Chapter 3: Avernus - Path of Demons
Source: Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus, p. 96
Spawning Trees
Demons beget demons. Where their filth lands, they spawn ever more corruption.
—The Cartographer
When the characters arrive here, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
Treelike growths cluster along the shoreline of a lake of bubbling, black goo. Each growth is formed from the same ichor as the lake and has writhing, membranous sacs budding from its limbs.
Five bearded fiends heap coals around the trunk of one of the trees. As they hurl more coals onto the pyre, four of their number cruelly poke and tease the fifth member of their group.
Lakes of demonic ichor appear where demons are slaughtered in great numbers. Malformed trees grow on their shorelines, their branches laden with fleshy sacs. These eventually flop to the ground and wetly break open, each one releasing a fully grown abyssal chicken. Abyssal chickens are carnivorous, temperamental, tasty bottom-feeders native to the Abyss. They beat their leathery wings to scare predators and to help them run faster, and they taste like fatty chicken.
With your permission, a character who casts the find familiar spell can henceforth choose to conjure an abyssal chicken instead of a raven.
Devilish Work Crew
Zariel dispatched infernal cleanup crews to scour the lake shores for the trees and destroy them before they become thickets. When the characters arrive, they encounter a work crew of five bearded devils in the process of raising a pyre around a tree to incinerate it. Four of the devils tease the fifth, whose name is Krikendolt. A vrock savaged Krikendolt’s skull during one of the many battles of the Blood War, leaving him with terrible scars and a brain injury that has turned his alignment to chaotic good. Krikendolt’s comrades learned that he pities the abyssal chickens, and they are now goading him into slaughtering the chickens on pain of death. Secretly, Krikendolt keeps an abyssal chicken named Earwax in his sack.
The devils are likely to attack on sight unless a character can convince them to parley with a successful DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) check. The devils won’t forgive their comrade for his compassion, but the characters could persuade them to release Krikendolt into their care if they offer the right price. Krikendolt knows Avernus well, so he makes a good traveling companion and guide. The characters can cure Krikendolt of his disorder using a heal spell or similar magic, which restores his lawful evil alignment.
The devils don’t know where the Bleeding Citadel is, but they do know someone who could help. For the price of a soul coin, the devils direct the group to a mysterious outlander (see “Development” below). If the characters are unable to pay, they must return later with the coin and track down the fiends on the lake shore.
Treasure
The fiends carry five soul coins and three vials of demon ichor.
Development
The fiends tell the characters about a powerful mage who visits Avernus from other planes and often pays yugoloths for their protection. If anyone knows where to find this Bleeding Citadel, it’s surely Mordenkainen! The fiends mark the location of the wizard’s tower on the players’ map of Avernus. Following this lead takes the group to the Tower of Urm.
Tower of Urm
A tower tumbles between planes on the whims of a mad mage. Where it goes next, nobody knows.
—The Cartographer
The Tower of Urm jaunts across the multiverse. It is present in Avernus only if the characters arrive here after speaking to the fiends in the cleanup crew (see “Spawning Trees” above).
If the characters arrive when the Tower of Urm is present, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
An iron tower rises atop an island on a lake of boiling blood. No windows penetrate the tower’s walls, and its only visible door opens onto a high balcony. Red lightning crackles constantly between two horns of metal on the tower’s roof.
Mordenkainen, a chaotic neutral human archmage, often sojourns to Avernus to study how the Nine Hells affect the schools of magic. This archmage of Oerth leads a powerful group of adventurers called the Circle of Eight and has authored several planar tomes. He has also crafted many renowned spells.
Mordenkainen takes the tower with him when he leaves Avernus. Its empty iron foundations remain behind to mark the site, and when the tower returns, it locks itself into place with a satisfying clunk. Mordenkainen pays yugoloths to carry out his bidding in Avernus. His wages are so attractive that these fiends have taken to gathering outside his tower. There are nine mezzoloths and three nycaloths present here at any time. The fiends aren’t looking for trouble, since they’re more interested in landing a lucrative contract with the mage.
