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LULU’S MEMORY MYSTERY

As we’ve discussed, recovering Lulu’s memories is a central pillar of the campaign: It is essentially the only way to recover the Sword of Zariel, and while the Sword of Zariel is not essential (in the Remix) it is certainly positioned as a major goal and resource.

Getting the Sword, it should be noted, is almost entirely procedural: Get the pieces for the dream machine. Strap Lulu into it. Ta-da! You get the location of the Sword of Zariel.

But if we take a step back, the real goal is to get the players invested in the True History of Zariel. The process of piecing together this enigma:

• Provides a tantalizing mystery that will keep the players engaged with the campaign and eager to figure out more.
• Creates a context for their interactions with the denizens of Hell (particularly the former Hellriders and others who participated in those events).
• Builds a relationship (albeit by proxy) with Zariel, creating the emotional foundation for the campaign’s conclusion.
• Elevates the procedural accomplishment of activating the dream machine by providing not only the location of the Sword, but simultaneously a sense of closure on Lulu’s story.

So how do we build this mystery?

Lulu’s Original Memories, the ones that she has when she first appears in the campaign, are our foundation. Structurally, these are the facts that we know the party will have at any given point in the campaign. Ideally, we’ll want enough chunks that the players can begin rampantly speculating about how they’re connected, but vague enough that no definitive answers are really possible. We can think of each chunk as a “catalyst,” in the sense that they give the speculations of the players material to react with (and will likely speed up that speculation, too).

Lulu’s Triggered Memories are the memories that she spontaneously regains, either semi-randomly or in response to specific stimuli. These will primarily be additional catalysts — they’ll be vague enough to mostly raise new questions, providing fresh fodder for the players’ theory-crafting. (The more of these the PCs gain access to, however, the more complete their understanding of Lulu’s history will become, making it easier to figure out how events relate to each other.) Some of these triggered memories, however, can also be rewards, providing definitive answers for some of Lulu’s experiences.

If the PCs follow the Sword of Zariel threads all the way to their conclusion, there will also be four Memory Dives. These are the Vision from Torm, the Dream Machine, Claiming the Sword, and Zariel’s Spark. Each allows the players to actually experience parts of Lulu’s and Zariel’s story.

There will also be Other Sources of information on Zariel’s history. (If we think of the mystery as primarily being the True History of Zariel, then we’ll also recognize that Lulu’s memories are just one way of achieving that goal!) These can include historical records, questioning the “surviving” Hellriders, etc.

Finally, we’ll organize all of this using Revelation Lists.

In doing so we will, of course, observe the Three Clue Rule. But we’ll want to use some special care here.

First, we want to structurally protect the memory dives. These should feel like big, momentous events with significant pay-offs for the effort the players have put into achieving them. We don’t want to “spoil” them because if they don’t reveal anything new, it’ll deflate the moment. Therefore, the memory dives should have:

• Clear, definitive versions of events that could only be imperfectly understood before.
• Lynchpin moments that could NOT have been learned previously.
• Really mysterious, obscure versions of NEW events (i.e., new catalysts that can only be cleared up by future revelations).

This means we need to pace and position our revelation lists (and the clues in those lists) so that they set-up and pay-off the memory dives. We can actually think of each memory dive as a funnel, with certain revelations/clues positioned before the funnel and others generally not available until after the funnel. (It should be noted that the structure of the scenario more or less mirrors these funnels: For example, the PCs will almost certainly have the Vision from Torm before leaving Elturel; they won’t be able to journey to the Scab before the Dream Machine; and so forth.)

LULU’S ORIGINAL MEMORIES

Lulu is suffering from amnesia. Her first memory is of “waking up” in the red sands of the Avernian wastelands. (Although she only later learned that she was on Avernus, the First Layer of Hell.)

• She wandered for an interminable period of time before coming to the River Styx.
• She followed the River Styx out of Avernus, journeying through the Outer Planes.
• After any number of adventures, Lulu passed through a portal and found herself in a place called the Nexus, a seemingly endless gothic castle filled with magical portals. There she met Niveral-Sca, the Mistress of Eternity. Niveral-Sca had iridescent skin that gleamed with serpentine scales, her pupil-less eyes gleamed with a golden light, and her small feet never seemed to touch the ground when she walked. Hearing Lulu’s story, she identified a portal that would return her to the world of the home she dimly remembered (see below).
• Passing through this portal, Lulu emerged in Neverwinter in 1488 DR.
• She made her way south from Neverwinter, eventually returning to the area around Elturel.

Lulu only has a few fragmentary memories of the time before her inexplicable amnesia. (These have returned to her slowly over time since she first woke up without any memory at all.)

• Her strongest memories are of being friends with a beautiful warrior angel. She and the angel came to a city called Elturel and led an army of knights from that city on a charge into Hell itself. (Lulu doesn’t remember the actual battle, but assumes they must have lost and guesses that this is how she lost her memories. Having returned to modern Elturel, she now knows that these events must have taken place a long time in the past.)
• Sometimes this feels like a magician’s trick: She remembers riding through the portals to Hell, seeing the plains of Avernus stretched out in front of her, and then… Everyone is gone and she’s on the Avernian plains all by herself.

Other fragments of memory include:

• A silver beach beneath a pair of blue moons. (Sometimes she remembers her warrior angel being with her there.)
• Flying over a vast, dark ocean. The water reflects a sky filled with diamond-like stars. In the black depths below, a huge whale seemingly made from golden motes of light swims.
• Looking out a window made from gems set into silver and gold, across a verdant landscape where metallic dragons flit through the sky.
• The taste of blood and fur in her mouth.
• A busy marketplace carved from a cliff-face. She was speaking to a winged lion with the kind-yet-stern face of a man.
• Flying over a boundless expanse of black, cracked basalt. A single-file line of strange, polyhedral-shaped creatures marches below, stretching from horizon to horizon.

Design Note: This can be used as either a handy reference for the GM and/or, if Lulu is a PC, given as a handout to her player. I also recommend empowering the player to flesh out any of the events that happened in Lulu’s life after she “woke up” in Avernus. (For example, they could make up any number of stories about her adventures along the Styx.) Check out Running the Campaign: Designing Character Backgrounds and Dragon Heist: Creating the Characters for how this type of player/GM collaboration on character backgrounds can work in practice (although the process is sort of inverted here).

DM’S INFO: The last few fragments of Lulu’s memory are mostly visions from the Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia. They are, in order:

• The beaches of Mercuria.
• Flying over the waters of Lunia (with a celestial whale in the depths).
• Looking out the window of Bahamut’s Palace, also in Mercuria.
• Killing a gnoll during the First Visit to Idyllglen.
• The market of Heart’s Faith in Lunia.
• The Great Modron March. (Not this one, though. The dates don’t line up.)

