Page 41 - Serpent Kingdoms

LIZARDS

Outlook her life. Should a khaasta’s blade ever be lost, she is expected to
explain why her birth scimitar is no longer with her.
The khaastas view Faerûn as a tremendously challenging place,
Khaastas begin training their young to fi ght at an early age.
where they must fi ght their own instincts to wage war against
The females of the race are just as aggressive as the males, and
the native inhabitants while gathering the information necessary
they often carry their young into battle with them. During the
to hunt down the sarrukh. Since most of the scaly races inexpli-
ten years it takes for a khaasta to mature, she learns swordsman-
cably refuse to betray the progenitor race, the khaastas face the
ship, armor use, and the art of ritualized combat.
daunting task of gathering this information from humanoids
As soon as a khaasta comes of age, she must enter a ritual-
and other civilized beings of Faerûn—groups that in fact know
ized battle to fi rst blood with a peer of the same age. The loser
very little about the sarrukh.
owes a blood debt, or favor, to the victor. Blood debts are almost
always collected within the fi rst year after the battle, and they
Khaasta Society normally involve some kind of combat—most often protection
of the winner’s person during a raid. Since failure in such a duty
The khaastas have always been willing to exploit weakness when-
means immediate exile from the tribe, young khaastas are quite
ever they encounter it—even within their own species. Shortly
willing to fi ght to the death to fulfi ll a blood debt.
after they were freed by Demogorgon, they fell to squabbling
Virtually every khaasta that comes of age is a combatant.
and nearly drove themselves to extinction through constant
Because so few ever reach old age, their true biological lifespan
infi ghting. The reasons for such confl ict ranged from simple
remains uncertain, but most die before the age of thirty, with
dislike of their fellows to power struggles in which rival factions
elders commonly living no more than ten years beyond that.
tried to oust leaders and assume control of various tribes. But
Because khaastas consider it shameful to die of old age, many
the khaastas were no fools, and when they realized what a toll
elders place themselves on the forefront of raiding parties and
this infi ghting was taking upon their numbers, they instituted
undertake dangerous missions against their enemies.
ritual combat as a method of handling disputes. Though khaas-
tas continue to fi ght and murder one another, this arrangement
FUNEREAL CUSTOMS
results in far fewer deaths. Furthermore, because ritual combat
When a khaasta dies in combat, her tribe holds a great feast to
forces each khaasta to stand up for itself when wronged, laws are
celebrate her departure. At the conclusion of the meal, the body
virtually nonexistent.
is burned in a great bonfi re, and the charred bones are interred
Khaasta society in Faerûn, however, takes on a different
in a shallow pit in the tribe’s burial mound—usually a small hill
form. Because the khaastas living there must remain focused
in the Barrens of Doom and Despair. Journeying to the burial
on their main goal of eradicating the sarrukh, they tend to
mound to inter the dead is a sacred duty offered as a reward
focus their combat skills on ridding their territory of men-
for notable accomplishments in combat, and no more than fi ve
acing creatures rather than on engaging in glorious battle
khaastas may escort any one deceased individual.
with one another. In addition, the highly magical nature of
One per year, the khaasta migratory pattern takes each tribe
Abeir-Toril forces many to undertake training they would
to its burial mound. Upon arrival, the tribe holds a great feast
not otherwise have pursued simply to ensure the survival of
and sacrifi ces one of its captive enemies in honor of the dead.
their forces.
The birth scimitar of each khaasta slain in the last year is passed
down to the next individual born into that family. Should there
RELATIONSHIPS
be no young to receive the blade, the family name is inscribed
Khaastas bear little love for one another under any circum-
upon the hilt, and the scimitar is left at the burial mound. A
stances, though they are disciplined enough to join forces when
typical khaasta burial mound sports a ring of swords at the top,
needed. They choose mates based primarily on battle prowess.
commemorating clans that no longer exist.
Though unions are usually for life, mates rarely like one another
and spend as little time together as possible. True friendships
are likewise rare, since any personal alliances tend to dissolve in Khaasta Characters
the next perceived insult or ambitious power play. Khaastas do,
Khaastas that are part of the larger force opposing the sarrukh
however, honor their parents and other mature relatives—albeit
almost never desert their own kind. Khaastas encountered singly
sometimes grudgingly.
are either seeking information about the location of sarrukh or
outcasts who have taken up the use of arcane magic.
LIFE CYCLE
Khaastas seeking sarrukh strongholds normally travel in
Unlike many scaly races, khaastas are born alive, normally in
groups of two or three, though they occasionally act alone.
litters of three or four at a time. Within a year of birth, each
Most have learned to speak Common in order to converse
newborn’s family gives her an ornate masterwork scimitar, which
with the civilized folk they encounter, but they remain aloof
she is expected to keep and use in battle for the remainder of
and evasive about their origins when speaking with natives of
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