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• This wiki has gone to hell! From our shiny new Twitter account, we lore-tweeted during the D&D Live 2019 event for the upcoming Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus adventure. There were devils and dogs, space hamsters and squirrels, and much frantic editing, writing, and tweeting.

• Descending from Icespire Peak with arms full of Kara-Turan spells such as false tracks and Adventurers League modules from "Foulness Beneath Mulmaster" onward, Regis87, Mistress of Twitter, led an adventuring party including BadCatMan, Daranios, Moviesign, Possessed Priest, and Sir Whiteout on a descent into Avernus, first layer of the Nine Hells, to report back on what dark things they saw. What they saw was one front of the Blood War and a legion of devils—barbed devils; spined devils; black, blue, green, and white abishai; and the wasp-like advespa—as well as a night hag, some misplaced redcaps, and a wereboar. Escaping a hellfire engine, they sailed down the River Styx and from the boatman heard the story of the archdevil Zariel, arch-duchess of Avernus. They ended up at Jangling Hiter, city of chain devils, with no memory of how they got there or why…
• We also say well met to Yucateco, who told us about Zhara, a suspiciously similar priestess of Tymora; AkamirNN, who visited the Lady Luck Tavern, also dedicated to Tymora, coincidentally; MisterNiuf, who was lucky to meet Sildar Hallwinter; and IAmSithisPlays who was unlucky enough to run into a krenshar...

Featured Article

Cosmology is the study of the structure, organization, and composition of all the planes of existence, and the World Tree cosmology model was one interpretation of the multiverse, attempting to reduce the complexity and sheer volume of information into concepts that were understandable and even useful to the brave, the curious, and the ambitious. First outlined in the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, the World Tree cosmology model quickly overshadowed the previous Great Wheel model upon the discovery of an interplanar sentient tree-like being that acted as a conduit between a select group of planes. Dubbed the World Tree, it connected only to planes with the Good alignment trait and allowed passage only to those with a good and noble reason for their journey.

The concept of Inner and Outer Planes carried over from the Great Wheel model, with the Inner Planes (comprising the elemental planes plus the energy planes) remaining essentially unchanged, except they were accessed via the Astral Plane rather than the Ethereal. The Outer Planes increased in number from seventeen to twenty one and finally to twenty six, losing most of their interconnections. All Outer Plane travel was restricted to passing through the Prime Material Plane or along one of two cross-planar features: the aforementioned World Tree, or the River of Blood (formerly known as the river Styx).

Two other planes were discovered but were for all intents and purposes inaccessible to mortals: the Fugue Plane and Cynosure. Cynosure was a small demiplane that only the gods and their immortal servants could access. It was neutral ground for meetings and negotiations between the Powers. The Fugue Plane was the way station for the souls of the deceased while they awaited judgment and (hopefully) transportation to the realm of their patron deity.

New & Upcoming Releases

Ghosts of Saltmarsh by Mike Mearls and Kate Welch is a 5^th-edition Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook that updates and adapts seven sea-themed adventures from earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons. It was released on May 21^st, 2019.

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This supplement introduces the port town of Saltmarsh, the perfect starting point for a nautical campaign. Seven sea-based adventures, including the classic The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and its sequels, take characters from 1st to 12th level. Also inside are rules and DM advice for ships and sea travel, as well as deck plans for various vessels. An appendix provides rules for the new and classic monster in the adventures. Hoist your sails, pull up anchor, and set a course for adventure!

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Dragon+ 25 was released on April 25, 2019.

As well as previews for Acquisitions, Incorporated and Stranger Things, for the Forgotten Realms, it gives previews of the upcoming Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage Board Game and the Undermountain module for the Neverwinter MMO.

In Adventurers League news, it presents an upcoming non-seasonal story arc, Dreams of the Red Wizards.

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City of the Spider Queen is an adventure module set in the Forgotten Realms using the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition ruleset, and was designed by James Wyatt. It focuses on drow, the Silence of Lolth, and the cult of Kiaransalee, taking the PCs from the Dordrien crypts of Daggerdale through the Underdark to the drow outpost of Szith Morcane and finally the city of Maerimydra, to defeat the schemes of Irae T'sarran.

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The Fate of Faerûn Lies in Shadowy Darkness! Daggerdale is reeling from a sudden series of murderous drow raids. As a grave threat to the entire surface world develops in the war-torn dark elf city of Maerimydra, intrepid heroes must discover its source and destroy it, if they can. Designed to take 10th level characters as far as 18th level, City of the Spider Queen draws the heroes into the deepest reaches of the Underdark and plunges them into an epic adventure with dire consequences. 13 new monsters 13 new magic items 16-page full-color map booklet

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Today in the Realms...

...it is 16 Kythorn, or the 16th of the Time of Flowers. Selûne is a new moon . On this day:

• In 1374 DR, mercenaries from Sembia crossed the River Ashaba via the Blackfeather Bridge in Featherdale and occupied Battledale.
• In 1374 DR, the church of Lathander in Elversult, under the care of Daelegoth Orndeir, was attacked by several Princes of Shade and took heavy casualties but won the day. Daelegoth performed his second miracle, resurrecting the dead and healing the injured.
• In 1374 DR, the reptilian deity Sseth almost escaped into Chult from his imprisonment in the Abyss.

Realmslore

• Color pools were planar gateways dotted around the Astral Plane. The destination of a given pool was usually indicated by its color, such as "diamond" leading to Mechanus.
• Phoenixes were gargantuan, fiery birds from the Elemental Plane of Fire. Composed nearly entirely of fire, they were extremely long-lived because of their cycle of rebirth.
• The Upper City of Baldur's Gate was home to the city's noble families. The area was highly affluent and secure, in stark contrast to the rest of the city.
• Doc cu'o'c were Kara-Turan spirits that protected areas against evil beings. They curiously appeared as exactly one half of a human male.
• The Machine of Lum the Mad was a hugely complex artifact that produced wondrous effects based on input combinations. These effects ranged from mildly helpful to utterly ruinous.
• Dornyn Malaunger was a ruling member of Scornubel's Great Goblet crime syndicate. He was a fetchingly handsome man who collected magic swords for a sinister purpose.
• The Hengeyokai Society worked to improve the rights of hengeyokai in the land of Wa. They were somewhat hampered by internal disagreements over which direction to take.
• Korth, a lizardman gladiator from Kara-Tur, was raised in a fighting pit but eventually left to travel the world and further his studies in the art of war.

And, from the archives:

• Wyrruth, a shade ambassador to Maerimydra, was an adept negotiator who kept his post during the Kiaransaleean takeover.
• The Fang, a promontory of Aglarond, was home to embittered humans who rejected half-elf rule after Velprin's fall.
• Bowgentle's fleeting journey temporarily transported a living creature to another location, before returning them.
• Selanith L'baros was the wealthy but sadistic baroness of Herath in Dambrath who enjoyed lethal equestrian sports.
• The vuddor were specialty priests of Thard Harr, each named for a great beast of the jungle seen in a dream sent by the god.
• Stone maidens were shy, feminine beings of Zakhara, bound to areas of stone and said to result from a dao's curse.
• King Mith Barak of Iltkazar was in fact a silver dragon disguised as a dwarf, who slept for 75 years out of every century.

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