The 48 Laws Of Power Domain_10

Elturel
(
pronounced: /ˈɛltɜːrˌɛl/ELL-tur-ELL
[14]
) was a city-state lying on the River Chionthar in the Western Heartlands. In the mid–14th
century DR, information technology was a center for agriculture and trade in the region, and was renowned for its elite mounted defenders, the Hellriders.[14]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[ii]
In the late fifteenth
century DR, it was the upper-case letter of the realm of Elturgard, a theocracy of Torm the True and defended past its paladin knighthood, the Social club of the Companion.[i]
[fifteen]
[16]

Linguistic communication

[
]

In the mid–14th
century DR, the people of the region spoke the Thorasta language,[5]
which was related to Chondathan.[6]
[7]
People and things from hither were called “Elturian”, while “Elturelian” was considered wrong.[3]
[4]

Geography

[
]

The metropolis was situated atop a bluff or tor with a cliff dominating the River Chionthar.[14]
[9]
[10]
[ii]
[i]
[xv]
[16]
This was both a good defensive position and a proficient crossing-point, as the river below was narrow, shallow, and easily traversed by poling barges; the urban center was founded here for this advantage.[ix]
The river linked it with Berdusk, Iriaebor, and Scornubel, and to Baldur’s Gate on the Sword Coast.[2]

The Skuldask Road ran through Elturel, linking it to Thundar’south Ride in the Fields of the Dead in the northwest, and to Berdusk and
Uldoon’south Trail
in the southwest. The bottom-used Dusk Road began at Elturel and went northeast to meet the Merchandise Way at Triel.[17]
[18]
It was a major terminate on the trade routes through the Western Heartlands.[fifteen]

A ward token for a Hellrider Lodge.

In the 1360s DR, Elturel laid claim to lands along the Sunset Road northeast equally far as Triel, along the Skuldask Route northwest to where it met Thundar’s Ride and southeast downwardly to Windstream Guild, and along the Chionthar upstream to Scornubel, and downstream to Stone Eagle Lodge. The edge was distinct: within, the country was farmed and settled; without, wilderness reigned, the state covered in shrubs and scrub trees. Elturel’south domain was characterized by agronomics, where cattle and sheep grazed, brush was cut back, and farms fenced past hedges and stone walls studded the mural.[10]

Afterwards the 1430s DR, a shining orb known as the Companion or “Amaunator’due south Gift” hung directly over the centre of the city, never setting. Only the High Observer knew if this was truly a blessing of the dominicus god Amaunator. This second lord’s day produced no rut but its lite illuminated the city twenty-four hours and dark, as bright every bit the natural sun and burned undead of all kinds. Creatures of darkness could not even bear to look at the city. It could be seen from most anywhere within Elturgard, though it faded with distance.[1]
[xv]
[16]

Authorities

[
]

By 1356 DR, the urban center was ruled by its High Passenger, Lord Dhelt, a paladin of Helm and one-time leader of the Hellriders.[14]
[eight]
[ix]
[10]
He remained in power through 1367 DR[9]
and past 1372 DR. His focus was on maintaining Elturel equally the about efficient, secure, and well-policed city in the region, with interests in farming and trade. The Hellriders helped Elturel establish and maintain civilization in these harsh lands.[2]
His reign went unquestioned, merely was seen every bit only and off-white[eight]
and wise and competent. He was vigilant on defense and preventing offense, and in keeping the city clean and lawful.[x]
He was known to be respectable and tolerant, equally a leader who actively promoted trade while letting merchants getting on with business with minimum interference.[8]
[ix]

The Herald of the city was titled Ironflower.[nineteen]
[20]

In the tardily 1400s DR, the metropolis and Elturgard as a whole were ruled by the Loftier Observer of Torm, a priest named Thavius Kreeg.[one]
[21]
Aided by a paladin knighthood, the High Observer made certain that guild was maintained in the urban center and the realm, with the aim of bringing righteous judgment to all the Realms and “setting Faerûn aright”. As in the past, they ensured the city and countryside remained safe and well-policed and that merchandise and agriculture were run efficiently.[1]
Information technology was believed by some that Thavius ruled wisely and well for decades,[21]
yet he presided over harsh and rigid laws, intolerant attitudes, and inquisitions
circa
1479 DR.[1]
[22]
[notation ane]

