Chapter 2: Elturel Has Fallen - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus

Chapter 2: Elturel Has Fallen. Once a holy city whose folk venerated Lathander, Torm, Helm, and Tyr, Elturel is now a site of doom and despair tethered some five hundred feet above the River Styx. Eight great chains bind the city to jagged posts of infernal iron, which stick up out of the ground like gargantuan spikes. (See "Climbing Down" at the end of this chapter for a full description of the infernal chains.) The bottoms of those spikes are guarded by scores of devils, making escaping the city by climbing down an arduous task. The Companion, the second sun that provided so much solace and protection to the city for years, now glares down on Elturel like a baleful eye-a black void crackling with lightning. One circumstance has saved the city from being overrun by devils: a massive surge of demons attacking the devils' positions on the ground. Forced to fend off these demonic hordes, the devils must bide their time until they have the resources to send troops to subjugate the remaining citizens of Elturel. Even so, random demons, devils, and other creatures have infiltrated the city. The characters have time to learn about Elturel's situation and enact a way to save the city before it is lost. Even as the characters get their bearings, they hear a cacophonous tumult taking place far beneath the city. An endless stream of demons crawls forth from the murky waters of the River Styx, to be met by the ordered forces of Avernus attempting to drive them back. This battle continues for the entirety of the characters' stay in Elturel. Running This Chapter Diagram 2.1 is a flowchart that presents the key events of this chapter in sequence. The adventurers should be 5th level when they arrive in Elturel. They begin on the east side of the city, where the immediate danger is greatest. With or without Reya Mantlemorn to guide them, the characters make their way toward the High Hall cathedral. Once they rid the cathedral and its catacombs of fiends, the adventurers should b...