Go to Part 6D-F: Lulu’s Memories (Triggered Memories)

I have done remixes for both Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Descent Into Avernus. It’s perhaps not unsurprising that I have been frequently asked how I would connect the two campaigns.

It’s not something that I, personally, had given a lot of thought to. My own run of the Dragon Heist campaign ended with the PCs poised to pursue very different goals: Some had become ensconced as leaders of the Harpers in Waterdeep. Others were heading to the Sea of Fallen Stars to pursue threads from their characters’ backstories. (Although we’re taking a break from those characters, I’m planning to return and run separate campaigns for both of those threads.)

So I guess that would be my first word of caution: It’s quite likely that connecting the two campaigns will actually be a really bad idea. By the time you get to the end of Dragon Heist, your campaign will have built up a lot of momentum, and all of that momentum is likely to be tied to Waterdeep. (The whole function of Trollskull Manor is, in fact, to give the PCs permanent ties to the city.) It probably makes more sense to follow that momentum (continuing to explore the factions and intrigues of Waterdeep) than it does to uproot the whole campaign and head south.

The other thing to note here is that the whole function of the Dragon Heist Remix is to turn the campaign into an active playground. I know where my Remix campaign ended up, but I honestly have no idea where yours did: Who are the PCs allied with? Which enemies survived? Where’s Neverember’s gold? What other resources have the PCs accrued? What enigmas are the PCs most interested in pursuing? Do they have the Stone of Golorr? If not, who does? Did they end up adopting kids or falling in love? The possibilities are almost limitless.

With those provisos in mind, here are some general thoughts on how you might connect the campaigns.

START AT THE BEGINNING

If possible, the first thing I would do is to plant the seeds of the transition from the very beginning. As the players are creating their characters for Dragon Heist, encourage some or all of them to make characters who have a connection to Elturel. This is more or less what I discuss in Remixing Avernus – Part 2: Character Creation, it’s probably just a little more difficult to explain why you’re encouraging the players to do this if the campaign is going to be taking place in Waterdeep.

First, this can easily include having Lulu as a PC in Dragon Heist. This actually fits in well with her revised backstory, in which she returns to Toril via a portal that takes her to Neverwinter before journeying south to Elturel. It might be interesting to explore that connection to Neverwinter — did she meet Neverember? Or perhaps she met Dalakhar? Alternatively, you might just move the portal so that it leads to Waterdeep (and she has likely just come through it as the campaign is beginning).

Second, you’re still going to want a Hellrider for Descent Into Avernus. Could they have been sent to Waterdeep to investigate links to Asmodean cultists who were recently captured in Elturel? Perhaps the cultists were kidnapping people in Elturel, and their interest in looking for similar disappearances in Waterdeep leads them to Volo (looking for people to investigate his missing friend) at the beginning of Dragon Heist? (This link will likely bias your Dragon Heist run towards the Cassalanters. The twist where the friendly nobles looking for help saving their Asmodeus-cursed children turn out to actually BE the Asmodean cult leaders will be great. More on this connection below.)

Third, for any Elturel-connected character the players do create, try to find ways for them to have unfinished business back in Elturel (or perhaps Baldur’s Gate). It’s quite likely that this business is what brought them to Waterdeep in the first place, but its conclusion is back home.

For example, in my Dragon Heist run one of the PCs needed to raise a large sum of money as a ransom for his mother’s freedom. (The nice thing about Dragon Heist is that literally any goal that requires large sums of money can be trivially tied to the central conceit of the campaign.) That link is part of what led half the group to the Sea of Fallen Stars (where that PC’s mother was being held). If that link had instead pointed back towards Elturel, it would obviously help a transition to Descent Into Avernus.

Check out Running the Campaign – Dragon Heist: Creating the Characters for an in-depth discussion of how to handle this type of character creation.

ASMODEAN CONNECTIONS

If I’m looking for an actual connection between the campaigns — the thing that will drive PCs from Waterdeep to Elturel — then what immediately leaps out are the Asmodeus cultists in Dragon Heist.

If you want to make the transition fairly organic, then you’ll want to seed clues into the Cassalanter faction of Dragon Heist that point the PCs towards either Elturel or Baldur’s Gate. (In the latter case, we’d most likely assume that the Cassalanters have a direct connection to the Vanthampurs. In the former, they would have connections to various Asmodeans heading to Elturel for the “Exodus.” Or you could do both.)

If the players are particularly interested in Cassalanters, finding an opportune time for the Cassalanters to flee Waterdeep and head for Elturel or Baldur’s Gate would also be a big pull. Alternatively, if the PCs are concerned about the kids, the Cassalanters might send them to Vanthampur for “sanctuary” as the noose closes around their own necks (forcing the PCs to chase them down).

For a slightly more focused experience, consider tweaking Dragon Heist to make the Cassalanters Zarielites instead of Asmodean cultists. Either way, you can seed a bunch of Asmodeus/Zariel lore into Dragon Heist (like the Averniad and the Trial of Asmodeus).

A slight risk with the “organic” approach is that the PCs might go haring off to Elturel before the Grand Game of Dragon Heist has reached its conclusion. If the PCs are in possession of the Stone of Golorr or any of its Eyes when they do this, the Grand Game will follow them. (The other factions need that stuff!) We might imagine a scenario where the PCs and a bunch of Dragon Heist-related faction members get sent to Avernus and the Grand Game continues while everyone simultaneously tries to escape Hell… but it’s probably not ideal.

Although the risk of this is, in my opinion, rather low, if you want to avoid any chance of this happening you can take a slightly less organic approach by waiting for Dragon Heist to reach its conclusion, selecting some faction that the PCs have become allied with, and having them dump a bunch of intelligence reports suggesting that those Asmodean cultists the PCs were recently tangled up with are active in Elturel. “Could you check that out for us?” (If the PCs were already heading that way to settle up personal business, all the better.)

On the other hand, if the Grand Game in Avernus sounds amazing to you, have the Cassalanters take their Eye to Elturel before the PCs can get it.

SPLIT THE PARTY

If some of the PCs are naturally interested in staying in Waterdeep to pursue their interests there while other PCs are interested in returning to Elturel to complete their unfinished business… Let them.

The players whose characters remained in Waterdeep simply need to create new PCs who can join the other characters as the other campaign begins. (If your plan is to lead with the Elturian refugee caravan, for example, the other PCs could be members of that caravan or join the other PCs in protecting it. This might also be an ideal time to introduce Lulu as a PC if you haven’t already.)

As I mentioned earlier, this is similar to what happened after my Dragon Heist run: Some of the PCs stayed in Waterdeep. Others went to the Sea of Fallen Stars. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be running both of those as separate campaigns.

THE STONE OF GOLORR IN AVERNUS

If the PCs still possess the Stone of Golorr after the events of Dragon Heist, its legend lore abilities alone offer many cool opportunities for the PCs as they delve into the deep lore of the Descent Into Avernus remix. You’ll want to give some thought to cool legend lore responses to topics the PCs are likely to ask about (like Zariel, Lulu, etc.). What stuff qualifies as “legendary” (so that the spell works) and what doesn’t?