Relations

[
]

While it remained an contained city,[8]
it was a firm fellow member of the Lords’ Alliance in the mid–fourteenth
century DR.[8]
[ten]
[23]
[24]
[25]
Circa
1370 DR, a 30-stiff squad of Lords’ Alliance troops, contributed to mainly past Elturel and Baldur’s Gate, were garrisoned in Port Llast to guard confronting attack from Luskan.[26]
By 1489 DR, Elturel, now a ability of its own, was no longer a member of the Lords’ Alliance.[27]

In the mid-1300s DR, Elturel was a mutual rival of Scornubel,[14]
[9]
[28]
[29]
a urban center of comparable size and capability lying upriver. Lord Dhelt looked for ways to overthrow Scornubel’s position every bit the major trading town between Iriaebor and Waterdeep[fourteen]
[9]
and Elturians themselves endeavored to beat them in riches.[30]

In the 1300s DR, the main threats in Elturel’s domain were bandits preying on the traders and travelers, and orcs, trolls, and ogres from the High Moor raiding the farms of the Fields of the Dead.[8]

In the tardily 1400s DR, Elturel was the capital of Elturgard, the Kingdom of the 2 Suns, a realm that included Berdusk, Iriaebor, Scornubel, Soubar, and Triel, as well as many farms and villages along the roads of the Western Heartlands that were claimed and protected.[i]
[21]
Its primary rival now was Baldur’s Gate, a completely contrasting city situated downriver. Elturel regarded Baldur’south Gate as lawless and corrupt, and disapproved of its religious tolerance. Baldur’due south Gate started the feud past taking appurtenances and coin from ships going to and from Elturel. Whenever Baldur’south Gate attempted to claim more than territory than Elturgard could accept, it imposed high taxes on shipments downriver. There was much animosity between them, but while Elturgard expected to accept to bargain with Baldur’s Gate one day, neither was looking forward to an armed conflict.[31]
[32]

Defenses

[
]

The side entrance to the Loftier Hall.

The city was surrounded by a stout stone wall, shielding all but the southern river side. There were ii gates, on the northwest and northeast sides. Inside the eastern wall, a canal served as a fractional moat.[8]

Elturel’south main defense in the 14thursday
and 15thursday
centuries DR was the Hellriders, a 2000-strong elite unit of well-equipped, loyal, and close-knit mounted troops.[14]
[eight]
[9]
[x]
[2]
For a city baby-sit, they outmatched the armies of whole realms.[10]
They were non only the guards and police of the city, they too patrolled the River Chionthar and surrounding roads, and escorted caravans from Waterdeep to Iriaebor.[fourteen]
[eight]
[9]
[x]
[15]
They maintained guardhouses in the Fields of the Expressionless and warning beacons in the surrounding farmlands.[8]
[10]
Also as significant raids, expeditions, and punitive assaults on aggressive demihumans were commanded by Lord Dhelt, the Loftier Passenger, or by the Loftier Watcher of Helm Berelduin Shondar.[nine]
All Hellriders were required to requite a tenth of their earnings to Elturel’s coffers.[14]
[9]
[33]

Armor displaying the crest of Elturgard.

In the tardily fifteenthursday
century, they were joined by the Club of the Companion, a well-armored mounted knighthood of paladins who defended the city and wider Elturgard, swore oaths to the realm and shared its goals, even if the members did not all share organized religion in Torm. Courageous, righteous, and zealous, they were proud of their dedication to the crusade of good, their clear morals, fifty-fifty their intolerance. They were identified by the blazing insignia of the Companion that they wore.[i]
[21]
Many of the Hellriders now aspired to bring together the Companions.[21]
Both followed the Creed Resolute, swearing to serve the Loftier Observer and the greater good, uphold Elturgard’south law, and permit no departure in faith to come between them, nor to attribute the Companion to one god or another.[15]


Law & Order

[
]

