Elturel

Early History

Elturel's modern history is tied with that of its famous Hellriders, though there are different accounts of their founding. In all, it was said that a company of Riders had once ridden into the Hells themselves—namely Avernus, the first layer—and from this story, the Hellriders were named. The earliest known version told that it was to rescue one of their own, such was their great loyalty to each other. A later version said that they rode through a gate to hunt down and slay devils that had been harassing the good people of Elturel. A third account expanded on this. Fiends roamed the Fields of the Dead north and west of Elturel, stripping fields bare, slaying livestock, burning houses, and dragging folk away to an unknown yet horrible doom. As people lived in fear, Elturel's cavalry fought the fiends, riding wherever they must and enduring great casualties, but the fiends kept appearing in greater number. The High Rider of Elturel implored the people to pray to the gods for help. Surprisingly, help came—the rogue angel Zariel (desiring to destroy devils and demons and to have a mortal army to fight for her in the Blood War) came to Elturel the next day, declaring she'd found the gate in the Fields of the Dead west of Elturel through which the devils were pouring, and that she would lead the cavalry through to defeat them where they mustered. She rallied and trained an army of thousands, among them Yael, Haruman, Olanthius, and Jander Sunstar. One early battle was to relieve Idyllglen from attack by Yeenoghu, gnolls, and demons. When she thought them ready, in the Year of the Bow, 1354 DR, Zariel, riding her golden mastodon Lulu, led them out of the city, with the cheers and good wishes of the Elturians behind them, and embarked on the Ride, a glorious mounted charge through the gate into Avernus. Only a very few returned, sealing the portal behind them. Grief-stricken, they told that Zariel and her army had been defeated, but they were all glorified as the Hellriders.
One night in the mid-1360s DR, the High Rider of Elturel, Lord Dhelt, and local mage Baranta Chansil were attacked in his bedroom by a supposed assassin, who instead stole Dhelt's holy symbol of Helm. Key de Effer, of Dhelt's personal guard, responded immediately and, together with Beatrice, pursued the assassin to the woods. Confronting and slaying the wounded assassin, they found a explaining he was seeking the "Holy Symbol of Ravenkind" to destroy Strahd von Zarovich of Ravenloft. Before the heroes could return, they were spirited to Barovia, in the Demiplane of Dread.
Some time after, the city was visited by a mysterious magical veil, stretching from the land to the sky, so Lord Dhelt sent a couple of Hellriders to investigate. Meeting the captain of the Hellriders, they peered through and saw a desert land, but as they ventured in, Elturel disappeared behind them and they were trapped in Har'Akir, once again in the Demiplane of Dread.
The famed travelogue writer Volothamp Geddarm visited Elturel and wrote of it in his Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast around 1366 DR.
In the Year of Three Streams Blooded, 1384 DR, divine conflict saw Helm, God of Guardians, slain by Tyr, God of Justice, leaving the Hellriders, the High Rider, and Elturel itself without their favored god. The following year, catastrophe struck Toril in the form of the Spellplague.

