Extaminaar

Extaminaars are a serpent-blooded human offshoot race from the Forgotten Realms, the result of a corrupt noble family allying itself with yuan-ti and ultimately transforming its members into a human offshoot through fleshcrafting and interbreeding with yuan-ti. They debuted in the splatbook "Champions of Ruin" for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition.

Official Fluff

The extaminaars are the snake-blooded members of the human noble House Extaminos, which has ruled the city of Hlondeth for more than eight hundred years. During the last century, the extaminaars have gone beyond Hlondeth to set up operations in other cities across Faerûn. They operate from the sewers and the shadows, hatching schemes to increase the power of their house and finding victims on which to perform their vile grafting and breeding experiments.

Extaminaars make excellent rogues, because they are known for their guile and wicked ability to strike from the shadows. Others often try to enlist extaminaars into their organizations because of their skills as crime bosses, interrogators, and information brokers. Still, most extaminaars have proven exceedingly loyal to their noble house.

Racial History: The extaminaars are the descendants of a human noble house that began consorting with a nearby yuan-ti tribe after finding an ancient tome detailing the rituals of the goddess Varae. The tribe of snake people had moved to Turmish, by way of Chondath, after surviving a rift in the leadership of House Se'Sehen, the dominant yuan-ti tribe of the Black Jungles. As the yuan-ti mingled more frequently with the humans of House Extaminos, the two groups' blood began to mix. The end result of decades of such mixing was the introduction of many powerful yuan-ti into the membership of the house, both through birth as well as those sent in to oversee the construction of the Cathedral of Emerald Scales and the spreading of Varae's worship throughout the city.

Once those of the yuan-ti bloodline came of age within House Extaminos, it did not take long before they completely dominated it. Yuan-ti rulers acted as bridges between the yuan-ti tribe and the house, until the two were virtually indistinguishable. Now, a yuan-ti halfblood named Dediana Extaminos openly rules Hlondeth, known as the City of Serpents. The yuan-ti have maintained their rule of Hlondeth using subtle tactics - or a show of strength when necessary - to dissuade restless Turmish and Chondathan leaders from attempting to take the city for their own. From time to time a human noble has claimed leadership of the house, but only those with the blessing of the yuan-ti (and who fervently worship Varae) have survived.

Although Dediana and her predecessors have successfully kept aggressors at bay throughout the years, recently the yuan-ti began to recognize the need for more loyal troops and agents to protect their interests. They were forced to admit that not all of the citizens of Hlondeth were comfortable being ruled by "snakes," even if the yuan-ti knew themselves to be superior beings. Their solution was to turn their breeding experiments toward a quickly produced humanoid with loyalties to the yuan-ti tribe. The new race, called the extaminaars, was to bridge the gap between humanity and the yuan-ti, to be the public face of House Extaminos in Hlondeth and across the continent.

Extaminaars are hatched in clutches of watermelon-sized eggs, making it possible to fertilize and care for dozens at a time. Although they grow into humanoid beings, their infant form is more of a hybrid - armless, scaled, and with undefined facial features. Their lack of arms during infancy is often cited as the reason that so many extaminaars have a fondness for incredibly long serpent-arm grafts.

Once the first generation of extaminaars was ready, the leaders of House Extaminos decided to send many of them out into Faerûn, in order to keep pace with the spying and resource gathering of the other great houses. The extaminaars were excellent choices for this role, since they could gain direct access to many of the same places as the purebloods with even less need for disguise. They set up secret bases in which they carried out their gruesome and evil experiments, and they recruited local tribes of humanoids and rogues from the cities to assist them in their vile deeds.

Now, the second generation of extaminaars has fully matured, and the next ruler of House Extaminos is said to be among them. The yuan-ti are sending these newly formed servants into the world on less specific missions than the first wave. Some are being sent to reinforce cells whose leaders have either been destroyed or are ineffective, but most are simply seeking ways to help the clan in general. They search for artifacts to enhance the grafting process, new magic rituals and spells for the breeding pits, and allies in far-flung regions of Faerûn that share the yuan-ti goal of world domination - if not the same idea of who will rule it afterward.

