Ss'thar'tiss'ssun

Ss'thar'tiss'ssun, or the City of Fountains, was once the capital city of the ancient serpent empire known as Najara. It was raised some 30'000 years ago by a powerful Creator race called the Sarrukh making it one of the oldest ruins in all Faerûn. Now, the secretive empire of Najara or the Kingdom of Snakes is governed from Ss'khanaja. Ss'thar'tiss'ssun lies buried and nearly forgotten.

Originally built as a temple city by the cult of Ssharstrune, Ss'thar'tiss'ssun was abandoned after the death of the deity it honored and stood sealed for thousands of years until it was restored by its guardian, the ancient bone ha-naga Terpenzi and its followers. However, in the the Year of the Moor Birds (90 DR), Netherese wizards in the employ of the Shadowking drove Terpenzi and his ophidian servants out and partially razed the city, creating wards to prevent any serpent related species from returning.

Much later, humans briefly inhabited the land above the ruins but their village, called Serpent's Cowl, now stands empty. The surface dwellers were annihilated when the Netherese wards designed to keep out serpent kin failed roughly a hundred years ago. The people of the village used to hold a superstition over digging wells and foundations, for fear of opening up a route into the ruins below. The Shrine of the Cowled Serpents lies in the heart of ruined Ss'thar'tiss'ssun. Over the last century, yuan-ti have uncovered the shrine and often visit the location. It is inhabited by all manner of monsters and treasures dating back to the original Kingdom of Snakes.