The Order of Seth & Apep - Yuan-Ti Civilisation
The Order of Seth is the political & religious grouping of the Yuan-Ti. The whole dynasty is based on the worship of twin serpent gods - Seth & Apep, the former the god of destruction, and the latter of evil that millennia ago came to be feared & worshipped by the Egyptians. The Yuan-Ti has since appeared in other continents besides Africa, mainly in the subcontinent of India, the Middle East, and Asia. There is the rumour that a further part of the civilisation exists on a yet undiscovered southern continent. They follow the religious worship of snakes taking in local customs, and names of the deities related to snakes.
Each of the mentioned countries will have at least two cities hidden away, with India having at two, the Middle East has at least three, Asia has at least four, and Africa at least five. The areas the cities are in range to tropical rainforests and deserts. The former is easier to hide due to plant growth and abundance of prey species to hunt & eat, while the latter has little in the way of these, they are more easier to defend due to the harsh desert environment. Rumours abound of hidden temples buried in the Underdark, hidden temples in other regions of the world, and abandoned cities left to fall to age.
Each city is ruled by at least one Yuan-Ti Abomination, and they seem to prefer three at the top viewing this as both a practical reason in case one dies or ascends, and three appearing as a magical number to them. Each region in turn is ruled over by at least one Yuan-Ti Anathema. The first & most populated temples & cities seem to be in Africa, and they seem to have moved out of Africa aeons before humanity existed. According to early Yuan-Ti stories, they rose at a time where there was one single continent on Earth they refer to has Hyperborea, and conquered most of the land when the war between the giants & dragons had finished. Elves, dwarves & gnomes were starting to appear on Earth from portals from other planes, and take over. At the same time other animals were present and the Yuan-Ti were primitive beings who appeared human-like arose. They worshipped the dragons, and eventually turned to snake worship when the dragons retreated from most of the world, and the continent of Hyperborea split. After humans started to arrive, they quickly were dominated by many of these cults and helped to breed with the Yuan-Ti as well as create their own snake cults. At the same time other gods took interest in humans, and a few deities took on snake-like traits. This fed into each other and the Yuan-Ti were, and still are, seen as the ultimate blending of human and snake. These gods taught their followers disgusting magical rites that blended the snake & human forms together more, creating the forms that are seen today.
Each city is teaming with different variants of Yuan-Ti, with the Yuan-Ti Purebloods outnumbering all others. They are at the lowest of the cast system, with the different malisons above them making up the middle tier classes, and above then, the upper caste priests, such as Nightmares and Abominatios here, and Anathema at the very top. Cultists form a tier of their own underneath & separate from all others. Below these are slaves and sacrifices that are used for basic labour and in disturbing rituals to the serpent gods.
The Yuan-Ti believe they once ruled the earth and it will be again under their rule. They believe that all other life will eventually bow down to them and the serpent will become the most dominant deity of all. They site a myth that there was originally two temples that controlled all the word, both of which had vast Anathema controlling both. These Anathema were meant to the living incarnations of their twin gods Seth & Apep, and were created equal, as well as centuries if not millennia old. The myth states that such a two will come again and lead their people to greatness. They will lead form their own temple complex with each being named of their lost temple states when these were swallowed by the seas. One is to be called Lemuria, and the other to be called Mu. The former is rumoured to be under the Atlantic at present, and the latter under the Pacific.
Type
Secret, Religious sect
Controlled Territories
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