Yuan-ti Pureblood

Devious serpent folk devoid of compassion, yuan-ti manipulate other creatures by arousing their doubts, evoking their fears, and elevating and crushing their hopes. From remote temples in jungles, swamps, and deserts, the yuan-ti plot to supplant and dominate all other races and to make themselves gods. Treacherous since their inception, the yuan-ti are (at least as far as history records) the only Soulborn race that has been in any way successful in transcending (or rather ruining) their Soulborn nature.

Personality

Emotions are foreign to most yuan-ti, which understand sentiment only as an exploitable weakness. A yuan-ti views the world and the events of its own life with such extreme pragmatism that it is nearly impossible to manipulate, influence, or control by non-magical means, even as it seeks to control other creatures through terror, pleasure, and awe.
Yuan-ti know that the world they hope to rule can't be bound for long by brute force, and that many creatures will refuse to serve. As a result, yuan-ti first influence other creatures with the promise of wealth and power. Time and again, cultures make the fatal mistake of trusting the yuan-ti. They forget that a yuan-ti that acts honorably or lends aid in a time of trouble does so only as part of a grander design.
A yuan-ti lets its silent, inhuman presence terrorize the humanoids it fights, granting it a killing edge. As intricately as yuan-ti plot the rise and fall of civilizations, they plan elaborate traps in battle, taking advantage of their surroundings with tactical prowess. Yuan-ti leaders are cunning and ruthless tacticians who readily sacrifice lesser yuan-ti if potential victory justifies such losses. They have no sense of honorable combat and strike first in decisive ambush if they can.
Despite being thoroughly wicked, the majority of purebloods have magnetic personalities. Like all yuan-ti, they tend to be arrogant and self-centered. Purebloods are the least likely of the true yuan-ti breeds to remain attached to their tribe. Since they can more easily disguise themselves, they have the freedom to pursue their own interests wherever such things take them.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The purebloods are almost indistinguishable from other Soulborn like elves or aasimar, though they often have either a snake-like tongue, eyes, fangs and/or small amount of scales somewhere on their body.

Genetics and Reproduction

Female yuan-ti lay eggs in brood chambers, marking each clutch with its parentage, then abandoning them to the care of broodguards. Yuan-ti hatchlings are hatched from these eggs, which are always curious and eager to explore, and will seek food immediately, even eating each other if sustenance is not at hand. Their initial training is provided by broodguards, which also monitor the hatchery. Young yuan-ti are trained in the use of their powers almost after being born. They will turn into tiny vipers and slither to the nearest cover when they see danger or hear a warning.
Breeding is carefully controlled, seen as a holy act, in order to produce the "best" offspring.

Growth Rate & Stages

Often elder yuan-ti grow lazy when they reach great age, sleeping or lying in torpor for longer and longer periods - first for days, then weeks, then seasons at a time, and finally years upon years. At last, they fail to wake at all.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Yuan-ti are consummate carnivores, eating any kind of warm-blooded flesh, including Soulborn. Besides sentient meat, they also enjoy birds and thus keep large herds of flightless birds captive for food.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Male names: Akris, Athanos, Daziss, Ischyros, Kress, Mariss, Oshphim, Salethar, Sarek, Selanu, Sellak, Shanastar, Shiraal, Silass, Thaxos, Tithian, Xamres, Xutan, Zorai, Zureth
Female names: Ashissa, Caress, Daïsha, Deryssa, Ibisis, Ivaniss, Lalassu, Nassirah, Nessa, Nysia, Pyrrha, Saaveed, Sadai, Salah, Shallia, Suehra, Thassia, Veeshis, Ydriss, Zivlil

Courtship Ideals

Prospective partners will coldly measure one another and if both agree that the match is promising, they usually mate, regardless of their personal affections towards each other.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Yuan-ti life revolves around their temples, yet yuan-ti don't love the gods they worship. Instead, they see worship as a means to attain power. A yuan-ti believes an individual who attains enough power can devour and replace one of the gods (read Emanations). The yuan-ti strive for ascension and are willing to commit the darkest atrocities to achieve it.
The abominations rule over the other breeds of yuan-ti, leading from the temples. Purebloods, being the most human-like, are the caste involved in negotiations with outside races.

History

Once upon a time, yuan-ti culture was among the richest in the mortal world. Their warriors were legendary, their empires always expanding. Yuan-ti temples stood at the centers of ancient metropolises, reaching ever higher in prayer to the gods they longed to emulate. In time, the serpent gods heard those prayers, their sibilant voices responding from the darkness as they told the yuan-ti what they must do. The yuan-ti religion grew more fanatical in its devotions. Cults bound themselves to the worship of the serpent gods and imitated their ways, indulging in cannibalism and humanoid sacrifice. Through foul sorcery, the yuan-ti bred with monstrosities, utterly sacrificing their Soulborn purity to become like the serpent gods in form, as well as in thought and emotion.
The yuan-ti view their physical transformation as a transcendent moment for their race, allowing them to shed their frail humanity like dead skin. Those that did not transform eventually became slaves or food for the blessed of the serpent gods. The yuan-ti empires withered or were defeated by those who fought against their cannibalism and slavery, and the serpent folk were left in the ruins of their great capitals, far removed from other races.
Now, in the Age of Kings, the yuan-ti are a ruined culture, haunting the remains of their once great empires. Their profane sorceries long-since complete, the yuan-ti have trifurcated into three sub species of their original forms.
Purebloods form the lowest caste of yuan-ti society. They closely resemble Soulborn and are the only yuan-ti that still possess souls, yet a pureblood can't pass as another Soulborn under close scrutiny because there's always some hint of its true nature, such as scaly patches of skin, serpentine eyes, pointed teeth, or a forked tongue. Wearing cloaks and cowls, they masquerade as others and infiltrate civilized lands to gather information, kidnap prisoners for interrogation and sacrifice, and trade with anyone who has something that can further their myriad plots.
A malison is a hideous blend of humanoid and serpentine features. Three different types of malisons are known to exist, and other types are possible. Malisons form the middle caste of yuan-ti society and hunt with arrows tipped with their own venom. They use their magical powers of suggestion to force their enemy's surrender.
Monstrous serpents with burly humanoid torsos and arms, abominations form the highest caste of yuan-ti society, and they most closely resemble the race as the serpent gods intended it. They mastermind elaborate schemes and perform dark rites in the hope of one day ruling the world.

Origin/Ancestry

Sthyggexa, the Riddle of Things to Come

Founding Emanation

Sseth, the Slitherer Supreme

Racial Stats
Yuan-ti Pureblood

Yuan-ti Pureblood

Ability Score Increase +2 Cha, +1 Int

Size Medium

Speed 30ft

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Darkvision

You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Innate Spellcasting

You know the poison spray cantrip. You can cast animal friendship an unlimited number of times with this trait, but you can target only snakes with it. Starting at 3rd level, you can also cast suggestion with this trait. Once you cast it, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Magic Resistance

You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.

Viper's Kiss

You have resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws against the poisoned condition.

Languages. Eolian and Xuthos