Hey! Aww, you're so cute I can't stay mad at you. Please don't do that again. -- Anon Guest
[AN: How to Encourage Bad Behaviour Amongst the Telegenic 101. Step one, above]
Tieflings have to fight their entire lives just to be recognised as living things with feelings. Aasimar... don't. If devils can interfere with the affairs of normal folk, then the gods can, have, and will do the same[1]. If Tieflings evoke one reaction from everyone around them, then Aasimar provoke the opposite.
To see them is to love them. To know them is to adore them. They provoke devotion. They're instantly likeable, even when they're being blatantly rude. Understandably, it takes someone with iron will to discipline them, because Aasimar tears provoke rage in almost everyone who sees them.
Most Tieflings, it might be noted, hate Aasimar on sight. It's mostly jealousy. It's hard to discipline a child with a literal halo and soft, feathery wings for a deliberate act of malice, whilst it's easy to discipline a child with horns and cloven hooves for breathing incorrectly.
It's no surprise to many that the ones who look like angels turn out to be the actual worst people. There's just something about gliding through life with very few consequences that does something to make a heart turn rotten.
It's something of a shock when the Tiefling and Aasimar are twins. They were named, predictably, Angelica and Damien, and only a witnessed vow in the temple prevented something unfortunate happening to Damien.
From the beginning, Damien got the blame and Angelica got the praise. Even babies can sense that much injustice, and Angelica was having none of it. She was his first - and for a long time, only - defender. What hugs or kisses their parents didn't deliver to his cherry-red hide, Angelica made certain were paid.
People often find themselves following the examples of Aasimar. Sometimes against their conscious will.
Things evened out by the time they were ten. Angelica's thirst for justice and her own nature allowed her to state truths that others would otherwise refuse to acknowledge. Damien learned that his every word was assumed to be a lie, so he wound up softly-spoken and referring to sources for almost everything he had to say.
Angelica could tell people the clouds were made of sugar, and people would bend over backwards to prove her correct. Only empathy for her brother prevented her from using it solely for her advantage. She kept telling people her brother was a good boy and, eventually, they could believe it in spite of his nature.
It should have surprised nobody that they both wound up serving the God of Mischief in different ways.
Let's make no mistake. He became the Cleric. She's the Rogue.
[1] See most of the problems in ancient Greek mythology summarised by the phrase, "unfortunately, Zeus was feeling horny".
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / koya979]
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