Tiefling

Dwelling within the hellish badlands of western Mahaad, the tieflings of Genaeth have a storied and troubled past. Long ago, their ancestors were human mages living in the region of Zhi Jian in Richia. For reasons disputed by all sides, they fled their homes, and were forced to take shelter in a region of Mahaad referred to as the Molten Coast. While there, their elders made a deal with the god Lucentius in order to survive within their new home, and in doing so were transformed into the devil-blooded tieflings.

In the current day, most of tieflings remain in the Molten Coast (which they refer to as Toketa), where they have formed an advanced arcane society boasting some of the greatest technology the world has to offer. They keep to themselves for the most part, focusing on maintaining balance between their ruling Houses and fighting against the turbulent land they chose as their home.

Basic Information

Anatomy

While tieflings match most humanoids in regards to proportions and limbs, they differ in their possession of diabolic features. They possess infernal eyes, horns and  barbed tails, and some even sport hooves or spiky protrusions.

Biological Traits

While certain aspects of their appearance are similar, many differ from one house to the next. Toketa works in a very loose caste system, with each house being required to maintain a certain occupation. This is represented in how each house has different abilities and traits.

House Jobushi are the largest, with most members ranging from 5'8 to 6'0. They typically have deep maroon skin, large cloven hooves, and long tales that end in tufts of hair or small spikes. Their horns are often large and ox-like, with front-facing horns being especially sought after. They have stockier forms than most of their kind, making them the de facto warrior-class of their kind. This house's favored weapons are the odachi (greatsword) and the tetsubo (large spiked club).

House Tetsukawa are moderately sized, with most standing between 5'2 and 5'4. They usually have dark grey skin, hooves and feet in equal measure, and medium length tails with barbed tips. Their horns are goat-like, with most coming from their forehead and curling over their heads. They are the mechanics and engineers of Toketa, with most living along the Yogankawa in the north-east. Their favored weapons are their firearms and the ararebo (small morningstar).

House Kanekashi are a little on the short side, with most being about 5'2. They have orange-yellow skin, feet being normal, and thin tails with very faint barbed tips. Their horns are dark colored and rear-facing, sometimes framing the sides of their heads. They are slightly stockier when compared to certain other houses, with many even being heavy-set. They act as the brokers, record-keepers, and bankers of Toketa, making physical activity less important than others. Their favored weapons are the kamayari (large pike) and the ono (small axe).

House Techiryu have average heights and average appearances, with skin ranging from cherry red to slight pinks, feet more common than hooves, and lithe tails with very few features. Their horns are shorter than most, originating from their foreheads and either wrapping wrapping around their heads or sticking out horizontally. They work as the masters of the flesh, meaning they work in pleasure and medical occupations. Their favored weapons are the kozuka (small dagger) and the bo staff.

House Fuhaikyo are average in height and girth, though their other features are very different. Their skin is an yellow or light green, with feet being common and tails usually being featureless and whip-like. Their horns come from their temples and often curl forward. They work the fields of Toketa to produce food for livestock and ingredients for their potions. They also work closely with House Attakai to create medicines and House Mahotsuyo to create magical items. Their preferred weapons are the kama (sickle) and the kuwa (hoe-axe).

House Kossuri are shorter than all other houses, standing an average of 5'0. Their skin are purple-red in color, with hooves and feet in equal amount and lithe, prehensile tails. Their horns are very curly yet small, with most being far smaller than other houses. They are also far more slender than most others, making them quite dexterous. This aids them immensely, as their innate illusionary powers make many of them rogues or spies, as well as a form of police and protectors of foreign affairs. Their preferred weapons are the sai (dagger) and the uchi-ne (rope-dart).

House Yukishujin are only slightly shorter than average, with most standing between 5'0 and 5'4. Their skin is a pale blue, with frequent hooves and tails ending in small bony spikes. Their horns are smooth and rear-facing, with most sticking an inch beyond the back of their head. They work primarily in the (surprisingly) cold Hellfire Mountains, mostly in the several prison-mines that frequent that range. Their preferred weapons are the naginata (small glaive) and the hankyu (short bow).

House Mahotsuyo are slightly taller than most, usually being 5'6 or taller. Their skin is a deeper blue than House Yukishujin's, with hooves and feet in equal measure and slight tails ending in large barbs. Their horns are long and straight, with most coming out of their foreheads and bending back over the tops of their heads. They are the most innately arcane, with those that invest being some of the best wizards in the world. Their preferred weapons are the yari (short spear) and arcane staves.

House Kaenomo are also on the taller side, being 5'6 on average. Their skin is a deep red or pink, with hooves being common and tails always having barbs or spikes. Their horns are long and dark, with many even boasting two pair of them. Their horns frequently surround their head like a crown. They are the de facto ruling house, making them the common leaders, rulers, and chairmen. Their preferred weapons are the traditional katana and masakari (battleaxe).

