Quote Originally Posted by gkathellar View Post
The trouble with Lemures in particular is, well ... you don't become one. At least not normally.

When you end up in one of the Outer Planes as a petitioner, you kick around for a bit, maybe get eaten, and then turn into the lowest-ranked form of the local exemplar species. In the Abyss, that'd be a mane. In Celestia, it's a lantern archon. In Baator, it's a ... nupperibo.

See, baatezu are not actually the local exemplar species of the Nine Hells. They're an occupying army. Nupperibos are the lowest-ranking form of the Ancient Baatorians, who the baatezu fear the return of in part because the plane continues to acknowledge their legitimacy and in part because Asmodeus never actually fought them and has no idea what they're capable of (most of them are asleep beneath Cania, except for maybe Belphegor, who Asmo walks on tiptoes around). As a result, nupperibos are sent out to the front lines of the Blood War to either die or accumulate some experience points, and when they've been nicely seasoned with horror and pain but well before they're able to advance to their next form, they're ground up and made into lemures - entirely new beings, with no connection to the mortal from which they were made. In this way, the baatezu subvert Baator's natural ecosystem to feed their own regime.

Compare and contrast the Abyss, where the obyriths (ancient, primordial Chaotic Evil) have been replaced by the tanar'ri (Chaotic Evil shaped by mortal fears and hatreds) as their "legitimate" successors. Baator, unlike the Abyss, remains unconvinced.

It is possible to circumvent the grinder if you work out a deal with the baatezu before dying, in which case they can make sure you go directly to lemure, or maybe even something higher if you're got something really good to offer them for their services. But in general, it's more useful to get a nice, fat nupperibo and make some solid lemures out of it.
That's second edition lore right? In 3rd editions telling of the story, Asmodeus destroys all but one of the baatorians (Zargon) and is the undisputed master of the plane. Here, the nupperibo are a form devils are devolved into for failure.

If you're playing 5th edition, you can use either take.