Hellriders

The Hellriders (also written as HellRiders and Hell Riders ), and also known as the Riders of Elturel or simply the Riders, were an elite cavalry unit who acted as the primary armed force of the city of Elturel in the Western Heartlands in the 14 century DR. The Hellriders helped Elturel establish and maintain civilization in these harsh lands. They were one of the most renowned and well-regarded military forces in the Realms. For a city guard, they outmatched the armies of whole realms.

Organization
Around 1358 DR through 1367 DR, they numbered approximately 2000 women and men. and around 1372 DR, their number was given as 200 mounted warriors.

A typical Hellrider patrol of the mid-1300s numbered thirty warriors, with at least one cleric of Helm and led by a Marshal. They also had foot patrols of twenty warriors around the city. Travelers most often encountered the Hellriders via these patrols.

Tactics
Skilled soldiers who fought from horseback, they were typically proficient with spears or lances, composite bows or horse bows, and a long curved sabers. They could fire their bows from their backs of their horses while on the move without hindrance. Their light warhorses were mighty destriers. They were strong and well-equipped.

Activities
In addition to guarding and policing the city itself, they patrolled the lands around that were within Elturel's jurisdiction with their well-known mounted patrols. In the 1300s, this included the farmed and settled parts of the Fields of the Dead up and down the Skuldask Road and Dusk Road, and the banks and nearby reaches of the River Chionthar using their four rowing barges. Any given point on the road would be passed by a Hellrider patrol every four hours, day and night, every day. However, they could patrol and escort caravans as far as Iriaebor and Waterdeep. In the mid-1300s, significant raids, sorties, expeditions, and punitive assaults on aggressive demihumans, as well as regular patrols, were commanded by Lord Dhelt, the High Rider of Elturel, or by High Watcher of Helm Berelduin Shondar.

All around the Fields of the Dead, they established guardhouses and outposts, called Lodges, to supply the patrols, with fresh mounts kept ready and stocks of food, water, weapons, and flammables on hand. Situated at strategic sites, these Lodges were protected by stockades and strong magical wards against arson and theft, which could be bypassed by certain ward tokens. Windstream Lodge stood on Skuldask Road, southeast of Elturel, and Stone Eagle Lodge stood beside the Chionthar, west of Elturel and downstream; these marked the borders of Elturel's reach circa 1366 DR.

In the farmlands to the west, north, and east, they had warning beacons ready to light. Watchers on the roofwalks of Elturel's High Hall, home of the High Rider, were always on the lookout for returning Hellriders or the smoke or fire of the beacons.

Foot patrols were regularly sent to The Bent Helm tavern to break up brawls around 1358 DR.

Membership
All Hellriders were required to give a tenth of their earnings to Elturel's coffers.

To be a Hellrider was a job for life, no matter how short it turned out to be. Those determined to resign were given a final mission involving very difficult tasks, and even if they succeeded, and survived, they were stripped of their gear, exiled from the city, and named a heretic in the eyes of Helm, God of Guardians, for abandoning their post. In the mid-1360s DR, there were no living ex-members of the Hellriders—too many had died in battle. Lord Dhelt was a former leader of the Hellriders, but still led patrols and significant actions.

Possessions
On their commission, warriors of the Hellriders were granted a light warhorse and a suit of crimson and white plate mail armor, which was marked with an upturned crescent symbol.

Reputation
It was said that every boy and girl of Elturel and the lands around dreamed of being a Hellrider some day, 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 one as having the courage and drive to ride the Hellriders' destriers. Though they didn't all get special training, Elturians were practically raised in the saddle, learning how to ride and growing familiar with how horses behaved in any situation, even those that never became Hellriders. In turn, all true warriors of Elturel were Hellriders.

Songs told of the Hellriders' deeds and made them famous. They had a reputation for galloping out of the night to rescue farmers menaced by trolls or more horrible creatures.

Thanks to the Hellriders' vigilance, caravans and convoys of riverboats chose routes through Elturel's zone of control so they could relax their own security, if only for a day or two.

Relations
The warriors were close-knit and exceptionally loyal, both to each other and to their commanders.

History
It was said that a company of Riders had once ridden into the Hells themselves—namely Avernus, the first layer—to rescue one of their own. From this story, the Hellriders were named.

Members

 * High Rider Lord Dhelt, former leader and patrol leader
 * High Watcher Berelduin Shondar, priest of Helm and patrol leader