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The Tiefling have fiendish ties. While for many this is no fault of their own, others gained their race because they or a previous family member decided to worship or strike a pact with Devils (though Demons are possible, this is extremely rare due to the wanton carnage that a Demon usually inflicts). Because of this, Tiefling are feared by many other races. While untrustworthy on the best of days, they could call down demons or devils (as most commonfolk don't know the difference between the two) on the worst, or so most other races believe.

The Tiefling have lived in the shadows for centuries, trying their best to be unseen or to keep a low profile so that mobs don't hunt them. Though this is something that has calmed down in recent years, it has colored many prejudices still to this day. Many Tiefling adventure for this reason, as a way to prove themselves not only to the masses but also to themselves as there is a constant war within themselves, a part that is carnal and the other part that is still clinging to their humanity.

History

During the Great Fiend War, Devils raided the world and used Demons as their hunting dogs. This devastated a lot of the world until the gods stepped in to put a stop to their rampage. However, many women had been impregnated by the hordes and a few other humanoids had struck pacts with their Devil overlords for a better portion of the hell on earth that befell the races. The women who were pregnant (even the impregnated female Demons and Devils) found themselves cast out or tortured. Many did what they could to survive and others still blamed the child they were carrying and did horrifying things to them. The Tiefling that were born found themselves in a truly unforgiving world. Most of them were homeless and treated as less than criminals even when they had done nothing.

This left a brand new race with seething hatred for the families that should have loved them and many of them did unthinkable things that didn't help the animosity that most people felt for them. This had nearly caused the race to become extinct, however, Devils still struck contracts and Demons still had their insatiable hunger. No matter how many Tiefling were slaughtered there were still more as greed or desperation befell those who turned to Fiends for help.

The races of the world begin to realize that the Tiefling were here to stay, so in striking a 'deal' they sent the Tiefling to live on an island to themselves, but it was soon realized that this island could not withstand the number of individuals that came to live there. The more that the Tiefling begged for better living conditions, the more that the other races refused. So in an effort to make things better, the Tiefling began to branch out toward the mountains and were met by Half-Dragon clans that already lived there. This became a bitter war between the two races that lasted for generations.

It wasn't until over a hundred years passed that the two races had come to a shaky truce to reduce the numbers that had already perished. This had been facilitated by the High Elves who invoked their own contracts with Humans, forcing them to give the Tiefling enough land of their own to live. The Humans, however, could no longer force the Tiefling to live in the land provided any longer, and thus the Tiefling had also begun to multiply in Human cities, becoming more accepted as a race, though only just.