herself up in a tournament of strength, and through it hoped to learn more about the Pale Fellow.

Cab's adventuring group passed Rothvel in the night. They knew it was a barony ruled by Baron Rothvel, an enigmatic and frightening vampire with a passion for hunting and fine dining.