Act 2 - Hellturel

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Back on Familiar Ground... Sort Of

Slowly, the pleasant spring sky faded to an ominous crimson red; the breeze became a hot, dry, stinging wind. The grassy hill outside Candlekeep was replaced with the cracked city streets of the dock district Elturel, once familiar but now broken by small quakes, one of which immediately struck. Buildings around the party were crumbling and breaking, if they hadn't already fallen in; large parts of the city seemed to be on fire, though the High Hall -- visible on the horizon atop a high ridge -- seemed to have weathered the majority of it just fine. Above it all hung the Companion -- still blackened and still radiating lightning, but now much lower in the sky and hanging level with the top of the High Hall, ominously closer than it had ever been.

And as if on cue, in order to remind everyone where they were, three bearded devils arrived, chasing down a woman and her infant, fleeing in panic. After being saved, she led them to a nearby clock tower that was still standing, perhaps a remnant of a church, and the party got their first good luck at the full situation: Elturel was in fact in Avernus, floating high in midair over top of the River Styx, connected by enormous chains to some sort of structure on each bank of the river.

History Comes (Un)alive

Following/accompanying the woman back to her home to the south, the party heard all about how someone had organized a sort of perpetual soup kitchen/supply run, as well as a variety of armed guards, and was essentially controlling the area around Shiarra's Market as a sort of protected enclave. It turns out that was correct; it also turns out the person running things was an old High Rider, formerly assumed to be dead, Klav Ikaia. The party found Ikaia confusing but nobly-intentioned: he was not raising an army of unwilling vampire spawn, he was not using the people as living cattle, he seemed mostly interested in keeping the people safe.

He gave the party some information about the surrounding areas -- including the former Dragoneye Trading Coster building, now occupied by demons who somehow snuck into the city, as well as the former dockmaster's residence -- and related some disturbing info about Hellriders transforming into hell knights as the city transitioned into Avernus. The party headed out to do some scouting, as well as to check out the dockmaster's residence and see if she was still present in the city.

Scouting Southeastern Elturel

After looking from a safe distance, it was determined the Dragoneye Dealing Coster's walled compound was occupied by demons that had somehow entered the city. They could occasionally be seen venturing out to fight devils, but that seemed to be their primary concern; of note is that they do not seem to be bothering Ikaia or his people.

Heading from their vantage point to the dockmaster's house, the party encountered a trio of ghasts sneaking into a house to feast on the dead inhabitants there. The ghasts were dispatched with all due haste, and the party continued onward to the dockhouse.

Marisma Rathanda's estate was boarded up on their arrival, and the district was quiet. The party managed to unlock the door and make their way inside, where they found the corpse of a male dwarf Hellrider with his throat torn out. Exploring further, they found two children torturing a living Hellrider with a tea party next to the comrades of her dead comrade; however, Havsu and Yalayah Rathanda were no ordinary children, but instead half-elven vampire spawn. The two of them attacked the party in creepy fashion, being swiftly but unfortunately noisily dispatched, summoning Marisma and her wife Lorimir from upstairs -- also both vampire spawn, who also attacked the party ferociously in defense of their children.

The Hellrider, Niri Whistlewood, confirmed that she and the dead dwarf (Dunmar Axeshine) came to the dockmaster's house to recover a small cache of devil-fighting weapons in the office, only to find that the person still in the office -- one Spurnyte Mal -- had insinuated his way into the Rathandas' estate before somehow turning them into undead creatures along with their children. Niri left the party to their bloody business and joined Ikaia at the Market.

Upstairs, the party found their way to Spurnyte Mal, a warlock who was fervently praying to Zariel in the office; after dispatching him in quick and stealthy fashion, they claimed the cache of weapons and tools for themselves before returning to the Market to ask Ikaia for aid in reaching the western side of the city.