The success and rapid breeding of the extaminaars has led other houses to begin growing their own hybrids, although the first of these clutches is just now coming to maturity. As rumors of this extensive breeding program spread to Hlondeth, the Extaminos realized the need to "brand" their own extaminaars to prevent "doppelgangers" from infiltrating their house. The third clutch is being bred with a distinctive pattern of scales on their backs, a diamond-shaped collection of brown markings. Each house imparts a unique pattern of scales to its extaminaars, ensuring that they will never be mistaken for those from another group.

Outlook: From birth, extaminaars are raised to venerate Varae above all other gods, and to put the concerns of their house above all else. The trainers have a difficult job - they must teach the growing extaminaars enough self-reliance to lead independent cells in far-flung regions while keeping them strictly under the doctrine of the tribe and its goddess.

The race as a whole is not extremely perceptive, but individuals offset this natural weakness by surrounding themselves with those who can provide them with the information they need. They tend to be very dogmatic toward the yuan-ti view of the world as well as the superiority of their house and the goddess Varae. They lord their superiority over their victims, mocking and proselytizing to bound captives as they begin the rituals necessary to graft flesh.

Extaminaars often believe that their only purpose is to elevate their house, even to the exclusion of the greater yuanti goals or their religious obligations. They maintain regular communication with their superiors in Hlondeth, constantly updating them on the success of their experiments and passing along information that might be useful to the tribe. They are very cautious about their operations, only revealing what is necessary to their underlings and killing anyone who gets too close to discovering their true identity.

An extaminaar agent never gets too tied up in his work to ignore opportunities for adventure. Although devoted to their tribe, roaming extaminaars enjoy their freedom, and will sometimes abandon their lairs for months at a time. A life of adventure often follows, as events conspire to keep the extaminaar away for longer than anticipated. Sometimes a newly dispatched spy never even makes it to his post, either through chance adventure or the realization that he can be free forever from a tribe whose ideals he does not share. The latter case is rare, however - extaminaars are bred for loyalty as well as for ruthless cunning and deception.

Personality: Extaminaars are scheming, cruel beings who will stop at nothing to further the goals of their noble house. They enjoy experimenting on "lesser beings" in their quest to find new and better creatures. They value flesh above all other forms of currency, leading them to often deal in slaves. Extaminaars who take root in cities outside of Hlondeth are famously patient, sometimes lying low for months if their lair or plans are in danger of being discovered. One of these snake-blooded nobles would rather talk his way out a situation than fight, especially if doing so gives his companions time to flank their enemies.

Physical Description: Extaminaars typically stand from 5 feet to 6 1/2 feet tall; because they are extremely skinny, they often appear to be taller than they actually are. Those who possess the very long serpent-arm graft so commonly found in House Extaminos appear to have more girth than normal, because they keep their arms wound around their torsos and their necks hidden underneath expansive robes. Extaminaars weigh less than humans of equal size because their bones are less dense; the weight of individuals usually falls between 100 and 180 pounds. An extaminaar has pale skin with either a yellow or green tinge, and often has brown spots in clusters near his neck and lower back. Extaminaars prefer to grow their hair long and use secretions from glands in the scalp to keep it plastered back. They wear only light clothing unless they are concealing long serpent-arms or other grafts that would give away their true nature. Extaminaars typically live to between 60 and 80 years of age.

Relations: Despite their strange appearance, hidden lairs, and evil goals, extaminaars are social creatures. They prefer to work with small, reptilian beings such as kobolds when they need minions, and nagas or young dragons when they are looking for a more serious partner in crime. Of course, an extaminaar has the same prejudices as his yuan-ti ancestors toward these creatures, considering himself above all other life forms. The yuan-ti, however, consider extaminaars to be one of the lowest forms of related races, and would never work for one (although they will certainly use an extaminaar to further their goals).

