Alu-fiends

What happens when a great devil plays god? What is the result of trying to create using the fundamental force of destruction present on the Wretched reality? The result is an imperfect, deficient race of creature known as Alu-fiends.

Devilish Desires

Each Alu-fiend has a fundamental imperfection, which manifests as an overwhelming need. Some Alu-fiends have a need for material wealth, and are covetous beyond compare. Others seek carnal, base desires such as extreme lust or gluttony. Others still simply want what they don’t have, manifesting in extreme envy. Whatever the deficiency, Alu-fiends are simply incapable of overcoming it, just as fey are incapable of lying, and Kenku are incapable of innovating. An Alu-fiend that goes too long without slaking these desires begins to feel physical discomfort, and eventually pain, as their flesh revolts against them and drives them to even more depraved acts to get their satisfaction, however fleeting. It is this imperfection that causes Alu-fiends to be unilaterally selfish, and often (though not always) emotionally driven. Like all fiends, Alu-fiends are simply incapable of purely altruistic acts, and any such act is performed by coincidence, or in service of some larger, more sinister plot.

Wretched Interlopers

If tieflings are ostracized, Alu-fiends are vilified, and justifiably so. In many places, murder of an Alu-fiend is seen as a heroic deed, regardless of circumstance, and any settlement, big or small, would hunt or repel any Alu-fiends from their borders, unless they harbored their own sinister agendas. To ally with an Alu-fiend is to pronounce oneself as a malcontent, or at the very least, as amoral, and is equivalent to social suicide in most civilized places. The open hostility is a reaction learned after centuries of being backstabbed, taken advantage of, or otherwise disadvantaged by allowing Alu-fiends to run rampant. Common wisdom holds that anyone who believes they had a positive interaction with an Alu-fiend simply hadn’t noticed how they’d been screwed over yet. Those who do consort with Alu-fiends do so with caution, and the shrewd ones appeal to the Alu-fiend’s base desires rather or ideals like honorableness or trustworthiness.

Basic Information

Anatomy

While several great devils have tried their hand at creating their own type of Alu-fiends, the techniques available to those wishing to wrangle destructive energy into life demands certain traits be ever-present, lest the creature fall apart, unable to sustain itself. The most infamous trait common to all Alu-fiends is their ability to shapeshift. The destructive energy inside of them makes it nigh impossible to keep a consistent form their entire life, and so every Alu-fiend is capable of molding their own flesh, to an extent. This power even extends to growing weak wings, though changing one’s form and manifesting wings simultaneously is too much of a strain on an Alu-fiend’s body, and would cause them to unravel.

Genetics and Reproduction

Alu-fiends are either made in the image of the great devils, or molded to suit the whims of them. While some are still made directly by the great devils, the vast majority of the Alu-fiend population comes from previous generations, reproducing like most humanoids do. Spotting an Alu-fiend isn't easy, given their shape-shifting abilities, however if they choose to take on their natural form, they could be mistaken for tieflings, though their fiendish features are more pronounced.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Just as useful as their shape-shifting abilities is their innate magic. Even nascent Alu-fiends are capable of subtly corrupting the minds of others and bending them to their own will. Exceptional Alu-fiends are even capable of extracting bits of the spirits of others, and feeding on it in a futile attempt to make themselves whole. Alu-fiends also boast the ability to see in the dark, though not nearly to the degree of their pure-blooded creators.

Geographic Distribution