Two of the nycaloths—Torgrazk and Shraal—are loyal to Zariel and have been sent here to assassinate Mordenkainen. If they overhear his discussions with the characters, the assassins decide to alter their plans. Both fiends turn invisible and follow the party in hope of an opportunity to kidnap one or more characters and deliver them to Zariel. If they succeed, Zariel invites the rest of the group to her flying fortress to negotiate terms for their comrades’ release (see “Zariel’s Flying Fortress”).
Talking to Mordenkainen
Mordenkainen is a stern, bald man with a neatly trimmed black goatee beard and a penetrating stare. When his tower arrives in Avernus, Mordenkainen steps out onto the balcony to address the fiends gathered below. Fights frequently break out between the yugoloths as they jostle for his attention.
Zariel’s assassins often lurk here, so Mordenkainen presents a simulacrum of his true self that disintegrates into a pile of snow if it is destroyed. The real archmage remains deep inside his tower and swiftly shunts the building to another plane in times of danger.
If the characters make themselves known to Mordenkainen’s simulacrum, he demands to know their reasons for visiting. The archmage doesn’t know the location of the Bleeding Citadel, nor does he care to find it. Even so, he claims that “balance will be maintained in the universe” by giving the characters directions to a lesser mage who also studies the workings of magic in Avernus—specifically, a “mage of no renown” who haunts the site of an obelisk. The yugoloths recently told Mordenkainen about this stranger and his guidance has an ulterior motive: if the characters end up slaying the mysterious mage, Mordenkainen has one less rival to contend with in Avernus.
Obelisk
An unknown man with unknown purpose. Assist him at your peril, lest he drag you into madness.
—The Cartographer
When the characters arrive at this location, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
A thirty-foot-tall obelisk ringed by seven smaller standing stones rises from the crest of this hill. A tall man wearing tattered robes strides between the standing stones, gesticulating wildly and screaming curses into the wind.
The pit fiend Bel imprisoned the barlgura demon Ubbalux inside this circle of standing stones. To torment his adversary, Bel revealed that the secret to escaping the prison was hidden in the arcane runes etched across the standing stones. Ever since, the tormented demon has tried futilely to solve the riddle and escape. The figure pacing the standing stones is Ubbalux masquerading in human form using a disguise self spell. The magic of the obelisk prevents the demon from leaving the circle and stops any form of divination magic from affecting the stones or targeting a creature inside their perimeter.
Ubbalux appears as a tall human wizard. The demon stole this appearance from the last visitor to stray into his stones (after Ubbalux ate him). If the characters approach, the “wizard” greets them eagerly and is keen to divulge details of his studies, but his conversation often trails off on confusing tangents. The following information can be gleaned by speaking with the false wizard:
- The wizard claims that he no longer recalls his name or place of origin.
- If asked about the Bleeding Citadel, the wizard promises to direct the characters to “someone who can help,” provided they help him solve the enigma of the obelisk first.
Ubbalux can truly help the characters find the path to the Bleeding Citadel, but the demon hopes to manipulate the characters into releasing it from its prison first. If they become aware of its ruse, the demon admits to the deception and pleads for their help (see “Development” below).
A Wizard’s Theory
The wizard claims that each standing stone is keyed to one of the eight schools of magic (abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, and transmutation). His theory suggests that the central obelisk grants a boost in arcane power to mages across the cosmos, and he urges the characters to aid him in empowering it. In truth, Ubbalux has concocted this theory to dupe the characters into testing his latest escape plan. Characters who examine the standing stones and succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check discern that the arcane runes do indeed relate to the eight schools of magic.
The wizard requests that each character places a hand upon a different stone, to “assist in channeling the streams of magic.” When their hands are in place, Ubbalux begins to chant. The air fills with ozone as lightning courses over the standing stones. Each character who participates in the experiment takes 22 (5d8) lightning damage and suffers an additional effect based on the school of magic associated with the standing stone that the character touched, as noted in the Standing Stone Effects table. Ubbalux’s latest attempt to escape his prison has failed.