Well policed past the Hellriders in the mid-1300s DR, Elturel was a very safe city for travelers. Its dockside areas were among the safest in Faerûn, thanks to their organization, the loyalty of the handlers guild, and the alert Hellrider patrols. The main threat was theft by pickpockets, not mugging by thugs.[10]
Otherwise, at that place were no Elturian thieves’ guilds—Lord Dhelt would non let it.[8]
[x]
Just rumoring virtually a possible band of thieves was enough to meet one interrogated past zealous Hellriders.[x]
All the same, “Pinch” ran his own modest gang there
circa
1366 DR, and stole the

amulet of the Dawnbreaker

from the Temple of the Morninglord.[11]

In the late 1400s DR, the city was much stricter and fifty-fifty bad language and irreverent humor could draw the ire of government. Elturgard’s laws were rigid, intolerant, and persecuted evil with inquisitorial zeal, leading to a host of issues.[one]
Those who broke the law iii times were sent to the Dungeon of the Inquisitor. Here, they were punished and fix to piece of work mining new tunnels. The inmate population was always being replenished.[22]
Nevertheless, it remained the safest city in the land.[15]

The final poesy of the ballad “The Knights of Dragon Down” was outlawed in Elturel past 1366 DR, because an evil archmage of the urban center made it the words of a summoning spell that quickly drew undead to those that sang it.[34]

Trade

[
]

In the 1300s DR, Elturel was the farming center of the Fields of the Dead and thrived on the merchandise that passed through its domain.[10]
It was commonly rated every bit the second-almost economically powerful urban center in the Western Heartlands after Scornubel[30]
and it was quite wealthy.[10]
Linking overland caravan and river barge trades,[8]
[10]
it also served equally a market for farms on fertile Fields of the Expressionless and Chionthar banks. Thousands of cattle and sheep were assembled in Elturel every yr for trade across Faerûn.[8]
Traders greatly appreciated the protection afforded them past the Hellriders; caravans and convoys of riverboats chose routes through Elturel’south zone of control so they could relax their own security, if merely for a day or two.[2]
Summer saw the peak of merchandise through the urban center.[viii]

Elturian Grey, Elturel’south favorite cheese. Accept no imitations.

Its primary exports were livestock and the products of them, namely meat, cheese, leatherwork, wool, and glues rendered from hooves and horns. Equipment shops in the urban center had moderate availability of goods.[viii]
Elturel supplied fabric and leather to Aurora’s Emporium, which traded clothing and shoes.[35]
Elturian Grey was the premier cheese of Elturel, and was too sold through Aurora’s Emporium, though counterfeits under similar names were produced.[36]

At that place was a gild of handlers who took care of loading and unloading goods, both on the wagons and on the docks. They were true-blue and assisted the costers.[10]

After the founding of Elturgard, the port officials who handled merchandise in the urban center
circa
1479 DR were overly righteous and handed exorbitant taxes and penalties to traders who showed even the slightest impiety, even banning them from setting foot inside the city. The caravans and riverboat convoys now feared to pass through in that location.[1]
Despite this, by 1489 DR, travelers were once once again relieved to set foot inside Elturgard and relax their guard for a time.[21]

Demographics

[
]

The folk of Elturel, going about their business organisation, lawfully.

In 1358 DR, Elturel had a registered population of 26,778 citizens, merely the real population fluctuated from 29,000 in winter to 33,000 in summer.[8]
Much of this population was transient, being traders and travelers just passing through.[10]
[16]
In event of war, plague, or orc horde, farmers of the Fields of the Dead could take refuge in the city; the warehouses and cellars could briefly shelter over 400,000 people.[8]
In 1372 DR, the official population was given as 22,671.[ii]
In 1479 DR, it had a population of around 17,000.[1]

The Elturians were mostly Heartlanders,[v]
namely Chondathans and Calishites.[6]
A few Gurs also settled in Elturel.[37]


Civilisation & Society

[
]

In the fourteenthursday
century, it was said that every boy and girl of Elturel and the lands effectually dreamed of beingness a Hellrider some twenty-four hour period, even those whose talents lay in the intellectual more than the martial arts. To call such a child a “hellion” was not an insult but a compliment, marking ane as having the courage and drive to ride the Hellriders’ destriers.[38]
Though they didn’t all become special grooming, Elturians were practically raised in the saddle, learning how to ride and growing familiar with how horses behaved in any state of affairs, fifty-fifty those that never became Hellriders.[38]
[30]
The downside was that, rightly or wrongly, some folk idea Elturians always smelled of horse.[38]