15th and 16th Century

By the late 1430s DR, through a variety of excuses, Elturel had laid claim to the lands of its neighbors, placing them within "Elturel's Guard" as they called it, making itself a petty regional power.
Then, shockingly, in the Year of the Seductive Cambion, 1536 DR, the High Rider himself was discovered to be a vampire, with a vast network of vampire spawn, charmed minions, undead allies, and sycophantic collaborators that surprised even the Hellriders. Now exposed, the undead infested Elturel, and whatever victories the Hellriders won during the days, they lost sorely in the nights. It was said the Elturians prayed to the gods each night just for the dawn to come sooner. Then, one night so devastating it felt like the end, it did. A second sun appeared in the sky, turning night to day, and blasting the vampire lord and his spawn to ashes while the remaining undead cowered from its light. Elturel was swiftly liberated from their dead grip. A priest of Torm, Thavius Kreeg, took the credit and was acclaimed as the savior of Elturel, and few would doubt his goodness or his intent. Only he knew the true origin of the mysterious second sun.
The Companion, as it became known, remained where it was, for days and years after. Over time, the miracle brought pilgrims: the sick, the curious, and the devout of many faiths, including many paladins. After them came hundreds of people who'd fled the menace of undead of one kind or another, who came to Elturel for protection and settled there. The best of the paladins was appointed ruler of Elturel, titled the High Observer. The High Observer then established the Order of the Companion and the Creed Resolute to keep the paladins of different faiths in order.
Some years later, there was a crisis of leadership in Elturel and the likely successor to the post of High Observer, Tamal Thent, and her whole retinue disappeared near Boareskyr Bridge. Despite an investigation, no trace of any of them could be found. Thus, soon after, the post of High Observer was filled by Thavius Kreeg himself, incidentally Thent's rival for the role. One of Kreeg's first acts as High Observer was to order Fort Tamal built and named in her honor. While this might've been an honor, in later years a posting to Fort Tamal was apparently a punishment for insubordination by young agitators and zealots in the Order of the Companion. Nevertheless, Kreeg would reign for decades and set Elturel on the road to becoming the nation of Elturgard. By the late 16th century DR, Elturel served as the capital of the realm now known as Elturgard.
Around 1581 DR, Kreeg was aging and another leadership transition was expected soon. He eventually made all Elturians swear the Creed Resolute, binding them by oath to defend the city. Incidentally, his title also changed to High Overseer.
In the Year of Twelve Warnings, 1586 DR, over a few months, Kreeg coaxed Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard of Baldur's Gate to come to Elturel to resolve several disputes that had troubled the two cities for some time. After greeting the Baldurian delegation, Kreeg escaped Elturel in secret, shortly before the Companion changed into a black orb that tore the whole of Elturel and its populace from the Material Plane and spirited it away to Avernus, first of the Nine Hells, with only a crater left behind. It would transpire that, to rid Elturel of the vampires fifty years before, Kreeg had made a deal, not with the god Torm but with the now-archdevil Zariel. She'd provided the Companion—in truth, an infernal device—but at the cost of the whole city and its oathbound defenders, to be claimed after only fifty years, with the intent that they should serve as her army in waging the Blood War.
Over the next few days, hundreds of refugees, both citizens who'd escaped Elturel or been outside at the time, and folk from wider Elturgard, made their way to neighboring Baldur's Gate, with some blaming Elturel's rival for the city's loss. However, they were barred from the city and the resident Flaming Fist began arresting Hellriders on sight, fearing they would cause trouble, but this only led to fighting. Those who did get in, like Hellrider Reya Mantlemorn, relayed news of the catastrophe and enlisted heroes who could investigate and ultimately pursue the stolen city into Avernus, thwart Zariel's foul scheme, and return it to Toril by some means.
They found Elturel a quake-wracked, war-torn city suspended in the air around 500 feet (150 meters) over the River Styx, anchored by massive chains and spikes of infernal iron driven into the ground and steadily being dragged down to its doom. Torn from the land, the city was fractured in twain along the ravine that ran through the city. The black Companion still hung malevolently over the city, raining down lightning that raised ghouls, ghasts, and zombies. While devils besieged the city, demons attacked them in another battle of the Blood War, and the surviving Elturians fought off both or simply hid in the ruins. Many people died in the devastation, to the demons and devils, or to thirst and starvation. With the city's leaders lost, none other than Grand Duke Ravengard rallied the defense. The High Hall was the center of the defense effort, and also the focus of the devil assault.
A group of adventurers. equipped with a map of avernus and accompanied by the hollyphant Lulu, traveled to Avernus to free the city from hell. Shortly after defeating the undead horde in the floating city, they descended into the avernian wastes and were promptly slaughtered by a roving gang of devils. The Savage Seven would find their remains and Lulu and continue their quest to save Elturel.