Descent into Avernus

(Jeff_L) #1

Meanwhile, refugees from Elturgard continue to arrive


with dire claims that nothing remains of Elturel except a


crater in the ground.


Among those fleeing Elturgard are several Hellrid-


ers-paladins who have sworn oaths to defend Elturel.


Those warriors escaped the city's fate only because they


weren't in Elturel when it fell, and the Flaming Fist has


taken to arresting them on sight, lest they try to stir up


trouble in Baldur's Gate. The Hell riders are not going


quietly, however, leadfog to violence and bloodshed.


EvIL IN BALDUR's GATE


Without Ulder Ravengard to stay their hand, Flaming


Fist captains are brutally exercising their autonomy un-


der the veneer of maintaining order. They've closed the


outer gates to keep Baldur's Gate safe from the refugee


"threat," effectively trapping Baldurians behind their


own waJls. With the Flaming Fist distracted by the ref-


ugee crisis, city folk are being hunted and murdered in


the streets by cultists of the Dead Three- the evil gods


Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul. Without the Flaming Fist to


curtail them, these cultists have grown bold and now


move freely within the city, their activities financed and


supported in secret by Duke Thalamra Vanthampur.


Among the first refugees to arrive at Baldur's Gate


was none other than Thavius Kreeg, the architect of


Elturel's doom. Duke Vanthampur is sheltering Kreeg


in the dungeon beneath her villa until such time as


Baldur's Gate suffers the same fate as Elturel. Like


Kreeg, the Vanthampur family is firmly in debt to Zariel,


the archdevil of Avernus. Using money purloined from


Tiamat's hoard by Zariel's minions on Avernus, Duke


Vantbampur hired Dead Three cultists to stir up trou-


ble while her sons stole the Shield of the Hidden Lord


from a tomb beneath the city. Using the power of this


magic shield, Duke Vanthampur and Thavius Kreeg


believe they can bring about the downfall of BaJdur's


Gate in much the same way the Companion was used


against Elturel. The shield binds the essence of a pow-


erful devil named Gargauth, whose presence in Baidu r's


Gate has fomented much of the evil that lurks in the


hearts of the city's residents.


To save Baldur's Gate, the adventurers must defeat


the Dead Three cultists, track down their evil financiers,


wrest the Shield of the Hidden Lord from Duke Van-


thampur, and pursue Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard into


the Nine Hells.


RUNNING THIS CHAPTER


Diagram 1.1 is a flowchart that presents the key events


ofthis chapter in sequence. The adventurers begin


as 1st-level characters, advancing to 2nd level if they


survive the encounter in Elf song Tavern (page 16)


and 3rd level after conquering the dungeon of the Dead


Three (page 20). The challenges they must overcome


at the Low Lantern (page 28) and Vanthampur Villa


(page 32) are great enough to advance them to 4th


level. After conquering the sewer complex below the


villa (page 37) and obtaining valuable information at


Candlekeep (page 45), the characters advance to 5th


level before entering the Nine Hells in chapter 2.


r THE BASILIS K GATE
For characters of level 1

Shortly after their arrival at the Basilisk Gate, the


adventurers are drafted by a Flaming Fist captain


and instructed to seek out and destroy Dead Three


followers responsible for a murder spree.


r ELFSONG TAVERN


For characters of level^1


The adventurers question a spy named Tarina. In


exchange for their help, she tells them where the


Dead Three followers are hiding.


I DUNGEON OF THE DEAD THREE
j For characters of level^2

The adventurers corner the Dead Three followers


and one of Duke Vanthampur's sons in a dungeon


before a chance encounter with Tiamat's cultists.


r -- THE LOW LANTERN


r


r


For characters of level 3


The characters confront another of Duke Van-


thampur's sons at a wharf-side tavern called the


Low Lantern. There, they meet a fugitive Hellrider J


named Reya Mantlemorn..


VANTHAMPU R VILLA
For characters of level^3

Armed with evidence that Duke Vanthampur is


a clear and present danger to Baldur's Gate, the


adventurers attack her villa and acquire an infernal


puzzle box from the last of her three sons.


UNDER THE VILLA
For chara cters of level^4

In the dungeon and sewers beneath Vanthampur


Villa, the adventurers encounter Thavius Kreeg


and find the Shield of the Hidden Lord.


r CANDLEKEEP ~
For characters of level 4. •. I

The adventurers take Thavius Kreeg's infernal


puzzle box to a tiefling sage at CandJekeep. To save


Elturel, she gives them a map of Avernus, a way to


reach the Nine Hells. and a hollyphant guide. __)


DIAGRAM 1. 1: CHAPTER I f"LOW(;HART

CHAPTER I I A TALE OF TWO C ITIF.S fl
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