Descent into Avernus

(Jeff_L) #1

52


NCE A HOLY CITY WHOSE FOLK VENERATED
Lathander, Torm, Helm, and Tyr. Elturel

is now a site of doom and despair tethered


some five hundred feet above the River

Styx. Eight gre 1t chains bind the city to


jagged posts of infernal iron, which stick up
out of the ground like gargantuan spikes.

(See "Climbing Down" at the end of this


chapter for a full description of the infernal

chains.) The bottoms of those spikes are


guarded by scores of devils, making escaping the city


by climbing down an arduous task. The Companion, the


second sun that provided so much solace and protection


to the city for years, now glares down on Elturel like a
baleful eye- a black void crackling with lightning.

One circumstance has saved the city from being over-


run by devils: a massive surge of demons attacking the
devils' positions on the ground. Forced to fend off these
demonic hordes, the devils must bide their time until

they have the resources to send troops to subjugate the


remaining citizens of Elturel. Even so, random demons,


devils, and other creatures have infiltrated the city. The


characters have time to learn about Elturel's situation

and enact a way to save the city before it is lost.


Even as the characters get their bearings, they hear a


cacophonous tumult taking place far beneath the city.

An endless stream of demons crawls forth from the


murky waters of the River Styx, to be met by the ordered

forces of Avernus auempting lo drive them back. This


battle continues for the entirety of the characters' stay
in Elturel.

CHAPTER 2 ) El.TU REI. HAS FAl..l..EN

RUNNING 'THIS CHAPTER
Diagram 2.1 is a flowchart that presents the key events
of this chapter in sequence.

The adventurers should be 5th level when they arrive


in Elturel. They begin on the east side of the city, where


the immediate danger is greatest. With or without Reya
Mantlemorn to guide them, the characters make their

way toward the High Hall cathedral. Once they rid the


cathedral and its catacombs of fiends, the adventurers
should be 6th level.
NPC survivors cowering in the crypts under the High
Hall cathedral urge the characters to locate Grand Duke

Ulder Ravengard of Baldur's Gate, who has emerged as


Elturel's unlikeliest savior. This quest leads the char-


acters to the chapel in Elturel's grand cemetery, where

Ulder Ravengard has fallen into a psychic coma after


coming into telepathic contact with the demon lord

Baphornet. After seeing Ravengard safely back to the


High Hall and ridding him of his malady, the characters

should be 7th level and ready to leave Elturel in search


of the means to free the city from its chains and return


what's left of it to FaerOn.

ARRIVAL IN ELTUREL


A plane shift spell transports Traxigor the wizard and


up to eight other creatures to Elturel, including Lulu the


hollyphant and Reya Mantlemorn if she's still with the
party. When the group arrives in Elturel, read the fol-
lowing boxed text aloud to the players:
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