Tiefling
To be greeted with stares and whispers, to suffer violence and insult on the street, to see mistrust and fear in every eye: this is the lot of the tiefling. And to twist the knife, tieflings know that this is because a pact struck generations ago infused the essence of Asmodeus—overlord of the Nine Hells—into their bloodline. Their appearance and their nature are not their fault but the result of an ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children’s children will always be held accountable.
Infernal Bloodline
Tieflings are derived from human bloodlines, and in the broadest possible sense, they still look human. However, their infernal heritage has left a clear imprint on their appearance. Tieflings have large horns that take any of a variety of shapes: some have curling horns like a ram, others have straight and tall horns like a gazelle’s, and some spiral upward like an antelopes’ horns. They have thick tails, four to five feet long, which lash or coil around their legs when they get upset or nervous. Their canine teeth are sharply pointed, and their eyes are solid colors—black, red, white, silver, or gold—with no visible sclera or pupil. Their skin tones cover the full range of human coloration, but also include various shades of red. Their hair, cascading down from behind their horns, is usually dark, from black or brown to dark red, blue, or purple.Self-Reliant and Suspicious
Tieflings subsist in small minorities found mostly in human cities or towns, often in the roughest quarters of those places, where they grow up to be swindlers, thieves, or crime lords. Sometimes they live among other minority populations in enclaves where they are treated with more respect. Lacking a homeland, tieflings know that they have to make their own way in the world and that they have to be strong to survive. They are not quick to trust anyone who claims to be a friend, but when a tiefling’s companions demonstrate that they trust him or her, the tiefling learns to extend the same trust to them. And once a tiefling gives someone loyalty, the tiefling is a firm friend or ally for life.Basic Information
Biological Traits
Tieflings vary wildly depending on their human and demonic ancestors, respectfully. Tieflings mostly resemble humans with similar heights and builds. Their skin colors varying from the typical range of humans to deep reds and purples the most distinctive difference comes directly from their demonic lineage; horns, fangs, claws and tails betraying their inhumane origins.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Tiefling names fall into three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal language, passed down through generations, that reflect their fiendish heritage. And some younger tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, adopt a name that signifies a virtue or other concept and then try to embody that concept. For some, the chosen name is a noble quest. For others, it’s a grim destiny.
Male Infernal Names: Akmenos, Amnon, Barakas, Damakos, Ekemon, Iados, Kairon, Leucis, Melech, Mordai, Morthos, Pelaios, Skamos, Therai
Female Infernal Names: Akta, Anakis, Bryseis, Criella, Damaia, Ea, Kallista, Lerissa, Makaria, Nemeia, Orianna, Phelaia, Rieta
“Virtue” Names: Art, Carrion, Chant, Creed, Despair, Excellence, Fear, Glory, Hope, Ideal, Music, Nowhere, Open, Poetry, Quest, Random, Reverence, Sorrow, Temerity, Torment, Weary
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Like other races that are the result of crossbreeding, tieflings have no true culture they could call their own. However, there are many archetypal features of tieflings that are not necessarily innate. This includes their attitude regarding their heritage, and while some tieflings embrace it, others are repulsed by it, forging the two most common stereotypes of tieflings.
The former tieflings, who are proud of their fiendish past, are often fascinated by the dark and sinister events that touched the world, but are not necessarily evil or inclined to perpetuate them. Some tieflings of this type chose to use their knowledge of evil and their own fiendish abilities to thwart these dark plots and schemes. Others sought to learn more and to emulate these evil deeds.
Other tieflings are ashamed or even frightened of their heritage and wish only to escape the shadow that lurked over them as a result. Some do this through constantly doing good, as though to make up for the evil that begot them. Others instead hide and try to go unnoticed as they pass through the world, preferring to be ignored and forgotten than noticed and made a target because of their past.
Regardless of their motivations, tieflings often distrust one another, sometimes even casting the same preconceptions on one another that others did on them. In spite of this, many secretly desire to have another tiefling nearby, if only to experience some small kind of kinship. Some of these tieflings gather as partners-in-crime, while others were sought out by good tieflings who hope to redeem others of their race.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Tieflings, in general, don't get along well with the other races of the world and are slow to trust others of any race, even their own. This animosity that tieflings have for others is taken to its extreme in the case of aasimar, whom tieflings instinctively feared or loathed. Devas often had a similar reaction, making it difficult for members of either race to successfully interact with each other. Of all the common races, tieflings felt the most kinship with half-orcs, who were similarly a target of revulsion and hate.
Lifespan
135 years
Average Height
4'11" - 6'2"
Average Weight
115-250lbs
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