How to make Hellbred work in Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

How to make Hellbred work in Eberron [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
ksbsnowowl
07-10-07, 02:50 PM First off, I've read the other two threads about placing Hellbred (from Fiendish Codex II) into Eberron, and although there isn't much, those two threads helped to spark off an idea.

I had an idea a while back for a Hellbred Eldritch Disciple that also utilized Hellfire Warlock (thus helping to represent his conflicted soul). At the time, I'd thought up a good background for the character, for a "generic" D&D setting, and I'll include that below as well.

But an opportunity has come for me to introduce a new character, and I feel this would be a lot of fun to play, but I need to get the Hellbred race, and the Hellfire Warlock, to jive with Eberron. I think I've at least got a good idea for the Hellbred.

Edit: I've yet to rewrite these character backgrounds, but a suggestion from Manyfist sparked a better idea, described below in post #8.

Here is an adaptation of the character idea, altered to attempt at fitting it in with Eberron.

The Hellbred, in his former life, was slain by a Keeper's Fang weapon, sending his soul not to Dolurrh, but instead to be trapped in a Kyber Dragonshard in the Keeper's Lair in the Demon Wastes.

His companions tracked down the whereabouts of his soul, and traveled to the depths of the Demon Wastes to free the soul of its imprisonment. They succeeded in finding his soul, and dislodging the Dragonshard from the cavern wall. That is the last thing that went right. The party's presence awoke something, and they began fleeing for their lives. They became lost in the underground caverns, and were eventually cornered by the fell beast on a precipice overlooking a magma flow. During the ensuing battle the party member holding the soul’s crystalline prison was knocked over the cliff’s edge, both he and the Dragonshard falling into the river of liquid fire.

All would have been lost for both soul and rescuer, except Fernia was coterminous with Eberron. The lava’s heat destroyed the Kyber shard and freed the imprisoned soul. Both soul and compatriot found themselves in the fiery realm of Fernia, lying at the feet of a Pit Fiend.

Uncountable time and humiliation passed. His very essence claimed as a devil’s property, the soul pleaded for any deity in the cosmos to free him from his personal hell. A god must have listened.

The Hellbred climbed his way out of the hellish fires as clerics of Dol Dorn worked to seal a rift to Fernia that had been opened to wreaked havoc on a battlefield of the Last War. The newborn Hellbred climbed through the gateway in the final moments before it was sealed, his ordeal leaving him badly injured and at the mercy of the exhausted clerics.

The Hellbred was healed and given a bed in the church’s battle encampment, and was soon evacuated to a nearby temple. He was kept under guard for several weeks, as the priests feared him, but slowly came to trust him. Entering the world with nothing but his own broken body, the Hellbred graciously accepted their guarded hospitality, and in thankfulness for the kindness he had received, devoted himself to battling the evil and hatred that had grown within him, and the evil that had imprisoned him.

He began studying with the priests, and after a time came to be accepted as one of their own. He particularly reveled in his Dol Dorn-granted ability to heal others as he himself had been healed. Progress was slow, as his appearance led him to remain behind the scenes, helping other members of the priesthood when needed, but mostly staying out of the public eye. His existence was a tad lonely at times, but at least he knew he was furthering the cause of Good here.

Then the dreams came...

At first he ignored them, thinking they were merely tormented bits of memory from his climb out of Fernia’s hellish flames. He was able to convince himself of that for a time, at least until his hands started spouting fire.

Worried of the potential damage that could be inflicted on the innocent by the coming battle for his soul, he departed the Temple of Dol Dorn, but only in a physical sense. He continued to pray and strengthen his faith, in a seemingly vain attempt at salvation.

His faith in Dol Dorn has continued to grow, and Dol Dorn has blessed him in kind. His courage to face this inner battle is strengthened by Dol Dorn himself, as the warrior deity has turned the fires of Fernia to a good purpose, allowing them to heal those in dire need.

But the dreams haven't stopped, and the claim of that Pit Fiend seems to have been true. Its evil seems to be strengthening its grip as well. Now the fire sometimes weakens him as it courses from his body; it didn't do that before. He fears his inner battle will kill him, and too soon for him to have redeemed his soul.I don’t think it’s perfect, but it’s an initial attempt.

