4 - Hellturel

 

It seemed that the path to saving Elturel would be to travel to Avernus, try to get hold of the second copy of the contract and somehow destroy it. So the heroes traveled back to Candlekeep, where Sylvana introduced them to Lulu, a golden furred winged elephant (aka. hollyphant), who was apparently present in Avernus during the inaugural crusade of the Hellriders, but lost her memories for some unknown reason.

Since Hell is presumably a hostile environment, the party loaded up with magical weapons and a weeks provisions (which Lulu happily agreed to carry), after which Sylvana had transported the entire party to Elturel by casting a plane shift spell.

Hitting the streets

Unsurprisingly, a grim and desolate city greeted the party upon their arrival: abandoned buildings crumbling in the hot air, plumes of smoke rising in the distance, and comets hurling through the blood red skies past the companion, which now hanged dark and low above the city. But it quickly turned out that the city is not abandoned: a woman carrying her two children came running down the street, being chased by a barbed devil.

The party swiftly dispatched the devil, after which the woman introduced herself as Harkia, and gave a short summary of what transpired in the weeks since Elturel has been dragged down to Hell.
- In the immediate aftermath of the event, the panicked people headed to the Hellrider knights to seek help, but to their horror they found that some of the knights have turned evil, and started to slaughter the populace. So since then it's every man for himself. Most people tried to hide away in their homes, since the streets are dangerous: patrols of hell-knights with glowing red eyes, devils, demons and undead are prowling, hunting for victims.
- There are rumors of a resistance being led by Ulder Ravengard from the High Hall. However, getting to the high hall is neigh-impossible because the Bridges of Torm are held by hell-knights and demons.
- There's also talk of someone distributing food at the Shiarra's Market. Harkia ventured outside to go there, because her supplies of food had run out.

Shiarra's Market

The spacious market square normally bustling with life now stood mostly abandoned. Only a few dozen people were lingering by a lone stand and a tent in the middle. As they approached, the characters identified the man seemingly in charge, and walked up to him. The man greeted them with a smile revealing two large vampiric fangs.

It seems that vampires in service of Lord Ikaia are distributing food to those in need. They are also offering protection to those that want it, presumably in the form of turning them into vampires. It seems that quite a few are taking this deal, as they see this to be their only means for protecting themselves against the horrors roaming the streets.

After a peaceful discussion, the vampire asked the party to deliver a message to Ravengard: Lord Ikaia is proposing that they should form an alliance against the forces that threaten the city. With that, the PCs left the market square, convincing Harkia to join them as they head to the High Hall.

But before heading there directly, they went to the docks instead to get a general sense of where they were in Avernus. As they reached the docks, the party realized that the city was floating above the plane Avernus, with the River Styx flowing directly below. Huge chains attached to the city were being slowly cranked up at a docking complex below, dragging the city down toward the river, one feet at a time.

Looking down at the river, countless ancient ruins could be seen peering out of the waves, suggesting that Elturel is not the first city to be dragged into their grave in Hell. Finally, following the river with their eyes, the party saw another dock, located some 15 miles upstream. A massive structure shaped like a sword-blade towered over the dock. Suddenly, the tower detached from the rest of the buildings, and started slowly floating inland toward the planes of Avernus, eventually disappearing past a curtain of haze and dust in the sky.

---

Through back-alleys

The party decided that they want to get out of the city as soon as possible in order to search for Zariel's contract. They assessed their options for getting down to the surface of Avernus for a while, but decided that they have no option other than climbing down one of the chains tethered to the city. This however seemed to carry too much of a risk: as both Lulu and Ezekiel pointed out, contact with the water of the River Styx wipes ones soul completely clean, erasing abilities and memories alike.

So instead, the heroes went back to the market to discuss with the vampires if they have a means to help them in their predicament. Thus an agreement has been struck: if the party arranges a safe meeting between Ikaia and Ulder Ravengard, then the vampire lord will help them descend to the surface of Avernus safely.

Therefore, the next step was to traverse the ruined city and reach the High Hall, which is allegedly where Ravengard set up base. The party managed to sneak their way up to the bridge that spans the canal, and found it to be guarded by a squad of Hellknights: corrupted Hellriders, eyes glowing red with hate. By a stroke of luck, much of the squad left for a patrol, leaving only one Hellknight guarding the bridge. The PCs took the opportunity and rushed the lone guard, making short work of it.

Once on the western side of town, the party managed to avoid detection while continuing toward the High Hall. On their way, they avoided a pack of ghouls prowling the street, and chanced up on an imp trying to get a starving hobbit to sell his soul in exchange for food for his family. The heroes intervened, drove off the imp, and escorted the hobbit and his family to the High Hall.

At the High Hall

As the PCs climbed the hill leading up to the High Hall, they were faced with a scene of battle: a squad of Hellknights led by Gideon Lightward were leading an assault against Ulder Ravengard and his men. The front part of the High Hall was in ruins, as if hit by a bombshell, and the Hellknights were on the brink of pushing through the barricades. The remains of the tower of the High Hall was floating above the carnage, hung in the air by some unknown force.

