Ssekra of the Voss
Serpent Chancellor of Zhaq'ara Ssekra Voss (a.k.a. Verdant Coil)
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Nimble and sinewy despite age. Moves with hypnotic grace. Excellent vitality due to herbal tonics and ritual bloodletting.
Identifying Characteristics
A serpent-shaped scar over her heart, said to be the mark of Yss’tal’s favor.
Physical quirks
Hisses when irritated. Sleeps coiled in a serpent posture.
Special abilities
Limited psionics (mind link, suggestion).
Alchemical expertise.
Ability to communicate with jungle flora and serpents.
Immunity to most poisons.
Apparel & Accessories
Wears a robe of living moss and bone-thread embroidery. Carries a gnarled staff tipped with a petrified eye. Necklaces made of preserved snake fangs and beads filled with dried herbs
Specialized Equipment
Staff of the Coiled Bloom – Focus for her psionics and herbal alchemy.
Mistfang Pouch – Contains rare powders that can induce visions or paralyze foes.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Raised in the shadow of matriarchs and jungle spirits, Ssekra was trained from youth in the ways of old Yuan-ti rituals, venomcraft, and jungle medicine. She assumed leadership during the Veil Plague, when her visions guided the city to purification and healing.
Education
Taught orally by generations of Voss shamans; mastered jungle herbalism, bloodbinding rituals, and ancient psionic rites.
Employment
Serves as political figurehead, spiritual leader, and head of the Zhaq’aran herbalist guilds.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Developed the Tears of Yss’tal—a potion able to purge curses. Reestablished the Rite of Scale Ascension after a 70-year absence. Prevented an incursion from poachers of the Radiant Coast with non-lethal traps and mind magic.
Failures & Embarrassments
Was unable to prevent the loss of the Verdant Archives during the Emberlock Raids. Many consider her too conservative in resisting outside aid.
Mental Trauma
Experiences intrusive memories from ancestral spirits—sometimes overwhelming, sometimes enlightening.
Intellectual Characteristics
Highly perceptive, slow to trust, and adept at non-verbal communication. Thinks in spirals—cyclical logic rather than linear.
Morality & Philosophy
The world is a garden: growth requires decay. Laws are not fixed, only ecosystems in motion
Taboos
Considers the open sale of venom sacrilegious. Views excessive metal armor as a rejection of serpent-skin balance.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
To preserve the harmony between her people, the jungle, and the spirits of the past. To prevent the awakening of Akrais’s wrath within the bloodlines.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Savvies: Skilled in negotiation, poison-crafting, deciphering ancient script.
Ineptitudes: Struggles with machinery, detests urban environments, and distrusts arcane technology.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes: Rainfall, whispered prophecies, obsidian carvings, rare herbs.
Dislikes: Fire magic, loud noise, disrespect toward nature.
Virtues & Personality perks
Virtues: Patient, wise, reverent, compassionate in secret.
Vices & Personality flaws
Vices: Secretive, manipulative, unwilling to change long-held traditions.
Personality Quirks
Keeps a terrarium of venomous snakes as "advisors". Writes in spirals across her journals.
Hygiene
Maintains ritual cleanliness through daily herb-smoke baths.
Representation & Legacy
Still living. If she were to die, her bones would be preserved in silvered resin and kept beneath the temple roots.
Social
Family Ties
Eldest of the Voss lineage; has many acolytes and distant cousins within the noble castes of Zhaq’ara.
Social Aptitude
Commanding presence; speaks rarely but with great weight. Respected even by political rivals.
Mannerisms
Often pauses mid-sentence to “listen” to the spirits. Holds eye contact unnervingly long. Taps claws on stone when thinking.
Speech
Slow, deliberate, with elongated syllables. Uses metaphor and symbolism constantly—e.g., “The vine tightens” to mean growing political pressure.
Wealth & Financial state
Lives modestly by chancellor standards, but controls vast botanical resources and rare herbs.
Current Status
To maintain Zhaq’ara’s spiritual equilibrium, protect its alchemical legacy, and guide the Voss lineage through subtle diplomacy and ancestral communion.
Current Location
Species
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Serpent Chancellor, Seer of the Voss, Keeper of the Coiled Root
Age
127
Date of Birth
04/02/754
Birthplace
Zhaq'ara - Voss family shrine
Children
Current Residence
The Temple of the Coiled Root, a vine-choked shrine and herbal apothecary deep within the city's sacred quarter.
Sex
Female
Eyes
Pale Gold with slitted pupils, faintly luminous in low light
Hair
Sparse, black tendrils bound with bone charms and dried herbs.
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Olive-green, dappled with darker serpentine scales along the neck, arms, and spine
Height
5'10"
Weight
135 lbs
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