Acrid smog swirled around a barren hill from which rose like giant tombstones a pair of leaning monoliths extending more than fifty feet into the smoky red sky. Several dozen armored knights knelt in motionless reverence before the monoliths, between which a set of onyx steps led down under the hill. This was unmistakably the Tomb of the Hellriders Haruman described. The knights did not move or react in any way to the unmistakable approach of the party's war machine.

Darkwing spotted the monoliths on the horizon. "Seems we've found the tomb," he called to the others, as he steered the war machine toward the structures. "I'll close in circle around once, see if those knights make any moves with our presence."

The kneeling knights did not respond to Darkwing doing donuts in their parking lot.

"Hello down there!" Ren hailed the circle of knights from his battle station with a cheery wave. "We've come to treat with you! Hang on a second." Ren hopped down from his seat and made his way through the guts of the Demon Grinder before stepping out into the blood red dust of Avernus's endless plain. He coughed as the dust cleared, though it did nothing to diminish his smile or dampen his mood.

Darkwing knelt down beside R.O.B.I.N. "Stick with Ren and aid him if trouble arises. I'll use the advantage of elevation to provide cover from up here." The mechanical dog bark once, then bound off to follow the the halfling. As Ren addressed the knights, Robin lowered on its haunches in a defensive posture by his side.

(Did we get a long rest in there?  Or does everything reset after the level?)

Elsbeth climbed down once the behemoth of a vehicle stopped moving.  She moved up to the rear of their formation, then knelt down in reverence like the others.  Provided no interruptions, she spent a minute giving silent thanks to those that died.

Lady Caprice arrived the war machine more rested and rejuvenated than she had since they'd arrived in Avernus, and looking absolutely fabulous.  She announced, "A surprisingly pleasant diversion, but we've business to be about.  Make ready the carriage."  She took her position in one of the javelin-launchers, and considered a proper name for their engine of  destruction.

After a characteristically hellish journey, they finally found the Tomb of the Hellriders, and Lady Caprice disembarked.  A cat's-eye gleam flashed over her glittering black eyes as she surveyed the entrance and its stoic guardians.  She remarked drily, "A touch forbidding, is it not?"  Caprice joined Sir Ren and R.O.B.I.N. in awaiting answer to the hail.

Should no answer be forthcoming or any dangers made readily apparent, Lady Caprice would say to the brave knight, "It seems we shall have to see ourselves in.  Lead on, Sir Ren."

---

Detect Magic active!  A little cursory Investigation around the entrance, to look for anything concerning:

• 15:35, Today: Caprice Nathaire rolled 17 using 1d20+2.  Investigation.

The knights did not react to Ren's call, nor to Elsbeth joining them in their vigil, nor to Caprice walking past them to investigate the entrance to the crypt. She found a pair of basalt doors, their surfaces engraved with a relief of a knight locked in combat with a devil. Both wielded burning swords. There was no visible handle, lock, or other means of opening the doors.

You got a long rest on the drive.

I'm assuming your investigations so far have not involved touching either the doors or the statues.

Ren’s smile briefly waivers when he received no reply. Instead he turned his divine gaze upon the assembly and the towering basalt doors, hoping for some clue as to what they might be up against.

Divine sense

Seeing that their was no immediate threat from the knights, Darkwing caught up with the others on the ground and joined Caprice in examining the door "No obvious locks or handle. Perhaps some sort of pass phrase? Something known only to the Hell Riders?" DW asked Elsbeth.

No pings for Divine Sense.

Caprice detected Abjuration magic on the crypt doors, sorry I'm forever forgetting tp give DM results.

Elsbeth finished giving silence thanks to those who served before her.  She nodded to DW and stepped up to the door.  In a clear voice she repeated her Creed Resolute.

“I am Elsbeth Du’Crey
I serve the realm of Elturgard and the High Observer,
defend the city of Elturel body and soul,
serve all good people and the greater good,
uphold Elturgard's laws and the Creed Resolute itself, and
permit no difference in faith to come between them,
nor attribute the Companion to one god or another.”

When Elsbeth completed the Creed, the doors slowly ground open, revealing a darkened corridor wreathed in ankle-deep mist. A terrible cold emanated from the corridor, which might have been at least temporarily a welcome respite from the heat of Avernus if it did not feel supernatural and therefore unsettling.

Nothing terrible happened when the first brave soul stepped into it, however, and so the rest followed, continuing down the stone corridor until they arrived in a large, square funerary chamber. Iron burial urns were positioned reverently throughout this hall, each engraved with a noble coats-of-arms from the city of Elturel. Polished swords, lances, and shields hung from racks on the walls.

A similar corridor exited the room at the opposite side.

"Hello?" Ren queried the shadows, pausing on the threshold to the funerary chamber his voice coming back to him in faint echo. "Is anyone here?"

Presuming no response, the stout little paladin plucked up his courage and wandered around the periphery of the chamber staring up in curiosity at the various banners and armaments.

"Do you suppose we keep going?"