The Sylthik were made, and they were made by neither a god nor a daemon. Sythikranos is a false dragon, one of the great serpents who named themselves gods over the snakes of the world. Pythalomos and Senwyn did as much in the Ishnit Jungles, declaring themselves lords of the constrictors and the vipers; Sythikranos is the same kind of thing, older and reaching further. The difference is that she did not stop at demanding worship. She bred herself worshippers. The scaled bodies, the fanged faces, the venom, and the serpent-tongue that lets a Sylthik speak to snakes were all set into them at her making. The Sylthik would not recognize a word of this. They know only that they are her children and she is their goddess, and they kill outsiders who suggest otherwise.
What she set into them, she kept the key to. Every gift a Sylthik carries runs through living communion with Sythikranos, and the priests who claim the closest communion claim the most. A high priest invokes her name and is answered: a surer strike, a scent that tracks a traveler across a hundred miles, a serpent that comes when called. Cut a Sylthik off from her, by exile or by doubt, and the gifts thin and go dead in him, the venom last of all. So the religious hierarchy that orders every Sylthik life runs deeper than any custom: it is the tap the race drinks from. Communion is survival, Sythikranos is the source, and a people built that way does not tolerate apostasy.
They hold themselves the apex of creation, every warm-blooded race beneath their notice and fit only to be ruled or removed. They build in winding passages and circular chambers that follow the line a snake takes, in desert oases, old ruins, and the deep caverns where snakes already gather. And they wait. Their faith holds that Sythikranos will one day come to take the world in earnest, and that the Sylthik are the instrument she bred to make it ready for her. Whether the false dragon intends any such thing, or simply enjoys being prayed to the way Pythalomos and Senwyn enjoy it, is not a question a Sylthik will entertain.
Vitals
- Size: Medium
- Height: 5-7 feet (including tail length)
- Weight: 130-220 pounds
Aspects
- Chosen of the serpent goddess
- Cold-blooded supremacist
Game mechanics
Snake Headed
Passive ability. With the head of a snake, you have venomous fangs, which count as a light, piercing melee weapon. Once per day, you may inject venom with your bite, inflicting two levels of poisoned.
Disciple of Sythikranos
Major ability. As a disciple of Sythikranos, you are granted occasional favors by your snake goddess. When you invoke the name of your patron god, choose one. You gain the ability for the next hour.
- You gain advantage on all attack rolls with your bite. Your bite afflicts an additional level of poisoned when you inject poison.
- Your predatory sense of smell with your snake tongue improves drastically. You know the direction of anyone you've been around in the last day, as long as they are within 100 miles. This effect lasts until the end of the day.
- You can communicate with snakes, and if any snakes are in the vicinity, a snake companion will join you within the next ten minutes. The snake cannot help in combat, but it can scout and observe at your command.