Also decide if the spell’s description of “the more information you already have about the thing, the more precise and detailed the information you receive is” means you can benefit from casting legend lore multiple times (gaining more detailed information each time).

It might also be cool to think about how the backstory of Descent Into Avernus might be tweaked to incorporate the Stone of Golorr. Specifically, is there some big secret of the campaign that the Stone might have been used to erase from common knowledge? (For example, perhaps one of the original Hellriders decided to use the Stone to eradicate the knowledge that Zariel led the Charge of the Hellriders.) Seed some clues to that effect, so that the PCs can use the Stone to their advantage.

The Stone of Golorr might also be an alternative source for the Vision from Torm, pointing the PCs in the direction of the Sword of Zariel.

ADJUSTING FOR LEVEL

I haven’t discussed adjusting the level of challenge in Descent Into Avernus. Broadly speaking, these adjustments should be obvious. (Make the bad guys tougher and/or add more of them.)

In some ways, this will actually be to your advantage: There are wide reports that the beginning of Descent Into Avernus is too difficult for beginning characters. (And I’ve already discussed in the Remix starting the characters at a higher level.)

Speaking in very general terms, I would:

• Cap level advancement in Dragon Heist to 6^th. (It’s possible to get to 7^th in the Remix, just don’t include that final milestone advance.)
• If your group won’t get crabby, you can just hold advancement until they leave Elturel.
• Alternatively, give them a milestone level up to 7^th level when they leave Baldur’s Gate and again when they leave Elturel. (They’ll be a little higher level than they should be in Elturel and when starting out the Avernian hexcrawl, but close enough that you can probably get away without making any adjustments to those sections of the campaign.)

Alternatively, skip the Baldur’s Gate section of Descent Into Avernus entirely: Pull the PCs from Waterdeep to Elturel. Then, as they arrive, have the whole city sucked into Hell with them along for the ride and continue the campaign from there. To make this really work, seed the information and resources the PCs would have received in Baldur’s Gate into the Cassalanter sections of Dragon Heist.

For example, the infernal puzzlebox can be an artifact held by the Cassalanters. Maybe the PCs’ allies come to them and say, “Hey, we found this among the Cassalanters stuff. Sylvira Savikas is an expert on this stuff. She lives in Elturel. Can you take it to her and see if she can open it?” Or maybe they just take it to the Blackstaff and have her crack it open; then, armed with the evidence in side, they head to Elturel to expose the conspiracy… but they’re too late! The city is sucked into Hell just as they arrive!

WATERDEEP IN HELL

Why bother moving the campaign to Elturel at all? Why not just swap in Waterdeep and send the City of Splendors to Hell instead (with the PCs along for the ride)?

First, the City of Splendors is chock-a-block with high level NPCs (including many whom the PCs have been directly interacting with during Dragon Heist). There will be an obvious question of why these NPCs aren’t solving the problem themselves instead of leaving the PCs to do it.

Second, once you make all the fundamental changes to the lore of the campaign necessary to move it from Elturel to Waterdeep (no Companion, no Charge of the Hellriders as a central element, etc.), in practice you’re not really running Descent Into Avernus any more. You’re running a completely new campaign that you’re designing almost entirely from scratch.

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LEGEND OF THE HELLRIDERS

Now that we’ve established the definitive truth of these events, let’s take a moment to look at how the story has been passed down to the modern day. How are the Hellriders remembered in Elturel and on the Sword Coast?

This material will be useful if any of the PCs are playing Hellriders (or, really, any Elturian characters). Or when they hear the legend at some point in the pre-Avernus  part of the campaign (e.g., when speaking with Reya Mantlemorn or another Hellrider). I’ve included some additional notes in square brackets that can be used to expand the basic version of the legend if the PCs decide to do some detailed research into the legend (in Candlekeep, for example).

THE FIRST HIGH RIDER: Before humans came to Elturel, the site was ruled by an Ogre Lord in a crude stone bastion atop the tor where now stands the High Hall. The Ogre Lord captured the son of Lady Shiarra, a local noblewoman. Lady Shiarra, seeking vengeance against the Ogre Lord, drove him out of the bastion. [Other versions of the story claim that the Ogre had stolen Lady Shiarra’s sword or horse. One version says the Ogre was her son. If you asked a sufficiently erudite ogre about the matter, they’d probably have different opinions about the legitimacy of Lady Shiarra’s actions in general.]

After the Ogre Lord was defeated, Lady Shiarra called a concord of local lordlings to the site where Shiarra’s Market now stands (see Part 5C). These lordlings pledged fealty to each other and formed the Riders of Elturel, with Lady Shiarra as the first High Rider.

OTHER TALES OF THE RIDERS OF ELTUREL: There are a variety of chivalric stories featuring the early Riders of Elturel. The most common themes include:

• A lone Rider heads out from the city and faces evil. (Pick any monster from the Monster Manual.) Sometimes they are seeking that evil. Other times they stumble upon it in unexpectedly idyllic places.
• Romantic tourneys in which Riders (often with a mixture of foreign knights) face each other in various games of martial skill while sexual tension kindles between rivals. These tales usually feature a shapeshifter posing as a knight or otherwise confusing identities.
• Minor crusades, in which troops of Riders sally forth to save an entire community (usually in response to a plea for help). [These tales are generally told and have been shaped to support Elturel’s role as “protector” of the surrounding lands.]

THE CHARGE OF THE HELLRIDERS:

