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THE CANDLEKEEP REVELATIONS

In order for Descent Into Avernus to continue beyond this point, the PCs need to go to Candlekeep and have Sylvira Salkiras open the infernal puzzlebox. (Theoretically they could also figure out an alternative way of opening the puzzlebox and also an alternative method of getting to Hellturel after they do so. More power to them.)

There are two things that are required for this to happen.

FIRST: The PCs must have possession of the infernal puzzlebox. In Part 3C: The Vanthampur Revelations we added multiple clues pointing to the existence (and importance) of the puzzlebox specifically so that the PCs would know to look for it when they went to Vanthampur Manor. (If they brief Zodge or Marshal Portyr on this information, they will also encourage the PCs to seize the puzzlebox due to its obvious importance to the cultists.)

SECOND: The PCs must know to take it to Candlekeep in order to open it. There are three ways for the PCs to learn this:

• Falaster Fisk can recognize the puzzlebox and tell them that Sylvira Salkiras has opened similar boxes in the past.
• If the PCs research the puzzlebox (with an Intelligence (Arcana or Religion) check), they can learn the basic properties of the puzzlebox and also be pointed in the direction of Candlekeep as a place where they could learn even more. (This wouldn’t necessarily identify Sylvira, but could. If it doesn’t, they’ll be pointed in her direction once they start making inquiries at Candlekeep.)
• Marshal Portyr will order them to take the puzzlebox to Candlekeep to find out what it is (or strongly support that action if they’ve already proposed it). (As also discussed in Part 3C and Part 3J, she will be interested in getting the PCs out of Baldur’s Gate until the political heat from the assassination of the Vanthampurs dies down. This is as good a reason as any and the puzzlebox is an enigma she’d like solved in any case.)

It would also be useful for the PCs to learn that they need to donate a unique book as an entrance gift in order to gain entry to Candlekeep before they leave Baldur’s Gate (because this will give them an opportunity to obtain one). Any of the leads above (Fisk, research pointing them to Candlekeep, Portyr) can and should inform them of this.

DOWN THE COAST WAY

The thing that I immediately notice about the “Journey to Candlekeep” (DIA, p. 43-44) is the obvious missed opportunity: The refugees from Elturel.

If refugees are pouring down the Chionthar River and then being turned away from Baldur’s Gate, then they’re going to start heading north and south along the Coast Way. As we discussed in Part 1, the plight of the refugees is the emotional connection that the PCs (and players) have to Elturel. At this point we’re heading straight towards the campaign-changing revelation that ELTUREL WAS NOT DESTROYED, so this is the perfect time to refresh the thematic work we laid down at the beginning of the campaign.

As written in Descent Into Avernus there are three encounters along the road. None of them currently feature the refugees, but with a few simple tweaks all of them COULD.

WYRM’S CROSSING

Wyrm’s Crossing is a cutpurse’s paradise, and every traveler here runs the risk of being pickpocketed. As the characters make their way from one end of Wyrm’s Crossing to the other, have each player roll a d20. (Don’t roll for NPCs traveling with the party.) The character or character with the lowest roll are targeted by a pickpocket.

(Tangentially: If you want to randomly pick one of the PCs, just roll a die on your side of the screen. Asking the whole table to roll d20s, then collecting and comparing that data is a terrible technique. You’re wasting your players’ time with busy work.)

As written, the pickpocket is a generic encounter that’s resolved, one way or another, without interaction from the PC who’s targeted:

Use a character’s passive Wisdom (Perception) score to determine whether a theft made against that character is successful. If the character’s score is 11 or higher, the theft is detected and thwarted. Otherwise, the thief makes off with one item weighing 1 pound or less (such as a coin pouch or potion).

REFUGEE TWIST: The pick pocket is a refugee. A kid named Frens Nölruth (bandit, MM p. 343). If at all possible, he’s not grabbing money, but snatching rations.

If the PCs catch Frens, they’ll have to decide what to do with a refugee who’s simply hungry and desperate. If they don’t then when they discover the theft they’ll reflect on the fact that someone in the pressing throngs of refugees could have taken their coin purse, but instead took their bread.

KNIGHTS OF THE SHIELD

In this road encounter, the PCs are ambushed by a devil disguised as a local farmer.

Coming up the road toward you is a human farmer riding on the front of a hay-filled wagon pulled by two draft horses. The farmer gives you a friendly wave as the wagon draws near.

REFUGEE TWIST: The bad guys aren’t disguised as local farmers. They’re disguised as refugees; one of the many families or small groups that the PCs have been passing on the road all day.

(These small clots of refugees are an additional encounter in their own right: Describe them. Give the PCs a chance to respond to them — providing succor where they can, riding past while studiously ignoring them, whatever — and then after that describe the devil leaping out of a group they pass further down the road.)

Design Note: As scripted, these are Knights of the Shield ambushing the PCs in an effort to grab the Shield of the Hidden Lord. There’s a bunch of ways that this might not make sense (the PCs might not have the Shield or they may not have encountered any Knights who could report that they had the Shield), but it’s not terribly hard to justify: Marshal Portyr might have a leak in her organization, for example.

On the other hand, the essential beat here is “trouble is following you from Baldur’s Gate.” It’s a minor beat, but it provides a nice sense of pressure on the group. You can achieve this same effect by having some other faction that the PCs have pissed off attempt to ambush them (remnants of either Cult of Zariel are an obvious choice).

