Yuan-ti

Yuan-ti are a species of monstrous humanoid snake-men and are usually of an evil alignment. Yuan-ti have their own language, and they can also speak Common, Draconic, and Abyssal.

Society
The goal of the Yuan-ti, as dictated by their demonic god Merrshaulk (also known as Sseth), is to bring about the ultimate destruction of the world. The yuan-ti, despite their love of chaos, have a fairly rigid caste system with slaves at the bottom, with purebloods as ambassadors, builders, artisans, and spies, halfbloods as guardians, warriors, and enforcers, and abominations as the mystics, philosophers, generals, judges, and leaders of a yuan-ti nest.

Yuan-ti society slightly favors males, as only males may be high priests. However, they are too intelligent to not utilize their females' talents, and in non-priestly or reproductive roles females are permitted to do everything that males are. Female purebloods are particularly useful as seductresses in the human world.

Environment
Yuan-ti typically inhabit subterranean complexes, most often originally built by other races, as the lack of hands in so many of their kind makes building difficult. They may also adopt natural caves, or even build tunnels under the cities of other races. They fill their lairs with traps and with corridors too narrow for anyone but snakes to slither through.

Alignment
Yuan-ti are usually both chaotic and non-good, though their caste system is fairly rigid and they cooperate well in their schemes. They are no strangers to long-term planning, either, but this only means their superior intelligence allows them to embrace chaos as an ultimate goal and foment chaos as a means to an end, without falling victim to the weaknesses of disorder. They feel no particular kinship with other chaotic or evil beings, and will be happy to see them destroyed along with everyone else. There are some of the yuan-ti that have forsaken the ways of their race and seek redemption for what their race has done, they call themselves Shulassakar.

History
Long before humans dominated the continent of Faerûn, the Creator Races ruled Toril. The reptilian Creator Race, the sarrukh, were foremost amongst these and built up great empires. They bred the first yuan-ti by magically experimenting with and breeding men with snakes. This way they also created naga, and through a similar process, lizardmen. They eventually fell from power and the resourceful yuan-ti rose up to claim their Creators' power vacuum, even while sustaining the empire of Mhairshaulk. Of the fragmented World Serpent deity that the sarrukh had worshiped, 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 organizations 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 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 sarrukh 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.

Ecology
The yuan-ti are born from fertilization. Females give birth 3-6 infants during childbirth. Killing a yuan-ti infant is considered sacrilege and is only punishable by death. The yuan-ti are careful in breeding one another for maximum fitness and intelligence, and to ensure that the various castes exist in their proper or better ratios.

Yuan-ti have a gestation period of about 60 months, with about 30% of their young dying of birth defects in infancy, while 50% stay normal like their parents, and 20% are born stronger. The yuan-ti are constantly evolving through mutations and as such some prevalent mutations in their race often cause their young to die on their own, while some allow the species to evolve and make new breeds. Their young are raised communally, separated from their parents.

A yuan-ti infant becomes physically mature at 20 years old. As the yuan-ti is aging, it sheds its skin 5-6 times a year and each time it sheds, the yuan-ti becomes more evolved and stronger. As consequence to this, a yuan-ti undergoes multiple growth spurts throughout their youth and with each shed gains extra shape shifting abilities such as the ability to grow wings. Each breed of Yuan-ti have different lifespans; purebloods can live about 6,000 years, halfbreeds 8,000 years, and abominations about 10,000 years.

A yuan-ti has a regenerative process for when they have severe wounds and can enter a hibernation mode that can heal damaged organs and regrow lost limbs. While they are awake they can heal cuts and bruises in mere seconds and stab and blunt wounds in minutes. They also have the adaptability to adapt to the environment for survival, such as being able to hold their breath for hours while in water or emit a poison at stronger predators that are trying to kill them.

Yuan-ti Breeds


The yuan-ti come in several distinct castes or breeds. The three most prevalent 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. Almost uniquely amongst the Yuan-ti, Purebloods in the Forgotten Realms are two-formed, able to shapeshift naturally into a viper of any size.


 * Malison : 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. Malisons, also called half-bloods, serve as warriors and temple assistants.


 * Abominations : 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.

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


 * Tainted ones: Human agents of the yuan-ti who have willingly undergone a ritual of transformation to make themselves yuan-ti, are known as tainted ones; they gain a venomous bite and slight psionic ability in the process. They retain their human appearance but often develop reptilian mannerisms, such as frequently licking their lips or drawing out sibilant sounds as they speak.


 * The Forgotten: Also sometimes called Yin-Shu, are humans, half-orcs, or half-elves who have yuan-ti blood in their veins due to ancient, unsuccessful experiments. Purebloods can sense them instinctively from up to 100 feet away. Yuan-ti attempt to convince them to willingly embrace their inhuman heritage, transforming them into halfbloods or purebloods using the Black Broth or other foul potions.


 * Holy guardians: 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 serpentine tail in place of legs and a snakelike head.


 * Histachii: Also known as brood guards, these 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.


 * Ignans: Another rare subspecies of yuan-ti that dwell in hotter climates of the world, including in volcanoes and on the Elemental Plane of Fire. Ignas are similar to yuan-ti malisons, except they are slightly more powerful due to some of the fire spells they wield.


 * Mageslayers: Another rare type of yuan-ti, mageslayers are bred for the special purpose of battling or hunting down human magic-users, and most of their abilities are magical rather than psionic. They have a human-like head but a snakelike tail instead of legs.
 * Anathemas: By far the most powerful and loathsome of yuan-ti, anathemas are 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.

Notable yuan-ti

 * Zstulkk Ssarmn, a member of the ruthless trade and slaving consortium the Iron Ring
 * Nhyris D'Hothek, nephew of Zstulkk Ssarmn, and one time possessor of the Crown of Horns
 * Sibyl, whose body was used as Sseth's avatar during the Time of Troubles
 * House Extaminos, the ruling family of Hlondeth.
 * Zelia, Extremely powerful scion featured in the trilogy, "House of Serpents"