An Elturel primer
This page is intended to provide a quick source of info for people interested in playing in a D&D game situated out of Elturel, the capital of the country of Elturgard, in the Forgotten Realms in the year 1492 DR. It gives a quick rundown of some important historical events in the city, their relations with surrounding nations, and some ways to tie various races, classes, and backgrounds to Elturel.
I'm writing this specifically because I intend to run a game out of this city and don't want people having to scour all over for information that can sometimes be conflicting, especially given WotC's tendency to retcon and contradict themselves especially around world-shaking events that happen when D&D editions change! Consider this the "canonical" known public info about Elturel for my game.
This looks long, just give me the important tidbits
- Elturel is the capital of Elturgard, which is just east of Baldur's Gate in west-central Faerûn. Elturgard encompasses several other cities, villages, and forts, and they mostly don't get along with their neighbors but they also mostly keep to themselves.
- Elturel's primary distinguishing feature is The Companion, a second sun that hangs in the sky over Elturel's center of government and has done so for close to 50 years; it can be seen from anywhere within the borders of Elturgard (even when that physically makes no sense) and the undead hate it.
- Which makes sense, because about 50 years ago it was discovered that the High Rider Klav Ikaia - the military commander of the Hellriders - was actually a vampire and had filled the government with fellow vampire spawn and enthralled servants, at which point he proceeded to try and fully overthrow the government; this is known as the Night of the Red Coup. It ended when Naja Bellandi and the Hellriders summoned the Companion through prayer.
- While it was commonly attributed to the sun god Amaunator early on, Elturgard chooses to not attribute the Companion to any one god, preferring to ensure religious diversity.
- Elturel is a theocracy ruled by High Observer Thavius Kreeg, who implicitly heads up the city's two military orders: The Hellriders and the Order of the Companion.
- The Hellriders are the mostly non-religious mounted soldier order that polices most of Elturgard. They're very good at their jobs and a position in the Hellriders is for life. Their name stems from an incident a long time ago where they followed an angel into hell itself to rescue a kidnapped companion.
- The Order of the Companion is largely made of paladins, clerics, and other religious folks who serve both as a smaller, more elite military force and also as ambassadors and emissaries.
- Both orders share a single credo, the Creed Resolute, which among other things ensures religious diversity will not divide them and that they remember to serve Elturgard and the Companion above all.
Welcome to Elturel
Elturel is the capital of the nation of Elturgard. It is situated on the Chionthar River east of its more famous counterpart, Baldur's Gate; the two cities do not get along, as Elturians tend to consider Baldur's Gate a lawless and dangerous city. Elturgard also encompasses the cities of Scornubel, Berdusk, Soubar, and Iraiebor; the village of Triel; two forts along the rivers, Fort Morninglord (now abandoned) and Fort Tamal (which protects the Boareskyr Bridge over the Winding Water in the north); as well as the many farms and small villages in the lands to the west, north and south of the river, which have the ominous-sounding name of the Fields of the Dead (so named because it was a popular battlefield five centuries prior and plows still turn up skeletons in rusting armor, old weapons, deeply-buried tombs, and other detritus).
The current ruler of Elturel is High Observer Thavius Kreeg, a priest of Torm. Elturel is a theocracy and has been for a long time, and deities of order rank very highly within the city - Torm, Helm, Tyr, Amaunator, and more. There is even a temple to Bane in Soubar, the Black Abbey. (Probably the one deity who receives the least worship in Elturel proper is Chauntea, not because of a lack of reverence for of the agrarian goddess of life and bounty but because her temple was wiped out entirely by vampires - congregants, priests, men, women, children, none were spared; worship has not really had time to return in numbers. This was called the High Harvest Slaughter, merely one of the many tragedies during the time between the Night of the Red Coup and the appearance of the Companion. See The Hellriders below for more on that time.) Due to the prevalence of law-focused and authority-focused deities in Elturel, the city's laws can seem strict and draconian to outsiders, but none can deny that the city remains a shining beacon - literally - of order in the chaotic Sword Coast.
The city itself is divided into two halves, the High District in the west and the Dock District in the east. The High District is situated on a hill with a very defensible cliff face to the south and is home to government, nobility, bureaucracy, et cetera. The High Hall, the center of Elturel's government, overlooks the cliff to the south. Meanwhile, the Dock District is spread around the flatlands below the hill. It is home to markets, stockyards, warehouses, and shops - the everyday facilities of life. The western side of the Dock District, sometimes called Westerly, is generally cleaner and more peaceful; houses in this district often resemble those upon on the hill of the High District. The more functional and industrial parts of the city, as well as lower-class residences, clustered to the east side of the Dock District instead. A large greenspace, commonly called the Winter Garden, ran straight through the city from the High Hall northward along the ridge between the two districts, before spilling over a cliff called Maiden's Leap into a canal that then ran south to join the Chionthar.
