TIEFLINGS: DEFENESTRATION* OF LOWER PLANAR GENETICS IN PHYSICAL AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES by Orwell Coghopper, FOO(MD)** Tieflings...one of the most varied and individualistic groups in the multiverse. No two alike. A tiefling could be a mass of twitching flesh, all mouths and tentacles, the off-spring of hordling depravities. Or, a tiefling could be no different from a human with a few discoloured patches to his skin...or something even less noticeable, say...having two hearts. Given the variety of tieflings, nobody could hope to detail the patterns their genetics weave. However, a few traits crop up rather frequently, depending on the family of the tiefling. Here's a sampling of the traits various lower planar entities pass on to their off-spring. Baatezu - Lemure - A few of these wretches have appeared across the planes. Apparently, certain powerful baatezu create these to amuse themselves. Normally, lemures are simply too feeble-minded to produce offspring. The known tieflings of this type are most commonly blobs of molten flesh that exude faces and limbs at random. Certain greater baatezu keep these as pets. A handful are more successful, and possess a mind (though not necessarily a sound one) and a more suitable body. One tiefling who fits this description is Alms (planar/neuter tiefling/fighter 2/N), an escaped Baatorian slave. Alms' physical shape is little short of horrible. His skull is broad, flat, and appears to sag at the ends. His skin shifts and oozes, dropping tiny blobs of flesh behind, and every muscle in his body looks flaccid. His face is dominated by two gaping eyeless sockets, from which a viscous clear fluid leaks. His skin is the olive-grey of serious rot and smells it. Alms makes unpleasant squelching noises when he walks. He (for lack of anything better) is currently trying to raising the support of various bashers in Sigil to the plight of Baatorian slaves. Lemure Traits*** : - oozing, fluid skin - empty eyesockets (blind) - stench - random extension of pseudopods/limbs/faces - no bones Nupperibo - No known tieflings have nupperibo ancestry. Scholars theorise that: a) nupperibo are sterile, b) offspring of this type spontaneously abort, c) baatezu kill them all or d) baatezu keep them all secret, for nefarious purposes. Spinagon - Tieflings of this ancestry are often short and slender, and as prickly tempered as their grand-sire's back. Starving Buck (planar/ female tiefling/Sensate/???/LE) is a upwardly-mobile young tiefling, who owns the Hornless Goat, a restaruant in the stinking city of Minauros. Non-fiends are strongly advised to avoid the place unless they want to be the next meal! Starving Buck is a rising star in Minauros' economic circles. She feels she has a lot to prove being the daughter of the lowest rank of baatezu (many spinagon sired tieflings feel this way). Starving Buck is barely under a half-century old, but looks about 20. She sports scaly green skin and a row of spines down her fore-arms. Spinagon Traits: - green/scaly skin - dorsal spines - spines on any region of the body - very small ragged wings - lizard-like tail - needle-like teeth Hamatula - The tiefling relations of the hamatula live painful lives; painful for them or painful for others. In the first case, there is Galic (planar/male tiefling/ 0-lvl/CN). Garlic's mother was a halfling adventuress from the Prime, who travelled with a group of adventurers to "clean out the Lower Planes". They didn't. In fact, they were quickly captured and given a first-hand introduction to why the priests of their world called Baator the Pit of Torture. Galic's mother survived the longest, and the fiends decided to let the mutilated halfling try to live on the streets of Sigil with only the tiefling son her captors inflicted upon her. Galic's mother died soon after being gated to Sigil; Galic, however, was found and sent to the Sheltering Wing, a respectable orphanage. There Galic stayed, up until he entered puberty. At this point, his hamatula heritage asserted itself. See, before then Galic had looked like any other halfling child. But as puberty hit, he began experiencing severe pain throughout his body. One night, dozens of bony horns tore through his skin. The pain was excruciating; the pain shattered Galic's mind. Now, Galic's a permanent resident of the Bleaker' Gatehouse. Not a popular one either. See, one of the wardens took a shine to poor Galic, and brought him a rag doll. Galic was so pleased, he hugged the guard, impaling her on his horns. The wardens shun him now, and Galic has become sickly, as the torn skin from his transformation never healed, and the Bleakers are letting infection set in due to their carelessness. On the other side, we can see Odette (Planar/female tiefling/thief 16+/NE). Odette is a powerful criminal figure in Sigil. Being the daughter of a hamatula only makes it easier. See, hamatulas have special glands behind their ears that secrete hallucinogenics, which they use on prisoners in the Blood War as truth serum, or simple torture. Odette possesses these glands also. Not merely ones behind her ears, but all over her body. She harvests the