In the Shadowfell, amid the dark depths of the Sea of Shadows, at the center of an island surrounded by storms.
Jergal's mummified form descended here, and the Lord of the End of Everything waited expressionlessly for his visitor.
Jergal was not native to the Realms. This Ancient God of Death was actually a Spellweaver, an alien species. He had been lured here by the war between the Sarrukh and the Spellweavers, only to remain in the Realms through a twist of fate. As their war escalated, the Spellweavers gradually lost ground. To reverse their fortunes, they sent agents to infiltrate the Sarrukh's Isstosseffifil, and Jergal was one of them.
Before Jergal could play his part, however, the Sarrukh of the Isstosseffifil Empire unleashed a great flood that utterly destroyed the Phaerimm and the Spellweavers. Their overwhelming victory also caused an enormous ecological disaster, indirectly bringing about the destruction of the Wuhai empire.
This rendered the Spellweaver infiltrators' existence meaningless. All the Spellweavers chose to return to the Spellweaver Empire in the multiverse, except Jergal. He joined Bethis, an organization founded by the Wuhai to collect other races' magic, and helped compile the World Serpent's Golden Skin. Once the compilation was complete, he left Bethis-according to one account, he also killed all its leaders before leaving.
By then, several thousand years had passed. Even as a Spellweaver, Jergal was nearing the end of his lifespan. He chose somewhere to hibernate to prolong his life. Before falling asleep, he made countless secret arrangements concerning matters great and small throughout the Realms, confident that everything would unfold according to his plans.
Yet when he awoke from a slumber lasting tens of thousands of years, Jergal discovered that the Spellweaver Empire had attempted "psionic ascension," seeking to raise their entire race to godhood,