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At the Dungeon of the Dead Three, the PCs discover that Duke Vanthampur has ordered the assassination of Duke Dillard Portyr during a speech he’s giving at a charity event for the Confraternity of Refugee Relief.

DUKE DILLARD PORTYR: See Descent Into Avernus, p. 162. He was once the Grand Duke (see Murder in Baldur’s Gate, p. 36), but now isn’t for some reason. He’s the uncle of Marshal Liara Portyr.

CONFRATERNITY OF REFUGEE RELIEF: Established by Duke Portyr, this secular charitable organization seeks to raise funds and provide relief to the Elturian refugees. Whereas other figures of power in the city are panicked about the disruptive force of the refugees, Portyr is both legitimately concerned about them and has also made the mental calculation that, if Elturel has truly fallen, the refugees probably aren’t going anywhere — there’s going to end up being a Little Elturgard outside the city walls and a significant chunk of the city’s population will be made up of former refugees. If they all have a friendly opinion of or even feel indebted to the Portyrs, that could be a lasting political legacy.

THE EVENT: The confraternity has been organizing free meals for refugees and has commandeered (under Portyr’s authority) a section of the Wide around the statue of the Beloved Ranger to do so:

Today, Duke Portyr plans to stand on the base of the Beloved Ranger and give a speech pledging his support and the support of Baldur’s Gate to succor the refugees.

THE ASSASSINATION

As the PCs rush into the Wide, they see Duke Portyr mount the Beloved Ranger and begin giving his speech.

I would like to lead my fellow citizens of Baldur’s Gate in welcoming our Elturian friends! I know that times are difficult now, but we will find a way to persevere — TOGETHER!

There have always been those who thought the people of Baldur’s Gate and the people of Elturel must live in strife. But Amaunator has given us a gift of time; the gift of a precious moment in which to see that we are not rivals, but rather brothers joined by the waters of the Chionthar. And if we stand together—

THE INFERNAL ARROW: That’s as far as Duke Portyr gets before a blood-red arrow, glowing with infernal light, streaks from the crowd from and strikes him in the chest. The Duke staggers, gasps, and then explodes in a shower of blood and gore. Several devils climb out of his putrid remains before tearing into his guards with vile glee.

If the infernal arrow is recovered it will be found to still glow red hot (1d4 fire damage if picked up without gloves) for 1 minute, but its one-use conjuration effect has been used up.

THE DEVILS: Two imps (MM, p. 76) and four nupperibo (Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, p. 168). They’ll attack Portyr’s guards and then the crowd, unleashing panic across the Wide. At the start of each round, roll 1d6 to determine a random complication:

1. A young child falls nearby and is in danger of being trampled to death unless someone takes an action to save them.
2. The riotous crowd swirls around the group, reducing their speed by 10 feet.
3. A member of the crowd grapples (+0) a character (escape DC 10), screaming for help.
4. A random character stumbles on a pothole and must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
5. An overzealous guard (MM, p. 347) thinks the PCs are working with the assassins or devils or both and attacks!
6. The statue of the Beloved Ranger is toppling over. A random character must make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or be crushed beneath it for 2d6 bludgeoning damage (they also fall prone and a DC 18 Strength check is required to lift the statue off of them).

THE ASSASSINS: The shot was taken by a night blade (DIA, p. 233) accompanied by four fists of Bane (DIA, p. 232). They strategically located themselves near an entrance to the Undercellar (DIA, p. 182) and will attempt to escape through its labyrinthine depths.

CHASE THROUGH THE UNDERCELLAR: If the PCs give chase, the assassins may try to split up. Use the chase rules from the DMG (p. 252). Complications can include:

