Dressed in only the most comfortable robes and slippers, with a thirst that can only be sated by 72 varieties of hot teas, Werdna is a former figure of myth who was reduced to a doddering old man after 10,000 years of solitude.
The party first learned of Werdna when they hid inside a cave to escape the pursuit of Langen and Vambrace and Din Guardi, and eventually took the party underneath a tower constructed by the wizard thousands of years ago.
Two illusory projections greeted the party; the first was of Werdna obviously at a later time in his life, befuddled and inarticulate, playful and dismissive. The second was an earlier incarnation; thoughtful and articulate, who warned the party about the Xanthan Orb hidden away underneath the tower.
Once the party reached the Xanthan Orb were a crystalline remnant of the fallen deity. As Werdna wanted the Xanthan Orb to be kept separate, and never used for evil, he left resources in his tower for use by any good-hearted adventurers who might find them in his absence.
Among these resources was Werdna's contract devil, Rebecca, who coerced the party into freeing her from the containment circle Werdna had used to trap her. The party struck a deal with the devil to locate Werdna for her, and set off. Since then, the party learned almost nothing more of Werdna until they reached the far shores of Lake Parime and found the underground library of Barraiya.
There they learned that Werdna once went by the title "Xanthan, as well as placards containing prose penned by the wizards themselves, the party learned that Werdna had committed murder and that the wizards had parted ways after creating a sunken city, Gnilda's sigil at the bottom of the library, it began to flood, and the party barely escaped alive.
Following the trail to the east, the party learned that the town of Xanthan while they still lived. Killed and reanimated by the final blast which destroyed Xanthan, the Undead were nevertheless unable to tell the party much that they did not already know, as they had simply been uninformed soldiers in a deadly war.
Finally arriving at Hybrasil, fighting their way past deadly traps and foes, losing half their number in the process, the party finally located Werdna. Unfortunately they were in no position to extract information from him, between their distress at losing traveling companions, and Werdna's incoherent and forgetful state of mind.
No sooner did the party break the enchantment holding Hybrasil beneath the water, than a ship from Dios Thronos approached, bearing Cardinal Hargrave Syn and a regiment of paladins with orders to retrieve the party and take Werdna into custody.
Werdna was saved from any length of time in the prisons of Rebecca) and Werdna attended a Rebecca) about how to help recover Werdna's sanity.
With no progress made on restoring his sanity through more conventional means, Steve a deal - his soul, with some conditions, for three wishes. One of these wishes was used to restore Werdna's sanity, although the party has yet to encounter the wizard again after having done so.