• Olanthius, the High Rider of Elturel, was often away from the High Hall, for the frontiers in those days were sore-pressed by warbands passing over the Sunset Mountains from the Goblin Marches. Fields were despoiled, livestock slaughtered, homes razed, and people dragged off to terrible fates. [When, exactly, Olanthius ruled Elturel is uncertain, but generally agreed to be the 9^th or 10^th century, although some claim it’s as far back as the 8^th. Some of the early chronicles say that the trouble actually originated from the Trollclaws and not the Goblin Marches, although some loremasters argue that both might be true.]
• While Olanthius was away, a Prince of Devils came to Elturel. Cloaked in a handsome form, he insinuated himself into the High Hall as Nothius, a Lord of Iriaebor. Over time, he enslaved the soul of Olanthius’ love, the Lady Yael. [The early-14^th century poet Aternicus wrote “The Lay of the Lady Yael,” a now-classic masterpiece which weaves this story into a romantic seduction.]
• As winter fell upon another year, Olanthius returned from campaign over fresh-fallen snow to discover that his lady love had been stolen away. Alack! If only he had returned a few hours earlier, Lady Yael might have been saved! [In some versions of the story, Olanthius is now visited by a nameless angel who guides the Riders to where Yael is being held prisoner.]
• Olanthius led the Riders of Elturel in a frenzied chase. [Maatal’s Chronicle instead describes a search of eighteen months – in some versions, eighteen years – in which the Riders of Elturel scatter across Toril, seeking the hiding place where Prince Nothius has concealed Lady Yael. Various tales have accumulated to individual knights, some of whom journeyed to distant Zakhara and even Maztica.]
• When the Riders caught up with Lord Nothius, the devil revealed his true form. A great battle then commenced, which ended when Nothius opened a gateway to Hell itself and, with a cackling laugh, carried Lady Yael through it! [Several chronicles also ascribe the goblin or troll invasions as being part of Nothius’ schemes; these usually feature a ferocious battle as Olanthius and the Riders try to fight their way through to Nothius. In other versions, Nothius has carried Lady Yael to a citadel in the Sunset Mountains – sometimes identified as Darkhold – and the Riders must lay siege to it.]
• The Riders of Elturel did not hesitate! They plunged through the gate, pursuing the devil into Hell itself! [Some versions of the story have the Riders pursue the devil Nothius through all nine of the Hells. In these, Nothius is often revealed to be Asmodeus himself. These are generally agreed by serious historians to be exaggerations.]
• The pursuit of Nothius now continued across the blasted plains of Avernus itself. At last, the Riders of Elturel met the armies of Hell! The Riders defeated one of the fabled blood legions and Yael was reunited with Olanthius, but as they rode back towards the portal home a second and even larger legion threatened to cut them off.
• Olanthius knew the only hope of escape was if this legion was delayed. He asked for volunteers to accompany him… and all the Riders did so. Therefore lots were drawn to determine the lucky few who would ride one last time at the side of their lord. Olanthius begged Yael to fly to safety, but she, too, chose to ride into battle at his side.
• In the face of the Riders’ charge, the legion of Avernus trembled and buckled… but did not break. Olanthius and Yael perished on the Avernian plains. It is said that where they fell in a final, martial embrace, a spring of holy water sprung up that was poison to the devils of that land.
• Their sacrifice, however, bought the time the other Riders needed to escape from Hell. Overcome with grief at the loss of their glorious leader and his love, they returned to the city. Their valor was never forgotten, and from that day forward the Riders of Elturel were known as the Hellriders.

As you can see here, much of the true history has been lost. Or, rather, distorted through a storied tradition — a golden age of Elturian chivalry which has been artificially extended back to the founding of the city to culminate triumphantly in the great tale of the Charge of the Hellriders. Thus the earliest Lords of Elturel (including Lady Shiarra) have become retroactively identified as High Riders.

Design Note: This sort of thing isn’t without precedent in the real world. See, for example, how the “Roman Emperors” would have been contemporaneously identified as Imperator, Augustus, and/or Caesar. Or the Arthurian tradition, in which history becomes encrusted with literary invention.

If the PCs decide to do some deep investigation along these lines, you could certainly hint at the uncertainty of the historical record here. Although even these hints wouldn’t necessarily be accurate: For example, you might discuss how the loremaster Alice Messier of Iriaebor has recently done a study of “Jander Sunstar.” Supposedly the High Rider who led the Riders of Elturel out of Hell, Messier has found references to another “Jander Sunstar” as a folk hero in the Dalelands whose stories were later merged with a set of vampiric myths arising from the infestation of vampires that led to Merrydale becoming Daggerdale. The obvious conclusion, of course, is that “Jander Sunstar” never actually existed, and the Dalelands folk hero was simply incorporated into the chivalric cycle of Elturel.

If you want to get ambitious, you could develop some lore books along these lines and perhaps distribute them in likely places in Elturel and/or Candlekeep.

LORE OF ZARIEL

Once the PCs become aware that they’re dealing with Zarielite cultists in Baldur’s Gate, they may want to do some research into who Zariel is. This might also be true in Candlekeep after Lulu’s revelation that Zariel was involved in the Charge of the Hellriders. So it’s worthwhile to briefly consider what they’ll find in the history books.

You can also use this information to inform Intelligence (History) and Intelligence (Religion) checks.

Design Note: The general theory of my approach here is that (a) Hell exists, but (b) it is very, very far away from the Material Plane. Thus the loremaster’s understanding of Hell is akin to a scholar of Medieval Europe’s understanding of the fine details of Japanese history (i.e., incredibly poor bordering on the mythical). The history of Hell also stretches back across aeons unimaginable to human history. Plus the entire place is inhabited entirely with gifted liars whose interactions with humans are usually based entirely around deceiving them.

AVERNIAD & THE TRIAL OF ASMODEUS: These early events in planar history are known to mortal scholars, but are mostly obscured through a haze of confusing legendry. Zariel’s name is not associated with them, although the incident in which a nameless angel started a deific brawl during the Trial of Asmodeus might crop up.

It’s up to you how much chaff you want to throw up around the “true history of Asmodeus and/or Hell” if the PCs start looking into it. We’re greatly aided in this, however, because D&D itself has published a bunch of contradictory versions of this continuity:

• Serpents of Law: Asmodeus, then known as Ahriman, and Jazirian arose from the primal chaos as powerful serpent gods. The two serpents bit each others’ tails and formed a great circle whose turning transformed chaos into the order of the Great Wheel. The two serpents quarreled, stripping each other of god-stuff. The diminished Asmodeus, a wingless serpent, crashed into Nessus, the First Hell, while the winged Jazirian rose to Mount Celestia.
• Angelic Fall: When the first gods grew weary of fighting demons, they created angels to continue the battle for them. The first of these angels was Asmodeus. Over time, Asmodeus assumed more and more control of the war, with the gods formalizing more and more of his authority in the form of pacts. There came a time when the gods realized that Asmodeus had created a vast and horrific infrastructure for torturing mortal souls (i.e., Hell) and transforming them into foot soldiers (i.e., devils) – call it the military-infernal complex. Asmodeus was put on trial, but he simply pointed to the tangled web of pacts and declared that the gods had authorized all of it. Primus of the Modrons, who acted as the trial’s judge, ruled in Asmodeus’ favor, and the collection of pacts became known as the Pact Primeval. It remains the bedrock of celestial law.
• He Who Was: Asmodeus was once an exarch serving He Who Was. (Asmodeus would later go to considerable lengths to wipe out all record of the god’s name, leaving only the enigmatic title.) He Who Was was the ultimate god of law. To preserve a perfect order, He Who Was controlled every single aspect of reality, down to the smallest details. In his demesne, the mortal races did not yet have free will – they were automatons going through the motions of civilization. Asmodeus was no different, until he was corrupted by the demon lord Pazuzu. With the scales fallen from his eyes, Asmodeus saw clearly the tyranny of the Law according to He Who Was. After a quiet resistance (that may have lasted for centuries and also ties into the Dawn War waged against Tharizdun), Asmodeus journeyed to the bottom of the Abyss and found there the shard of freedom (which some “fools” have named the shard of evil) and crafted from it his Ruby Rod. The rod’s existence shattered the control of He Who Was (and, in some heretical texts, is claimed to be the basis for all mortal consciousness). Asmodeus slew He Who Was.

