When a Fiend (such as the Succubus Red Shroud) has offspring, do the young Fiends develop in the same manner as other children (i.e. starting as infants, then becoming children and teens before reaching adulthood and maturity)? The rate might differ, but is there such a thing as (say) a child succubus or incubus? (And yes, this leads to certain twisted ideas...)
Fiendish children
Technically, greater yugoloths can reproduce (an ultroloth can do it by itself; arcanaloths and nycaloths can do so with others of the same caste), but it's discouraged, as it results in inexperienced fiends at high ranks of loth society.
BoGr Guide to Missile Combat:
1) Equip a bow or crossbow.
2) Roll a natural 1 on d20.
3) ?????
4) Profit!
Succubi and incubi are probably the most common tanar'ri to be produced through sexual union, given their natures. If you are intent on detailing the maturation of such fiends but want to avoid any possible moral quandaries regarding preteen succubi, as many probably would in their games, I suggest giving them a development cycle similar to the Xenomorphs from the Alien movies. Let me give you a run down:
Sexually produced succubi and incubi can be said to resemble human babies at birth, albeit ones with clawed wings, pointy teeth, and a thick covering of slime. The toothy little cherubs are able to crawl immediately upon being born, and their first action is to instinctively flee from their mother. The pain of childbirth is much greater for the tanar'ri than for any mortal race, and the succubus is likely to kill her offspring out of sheer agony. Their first order of business is to seek a small, enclosed space in which they can safely lick themselves clean of their slimy coating. Once done, the young demons are able to spread their wings and use them for unsustained bursts of flight. Their next goal is to find something weaker than themselves, usually an isolate mane or dretch that had gotten separated from its horde. They carefully stalk their prey, making sure that it is truly alone, and then strike, preferring to attack from above with a high-pitched shriek. Flapping around the victim's head like a swollen bat, they tear mercilessly at the eyes until their victim succumbs to its wounds. They then burrow into the flesh, which swells shut around them. The body grows to almost double its size before taking on a dry, leathery texture. Within an hour, the dry husk splits apart to reveal a fully adult succubus or incubus, complete with sex drive. Their first equipment is usually made from the leather of that very first kill, although it holds no sentimental value and is discarded immediately upon their discovering something better.
OOg... That's quite disturbing in a not bad way! :mrgreen:
Not so bad as Medusa children instantly dying at the sight of their mother. I mean that's just stupid.
Awesome, Iavas. I like it.
Zimzarim wrote:
A little corection regarding ultroloths: Ultroloths can reproduce sexualy but whtever is way they reproduce, final result of such union is allways arkanaloth.
Ultroloth is pinnacle of yugoloth evolution and final stage of their perfection (at least they were in 2ed), so their status of perfect evil must be earned not be borned into.
I think that this info comes from "Faces of Evil" book, but Rip can allways werifiy this.
EDIT:
Also, I think that Chasme reproduce pretty much like flies: they lay their eggs in corpses (or living hosts), they hatch in larvae, gorge themselves on corpses untill they coccon. And finaly they emerge like normal Chasme.
It allways semed obwios that Blood war battlefields were breeding grounds for this fiend. Also Tony Diterlizzi has made fine illustration for Hellbound booklet: two chasme in their hatchery tending millions of slimy little eggs.
One-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater says: "Monsters are nature's way for keeping XPs fresh."
The reference I was thinking of was in Planes of Chaos: The Book of Chaos, pg. 25: "Succubi and Incubi are sometimes sold at auction; these are Red's immature offspring, whom she thus disposes of before they can threaten her rule." And yeah, the idea of pre-teen Succubi and Incubi IS pretty perverse, if you assume that they are sexually active (either as seducers or as victims of more powerful Tan'nari), but hey, it's the Abyss, so I imagine it WOULD happen (and any human who would try to mate with what he took to be a human child richly deserves to be sucked into the Abyss...! Plus, imagine the blackmail possibilities this would give the Fiends!) As for Medusa petrifying their own kids, aren't Medusa immune to their own kind's powers?
AnimeFan: There's already a topic out there about what's too evil for Evil in Planescape (I think you might've started that one, actually). This whole preteen succubus dilemma would fall under that. You can put whatever depravity you can think of in your game and it would still be logically fitting in the Abyss, but the point is whether or not it is palatable for your players and yourself. Since these boards have the grandma rule, though, I assume it applies to what is made canon by Planewalker.
Yeah, I'd NEVER let a PC do such in the game, but maybe imply (not show!!!) that a NPC bit off more than he could chew, and got burned... literally!
It depends on the type of fiend. Some might grow up really fast, others never are really born only being created through ascending from lesser forms. Yugoloths that are born always come from the lowest tiers. Baatezu technically can't breed.
And as for Tanar'ri that varies. An Alkilith might be fully grown when born, while others like Succubi and Kelvezu who are quite humanlike, might be a lot like humans. I picture that Fall-From-Grace (one of many daughters of Red Shroud) had a childhood as she was a succubus. And you must note that the typical length of time it takes for a human to mature, is almost nothing to an immortal fiend.