Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Yuan-Ti of Athas Part Three: Leadership

If you missed it, here's part one and part two.

Yuan-ti Ssapha
The current ssassaka (over-leader) is Kalo Authi, a powerful defiler. Ssassaka Authi is a large brown scaled ssuddha (abomination) with a human head. He has a horned viper for a familiar. Ssassaka Authi recently came to power with the mysterious death of his predecessor. One of his first acts was to ally his people with an adult vishap, named Graytch, that lives near Tavara Ssarpale. He has also ordered more assuddha (pureblood) to be trained as merchant-spies in order to learn as much as he can about the other cities of the Tablelands.
Kalo Authi leads the hatyara (assassins) and gande (defilers). His neta (sub-leaders) consist of eight ssuddha (abominations).
The eldest neta is Kayamata, a powerful user of the way. Kayamata believed he would be selected as the next ssassaka by the netas. When Kalo Authi was chosen instead, Kayamata returned to running Tavara Ssarpale with much bitterness. Kalo Authi is aware of Kayamata's bitterness and keeps a close watch on him. One of Kayamata's ssallahakarama (advisor) is a ssapha (halfblood) named Ssundara. Ssundara gathers information on Kayamata and reports it directly back to Kalo Authi.
The neta in charge of the yuan-ti military is Yud'dha. Yud'dha supported the appointment of Kalo Authi to ssassaka. Yud'dha is extremely cruel and hissess the greatness of yuan-ti rule into the ssassaka's ear. Yud'dha would like nothing more than to lead his armies into battle against the cities of the Tablelands. Yud'dha is a strong and skilled fighter.

 Pahada Sskati is overseen by the neta Andhakara. Andhakara is completely loyal to Ssassaka Authi. Andhakara is a practitioner of the way, but is far from mastering it. Even so, he is a skilled clairsentient. His main concern is seeing that Pahada Sskati is undiscovered by the other races in the Tablelands and preventing slave revolts. He hopes one day to control Tavara Ssarpale after Kayamata moves on or dies. Andhakara has thought about speeding Kayamata to his demise, but currently has no plan to do so. Andhakara is reluctant to report any problems in Pahada Sskati to the Ssassaka, for fear of appearing incompetent.
Nirissaka is the neta who oversees the breeding programs in Tavara Ssarpale. She supports Ssassaka Authi, but only as long as it benefits her. She is currently busy fulfilling Ssassaka Authi's desire to breed more assuddha. Nirissaka keeps meticulous records of the yuan-ti breeding lines in order to avoid any mistakes in the gene pool. What only her closest ssallahakarama know is that Nirissaka has a secret underground lair, where she practices breeding programs on her own.
Yuan-ti Ssapha

Curota is the neta who directs and controls the jassussa (merchant/spy). She is a quiet telepath of moderate ability. While she can use the way to probe for information in her victim's minds, she prefers old fashioned physical torture instead. She is loyal to Ssassaka Authi, as long as she is allowed to keep her position. She has no desire to advance, as she enjoys her job too much. Although she enjoys being "hands-on" with interrogations, she is often busy directing the jassussa in their travels and collecting and cataloguing the information they have gathered.
The slave-master of the yuan-ti is Rakssaka. Rakssaka is incredibly cruel and he believes unwaveringly in the superiority of the yuan-ti. His favorite slaves are dwarves, due to their strength and inability to run very fast. He despises elves and has no problem chopping them up for food, often while they are still alive. He makes sure to do this in front of the other slaves, in order to motivate them. Rakssaka is loyal to Ssassaka Authi, but not enough to risk his life. He is moderately skilled in psychometabolism and uses his abilities to inflict pain on slaves he sees as lazy.
The head mato (priest) Pujahari is an earth cleric and leads the neta and other yuan-ti in rituals honoring the earth. Pujahari did not support Kalo Authi's rise to power due to him being a defiler. Pujahari is not quiet about his dislike of defiling, but guards his tongue about his dislike for the Ssassaka himself. Pujahari and his priests quietly work to undermine any support of the gande. He sends out his priests to heal the land from the gande's magic and assists Rakssaka and Kama Garnuhoss in overseeing the slaves who work the land.
Neta Kama Garnuhoss directs the ssadharana (laborers) and it is her poisition to ensure there is enough food, shelter, and goods for the yuan-ti and their slaves. Garnuhoss despises her lowly position and seeks to advance to another neta position, or even Ssassaka one day. She is not loyal to Ssassaka Authi, because she sees no reason to be. She works closely with Pujahari and Rakssaka to ensure the ground is fertile and slaves plentiful enough to farm the land, raise herds, build new structures, and construct weapons and other goods.

More to come in Part Four.

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