Note: Some gnostic cults claim that the breaking of the Perfect Order is much more recent than one would suspect: Some claim it only happened a few short years ago. Others cite the Spellplague or the Sundering. For esoteric reasons, the date of 1358 DR is frequently given – the Year of Shadows in which mortals ceased to be mere shadows and became fully realized and autonomous spirits. In any case, according to the gnostics, all recorded history before that point was merely acted out according to the whim of He Who Was; the historical personages not truly possessed of what modern mortals understand as consciousness.

CHARGE OF THE HELLRIDERS: Zariel’s name is also not associated with the Charge of the Hellriders in any way (see above).

ZARIEL – WHAT IS KNOWN:

• Zariel was one of the Dark Eight, the council of generals who lead Hell’s legions in the Blood War.
• She is believed to be a fallen angel, likely one of those who first followed Asmodeus to Hell, making her one of the oldest and probably most powerful devils.
• During the Reckoning – the War in Hell that turned Lords of Hell against each in the 13^th century – Zariel initiated hostilities by forming an alliance with Tiamat and leading an army to besiege Dis, the second layer of the Nine Hells.
• Near the end of the Reckoning, Tiamat betrayed Zariel and the siege on Dis was broken. Zariel was imprisoned in Tiamat’s citadel.
• At the beginning of the 15^th century, Avernus – the first layer of Hell – was in a state of tumult. The Blood War was going poorly. Zariel escaped from Tiamat’s prison, raised an army, and turned the tide. To reward her, Asmodeus deposed Bel – who had been the Archduke of Avernus – and raised Zariel in his place.
• Zariel has been the Archduchess of Avernus ever since. A cruel and brutally effective military leader.

Note: It’s possible that the inner mysteries of some Zarielite cults would preserve the knowledge that Zariel led the Charge of the Hellriders. From a practical standpoint, however, the PCs should not be able to learn this from the cultists in Baldur’s Gate. (The knowledge should drop in Candlekeep, as described in Part 4C.) If you want to add this sort of deep lore to the Zarielites, I’d recommend confining it to the revelation that she was a fallen angel and perhaps very early events pertaining to the Averniad and the Trial of Asmodeus.

WHAT DOES GARGAUTH KNOW? If the PCs get the Shield of Hidden Truth and question Gargauth, he can provide a lot more detail. (These same general guidelines can probably be used for other denizens of Hell, other than those with personal first-hand knowledge.)

• Gargauth is not familiar with Zariel’s role in the Charge of the Hellriders, but he knows that she was an angel who fell comparatively recently (within the last few centuries).
• Having been active in Elturel for decades, he’s familiar with the Legend of the Hellriders (and can probably provide an account of many of its variations and details).
• He can provide detailed accounts of the Averniad and the Trial of Asmodeus. (He even knows that Zariel sparked a brawl during the trial.) However, it might amuse him to muddle things up with false tales (like those described above).
• He knows the Reckoning and the Rift War in detail.

Go to Part 6D-E: Lulu’s Memory Mystery

Go to Table of Contents

THE FALL OF ZARIEL

• When the battle at last came to an end, Baalzephon was astonished to see Asmodeus himself arrive.
• They found Zariel beneath a mound of devils she had slain. She was badly injured, but still lived. As she awoke, Asmodeus knelt beside her in the dust of Avernus. He spoke to her in a soft voice.

I look at you and I see that you are in despair. You thought you could make a difference. That you could end the Blood War. But here you are on a field of dead friends.

You look at me and I know you see malevolence. You see Evil. You see an antithesis. You see betrayal. But I did make a difference. And I will end the Blood War.

All those aeons ago, at my trial, when I looked you in the eye and laughed. Do you think I mocked you? No. I laughed because I saw you standing where I had stood before. I knew we walked the same road and you were just a few steps behind me.

Look around you. Look at the dead. Piled high. Do you really think this to be Good? Do you think this butchery to be worthwhile because it was done in a noble cause? You know as well as I do that as long as this continues, as long as the dead are nothing but tallies in the ledgers of complacent gods, Good is derelict. It is meaningless. It is feathery cupids cavorting on a celestial isle while suffering boils forth across the multiverse.

I know you came here to kill demons. You think you have failed. I think you have barely begun.

Which of us do you think sees more clearly?

What I offer you is simple: A chance to continue our fight. You have killed Terza’reg. I offer you his place on the Dark Eight and command of a Blood Legion. Serve me and your Crusade can still boil across the Abyss and turn the Great Wheel into a new epoch.

• In truth, the two conversed on many different planes of thought. And, in the end, Zariel accepted Asmodeus’ offer, swearing fealty to him and accepting his commission as one of Bel’s generals. Perhaps Asmodeus was right. Or perhaps she had been right to fear her weakness. Or perhaps in her pride, she convinced herself that, once she had dealt with the Abyss, she would be able to turn on Asmodeus and save Hell from itself.
• But Zariel had fallen.
• Haruman willingly followed Zariel in swearing allegiance to Asmodeus. Olanthius chose to commit suicide instead, but even in death discovered that he was bound by his oath to “crush the evil of the Abyss under the guidance of Zariel” and was raised as a death knight in her thrall.

Note: Once again, kids, examine the fine print of your oaths.

LULU: HIDING THE SWORD

• Yael and Lulu did not have any method for immediately fleeing the Outer Planes. In fact, they were essentially lost: Lulu had never been to Avernus before and the Zarielites had been preparing for an invasion of the Abyss, not the Nine Hells. However, part of those preparations had included learning the location of a number of pan-dimensional bolt-holes in the Abyss.
• Their plan, therefore, was to reach the Styx and use the river to travel into the Abyss and – if they got extremely lucky – find a way out. (If the plan failed, then perhaps they could throw the Sword of Zariel into the Styx to keep it out of Hell’s hands.)
• Lulu knew there would be Avernian watchposts along the length of the Styx. Penetrating that defensive line would be difficult. But Yeenoghu’s army must have crossed it somewhere and somehow, so they decided to backtrack his army and hope to duplicate his success.
• The plan worked: They discovered that Yeenoghu’s army had taken out three of the Styxian watchposts, leaving a gaping hole in the defensive line. They managed to cross the Styx and then commandeer an infernal ferry from a charonadaemon.

Note: At this time during the Blood War, the demons of the Abyss had successfully captured the far shore of the Styx. Their war palaces were bastions of war and the heavily fortified banks of the Styx were a muddy mire of endless, bloody war that extended into astral trenches.

