Hah, sorry about that! I've been DMing AD&D for close to thirty years now, so I was entirely playing through that filter with a lot of glossing over to head-canon when I had the chance to be a player and play someone's campaign for once. My personal view on the companions actually didn't change that much. I went in with some sort of apprehension that the game and its characters may be too Wizards of the Coast-D&D for me to indulge in, but found the characters and their stories very enjoyable and suitable for a Forgotten Realms-campaign. While I was trying to find the story I want to tell with Sava, I don't think I heaped too many expectations on the companions. Maybe some of my character's disappointment with the Blade of Avernus was my own, though.
The Nine Hells, let alone the banks of the Styx, would hardly be the turf of a mortal first-level ranger in earlier editions, even with a big wolf, Karlach and Hope.
Up until that point I thought his story was solid!
