Have you ever noticed that the fecund Tanar'ri can breed with anything? Some bloods will tell you that's just the nature of the Tanar'ri. But the chant doesn't end there. Everyone knows that alu-fiends and cambions are Tanar'ri whose blood is poluted by the blood of mortals--mainly humans, elves, and the like. But did you ever see a Tanar'ri crossbreed with a Bariur? With a beholder? Of course not!

    But it's not just Tanar'ri. That birght-eyed young tiefling with the bunch of you? Sure as gettin' lost in the mazes, he's got a bit of 'loth blood mingled with his. And it doesn't end with fiends either. I wouln't be here before you unless my grandmother twigged to a particular Tanar'ri.

    You see, most of the planar races--except the slaad and modrons, and maybe hordlings--are all related. Further, they're all related to US. That is, the lot of us--humans, dwarves, orcs, elves. I see my stout friend over there looking a bit indignant. My apologies sir. It's obvious that time and magic have set our races apart, but I'm certain that somewhere in the distant past, our lineage merges.

    What's that? Dragons? Yes, I've heard of clueless sods with the blood of dragons coursing through their veins. But that's a different matter entirely. Half-dragons are a consequence of some dragons' superior shapeshifting ability. Even though a dragon may take the shape of a human, it's still a dragon, is it not? The change is nearly perfect. A shifted wyrm--of one of a few species that can accomplish such--can mate with a human or demihuman. But just as it's still a dragon, it's young is still a dragon. Though half dragons may have a basically a human shape, they're really more dragon than human. A blade enchanted to nick a dragon will do just the same to a half dragon.

    As I was about to say before you interrupted me, berk, I recently spent some time out of touch with a friend of mine who calls kip on the inner planes. We meandered around a few prime worlds and everywhere the story's the same. The same races for the most part, but one thing's consistant: there's a time, about ten milanea ago, that all of the races' histories are blank--even those of the elves and dwarves. What's that?--your god FORGED you? Don't be a leatherhead. To be sure, your god is no more than a powerful version of yourself or any other dwarf.

    Something happened back then. Some cataclysm of unprecedented proportion. But there aren't any cave wall paintings of the race's primitive forebears that tell the dark of it, either, nor are there any primitive artifacts that our divinations can delve the dark of. Something happened then, something big. Something that not only destroyed any traces of civilization, but wiped the minds of the survivors of the event sure as a dip in the Styx would. This cataclysm I like to call the interregnum.

    How do I know that there was civilizations back then? The evidence is all around. When you see a Rilmani and the elf there sees an eldarin, tell me you don't see a bit of kinship? 'Course, it isn't so easy to tumble to for the fiends, but the evidence is there, too. After all, do you really think the fact that succubi and erineyes look amazingly like the prettiest young maiden you've set eyes on is a mere coincidence?

    Of course not. They were designed that way. Crossbreeds like chimerae and owlbears litter dozens of prime worlds. Yet no world can seem to single out or recall what magical empire made them. So it's liekely that these beings were made before the interregnum. If a race of wizards could shape the bodies of beasts, why couldn't they shape their own bodies, and integrate magical power with their very being? That's just what they did. Some opted for beautiful bodies, like most celestials and some fiends. Others opted for more powerful, even frightening bodies.

    Then, sometime after that, but before the interregnum, some of these sorcerers moved to the great ring. Why is uncertain--perhaps they found it easier to shape their bodies and draw magical power out here. Perhaps there weren't all the planes we now know back then--perhaps the coming of these sorcerers shaped the planes as they shaped their bodies. Or perhaps the planes influenced their body-shaping them subtly and insidiously. I consider the latter extremely likely. Why else would succubi be adorned with horns and bat winds instead of merely a perfect body ans visage? Why else would the upper planes be populated by benevolent beings of great beauty and the lower with hideous evil monstrosities?

    Perhaps what the 'loths say is true--they came first, the other fiends came later. Even if it is true, the 'loths at one time called father to a different race--one that looked a lot more like oyu or me than any 'loth. And 'loths don't like that notion one little bit--thinking that they came from a race as simple as (or even simpler) than humans 0robs them of the notion that they are the supreme race.