Page 50 - Serpent Kingdoms

he races known as the hidden folk exist outside
ordinary society in the Serpent Kingdoms and can
Tpose serious threats to neighboring creatures. The
one common feature of the Hidden Folk, aside from their Scaled
Illustration by Jeremy Jarvis Ophidians Racial History wizards of House Orogoth in-
Ones designation, is the fact that they do not wish to be found.

Ophidians date back to the Sil-
Most often servants of nagas or yuan-ti, ophidians exist wher-
ver Age of Netheril, when the
ever their masters are. Many dwell in the Serpent Hills, serving
their yuan-ti masters; others live in isolated southern regions in
advertently unleashed the Serpent
the service of nagas and other Scaled Ones.
ries of dragon worship, the
Overview Curse on their servants. After centu-
savage ophidian tribes
Once human Netherese servants of the High Moor
of House Orogoth, ophidians re- and the Serpent Hills
tain no hint of their humanity and migrated to the Forest of Wyrms and
no aspirations to a lifestyle other discovered the ruined sarrukh city of
than servitude. They are happy Ss’thar’tiss’ssun. Under the guidance
to carry out the orders of more of a ha-naga king and its sum-
powerful serpentfolk, includ- moned yuan-ti nobility, the
ing dark nagas, spirit nagas, ophidians established Najara,
and yuan-ti. Ophidians al- the Kingdom of Snakes, after
most never act independently of the fall of Netheril.
their masters. When Najara fell to the Shadowk-
ing of Ebenfar in the Year of Moor
Description Ophidians Birds (90 DR), most of the surviving ser-
pentfolk fl ed north into the Serpent Hills to rebuild
An ophidian has a wide, serpentine torso with short, their realm. The Kingdom of Snakes reemerged, based in
stubby legs and humanoid arms ending in clawed hands. Its head the Serpent Hills and ruled by its fi rst dark naga king, in the
is lizardlike, and its tail is short in proportion to its body. It Year of the Prowling Naga (142 DR). During the centuries that
walks upright and can climb in a sort of half-slither, like a snake. followed, the power of the serpentfolk grew slowly in the face
Its scales are typically mottled green and yellow, with brown, of hostility from the Scaleless Ones—in particular, the Shoon
black, and red also appearing in some individuals. An ophidian’s Imperium, the Kingdom of Cormyr, the Tri-Crowned Kingdom
scales change color to help it blend into wooded or subterranean of Phalorm, the Kingdom of Delimbiyran, and the Principality
surroundings. Ophidian statistics appear in the Fiend Folio. of Boareskyr.

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