Sadly, I don’t think the background will ever work as well as it would in a “traditional” cosmology, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Here is the original character background, for those interested: The Hellbred climbed his way out of Hell as a church of Kord worked to seal a doorway to Hell that had opened and wreaked havoc on the land. This Hellbred (Spirit Aspect) climbed through the gateway in the final moments before it was sealed, leaving him badly injured and at the mercy of the exhausted clerics.

The Hellbred was healed and given a bed in the temple, but was kept under guard for several weeks, as the priests of the temple slowly came to trust him. Entering the world with nothing but his own broken body, the Hellbred graciously accepted their guarded hospitality, and in thankfulness for the kindness he had received, devoted himself to battling the evil within him; the evil that had already condemned his soul.

He began studying with the priests, and after a time came to be accepted as one of their own. He particularly reveled in his Kord-granted ability to heal others as he himself had been healed. Progress was slow, as his appearance led him to remain behind the scenes, helping other members of the priesthood when needed, but mostly staying out of the public eye. His existence was a tad lonely at times, but at least he knew he was furthering the cause of Good here.

Then the dreams came...

At first he ignored them, thinking they were merely tormented bits of memory from his climb out of Hell. He was able to convince himself of that for a time, at least until his hands started spouting fire.

Worried of the potential damage that could be inflicted on the innocent by the coming battle for his soul, he departed the Temple of Kord, but only in a physical sense. He continued to pray and strengthen his faith, in a seemingly vain attempt at salvation.

His faith in Kord has continued to grow, and Kord has blessed him in kind. His courage to face this inner battle is strengthened by Kord himself, as the Mighty Brawler has turned the fires of Hell to a good purpose, allowing them to heal those in dire need.

But the dreams haven't stopped, and the powers of Hell seem to be strengthening their grip as well. Now the fire sometimes weakens him as it courses from his body; it didn't do that before. He fears his inner battle will kill him, and too soon for him to have redeemed his soul.
Dark_Rhapsody
07-11-07, 03:13 PM It really all depends upon your DMs take at Eberron. Are they hardcore on the distant gods and no hell/heaven idea that many enjoy in Eberron?
ksbsnowowl
07-12-07, 06:02 AM I am the DM.

We just lost a player to a job-oriented move half-way across the country, and I need to provide a method of healing for my 3 other players. Since I'll likely never get the chance to play this character (which is a shame - it's one of my favored character backgrounds I've thought up in a long while) I thought it would be fun to introduce an interesting, yet conflicted, NPC for the players to encounter, and possibly ally with.
Manyfist
07-13-07, 12:49 AM I see Hellbreds what the celestials created to fight devils on Shavarath. Traveling to Dolurrh the celestials take spirits of the dead before they're "taken in by the void" and give them redemption. Remembering only a few things about their past, the celestial army has entire ranks filled with Hellbred. They're loyal (good for good) and a renewable resource. Should a Hellbred reach a certain level (say 20), then the Hellbred is granted to leave the battlefield and their soul reclaimed.

However the Devils have also caught on to what they were doing so they created their own Hellbred to fight off the hoards of demons and the hellbred of celestials. (I put it that in Eberron souls aren't currency for the Devils and similar evil outsiders. However Hellbred are the all the rage atm, and all three powers in Shavarath use Hellbred as the currency instead. As such most Hellbred are neutral since they have to fit with in any of the three outsider armies.)
ksbsnowowl
07-13-07, 09:06 AM That's a very interesting take on it; I rather like it. It would certainly make Hellbred a more prolific race than the "once in a lifetime" chance my method employed.
Dark_Rhapsody
07-16-07, 12:00 PM I see Hellbreds what the celestials created to fight devils on Shavarath. Traveling to Dolurrh the celestials take spirits of the dead before they're "taken in by the void" and give them redemption. Remembering only a few things about their past, the celestial army has entire ranks filled with Hellbred. They're loyal (good for good) and a renewable resource. Should a Hellbred reach a certain level (say 20), then the Hellbred is granted to leave the battlefield and their soul reclaimed.

However the Devils have also caught on to what they were doing so they created their own Hellbred to fight off the hoards of demons and the hellbred of celestials. (I put it that in Eberron souls aren't currency for the Devils and similar evil outsiders. However Hellbred are the all the rage atm, and all three powers in Shavarath use Hellbred as the currency instead. As such most Hellbred are neutral since they have to fit with in any of the three outsider armies.)

