Yuan-ti Pureblood
Yuan-ti uses magic, are magic resistant, and have genius-level intellects with pureblood yuan-ti easily blending themselves into human society.
The origins of the yuan-ti date to the dawn of man. Ages ago, when mankind took its first tottering steps, there came among men a monstrous corruption known as Schtheraqpasstt. This god is now a shadow of its former self, driven to both ultimate power and ultimate madness in an insane attempt to become one with the Abyssal plane it ruled and now trapped by.
Evil men, hungry for power and dominion over their kindred during the first days of the Godswar turned to the worship of this dark force, one of the generals and rumored lovers of the goddess Anxshar. The result, true to the tenets of chaos and evil, was more a curse than a blessing. These men were instructed to gain the venom of the ophidian, a snakelike creature with human arms. They were told the venom of these creatures would transmute victims into ophidians over a period of several weeks. The ophidian is believed by sages to be a creation of Schtheraqpasstt, sent to wreak havoc on the Prime Material Plane. When its venom is distilled and mixed with other ingredients known only to Schtheraqpasstt's followers and then consecrated to their deity, would it become what is known to the sages as the Black Broth.
The worshipers of Schtheraqpasstt, who first created the Black Broth, were also its first imbibers and were willingly transformed into the histachii, progenitors of the yuan-ti race. Among the yuan-ti the pureblood is created in matings of histachii with other histachii, and the matings of histachii with any true yuan-ti produces a halfbreed. Halfbreed and abominations producing only abominations.Thus, the yuan-ti collect a constant supply of humans in order to help sustain the race. Such has been the fate of many human captives of the yuan-ti; transformed into the mindless histachii.
The gestation period for yuan-ti young is about 60 months. Approximately a third of the resulting creatures are so deformed that they die shortly after birth. This gives the yuan-ti a very low growth rate but this is counterbalanced by their extremely long lifespans. Pureblood yuan-ti age much as some elves do, becoming physically mature by the age of 25 and emotionally mature at around 125, capable of living beyond millennia and remaining physically youthful. When considering the lifespans and power of the yuan-ti, one might wonder why they do not control the world. In fact, they once held a great empire that spanned much of the southern jungles of Lungshi and Rhigol. In forgotten corners of the land, crumbling basalt temples stand in mute testament to their once far-reaching grasp. Then came the fall of Schtheraqpasstt.
The god's schemes and support of the forces of chaos in the Godswar were his undoing, and during the middle days of that time, he was nearly killed but was instead reduced in power to his current operational level as a demon lord. Schtheraqpasstt's followers were unable to complete the consecration of the Black Broth and the yuan-ti empire was thrown into chaos. The forces of good took the chance to destroy the yuan-ti empire, which they did to such an extent that the race of yuan-ti was very nearly wiped from existence.
The few surviving yuan-ti dispersed, turning to other gods and beings from the Abyss for aid. They gained little, as no other deity could successfully aid them in their quest to create the Black Broth. Eventually, they discovered the true fate of their god and therein the salvation of their race. At times when the stars and planets are in a specific alignment, signaling the conjunction of Schtheraqpasstt's plane and ours. The yuan-ti may draw directly upon the energy of that plane and complete the Black Broth. Although this saved the yuan-ti from degenerating into a race of abominations, it did not mark their return to power. The conjunction of the planes needed to complete the Black Broth comes but once a millennium.
This is the current situation of the yuan-ti, with small numbers, an erratic breeding cycle, and a 1,000-year wait between breeding periods for two-thirds of the race. Although abominations may still be created without difficulty, the yuan-ti limit their birth rate to avoid gaining the attention of the forces of good before they discover a more stable method of continuing their race. Population inequities result, of course with each yuan-ti generation resulting in 7 out of 10 being an abomination, 1 in 5 have a chance of being born a halfbreed, and a less than 1 in every 10 children born being a pureblood, the parents of which give birth in secret as only purebloods can travel undetected among humanity.
Yuan-ti temples are usually huge basalt edifices with no windows and only one entrance. The walls are carved with revolting scenes involving yuan-ti, humans, and unspeakable creatures from the outer planes. Even abandoned ruins are places of great evil and are almost always infested with foul monsters. Torture of helpless subjects is a favorite pastime of the yuan-ti, and implements of torture are easily found in their places of worship.
They will sometimes enslave humans, and such slaves will usually be crippled or maimed, thanks to the mercies of their captors. A yuan-ti pureblood does not forget their downfall at the hands of good forces, and any good-aligned character caught in their clutches are often tortured long and lavishly before death, unless they fall victim to the Black Broth.
Yuan-ti have no holy days or festivals except for the Night of Venom once every 1,000 years. This is the conjunction that allows the completion of the Black Broth. Beginning about a year before the Night, the yuan-ti become increasingly active. They create as much of the Broth as possible and raid human settlements to kidnap victims of the rite. It has been estimated that any single group of yuan-ti will be able to create twenty to over two hundred histachii on the Night of Venom. The forces of good, however, used this occasion last time as an excellent time to destroy large numbers of yuan-ti as they must emerge from hiding to prepare for their ritual. Most of the ceremonies were broken up before they had been completed last time, but not all. It is rumored that in some evil-infested swamps these creatures thrive in small cities and aspire to regain their former dominance.
A yuan-ti builds dwellings both above and below ground. Their temples are known for mazes of tunnels and dungeon chambers. Their lodgings usually consist of squat stone buildings, normally of volcanic rock, each with two to five rooms and an underground chamber. In yuan-ti communities, these underground chambers are connected to each other and to underground meeting places, throne rooms, treasuries, and their more secret places. Even a small yuan-ti village has an extensive underground layout.
Any yuan-ti community will be ruled by the strongest abomination in the community. This creature's basic duties are to settle disputes, oversee the protection of the community, and regulate the activities of that community's purebloods in the human world. Even though yuan-ti are chaotic and evil, they are extremely intelligent. As they do not wish to further reduce their population, physical combat is rare among the yuan-ti. Instead, many disputes are settled by weaponless combat that can easily be stopped short of fatality.
Yuan-ti will often cooperate with other evil creatures as long as such cooperation will further their own ends. Ophidians are sometimes found in yuan-ti communities and are highly valued for their venom. Some yuan-ti have been known to use traps poisoned with ophidian venom. Yuan-ti have been known to work with nagas, kappas, bajang, and evil dragons, and they are rarely the losers in such partnerships.
Highly intelligent, powerful, evil creatures with a goal of world domination. They do not involve themselves in petty affairs, nor do they deal lightly with those who interfere with their plans. Yuan-ti do not forget such interference, even throughout their long lifespans. They treat revenge as they treat torture, it should belong, lavish, and painful.
RPG Datasheet
Yuan-ti Pureblood
Volo's Guide to Monsters page 120Much of this section, by necessity, ties into the Dungeons and Dragons Role Playing Game by Wizards of the Coast. Any non-original material that is found herein remains under the ownership of the originating author and is not intended to violate any laws. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of any person, living or dead or undead, real or fictitious, male or female, religious or atheist, bald or full head of hair, stubbled or fat-bearded. No people or animals, other than the author's sanity, were harmed in the creation of this article. Please wash your hands after going to the washroom. For entertainment purposes only.
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