C1. MONUMENT OF TIAMAT
- Descent Into Avernus, p. 112
Through the mouth of a colossal dragon’s skull, a tunnel passes back to Tiamat’s Lair. The tunnel is really more of a highway. (The size of the dragon skull really cannot be overstated.) Arkhan the Cruel and his followers are currently in a camp just down the hill from the dragon skull.
Tiamat’s Lair: The mountain is a prison, although Tiamat has successfully tested the limits of that prison many times. Her lair is like an onion, with layers upon layers of caverns always worming their way deeper and deeper towards her five lairs (and many false lairs). Some of these tunnels actually ooze across planar boundaries. In one place, for example, her lair is connected or consanguineous with the Dragonspawn Pits of Azharul (another draconic deity whom Tiamat destroyed and subsumed a century ago).
The highway leads to the outer fortifications of Tiamat’s lair, which stand guard upon the Gate Tower of Dis. This fluted tower stands in the middle of a truly mammoth cavern, surrounded by temporary merchant camps and stockyard-type infrastructure. The tower actually pierces through the planar boundaries between the layers of Hell. Inside the tower, a huge ramp leads down for a seemingly absurd distance (it takes several hours to descend) before emerging out of a tower on the outskirts of Dis, the infernal city which is the second layer of Hell.
At the opposite end of the lair, atop the mountain peaks, are five towers – one for each of Tiamat’s chromatic heads – which rear up into the sky in a crown-shaped redoubt. These towers serve as entrances for draconic followers of Tiamat.
C2. PILLAR OF SKULLS
- Visible 1 (Visible 2 on a clear day, as per a mountain)
A terrifying tower of demon skulls, stacked more than a mile high. These are trophy-skulls claimed during the Blood War and placed in this monument during the time when the frontlines were located along the River Styx.
The Rift Mound: Near the base of the Pillar of Skulls is a second mound, reaching perhaps fifty feet high. These skulls were piled here during the Rift War. Inspection will reveal that they are not demonic (they are actually baatorian, although a DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check is necessary to recognize that).
On an obsidian sarsen at the base of the mound are carved the following words in Infernal:
FORGET NOT THE GLORIES OF THE BATTLE OF LOST MEMORIES. SEE BEFORE YOU THE ENEMIES OF HELL AND REMEMBER THEIR FOLLY. WE HONOR FOREVER THE DEEDS OF ZARIEL, SHE WHO ROSE BY HER BLADE. SHE WHO TRIUMPHED IN THE RIFT WAR. SHE WHO IS NEW-CROWNED ARCHDUCHESS OF AVERNUS.
C3. BAAZIT’S CAGE
- Descent Into Avernus, p. 100
- On the Edge of the Pit of Shummrath
There are a dozen iron cages suspended over the edge of the Pit of Shummrath and designed to dunk their occupants into the demonic goo. When the PCs first arrive here, one of them is occupied by Baazit (DIA, p. 100). On future visits, there is a 1 in 4 chance of a new prisoner (which can be generated using the wandering encounter tables for Avernus).
C4. TEMPLE OF DAK-THAEL
These ruins were once the sanctum of the Queen of Lilies, who ruled over a verdant paradise before it was swept away by the sands of Avernus.
Design Note: As written, the Queen of Lilies was an ancient Archduchess of Avernus. You might position her as having served in the armies of Ashmedai (i.e., Asmodeus) when he conquered the plane. Alternatively, with even greater revision, the Queen of Lilies might have ruled here BEFORE the Fall of Avernus and the paradise described here is what Avernus was like prior to the events of the Averniad.
C5. CRYPT OF THE HELLRIDERS
- Descent Into Avernus, p. 101-3
MEETING OLANTHIUS / QUESTIONING THE GHOSTS: These conversations are detailed in Part 6D-L: Questioning the Hellriders.
