D&D 5E Question about Thavius Kreeg in Descent into Avernus (possible spoilers)

[tommybahama]

I have a question about Thavius Kreeg, the former leader of Elturel that made the bad bargain on behalf of the city. I'm not sure if I could Google this, but I want to avoid spoilers so I thought asking here might be safer for me.

So this guy is a devil, right? How the heck did a devil become leader of the city? Was he turned into a devil as a reward for conspiring to steal a whole city of souls or did nobody in Elturel have a Detect Evil spell?

If memory serves, Kreeg had an infernal contract. Does that mean devils have souls? If so, can we subdue every devil and/or demon we come across and offer to spare them if they swear to serve us in battle until Elturel is freed from Avernus? Can we build up a huge army of devils and demons to take on Zariel in an epic battle to rival the final Battle of the Five Armies in The Hobbit?!?

Okay, I doubt our DM would allow that, but I would like to know any non-spoiler background on how a devil came to lead Elturel?

 

[Mr. Patient]

Thavius Kreeg is not a devil, just an evil, weak-willed man. There are things that the PCs can do in DiA that might have an impact on his status, though. Sounds like you're actually playing it, so I don't want to go into too much more detail.

 

[tommybahama]

In the picture our DM showed us which I think was from the source book, he wasn't human either. What was he?

 

[Fenris447]

In the picture our DM showed us which I think was from the source book, he wasn't human either. What was he?

Your DM needs to read the book more closely. Tell him to go find mentions of Thavius in the campaign and read what they say. I'm not going to give things away but he showed you something that isn't accurate for where you are in the story.

 

[Mr. Patient]

Sounds like you met him again later, so I will explain more fully. When you meet him in BG, he is still human. But when he dies, Zariel rewards him by making him an amnizu.

 

[tommybahama]

In our DM's defense, we had a metagaming player that immediately killed Kreeg as soon as we saw him and took the shield off the wall. I don't know if he was forced to reveal it early because of the kicked player. I think we tried searching Kreeg or something and the DM said Kreeg jumped up and ran off, using his powers to evade us. I think he charmed one of us into blocking the door after Kreeg dashed out.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

IIRC, per the nature of devil's and their contracts (which I believe is explained in the BG: DIA book), when a mortal contracts with a devil for their soul, upon that creature's death they go to one of the hells and their essence is transformed into a lemure or some other lowest form of devil (or worse, used to fuel spells for devils or eaten or other nefarious purposes). Since they essentially transform into a low devil, there is a possibility that through dealings and deeds they may rise and eventually become pit fiends or other high powered devils, though I imagine this usually takes eons. But theoretically, if a devil is of sufficient power and has the need, a mortal's soul can start as a more powerful form of devil.

But in reference to one of your other questions, no devils and demons do not have souls, but many are souls. Those that aren't are likely far older and are more conceptual manifestations of the hells, usually along the spectrum between law and chaos.

I also really like how Keith Baker explains the nature of fiends and outsiders. Here's a good articke by him: Shavarath and the Blood War

 

[Eltab]

If you kill a devil in the Material World, its "soul" returns to The Hells and its body re-forms around it. However, if you kill a devil on its home plane, it dies indeed and stays dead. In theory you could find native devils, beat them within an inch of true death, offer to spare them so long as they serve you, and get an army.
BUT.
They are Lawful Evil and will resent you and given a chance will depart your presence, probably doing you harm (as much as they can) on the way out. Schemers will try to kill you for your impertinence. How are you going to punish the first big tough guy to try?

It is a cool idea, were I the DM I would let you create a squad this way, but I also would spend my free time thinking about how they might get themselves loose.