Tiefling

Tieflings are people with diluted infernal blood, the dark mirror of Aasimar. Because of this, they are perpetual outcasts. Normal people see their horns, tails, and oddly colored skin, and react with fear and loathing. Most tieflings grow up alone, finding companionship only among other outsiders in the shadowy corners of the world. Some become swindlers, assassins, dark warlocks, or crime bosses. Others manage to find an accepting place and lead more well-adjusted lives. But all tieflings are characterized by a fierce independence and individuality. Since people are going to be staring at them anyway, many adopt flamboyant clothing and mannerisms, using makeup and jewelry to emphasize their otherworldly features. But underneath the bright colors lies a powerful will to survive. Tieflings know that most people aren't going to help them, so they learn very early on that they need to make their own way. They have few friends, but those who earn a tiefling's trust have an ally for life.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Tieflings are distinguished from other humanoids by their somewhat infernal features. Generally, their skin tone is some shade of red or blue. Their horns can be curled like a ram's, swept back like a goat's, or even twisted like those of an antelope. The tail is about the length of the rest of the body (four to five feet), thick, and prehensile, tapering to a point at the end; it behaves like a cat's tail, twitching or lashing in response to their emotions. Tieflings also have sharp teeth, and are mainly carnivorous. Their hair is either black or white, and their eyes are brilliantly colored in shades of yellow, green, or red, with a vertically (or sometimes horizontal) slit pupil and no visible sclera.
The particulars of a tiefling's appearance have a lot to do with their ancestry, and sometimes that ancestry grants them even more exotic features and magical abilities. Descendants of Graz'zt have six digits on each hand and foot. Baphomet's children have digitigrade legs ending in cloven hooves. Those with the blood of Levistus have blue skin. Not all tieflings are descended from demon lords, of course; some have ancestors of lesser fiendish races. One can recognize a rakshasa tiefling by the faint stripes on their orange skin, and abishai descendants share the coloration and draconic wings of their ancestor. Tieflings who actually care about their ancestry have compiled extensive research on the features of different bloodlines.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Tieflings have little in the way of social structure, although they do form small enclaves within cities. The first (and so far only) successful attempt to form a settlement specifically for tieflings is [Nowhere (settlement)], which has grown into a town mostly known for its eclectic style. Tiefs are flamboyant on their own, but bring them together and you have a glorious mess. Nowhere is a loosely-organized collection of individualists held together by a mutual desire for community; there's no rigid hierarchy, just a set of basic rules and obligations that everyone is expected to follow. As long as you don't kill or hurt anyone, steal anything, or otherwise create a hazard to the community, you can do as you please. That's pretty much how most tieflings like it.

Civilization and Culture

Major Organizations

Tieflings may be involved in all manner of things from circuses to cults. The biggest organized gathering of tieflings is [Nowhere(settlement)], a loose community that has formed inside the Great Rift of western Vesperia. Several tieflings settled in abandoned animal dens along the canyon walls, and more followed them, adding more caves, platforms, and bridges until there was an entire town of tieflings and other assorted outcasts.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

All tieflings innately know Infernal. By the time they're able to speak their mother tongue, they can translate their thoughts into the Infernal language, so it serves as a kind of lingua franca among tieflings from different countries.

History

The origins of the first tiefling are lost to time, but oral history dates them back to the Mythic Era. It's possible that they were the result of humans enslaved by the Draconic Dominions forming dark contracts with infernal beings to gain some power over their oppressors, or perhaps they were created by the dragons and their servants experimenting on human captives. In any case, tieflings have been around for thousands of years, and they were usually blamed for anything bad that happened in their presence. In some cultures, people would kill them on sight. Acceptance has only started to grow in the past century or so, and it is slow to take hold among many people.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Human

Origin/Ancestry

Planetouched

Lifespan

90 years

Average Height

5'4''

Average Weight

115 lbs