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I thought this would be the last set of these capsule reviews, in which my goal is to give a very high overview of my thoughts/impressions of each book, but I just recently discovered that Rhodarin Press has put out a whole suite of Avernus-related PDFs, so I’ll be taking a peek at those in the near future, too.

These reviews were written as part of my survey of Descent Into Avernus-related material on the Dungeon Masters Guild while working on the Alexandrian Remix of the campaign. Unless otherwise noted, the material has not been playtested.

You may also want to review this Guide to Grades at the Alexandrian. The short version: My general philosophy is that 90% of everything is crap, and crap gets an F. I’m primarily interested in grading the 10% of the pile that’s potentially worth your time. Anything from A+ to C- is, honestly, worth checking out if the material sounds interesting to you. If I give something a D it’s pretty shaky. F, in my opinion, should be avoided entirely.

ENCOUNTERS IN AVERNUS: I’ve previously talked about how I found Baldur’s Gate: City Encounters to be a very disappointing offering in comparison to Waterdeep: City Encounters. I’m pleased to report that Encounters in Avernus – designed by M.T. Black, James Haeck, James Introcaso, Rich Lescouflair, Shawn Merwin, and Ashley Warren – is much closer to the Waterdeep volume in terms of its value and quality.

The book provides four categories of encounters: There are encounters for Avernus in general, encounters for characters near the River Styx, encounters in the city of Elturel, and also a pair of “encounter chains” which are more accurately light sub-plots you can work into your Descent Into Avernus campaign.

The proof is in the pudding here: I’ve incorporated the Elturel encounters into Part 5C of the Remix and you’ll find the Avernus encounters in Part 7H.

The weak point of Encounters in Avernus, for me, is the Styx-related encounters: The tone of these encounters are almost universally comedic. This is just NOT what I’m looking for in Hell, rendering the encounters worthless. (Nor is the humor, featuring stuff like bad puns, particularly good.)

Despite this, you’ll find a ton of value between the covers here and, given its inclusion in the Remix, I’m obviously recommending that every Descent Into Avernus DM snag a copy.

• Grade: B-

DESCENT INTO AVERNUS – FEATHERS OF ZARIEL: Feathers of Zariel is a seven-page PDF with one page of content and six pages of ads.

The basic concept is somewhat interesting: Feathers shed from Zariel before her fall are divine relics, a memory of what Zariel once was. If Zariel can obtain them, she can turn them into dark feathers, corrupting their powers just as she herself was corrupted.

Unfortunately, the execution is completely lacking. The items are ludicrously unbalanced and utterly fail to realize any of the interesting potential of their concept. The bait-and-switch of advertised page count also leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Note: If you wanted to run with the concept of Zariel’s lost feathers (possibly they were all shed when she fell and scattered throughout Avernus), I’d combine that with the memory mystery of the Remix: Each feather might hold a shard of Zariel’s memory. If Zariel herself prizes them (either because she can transform them into dark artifacts or simply because she wants to secure her memories), they can give the PCs additional bargaining power if they meet her.

• Grade: F

THE BLOOD OF AVERNUS – EXPANDING THE RIVER STYX: This short “adventure” is simply not very good. The tone is set with incredibly poor proofreading and then continued with a rambling, largely incoherent style.

The central conceit reimagines the Styx into a living, demonic entity. Oaths can be sworn to this entity and if these oaths are broken, the Styx will inflict a curse on you. As far as I can tell, the general idea is that one or more of the PCs will swear such an oath and then break it. (How you’re supposed to arrange for that to happen is… vague.)

The avatar of the Styx lives in a cave located… somewhere?

The adventure consists of the PCs journeying to this cave, which is handled entirely as a series of random encounters. Once they reach the cave (which is not described), they can negotiate with the Styx to remove their curse.

• Grade: F

BALANCING ENCOUNTERS – DESCENT INTO AVERNUS: This book includes entries for every single encounter in Descent Into Avernus and provides detailed scaling notes for those encounters based on the relative strength of your group.

Fewer players? More players? Lower level? Higher level? Powerful magic items? Stripped naked by a devilish encounter that went awry?

Balancing Encounters will put the encounter you need at your fingertips.

Those of you familiar with the Alexandrian will likely know I don’t put a lot of stock into hyper-precise encounter balancing. But the great range of support given here makes this book useful for far more than just chasing the false idol of the “perfect encounter.” (The introduction of the book actually talks about this.) In addition to providing broad adjustments to radically different groups, the high-powered encounters are also likely to prove useful for anyone wanting to transition to Descent Into Avernus from another adventure, like the approach described in From Waterdeep to Avenus.

• Grade: B+

HELL PRISONS: Filp Gruszcyznski has created a really cool mythology in which Hell creates prisons that “purify” the lowly souls of the damned who would otherwise become lemures through torture so that they will “ascend” into more powerful devils for the glory of the Blood War. (And, since they exist, Asmodeus and Zariel use them for other purposes, too.)

Gruszcyznski then presents the Hell Prison in a modular format: He includes a sample prison for pick-up-and-play utility, but presents a whole bunch of plug-and-play components – rooms with different functions like Lairs, Prison Wings, Summoning Chambers – that can be combined and re-combined into different layouts to rapidly generate multiple prisons.

The presentation reminds me a little of the old Frontier Forts of Kelnore module from Judges Guild, which similarly presented the concept of ancient imperial border forts built to a common, but customizable plan which had also been turned to various uses (or fallen into ruins) over the centuries since the empire’s fall.

If there’s one thing I’d like to see from Hell Prisons it would be for each modular component to have more pre-built variations. A few of the chambers have this (for example, the Prison Wing has a list of different prisoners who might be held there), but it would be great if more or all of the chambers had 4-6 different variants.

But even without that, this is a really great little book that crams a ton of utility and reusability between its covers.

• Grade: B+

WARRIORS OF THE SEHANINE: Warriors of the Sehanine is yet another adventure prominently advertised on the Dungeon Masters Guild as being for use with Descent Into Avernus which (you guessed it) has nothing to do with Descent Into Avernus. I’d ask why creators do this, but obviously it works: They have my money and they’re getting a review out of it.

As a module, this is pretty good: A black dragon with an interesting twist has assaulted the fortress of a druidic order. The PCs encounter refugees from the assault and are asked to journey to the fortress and save children who were trapped in the fortress when it fell to the dragon. When the PCs reach the fortress, they discover that other enemies of the druidic order have seized the opportunity to pursue their own agendas.

However, it’s not without shortcomings.

First, it has what I refer to as a pointless hexcrawl. There’s a hex map with several dozen hexes… only four of which have anything keyed to them. Either the PCs will have a map and the hexcrawl is virtually pointless (they are traveling to the fortress, not exploring the forest… which has nothing to discover even if they were exploring). Or the PCs don’t have a map and the assumed form of play is to… wander around aimlessly with the DM periodically saying “you see more trees” until they finally stumble into the correct hex that has the adventure in it? That seems like a poor experience.

Second, the map of the fortress is confusingly incomplete and also missing entries keyed in the text. It’s not incomprehensible, but you’ll definitely have to puzzle your way through it.

Third, the “I’m too wounded and need to recuperate, so you’ll have to go without me” is a gag that doesn’t work in D&D because the PCs will just cast a cure spell.

