I think this is partially WotC's fault. The storyline picks up right after Descent Into Avernus, which was a problematic module at best. Many theorise that Baldur's Gate itself was supposed to be dragged into Avernus, but WotC chickened out and made it Elturel instead. The whole first act of DIA is set in BG for no reason, other than people love/have heard of BG. So Zevlor telling us that they're refugees from Elturel means almost nothing.
Especially because the full title of that module is "Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus" xD
It was really baffling to play through. All the setup in Act 1 in BG getting to know the factions and personalities involved, then suddenly you’re in Avernus and supposed to care about the city Elturel, that you practically know nothing about? Either drag BG to hell, or start the campaign in Elturel!
EDIT: It almost feels like WotC is hesitant to commit to anything too drastic with Faerun, after how poorly received the Spellplague was (and had to be basically retconned with the Second Sundering). That or they're just making everything super generic so it doesn't matter what the setting is.
