During the war against the Adversary, Conrad found himself near death. A being named The Corinthian saved his life in return for Conrad signing a Contract. It was later revealed that The Corinthian was a Throne Archon in service to Baator. Lucien was able to protect any immediate move against Conrad and to provide protection for his family. However the Contract remained. When news was received that the Paladin Lord, Marcus of Arden, was defeated and his soul trapped in Baator, the time had come to act.

Conrad's first step was to ask Lucien to prepare a Life Crystal containing all of his memories and feelings. He knew the danger that he faced and wanted Bronwyn, Lucy and Becca - his wife and daughters - to have something by which to remember him.

His next move was to travel to Arcadia and Mount Olympus. He found the Greek pantheon and Aphrodite. He told the goddess of Love of the danger he intended to face in order to save the souls of his wife and daughters. He promised the goddess an epic to be sung by bards across the Planes if she would provide help. Aphrodite agreed. Her uncle, Hades, had power in the Lower Planes and would provide Conrad with assistance.

Lucien had made further preparations. By calling in favours, he arranged contacts on the first six layers of Baator and also intelligence to give Conrad a hope of succeeding. Conrad was to be accompanied by Saul and Katherine, the son and daughter of Marcus. A force of ten Norse warriors were also to act as guards and an assault force. To succeed in their mission the group must first reach the Fourth Layer and discover where Marcus' soul was held - a spell spoken by Conrad, Saul or Katherine would set him free. The Corinthian served Baalzebul of the Seventh Layer, but held the Contract on the Ninth. To be free of the Contract Conrad must either be in possession of the master copy, get The Corinthian to cancel the Contract, or the Corinthian must be dead.

The heroes met in Ribcage. The Norsemen had brought an artefact - Grendle's Heart - which could be used to bribe their way past Tiamat to get from the First Layer to the Second. A common gate took them from Ribcage to Avernus, the First Layer. A few encounters with Baatezu patrols were handled by the warriors before the group reached the Bronze Citadel. Lucien had arranged contact with a Keeper of Tiamat's Lair who guided the party past her consorts and the bargain to allow passage was made.

In Dis, the Second Layer, Conrad met with an erinyes servant of Dispater. It was here that Conrad first began to embrace the deception and bargaining of Baator, using assumed names and promises. The erinyes brought them to the Iron Tower and a chance to bargain with agents of Dispater. Conrad's proposal was that he intended to expose The Corinthian as a traitor to Baator. He could do this in such a manner as to implicate Baalzebul, also a Fallen Celestial. This would allow Mephistopheles, Lord of the Eighth Layer and an ally of Dispater, to dispose of the Lord of the Seventh. All Conrad asked was permission to travel from Dis to the Third Layer and a token to gain access to Grenpoli - the city of infernal politics. The deal was accepted. On their way from the Tower, Saul caused a fight in response to some insult. A running battle was fought to reach the portal during which three of the Norsemen fell behind.

Travel through Minauros, the Third Layer, was not pleasant. Conrad was furious with Saul for the fight in Dis, and Saul angered at Conrad's use of deceit. Several of the remaining Norsemen became ill in the swamps while the group waited for their contact. When the contact arrived he provided a map of a safe route to a city on the next layer. Conrad did not trust the agent and murdered him in a sneak attack at the conclusion of their meeting.

On Phlegethos, the Fourth Layer, time was spent lying low in the fortified city of Abriymoch. Conrad and Kate spent their days gradually gathering information about the Paladin assault lead by Marcus and about the layout of the ruler's palace. Their contact was a mercenary slave trader who sold soul's as fodder in the Blood War. Eventually Conrad came up with a plan to penetrate the ruler's fortress palace and free Marcus' soul. The group got quite far before being discovered. Saul and the Norsemen fought off the guards while Conrad and Kate made it to the treasure chamber and completed the spell to release the trapped soul. Realising the warriors were doomed, Conrad left them to die (a Petitioner's Ring ensured Saul's soul could not be trapped) and dragged Kate with him in a frantic escape. To reach the next layer they had to leave the city and enter the fiery plane - a journey which left Katharine very badly burned.

Conrad and Katherine travelled quickly through Stygia, the Fifth Layer. Their contact was a planar trader whose caravan provided escort to a route to the next lowest Layer.

Progress across Malbolge, the Sixth Layer, was slow and dangerous. Their contact, a servant of the Hag Countess, brought word that agents of The Corinthian were aware of Conrad's presence and had arranged an ambush near the normal route down. He was prepared to show them another route, but only after Conrad returned to Stygia and captured a number of larvae petitioners as a tribute to the Hag Countess.

Nobody is entirely certain of what occurred on Maladomini, the Seventh Layer. Katherine was ordered to remain in hiding while Conrad entered Grenpoli using Dispater's token. The rough details of the plan were to meet an agent of Mephistopheles, Lord of the Eighth, under an assumed identity. Conrad would trade a forged Baatorian contract, which implicated The Corinthian in deals with Mount Celestia, for the master copy of his own Contract with The Corinthian. Mephistopeles could use this advantage against Baalzebul, Lord of the Seventh. How this would be accomplished is unclear as Conrad had become incredibly secretive towards Katherine. The culmination of his plot required her to wait outside a tower in Grenpoli. Conrad burst through a tall window and threw her the Contract - behind him she caught a glimpse of The Corinthian, agents of Baalzebul, Mephistopheles and Dispater, before a mass fight erupted. Conrad and Katherine never looked back as they fled. Agents of Baator pursued and launched attacks, but the thieves survived collateral damage and kept running. Outside the city they first met a lawyer from Ribcage and then were met by Charon - the most powerful of the mysterious ferrymen with power to control the River Styx. He had been sent by Hades, at the request of Aphrodite, to provide the escape from Baator.

Charon took Conrad and Katherine along the Styx to the Grey Wastes of Hades, to the layer of Oinos close to access to the gate town of Hopeless. Conrad placed his swords in a secure box which he handed to Katherine. He made her promise to bring it to a place of safety in Sigil and asked her to help him return to Morden. Katherine was confused by the request but agreed. Conrad then bent down and drank from the river. As all memory and regret left him, he disappeared- forced out by the nature of the Plane.