Fourth, the PCs have one goal: Rescue the kids. They might also decide that they also want to slay the dragon. Oddly both of these goals are keyed to areas directly OUTSIDE the entrance to the fortress, so the adventure kind of ends before it even begins?

However, these quibbles – while somewhat significant – are fairly easy to triage in practice. And there’s a lot of good, meaty material fleshing things out here.

• Grade: C+

SCIENTIFIC SECRETS OF AVERNUS: This collection of twenty-seven Avernian fiends is built on the gimmick that each monster is inspired by a cool scientific fact, with each entry actually citing a scientific study.

In truth the gimmick is a little thin, with most of the monsters seeming to be only slightly or tangentially related to the scientific source material. (Although it’s a good example of how you can find creative inspiration almost anywhere.) But the actual monsters have a pretty good hit rate, which is, of course, the key measure of value in a monster manual.

Some of my favorites in Scientific Secrets of Avernus include the cranium crabs (soul-devouring devil crabs using skulls as their shells), malebranches (canid devils who gather errant lemures and drag them in chains across Avernus), flesh-eating splendors (swarms born from the cursed flesh of a succubus that seek to destroy beauty), and the screaming ash elementals (which steal the voices of their victims’ screams).

• Grade: B-

More DMs Guild Capsule Reviews – Go to the Avernus Remix

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This is the DM’s map for running the Avernian hexcrawl. It’s designed for use with the Alexandrian Hexcrawl, as described in the 5E Hexcrawl series. We’ll be making some tweaks to this structure, however, to accommodate the unusual features of Avernus.

HEX SCALE

1 Hex = 40 miles (center to center / side to side) = 23 mile sides = 1385 square miles

The Avernian Hexcrawl uses 40 mile hexes. When tracking progress, this means it requires 20 miles of progress to exit a hex through one of the two nearest faces. (If they exit back through the face through which they entered the hex for a reason other than doubling back along their own trail, it requires 2d10 miles of progress to exit the hex, unless circumstances suggest some other figure.)

Design Note: The primary reason for choosing a 40 mile scale is because the PCs are likely to end up using infernal machines with much higher speeds of travel. The secondary reason is aesthetic: Avernus is supposed to be a wasteland. By increasing the scale of the hexes, we achieve that (increasing the average distance between points of interest).

OPPRESSIVE ENVIRONMENT

The conditions in Avernus are debilitating, alien, and severe, particularly for mortals. In addition to the normal encounter check, there is a 1 in 6 chance per watch that an oppressive condition will begin. Once begun, an oppressive condition continues until another 1 in 6 check per watch ends the effect.

EXTREME HEAT: Temperatures reach extreme heat. A creature exposed to extreme heat must succeed on a Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour or gain one level of exhaustion. The DC is 5 for the first hour and increases by 1 for each additional hour. Creatures wearing medium or heavy armor, or clad in heavy clothing, have disadvantage on the saving throw. Creatures with resistance or immunity to fire damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures native to Avernus. A successful saving throw while resting resets the DC to 5.

CHOKING MIASMA: Thick, noxious fumes fill the air. They may have a source (like volcanic clouds rolling off the mountains) or they may seem to rise from the ground or even just spontaneously emerge from the air itself. At the end of each watch, creatures must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion. Creatures who are resting gain advantage on the saving throw. Creatures with resistance or immunity to poison automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures native to Avernus.

PSYCHIC EVIL: The supernatural evil of the Nine Hells weighs on the bodies and souls of those who are not evil. A non-evil creature must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the end of each watch or suffer 1d3 points of psychic damage.

ACID RAIN: Thick purple clouds spatter the plains with burning acid. A creature without shelter suffers 1d6 acid damage per hour.

RAIN OF STONE: Small meteors pelt the plane. Creatures without shelter must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw each watch or suffer 1d6 bludgeoning damage per hour. There is a 1 in 10 chance per watch that the meteor storm intensifies, with blazing orbs of fire plummeting from the sky. Creatures without shelter must succeed on a DC 15 saving throw or suffer 5d6 fire damage and 5d6 bludgeoning damage.

TERRAIN CONDITION: Each type of Avernian terrain has an oppressive condition. This result on the table indicates that you should use the oppressive condition of the terrain in the expedition’s current hex.

As noted below, some terrain conditions do not persist. They occur once in the watch during which they are rolled, and then additional checks for oppressive conditions immediately resume in the next watch.

AVERNIAN TERRAIN

The wasteland of Avernus is scattered with rocks of obsidian and quartz. There’re mountains dotting the bloody-dusty plain, and foothills march across the land like the overturned tracks of some gargantuan, unknown beast. – Planes of Law (1995)

ASHLANDS: The ground here is covered in a thick layer of black ash, generally varying in depth form six to eighteen inches. The ash does not easily compress or support weight, so travelers will often find themselves more or less wading through the ash.

Oppressive Condition – Ash Pit: In some areas the thin layer of ash is much deeper than it appears. Sentinels can attempt a DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check to spot the ash pit as the expedition approaches. If no one spots the ash pit, 1d4 random characters in the expedition must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or abruptly sink 2d4 feet deep in the ash.

At the start of each ash-bound creature’s turn, they sink another 1d4 feet into the ash. A character can attempt to escape by using their action to make a Strength check with a DC equal to 10 plus the number of feet they’ve sunk into the ash. If they have become completely submerged, they suffer disadvantage on this check and also begin suffocating.

Ash pits do not persist as an oppressive condition.

BONE BRAMBLES: A maze of warped trees and bonelike vines. Calcified corpses merge with the trees, covered in fungal pods that feed on the blood oozing through the undergrowth. Experienced Avernian explorers know that bone brambles often grow up around sources of fresh water.

Oppressive Condition – White Mists: The brambles exude a thick, cloying, almost oily white mist. This creates a condition of poor visibility (halving moving speeds and giving disadvantage on navigation and forage checks). The mist is almost refreshingly cool by Avernian standards, but there are strange whispers and disturbing groans that come and go among the mists.

CAUSTIC BOGS: On the current map, the caustic bogs are formed from the polluted run-off from Bel’s Forge (Hex H2), but similar areas can be found across Avernus, horrific remnants of the Blood War.

While travelling through the caustic bogs, characters must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw each watch or gain the Poisoned condition. The character can repeat the saving throw every 24 hours, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Oppressive Condition – Caustic Pollution: Characters must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer 1d3 acid damage.

HILLS, AVERNIAN: Either low mounds that undulate out of the wastelands or jagged promontories of razor-like rock that jut toward the blood red sky. The native life of Avernus, such as it is, often clings and clusters in the hills.

Oppressive Condition – Scree: See the Wastelands terrain below.

MOUNTAINS, AVERNIAN: There are generally two types of mountains in Avernus. Newer mountains that thrust up like broken blades of obsidian; raw and dangerous. And the older mountains that have been worn down by countless aeons, their gray immensity aching with an age incalculable to the mortal soul.

Oppressive Condition – Tremor: Avernus in general is tectonically unstable and this effect is magnified along the mountain crests. This condition indicates a tremor significant enough to disrupt travel, imposing a x ¾ speed modifier for the current watch.  1 in 10 such tremors are more serious, triggering significant hazards like an avalanche, rockslide, cave collapse, or the like.

