Charge of the Hellriders

The Charge of the Hellriders (920 CR) was a landmark battle involving mortal crusaders under the command of the solar Zariel, demons and gnolls led by the demon lord Yeenoghu, and multiple infernal legions, shaping the history of all involved.
Though Zariel's loss in the battle proved to be the catalyst for her fall and corruption into an archdevil, this fact was known only by the most powerful devils in Hell. The Charge of the Hellriders had also been mythologized in the area surrounding Elturel as a great and heroic fight, where the Riders of Elturel earned the moniker Hellriders. It would not be until after the Damnation of Elturel at the end of the 15th century when the true history of the battle became known.

The Conflict

Prelude

In 918, the solar Zariel and her hollyphant companion Lulu arrived in the village of Idyllglen to reunite with their friend Yael. A half-decade previous, the three of them had joined forces to drive off a marauding group of ogres, and Zariel returned with a bold new idea: to rally an army of mortals to invade the Abyss itself, disrupt the enternal balance of the Blood War, and force the Seven Heavens to take direct action. Yael found this to a dream worth fighting for, and the three of them began training and building out their crusade.
Over the next year, the crusade grew in strength as warriors rallied to their cause. In 919, the Zarielite crusade recruited High Rider Olanthius of Elturel and Lord Knight Haruman of the Far Hills. The two new leaders joined Yael as the three mortal generals of the crusade and forged deep bonds with each other and their celestial companions. Olanthius and Yael grew especially close, falling in love.
After Elturel pledged itself to the cause, the city became the new headquarters of the crusade, and the Riders of the city became synonymous with the crusaders themselves.
In 920, the demon lord Yeenoghu caught wind of Zariel's plan. In response, he began a rampage across the villages of the Winding Water, with the aiming of drawing the crusaders' attention. Though Yeenoghu's hoard appeared to be a large gnoll warband, it was in fact filled with demons that had taken on the guise of gnolls to hide their presence. When Zarielites marched to confront the demon, Yeenoghu met them outside of Idyllglen, which at first seemed like fate to Zariel and Yael but was actually chosen on purpose to manipulate their emotional connection to the village.

The Engagement

The Charge of the Hellriders is, in many ways, two separate battles fought back-to-back, split between the Material Plane and Avernus.
In the intial battle, Yeenoghu detatched a portion of his forces to raid Idyllglen, and Yael responded immediately, taking her forces in pursuit. Haruman, Olanthius, and Zariel astride Lulu charged against the gnoll lines, and the melee quickly became chaotic as the demons in the army shed their disguises and illusions. However, the bulk of the army was routed quickly by the crusaders' charge, as Yeenoghu had taken the most ferocious devils into his own forces. As Yael was drawn away from the battlefield, Yeenoghu suddenly shifted his forces to confront her directly. Yael and her soldiers fought valiently, having prepared for a demonic assault for years, but were nonetheless outmatched, as Yael was seized by Yeenoghu, who then sliced a portal in the air itself and fled through it with the general.

"The demon lord flees before our wrath! And he has taken one of our own! To rescue and salvation! Charge!"

-Zariel

Yeenoghu's retreat and Yael's capture were witnessed by all, and the Zarielites rallied and chased after the fleeing demon lord. But rather than appearing in the Abyss, as expected, the crusaders emerged in Avernus. Yeenoghu's fient also revealed his cunning, as a demonic army was waiting for him on the other side of the portal. The crusaders prepared again for battle, but before all of their forces were through the portal, Yeenoghu attacked again.
The battle that day was fierce, but the Zarielites proved their worth. Yael fought herself free from Yeenoghu's capture and returned to Olanthius' side, and the mortal armies slowly pushed the demons back, as more and more crusaders poured through the portal to hell and prepared to join the fray. Yeenoghu's forces were outnumbered, and there was a real chance that the demon lord could be killed or captured, striking the first blow against the Abyss.
However, at that moment an infernal legion, commanded by Terza'reg of the Dark Eight, appeared, marching towards the battle, drawn by the demons' presence. Jander Sunstar, second-in-command to Haruman, panicked at the prospect of fighting the Abyss and Hell at once, and a large portion of the crusaders fled with him back through the portal, which shut behind them. Those that stayed behind believed the deserters had closed the portal, but it is just as likely Yeenoghu or devils of the approaching legion closed it. Regardless, without a clear means of escape, the Zarielites rallied behind their leaders, who prepared to defend themselves from the infernal and abyssal threats.
The resulting three-way battle was chaos. Olanthius and Haruman worked together to surround and destroy the remaining abyssal army, but Yeenoghu managed to escape, having successfully turned his two great enemies against one another. Zariel and Yael led the fight against the forces of Hell. Zariel and Lulu personally engaged in an aerial duel with Terza'reg, who managed to chop off Zariel's right hand, causing her sword to drop out of the air. Zariel dove after her sword, grabbed it, and plunged it into the pursuing Terza'reg, destroying the infernal general entirely. For a brief moment, it appeared that the mortal crusaders might triumph, but a second infernal legion apppeared on the horizon. The Zarielites never stopped fighting, but they were exhausted and outnumbered. Haruman and Olanthius were captured, but the vast majority were cut down where they fought.

