Elturel

Overview and Language

Elturel is a large city on the River Chionthar in the Western Heartlands. It was an agricultural and trade center in the mid–14th century DR and later served as the capital of Elturgard in the late 15th century DR. The city is famous for its elite mounted defenders, the Hellriders, and for the later Order of the Companion, a paladin knighthood formed under Elturgard. People and things from the city are “Elturian.” In the 1300s the local tongue Thorasta was common; Chondathan is widely spoken across the city’s history. Humans form the majority, with seasonal surges of traders and travelers. Elturel’s faiths shifted with time. In the 1300s, Helm, Chauntea, Lathander, Ilmater, Tempus, Tymora, and Waukeen were prominent. In the 1400s, Torm was the official faith of Elturgard, with strong worship of Amaunator, Lathander, Helm, and Tyr. Elturian life is orderly, devout, and oriented around service, trade, and defense.

Geography and City Layout

The city stands on a defensible bluff above a narrow, shallow reach of the Chionthar. This location provides a natural crossing for barges and a firm link to routes upriver and downriver. The Skuldask Road passes through Elturel, tying it to Thundar’s Ride in the northwest and to Berdusk and Uldoon’s Trail in the southwest. The Dusk Road runs northeast to the Trade Way at Triel. In the 1360s DR, Elturel claimed and policed farmland and ranchland along these roads and along the river, distinguishing its settled core from the surrounding wilderness.

Elturel is walled on all sides except the river frontage, with two main gates in the northwest and northeast. A canal begins at the northern falls called Maiden’s Leap, runs inside the east walls, and exits into the Chionthar, serving as both a partial moat and a barge route to the Dock District. The city has two main districts. The High District climbs the hill with narrow, winding, cobbled streets and tall stone houses; the High Hall crowns the summit and holds government offices, courts, and clergy. The Dock District spreads across the lower ground with markets, stockyards, warehouses, coster yards, and barge slips. In the late 1400s, the ravine on the hill’s northeast flank was spanned by two consecrated bridges, Torm’s Reach and Torm’s Blade, each warded against fiends and undead.

The Garden runs long and straight along the ridge from the High Hall. A spring rises in the High Hall’s cellars to feed a stream that crosses the Garden and descends at Maiden’s Leap to the canal. Paths and small bridges cross the green, and many noble houses face this reserved space. The “grand cemetery” lies at the western edge inside the walls, with monuments, mausoleums, an ossuary, and a chapel to Lathander, Torm, Helm, and Tyr.

Government, Law, and Faith

By 1356 DR, Lord Dhelt, a paladin of Helm and former Hellrider, ruled as High Rider. He emphasized clean streets, strict order, and efficient trade. Under his watch Elturel was safe and business-friendly, with firm but even-handed justice. The city herald bore the title Ironflower. In the late 1400s DR, Elturel became the seat of Elturgard, ruled by the High Observer of Torm, Thavius Kreeg. The government sought to “set Faerûn aright” by example and intervention. It kept patrols active, maintained roads and docks, and coordinated agriculture and market flow. Under Kreeg, laws grew harsh, with inquisitions and rigid penalties for irreverence and repeat offenses. Three convictions sent a criminal to the Dungeon of the Inquisitor below the city for punishment and labor.

Faith was visible in public life. Helm’s Shieldhall and the High Harvest Home were major temples in the 1300s. The Morninglord’s temple and several shrines served the faithful of Ilmater, Tempus, Tymora, and Waukeen (later rededicated to Lliira after Waukeen’s absence). A secret Malarite temple was destroyed after a violent outbreak in 1281 DR. In Elturgard’s era, Torm’s clergy led the state, but worshipers of Amaunator, Lathander, Helm, and Tyr remained active. Daily routines in the 1400s followed bells from the High Hall, since the city no longer observed normal nightfall.

Defenses, Order, and Trade

Elturel’s defenses are built on elite cavalry and disciplined policing. The Hellriders served as city guard, highway patrol, river escort, and rapid response. They maintained guardhouses in the Fields of the Dead and signal beacons through the farmlands. The High Rider and senior clergy coordinated raids and punitive actions against raiders and monsters. Hellriders tithed a tenth of their earnings to the city.

Under Elturgard, the Order of the Companion stood beside them. These paladins wore the dual-sun insignia and swore the Creed Resolute to serve the High Observer, uphold law, and avoid sectarian conflict. Many Hellriders sought elevation into the Companions. Together, they kept roads and river safe, though their zeal was known to be strict and at times intolerant. Lord Dhelt forbade thieves’ guilds; dockyards stayed orderly through a reliable handlers’ guild. In the 1300s, Elturel’s docks were among the safest in Faerûn; theft was more likely from pickpockets than from violent crime.