Standing Stone Effects
| School | Effect |
|---|---|
| Abjuration | You gain a +2 bonus to AC for the next 24 hours. |
| Conjuration | A monodrone appears in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you and follows you around until it’s destroyed. It is indifferent toward all creatures, including you. |
| Divination | You gain the benefits of a true seeing spell for the next hour. |
| Enchantment | The standing stone casts confusion on you (save DC 15). The spell lasts for 1 minute. |
| Evocation | The standing stone casts magic missile, targeting you with five missiles. |
| Illusion | An illusory swarm of harmless bats or pigeons (DM’s choice) flutters over your head for the next hour. A dispel magic cast on the swarm ends the effect. |
| Necromancy | You also take 30 necrotic damage from the standing stone. |
| Transmutation | Your skin turns blue for the next 24 hours. A remove curse spell ends the effect on you. |
| ^school-effect |
Development
Dropping its disguise, the barlgura demon implores the characters to seek out Mephistopheles and return with an answer to his puzzle. The barlgura then gives them directions to a magic mirror (the Mirror of Mephistar) that can be used to gaze into Cania and contact the archdevil. If the characters win over Mephistopheles, Ubbalux promises to guide them to someone who can help them find the Bleeding Citadel.
Mirror of Mephistar
Mirror, mirror, made of ice—look within, but at what price?
—The Cartographer
When the characters arrive at this location, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
A giant slab of ice is wedged at the end of this craggy ravine. Through its surface, you glimpse a glacial landscape draped in snow.
Anyone who gazes into the surface of this 20-foot-tall mirror of ice sees their reflection as soulless, haggard, and encrusted with rime. This apparition stands in a frozen tundra, desolate save for a tower of ice far in the distance. Characters who succeed on a DC 25 Intelligence (Arcana) check recognize the tower as Mephistar, lair of the archdevil Mephistopheles.
Any character who witnesses their reflection in the mirror must succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence saving throw or become stunned for 1 minute. As they gaze stunned into their reflection’s eyes, Mephistopheles gains access to all their thoughts, fears, and knowledge, learning of their mission to retrieve Zariel’s sword and free Elturel (see “Development” below).
The Emissary
Shortly after arriving here, the characters see one of Mephistopheles’s emissaries in the mirror: a cambion named Rigorath. The emissary, only visible in the icy world beyond the mirror, swoops down from the direction of the tower. His skin is cadaver-blue, and his face is frozen in a scream. Rigorath holds a kettle of steaming water in one hand. Before speaking, he pours the boiling water over his face to thaw it out. After each utterance, the ice spreads over his face again, freezing into an expression of pained anguish.
Rigorath can perceive the characters though the mirror but can’t pass through its surface, nor can the characters pass through the mirror or target Rigorath with spells or attacks. Rigorath tries to broker an infernal pact with the characters on behalf of his master Mephistopheles, offering them knowledge and power in return for their assistance:
- To fulfill their end of the bargain, the characters must dam the flow of the River Styx where it spills into a nearby slime-filled chasm (see “Pit of Shummrath”).
- If the characters fulfill their side of the bargain, Rigorath grants them rare knowledge: a secret they desire and a permanent +1 increase to each character’s Intelligence or Wisdom score.
- Characters who came here from the Obelisk (see “The Obelisk”) can bargain with Rigorath for the means to release Ubbalux from the standing stones. In this case, his terms are the same.
Rigorath refuses to explain why Mephistopheles wants the River Styx dammed. His master is wary of angering Zariel and refuses to grant directions to the Bleeding Citadel. If the characters agree to Mephistopheles’s pact, Rigorath etches the terms onto the surface of the mirror. The words form into chunks of ice on the group’s side, which Rigorath instructs them to chisel off, melt, and then drink to seal the bargain.
To aid the characters with damming the River Styx, the emissary crafts an imp out of snow, which hops through the mirror to join them. This imp has immunity to cold damage and carries a sling bag containing five shattersticks (see the “Shattersticks” sidebar) that it can use to demolish the riverbank. The imp is focused on his task, dislikes procrastination, and spits shards of ice when annoyed. The imp can guide the characters to the chasm of the Pit of Shummrath.