In turn, all true warriors of Elturel were about likely Hellriders. Those who resigned were stripped of their gear, exiled from the metropolis, and named a heretic in the eyes of Helm for abandoning their post. In the mid-1360s DR, there were no living ex-members of the Hellriders—likewise many had died in battle.[33]

Elturian wizards, meanwhile, were safer in the saddle, existence skilled at attacking from their mounts. They were much more capable of avoiding or resisting attacks while mounted than they on foot, being less able to react fast enough.[38]

Often overlooked in the city’southward commercial success, Elturian rogues were themselves merchants and traders. They were charismatic, talented in subtle negotiations and driving slick bargains, and skilled in appraising items. Still, fighting was bad for concern, and Elturian rogues made poor and less-resilient combatants.[xxx]

Instead, as a legal outlet for the poor, desperate, unruly, maladjusted, or but violent citizens, there was the High Moor Heroes’ Guild. This adventuring band made regular expeditions to the Loftier Moor “scouring” whatever they institute. They also tutored each other and other adventurers.[viii]

One of Elturel’s publications of notation was
Stars Seen, Tales Told, a periodical chapbook that published pleasantries and glowingly positive news. It as well printed readers’ letters, which occasionally led to bitter in-print fights.[39]

In the tardily fifteenth
century, Elturian citizens still oftentimes dreamed of joining Elturgard’south paladin knighthood. This time, many succeeded.[1]
[21]
Inspired by the Hellriders and the Companions, the folk of Elturgard were typically devout in both their faith and the pursuit of justice.[21]
Both troops were loved and respected by the people.[xv]
Elturel was known as a holy city.[xiii]

Nether the eternal day of the second sun in the 1400s DR, Elturians depending on bells tolling in the Loftier Hall to know the beginning and catastrophe of each workday. The constant lite reduced typical nighttime activities; there was little brawling and muggings, while thieves were perforce actress cautious and cunning. It was especially hard for newcomers to arrange to life here. Inns and boarding houses covered windows with thick curtains to permit patrons sleep.[15]

Clarification

[
]

The High Hall and its surrounds.

The urban center was split up into two districts: an upper city known as the Loftier District and a lower city known as the Dock District.[14]
[ix]
[10]
The High District spread over the slopes of a rising, defensible loma with a rocky cliff on its s side, where information technology met the Chionthar. In this crowded space, the buildings were constructed of stone, with tall narrow houses topped with spires and bedecked with balconies and windows, and the cobbled streets were narrow, steep, and winding. Their cellars were dug out of the solid rock. This area was home to the city’s nobility. Atop the cliff overlooking the river was the High Hall, marked by its soaring turrets and its walls encircling the summit. This was where the High Rider and later the Loftier Observer lived, authorities was based, hierarchy was managed, political and religious leaders were housed, and large commercial meetings were held.[8]
[10]
[15]
[40]
On the northeastern flank of the colina was a ravine, crossed by two bridges in the late 1400s DR: the Torm’southward Reach in the north and the Torm’s Blade s of it, each xx anxiety (vi.i meters) and consecrated in the proper noun of Torm by runes carved into them, and warded against fiends and undead.[13]

The Dock Commune, meanwhile, covered the flatlands around. It was domicile to markets, stockyards, and warehouses, as well equally railroad vehicle-makers and yards and officers of other trades associated with caravans. It was dirty, disorderly, and smelly, with buildings designed but for function and business concern.[8]
[ten]
In the due east side, it was known for hovels and warehouses clustered around the docks. In the west side there were tidier and more than well-off homes and shops, and in the 1360s the expanse was more oftentimes being chosen Westerly to distinguish information technology as cleaner and more prosperous than the eastward side. Those in the east thought those in the west were lazy, soft, arrogant, and pretentious.[10]
In whatever example, by the late 1400s, houses in the lower town were for the most function of the same design as those on the loma.[fifteen]

