Tiefling

(This race has optional features that use spells from Xanathar's Guide to Everything.)

The tiefling are seen as a bad omen, and their presence often brings tension during otherwise peaceful times. Though not all tiefling seek to sow dread and are often misunderstood by society, this doesn't stop society from exiling them from their lands. Centuries ago, a devil king named Tief cursed a human family with an infernal bloodline, causing them to undergo a painful transformation that turned them into half-devil, half-human hybrids, sporting horns and devilish tails. This human family was cursed in servitude to this devil king, as were their next of kin.

These people, mistaken for being cambions, had become soldiers and servants for the devil king, and they had earned a terrible reputation in their path of slaughter. For countless centuries, the tiefling brooded against their creator, and many came forward in a fruitless effort to stop Tief's reign of torment. Eventually, those who held the infernal bloodline revolted, and so they traveled straight to Tief's domain in the Seven Hells, slew him on his throne in the red wastes of Mir, and freed themselves from their infernal slavery. The tiefling continued to live as their own free race, producing a legacy that sought to redeem themselves from their fiendish heritage and evil ancestors.

This was not without issue, however, as the damage to the mortal realm had already been done, and the infernal blood within the tieflings took their toll. Upon their return, the tiefling had been faced with scorn for many generations after, and it wasn't until the example of their good deeds redeemed them in the eyes of many mortals. Yet still, even as time passes, there are many who see the tiefling as a sign of dark tidings, and there are those who would rather cast them from civilization than keep their petty qualms at rest. To make matters worse, the death of Tief was not an end to the tieflings' connections to the demon lords of the Seven Hells, and some were instead bestowed with markings or appearances that echoed the other demon lords.

Tiefling take on conventional names related to their integration in human and elven societies, though rarely some are also given infernal names as part of their ancestry should their family be prideful of that. In those circumstances, or where further convenience is needed, tiefling also adopt "virtue" names, which are words or nicknames the tiefling or their friends would associate with them.

Tiefling
Born of an infernal bloodline and facing discrimination from their ancestry, tieflings survive in a world hostile towards them. Despite these hardships, many tiefling find their place in the world that brings them happiness and progress towards their ideal selves, quelling the darkness that lives within them and achieving positions of great importance and renown.

Appearance
Tiefling are near-human in appearance, but they have much that sets them apart. The most notable of a tiefling's infernal features are their skin tones, their devilish tails, the horns that grow from their head, and their unique eyes. The colors of a tiefling's skin varies between infernal reds to demonic purples, as well as shades of blue, ebonies and grays, red-oranges, and even rarely, bright whites. Tiefling eyes are as equally varied, with black eyes and pupils and vibrant irises that come in all ranges of color, glowing faintly in darkness. Tiefling horns also come in variety of shapes and sizes, and some tiefling even like to pierce their horns or wear other kinds of adornments on them, such as jewelry or other charms. Tiefling hair colors range from deep blacks to pure whites.

The appearance of tieflings are not entirely random, however, and much about their looks are determined by two factors. First, and most obviously, is the tiefling's parentage. Secondly, and less apparently, is the potential for the tiefling to have been marked by one of the demon lords of the Seven Hells. Such demonic markings are not so obvious and are more likely to be in the form of specific skin tones or eye colors, but some tiefling have more evident markings such as extra horns, ridged brows, scaly skin, cloven feet, or facial or bodily etchings. Those with obvious markings of a demonic influence do their best to hide them for fear of retaliation, not just from outsiders, but also from members of their own kind, as these markings can manifest seemingly at random, though they are sometimes a sign of the tiefling being "chosen" by the associated demon lord.

Dark Heritage
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Followers of a Fallen Lord
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Demonic Influence
With your DM's consent, your tiefling may be one of the few who are marked by the Demon Lords of the Seven Hells. These tiefling bear physical markings as described above, but they also possess a shift in their latent magical abilities, depending on whose influence they have, as determined below:

Marad Shaan, Demon Prince of Envy. The influence of the Blood Prince is one of the more common influences that tiefling can possess. These tiefling often have ebony skin, piercing blood-red eyes, and rarely feature a single black horn on one side of their head, as opposed to two. Marad Shaan's spell is Shadow Blade.

Jucralobex, Demon Lord of Pride. Spell is Compelled Duel

Yurolithak, Demon Prince of Sloth. Spell is Sleep

Galbora, Demon Prince of Gluttony. Spell is Grease

Daxxon Ephistophal, Demon Prince of Greed. Spell is Locate Object

Erroth, Demon Lady of Lust. Spell is Charm Person

Barronzar, Demon Lord of Wrath. Spell is Scorching Ray