Origins & Philosophy
- Yuan-ti were once humans who worshiped serpents as totem animals.
- Admired the serpent’s flexibility, calculated poise, and deadly strike.
- Their philosophy emphasized emotional detachment and focused thought.
Yuan-ti culture was among the richest in the mortal world. Their warriors were legendary, their empires always expanding. Yuan-ti temples stood at the centers of ancient metropolises, reaching ever higher in prayer to the gods they longed to emulate. In time, the serpent gods heard those prayers, their sibilant voices responding from the darkness as they told the yuan-ti what they must do. The yuan-ti religion grew more fanatical in its devotion. Cults bound themselves to the worship of the serpent gods and imitated their ways, indulging in cannibalism and humanoid sacrifice. Through foul sorcery, the yuan-ti bred with snakes, utterly sacrificing their humanity to become like the serpent gods in form, as well as in thought and emotion.
The yuan-ti view their physical transformation as a transcendent moment
for their race, allowing them to shed their frail humanity like dead
skin. Those that did not transform eventually became slaves or food for
the blessed of the serpent gods. The yuan-ti empires withered or were
defeated by those who fought against their cannibalism and slavery, and
the serpent folk were left in the ruins of their great capitals, far
removed from other races.