While Elturel remains largely free of the scourge of undead menaces that trouble other places around the Realms thanks to the Companion - see The Order of the Companion below - the woods around Elturel were notoriously dangerous and filled with various types of goblinoids or worse, and would probably have spelled doom for Elturel were it not for their two interlinked military orders: the Hellriders and the Order of the Companion.
The Hellriders
The Hellriders are the older of the two orders, and well-known in the region; they're the reason merchants traveling down the river often feel they can relax their guard in Elturgard, and they're the reason calling a youth a 'hellion' in Elturel isn't an insult. A mounted cavalry order, the Hellriders earned their name after an incident around 140 years ago in which an archangel led the knights of Elturel through a portal into Hell itself to fight back against marauding devils. Those who survived and returned became known as the Hellriders. They're a mounted order of combatants, encompassing primarily fighters, paladins, and clerics (usually of Torm, the state religion of Elturgard, or Helm), and they serve both the High Rider, who commands them in the field, and the High Observer, who is the de facto ruler of Elturel. Becoming a Hellrider is a position for life; those who wish to leave are given some kind of nearly-impossible death wish of an assignment, and even if they succeed they are usually exiled from Elturel and blacklisted within the nation.
They're also not without their checkered past. Around 50 years ago, when Elturel was not yet a theocracy, the High Watcher of Helm - Naja Bellandi - discovered that High Rider Klav Ikaia, who had led an expedition against a feral vampire a few years prior, was himself a vampire and had converted many of the highest ranks of the government so they were directly under his foul control. Bellandi managed to escape the High Hall of Elturel before being converted herself, fleeing through the moonlit Winter Garden and escaping the vampires by leaping from what is now called Maiden's Leap into the canal below. This triggered the Night of the Red Coup, in which Ikaia and his vampires slaughtered or converted as many as they could find. The Hellriders were betrayed, caught off-guard, and largely slaughtered. Bellandi and the remainder of the Hellriders fought a guerrilla battle for nearly two weeks, until - back against the wall - Bellandi and the Hellriders prayed for someone, anyone, to save them. The sun god Amaunator - presumably, though sometimes attributed to Helm, Torm, Lathander, Tyr, or any number of good deities (official Elturgard religious protocol avoids naming any one deity responsible) - placed a second sun in the sky over Elturgard that could be seen in all of its lands, at all times of the day. This unexpected advent of the sun quickly made it possible to find and wipe out the remainder of the vampires and their spawn, and since it continued to hang in the sky over the city even when the sun was out, this second sun became known as the Companion.
High Watcher Bellandi became High Observer Bellandi, and two years later when she passed away of a rapidly-progressing wasting disease, High Observer Cathasach Restat, one of the founding members of the Order of the Companion, ascended to the highest office in the nation. Restat ruled until 1481 DR, and during his time the city's primary religion became that of Torm, as well as becoming more theocratic and imperialistic. When he passed away in 1481, Torm's highest priest, Thavius Kreeg, ascended to the post of High Observer.
The Order of the Companion
The Order of the Companion is a second, more religious knightly order in the city, consisting primarily of paladins and clerics. Many Hellriders dream of being able to move up into the ranks of the Order of the Companion; they're truly seen as the champions of the people of Elturel. While the primary religion is that of Torm (as it has been since High Observer Restat converted to Torm worship during his reign), other deities are welcome and the primary oath they swear is to the state and the High Observer, in the form of the Creed Resolute.
I solemnly pledge my soul and blood and blade to serve as a knight of Elturel and share the Oath of the High Observer in honoring the Gift of the Companion. I shall guard the realm of Elturgard and all those lands which lie under Elturel’s Shield, upholding the laws of Elturgard and the commands of the High Observer. I shall live my life in strict accord to the Creed Resolute, placing it and this oath above all other doctrines. I shall be bound to all others who swear this oath, declaring them now and forevermore, whether in life or beyond the veil of death, to be my brothers in arms. To ensure the perfect harmony of our brotherhood, I shall permit no difference in faith to come between us, but rather hold the Companion, which I shall never attribute to one god or another, as our common star.
Both the Order of the Companion and the Hellriders swear the Creed Resolute nowadays. It is part of the reason that "recall the Creed" is a common saying in and around Elturel; if someone questions the law, oversteps their boundaries, et cetera, "recall the Creed" would usually set them back on the right path. The largest difference between the Hellriders and the Order is that the Order of the Companion also sometimes serve as diplomatic envoys; they were primarily responsible for coaxing Iraiaebor to join Elturgard, for example.
The Order also has a curious history with both of the Elturian forts. Fort Morninglord was an Order stronghold until 1476 DR when its entire retinue vanished entirely overnight. High Observer Thavius Kreeg ordered the entire fort bricked and mortared shut, fearing some kind of unusual evil taint, and it has remained so to this day. Fort Tamal is also named after a paladin of the Order, Tamal Thent, who went missing near the end of High Observer Restat's rulership and the beginning of Kreeg's. Unable to account for her disappearance, the Order built Fort Tamal around the Boareskyr Bridge over the Winding Water and named it for her.
