Page 18 - Serpent Kingdoms
P. 18

YUAN-TI


                                   DWELLING DECOR                      broodguards. See the Racial Traits Table in the Appendix for
                     In yuan-ti dwellings, mosaics dominated by sinuous curves are   the traits of these three subraces.
                     common, and silken, translucent tapestries are favored by many.
                     The chambers of the wealthy tend to be dominated by trophies   Purebloods
                     and slither-rubs—decorative sculptures with sharp edges situated
                     to allow a chipped or dangling scale to be rubbed off with ease.  Pureblood  travel  throughout  Faerûn,  infi ltrating  human
                       Slitherglows are especially popular with yuan-ti of high social   societies everywhere. Most can easily disguise their snakelike
                     status. These liquid, ever-shifting “paintings” consist of fl at glass   features to pass for humans. Typically, purebloods serve as spies
                     vessels fi lled with many-hued oils that swirl when heated from   and agents, carrying out the plots of higher-ranking yuan-ti.
                     below by small oil-lamp fl ames. A wall-mounted slitherglow may   Some, however, are ambitious enough to make their own plans,
                     be painted with a lone serpent eye on one side, which is revealed   and a few even leave their fellow yuan-ti and embrace human
                     at random times by the shifting swirls of oil.    society completely. Such purebloods can make enjoyable player
                       Vrael olo often cut shallow pools into the fl oors of their   characters.
                     dwellings, or fashion great bowls with slither-ramps ascending
                     both their inner and outer surfaces. Such vessels are often fi lled   Tainted Ones
                     with scented oils that the yuan-ti can glide through or bask in
                     to banish the stink of human contact, to keep his scales from  and Broodguards
                     drying or becoming brittle, or simply for the sensual pleasure
                                                                       Tainted ones are yuan-ti servitors created from humans who
                     of remaining fully supple. Many yuan-ti like to dream deep
                                                                       drink a distillation of yuan-ti venom mixed with certain roots
                     thoughts for hours whilst thus soaking, sometimes enshrouded
                                                                       and herbs. The recipe for this mixture is a closely guarded secret
                     in thick clouds of pungent osssra smoke.
                                                                       that, despite much energetic spying, hasn’t yet spread to every
                                                                       tribe of the vrael olo.
                     Yuan-ti Characters
                   Illustration by Joel Thomas  Yuan-ti purebloods are suitable as player characters, as are the   make a DC 16 Fortitude saving throw. Success means an imme-
                                                                         A human who drinks the mixture, willingly or not, must
                                                                       diate lapse into a coma, followed by death 1 hour later. Failure
                     yuan-ti  creations  known  as  tainted  ones  and,  in  some  cases,
                                                                       leaves the imbiber sickened and requires an immediate DC 15








































                                                              Yuan-ti house interior

                                                                     17








             620_96566_SerpentKingdom3.indd   17                                                                5/11/04, 1:17:59 PM
   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23