Tanar'ri

A typical vrock (left), marilith (left-center), balor (right-center), and hezrou (right)

## Organizations

### Pantheon(s)

Demon Princes

> "Purveyors of ill intent and creatures of utter cruelty, it's likely that the tanar'ri are the most mean-spirited and thoroughly evil monsters in existence. They view life as a nuisance. They see the living as toys to be savagely abused and then discarded. They care for nothing but themselves, and they don’t even care about themselves all that much... The tanar’ri are destructive, petty, and hateful, proud to exemplify all the worst that can come from chaos."
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> - *The Bestiarium Maleficum, Volume I: Fiends*
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**Tanar'ri** (pronounced: */tɑːˈnɑːrri/ tah-NAHR-ree*) are the dominant race of **demons** in the **Abyss**. They are evil souls warped by the raw chaos of their home into manifestations of mortal failing. Whether they arise naturally from sins and spirits, or are shaped by evil gods or other powerful demons, all tanar'ri are embodiments of vice and other depraved inner demons spawned from the darkest corners of mortal minds.

## Description

> "Why, do you know that some daemonologists still classify the multitudinous tanar’ri by type, creatively labelling them Type I fiends, Type II fiends, and so on? I can’t decide which is greater: the irony of trying to pin one of the most haphazard races in the cosmos to the wall like dead butterflies, or the arrogance of these daemonologists in thinking they could do it in the first place."
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> - Damien Aldaste
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By their very nature as beings of chaos, it is a mistake to assume that the tanar'ri have any physical traits shared across the entire race. From their skin to their organs, any sense of patterns or logical progression is absent. While a common set of standard forms appear frequently enough to give the appearance of a classification system, the truth is that for every known shape of the tanar'ri there are perhaps dozens unknown.

The only true rule behind the form of the tanar'ri is that they follow function, each shape an adaptation to the infinitely inhospitable depths of the Abyss. It is believed that some layers house particular types of tanar'ri, and that those in small secluded regions might all share the same basic forms. Furthermore, the tanar'ri are mutable, always in a state of individual evolution to grow stronger, the path of which also depends on the nature of their environment. In short, the tanar'ri form follows no ultimate pattern because the lives and lands of the tanar'ri follow no ultimate pattern, with some types being entirely unique.

Despite not following any overall rules, there are some major commonalities when it comes to the tanar'ri forms. Most tanar'ri have some humanoid features due to their close ties to the mortal realm, but many of the earliest varieties are monstrous and primeval in appearance with little if any such traits, the raw chaos of the Abyss leaving them in such bestial forms. Furthermore, many tanar'ri are also noted to share an odd feature in that parts of them seem artificial, almost mechanical in appearance. Some, like the hezrou and glabrezu for example, have half-organic plating under their flesh. These are the markings of alterations made by the sibriex to the still-developing tanar'ri long ago.

## Personality

> "Just how bad are the tanar’ri, anyway? Take the worst mortal murderer, the most amoral human monster imaginable. Now imagine all the horrors he’s committed on his victims — wearing their skin, devouring their bodies, and other unspeakable acts — and multiply that by a hundred, a thousand. That mindless callousness and disregard for others, coupled with savage delight in pain and suffering, merely scratches the surface of the tanar’ric mindset. At least mortals who commit reprehensible actions usually feel some twinge of guilt; the tanar’ri revel in the misery they inflict."
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> - *Thorek Planestrider*
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## Abilities

> "Remember, though: No two tanar’ri are exactly the same. Anyone who expects the same thing to work on all of them is a fool. Sometimes, what kills one fiend might not even wound another of the same type."
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> - *Advar's Advice VII: Pazunia and Other Abyssal Layers*
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Given the nature of the tanar'ri, the race cannot be said to have standard abilities, merely powers seen in varying frequencies. Fiends like the baatezu have far more common powers. To compensate, the various tanar'ri breeds have far more individuality in regards to their capabilities. Almost all tanar'ri have the ability to see in the dark, can create pockets of darkness around them, can telepathically communicate, and can summon various other types of tanar'ri. They also are reported to universally possess the power to teleport without error, but thanks to yugoloth tampering not even that can be said with any level of certainty.

