Diadem of Triumph and Amulet of the Dead Lore

The Dwarves had carved caves deep into the mountains of Rhodezephrys long before the Children had come from Isulstad. Before even the making of the Inner Sea, Mare On, when the lands surrounding the Mountain of the Gods were not sea but a vast plain of field and flower. Before the Hammer of Telassón struck the mountains asunder to pour his protection around the Mountain of the Gods, creating Isulstad, the cradle of man’s rebirth into this world.
In an age forgotten, masters of stone, the Dwarves made a world of unimaginable wonder beneath the earth. Cities of magnificent grandeur, stretching the length of mountain ranges. Cavernous Great Halls carved straight from the stone of craftsmanship unseen of in time such as now, where man has long been separated from his Makers. They constructed gateways into their underworld, hidden doors in crevasses of rock. Few dwarves ever left their dwellings, but at times they wished to visit kin across the Great Plain in the mountains beyond.
One of these such Dwarves, a grizzled adventurer named Snoggri, had recently returned from a delve deep into the lair of a fire demon. Slaying the beast, he had torn its eyes from their sockets when he discovered them to be immense rubies. He then took the gems to the greatest jewel crafter, Herul Korg, who would, centuries later, during the Golden Age forge the Helm of Sight for Anaxaneas.
Herul worked long with the precious stones, perfectly carving the edges into the finest jewels. Then taking True Gold from the veins of the earth, he wrought a crown of unspeakable beauty. He placed the gigantic rubies upon its brow. Great power was invested into the Diadem of Triumph’s shaping. Though that was not the name he gave it. Smul-off-kor-ing was the Dwarven title for this wonderous icon of power, meaning the band plucked from the fire of the earth.
Snoggri, the dwarf, sought to take his new treasure to a young maiden far to the east. He left his home through one of their hidden entrances and set off across the wide plains alone. Many long months he journeyed before he came to the White Mountains, rearing tall and magnificent before him. Snoggri had not been to these mountains for many long years, but he remembered the way.
Coming to the hidden entrance to his kin’s home in the dead of night, he was attacked by foul creatures. Some stories spoke of wolves walking on two feet, others of great bearish monstrosities. A few even claimed that it was men who attacked him. Time has swept the truth from the story, however. The Diadem was taken and Snoggri was left for dead. His kin found him dying in the snow. And all he spoke of was the treasure and its wonderous light.
Parties were sent out to find the attackers, but none found a trace of where they had gone. It was not for thousands of years later, when Anaxaneas emerged from the White Mountains, that the Diadem of Triumph was seen again. Anaxaneas only ever gave hints as to its resting place. He spoke of ancient powers and enemies vying for its possession. A fire burning bright within the earth, waiting for him to pluck it.
Anaxaneas never wore the crown himself though, but lay it upon the brow of his daughter, Na’daren the gifted, ancestor of the current Matriarch of Tetricala who would now face off against descendants of that hallowed hero Anaxaneas in the sons of Merrodan, Hexolian and Herrodan. All is one timeless circle. A circle of endless blood will flow, for the Sons of Merrodan will have no other claimant to their hegemony in the West. They besiege Tetricala now and seek to take the Diadem from the Matriarch for their own, solidifying their claim to imperial power as they marched East in conquest.
New History-
Na’daren was then deceived by followers of the Sphinx Karaxima (The undead Sphinx) to wear a necklace with her diadem. The necklace held power over the dead. In the city of Tetricala, the dead are kept there by its power, with Zulmat’s son Death himself unable to claim their souls. The souls instead feed the power of the wearer of the Amulet of the Dead, only controllable by the Diadem of Triumph. But there is a price as Na’daren herself was trapped as well. 
She died while in the fortress outside of Tetricala where she liked to stay in the summers and her spirit is now eternal bound to this place and susceptible to the power of the Sphinx Karaxima. Binding others to her will with by purple crystals, she forces them to do her bidding. When the Sphinx was bound to the Underworld, she was free to do as she liked, mostly just scare people from coming into her lair. But once freed, the Undead Sphinx now controls her, turning her into a Banshee ghost and forcing her to bind others with her crystals to mine for more and aid in the Undead Sphinx’s plans.
The Undead Sphinx was awakened by cultists on a small island in Thelune’s Gap. Its grave long hidden was revealed to them by followers of Yaldabaal. Now free, the Undead Sphinx schemes to return to Tetricala, where she was defeated by Na’daren’s granddaughter, with the aid of one Harold T. Boreguard, and slay all there, destroying the city utterly. The armies of Rhodez have allied with Yaldabbal and the Undead Sphinx to defeat the city’s defenses, one of the chief ones being the Undead Sphinx’s Amulet of the Dead. If they can take the amulet from the city, it will no longer be able to defend itself from magical attacks. While there it can be used by the Matriarch with the Diadem of Triumph to protect the city completely. Their other scheme to take the city down is the use of the gnomish plague doctor and his warlock allies, Ront and Kilgore.