lfFalaster Fisk is with the party, he leads them to his
residence in Little Calimshan. rn addition to grabbingweapons, he also brings along an old book of Calishite
recipes to trade for admittance into the great library of
Candlekeep (see "Entering Candlekeep," page 46).WYRM'S CROSSING
The characters must cross this landmark to reach the
Coast Way, which heads south to Candlekeep. Read the
following to describe the scene:Two great bridges meet at a ta ll, rocky island that rises
from the middle of the Chionthar River. Buildings and
merchant stalls line the sides of both bridges, making it
impossible to see the river from the narrow, congested
roadway that cuts between those structures.
Wooden drawbridges connect the two bridges to a
keep situated atop the island. The Aags of Baidu r's Gate
and the Flaming Fist wave proudly above this fortress.Wyrm's Crossing is a cutpurse's paradise, and every
traveler here runs the risk of being pickpocketed. As
the characters make their way from one end of Wyrm's
Crossing to the other, have each player roll a d20. (Don't
roll for NPCs traveling with the party.) The character
or characters with the lowest roll are targeted by a pick-
pocket (use the bandit stat block).
Use a character's passive Wisdom (Perception) score
to determine whether a theft made against that charac-ter is successful. If the character's score is 11 or higher,
the theft is detected and thwarted. Otherwise, the thiefmakes off with one item weighing 1 pound or less (such
as a coin pouch or potion) and disappears into the crowd
before the theft is noticed. If a character is robbed, ask
the player what small ite ms the character is carrying,then decide which of those items was stolen.
KNIGHTS OF THE SHIELD
The following encounter occurs only if the characters
have the Shield of the Hidden Lord. Otherwise, skip
ahead to th.e "Tale of the Hellriders" section. Read the
following to set the scene:
As Wyrm's Crossing and Baldur's Gate disappear from
view, you find yourselves heading down the Coast Way, a
dirt road that leads to such distant lands as Tethyr, Arnn,
and Calimshan. Candlekeep lies some one hundred and
fifty miles south and west- a five-day journey.
Coming up the road toward you is a human farmer
riding on the front of a hay-filled wagon pulled by two
draft horses. The farmer gives you a friendly wave as the
wagon draws near.The farmer is Kaddrus, a lawful evil cambion using the
alter self spell to conceal his true form. Hiding under
the hay are the cambion's evil accomplices: three human
CHA.PTE.R I I A TALE OF TWO CITIESveterans who speak Common and Infernal. Their
names are Falar and Zaroud al'Ryshal, and Nulra Black-
saddle. When the cambion gives the order in Infernal,the veterans leap out of the hay and attack. Meanwhile,
the cambion assumes his true form, flies up into the air,
and targets creatures with his Fire Ray attack. The two
draft horses are ordinary beasts but don't spook easily.
Kaddrus and the veterans are members of a secret so-
ciety known as the Knights of the Shield (see area V29,
page 40). Their goals are to kill the characters and
take the Shield of the Hidden Lord back to the Hhune
patriar family in BaJdur's Gate. If the veterans are killed
or incapacitated, Kaddrus flies back to Baldur's Gate to
report to his superiors. If the cambion escapes, the char-
acters might encounter him again in Candlekeep, in theguise of a monk. The next time he encounters the party,
Kaddrus fights to the death to claim the shield.TALE OF THE HELLRIDERS
If Reya Mantlemorn is with the characters, she shares
the following tale over a campfire at some point during
the characters' five-day journey to Candlekeep:"It was over a century past that the great troubles began.
Fiends roamed the lands to the north and west of Elturel.
Fields were despoiled, livestock slaughtered, homes
razed, and people dragged off to a terrible and unknow-
able fate. Terror gripped the hearts of all.
"The city's cavalry rode across the land, striking down
fiends wherever they found them and suffering fearful
losses. But it was never enough. For every fiend they
destroyed, it seemed as though two more appeared else-
where. The ruler of Elturel, the High Rider, asked his peo-
ple to pray to the gods for aid. To everyone's astonish-
ment, a mighty angel entered the city the next day. Her
name was Zariel, which means Companion of Light. The
prayers of El tu rel had been heard, and help had come.
"Zariel located the gate through which the fiends were
entering the natural world, on the Fields of the Dead
west of the city. Zariel declared that she would lead the
cavalry into Avernus, destroying the infernal host that
was amassing there, and striking a great blow against the
forces of darkness.
"The High Rider sent out the riders of Elturel, now
numbering many thousands, with Zariel at their head,
riding a golden mastodon. With a great cry, Zariel and
her army charged through the gate. The legions of
Avernus trembled and buckled, but did not crumble.
Zari el was defeated, and the remnants of her army re-
turned to Elturel, overcome with grief at the loss of their
glorious general but confident that the lords of the Nine
Hells would think twice about threatening Elturel again.
"There were great celebrations to honor the valiant
knights of the cavalry, who became known as Hellriders
from that day on."