Go to Avernian Hex Key Index

I1. MIRROR OF MEPHISTAR

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 99

Rigorath can offer the PCs knowledge about:

• Leads on a location for the four dream machine components (roll on the Quest of the Dream Machine rumor table in Part 6C).
• Details of Zariel’s history, particularly her fall after the Battle of Avernus and her role in the Reckoning.
• Whatever other valuable knowledge seems relevant and/or requested by the PCs. (Perhaps pass-keys to Zariel’s flying fortress?)

I2. WARLORD LAIR: FEONOR’S LAIR

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 91
• Map by Dyson Logos
• On the Styx

Feonar has a supply of Phlegethosian sand which is useful for her necromantic work.

Feonor is in a relationship with Carol D’Vown (Hex D2). She previously was in a relationship with Mahadi, but fell in love with D’Vown when she met her at the Wandering Emporium. There is a 1 in 4 chance that D’vown and her gang of infernal constructs are visiting Feonor here.

The Amphibious Warlord: Feonor has a number of amphibious infernal machines, including some which can operate on both water and land. Her lair is built around a cavern located along the Styx.

Ossuary Arsenal: Lady Bladeharrow is an undead devil forgemaster created by Feonor herself. She is described in Forges of Avernus, p. 4.

Design Note: As described in Forges of Avernus, Lady Bladeharrow has a “mobile forge” called the Ossuary. We are removing the mobile concept and ensconcing her in Feonor’s Lair. Remember that soul coins can be used to create undead, so Feonor is likely to have a substantial cache of them.

I3. CIRCLE OF FLAMES

This site resembles a druidic stone circle (like Stonehenge), but the sarsens are formed from plasmic masses of flame. Half sunken into the acidic muck (much of it polluted run-off from Bel’s Forge, Hex H2), several of the flame-sarsens gutter and flicker like torches on the verge of being blown out.

I4. FORT KNUCKLEBONES

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 80

See Part 6C.

I5. SPAWNING TREES

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 96

The devilish work crew knows details of the surrounding area (major landmarks, keyed locations, etc.) to a distance of two hexes.

I6. SHADOWSWIMMER TOWER

• The Diabolical Dive
• On River

Respen Shadowswimmer escaped Plagueshield Point (Hex G5b) shortly after it was sucked into Hell and eventually found his way to this abandoned tower, which he has made his own. An arcane researcher, he is fascinated by the properties of the Styx and has been researching its long-term effects on various creatures. Most recently this has resulted in the creation Stygian behemoths.

Respen Shadowswimmer used a heartstone during his research at Plagueshield Point, but wasn’t able to bring it along. He’d dearly prize a replacement, as he thinks it would prove invaluable in continuing his research here.

J1. SIEGEWORKS OF DIS

A tower of reddish, Avernian stone thrusts into the sky near a gaping black maw tunneled into the side of an obsidian peak.

Abandoned Tower: The tower was once barracks and armory for hundreds of Blood Legion troops, with half-finished construction suggesting it was destined to house thousands more. But the tower stands unfinished and empty today, its strategic purpose lost with the end of the Reckoning and the abandonment of the mineworks.

Mineworks: The tunnel is artificial, having been carved into the mountain. The work was begun during the Reckoning, when Zariel was laying siege to Dis. Stymied by the defenses of Dis, Zariel had the idea to create a second passage between the first and second levels of Hell.

At the bottom of the shaft is an infernal drill that, in that bygone era, might have been able to pierce the planar boundaries and undermine Dis. With the end of the war, the drill was abandoned and has long since decayed to uselessness. However, astral pistons were used in its construction and can be salvaged.

Hellwasp Nests: The tunnel struck a number of natural caves and other cavities. Hellwasps have established a hive in one of these.

Note: You could fill this dungeon with any number of cross-chambers filled with various denizens or Avernian wildlife (or even stranger stuff). Particularly relevant would be anyone seeking to hide from Avernian authorities. (Perhaps there’s a force of inbred demons who got stuck behind the lines when the Blood War moved Abyss-ward. Or even Baatorians who escaped Zariel’s wrath at the end of the Rift War.) Some of these inhabitants could have blocked the main passage, forcing the PCs to either excavate or find a route around the blockage.

J2. KOSTCHTCHIE’S MAW

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 104

Kostchtchie is more than willing to team up against Zariel if freed. What form that assistance takes will depend a lot on the plan the PCs propose (don’t feel bound by the adventure’s script here).

As described in Dance of Deathless Frost, the demon cannot be permanently killed unless Kostchtchie’s phylactery is destroyed. This is why Zariel has imprisoned Kostchtchie instead of killing him. PCs who obtain the phylactery (see the Witch-Queen’s Abode, Hex B3) would have something of value to Zariel… and even greater value to Kostchtchie.

J3. WARLORD LAIR: GOREGUTS GANG

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 87
• Map by Dyson Logos

Raggadragga and his gang got into a war with Princeps Kovik and the 8^th Remnant (Hex J5), which the Goreguts decisively lost. Raggadragga and a ragged band of survivors managed to escape, but their lair was ravaged by Kovik.

