]ANDER SUNSTAR
Near the summit of the hill, the vampire Jander Sunstar
is impaled on one of the largest iron trees. This elf war-
rior, cursed to an eternity of undeath, tried to redeem
his corrupted soul by swearing to hunt down his own
kind. Later, he volunteered to join Zariel on her crusade
into the Nine Hells. Stirges now swarm back and forth
fromjander's body, preserving his existence by injecting
him with the blood of his traitorous companions.
Jander pleads for the characters to cut him down so
that his soul can move on from this accursed place. He
reveals the following information:
• Jander and Haruman were both part of a host of war-
riors who joined the angel Zariel in her assault on the
Nine Hells.
• After charging through the portal into Avernus,Jander
panicked and fled back to Elturel. He betrayed his
braver comrades by sealing the portal behind them.
• Jander and his fellow deserters never revealed their
shameful retreat and betrayal of Zariel. It was a badge
of shame that the HeJJriders, as they were came to be
known, would wear in secret until the grave.
• After years of anguish,Jander chose to face the sun
and throw himself on Lathander's mercy. The prayer
fell on deaf ears, and his soul was condemned to the
Nine Hells to suffer for his sins.
When she beholdsJander impaled on the iron tree,
Lulu's memories of him return. She remembers his
betrayal of Zariel and gives him a pitiful look. She then
admits to the characters that she's made a mistake lead-
ing them here and needs to ponder her dreams in more
detail to discern the Bleeding Citadel's whereabouts.
HARUMAN
1
S ARRIVALIf the characters free Jander or any of his companions,
their bodies crumble to dust in grateful release. In
response, twenty stirges attack the group. When the
second round of combat begins. any crucified souls
remaining on the trees wail in terror as Haruman, a
na rzugon (see page 239 for his stat block), swoops
down from the sky on his nightmar e steed to punish the
interlopers. He begins the encounter 300 feet away and
orders the nightmare to close the distance between him
and the adventurers as quickly as possible. As Haruman
attacks, a hellwasp (see page 236 for its stat block) ap-
pears from a nearby nest and tries to grab Lulu and fly
off with her (see "Development" below).
If a character damages Haruman with an attack, a
fresh tree bearing the character's name sprouts from
the ground nearby, listing the character's crime as "as-
saulting an officer." Any character who sees their name
on a tree for the first time must succeed on a DC 15 Wis·
dom saving throw or become frightened of Haruman for
1 minute. A character who fails this saving throw can re-
peat it at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect
on them on a success.
TREASURE
Haruman uses infernal tack (see page 224) to ride his
nightmare.
DEVELOPMENT
If the hellwasp abducts Lulu, it takes the hollyphant to
its nest. If the characters wish to rescue Lulu, they muststorm the nest (see "Hellwasp Nest," page 94).
If the characters thwart the hellwasp's abduction of
Lulu, the hollyphant is grateful and apologizes for lead-
ing them to the wrong place, admitting that her memory
of the Bleeding Citadel is hazier than she initially re-
alized. Having pondered her dreams further, she says
that two sites in Avernus seem important to finding the
Citadel: a place where demons manifest (see "Spawning
Trees," page 96), and another where demons are de-
stroyed (see "Demon Zapper," page 106). Lulu has no
preference which to investigate first, so she points out
both locations on the characters' map and leaves the de-
cision to the characters. Each of these locations opens
a different branch of investigation that ultimately leads
to the Bleeding Citadel. See diagram 3.2 (page 96)
and diagram 3.3(page106) for overviews of the two
paths-the Path of Demons and the Path of Devils.
CHAPTER 3 I AVERNUS
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