Of the various elements and harmful substances in the universe, the tanar'ri are known to be completely immune to the effects of poison. Fire and electricity are debatably useful, ranging from not working at all on them to the tanar'ri being only partially resistant, but magic fire and lightning is normally more effective. They are also resistant to the cold and to harmful gases and acid, though magical acid normally works without fail. Magic missiles are known to be fully effective, as is the obvious holy water. In terms of weapons, magical, holy, and silver ones work well, though the more powerful tanar'ri are unbothered by silver.

Aside from these commonalities, there is perhaps no telling what an individual tanar'ri might be capable of. A given tanar'ri might be able to see in many directions at once, or use their eyes to detect heat, cold, magic, anger, peacefulness, different realities, or any other numbers of things. Some are equipped with wicked claws for rending flesh while others have serpentine appendages that can strike like a blindingly fast whip. Some powers are even less obvious than that, such as those with a strange neck and oddly shaped ears being able to create sound waves capable of collapsing earth, structures, and possibly even blood vessels.

## Combat

> "If you will doing the be fightings with tanar’ri, here is Xanxost’s best advices: Run away insteads, or brings along slaadi to help."
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> - Xanxost the Blue Slaad
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The tanar'ri are dogged combatants with a relentless ferocity allowing them to keep fighting even when badly hurt. The less intelligent ones often attack without question, and will fight to the death. However, not all tanar'ri are simplistic and predictable murderers. For example, they might angrily devour someone that threatens them, but might also take a shining to mortals that try and fail to kill them, finding their overestimation of their own abilities amusing. At the same time, this might also translate to them slaughtering the mortal, laughing as they do so.

A common trend among the tanar'ri is that most are normally reluctant to use their summoning powers. They disdain doing so not only due to their arrogance, but because they will likely be beholden to the summoner, and they loathe owing favors to each other. Only if they are in obvious, life-threatening danger will they use their power and risk such a debt, although stronger demons often do so with less hesitation.

### Warfare

The military forces of the tanar'ri consist of untold billions of fiends, though in practical terms they have no actual armies, but rather hordes. Driven forward by fierce wills and vicious cruelty, the tanar'ri normally have no strategy, simply charging at the foe with the intent to destroy them. They move without regard for anyone else among their horde, hoping to overwhelm through sheer force of numbers knowing that countless more of them are waiting to join the fight.

If the tanar'ri ever manage to work together to agree on specific tactics or a plan before fighting, they will have the capacity to destroy even their ancient baatezu enemies, but such a thing is not in their nature. Their chaotic ways notwithstanding, the tanar'ri have little capacity to use said tactics anyway, even if they feel like they need them and want to apply them. Much of this is because their incredible numbers make it practically impossible to sort them out and send them off in different directions to make calculated strikes.

Where the tanar'ri forces excell however, is in their reactivity. In the swirling conflict and chaos of a wartime scenario, the tanar'ri thrive on confusion and disorientation. Members of other military forces will try to keep track of the number and location of enemy forces, but the tanar'ri mostly don't care where they are or when so long as they can fight the enemy. Their commanders can simply respond to new problems by driving forward more soldiers to plug holes in the offensive. Furthermore, the residents of the ever-changing Abyss aren't truly caught off guard when ambushed, since the concept of preparedness or any sense of causality does not exist within them. They simply respond to intrusions the same way they handle their excursions: with lots of bodies and little thought.

## The Blood War

Vast, disorganized companies of tanar'ri hordes embark every day from the depths of the Abyss, spreading mayhem across the multiverse. Though they sometimes spread their chaos across the Middle, or even Upper planes, the focus of the demonic host is the Lower planes. Since the dawn of the tanar'ri, almost as long as the existence of the Great Wheel, they have waged war against the baatezu, continuing the ancient conflict known as the Blood War.

Some believe that the tanar'ri live only to fight the Blood War, which is true enough in some cases. Most of the strongest tanar'ri, those called the true tanar'ri, drive the war effort, pushing the rest of their race to erase the baatezu from existence. The disorderly demons fight the Blood War primarily because the true tanar'ri push this will onto them, for in their eyes the only purpose of the lower class (those often classified as "least" or "lesser" tanar'ri) is to fight the Blood War, an arrangement only they appear to benefit from. The many tanar'ri lords of the Abyss also meddle in the Blood War to varying degrees.

