Laxeotikan ophidiopathy
Laxeotikan ophidiopathy (sometimes anathema ophidiopathy) is a permanent supernatural condition that causes the subject to exhibit serpentine abilities and physical traits. Considered one of several syndromes within the ophidiopathy family, laxeotikan is the most advanced form of ophidiopathy, with afflicted individuals sprouting multiple serpent heads linked by a hive-mind intelligence. It gets its name from the laxeotikan caste of the yuan-ti, an ancient human civilization that structured its culture around the pursuit of ophidiopathy as a means of apotheosis.
Transmission & Vectors
Most forms of ophidiopathy can be transmitted from parent to child or through a depraved ceremony involving a number of human sacrifices and ritual cannibalism. However, laxeotikan ophidiopathy must be transmitted through the Qotoxiyekoatextli or "anathema apotheosis", a painful rite which transforms a yuan-ti of a lower caste into an laxeotikaztl. The specifics of this ritual are a closely guarded secret, though legend says that it requires dozens of human sacrifices as well as the blood of an adult hydra in order to be successful. The ordeal is said to be extraordinarily painful for the subject but those that achieve laxeotikan status to transcend to demi-godhood.
Symptoms
Appearance
The rarest and most revered of all yuan-ti, the laxeotikan or anathema caste display a similar overall body plan to that of a sixavatl. However, unlike a sixavatl, anathema—called laxeotikaztlii—have multiple heads emanating from a cluster of vertebrae above the shoulder. Each head forms a hive mind-like intelligence, allowing them to solve complex problems while pursuing the same goal. However, their transformation also removes much of their empathic minds, causing them to be even crueler than the average yuan-ti. Their bodies are nearly immortal and are all but immune to aging. No two yuan-ti look the same, with substantial variation in physical traits even between family members. While ophidiopathy does not draw from one specific species or group of snakes, most individuals bear a resemblance to a specific species. Scales colors range from highly camouflaged greens and browns to vibrant reds, blues, oranges, and yellows. These colors can also appear in a variety of patterns from solid, to stripes, to dappled or reticulated. Among the higher castes, heads also reflect specific species of snakes, such as hooded cobras, slender pythons, snub-nosed, horned adders, and triangular vipers. Metabolism
Additionally, the process of contracting ophidiopathy appears to change the metabolism of the subject. More severe cases of ophidiopathy appear to result in the subject losing their ability to process certain fibers, particularly those found in plants such as grain and root vegetables. This usually forces the subject to adopt the diet of a snake or similar obligate carnivore. Moreover, this change in metabolism impacts how yuan-ti are able to regulate their body temperature. The more severe the ophidiopathy is in a subject, the more they appear to require sources of heat in order to regulate their own internal body temperature. Laxeotikaztlii and their relatives the sixavatlii particularly struggle to survive in temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius. Aptitude for the Arcane
As a side effect of the magical nature of the ophidiopathy transformation, yuan-ti of the moxaza caste and higher are able to obtain inherent magical abilities. These include the ability to polymorph into large snake as well as entrance mortals with suggestion charms. Many yuan-ti priests take this aptitude for magic further still, allowing them to gain access to dark invocations of demonic or otherworldly powers.
The rarest and most revered of all yuan-ti, the laxeotikan or anathema caste display a similar overall body plan to that of a sixavatl. However, unlike a sixavatl, anathema—called laxeotikaztlii—have multiple heads emanating from a cluster of vertebrae above the shoulder. Each head forms a hive mind-like intelligence, allowing them to solve complex problems while pursuing the same goal. However, their transformation also removes much of their empathic minds, causing them to be even crueler than the average yuan-ti. Their bodies are nearly immortal and are all but immune to aging. No two yuan-ti look the same, with substantial variation in physical traits even between family members. While ophidiopathy does not draw from one specific species or group of snakes, most individuals bear a resemblance to a specific species. Scales colors range from highly camouflaged greens and browns to vibrant reds, blues, oranges, and yellows. These colors can also appear in a variety of patterns from solid, to stripes, to dappled or reticulated. Among the higher castes, heads also reflect specific species of snakes, such as hooded cobras, slender pythons, snub-nosed, horned adders, and triangular vipers. Metabolism
Additionally, the process of contracting ophidiopathy appears to change the metabolism of the subject. More severe cases of ophidiopathy appear to result in the subject losing their ability to process certain fibers, particularly those found in plants such as grain and root vegetables. This usually forces the subject to adopt the diet of a snake or similar obligate carnivore. Moreover, this change in metabolism impacts how yuan-ti are able to regulate their body temperature. The more severe the ophidiopathy is in a subject, the more they appear to require sources of heat in order to regulate their own internal body temperature. Laxeotikaztlii and their relatives the sixavatlii particularly struggle to survive in temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius. Aptitude for the Arcane
As a side effect of the magical nature of the ophidiopathy transformation, yuan-ti of the moxaza caste and higher are able to obtain inherent magical abilities. These include the ability to polymorph into large snake as well as entrance mortals with suggestion charms. Many yuan-ti priests take this aptitude for magic further still, allowing them to gain access to dark invocations of demonic or otherworldly powers.