Inverted Crucifixes: Kovik took the dead and nailed them to inverted crucifixes in the former courtyard. Words blasted into the stone wall here read, “Damned be those who challenge Princeps Kovik of the 8^th.” There are three dead wereboars and five dead wererats.

Ruined War Machines: Three burned out husks of what were once infernal war machines are just outside the walls.

Raggadragga has several potential scenario hooks related to these recent events:

• He’s actively seeking anyone with resources or skills who might help him rebuild the lair.
• He’s also looking for alternative locations for a lair (including the possibility of seizing one).
• He would also like to return to the lair long enough to bury his dead.
• He’d like to stage a raid on the 8^th Remnant’s lair (Hex J5) to steal back the infernal war machines they took from him.

For more details on the Avernian warlords, see Part 7E of the Remix.

Design Note: As you’re working up the key for this location, think about dropping clues pointing to both its original owners (the Goreguts) and its destroyer (Princeps Kovik).

J4. TEMPLE OF THE BROKEN PRINCE

• Temple of the Broken Prince

This dungeon is located beneath a razed demonic fortress that was wiped out when Zariel’s forces drove back the front lines of the Blood War from the banks of the Styx.

J5. WARLORD LAIR: THE EIGHTH REMNANT

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 91
• Map by Dyson Logos

Princeps Kovik and the Eighth Remnant are ensconced within the bone brambles. Signifier Hraxioch of the 9^th Cohort (Hex J6) has been charged with hunting down these rebels and there is a constant guerilla warfare of sorts between them within the twisted eaves of the brambles.

Fetterworks: The Eighth Remnant has a forge for weapons and infernal machines maintained by an enslaved centaur named Hobblehoof. See Forges of Avernus, p. 3.

For more details on the Avernian warlords, see Part 7E of the Remix.

J6. CAMP OF THE 9th COHORT

• Encounters in Avernus, p. 5
• Visible

Camped on a low mesa overlooking the area is the 9^th Cohort of the 497^th Infantry Legion (9/497) commanded by the chain devil Signifier Hraxioch.

The 9^th is charged with guarding the narrow pass between the mountains and the Styx here. From atop the mesa, they can see the entirety of this hex. Characters passing through this hex are likely to be spotted and a patrol sent out to intercept them.

Go to Part 7D: Raid on the Flying Fortress

Go to Part 1

The next three adventures – Maddening Screams, Honors Unforeseen, and In the Hand – form the Doors and Corners series.

MADDENING SCREAMS (DDAL 09-15): “Meanwhile, Zariel’s forces have taken note of the repeated interference of the adventurers in her plans.”

I know I’m something of a broken record when it comes to the shoddy cross-continuity of these adventures, but I do invite you to briefly peruse the previous adventures and ask yourself, “What plans, exactly? And when have the PCs done anything to interfere with them?”

In any case, the main thrust of Maddening Screams is that the PCs have recovered the battleplans of the Bloody Hooves, a company of knights who rode with Zariel into Hell. These battleplans said that if the Bloody Hooves were forced to retreat, then they should retreat into a box canyon.

Which, to be blunt, would be literally the LAST place you could possibly want to retreat into.

Also, it turns out the canyon was haunted and all the knights were driven mad.

So the PCs head to the Canyon of Screams to track down the Bloody Hooves. The structure for this, broadly speaking, is mass illusionism: Make a bunch of choices, absolutely none of which matter because “all tunnels eventually lead to the Bloody Hooves.” Sneak past somebody? They find your tracks, catch up, and attack you. Pick a tunnel? Something totally random happens to you. Repeat until the DM arbitrarily declares that you’ve picked the right tunnel this time.

At the end of that arbitrary tunnel the PCs will find an elaborately locked door which (checks notes) opens when literally anyone touches it. Huh. Like putting an automatic door on a bank vault.

Beyond the door, they do the random tunnel thing again, but this time there’s a puzzle they have to solve to find the right path. (The puzzle is… not very good. At each intersection, there are four symbols written on the wall. What these symbols are is not specified, but one of them will match a sentence written on the wall. For example, at the intersection that says, “May your sword strike true,” you have to pick the tunnel labeled with the symbol of a sword.)

Open another automatic vault door and, at long last, you have reached… more random tunnels. Their navigational choices are, once again, completely irrelevant, with the DM instead rolling 2d4 to determine how many tunnels they have to say they’re walking down before reaching the next section of the adventure.

Despite the players passing through locked doors that haven’t been opened in centuries, the devils pursuing them are inexplicably always in the chambers ahead of them. This, of course, makes no sense, but by this point your brain has probably given up on rational thought in self-defense.

The adventure wraps up when the PCs discover that all the Hellriders have inexplicably turned into stone tablets (???) which Dara raises from the… dead? Sure, let’s say dead.

The Hellriders tell the PCs that this is a cliffhanger and the adventure continues in DDAL 09-16.

• Grade: F

HONORS UNFORESEEN (DDAL 09-16): Honors Unforseen opens with the “super security doors that open if literally anyone touches them” gimmick and then the PCs proceed further into the dungeon to save the clerics who had ridden with the Bloody Hooves.

