Page 15 - Serpent Kingdoms

YUAN-TI

his drive to establish the Serpentes Empire, and they were given are sold through agents (or used for bribes) in Thindol. Certain
control of the Tashalar Basin as a reward for their efforts. Sseradess are growing impatient with the slow process of achiev-
In the Year of the Fallen Fury (20 DR), a decade after the ing real power there, however, so they are looking to hire—and
disappearance of Sseth, the Se’Sehen were forced to withdraw ultimately control—some outlander adventurers who can add
from the Tashalar to their holdings on the northwest shores of muscle to their intrigues ashore.
the Lapal Sea. As a result of this defeat, they sank into centuries Members of this tribe are known for their ability to breathe
of somnolence. and swim underwater. Most snake-necked Sseradess possess the
Sseth’s brief reappearance during the Time of Troubles has Water Adaptation feat (see Feats in Races of Faerûn).
invigorated the Se’Sehen, prompting them to forge an insidious
alliance with the Rundeen trade consortium of the Tashalar. THE COILED CABAL
The Se’Sehen exchange exotic spices and poisons for slaves and This secret society of arcane spellcasters is dominated by the
a means to transport their spies to ports in the north. The Hss’tafi n, but it draws members from all the great houses of the
spies, assassins, and thieves of the Se’Sehen (including members yuan-ti. Though the vrael olo do not consider it an independent
of House Extaminos) are scattered throughout Faerûn, where tribe in its own right, it is often treated like one in intertribal
they work to advance yuan-ti plans for domination of the sur- politics, especially since membership requires that loyalty to the
face world. society take precedence over tribal allegiances. The mark of the
The Se’Sehren count the Extaminos and Sauringar tribes Coiled Cabal is an S-shaped serpent with open-jawed heads at
as their closest allies, but they clash frequently with the Coiled both ends.
Cabal, since both groups see themselves as the rightful crafters The Coiled Cabal has power bases in the Great Petrifi ed
of yuan-ti dominance in Faerûn. The Se’Sehren openly fi ght Serpent (Serpent Hills), Ss’kowlyn’raa (Forest of Wyrms),
the Eselemas and Jennestas tribes even more frequently, since Semorav’s Tower (Hlondeth), the ruins of Lhesper (Shaar), and
all three houses claim sections of the Black Jungles. at various ruins and settlements currently under construction
Members of the Se’Sehen tribe experiment extensively on in the Black Jungles. The society is allied with the Eselemas,
other creatures of the Black Jungles. Their most successful cre- Extaminos, and Hss’tafi tribes, but it often marches to its own
ations are the serpentlike ti-khana, and the house is now served drum. Members of the Coiled Cabal clash most frequently with
by the predatory ti-khana deinonychuses. the Se’Sehen tribe because both groups see themselves as the
Se’Sehen are known for their ability to spit venom. Most rightful leaders in the push for open dominance of Faerûn.
of the snake-headed members of this tribe possess the Spit Cabal members work in “oumkathuss,” small groups of a
Venom feat. dozen or so individuals that independently undertake missions.
In times of open strife, such missions are often handed down
HOUSE SSERADESS by superiors known as overhoods. At other times, however, each
The Sseradess once openly ruled the Thindol basin, but the defeat oumkathuss devises its own missions and submits its plans to an
of their lizardfolk slave-soldiers by troops of the Shoon Impe- overhood for approval. An oumkathuss may report to more than
rium in the Year of Hounds (293 DR) forced them to retreat to one overhood, but usually no more than three. A Cabal member
their undersea holdings. For some time thereafter, members of who personally knows more than three overhoods is likely to
House Sseradess ruled indirectly through agents who infi ltrated draw missions with a high likelihood of death in the fi eld.
the courts of Thindol. This strategy collapsed in the Year of Overhoods in turn report to greater overhoods. The upper
Many Serpents (605 DR), when the agents of the Sseradess were hierarchy of the Cabal is largely hidden and free of formal titles
unmasked and forced to concede defeat yet again. or rules, but it culminates in a council of seven leaders known
The Sseradess currently dominate the waterways of Thindol informally as the Hooded Ones and more properly as the Iur-
and the subterranean passage known as Labrand’s Folly. These coil. These yuan-ti direct the Cabal in accordance with their
holdings are isolated enough that the tribe counts no other own mysterious and complex plan. Its specifi cs and secrets are
yuan-ti tribe as a true ally or foe. never shared, but thoughtful members who observe Cabal activi-
Ever since they lost control of Thindol, the Sseradess have ties over time often conclude that the Hooded Ones’ strategies
been attempting to reassert their infl uence over the humans of have much to do with covert domination of certain individual
that realm, but the wary vigilance of the rampant ophiophobes humans. Many seem designed to subvert local rulers and arcane
who dwell there has made progress diffi cult at best. The tribe has spellcasters of all kinds; others are obviously geared to shift the
found much greater success in conquering the kuo-toa tribes of attitude of all humans against temples and priesthoods—prob-
Gathgoolgapool (see Labrand’s Folly in Chapter 7) and employ- ably to weaken clerical infl uence over the human societies
ing them to rule the watery depths. of Faerûn.
The Sseradess employ kuo-toa as “farmers of the sea” to Some yuan-ti believe that the Coiled Cabal wants to shat-
harvest fi sh, pearls, and certain seaweeds that are valuable to ter the power of Sseth’s clergy, reducing his priests to little
human alchemists and scent-makers. These marine products more than entertainers who provide comforting rituals for the

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