Xanma'atol
A city state deep in the heart of the Ascar Giss, Xanma’atol is home to Yuan-Ti dedicated to the worship of Ixcanen, the fire serpent.
Demographics
Xanma’atol is a single species settlement where all of those regarded as being subjects of the Temple Government are Yuan-Ti. There are other species present in the city, but they are exclusively there to work as slave labour for their serpentine masters and are regarded merely as commodities and beasts of burden.
Amongst the Yuan-Ti citizens, their society is highly stratified into castes based on an individual’s strength and their resemblance to the serpent deities that they venerate. The most humanoid looking of the Yuan-Ti are relegated to the lowest levels of society, whilst the most serpentine occupy the higher levels, with all Yuan-Ti being given duties that are best believed to suit their station. Despite this rather harsh and to outsiders rather arbitrary way of social division, within the castes, life for the Yuan-Ti is actually quite egalitarian, much more so than say in a settlement under the auspices of the Empire of Turelion, with members of the caste sharing duties and resources equally.
Some Yuan-Ti, especially those deemed to have unique abilities or a high level of knowledge, intelligence or competence are removed from the caste system and are placed at the disposal of the central temple government , where they will receive much more favourable treatment, riches and power in exchange for their abilities and loyalty.
Government
As a city and a wider society, the Yuan-Ti of Xanma’atol are ruled by a theocracy. Priests of Ixcanen, also known as the Fire Serpent, rule with absolute authority over those below them and drive the political, economic and theological agendas of the city.
Defences
Aside from a few watch points and guard posts strategically placed throughout the city, Xanma’atol is actually quite a porous settlement, with many unguarded access points into it that could be exploited by those hoping to infiltrate it. However, the lack of defensive infrastructure is not a failing or an oversight on the part of its Yuan-Ti residents and overlords, but is rather a reflection that the city’s location in the remote depths of the Ascar Giss means that it is incredibly unlikely that those with hostile intentions would be able to locate Xanma’atol in the first place, let alone survive the arduous journey to get there.
In terms of the physical defence force charged with looking after Xanma’atol, as with the defensive infrastructure, there are few dedicated guards, relative to the population, and those that exist are almost exclusively dedicated to the protection of the central temple at the city’s heart. However, the Yuan-Ti population all take turns acting as the city’s guard, with almost all of them being formidable warriors or cunning assailants in their own right.
Industry & Trade
Rare visitors to Xanma’atol might find it odd that on the face of it, Xanma’atol does not appear to have any overt signs of industrial activity for such a large community. The city is surrounded by apparently impenetrable, inhospitable forest, with no farm land in evidence and a large slave labour force is kept for the communal use of the city, which seems far in excess of its needs.
For those allowed to scratch beneath the surface, they will find that the Yuan-Ti of Xanma’atol gather and hunt the foodstuffs they need from the surrounding jungle of the Ascar Giss, which is capable of providing enough bounty to feed a city ten times Xanma’atol’s size, if only one knew where to look. In addition, beneath the ground and away from prying eyes, many of the slaves of Xanma’atol toil in the limestone quarries, extracting stone to repair the city’s buildings, and also mine for pockets of flint that are turned into the Yuan-Ti's weapons.
However, the assessment of an outside observer that Xanma’atol has more slaves than it needs would be accurate, but many of these slaves are not kept for labour, but are instead kept for sacrifice or worse. Those deemed to be not useful as labourers are either killed in the daily rituals of the temple to honour Ixcanen, or are taken below ground to be transformed into mindless savage Broodguards, blunt instruments of war that can be directed and unleashed against those the Yuan-Ti wish to destroy.
In terms of trade, Xanma’atol is not connected by any known trade route to any of Kelbonnar’s communities on the surface, but communities in the Underdark, the city-state of Kar-Dun especially, have found interesting and lucrative trade and exchange opportunities at Xanma’atol.
Infrastructure
Though the city is cut off from the rest of the world, save for a long and arduous trek through the jungle, internally Xanma’atol is well appointed with conveniences, access to fresh food and accommodation that its Yuan-Ti inhabitants need to survive. The same is sadly not true of the city’s slave population, who are denied access to most of the basic necessities of life.
Architecture
The building of Xanma’atol are constructed out of a yellow limestone excavated from caverns deep beneath the city by its slave labour force over hundreds of years. Most of the buildings are single storied construction, with flat accessible roofs that can be used as additional external rooms. Buildings that stand above one story tall are predominantly constructed like step pyramids, with the crowning glory of the city being the enormous temple complex to Ixcanen at the heart of Xanma’atol
Geography
Xanma’atol lies deep in the heart of the Ascar Giss, so far removed from the rest of the world that many scholars from across Kelbonnar do not even believe that the city or its inhabitants are real, but that they are instead creations of the over active minds of more 'civilised' communities who dwell within the bounds of the jungle.
The geographic footprint of the city itself is carefully selected piece of flat land, which not only allows for large stone buildings to be constructed on a solid foundation, but also allows the city to be shielded from view, despite the height of its major buildings, by the towering mass of trees surrounding it, trees who are constantly being kept at bay, lest they overrun the city.
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