Tying characters to Elturel
Classes
Fighters, paladins, and clerics all have a very easy way to tie into Elturel - by being a Hellrider or (for the latter two) a member of the Order of the Companion. I've added a sample custom background for each of these below - they're mostly just very lightly customized versions of existing backgrounds. It would also arguably be possible for a ranger to be a Hellrider; I can't really think of any reason why they wouldn't, given the Hellriders' duty of patrolling and upholding the law in Elturgard. This especially fits for clerics of the Order, Life, Light, War, or Peace domains; paladins intending to take the Oath of Glory, Conquest, or the Crown; and fighters of almost any stripe. (Samurai and Echo Knight would take some explaining...) Other religious presences in the city include Tymora, Tempus, Ilmater, and Lliira; thus almost any cleric or paladin could reasonably claim membership in the Riders or the Order.
Wizards are fairly rare within the city itself; they were never particularly numerous, and their numbers have dwindled in the past - perhaps due to overbearing religious authority? However, there are rare written references of Elturian wizards being comfortable in the saddle; perhaps a wizard with the right school - war mage especially - is not out of the question as a Hellrider? They're more likely to originate from somewhere in the surrounding lands. Sorcerers and definitely warlocks are equally looked down upon alongside wizards, though divine soul sorcerers and celestial warlocks may have an easier time convincing others of their intention.
Northwest of Elturgard proper is the High Moor, ostensibly part of the nation of Najara - whose icy relations with Elturgard largely consist of not interacting with each other - and because of that, Elturel is home to the High Moor Heroes' Guild, who scoured the Moor and slew monsters. The High Moor Heroes' Guild was considered a legal outlet for the poor, desperate, unruly, maladjusted, or just violent members of the city, and was the closest thing the city had to a thieves' guild. As such, it might count any number of rogues, rangers, barbarians, and non-cleric spellcasters among its number.
The Harpers operated in Elturel, much as they did anywhere else, providing a possible reason to operate out of the city for almost anyone, but especially bards. (An interesting note for bards who may be expecting to be able to sing for their room and board: an old decree in Elturel declared that inns could not serve drinks, and taverns could not have rooms for rents, ensuring that inns and taverns are distinctly different businesses in Elturel.)
Artificers, druids, monks, and others may have to do a little more work to tie themselves to the city, may opt to be outsiders, or might simply pick up a background that's appropriate below while concealing their true adventuring talent.
Races
While Elturel itself, like most of the Realms, is majority human, that definitely isn't the only option. Many of the more common races - elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes - frequently lived either within the city itself or in the farmlands around the city. Dragonborn and tieflings were less common and occasionally viewed with distrust - the former believed to be agents of Najara, the latter largely facing religious prejudice. Aasimar, outside of the fallen variety, obviously did not face the same problems.
A number of wilder races lived in the area around Elturel, especially in the Reaching Woods. All varieties of fey could be found here - including centaurs, satyrs, and presumably other fey races like the eladrin, fairies, and harengon. The woods were also home to goblinoid races, including goblins, bugbears, and a large number of hobgoblins, who sometimes enslaved the fey, as well as gnolls. No one likes the gnolls; they had largely slaughtered the other humanoid races and kept them alive for food, barring a single elf who escaped in 1479 to warn the outside world of the situation inside the Reaching Woods.
Najara, the Kingdom of Serpents, is home to all kinds of scalefolk, including lizardfolk and yuan-ti. The High Moor, which was technically part of their nation, also held hobgoblins, orcs, half-orcs, and a number of human barbarian tribes. Najara maintains fairly icy relations with Elturel, and playing a spy from Najara could be an interesting background!
Of course, nearly any race present in the Realms could be from Scornubel. Known as the City of Caravans, Scornubel was a fairly rowdy place by Elturel standards while still being part of Elturgard.
Backgrounds
Especially suitable backgrounds (almost unaltered) for Elturian characters include: acolyte, charlatan, criminal/spy (especially spies from Najara or - if you want to prove everyone right! - Baldur's Gate), entertainer, folk hero, guild artisan/guild merchant, knight, noble, outlander, sage, soldier, and urchin from the PHB; city watch/investigator (possibly a Hellrider or a Companion), courtier, faction agent (esp. the Harpers), far traveler, inheritor, knight of the order (almost certainly a Companion), mercenary veteran, or urban bounty hunter from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.
For characters from the surrounding region, almost anything opens up, although probably still not pirate or sailor, unless you're sailing on the river. Elturgard is landlocked. Hermit could be nearly anyone in the wilderness regions, while a cloistered scholar might be from as far away as Candlekeep in the south.
If you would prefer to specifically be a Hellrider or Companion, I have created homebrew versions of these on D&D Beyond.