Development
If Mephistopheles learns of the Sword of Zariel, the archdevil orders the imp to follow the group invisibly after it completes its demolition work and report back when they’ve located the Bleeding Citadel. At that point, Mephistopheles sends an ice devil into Avernus with orders to murder the characters and steal the sword. If he gets the sword, Mephistopheles plans to use the artifact as leverage against Zariel in future dealings.
Shatterstick
A shatterstick is a nonmagical, 12-inch-long, 4-pound stake made of blue-tinged infernal iron mined on Cania, the eighth layer of the Nine Hells. When embedded in earth or pounded into solid rock, the stake emits a seismic vibration in a 20-foot radius centered on itself for 1 minute, shaking the ground in that area for the duration. When the effects ends, the shatterstick breaks apart, becoming useless, and all structures within 20 feet of it take 35 (
10d6) bludgeoning damage.
Pit of Shummrath
Here you find a sticky situation. Poor Shummrath isn’t the fiend it used to be.
—The Cartographer
When the characters arrive at this location, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
A deep rift slashes across the surface of Avernus for as far as the eye can see. The canyon is over a mile deep and filled with a lake of green slime that undulates as though breathing. From a nearby cliff, a tributary of the River Styx cascades down into the slime.
Dangling from a bent iron crane that leans out over the chasm is an iron cage containing a hairless, green-skinned humanoid wearing shackles on its ankles. The crane lowers the cage by a chain into the slime, immersing the creature in the goo for a minute before hoisting it back out. This dunking continues again and again, and the trapped creature seems helpless to stop it.
Long ago, Bel imprisoned a rival pit fiend named Shummrath at the bottom of this deep chasm. Over the years, Shummrath has been reduced to a fetid lake of slime. Ancient regenerative properties maintain some semblance of life within the sludge, allowing visitors to communicate with Shummrath telepathically. However, a tributary stream from the River Styx has spilled into his canyon and polluted the devil’s mind. Shummrath now only retains thirty seconds of memory and conveys a single thought repeatedly.
Those who establish communication with Shummrath discover that the devil repeats the same thought over and again: it failed to show proper deference to Bel and will have its revenge. Shummrath can talk to the characters telepathically, but his mind unerringly loops back to this same vengeful thought.
Imprisoned Ultroloth
When the characters arrive here, they spot an ultroloth imprisoned in the iron cage suspended over the chasm. The iron crane has a magically powered winch mechanism that repeatedly dunks the cage into the goo, nearly drowning the prisoner with each submersion. The ultroloth, Baazit, is bound by dimensional shackles that prevent it from teleporting away.
Baazit contacts the characters telepathically as soon as they’re in range. The ultroloth was imprisoned by a pit fiend for stealing soul coins. Baazit promises to show the characters how to form magical servants from the goo if they free it. Baazit can also direct the group to Bel’s forge (see “Bel’s Forge”).
A character can jam the crane’s winch with a crowbar or similar tool, preventing it from lowering or raising Baazit’s cage. Once the cage stops moving, a character can try to use thieves’ tools to unlock the cage door, doing so with a successful DC 20 Dexterity check. A knock spell or similar magic also unlocks the cage door.
Creating a Homunculus
Characters can follow Baazit’s instructions to scoop out a handful of the slime and spend an hour molding it into a tiny humanoid shape. At the end of this time, the slime animates as a loyal, lawful evil homunculus made of dripping green jelly. Each character can only have one of these servants active at a time. If a character makes a second homunculus, the first one melts into a sticky puddle of inanimate goo.
Treasure
Characters who free or slay Baazit can claim the dimensional shackles that restrain it.
Damming the Styx
If the characters are traveling with the ice imp (see “Mirror of Mephistar”), it leads them to the narrowest point of the Styx’s tributary river and sets about hammering its five shattersticks into the rocky ravine walls (see the “Shatterstick” sidebar). The imp asks the characters to stand guard while it works. As the imp places the shattersticks, eight spined devils swoop down and attack. One minute after the last shatterstick is activated, the combined seismic activity of all the shattersticks triggers a huge rockfall that fills the gully, creating a dam.
