1, 2, 7, 11, 12, & 17 for Clem ;D
1. What influenced or inspired the creation of this character?
I think the strongest influence was probably Eloise McGraw’s The Moorchild, which was a favorite book of mine growing up. Like the heroine of that book, Saaski/Moql, Clemency is a very obviously not-normal child born to (seemingly) normal human parents, who have to struggle with how to deal with the situation and protect their kid from the townspeople’s prejudice. But whereas Saaski looks basically human enough that her parents can try to convince themselves she’s a regular human child (and hope everyone else will think so too), Clem is very obviously tiefling, with her horns and her tail and her glowing eyes. So her parents chose to just hide her away out of fear of what prejudiced people might do to her, which ended up massively backfiring when the townspeople inevitably did find out. (Now that I think about it, there are also elements of Frozen in there, but I wasn’t consciously thinking about it at the time.)
In general I’ve always loved stories about characters who come from some sort of evil lineage or dark background and yet choose not to be the stereotype. The Dark Is Not Evil trope, in general. So Raven from TT is definitely also a character with strong similarities, and Nico di Angelo to some degree, etc.
2. What is your character’s relationship with their family? Family is a word which here refers to biological relatives, close companions, and/or the individual(s) who raised them.
So like I talked about above, her biological parents* chose to hide her away because they thought it was the only way to protect her. Arguably, that was a bad choice, but you do also have to remember that major prejudice against tieflings is a pretty big thing in the D&D universe, and they weren’t wrong to worry that their very normal human village wouldn’t take well to the demon baby in their midst. So right or wrong, they were very much motivated by wanting to protect their kid, and they were loving parents who did their best to raise her well and make her feel as accepted as they could. But I do think from an early age that very much gave Clem a mentality that her very existence was something shameful and monstrous that needed to be hidden away.
When Clem was 9, the townspeople (who had been getting increasingly suspicious over time) finally found out about her existence and demanded her parents hand her over. They refused, which ultimately led to the townspeople rioting, and her parents ended up being accidentally killed while trying to protect her. To this day, Clem feels incredibly guilty about their deaths and feels like she should have been able to do more to protect them.
After that, she was on her own for three years before being taken in by a sorcerer, who taught her to use her innate abilities and became a surrogate father to her. Sorcerer Dad (I really ought to give him a name) is, without a doubt, the most important person in Clemency’s life, and the person she feels she owes everything to. He not only took her in and took care of her when she had nothing, he’s the first person who ever made her feel like her demonic heritage wasn’t innately a bad thing. And as of this point, he’s the only person she genuinely trusts. (Unsurprisingly given her backstory, girl has some MAJOR trust issues.)
*Because Clemency is a tiefling child born to seemingly human parents, there’s also the possibility that the man she thought was her biological father was in fact not. However, it’s also possible there was just demonic heritage further up the family tree that skipped a couple generations, so Clem’s mom may be innocent of any wrongdoing. :-P At this point, Clem herself doesn’t know for sure, but there’s always the possibility a tiefling biodad might turn up someday.
11. Are they normally peaceful or aggressive?
Definitely peaceful. For one thing, Clem’s very aware of the stereotypes about tieflings, and I think she feels that if she ever let herself become violent or cruel, she’d be confirming what everyone thinks about her (and her race, in general.) She also had to get in the habit of learning a lot of self-control from an early age, since she was trying to stay hidden. (And her temper tantrums tended to get… literally fiery, which was a motivation for staying calm all on its own.) But of course, like anyone, she can lose her temper in a major way if the right buttons are pushed. And unsurprisingly, it’s terrifying when she does.
12. How does this character handle stress?
She lost everything at the age of nine and was homeless for three years, and faces extreme prejudice from almost everyone around her on a daily basis, so… she’s not easily phased by much, at this point. She’s extremely tough and a survivor by nature. But that said, social situations freak her the heck out. She desperately wants to make people like and accept her, and has almost no idea how to do it.17. If they were in possession of a trio of wishes, what would their three wishes be?
That’s an interesting one. I think at one time, she’d definitely have wished that she wasn’t a tiefling, that she was just a normal human girl who could live a normal life. But I think as she’s grown up, she’s thankfully come to accept herself more and also to put more blame on the world for not accepting her and her ilk, rather than on herself for being what she is. So I think at this point, she’d simply wish to find a place where she can feel accepted and normal as she is. She’d probably also wish for her biological parents back, considering how much guilt she feels over their deaths. (Bringing back the dead is objectively a terrible idea, of course, but that kind of guilt and loss isn’t always rational. Just ask the Elric brothers.) For her third wish… I’m honestly not sure? Maybe she’d wish the world were kinder to tieflings in general. Or to people who are different, even more generally.