The city was not all commonsensical. The Garden, too known as “the Wintertime Garden” in local songs and stories, ran right through the centre of the city along the ridge of the loma, long, straight, and narrow “like the blade of a naked sword”, in the words of Elminster. Information technology began at the High Hall, where a powerful freshwater jump rose in the cellars and fed a stream that wound through the Garden and guaranteed the urban center’s h2o supply, earlier spilling over a cliff in the n chosen Maiden’s Leap, forming cascades that joined the canal. The Garden was an open up space of forest and flowers, crossed by paths and arched bridges simply keeping a wild beauty in wintertime. Elturians enjoyed meeting one another here.[8]
[10]
[xv]
The wealthiest citizens of the High District had their houses nearest the Garden.[15]

The culvert began at Maiden’s Leap in the due north and ran east and southward inside the walls before joining the Chionthar. It formed a partial moat for defense force and a passage for barges servicing the eastern Dock District. 4 bridges crossed it.[eight]
[15]
The canal was crossed by Maiden’s Bridge just n of the cascades.[34]
[note 2]

In the mid-1300s DR, Elturel was dwelling to two major temples: Helm’due south Shieldhall and the Loftier Harvest Abode. Thanks to Lord Dhelt’southward patronage, the fortress-similar Shieldhall was both the most influential temple in the metropolis and one of the strongest temples of Helm, God of Guardians, in the Northward. High Watcher Berelduin Shondar ruled information technology with an atomic number 26 fist and was aggressive in defence force of the Helmite faith. The Loftier Harvest Home, meanwhile, was defended to Chauntea, the Grain Goddess, and was managed by Raulauvin Oregh. Both provided assistance and shelter to the faithful.[8]
[ix]
[10]
Another was the Temple of the Morninglord, dedicated to Lathander,[eleven]
and the cloak-and-dagger Temple of the Fauna of Malar, which was eradicated in 1281 DR.[41]
There were also a few shrines, to Ilmater, the Crying God; Tempus, Lord of Battles (the Hand That Swings the Sword[42]); Tymora, Lady Luck; and Waukeen, the Merchant’southward Friend, which was rededicated to Lliira, the Joybringer, by 1367 DR later Waukeen’due south absence in 1358 DR.[eight]
[9]
[ten]
In the belatedly 1400s, the metropolis’due south official faith was in Torm the Truthful, the state religion of Elturgard, and it was ruled by its loftier priest, the High Observer of Torm.[1]
Nonetheless, the people commonly worshiped Torm, Helm, Lathander, Amaunator, and Tyr.[12]
[13]
The “grand cemetery” lay in the westernmost past of the metropolis, inside the walls.[13]
Surrounded by a contumely fence and gate 10 feet (iii meters), it held gravestones, statues, monuments, and mausoleums for the departed; a ossuary below basis; and a chapel defended to Lathander, Torm, Captain, and Tyr. It was a beautiful place, being filled with grass and flowers.[43]

Lord Dhelt decreed that inns and taverns could not operate under the same roof, nor could inns serve drinks, then in Elturel these were distinctly different businesses. The improve inns stood in the High Commune, but were simply converted houses and ofttimes several neighboring houses linked into one. Those in the Dock District were simpler, non to mention noisier, but were ordinarily the but accommodations available in summer during the trade season.[viii]
Inns and taverns were generally good in quality.[ten]
A Pair of Blackness Antlers was the best-known tavern, and a favorite of adventurers.[8]
[34]

Shiarra’s Market was held within a town square (really more of an egg-shape) in the eastern Dock District. It was known for crammed stalls.[8]
[10]
In that location were a number of farmers’ markets.[16]

The Dragoneye Dealing Coster had a way-base of operations in Elturel effectually 1356 DR.[8]
[10]
[44]
[nine]
[45]
This was a big warehousing and shipyard area in the eastern Dock District abreast the Chionthar, close to the docks.[8]
[10]

A half-dozen-wagon ferry crossed the Chionthar s of Elturel, linking it to Skuldask Road and taking travelers into the heart of the city.[8]
[10]

The Dungeon of the Inquisitor, where lawbreakers were sent in the 1400s, was a maze-like subterranean complex lying below Elturel. It covered excavated passages and natural caverns.[22]

History

[
]

Early on History

[
]