C6. AVERNUS THAT WAS
A narrow crack in the rock leads to a stone stair leading deep into the earth. At the heart of this shrine is a small, verdant patch of the glorious paradise which Avernus once was. Just fifty feet across, this patch of the Avernus That Was has been preserved for eons.
Lore of the Averniad is preserved here, speaking of how the forces of many different planes sought to claim Avernus for themselves; and of Asmodeus’ betrayal that led to Avernus becoming aligned with Hell.
This place is anathema to those with fiendish blood, who simply cannot enter (as if presented with an impenetrable invisible wall upon the threshold). Full fiends cannot even perceive the place unless forced to do so (for example, if they see someone else passing within).
D1. MALIGNANT TRIBUTARY
- Encounters in Avernus, p. 14
- On River
The tributary of the Styx shown on the hexmap here is known as the Malignant Tributary and has strange effects on those who drink from it (as described in Encounters in Avernus).
D2a. WARLORD LAIR: CAROL D’VOWN
- Warlords of Avernus, p. 4
- Map by Dyson Logos
- On the Styx
D’vown has a Heartstone, which she uses in her alchemical experiments.
Carol’s tower squats on the banks of the Styx near where a tributary from the Pit of Shummrath joins the river. She takes samples from the Styx, the Pit, and the effluvium mixture of the two and experiments to see what alchemical “delights” she can discover from them.
Carol is in a relationship with Feonor (Hex I2), having met her at Mahadi’s Wandering Emporium years ago. There is a 1 in 6 chance that Feonor and 1d4-1 members of her gang are visiting Carol here.
For more details on the Avernian warlords, see Part 7E of the Remix.
D2b. THE SHUMMRATH DAM
A huge dam has been erected at one end of the Pit of Shummrath, preventing the ooze from flowing out into the Styx. (Stygian waters are periodically let into the Pit through a similar dam at the other end.) Sometimes the dam leaks and sometimes it overflows; the river canyons beyond this dam are thus lined with a sickly sludge made up Stygian water and Shummrathian ooze, leading to strange mutations amongst the flora and fauna.
D3. DEMON ZAPPER
- Descent Into Avernus, p. 106
A Nirvanan cogbox is part of the apparatus which imprisons the unicorn. Removing the cogbox without damaging it is a DC 14 Intelligence (Arcana) check. Removing the cogbox disables the device.
D4. BLOODY CRESCENT
- Bitter Rivals, p. 5
An enormous rock shaped like a semicircle, providing a sort of half-pipe. The Warlords of Avernus use it for stunt duels on their infernal war-machines.
D5. ULDRAK’S GRAVE
- Descent Into Avernus, p. 109
Uldrak was the son of Gond. The interior of his helmet has been transformed into a tinker’s shop, serving as a pit stop for infernal machines that need cheap repairs. Among his supplies are a set of astral pistons.
There’s a 1 in 6 chance that 1d4 riders from a warlord’s band are here getting their machines checked out. If so, there is an additional 1 in 6 chance that the warlord themself is present.
D6. ELDER TEMPEST
A mighty, elemental storm rages around this mountain peak to a distance of 1d6+4 miles. At the eye of the storm is the Tree of Life, beneath which lies Kostchtchie’s phylactery, as described in the module.
So I’ve read through Bitter Rivals several times and I don’t see any mention of a semi-circle halfpipe akin to the Bloody Crescent. Did you mean the cul-de-sac map from the end of that adventure or is there another supplement besides Bitter Rivals where I should be looking?
@Abessia—the Bloody Crescent is mentioned in a few places in Bitter Rivals, e.g., p. 2. With the PDF, just search for “Bloody Crescent.”
What is supposed to happen on C6. AVERNUS THAT WAS?
is It some kind of secure place for the party take a long rest?
I was wondering, at Uldrak’s grave, what could be the price for the astral pistons ?
So, there is more than one pillar of skulls?
Personally, I’m a fan of the one from Planescape:Torment – a pillar where evil sages were trapped after death as their punishment, their skulls forming a malevolent hive mind that could be bargained with for knowledge.