Serpents of Woe
Of the many tales of gods, demigods, and extraplanar beings that have walked the lands of Lithria, few are so certain to have existed to the people of southern Lithria as the Serpents of Woe. Though the Trandrafians have defaced and destroyed those gods heretical before their Queen, proof of the existence of the Serpents have been written in to the very tale of their monarch-goddess.
To the Yilan people before being conquered by the Red Queen, the Serpents of Woe were as gods on the earth. The few saved pieces of their mythologies that have been able to be studied suggest that they worshiped these beings as more of a way of staving them off, and they would only rise in time of tribulation and catastrophe. Other interpretations note that they may have also been seen as the ones to bring turmoil, or that they were seen as guardians of the Yilan.
Creation Myth
The Yilan story of the birth of the Serpents of Woe come from a story involving their chief deity, a great serpentine or scaled god with rainbow scales. According to their myths, their god came in contact with a great evil and in the resulting clash shed scales upon the earth. From these scales rose the gods of the Yilan, immortal reincarnating beings of the aspects of their chief deity and creator. When the rainbow god ascended, these gods remained as stewards of the Yilan. Bearing the rainbow god's malice, fear, and murderous intent from its battle with the Enemy, the Serpents of Woe fed off the chaos and disorder of disaster and war, but slumbered otherwise.
As time wore on, through means known in their entirety only to lost historical accounts, the Yilan's gods disappeared one by one, dying to never return. During their time, the Serpents of Woe rose in defense of the people - or to push them to their own ends. By the time of the Red Queen came to pass, the only gods known to be openly worshiped by the Yilan were the Rainbow God creator and the Serpents of Woe.
Serpent of Blood
The scarlet red serpent of blood craved that which it was named for. It was a ruthless beast out for the slaughter, seeking only one thing to sate its appetite. It is interpreted as once being seen as a god of war, but not one of death. Rather, legends state that it granted unnatural vigor to their followers and spurred their blood to boil. During the War of Three Serpents, the followers of the Serpent of Blood were said to be impervious to pain and capable of overcoming injury.
Serpent of Anguish
The shadowy serpent of anguish was the bringer of grief, pain, and despair. The most insidious of the serpents because it doesn't prefer up front confrontation, instead choosing to work from the shadows. It sought to sew the seeds of uncertainty and fear, watching a populace turn on itself and writhed in anguish until they finally succumbed. This was the last serpent to be hunted by the followers of the Red Queen and was dispatched by the legendary hunter and now Seraph, Gölgen.
Serpent of Death
The bone white serpent of death was arguably the most powerful of the triad, but dependent on their siblings. The serpent feasted on death, decay, disease, and reveled in the aftermath of the other serpent's dealings. Servants of the Serpent of Death sought to sew death and decay with the promise that their god would raise them to bring more death when they fell. The Serpent of Death was met by the Seraph Ležimir in battle near what is now Coldmyst Lake, and it is theorized that the bones that can be seen sticking through the ground in that region are the remains of the massive serpent. Proof of the strength wielded by the Red Queen and those she blesses with power.
Fate of the Serpents of Woe
The legends once told by the Yilan people claim their gods were immortal - the Serpents included - having died and been reborn a hundred times. However, by the time the Red Queen came to power, only three of these gods are remembered to be recorded, and each fell by Her servants hands, their deaths an offering to Her, and they have not been seen again. Now the Serpents of Woe are akin to a fairy tale. Vestiges of a cult crop up from time to time but are hunted down and punished for their heresy by the Covenant and noble lords alike in Trandrafia.
Artifacts
Fang of Blood - A dagger made from the spine of a tooth of the Serpent of Blood that was taken by a Nordic raiding party and held by Jarl Einar until it was claimed by the Champions of the Nords.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
The only surviving symbology assumed to be associated with the Serpents of Woe is a symbol of three coils intertwined.
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