Extaminaars rarely associate with the people of the community they are in, since they see them as either food or living subjects for their experiments. They have no favored targets - they see all other beings as fit subjects for their grafting and breeding programs. An extaminaar needing an outside contact within the community might deign to work with a member of a lesser race, but he will rarely reveal his true nature to his contact, and such arrangements are often short-lived thanks to the extaminaar's paranoia and desire to work in privacy.

Alignment: Extaminaars are evil to the core, although some among them favor a more balanced and neutral approach to their experiments. Still, the need for living test subjects and the incredible pain their captives suffer through makes avoiding the call of evil very difficult for all extaminaars but the most strong-willed. Those who run House Extaminos and control the city of Hlondeth favor lawfulness, and they expect the citizens of that city to display complete deference to their rule. Those extaminaars who venture to other lands tend to be more chaotic; they find themselves often on the move and in the company of an ever-changing cadre of minions and slaves.

Extaminaar Lands: The extaminaars were first created by the union of a Turmish noble house with a tribe of yuan-ti living in the Orsraun Mountains. To this day they are mostly concentrated in those mountains, as well as in the city of Hlondeth, which they control. Other extaminaars have moved to cities across Faerûn in order to experiment and spy, awaiting the day when the yuan-ti empire will stretch across the continent, and indeed the world.

Extaminaars who travel to other cities tend to set up their base of operations in sewer systems or damp caves (preferably river caves or snake-infested limestone structures). Where this is not possible, they sometimes take over buildings and then dig large basements and cavern complexes underneath the structures.

Religion: The nobles of House Extaminos first began intermingling with the yuan-ti through their discovery of the rituals of Varae, and they continue to worship her to this day. The rulers of the noble house have built a wondrous and hideous temple to Varae in Hlondeth called the Cathedral of Emerald Scales, and all extaminaars sent out across the continent are blessed in a blood ritual at the cathedral before they leave. Extaminaars who find themselves in contact with other yuan-ti will often pay lip service to Sseth in order to avoid conflict, but yuan-ti with a rudimentary knowledge of House Extaminos and its traditions can see through this ruse rather easily.

Clerics of Varae choose their domains from among Evil, Scalykind, and Trickery. Varae's favored weapon is the sickle.

Language: Extaminaars speak yuan-ti and also learn some functional skills in Turmic, the human language of their homeland. All extaminaars have a working knowledge of Common as well; those who travel extensively spend more time learning the trade tongue than those who stay in Turmish. Those with the aptitude to speak multiple languages often learn Draconic, as well as the tongue of any land they settle in. These additional language skills can aid an extaminaar when dealing with local humanoids and operatives, and can help one maintain a cover identity he has adopted.

Adventurers: Extaminaars might find themselves drawn to adventure as they set out to stake a claim in one of Faerûn's great cities. Establishing a secret testing ground can also lead to its share of problems, including wiping out any indigenous creatures and acquiring the means to outfit a lair with the proper infrastructure. Most extaminaars do not seek out adventure unless it has as its goal the elevation of their house in some way.

PC Stats

-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity: Extaminaar are agile but not as strong as other humanoids their size.

Medium: As a Medium creature, an extaminaar has no special bonuses or penalties due to his size.

Extaminaar base land speed is 30 feet.

Low-Light Vision: An extaminaar can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.

+2 racial bonus on Fortitude saves versus poison: Exterminaars do not easily succumb to venom of any kind.

+4 racial bonus on Swim checks: Extaminaars are comfortable in the water, and their light frames make it easier for them to stay afloat.

+2 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks: Extaminaars can wriggle their way out of sticky situations.

Spell-Like Abilities: At will - speak with animals (snakes only); 3/day - charm animal (snakes only). Extaminaar often fill their lairs with poisonous snakes to dissuade interlopers.

Automatic Languages: Common, Turmic, and Yuan-ti. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Chondathan, and Draconic.

Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass extaminaar's rogue class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.