One of the few reliable ways to actually survive in the Abyss is to become useful to the tanar'ri. And to the tanar'ri, "useful" typically goes right along with "deadly". Though it may be surprising to Clueless, even fiends recruit mortals all the time, making use of their skills to try and gain an edge in the Blood War. Even most mercenaries rarely participate in the conflict, only engaging in a few skirmishes to help their reputation. After all, the survival rate for even powerful tanar'ri is low - what chance does a mortal have?