A good portion of the problems these adventures have can be summed up as: Don’t design a dungeoncrawl without a map. The convolutions these authors are going through to design incredibly bad dungeons that de-protagonize the PCs is kind of nuts. (I’m straight up blaming the long-term decay caused by D&D no longer teaching people how to design or run dungeons, but seeing it in official adventures really emphasizes how bad it’s gotten.)

As another example of the disconnect between design and table experience, after passing through the world’s worst vault door, the PCs enter a 100 foot long passage:

A number of tiles are trapped with a symbol. There is no rhyme or reason to the symbols’ placement. For each 5 feet that a creature moves through the area, roll a d20. If the result is 15 or higher, they pass over a symbol, triggering it unless they’re a wood elf or Yalanue herself.

Ho-ho-holy shit! Notice that it’s not per 5 foot square; it’s per creature moving 5 feet. So if you’ve got a group of five PCs, go ahead and roll that d20 one hundred times, generating on average thirty random symbols. What an amazing experience that will be at the table!

This installment of Doors and Corners also emphasizes how absurd the entire premise is: The Bloody Hooves fled from battle, retreated into a box canyon, and then… engaged in major infrastructure projects? They even painted elaborate murals on the walls! We’re told this was all made possible by Horst Atheraice… who later turns out to be a 9^th level spellcaster who definitely can’t have done all this through his magic.

• Grade: F

IN THE HAND (DDAL 09-17): In the previous two adventures the PCs have rescued all the knights of the Bloody Hooves and then all the clerics of the Bloody Hooves. In this adventure, the PCs discover that there’s a third level to this dungeon (behind yet another automatic vault door) in which the Commander of the Bloody Hooves was entombed.

Horst Atheraice will tell the PCs:

The third level of the tombs is the most dangerous of all. The constructors wove trials into the tombs to ensure that only the most loyal and strong Bloody Hooves could reach the commander.

Oh! Great! Y’all built these defensive wards! What are they?

Past that, they can’t recall anything else about the defenses.

Wow! That’s incredibly convenient amnesia!

Well, that’s okay. You said that you built these defenses specifically so that Bloody Hooves could bypass them. So I guess y’all will be heading down there, then?

No? You’re all leaving and sending us instead? By ourselves?

…

Look, I understand that this is an Adventurers League scenario and it carries with it the expectation that the players will accept the Call to Action. But that’s precisely why you shouldn’t design the Call to Action so that it egregiously insults the players’ intelligence.

By the way, there’s also an absolutely stunning mechanic in these adventures: The PCs are frequently escorting Dara. If they fail to protect her and she dies, she instantly resurrects but she randomly loses one of her four divinely gifted powers. If she dies four times and loses all four powers, she also loses the ability to resurrect angels and Hellriders.

If Dara dies during an adventure, the players are given the You Let Dara Die story award which keeps track of how many times they let Dara die.

Now, you might notice that the entire premise of these adventures is that the PCs are taking Dara to the varied corpses of the Hellriders so that she can resurrect them.

Which means it’s quite possible for a player to play this scenario at a convention or gaming club and immediately discover that, due to the other members of the group, the scenario simply can’t be played. (Oddly, none of the adventures give any guidance on how the “Dara raises people from the dead” scenarios should play out if Dara loses the ability to raise people from the dead.)

Anyway, the PCs go down by themselves and discover that, in order to protect their Commander’s corpse, the Hellriders… killed a bunch of their fellow knights and turned them into undead puppets who will perform small interactive morality plays so that would-be tomb robbers can “prove” they have morals.

…

What the actual fuck?

There’s also an absolutely bizarre meta-puzzle which works like this:

• After building an elaborate tomb, killing their fellow knights, and then turning them into undead to staff it, the Bloody Hooves installed text mosaics in every room providing the answer to the puzzle and/or interactive morality play in that room.
• However, the devils have somehow gotten here ahead of the PCs again, and they’ve been smashing the mosaics in each room after using them to solve the puzzles.
• So in the first room the PCs find the smashed remnants of the mosaic and what they do is:

Next to the door is a mosaic that has been shattered, with letter tiles littering the floor. Characters who collect the letter tiles can use them to puzzle out the challenges when they enter the Tomb of Trials.

It’s possible your brain broke while reading that, so let me just reiterate: The PCs take the unassigned letters from one random word scramble and then they use those to solve completely unrelated word scrambles.

I don’t even know if this puzzle can actually be solved, because they forgot to include the solution for it.

To be brutally honest, I gave up on In the Hand before finishing it. I skimmed ahead to determine that the adventure ends with the devils kidnapping Commander Rotger’s corpse.

• Grade: F

CONSEQUENCES OF CHOICE (DDAL 09-18): Although not technically part of the Doors and Corners series, Consequences of Choice follows immediately on from the events of In the Hand. Rather than following the tunnel the devils dug to grab Commander Rotger’s corpse, Dara decides that the best place to find a lead to the corpse’s location is back at Mahadi’s Wandering Emporium.

Unfortunately, the Wandering Emporium has wandered off, so the PCs have to first track it down. To do this they have to make a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check… and I guess if they fail, they just can’t find the Emporium and the rest of the adventure doesn’t happen?

In any case, along the way the PCs discover that there’s a demon army which has crossed the Styx and is looking to attack the Emporium. Consequences of Choice is about the PCs helping Mahadi mount a defense.

