Neverwinter Nights : Hordes of the Underdark Neverwinter Nights : Hordes of the Underdark is the second expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights . New features included new prestige classes , tilesets , monsters and the ability to craft items . The key new feature of the expansion , though , was the introduction of epic levels , which allowed players to theoretically achieve level 40 . Campaign Storyline . Chapter one . The story follows on some time after . The player character from that campaign has emerged from the Plane of Shadow with a relic which , when used , transports you to a place inhabited by a creature known as the Reaper . He will bring you back to his realm if you die and send you back to the place where you died . Also , by expending the inherent magic in a rogue stone you can " bind " a place to the relic , allowing you to transport yourself to that place from inside the Realm of the Reaper . Every attempt to get rid of the relic is futile . Answering the call for heroes to save Waterdeep from an assault of Underdark creatures emerging from the Undermountain , you have travelled to the city and arrived at the Yawning Portal , where Durnan gives you a free room . After a strange , vivid dream involving a Drow priestess being told that you were the one who was going to defeat her according to some supernatural source , you wake to the sight of a dark elf thief stealing your equipment . You kill the thief but your equipment is lost , having been teleported away somewhere . Durnan tells you that the drow have been assassinating prominent people in the city . The inn is then attacked by drow and duergar , killing most of the patrons before you can drive them into the portal room , where they are defeated . Moments later , a beholder levitates up the well and knocks you and some of the others down . Four adventurers ( Tomi , Sharwyn , Daelan and Linu from the original campaign ) charge off down the well after it . A cleric of Sune resurrects the dead and gives you a magic al rod that will bring back the quartet who rushed off , in case they should have run into a trap and perished . The kobold bard Deekin turns up and offers his services ; since he was short - changed by the publishers when he sold his original book about you , he wants to make another one . He also thinks that you would be the only person to accept him after the bad treatment that he ' d received locally . The player character then enters Undermountain and traverses three levels of the dungeon , potentially finding and raising the four other adventurers - who become available as henchmen - settling a dispute between a tribe of Ogre s and a group of Fey ( one way or another ) and discovering the reasons for the recent attacks . You find out that a Drow calling herself the Valsharess ( the priestess you dreamed of ) has captured Halaster and , using the Silence of Lolth as a distraction , somehow conquered the surrounding Underdark , creating a vast army out of its inhabitants . She has now begun an invasion of the surface world , starting with Waterdeep . You are also told by a dark elf named Nathyrra that there is a resistance movement and she wants you to help as you are the only thing that the Valsharess fears . You find your equipment and , with the help of Nathyrra , assault the base where Halaster is being kept . You break the wards holding him when a clone of Halaster arrives , just too late to help . While the two mad mages argue amongst themselves about who is the real Halaster you pipe up and are immediately placed under a " geas " to stop the Valsharess ' plans from succeeding before he teleport s you away , accompanied by Nathyrra by her request . Chapter two . You arrive in the Temple of Lolth in the dark elf town of Lith My ' athar , where a fragile alliance exists between the native Lolth - worshipers and a group of Eilistraee followers led by The Seer , a powerful Eilistraeean priestess who explains how the Valsharess has gotten this far . It seems that she has somehow bound the arch - devil Mephistopheles , the lord of Cania , into her service . The Seer tasks you with weakening the Valsharess ' s armies before she makes her inevitable strike on the town . You can achieve this by bargaining with or destroying her allies . When the attack finally comes , the Valsharess ' s force is weak enough for you and the defenders of Lith My ' athar to handle . You are then to lead the assault on the Valsharess ' fortress , but the Valsharess commands Mephistopheles to teleport you to her throne room alone . He does so and you find yourself alone , trapped in a magical cage . She orders him to kill you but he refuses , killing her guards and releasing you from your cage . You kill the Valsharess and Mephistopheles reveals his betrayal . Apparently , the Relic of the Reaper was a plant . His and your fates were intertwined with the relic and by ordering him to kill you , the Valsharess broke her pact with him . Mephistopheles banishes the player character to Cania and prepares to start his own conquest of the surface . Chapter three . Back in the Realm of the Reaper , you find that neither you or your companions ( who were killed by Mephistopheles ) can bring yourselves back to life on the Prime Material . The Reaper explains things , saying that Mephistopheles knows his true name and thus is in complete control of him , and has banned him from allowing you to go back to Toril . If you learn the Reaper ' s true name too , however , then you could command him to let you back . He tells you to walk through a door behind him , one that previously barred your passage . Upon doing so you find yourself in Cania and soon discover that Mephistopheles is using the souls here to re - animate the corpses killed in the Valsharess ' s war in order to take over Toril so that he can turn it into the new lowest level of hell , putting him above Asmodeus in the infernal hierarchy . In addition to discovering the soul of Aribeth de Tylmarande ( who can then follow you , either as a blackguard or a paladin depending on your choices ) you find out that the Knower of Names , a former lover of Mephistopheles , betrayed and imprisoned by him on this plane , would know the Reaper ' s name . You set out to find her , braving this hell ' s painfully cold temperatures and other dangers to free her and learn the Reaper ' s name . You speak it to him and he sends you back to Toril whereupon you find that Mephistopheles has made it to Waterdeep . You defeat Mephistopheles , either in combat or by using his true name if you managed to find it out , and once you ' ve beaten him are lauded as the savior of the world . Index . Notable characters . Aribeth de Tylmarande • Durnan • Halaster • Mephistopheles • Reaper • Valsharess Notable locations . Planes : Hell • Prime Material Plane Regions : Cania • Underdark • Waterdeep Settlements : Drearing ' s Deep • Lith My ' athar • Waterdeep • Zorvak ' mur Geography : Undermountain • Shaori ' s Fell • Isle of the Maker Notable creatures . avariel • beholder • demon • deva • devil • djinn • dracolich • dragon ( blue ) • drider • drow • duergar • formian • frost giant • goblin • golem ( mithril , flesh , stone ) • grig • harpy • kobold • mind flayer • mummy • ogre • rakshasa • vampire • vrock • worg