With the polluted River Styx cut off from the chasm, Shummrath slowly starts to regenerate its mind and reform its body. After 48 hours, Shummrath reforms as a pit fiend and flies off to wage war on his rival, Bel. If the characters visit Bel’s forge later in the adventure (see “Bel’s Forge”), they find it under siege from Shummrath’s hastily mustered forces. The attackers are quickly overwhelmed, forcing Shummrath to retreat to some far corner of Avernus to escape Bel’s wrath.
Development
If the characters successfully dam the River Styx, they can return to the Mirror of Mephistar to claim recompense. Rigorath the cambion tells them that Ubbalux must swear fealty to Mephistopheles to escape the standing stones. If Ubbalux does as Rigorath suggests, swearing its undying fealty to Mephistopheles, the archdevil makes it possible for the barlgura to escape.
If the characters return to the obelisk with the news, Ubbalux begrudgingly accepts these terms and reveals the location of the Crypt of the Hellriders on the players’ map. Ubbalux says that the death knight Olanthius, guardian of the tomb, knows the secret location of the Bleeding Citadel. The demon also reveals that “For Glory” is the pass phrase to open to the catacombs, where many of Zariel’s fallen comrades are interned.
As the characters leave the obelisk, they witness Ubbalux swear fealty to Mephistopheles, whereupon black ice forms around the standing stones and causes them all to crack at once. Ubbalux is able to leave the ring of standing stones at that point, crying “Finally! I am free!” into the howling wind.
Crypt of the Hellriders
Zariel’s fallen companions cannot rest. Nobody can in this nightmare hellscape.
—The Cartographer
When the characters arrive at this location, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
Acrid smog swirls around a barren hill, rising from which like giant tombstones are a pair of leaning monoliths, each soaring more than fifty feet into the smoky red sky. Dozens of armored knights kneel in motionless reverence before the monoliths, between which a set of onyx steps leads down under the hill.
The onyx steps descend into catacombs containing the remains of Hellriders who died fighting at Zariel’s side. Their restless spirits yearn for peace yet are doomed to haunt this place until once more called to arms.
Dozens of dead knights kneel before the monoliths, their foreheads resting on the pommels of their swords. The knights’ armor serves as caskets for their bones, yet their corpses stay upright as though in prayer. Each knight wears the faded regalia of Elturel.
Gallery
Encounters in the Crypt
The following descriptions correspond to areas marked on map 3.3. The entire crypt is terribly cold and wreathed in ankle-deep mist. All rooms and passages in the crypt are 10 feet tall and hewn from solid rock.
C1. Sealed Gates
When the characters descend into the catacombs, read:
Readaloud
A pair of basalt doors block the passage ahead, their surfaces engraved with a relief of a knight locked in combat with a devil. Both wield burning swords.
The doors do not have visible handles, locks, or bolts, and they are magically locked, hardened, and enchanted to resist magic. Any spell cast to unlock, damage, or re-mold the doors automatically fails. Characters can use dimension door or similar magic to get past the doors. They can also slip through the cracks between the doors if they have the magic to do so (such as the gaseous form spell). Otherwise, they’ll need the speak the pass phrase “For Glory” to proceed any farther. Characters can learn the pass phrase from Ubbalux the barlgura (as discussed in the “Pit of Shummrath” section).
If a character speaks the pass phrase aloud within 10 feet of the doors, the doors slowly grind open. The doors close on their own after 1 hour unless they are held or wedged open.
C2. Funerary Chambers
There are several funerary chambers in the catacombs. When the characters enter one of these rooms, read the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
Large iron burial urns are positioned reverently throughout this hall, each engraved with a noble coats-of-arms from the city of Elturel. Polished swords, lances, and shields hang from racks on the walls.
If a character says respectful words over the urns or disturb them in any way, three ghosts of Zariel’s knights arise from their remains. The ghosts solemnly reveal the following information:
- The knights fought and died alongside the angel Zariel when she waged war in Avernus.
- Zariel’s crusade ended in failure. Most of their generals, including the angel herself, fell to evil and transformed into fiends.