That is pretty good. Genius in fact. Very good thinking.
Dvaczilla3
07-22-07, 09:35 PM I have someone in my group who is going to make a hellbred, and I had another take on it. First, many of the supplements talk about leaders during the last war trying to barter with fiends from sharravath to gain their service during the war. The stipulation could be that after the fiends helped their army out during the war on the material plane, then said mortal would then have to service the fiendish armies on Sharravath. Hellbred could also arise from someone who made a deal with a Rakasha Raja from Khyber (or some of their demonic minions), and from there you can otherwise follow the the Fiendish Codex says about Hellbred.
ksbsnowowl
07-22-07, 10:54 PM I have someone in my group who is going to make a hellbred, and I had another take on it. First, many of the supplements talk about leaders during the last war trying to barter with fiends from sharravath to gain their service during the war. The stipulation could be that after the fiends helped their army out during the war on the material plane, then said mortal would then have to service the fiendish armies on Sharravath. Hellbred could also arise from someone who made a deal with a Rakasha Raja from Khyber (or some of their demonic minions), and from there you can otherwise follow the the Fiendish Codex says about Hellbred.The problem with this is that it is fairly clear that aside from the Keeper's Lair, all mortal souls go straight to Dolurrh, no exceptions, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 gp.

I rather liked the seed Manyfist provided me with, there was just the little problem of no devils (that I could find) having plane shift. Thus, I started this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=889014), asking how to deal with that issue. I'll post the response I crafted today, so you can see what Manyfist's seed grew into...

I rather liked this idea, even though it is somewhat difficult logistically for the devils to pull off in mass numbers (none of them can plane shift, though some of the archons can).
Ask, and the great Wizards from the Coast will provide...

I just got the Monster Manual V for my birthday yesterday. Lo and behold, there is a Baatezu called a Remmanon that can plane shift at will, bringing along willing passengers. The devils are intelligent, charismatic, and manipulative, even granting devilish contracts (faustian pacts).

The Remmanon has an "... in Eberron" entry, but it is utter crap, stating they are native to the material plane, and are descendants of the Quori who invaded millenia ago... How in Dol Dorn's name does a Baatezu decend from a Quori?

Thus, I've constructed a better-fitting role for the Remmanon. They use their plane shifting and contractual abilities to secure aid for devils in the eternal war on Shavarath. Thus, like most beings of the plane, their primary goal is to further the objectives of their war.

About 20 years ago one Remmanon secured a contract that has led to the appearance of Hellbred. He was in Dolurrh, looking for ways to exploit things to further the eternal war in the devils’ favor, and he noticed a potential point of manipulation. Amnizu devils (FCII) reside on Dolurrh, and are tasked with ensuring that the souls arriving on the plane remain there forever. The problem is that pesky mortals sometimes call back the souls of the dead via magic. The Amnizus’ superiors, the Marut, become displeased with the Amnizu if they fail in their duties, allowing too many souls escape. Each Amnizu is accountable for the souls that arrive in his province of Dolurrh.

Noting this accountability, the devil introduced itself to one of the Amnizu as Remmanon. It offered a contract to the Amnizu presiding over the province of hell. He would provide the Amnizu’s province with an impenetrable prison fortress where he could imprison newly arrived souls with physical barriers and a Dimensional Anchor until such time as the soul has succumbed to the desolation of the plane, and had given up any desire to be returned to its former life. In exchange, “When a soul is needed, Remmanon may offer a soul newly arrived to Dolurrh the option to be born again to fight in an eternal war.” The soul would make the choice freely and willingly, and thus only new souls that had not succumbed to the desolation could be chosen.

Being the cunning manipulators they are, the Remmanon played as being one of dull wits. Despite his apparent dimwittedness, the Remmanon assured the Amnizu that the number of souls Remmanon can harvest could not exceed the number of souls prevented from being resurrected, held captive within hell’s new fortress. The Amnizu agreed, the contract was signed, and the Remmanon returned with a devilish work force. Soon the fortress was complete, and the Amnizu was pleased with his new security.

The Amnizu made the mistake of believing Remmanon to be the individual’s name, rather than his race. Not a day after the fortress was completed, a hundred Remmanon arrived in Dolurrh’s hell province, all cloaked in disguises. They scoured the province for new souls that had yet to be captured by the Amnizu and imprisoned in his new fortress. Those they found saw before them angelic beings offering them the chance to escape this glum imprisonment, and to be born again to fight in an eternal war against demons. Most every soul to whom they made this offer accepted.

As the souls left Dolurrh with the Remmanon, most of their memories were stripped away and left in that desolate realm. Upon reaching Shavarath, the plane bore them anew, with bodies made from the dirt, blood, and battle detritus of the plane, much as the slain devils and archons are reborn from the plane itself after their slaughter.

The reborn souls then came to realize they had been conscripted by a legion of devils. Some accepted this in stride. Both the devils and the archons fought mercilessly; did it really matter which side they were on? Others despised their new existence, tortured by the knowledge they had freely chosen to aid such creatures.

The marut did not like that an increasing number of souls were disappearing from hell province, but the contract was without flaw. So they increased their encouragement of the Amnizu of hell province to not fail in his lawful obligation. They placed a Mark of Justice upon him that would allow him to feel every pain inflicted on the escaped souls while they were absent from Dolurrh. This pain in turn has caused the Amnizu to grant a touch of protection to the hellbred released by his contract, in the hopes that he can stifle the pain that he must bear.

Not long after, a few Remmanon began offering a few hellbred soldiers as a part of contracts with beings on other planes. This is how the few hellbred on Eberron came to be in the material world.It's a rough write-up, but a good seed, I think.

It deals at least with the lawful inhabitants of Dolurrh, and being lawful, they would honor a valid contract. The failure of any lawful duty falls upon the Amnizu, and thus he is the focus of their punishment.

It also deals with the question of "where do their bodies come from?" as well as why they are not attacked by the whirling blades. (Although nothing is actually said clearly of souls becoming shades. It says visitors, implying those who arrive there temporarily via spells, etc. Either way, it remains a non-issue.)

Thus, the only unsatisfied beings in the arrangement are the Nalfeshnee (and the one unfortunate Amnizu), but I doubt the Marut would allow them to interfere with a valid contract, apart from capturing souls before they are found by the Remmanon.

So, the original question stands... is there anything stopping inter-planar travel that does not involve the material world? The only issue that comes to mind is, why then do the Quori not plane shift to another plane, and then shift to Eberron. Also similar for the Dealkyr. Maybe the Remmanon must stop over in Eberron first, but Eberron does not rebirth spirits as Shavarath does.