This does not persist as an oppressive condition.

PLAINS OF FIRE: An iridescent, tarry putrescence seeps up through the soil here. These alchemical slicks catch on fire, a combination of small ever-burning wells and huge infernos miles long and high.

Failing a navigation check in the plains of fire, at the DM’s discretion, may indicate that the group has gotten cut off by a rapidly spreading fire, trapping the PCs in the eye of a firestorm.

It is never considered a clear day in the Plains of Fire.

Oppressive Condition – Extreme Heat: As described above.

PIT OF SHUMMRATH: A grand canyon more than a mile deep and filled with a lake of green slime that undulates as though breathing. The slime is actually the protoplasmic residue of an ancient devil imprisoned here by Archduke Bel many centuries ago, still possessed of some residual sentience and a telepathic ability to communicate (see p. 100 of Descent Into Avernus).

Large sections of the Shummrathian slime actually have a very thick skin, allowing the brave and foolhardy to walk across its slightly undulating surface. In slightly less gelatinous sections of the Pit, barges can dredge their way across.

Oppressive Condition – Telepathic Agony: An overwhelming telepathic burst emanates from the canyon, communicating in a single searing thought the eternal agony of Shummrath’s shattered consciousness. Characters must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or suffer 2d6 psychic damage.

WASTELANDS: The wastelands of Avernus look like sand, but are mostly made up of hard, sharp rocks akin to the quartzes and obsidian of the Material Plane. Footing can be treacherous.

Oppressive Condition – Scree: Traveling characters must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw each watch or suffer 1d3 damage. A character failing the saving throw must immediately attempt another, repeating until they succeed on a check or choose to stop traveling (in which case their distance traveled for the watch is halved).

WASTELANDS, CRACKED: The surface of Avernus is a rotten rind stretched across a festering fruit. In places, the ground has split apart. In cracked regions of the wastelands, the land is riven with fissures and ravines. Navigating these regions is difficult, either requiring great effort to circle around impassable chasms, or maze-like passages through the fissures themselves.

Oppressive Condition – Scree: See the Wastelands terrain above.

VOLCANIC PLAINS: Vast, smooth plains of black, basaltic rock. Sometimes shattered by tectonic upheavals. Often studded with fissure vents and bubbling pools of fresh lava.

An unusual feature of Avernian volcanic plains are the kipukas: Isolated areas of older lava flows surrounded by newer flows. On Avernus, these kipukas are often etched with the characters of some ancient and utterly forgotten tongue.

Oppressive Condition – Volcanic Event: Journeying near an active volcano is, of course, not safe in any circumstances, and even less so given the churning activity of a typical Avernian caldera. There are several volcanic events that could arise as an oppressive condition.

• A choking miasma of volcanic gas (see Oppressive Environment, above). More serious outbreaks of volcanic gas are also possible; resolve as a cloudkill
• An active lava flow, blocking the desired path of travel.
• A tephra fall, in which multiple inches and even several feet of ash can fall as precipitation. Add +2 to the DC of navigation checks and +4 to the DC of forage checks.
• A lahar, a violent mudflow formed from a slurry of pyroclastic material. (Resolve like an avalanche.)
• An eruption. This might be modeled by requiring the PCs to flee the hex within a certain timeframe.

Note: Although values are given for Highway speed, there are no such causeways in this section of Avernus. (They’re quite rare in Avernus in general.)

THE STYX

The effects of the River Styx are described on p. 76 of Descent Into Avernus.

It should be noted that these effects apply only to the waters of the river itself. The Styx is fed by a number of tributaries which do not share these effects until they join the main channel of the Styx. In Avernus, these tributaries may be water, but are more likely to be fouler effluvia. (In places within Avernus there are whole systems of rivers and lakes filled with nothing but the blood and bile and other fluids of mortal creatures spilling down into the Styx.)

NAVIGATING AVERNUS

Avernus… Its blasted, rock-strewn fields gape like festering wounds under a crimson sky. Neither stars nor sun brighten the infinite reach of this layer’s sky, for the blood-red light emanates from the air itself. There’s no way to keep time in Avernus, save by the screaming of the [suffering]. – Planes of Law (1995)

COMPASS DIRECTIONS: Cardinal and ordinal directions don’t exist in Avernus. (There is no rising sun, no stars in a night sky, and no magnetic field for aligning compasses.) This imposes disadvantage to navigation checks until a navigator has adapted to the oddities of Avernian geography (by successfully reaching an intended destination for the first time).

PLANAR COMPASS: A planar compass is a technomantic device which allows for navigation in the Outer Planes. A planar compass aligns to the nearest planar borders. In this particular region of Avernus that corresponds to the planar borders with Dis (to the “north” side of our map) and the Abyss (to the “east”). Thus Dis-ward, Abyss-ward, contra-Dis, and contra-Abyss.

Design Note: For simplicity, you might still want to use the familiar cardinal directions at the table. Here’s one way you could justify that: The word “north” actually derives from a word meaning “left” because it was the direction to the left of the rising sun. You could hypothesize an Avernian dialect in which the direction towards the Abyss (and the front lines of the Blood War) is adversa, and “Avernian north” is the direction to the left of that. In translation to the Common tongue, the common names – north, east, south, west – are extrapolated accordingly.

SIGHTING MOUNTAINS: In the absence of stars, sun, or magnetic fields, navigation in Avernus relies heavily on landmarks. In this particular region of Avernus, this is greatly aided by the Dispatrian Mountains that lie Dis-ward and the Praefervian Mountains to the contra-Dis.

On a clear day, both mountain ranges can be seen at a distance of two hexes (80 miles), but will frequently only be visible from 1 hex away. The thick haze of the Avernian atmosphere, however, usually reduces this to a single hex. Volcanic peaks indicated on the map (like Bel’s Forge in Hex H2) can similarly be seen at a distance of 1-2 hexes.

IDENTIFYING MAP LOCATIONS: If the PCs make inquiries, assume that Avernian natives can identify 1d6-1 locations on the player’s map.

OTHER AVERNIAN GUIDELINES

FORAGING: Food and water – particularly that suitable for mortal consumption – is hard to come by in Avernus. The native flora and fauna have a bitter or ashen flavor, and even drinkable water usually tastes foul.

Mortals make forage checks in Avernus at disadvantage. (Hell is not a place for mortals.) This does not apply to characters with demonic or devilish heritage (such as tieflings), who will find a broader range of Avernian wildlife suitable for their palates.

SPOTTING DISTANCE: Avernus is flat, which means there’s no horizon to block vision. With a clear line of sight you could hypothetically see an infinite distance… if it wasn’t for the atmosphere. On a perfectly clear day on Earth you can see about 150 miles through the atmosphere, but such conditions are rare on Earth and virtually impossible in Avernus.

Assume a 1 in 6 chance of a clear day.

On a typical day:

• A character taking the Sighting watch action can see their current hex.
• Mountains can be seen 1 hex away.