- One of Zariel’s generals, Olanthius, killed himself rather than embrace tyranny. Zariel raised him as a death knight to ensure his loyalty.
- The knights’ souls are cursed to remain here. They yearn for the afterlife, but the oath they swore to Zariel binds them to her service. They beg the characters to help them find rest.
If the characters promise to help the ghosts achieve their final rest, the ghosts provide the following additional information:
- Olanthius despises Zariel but is supernaturally bound to her service. The ghosts suggest there is still good in him.
- Olanthius keeps quarters here in the catacombs. His rooms may contain evidence of his humanity that the characters can use to appeal to him.
Once summoned, the ghosts remain by their urns until the characters leave the catacombs or free their souls. If a character defiles any remains, the ghosts use their Possession powers to drive the trespassers from the catacombs.
C3. Knights’ Caskets
When the characters approach one of these areas, read:
Readaloud
Recesses in the walls hold iron burial caskets. Each casket has a single, healthy red rose resting on its lid.
Each of these corridors contains six caskets arranged in stacked pairs.
Being entombed in Avernus has corrupted the spirits of these knights. Each casket contains a single wraith magically held at bay by the rose laid on the casket. If a character removes a rose from a casket, the flower immediately withers and dies, and the wraith arises from the casket to attack any living creature or fiend that it sees. A wraith can’t touch any of the roses on the other caskets.
C4. Warlocks’ Tomb
When the characters peer into this room, read:
Readaloud
An iron urn heaped with human bones squats in an alcove at one end of this hall. On the wall nearby, a carved relief shows a column of mounted knights charging through a portal into a fiery hellscape.
Zariel’s warlocks helped build the Crypt of the Hellriders to gain infernal power in their mortal world. When they died, their cursed bodies were dragged into Avernus to guard the tomb for eternity. Eight mummies now lurk inside this chamber and guard the path to the memorial steles. If the undead hear the characters elsewhere in the catacombs, they hide inside the large urn to the west. When the characters enter, they try to creep out silently and ambush them.
Treasure
One of the mummies carries a wand of secrets, and another wears a necklace of fireballs. If the characters defeat the undead, they can claim these items for themselves.
C5. Memorial Steles
When the characters enter this room, read:
Readaloud
Four memorial steles stand in this hall, each engraved with hundreds of names. A legend etched at the top of each stele reads, in Common: “Here lie the fallen. May their souls echo here until the end of time.”
Adorning the wall across from the steles is a carved relief showing a solemn, blindfolded angel on the back of a mammoth with feathered wings. The mammoth is reared up on its hind legs, and the angel holds her sword high. All around them are the broken bodies of fallen knights and devils.
Characters who use detect magic or similar magic to examine the steles discern a strong aura of necromantic magic emanating from the engraved names.
While the steles remain empowered, necrotic energy lashes out at anyone who touches them. A creature touching a stele must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the soulbound parchments in both ritual rooms (area C6) are destroyed, the steles deactivate. The characters can then free the warriors’ souls by striking their names from the stone. As the names are removed, the knights’ ghosts fade from view with gasps of relief. If all the names are struck from the stele, each character gains the benefit of a bless spell that lasts for 24 hours.
C6. Ritual Rooms
These two rooms are hidden behind secret doors. Characters with passive Wisdom (Perception) scores of 15 or higher spot a secret door within 5 feet of them. Otherwise, a secret door can be found by a character who examines the surrounding wall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.
These rooms are magically shielded against undead creatures, such that undead can’t enter either room or even perceive its presence. Each ritual room appears to contain nothing more than ankle-deep mist. However, any character who explores a ritual room disturbs the mist enough to see features hidden underneath it:
Readaloud
As you disturb the ankle-deep mist, it parts to reveal a ritual circle daubed in blood on the floor. Hundreds of slivers of parchment are arranged within it, each tiny strip bearing a name written neatly in blood.
The papers name every warrior interned in this place. Any character who has seen the steles in area C5 can, with a successful DC 14 Intelligence (Arcana) check, discern the papers’ purpose: they bind the warriors’ souls to the steles and compel them to serve Zariel in undeath by the terms of their original oath to her. By destroying the papers, the characters deactivate the memorial steles and can release the knights’ souls from servitude (see area C5 for details).