Some tanar'ri lords hate the baatezu with passion surpassing even the most passionate balor, throwing all their resources into the conflict, while others are actively interested in it only as a means to gain more power. Kostchtchie routinely sends murderous frost giant wizards loose on them, while Lissa'aere the Noxious's cambion, nabassu, and vrock army has stopped more than one invasion at the Abyssal borders. Alzrius, Lord of Infernal Light has his army of armanites and babaus conduct lightning-quick strikes beyond the Abyss, leaving trails of burning destruction in their wake. Even the Queen of Chaos, a non-tanar'ri demon lord, makes rare contributions, sending mobs of a subspecies of spyder-fiend tanar'ri called phisarazu to conduct raids.

At the same time, many tanar'ri lords don't care all, some locking themselves away, others preferring to scheme against their fellows, and others still wanting to end the Blood War and unite all fiends to destroy the forces of good. In truth, not all tanar'ri care much about the Blood War, with many avoiding it in favor of domestic politics. One would assume that the leaders would do all they could to promote their own race, but both the true tanar'ri and tanar'ri lords often pursue their own agendas at the cost of victory. Shaktari the Marilith Queen, for example, won legendary triumphs over the baatezu only to be imprisoned, purportedly through an unthinkable pact between archdevils and her demon lord enemies. There is no central command to coordinate the many hordes of the Abyss, and no lords agree on just how to proceed.

### Roles

It would be understandable to believe that the chaotic nature of the tanar'ri would render them incapable of forming any sort of organizational system. While this is oftentimes the case for their society as a whole, the tanar'ri ar especially devoted to violence, and thus are able to begrudingly accept rules and orders, especially when they are reinforced by threat of existential destruction.

#### Recruitment

Different types of tanar'ri play different roles in the prosecution of the Blood War, some of which are not directly combat oriented, such as recruitment and resource gathering. The surprisingly subtle glabrezu are an excellent example, for while they take only a small part in the slaughter of the Blood War, they are still frequently associated with it. Their manipulative ways draw power from other planes, sapping them of strength and souls to empower the Abyss. Conversely, alkiliths bring the Abyss to mortals rather than the other way around, spreading its hate, spite, and corruption (both physical and moral) to the multiverse. Though able to avoid recruitment by hiding in inhospitable places, they will fight when needed, and they will viciously attack any baatezu they encounter.

Succubi used to serve a similar purpose, contributing to the war effort by corrupting and killing mortals, thus getting them sent to the Abyss. They acted independently and generally answered to no one, a situation the more powerful tanar'ri tolerated due to their service. This of course ended when the majority of auccubi joined Glasya's court some time in the Era Archon. Nabassu meanwhile serve only to spread the belief that the tanar'ri are beings to be feared, entering the mortal world to kill and terrify locals. In the Outer Planes, where belief can translate to power, this duty serves to strengthen the race as a whole.

After a mortal dies and is sent to the Abyss, many will end up before a nalfeshnee, who are tasked with judging the quality of mortal spirits by their capacity for hatred and evil. Afterwards, a great majority of the new arrivals are deposited either on a layer where they will be sent to the forefront of the war, or the 1st layer, which the baatezu are hellbent on taking. Nalfeshnee do not command armies, but determine their composition by empowering or depowering new recruits, altering their forms and intelligence. Some say that the nalfeshnees truly controll the Blood War for this reason, as the success of the tanar'ri depends on the quality of recruits, their armies doomed to failure if their soldiers are not properly vetted and given forms unworthy of their wickedness.

#### Warriors

The most expendable warriors of the Blood War are the tanar'ri normally deemed to be least: the manes, dretches, and rutterkin. Of them, the rutterkin are both strongest and least utilized, as they are social outcasts. Though sometimes used as common foot soldiers and skirmishers, they often are not even given the questionable prestige of being fodder, serving only to guard their home. Weakest of the least are manes, who share the mania of the rutterkin and are first to be herded into battle, washed over the enemy in vast mobs like a controlled fire. The most "respected" of the least are the dretches, pathetic infantry important to the war. The mindless manes quickly forget their orders or how to use any weapons they are given, but dretches have some self-preservation and can understand their directives and situation.

