Yuan-Ti
Guardians of Sseth; Children of the Titan Snake; Serpentine Kin
Yuan-ti were originally humans who transformed themselves into serpent folk through ancient rituals. Most yuan-ti were corrupted into monsters by those rites, but some yuan-ti instead became a new people who mix characteristics of humans and snakes.
Blessed with resistance to magical and poisonous effects by the rituals that created them, each of these yuan-ti manifests their serpentine heritage in a variety of ways: a forked tongue, snake eyes, a snakelike nose, or some other ophidian characteristic. However a yuan-ti looks, they have the power to pursue great good or evil in the multiverse.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Yuan-ti are humanoid beings with varying degrees of ophidian features. Male Yuan-ti often display pronounced serpentine traits such as scaled skin, elongated fangs, and reptilian eyes, while females retain more human-like appearances with subtle serpent characteristics like forked tongues or snake-like pupils. Their bodies are lean and flexible, adapted for stealth and agility, with some possessing vestigial tails or snake-like lower halves.
Genetics and Reproduction
Yuan-ti reproduction mirrors that of humans, though their transformation through Akrais's magic has altered their genetics. Offspring inherit a mix of human and serpentine traits, with males tending toward more extreme reptilian features. Female Yuan-ti often dominate social and reproductive structures, reflecting their society’s matriarchal traditions.
Ecology and Habitats
Yuan-ti thrive in dense jungles, wetlands, and tropical islands. Their presence on Bluesnow Island ties them to environments rich in ancient magic and biodiversity. They maintain a symbiotic relationship with their habitat, revering its resources while manipulating it to suit their needs, such as constructing serpent temples and harvesting rare jungle herbs for their rituals.
Behaviour
The Yuan-ti are inherently pragmatic, with a cold, calculating demeanor. They prioritize communal survival and often suppress personal desires for the greater good. However, remnants of Akrais's influence make some Yuan-ti ambitious and power-hungry, leading to internal conflicts. Their society values cunning, adaptability, and a deep connection to their serpentine heritage.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Living in dense jungle, Yuan-ti are predominantly found in Bluesnow and the Savage Grove
Average Intelligence
High; Yuan-ti are adept at strategy, arcane study, and diplomacy, making them formidable leaders and scholars.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Yuan-ti possess keen eyesight and can detect heat signatures in low-light conditions, akin to a pit viper. They are sensitive to vibrations in their environment, giving them an acute awareness of movement. Their natural affinity with magic grants them heightened resistance to arcane forces.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Yuan-ti names are melodious yet sharp, often reflecting serpentine or jungle imagery. Examples: Sshethra, Zhareth, Isskarr. Titles are common, particularly among leaders and spellcasters.
Beauty Ideals
Elegance and symmetry in serpent-like traits are highly valued. Smooth scales, vibrant eyes, and a sinuous gait are considered marks of beauty. Females with subtle features are seen as embodying balance and grace.
Gender Ideals
Society is matriarchal, with females holding positions of spiritual and political power. Males are often warriors or laborers but can rise in status through feats of strength or cunning.
Courtship Ideals
Courtship involves displays of cunning, strength, or magical prowess. Ritual dances mimicking serpentine movements are common, and the exchange of rare jungle treasures signifies commitment.
Relationship Ideals
Yuan-ti relationships are often pragmatic, with emotional bonds secondary to societal roles. Partnerships are typically formed to strengthen community ties or produce strong offspring, though deep connections occasionally develop.
Common Etiquette Rules
Deference to the Anathema or other leaders is customary. Yuan-ti value calm, deliberate speech and see impulsiveness as a sign of weakness. Physical greetings, such as handshakes, are rare; bows or subtle nods are preferred.
Common Dress Code
Traditional attire incorporates flowing fabrics in earthy tones, often adorned with serpentine motifs or enchanted jewelry. Warriors wear scaled armor crafted from local reptiles, while priests don robes that shimmer like snake skins.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Serpent’s Ascension
Overview: Serpent’s Ascension is a deeply spiritual and powerful holiday celebrated by the Yuan-Ti of Bluesnow, marking their transformation from ancient subjugation to a dominant and enlightened race. The holiday symbolizes the Yuan-Ti’s evolutionary path towards their perfected serpentine forms and their rise to mastery over their destiny. It’s a celebration of survival, transformation, and reverence for their serpentine gods.
