Campaign Phases

Phase 1: Begins of Heroes (Local Conflict-Ends around Lv. 4-6) This is the beginnings of our heroes journey into renown. They will tackle many small feats to build their reputation in the surrounding lands. These disconnected events will lead them to be sought after to aid in....
Phase 2: The Unholy Plague (Mild World Conflict-Ends around Lv. 12-16) After completing phase 1 the conflict rises in intensity. Sprinkled throughout phase 1 will be foreshadowing of undead occurring more and more. This is due to the presence of the undead Lich Acererak. Acererak's plan is to plunge the world into undeath to defile all that is good in the world. This is mainly to due with a pact with Bhaal, god of Murder. He also wants to do it to see if he can being the true wizard he his/was. This plan runs country to the Black Hysterium's goals. If the whole world dies before they can be broken of all hope the Great Old One's wisdom will never be obtained en masse. So Cyrus, will lead the players through his contacts in the various alliance agencies i.e. Lords Alliance, the Harpers... This event also gives Cyrus the opportunity to give great hope to the lands to soon vanquish.
Phase 3: The Eldritch Reckoning (World Cataclysm) Once the undead plague and Acererak are dealt with, Cyrus and his cult followers are able to put the final plans of the last attempt into motion. The players will be gathered together and explained to about the existence of Black Hysterium and the history behind them. They will either come to the conclusion or be told that they have played the fool the entire time. Cyrus has molded each of them to become the heroes to allow his plans to come to fruition. The main way this was accomplished was by raising them to heroic status to inspire hope in a better tomorrow and by eliminating the greatest threat to their plan, the lich king. Mass raids and attacks will begin occurring across the world. Portals to the shadowfell and feywild will be opened. Residents of those dimensions will come seeking revenge believing certain kingdoms to be the reason behind hardships that have occurred during the heroes rise. Other horrors will take place. This is all to cause all mortals to begin to break in their resolves. Turning everyone against each other. When Cyrus believes enough hardship and horror has befallen the world, he will enact the Rite of Enlightenment. The players will then have to race against the clock to interrupt this ritual. If they arrive in time, this is where the players will actually confront Cyrus as a villain for the first time. If they defeat him the rite fails and they stop many of the eldritch horrors that begin to occur at the start of the ritual. If they fail, an madness will begin to spread over all of the world. To the great horror of Cyrus this summons the Great Old One that bestowed him his insanity.