Among the more powerful tanar'ri, several specialize in direct confrontation. Bulezau are bred to fight in the Blood War, essentially acting as much more powerful manes or dretches. They are possibly the toughest front-line troops of the tanar'ri, used as heavy infantry and assault leaders. They enthusiastically pursue the War, engaging the baatezu with frightening bloodlust and plunging into the fray with reckless abandon, their dependable refusal to retreat even when clearly doomed being highly valued. Another group of tauric tanar'ri warriors are the armanties, mobile shock cavalry that devastate the enemy with quick, repeated, aerial charges rather than relying on tactics or timing to survive. They revel in the chaos of mass combat, but are also mercenaries, favoring bloody missions with little personal risk.

The tanar'ri also have many members among them who specialize in ranged combat. Arrow demons are associated with the Blood War and — notably for tanar'ri — prefer fighting in ordered legions with several hundreds of their kin, and are fielded as such by their commanders. From behind masses of fodder they rain down barrages of missiles, often using arrows with heads made from materials able to overcome the resistances of commonly-encountered foes. Solamiths meanwhile, offer little to Blood War armies, but still find occasional employ. When not used to dispose of unwanted captives, they help to ward off extraplanar threats, acting as sentries or army artillery by hurling globs of soulfire at the enemy with great accuracy.

Other types of tanar'ri specialize in the use of stealth and subterfuge to assist in the Blood War. Barlguras use their camouflage abilities to scout ahead for the more "organized" tanar'ri forces. Though experts in surprise attacks, they actively try to avoid participation in the Blood War. Most maurezhi, meanwhile, are recruited before getting the chance to unlock their true potential, acting as skirmishers and marauders, but those who manage to mature become assassins and spies that keep an eye on the baatezu war effort. They are used to infiltrate baatezu camps undetected, stealing the forms and possibly secret plans of their foes.

Tanar'ric half-fiends also serve in the Blood War. Cambions are perhaps the most useful of those typically classified as lesser. They too are excellent spies and infiltrators, sometimes using their ability to change forms to sneak into enemy ranks and confuse the opposition, and are valued in the Blood War as assassins.

Among the most dangerous participants in the Blood War are vrocks. Though relatively weak as individuals, when vrocks act in unison, coordinating with perfect timing able to give even baatezu pause, they become the elite troops of the Abyss. They rival the bulezau in resilience, but are also mobile, letting them serve as scouts, skirmishers, aerial bombers. They gather together to unleash magical destruction.

Goristroi, meanwhile, lack magic, mobility, or coordination, but compensate with incredible strength, for they are bred for war. They are used as citadels to carry lesser tanar'ri, who ride on giant helms strapped to them, as well as being used to destroy enemy fortifications. Though practically fearless, they fear falling from great heights and so are rarely ordered to scale walls. While goristroi have to be guided into battles, the wastriliths consciously choose to take part in the Blood War (albeit only because they don't want to share the waters of the Styx with anyone, including each other). They repel invasions that come by water, gathering aquatic monsters to fight off such attacks, and take the fight to the baatezu by attacking them on their home plane.

#### Commanders

The tanar'ri recruiters of the Blood War are the babaus, who perform the integral function of roaming the Abyss and rounding up tanar'ri commonly deemed least and lesser to ensure the baatezu face as many foes as possible. They, along with glabrezus, also arrange newly arrived conscripts into motley bands, filling the ranks of their armies for the strongest tanar'ri in exchange for their own freedom (and doomed to take their place if they can't find enough). After babaus assemble armies, it falls to hezrous to oversee them. They perform the vital task of enforcing the will of the most powerful tanar'ri, turning their charges into barely manageable fighting forces and ensuring their masters' orders are heard, understood, and obeyed. They also serve as heavy troops, but are spared from near-certain death on the front-lines for their service.

While the babaus are responsible for recruitment and the hezrous for supervising troops, it falls to the chasme to patrol the Abyss and punish those guilty of dereliction, and like the other two are rewarded for this duty by not being sent to fight in the front lines. Tanar'ri pressed into serving in the Blood War are emotional;y scarred in such a way that the chasmes can track them, possibly across layers, and only death or negation by the strongest tanar'ri can free one from it. Punishment by chasme doesn't always work, as there are deserters anyway, killin deserters doesn;t have a negative impact on the war effort since the Abyss spawns seemingly infinite fiends.

