Act 2 - Hellturel

← Act 1.5 - Intermission & The Road to Candlekeep

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 Rathanda's 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.

← Act 1.5 - Intermission & The Road to Candlekeep