• What they didn’t know was that Yeenoghu was tracking the Sword of Zariel. A war party waylaid them. With their ferry sinking, Yael and Lulu were forced back into Avernus.
• Pursued by Yeenoghu and with the forces of Hell closing in as well, Yael and Lulu realized that there was no escape. Yael plunged the Sword of Zariel into a rock and called for divine intervention. Lulu poured her own celestial essence into the call, the sympathetic resonance of her trumpet echoing across the Avernian plains as she drove Yael’s plea across the planes. Even so, the gods could wield little power in Avernus, but Lathander gave them an opportunity. Yael sacrificed herself, pouring her life force into what Lathander offered, raising an alabaster fortress around the Sword to protect it.
• The skein of Avernus itself rebelled at this holy touch, however, and a bloody cyst engulfed the fortress, Yael’s corpse, and Lulu.

ZARIEL IN HELL

Zariel became one of the Dark Eight, a general serving Archduke Bel. She frequently rebelled against Bel’s commands, however, pursuing far more aggressive strategies. Her Blood Legion was preternaturally successful, sacking numerous daemonic war palaces and establishing a beachhead on the far side of the Styx.

THE RECKONING (13^th Century DR): The Reckoning was a tri-partite conspiracy masterminded by Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus. She managed to convince half the Lords of Hell that the other half were planning a rebellion and vice versa. The third conspiracy consisted of Glasya, Zariel, and Malagard the Hag Countess (who was a councilor to Moloch, Lord of the Sixth), who believed they could seize considerable power for themselves as the Lords warred against each other. (Glasya even had aspirations of overthrowing her father and claiming Hell for herself.)

• The trigger point for the Reckoning came when Bel was targeted by a demonic assassin. The attack failed, leaving Bel in a magical coma. Evidence pointed to Dispater, Archduke of Dis, the second level of Hell. (In reality, the “assassination” was actually arranged by Glasya and had exactly the intended effect.)
• Zariel, having forged an alliance with Tiamat, laid siege to Dis. (Tiamat not only gave Zariel safe passage to the second level of Hell, but also threw her own draconic legions into the fray.)
• The full details of the Reckoning are beyond the scope of this project. Zariel spent almost the entire war engaged in the siege of Dis.
• Near the end of the Reckoning, Tiamat betrayed Zariel. The siege of Dis was broken and Zariel ended up being held a prisoner in Tiamat’s dungeons.
• Glasya and Malagard had convinced Moloch, Lord of Malbolge, to pursue a scheme to use the chaos of the Reckoning to dethrone Asmodeus. It failed, but Glasya was able to use this as a framework to frame Moloch as the “mastermind” behind many of her own schemes. Moloch was deposed by Asmodeus and Malagard raised in his place. (Malagard herself was recently killed by Glasya, who has become Archduchess of Malbolge herself.)

Design Note: Placing the Reckoning in the 13^th century and ending it with Zariel as Tiamat’s prisoner allows us to preserve a lot of pre-DIA continuity that DIA’s retcons had wiped out. For example, all of Bel’s pre-DIA continuity remains intact (except that he now supplants Gargauth, not Zariel, to become Lord of Avernus). Zariel still gets to besiege Dis to begin the Reckoning. And the imprisonment of Zariel by Tiamat (as described in Rise of Tiamat) is also slotted into place.

THE RIFT WAR (15^th Century DR): The surface of Avernus is periodically rent with massive rifts. Similar to rift valleys of the Material Plane, they are formed by the surface of Avernus pulling itself apart. But while some proceed with a glacial pace, others can appear with terrifying, convulsive speed.

There are many metaphysical theories about the nature of these rifts: Perhaps Avernus is like a “cap” which Asmodeus placed upon the Nine Hells, but Hell keeps trying to expand, trying to push its way through the planar substrate. Or Avernus itself is constantly expanding like a cancerous tumor, with the rifts either being where that new growth pushes out new planar material and/or where Avernus is trying to break apart, “budding” off new planes. Or they’re manifestations of demi-planes, either attaching themselves like parasites to Avernus or being forcibly scooped up by Hell’s vortex. Some even postulate they could be the spirits of evil living demi-planes that have died and are manifesting, lemure-like, in Hell. Or perhaps they are simply another hellish expression of Avernus’ corrupt landscape.

Whatever the case, in the early 15^th century a rift of unprecedented size rapidly opened on the contested side of the Styx.

And it was seething with baatorians.

Baatorians were the original inhabitants of Hell. They had a unique life cycle: Their larval state (known as nupperibo) were spontaneously generated out of the substance of Hell itself as a sort of tubercular reaction to the arrival of an evil soul. As Hell expanded, this strange property seemed to extend to each new level. Over time, the nupperibo could ascend into higher forms (in a process referred to as “molting”). For untold aeons, they were the factious rulers of Hell.

The ultimate fate of the baatorians has been lost to legends older than mortal civilization: Some claim that the entire species ultimately ascended into forms of pure energy – stories speak of “strange lights” and “malevolent shadows” – leaving Hell uninhabited when Ahriman arrived. Others claim that Ahriman conquered the baatorians and wiped them out in a genocide of colossal proportions.

Whatever the case may be, it seems fairly certain that Ahriman fundamentally reworked the cosmology of Hell, somehow adapting the baatorian ecology to instead generate lemures, the larval state of the baatezu devils. (It’s possible this is somehow connected to the rerouting or creation of the River Styx, a transport mechanism for mortal souls from which many lemure emerge.) Nupperibo are still known to manifest from the firmament of Hell, but they are usually ruthlessly hunted down and destroyed by the devils before they can molt into the more advanced forms of their species.

Now, however, an entire army of baatorians boiled out of the rift – some strange redoubt or primeval throwback of the ancient race – and invaded Avernus.

• Bel blew it. He had left most of the war palaces Zariel had conquered vacant and the baatorians were able to seize them for their own use. The defensive lines of the blood legions, having been thoroughly disrupted, collapsed and were routed. Watchtowers along the Styx were overrun and destroyed. For the first time in centuries, the Avernian frontiers were in utter disarray. Although no alliance was formed between the baatorians and demons, armies of both races freely crossed the Styx.
• With the “Avernian situation” rapidly deteriorating, Glasya saw an opportunity. She journeyed to Tiamat’s citadel and arranged for Zariel’s release. (There are several stories of how she accomplished this: A secret deal with Tiamat. Delivery of an edict from Asmodeus himself. A daring jailbreak heist.)
• Zariel’s Second Avernian March: For a second time, Zariel began a march across Avernus. This time, rather than fleeing, Zariel was gathering the scattered, routed units of the blood legions. As Bel retreated, Zariel attacked. She forded the Styx, re-sacked the war palaces she had first claimed two centuries earlier, and broke the baatorian supply lines. Then she turned around, marched back to the Styx, and intercepted the baatorians’ main army as it was attempting to cross the river. In the bloody, muddy Battle of Lost Memories, the baatorians’ strength was broken.
• The Rift Siege: After the Battle of Lost Memories, Zariel was able to link up with Dagos and Furcas, two of the Dark Eight whose armies had been cut off, and re-established the defensive watchposts along the Styx. While Dagos and Furcas held the river, effectively dividing the remaining baatorian forces in half, Zariel led her army to lay siege to the Rift. Once the Rift fell, the war was essentially over.
• The Archduchess: Asmodeus punished Bel for his failure by demoting him back to the ranks of the Dark Eight. In Bel’s place, he elevated Zariel as the new Archduchess of Hell.