Mariliths are the strategists behind the tanar'ri who devise what tactics they do manage use and have the nearly impossible task of synchronizing their activities. They formulate the complicated feints and surges of the tanar'ri, predict the next moves of their opponents, and concoct plans able to befuddle even the baatezu. But while the mariliths are the head of the tanar'ri forces, the balors are its very heart; the influence and energizing presence behind the war effort. In a sense, the balors are tanar'ric embodiments of the Blood War, their absolute devotion rousing all tanar'ri into murderous frenzies and destructive fury. They act as wandering generals, traveling throughout the Abyss and forming armies before commanding them in battle against the baatezu.

The molydei act as quartermasters and sergeants, and are responsible for ensuring that the vision behind the Blood War is not strayed from. They perform the duties of the babaus, hezrous, and chasmes, looking for new fiends to recruit, making sure those recruited stay loyal to the cause, and killing any deserters. In this capacity, they exist purely in service to the cause, and will not hesitate to destroy any tanar'ri that shirks responsibility or shows the slightest sign of infidelity. They assume all but the tanar'ri normally deemed "true" are disloyal by nature, and so rather than try to enforce doctrine they simply use constant threats and punishments on them. They exist in a weird station of their own, reporting to the balors yet also bound to report any that stray.

### Deficiencies

Unfortunately for the tanar'ri, despite their great numbers and powers, their military system has several holes from top to bottom. At the lower end, the "least" tanar'ri who make up most of the fodder will often abandon their kin under the slightest pressure. Dretches will stay in battle (being so lowly that they may consider death more favorable than further disfavor) only if a tanar'ri of around "greater" or higher status is watching them, fleeing otherwise. Despite their general lack of self-preservation, even manes can know terror and attempt to escape a Blood War death sentence, yet on the other hand, might keep fighting even when doing so proves detrimental to their own side.

Bulezaus share a similar over-aggressiveness. They perceive all non-combat activities as wastes of time, their impatience making them poor sentries or scouts. When they see an enemy, they charge. If they don't see a target, they go to find one, including in their own ranks. Though less powerful tanar'ri appreciate that the presence of bulezaus can help them slip away themselves, the creatures are also prone to murderous frenzies at the slightest provoking, regardless of consequence. They have to be carefully watched by powerful and strict commanders to make sure their units don't self-terminate, and there have been engagements where more dretches and rutterkin have been lost to bulezau rather than baatezu.

Other dangerously bloodthirsty, tanar'ri including the likes of the vrocks and goristroi, can also prove to be a liability. Vrocks, despite their capacity for teamwork, can become single-minded in their search for slaughter and unending desire to fight. Caring little for their own safety, they can be easily lured apart, and in their reckless abandon end up in extremely unfavorable situations. Goristroi meanwhile are just as likely to devour their own troops as the baatezu in the heat of battle. They are willing to snack on lesser tanar'ri that their simple minds think won't be noticed, and even the higher-ranking tanar'ri are cautious around them.

Besides cowardice or impatience, disloyalty is also an issue among the tanar'ri. Cambions sometimes set out to be unreliable on purpose out of resentment for their thankless roles, while barlugra hate other tanar'ri more than they do the baatezu, only obeying when forced. Armanites are notoriously fickle, mutinying if given orders they dislike, and they respond to a lack of plunder by deserting or rebelling even at the climax of battle. Besides their aggression, bulezau also have a rivalry with both armanites and vrocks, meaning that they refuse to work with the former and almost always try fighting the latter. "Lesser" tanar'ri sometimes gang up on babau to escape service, while chasme are so unpopular among their tanar'ri kin that they are often attacked on sight, both needing some protection from "true" tanar'ri.

Even the highest-ranking leaders of the Blood War jeopardize success through their rivalries and feuds. Both nalfeshnees and mariliths consider themselves superior to the balors, the former due to their intelligence and the latter believing that the balors are unneeded. Neither openly act on this feeling, recognizing the greater strength of the balors, but each act out in their own way. Nalfeshnees rarely let an opportunity go by where they don't try to secretly embarrass balors by foiling their plans, giving no heed to whether or not their actions hurt the war effort. Meanwhile, mariliths try to discredit the glabrezus, whose subtle trickery they hold in contempt.

