Demonen fanget i The Shield of the Hidden Lord. - [ ] Les og ekstraher: https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/44320/roleplaying-games/remixing-avernus-part-3b-lore-of-the-vanthampur-investigations ### Lore of Gargauth Gargauth (referred to in some ancient texts as Gargoth) is currently trapped in the _Shield of the Hidden Lord_, ~~which is being carried by High Observer Kreeg~~. A quick overview of his history: - Gargauth first rose to prominence in Hell in the early days of the Blood War when he discovered that the demon Astaroth had infiltrated Asmodeus’ court and actually managed to become Treasurer of Hell. With his deception revealed, Astaroth fled. As a reward, Asmodeus made Gargauth the new Treasurer of Hell. - Gargauth’s rise continued until he was named an Archduke, ruling over Avernus as one of the Lords of the Nine. - He was overthrown by [[Bel]], who had risen from a lowly lemure before engineering the coup that left him in charge of Avernus. (Bel, in turn, would be overthrown by [[Zariel]].) - Gargauth then chose to leave Hell and journey on the Material Plane. He became known as the Tenth Lord of the Nine, the Lost Lord of the Pit, the Hidden Lord, the Outcast, and the Lord Who Watches. - Gargauth’s ancient feud with Astaroth had never truly ended. Astaroth, for his part, had become a demigod in his own right and was on the cusp of achieving godhood itself, with a number of cults scattered across Faerûn. Gargauth sought out Astaroth and slew him before he could immanentize his divinity. (Some claimed that this was done at Asmodeus’ behest, and that Gargauth, despite having been “cast out” of Hell, was actually still loyal to Asmodeus.) - Gargauth actually assumed Astaroth’s mantle for himself, effectively impersonating the dead demon and receiving the worship of Astaroth’s cultists. It was Gargauth’s first taste of godhood. - Perhaps overconfident in his new power, Gargauth joined an alliance of the Dark Gods (Bane, Bhaal, Loviatar, and Talona) to invade Hell itself and seize it from Asmodeus. - The invasion failed. Gargauth himself was captured. Asmodeus offered him a choice between utter destruction and a pact. Gargauth chose the pact and Asmodeus bound him into the _Shield of the Hidden Lord_. In order to be freed from this bondage, Gargauth must bring thirteen cities to Hell. - The _Shield_ was then given to [[Bel]], ~~who was then in charge of the Dock of Fallen Cities (see [Part 5](https://thealexandrian.net/?p=44687); the charge has since passed to Zariel)~~. He cast Gargauth out onto the Material Plane, and Gargauth has been working on his charge ever since. (Elturel may or may not have been his first success. Perhaps cities far from the Sword Coast have been taken. Or it is possible that there are, in fact, many _Shields of the Hidden Lord_, with Gargauth’s essence refracted across a multitude of Material Planes.) - In the case of Faerûnian history, the _Shield_ has been prized by Astarothian cultists (who still hear the voice of their God in it), Dead Three cultists (who honor Gargauth for his alliance with the Dark Gods), and the Cult of Zariel ~~(see below)~~. - In one notable instance, Dead Three cultists managed to temporarily free Gargauth from the _Shield_ (or possibly just manifest his Avatar from it) as part of an assault on the Sign of the Silver Harp, an inn that was used as a gathering place for the Harpers in the 11th century. It turned out the entire affair was an elaborate trap set by Elminster and Khelben Arunsun, and Gargauth ended up defeated and back in the _Shield_. (See _[Code of the Harpers](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1560766441/digitalcomi0a-20)_, p. 27.) - In the early 14th century, Gargauth infiltrated the Knights of the Shield. The Knights had originally been dedicated to the Shield of Silvam (one of the Kuldannorar artifacts once held by the Tethyrian royal line, see _[Lands of Intrigue: Book Three](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786906979/digitalcomi0a-20)_, p. 26), but Gargauth corrupted an inner cabal of the Knights. Because the original Shield of Silvam had been lost, this inner cabal was able to create a “secret history” that Duke Tithkar Illehhune in the 9th century had brought the shield to be safeguarded by the Knights in their sanctum. Those inducted into the “inner mysteries” of the Knights believed that the Shield of the Hidden Lord was actually the Shield of Silvam, and Gargauth became the object of their veneration. - Gargauth has historically been interested in seeking out the method by which Toril was sealed from the other planes during the Time of Troubles, believing that if he could replicate this it would both free him from the _Shield_ and perhaps allow him to seize a great deal of divine power while the other powers are cut off from the Realms. His agents are reportedly scouring many ancient ruins of the Imaskari Empire, whose wizards managed long ago to partially bar the Mulhorandi and Untheric pantheons from entering the Realms (see _[Powers and Pantheons](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/078690657X/digitalcomi0a-20)_, p. 23). - Gargauth has most recently been working with the Cult of Zariel in Elturel ~~(see below)~~. The Shield was taken to Elturel by a member of the Hhune family (who were part of the inner cabal of the Knights of the Shield). **Option:** If you’d rather cleave a little closer to the established history of Gargauth — which, as we described in [Part 3](https://thealexandrian.net/?p=44317), featured him being an unfettered demigod until during or sometime after the Spellplague — simply flip him out for a completely different pit fiend with the same backstory described here. For more on Gargauth, check out Powers & Pantheons (p. 23). We’re also going with Descent Into Avernus’ version of the history between [[Bel]] and [[Zariel]]. It’s completely inverted from [Guide to Hell](https://www.dmsguild.com/product/17390/Guide-to-Hell-2e?affiliate_id=81207) (p. 39), [Book of Vile Darkness](https://www.dmsguild.com/product/3723/Book-of-Vile-Darkness-3e?affiliate_id=81207) (p. 143) [Fiendish Codex II](https://www.dmsguild.com/product/28730/Fiendish-Codex-II-Tyrants-of-the-Nine-Hells-35?affiliate_id=81207) (p. 35), and [Rise of Tiamat](https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0786965657/digitalcomi0a-20) (p. 10) in which Bel overthrew Zariel (the original Lord of Avernus!) and not the other way around, because the original version of the continuity is completely incompatible with the story of Descent Into Avernus. What I’ve done here is essentially insert Gargauth into the original role of Zariel in the story, creating a chain of succession from Gargauth to Bel to Zariel which, through the Shield, gives the PCs a window into the politics of Hell.  ~~If you want to instead maintain the “Zariel was the original ruler of Avernus” continuity, replace Zariel’s role in Descent with a different Archdevil; one of the Dark Eight would work well because they’re regularly killed and replaced (making it easy for the fallen celestial who led the Charge of the Hellriders to have become one of Avernus’ generals).~~