On a clear day (by Avernian standards):

• A character taking the Sighting watch action can see 1 hex (40 miles) away.
• Mountains can be seen 2 hexes away.
• Encounter spot distances in plains- or desert-type terrain (ashlands, wastelands, volcanic plains) are doubled. (Emphasize the disorienting nature of seeing creatures at such great distances to those unaccustomed to planar travel.)

UNSUITABLE TERRAIN: Land vehicles perform poorly in unsuitable terrain. Infernal war machines are well-suited to the Avernian wastelands, however, and are likely to only find mountainous terrain unsuitable. At the DM’s discretion they might also find unusual terrain like the Pit of Shummrath or the caustic bogs similarly problematic.

Some map icons from Hells Upper Levels by Keith Curtis via Inkwell Ideas.

Additional icons by Kevin Chenevert of RedKobold.com.

Go to Part 7C: Avernian Hex Key

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While exploring Avernus, the PCs have several opportunities to actually meet the crusaders who rode with Zariel into Hell itself.

At Haruman’s Hill they can speak with Jander Sunstar, the other crucified Hellriders who abandoned Zariel and their comrades, and Geneal Haruman himself.

At the Crypt of the Hellriders they can speak with the disembodied spirits of the crusaders who remained in Hell when the others fled. They can also meet General Olanthius.

And, of course, Yael herself will be met at the Bloody Cyst.

These encounters provide a really amazing opportunity for the PCs to interact with history. And if we’ve set things up correctly, the players will really feel that: Getting to meet Sunstar or Olanthius or Yael – after learning so much about them – will carry the same weight as meeting JFK or Cleopatra or Shakespeare.

To this end, I’ve prepped a basic NPC roleplaying template for each of the Hellriders, allowing us to run these encounters with easy confidence within the revised continuity of the Remix. The Key Info section for each Hellrider contains the key references for the Memory Revelations, but since the PCs will likely be interested in hearing their tale, I’ve tried to keep the Background sections as clear and straightforward (for easy reference) as possible.

JANDER SUNSTAR

Appearance: Impaled upon an iron tree, his pale skin is stained with a thin network of red and lurid veins. His dull-grey eyes are sunken pits of bruised crimson.

Roleplaying:

• His voice is wracked with eternal anguish.
• His arms are pinioned; his hands straining and palsied, their motion limited.
• He feels he deserves this punishment, possessing endless guilt for leading his Hellriders to this fate.

Background – Early History:

• Gold elf born on the island of Evermeet.
• Left Evermeet in search of adventure.
• 786 DR: Joined the armies of King Sarshel of Impiltur, serving under the three Paladin Princes (Essys, Araln, and Nord) as a knight of the Order of the Triad. In the Battle of the Moaning Gorge, Essys and Araln were killed, but the Impiltur forces defeated the armies of the balor Ndulu, driving both the demon and his horde back into the Abyss.
• 788 DR to 794 DR: Nord became king of Impiltur and begins the Harrowing of Nord, seeking to purge all the fiend-worshippers in the kingdom. Jander grew weary of the work and, with his friend Gideon (another knight of the Order of the Triad), left Impiltur and headed west into the Dalelands.
• 796 DR: In the Year of Grey Mists, Jander and Gideon become two members of the Silver Six and slay a red dragon in Merrydale. A few weeks later, the dale is plagued by a group of vampires. Two of the Silver Six are killed. In the same year, Merrydale is renamed Daggerdale.
• 798 DR: Jander is turned by the vampire lord Cassiar.
• 892 DR: Jander manages to slay Cassiar and escape from his influence.
• Early 10^th Century DR: Jander ends up in the Goblin Marches, where he falls in with a slave revolt led by Haruman, the Boy Warlord. Haruman eventually becomes the Lord Knight of the Far Hills, ruling a fiefdom out of Farkeep (the citadel which would later become known as Darkhold). Jander became a knight-banneret in his service.

Background – Zarielite Crusade:

• While questing to the west of Farkeep, Jander encountered Zarielite crusaders and learned of their cause. Moved by their grand desire to strike at the very heart of evil – something which seemed to echo with his own eternal struggle – he returned to Farkeep and converted Haruman to the cause.
• Jander rode to Elturel with Haruman, where the Lord Knight of the Far Hills pledged himself as the Third General of the Crusade, joining General Yael and Olanthius, Lord of Elturel.
• Under the command of the Zariel and the Three Generals, the cruaders marched to war against a demon lord named Yeenoghu outside a small town called Idyllglen. Jander was the commander of one of the cavalry wings.
• As the battle seemed to be drawing to a close, Yeenoghu captured General Yael and fled through a portal. Zariel, riding a golden hollyphant, led the army through the portal in pursuit, emerging onto the plains of Avernus.
• During the Battle of Avernus, while the Three Armies were engaged with Yeenoghu’s army, an army of devils approached. Jander panicked (“We can’t fight both Hell and the Abyss!”) and led a large chunk of the army back through the portal to Idyllglen. The portal then slammed shut behind them, leaving Zariel, Yael, Olanthius, Haruman, and most of the crusaders trapped in Hell. (Jander doesn’t know what caused the portal to close.)
• Jander was the highest ranking officer among the crusaders who had fled (and therefore survived) Avernus. The deserters became known as the Hellriders, their acts of infamy instead being told as deeds of glory.
• 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.

Background – Later Life:

• Sickened by his betrayal of both Zariel and Haruman, Jander felt he was living a lie. The dark blot of the vampiric curse on his soul grew larger and he was no longer able to fully control his need for human blood.
• Resigning his position, Jander left Elturel and resumed his long-delayed journey to the west, eventually ending up Waterdeep.
• In Waterdeep, he withdrew further and further from human society, eventually becoming a hermit living in a cave outside of town. He would occasionally come into town to “sip” from the inmates of Waterdeep’s asylum.
• During one of his feeding trips, he met a mad women named Anna and fell in love with her. He discovered that she had been cursed in a land called Barovia.
• After Anna’s death, Jander journeyed to Barovia to seek revenge against the one who had placed the curse of madness upon her. He eventually discovered that Anna was Tatyana, a woman who had been pursued by Count Strahd of Ravenloft, the ruler of Barovia.
• Although he attempted to end Strahd’s life, Jander failed. Finding peace with himself at long last, however, he climbed to a high cliff, prayed to Lathander, and waited for the sun to rise.
• … but he found no grace or forgiveness from Lathander. Upon his suicide, his soul was taken to Avernus. Reformed into the vampiric form he loathed in “life,” Jander was taken to Haruman’s Hill and crucified as an eternal punishment for his betrayal of the Archduchess Zariel during the Battle of Avernus.

Key Info:

• Jander was a Zarielite Crusader.
• The Three Generals were Yael, Olanthius, and Haruman.
• Jander betrayed Zariel during the Battle of Avernus, leading a chunk of the army back through the portal. The deserters became known as the Hellriders, cloaking themselves in false glory.

Design Note: Jander Sunstar first appears in Christie Golden’s Vampire of the Mists and various short stories. The continuity of those stories is impossible to bring into accord with the events described in Descent Into Avernus. Not only are the particular dates of the original story not internally consistent to begin with, but the sequence of events is fundamentally different: In the original stories, Jander serves as a Hellrider with Gideon, is later turned into a vampire, goes to Ravenloft, and then dies. In Descent Into Avernus, on the other hand, he becomes a vampire, goes to Ravenloft, apparently doesn’t die when he attempts suicide, serves as a Hellrider, and then commits suicide at some unspecified later date.