"Look beyond this forsaken day. One last time, I need you to dream a little bigger."

-Zariel's last words to Yael

Near the end of the fight, Yael found herself fighting beside her celestial friends. Zariel, weakening physically and in resolve and worrying about her fate, gave Yael her sword  and placed within it a spark of her own divine essence. Zariel asked Yael to flee with the sword and to keep it away from the forces of Hell. Yael tried to refuse, but Zariel insisted. Reluctantly, Yael fled with Lulu, and as they flew away, they saw Zariel face down a horde of devils before she was finally overwhelmed.

Aftermath

Following her defeat, Zariel was confronted by Asmodeus, ruler of the Nine Hells, who offered her the chance to continue her fight against the Abyss as one of his generals. Broken and fueled by a desire for revenge, Zariel agreed. Haruman willingly chose to follow his friend and commander, but Olanthius refused to serve the forces of hell, slitting his own throat. However, the oaths he swore to Zariel still bound him in death, and Olanthius was brought back as a death knight in Zariel's infernal service.
Yael and Lulu attempted to escape Avernus for nearly a year before they were cornered. Unable to flee, but unwilling to let Zariel's last spark of goodness be stolen, Yael sacrificed herself and, empowered by the god Lathander, created an alabaster fortress to protect the sword, which was soon swallowed up by the landscape of Avernus itself.
The dead crusaders in Avernus were given a burial, and most were laid to rest in and around the Crypt of the Hellriders, with Olanthius as the tomb's guardian.
Facing terrible guilt at their desertion and the fate they left their comrades to, the surviving crusaders hid the truth of the battle from everyone. As the centuries passed, the lie and story of the Charge of the Hellriders grew until it barely resembled the tragedy that actually occurred that day. Having reframed the event as heroic and worthy, the surviving crusaders, most of whom were Riders of Elturel, were renamed to the Hellriders, a title they carry to this day.
For his role in the battle, Jander Sunstar was made the new High Rider of Elturel, a title he bore for many years until his guilt and hidden vampiric nature led to him resigning from his post.

Historical Significance

For centuries following the Charge of the Hellriders, the details of the battle were misreported or misunderstood in favor of the grand tale of heroism espoused by the suriving crusaders and their descendents. The new story would eventually write Zariel, Lulu, and Haruman out of the tale, centuring the conflict on the love felt between Olanthius and Yael, who was portrayed as noble lady in love. By the late 15th century, the story of the Hellriders was told generally along the following lines:

Sometime between the 9th and 10th centuries, High Rider Olanthius ruled Elturel. While away, taming the wild and dangerous frontier around his city, a disguised devil lord, Nothius, arrived in Elturel and enslaved the soul of Olanthius's love, the Lady Yael. Olanthius arrived home only to discover that his love had been stolen away from the city only hours prior. With a host of Riders, Olanthius pursued Nothius for some time in a frenzied chase. When the Riders caught up with Lord Nothius, the devil revealed his true form. A great battle then commenced, which ended when Nothius opened a gateway to Hell itself and carried Lady Yael through it. Without hesitation, the Riders of Elturel pursued the devil. The pursuit of Nothius now continued across the blasted plains of Avernus itself. At last, the Riders of Elturel met the armies of Hell. The Riders defeated one of the fabled blood legions and Yael was reunited with Olanthius, but as they rode back towards the portal home a second and even larger legion threatened to cut them off.
Olanthius knew the only hope of escape was if this legion was delayed. He asked for volunteers to accompany him… and all the Riders did so. Therefore lots were drawn to determine the lucky few who would ride one last time at the side of their lord. Olanthius begged Lady Yael to fly to safety, but she, too, chose to ride into battle at his side. In the face of the Riders’ charge, the legion of Avernus trembled and buckled… but did not break. Olanthius and Yael perished on the Avernian plains. It is said that where they fell in a final, martial embrace, a spring of holy water sprung up that was poison to the devils of that land.
Their sacrifice, however, bought the time the other Riders needed to escape from Hell. Overcome with grief at the loss of their glorious leader and his love, they returned to the city. Their valor was never forgotten, and from that day forward the Riders of Elturel were known as the Hellriders.

During the Damnation of Elturel from 1497-1498, the Lost Star Detectives uncovered the true history of the Charge of the Hellriders while attempting to save the city. Due to their efforts, the lingering trauma of the battle was resolved and the true story of the Zarielite Crusade became known, though many still shared the classic tale they had grown up with.

Legacy

The most profound effect of the Charge of the Hellriders was the fall of Zariel, who would go on to serve as one of the most effective generals in the history of the Nine Hells. Her campaign of distinction during the Rift War earned for her the title of Archduke of Avernus, and her tenure as archduke saw the front lines of the Blood War pushed far Abyssward of the River Styx.
Though mostly forgotten on the Material Plane, the legacy of the Charge of the Hellriders remained, and centuries later, through a quirk of fate, Elturel again became connected with Zariel during the Damnation of Elturel in the late 15th century.

Included under Conflict

Blood War

Conflict Type

Battle

Conflict Result

Destruction of the Zarielite Crusade