This defense – and thus the adventure – is built entirely around a mechanical mini-game which, as far as I can tell, received zero playtesting and even less critical thinking.

The way it works is that the PCs have 150 minutes to create defenses which earn them Survival Points. If they can get 45 Survival Points all the named characters live; if they get fewer points than that, people start dying during the fight. They can earn points by:

• Spending 150 minutes to build a siege engine = 5 points
• Spending 20 minutes to make a trap/obstacle = 3 points
• Casting a defensive spell = 2 points

You can immediately see the ludicrous lack of balance here. The DM is told to “reward creative thinking,” but this is completely unnecessary because the default group of five characters can just spend all their time making traps and generate 110+ points.

The system also includes adjustments for variant groups, but these are also laughably bad:

• If the group has fewer than 5 characters, the required number of Survival Points is reduced to 40. But, as we’ve seen, each character can trivially generate 21+ points, which is absurdly out of sync with the 5 points adjustment being made to the target. (The adjustment is also applied in reverse – increasing the Survival Points to 50 if there are more than 5 characters.)
• If the group’s APL is lower than 13, the points required are reduced by 3. If the APL is higher than 13, it’s increased by 3. (This is doesn’t make any sense at all because APL has no effect on the Survival Points generated by various activities.)

But that’s not all! The adventure includes two bonus objectives, each of which can generate 6 Survival Points.

But if the DM decides the group is going to do the bonus objectives, they only get 45 minutes (instead of 150 minutes) to make defensive preparations. In a standard five member group, this drops your group output from 110+ points to just 42 points… which means you fail and somebody dies. (In practice you can probably make that up by casting a couple defensive spells, assuming you have them prepared, but the point is that the system is so badly designed that it systemically discourages DMs and players from playing the full adventure.)

I can’t emphasize enough that this entire scenario is fundamentally built around this system, which I would not so much describe as “broken” as “criminally negligent.”

• Grade: F

Go to the Avernus Remix – Go to Part 6: Red Hunt

Go to Avernian Hex Key Index

G1. ADJUNCT COURT OF HELL

A tall, perfectly square tower filled with a Kafka-esque bureaucracy. Although lower staff members are devils of various sorts, the judges and upper management are Rilmani – perfect embodiments of neutrality who oversee and resolve disputes over infernal contracts.

These courts operate under the authority of Primus, as established in the Trial of Asmodeus. (The history of the Trial, along with “fun” facts like Zariel’s small part in that ancient history, can likely be established if anyone asks questions.)

Research at the court can also provide useful information about how infernal contracts (like the contract Zariel uses to hold Elturel in Avernus) can be broken. PCs might think to litigate the Elturian contract, but that probably won’t pan out unless the PCs go to truly extraordinary efforts of deception (which will almost certainly earn them the eternal enmity of the forces of neutrality if it is ever discovered): the contract is, legally speaking, impregnable.

G2a. DRETCH CRACK

• Encounters in Avernus, p. 8

One of the narrow cracks in the ground here leads to a large cavern filled with dretches.

G2b. STYGIAN RAMPS

• On River

There are a pair of ramps facing each other across the Styx. Those riding  infernal war machines can leap the river here. (Although if you miss, of course, you’ll end up splashing down in the waters of the Styx, most likely ruining both your machine and your mind.)

G3. HARUMAN’S HILL

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 92
• On River

MEETING HARUMAN / QUESTIONING HELLRIDERS: See Part 6D-L: Questioning the Hellriders.

G4. POOL OF ICHOR

• Encounters in Avernus, p. 10

“The ongoing Blood War has left substantial pools of demon ichor all over Avernus.”

G5a. ZARIEL’S BRIDGE

A bridge spans the Styx here, guarded on each end by a Styx Watchtower (DIA, p. 124). The original bridge which stood here was destroyed during the Rift War and the new bridge was dedicated to Zariel’s glorious victory and ascension to Archduchess. Bas reliefs along the bridge depict various incidents from Zariel’s life, accompanied by infernal inscriptions:

• Averniad: Zariel is depicted (anachronistically in her fiendish form) in the midst of a lush, verdant paradise. (Inscription: “She served in the armies of the Lord of the Nine in the younger days, when Avernus had not yet become the Ninth.”)
• Zariel & Lulu: Zariel (anachronistically in her fiendish form) is depicted with Lulu, Yael, Haruman, and five devils. Their names are listed in Infernal cartouches (the otherwise unknown devil’s names being given as Zilannen, Tozromon, Brullmerath, Xilka, and Venthroxoth). (Inscription: “In memory of her comrades lost over the long eons of struggle.”)
• Zariel’s Fall: Zariel is depicted kneeling before Asmodeus, her wings aflame as her “impurities” are burnt away. (Inscription: “At the feet of the Archfiend her heart was opened to the truth, and she ascended to the ranks of the esteemed.”)
• Zariel’s Imprisonment: Zariel is depicted in chains. Above her are the five heads of Tiamat. (Inscription: “At the false word of the coward Bel, she was sealed in the prisons of the Progenitor.” Note: One of Tiamat’s titles is the Progenitor of Hell.)
• Second Avernian March: Zariel is on the front lines of a titanic battle between devils and strange creatures which seem neither demon nor devil. A DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check recognizes the creatures as baatorians. (Inscription: “In glory did she triumph where false Bel failed, in the name of the Lord of Nessus.”)
• Zariel Becomes Archduchess: Zariel is crowned by Asmodeus. (“All hail the Archduchess of Avernus, may she rule eternal at the left hand of the Archfiend.”)

