If you enjoyed the dungeon. Here is the thread of lore I was weaving.

(!!!Spoilers!!!)

I injected much of my own head canon in tandem with much of the forgotten realms lore for Greypeak Mountains, as it is one of my favorite regions in Faerun.

It is notable that the mountain region divides the East Black Desert from the Western Sword Coast shelf. It is here in this frontier region that the "Lord's Men" (who are loyal to the Masked Lords of Waterdeep) stand in the path where East meets West.

The Black Desert to the East is where the "Black Network" calls home. The "Black Network" are Zhentarim assassins and mercenary nomads, who taxi travelers through the desert by means of highway extortion. They channel dark magics via the shadowfell (or shadow realm) discovered and mastered in the floating city of Thultanthar. The once lush lands are now choked and glassed over from the Phaerimm wars, whose alien lifeforms bled the lands to what is today: a Black Desert. The alien corpses also left magic voids that create a network of teleportation portals, allowing Black Network Assassins to travel light, in small packs, communicate sensitive information quickly, and use guerrilla tactics to hit and run. They also are the region of where most magic relics were created by the Netherese Wizards of he first age. With no ultimate leadership, and no real loyalties to anything or anyone but the code of which they survive, these mercenary nomads trade false flag secrets to the highest bidder; and as you can imagine, this makes the region East of the Greypeaks, HIGHLY problematic for the capitalists of the West who wish to mine and uncover lost relics.

It is also notable that the Greypeak mountains are sacred to Cloud Giants, who are 10'-20' tall wizards from the plane of air. For reasons beyond this author's knowing, this mountain is sacred to them. Perhaps it is their landing pad; the place that bridges the gap between their heaven and their earth. Hill giants who serve the cloud giants roam the Greypeaks, hunting any intruders who would be caught roaming their sacred lands. The mountain is a danger unto itself, as it is difficult to traverse in large numbers.

So imagine a border between two territories that is the size of mount Everest being guarded by Giants, dividing the ideologues of California and the ideologues of Afghanistan. Neither can march an army over the mountain, so they endlessly proxy war in small conflicts over who owns what. The colonized Sword Coast region is what it is today because of the relics and resources that were taken west during Netherese migration, and the tribal nomads of the East want to reclaim their lands, their minerals, their relics, and restore the once great people of the Netherese, but lack the systems of government that could mobilize them against the machine of the West. That is "Greypeaks". Got it?

Enter Almoc Steelgren: Friend of Giants and Man; The bastion of the great divide. This Dwarven lord of clan Steelgren is a descendant of the Ammarindar Kingdom, who tunneled and networked much of the Greypeaks' underbelly.

During the 4th era, Lord Almoc was a essentially a billionaire playboy. They say his magic was in his commanding voice, and his truesight would allow him to see directly into the hearts of those he spoke. His cunning and wit built a vast clan of true believers. Although not worshiped, and not quite a cult either, Almoc was revered and exulted, even by the servants who did not bare his clan's name. Almoc did not see power in money, but in people. Almoc invested into his people, and even his lowest of servants lived lives that most kings would envy. Loyalty to Almoc was just as strong as any king or patron, but even still, Almoc knew his place at the table as a Lord, and not as a king. This made him an enemy of the East.

Almoc had several concubines, and even built a resting ground next to his own tomb for each of them.

But by the 5th era, as silver, iron, and gold ores became more scarce, Almoc and his underground network ceased to exist on the surface world. So what happened?

Enter Aksha, or "Queen" Aksha as you may know her. She was the only woman Almoc's truesight could not see through, and this mystery enticed him into romance like a fly to a venus trap.

Aksha was Almoc's most beloved concubine. He was enthralled by her, quite literally. Even tho Almoc was only a Lord, he crowned himself the King of Ammarindar ( a long lost civilization) , and demanded that she be called "Queen". In time, Almoc went mad. He became paranoid and agoraphobic. He accused his other concubines of conspiracy, and exiled them to the East, leaving only Queen Aksha in his bed.

Queen Aksha could not bare children, so as a sign of his love, he sterilized all of his servant men into eunuchs. He captured a baby green dragon for Aksha to keep as a pet. The dragon bonded with her, and as it matured, acted as her body guard.