continual flow of the drug, and her operation then sells it on the streets of Sigil. Unfortunately for Odette, something is going wrong. Her body is producing more glands, and no healer in Sigil has been able to curtail the glands growth. Hamatula Traits - horns, anywhere on the body - fangs longer that the mouths size (ie like a viperfish) - hallucinogenic glands - long forked tail - elongated skull Barbazu - Like dwarves, people have difficulty distinguishing male and female tieflings of barbazu descent. Both are heavily muscled, and both have facial hair. Julie the Arm (planar/female tiefling/fighter 11+/Harmonium/LG) is an example. Julie's a tough blood, but fair. Real salt-of-the-earth type, which is likely why she's the head of the garrison in Salt-of-the-Earth, a Bytopian burg. Heavily muscled and sporting thick, thick sideburns, Julie is considered quite attractive. Her only other obvious tiefling influence is the heavy black scales covering her lower legs. One last thing - Julie has represented the Harmonium for the past three years in the All-Faction Wrestling Tournament and Pie Eating Contest. She is easily capable of wrestling wild fhorges to the ground, and once fought an Athasian to a stand-still. Her prodigious strength is a gift from her barbazu ancestor. Barbazu Traits - thick, wire-like facial hair - blunt Y-shaped feet - heavy talons in place of nails/fingers/toes - extreme strength - heavy scales on lower legs - extreme blood-thirstiness Erinyes - The alluring erinyes are the most likely to beget tieflings of all the baatezu. Many of their children are devastatingly beautiful. A few are horrifically ugly. Bringer-of-Plague(Peace) (Planar/ neuter tiefling/ priest-psionicist/ LE) wanders the Outlands. Here he has established himself as a holy man named Bringer-of-Peace. In fact, certain Upper Planar types think he is a saint. That is false. Bringer-of-Peace is really called Bringer-of-Plague. He is attempting to get the Upper Planes, especially Mt. Celestia, to attack the tanar'ri. Bringer is androgynously beautiful, with pale white skin that is slightly luminous, blonde hair, pointed ears, and not a caring bone in his body. His activities when not maintaining his holy disguise are bad even by Baatorian standards. Broken Heart (planar/male tiefling / thief/ CG) is what the evil beyond an erinyes' facade looks like. Comfortingly, his heart is as beautiful as any erinyes' face. Looking like one of the leathery monsters you thought were under the bed as a child, Broken Heart lurks in the alleys of Sigil. A true friend and skilled guide...if one can meet him. And why do they call him Broken Heart? Ask, and he'll show you. Broken Heart's rib-cage hinges outward, and in a tiny chamber, a heart of living, glowing crystal beats in his chest. Erinyes Traits - incredibly beautiful/handsome - enhanced "gender attributes" - faintly glowing skin - prehensile hair/serpentine hair - tiny bird wings - tufts of feathers sprouting from shoulders - musk/pheromones - androgynous Osyluth - One of the more unpleasant baatezu, the tieflings who come for osyluth backgrounds are just as unpleasant. Jack Skeleton (planar/ male tiefling/mage (necro)/Dustmen/NE) for instance. The sod looks dead- ultra-thin, eyeballs resting in gaping sockets, peeling skin, skull-faced. Aside from that, he's a necromancer, member in good-standing with the Dustmen, runs with a crowd of similar tieflings and some undead types. Certain people whisper that he's already dead... just no-one ever noticed a difference. Fewer still claim Jack's the proxy of a power of death or undeath. Nerull is occasionally mentioned. Over the course of a year, Jack visits every gate-town to the lower planes and the major burgs of the Lower Planes. He raises about tens of the best corpses and heads back out of town. Nobody know what he does with them. Rarely, osyluth heritage is a boon. For Pactmasek (planar/female tiefling/???/Fated/CG) it was. Pactmasek is a worshipper of Nephthys, and eventually earned the privilege of becoming a proxy. As Pactmasek's osyluth genetics gave her a scorpion sting, Nephthys did a step better, and made Pactmasek a half-scorpion/half-tiefling to guard the desert of the goddess' domain. Osyluth Traits - extremely tall and thin - skull faced - no nose (V-shaped hole) - no eyelids - scorpion tail (non-poisonous) - bald - peeling skin Amnizu - Tieflings of this type are commonly extremely short, midgets even. Others are powerful psionicists. Of the lot, I'd say Radormun the Gentle (planar/ male tiefling/Psionicist/ Sign of One/NG) is the most dissimilar from a body's expectations. With his out-sized head, and child-like body, Radormun looks nearly comical, as though he shouldn't be able to walk. Not that he bothers, when psychic levitation is just as easy for him. The scrunched and ridged features of Radormun belie the deep peace that fills this tiefling. Sitting in the crystal dome in the centre of Clarity-of-Thought, Radormun claims he has made mental contact with an entity called "Elysius", whom he claims is the soul of plane. Amnizu Traits - out-sized head - pug nose - small face - stubby hands - elongated skull - tiny eyes - midget/dwarf - black sweat Abishai - The most common of the baatezu, abishai traits crop up frequently. Most tieflings of less than 2nd generation**** have some abishai blood. Hal the Bisected (planar/ male tiefling/fighter 3/Bleak Cabal/LN) is an interesting example. Son of 2nd generation black and green abishai tieflings, Hal's body is split down the middle, one side being green in colour, the other black. Abishai Traits - skin/hair color - bony claws replace fingers - small leathery wings - thick dinosaur-like tail - no lips (teeth protrude from gums without covering) Cornugon - The 'malebranche' are among the toughest of the fiends, and the tiefling of this origin are to. Omcol (planar/female tiefling/paladin/ Mercykiller/LG) is a tough cutter. Tough on her kin mostly. She has devoted her life to paying back the evil the baatezu dish out, blow for blow. The main focus of her anger is Grul-Roth (planar/ male cornugon/LE), her father. Cornugon Traits - degenerate stance - medium-size bat wings - large antelope/ram-like horns - spiked tail - glowing red eyes - tusks Gelugon - The most alien of the baatezu, tieflings of this ancestry are rare. Half of the tieflings from gelugon histories are insane, having inherited the alien mental processes of the fiend. Pince (planar/ male tiefling / CE) is a barmy of the Gatehouse. His uses his mandibles to scratch geometric designs into an nearby surface, and prefers to eat live things. Apparently, the gelugons think he is perfectly sane, and several are petitioning the Bleakers to have him released. Grind-to-Dust (planar/female tiefling/psionicist-mage/ LN) is watching to see what will happen at the end of time. With her dead-white chitinous skin, and hypnotic compound eyes, she's convinced several berks to join her. Gelugon Traits - compound eyes - mandibles - albino - skin always coated by thin layer of frost - chitinous skin/armour - alien mental processes (insane) Pit Fiend - The great-grand-daddy of all the evil of Baator. The tieflings of pit fiend stock are the best and brightest of the Baator spawned tieflings. They are smart, strong, and possess the greatest genetic gifts. Prince Haggbut (planar/male tiefling/thief 7+/Sensate/CN) runs a booming trade company from a warehouse just Spireward of oaXs. The business offices hold a gate linking to an extensively tunnelled pocket of elemental earth somewhere in Limbo. There Haggbut keeps his "pleasure dome", where he indulges in whatever strikes his fancy...mostly females and large piles of coins. Pound-of-Flesh (planar/female tiefling/???/Fated/NE) runs a string of brothels in the Lower Planar gate-towns and through-out the Lower Planes. A very attractive lady, Pound-of-Flesh is 9' tall, with red skin, bat wings, and a tail. Her mother was a pit fiend. King Vediver (proxy [Tyr]/male tiefling/paladin 20+/LG) is a proxy of Tyr. His mother was the queen of a small kingdom, and was seduced by a pit fiend in the guise of the king. Vediver was the result of the union. Despite his origin, and political enemies, Vediver became king. As a faithful knight of Tyr, Vediver rules with justice and mercy, eventually attracting Tyr's favor. Vediver has given his throne to his son, and now runs a small part of Tyr's realm. Vediver has slightly red skin, talons, and small wings. Pit Fiend Traits - huge bat wings - fangs longer that the mouths size (ie like a viperfish) - red leathery skin - bony claws replace fingers - giant (+3-4 feet) - thick dinosaur-like tail - natural body armour (pads of muscle, bone and fat on torso, shoulders, shins) - horns - poisonous fangs (like snake) - fully black eyes - sulphuric odour - extremely strong FOOTNOTES: *Defenestration - the art of throwing people through windows 8) ** FOO(MD) - Fraternity of Order (Mechanus Division) ***Use of Traits - Traits may be used as follows. Ask your player to write the characters family history. Let's say he gives you this- GFather- pit fiend+human -GMother_________GFather- elf+osyluth -GMother |____________________________________| Father- tiefling (red skin, noseless, huge wings) + tiefling -Mother (very thin tail, peeling skin) | PC tiefling The player can now pick from the six traits his parents possessed. Also, it is possible that traits from the grandparents that the parents didn't have will surface (say on a 6 or better on d10 per fiend in ancestry, 9 or better if higher than 4th gen.). Then the player can pick from the full list for that fiend. Modify to suit your campaign. Please note: all traits are suggestions; remove unsuitable ones and add new ones as you need. ****- Tiefling generation - Tieflings can be marked by generation (ie - how close are they to their original fiend ancestor). Most of the tieflings here in are 2nd gen., that is the sons and daughters of fiends (rumour has it that Kylie is a 2nd gen.). It should be noted that according to Faces of Evil, 2nd gen. tieflings are not technically such at all. For the time being, though the name of tiefling will serve us nicely. The children of 2nd gen. are 3rd gen., and their kids are 4th gen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks! © Chris Nichols 1997