Yuan-ti
The descendants of humans who were fashioned into serpentine assassins by Zehir in order to spread terror and chaos in the young world.
Game Info
Age
Yuan-ti age like humans, reaching adulthood around age 20 and living about 90 years.
Size
Yuan-ti are medium.
Adult yuan-ti range from 5'0“ to about 6'0”, and typically weigh between 100 and 250 pounds.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Ability Score
Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Intelligence increases by 1.
Languages
- Common
- Draconic
- Abyssal
Darkvision
Yuan-ti have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. They can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. They can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Innate Spellcasting
Yuan-ti can cast certain spells with Charisma as their Spellcasting Ability:
- At 1st Level, they know the Poison Spray cantrip.
- At 1st Level, they can cast Animal Friendship with this trait for an unlimited number of times, but only on snakes.
- At 3rd Level, they can cast Suggestion once every long rest.
Magic Resistance
Yuan-ti have advantage on saving throws against being all magical effects.
Poison Immunity
Yuan-ti have natural immunity to poison.
Reputation
The yuan-ti are the only known natives of The Shambles. In prehistoric times they appeared on Dragonskull at the behest of Zehir. They followed Zehir and Asmodeous until the First Calamity, when local demigods took over the work of the cosmic deities.
For thousands of years after that, the Yuan-ti continued the work of spreading terror and death on Prasinos, now under the banner of the demigod Santanafensmorderdondactyl. Over time they split into factions loyal to Santanafensmorderdondactyl, Zehir, Asmodaeus and Nerull.
By the time of the Isolation, Yuan-ti of many different dispositions inhabited Dragonskull and Liarry, although most still followed the old ways.
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| A Primordial Yuan-ti |
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| Modern Yuan-ti come in a wide variety of forms. |
The Isolation spelled the end of Santanafensmorderdondactyl’s influence over the yuan-ti. With nothing compelling them toward evil, they integrated with society more easily and over the next thousand years they spread around the world, but only in small numbers. Even now, yuan-ti outside of the Shambles are unusual.
Yuan-ti remain the primary residents of Dragonskull, and those who follow the old ways find themselves unwelcome anywhere else.
The reputation of assassination that was earned before the isolation has waned, but not completely. Yuan-ti can expect to be treated with some suspicion in particularly backwoods areas, and it's not unusual for an out of touch noble to assume any given yuan-ti is a sword for hire. Still, they make their way through the world without too much trouble.
In urban settings, the lower rungs of society may even see a yuan-ti as a natural ally or a fellow outcast.
Yuan-ti Culture
Yuan-ti are carnivores, and although they can sustain on all kinds of common foods they require regular meat in order to remain healthy. They have the ability to eat small animals, bones and all, although only those who spend most of their time exclusively in the company of other yuan-ti tend to do this.
Yuan-ti arts tend to lean toward the practical; they have learned to copy fashion, craft stealthy weaponry and survive in tough environments. This means that a beautiful work of yuan-ti art is more likely to be an extremely fine scabbard or waterskin than a tapestry or sculpture. Even so, their masterworks are no less beautiful than more traditional artworks.
Individual tastes vary, and some yuan-ti find these traditions distasteful because of their association with their less sociable ancestors.
Religion in Yuan-ti Society
Since Santanafensmorderdondactyl's power over the Yuan-ti waned, they have lived mostly apart from organised religion. There are adherents to Santanafensmorderdondactyl still about Dragonskull, and some of their followers travel the world but these account for a small minority of Yuan-ti.
Most Yuan-ti do not follow any deities, although they often appreciate Coriander and Mellona. Outside of Dragonskull, Coriander is their most common patron. Coriander's reverence for the necessity of death made him an ideal patron for people who had followed evil death gods and were looking for a new way.
Notable Yuan-ti
Aestheryx, the Revealer
Alti, obviously!
Major events in Yuan-ti History
Prehistory
Zehir creates the primordial yuan-ti by modifying his human followers, creating abominations designed to spread terror and death on Prasinos. Working in the shadows to hobble society and order, they remain generally unknown for thousands of years and are considered fairy stories by most who have even heard of them at all.
2206BNE
The king of Ottombad is assassinated by Aestheryx, who is apprehended at the scene. This leads to a long-standing distrust of yuan-ti in Outland that spreads across the world.
This is thought to be one of the events that set off the First Calamity, prompting Zehir to abandon the yuan-ti to be led by Santanafensmorderdondactyl.
2206BNE - 997BNE
Santanafensmorderdondactyl leads the yuan-ti out of the shadows and moves them into a more active role in society. No longer is their goal to destabilize society and keep people afraid of the dark; they now work within society to elevate the worst of us.
Lending their skills as assassins to bloodthirsty nobles and tyrants, the yuan-ti become known around the world as powerful allies and terrible enemies. A pre-isolation era serpentine assassin's only true loyalty is to chaos - the same assassin who aids a usurper in overthrowing a local tyrant may be back to end the new tyrant if they settle in too comfortably.
997BNE
The Isolation reduced Santanafensmorderdondactyl's hold on the yuan-ti, and in doing so allowed their essentially human nature to shine through. Over time, the yuan-ti became as varied as any other race of people. Most rejected the old ways and worked to live peacefully in the world, although with some difficulty due to the reputation left by generations past.
By the mid-Isolation (approximately 500BNE), many yuan-ti had settled into simple lives in The Shambles.
220BNE
Refugees begin arriving in The Shambles.
Although there were conflicts with the settlers who arrived on Liarry, Yuan-ti communities live at peace with others there, to the degree that peace is possible.