G5b. PLAGUESHIELD POINT

• The Diabolical Dive
• On the Styx (under the river)

A drow citadel which was built around a magical geode (which now serves as a demonic prison) and was sucked into Hell, where it fell to the bottom of the Styx.

Commander Ljubomir, who now oversees the tower, is enjoying considerable prestige from the bargain he wrought which resulted in the tower’s capture. As it’s a recent acquisition, its function as a secure holding facility for demons near the front lines of the Blood War is only just being spun up.

Geode Prison: The large geode at the heart of Plagueshield Point contains multitudes. It’s not exactly larger on the inside than the outside. Rather, every version of its “inside” is out of phase with the others and can be accessed only one at a time. (However, gazing through different facets of the geode reveals the others.)

Demonologist’s Tower: When Respen (see Shadowswimmer Tower, Hex I6) worked here, he used a heartstone in his research and it can still be found here.

G6. WRECKED FLYING FORTRESS

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 118

The flying fortresses are built to a standard plan and have been for aeons. By thoroughly exploring the wreck, the PCs can learn the layout of the fortresses (which may assist them if they wish to mount a raid or heist on Zariel’s fortress).

H1. THE DUMP

• Infernal Insurgency
• On River

The Dump was once the Void Chateau, a strange house in Waterdeep owned by a mage known as Chalice Void. The chateau eventually vanished from Waterdeep and reappeared in various towns along the Sword Coast, before settling once more on a hill outside of the village of Amphail. One morning there was a terrible howling sound and the chateau vanished from the Material Plane forever.

It had somehow become embedded in the banks of the River Styx. It now serves as a munitions dump, supplying materiel to the frontlines of the Blood War.

The Dump contains an unkeyed keystone to the Arches of Ulloch (hex A4), which can be rekeyed with only 10 soul coins of raw materials.

H2. BEL’S FORGE

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 113

Bel’s Forge is too small. You should either:

• Revise the lore so that this is just one of many such forward-positioned forges that serve the front lines of the Blood War. (Bel could perhaps have been specifically banished to this demeaning frontier posting by Zariel, information which could be seeded into the rumor tables.)
• Significantly revise the Forge so that it is a much, much larger complex with tunnels and workshops riddling the entire volcano.

Bel’s Forge uses Phlegethosian sand to quench certain types of infernal blades.

H3. DOCK OF FALLEN CITIES / ELTUREL

See Part 5 and Part 6B.

H4. STYGIAN DOCK

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 123
• On River

Bazelsteen has a set of astral pistons that he keeps for repairing antique infernal machines, which he’ll exchange for assistance with Test Run 221 (DIA, p. 124).

50% chance that a flying fortress is docked. 1 in 3 chance that it’s Zariel’s.

Design Note: Developing the commanders of the other two flying fortresses currently making regular pit stops at this dock might be something worth pursuing.

H5. ELEMENTAL GALLEON

• Abyssal Incursion, p. 4
• On River

The Mirror’s Edge, an elemental galleon from the world of Eberron, has crashed on the shores of the Styx.

H6. MODRON OUTPOST

• Visible 2 (volcano) / Hidden (outpost, see below)

Clinging to the inside wall of a volcano’s caldera is a modron outpost. A huge geothermal spike thrusts down into the volcano below, powering a clockwork menagerie of technomantic marvels within the outpost. Upon occasion, the outpost extends an astral antenna above the rim of the volcano to take readings and also broadcast transplanar reports. The antenna can also provide access to the outpost.

(When this antenna is raised, it can be visible to a great distance. The outpost should otherwise be considered a Hidden location.)

The modrons use this outpost to monitor the Blood War. Its presence is known to the local Blood Legions and tolerated: partly because they’ve learned that if they destroy these monitoring outposts, the modrons just build more; partly because the modrons have also been known to trade valuable technomantic items upon occasion.

The modrons have a supply of Nivanan cogboxes.

Go to Hexes I1 thru J6

Go to Part 1

The eighth through eleventh adventures of Avernus Rising are a sequence of stand-alone, Tier 2 side quests with the PCs based out of Mahadi’s Emporium.

IN THE GARDEN OF EVIL (DDAL 09-08): This adventure has an interesting premise – a knight of Zariel’s crusade and her unicorn mount fled the battle and were chased down by devil outriders who forced the unicorn to make an infernal pact in exchange of the life of her knight and companion – but it doesn’t hold together.

In the Garden of Evil takes place in a forest which is supposed to be a primeval remnant of the paradise that Avernus was before the Blood War tore it apart, but this concept doesn’t really go anywhere. The forest is primarily “explored” through a series of random encounters, which are mostly confusing in their execution. The adventure states that the Ride of the Hellriders took place long ago, but nevertheless repeatedly frames encounters as if it happened like three days ago. (For example, with devils still hanging around the corpse of a fleeing Hellrider they pursued and killed.)