A natural stronghold, this site had long been one of the few defensible locations between the Sword Coast and where the Chionthar met the River Reaching. At one fourth dimension, it was occupied by trolls, with a stronghold on the hill home to a troll lord. They were subsequently driven out by ogres, and their chieftain ruled from a crude stone fortress. At one point, it was also held by orcs. The ogres were in plow replaced by humans, who settled and built a castle here to guard against the trolls, ogres, and others. Over time, it became the possession of i lordling after another but remained every bit a refuge for human settlers.[8]
[x]
[note iii]

Great battles were once fought on the neighboring Fields of the Dead, and the folk of Elturel and their Riders stayed armed and vigilant, patrolling and protecting the farms.[viii]

In the Year of Slaughter, 1090 DR, Elturel was among the many communities and realms that contributed forces to the alliance against the massive exodus of goblins and orcs that had left the drought-stricken High Moor. They clashed and all were massacred in the infamous Boxing of Bones.[46]

In the Year of the Cold Soul, 1281 DR, a brute-cult of Malar smuggled caged monsters into Elturel and unleashed them in the streets one night. And so they launched a Wild Hunt, hunting and killing the monsters, mutual folk, and Officers of the Scout alike. The next day, the Malarites were themselves hunted down in revenge. Captured Malarites, living and dead, were examined with magic to locate their lair: the Temple of the Animal, in a secret nether-cellar in the metropolis. It took several days of encarmine fighting to eliminate the cultists. Equally government finally reached the unholy altar, the high priest—with the
Book of Fangs and Talons
in hand—escaped with a

claret teleport

powered past the lives of sacrificial victims. The justiciaries were left frustrated.[41]

14th
Century


[
]

The city was well-established by the mid–14th
century DR.[14]
[8]
[9]
[2]

Shandril Shessair, future spellfire wielder, was born in Elturel
circa
1341 DR to
Garthond
and
Dammasae. They lived in that location quietly for a brief time, waiting eight more than months for the babe to be old plenty to travel before leaving once again.[47]
[48]
[49]

Elturel’s modern history is tied with that of its famous Hellriders, though there are dissimilar accounts of their founding. In all, it was said that a visitor of Riders had once ridden into the Hells themselves—namely Avernus, the first layer—and from this story, the Hellriders were named.[14]
[9]
[50]
[51]
[52]
The earliest known version told that it was to rescue one of their own, such was their great loyalty to each other.[9]
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.[50]
A third account expanded on this. Fiends roamed the Fields of the Dead due 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 take a mortal army to fight for her in the Blood War) came to Elturel the next twenty-four hour period, declaring she’d found the
gate
in the Fields of the Dead w of Elturel through which the devils were pouring, and that she would atomic number 82 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.[51]
[52]
I early battle was to relieve Idyllglen from attack past Yeenoghu, gnolls, and demons.[53]
When she thought them ready, in the Year of the Bow, 1354 DR, Zariel, riding her gilded mastodon Lulu, led them out of the city, with the cheers and practiced wishes of the Elturians behind them, and embarked on the Ride, a glorious mounted charge through the
gate
into Avernus. Merely 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 every bit the Hellriders.[51]
[52]
[note 4]
[note 5]

One dark in the mid-1360s DR,[notation vi]
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 Captain.
Key de Effer, of Dhelt’southward personal baby-sit, responded immediately and, together with Beatrice, pursued the assassin to the woods.[note 7]
Confronting and slaying the wounded assassin, they found a note 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.[54]

Some time later on, the city was visited by a mysterious magical veil, stretching from the land to the sky, and so Lord Dhelt sent a couple of Hellriders to investigate. Meeting the helm 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.[55]

The famed travelogue writer Volothamp Geddarm visited Elturel and wrote of it in his
Volo’s Guide to the Sword Coast
around 1366 DR.[ten]

In 1368 DR, Volo was visiting the city of Elturel once again. The he engaged in a table dice game with a severe-looking northern barbarian. Coincidently, exactly at that fourth dimension, the goddess of luck Tymora was afflicted past Iyachtu Xvim’due south plot to steal the powers of the goddess and her sister Beshaba. The city of Elturel, like many other places in the Realms became brimful with skillful luck and its disruptive consequences. Volo ended upwardly rolling a multitude of doubles, enraging his opponent and fleeing for his life through the streets of Elturel.[56]

