Histach ophidiopathy
Histach ophidiopathy (sometimes broodguard ophidiopathy) is a permanent supernatural condition that dulls the intelligence of the subject and causes them to exhibit serpentine abilities and physical traits. Considered one of several syndromes within the ophidiopathy family, histach is unique in that it dulls the intelligence of the subject, rendering them more malleable and compliant. It gets its name from the histach caste of the yuan-ti, an ancient human civilization that structured its culture around the pursuit of ophidiopathy as a means of apotheosis.
Transmission & Vectors
Unlike the other forms of ophidiopathy, histach ophidiopathy is not hereditary and thus requires a special ceremony in order to be contracted. These rituals need less material and no human sacrifice—though a large amount of reptile blood is required. Additionally, the subject of a histach transformation does not have to consent to the ordeal in order to contract the condition, allowing it to be performed on unwilling subjects. In these circumstances, the victim of the transformation becomes what is known as a histach or broodguard. Histachii have significantly lower intelligence than other yuan-ti and are created for specific tasks as opposed to for social advancement. Furthermore, unlike other yuan-ti castes, histachii do not recall any of their previous lives after their transformation, becoming totally devoid of their former selves.
Symptoms
Appearance
Histachii are hairless scaled-covered bipeds with bloodshot eyes and a forked tongue. They often appear emaciated, as they are often only fed left-over rotting meat and barely considered yuan-ti. Histachii have significantly lower intelligence than yuan-ti and are quite malleable, making them excellent guards and typically serve the community as "egg-watchers." They are also sterile, meaning that other yuan-ti must create them from captured humans in order for the caste to survive.
Histachii are hairless scaled-covered bipeds with bloodshot eyes and a forked tongue. They often appear emaciated, as they are often only fed left-over rotting meat and barely considered yuan-ti. Histachii have significantly lower intelligence than yuan-ti and are quite malleable, making them excellent guards and typically serve the community as "egg-watchers." They are also sterile, meaning that other yuan-ti must create them from captured humans in order for the caste to survive.
Treatment
As it is a supernatural condition enabled through a divine connection to the Old Magic, there is no cure for congenital ophidiopathy. Some have speculated that individuals that undergo a ritual transformation can reverse the curse's physical and spiritual effects through curse removal spells if they are performed shortly after the initial ritual. However, no known documentation of said reversal exists.
The histachii are considered more susceptible to curse removal spells. This is likely because they are performed on unwilling victims and thus do not have a sympathetic bond to the subject. However, as with most powerful transmutation magic, the curse must be removed within 24 hours of the initial transformation in order for the spell to be effective. After this period only the fabled wish spell can reverse the ritual's work.
History
What little information we have comes to us largely from a combination of legends and art work taken from Old Temekan, which seek to explain the origin of a people they referred to as the Tsakhit. These Tsakhit are believed to have been colonists from the original yuan-ti empire in Teroa who settled the Niru Delta region in Nioa during the earliest centuries of the Mithril Era.
According to Temekanian sources, one of these groups revering Valdra was located in Teroa and made up of humans, the youngest of the mortal peoples. These mortals called Valdra Huxenotizhuatli,1 or "The Serpent-That-Dwells-Below." Created by the gods and watched over by the wise coatli, these humans built great stone palaces, hewn crystal blades of shadowglass, and were among the first to work metal into tools.2 Many of them admired the snake above all creatures, seeing perfection in its flexible form and cold, calculating intellect. They came to develop a philosophy the separated thought from the heart.
This was in contrast to the teachings of their protectors, the coatli. The feathered serpents preached that knowledge without compassion is useless to all but the individual. Huxenotizhuatli's followers called these feathered serpents soft and without flexibility of thought. So the coatli banished them, hoping that they would learn the merit of altruism in the darkness of the jungle. And the people of the city called them yuan-ti, meaning "The Proud Ones."3
Soon Huxenotizhuatli's harbingers taught her followers the secrets of the Old Magic, spells long considered forbidden by their old coatli masters. With this newfound power, the followers of Huxenotizhuatli constructed their own civilization of mighty temples and floating gardens. Yet such power requires payment and so the Great Old One demanded sacrifice. The followers of Huxenotizhuatli made war on their former neighbors, taking many captives. They brought them to the high altar and offered their blood to the snake god. They ate of their victims' flesh and writhed in charnal pits with living serpents until they were transformed into the image of their patron. Freed from the limitations of their human bodies, the yuan-ti used their new forms to conquer new lands and create a new empire dedicated to the Serpent Below.4
From here, records indicate that the yuan-ti spread out across forest and plain, conquering many tribes and demanding tribute from the terrified people of Teroa. They even crossed the seas and set up colonies in Hakoa and Nioa, where their armies would plunder the land for wealth and slaves. These colonies acted as bases from which the yuan-ti could send their armies to demand tribute food, ore, and slaves. One such colony is believed to have been the aforementioned Tsakhit people attested to in the Old Temekanian legend.
The wealth of the empire grew, allowing the ruling elite to focus on further perfecting their ophidian forms. Huxenotizhuatli taught the humans how to take on aspects of the snake, but the cost of the change was high, requiring many sacrifices for each person to be transformed. Entire households of slaves in one city-state were killed and eaten to create the first yuan-ti, and once the news of how to perform these rituals spread to other leaders, the call for slaves to fuel the process increased. As the Huxenotizhuatli began to demand more and more sacrifices, the yuan-ti stepped up their raids on bordering settlements to meet this need.
The physical and magical prowess of the yuan-ti empire allowed them to retain their holdings for several hundred years but then many of their colonies and raids begin to abruptly stop. Many reasons for the decline of the yuan-ti have been proposed, with the most likely cause being a combination of drought, plague, attacks by enemies (including dragons and coatli), and slave uprisings. By 1000 ME, little records remain of serpent people raids and the spread of Valdra-worshipping cults slows dramatically. Only a few centuries later, the Great Exodus of Man began, allowing for humans to slowly begin populating the rest of Holos.
Cultural Reception
Apart from non-yuan-ti, the histachii were considered to be the lowest caste in ancient yuan-ti society. They were thought of as little more than slaves and often were made from human slaves that had proved themselves to be rebellious, troublesome, or slow. Their primary role was that of guards, from which their older classification, "broodguard," came from. They were often stationed around yuan-ti hatcheries where the community's eggs were kept in communal sietches. However, beyond watching over their eggs, the yuan-ti did not utilize histachii for more involved guard duties or military work, as they were considered too dim-witted to be of any real use. Today, only a few yuan-ti remnants continue the practice of creating and employing histachii, as the process requires interaction with external human communities and many of the methods of conversion have been lost to time.
Type
Supernatural
Parent
Origin
Magical
Cycle
Chronic, Acquired
Rarity
Uncommon
Affected Species
Comments