### Prosecution

Before Battle

Even the chaotic tanar'ri practice the art of engagement, at least in their own way. Before they can do battle, they have to get to the battlefield (specifically the correct one). How they get there differs based on scout reports of enemy positions (which are as often as not ignored). Once ready to move, they either travel by the river Styx (hiring merrenoloths to ferry them to their location) or use gates, whether by traveling left across the Great Wheel or by moving through the Outlands to approach from an unexpected direction. Unfortunately for them, the tanar'ri lack the discipline and documentation to use gates effectively, causing logistical nightmares by swarming to get in, fighting over the key to use them, and often requiring a guide to help them find the same one twice. Because of this, they often use hired mages or scythes of plane-opening to make their own.

Sometimes the tanar'ri move between planes using Ships of Chaos, vessels of entropy formed using millions of crushed larva and bones made with the help of the Doomguard. Powered by crushed spirits and bound using fiendish enchantments, the Ships of Chaos are meant to be used as weapons of war against the baatezu, as its powers are drawn from the shifting stuff of chaos and specially designed to counter and destroy law. The ships magically disrupt baatezu formations through an effect similar to the fear inspired by dragons, making it much easier for them to be overwhelmed. Fortunately for the baatezu, tanar'ri infighting and rumors debating their range means that this minor tanar'ric advance rarely sees use, though the few that are used are a terrifying sight to behold.

There are multiple primary embarkation points for tanar'ri armies about to engage in the Blood War, one of which is the 274th layer of Durao. It is a finite and small layer of rusting iron streets, barracks, and wharves huddled upon the banks of the Styx (used to carry the troops to war) and wedged between trackless, oozing swamps. Constant tromping by thousands of demonic troops and Abyssal monsters can be heard for miles. All new recruits are sent to Durao, whether they are fiends pressed or tricked into service, hired yugoloths, or mortal slaves being made to fight for something they can't possibly understand (and few mortals are allowed to live once they saw the core of the tanar'ri war machine).

The three molydei that prowl the outskirts of Durao simply kill attempted escapees, reasoning that they will soon be replaced. The layer becomes more volatile as battle draws near and seething swarms of warriors are packed so tightly that they can do little more than stand. As crowds thicken and tanar'ri are left to fester, fights begin breaking out everywhere, scuffles turning into brawls before becoming outright battles. While inactivity can cause outbreaks of violence, however, news of a particularly gory battle prompts mass desertion, for while more cunning tanar'ri (such as hezrous and glabrezus) gleefully embrace such opportunities for bloodshed, "least" demon fodder will seek to escape. More than once the hezrou captains have had to launch invasions early simply to prevent tanar'ri armies from self-destructing.

It is difficult to estimate tanar'ri populations, but they easily outnumber the baatezu by a hundred fold, and infernal forces can very well end up in twenty to one encounters. The tanar'ri use their endless numbers in a war of attrition against the baatezu, something that the devils are incapable of winning, leading them to wage a battle of wits instead, doing most of their fighting before the battle begins. Tanar'ri are often undisciplined fighters and almost absurdly poor strategists (a single hamatula once slew half a force of 50,000 by killing troops as they squeezed into a portal one by one, forcing the leaders to retreat upon realization of what was happening). Conversely, the baatezu have unbending morale and superior tactics, as well as better equipment, strategic goals, and a mastery of military science equal to their dedication to subterfuge.

The baatezu rely on strike forces, usually made up of clever cornugons and a few barbazu, to find unguarded herds of manes and dretches and destroy them. Though success is not common, since high-ranking tanar'ri keep an eye on their fodder, it is rumored that several famous victories on their part were possible because half the enemy had been killed before hand. The tanar'ri prove to be poor infiltrators when it comes to blending in, their chaotic cores making it impossible to imitate baatezu customs. Most infiltrators either observe from afar or imitate baatezu that are spoken to more than they speak.

Fighting

The tanar'ri seized their advantage when it came to actually fighting their battles.[35] An unexpected assault left the baatezu off-guard,[36] while their well-coordinated maneuvers could be hampered in practice by uneven and unpredictable terrain that the tanar'ri were thrilled with.[117] The start of a Blood War battle normally had the lemures and nupperibos of the baatezu go against the manes and dretches of the tanar'ri, the opposing sides mixing into an indistinguishable mess. The highest ranking tanar'ri sent in the lowest rankers first to at least distract, but preferably soften, the baatezu, allowing their more powerful kin to kill the enemy more easily. The greater amounts of casualties suffered due to this method were ignored given their seemingly limitless supply of soldiers.[9][35]