In the Year of Three Streams Blooded, 1384 DR, divine conflict saw Captain, God of Guardians, slain by Tyr, God of Justice,[57]
leaving the Hellriders, the Loftier Rider, and Elturel itself without their favored god. The following year, catastrophe struck Toril in the grade of the Spellplague.[57]
[notation eight]

15th
Century


[
]

Past the belatedly 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 information technology, making itself a picayune regional power.[21]

Then, shockingly, in the Year of the Seductive Cambion, 1444 DR, the Loftier Passenger 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 up sooner. Then, ane dark so devastating it felt like the finish, it did. A second sun appeared in the heaven, turning dark to day, and diggings the vampire lord and his spawn to ashes while the remaining undead cowered from its light. Elturel was swiftly liberated from their dead grip.[21]
[58]
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.[58]
[59]
Only he knew the true origin of the mysterious second sun.[1]

The Companion, as it became known, remained where it was, for days and years afterwards. Over time, the miracle brought pilgrims: the ill, the curious, and the devout of many faiths, including many paladins.[21]
Afterwards them came hundreds of people who’d fled the menace of undead of i kind or another, who came to Elturel for protection and settled there.[1]
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.[21]
[xv]

Some years later, there was a crunch of leadership in Elturel and the likely successor to the post of Loftier Observer,
Tamal Thent, and her whole retinue disappeared near Boareskyr Bridge. Despite an investigation, no trace of any of them could exist institute. Thus, shortly after, the mail of High Observer was filled past Thavius Kreeg himself, incidentally Thent’south rival for the role. I of Kreeg’s showtime acts as Loftier Observer was to order Fort Tamal built and named in her honor. While this might’ve been an accolade, in afterward years a posting to Fort Tamal was plainly a punishment for insubordination by immature agitators and zealots in the Order of the Companion.[12]
Withal, Kreeg would reign for decades and prepare Elturel on the road to becoming the nation of Elturgard.[60]
By the tardily 15th
century DR, Elturel served equally the capital letter of the realm now known equally Elturgard.[1]

In the 1480s DR, Leosin Erlanthar and adventurers working with him traveled to Elturel to meet with Ontharr Frume, a paladin of Torm and representative of the Order of the Gauntlet, to discuss recent actions of the Cult of the Dragon.[sixteen]
[61]

Effectually 1489 DR, Kreeg was aging and some other leadership transition was expected soon.[21]
He eventually made all Elturians swear the Creed Resolute, binding them by oath to defend the city.[59]
Incidentally, his title besides inverse to High Overseer.[lx]

The Descent

[
]

The metropolis of Elturel existence pulled into Avernus.

In the Year of Three Ships Sailing, 1492 DR, over a few months, Kreeg coaxed Chiliad Duke Ulder Ravengard of Baldur’south Gate to come to Elturel to resolve several disputes that had troubled the two cities for some time. Afterwards greeting the Baldurian delegation, Kreeg escaped Elturel in undercover, 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, showtime of the Nine Hells, with just a crater left backside.[60]
[62]
It would transpire that, to rid Elturel of the vampires 50 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 powered past an imprisoned planetar—just at the cost of the whole city and its oathbound defenders, to be claimed after but fifty years, with the intent that they should serve as her army in waging the Claret War.[lx]

The destruction of the Loftier Hall during the descent into Avernus.

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 mode to neighboring Baldur’due south Gate, with some blaming Elturel’southward rival for the city’due south loss. However, they were barred from the city and the resident Flaming Fist began arresting Hellriders on sight, fearing they would crusade trouble, but this only led to fighting. Those who did arrive, similar Hellrider Reya Mantlemorn, relayed news of the catastrophe and enlisted heroes who could investigate and ultimately pursue the stolen urban center into Avernus, thwart Zariel’s foul scheme, and render it to Toril by some ways.[60]
[63]

Elturel suspended between the Companion and the Styx.