Meanwhile, the pact at the center of the story makes no sense: The devil promised to save the knight’s life in exchange for the unicorn submitting to captivity, but it didn’t actually do that. It killed the knight and “hid” the body like three feet away from the unicorn where the unicorn can clearly see it. Nevertheless, the unicorn remains imprisoned as if the pact were still in force until the PCs helpfully show up and tell her that she could leave at any time.

Which she does.

• Grade: D

RUINED PROSPECTS (DDAL 09-09): Is it just me, or is the rigid formatting of Adventurers League scenarios actually pretty awful? You can see this really clearly, I think, when an author just wants to present a simple dungeoncrawl and the format forces them to contort it into a weird linear-ish narrative built around “Story Objectives.” But even scenarios that would ostensibly be suited to the milestone-obsessed AL formatting nevertheless seem to founder on the rocky shores of its bloated, repetitive presentation (which never seems to sequence the information in a coherent fashion).

But I digress.

Ruined Prospects is a pretty straightforward dungeoncrawl in which the PCs are attempting to reach yet another errant survivor of the Charge of the Hellriders who wandered away from the battle and is now held in stasis within Weatherstone Keep. It’s quite literally a 5 Room Dungeon, following the recipe fairly strictly, but to good effect before culminating in an entertaining boss rush.

• Grade: C

TIPPING THE SCALES (DDAL 09-10): The PCs learn that there is an adult silver dragon who has been playing a game of chess against an ice devil for the past 1,000 years in an effort to win back the soul of his lady love. The PCs journey to the deep Avernian pit where the chess game is being played to intervene and rescue both dragon and lady love.

My favorite bit in this adventure is the bearded devil Sadazah, who carries with him a lemure in a bowl. The lemure was a devil who displeased their master and was demoted, but Sadazah hopes that their master “will eventually promote his friend once more. They had plans together.” The adventure has a lot of really nice details like this.

Where the adventure falls down, unfortunately, is the execution of its central premise.

When the PCs show up at the 1,000 year old chess match, they attempt a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. If they succeed, they realize the ice devil is cheating and can use this knowledge to force him into a wager for the souls of the dragon and his lady love. If they fail… I guess the PCs just shrug and go home?

Even the successful result on the check is kind of a head-scratcher, though: Despite the relative ease of a DC 15 check, we are told that the silver dragon – who, it should be noted, has a legendary action that specifically allows them to make Wisdom (Perception) checks – has simply never noticed (in a thousand years?!) that the devil is cheating!

I’ll note that, like In the Garden of Evil, Tipping the Scales involves trekking across a swamp to reach the devil lair. The swamp trek in In the Garden of Evil is significantly superior (in detail and structure), while the finale of this adventure is significantly more interesting (and its weaker bits relatively easy to salvage). You might considering breaking these down for parts and combining them into a single adventure using all the best bits.

• Grade: D

LOSING FAI (DDAL 09-11): “Fai Chen has gone missing from Mahadi’s Traveling Emporium.”

To be honest, my first reaction to that premise is, “Good riddance.”

This is not, however, James Introcaso’s fault. In Losing Fai he’s crafted a decent little mystery in which the PCs are given three leads to pursue, each of which can lead them to Fai Chen’s kidnapper, albeit with varied consequences depending on which leads they choose to pursue and how they pursue them.

These consequences, coupled to the camp politics surrounding Fai Chen’s disappearance, provide a nice amount of texture to the scenario. Everything wraps up with an utterly creeptacular boss fight against Fai Chen’s kidnapper.

• Grade: C+

The next three adventures – The Breath of Life, The Swarmed Heart, and The Vast Emptiness of Grace – form the Call for Aid series.

THE BREATH OF LIFE (DDAL 09-12): In The Breath of Life, Dara informs the PCs that she has been given a divine vision of a dead angel’s skull that is being held by an archdevil and she needs the PCs to get it. Fortunately, the archdevil is holding a party and Mahadi has invitations, so the PCs just need to get themselves invited as Mahadi’s +1s and then perform an improvised heist once they’re inside.

Jared Fegan does a good job here, creating a multi-layered security system around the skull that the PCs can unravel if they pump the party guests for information. The party guests themselves are colorful, entertaining, and well-drawn.

I’m picky about party-based adventures and there are things I would certainly do to enhance this scenario if I were running it at my table. (Notably adding a main event line and some topics of conversation would go a long way. The latter, in particular, is a missed opportunity here, as the conversations could’ve been linked to other Avernus Rising adventures that the PCs might have been part of or will become part of in the next tier.) But what’s here on the page is good, and very ready to be built upon.

• Grade: B-

THE SWARMED HEART (DDAL 09-13): In Bianca Bickford’s The Swarmed Heart, Mahadi’s Emporium is attacked by a swarm of hellwasps and the PCs have to figure out why.

The main event here is invading the hellwasp hive, which is distinguished by being the best-realized dungeon I’ve seen in Season 9 so far. It’s got some light xandering, three-dimensionality, a solid key, and support for multiple approaches.

