The Style, Psychology and Fashion of Tieflings

                              By Kallis Tharzar

The stereotypical view of a tiefling is of a sociopathic, maladjusted loner.
While this can very easily be the case, I would like to show you a few other
archetypes that tieflings can adopt, to inspire and inform you about a
fascinating race and culture.

Psychology: A summary of a number of psychological archetypes for tieflings.

Stereotype: Tieflings like Moskiul (pl/male tiefling/F4/Revolutionary
League/CE) are the sort everyone thinks of when they hear the word
'tiefling'. They are ashamed of their ancestry, disgusted by most of the
world, and tend to be independent-minded and evil. They don't take kindly to
teamwork, trust no-one, and virtually never form real romantic or platonic
relationships. Hard-nosed scheming and a determined go-getter attitude stamp
these berks as tieflings with attitude (problems). Moskiul himself works in
the Bastion of the Last Hope in Carceri, plotting the overthrow of all that
is pure, with the aid of a few other like-minded individuals. His attitude
to his black, scaly skin and blood-red tears is such that he is convinced
that the multiverse is run by beautiful celestials with good teeth.

Hopeful: Hopeful tieflings long to throw off the shackles of their heritage
and take their rightful place in society. They are anxious to learn the ways
of others, and while still quite self-centred and obsessed with personal
improvement, tend to show an interest in good philosophies. They feel that
they can contribute something to a group, and wish to be the centre of
attention when appropriate, but also recognise their lack of direction and
tend not to be leaders, at least not initially. Typical is Leshtiup
Kosmogoth (pl/female tiefling/B5/Guardians/CG). She joined the Guardians
after fleeing from persecution in Plague-Mort, where it is thought she
crossed the Arch-Lector. Although she is prone to violent mood swings, and
is not always as good as she'd like to be, she's much better-adjusted than
Moskiul, and far uglier by many standards, having yellowed fangs and a third
eye off-centre in her forehead. Despite her unappealing looks, her generally
nice disposition has got her a boyfriend.

High-minded: Fellows such as these strive to form a part of good
communities. They resent it if anyone questions their ability to participate
on the grounds of their heritage, and try never to discover their ancestry
in case they should clash with family. They love to form a part of a group,
and accept whatever role their companions offer the as long as it is no
insult. They hate being discriminated against for their genetic makeup, and
can be very temperamental if confronted about it. Polyquestes (Pl/male
tiefling/Pal 4/Harmonium/LG) is a rising star in the Harmonium, and is
viciously opposed to Tomis Oathmaker, whom he considers to be a racist
bigot. Polyquestes has small horns, but little other sign of tiefling
heritage.

Unitarian: The unitarian philosophy maintains that tieflings, semi-fiends
and tenarimar should stick together and develop a cultural and racial
identity that is stronger than slanderous rumours. Sadly, there are almost
as many different ideals under which to unite the plane-touched as there are
tieflings to unite. Some would see them whipped up into an army of darkness
to challenge the fiends, and others would like to see plane-touched found
farming communities and get out of the mainstream a bit. Zothom (Pl/neuter
tiefling/P7 (The Daghda)/Zothom's Concord/N) believes that the tieflings
should break away from their roots and assert their racial identity. He (?)
has no legs, only a tail, having been born too near the Viper Wastes. His
sect, Zothom's Concord, is small, and likely to stay that way.

Blackheart: Some tieflings are proud of their heritage, and embrace it with
joy. They sign up in any appropriate fiendish army they can find, and
frequently rise to the middle echelons of command before falling prey to
another's ambition or are mutated into something else as they rise yet
higher. It is thought that the Dark Eight command at least one tiefling
commando squad which infiltrates civilised societies before converting them
all to the dark rites. No data are available on this most distasteful side
of the tiefling mentality, although a certain cambion named Don Julio of
Plague-Mort is a suspected tanar'ri agent. Keep watching SIGIS for details.

Style and Fashion: Being a compendium of fahionable modes for up-and-coming
plane-touched.

