Dragon magazine	-	Monster Manual III	-	Dragon #151
Schtheraqpasstt	-	-	-	Histachii

“It rose out of the muck before me, in
the manner of a huge snake readying its
strike. Six or seven feet long, it had the
lower body and head of a serpent: green
scales, wet and glittering in the dim sun-
light; a muddied yellow belly; and red eyes
that stared with malevolence. But what
choked me with revulsion was the human
torso and arms between the snake-head
and tail. My courage wavered. Then I saw
that wrapped tightly around the thing’s
waist was a belt from which hung the
daisho—the katana and wakizashi—in
mockery of the status of the samurai. The
sight of such a disgrace ripped me from
my trance. I drew my grandfather’s katana
from my hip with a shout. Not even devils
themselves could have stopped me then,
for I would not allow the rank of samurai
to be worn by such as this.  . . .”

-- From the memoirs of the samurai
Hirikito Toshubu, of the Imperial staff.

Hirikito's adversary was a halfbreed
yuan-ti, one of three types of the yuan-ti
race. Yuan-ti use magic, are magic resist-
ant, and have genius-level intellects, and as
such are dangerous foes for even the most
well-organized party. The pureblood yuan-
ti can easily blend itself into human soci-
ety, making even large cities possible
encounter areas for the yuan-ti.

Although they can be used in an Occi-
dental campaign, yuan-ti fit better within
the Oriental milieu. But much more infor-
mation is needed on their motives and
history before the race can be used to its
full potential.

The origins of the yuan-ti date to the
dawn of man. Ages ago, when mankind
took its first tottering steps, there came
among men a monstrous corruption
known as Sch?theraqpasstt. This god is
now a shadow of his former self, driven to
both ultimate power and ultimate madness
in an insane attempt to become one with
the Abyssal plane he ruled.

Evil men, hungry for power and domin-
ion over their kindred, turned to the wor-
ship of this dark force. The result, true to
the tenets of chaos and evil, was more a
curse than a blessing. These men were
instructed to gain the venom of the ophi-
dian, a snakelike creature with human
arms (see the Monster Manual II, page 97).
The venom of these creatures transmutes
victims into ophidians over a period of
several weeks. The ophidian is believed by
sages to be a creation of Sch?theraqpasstt,
sent to wreak havoc on the Prime Material
plane. When its venom is distilled and
mixed with other ingredients known only
to the yuan-ti, then consecrated to their
deity, it becomes what is known to sages
as the Black Broth.
 

The worshipers of Sch?theraqpasstt who
first created the Black Broth were also its
first imbibers and were willingly trans-
formed into the histachii, progenitors of
the yuan-ti race. Among the three types of
yuan-ti?pureblood, halfbreed, and
abomination?any mating produces only
abominations. The pureblood yuan-ti is
created in matings of histachii with other
histachii, and the matings of histachii with
any true yuan-ti produces a halfbreed.
Thus, the yuan-ti need a constant supply
of humans in order to sustain the race.
Such has been the fate of many human
captives of  the yuan-ti,  transformed  into
the mindless histachii.

The gestation period for yuan-ti young i
about 60 months. Approximately 30% of
the resulting creatures are so deformed
that they die shortly after birth. This give
the yuan-ti a very low growth rate but is
 counterbalanced  by  their  extremely  long
lifespans. Pureblood yuan-ti age as do gray
elves (AD&D 1st Edition  Dungeon Master
Guide,  page 13). Halfbreeds live twice as
long as purebloods, and abominations
 have a life span three times that of a gray
elf, some 6,000 years.

When considering the lifespans and
power of the yuan-ti, one might wonder
why they do not control the world. In fact,
they once held a great empire that
spanned much of the southern jungles of
Kara-Tur. In forgotten corners of the land,
crumbling basalt temples stand in mute
testament  to  their  once  far-reaching  grasp.
Then came  the  fall of Sch'theraqpasstt.

The god's schemes were his undoing,
and he was reduced to the operational
level of a major demon. His clerics (humans,
as yuan-ti cannot be any class)
found themselves without spell abilities
and thus unable to complete the consecra-
tion of the Black Broth. The yuan-ti empire
was thrown into chaos. The forces of good
took the chance to destroy the yuan-ti
empire, which they did to such an extent
that the race of yuan-ti was very nearly
wiped from existence.

