The second half of Elturel concerns the rescue of Duke Ravengard and the revelation of what the players need to do next. Except, as you have probably guessed, the “revelation” is rather badly handled. The rescue of the Duke is nicely done.

Here are the basics of the set-up:

• Duke Ravengard travelled to the cemetery to discover why there are so many undead there. In addition, he wanted to find the holy relic, the Helm of Torm’s Sight.
• The chapel houses a priest who was corrupted by Zariel. He is now undead, aids the devils, and hates demons.
• The chapel holds an abyssal portal that allows demons through.
• Duke Ravengard found the relic, but when he used it, his mind was trapped in a battle between the holy power of Torm and the unholy corruption of the Abyssal Portal.

The search for the Duke is relatively simple to run. There is a dungeon, it has monsters, go!

The Corrupted Priest

Much interest comes from the corrupted priest, Gideon Lightward, who has common cause with the party when they first meet, as both sides want to fight the demons. He is the first opportunity you have to reveal the plot of the adventure from Zariel’s point of view, and I think you should take it.

So, here is some pertinent information Gideon can impart:

• Avernus is ruled by Zariel, Dread Mistress of Light
• Zariel leads the forces of Hell on a righteous crusade against the foul Demons of the Abyss
• She has brought Elturel to her domain so its citizens can partake of her just and necessary war against the demons
  • (Yes, that means that its citizens will be taken and turned into soldier devils in the fight against the demons)
• However, the accursed demons have breached even unto here! A portal to the Abyss has formed in the chapel.
• The Duke of Baldur’s Gate and his soldiers entered the chapel. Gideon hoped they could defeat the demons, but they have not returned.
• If you want to find the Duke, be my guest – as long as you stop the demons!

The interest in Gideon comes from how he can be an ally, but only one of convenience. He is a fallen figure, unaware of how he has been corrupted. Once the demons are destroyed, Gideon displays the full extent of his corruption: turning on the party and using his minions to attack. The problem with this comes from how chaotic it can appear. It needs better preparation. So, once the demons are gone, perhaps Gideon now seeks to make the alliance formal – and attempts to get the player characters to swear allegiance to Zariel? Only when they refuse does he order the attack.

Visions and the Path Forward

The Helm of Torm’s Sight, currently cursed and worn by the Duke, is the item that reveals that the Sword of Zariel is key to saving Elturel. Possibly.

Unfortunately, the visions from the helm don’t show that. The visions display what happened to the Sword. Characters seeing the vision get an impression that the Sword is key to saving Elturel. Is this enough? I don’t believe it is, especially considering how the adventure progresses from this point – with Lulu showing herself to be one of the most incompetent allies you can imagine. I will talk more about the problem of Lulu in the next instalment of this series.

This is the reason I suggested telling the party about why the Sword is important. You can do that in Candlekeep, but if you haven’t, you should present the case more strongly here. If the characters find the Sword, they can redeem Zariel. Have Torm’s voice tell that to the players. The vision shows that Lulu hid the sword. Make it clear that as Lulu visits places in Elturel she visited in Elturel, she’ll regain more of her memories.

Coming out of here, the players should know the following:

• The Sword of Zariel can redeem the fallen angel and free Elturel from its chains
• The Sword is in a great alabaster fortress
• Lulu was present when the fortress was remade, but she can’t remember where it is
• However, Lulu can remember the kenku who saved her and took her to a place called Fort Knucklebone – and she can see where the Fort is from here.
• The party need to travel to Fort Knucklebone, where they can try to determine where Lulu was before she got there

Descent to Avernus

As the characters proceed onwards, only Lulu accompanies them. The Duke and Reya stay behind to protect the survivors in Elturel.

Although the adventure discusses the difficulties in getting down, you want the characters to get down and continue the adventure, so don’t make this too difficult. This is where you bring up the conflict between the demons and devils more – the two great armies fighting each other. If one of the armies gets the upper hand, Elturel is doomed. So, there is a clock on the characters.

One of my friends also suggested that Elturel is slowly dragged down to the surface of Avernus by the chains – the characters can see it from many places in Hell and it’s always getting lower. You do need to be careful with this, though – too much of a ticking clock means if things go wrong, you can’t recover.

Ending this section with a small encounter with devils from the armies is a good idea – and with that the characters can progress to Fort Knucklebone!