Ophionic Empire (Second)

The Second Ophionic Empire was established, in the wake of its predecessor's collapse, by Ysseth Yssain of the House of Ysseth, a powerful anathema devoted to Sythis. The preeminent power in the former Imperial capital of Stygia, despite their dedication to the god of betrayal, the House of Ysseth proved adept at uniting the disorganised Houses into a new hierarchy. This new empire is more insular than the first, and necessarily less bloodthirsty, but it is still a ruthless place, with a sizable population of slaves and appetite for blood sacrifice.
Its infrastructure was badly damaged during the collapse, forcing Ysseth to devolve more power to the regional houses, but they used this as an opportunity to disenfranchise the old aristocracy and replace them with newly founded houses bound by professional ties and distinguished by loyalty to the throne. Authority in the Second Ophionic Empire is less centralised, but the power of the cult is subordinated to the throne.
The new Empire fought the Drow on their northern borders to a standstill in a half-century of war, and forced a pact with the Donar which agreed to leave the Dustlands as neutral territory controlled by the genie. They lost territory in the south to the Orcs of the Darklands and never took back what the Zeranzeri or the coastal secessionists had taken. The Second Ophionic Empire – also known as the Empire of Ysseth – is but a pale reflection of its predecessor, but the shadow at its heart is just as dark.
The old, dynastic houses remain, each commanded by its dread elders, the nigh-immortal anathemae, and beneath them the lesser castes and races. The abominations lead, the malisons advise, the purebloods and halfbloods do most of the adminstrative work, and slaves take care of the physical labour.
The dynastic houses used to preserve their caste structure by granting the Blessed Venom to their most promising halfbloods. Under the rule of Ysseth, however, while new Yuan-ti may be born, few humanoids are given the blessing of the elixirs, and none but the House of Ysseth are permitted to transform into the exalted anathema state. As a result, the dynastic houses have dwindled, and are now rivalled by a new entity created by Ysseth: the associate houses. These houses have considerable power in the Second Empire, and are formed of alied members of the same cult or profession, working together to a common goal. By moving specialised roles out of aristocratic control, they have served to centralise power with the Emperor’s House and provide a new source of leverage over the regional houses.
The slaves of the Empire are primarily Lizardfolk - scale serfs - and untransformed Humans - skin-serfs. It is hard to say if the Yuan-ti despise the humans more, because they do not have scales, or the lizardfolk, because they do. Since the collapse of the First Empire, the Yuan-ti have been less able to maintain a constant watch on their slaves, and the serf communities have gained considerable latitude in self-government. They are still entirely under the dominion of the Yuan-ti, however, and tribute is exacted in service and blood.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire