Adder

The adder was a type of snake found in Faerûn.

Description
Adders were scaled and highly venomous serpents, sometimes growing big enough to swallow one or multiple humanoids at a time. Some adders' scaled were colored black, banded with thin grey stripes. Their heads had horn-like ridges above the eyes, the most distinct feature of the adder. Their venom glands appeared as slight bulging beside the creatures' ear holes and fed deadly venom into their sharp fangs. Like other snakes, they had forked tongues that served as a tactile sensory organ.

Species
Black adders were known for their deadly venom. A vial of it often went for 75 gold coins in Cormyr circa 1371 DR. The long black snake found in Zakhara's greatest sea of sand, often used as living weapons by the zin. The puff adder was found in the Duskwood where it preyed upon the badger mice. These serpents puff out their skin to appear more menacing toward attackers.
 * Black adder
 * Black sand adder
 * Puff adder

Habitats
Beyond the world of Toril, adders could be found on the worlds of Athas, Aebrynis, and Eberron.

Uses
The spell of melf's acid arrow required powdered rhubarb leaf and the stomach of an adder as its material components.

The spell fist of the adder transformed the caster's arms into adder snakes allowing them to deal devastating unarmed attacks with the serpents' bites. The material component of the spell was the shed skin of a venomous snake, such as adder, washed in tears.

Adders could be created via use of the sticks to snakes spell.

The five-headed whips of the drow priestesses of Lolth had living adders as the part of the weapons.

Black adder venom was often used by lizardfolk.

A fang of an adder was one of the components of potions of longevity.

Trivia

 * 1328 DR was named the Year of the Adder.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Curse of the Azure Bonds &bull; Shadowdale &bull; Caravans


 * Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
 * Novels
 * Prophet of Moonshae &bull; Star of Cursrah &bull; Dissolution &bull; Venom's Taste &bull; Vanity's Brood


 * Pool of Radiance &bull; Pool of Twilight &bull; Passage to Dawn &bull; The City of Splendors: A Waterdeep Novel &bull; Lady of Poison &bull; The Halls of Stormweather &bull; Shadow's Witness &bull; The Rage &bull; The Rite &bull; Twilight Falling &bull; Elminster in Hell &bull; Elminster's Daughter &bull; Resurrection &bull; Darkvision &bull; Frostfell &bull; The Fall of Highwatch &bull; Cry of the Ghost Wolf &bull; The Bargain
 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards