The Soul Husks Caverns

The cave system here is very extensive, with its deepest recesses a mile and a quarter below the surface. Encampments at ground level hold powerful Urzun orc fighters, orog, and at least three mid-level wizards and priests, who keep watch here at all times together with a phalanx of a dozen vrock, hezrou, and glabrezu. This alone betrays the importance of this site to Iuz.

While these caverns contain no few secrets or monsters, what lies at the core of them is part of the mystery of Iuz's ascension to demipower status. Great magical defenses, including permanent walls of force, prismatic spheres, golems and thassalosses bar the way to those seeking the Soul Husks. Magical wards bar entry via teleport spells or other strategies such as plane shifting or ethereal travel into the core. Within it, some six structures are found which resemble ten-foot-tall chrysalises. Each contains a shriveled remnant of a humanoid form, reputed to be the mortal remains of a powerful wizard or extra-planar creature which had its being extracted by Iuz through some horrific and arcane magical ritual. The energies gained by Iuz in those monstrous rituals are part of his being now. Iuz cannot destroy these remnants, since he would lose part of his power in so doing.

Very, very few sages on Oerth even know that such a place exists, let alone where it is, Mordenkainen and Philidor are among that handful of informed people. Obviously, a strike against this place would weaken Iuz very directly and possibly irreversibly. Such a task, requiring high-level adventurers, is outlined in the Adventures in the Empire chapter.