The Low Road to the High Hall

Returning to Ikaia, the party made a proposition to him. He and his people knew the Maze well enough to find the spot where it overlooked the chasm below Elturel. If they could help the party get across the city via the underground, they would put Ulder Ravengard -- who they believed to be alive and well and holding the High Hall -- in touch with Ikaia, to help unite friendly forces on each side of the city. Ikaia found this agreeable, and one of his Sons led the party down into the Maze, the rat's nest of tunnels that riddled the entire underneath of Elturel. Eventually they found a spot to look out over the River Styx far, far below.

This opportunity was taken to drop Vilus Incarnatus into the Styx. Bye!

After that, the party (via magical means) crossed over the gap and into the other side of the Maze, eventually coming up a spiral staircase and into a small shrine in the Gardens in the High District. To the north, there were signs of Zarielite activity; Flight Risk specifically recognized some of the pilgrims he had given directions to, who were now occupying the Symbril's Home Inn. Instead of risking open conflict when it wasn't their goal, the party headed south, dodging occasional Zarielite cultists until they reached the High Hall, which was guarded by a couple of Flaming Fist footmen. Nephrite took charge, introducing herself as former Fist, and the rest of the party was welcomed inside after explaining they were looking for Ravengard.

Inside, the party found Ravengard along with his platoon of Flaming Fist -- the ones not out actively patrolling the Gardens, anyway -- and found the situation somewhat dire. When the city crossed into Avernus, many of the Hellriders and Companions present in the High Hall had immediately turned into devils, and struck down their compatriots who didn't, which produced more devils on the spot. At great cost, Ravengard and a number of still-loyal Hellriders managed to hold the place in their control, but it was tough. A few other folks remained, as well:

• Wöbaer Triest, former undersecretary of the Elturian treasury and now Acting Secretary, is what remains of the civilian government of Elturel.
• Lor Ryken, the Elturian ambassador for Iriaebor, had recently returned to Elturel to delivery a recently-negotiated peace treaty. He has since taken the role of logistics and quartermaster for Ravengard's peacekeepers.
• Hilde Kaas is the highest ranking Hellrider who did not turn and who survived the cataclysm; some knights question why a foreigner is in charge, but Hilde is not one of them, and her support is a huge part of keeping the peacekeepers together.
• Pherria Jynks, effectively the highest ranking member of the Church of Torm in Elturel, and the carrier of the Tome of the Creed Resolute.

The party spelled out their immediate need: the Tome of the Creed Resolute needed to be destroyed, as it was the source of the misbegotten oath that was causing Hellriders and Companions to be bound to Hell's service on their death. After Pherria dealt with the shock of this blow, she handed it over; the party found that inside, in the spine of the great book, was a duplicate of the oath between Zariel and Naja Bellandi, written in the blood of an angel -- not a full copy of the oath, but a magical focus for the Creed Resolute that gave it its power. By completely destroying this and forswearing their oath (as well as encouraging the other knights present to do so), Bryzorwyn and Yelren were at last freed from the risk of immediately turning into devils should they fall in combat.

It was then that Ravengard spelled out his plan. Jynks had confirmed that at the Grand Cemetery, there was an artifact of Torm, the Helm of Torm's Sight -- one of the genuine holy relics remaining in the city, said to permit direct contact with the god of duty and law by way of visions. Ravengard did not possess the manpower to seize it himself, both because of the devils in the streets and the unknown forces occupying the cemetery, but he felt that a small powerful group like the party could likely slip in and obtain it. In return, the party explained the situation around Shiarra's Market and Klav Ikaia, asking that a deployable bridge be built in their absence to enable the two sides to connect and share resources and manpower when necessary. Ravengard agreed to these terms, should the party return to the High Hall with the Helm of Torm's Sight.