Note: This history covers the broad strokes of Zariel’s life after her fall. For additional events directly relevant to Descent Into Avernus, refer to the “Lore of Gargauth” in Part 3B and “The History of Elturel’s Fall” in Part 4B.

LULU LEAVES HELL

• Although Lulu had been caught inside the bloody cyst, over the intervening centuries she had been slowly getting pushed out – like a sliver from your foot. She awoke – dazed and confused – upon the scabrous surface of the cyst and wandered away. (This was most likely during the time that Zariel was imprisoned in Tiamat’s dungeons.)
• During her wanderings, she visited Fort Knucklebones. [You could potentially insert other memories of Avernian landmarks here.]
• Lulu encountered the Wandering Emporium. There she was tricked by a rakshasa named Mahadi, who splashed her with water from the river Styx. Keeping her thus in a constant stupor, he kept her imprisoned. (A hollyphant’s tusks can be ground into a magical powder that transforms water or wine into an elixir of health. Mahadi kept her essentially drugged and senseless so that he could repeatedly grind down her tusks.)
• When Zariel became the new Archduchess of Avernus, Mahadi brought Lulu to her court and presented her as a gift. Zariel was disappointed to discover that Lulu was suffering from Styxian memory loss, for she wanted to recover her Sword, but had fond memories of her old friend. She gave orders that Lulu should be returned to Mount Celestia and dispatched a small party of devils to see it done.
• While crossing Avernus to an appropriate gate, Lulu’s devil escorts were ambushed by the warlord L’zeth (DIA, p. 90). Lulu, still in a Styxian befuddlement, wandered away from the scene of the ambush.
• Some time later, the effects of the water of the Styx finally wore off. (This is the beginning of Lulu’s memories.) She came to the River Styx shortly thereafter and followed it out of Avernus, journeying through the Outer Planes and having many adventures along the way.
• She eventually ended up in the Nexus (see Book of Eldritch Might III) and passed through a portal which took her to the city of Neverwinter in 1488 DR. From there she made her way south, returning to the area around Elturel. There she either becomes a PC (as described in Part 2) or met Sylvira (as described in Part 4C).

Go to Part 6D-D: The Legend of the Hellriders

Go to Table of Contents

ZARIEL’S CRUSADE

• Zariel’s experiences at Idyllglen refocused her. Although she had served in Heaven’s armies, the conflict had always been somewhat abstract to her; or, at least, an affair of the Outer Planes where the conflict had long been relegated in most realms to a Cold War where the borders between realms had been long-settled. Now she had seen firsthand how the evils of the Abyss seeped out into the wider planes, inflicting untold horrors upon the multiverse.
• Zariel began advocating for a more belligerent military policy. Some called her a warmonger, but Zariel disagreed: The war already existed, whether the angelic legions chose to fight in it or not.
• Others said that it should be left to the Blood War: Let Evil annihilate itself. There was no need for Heaven to spend itself in the conflict. But this, Zariel argued, made Heaven complicit in the system that corrupted mortal souls to fight in that war; and turned a blind eye to the demonic miseries suffered by untold millions. The stalemate of the Blood War did not keep Evil in check; it perpetuated it. And it was Heaven’s duty to end it.

THE SECOND VISIT TO IDYLLGLEN

• Following Zariel’s intercession against Yeenoghu, Idyllglen had erected a shrine honoring the angel who had saved their village. In the early 10^th century DR, Idyllglen’s existence was once again threatened, this time by a marauding band of ogres led by a warlord named Irontusk.
• Zariel answered the prayers of the villagers, journeying to the Material Plane with Lulu to aid them.
• When they arrived, they met a young woman named Yael who had managed to organize the younger villagers into a defensive militia of sorts. Yael gladly yielded command of the militia to Zariel, who taught them much of the arts of war and forged them into a band of steadfast companions. The three of them – Zariel, Lulu, and Yael – became fast friends. With each new challenge they faced, Yael would smile and say, “We just need to dream a little bigger.” Soon Zariel and Lulu were saying it, too.
• In a campaign that lasted for several months – during which the ranks of the militia swelled as it attracted recruits from other nearby settlements south of the Winding Water – Zariel defeated Irontusk’s warbands. Yael herself killed Irontusk in the climactic battle, and the remnants of the warband fled back across the Sunset Mountains and into the Goblin Marches to the east.

DAWN OF THE HELLRIDERS

• Zariel returned to Mount Celestia, but the lust of battle still smoldered in her blood. Having tasted the fleeting, fast-paced passion of the mortals, she became even more frustrated with the glacial pace of change in the celestial realms. Her thoughts turned again and again to Yael and her other comrades in arms. Dream a little bigger.
• One night on the silver, starlit beaches of Mercuria, Zariel and Lulu hatched their plan: They would return to the Material Plane and raise a mortal army. The army would invade the Abyss, creating a second front in the Blood War. Zariel believed that, if she could establish a flanking beachhead, other disaffected angelic warriors from Mount Celestia would rally to their cause. They didn’t have to win. They just had to upset the balance of the Blood War so that it would no longer be a stalemate.
• Yael’s Zarielites: When they returned to the Material Plane, Zariel and Lulu discovered that Yael had turned their militia into a regional peacekeeping force. (The ogres had not returned, but there’d been a spot of trouble with trolls out of the Trollclaws. Mostly they secured travel between the Winding Water settlements.) Known as the Zarielites, they wore a badge with twin suns, representing Zariel and Lulu as their angelic saviors.

Note: This informal heraldry would be forgotten by the later Hellriders, but not by Zariel, who took a grim satisfaction in the irony of having her followers revive it as the heraldry of the Order of the Companion centuries later.

• Yael’s response when she heard Zariel’s plan? Let’s dream a little bigger.
• Olanthius, Lord of Elturel: Word of Zariel’s return spread and recruitment swelled. Yael became an ambassador of sorts, spreading the good word of Zariel’s Crusade. Lulu often accompanied her on these journeys, including arguably the most important of them all, when Yael went south to Elturel. Olanthius was impressed with Yael’s courage and righteousness, and pledged his service to the Crusade. (Olanthius and Yael would later fall in love.)
• The Elturian Crusade: With Olanthius joining the cause, Zariel moved the headquarters of the Crusade south to Elturel.
• Haruman, Lord Knight of the Far Hills: Another major recruit to the Crusade was the Lord Knight of the Far Hills. Haruman had once been known as the Boy Warlord, rising from obscurity as a slave in the Goblin Marches to conquer Farkeep (the citadel which would later become known as Darkhold) at the age of thirteen. Hearing of Zariel’s holy cause, he rode down to Elturel from the Sunset Mountains and pledged all of his knights to her service.
• The Three Generals: Yael, Olanthius, and Haruman became known as the Three Generals, swearing fealty to the holy cause of the Crusade — to crush the evil of the Abyss under the guidance of Zariel.

