Snakemen

The snakemen are probably the most ancient of creatures in the whole of Jera. They live to extreme ages, and can hibernate through ages that do not suit them, such as the period following the great war. Some have been known to live to be one thousand years old, thus they have seen the rise and fall of civilization. They are lovers of peace, though they know that peace does not come without a price. They are extremely powerful magic users.

Their race is all but died out, but some still survive the ages, though the number of young decrease over the passage of time. Only about three hundred of them still exist. The radiation of the great war altered them somewhat, making for reproductive problems and decreased immune systems.

The most ancient, the Time Masters, four in number, rule their surviving people. They are worn with time, but still fierce in battle, using the magic of the ages to defeat whole armies that come up against their people. They are very spiritual in nature, or perhaps spiritualistic would fit better. They are masters of the dead, communing with the spirits of those that have gone before, who serve the snakemen of today as messengers and warriors. Indeed much of the Time Masters' powers are derived from their ability to call warring spirits to battle and to defend them in their walk through life. They may not abuse this power, using it only to protect themselves and their people. They have many lowerlings under them in the study of the old ways. They are called the channelers, and are powerful wizards in their own right.

The snakemen cherish both technology and magic, remembering the old days when the lives of all were made wonderful by both. They still posess the secrets to technology, whorded away in their secret libraries.

They mostly live in the mountain range just west of Innlandstadt, where they can live with minimal exposure to the other races of the world. They are very greatly feared by the men of the area, which have entered into an oath of peace toward them. Indeed the men of the area keep away all men and monsters alike that would think to molest them, even going beyond their pact of peace in a gesture of goodwill.

Tales are told in the taverns of the area of a brief but destructive war that the snakemen waged some hundred or so years ago after a daughter of a Time Master was killed while journeying through the region near Innlandstadt to the sea to preform her fertility rite at the ocean's edge. The snakemen were enraged, and spilled down from the mountains, killing most of the inhabitants of the city without effort and leaving the town in flames. The few surviving men promised then that such would never happen again. They promised furthur to an everlasting peace with the reptile lords.