Like I said, it is a seed. I'll have to see where it goes.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ksbsnowowl 07-10-07, 02:50 PM	First off, I've read the other two threads about placing Hellbred (from Fiendish Codex II) into Eberron, and although there isn't much, those two threads helped to spark off an idea. I had an idea a while back for a Hellbred Eldritch Disciple that also utilized Hellfire Warlock (thus helping to represent his conflicted soul). At the time, I'd thought up a good background for the character, for a "generic" D&D setting, and I'll include that below as well. But an opportunity has come for me to introduce a new character, and I feel this would be a lot of fun to play, but I need to get the Hellbred race, and the Hellfire Warlock, to jive with Eberron. I think I've at least got a good idea for the Hellbred. Edit: I've yet to rewrite these character backgrounds, but a suggestion from Manyfist sparked a better idea, described below in post #8. Here is an adaptation of the character idea, altered to attempt at fitting it in with Eberron. The Hellbred, in his former life, was slain by a Keeper's Fang weapon, sending his soul not to Dolurrh, but instead to be trapped in a Kyber Dragonshard in the Keeper's Lair in the Demon Wastes. His companions tracked down the whereabouts of his soul, and traveled to the depths of the Demon Wastes to free the soul of its imprisonment. They succeeded in finding his soul, and dislodging the Dragonshard from the cavern wall. That is the last thing that went right. The party's presence awoke something, and they began fleeing for their lives. They became lost in the underground caverns, and were eventually cornered by the fell beast on a precipice overlooking a magma flow. During the ensuing battle the party member holding the soul’s crystalline prison was knocked over the cliff’s edge, both he and the Dragonshard falling into the river of liquid fire. All would have been lost for both soul and rescuer, except Fernia was coterminous with Eberron. The lava’s heat destroyed the Kyber shard and freed the imprisoned soul. Both soul and compatriot found themselves in the fiery realm of Fernia, lying at the feet of a Pit Fiend. Uncountable time and humiliation passed. His very essence claimed as a devil’s property, the soul pleaded for any deity in the cosmos to free him from his personal hell. A god must have listened. The Hellbred climbed his way out of the hellish fires as clerics of Dol Dorn worked to seal a rift to Fernia that had been opened to wreaked havoc on a battlefield of the Last War. The newborn Hellbred climbed through the gateway in the final moments before it was sealed, his ordeal leaving him badly injured and at the mercy of the exhausted clerics. The Hellbred was healed and given a bed in the church’s battle encampment, and was soon evacuated to a nearby temple. He was kept under guard for several weeks, as the priests feared him, but slowly came to trust him. Entering the world with nothing but his own broken body, the Hellbred graciously accepted their guarded hospitality, and in thankfulness for the kindness he had received, devoted himself to battling the evil and hatred that had grown within him, and the evil that had imprisoned him. He began studying with the priests, and after a time came to be accepted as one of their own. He particularly reveled in his Dol Dorn-granted ability to heal others as he himself had been healed. Progress was slow, as his appearance led him to remain behind the scenes, helping other members of the priesthood when needed, but mostly staying out of the public eye. His existence was a tad lonely at times, but at least he knew he was furthering the cause of Good here. Then the dreams came... At first he ignored them, thinking they were merely tormented bits of memory from his climb out of Fernia’s hellish flames. He was able to convince himself of that for a time, at least until his hands started spouting fire. Worried of the potential damage that could be inflicted on the innocent by the coming battle for his soul, he departed the Temple of Dol Dorn, but only in a physical sense. He continued to pray and strengthen his faith, in a seemingly vain attempt at salvation. His faith in Dol Dorn has continued to grow, and Dol Dorn has blessed him in kind. His courage to face this inner battle is strengthened by Dol Dorn himself, as the warrior deity has turned the fires of Fernia to a good purpose, allowing them to heal those in dire need. But the dreams haven't stopped, and the claim of that Pit Fiend seems to have been true. Its evil seems to be strengthening its grip as well. Now the fire sometimes weakens him as it courses from his body; it didn't do that before. He fears his inner battle will kill him, and too soon for him to have redeemed his soul.I don’t think it’s perfect, but it’s an initial attempt. Sadly, I don’t think the background will ever work as well as it would in a “traditional” cosmology, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Here is the original character background, for those interested: The Hellbred climbed his way out of Hell as a church of Kord worked to seal a doorway to Hell that had opened and wreaked havoc on the land. This Hellbred (Spirit Aspect) climbed through the gateway in the final moments before it was sealed, leaving him badly injured and at the mercy of the exhausted clerics. The Hellbred was healed and given a bed in the temple, but was kept under guard for several weeks, as the priests of the temple slowly came to trust him. Entering the world with nothing but his own broken body, the Hellbred graciously accepted their guarded hospitality, and in thankfulness for the kindness he had received, devoted himself to battling the evil within him; the evil that had already condemned his soul. He began studying with the priests, and after a time came to be accepted as one of their own. He particularly reveled in his Kord-granted ability to heal others as he himself had been healed. Progress was slow, as his appearance led him to remain behind