(The “doesn’t die” thing can actually be traced back to AD&D sourcebooks that apparently wanted to include a prominent character from the tie-in novels, but didn’t have any utility for a long-dead NPC. But most of the confusion once again maps back to the decision to move the Charge of the Hellriders to the 14^th century, as we’ve discussed previously.)

I’ve done my best here to weld the continuity back into something semi-coherent: You still have to basically ignore any specific dates given in Golden’s original stories, but the actual sequence of Jander’s life is now consistent through those stories. I’ve provided an alternative military campaign for Jander to meet Gideon during and also unified his suicide “attempts” so that everything leads up to the culmination of the original novel.

My goal is that – if your players have read the novel – the scene with Jander will be a really cool experience that builds on their existing knowledge of the character.

HARUMAN

Appearance: He wears armor formed from countless, curved plates of razor-sharp, black steel. From beneath the visor of his scythe-topped helm a pair of glowing red eyes glare out with baleful hatred.

Roleplaying:

• Does NOT like being referred to as a Hellrider. (He idiosyncratically associates that title with the traitors.)
• Taciturn to a fault. It takes effort to draw him out. (Appealing to his hatred for the crucified traitors is a particularly effective method, however.)
• When still or in conversation, keeps both hands clasped atop his claymore, held in front of him.

Background:

• Haruman was a slave in the Goblin Marches.
• When he was eleven, he killed his goblin overlord and initiated a slave revolt.
• He marched out of the Goblin Marches as the Boy Warlord, eventually conquering Farkeep (the citadel which would later become known as Darkhold) at the age of thirteen. He became known as the Lord Knight of the Far Hills.
• Zarielite Crusade: Eight years later, he learned from Jander Sunstar – a knight-banneret who had fought by his side during the slave revolt – of the Zarielite Crusade. Mustering his forces, he marched to Elturel and swore an oath of loyalty to Zariel and the Crusade. He joined Lady Yael and Lord Olanthius as one of the Three Generals.
• Battle of Idyllglen: He marched with the rest of the Crusade to Idyllglen when they learned it was being attacked by a demon lord named Yeenoghu. During the battle, Lady Yael was captured and carried through a portal by Yeenoghu. Zariel ordered a pursuit, and Haruman led his army through the portal.
• Battle of Avernus: The portal led to Avernus. The crusaders were doing well against Yeenoghu’s demon army when an army of devils approached. Jander Sunstar betrayed them, rode back through the portal to Idyllglen with hundreds of other cowards, and then sealed the portal behind him, trapping everyone else in Hell.
• 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 the devil army. Yeenoghu escaped, but Zariel killed the devil general Terza’reg.
• Then a second devil army, this one under the command of Baalzephon, arrived.
• The Crusaders fought to the last man, but Olanthius and Haruman were among those captured. They were brought before Zariel, who had been transformed into a glorious devil. She told them that their battle against the Demons of the Abyss would continue; that Hell had granted her the power to continue their great work. And she asked them to join her.
• Haruman accepted and was transformed into a narzugon. Olanthius chose to commit suicide instead… but discovered that even in death he was bound to Zariel by the oaths they had sworn and was raised as a death knight to serve as her thrall.
• Zariel set for Haruman the task of punishing those who had betrayed them. It has been his driving obsession down through the centuries since then.
• The Reckoning: Haruman fought alongside Zariel during the Reckoning, laying siege to Dis, the great city which is the second layer of Hell. He was nearly killed when, near the end of the Reckoning, Tiamat betrayed Zariel and took her prisoner.
• The Rift War: Centuries later, Haruman was serving in the legions of Bel when the Rift gaped open and vomited forth a baatorian invasion that washed over the defenses of Avernus.
• When Zariel was released from Tiamat’s prison by Glasya, the daughter of Asmodeus, Haruman gathered the soldiers loyal to him and rode to join Zariel in her Second Avernian March: As Bel retreated (yet another traitorous coward!), they attacked.
• Zariel forded the Styx, sacked the war palaces that had been taken by the baatorians, and broke the baatorian supply lines. Then she turned around and marched back to the Styx, intercepting the baatorians’ main army as it was attempting to cross the river. During the Battle of Lost Memories, the baatorians’ strength was broken.
• Haruman took command of several watchposts along the Styx while Zariel marched to lay siege to the Rift itself. When the Rift fell, Zariel was made Archduchess of Avernus by Asmodeus’ decree. (A reward for her loyalty!)

Key Info:

• He resents that Olanthius (who tried to “forsake his duties” by committing suicide) has been given the honor of keeping watch on the Crypt of the Hellriders while he must serve as guardian over the eternal damnation of these traitors.
• Like Jander, Yael abandoned Zariel at the final hour. She is the great prize; and although she has so far managed to hide her soul from Haruman, he will some day bring her to justice. (False, but he believes it.)
• Haruman was present in Zariel’s court when the amnesiac Lulu was brought as a gift for the freshly crowned Archduchess of Avernus: He knows that Zariel believed Lulu had hidden the Sword of Zariel and she was angry that Lulu had lost her memories and could no longer reveal the secret of its hiding place.
• Haruman uses tales of his service with Zariel in the Reckoning and the Rift War as an example of what true loyalty looks like; and of the eternal glories which traitors like Sunstar gave up in their cowardice.
• If asked about why it’s the Second Avernian March, Haruman is familiar with the tale of Zariel’s First Avernian March: Long ago, before Avernus had become a part of Hell, Zariel was betrayed by her commanding officer, an angel named Chazaqiel. Zariel and a small band of angels loyal to Heaven broke away and began a long march across Avernus before finally escaping down the River Styx (which in those days followed a very different course through the Outer Planes).

OLANTHIUS

Appearance: A skeletal warrior in matte-black plate armor. Blue flames flicker in the sockets of his skull. He wears a tattered, azure cloak embroidered with faded golden thread in the symbol of twin suns.

Roleplaying:

• A sibilant, hissing voice is all that remains of a once commanding presence.
• Flames in his eyes flare when frustrated or angry. (But they dim when he thinks of Lady Yael.)
• He is bound by an oath to Zariel, and yet struggles against it eternally.

