Damnation of Elturel
The Damnation of Elturel (2 Eleasis 1497 - 30 Tarsakh 1498) was a cataclysmic event in which the city of Elturel and all of its inhabitants were teleported into Avernus in the Nine Hells to be bathed in the River Styx and rise again as infernal soldiers for the Blood Legions.
Though Elturel was rescued at the last minute by the actions of the Lost Star Detectives, the city's damnation had rippling consequences across Northwest Faerun and the Nine Hells, resulting in the redemption of Zariel, archduke of Avernus, the return of the archdevil Gargauth, the collapse of Elturgard as a nation, and more.
The Conflict
Prelude
In 1447, High Rider Klav Ikaia was dramatically revealed to be a vampire, throwing Elturel into chaos as Ikaia's vampiric allies and thralls began a bloody campaign to secure their control over the city by force. The twenty-day Reign of Vampires, as it would come to be known, was ended when the Companion, an artificial sun, appeared over Elturel, destroying Ikaia's forces and forcing Ikaia himself into hiding underground, though he was presumed dead. Unbeknownst to nearly all was that the Companion was not sent by the gods but the result of a pact between Naja Bellandi, the highest surviving authority of the city, and Archduke Zariel of Avernus, and the terms of that pact stated that Elturel and all inside of it would be teleported into Avernus and be reborn of infernal soldiers for Zariel's armies in fifty years. Though Bellandi, now High Observer of Ellturel due to her heroics in leading the anti-vampire resistance, believed that she could find a way out of the pact, she was assassinated in 1449 by the cult of Zariel, carrying the secret of the pact to the grave. Over the next fifty years, Elturel grew from a city-state to the capital of Elturgard, and the cult of Zariel grew in influence as well, infiltrating the newly formed Order of the Companion until it was all but a public-facing front for the cult. Zarielites also infiltrated the highest ranks of Elturel's government, landing one of their own, Thavius Kreeg, the position of High Observer in the 1480s. Through their positions in government, the cult of Zariel established the Creed Resolute, which all members of the Order of the Companion and the city's Hellriders, its traditional military, had to swear by. However, the wording of the creed meant that after Elturel was teleported into Avernus, any Hellriders, members of the Order of the Companion, or their direct descendents that were killed would rise again as devils in service to Zariel, even before the city was bathed in the Styx. Elturian Zarielites also swore their own private pacts to obtain infernal power upon their arrival into Avernus. All the while, the Companion, in truth a device of infernal make with a trapped solar inside, was infusing the city with its energy so that when the terms of the pact came due, it could teleport the city into Avernus by doing something akin to reversing its polarity. The Companion also allowed the cultists of Zariel in the city to use it as a conduit to cast holy magic, hiding their true allegiance. Finally, the cult also began infiltrating the various churches to Elturel's traditional gods, Torm and Helm, twisting their messages to be just as much about the Companion as the gods themselves, weakening any ability of the divine to prevent Elturel's impending doom. All of these actions taken by the cult, including the initial pact with Naja Bellandi, were done at the recommendation of the Shield of the Hidden Lord, the prison for the archdevil Gargauth, who had made a deal with Asmodeus to be freed if he could bring ten mortal cities into Hell. Shortly before the day of Elturel's descent into Hell, Thavius Kreeg took the Shield of the Hidden Lord and was smuggled out of the city to Baldur's Gate, where he and the shield were housed by Duke Thalamara Vanthampur, the head of the Baldurian cult of Zariel. In exchange, Duke Vanthampur and Kreeg arranged to have Ulder Ravengard, Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate, arrive in Elturel the day of its damnation, taking him to Hell along with the city and leaving a power vacuum in Baldur's Gate.
Conditions
Upon Elturel's arrival in Avernus, three simultaneous factors were in play that kept the city and its inhabitants from escaping. First, the pact between Naja Bellandi and Zariel prevented anyone who arrived with Elturel into Avernus from leaving, even through magical means, as their souls were bound to Avernus. The pact had to be broken, either by combining both Bellandi and Zariel's half and destroying it or by having Zariel dismiss it, to rescue to people of Elturel. The second factor were the chains from the Dock of Fallen Cities, which kept Elturel locked in place and slowly began pulling the city into the Styx below. The third was the Companion itself, whose energies teleported Elturel into Avernus, and that same energy would likely be needed to teleport the entire city back to the Material Plane, even if the people in the city were no longer bound by Bellandi's pact.
