Page 113 - Serpent Kingdoms

REALMS

armies into battle with the Shadowking but was destroyed. The The Principality of the Snarling Boar was destroyed in
surviving serpentfolk fl ed the battlefi eld (now called the Fields the Year of the Slain Mountain (993 DR), when a great spell
of the Dead) with their king’s remains, but the Kingdom of battle erupted at the head of the Winding Water between
Snakes was no more. Taskor the Terrible of Irieabor and the Wizard of the Crag.
In the centuries that followed, scattered tribes of ophidians After both archmages vanished, imprisoned water elementals
battled the lizardfolk of Kalran for control of the Serpent ran amok, inundating Boareskyr and leaving behind the
Hills, all the while harried by the Shadowking’s armies. But un- Marsh of Chelimber in their wake. Many of the lizardfolk
beknownst to the humans of Ebenfar, the followers of Terpenzi tribes that had long inhabited the northern Serpent Hills took
were plotting the rebirth of their realm. The surviving yuan-ti advantage of this development to migrate eastward into the
labored in the depths of their secret hold to raise Terpenzi’s newly forming marsh. Those left behind were too weak to
brood and school the young dark nagas in the ways of magic. oppose the armies of Najara, which had grown strong since
One of the ha-naga’s offspring, Jacinica, became the new king- the fall of Delimbiyran, the Kingdom of Man, in the Year of
in-exile of Najara in the Year of the Prowling Naga (142 DR). the Shrouded Slayer (671 DR). Thus, the lizardfolk kingdom
As its fi rst offi cial act, Jacinica ordered the remains of Terpenzi of Kalran soon became a vassal state of the Kingdom of
to be transformed into a bone naga and enslaved to the bearer Snakes in all but name.
of the artifact known as the Marlspire of Najara. Over the next three centuries, Najara slowly grew in power
The greatest obstacles to the resurgence of Najara were the under the guidance of various dark naga kings counseled by the
empire of Ebenfar and the kingdom of Shavinar, which lay nagara and the yuan-ti nobility. Cognizant of the risks posed
between the Troll Hills and the River Chionthar. Shavinar by humanity and its allies, the serpentfolk of Najara contented
eventually fell to trolls in the Year of Broken Flame (277 DR), themselves with claiming the Serpent Hills and continuing to
and Ebenfar collapsed after the imprisonment of the Shadowk- infl uence the rest of western Faerûn from the shadows. One by
ing in the Year of the Miscast Shadow (323 DR), thus clearing one, the human-ruled successor states to Ebenfar that had once
the way for a new regime. But before the rulers of Najara could ruled the Western Heartlands were undermined by yuan-ti infi l-
establish much infl uence, both the Shoon Imperium and the tration. Eventually, the Winding Water river valley was devoid
Kingdom of Cormyr decided to extend their infl uence into the of major human settlements, and the Western Heartlands were
Western Heartlands in the Year of the Fearless King (361 free of human-ruled realms larger than city-states.
DR). Among the immigrants in the ensuing wave of human Since its ascension to the throne in the Year of the Orm-
migration were some Varae-worshipers from the Shining serpent (1295 DR), the dark naga Ebarnaje has continued the
Plains who came north in search of Ss’thar’tiss’ssun. When cautious strategy of its predecessors, but it dreams of reclaiming
these humans unleashed an artifact created by House Orogoth the city of Ss’thar’tiss’ssun as its seat of power. Although its
and left behind by the yuan-ti, they were transformed en masse forces could easily conquer the village of Serpent’s Cowl, the
into ophidians. dark naga king is well aware of the response such an outright
The collapse of the Shoon Imperium in the Year of the Corrie attack would provoke from the Lord’s Alliance. Instead, the
Fist (450 DR) once again left the way clear for the serpentfolk. dark naga king has dispatched a succession of agents to the
But the sudden death of Jacinica in the Year of Rolling Heads village with orders to gradually transform its inhabitants into
(452 DR) precipitated a decades-long power struggle among the tainted ones. The king has also backed the Coiled Cabal’s efforts
nagara that lasted until the Year of the Fortress Scoured (511 to explore the ruins below Serpent’s Cowl. The dark naga king
DR), when Nejizar fi nally ascended to the throne of Najara. believes that such a two-pronged campaign will eventually bring
The new dark naga king established its rule over the serpentfolk the region under its direct control without any outside challenge.
in the Year of Trials Arcane (523 DR), thanks in large part In anticipation of the day that Najara must wage war with its
to its alliance with a dozen spirit nagas. By then, however, the neighbors, Ebarnaje has backed the rise of the Cult of the Dark
Tricrowned Kingdom of Phalorm had claimed the High Moor Naga, a far-wandering organization of dark nagas pledged to
and begun constructing a chain of fortresses along the western recover all manner of spells and magic that might advance the
border of the Serpent Hills. power of Najara.
Since Najara was too weak militarily to confront the Realm
of Three Crowns directly, Nejizar sent yuan-ti infi ltrators south Plots and Rumors
to the Reaching Woods in the Year of the Alabaster Mounds
(577 DR). Their mission was to incite the hobgoblin tribes of Najara is rich with opportunities for adventure by virtue of its
the region to march northward in a great horde. But infi ltrators many inhabited areas and the factions that control them.
dispatched by Phalorm dealt the hobgoblins a sharp check at Cult of the Dark Naga: The Cult of the Dark Naga is a
the Battle of Notched Axes, then ensured the victory of King loose-knit organization run by a septet of Najaran dark naga
Ruardh Lightshiver’s armies at the Battle of Blunted Fangs by nobles known as the Seven. The group is discreetly backed by
assassinating the serpentine provocateurs. This defeat forced the Ebarnaje, the king of Najara. Long allied with Manshoon and
serpentfolk of Najara to retreat into the Serpent Hills. the Zhentarim, the Cult of the Dark Naga arrived in force in

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