Note: Jander Sunstar was a knight-banneret in Haruman’s service. He was the one who first learned of the Crusade and converted Haruman to the cause. If you’re looking to place these events in Jander’s personal timeline – as related in Christie Golden’s Vampire of the Mists and various short stories – they occur between the time that Jander leaves the Dalelands and arrives in Waterdeep.

THE CHARGE OF THE HELLRIDERS

While preparations continued to be made for their invasion of the Abyss, the crusaders were not quiescent. They secured the lands around Elturel and undertook a number of goodwill actions. They also went on a number of quests to secure the supplies necessary for waging war against demonic hordes.

YEENOGHU’S GAMBIT

• Yeenoghu learned that Zariel was raising a huge mortal army and planned to invade the Abyss with it.
• In response, Yeenoghu returned to the Material Plane at the head of a small demonic force. Once again recruiting an army of gnolls, he began razing the Winding Water settlements. Zariel responded, as Yeenoghu had known she would, by leading the Three Armies north.

THE THIRD VISIT TO IDYLLGLEN

• The two forces met at Idyllglen. It seemed fated to the crusaders, but was actually according to Yeenoghu’s design: He wanted to manipulate the emotional connection Yael and Zariel had to the village.
• During the battle, Yeenoghu detached a portion of his force and personally led a raid towards the village. General Yael responded almost immediately, moving her army out of position in pursuit.
• While Zariel, Olanthius, and Haruman sought to rearrange their own lines of battle to account for the chaos that ensued, Yeenoghu’s force abruptly shifted direction. Casting off the illusions that had made them appear to be ordinary gnolls, the demons sliced their way through Yael’s command.
• Neither Yael nor her knights were to be underestimated, however. This was, after all, the fight they had been preparing for. She stymied Yeenoghu’s counterattack.
• Meanwhile, the bulk of the gnoll army – having lost their demonic commanders when Yeenoghu peeled them off – were routed by Zariel, Olanthius, and Haruman.
• As the rest of the crusader army rounded on his flank, Yeenoghu abruptly abandoned pretense and led an assault directly on General Yael’s position. Slicing through her troops and cutting down her banner, Yeenoghu seized Yael, opened a portal, and leapt through it.

THE AVERNIAN AMBUSH

• Zariel, leading her own charge atop Lulu, was only a couple dozen feet away as Yeenoghu vanished. “The demon lord flees before our wrath!” she cried. “And he has taken one of our own! To rescue and to salvation! Charge!”
• The Three Armies plunged through the portal. But rather than emerging in the Abyss as they had expected, the portal led to the fire-blasted plains of Avernus. Worse yet, Yeenoghu had a small demonic army — which had crossed the Styx and penetrated deep into Hell itself — waiting on the other side.
• Zariel arrayed her crusaders for battle, but her rear echelons were still passing through the portal when Yeenoghu’s army moved rapidly to engage.

THE BATTLE OF AVERNUS

• There were a number of glorious deeds that day, among them Yael freeing herself from captivity and fighting her way to Olanthius’ side. Yeenoghu’s army had made retreat impossible, but the crusaders had withstood the initial assault and now the second and third armies had passed through the portal and were marshalling their strength. They vastly outnumbered Yeenoghu’s force, and there was a real chance that the demon lord would be destroyed, dealing the crusade’s first blow against the Abyss.
• That’s when an army of devils, under the command of Terza’reg of the Dark Eight and lured to the area by Yeenoghu’s army, marched over the horizon.
• Jander Sunstar panicked. (“We can’t fight both Hell and the Abyss!”) Under his leadership, a large chunk of the army routed back through the portal… which then slammed shut. (The crusaders who remained in Avernus believed the deserters had sealed it behind them. It’s possible Yeenoghu seized the moment to shut down the portal he had opened. Or perhaps arcanists in the advancing devil army were responsible for closing it.)

Note: Jander’s fate is somewhat beyond the scope of this reference, but worth establishing. He was the highest ranking officer among the crusaders who fled Avernus. The deserters became known as the Hellriders, their acts of infamy instead being told as deeds of glory, and Jander became the first High Rider of Elturel. He changed the Riders’ heraldry from the twin stars of the Zarielite Crusade to a horse rampant in flames. Eventually, sickened by his betrayal of both Zariel and Haruman, he left Elturel and headed to Waterdeep.

BATTLE’S END

• The three-way battle that ensued was pure chaos. The best we can do here is to highlight a few moments.
• Olanthius and Haruman were able to pincer the remnants of Yeenoghu’s army and finish them off, while Zariel and Yael wheeled her command about to meet Terza’reg’s army.
• Yeenoghu escaped triumphant, having tricked Zariel into spending her glorious army fighting devils instead of demons and turning what could have been a disaster for the Abyss into a huge advantage instead.
• Zariel led the flying cavalry squadron (featuring primarily pegasi) into the air to meet the flying devils that swarmed over the battlefield.
• Zariel and Lulu engaged in an aerial duel with Terza’reg, which ended when Terza’reg cut off Zariel’s right hand (still clutching her sword). Zariel leapt off of Lulu and dove after sword and hand, with Terza’reg in hot pursuit. At the last possible moment, Zariel snatched her sword from the air, reversed her flight, and plunged it through Terza’reg’s breast. A huge explosion rocked the battlefield as the devil general died, clouding the affair in a haze of red dust.
• Despite her dreadful injury and the ensuing chaos, after Terza’reg’s death it was possible that Zariel and her generals might have been able to rally. But then a second army under the command of Baalzephon arrived.
• To their credit, the remaining crusaders fought to the last warrior. (Although some, including Olanthius and Haruman, were captured after being struck down in battle.)
• Yael had joined Zariel and Lulu. As Baalzephon tightened the noose around their necks, the three old friends fought side by side. As the devils closed in, Zariel knew what would come and feared her own weakness. She took a shard of her angelic essence – a spark of goodness – and placed it within her sword. She asked Yael to take the sword and make certain it was not captured by the forces of Hell. Yael refused. Zariel smiled sadly. “Look beyond this forsaken day. One last time, I need you to dream a little bigger.”
• With tears in her eyes, Yael accepted.
• Zariel then turned to Lulu, said goodbye to her old friend, and asked her to go with Yael and keep her safe.
• The devils’ aerial forces had been decimated, and so Yael – having concealed the sword within her cloak – was able to escape through their depleted ranks upon Lulu’s back.

Go to Part 6D-C: Lulu’s Memories (Zariel in Hell)