C7. Olanthius’s Retreat
This room is hidden behind a secret door. Characters with passive Wisdom (Perception) scores of 15 or higher spot the secret door once they get within 5 feet of it. Otherwise, it can be found by a character who examines the surrounding wall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. If the characters open the secret door, read the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
A stack of eight leather-bound journals rests atop a large writing table in this cramped chamber.
The journals belong to Olanthius the death knight and are written in Common. Characters who spend a short rest poring over the journals learn the following information:
- Olanthius never recovered from Zariel’s capitulation to Asmodeus and subsequent transformation into a devil. He blames himself for not seeing warning signs of Zariel’s fall from grace early on—her single-minded determination to slay demons at all costs.
- Olanthius took his life rather than face damnation, but he was transformed into an undead monster by Zariel to serve her forevermore.
- Olanthius describes Haruman, his one-time comrade in arms, as a heartless man bereft of compassion—now a devil bent on punishing anyone who stands in Zariel’s way.
- Olanthius mourns the deaths of his fallen warriors and feels powerless to help them.
- Olanthius speaks well of General Yael, whom he clearly respects and secretly adores. In one journal, Olanthius hints that he knows where Yael hid the Sword of Zariel but fails to note the location.
Olanthius Returns
If the characters desecrate any of the tombs or disturb the journals in area C7, Olanthius the death knight returns to the crypt on a chariot pulled by two gorgons. Olanthius is bound to protect the crypt and can be summoned from anywhere in Avernus to fulfill his duties. He descends below ground to hunt down intruders and interrogate them, leaving the gorgons and chariot outside.
As Olanthius moves through the catacombs, he compels any ghosts he encounters to fight at his side. Any ghosts that the characters summoned from the urns in the funerary chambers (area C2) transform into specters under Olanthius’s command and join him on his hunt.
Olanthius is an extraordinarily powerful foe for 9th-level characters. Fortunately, the characters can avoid combat with the death knight once they realize he’s willing to help them.
Development
Characters who parley with Olanthius can gain a valuable ally in the fight against Zariel. To stand any chance of swaying the death knight to their cause, the characters must have read his journals and learned of his hatred for Zariel. Otherwise, he tries to annihilate them for their impudence.
Olanthius is willing to reveal the Bleeding Citadel’s location only if the characters create a diversion to distract Zariel. The characters must seek out the demon lord Kostchtchie, who is imprisoned in Avernus and whose hammer Zariel stole. If freed, the demon lord is sure to want its weapon back, which should create the diversion that Olanthius needs.
The Arches of Ulloch can transport the characters to Kostchtchie’s Maw, where the demon lord is being held, provided the characters have a clear destination in mind as they pass through the arches. Olanthius provides directions to the Arches of Ulloch and can point to that location, as well as the location of Kostchtchie’s Maw, on the characters’ map.
Once Kostchtchie is released, the characters can report back to Olanthius at the Crypt of the Hellriders, whereupon he reveals the Bleeding Citadel’s location.
Arches of Ulloch
Only fools step through Ulloch’s gates. They lead to nowhere a wise person wants to go.
—The Cartographer
When the characters arrive at this location, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
Two ornate, black arches dominate the scorched landscape for miles, each one rising two hundred feet into the stiflingly hot air. Every inch of stonework is engraved with images of devils waging war against demons.
In forgotten times, archdevils used these twin arches to transport entire regiments to other planes of existence. The arches’ magic has waned significantly, but there’s still enough magic left in each one to transport creatures to another location in the Nine Hells. Characters who use a detect magic spell or similar magic to examine the arches discern a powerful aura of conjuration magic around each one.
When a creature approaches within 100 feet of either arch, the stonework emits a loud, resonant hum that grows louder and higher in pitch as the creature draws closer. As a creature passes through an arch, a roaring sheet of flame fills the archway, teleporting the creature to another location in the Nine Hells. Any creature or object that passes through the arch while the portal is open is transported to the same destination. Each arch is wide enough to accommodate infernal war machines.
