Serpentslaying

"Mom! There are no snake-people left, are there mom?"
"Of course not, sweetie... Don't you worry, we'll check the house. Make sure none of their pets are here."

A rare, often underappreciated fact is that Kir Vallen is one of the safest cities in Cauldron of Creation because of this very tradition. The city has its own vermin and issues with occasional spider bites and scorpion stings, but the city reportedly has the least amount of serpents and snakes from all of the Cauldron. This is largely due to the fact that snakes have always been associated with the yuan-ti, and this tradition, while largely superstitious, has kept their numbers at an all-time-low.
It is difficult to compare the hatred Freefolk have for the yuan-ti in its rawest form to anything else on all of Taurua. Not only did the Freefolk completely annihilate the ancient Empire of Phorexia, exterminated the yuan-ti (to their knowledge) as a species, but they as well wiped out most of the information around yuan-ti and their culture, along with their sculptures, buildings and treasures. So vast was the destruction caused after the Freefolk rebelled, that it would seem as the ancient Empire was stripped of everything it had, the humans turned their eyes on the animals around them.

"No snakes in our house!"

Similarly to how many houses guard their crops zealously for rodents, people in Kir Vallen and in most cities of the Dragani Empire guard their homes from any snakes or serpents when the evening falls. There are professionally trained snake-catchers, but even most civilians know how to handle themselves around a venomous foe. Any snakes by nightfall are slain, their possible offspring burned and bodies discarded - No true citizen of the Dragani Empire dares to use anything acquired from a snake in their crafts, which is why many artisans who actually stitch goods from snakeskin travel to sell them at Bravallon.

Effects on Markets

One of the common household tools in Kir Vallen is the snake hook and snake tong, but in addition to this there is the snake cutter. Similar to a hook, the snake cutter works with a solid, tight iron wire that is attached to the hooks end. The wire is then tightened more and more, until the snake lassoed in the wire is cut in half. It is a tradition for a new houseowner to receive one of these tools on the house.

Myths and Superstition

As it is believed the yuan-ti had the ability to converse with snakes, it is a popular myth that all of the snakes work under their ancient masters as spies, or that they weave curses to the households that they inhabit. This is one of the main reasons the Spire District seems to bare to people who have seen the lush jungles of the Monarch Jungle. The streets are intentionally cobbled over, with little room for any decorative trees, bushes or grass-covered yards, to help weed out any snakes lurking in the district.

Primary Related Location

Phorex Isles

Important Locations

Related Organizations

The Dragani Empire

Related Ethnicities

Phorexian

by Amar Precadio

The Bite of '87
In the year 687 ET an aristocrat of House Carnegie in Empyrean Trade died of a snakebite. As the family mourned, they riled up the city to an absurd length of payback by conspiracies of "yuan-ti assassins" hiding within the city. As the sin of acting as the yuan-ti's personal assassins was added to the snakes tall list of crimes, this started a large campaign where hunting parties would venture out into the jungles surrounding the city with the sole purpose of slaying serpents, and bringing their heads in for rewards in silver. During this fanghunt, an citizen was found harboring a secret farm to breed more snakes and to kill them once they came of age to make a living, but after they were sentenced to a lifetime in the darkest depths of prison this discouraged anyoen else from following the same trail in the future.