Yuan-Ti
The basic form of yuan-ti society is a pyramid with ascendants at the top, cobras, pythons and constrictors in the middle level, and purebloods at the base. The outliers are the hydra, the most powerful yuan-ti of all, and two castes that lie beneath all yuan-ti: broodguards and slaves.
Yuan-ti put little value on humanoid lives, even those of their own slaves and cultists. They would poison children to carry out a threat against their parents, or turn one person into a broodguard in order to show her family the consequence of resistance. They might
refrain from provoking others' feelings if doing so could adversely affect the yuan-ti's plans, but they understand humanoid psychology well enough to know that they can get away with this casual disregard for life almost anytime.
Furthermore, in the yuan-ti caste system, a greater yuan-ti's life is worth far more than a lesser one's. Weaker citizens are expected to lay down their lives to protect their betters. Leaders rely on this zealotry in their plans, and although they don't needlessly waste the lives of purebloods on futile actions, most strategies include a fallback option in which mobs of purebloods and slaves are thrown at opposing forces in the hope of allowing the malisons and ascendants time to escape.
Yuan-ti are likely to retreat or flee from conflict if they don't believe they have a reasonable chance of success. This reaction isn't out of cowardice, but practicality - yuan-ti value their own lives much too highly to risk them when the odds aren't in their favor. A short retreat might be just the thing to reach a better tactical position, find allies, or to allow the yuan-ti the opportunity to study their opponents and implement better tactics. Any enemy who chases a group of fleeing yuan-ti might be on the victorious side of a rout or could be heading into a trap; if the enemy has been encountered before, it is likely that the yuan-ti have prepared a special ambush at the end of the pursuit.
The objective of the yuan-ti as a race is to conquer and enslave others; they don't espouse the sort of evil that calls for them to butcher or eradicate all who oppose them. In keeping with their goal of domination, the yuan-ti would rather capture potentially useful opponents than kill them. They use many methods for capturing enemies, such as poisoning, knocking out an opponent instead of making a killing blow, throwing nets, using magic such as suggestion, or restraining them in the coils of a giant snake.
To force their compliance, enemies might be brainwashed, charmed, tortured, or transformed into broodguards. Those that prove intractable still have their uses, either as sacrifices or as food.
Yuan-ti have no sense of honorable combat. They are naturally stealthy, and if they can sneak up on enemies, either in an ambush or to murder them in their sleep, the yuan-ti will do so - and they actually prefer these tactics to open warfare. Because most yuan-ti can change into the shapes of snakes, they can keep their presence hidden and get into places their normal forms couldn't enter.
Their immunity to poison gives all yuan-ti a tactical advantage in dealing with other creatures. A pureblood serving as a food taster for a royal family could poison a meal and declare it "safe" after taking a bite.
Yuan-ti don't have a taboo against eating their own kind; a starving yuan-ti would kill and eat a lesser without a second thought, and a group of them would choose the weakest among them to be killed and eaten. Under normal circumstances, however, they bury or cremate their dead rather than eating them, but a great hero or someone of status might be ritually consumed as a form of tribute.
Lesser Yuan-Ti Generator
Naming Traditions
Unisex names
Asutali, Shalkashlah, Eztli, Sisava, Hessatal, Sitlali, Hitotee, Soakosh, lssahu, Ssimalli, ltstli, Suisatal, Manuya, Talash, Meztli, Teoshi, Nesalli, Yaotal, Otleh, Zihu
Family names
Yuan-ti names have meanings that have been passed down through the generations, although spellings and
inflections have changed over time. Some yuan-ti add more sibilants to their birth names create an exaggerated hissing sound, based on one's personal preference and whether an individual's anatomy can more easily pronounce the name in this altered
form. An adopted name of this sort is recognized as a variant of the birth name, rather than a unique name unto itself. A yuan-ti might refer to itself by its birth name, by its adopted name, or (especially among purebloods) by a name it borrows from the local populace.
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