Descent into Avernus

68

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