Lt:FT TO RIGHT: CHARGE OF ZARIEL ANO THE HELLRIOERS, T ... E \VAR ON AvERNUS, ANO ZARIEL'S SURRENDER TO ASMOOEUS
EVENT 7. ZARIEL'S ARRIVAL
This event overlaps with the end of the previous one.
Read the following boxed text to the players:
The cackling demon lord shuts his maw and narrows his
eyes, gazing up toward the sky as a beam of radiant light
pierces the haze. A powerful angel streaks down from
above, followed by a gold-furred mammoth with feath-
ered wings. The angel slashes her sword across Yeeno-
ghu's chest and utters a spell. A portal opens behind the
demon lord as the mammoth rams its head into Yeeno-
ghu. The demon lord is sent tumbling through the portal,
which quickly closes behind him.
The angel is Zariel (use the solar stat block), and the
winged mammoth is Lulu th e hollyphant (see page
237) in s hapechanged form. After ridding Tdyllglen of
Yeenoghu, Lulu and Zariel introduce themselves to the
characters, healing them as best they can. While these
introductions happen, the original Hell riders (knights)
appear on warhorses and ki!J any remaining demons
and gnolls. One of these Hell ride rs, a woman in her thir-
ties with a fresh, deep cut on her cheek, thanks the char-
acters and introduces herself as Yael. She gives a wink
before lining up to join the rest of the battalion. The
characters might also recognize Olanthius, Haruman,
CHAPTER 4 I SWORD OP ZARIEL
and other original Hellriders they have come across
during their travels in Avernus.
Zariel can cast the resurrection spell up to three
times. She uses this magic to resurrect as many dead
characters as she can.
As Zariel prepares to lead her forces through the por-
tal into Avernus, all other creatures except for her, Lulu,
and the characters stop moving and responding as if
frozen in time. Zariel turns to the characters and says,
"Yeenoghu slaughtered those I swore to protect. I can
stop him and others like him. I might have to give up all
I stand for, but I could stem the tide of chaos and save
many lives from the demonic terrors of the Abyss. Were
you in my place, would you risk it all to save others?"
Zariel lets each character answer her question in
turn. She thanks them for their responses, then utters
a blessing to Lathander over the characters. Characters
who answered that they would risk it all as Zariel did
each gain a charm of vitality. Characters who answered
that they would not risk it all to stop the demon lords
each gain a charm of restoration. (See "Charms" in
chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master's Guide for the benefits
of these supernatural gifts.) Characters who can't or
won't answer the question receive nothing.
Once Zariel bestows her supernatural charms, Lulu's
ldyllglen memory ends. A flas h of light brings all the
characters (including dead ones) back to the Bleeding
Citadel so that one of them might finally claim the
Sword of Zariel.