Xerxes

Xerxes is a stunning city located on the edge of the Golden Wilds, deep in the tropical rainforest. It is a city of immense scale, built by the Yuan-Ti over generations. The city is made up of many structures, including massive pyramids, which serve as homes for the Yuan-Ti nobles, and natural architecture that blends seamlessly with the jungle.

As you approach Xerxes, you can see the city rising up in the distance, surrounded by thick jungle foliage. The city is dominated by towering pyramids made of a light, golden-colored stone that glimmers in the sunlight. The pyramids are decorated with intricate carvings and murals depicting ancient Yuan-Ti legends and deities. The city is also filled with statues and sculptures, often made of jade, gold, and other precious materials.

The streets of Xerxes are wide and lined with vendors selling exotic fruits and spices, as well as artisans displaying their handcrafted goods. The buildings are made from a combination of the same golden stone used in the pyramids and the natural materials found in the jungle, such as wood and thatched grass.

One of the most impressive features of Xerxes is the vast network of canals that run throughout the city, providing transportation and irrigation for the residents. The canals are filled with clear water that reflects the bright, vibrant colors of the jungle plants that line its banks. You can see boats gliding along the canals, their colorful sails billowing in the breeze.

As you explore Xerxes, you'll notice that many of the buildings have open courtyards that are filled with lush greenery and fountains, creating an oasis of calm in the midst of the bustling city. The city is also home to a large marketplace, where you can find a wide variety of exotic goods and exotic foods.

Xerxes is a city that is alive with the sounds, smells, and colors of the jungle. It is a place of great beauty and mystery, full of history and legends that are passed down through the generations of the Yuan-Ti.

The Yuan-Ti smiths are extremely skilled, and create weapons that are not typically found in the Eastern Continent. The weapons include hooked or curved swords, long poke weapons, whips, boomerangs, and blow darts. A skilled Valtorian warrior could lose to a novice warrior wielding a Yuan-Ti weapon because they wouldn't know how to fight against it.

The biggest pyramid lies in the center of the city, towering above the rest of the city. It is the most intricate and grand, and home to the queen of the city, Ophelia Najastra. Ophelia welcomes outsiders, and has a good relationship with both the Western Continent and the Eastern Continent, but she is very protective of her city, wary of those that would wish to pillage and steal from them. Many guards patrol the streets of Xerxes, and quick and harsh punishment is given out to any law breakers, especially to outsiders.

The people of Yuan-Ti are known to be excellent fighters, often coating their blades with poisons. While the selling of poisons is illegal to outsiders, there is a black market for it. The most popular and one of the most deadly poisons is called Queens Fang, only needing a drop to be ingested to kill just about anyone.

The Yuan-Ti culture is much different than that of other races, the Yuan-Ti's status is based upon a caste system. Those that more closely resemble a snake are the lowest tier, while those that more closely resemble humans are at the top. Those that are in the lower castes could never rise up the ranks to become a noble or a rich merchant, and those that are in the higher castes could never be poor. There have been many rebellions in the long history of the Yuan-Ti, but all have been put down. Some Yuan-Ti that disagree with this system have left Xerxes to start their own villages out in the jungle.