When:
Date: Celebrated annually during the solstice when the sun reaches its lowest point in the sky, representing the Yuan-Ti’s rise from darkness to greatness.
Significance:
Serpent’s Ascension embodies the Yuan-Ti’s pride in their heritage and their constant pursuit of growth and enlightenment. The holiday emphasizes transformation—both physical and spiritual—as well as their connection to the divine serpentine beings who guide them. It is also a day of power and ritual, reflecting their belief in their destiny to reign supreme.
Traditions and Customs:
The Rite of Shed Skin:
Description: The day begins with a grand ceremonial ritual known as The Rite of Shed Skin, where participants symbolically cast off their old selves by discarding worn clothes or shedding their skin, in the case of those undergoing molting. This communal event takes place in the largest square of Bluesnow, symbolizing personal and collective transformation. As the Yuan-Ti shed their past, they embrace new forms of power and wisdom, honoring their heritage of adaptability and survival.
Activity: This act is accompanied by chanting and prayers to their serpentine gods, invoking blessings for the year ahead. Some Yuan-Ti who have recently undergone significant changes, such as completing a metamorphosis or achieving a new rank within their society, are honored with special accolades during the rite.
The Dance of Scales:
Description: As the day progresses, the streets of Bluesnow come alive with the Dance of Scales. Yuan-Ti of all ages participate in intricate and hypnotic dances, their movements mimicking the slithering grace of serpents. This dance symbolizes their connection to their divine ancestry, reinforcing their belief in their ultimate ascension to greater power.
Accompaniment: The dance is paired with hypnotic, rhythmic music played on flutes, drums, and other traditional instruments. The streets are decorated with glowing serpent-shaped lanterns and vivid banners, creating a mesmerizing atmosphere of unity and grace.
The Offering of Venom:
Description: As dusk falls, the celebration reaches its peak with the Offering of Venom ceremony. Selected Yuan-Ti champions, often those deemed the strongest or most revered within their society, offer vials of their own venom in elaborate rituals to their serpentine gods. This venom, a symbol of their strength, lethality, and cunning, is mixed with sacred herbs and presented to the gods in prayer.
Purpose: The ritual is performed to bless Bluesnow and its people, invoking protection, strength, and dominance over their enemies. The Yuan-Ti believe that this act ensures their continued prosperity and control over their lands. The champions who offer the venom are seen as conduits for divine power and are held in great esteem.
Trials of Ascension:
Description: The final event of the day is the Trials of Ascension, where the strongest Yuan-Ti warriors and spellcasters compete in various challenges of skill, strength, and magical prowess. The trials are designed to mirror the ancient struggles the Yuan-Ti faced as they ascended to greatness, with tasks that require cunning, brute force, and mastery over their serpent-like abilities.
Reward: The winner of the trials is bestowed the title of Ascendant Serpent for the coming year, receiving special privileges and the honor of leading next year’s Offering of Venom.
Decorations:
Serpent Banners and Lanterns: The streets of Bluesnow are decorated with serpent-themed banners, scales of shimmering blue and gold cloth, and glowing serpent-shaped lanterns that fill the city with an ethereal light.
Shrines of the Divine Serpent: Shrines dedicated to the Yuan-Ti’s divine serpentine gods are elaborately decorated with offerings of gold, jewels, and rare herbs. These shrines are the focal points for prayers and offerings throughout the holiday.
Attire:
Scaled Garments: Yuan-Ti wear special ceremonial robes and garments adorned with snake-like patterns, often woven with threads of gold and silver. Some also wear jewelry crafted in the shape of serpents, symbolizing their connection to their divine ancestors.
Shed Skins: For those who have recently molted, wearing parts of their shed skin as adornments is a sign of pride and transformation.
Special Highlights:
The Ascension March: During the day, the Yuan-Ti’s most honored leaders and champions parade through the streets of Bluesnow in a grand Ascension March, where the city’s inhabitants throw flowers and sacred herbs in their path. This march symbolizes the Yuan-Ti’s rise to greatness and their unwavering strength as a people.
