Two Men, A Halfling and A Dwarf Walk Into A Bar...

After the fight with the Rust Brothers, Walker disposed of the dead bodies and the companions traveled out to Crunan to hide away their living prisoner. Back in Reefs Edge, they found the villagers making ready for the trek eastward towards Bay Head with whatever possessions they could carry. Questioned by Agamon, Krin blamed the murders for forcing the villagers to abandon the village. Retribution from the Rust Brothers would be swift and merciless. Only by fleeing could the village hope to survive. And from the amount of carts slowly rolling east on the road, most of the villagers agreed.
Seeing that the stubborn tavernkeep had decided to remain, the companions settled in for a drink. Humperdink noticed a strange man sitting alone across the table and immediately introduced himself. The strange man, calling himself Melegor, caught Humperdink's attention with some sleight of hand tricks that Humperdink could not duplicate. Agamon and Stensune questioned why Melegor seemed to know so much about them. After prodding from Humperdink, the man agreed to speak about the Stanengist Crown, though he claimed to be limited by some mysterious rules he refused to explain.
According to Melegor, the Dwarves who created the Crown imbued it with strange elements meant to annoy their 'allies', the Elves. While the crown in fact granted the promised powers of mental dominion, the Dwarves made certain any Elf who wore the crown also suffered from an overbearing arrogance that even the most stuffy of elves found obnoxious. What neither Dwarf nor Elf could foresee was the impact the Crown would have on other races. Men were particularly subject to severe changes on contact with the Crown. Dwarven scholars believed the impact on Men was borne of Man's jealousy of the Elven immortality. The magic of the Crown somehow sensed a way to exploit the nature of Man to covet that which he does not have. Upon the heads of Men, the Crown amplified the worst of their nature.
Seeing their mistake, the Dwarves crossed the Elves, stole back the Crown and hid it away with the intention that the Crown would be lost to the world forever.
And now the Crown has been found and is exerting itself with a twisted vengeance born from ages of dormant wasting.