The Engagement
On the 2nd of Eleasis, 1497, exactly fifty years after Naja Bellandi signed her pact with Zariel, the Companion turned black and teleported Elturel and everyone inside of it into Avernus, leaving a massive crater behind that was quickly filled by the Chionthar River. This triggered the transformation of Zarielites scattered throughout the city to transform into devils, quickly throwing the city into chaos as nearly its entire leadership was revealed to be infernal turncoats. These former Elturians-turned-devils, referred to as the Hell Knights, began slaughtering their former comrades-in-arms and any magic users alive in the city to bring more Hell Knights to their side and destroy any resistance against them respectively. They then began hunting the families of Hellriders and members of the Order of the Companion, further swelling their numbers, while securing the only two bridges that connected the eastern Dock District with the two western districts of the city. The Hell Knights were led by Janfire Mistmore, the leader of the Order of the Companion and the highest ranking Zarielite left in Elturel, who organized the efforts to control Elturel from his manor in the High District.
The Hell Knights control over Elturel wasn't absolute, however. Many of the Zarielite cultists who flocked to Elturel in the days before its damnation treated the event more like a never ending celebration than a military affair, and three major bastions of resistance had formed across the city. Most of the surviving, non-Zarielite Hellriders had gathered in Helm's Shieldhall under the command of Alcor Miursa, who later turned over command to his son Kaiden and Onthar Frume of the Order of the Gauntlet when Alcor led a force into Avernus proper to find some way to save the city. Ulder Ravengard, who had survived the city's initial descent, rallied his Flaming Fist personal guard and a few Hellriders in the city's High Hall, though they were generally few in number taking heavy casualties from repeated Hell Knight attacks. Most surprisingly, Klav Ikaia was revealed to have survived the Reign of Vampires and had been training a force of dhampirs in the city's Maze. Ikaia and his forces emerged from the Maze and quickly established a refuge in Shiarra's Market. Each of these three bastions also contained a large number of civilians seeking shelter from the chaos outside.
Janfire, believing that High Hall was bound to fall any day now, decided to focus his efforts on besieging Helm's Shieldhall, knowing that if it fell the bolstering of his ranks from the dead Hellriders and their families would give him the strength to also crush Shiarra's Market, formalizing his control over the city and destroying any resistance that could stop it from sinking into the Styx.
Meanwhile on the Material Plane, the nation of Elturgard was thrown into chaos by its capital's disappearance, and the various city-states that formed the nation began fracturing away from one another. Additionally, Najara, a kingdom of monsterous races to the north of Elturgard, began taking advantage of the chaos by expanding south. Baldur's Gate, Elturel's historically rival, was unable to take advantage of its disappearance due to the power vacuum left by Ravengard's presumed death. The Flaming Fist began fracturing in its attempt to find a replacement Grand Marshal, and Duke Vanthampur began using her relationship with the Baldurian cult of the Dead Three to assassinate Elturian refugees that were or were related to Hellriders. Despite managing to assassinate Duke Dillard Portyr, Vanthampur was stopped by the Lost Star Detectives, a group of adventurers that narrowly avoided being dragged into Hell with Elturel. While working for the Flaming Fist, the Detectives discovered Vanthampur's crimes, killing her, Thavius Kreeg, and taking both the Shield of the Hidden Lord and an infernal puzzlebox containing Bellandi's half of her pact with Zariel.
Traveling to Candlekeep to open the infernal puzzlebox, the Detectives were also joined by the amnesiac hollyphant Lulu, who revealed to all that Zariel had once been an angel and Lulu was her closest friend. Hoping to save Elturel, the Detectives teleported into Elturel's Dock District just as the Siege of Helm's Shieldhall was beginning. The Detectives first worked with Klav Ikaia to secure the eastern portion of the city, though chose not to engage a growing demonic base in the docks themselves, and then fought across the bridges to the west, relieving the attack on High Hall. The group then retrieved the Helm of Torm's Sight from the Elturel Cemetary, receiving a vision from Torm encouraging them to find the Sword of Zariel, and then ended the Siege of Helm's Shieldhall, though one of their own, Xifira Mistmore, the daughter of the Hell Knights' leader Janfire, was killed by her own father.