Invocation of the Serpent Gods: At midnight, the Yuan-Ti’s high priests lead a mass invocation at the central temple, calling upon the divine serpents to bless the people with continued power, wisdom, and protection. The priests use the venom offered earlier in the day to anoint the statues of their gods, and in return, the Yuan-Ti pray for visions and guidance.
Community Impact:
Serpent’s Ascension fosters pride, unity, and reverence among the Yuan-Ti of Bluesnow. The holiday serves as a reminder of their divine heritage and their continued pursuit of power and mastery. It is a day of celebration, ritual, and renewal, helping the Yuan-Ti strengthen their connection to their gods and reaffirm their place in Astrium.
In Summary: The Serpent’s Ascension is a powerful and transformative holiday where the Yuan-Ti celebrate their rise to greatness. Through symbolic rites, hypnotic dances, sacred venom offerings, and tests of strength, the Yuan-Ti honor their divine ancestry, reflect on their personal evolution, and strive for even greater dominance in the future.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Yuan-ti culture revolves around reverence for their serpentine ancestry and the preservation of their history. Ancient rituals, art depicting Akrais, and serpent-like architecture dominate their cultural expressions.
- Rite of Scales: A coming-of-age ceremony where Yuan-ti embrace their serpentine heritage through symbolic shedding of old garments.
- Unity Festival: Celebrated with the Lizardfolk to honor the fragile peace, marked by dances, feasts, and joint rituals.
Common Taboos
Betraying or killing one’s kin is considered the gravest sin.
Desecrating serpent imagery or temples is seen as sacrilege.
History
The Yuan-Ti were originally elves and humans archaeologists who were venturing into the dense jungle of Cyankadi. While the temple they were searching lead deep underground, connecting to dozens of other temples a world-changing splitting of the jungle stemming from the demogorgons rage had caused the seal holding a long sealed creature from a time before - Akrais the Titan Snake of Sseth. The snake began to consume all of the archaeologists, but instead of digesting, they stayed in Akrais stomach and they began to take on the ophidian features, with the women taking on more subtle features, while the men became quite reptilian in nature. Akrais eventually expelled them and went to slumber, leaving them with the name Yuan-Ti which is an ancient, forgotten dialect for guardian which was the task he left for them.
Since the Pandora War, the Yuan-Ti has always had anywhere from 5-6 matriarch that has seemingly ascended into a position of leadership. This Matriarchs became known as the Anathema, would keep the Titan Snakes will alive by ensuring that the Yuan-Ti would stay close to the island known as Bluesnow.
For centuries the untapped magic of the Titan Snake would seep and transform reptiles on the island into humanoids the Ophidians (Lizardfolk). They were created as a result of magic seeping out and not directly influenced by his will so the Ophidians sought to take control of Bluesnow from the Yuan-Ti and battled in many wars for centuries
50 Years ago during the events that saw the group of heroes known as the archwardens take down and defeat Akrais in order to defeat the Szultsula a member of the Stargaze Assembly. With Akrais defeated, the Anathema's lost a lot of power and were not able to hold sway on as many Yuan-Ti, leading to a defection from the Yuan-Ti cults and the unification of the Lizard Folk and Yuan-Ti
Today the Yuan-Ti work hard to make up for all they have done while brainwashed by Akrais and have ventured to create a settlement worth of being names. Some still loyal to their cause have ventured into Astriums Savage grove with attempts to return to the old ways.
Common Myths and Legends
- Akrais the Eternal Coil: The tale of Akrais's creation by Sseth, emphasizing his role as a guardian and destroyer.
- The Scaled Betrayer: A story of a Yuan-ti who sought to overthrow the Anathema, leading to eternal punishment as a mindless snake.
- The Emerald Convergence: A prophecy of a serpent-born savior who will unite all scaled peoples under one banner of peace and power.
Scientific Name
Homo Serpens Magica
Lifespan
80-100 years; females tend to live slightly longer
Average Height
5'5" to 6'6"
Average Weight
120-180 pounds
Average Physique
Slender and sinewy, with flexible, agile builds. Males are often more muscular and reptilian in appearance, while females maintain a more balanced, humanoid frame.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Skin tones range from olive and bronze to emerald green or obsidian black, with intricate scale patterns often forming tribal-like markings. Some have facial or body patterns that glow faintly when channeling magic.
Geographic Distribution
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