The Flame of Faerun continued clearing out Thundertree Ruins and eventually fought a Bone Roc in the main tower of the Thundertree ruins. Upon it's defeat, The Flame of Faerun found a fairly sizable chunk of black rock along with some treasure from the chest in the room.
Upon touching the stone, The Flame of Faerun felt themselves being pulled by almost a supernatural force. They found themselves transported to some otherworldly place where a woman with sunkissed skin and white hair was sitting reading a book, looked up, shocked by the party materializing in her home, and instinctively grabbed the wand at her side exlaiming "By the gods! Who are you, and how did you get into my home?!" After calming her concerns and introducing themselves, the woman introduced herself as Alustriel Silverhand and told them about the Obelisk she had recently came into possession of, her accounts of her involvement with Vecna, and how they should procees with the recent developments with Vecna possibly resurfacing.
Alustriel concluded that the Obelisk could probably transport The Flame of Faerun close to the nearest shard if she concentrated hard enough. After telling the party that she believed the a shard was located in the mouth of a giant bronze statue of a frog. She told them that it was in a place called Thither, once home to a hag named Balvorna, but it may have moved since then. Alustriel then had the party touch the obelisk and she concentrated and teleported them close to the shard's location.
The Flame of Faerun found themselves moving through space, images warped in nightmarish blacks, dark and inky. A distant spot of color began to form, almost fog-like, but deep crimson. Red-washed scenery of a town with endless streets and alleyways stretch out, the buildings mostly in ruins. In the sky, engulfing the entire field of view is Vecna himself. The Flame recognized his raspy voice from when he materialized in the sewers. He spoke "I see you are growing closer, and that you travel within my realm. You may pass through for now. But there will be a time soon where we will meet and you will be my final key." The Flame of Faerun's vision went dark. As their eyes adjusted, they found themselves standing in front of a large majestic palace.