Genetics and Reproduction

Connecting to their original ancestors, tieflings reproduce like most other mammalian humanoids, with pregnancies last for nine months as well.

Growth Rate & Stages

Similar to humans, tieflings reach maturity by the age of twenty, but can live longer than most humans. Elderly tieflings aged 150 and up are certainly rare, but not unheard of.

Additional Information

Social Structure

In Toketa, ruling is dispersed among the elders of each House and the region they are set to govern. While they may be respected, any member of a House entering a region not their own hold no more sway than the lowest commoner. However, all the Houses work in tandem to govern the whole of Toketa and manage their internal trade, culminating in the most powerful House being slightly above all the others. For as long as Toketa has been united, House Kaenomo has ruled, due mostly to their central location, dominance over trade, and traditional norms.d

Facial characteristics

Most tieflings have facial features similar to many east-asians, including flat-faces, small noses, and wider cheekbones. Beyond this, they also have horns and solid-colored eyes of yellow, red, blue, orange, and occasionally pure black. It should also be noted that males facial hair is less dense than most other races, making long and thin the preferred stylings.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Due mostly to their fiendish appearance and seclusive culture, the vast majority of tieflings live in or near their homeland of Toketa. Those that do leave it are mostly the few traders that bring trade from Toketa to the world and vice-versa. Certain cities around the world also have communities of tieflings within them, creating miniature versions of their home to make the city feel familiar.

Average Intelligence

From a mixture of advanced tuition and natural abilities, the average tiefling is quite intelligent. Their fiendish intellect has been a point of pride for generations in Toketa, and their usage of advanced arcane magics also require an appropriate amount of wit and guile.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

While most of their traits are mundane, tieflings possess sight like their infernal likenesses. They can see through darkness with little issue, and a good many gain the ability to ignore darkness both magical and mundane.

Civilization and Culture

Average Technological Level

With a mixture of traditional machinery and advanced arcane knowledge, the tieflings in Toketa are one of the more advanced regions of the world. While still not even to industrial revolution levels of machinery, they are still capable of some amazing advancements, especially when compared to the more rural areas of Genaeth.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

The common language spoken by tieflings, and indeed by most of Toketa, is the complex language Tokengo. Made by mixing elements of Richese and Infernal, as well as with several centuries of very little spread, Tokengo is a difficult language for most to speak, read, or write.

History

In the distant past, many skilled magicians and arcane minds across the continent of Richia joined under several unified banners, creating small magocracy of frightening power. Over time, the surrounding nobles grew unwary of their neighbors, with many of the more religious individuals becoming unnerved by the rampant magical experimentation common among the mages. This culminated in a major catastrophe, one which united the nobles against the mages, quickly overwhelming them with their superior numbers and greater martial skill.

The mages fled to the south, staying together as long as they could to protect against the ever-growing horde of pursuers. They ultimately left Richia, fleeing into the sea atop a fleet of arcane ships. Watching their foes escape from the shore, the pursuers began to petition the gods for aid, praying for aid and assistance in attaining their revenge. The gods answered, conjuring up a titanic storm to assault the mages, blowing them off-course and sending them careening towards the turbulent waters of the Nanhaxia Channel, an almost certain death-sentence.

But against the odds, the mages steered their ships for the distant land beyond, rocketing through the channel and landing on the desolate coasts of Northern Mahaad. While they celebrated initially, many hopes were immediately crushed as they realized the land around them was no safer than the channel they just left. They found roiling elementals and violent storms, reducing their numbers every day and further pushing their leaders to desperation. Following their wits, the mages fled to the West, braving the edges of a harrowing desert and roving marauders to seek a glowing horizon. Crossing arid badlands and ashen flats, the mages entered a land of molten rivers and fiery mountains: the Glowing Coast.

Early attempts to tame this land were met with frequent failure. Air coated with ash plugged their lungs while volcanic springs gave them water boiling and acidic. They were at the end of their communal rope, with fewer than half their number that left Richia and many more leaving each day due to sickness, starvation, and fatigue. They couldn't travel further, as they found a steaming sea at the end of their journey. Hope was fading fast, until the elders were approached by a strange figure immerging from the smoky environment.

The figure came without force, and seemed to move through the blasted landscape without pause. It spoke to the elders and offered them a way to do the same. It offered to give all of the mages a way to survive their new home and bend it to their wills, in return for a small price. Facing oblivion, the elders accepted, and underwent a ritual that twisted all of their bodies into infernal mirrors of their original forms. Their skin altered, they sprouted horns, and the fires of the coast left them unaffected. When they would be met by the outer world many centuries later, they would be named Those from Below: Tieflings.

Historical Figures

The most well-known tieflings in Toketan history are the Elders, the first rulers of the Toketese Houses when they were first established. Given more power by Lucentius than their followers, the elders became similar to Saints in regards to their abilities and powers.

