heard from an old, scarred Githzerai in a tavern in Sigil

“I heard you're asking about the Red Pit? Yeah, I can tell you about that. But first I want to know… why are you looking for the place. You planning to bust somebody out?

Good. I hate that place, and what they did to my brother. I'm getting ahead of myself though. I know about the Red Pit because my brother did time there. He got mixed up with the Revolutionary League, some cell that had it in for Factol Nilesia of the Mercykillers. They were planning some kind of assassination attempt, but they got caught. The entire cell got sent to the Red Pit as punishment.

That'd be the end of the story for him, except he got lucky. Real lucky. He ended up sharing a cell with this canny sharper called Zaphon. An aasimar, although what some celestial touched was doing in a prison like that I couldn't guess. Zaphon was planning an escape, it turned out, and he needed an extra pair of hands. I don't know how they did it, but they busted out of the Red Pit and fled across the plane. My brother's been living on the lam ever since. I've no idea where he is, but I can tell you this. That aasimar, Zaphon, was the only sharper anyone's ever heard of who escaped the Red Pit. I heard Zaphon holed up in some Anarchist fortress in Orthrys, the Bastion of Last Hope. If you want to know how to get in and out of that hellhole, I think you ought to seek him out.

But be warned… portals leading into Carceri are a lot more common than portals leading out. Once you get in, you'll have to work to escape yourselves. Just keep that in mind.”

Learned from Samuel, an old Planewalker in the Fated Hall of Records

“Carceri, eh? Yeah… that's a damned place to go, I tell you what. But sometimes you just gotta go places like these. I've been. Miserable place. Easy to get into. Hard to get out. But not impossible. Folk'll tell you impossible, that just ain't the case.

Once you're in Carceri, first layer… Orthrys. Swampy place. Cold and miserable. Not too much danger, though, aside from the River Styx. You see an oil black river oozing through the swamp, you steer clear if you want to remember who you are and where you came from. Lots of nasty critters, though. Fiends, Blood War patrols, and so on. Watch out for the locals, too. Petitioners, I mean. Liars. Every last one. Practiced liars. Do it so well and so often I don't think you could extract a true word out of one under torture. Can't stress this enough. You meet a local? Do not trust a word they say.

If you've got a good soul, they won't like you much anyway though. Evil plane. Hates anybody that lands on its shores, of course, but good souls the most. Don't expect a warm welcome, and don't expect even the best silver tongue to win anybody over unless you're as much of a sullen bastard as they are.

Magic. Ain't too many problems with magic, unless you're usin' Divination magic. Won't work a lick. There's a way to beat it, of course. But it's… well, it's pretty evil. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Won't even tell you how, you figure it out. If you're got half a heart you won't do it anyway.

Anyhow, you want to get out of there, you'll need to find yerself a portal in the servant's entrance to the throne room in the Palace of the Titans. It's at the top of the tallest mountain in Orthrys, above the swamp. Titans ain't too friendly, but they won't kill you on sight. Necessarily. Watch yourselves around 'em, though. Like I said before. Don't trust anybody there.

Once you pop through the portal, you'll end up on the fourth layer of Carceri, Colothys. Nasty place, but in a different way. All mountains. Either soaring peaks or deep valleys. Barely a scrap of flat land to be had there. You'll be climbin' most of your way around. Unless you stick to the trade paths, though. Usually just one narrow road, winding across the mountains, goin' over rope bridges and such. Wide enough for one man at a time, I figure. And ambushes. Ambushes up the wazoo. Trade paths are well known. Fiends and monsters of all sorts waitin' for unwary travelers there. Best keep your weapons handy. Or else git yerself some ropes and pitons. Your choice.

Anyway, once you get to Colothys you'll need to find a cave on the mountainside called Gallowshome. Can't miss it, once you're inside. Giant corpses hangin' from the ceiling. Huge, huge creatures. What they are nobody knows. Strung up by chains with links as thick around as a house. Folks live there, of course. Ain't kind folks. Won't like visitors. Best keep your weapons ready, especially if they find out you're trying to escape. They can't leave… Petitioners and all. They don't like folk who can. They'll try to stop you.

Get to the bottom of that there cave, you'll find a carpet of bones. Big ones, small ones, all sizes. Portal's right there. Can't miss it, big black obelisk with a demon face. Only way through is to pick up any bone off the floor and stick it in the mouth. Get you out of Carceri in no time flat. Assumin' you survive the trip, it's actually pretty easy.

Anyway, good luck and Lady's Grace out there. I'd say Happy Trails, but… well.. yeah. Good luck.”