Elturel links river and caravan trade between Iriaebor and the Sword Coast. It buys and sells herds, meat, cheese, wool, leather, and glue from hooves and horns. Elturian Grey is a prized cheese, which drew counterfeits under similar names. Aurora’s Emporium purchased local fabric and leather for wider markets. Shiarra’s Market crowded the eastern Dock District with stalls; several farmers’ markets served the countryside. The Dragoneye Dealing Coster maintained a large yard and warehouses by the Chionthar. Inns and taverns cannot share a roof by decree; the High District holds better inns, while the Dock District provides noisier, cheaper lodgings. A Pair of Black Antlers is the best-known tavern and a common adventurers’ meeting place.

Relations, People, and Life

Elturel joined the Lords’ Alliance in the mid–14th century DR, contributing troops to distant garrisons such as Port Llast. It rivaled Scornubel through the 1300s for regional trade primacy. After forming Elturgard in the 1400s, Elturel’s rivalry shifted to Baldur’s Gate. Elturel accused the downriver port of corruption and predation on Elturian shipping; Baldur’s Gate imposed taxes on Chionthar traffic and guarded its own claims. Tension rose, but both sides avoided open war during this period.

Elturians pride themselves on riding skill. Many children dream of becoming Hellriders; many adults pursue mounted service or support trades. Elturian wizards train to cast from the saddle. Rogues most often work as brokers and appraisers rather than as street cutpurses. The High Moor Heroes’ Guild offered a legal outlet for risky expeditions and tutelage. In the Elturgard era, citizens often sought entry into the paladin orders. The Companion’s unending light suppressed much nightlife; inns kept thick curtains to help travelers sleep.

History

The site has been a stronghold since before formal records, passing from trolls to ogres to orcs and then to human lords who built and rebuilt fortifications against the threats of the High Moor and the Fields of the Dead. Elturel raised riders to keep farms safe and to answer distant alarms. In 1090 DR, Elturel’s levy marched to the Battle of Bones and was lost along with many allied forces. In 1281 DR, a Malar cult smuggled monsters into the city for a Wild Hunt; authorities destroyed the cult after bloody fighting and sealed its lair.

The Hellriders’ name is tied to a charge against fiends. Early accounts describe a rescue of comrades from Avernus. Later accounts say riders pursued devils through a gate to end raids on farms. A fuller tradition records the arrival of the rogue angel Zariel, who trained an Elturian host, including Yael, Haruman, Olanthius, and the vampire paladin Jander Sunstar. After relieving a distant settlement from a fiendish assault, Zariel led a great Ride through a gate in 1354 DR. Few returned; the rest fell or vanished in Avernus. The survivors sealed the gate and the Hellriders’ legend became a civic oath.

In the 14th century DR, Lord Dhelt survived intrigues and crises while keeping order. Elturel endured the death of Helm in 1384 DR and the Spellplague the next year. By the late 1430s DR, Elturel asserted control over neighboring lands, forming the basis of Elturgard. In 1444 DR, the High Rider was revealed as a vampire; undead spread through the city. A second sun—the Companion—appeared above Elturel and destroyed the vampire and its spawn. Thavius Kreeg, a priest of Torm, rose to prominence, took credit for the miracle, and was later acclaimed High Observer. Pilgrims, refugees, and paladins poured in. The Order of the Companion formed, and the Creed Resolute bound paladins to unity and obedience.

Kreeg faced a succession crisis when Tamal Thent and her escort disappeared near Boareskyr Bridge. He ordered Fort Tamal raised in her honor. He later sealed Fort Morninglord after its garrison vanished and its stones blackened in 1476 DR. Under his rule, Elturel became Elturgard’s capital and tightened laws. By 1489 DR, Kreeg was aging; he required Elturians to swear the Creed Resolute as well.

In 1492 DR, Kreeg lured Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard of Baldur’s Gate to Elturel. Kreeg then fled as the Companion turned black and dragged the entire city into Avernus. The device proved to be an infernal construct powered by a bound planetar, granted by Zariel to fulfill a pact Kreeg made fifty years earlier. In Avernus, Elturel hung on chains above the River Styx, bombarded by infernal lightning that raised undead amid a three-sided war of devils, demons, and survivors. Ravengard rallied the defense from the ruined High Hall. Through outside intervention and great peril, Elturel was restored to Faerûn. The return left wounds. Fear and anger flared, and many of the city’s tieflings faced exile or persecution.