Background:

• Olanthius inherited his position as Lord of Elturel when it was yet a relatively small fiefdom, but he commanded a large order of knights who spread peace along the River Chionthar.
• Zarielite Crusade: Yael and Lulu came to Elturel to proselytize the Cruade. Olanthius was impressed with Yael’s courage and righteousness, and pledged his service to the Crusade. Elturel became the headquarters of the Crusade and Olanthius became one of the Three Generals.
• Olanthius and Lady Yael fell in love. They were never married… the work of the Crusade kept them too busy.
• Battle of Idyllglen: He marched with the rest of the Crusade to Idyllglen when they learned it was being attacked by a demon lord named Yeenoghu. During the battle, Lady Yael was captured and carried through a portal by Yeenoghu. Zariel ordered a pursuit, with Olanthius close on her heels.
• Battle of Avernus: The portal led to Avernus. Yael freed herself and fought her way to Olanthius’ side. The crusaders were doing well against Yeenoghu’s demon army when an army of devils approached. Some of Haruman’s soldiers betrayed them, fleeing back through the portal and then shutting it behind them.
• 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 the devil army. Yeenoghu escaped, but Zariel killed the devil general Terza’reg.
• Then a second devil army, this one under the command of Baalzephon, arrived.
• The Crusaders fought to the last man, but Olanthius and Haruman were among those captured. They were brought before Zariel, who had been transformed into a glorious devil. She told them that their battle against the Demons of the Abyss would continue; that Hell had granted her the power to continue their great work. And she asked them to join her.
• Haruman accepted and was transformed into a narzugon. Olanthius chose to commit suicide instead… but discovered that even in death he was bound to Zariel by the oaths they had sworn and was raised as a death knight to serve as her thrall.
• Crypt of the Hellriders: Zariel tasked Olanthius with building a crypt for their fallen comrades and protect it. For long centuries that was the totality of his existence. When she became Archduchess, he became a minor member of her court.

Key Info:

• Haruman was one of the Three Generals. Unlike Olanthius, he willingly followed Zariel in swearing allegiance to Hell and became a devil. A once noble man, he is now bereft of compassion – obsessed with punishing anyone who has “betrayed” Zariel. He can oft be found at Haruman’s Hill.
• He doesn’t know Yael’s ultimate fate, although he knows Zariel asked Lulu to help her escape. (If it seems the PCs seek her, he will ask them to give his love to her if they were to somehow to succeed.)
• Olanthius is a member of Zariel’s court: He could lead them to her flying fortress and even potentially help them gain access to it.
• Olanthius would like to see Zariel dead (which would free him from his bondage), but would require considerable proof that an assassination attempt is plausible before being willing to assist it. (And he would struggle with his oath throughout.)
• Yael told Olanthius of the legends of Zariel’s first visit to Idyllglen: How the demonic lord Yeenoghu was leading a gnoll army and sacking settlements north of the Chionthar, and Zariel led a band of angels to put an end of to his depredations. Idyllglen raised a shrine to honor what Zariel had done for them, and it was in this shrine that Yael prayed for Zariel’s return when a marauding band of ogres led by a warlord named Irontusk threatened Idyllglen hundreds of years later. Zariel once again came, and that was the seed that began the entire Crusade.
• Yael used to tell him – tell them all, really – to “dream a little bigger.” (It’s what convinced him to join the Crusade.) But he hasn’t been able to dream for centuries now.

LADY YAEL

Appearance: The translucent image of a woman in her thirties wearing plate armor and bearing a thin scar on her cheek. She is surrounded by a soft, comforting glow of radiant energy.

Roleplaying:

• A kind smile; her warmth and charisma undimmed by death or the passing aeons.
• A soft and gentle voice, touched by an immense sadness.
• Very excited to see Lulu; an old friend she thought long dead.
• “You just need to dream a little bigger.”

Background:

• Yael was born in the village of Idyllglen. When she was a young woman in the 10^th century DR, Idyllglen’s existence was threatened by a marauding band of ogres led by a warlord named Irontusk.
• Yael organized the younger villagers into a defensive militia of sorts, but it wasn’t enough. She prayed in a shrine dedicated to Zariel – who had come to Idyllglen once centuries earlier and saved the village from a horde of gnolls led by the demon lord Yeenoghu – and asked for her help. Zariel answered the prayer, coming with Lulu
• Zariel, Lulu, and Yael became fast friends. With each challenge they faced, Yael would smile and say, “We just need to dream a little bigger.”
• The campaign lasted for several months, but they were ultimately successful.
• After Zariel left, Yael turned their militia into a regional peacekeeping force. (The ogres didn’t return, but there was a spot of trouble with trolls out of the Trollclaws. Mostly they secured the Winding Water settlements.)
• Zarielite Crusade: Several years later, Zariel returned. She had hatched a plan: Raise a mortal army in the Material Plane to invade the Abyss and create a second front in the Blood War. Yael’s response when she head the plans? “Aye. Let’s dream a little bigger.”
• The militia became the first Crusaders. They wore a badge with twin suns, representing Zariel and Lulu as their angelic saviors.
• Olanthius: Yael and Lulu went on a number of recruitment missions. Perhaps the most important proved to be to Lord Olanthius in Elturel. Olanthius became a convert and the Crusade moved its center of operations south to the city. Yael fell in love with the young lord, and he with her. (They were never married – the Crusade simply consumed too much of the time. Yael regrets that now and hopes that Olanthius’ spirit is at peace.)
• The Three Generals: Yael, Olanthius, and another lord named Haruman became the Three Generals.
• Battle of Idyllglen: Then Yeenoghu returned. They learned that the demon lord was attacking the settlements of the Winding Water. They rode north and intercepted his army at Idyllglen. During the battle, Yael was captured and carried through a portal by Yeenoghu. When she saw the Crusaders emerge through the portal behind them – with Zariel leading the charge – it was both the most relieved she had ever been, and also the most terrified. For she realized that Yeenoghu had laid a trap for them.
• Battle of Avernus: The portal led to Avernus. There were a number of glorious deeds that day, among them Yael freeing herself from captivity and fighting her way to Olanthius’ side.
• The crusaders were doing well against Yeenoghu’s demon army when an army of devils under the command Terza’reg approached. Jander Sunstar, one of Haruman’s knight-bannerets, panicked and led a rout of many of the knights back through the portal (which then shut behind them; Yael is certain it was Yeenoghu’s last cruel joke).
• The Final Fight: 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 the devil army. Yeenoghu escaped, but Zariel killed the devil general Terza’reg.
• 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.
• Zariel’s Final Request: 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.
• Hiding the Sword: Yael and Lulu tried to escape Hell, but were intercepted at the Styx by Yeenoghu. They fled back into Avernus. With both demons and devils closing in on them, they realized that escape was impossible.
• 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 outer 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.

Key Info:

• Yael will be reticent until the PCs have proved their worthiness by claiming the Sword of Zariel.
• After that, with very little prompting, Yael will answer any questions that they have. (This may include relating her entire biography, above.) She will be able to fill in many of the holes the PCs might still be missing.
• She knows nothing of what happened after the Battle of Avernus and the formation of the Bloody Cyst, but she and Zariel spoke often of Zariel’s past, so you can similarly use Yael to fill any gaps in the PCs knowledge regarding Zariel’s past (the Averniad, her Long March across Avernus, the Trial of Asmodeus, etc.).

OTHER CRUSADERS / HELLRIDERS

Other Crusaders and/or Hellriders can generally fill the PCs in on a brief overview of the true history of the Crusade:

• Zariel and Lulu descended from the Heavens to lead a mortal army of the chosen faithful on a glorious crusade into the Abyss where they would turn the tide of the Blood War.
• Supporters swarmed to the Crusade from across the Sword Coast.
• Yael was the first of the Three Generals.
• Lord Olanthius of Elturel became a convert and invited the crusade to use the city as its staging ground.
• Haruman, Lord Knight of the Far Hills, rode to Elturel, pledged his service to Zariel, and became the Third General.
• The demon lord Yeenoghu led an army onto the Material Plane and the Crusaders fought him at the Battle of Idyllglen.
• The Crusaders pursued Yeenoghu through a portal which led them, inexplicably, to the plains of Avernus.
• Many of the crusaders panicked and fled back through the portal, closing it behind them and stranding the rest of the crusaders in Hell.
• The crusaders who remained bravely fought to the last man.

