Page 93 - Serpent Kingdoms

miles of the city’s walls, including a dozen or so minor villages
and seemingly endless vineyards.

Life and Society

Despite the omnipresent infl uence of the serpentfolk, life in
the City of Serpents is not unlike that in other cities along the
aerûn’s serpent kingdoms and scalykind realms run shores of the Vilhon Reach. Trade is king, ritualized combat is
the gamut from desolate swamps claimed by small glorifi ed, nature (particularly all things serpentine) is accorded
Fbands of lizardfolk to the remnants of the vast and its due, and arcane spellcasters are regarded with suspicion.
decadent empire of the yuan-ti. This chapter describes some of Members of the kobold underclass are treated as either slaves
the most notorious, important, and incredible realms of Scaled or vermin.
Ones. In many of these areas, Scaled Ones rule openly, not from Hlondeth is ruled with a light hand by Dediana Extaminos
the shadows as they do in Faerûn’s humanoid cities. (LE female halfblood yuan-ti sorcerer 10), the matriarch of
Creatures marked MM2 in the following text are from Mon- House Extaminos, who has a snake’s tail and no legs. Her current
FF
ster Manual II, and those marked are from the Fiend Folio. mate is First Consort Ssibalentanamas (CE spirit naga cleric 11
All other creatures are described in the Monster Manual, the of Sseth [now Set]), also known as First Keeper of the Sacred
FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting, or Monster Compen- Eggs. Ssibalentanamas slithers through the length and breadth
dium: Monsters of Faerûn. of Hlondeth’s catacombs, guarding yuan-ti brood chambers.
Dediana’s heir is Dmetrio Extaminos (LE male pureblood
Hlondeth yuan-ti fi ghter 7), who is affi anced to Glsena Foesmasher,
eldest daughter of Baron Thuragar of Sespech. Besides serving
(City of Serpents) as Hlondeth’s ambassador to Sespech, Dmetrio secretly leads
the Hlondethan cell of the Cult of the Dragon. He uses the cult
Capitol: Hlondeth to undermine his mother’s rule and increase his personal power
Population: 453,600 (humans 84% [Chondathans 56%, Turami so that he can one day seize control of Hlondeth and the sur-
41%, Shaarans 3%], kobolds 15%, yuan-ti 1%) rounding region. A recent attempt to extend the cell’s infl uence
Government: Monarchy to Surkh failed, thanks to the Cult of Tiamat active in that city.
Religions: Cult of the Dragon, Ilmater, Llira, Talona, Talos, The Hlondethan cell has been far more successful creating ur-
Tempus, Tyr, Varae (Sseth [now Set]) broodguards (broodguards with the dread warrior template plus
Imports: Slaves, timber, weapons one or more levels of barbarian).
Exports: Basalt, green marble, seafood, statuary, wines
Alignment: N, LN, LG, LE, NE, CE Major Geographical Features

The City of Serpents lies on the northern shore of the Vilhon The area around the City of Serpents is particularly rugged.
Reach, opposite Sespech, in the shadow of Mount Ugruth. This Churning Bay: The city of Hlondeth lies at the head of a
port city is linked to Alaghôn via the Halondar, and to Ormath froth-fi lled, narrow gulf. Its powerful tides challenge even skilled
via the Pikeman’s Folly. Hlondeth claims all the lands within 50 navigators except at slack tide. Numerous wrecks line the fl oor

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