Tiefling Lore
Tiefling
(Creature)
CR: By Class
Type: Outsider (Native)
Environment: Any land
Alignment: Any

Origins and Birth

Mortals have long held a fascination for outsiders. Likewise, mortals often seek a greater understanding of the majesty, glory, and power of creatures that arise beyond ordinary comprehension. Such mutual fascination occasionally leads to intimacy, and this is particularly true of the evil outsider races collectively called fiends. Asuras, daemons, demodands, demons, devils, divs, kytons, oni, qlippoth, and rakshasas all find special joy in delivering their half-breed burdens to the Material Plane, for those with the blood of fiends frequently sink under its corruption and deliver untold misery to their fellow mortals. Sometimes such an evil outsider might come to a mortal in disguise, deceiving him for the express purpose of generating heirs of mixed blood—a long game of plots, betrayals, and strategy, or perhaps a simple moment of self-gratification. In other cases, mortals specifically seek to bear fiendish children, using themselves as payment for services rendered, or hoping that the blood of outsiders will make their progeny more formidable.

Children born of these unions carry the blood of fiends in their veins, and are irredeemably marked. This first generation consists of true half-fiends—half mortal, half outsider—while their own children may be fiendish looking tieflings or appear totally normal. Regardless, these latter generations carry an invisible power within their veins. This outsider blood is more than a transport fluid; it contains ideas and concepts, the very evil nature that defines fiendish outsiders. Translated into mortal

form, the blood might manifest visibly as hooves, horns, an uncanny hue to the skin, or any number of other unnerving variations. Sometimes this blood lies dormant for generations or displays its presence in subtle ways that only hint at its power. Do tieflings become evil because of their blood, or do they turn to evil because those around them expect it? Is evil in their nature, or do the prejudices of fellow mortals force tieflings into such inhuman lives that they cannot help but turn to depravity in order for them to survive? The questions are eternal and largely academic, for most tieflings—though not all—indeed choose the path of darkness. While half-fiends are the direct result of a human-fiend union, and thus frequently expected, tiefling traits can lie dormant in the blood for generations, resulting in great shock (and frequent accusations) when “normal” parents give birth to a tiefling. Those mothers who survive the often excruciating pregnancy and birth soon discover their greatest labor lies in raising these strange children. In some instances, however, the baby kills its mother as part of the birth process, destroying her internal organs as it exits, marking its entrance into the world with a tragedy and forever destroying its family through no conscious fault of its own.

Heritages

Though for most Tieflings the source of their fiendish blood is unknown, there are some who can trace their tainted blood back to a specific type of fiend and their very personalities may be warped in a way echoing this ancestry. These Tiefling heritages are as follows:

Asura-spawn (Faultspawn) Asura-spawn, or faultspawn as they are sometimes called, is the name given to tieflings who are descended from the violent inhabitants of Hell born of the mistakes and accidents of gods: the asura.
Daemon-spawn (Grimspawn) Daemon-spawn, or grimspawn as they are sometimes called, is the name given to Tieflings who are descended from daemons.
Demon-spawn (Pitborn) Demon-spawn, or pitspawn as they are sometimes called, is the name given to Tieflings who are descended from demons.
Demodand-spawn (Foulspawn) Demodand-spawn, or foulspawn as they are sometimes called, is the name given to tieflings who are descended from demodands.
Devil-spawn (Hellspawn) Devil-spawn, or hellspawn, or devilkin, as they are sometimes called, is the name given to Tieflings who are descended from devils.
Div-spawn (Spitespawn) Div-spawn, or spitespawn as they are sometimes called, is the name given to tieflings who are descended from divs.[
Kyton-spawn (Shackleborn) Kyton-spawn, or shackleborn as they are sometimes called, is the name given to tieflings who are descended from kytons.
Qlippoth-spawn (the Motherless) Qlippoth-spawn, or the motherless as they are sometimes called, is the name given to tieflings who are descended from qlippoth.
Rakshasa-spawn (Beastbrood) Rakshasa-spawn, or beastbrood as they are sometimes called, is the name given to tieflings who are descended from rakshasas.[
Oni-spawn (Hungerseed) Oni-spawn, or hungerseed as they are sometimes called, is the name given to Tieflings who are descended from Oni.

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