With the help of the heroes the defenders managed to hold back the attacking Hellknights, and the traitor Lightward ordered his fighters to retreat. Ravengard thanked the PCs for their intervention, and briefly described the situation they're in.

When Elturel fell, a large potion of the Hellriders transformed into Hellknights, and began rampaging through the city. Soon after devils also beset the town. He gathered all loyal men and refugees he could, and holed himself up at the High Hall. Although he knows that there are pockets of resistance scattered throughout the town, they are having difficulties establishing a united front.

The High Hall proved to be a strong defensive point, until a meteor struck the building, collapsing the entire front section - except for the top of the tower which is still floating in mid-air. Since then, Hellrider squads are leading assaults against the makeshift barricades from time to time, but so far the defenders managed to hold out.

Ravengard is helped in his efforts by Phyarra Jenkins, a Hellrider priestess who tends to the sick and wounded. She is carrying the Tome of the Creed Resolute, the book which all Hellriders sign with their blood when they swear their oath. She says that the book has become a symbol of hope among the loyal Hellriders and the refugees.

The resistance is facing two immediate predicaments: 1) they are running low on supplies (mainly food) and 2) it seems that there is a disease spreading among the refugees. Furthermore, Ravengard doesn't really know what could be done to save the city; his full focus has been occupied by just keeping afloat in all this chaos. However, in order to be able to form some long-term plan, he is looking for divine guidance. In the cemetery to the west there is a Shrine dedicated to Torm. This holds the Helm of Torm, a powerful relic with which one can commune with the god himself - or so it is said.

A visit to the Graveyard

After a brief discussion, the PCs managed to convince Ravengard to meet with the vampire lord Ikaia - even though normally he doesn't parlay with such creatures, the situation is dire, and the refugees desperately need food. However, he would prefer that Ikaia comes to the High Hall, so that he doesn't need to leave the place.

The PCs then decided to try to get the Helm of Torm from the graveyard, as being able to consult a god about next steps proved to be quite tempting. As before, they managed to sneak their way to their destination undetected. As they were moving through this part of the city, they found that the entire district is a chaotic battlefield between demons and the Hellriders - explaining how Ravengard and his handful of men could hold off the seemingly more powerful force of Hellknights.

Once at the cemetery the party also found the source of the demon invasion: a large swirling portal of pulsating purple light has been opened up in the back-end of the cemetery, through which a pack of demons spring forth every so often. Ignoring the demon gate for now, the players headed for the Shrine of Torm, dispatching a group of demons that detected them.

Once in the Shrine, Tarhun took the Helm of Torm off the pedestal, and put it on. He immediately fell into a trans, and experienced the following vision:

You see the aftermath of a vast battle in Avernus. The ground is littered with corpses of Hellriders, and of devils. Victorious, the forces of Hell stand triumphant around a group of surviving knights, and an angel held in chains. A huge winged devil walks up to the angel, and demands her to disclose the whereabouts of her sword, to which the angel replies: "I wouldn't tell you where it is even if I knew"...
You now see a meeting hall. In the middle, Lulu is standing skirted by devils and cuffed in chains. You hear a similar voice to the one before, but now deeper and more raspy: "Where did you put it? What have you done with it?" to which the winged elephant replies, fighting back her tears: "I don't remember"...
Finally, you see a huge rock in the shape of a clenched fist sitting in the Avernian planes, and hear a deep, godly voice: "Seek out the Sword of Zariel! It is the key to her soul, and with it, Elturel's chains can be severed. Go to Fort Knucklebone, and speak to Mad Maggie!"

After Tarhun relayed his vision to the party, Lulu sprung up in excitement: "Fort Knucklebone? I remember where that is!"

---

After taking a short rest, the party made their way back to the High Hall. On their way they fought off a squad of Bulezau demons in the cemetery, and rescued a kid from a pack of ghasts in a ruined building. Upon arriving to the High Hall, they gave the Helm of Torm to Ravengard, and took the opportunity to perform a long rest.

The next day, the heroes traversed the city once more to deliver the news to Ikaia that Ravengard agreed to a meeting. This time they found both bridges to be heavily guarded, but managed to use the distraction of a pack of zombies breaking out of a building, along with magic of their own to get past the bridge undetected.

On the other side, they also witnessed a flaming mounted knight (called a Narzugon) mercilessly slaying two Hellriders, and collecting their heads in a sack. They decided that the flaming knight is not someone that they can go toe to toe with, so they slid back into the shadows and continued on their way to Shiarra's Market.

The vampire lord kept her promise, and helped the party descend safely to the plains of Avernus. They then embarked on the one-day trek towards Fort Knucklebone. Upon reaching the gates of the fort, they were met by two kobold-like guards wearing red caps standing atop the rampart. After a confusing exchange of words, the crazy guards opened the gate for the PCs to enter...