"Of course," the fungi queen burbled. The huge, ugly toad hopped away from the mound that was Zuggtmoy, taking a place of its own next to the demoness, and suddenly changed into an evil-visaged dwarf. "Obmi, bow to King Graz'zt," commanded Zuggtmoy. The dwarf lowered his head slightly and briefly, the scowl never leaving his face. At the same time Graz'zt looked to the side, formed his mouth into a sneer, and elevated his head in an expression of haughtiness and contempt.

"And who will you have as yours then, dark one?" Iggwilv asked.

Graz'zt, after a moment of thought, gestured to a succubus somewhere distant on his right side. As she came toward the group, the demon prince uttered a string of barely audible syllables, and by the time she reached Graz'zt's side her true nature became apparent. This was no real demon but a drow, one of the evil race of dark elves of Oerth. "I present Eclavdra, My chosen representative in your contest," said Graz'zt to Iggwilv, pointedly ignoring Zuggtmoy and Obmi.

"So be it," said the witch. "Now, let us set the rules and discuss the distractions we must cause to mask the affair. It would not do to have others of unwanted sort seeking our prize."

"Others?" This word came from Graz'zt and Zuggtmoy simultaneously.

"What I have gleaned, others can also learn," Iggwilv admitted in a grudging tone. "The Hierophants, the Cabal, or that old fart Mordenkainen — not to mention the Brotherhood, Hades, or Hell's martinets."

"Just what have you learned, human?" Graz'zt snarled.

Iggwilv deliberately did not speak right away, to make the point that she was volunteering information rather than giving it in response to the demon prince's demand. The Ashen Desert hides much," she began. "The great metropolis of the empire vanished beneath the dust is now known only as the City Out of Mind. The masters of the lost empire ruled from that city, and they used the Theorpart in their final battle. It lies there now, buried beneath a blanket of dust so deep that scarcely a trace of the city can be seen from the surface."