Page 57 - Serpent Kingdoms

SARRUKH

divine minions, and they acknowledged him as Jazirian reborn. his prison and oppose the Okothian sarrukh. Toward that goal,
Most remained there, but a few couatls eventually returned to the Mhairhshaulk sarrukh have begun working to re-energize
Faerûn to deal with the fell legacies of their kindred in the the long-slumbering yuan-ti empire known as Serpentes.
Jungles of Chult. This splinter group embraced Ubtao as its In Okoth, the Cult of Set is growing in strength under the
patron deity. leadership of Pil’it’ith, the legendary albino sarrukh leader. The
After the war with the couatls, the sarrukh began to explore cult’s membership consists primarily of Scaled Ones, but a few
the Barrens of Doom and Despair, where they happened upon others have joined its ranks as well. Opposing the cult are the
the khaastas. Believing these creatures to be inferior and khaastas, which have begun appearing in the Lakes of Salt re-
weak reptilians, the sarrukh attempted to enslave gion. Battles between these two ancient foes have given rise
them. Much to the invaders’ surprise, not only to strange reports of tremendously powerful lizard races
were the khaastas extremely resistant to openly fi ghting one another.
serving, but they also had powerful de- The sarrukh have not forgotten the heights
monic allies willing to aid them. Thus to which their race once climbed, but
began a centuries-long war between the they also know that many other races
sarrukh and the khaastas, which the sar- would happily eradicate the last few
rukh ultimately lost. To escape the wrath sarrukh should they learn of their
of the victorious khaastas, the sarrukh continued existence. Thus, they
secretly returned to Faerûn and began choose to remain in hiding, quietly
skulking around the ruins of Okoth, on seeking to increase their numbers
the shores of Azulduth. so that they can one day rebuild
Before the Fall of the Gods, the their ancient empires. Occasionally
Okothian sarrukh realized that Sseth the sleeping sarrukh of Mhairshaulk
had sunk into some sort of hibernation awaken and draw the yuan-ti to them,
and was barely answering their prayers. To but even these former servitors have
complicate matters further, the khaastas since found their own leaders in the
had fi nally tracked them to Faerûn form of anathemas. On the rare oc- Illustration by Carl Frank
and were seeking to obliterate the casions that sarrukh do become
last few of them. Lacking the full involved with the outside world,
support of a divine patron, the sar- they work to help the scaled races
rukh once again found themselves in that they created.
danger of extinction.
Then, during the Time of Trou- Outlook
bles, Sseth stopped answering prayers
from the Okothian sarrukh alto- The sarrukh are well aware that
gether. Clerics of Okoth felt the need for their race has fallen far from
action, so the approached the minions the heights it achieved just after
of Set and bargained with the Lord of the dawn of time. Though they
Evil. Set agreed to answer their prayers are individually powerful, their
if they in turn aided him in binding Sseth low numbers now force them
to eternal slumber. The deal was struck, and to rely upon the races that serve
at the conclusion of the Avatar Crisis, Set them, creating a high degree of
claimed Sseth’s portfolio. About eleven vulnerability.
years after the Time of Troubles, Set During the heyday of their
began answering the prayers of all his empires, the sarrukh became lazy
newly acquired worshipers (including and domineering. Rather than become
the yuan-ti, who still believed their directly involved with the rest of the
divine power to come from Sseth). world, they delegated their building and
The treachery of the Okothian sarrukh fi ghting to the lizardfolk and the super-
has resulted in unintended consequences. Be- vision of those activities to the yuan-ti, who
set by nightmares, Sseth has begun thrashing against also acted as their personal servants. To the
his bonds, awakening the serpentfolk elsewhere in Faerûn. How the mighty nagas they delegated the tasks of magical research,
The sarrukh of Mhairshaulk are emerging from hiberna- have fallen exploration, and guarding individuals and places of
tion, seeking a means by which to liberate their god from

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