One Hellish Homecoming

The party begins along the road to Candlekeep and swerves offcourse only to end up at their final destination...

The group reunited at Wyrm’s Crossing after a long day of preparation. Maximus and Raven had dispatched their ship on a distant quest, while the rest of the group returned, their bags heavy with supplies and weapons gathered for the dark road ahead. Everyone shared details of their ventures throughout Baldur’s Gate, their findings, and the growing anticipation of what awaited them.

After regrouping, they reconnected with Falaster Fisk and Serena. Serena, still suspicious about the imprisonment of Thavius Kreeg, questioned the group’s motives. However, after hearing another Hellrider voice doubts about Thavius' loyalty, she granted them the benefit of the doubt—for now. During their conversation, the party met a new ally: Felix Wordsmith, another traveler determined to save his family from the fallen city of Elturel. With similar goals, Felix quickly joined the party.

The first day of travel was mostly uneventful, though tension hung in the air. The group found themselves reflecting on the magnitude of the mission ahead, with Remses reading ominous fortunes aloud, hinting at future trials. Maximus and Raven, weary from their emotional turmoil and recent experiences, quickly collapsed into a deep sleep. The others, however, stayed awake well into the night, engaged in hushed conversations about their own goals and fears. Would they stand united when forced to make difficult choices? Several members of the group split watches but Serena was the only one to offer on the middle watch and so she took on the responsibility alone, offering the group some respite.

At dawn, the party resumed their journey, following the jagged northern face of the mountains, with the scent of sea salt faintly in the air as they continued toward Candlekeep. They soon encountered a farmer’s wagon creaking down the road ahead, seemingly mundane. But as they drew nearer, it became evident that the farmer wasn’t what he appeared to be. In truth, fiendish creatures had overtaken the wagon, their goal clear: to retrieve the shield Waldren carried.

Before the group could respond, chaos erupted. Serena appeared to run Raven through with a dagger coated in a vile substance. Her whispered words—"There goes one bounty"—solidified her treachery as Raven’s body slumped to the ground unconscious. Two goblin bounty hunters sprang from the underbrush, eager to claim their prizes alongside her.

But as the fight raged on, something unexpected occurred. The real Serena, bruised and beaten, was heard screaming warnings running up the pass they had just come from. It was revealed that she had been ambushed and bound the night before during her watch by a doppelganger who had taken her place.

The clash was brutal. Several hard blows were exchanged, but the group’s resolve held strong. Maximus, wielding his faith and fury, led the counterattack, while Raven—despite the earlier wound—rallied with righteous fury. The doppelganger and goblins fell swiftly, though the fiendish creatures from House Hhune were more resilient. The fiendish leader was forced to flee as it tumbled over the cliff’s edge, escaping into the ravine below during a magical sleet storm that Felix had wrought.

After recovering from the harrowing encounter, the group pressed onward, seeking shelter before nightfall. They discovered a cave near the road, hoping to rest and recover. Ever inquisitive, Remses sent one of his undead servants ahead to scout the cave. Moments later, a scream of terror echoed from within. The party rushed forward to find a woman named Seraphina and her two children hiding within, refugees from a village razed by an ebony dragon. The family had been making their way toward Baldur’s Gate, oblivious to the group’s presence. The party apologized profusely and vowed to watch over the family that night.

Night fell, but rest remained elusive. As the party slept, dreams turned to nightmares, haunted by a seductive voice offering each of them their heart’s deepest desires. Some resisted, but others may have found themselves drawn to the whispers, their decisions perhaps sealing their fates in the days to come.

Morning brought with it a chilling discovery: Thavius Kreeg, their prisoner, was dead. His throat had been viciously slashed. Serena screamed as she discovered the body, her shock mirrored by Falaster Fisk. While the group reeled from the betrayal and murder, something else drew their attention. Distant and animalistic, a scream echoed from outside. Rushing to the cave's entrance, the group was met with a shocking revelation.

