Tiefling (Teef-ling)

The product of mingling mortal and fiendish blood lines, tieflings are the most misunderstood and the most hated of the plane-touched. When someone in the family, generations or several centuries ago, makes a deal with an evil and corrupting power it will often infuse the essence of the lower planes into their bloodline. As such tieflings are not at fault for their appearance and their nature but the result of an ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children’s children will always be held accountable. Though their evil ancestry can be several generations removed, the fiendish taint still persist. Often they tend to have an unsettling air about them, and most people are uncomfortable around them, whether they were aware of the tieflings unsavory ancestry or not. While some look like normal mortals, most retain physical characteristics derived from their ancestor, with the most common such features being horns, non-prehensile tails, and pointed teeth. Some also have eyes that are solid orbs of black, red, white, silver, or gold, while others have eyes more similar to those of their mortal parents. Their skin was usually similar in color to their parent race, though extending past normal colors into reddish and darker hues as well. Tiefling hair is often the same color as their mortal parents, though dark blue, red, or purple are common shades amongst the race. Although it was not always the case, tieflings tend to have better reflexes than their mortal kin. This, along with their natural propensity for hiding and deceit, helped to give tiefling a reputation for thievery and duplicity. Other, more unusual characteristics include a sulfurous odor, cloven feet, or a general aura of discomfort they leave on others. Though possible to occur among any mortal race on Andoros, teiflings are often born into human families. Teiflings can live anywhere between 80 to 100 more years than their mortal counterparts.
The birth of a tiefling is almost always a bad omen in society. Families with tiefling children are often ridiculed and shunned. As a result any are often orphaned and some are even killed at birth. Those who do survive often will face hatred and physical violence from the public and even their parents. Few are raised with the love a normal child might expect to receive and this shapes most of the race into bitter individuals who expect eventual rejection from all whom they meet. While some follow this path towards evil, others reject it wholeheartedly and strive to make a good impact on the world around them, sometimes becoming the most heroic characters of all. Few can maintain this discipline however, and most tieflings fall somewhere between both extremes.
Because tieflings are generally distrusted throughout the world, owing to their fiendish heritage, many are themselves distrusting and self-reliant. Tieflings are also proud and secretive by nature and possess a dark demeanor. Unfortunately, this only helps to further the reputation tieflings have for being social outcasts and untrustworthy scoundrels. However, members of other races will find that once they demonstrate friendship and trust towards a tiefling, it will quickly be reciprocated in full. Once that bond is forged, it is rarely broken.
Tieflings make talented warriors. In melee combat they are agile and quick on their feet. However most seek arcane power. Many become warlocks, strengthening or calling upon the pact made by their ancestors. Many also seek to strengthen the power innate to their fiendish blood, becoming powerful sorcerers. And tiefling wizards feel a draw towards the fiendish energies of the planes and commonly specialize as diviners for the purposes of seeking knowledge of the Lower Planes or as conjurers so that they might summon the dark spirits whom they call kin.