Yuan-ti

File:Yuan-ti Mageslayer.jpg

A yuan-ti mageslayer

The yuan-ti are a species of snake-men in Dungeons & Dragons. They usually have a chaotic evil alignment; their goal, as dictated by their demonic god Merrshaulk, is to bring about the ultimate destruction of the world. The yuan-ti are descended from evil human cultists who mixed their bloodlines with those of serpents. They have formidable psionic abilities. Yuan-ti have their own language, and they can also speak Common, Draconic, and Abyssal languages.

Yuan-ti Breeds

The yuan-ti come in several distinct castes or breeds. The three most prevalent, described in the Third Edition Monster Manual, are as follows:

• Purebloods appear mostly human, with minor reptilian features, such as slitted eyes, a forked tongue, or patches of scales on their skin. They serve as diplomats and infiltrators, pretending to be human.
• Halfbloods are humanoid in shape but have a wide variety of noticeable serpentine features, such as a snakelike tail in place of legs, a complete covering of scales, a hood like a cobra, a snake's head, or snakes in place of arms. Halfbloods serve as warriors and temple assistants.
• Abominations are almost completely snakelike, with only a few human features, such as arms or a humanoid head. They are the most venerated within the yuan-ti society, serving as clerics and in other roles of power.

In addition to the three main breeds, other breeds have been described as well:

• Tainted ones are human agents of the yuan-ti who have willingly undergone a ritual of transformation to make themselves yuan-ti, gaining a venomous bite and slight psionic ability. They retain their human appearance but often develop reptilian mannerisms, such as frequently licking their lips or drawing out sibilant sounds as they speak. They first appeared in Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn.
• Broodguards, also known as histachii, are humans who have undergone the ritual of transformation but have been found unworthy, degenerating into hairless, near-mindless reptilian monsters. The yuan-ti employ these wretches as watchers over egg-broods and other demeaning tasks. They first appeared as the histachii in Dragon Magazine #151 ("The Ecology of the Yuan-ti" by David Wellham, 1989).
• Holy guardians are a rare breed specifically bred as temple guards; they are also sent on missions to obtain needed goods for abomination priests. Holy guardians are naturally servile and follow their superiors without question. They uniformly have a serpentile tail in place of legs and a snakelike head. They first appeared in Serpent Kingdoms.
• Mageslayers, another rare type of yuan-ti, are bred for the special purpose of battling or hunting down human magic-users, and most of their abilities are magical rather than psionic. Mageslayers have a humanlike head but a snakelike tail instead of legs. They first appeared in Serpent Kingdoms.
• Anathemas are by far the most powerful and loathsome of yuan-ti, worshiped as divine incarnations of Merrshaulk. They are truly bizarre in appearance, with a body like a 25-foot-long serpent; a pair of humanoid arms with clawed, three-fingered hands; and six serpentine heads rising from its shoulders. An anathema's power dwarfs even that of an abomination, but since they represent such unfettered chaos, they are usually found away from yuan-ti cities, establishing cults that worship Merrshaulk through them. They make a common practice of grafting yuan-ti body parts onto humans and other races for use as personal servants. Anathemas are extremely rare, however, and only a handful are likely to exist on any world. They first appeared in the Third Edition version of the Fiend Folio.

Finally, there are several reptiloid creatures closely associated with the yuan-ti that are not yuan-ti themselves:

• Extaminaars are the result of interbreeding between yuan-ti and humans and have so far only been seen in the Forgotten Realms setting. They came to be after human cultists of the snake-goddess Varae began consorting with yuan-ti in the region surrounding the city of Hlondeth. Members of the leaders of the two groups, the yuan-ti of House SeSehen and the humans of House Extaminos, intermarried, producing more yuan-ti, who quickly came to dominate House Extaminos and Hlondeth itself. To create a corps of loyal troops, as well as to ease relations with their human subjects and serve as the house's public face, the Extaminos yuan-ti created the extaminaars, a new race blending human and yuan-ti abilities. Extaminaars are born resembling scaled, armless human babies with undefined facial features, but grow to resemble thin, pale humans with straight black hair and brownish spots on their neck and back. Extaminaars outside Hlondeth serve as diplomats, spies, and interrogators for their yuan-ti creators. They excel at stealth and deception and often form cells to undermine governments and organizations antipathetic to their masters. Rogue extaminaars are often found as crime bosses and information brokers. Only the second generation of Hlondeth extaminaars has come to maturity, and other yuan-ti houses are starting to create extaminaars of their own. Extaminaars first appeared in the Forgotten Realms sourcebook Champions of Ruin.
• Ti-khana are reptiles, such as snakes, lizards, and dinosaurs, that have been altered by the yuan-ti. Ti-khana are far more intelligent than the creatures from which they are created, and possess both the psionic abilities and cruel disposition of their yuan-ti creators. They appear more snakelike than their mundane ancestors, appearing somewhat elongated, with venomous fangs. The ti-khana first appeared in the Third Edition version of the Fiend Folio, with a ti-khana deinonychus showcased as an example.
• Ophidians are an unrelated race of serpent-people who are nonetheless commonly associated with the yuan-ti. In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, the ophidians are said to be snake-worshiping human cultists who discovered a powerful yuan-ti relic that transformed them into degenerate reptilian humanoids. Ophidians are not very intelligent, and are easily impressed by shows of power by yuan-ti, evil nagas, and dragons, whom they frequently serve as willing slaves. Their most potent weapon is their venom, which can change humans into degenerate ophidians. Most ophidians worship their yuan-ti masters as gods.

Yuan-ti in the Forgotten Realms

Long before humans dominated the continent of Faerûn, the Creator Races ruled Toril. The reptilian Creator Race, the sauroids, or sarrukh, were foremost amongst these and built up empires such as Okoth, Isstosseffifil and Mhairshaulk. They bred the first yuan-ti by magically experimenting with and breeding men with snakes. This way they also created nagas, and through a similar process, lizardmen. The sarrukh eventually fell from power and the resourceful yuan-ti rose up to claim their Creators' power vacuum, even for while sustaining the empire of Mhairshaulk. Of the fragmented World Serpent deity that the sarrukh had worshipped, the yuan-ti venerated the strongest aspect, a cruel and despotic deity, Merrshaulk, who grew distant and aloof.

As the yuan-ti's power became less visible on Faerûn, and they instead fell to infiltrating human and demihuman society through their organisations (such as the Coiled Cabal and the various tribes and Houses) and long-sighted plots, Merrshaulk had sunk into a slumber, ignoring his followers. Eventually, around the time of the collapse of the human empire of Netheril, Merrshaulk himself was also reborn as a winged yuan-ti avatar named Sseth, who led the yuan-ti into reclaiming the empire of Mhairshaulk as a new yuan-ti empire—Serpentes—became the yuan-ti's new primary deity. In the end, though, Sseth too sank into somnolence.

At this point some sarrukh, long suffering a heavy war on other planes or sunken in hibernation in their ruins, began to return in some numbers. They crucially needed help from their deity, but Sseth was not answering prayers in his slumber. So for aid in their endeavors some of the sarrukh made a bargain with the Mulhorandi deity Set, that put Sseth into a deeper sleep but allowed Set to assume Sseth's mantle and grant the sauroids their aid. Most yuan-ti do not even know of this transaction, though now Sseth struggles at his bonds some are being made aware of it.

Famous yuan-ti in the Forgotten Realms include Zstulkk Ssarmn of the ruthless trade and slaving consortium the Iron Ring; his nephew Nhyris D'Hothek, one time possessor of the Crown of Horns; the Serpent Sibyl, whose body was used as Sseth's avatar during the Time of Troubles; and the ruling House Extaminos family of Hlondeth.

Yuan-Ti in Greyhawk

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting, the yuan-ti are found mainly on the continent of Hepmonaland, where they dwell in a number of ruined cities. They are said to have been created from the human Olmans by a snake-headed god named Tlaloc, whose relationship with Merrshaulk is unknown.

References

• Cook, David. Dwellers of the Forbidden City (TSR, 1981).
• Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual II (TSR, 1983).
• Reynolds, Sean K. The Scarlet Brotherhood (TSR, 1999).
• Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1994).
• Dragon #151 "Ecology of the Yuan-Ti"

External links

Yuan-ti article at The Site For Sore Eyes