After the initial assault, rows of determined and well-positioned baatezu made their stand against the wild waves of tanar'ri, who attempted to overrun the enemy faster than they could be cut down. The horde of millions of clawing demons launched themselves at their hated foe, and was mowed down by the millions by steadfast devil legions.[9][35] The baatezu did have the advantage that mob rushing was incredibly ineffective. Certain types of troops (whether due to magical resistance or other reasons) just could not hurt enemies past a certain level of power, and the baatezu could fill out their ranks to create match-ups in their favor. However, powerful fiends could still be neutralized even if unable to be directly damaged, such as if buried under choking masses of fodder, and sheer numbers was the tanar'ri specialty.[118]

The baatezu had several common strategies they used against the tanar'ri. In the Broken Wheel, the baatezu formed a line with their backs against an obstacle before letting tana'ri crash into the center, breaking the line in two, and then wheeling the halves around to join back together, leaving the tanar'ri pinned. In the Rain of Death, a deep line of seemingly weakened troops emerged in full view of the tanar'ri only for ambushing troops to flank and pin the tanar'ri in on themselves, taking advantage of their tendency to lose track of friend and foe in the heat of battle. The tanar'ri's own lack of awareness and disinterest in searching for missing units was also used against them when baatezu flanking forces could slip away from the main force without being noticed.[35][34]

However, the tanar'ri were not incapable of learning from their experiences, if infrequently.[119] For example, they knew that lightning was dangerous for the baatezu and so used it in Blood War battles whenever possible.[109] Tanar'ri commanders could experiences flashes of inspiration and decide to surround their enemies as the baatezu often did to them. Furthermore, they could learn from failed strategies that took place even centuries ago and use similar situations to their advantage.[119]

Aftermath

In the aftermath of battle, in cases where the tanar'ri won, the battlefield was often littered in random equipment. The tanar'ri rarely bothered to pick up after themselves and half the time left so quickly that there was no time to anyway.[121][122] Fortunately for them, their Abyss-forged magical weapons dissolved once the owner died, the absence of such an occurrence meaning that the weapon likely came from somewhere else.[17]

Though the tanar'ri did take prisoners, they were less likely to do so than baatezu and their security was much more relaxed. The guards of the Abyss were easily distracted by spontaneous ideas and diversions, and the wards used to prevent escape (the same used by the baatezu) were randomly placed around the camps. Like in most areas however, tanar'ri compensated for quality with quantity. Their wards were laid everywhere, they could afford to station enough guards that at least a few would notice break-outs, and the alarm prompted guards to swarm over intruders and inmates alike.[123]

Despite their numbers and battle lust, the forces of the Abyss were only able to succeed around half of the time, countered by the brilliance and determination of their opponents.[115] Beings of the Prime Material Plane, a few of them scholars, often felt that the uncountable numbers of the tanar'ri meant that they could afford to fight sloppily and still win.[12] Other planar scholars, meanwhile, argued that the baatezu weren't stupid enough to fight an unwinnable war, holding up the baatezu's commitment and certainty as evidence of the tanar'ri's finite nature. They disagreed that the tanar'ri warriors were infinite, some claiming that the tanar'ri only seemed that way due to their incredible replenishment, while others believing that only a few of their infinite number took part in the war (though others took issue with the idea of a finite subset of infinity).[120]

It was true that many tanar'ri had no stake in the Blood War, instead tormenting, corrupting, and jockeying for power,[43] but whether or not the tanar'ri were truly infinite was still a matter debated by scholars. Until it was proven so, the baatezu would continue to wear away at the tanar'ri convinced that they could succeed[120] while tanar'ri generals flocked to fight the baatezu with the unachievable goal of annihilating their foes,[43] battling across the Lower Planes and invading Avernus on a regular basis.

## Society

> "Are there laws in the Abyss? You might as well ask if there’s chaos on Baator, or order in Limbo, or evil on Elysium! Now, I’m sure that many of our friends in the venerable field of daemonology will find structure in the Abyss, but let me tell you, friends, the only kind of law among the tanar’ri is the tanar'ri. By that I mean that each fiend is a law unto itself, each seeking its own way and its own truth or deceit. The tanar’ri believe in making their own rules; that way, only they can tell when they’re breaking them."
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> - *Thorek Planestrider*
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