To the Graveyard

Their quest accepted, the party began making their way to the edge of the plateau on which the High Hall was seated, stopping at the High Harvest Hall -- the old temple of Chauntea, which had never really fully resumed worship services after the Harvest House Slaughter during the Red Coup, and mostly served as a stopover for itinerant druids and priests of Chauntea. After driving off a vrock who had presumably flown up from somewhere to escape the nonstop battle of the Blood War, Grumph prayed upstairs at the private altar dedicated to the goddess of the harvest; his piety was rewarded as she blessed his warhammer, making it stronger.

Heading down the dangerous switchbacks that lead to Westerly, the city's largely residential district, the party stopped over at the Tower of Bèr Nölmien, a wizard who had helped his apprentices escape the city during the cataclysm. Residual magic had the tower in a strange condition: the top two stories had been sheared off, as if by a meteor or a strong spell, and yet it hung at an angle in midair above the lower half of the tower. Exploring by climbing directly up, the party found a small wealth of scrolls and a couple of spells for Solarys' spellbook, as well as a mysterious small box locked with a glyph of warding. Exactly what's in there is yet to be discovered, as the party opted to leave it for a quieter moment and instead continue on to the graveyard.

Reaching the Grand Cemetery of Elturel, the party realized that they had, perhaps accidentally, found the source of the undead that occasionally cropped up in the city, as an entire herd of minotaur skeletons blocked the way.

Exploring the Grand Cemetery

The party dispatched these sentries in style -- Grumph called down a lightning storm, Nephrite's inexplicable luck caused one to trip over some masonry before she clobbered it to death, Yelren smited one or two, and the rest peppered them with a variety of ranged attacks -- the party headed into the Grand Cemetery. Almost immediately, the presence of the living summoned a vast array of spectres and shadows inhabiting columns designed to resemble great and ancient heroes of the city... and a burst of psychic energy from Solarys promptly scattered six of them into raw ectoplasm. The other two were dispatched in style, and then Nephrite proved truly indestructible again as three more minotaur skeletons failed to strike her (one of them even, through strange giant magic, being forced to strike its ally). The last tried to attack Bryzorwyn but found itself equally stymied by the agile halfling. With all undead sentries dealt with, the party entered the twin chapels of the graveyard.

The party took time to look around at what had formerly been beautiful stained glass windows. Two remained mostly intact, although one was on the floor in one piece, depicting Torm placing a golden helm onto the head of a kneeling soldier. In the other chapel, a damaged but still largely intact window depicted Lathander, god of the dawn, calling the spirits of those departed in battle to stand at his side. Peeking inside a curtained-off circular room between the two chapels, the party found two mezzoloths -- neutral evil mercenary fiends called yugoloths -- standing guard at the stairs leading down below the chapel. The mezzoloths, however, were quickly surprised, as a fiendish giant scorpion and a parade of five dretches came up the stairs behind them, and a battle quickly broke out. Waiting until it was nearly over, the party dispatched the final mezzoloth and the giant scorpion before heading downstairs themselves, where all was quiet.

A short bout of exploration found a room of statuary, and one of the statues bore a golden helm -- the Helm of Torm's Sight. Retrieving it, the party quickly headed back towards the High Hall (although not before Solarys did some remote exploring and found both a stable portal to the Abyss -- explaining how demons were being inserted into the city -- and a tunnel that now ended at the edge of the city, leading down to one of the phenomenally gigantic chains that held the city in place.

Visions

On the way back into the High Hall, the party met two Flaming Fist guardsmen. One asked, "did you retrieve the Helm?" The party confirmed, and the Fist noted that Ravengard would be happy to hear it.

The other asked, "did you have a vision?" And then, noting that no one had placed it on their head yet, Solarys promptly put the helmet on his head and immediately fell unconscious.

Towing him into the High Hall and placing him, at Pherria Jynks' direction, onto the altar, she led the party in the ritual that would free him from the vision he was having; when the party joined hands and prayer with Jynks, they all shared in viewing the Vision from Torm.

← Act 1.5 - Intermission & The Road to Candlekeep -- Act 3 - The Avernian Quest →