The Primordial Serpent

The ultimate hunt that James caught wind of turned out to be the Primordial Serpent. Plenty venomous for the foundation of the Zealot's Blade poison. The party temporarily allies with a couple of fellow hunters before entering the serpent's temple. In the end, they defeat the serpent's champion and the venom is given willingly. Most importantly, this is where they learn that Zhalsuth was once the King of the lost and forgotten Yuan-Ti Empire. Furthermore, they now know where to find him.  

The allies the party makes are a human and a dwarf by the names of Karl and Stones, respectively. They turn out to be former bandits on a path of redemption. The party tolerates their presence and overall they were useful. The temple they explored only appears every 71 years when the veil between the Fey and the material plane is the thinnest. Stones dies here, causing Karl to leave early and give him a proper burial. This place also marks the first sign of interpersonal turmoil within the group. James starts to get more and more on edge and nearly kills himself trying to extract the venom from one of two of the serpent's champions (Yin). Mex tries to stop him from hurting himself, and James responds by striking at Mex. He (James) fails to extract anything useful in the end but this is later remedied after an encounter with the other champion (Yang). Yang convinces the Serpent to willingly give its venom as he is under the impression it will be used against The Primordial Dragon. What's more, the group also earns a legendary artifact in the form of a crossbow bound with the hair of Tremear, God of Chaos.   As for Zhalsuth, he's in his lair just off the coast of Koledo.