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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The 1 and the Prime" data-source="post: 5219348" data-attributes="member: 91434">While there are many technically distinct ways to earn the "chains" in Baator, these boil down into only a couple practical distinctions: First, you can sell yourself into bondage in exchange for something. Typically, hostages are used as a means to secure contracts in Baator, especially between parties in separate Hells, but there are also cases where a person voluntarily serves in the "chains" in exchange for a contracted gain either before or after service (needless to say, one must have an ironclad contract in Baator to ensure that the sought after gains will be delivered). Seeing as your PCs probably have not had dealings with the Devils and are getting nothing in return for their hostage, the Baatezu were probably attempting an arrest under a Hell Law. This is the other way to end up in the "chains" of the Hells. Certain enemies of the Hells are declared fair game for slaving raids, however this is not the case with any of the humanoid natives of Faerun. The Baatezu do not think it is worth the additional conflict with the powerful being of that world simply to recruit more forced labor, it is already in plentiful supply. In areas where Baatezu slaving is permitted by their Hell Law, the Baatezu mercilessly run amok (well, as amok as they get when operating at peak ruthless organized efficiency), typically destroying entire civilizations. Additionally, this PC seems too martially adept to make a good slave, they'd probably kill him rather than risk his transportation if all they were after was some forced labor.Therefore this PC was probably arrested for a specific charge against a Hell Law. Seeing as the PCs probably have had little contact with Baatezu prior to this, we have finally narrowed down the most likely scenario for why this PC was abducted: mistaken identity.Likely the PC simply resembles a description of a known criminal wanted in one of the Hells, or that the PC was artfully set up to match a (false) description of such a criminal given by a yet unmentioned third party. This is the only reasonable explanation for why they did not take the most efficient route of killing him on the spot. Now it is up to the rest of the PCs to navigate the bureaucracy of Hell to get this straightened out. If I may offer a word of advice to your PCs: the Devils are evil and selfish, but they are not uncivilized. This should be approached more with the flavor of a trip to the DMV (from HELL) rather than a prison break by frontal assault. The Baatezu have bigger nastier things trying to break their prison systems than a bunch of 10th level humanoids from the Prime, and a direct assault would prove very deadly. Nevertheless, a little bureaucrat arm twisting may help if it is done with subtlety, but the sure-er method to get your way would be bribes not threats. Remember, the Baatezu are selfish in addition to being lawful. Still, it should be a challenge to convince the bureaucracy that they have made a mistake and arrested the wrong guy. To get the PCs started: they'll need to request a form 666-b from the appropriate window at the Bureaucracy of Dis and fill it out in order to get the instruction manual for form 666-a, the form required to request the general catalog of hellish forms and orders.As far as Tiamat goes: the Gate is actually inside her complex within Azharul. It is off in a side corridor and the main audience chamber of Tiamat is actually in an entirely different wing of the complex. Keep in mind that Dis, like any city, is hardly self-sufficient and engages in brisk trade with the outside world. My advice would be to see if they can work out a deal with one of the caravans of night-hag traders that regularly herd swarms of larvae through Tiamat's lair into Dis (they'd probably want help protecting the valuable larvae from getting stolen by some of the many larvae-rustlers in the lower planes). The "chains" of Baator are not actually a literal set of chains most of the time. It is in fact a small magical device that is affixed to the affected creature, usually by implantation in the skin, which shuts down motor control and administers pain when that creature attempts to enact most violations of a Hell's Law. Specifically, it forces the creature to obey verbal commands from any un-"chained" Baatezu (technically, a chained Baatezu would be unable to utter orders unless they were originally made by an unchained Baatezu up the line somewhere) and prevents the "chained" from fleeing under their own power. This allows most "prisoners" of the Hells to be unconfined, saving the Hells the effort of construction of prisons and making the prisoners more useful as servants.</blockquote>

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