the scenes, helping other members of the priesthood when needed, but mostly staying out of the public eye. His existence was a tad lonely at times, but at least he knew he was furthering the cause of Good here. Then the dreams came... At first he ignored them, thinking they were merely tormented bits of memory from his climb out of Hell. He was able to convince himself of that for a time, at least until his hands started spouting fire. Worried of the potential damage that could be inflicted on the innocent by the coming battle for his soul, he departed the Temple of Kord, but only in a physical sense. He continued to pray and strengthen his faith, in a seemingly vain attempt at salvation. His faith in Kord has continued to grow, and Kord has blessed him in kind. His courage to face this inner battle is strengthened by Kord himself, as the Mighty Brawler has turned the fires of Hell to a good purpose, allowing them to heal those in dire need. But the dreams haven't stopped, and the powers of Hell seem to be strengthening their grip as well. Now the fire sometimes weakens him as it courses from his body; it didn't do that before. He fears his inner battle will kill him, and too soon for him to have redeemed his soul.
Dark_Rhapsody 07-11-07, 03:13 PM	It really all depends upon your DMs take at Eberron. Are they hardcore on the distant gods and no hell/heaven idea that many enjoy in Eberron?
ksbsnowowl 07-12-07, 06:02 AM	I am the DM. We just lost a player to a job-oriented move half-way across the country, and I need to provide a method of healing for my 3 other players. Since I'll likely never get the chance to play this character (which is a shame - it's one of my favored character backgrounds I've thought up in a long while) I thought it would be fun to introduce an interesting, yet conflicted, NPC for the players to encounter, and possibly ally with.
Manyfist 07-13-07, 12:49 AM	I see Hellbreds what the celestials created to fight devils on Shavarath. Traveling to Dolurrh the celestials take spirits of the dead before they're "taken in by the void" and give them redemption. Remembering only a few things about their past, the celestial army has entire ranks filled with Hellbred. They're loyal (good for good) and a renewable resource. Should a Hellbred reach a certain level (say 20), then the Hellbred is granted to leave the battlefield and their soul reclaimed. However the Devils have also caught on to what they were doing so they created their own Hellbred to fight off the hoards of demons and the hellbred of celestials. (I put it that in Eberron souls aren't currency for the Devils and similar evil outsiders. However Hellbred are the all the rage atm, and all three powers in Shavarath use Hellbred as the currency instead. As such most Hellbred are neutral since they have to fit with in any of the three outsider armies.)
ksbsnowowl 07-13-07, 09:06 AM	That's a very interesting take on it; I rather like it. It would certainly make Hellbred a more prolific race than the "once in a lifetime" chance my method employed.
Dark_Rhapsody 07-16-07, 12:00 PM	I see Hellbreds what the celestials created to fight devils on Shavarath. Traveling to Dolurrh the celestials take spirits of the dead before they're "taken in by the void" and give them redemption. Remembering only a few things about their past, the celestial army has entire ranks filled with Hellbred. They're loyal (good for good) and a renewable resource. Should a Hellbred reach a certain level (say 20), then the Hellbred is granted to leave the battlefield and their soul reclaimed. However the Devils have also caught on to what they were doing so they created their own Hellbred to fight off the hoards of demons and the hellbred of celestials. (I put it that in Eberron souls aren't currency for the Devils and similar evil outsiders. However Hellbred are the all the rage atm, and all three powers in Shavarath use Hellbred as the currency instead. As such most Hellbred are neutral since they have to fit with in any of the three outsider armies.) That is pretty good. Genius in fact. Very good thinking.
Dvaczilla3 07-22-07, 09:35 PM	I have someone in my group who is going to make a hellbred, and I had another take on it. First, many of the supplements talk about leaders during the last war trying to barter with fiends from sharravath to gain their service during the war. The stipulation could be that after the fiends helped their army out during the war on the material plane, then said mortal would then have to service the fiendish armies on Sharravath. Hellbred could also arise from someone who made a deal with a Rakasha Raja from Khyber (or some of their demonic minions), and from there you can otherwise follow the the Fiendish Codex says about Hellbred.
ksbsnowowl 07-22-07, 10:54 PM	I have someone in my group who is going to make a hellbred, and I had another take on it. First, many of the supplements talk about leaders during the last war trying to barter with fiends from sharravath to gain their service during the war. The stipulation could be that after the fiends helped their army out during the war on the material plane, then said mortal would then have to service the fiendish armies on Sharravath. Hellbred could also arise from someone who made a deal with a Rakasha Raja from Khyber (or some of their demonic minions), and from there you can otherwise follow the the Fiendish Codex says about Hellbred.The problem with this is that it is fairly clear that aside from the Keeper's Lair, all mortal souls go straight to Dolurrh, no exceptions, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 gp. I rather liked the seed Manyfist provided me with, there was just the little problem of no devils (that I could find) having plane shift. Thus, I started this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=889014), asking how to deal with that issue. I'll post the response I crafted today, so you can see what Manyfist's seed grew into... I rather liked this idea, even though it is somewhat difficult logistically for the devils to pull off