To travel to a specific destination, a creature must have visited it before or be able to point to its location on a map. Characters who point to Kostchtchie’s Maw on their map as they pass through an arch are teleported to the top of the demon lord’s prison-chasm.
If the characters fail to pick a destination, determine it randomly. Ask a player to roll a d20 on the poster map of Avernus. The location closest to where the die rests becomes the destination. If the die rolls off the map, the DM chooses a destination.
The portal remains open and fixed to the same destination for 10 minutes, after which it deactivates as the arch that created it crumbles and falls to the ground.
Kostchtchie’s Maw
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but does the same hold true for fiends?
—The Cartographer
When the characters arrive at this location, read or paraphrase the following boxed text to the players:
Readaloud
A dark chasm gapes between grumbling volcanoes that spew lava and smoke into the hateful sky. The air trembles with the bellowing of some monstrous creature in the dark depths of the chasm.
The demon lord Kostchtchie resembles a squat hill giant with short, bandy legs and a grossly shaped head.
Frost giants who forsake their gods and turn to demon worship can summon Kostchtchie with bloody offerings left on altars of hewn ice. If the demon lord chooses to answer the giants’ call, he hunts and fights alongside them for a time, infecting the frost giants with savage madness and bloodlust before disappearing back to the Abyss. Kostchtchie’s favored weapon is Matalotok, a warhammer forged by the frost giant god Thrym (see appendix C for more information about this legendary magic item).
On his most recent visit to the Nine Hells, Kostchtchie was defeated by the archdevil Zariel, who took his hammer and chained him at the bottom of this chasm, knowing that killing him would simply cause him to re-form on his icy layer of the Abyss. Without Matalotok, Kostchtchie’s immunity to cold damage becomes resistance to cold damage.
Shackled by ever-tightening magical chains that prevent him from casting spells, Kostchtchie squats in a 10-foot-deep, 80-foot-diameter pool of black tar in a cavern at the bottom of a chasm, his hands chained behind him. His unholy screams and vile epithets can be heard for miles. Characters who attempt to communicate with the demon lord are met with guttural cries of anguish and frustration. In sporadic moments of lucidity, Kostchtchie glares at a character and bellows, “FREE ME!” or “BRING ME MY HAMMER!” in Giant first and Abyssal second. If that fails to garner the desired reaction, Kostchtchie resorts to using telepathy to contact the nearest character, demanding its immediate release while offering nothing in return.
The Chasm
The chasm descends to a depth of 500 feet. Although there are abundant handholds and footholds, the route to the bottom is steep and treacherous. Characters who can’t fly must make DC 15 Strength (Athletics) checks to ascend or descend the chasm without climbing gear. If a check fails by 5 or less, the character makes no progress on their turn. If the check fails by more than 5, the character falls to the bottom of the chasm.
Prison Guards
A chain devil named Mazer and four hell hounds guard the demon lord. If they detect intruders, the hounds pounce down from high caves as the devil emerges from the tar pit.
Mazer keeps Kostchtchie’s chains tight at all times. Hidden in the tar pit are dozens more chains (each 100 feet long) that Mazer can use its Animate Chains action to animate. Mazer uses these loose chains to bind enemies or drag them into the tar pit, which is difficult terrain.
If the chain devil dies, Kostchtchie’s chains loosen enough for the demon lord to break free of them. Once free of its chains, the demon lord regains his spellcasting abilities.
Development
If Kostchtchie is freed, the he cries out to Zariel (in Giant) that he’s coming for his hammer and swears to crush her with it. He then casts wind walk, which turns him into a cloudy form with an astonishingly fast flying speed of 300 feet. In this form, he travels with great haste across Avernus, determined to get his hammer back. Characters swift enough to follow in his wake are led to Zariel (see chapter 5).
With Kostchtchie freed, the characters can return to the Crypt of the Hellriders, where Olanthius dutifully reveals the location of the Bleeding Citadel (see chapter 4). As the characters leave the catacombs, he asks them to give his love to Yael when they see her.
