Descent into Avernus

(Nancy Kaufman) #1

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the unending demonic tide, while chastising Helm,

Torm, Tyr, Lathander, and their angelic servitors for not


doing the same. Gideon has nothing but praise for Zari-


el's efforts to end the demonic threat. Any character who


spends 10 minutes poring over the tome can conclude,


with a successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation)
check, that it's the work of a madman.

Any character who continues to read the book beyond


that basic level of unde rstanding must succeed on a


DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed check, the

character is cursed with a particularly intense hatred


of demons. A creature cursed in this way takes 5 (ld 10)


psychic damage if it can see any demon within 60 feet


of it and ends its turn not having attempted to attack a


demon. This curse can be re moved with a remove curse


spell or simiJar magic. At the end of each long rest, a


cursed creature can make a DC 15 Wisdom saving

throw, ending the effect on itself on a success.


G6. UNDEAD PIT


Read the following as the c haracters enter this area:


The path around the chapel has been sundered by a
deep hole in the ground, filled with a putrid purple mist.
The haze filling the hole blocks any sense of how deep it
might be, or of what might lie within.

Gideon creates his undead servants in this 30-foot-deep

pit, which was formed when a piece of the meteor that


struck the High Hall splintered off.


Necromantic Mist. The mist is formed by necroman-


tic energy emitted from the corrupted Companion. A
successful DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check
made to study the mist reveals that it pulsates in sync
with the crackling energy of the corrupted Companion.

Any creature that enters the mist for the first time on


a turn or starts its turn there takes 5 (ldlO) necrotic


damage. Climbing the sides of the pit without equipment

requires a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check.


Whenever Gideon directs his minions to toss a dead


body into the pit, an undead creature crawls forth one


hour later. Newly created undead patiently wander the


cemetery grounds until Gideon gives them orders.

One undead creature appears during the time the


characters investigate the pit, and more can appear if


they leave this area, then re turn again while Gideon is
still at large. Use the Undead Creation table to deter-

mine what kind of undead c reature is created.


UNOEAD CREATION
d20 Undead d20 Undead
1-4 Skeleton 13-15 Ghoul
5-7 Zombie^16 -^17 Ghast
8- 10 Shadow 18-19 Wight
11 - 12 Specter^20 Wraith

CHAPTER 2 I ELTUREL HAS FALLEN

G7. WORKSHOP


The stairs from area G4 curl down to an unlocked door


and a workshop beyond. Read the following boxed text
when the characters enter this area:

This workshop appears to be where priests and acolytes
prepared dead bodies for final interment. The place has
been ransacked, with knives, saws, piping, and tubes
littering the floor. Acid and embalming fluid pool every-
where, amid a field of shattered flasks and jars.

The double door to the north leads to stairs that descend


to areas G8, G9, and Gll.


Tracks. A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check


reveals the tracks of multiple demons in the detritus

spread across the floor. Amid those tracks, signs can be


seen of a single group of booted humans moving down


the stairs. These bootprints, trailing embalming fluid,


lead all the way to area Gll, then back toward area Gl2.


G8. 0SSUARY OF THE FAITHFUL


Those who could not afford the expense of a cemetery


plot above ground were respectfully laid to rest in this


area and area G9. Read the following as the characters


enter this area:

The walls of this chamber are lined with funerary shelves,
each set with dusty humanoid bones. Relics and holy
symbols of Lathander, Torm, Helm, and Tyr have been
set prominently on a number of shelves.

The bones marked by holy symbols are the remains of


honored priests and acolytes who worked in the chapel,

and who requested to take their final rest alongside the


poor they served.

The holy symbols in this area once channeled the


blessings of their gods, but that trace magic has been
corrupted by the passage of Elturel to Avernus, and by
the presence of the abyssal portal in area Gl2. If any

holy symbol is touched, or if any creature not a fiend


or undead lingers in this area for more than 1 minute,


all the holy symbols unleash a pulse of necrotic power.

Each creature in the area must make a DC 15 Constitu-


tion saving throw, taking 18 (4d8) necrotic damage on

a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful


one. This hazard resets in 1 hour as long as the portal in


area Gl2 is active.


G9. MAIN 0SSUARY
Read the following as the characters enter this area:

This huge chamber is lined by funerary shelves along the
stone walls above six bare daises, creating a display of
dusty humanoid bones rising from floor to ceiling.
I
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