Tieflings
Classification: Common Race
Of all the Common Races, Tieflings are perhaps the most reviled. A direct result of an individual's interaction with the nefarious races of Devils, a Tiefling is a living brand of a family's willing cooperation with a race that is seen as nearly unanimously evil in nature. A Tiefling birth in a family is often a stain on that family's name, and as such, nearly all Tieflings are abandoned at birth, shunned and cast out into the world so that, perhaps, more "proper" folk won't notice a family has ties to the dark forces.
A Tiefling can be born to parents of any of the traditionally "civilized" humanoid races, but are a race entirely of their own. Whether a Tiefling's parents are Elven, Human, Dwarven, or any other race is irrelevant: A Tiefling is a Tiefling, and does not typically bear the traits of their parents' race, though it is not unheard of for them to show some physical features of their parents. Sometimes, if the parents interacted with a particularly mischievous entity, a Tiefling child will not even appear to be a Tiefling at birth, and will instead begin to change as they progress through their early years. Whether this is because the entity wishes to watch the parents suffer as their child becomes more devilish in appearance, or because the entity hopes that the parents will raise the child in the family regardless because of some ulterior motive, is entirely dependent on the entity in question. Grown individuals can also transform into a Tiefling, if the Devil which the individual interacted with decides to transform them instead of the person's offspring. In such cases, the transformation is usually rapid, extremely painful, and horrifying to watch.
Tieflings have possibly the widest variance in appearance of any civilized race. While not always the case, a Tiefling's appearance is typically dependent on what kind of being caused their transformation. As such, a Tiefling's skin can be a wide myriad of colors and textures, as can their hair and their eyes. In nearly all cases however, a Tiefling will have pointed teeth, horns of some kind, and a tail. Most commonly Tieflings have skin that is some shade of red, with eyes to match, and the texture of their skin and hair is often one of the only traits of their birth parents that is readily visible. Additionally, a child of a Tiefling is (almost) always a Tiefling, as the devilish influence on their bloodline does not dissipate with successive generations.
Other races tend to have extreme prejudice against Tieflings, particularly those which place a high value on superstition, religion, or stories. Tieflings are viewed as being "touched" by Devils, and as such others tend to believe that Tieflings are inherently sadistic, vile, and evil. While this is in fact not true, and a Tiefling's personality is realistically much more a product of their culture and upbringing, it does tend to create a self-fulfilling prophecy: A Tiefling who is treated with nothing but disdain, ridicule, and revulsion their entire life is, quite understandably, more likely to grow to despise those who hate them for how they were born, and as such many Tieflings do indeed tend to gravitate towards the darkest corners of a society.
Some Tieflings, particularly in major cities, create their own communities where they attempt to live in peace and lead relatively normal lives. These communities are usually slums or ghettos, but function as both support groups and orphanages for the Tieflings of the city, as oftentimes families will abandon their Tiefling newborns outside these communities in the dead of night. Members of the community will take in the abandoned Tiefling child and raise them as their own.
This negative treatment of Tieflings even from a young age causes them to oftentimes place very little value on familial ties, and in many cases Tieflings don't even understand why other races care about such ties at all. It does, however, make some Tieflings place a high value on friendships. This creates an interesting conundrum when befriending or travelling with a Tiefling: A Tiefling that had to raise themselves on the streets while dealing with mistreatment by other races might be an expert manipulator and willing to stab you in the back for their own benefit at a moments notice, whereas one that was raised in a community that cared for them despite their appearance might be the most trustworthy individual you meet in your lifetime.
It is likely this detachment from things like familial ties and names that led to one of the oldest Tiefling traditions: Virtue Names. Many Tieflings upon reaching a certain age will choose to take on a Virtue Name, rather than their birth name. Virtue Names are always concepts or ideals which the Tiefling seeks to embody, and are simple one-word names such as "Valiant", "Hope", "Defiance", or "Charity". The description of "Virtue Name" is somewhat of a misnomer, however, as these names are not always necessarily virtuous, with names like "Spite", "Malice", or "Vengeance" being just as possible among more bitter Tieflings. A Virtue Name is not taken by all Tieflings, and it is, in a way, a proclamation to the rest of the world as to what that particular Tiefling views as a cornerstone of their worldview and what they wish to be a manifestation of.
Tieflings who become adventurers most often become Rogues, Bards, Warlocks, and in rare cases Paladins. Many Tieflings turn to a life of crime as there are very few options for survival when most other races despise you. Some find a passion in music or entertainment, seeing it as a way to cope with a harsh world or overturn people's views of them. And some Tieflings seek out the being that made them into what they are, either for vengeance as a Paladin or to gain some form of power from the curse they were born with as a Warlock.