As the situation in Elturel was stabilized, the Detectives left for Avernus proper to save Elturel, first locating the keys needed to unlock the Companion, rewiring the controls for the chains binding Elturel to release when Bellandi's pact was broken, and then finding parts needed to operate the Fort Knucklebones Dream Machine to help Lulu remember where Zariel's Sword was left. During this time, the Detectives also unwittingly released Gargauth from the Shield of the Hidden Lord. Meanwhile, the survivors in Elturel settled in for a long wait, now that the Hell Knights are their leadership had been broken. Shiarra's Market, High Hall, and the shieldhall all rebuilt and expanded their defenses while finding more and more civilians, rescuing them from the demons that still prowled the streets that wanted to kill all the Elturians before their souls were forfeited to Zariel. These three refuges were later joined by another at Maiden's Leap, which was protected and blessed by a ki-rin named Enki the Detectives freed on their journey.
As Elturel sunk lower and lower, the demon lord Yeenoghu began gathering a massive army of demons and gnolls outside of Elturel, aiming to destroy the city and all inside. The counter Yeenoghu, Zariel called a Blood Legion to defend Elturel, the the forces of Hell and the Abyss stood in an uneasy stalemate, waiting for the other to make the first move.
After retrieving the Sword of Zariel, which was taken up by Alesine Zadava, the Detectives returned to Elturel shortly before its ultimate submerging in the Styx. After making last minute preparations, the Detectives unlocking of the Companion signaled the beginning of the Battle of Elturel, as the forces of Hell rushed to stop them and the forces of the Abyss moved to destroy the city. In the resulting battle, the two fiendish armies clashed on the fields of Avernus while demons that managed to slip through the infernal lines swarmed into Elturel to destroy the last bastions of resistance. The Lost Star Detectives freed the solar trapped inside of the Companion, and held off Zariel's forces long enough for Zariel herself to arrive to stop them. The Detectives then gave Zariel her old sword, which contained a spark of her celestial, uncorrupted essence, and successfully encouraged Zariel to redeem herself, becoming an angel once again. The Detectives then split to protect High Hall and Shiarra's Market while Zariel defended the city long enough for the Companion to charge and teleport Elturel back to the Material Plane.
Outcome
Upon Elturel's planar teleportation, the gods Torm, Helm, and Lathander created a pocket dimensional space that allowed Zariel to talk with the Detectives before their arrival back on the Material Plane. During their conversation, Zariel, with Lathander's aid, forsook her celestial nature, feeling herself unworthy of it, and bestowed it upon Alesine Zadava at Lulu's suggestion, turning Zariel into an unaging mortal and Alesine into a solar.
Now that Elturel was no longer blocked by the veil of Hell, the gods were also able to use the celestial energy of the Companion to eradicate all the demons and devils present in the city when it was transported, while most of the gnolls were captured and killed by various powerful magic users that were summoned by Sylvira Savikas, who was warned by the Detectives that the city would be reappearing soon. The remaining gnolls fled into the wildnerness into the city's subterranean Maze.
In Avernus, the forces of Hell continued to clash with the forces of the Abyss. Despite the loss of a large portion of his army when Elturel disappeared, Yeenoghu nevertheless held the upperhand following Zariel's defection. It was only after many of the forces of Hell were rallied by the archdevil Gargauth that the the demons were forced to fall back, albeit after inflicting heavy casualties.
Aftermath
One of the first orders of business upon Elturel's salvation was the question of leadership. While Klav Ikaia sought his old title of High Rider, he was opposed by the surviving Hellriders, the Lost Star Detectives, and the recently formed Order of the Sun, which was created for the sole purpose of ensuring the undead never have a place in Elturel. Ikaia's rivals instead backed Alcor Miursa, the father of one of the Lost Start Detectives, Arcus, and the highest ranking Hellrider left. Either unwilling to fight for his rule or believing such a fight was doomed, Ikaia and his retinue fled from Elturel.
