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Legend of the Tieflings
There used to be, somewhere, that old tale everyone heard about, once, as a warning… Time erases pain and minds, but can rarely exterminate beings so easily. A shame, that nobody remembers anymore, or perhaps, didn’t wanted to remember;
Tieflings are human beings whose features and character have been altered, some would say corrupted by an unknown process, usually attributed to evil or demonic essence. In all cases, they do not seem "normal", they are often looked upon as devils or demons having stolen human form. Most of them are eliminated at birth, and only a few ones survive.
Personality
Basically, they are human, with the same kind of thinking and emotions. What makes them different, is a powerful second nature that influences it all, pushing them to primal and bestial instincts; a mixture of fear and aggressiveness which, more than often, leads to murder and barbarism when poorly controlled.
All must continuously be fighting for control, but many simply learn to embrace this second nature and to live with it (restrained, or not). Outbreaks, however, are not uncommon, even among those resistant to this trend. When under pressure, stress, or just fatigue, "the beast" can easily take over and force the tiefling to commit acts that he will regret soon after.
*Though the power of their blood calls nearly every tiefling to fury, destruction, and wrath, even the spawn of a succubus can become a saint and the grandchild of a devil an unsuspected hero.
Description
Tieflings, such as other humans, usually measure between 1.50 and 1.80 meters, weighing between 110 and 220 pounds. As in most races, men are usually taller and heavier than women.
*It seems to be two variants of Tieflings: either they are misshapen, ugly, monstrous, or they have a beautiful, lustful fascinating and highly attractive body. Some may think it would be directly related to the demonic essence that corrupted the human, in the first place.
Tieflings are also as diverse in appearance than the rest of the human race. Some traits are recurring, but they do not necessarily have every single one of them. Their hair is often black, red or orange, as well as their eyes. They have skin holding reddish or grayish tones, and that is sometimes slightly shiny or scaly. They possess small bumps on the forehead, like little horns, that can easily be covered by hair. Some have pointy ears like the elves, or even vertical iris, like cats. We also note the presence of often slightly clawed fingers and small sharp canines. Sometimes, their tongue is forked, and some even have a small tail, hiding very well in pants that are a little baggy. In some rare cases, sweat and breath can even smell sulfur.
The tieflings are born like all humans, but their features are already apparent at birth. For the few who reach adulthood, their aging seems to be extremely slow. In general, after two centuries of existence, they either become crazy, or totally owned by their second nature. Tieflings can feel their death approaching, about a week before, and they will often sacrifice themselves to avoid hurting their families. For those who do not become bloodthirsty beasts, and if they are not killed otherwise, age is catching up in their third century. Some beliefs say that when a tiefling dies, his evil reincarnate through another baby.
*Despite all, it is fairly complicated to discover such a nature on one, due to the fact that they are very careful beings.
Relations with other races
Tieflings are more than often killed at birth, and when given a chance, very few are prepared to trust. They are rejected everywhere and by everyone, when there are not simply hunted. Even among evil people they are not well accepted because of their unstable and chaotic behavior. In addition, in many communities, having a tiefling child is a bad omen, it has even been reported that whole families were burned, to avoid the spreading of evil. So, generally, they try to hide such child, and death is often the easiest solution.
