Descent into Avernus

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

rr6


If the characters become belligerent or demanding,


Bel sighs and snaps his fingers, causing the infernal


chains to fall off the fire giants. He promises freedom to


any fire giant that kills an intruder, prompting the giants


to attack the characters without mercy. Bel then steeples

ltis fingers and watches the battle unfold. In battle, the


fire giants hurl buckets, tools, and heavy chains instead
of boulders. They also try to shove enemies into chan-
nels of molten lava.
If the characters defeat the fire giants, Bel commends

their victory and offers them the same deal as before.


If the characters refuse him a second time, Bel smiles
and says, "A pity. All those poor people in Elturel were

counting on you." He then offers to teleport them out of


his fortress, so they can be on their way. Gracious host


that Bel is, he won't attack the characters directly unless

they attack him first, in which case he casts imprison-


ment on a party member (LuJu being his first choice). If


the spell works, Bel vows to release his prisoner once


the nine adamantine rods are found and returned to


him, no questions asked.

DEVELOPMENT


When the characters are ready to leave his forge, Bel


teleports them back to the surface. If the characters

agreed to Bel's terms, an imp named Balakros is wait-


ing for them when they return to the surface. Bel in-


structs the imp to help the characters reach the sibriex.


The imp has performed this task before and knows,


without having to be told, that its orders include report-


ing back to Bel and whispering everything the sibriex
said into its master's ear.
If characters refuse to let Balakros accompany them,

the imp bids them farewell, turns invisible, and follows


them at a respectful distance.

R1VER TRAVEL

Balakros offers to lead the characters to an iron barge


moored on the shore of the River Styx. An iron road


leads from Bel's volcano to the barge, and it's patrolled

by bearded devils that won't attack the characters as


long as Balakros is leading them. Lashed to the sides of


the barge are demon skuJls and bones. Characters who


travel by barge must pass underneath the Stygian Dock


(see page 123) on their way to the sibriex.

The barge is 30 feet long, 15 feet wide, and sturdy


enough to transport up to two Huge infernal war ma-


chines. Twelve merregons (see page 238 for their


stat block) under the command of a bone devil named


Krinjak operate the barge's oars. Krinjak's instructions


are to take the characters where they need to go. AJ-


though it professes loyalty to Bel, Krinjak is secretly a


spy for Zariel. After taking the characters as close to


the sibriex as the River Styx allows, it flies off to warn


Zariel that the characters are working for Bel.


OVERLAND TRAVEL
If the characters wouJd rather travel to the sibriex in

some other fashion, Balakros the imp offers to serve


as their overland guide, since it knows where


the sibriex is. It can also point to the sibriex's


location on the characters' map of Avernus.


CHAPTER 3 I AVERNUS

SIBRIEX


A BREEDER OF HORRORS AND A HOARDER OF SECRETS, A
sibriex is said to be as old as the Abyss.

- The Cartographer


When the characters arrive at this location, read or


paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:


Spiky chains lash a fifteen-foot-diameter, floating blob
of quivering flesh to a 20-foot-tall wrought-iron scaffold.
Two fiends wrapped in chains stand atop the scaffold,
torturing the bloated creature's flesh by tightening its
chains. Demon ichor oozes from its wounds, forming a
shallow pool around the scaffolding.
A third, jackal-headed fiend uses a bronze horn to yell
loudly at the bloated prisoner in multiple languages. It
sits cross-legged about half-way up the scaffolding.

Bel's fiends captured a sibriex (see the accompanying


stat block) and have been torturing and interrogating it

for quite a long time now. The sibriex is restrained by


infernal chains from Bel's forge that also prevent it from

using its spells or actions to escape.


The demon ichor that pools around the scaffolding


smells terrible but can be easily avoided. For more infor-

mation on demon ichor, see page 78.


S18RIE1<

. I

Free download pdf