Descent into Avernus

WARLORDS OF THE

AVERNIAN WASTELANDS

As the characters cross the wastelands of Avernus,

they will likely run afoul of petty warlords scavenging

for soul coins and scrap metal to fuel and repair their

infernal war machines. Mad Maggie and Raggadragga

are two warlords whom the characters meet early on.

The following sections describe three other warlords

who prowl the Avernian wastes: a wingless horned devil

named Bitter Breath, a human necromancer named

Feonor, and a chain devil named Princeps Kovik. These

warlords are as cruel and merciless as the hell they in-

habit. All share a "survival of the fittest~ mentality.

In Avernus, a warlord's power is measured by the

strength and size of its gang, and the threat posed by its

infernal war machines. As one warlord bites the dust,

another inevitably rises to take its place. Bitter Breath,

Feonor, and Princeps Kovik are merely the latest in a

long series of warlords to plague the Avernian expanse.

If Zariel wasn't so busy fighting the Blood War, she

would rid Avernus of these roaming pests; as things

stand, she's content to let the warlords wipe each other

out instead.

If you need to add some excitement to the adventure,

have one of these warlords show up to challenge the

characters. One warlord might be after soul coins to fuel

its infernal war machines. while another might be eager

to forge an alliance with a capable band of adventurers

against a greater foe. With the exception of Mad Maggie,

these warlords have no lairs, so they can be encoun-

tered anywhere at any time.

Avernus has more warlords than the ones described

here. You can create new ones, each with their own

gangs and infernal war machines. Don't worry about

throwing too many infernal war machines at the charac-

ters. You can c urtail the characters' reliance on infernal

war machines by restricting their access to soul coins,

which the vehicles burn as fuel. A typical warlord has

2d6 soul coins and 2d6 flasks of demon ichor (see page

78) at any given time.

INFERNAL WAR MACHINE COMBAT

All the warlords described in this adventure use infernal

war machines to strike fear into their rivals, fend off

demons and other threats, and flee from Zariel's devil

patrols. The rules for infernal war machines in appendix

B are meant to help you adjudicate s ituations that arise

during encounters, but combat involving infernal war

machines works best with "theater of the mind"-style

play. where it's more important to capture the emotion

of a chase than know the exact location and orientation

of every vehicle on the battlefield.

If a situation arises that the vehicle rules don"t cover,

fall back on the core rules. For example, if a character

wants to leap from one moving vehicle to another, de-

termine whether the character succeeds or not with a

Strength (Athletics) check, setting the jump's DC based

on the distance between the two vehicles (as well as

other factors, as appropriate). Keep it fun and fast-paced,

and push the rules aside when they get in the way.

CHAPTER^3 I AVERNUS

B ITTER BREATH

Bitter Breath is a resentful, vindictive warlord that fell

prey to the cutthroat politics of Avernus. Formerly a

pit fiend named L'zeth, it strove to undermine Zariel

while courting Bel. Shortly after claiming rulership of

Avernus, Zariel demoted L'zeth to a homed devil.

For a while, L'zeth nursed its damaged pride. Even-

tually, the despondent devil reignited its ambitions and

became involved in a plot to overthrow Zariel. The arch-

devil's spies learned of the plot. As further punishment,

Zariel removed L'zeth's wings and cursed the horned

devil so that it could no longer enter into deals. Any

document that L'zeth signs melts away, and any words

it utters turn to smoke in its mouth. Thus did L'zeth be-

come known as Bitter Breath.

BITTER BREATH'S MARAUDERS

Zariel has declared that no other devil may associate

with Bitter Breath. However, Zariel's decree hasn't

stopped the fiendish outcast from joining forces with

a gang of marauding hobgoblins under the command

of a battle-hardened hobgoblin warlord named High

Graj Karkajuk.

Bitter Breath drives a Tormentor that has an Infernal

Screamer (see page 221) instead of a Harpoon Flinger.

Hobgoblins round out the Tormentor's crew. High Graj

Karkajuk drives a Devil's Ride and commands a pair of

Scavengers driven by hobgoblin captains and crewed

by ordinary hobgoblins. See appendix B for the vehi-

cles' stat blocks.