in mass numbers (none of them can plane shift, though some of the archons can). Ask, and the great Wizards from the Coast will provide... I just got the Monster Manual V for my birthday yesterday. Lo and behold, there is a Baatezu called a Remmanon that can plane shift at will, bringing along willing passengers. The devils are intelligent, charismatic, and manipulative, even granting devilish contracts (faustian pacts). The Remmanon has an "... in Eberron" entry, but it is utter crap, stating they are native to the material plane, and are descendants of the Quori who invaded millenia ago... How in Dol Dorn's name does a Baatezu decend from a Quori? Thus, I've constructed a better-fitting role for the Remmanon. They use their plane shifting and contractual abilities to secure aid for devils in the eternal war on Shavarath. Thus, like most beings of the plane, their primary goal is to further the objectives of their war. About 20 years ago one Remmanon secured a contract that has led to the appearance of Hellbred. He was in Dolurrh, looking for ways to exploit things to further the eternal war in the devils’ favor, and he noticed a potential point of manipulation. Amnizu devils (FCII) reside on Dolurrh, and are tasked with ensuring that the souls arriving on the plane remain there forever. The problem is that pesky mortals sometimes call back the souls of the dead via magic. The Amnizus’ superiors, the Marut, become displeased with the Amnizu if they fail in their duties, allowing too many souls escape. Each Amnizu is accountable for the souls that arrive in his province of Dolurrh. Noting this accountability, the devil introduced itself to one of the Amnizu as Remmanon. It offered a contract to the Amnizu presiding over the province of hell. He would provide the Amnizu’s province with an impenetrable prison fortress where he could imprison newly arrived souls with physical barriers and a Dimensional Anchor until such time as the soul has succumbed to the desolation of the plane, and had given up any desire to be returned to its former life. In exchange, “When a soul is needed, Remmanon may offer a soul newly arrived to Dolurrh the option to be born again to fight in an eternal war.” The soul would make the choice freely and willingly, and thus only new souls that had not succumbed to the desolation could be chosen. Being the cunning manipulators they are, the Remmanon played as being one of dull wits. Despite his apparent dimwittedness, the Remmanon assured the Amnizu that the number of souls Remmanon can harvest could not exceed the number of souls prevented from being resurrected, held captive within hell’s new fortress. The Amnizu agreed, the contract was signed, and the Remmanon returned with a devilish work force. Soon the fortress was complete, and the Amnizu was pleased with his new security. The Amnizu made the mistake of believing Remmanon to be the individual’s name, rather than his race. Not a day after the fortress was completed, a hundred Remmanon arrived in Dolurrh’s hell province, all cloaked in disguises. They scoured the province for new souls that had yet to be captured by the Amnizu and imprisoned in his new fortress. Those they found saw before them angelic beings offering them the chance to escape this glum imprisonment, and to be born again to fight in an eternal war against demons. Most every soul to whom they made this offer accepted. As the souls left Dolurrh with the Remmanon, most of their memories were stripped away and left in that desolate realm. Upon reaching Shavarath, the plane bore them anew, with bodies made from the dirt, blood, and battle detritus of the plane, much as the slain devils and archons are reborn from the plane itself after their slaughter. The reborn souls then came to realize they had been conscripted by a legion of devils. Some accepted this in stride. Both the devils and the archons fought mercilessly; did it really matter which side they were on? Others despised their new existence, tortured by the knowledge they had freely chosen to aid such creatures. The marut did not like that an increasing number of souls were disappearing from hell province, but the contract was without flaw. So they increased their encouragement of the Amnizu of hell province to not fail in his lawful obligation. They placed a Mark of Justice upon him that would allow him to feel every pain inflicted on the escaped souls while they were absent from Dolurrh. This pain in turn has caused the Amnizu to grant a touch of protection to the hellbred released by his contract, in the hopes that he can stifle the pain that he must bear. Not long after, a few Remmanon began offering a few hellbred soldiers as a part of contracts with beings on other planes. This is how the few hellbred on Eberron came to be in the material world.It's a rough write-up, but a good seed, I think. It deals at least with the lawful inhabitants of Dolurrh, and being lawful, they would honor a valid contract. The failure of any lawful duty falls upon the Amnizu, and thus he is the focus of their punishment. It also deals with the question of "where do their bodies come from?" as well as why they are not attacked by the whirling blades. (Although nothing is actually said clearly of souls becoming shades. It says visitors, implying those who arrive there temporarily via spells, etc. Either way, it remains a non-issue.) Thus, the only unsatisfied beings in the arrangement are the Nalfeshnee (and the one unfortunate Amnizu), but I doubt the Marut would allow them to interfere with a valid contract, apart from capturing souls before they are found by the Remmanon. So, the original question stands... is there anything stopping inter-planar travel that does not involve the material world? The only issue that comes to mind is, why then do the Quori not plane shift to another plane, and then shift to Eberron. Also similar for the Dealkyr. Maybe the Remmanon must stop over in Eberron first, but Eberron does not rebirth spirits as Shavarath does. Like I said, it is a seed. I'll have to see where it goes.