n the Elder Days of the world, the gods wished to test their greatest champions, granting those who passed the tests great powers beyond the means of lesser mortals. Thus was the Avatar Challenge born, as a testing ground for those who would prove themselves worthy. Yet even the greatest heroes may fall prey to corruption, and so it was that a noble avatar, surely twisted and tainted by the vile influences of the Underdark and its evil gods, did reveal the secrets of the Challenge to the lesser mortals.

The wrath of the gods was terrible. The transgressors were cast down, and mortals were denied access to the power of avatars. The Avatar Challenge itself disappeared in a rain of blood and fire.

But over time, even the gods may relent. Though many years passed, at last the gods granted mortals a second chance. A new Avatar Challenge was built, and once again the bravest and most skilled of mortals could strive to earn the power of an avatar.

he Avatar Challenge is a mystical place, one step removed from the mortal world. The worthy must find the entrance, unaided by any other agency mortal or immortal, and then petition the gods for access to the realm beyond the gate. Once within, an adventurer is completely alone, and can rely only on personal skill, courage, and luck. It is forbidden for others to help the quester who seeks the powers of avatars, and the details of the tests that the quester may face are secrets known only to those who have gone before. Were such secrets to be leaked to the world once again, the wrath of the gods would surely be mighty.

The Avatar Challenge's mystical nature, one step out of phase with the world, makes its trials and tests accessible to the heroes of the Surface and the denizens of the Underdark alike. The greatest champions of the noble svirfnebli may test for avatarhood just as those of the Surface races may, and through the agency of the darkest gods, the drow, demons, and other races of darkness may similarly try for the mantle of avatarhood. On exiting the Avatar Challenge, successful questers return to their homeland: thus the evil drow and their allies cannot use this mystical realm as a staging point to launch attacks upon the Surface nations.

Only the most powerful of mortals—level 99 and above—may venture into the gods' testing grounds. For level 100 and each level beyond it, up to the pinnacle of Grand Avatar at 110, they must complete the trials within afresh.