The only blemish on this adventure is a weird interlude where the PCs have to protect a cleric for multiple rounds of combat while the cleric casts plane shift… a spell with a casting time of 1 action.

This is definitely a highlight of the season, and I’ll most likely be looking to incorporate it in some fashion into the Remix

• Grade: B-

THE VAST EMPTINESS OF GRACE (DDAL 09-14): Over the past couple adventures, the PCs have brought a couple angel corpses back to Dara, who has used her mystic connection to Ilmater to return them to life. Both angels hear the tortured call of a third angel named Yuriall who calls out to them even across planar boundaries!

… so they definitely won’t be joining you in saving Yuriall. And, in fact, the only reason they’re bothering to send you to save Yuriall (who has been imprisoned and getting tortured for decades) is because they’re pretty sure he has an artifact that they need.

Celestials in this series are just the worst.

The thing I find almost overwhelming about this adventure is how broken its continuity is.

At a high level, the premise is that Descent Into Avernus is over and Elturel has been returned to the Material Plane… but the overarching plot of Season 9 nevertheless assumes that Zariel is still in charge of Avernus, which doesn’t seem to be the endorsed ending of Descent. The DM is told that they can choose to keep Elturel in Avernus if they want, but they’ll need to make a bunch of only semi-specified adjustments to the adventure. And then, later, the DM is instructed that they MUST do this (i.e., adapt the entire adventure on the fly) if the PCs are only playing Season 9… which makes sense, because the PCs are literally going to Elturel to retrieve an artifact that will help them get another resource in the next adventure which can help “turn the tide in the struggle to save Elturel.”

The whole thing is dizzying.

At the low level, there’s a constant stream of contradictions. One of my favorites is when a group of bandits is said to attack the PCs because they mistook them for undead, and then in the very next paragraph we’re told that they attacked the PCs so that they could murder them and steal their stuff. It also seems as if the PCs are assumed to know that the place they’re going is infested with vampires, even though, as far as I can tell, they have absolutely no way of knowing that. And so forth.

Other aspects of the adventure are inane. For example, there’s a locked door that requires the PCs to solve a puzzle to open it. The solution to the puzzle? Someone has conveniently nailed it to the door. Later, a system of random encounters is proposed in which the GM should check once each hour… for a dungeon with only six rooms that the PCs are virtually certain to clear out in less than an hour.

The Vast Emptiness of Grace, however, is not without its moments. For example, there’s a very atmospheric encounter with chain devils in a library where all the books are chained to the shelves. And the dungeon that the PCs are seeking (and eventually find) is a decent bit of horror, only somewhat sabotaged by poorly executed boxed text that is constantly telling the players what their characters are going to do.

• Grade: D

Go to the Avernus Remix – Go to Part 5: Doors and Corners

Go to Avernian Hex Key Index

E1. WEATHERSTONE KEEP

• Ruined Prospects

This outpost is occupied by abishai loyal to Tiamat, supported by a small force of legion devils (merregon).

The Lost Hellrider: Beneath Weatherstone Keep is an ancient, heretical Temple of Torm. After the defeat of the Zarielites during the Charge of the Hellriders, one of the fleeing Hellriders reached this Keep and, following the divine guidance of Torm, sought refuge in the temple. The Hellrider was placed into a state of suspended animation and remains there still, protected by Torm’s holy ground.

If the PCs awake the Hellrider, use Part 6D-L Questioning the Hellriders to determine what he knows.

E2. TENTACULAR MINE

A huge, open pit surrounded by fields of reddish slag is ringed with colossal, writhing tentacles.

The pit is a mine for green Baatorian steel. The tentacles are the groping extremities of a carcinomatous baatorian buried here. Its squirming extremities pose a constant danger to the miners.

Baatorian Steel: Baatorian steel can only be mined on Avernus, and its supply is often limited due to the logistical difficulties created by the Blood War. A piercing or slashing weapon crafted from Baatorian steel deals +1 damage and has a +1 bonus to attack rolls. (This is not a magical enhancement and does not stack with magical bonuses.)

Green baatorian steel is even rarer. It has the same properties, but can also be more easily crafted into swords of wounding (and so most green Baatorian steel blades are such).

Baatorian Dream Machine: In the depths of the mine there is a technomantic device, built on somewhat similar principles to Mad Maggie’s dream machine, which keeps the cancroid baatorian dormant in a slumbering dream. Its effective range is limited, however, which is why the tentacles are most active (and dangerous) at the surface.

The machine includes a Nirvanan cogbox. If the cogbox is removed (or the machine otherwise disabled), however, the baatorian will awake and rip the mine apart.

E3. HELLWASP NEST

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 95

No changes from the published text.

E4. TOWER OF URM

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 97

There is a 1 in 4 chance that the tower is present (check per day if the PCs camp out at the site).

If the tower is not present, the iron foundations should be considered a Hidden location unless the PCs are specifically traveling along the edge of the lake or on the island itself. Spotting the foundations from the shores of the lake requires a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check.

Mordenkainen can provide a Heartstone or Phlegethosian sand. His asking price for either is 30 soul coins, unless the PCs have done him some form of great service (like saving his life from an assassin).