KEY INFO: They’ll all make a point of mentioning Zariel’s glowing sword.

• She was wearing it when they first saw her.
• She knighted them with it.
• She was wielding it in battle.
• It was the last thing they saw before riding back through the portal / dying on the field of battle.

CUSTOMIZING THE CRUSADERS: Every crusader is a unique individual and their story should reflect that.

• When did they join the Crusade? (Idyllglen before Zariel, after Zariel, one of Olanthius’ knights, one of Haruman’s knights, rode independently to Elturel)
• If they’re a Hellrider, how do they feel about fleeing Avernus? If they’re a crusader who didn’t flee, how do they feel about the Hellriders who did?
• Where and how did they die?
• Try to give them one unique anecdote associated with one of the key moments or characters discussed above. (For example, they were sent to protect Idyllglen from a phalanx of demonic warriors. Or they died at Zariel’s feet. Or they, too, were trying to flee through the portal, but it snapped shut just before they could pass through it.)

Go to Part 7: Exploring Avernus

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ZARIEL’S SPARK

The last of our four memory dives comes at the moment when the Archduchess of Avernus touches the Sword of Zariel. As we’ve now established, Zariel placed a small shard of her soul into the Sword of Zariel before giving it Yael. This spark of Zariel’s former self is what provides Zariel with a chance for redemption.

Here’s how that plays out:

• The Archduchess and the PCs are drawn into a memory dive.
• The events of Zariel’s Fall (see above) play out once more.
• But this time, the “Zariel” of the past has the appearance of the Archduchess of Avernus. She’s living out her own memory of what happened.
• The PCs are also present in the scene (although only Zariel can see or hear them).

The key here is that the spark within the Sword basically gives Zariel a chance to relive this pivotal moment and (most importantly!) make a different choice when the ultimate moment arrives.

If Zariel rejects Asmodeus’ offer, that obviously doesn’t actually change the past. This is a memory dive, not time travel. But it is her chance for redemption: The vision ends, the PCs return to the real world to find that no time has passed, but Zariel’s devilish form melts away as she is returned to her angelic form (see Descent Into Avernus, p. 148).

INFLUENCING ZARIEL: The PCs can attempt to influence Zariel’s choice. They might counter Asmodeus’s arguments, remind Zariel of events from her own past, or perhaps even make an emotional appeal (which could be particularly effective coming from Lulu).

Resolve this as a special group check, calling for skill or ability checks at DC 15. Give them advantage on this check if they invoke something they’ve learned about Zariel’s past. If at least half of the group makes a successful check (even if not everyone in the group makes a check), then they succeed: Zariel makes a different choice and is redeemed.

On a failure, they still grant advantage to Zariel’s Wisdom save (see below).

BEARING SILENT WITNESS: If the PCs don’t intervene or fail the group check, then Zariel makes a DC 22 Wisdom save. On a success, she makes a different choice and is redeemed. On a failure, she rejects redemption and destroys the Sword (along with the spark of goodness within it).

ON THE MATTER OF REDEMPTION

This is a semi-controversial point in Descent Into Avernus: Zariel has spent centuries as a devil, doing countless evil acts on a scope probably beyond mortal comprehension (of her own free will!), and now she just waves her hand and is redeemed?! What the hell?!

(If you’ll pardon the pun.)

You can see similar arguments around Darth Vader’s redemption in Return of the Jedi.

What seems to trip people up here is the idea that redemption means Zariel or Vader should be automatically forgiven for the things they did or should be immune from facing consequences for those actions. There are ethical structures in which this is true, but it’s not intrinsically linked to the act of redemption itself.

Redemption isn’t about how other people treat you or should treat you. It’s about your fundamental identity and the type of person you are (which will determine the actions you will take in the future). You can choose to be a better person starting RIGHT NOW, but ultimately no one else needs to change their behavior because of that until your actions give them cause to do so.

In Christianity, for example, the only person who “needs” to do anything differently because you’re redeemed is God. Who is, notably, omniscient and can, therefore, “see” redemption without the need for action.

(The meaning of the word “redemption” is actually based on the Christian God’s omniscience: Only He can redeem your sin – i.e., declare it a debt no longer owed — because only He can see your “ledger.”)

This same thing applies to the Star Wars universe: Force magic allows you to “see” a person’s fundamental identity and the fact that Anakin is able to manifest as a Force Ghost is evidence of how he was “aligned” as a person, regardless of the actions he had taken previously (and which would have demonstrated that prior personal alignment).

And we see the same thing in the metaphysics of Descent Into Avernus: Zariel is a supernatural being and if the fundamental alignment of the cosmos recognizes her as an angel… well, it means she has, in fact, fundamentally changed. She has rejected sin and found redemption.

In the real world, we could similarly hypothesize the ability to have this knowledge: Like, if we could take 100% accurate brain scans and were able to analyze a person’s “code” to see what type of person they were, we’d be able to know whether or not someone had truly become redeemed — had fundamentally changed and become the type of person who does good things.

Once we have that technology, the ethics of crime and punishment will need to change (but will almost certainly take decades or centuries to adjust). But until we have that technology (if we ever do), then it’s just a fantasy that can be fun to think about.

Go to Part 6D-L: Questioning the Hellriders

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CLAIMING THE SWORD

In the larger structure of the campaign, this memory dive more or less replaces the Idyllglen visions from Descent Into Avernus, p. 140. Its presentation and function, however, are different.

In the published campaign, the Idyllglen vision is triggered by Lulu’s memories being restored in a burst of magical light. In the Remix, that doesn’t really happen. We’ve put large structures in place for Lulu (and the other PCs) to slowly piece together what was taken from her, but there is no finale where it all magically comes back to her.

This memory dive is instead triggered when a PC moves to claim the Sword of Zariel. Within the Sword is Zariel’s Spark, and this memory dive is basically the Spark showing the PCs’ the long path to the Fall of Zariel.

Structurally it’s more or less doing the same thing for the players: We’re setting up the path to Zariel’s Fall because that’s also the path to her Redemption — if the PCs choose to take that path. (If they don’t, then this simply completes Zariel’s story and reveals the origin of her evil.)

So, a PC reaches for the Sword, there’s a flash of golden light and…

SNIPPET – THE LEGIONS OF HEAVEN: A legion of solars stand at attention, flaming swords held point-down before them. Before them – inspecting them – is another angel. He rides a golden, winged lion. His face shares the fierce, leonid beauty of his mount.

Zariel is there — somehow younger in her timeless beauty. An innocence around her eyes? A naivete? An eagerness?

The mounted angel stops. He speaks, but not to Zariel. To an angel just a little further down the line.

Celestial Marshal: What’s your name?

Chazaqiel: Chazaqiel, Celestial Marshal, of the ninth legion.

Celestial Marshal: Do you know why you are here, young one?

Chazaqiel: Elysium seeks to claim the Avernian paradise!

Celestial Marshal: Thank you, young one.

The winged lion spreads its wings and soars into the sky.