Stereotype: As described in the Monstrous Compendium, most tieflings wear
tight-fitting leggings made from the hide of lower-planar animals, a loose
shirt or vest, a tunic, and a tailcoat or cape, all of maroon, darkest green
or night blue. There is little room for manouvre within this style, and a
number of tieflings find it irritatingly stereotypical and cliched. There is
little need for examples here.

Dark Stranger: A tiefling with this look will wear almost exclusively black.
For either sex, the code is: baggy black jeans, as worn by horse-farmers on
many prime worlds; hard-wearing walking boots; a black cloth shirt; possibly
a velvet necktie; and an ankle-length leather trenchcoat, perhaps with a
slit for a tail. Popular accessories include hats and glasses. This style is
thought to be very 'it' by younger tieflings, but they can seldom afford it,
and it is mainly worn by respectable (or at least distinguished) older
tieflings with business to be done. Honorius (pl/male tiefling/W2/Fated/N)
is a representative of the Planar Trade Consortium, and goes nowhere without
a pair of dark glasses. His trenchcoats seem to absord light completely, and
the pockets are thought to harbour extradimensional spaces. Nobody knows
much about Honorius' overall appearance: the first impression is of a pair
of ram's horns on an ebony column.

Wild and Dangerous: This is the style chosen by the plane-touched lady on
page 113 of the Monstrous Compendium, Planescape Appendix I. Armour,
leggings, boots and little else are the order of the day for both sexes. It
goes with a 'don't mess with me' attitude, and tends to be noticable, making
it unsuitable for those who wish to do business unobserved. Easy Greld
(pl/male tiefling/T3/Sensate/CN) is a self-proclaimed gentleman whose
company for an evening can easily be purchased near the Festhall in Sigil.
He typically wears nothing above his waist, and tight trousers below.

Hard Man/Woman: Leather jackets, often of the hide of unspecified nasties,
are the choice of those whose aesthetic runs this way. With them, they wear
partial leather armour, leggings, riding boots and studded leather gloves.
Rings, whether on fingers or through ears, noses, horn-nubs, tail-flukes or
wherever, attend the Hard Tiefling's every move, and tattoos are fashionable
too. Tsandri Ksoom (pl/female tiefling/T9/Sensate/CG) is typical of the
type. She used to act as a scout on the planes of Chaotic Good, but has
recently returned to her native Sigil with a sizable fortune, and will only
now work for large payment. She always wears a leather jacket, and
alternates between a tight, long skirt that reminds many of the Parai and a
pair of loose leather riding trousers. She is also never without a labret
(lip stud) from her large and costly collection.

Flash Goit: As sported by the two tieflings on page 79 of the Planewalker's
Handbook. Those favouring this style wear mid-toned pseudo-heraldic tunics,
robes or tabards, and fragments of plate mail. This style is particularly
popular with those tieflings who, due to bestial lower bodies, are unable to
wear the tight leggings worn in so many tiefling styles. Chevrai (pl/female
tiefling/Psi 4/LE) is a baatezu spy in Sigil's Lady's Ward. She wears long,
embroidered dresses with strange symbols on. Not many realise that the
dresses actually protect her from tanar'ri, because the symbols are a
variant protection circle.

Gothick: Some tieflings and disenchanted aasimar dress in long robes or
dresses of tattered black and purple velvet, and cream lace. They tend to
think it makes them look interesting. They paint their faces white, if
they're not already some shade of grey, and wear occult talismans of little
real use around their necks and wrists. Most other people think they're
pretentious idiots. Ephemera (Née Pauline) (pl/female aasimar/F0/Sign of
One/N) is just such a one. She's still taking her first shaky steps as a
signer, and seems to think that it might be enough to mess around with her
physical appearance, rather than honing her mind as her tutor tells her to.
She paints her fingernails black and wears a little hat with a veil. The
Dustmen want to know why she's a Signer, as her secret fascination with
death has reached them before it has reached the Signers.