Assassination/Kidnapping: Why not both? The assembled devils include both those secretly plotting to assassinate Mordenkainen and those who will kidnap the PCs if that seems advantageous.

Tower Maps: Ideally, we would also like to prep maps of Mordenkainen’s tower. Dance of Deathless Frost includes some notes for potential features and security measures.

E5. SIBRIEX

• Descent Into Avernus, p. 116

The sibriex knows:

• The location of the nine adamantine rods (as described in the adventure).
• Leads on a location for each of the four dream machine components (roll on the Quest of the Dream Machine rumor table in Part 6C).
• A brief précis of the Averniad and Zariel’s Long March (see Part 6D).

E6. DISCORDANT SPIRE

• Infernal Encounters, p. 34

A strange obelisk 30 foot square that rises 80 feet into the air. It is formed from some native Avernian stone; a scintillating shade of red that seems alien to mortal eyes. Each side of the obelisk bares dozens of mouths singing a discordant tune.

Phalaeraphe: Within the obelisk (which is actually a tower), lives a devil with a beautiful singing voice. She operates a small, private lounge where powerful and influential devils come to hear her sing, drink from a rich selection of blood-liquors, and socialize. If given the proper incentive, she can quietly arrange private meetings with influential devils. (Not warlords, no such fiendish filth would be welcome here. Zariel? Too high. But people who know Zariel? Bel? Signifier Hraxioch, commander of the 9^th Cohort (Hex J6)? Quite possibly.)

F1. DROGOLOTH MINES

• Vysianter’s Guide to the Red Wastes

These mines of adamantine and orichalcum are worked by still-living mortals who have been captured by devil slave-gangs or who have been bound to service through ill-conceived bargains. Caravans drag the raw ore to the Purple City (Hex F2), from whence it is shipped downriver to Bel’s Forge (Hex H2) to be made into weapons for the front lines of the Blood War.

F2. THE PURPLE CITY

• Tyrant of the Purple City
• On River

Baron Barur Tolmanen: The Lord of the Purple City served with Zariel in the Rift War. In addition to telling the tales of the Rift War often during his disturbing, gluttonous feasts, various memorials around the city glorify the events of the Rift War (and Tolmanen’s role in it).

The March: Lux Arakxis, the leader of this criminal organization, has been obsessed with finding the Sword of Zariel, mounting numerous expeditions to little effect over the years. He knows the Sword was lost after the Charge of the Hellriders, and he will wax rhapsodic about the tale of their ride into Hell (recounting the identities of the Three Generals and events following the kidnapping of Yael, who he’s certain took the Sword from the final battle… although his personal theory is that she stole it and betrayed Zariel.)

The March also uses heartstones for planning their heists.

Archmagi of Thraxai: Agamemnova Hex, the leader of the Archmagi of Thraxai, once met Lulu while Lulu was imprisoned in the Wandering Emporium.

F3. VALE OF DEMONS

• Infernal Encounters, p. 5

A valley filled with hundreds of demon heads placed on tall pikes. Ten of the demon heads have been transformed into vargouilles (Volo’s Guide to Monsters, p. 195).

F4. BLOODY CYST

• Visible
• Descent Into Avernus, p. 134

There are several important changes to this location:

• The citadel cannot be seen; it is completely subsumed by the Cyst.
• No one knows that this is where the Sword of Zariel lies hidden. As noted previously, this secret is held only in Lulu’s lost memories.
• Therefore, there are no devils or demons here excavating the site. (You could have them here just harvesting the bloody pulp of the cyst for one reason or another, but you’d want to make significant changes to the key.)
• Yael’s ghost does not give the PCs’ visions of Idyllglen. (They already experienced those in the Dream Machine.) See Part 6D-L for what happens when the PCs encounter her.

Design Note: As mentioned previously, the goal is for the PCs to recognize the Bloody Cyst so that the moment that it’s revealed as the hiding place of the Sword of Zariel it’s a cool revelation and not a, “Wait? Where?” moment. (It’s okay if they need to follow up on their vision; lots of people in this area of Avernus know the location of the Bloody Cyst and can direct them – it’s just not ideal.)

It’s positioned in Hex F4 because (a) characters crossing the bridge in Hex G5a will likely run into it and (b) this also makes it a convenient landmark for NPCs to use while giving directions.

One of my patrons also recommended that Mahadi’s Emporium could be camped out at the base of the Bloody Cyst at some point.

F5. THAT’S A BIG SPEAR

• Infernal Encounters, p. 10

An immense spear, nearly 100 feet in length, is impaled into the ground; the skeletal hand of whatever colossal creature once wielded it still clutches the cracked leather wrapped around its shaft.

F6. RUINS OF A WARLORD’S LAIR

• Map by Dyson Logos

This stronghold carved into the side of the mountain was once the lair of the warlord Jevvka of Osternia. Her gang crossed the Powers That Be in Avernus and a cohort of the Blood Legions sacked the compound, leaving it in ruins. Jevvka herself was crucified to the back wall. Her corpse hangs there still, along with a warning painted in her own blood:

WITNESS THE WRATH OF BEL. LET IT STAND AS WARNING TO THOSE WHO DOUBT HIS POWER.

Go to Hexes G1 thru H6