Page 56 - Serpent Kingdoms

SARRUKH

two great empires. These regions constituted the major hubs of Okoth was the fi rst empire to fall, collapsing about –34,100
sarrukh civilization, and the fi rst stable portals in Faerûn were DR after a century of civil strife that drove many sarrukh
created to connect them. to the planes. Isstosseffi fi l followed suit around –33,800 DR
As the sarrukh spread out, they discovered that the sha- when, during a war with the phaerimms, its leaders rerouted the
mans of the chaotic races living in certain wilderness areas Narrow Sea, fl ooding the Underdark and precipitating clima-
held magical lore that they had not yet encountered. After tological changes that doomed their own realm. Mhairshaulk
studying these primitive forms of magic, the sarrukh consoli- was the last to fall, sliding into a slumber from which it never
dated their discoveries into a series of tomes. Upon completion, emerged circa –33,500 DR.
the books where brought to Oreme, the capitol of Isstosseffi fi l, Although most of the sarrukh died in the collapses of their
for study. The most magically gifted among the sarrukh and great empires, many survived. The sarrukh of Isstosseffi fi l re-
their servitor races pored over these tomes, which contained treated into lichdom in the depths of Oreme where, protected
both easily researched magical knowledge and obscure infor- by the asabis they had created, they sleep safely to this day. The
mation. The empires of the sarrukh didn’t last long enough to sarrukh of Mhairshaulk, faced with starvation, began a cycle in
gather the full fruits of their work, but this collection of minds which thousand-year hibernations alternated with brief periods
eventually grew into its own secret organization, which was of activity, during which food gathering and procreation could
called the Ba’etith. The members of this group consolidated take place. The great clans of Okoth wandered the planes for
and extrapolated the bounds of their newly found knowledge, millennia but never found a plane where they wished to remain
penning the Golden Skins of the World Serpent (otherwise for more than a generation. This nomadic existence hardened
known as the Nether Scrolls) many thousands of years after them, turning them inexorably toward evil.
the fall of the empires. As the sarrukh of Okoth increasingly embraced their darker
The empires continued to grow until the sarrukh had con- natures, a few dissenters, despairing of their kindred’s push
quered so many races that they became the minority in their toward evil, broke off from the main group. They entreated
own empire. Thousands of other races fulfi lled their needs Jazirian, a fragment of the World Serpent, for succor, and it
and satisfi ed their every desire. The sarrukh savored the fi nest responded by transforming them into couatls. A bitter war
meats, surrounded themselves with gold, gems, and other fi nery, ensued, but the couatls held their own against the more numer-
and enjoyed all the luxuries of a civilization at its height. But ous Okothian sarrukh until Merrshaulk, a darker fragment
as with so many empires since, their increasing dependence on of the World Serpent, fi nally slew Jazirian. At that point, the
other races and their growing indolence spelled the beginning couatls were forced to fl ee to Abeir-Toril, where they eventu-
of the end. ally settled in Maztica. The god Qotal embraced them as his

The Creator Races

The fi ve creator races (or Iqua-Tel’Quessir, in the language The sarrukh, batrachi, and aearee each dominated Faerûn
of the Fair Folk) dominated Faerûn during the Days of in turn, creating or producing as offspring a host of lesser
Thunder. All are considered native to Abeir-Toril, as are races and recording the magic of more primitive peoples. The
their descendants and creations. Most historians agree that fey have never dominated the continent; they chose instead
the creator races were the sarrukh (known as sauroids, or cre- to rule Faerie, an otherworldly realm loosely connected to
ators of the serpentfolk and scalykind), the batrachi (known Faerûn. Humans, the last of the Iqua-Tel’Quessir, did not rise
as amphibioids, or creators of the bullywugs, doppelgangers, to rule Faerûn until after the Time of Dragons and the elven
kopru, kuo-toa, locothah, sivs, tako, and other shapeshifting, and dwarven empires.
amphibious, or piscine races), the aearee (known as avians, or Except for the humans, the fate of the creator races is
creators of the aaracokra, kenku, other birdlike humanoids), largely unrecorded. A few sarrukh lurk in ancient ruins and
the fey (known as sylvans, or creators of korreds, sprites, southern jungles, but most of their kindred departed for
and pixies), and humans. Other sages leave out the aearee other planes millennia ago. The batrachi may be extinct,
but include dragons in the list. Elves, dwarves, and some although a few scholars believe they fl ed to Limbo, where
human ethnic groups were immigrants to Abeir-Toril from they became known as slaadi. The aearee fl ew westward to the
other worlds. great continent north of Maztica, and nothing is known of
Although fi ve creator races existed in Faerûn, only four their fate. The fey still rule Faerie, although the ties between
forged empires in the earliest days of recorded history (known their realm and Faerûn are growing faint. Humans continue
today as the Days of Thunder), and only three contributed to to thrive, as do crossbreeds with partial human ancestry, such
the creation of the items now known as the Nether Scrolls. as the yuan-ti.

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