Jobushi Akayama: Described as a mountain of a man with un-matched martial skills, Akayama was the first Hishogan of Toketa and is still regarded as the prime example of the ideals House Jobushi hopes to emulate: honed martial skills, immaculate honor, and a boisterous personality to balance the two out. It was these traits that lead him to go missing during a conflict on the eastern border, with most saying his met an honorable death in battle and was quietly buried. While he was a master with both of his house's preferred weapons, his odachi Shinkuhaen was lost with him when he disappeared.

Tetsukawa Hatoshi: Skilled inventor and weaponsmith, Hatoshi set the standard for how House Tetsukawa was supposed to produce metalworks and machinery. He pioneered the usage of the Yogankawa to produce large amounts of iron for industry, and integrated the use of magic into smithing in a way unlike the runes of the giants or dwarven priest-smiths. As a note, the firearms commonly associated with House Tetsukawa came after his time, under the guidance of his granddaughter Tetsukawa Hiyuri.

Kanekashi Tomocho: First Kaikei of House Kanekashi, Motocho was a shrewd treasurer who managed the economy of a young Toketa like a micromanaging mother. She created the laws for minting money and taxing the masses, as well as regulating the wages for the large number of workers that allowed Toketa to actually produce crops. Many also believe that it was her idea to save on expenses by drafting fiends into labor by way of magic, though this is also said of the Elders of House Yukishuijn and House Mahostuyo.

Techiryu Yoroki: Renowned practitioner of medicine and supposed mistress of the first Kunokotei, Yoroki taught those who followed her how to properly care for the bodies and minds of others. Many accounts state that her advanced medicinal skills are one of the primary reasons why the original Houses were able to survive their harrowing trek from Richia. She also promoted ways of lowering stress and other pent-up emotions, mostly through very physical forms of expression. Be it a hospital or a brothel, any building she helped build flourished, and very likely still operates to this day.

Fuhaikyo Nokasu: Alchemist and agricultural innovator, Nokasu used his gifts from Lucentius to fertilize southwestern Toketa into the food-basket it is today. The majority of the Glowing Coast was congested with volcanic ash and toxic mineral water, meaning that very few animals could survive and ever fewer plants could be grown. Through experimentation, Nokasu discovered a way to filter the minerals from the rivers and fertilize the soil so that plentiful amounts of food, primarily rice, roots, and certain citrus fruits. This allowed his House to become farm barons, effectively providing the food for the entirety of Toketa.

Kossuri Zurui: Assassin, illusionist and scout, Zurui honed her roguish talents to become unparalleled at the mixture of magical subterfuge and traditional stealth. While her loyalties were always the most questionable among the Elders, she was shown to be a reliable agent of the Kunokotei many times over, with many gossiping that she was his true right-hand. Her followers became masters of remaining unseen and striking from the shadows, something that made them well-equipped for the mist-shrouded forests and plains they would settle along Toketa's coast.

Yukishujin Soshote: Creator of the Nankaiken style, Soshote was a calm and serene individual who focused on her own physical and spiritual balance. She brought with her the training and discipline of Richese monastic traditions, though she brought her own style of arcane force and will, culminating in her creation of the Nankaiken style. It has become a traditional style of her House, with most learning at least the basics in their youth. Her penchant for solitary meditations would also cause her to frequent the icy peaks of the the Yushitessen Mountains, a place her House now rules over.

Mahotsuyo Nobutoshi: Easily the greatest arcanist of the Elders, Nobutoshi is still regarded as one of the most accomplished wizards in the history of Genaeth. While he was already notable before he left Richia, the surrounding allies and lack of resistance in Toketa allowed him to push his magical research to new heights. This arcane superiority has become a point of pride within House Mahotsuyo, with almost any member of note being expected to follow his teachings and become wizards. His contributions to the field as a whole were great, but his particular interests included the summoning and binding of fiends, particularly devils.

Kunokotei Kaenomo Daikimi: Broker of the deal with Lucentius and first leader of the Toketans, Daikimi was regarded as a kind and intelligent man with great wisdom and even greater burdens. While it was by his decisions Toketa was settled, it was also his decisions that caused his followers no end of strife and loss, culminating in them quite literally binding themselves to a deity of tyranny and evil. While these choices left titanic weights on his soul, he was still able to effectively lead Toketa for over a century after he sealed the deal. He also began the tradition of House Kaenomo acting as the "rulers" of Toketa, despite each House managing it's own prefecture with general autonomy. Regardless, their region of Chusin-To is still regarded as the "heart" tiefling society, both in a traditional and economical sense.

Scientific Name

Homo Diaba -or- Fiendis Lumis

Lifespan

80-100

Average Height

Depends on house.

Average Weight

150 - 250 pounds

Average Physique

While tieflings overall have physiques similar to humans, the size and scale of the individual varies from one house to the next. Some are small and spritely, while others are large and muscular. 

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The skin color of a tiefling is tied to which house their ancestors were associated with. These colors range from the common reddish hues to blues, greens, and even greys. Tattoos are sometimes worn by tieflings, but are far from a cultural staple.