8
light which sent the vampire lord scrambling for the
shadows and laid waste to his undead army. Thavius
Kreeg, who took credit for summoning the Companion,was hailed as the savior of the city and rose to become
its high overseer. Under Kreeg's decades-long rule,Elturel embarked on a path to becoming not just a holy
city but the holy nation of Elturgard.TuAVIUS'S BETRAYAL
Thavius was told the exact time when the Companion
would cease to protect Elturel. In the weeks leacling up
to this fateful hour, Thavius urged Grand Duke Older
Ravengard of Baldur's Gate to visit Elturel, to help settlesome longstanding disputes between the two cities. Fac-
ing political pressure at home, Ravengard reluctantly
acceded. After greeting Ravengard's delegation. ThaviusKreeg fled Elturel in secret and watched from a safe dis-
tance as the Companion transformed from a racliant sun
into a black orb awash with crackling energy. It ripped
Elturel from the Material Plane, transporting it and all
its inhabitants to Avernus. A few other city folk managedto escape before Elturel disappeared. Where it once
stood, only a crater remains.
Disguised as a refugee, Thavius Kreeg was one of the
first of his people to arrive at Baidu r's Gate with news
of Elturel's "destruction." He slipped through the city's
gates with the help of his influential friend, Duke Van-thampur, and took refuge in her home.
ROLEPLAYING DEVILS
As the DM, you can play devils as humorous, aloof, bom-
bastic, conniving, or scatterbrained, but a general rule
to follow is this: devils have no desire to do good. Whendealing with mortals, devils are constantly figuring
out how to exploit and corrupt them, often behind thinsmiles of feigned concern and false charm.
IMPORTANT REFERENCES
This adventure features the Nine Hells, which is described
in chapter^2 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Devils, being
the primary inhabitants of the Nine Hells, play prominent
roles in this story. Before running the adventure, it's worth
taking the time to familiarize yourself with the "Devils"
entry in the Monster Manual, which not only describes
the most common types of devils but also explains their
hierarchy, how they behave 1n accordance with their lawful
evil alignment, what pleases and enrages them, and why
they're scared of dying on their home plane.
Stat Blocks. The Monster Manual contains stat blocks for
most of the monsters and non player characters (N PCs)
found in this adventure. Whenever this adventure presents
a new monster or N PC, you'll find its stat block near the
encounter in which it appears, or in appendix D. When a
creature's name appears in bold type, that's a visual cue
pointing you to the creature's stat block in the Monster
Manual. If the stat block appears elsewhere, the adven-
ture's text tells you where to find it.
Spells and Magic Items. Spells and nonmagical equip-
ment mentioned in the adventure are described in the
Player's Handbook. Magic items are described in the Dun-
geon Master's Guide, unless the adventure's text directs you
to an item's description in appendix C.ABOUT THE ADVENTUREA devil that successfully corrupts a mortal gets theinfernal equivalent of a gold star and can eagerly expect
a superior to take notice and give it the promotion it so
richly deserves. Meanwhile, when that mortal dies, its
soul will find itself condemned to the Nine Hells whereit twists into the form of a lemure (unless it's used for
some other morbid purpose). The devil doesn't care what
becomes of the souls it corrupts; it just wants to be pro-
moted to a superior form of devil. That's how, over ages,
a lemure might become a pit fiend.
But devils do more than corrupt. They also fight in the
Blood War. Asmodeus attests that serving in his infer-
nal legion is a holy honor. for in so doing a devil helps
protect the multiverse from demonic destruction. Whilethat sounds impressive, most devils partake in the Blood
War only to distinguish themselves among their peers
and move up the chain of command. Endlessly fighting
demons isn't what most devils signed up for.
If a devil dies somewhere other than the Nine Hells,
it re-forms in the Nine Hells and is therefore not trulykilled. However, a devil that is killed in the Nine Hells is
dead forever; not surprisingly, that's why devils tend tobe more cautious in their dealings al home than abroad.
DEVIL TRAITS
Common traits among devils include the following:Charm. Devils are consummate charmers. Like
humans, some are better at it than others. The good
ones savor the exchange of pleasantries, speaking in
measured sentences or noticing pleasant details aboutthe environment or a character's clothing.
Patience. Devils are rarely in a rush to make a deal
or sign a contract. As masters of the long con. devils
make genuinely good deals with mortals to buy appre-ciation and trust that can be leveraged during more
consequential dealings later on.CiviJity. Devils like to pretend that they run by the same
rules and obey the same social conventions as mor-
tals. Devils have no problem appearing and acting
in whatever manner they need to achieve their end
goal- usually a contract for services or a soul. They've
learned that more can be gained from behaving in a
civilized manner than reacting angrily or violently.
Deviousness. Devils don't age, so there's rarely a sense
of urgency with a devil as it plots its conquest or cor-
ruption of a soul. This allows for winding schemes
that are rarely what they seem on the surface. For
minor devils, a simple acceptance of an evil gift is
enough, while greater devils enjoy tangling up charac-ters in choices that compromise their values.
Unscrupulousness. Being evil and soulless, a devil can-
not be embarrassed or shamed, doesn't feel guilt or
remorse, and is prepared to do the most heinous acts
to get what it wants.