Avoid the Quantum Ogre, however: If the PCs specifically take efforts to sneak out of Baldur’s Gate undetected, use some kind of appropriate counter-intelligence resolution to see if they’re successful. (And, of course, if they are, they can’t be ambushed.)

TALE OF THE HELLRIDERS

The final encounter has Reya Mantlemorn share the history of the Hellriders with the PCs while they’re gathered around the campfire.

REFUGEE TWIST: If you’ve eliminated Reya Mantlemorn as a GMPC (see Part 2) this is actually a great time to leverage the character. She’s been riding up and down the road helping refugees in need; seeing their campfire she approaches, thinking at first they might be refugees, but then welcoming a chance to rest for a little while.

Alternatively, if Reya IS journeying with the PCs, their camp can be similarly approached by another Hellrider (Bran Nestoon). Reya is excited to share news with a fellow Hellrider. Later, or prompted by something in that shared news, Reya and Bran share the history of the Hellriders with the PCs.

REVISED TALE: One important revision to how lore is being handled in the Remix is that it is NOT widely known that Zariel, the Archduchess of Avernus, was once the same angel who led the Charge of the Hellriders.

We’ll be delving into the full history of the Charge of the Hellriders (as I call it) in Part 6D of the Remix, where we’ll also be straightening out the continuity glitches around it. The key thing for right now is that Zariel is nameless, so that her role in the Charge can come as a revelation (see Part 4C).

ARRIVING AT CANDLEKEEP

If you really want the PCs’ brief sojourn at Candlekeep to pop, I recommend checking out Elminster’s Candlekeep Companion on the Dungeon Masters Guild. It features a ton of play-oriented material that not only highlights the stuff that’s cool about the Castle of Tomes, but also gives you the tools to inject those cool things directly into your game.

Start with the PCs arriving at Candlekeep: The book gives you plentiful detail on the procedures around the presentation of the entrance gift. (And when the PCs are looking for potential entrance gifts back in Baldur’s Gate, the Candlekeep Companion also includes a random table of books that you can use.)

Once they’ve gained admittance, build their journey through the tangled halls of Candlekeep. The Companion features a number of random tables for determining the rooms, towers, and passages they go through while traveling from one place to another.

(The Candlekeep Companion also features a beautiful poster map of Candlekeep by Marco Bernardini that’s well worth using.)

Note: If the PCs weren’t guided to Candlekeep by Falaster Fisk, they won’t be looking for Sylvira when they arrive. This isn’t really a problem: The minute they start making inquiries about infernal affairs or the infernal puzzlebox, they’ll be pointed in her direction.

RESEARCH AT CANDLEKEEP: The Companion also includes guidelines for conducting research at Candlekeep. If you want to make sure the PCs have the full Candlekeep experience, I recommend tweaking Sylvira’s ritual for opening the infernal puzzlebox so that it takes most or all of a tenday (we can imagine the puzzlebox suspended in the energy fields of some strange, technomantic device as its fractal layers are slowly unraveled one by one).

SYLVIRA & TRAXIGOR

As designed, this section of Descent Into Avernus is:

• The PCs are told to travel to a loremaster who lives in a castle.
• They do so.
• The PCs are told to travel to a loremaster who lives in a tower.
• They do so.

It’s kind of repetitive and also feels fairly pointless. The adventure even goes so far as to say:

Although Sylvira can prepare the plane shift spell, there’s no point, as magical wards placed on Candlekeep prevent creatures from using such means to go to or from the library.

Which is just silly because… walk out the front gates and cast the spell.

I’d recommend either conflating these two characters into one (in which case I’d pick Traxigor as I find the magical otter to be an infinitely more interesting character) or simply put them both in the same lab at Candlekeep as partners.

The rough sequence probably looks like this:

• PCs meet Sylvira and Traxigor.
• The PCs show them the infernal artifact(s) they have.
• Sylvira and Traxigor begin sharing their lore on those (see Part 4B).
• At some point during this, Lulu comes flying into the room. She’s here sharing her memories of Hell with Sylvira and Traxigor, aiding them in their research. She might even have something to add on the infernal puzzlebox or Gargauth’s history. (This, of course, assumes that Lulu isn’t being played as a PC, see Part 2.)
• Sylvira opens the infernal puzzlebox.
• They establish why the PCs need to go to Avernus (see Part 4B).
• The PCs help Traxigor look for his lost tuning fork.
• Traxigor leads the PCs out of Candlekeep (when they’re ready) and plane shifts them to Hellturel.

LAB RUMMAGING:

Characters can help Traxigor search for his missing tuning fork, which is keyed to the Nine Hells. Whoever rolls the highest Wisdom (Perception) check finds the tuning fork. Whoever rolls the lowest finds a random trinket, determined by rolling on the Trinkets table in chapter 5 of the Player’s Handbook. Traxigor doesn’t care if the characters keep the trinket or not, and doesn’t remember how or when he acquired it.

I really like this mechanical interaction: It’s a nice, subtle touch to reward the low roll in addition to the high roll, coupled to imagery that reinforces the environment. If you want to add a little more sizzle, consider using 101 Curious Items or the random oddities tables from Arcana of the Ancients. (If you want to add A LOT of sizzle, use the random cypher tables from Arcana of the Ancients.)

Go to Part 4B: The Road to Avernus