The few surviving yuan-ti dispersed,
turning to other evil beings from the
Abyss for aid. They gained little, as no
other deity could successfully aid them in
their quest to create the Black Broth.
Eventually, they discovered the true fate
of their god and therein the salvation of
their race. At times when the stars and
planets are in a specific alignment, signal-
ing the conjunction of Sch?theraqpasstt?s
plane and the Prime Material plane, the
yuan-ti may draw directly upon the en-
ergy of that plane and complete the Black
Broth. Although this saved the yuan-ti
from degenerating into a race of abomina-
tions, it did not mark their return to
power. The conjunction of the planes
needed to complete the Black Broth comes
but once a millennium.

This is the current situation of the yuan-
ti: small numbers, an erratic breeding
cycle, and a 1,000-year wait between
breeding periods for two-thirds of the
race. Although abominations may still be
created without difficulty, the yuan-ti limit
their birth rate to avoid gaining the atten-
tion of the forces of good before they
discover a more stable method of continu-
ing their race. Population inequities result,
of course; each yuan-ti encountered has a
70% chance of being an abomination, a
20% chance of being a halfbreed, and a
10% chance of being a pureblood (but only
purebloods travel among men).

Yuan-ti temples are usually huge basalt
edifices with no windows and only one
entrance. The walls are carved with re-
volting scenes involving yuan-ti, humans,
and unspeakable creatures from the outer
planes. Even abandoned ruins are places
of great evil and are almost always in-
fested with foul monsters. Torture of
helpless subjects is a favorite pastime of
the yuan-ti, and implements of torture are
easily found in their places of worship.
They will sometimes enslave humans, and
such slaves will usually be crippled or
maimed, thanks to the mercies of their
captors. Yuan-ti do not forget their down-
fall at the hands of good forces, and any
good-aligned character caught in their
clutches are often tortured long and lav-
ishly before death, unless they fall victim
to the Black Broth.

Yuan-ti have no holy days or festivals
except for the Night of Venom once every
1,000 years. This is the conjunction that
allows the completion of the Black Broth.
Beginning about a year before the Night,
the yuan-ti become increasingly active.
They create as much of the Broth as possi-
ble and raid human settlements to kidnap
victims for the rite. Any single group of
yuan-ti will create 20-200 histachii on the
Night of Venom. The forces of good, how-
ever, have found these occasions excellent
times to destroy large numbers of yuan-ti,
and most of the ceremonies are broken up
before they are completed. Still, it is ru-
mored that in some evil-infested swamps
these creatures thrive in small cities and
aspire to regain their former dominance.

Yuan-ti build dwellings both above and
below ground, and their temples are
known for mazes of tunnels and dungeon
chambers. Their lodgings usually consist
of squat stone buildings (normally of vol-
canic rock), each with 2-5 rooms and an
underground chamber. In yuan-ti com-
munities, these underground chambers
are connected to each other and to under-
ground meeting places, throne rooms,
treasuries, etc. Even a small yuan-ti village
has an extensive underground layout.

Any yuan-ti community will be ruled by
the strongest abomination in the commu-
nity. This creature?s basic duties are to
settle disputes, oversee the protection of
the community, and regulate the activities
of that community?s purebloods in the
human world. Even though yuan-ti are
chaotic evil, they are extremely intelligent.
As they do not wish to further reduce
their population, physical combat is rare
among the yuan-ti. Instead, many disputes
are settled by weaponless combat that can
easily be stopped short of fatality.

When attacked, yuan-ti are capable of a
high degree of organization, especially if a
community is threatened. Those able to
cast spells will use sticks to snakes and
darkness  to hold off attackers, cause fear
to split a weakened group, then  suggestion
and polymorph other before engaging in
melee. Magical weapons will most cer-
tainly be used if available. The yuan-ti will
know the properties of any miscellaneous
magical items they possess and will use
them if possible.

Yuan-ti will often cooperate with other
evil creatures as long as such cooperation
will further their own ends. Ophidians are
found 70% of the time in yuan-ti com-
munities and are highly valued for their
venom. Some yuan-ti have been known to
use traps poisoned with ophidian venom.
Characters wounded by these must save
vs. poison at +2 or be affected as if they
have been bitten by ophidians. Yuan-ti
have been known to work with nagas,
kappas, bajang, and evil dragons, and they
are rarely the losers in such partnerships.

In playing yuan-ti, the DM must remem-
ber that these are highly intelligent, pow-
erful, evil creatures with a goal of world
domination. They do not involve them-
selves in petty affairs, nor do they deal
lightly with those who interfere with their
plans. Yuan-ti do not forget such interfer-
ence, even throughout their long lifespans.
They treat revenge as they treat torture?
it should be long, lavish, and painful.