Treatment
As it is a supernatural condition enabled through a divine connection to the Old Magic, there is no cure for congenital ophidiopathy. Some have speculated that individuals that undergo a ritual transformation can reverse the curse's physical and spiritual effects through curse removal spells if they are performed shortly after the initial ritual. However, no known documentation of said reversal exists.
History
What little information we have comes to us largely from a combination of legends and art work taken from Old Temekan, which seek to explain the origin of a people they referred to as the Tsakhit. These Tsakhit are believed to have been colonists from the original yuan-ti empire in Teroa who settled the Niru Delta region in Nioa during the earliest centuries of the Mithril Era.
According to Temekanian sources, one of these groups revering Valdra was located in Teroa and made up of humans, the youngest of the mortal peoples. These mortals called Valdra Huxenotizhuatli,1 or "The Serpent-That-Dwells-Below." Created by the gods and watched over by the wise coatli, these humans built great stone palaces, hewn crystal blades of shadowglass, and were among the first to work metal into tools.2 Many of them admired the snake above all creatures, seeing perfection in its flexible form and cold, calculating intellect. They came to develop a philosophy the separated thought from the heart.
This was in contrast to the teachings of their protectors, the coatli. The feathered serpents preached that knowledge without compassion is useless to all but the individual. Huxenotizhuatli's followers called these feathered serpents soft and without flexibility of thought. So the coatli banished them, hoping that they would learn the merit of altruism in the darkness of the jungle. And the people of the city called them yuan-ti, meaning "The Proud Ones."3
Soon Huxenotizhuatli's harbingers taught her followers the secrets of the Old Magic, spells long considered forbidden by their old coatli masters. With this newfound power, the followers of Huxenotizhuatli constructed their own civilization of mighty temples and floating gardens. Yet such power requires payment and so the Great Old One demanded sacrifice. The followers of Huxenotizhuatli made war on their former neighbors, taking many captives. They brought them to the high altar and offered their blood to the snake god. They ate of their victims' flesh and writhed in charnal pits with living serpents until they were transformed into the image of their patron. Freed from the limitations of their human bodies, the yuan-ti used their new forms to conquer new lands and create a new empire dedicated to the Serpent Below.4
From here, records indicate that the yuan-ti spread out across forest and plain, conquering many tribes and demanding tribute from the terrified people of Teroa. They even crossed the seas and set up colonies in Hakoa and Nioa, where their armies would plunder the land for wealth and slaves. These colonies acted as bases from which the yuan-ti could send their armies to demand tribute food, ore, and slaves. One such colony is believed to have been the aforementioned Tsakhit people attested to in the Old Temekanian legend.
The wealth of the empire grew, allowing the ruling elite to focus on further perfecting their ophidian forms. Huxenotizhuatli taught the humans how to take on aspects of the snake, but the cost of the change was high, requiring many sacrifices for each person to be transformed. Entire households of slaves in one city-state were killed and eaten to create the first yuan-ti, and once the news of how to perform these rituals spread to other leaders, the call for slaves to fuel the process increased. As the Huxenotizhuatli began to demand more and more sacrifices, the yuan-ti stepped up their raids on bordering settlements to meet this need.
The physical and magical prowess of the yuan-ti empire allowed them to retain their holdings for several hundred years but then many of their colonies and raids begin to abruptly stop. Many reasons for the decline of the yuan-ti have been proposed, with the most likely cause being a combination of drought, plague, attacks by enemies (including dragons and coatli), and slave uprisings. By 1000 ME, little records remain of serpent people raids and the spread of Valdra-worshipping cults slows dramatically. Only a few centuries later, the Great Exodus of Man began, allowing for humans to slowly begin populating the rest of Holos.
Type
Supernatural
Parent
Origin
Divine
Cycle
Chronic, Acquired
Rarity
Extremely Rare
Affected Species
A glyph of Valdra in her ancient yuan-ti form—Huxenotizhuatli
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