Concerned for his well-being, clan Steelgren approached the mad king to appeal to his rationale and traditional sensibilities, but it was as though he was possessed.

Almoc takes a necromancer into his employ as royal Vizier, and conspires to stalk, capture and kill miners who worked for surface companies in the settlement of Llork. These surface miners were seen as an intrusion on his "kingdom". After Almoc's disappearance, Mining companies formed to scour the mountains for what little resources remained. The Greypeaks were a shell of depleted resources by then, and cave-ins were a frequent excuse for disappearing miners. The necromancer would be a key roll to play later in this story.

With loyal sycophant servants dying off or fleeing his mountain one by one, Almoc was quickly becoming the King of nothing. Additionally, he was slowly going blind and mute from the medicine his Queen prescribed for his anxiety and fits of rage. This medicine was poison taken from her green dragon.

Eventually, in a moment of divine clarity, the veil is lifted from Almoc's eyes. Ironically, he was blind and mute. He realizes that all he had is now lost, and the respectable lord of a vast empire is now the king of a collapsing graveyard of dead servants. The poison was built in his throat to the point that if he were to speak, it would most likely kill him.

Almoc turned his ire to Queen Aksha, but the damage was already done. She was captured and taken into custody by the necromancer and his skeletal "Kingsguard". After intense interrogation, she admitted to being a part of the Black Network, and she was shielded from Almoc's truesight by Netherese Magics. Queen Aksha had achieved her goal: to infiltrate Clan Steelgren and dismantle it from within.

Broken hearted, betrayed, blind and mute, all Almoc could do was listen as she explained how she destroyed the Dwarven Lord's empire. By the royal Vizier's suggestion, Queen Aksha was infected with undeath; specifically, vampirism, where she became a brood thrall. She was wrapped in silver wire twine and buried alive in a secret crypt with no doors or windows.

The green dragon, loyal to Queen Aksha, assaulted the crypt where the torture took place. As it ripped through the tomb to save her, Almoc and his Kingsgaurd trapped it in a hall, where they collapsed the exit tunnel. And in his dying breath, Almoc yelled out his mighty voice one last time, to curse the halls with death glyphs: A simple but hard to break spell which allows all to enter but none to escape. The dragon, was trapped in the mountain tomb, where it sleeps to this day.

The royal Vizier necromancer, his undead kingsguard, and his pet spider, were all who remained. The Necromancer continued to kidnap miners for many years following the end of Almoc's Kingdom.

As time passed, a group of miners discovered the Tomb and decided to do a "moonlight" mission to collect some treasures off the clock. Among them were Gus, Simon, Sanchez (later known as pickle Sanchez) and "Bossman". Gus liked to press buttons, literally, and a mechanical error caused a cave-in, separating the crew. The disturbance woke many of the sleeping dead. Gus died from a trap at his own camp. Simon died from an undead ankle bite while crawling through a hole. "Bossman" died from starvation while waiting on Gus or Simon to unlock a door to a room he was trapped, and "Pickle Sanchez" died when bossman ate him.

Fast forward to now.

The Dragon Cult are LARPers who are obsessed with remnants of Almoc's kingdom. They swore to protect the tomb for generations, and keep it away from grave robbers. They worship the imprisoned dragon as their patron, and they send offerings of human meals into the death glyph trap for the dragon to feast and gain strength. The oppressive spirit of the tomb, however, has risen one High Priest to take rank over the sect, but leadership is fragile and the cult is barely held together by a frail hierarchy.

When the Black Network learned that Aksha was still alive, they sent a spy to monitor the situation. The Zhentarim also had invested interest in Queen Aksha's rare condition, but were only observing until the time was right to free her. The Black Network Spy that infiltrated the Dragon Cult (along with a hired mercenary warlord) was enticed by the decadence of Western culture, and in a foolish act of drunken debauchery, told a gnome prospector about the tomb and it's location while partying in Llork.

The gnome went on to Waterdeep, and lost his journal in a card game, which is how you got the map to the Tomb's entrance. You then put a team together, and set out to loot what you thought was a virgin crypt.

And that's the story. lol.
Cheers!