1. The chase goes through the middle of a pit fight between two giant weasels (MM, p. 329). You either need to circle the pit (40 feet of additional movement) or suffer an opportunity attack from a weasel.
2. A crowd blocks the way. Make a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. On a failure, the crowd counts as 10 feet of difficult terrain.
3. A maze of barrels, crates, or similar obstacles stands in the way. Make a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) or Intelligence check to navigate the maze. On a failed check, it counts as 10 feet of difficult terrain.
4. The ground is slipper with rain, spilled oil, or some other liquid. Make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, you fall prone.
5. The assassins slam and lock an iron gate shut as they pass through it. It costs them 10 feet of movement, but it will require a DC 18 Strength check to smash through it without slowing down. On a failure, no progress is made this round. A Dexterity check using Thieves’ Tools can undo the lock.
6. The assassins cut through a brothel or indulgence den. Make a DC 10 Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics), or Charisma (Intimidation) check to weave through. On a failure, the brothel counts as 20 feet of difficult terrain.
7. A storage corral collapses as the assassins run over the top of it. A huge plume of flour fills the air. Make a DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) test or treat the cloud as 10 feet of difficult terrain.
8. A beggar blocks your way. Make a DC 10 Strength (Athletics), Dexterity (Acrobatics), or Charisma (Intimidation) check to get past. On a failed check, the beggar counts as 5 feet of difficult terrain.
9. You are forced to make a sharp turn to avoid colliding with something impassable. Make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw to navigate the turn. On a failed save, you collide with something hard and take 1d4 bludgeoning damage.
10. A portcullis ahead of you begins to shut. Make a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to slide under it. Otherwise it requires a DC 12 Strength check to lift it, and you lost 10 feet of movement (but can hold it for others behind you so that they don’t lose speed).

11-20. No complications.

AFTERMATH

As noted in “Portyr Politics” (Part 3C), when Marshal Portyr learned that Duke Vanthampur is responsible for her uncle’s death, she will ask the PCs to wipe out the Vanthampur family. For political reasons they’ll be disavowed, but if they succeed, she’ll offer them either promotions within the Flaming Fist or a big cash reward (whatever appeals to them more).

If the PCs don’t find the clues revealing that Duke Portyr is about to be assassinated (and kill Mortlock before he can shout something like, “You’re too late! Nothing can save Portyr now!”), or if they simply don’t act on them, then the assassination will obviously still happen even in their absence. In this scenario, Duke Portyr’s guards managed to kill one of the assassins and they’ve been identified as a Dead Three cultist. If the PCs don’t already have evidence of Vanthampur’s complicity in the assassination itself, the evidence they have of her working with the Dead Three cultists will nevertheless make Liara Portyr suspect it: She’ll order the PCs into Vanthampur Manor to find evidence implicating Duke Vanthampur.

(If the PCs share none of this with Liara Portyr — which is quite plausible if they’re not working with the Flaming Fist and don’t or can’t attempt to prevent the assassination — then the assassination will just be a backdrop event.)

DESIGN NOTES

The continuity around Duke Portyr’s assassination is taken from Inglorious Redemption, Season 9 of the Adventurers’ League. As I’ve noted previously, I think the current political situation in Baldur’s Gate is really interesting, and this canonical assassination plays a big part in it.

With that being said, I’ve shifted the continuity here slightly. Like other seasons of the Adventurers’ League, Inglorious Redemption reflects the events of that year’s major campaign book, in this case Descent Into Avernus. But in this case it reflects them rather more closely than other seasons I’m familiar with. Inglorious Redemption, quite implausibly, features a different Cult of Zariel in Baldur’s Gate murdering refugees for a different reason while being instructed by a different devil whose name starts with G (Gharizol).

When I first looked at the Adventurers’ League material I was actually hoping it might provide the basis for a second track that could complicate the Vanthampur Investigations and draw the PCs even more deeply in to Baldur’s Gate. Once I saw it was going to feature more Cult of Zariel stuff, I thought it might be good source of material to enrich the Vanthampur Investigations. The samey-samey design, though, doesn’t offer much of value to work with, and would probably just create a sense of either déjà vu or unnecessary repetition.

So the only thing I ended up grabbing was this assassination, which I adapted so that it was part of Duke Vanthampur’s schemes instead of being unrelated. It’s specifically taken from M.T. Black’s DDAL09-04 – The Day of the Devil: The infernal arrow and crowd combat complications (with modifications) are taken from there. You can blame me for the confraternity and the Undercellar chase.

TIME OF DAY: Note that the specific meal the confraternity is providing here is left undefined. This gives you a good deal of flexibility (breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, afternoon event, dinner) depending on what time the PCs discover the clues in the Dungeon of the Dead Three and go rushing forth to stop the assassination. (If they went in at night, for example, the sun can just be rising for the breakfast event as they emerge back onto the city streets!)

SAVING THE DAY: If you’d rather give the PCs an opportunity to prevent the assassination, that works, too. That will probably require tweaking the set-up a bit to give them some meaningful structure of taking security precautions.

Part 4A: The Road to Candlekeep

Remixing Avernus – Part 3I: Vanthampur Manor Remixing Avernus – Addendum: A Textual History of Elturel Remixing Avernus – Part 5B-B: Streetcrawl in Elturel