While Alcor was embraced as Elturel's new High Rider, he was not by the other settlements that had formed Elturgard. Once the true story of Elturel's damnation and the bureaucratic infiltration of the cult of Zariel into Elturgard's government came out, the nation's fate was sealed and it fractured. While the various city-states did unite to keep Najara from pushing further south, they were no longer politically unified.
Ulder Ravengard, having survived the Battle of Elturel, returned to Baldur's Gate with a hero's welcome. He was quickly reinstated as Grand Duke, a position that hadn't been filled on the Council of Four in his absence, and Duke Liara Portyr, who claimed the title of Marshal of the Flaming Fist in Ravengard's absence, gracefully returned that position to him, ironically leaving Ravengard even more secure in his rule than he had before his presumed death.
Their work done, the Lost Star Detectives disbanded after the battle, though nearly all stayed for some time to help with rebuilding Elturel. Alesine Zadava, aware that her celestial power was too much to keep on the Material Plane, departed for Mt. Celestia. Katya Sinaran, Kinsey Eridanus, and Arcus Miursa remained in Elturel in the short term, while Whisk and Dzarya took to interplanar traveling. Lulu split her time between Alesine in Heaven and Zariel, who had decided to seek penance by wandering anonymously around Toril.
Gargauth's rallying of the forces of Hell against Yeenoghu following the battle put him on the path to become the next archduke of Avernus, a title he had held nearly a milennia previously.
Historical Significance
A strong proponent of history and truth, Alesine Zadava made sure before departing that the true facts of the Battle of Elturel were recorded before she departed in order to prevent the facts from being altered by those seeking political gain. Because of this, the journey of the Lost Star Detectives and the details of Elturel's damnation have remained firmly rooted in fact in official histories, though unsuprisingly that has not stopped folk retellings of the battle from exaggerating events or shifting around details for a better story.Legacy
The Damnation of Elturell cemented the status of the Lost Star Detectives as modern mythical heroes, and the redemption of Zariel at their hand and the subsequent ascension of Aleisne Zadava from mortal to angel, captured the imaginations of all who heard their story. The battle would also help each Detective in pursuing their individual goals later in life, whether that be finding their place as an angel of Lathander, joining the Emerald Enclave, aiding the Sha'sal Khou, or settling down for a quiet life of peace.
Other important players of Elturel's damnation would also continue shaping the history of Elturel for decades to come, such as Thei Linden, whose actions as a merchant-turned-hero would ultimately propell him to become Alcor Miursa's successor as High Rider of Elturel.
Elturel's return on the day before Greengrass, the official start of Spring, was also heralded as a sign of a fresh beginning to the city and a fortuitous portent. Despite the sufferings the city had faced, Elturians still looked to their future with hope.
As new heroes were made, old ones were cast down, and nearly all references to Naja Bellandi, her successor Cathasach Restat, who was not a Zarielite but nonetheless unwittingly advanced their schemes, and Thavius Kreeg were stripped from the city. Similarly, the role of the Hellriders in the defense of Elturel caused a reembracing of tradition in Elturel, most obviously seen in the readoption of High Rider to refer to the lord of the city.
Zariel's redemption also spread like wildfire among the planes of existence. As the highest profile archdevil to both fall and rise, her story served as a beacon of hope for all the forces of good across the many planes and as a dramatic climax of the story of her life, though she of course continued living on in obscurity for long after the battle was over.
Gargauth's role in rallying Hell against Yeenoghu also lead to his second tenure as archduke of Avernus. How long that reign will last remains to be seen.
The Damnation of Elturel also put to rights the story of the Charge of the Hellriders, which for centuries had been misremembered. With the Detectives aid, Olanthius and Lady Yael were reremembered for their actual deeds, and the name Hellrider again carried with it glorious weight and purpose. Though the mythical tale of the charge was still a popular story, the myth would never again obscure the true facts of that battle.
Included under Conflict
Included Conflicts
Conflict Type
Siege
Start Date
2nd of Eleasis, 1497
Ending Date
30th of Tarsakh, 1498
Conflict Result
Collapse of Elturgard as a nation; Elturel and its occupants avert destruction in the River Styx
Location
Comments