Celestial Marshal (addressing the whole assembly): To glory, my angels! To the emerald plains we’ll soar, and there forge our destiny! The Legions of Heaven shall secure the Eighth Heaven!

A great, golden light grows around the mounted figure, suddenly pulsing with blinding intensity. And then…

GM Note: The Celestial Marhsal is Ashmedai, who shall become Asmodeus.

VISION – THE GREAT BETRAYAL: You find yourselves… flying? Yes, flying on feathered wings through a jungle at night. Somewhere nearby the forest is on fire — a wall of blue flame which sends strange shadows dancing through the writhing foliage. The air is hazed with purple smoke. You’re following another angel, your commanding officer.

“Zariel!”

Another small squad of angels swoops out of the night, led by Chazaqiel. Your commanding officer — who your realize is Zariel —pulls up in midair.

Zariel: Kentarch Chazaqiel! Thank the Heavens! Have you heard from Princeps Sanniel?

Chazaqiel: Sanniel is no longer in command. I am Princeps now.

Zariel: What do you mean? Was she killed in the planar upheaval?

Chazaqiel: No. She turned against the Celestial Marshal.

Zariel: Against Ashmedai? What are you talking about?

Chazaqiel: Things are changing, Hecaton. We are no longer going to be a the plaything dangled between Elysium and Celestia. Ashmedai has claimed Avernus for himself. The great work has just begun. We ride paradise into the jaws of battle!

Zariel: Where?

Chazaqiel: To Hell.

Zariel: This is treason!

Chazaqiel: Don’t be a fool, Zariel! You swore an oath to the Celestial Marshal! Now obey him! Obey us!

Zariel: I swore an oath to Heaven, Chazaqiel. To Heaven above all.

Zariel abruptly draws her sword and attacks! Chazaqiel beats his wings and flies back just out of reach.

[Roll initiative.]

Angelic Rebellion: The PCs are currently solars under Zariel’s command. They use their own stat blocks, but have the hit points, AC, and other abilities of a solar (MM, p. 18).

• Zariel and Chazaqiel both command an equal number of solars. (The PCs are free to choose which side of the conflict to side with.)
• After 3 rounds, there are trumpets from reinforcements nearby. Zariel orders those loyal to her to cut their way free and flee!

The Flight of Blue Fire. Use the rules for chases (DMG, p. 253). Even if the PCs are captured or cut down, Zariel is fated to escape with a small band of other loyalists.

Homework: Develop a chase complications table that features the after effects of the planar upheaval as Avernus plunges through the multiverse.

When the chase comes to an end (either because the PCs have been captured or they have escaped with Zariel), there is a flash of golden light. A voice cries out, “The demon lord flees!” And then…

SNIPPET – FIRST VISIT TO IDYLLGLEN: Zariel is mounted upon Lulu in her golden war mammoth form. A small force of planetars and other celestials are arrayed behind and above them. Across a recent battlefield of torn mud and blood, they are glowering at a deviless mounted upon a dire hellhound and surrounded by a motley gang of demons.

The devil has coppery skin, dark hair, and two curving ram’s horns upon her head. Her lips are curled in a sultry smile that doesn’t touch her tawny eyes.

Zariel: What has brought you to the mortal plane, demon?

Glasya: It seems the same as you, angel. We pursued the demon lord Yeenoghu and followed the foul beast here to his butchery among the humans.

Zariel: And your name?

Glasya: I am Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus.

Several of the planetars surged forward with a strong beat of their wings. Zariel raises her hand to keep them at peace.

Glasya: And yours?

Zariel: Zariel. What are your intentions?

Glasya: Completed, I think. Yeenoghu has slipped through our snare. He has most likely slunk back to the Abyss with his tail tucked between his legs. [she looks up at the planetars] Will we need to tuck yours, too?

Planetar 1: She’ll only have a tail once she’s ripped it off of you!

Glasya (laughs): Come, Zariel. Leash your dogs and I’ll leash mine. I would speak with you without our voices being drowned by the rattling of sabers.

Zariel gestures towards a small grove off to one side. Glasya considers it, then nods her head and dismounts. Zariel follows suit, leaving Lulu and the others behind as she moves off to parlay with the devil.

Glasya’s hellhound edges closer to Lulu and sniffs. Lulu recoils. The hellhound reaches up… and licks her trunk.

Glasya and Zariel return. Zariel announces that they have both agreed to leave the fields of Idyllglen in peace, having “fought to common purpose.”

There’s a flash of golden light. And then…

SNIPPET – ZARIEL’S FALL: As your vision clears, you’re standing on a field of battle beneath the blood red sky of Avernus. A huge mound of devils lies dead. Other devils, still living, are hauling bodies off the mound, chittering amongst themselves.

All the way at the bottom of the mound, as one last corpse is pinioned on a pitchfork and flung to one side, the body of an angel is revealed. A blood-stained Zariel.

The devils draw back. Some of them are cackling, but then one glances back over their shoulder and suddenly drops prostrate to the ground. Others, too, following the first’s gaze, throw themselves to the ground.

A tall devil with skin of maroon and crimson, dressed in robes of black and gold, strides in amongst the scattered corpses. He is possessed of a leonid beauty, with two almost impossibly long, dark horns curving gracefully from his forehead.

You recognize this face. It is the face of Ashmedai, once Celestial Marshal of the Legions of Heaven.

The devil’s eyes smolder as he looks down at the angel. In a smooth voice of elegance and grace he asks, “Where is her Sword?”

“Gone.” Zariel chokes out of the word. “Asmodeus.”

“Fetch her some water,” Asmodeus says.

They wait. Simply gazing at each other. A few minutes later, the water is brought in a chalice of ivory-and-gold. Asmodeus takes the cup and offers it to Zariel.

Zariel smacks his hand aside, spilling the cup into the dust and blood.

Asmodeus smiles:

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.

As Asmodeus speaks, you sense that this is but one truth among many: That Zariel and Asmodeus converse upon many different planes of thought. That this is but a mortal reflection of a myriad complexity beyond your grasp.

But when it is done, Zariel gazes upon Asmodeus for a long moment. An eternal moment.

And then she reaches out her hand.

“I accept.”

As their hands clasp, they explode with a blinding, golden light. And then…

SNIPPET – ZARIEL’S REQUEST, REDUX: You are elsewhere on the Avernian field of battle. Zariel is kneeling in the dust. Lady Yael, arrayed for battle in battered, bloody, dust-covered armor kneels on the ground next her. Zariel is pushing her glowing sword into Lady Yael’s hands.

Yael: I refuse. Do not ask me of this.

Zariel (smiling sadly): I must. I do. Look beyond this forsaken day. One last time, I need you to dream a little bigger.

Yael weeps and then, unable to speak, nods, taking Zariel’s sword.

But the moment shifts, and you see that in the moment Zariel passes over the Sword, she passes something else, too: A part of herself. A spark. A shard of her eternal, celestial soul.

I am the memory of Zariel that was and who can be again.

I am the Sword of her will and the Blade of her soul.

Zariel continues to speak to Yael, but she turns her head and her blazing eyes bore into you: “This is the last thing I will ever ask of you.”

Go to Part 6D-K: Zariel’s Spark