They institute Elturel a quake-wracked, war-torn urban center suspended in the air around 500 feet (150 meters) over the River Styx, anchored by massive chains and spikes of infernal atomic number 26 driven into the footing and steadily being dragged down to its doom. Torn from the state, the city was fractured in twain forth 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 merely hid in the ruins. Many people died in the devastation, to the demons and devils, or to thirst and starvation. With the urban center’s leaders lost, none other than Thou Duke Ravengard rallied the defense force.[xiii]
The High Hall was the center of the defence force effort, and as well the focus of the devil attack.[forty]

Eventually Elturel was returned to its rightful identify in the Heartlands of Faerûn. While the verbal specifics of its return to unknown, at that place were ramifications that were felt far and wide.[64]
Many if non all the city’s tieflings were exiled from the urban center, thanks to a new wave of misplaced fear and newly-formed prejudice.[65]

Notable Locations

[
]

A map of Elturel during the descent into Avernus.

Government Buildings
High Hall • Dungeon of the Inquisitor
Temples & Shrines
Captain’s Shieldhall • Loftier Harvest Home • Temple of the Brute • Temple of the Morninglord • Hand That Swings the Sword
Inns
Black Gryphon • Dwarf’due south Pot Inn • Gallowgar’s Inn • Hondakar’due south House • Phontyr’s Unicorn • Oar and Wagonwheel Inn • Symbril’s Business firm
Taverns
A Pair of Blackness Antlers • The Aptitude Helm • The Glowing Goblet
Roads
  • Maidensbridge Street: turns due west to cantankerous Maiden’south Bridge, running around the northern central heights to Westerly[34]
    [viii]
  • Baerth Lane[66]

Notable Elturians

[
]

  • Mari Al’maren, a Harper bard[67]
    [68]
  • Reya Mantlemorn, a Hellrider[69]

Appendix

[
]

Notes

[
]


  1. While this religious zealotry and inquisitions are fabricated explicit in the write-upward of Elturgard in the 4th-edition
    Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, they are not mentioned at all in the more extensive and very positive description in the 5thursday-edition
    Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. The 2 versions are hard to reconcile. As such, this more positive vision may reflect a retcon, either out-of-universe or in-universe with the Second Sundering; the narrator for this section,
    Aedyn Graymantle, existence mistaken or unaware of the farthermost elements; or propaganda one manner or the other. Regardless, this wiki endeavors to nowadays both versions for the reader to make their ain judgement.

  2. The exact proper noun of the bridge is unknown; it’s simply known that Maidensbridge Street is named for it. Comparison with Maiden’s Leap suggests “Maiden’due south Span” as the original name.


  3. Forgotten Realms Adventures
    page 95 reports the site was occupied by trolls, then ogres, then humans, while
    Volo’due south Guide to the Sword Coast
    page 94 says it was trolls, then orcs, and so humans.

  4. The appointment 1354 DR coincides with devils occupying Dragonspear Castle, some way north of Elturel, also via portals from Avernus. However, a connection between them, or even which came first, is presently unknown.

  5. The story of the Hellriders has changed and evolved significantly in each edition. The ist– and 2nd-edition entrada settings mention “the story” of a small rescue mission of a single person “in the past” from the perspective of
    1356/1357 DR, but
    Sword Coast Charlatan’s Guide
    and
    Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus
    expand this into a major campaign only two years before the ist-edition account, which seems contradictory. It may be that the story has grown in the telling over 140 years and that elements have been misremembered or propagandized. Meanwhile, the change from rescue mission to major campaign suggests a case of “mission creep”.

  6. The date of
    Ravenloft: Strahd’south Possession
    is unknown; this date is assumed based on other works published at the same time.

  7. These woods may be Elturel’s Garden area.

  8. This is included for context. Events in Elturel at this fourth dimension are non known, just Captain’s decease or absence should be presumed to have had a significant bear on on such a Helm-defended city.

Appearances

[
]

Novels
King Pinch

Realms of Infamy: “Gallows Solar day” •
Tymora’s Luck
Adventures
Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Baldur’southward Gate: Descent into Avernus
Comics
Infernal Tides
Video Games
Ravenloft: Strahd’s Possession

Ravenloft: Stone Prophet

Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms

Referenced only

Icewind Dale

Icewind Dale: Heart of Wintertime

Baldur’s Gate Iii

Further Reading

[
]

  • Volo’southward Guide to the Sword Coast
  • Sword Coast Adventurer’due south Guide

Gallery

[
]

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