Page 33 - Serpent Kingdoms
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Description

                                                                       A typical asabi of either subrace stands about 7 feet tall and
                                                                       has a 9-foot-long tail that stabilizes it when it stands. It walks
                                                                       upright but hunched over, with a gait that wobbles to and fro.
                                                                       An asabi’s limbs protrude from its sinuous body at odd angles,
                                                                       and it moves with quick, awkward-looking gestures. Its narrow
                               ike the serpentfolk, the lizard races are diverse   skull features a sloping forehead that ends in protruding brows.
                               and  have little  in common  except for their   Its pebbly skin varies in color from brown to gray and is lighter
                     Lbarbaric  nature  and  their  heritage.  Most  were   on its belly.
                     created by the sarrukh tens of thousands of years ago, either
                     as servants or as agents capable of advancing whatever agenda    STANDARD ASABI
                     they had at the time. Although the sarrukh created hundreds,   Standard  asabis  are  primarily  warriors.  They  enjoy  fi ghting,
                     if not thousands, of other lizard creatures during the heyday of   and they are accustomed to organizing themselves in disciplined
                     their empires, most were killed by competing races or proved   ranks. Asabis are happy to fi ght for their masters (if enslaved)
                     incapable of surviving in the wilderness. Those that still exist   or for whoever pays them the most gold.
                     today are hardy, determined, and hostile.
                                                                                         STINGTAIL
                     Asabis                                            Stingtails also take naturally to battle. They are generally more
                                                                       powerful than standard asabis, but they also behave more chaoti-
                     Asabis are desert-dwelling, reptilian humanoids. Native to the   cally on the battlefi eld.
                     Isstosseffi fi l Empire, which stood where the Anauroch desert
                     is now, asabis are still primarily found within and beneath the   Racial History
                     Great Desert. The name asabi was given to these creatures by the
                     Bedine tribes. In earlier times, they were known as the laerti—a   Like many of the scaly races, asabis were created by the sarrukh
                     name given to them by the Netherese.              before the fall of their empires. The sarrukh designed asabis
                       Asabis are warlike creatures with a love of battle unequalled   specifi cally to fi ght their battles. In the millennia since their
                     by most other races. They often form mercenary bands or are   creation, these warlike creatures have not changed their focus
                     enlisted into the service of more powerful evil creatures.  at all, nor have they spread throughout Faerûn as many other
                                                                       species have done.
                     Overview                                            Many  asabis  who  were  originally  loyal  to  the  sarrukh
                                                                       remained so  when their empires crashed down  around them.
                     The asabi race encompasses two separate subraces. The fi rst and   Today, the offspring of those loyal asabis continue to live in
                     most common is the standard asabi; the second is the stingtail.   what remains of Isstosseffi fi l—namely, a single subterranean
                     Both are described in Monsters of Faerûn.         stronghold in the catacombs of ruined Oreme. The sixty ancient
                                                                       sarrukh liches who dwell in the Crypt of Dreaming Lizards
                                                                       nominally rule this place, though only one of them is awake at
                                                                       any given time. The one currently in charge allows the asabis


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             620_96566_SerpentKing32-53.indd   32                                                               5/12/04, 2:41:59 PM
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