The once-familiar surroundings of the cave were gone, replaced by the towering steps of High Hall in fallen Elturel. The sky overhead was dominated by the dim, eclipsed second sun, its light barely casting shadows over the ruined city now suspended over a hellish landscape. A small Hollyphant by the name of Lulu showed up alongside the party, unknowing why or how it got there. But it made itself clear that it had some connection to the leader of Avernus, one Zariel and her past seemed to connect to the party's future. She exuded blessings and came from a Celestial background, that much was clear at this time.

Maximus, driven by the desperate hope of finding his family, wasted no time. He surged up the steps of High Hall, his determination palpable. The party followed, stepping over the bodies of fallen guards, their tabards bearing the once-proud symbol of Elturel. Strange, many-legged footprints crisscrossed the bloodstained steps.

The party entered the High Hall and its enormous interior. As they did they encountered many signs of struggle, and could hear many different echoes, cries and unknown sounds of hunting creatures that had stormed the citadel of late. Felix attempted to appease the god Torm who watched over the citadel, but his offer fell on deaf ears. Maximus, steeling himself knew the hidden switch that was masked upon the altar and the party bore witness to the entire altar moving aside to disclose a hidden passageway below. With a loud noise echoing across the building, the party quickly dove into the passageway and Remses left behind one of her poor subjects to knock on the switch and close the door so that the party could not be followed.

Descending into the darkness, the party found themselves in the sprawling crypts beneath the cathedral. There, hundreds of refugees huddled in fear, hoping the horrors of the surface wouldn’t find them. Maximus and Felix called out frantically for their families, their voices ringing through the chamber.

Maximus was the first to reunite with his children, Luna and Leonidas, who had been under the care of Kipper Harpell. Kyler also found relief as her siblings, Kuartz and Greg, were among the survivors. Kipper divulged that she had been watching the younglings whilst others ran supplies trips out into the city or were busy burying their loved ones who didn’t make it. After nearly ten days being stuck in what they now well knew was Avernus, the first layer of the Hells, the people of Elturel had indeed suffered.

However, the wave of sorrow continued as Maximus found his father, Alastar, weeping over the bodies of Maximus’ mother, Hope, and sister-in-law, Ezzie. His eldest sons, Ajax and Barin, niece and nephew Grace & Eli & his wife Mikayla were all still missing, as was his brother-in-law, Denzil, who had fled to their estate within the city.

Kaja was quite silent, attempting to take everything in as she encountered some of her family members including her siblings Kamber & Kamethyst and her parents Keera & Maurog. Her sibling Kamber and both of her parents however must have borne witness to something wretched as they were simply muttering nothing madly in infernal, unharmed on the outside but something broken within. Her family members Kaja, Koral, Kaden and aunt Gemini were all missing.

Other figures who had been helping those hiding here were also mentioned. A halfling named Shaewin & the groom, a Harengon named Dessel were said to have gone out looking for the bride Kaja. A fairy monk named Chepi had accompanied Ulder Ravenguard, the head of the Flaming Fist and de facto leader of Baldur’s Gate towards the royal cemetery where they had gathered word of a possible artifact that could help the people in their current situation.

Other missing persons that could not be confirmed dead included Balin, a dragonborn who had attended the wedding as well as a number of Harpell family members including Penelope Harpell the groom’s mother, Kenneally Harpell the groom’s sister and a cousin, Tucker Harpell.

Finally, Felix being unsuccessful in seeing any of his family members was noticed by Remses and Remses offered a seance to attempt to find or atleast contact any of his loved ones…starting with his son Bian. The seance did bear fruit as his son appeared…expired yet in a better place, high up in the heavens of Celestia. Through cryptic questions, Felix learned that his son had sacrificed himself to an unknown entity to save his wife and daughter. His wife had been mentioned by Bian that she had passed from old age but Felix’s daughter was still missing yet confirmed safe and out of immediate peril’s way somewhere out in Avernus.

The party knew they had to venture out somewhere. At a loss for ideas at the moment, they began sweeping the crypts for anything useful before coming to a decision and heading out into the hellscape that awaited them. Waldren wandered into one room where some recently expired Elturelian’s had come to lay at rest with their families…as he went to pick their pockets and loot the dead, one of their seemingly lifeless heads snapped around and let out a ghoulish scream that echoed upon the walls of the crypts beneath the city of Elturel…