Charge of the Hellriders

This is history as the party knows it. This page will be updated as they learn more of the true history surrounding the Charge of the Hellriders.

Sometime in the 1300s DR

• Idyllglen, in the region now known as the Fields of the Dead, is threatened by an ogre warlord named Irontusk and his band of marauders.
• Zariel answers the prayers of the village, and arrives with Lulu to intercede on their behalf.
• Zariel meets a young woman named Yael, who had organized the village's fighting folk into a sort of protective militia. Yael handed over control of her militia to Zariel, and they forged them into a real fighting force. Zariel, Lulu, and Yael become friends; with each new challenge they face, Yael encourages them all to "dream a little bigger." Soon Zariel and Lulu take up Yael's catchphrase as well.
• Over the course of a several-month campaign, Zariel, Yael, Lulu, and the militia rout Irontussk and his warband; Yael herself slays Irontusk.

1392 DR

• Zariel and Lulu return to the Material Plane. They begin raising an army to strike at the Abyss, aiming to upset the balance of the Blood War. She signs three leaders and their armies onto her Zarielite Crusade:
  • Yael, who by now has turned her angel-trained militia into a regional peacekeeping force. Yael's army gladly signs onto this crusade, deciding to dream a little bigger once again.
  • Lord Olanthius, the leader of a small kingdom to the south named Elturel, who was recruited by Yael. Later the two would fall in love. With him joining, Zariel moves the headquarters of the crusade to Elturel.
  • Haruman, Lord Knight of the Far Hills, a former goblin slave who rose up to even conquer a citadel known as Farkeep. He and his armies rode down from the Sunset Mountains and signed onto the crusade.
• All three generals swear fealty to Zariel and her crusade, pledging to crush the evil of the Abyss under the guidance of Zariel.
• The demon lord Yeenoghu learns that Zariel is raising a mortal army and aims to invade the Abyss with it. Yeenoghu strikes first: he raises an army of gnolls and begins razing settlements to the north. Zariel responds, as he knew she would, by leading the armies north.
• The two armies meet at Idyllglen. During the army, he separated part of his army to strike directly at the villagers; Yael and her knights broke off to follow suit. The bulk of his army then routed the gnoll army. Yeenoghu abandons all pretense, cuts his way to Yael's position, and kidnaps her through a portal. The rest of the army follows, as Zariel and LUlu were only a few dozen feet away at the time and lead the charge through the portal, aiming to finish Yeenoghu and rescue Yael.

The Charge

• Rather than leading to the Abyss, however, Yeenoghu's portal empties into the red sands of Avernus. Yeenoghu was waiting on the other side with a demmonic army that had penetrated deeply into Avernus and were ready for the crusaders.
• A devil army also appears, aiming to fight both sides. Combat ensues.
• Some of the crusaders escape through the portal, which closes behind them. This is the origin of the Hellriders, as those who returned were called.

Aftermath

• Despite fighting valiantly, the crusaders were overwhelmed. Zariel, seeing defeat is imminent, gives her sword and Lulu to Yael, asking her to hide the sword away somewhere safe, and to "dream a little bigger, one last time." Yael and Lulu escape, aided by the fact that the air forces of both devil and demon armies were decimated in the fight.
• Yael and Lulu escape, hiding the Sword of Zariel... somewhere. Yael is never seen again. Lulu has various misadventures, including being sold back to Zariel by a devil and taking an unexpected dunk in the Styx, before ending up on the Material Plane. She saves some folks from Elturel during its fall before ending up at Candlekeep, where she meets and stays with Sylvira Savikas.
• Zariel is approached by Asmodeus. The two of them speak telepathically; no one present is entirely sure what is said, but in the end Zariel agrees to swear fealty to Hell and becomes a devil general in the service of Bel. Sometime in the future, Zariel overthrows Bel and becomes Archduchess of Avernus.
• Haruman's fate is unknown.
• Olanthius, attempting to escape service to a devil, commits suicide. However, his oath, it turns out, still binds him, and he rises as a death knight in Zariel's service.