Elturel

## LEGEND OF HELLRIDERS (Make this A Link?)

**THE FIRST HIGH RIDER:**

Before humans came to Elturel, the site was ruled by an Ogre Lord in a crude stone bastion atop the tor where now stands the High Hall. The Ogre Lord captured the son of **Lady Shiarra**, a local noblewoman. Lady Shiarra, seeking vengeance against the Ogre Lord, drove him out of the bastion. After the Ogre Lord was defeated, Lady Shiarra called a concord of local lordlings to the site where Shiarra’s Market now stands. These lordlings pledged fealty to each other and formed the Riders of Elturel, with Lady Shiarra as the first High Rider.

There are a variety of chivalric stories featuring the early Riders of Elturel. The most common themes include:

A **Lone Rider** heads out from the city and faces evil. Sometimes they are seeking that evil. Other times they stumble upon it in unexpectedly idyllic places.

**Romantic Tourneys** in which Riders (often with a mixture of foreign knights) face each other in various games of martial skill while sexual tension kindles between rivals. These tales usually feature a shapeshifter posing as a knight or otherwise confusing identities.

**Minor Crusades**, in which troops of Riders sally forth to save an entire community (usually in response to a plea for help). [These tales are generally told and have been shaped to support Elturel’s role as “protector” of the surrounding lands.]

## THE CHARGE OF THE HELLRIDERS (Make this A Link)

This rendition of the charge is the most common take to the famous origin of the Hellriders... An embelished tale...

**Olanthius**, the High Rider of Elturel, was often away from the High Hall, for the frontiers in those days were sore-pressed by warbands passing over the Sunset Mountains from the Goblin Marches. Fields were despoiled, livestock slaughtered, homes razed, and people dragged off to terrible fates. While Olanthius was away, a Prince of Devils came to Elturel. Cloaked in a handsome form, he insinuated himself into the High Hall as **Nothius**, a Lord of Iriaebor. Over time, he enslaved the soul of Olanthius’ love, the **Lady Yael**. As winter fell upon another year, Olanthius returned from campaign over fresh-fallen snow to discover that his lady love had been stolen away. Alack! If only he had returned a few hours earlier, Lady Yael might have been saved! Olanthius led the Riders of Elturel in a frenzied chase. When the Riders caught up with Lord Nothius, the devil revealed his true form. A great battle then commenced, which ended when Nothius opened a gateway to Hell itself and, with a cackling laugh, carried Lady Yael through it! The Riders of Elturel did not hesitate! They plunged through the gate, pursuing the devil into Hell itself!

The pursuit of Nothius now continued across the blasted plains of Avernus itself. At last, the Riders of Elturel met the armies of Hell! The Riders defeated one of the fabled blood legions and Yael was reunited with Olanthius, but as they rode back towards the portal home a second and even larger legion threatened to cut them off. Olanthius knew the only hope of escape was if this legion was delayed. He asked for volunteers to accompany him… and all the Riders did so. Therefore lots were drawn to determine the lucky few who would ride one last time at the side of their lord. Olanthius begged Yael to fly to safety, but she, too, chose to ride into battle at his side. In the face of the Riders’ charge, the legion of Avernus trembled and buckled… but did not break.

Olanthius and Yael perished on the Avernian plains. It is said that where they fell in a final, martial embrace, a spring of holy water sprung up that was poison to the devils of that land. Their sacrifice, however, bought the time the other Riders needed to escape from Hell. Overcome with grief at the loss of their glorious leader and his love, they returned to the city. Their valor was never forgotten, and from that day forward the Riders of Elturel were known as the **Hellriders.**

## *Terminology*

The High Rider is the title given to the leader of Elturgard's Hellriders. Prior to the Reign of Vampires, the High Rider was also the Lord of Elturel.

The Order of the Companion (LINK), also known as the Companions, are a paladin knighthood based out of the theocratic kingdom of Elturgard.

The Reign of Vampires *(13th of Flamerule - 2nd of Eleasis, 1444)* was a bloody and short-lived civil war in Elturel that began when the city's High Rider, Klav Ikaia, was discovered to be a vampire by High Watcher Naja Bellandi. The twenty day conflict was bloody and one-sided, until Bellandi's prayers for aid were answered with the arrival of the Companion, which burnt away the surprised vampires with its holy light.

## History

Centuries ago, the warrior **Shiarra** led a host of lordlings against an ogre lord on the bank of the River Chionthar. Following the battle, the various warriors pledged their allegiance to Shiarra, proclaiming themselves the Riders and her their High Rider. Shortly after this event, Elturel was founded, and the High Rider served as both the head of the city and the Riders, Elturel's military.

Sometime between the 9th and 10th century, High Rider **Olanthius** led a host of Riders in pursuit of the devil lord **Nothius**, who had stolen away Olanthius's love, the **Lady Yael.** This chase brought the Riders into Avernus, where the soldiers managed to defeat a legion of hell and free Lady Yael, but High Rider Olanthius, Yael, a large portion of the Riders sacrificed themselves to ensure that some of them could escape, thus earning the name Hellriders.

In 1444, High Rider **Klav Ikaia** was revealed to be a vampire by Elturel's High Watcher of Helm, **Naja Bellandi**. Exposed, Ikaia began the Reign of Vampires, a twenty day nightmare that nearly brought Elturel to its knees, were it not for the timely intervention of the Companion.

Following this event, Naja Bellandi was made the new leader of Elturel and named **High Observe**r. The subsequent High Rider was given dominion over only the Hellriders, a position further weakened by the newly formed Order of the Companion being placed above the Hellriders.