Tieflings

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Overview:

Referred to by the derogatory term of 'hellspawn', tieflings are humans corrupted by demonic energy in the womb or in the first three months after birth. The clash of demonic energies with such a young human lifeform will always result in a tiefling. Their population was slow to grow initially because of their incredibly slow rate of creation, but once producing offspring of their own their numbers began steadily climbing and new races such as Elves came into the mix, giving tieflings their slightly pointed ears. They usually stand shorter than humans, but live roughly twice as long.

Even now in present day Aeria, their population is impossible to measure - but is estimated to be quite low due to the hatred and contempt that most hold against them. Tieflings are known to be distrusted by nearly all, having no lands to call their own. They roam the lands selling their mercenary or roguish services to the highest bidder. Some travel as far as they can to escape the taint that their heritage has put on them.

They make people feel uncomfortable and are almost universally shunned - even as far as people subconsciously picking up on their demonic aura and subsequently feeling hostile and repulsed, especially on touch (a handshake, for example). The way their demonic essence effects people on touch is the strongest, negated only when the tiefling is incredibly happy, and made worse by negative emotions such as anger, when the aura is strongest. At its worst, the touch of an enraged tiefling is said to give the taste of sulfur, and a profound repulsion. Touching an angry tiefling can result in blackened, hardened burns on the skin.

A tiefling may choose to follow any particular alignment according to their individual personalities. However due to their demonic heritage, again depending on the potency, the choice to follow an alignment may be easily tilted towards either a chaotic or evil path. They feel strong tendencies towards destructive behaviour, but they can still choose their own path.

Tieflings may reproduce as normal, but cannot avoid passing demonic influence to the child. The child of two tieflings will almost always be the same race - aside from rare cases. A tiefling and a different compatiable race will form a hybrid, with the dominant race inevitably being tiefling. Their heritage is incredibly hard to dilute, the demonic features remaining present for an untold amount of generations. Because of this, tieflings may find it incredibly hard and troublesome to start familes with other races.

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Appearance and Racial Traits:

Tieflings retain their human bodies, but depending on the strength and/or potency of the demonic energy which corrupted them or which they inherited from their parents (referred to as demonic potency), they possess a number of demonic features. Certain features are compulsory, though ranging in size and visibility in direct accordance with demonic potency.

The six core tiefling traits are:

1. A pair of horns, often compared to those of a goat.
   - They can be straight, curled, curved or twisted. Their size varies, reaching a length of just under ten and a half inches at the very maximum.
   - They can be filed down, but they regrow within a week.
   
   
2. A long tail, of corresponding skin colour.
   - Grows to a minimum of four feet, and a maximum of just over six. Those with particularly strong demonic potency may find their tails very slightly forked akin to the shape of an arrowhead.
   - A tail takes two weeks to regrow if severed.
   
   
3. A set of sharpened, fang-like canines, all four in total.
   - Can be filed down, but grow back alarmingly fast.
   
   
4. Red eyes, which fade to either brown, grey, black or more uncommonly, a dark green or blue colour. The 'natural' colour underneath the red of a tiefling's eyes is not determined by demonic potency.
   - The red tint to a tiefling's eyes is most prominent when it is darkest, where the eyes passively flare a bright red like the common image of the fires within the hells.
   - Devoid of darkness, however, the red tint is rendered impossible to see, returning slowly with each gradient of fading light.
   - Most importantly, a tiefling's eyes enable them to see expertly in the dark, rendering the darkness in an illuminated red-grey hue. This is a skill known colloquially as 'Darkvision'
   
   
5. A demonic aura, varying in strength directly in accordance to demonic potency
   - This aura can be sensed naturally by other tieflings or anyone able to detect demonic energy, though a weaker aura is drastically more difficult to pick up on.
   
   
6. Enhanced agility / Decreased magic ability
   - All tieflings find themselves with much higher stamina than a normal human, and the ability to run noticeably faster.
   - However, their ability to use any magic aside from spells and schools that are demonic-based and fire-based, is greatly decreased.

However, there are many other features possessed by tieflings, not classed as core traits and which are very often optional:

• A pair of pointed ears, ranging from long, streamlined elven shapes to human ears without any point at all.
  
  
• Tanned skin colour is a very common trait for tieflings, though is not necessarily always present.
  - Skin colours can range from a dark bronze hue, to a slight tanned colour, to a deep brown and every shade in between.
  - Accompanying this trait will usually be patterns of repeated scale-like markings, darker than the skin it resides on.
  
  
• Specific hair colours, mainly ash coloured browns, reddish colours and black colours.
  
  
• A pair of wings, usually quite rare outside of the demonic potency level classifying as "true".
  - Wings are usually of a blackened, or simply darkened, skin colour, with a thin film in between each wing.
  - Tiefling wings fold flat on their backs, though how easy this is to conceal depends on their size - which in turn corresponds to demonic potency.
  
  
• Resistance to fire, most noticeable with stronger heritage.
  - Tieflings often find that their skin is resilient to fire, greatly increasing the time taken to burn and generally feeling extreme heat a lot less than normal.
  
  

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A Note on 'True Tieflings':

It is well known, and very much worth noting, that a number of tieflings recieve a drastically greater demonic heritage then others of their race, resulting in an incredible demonic potency. These have come to be collectively known as 'true tieflings', and possess all the features of a normal tiefling - only much more pronounced and exaggerated. At their strongest, they resemble their demonic ancestors more than any other tiefling, but at their weakest may simply appear to have a potent demonic heritage.

True tieflings are easily classified by their red-hued skin, and thicker tails. Their horns also, may grow as much stronger, heavier growths that dwarf the hairline. They are much more likely to be violent and will almost always lean towards an evil alignment, though there have been anomalous reports. They cannot follow a path outside of chaotic and their demonic aura is incredibly strong. Their skin is completely fire proof.

Amazing!

Zaku wrote:

Amazing!

Time for a full body inspection, my love...

This can't end well.

Hmm. Interesting read.