Sarrukh
Encyclopedia
Within the Forgotten Realms
setting of the game Dungeons & Dragons
, the sarrukh are a race of reptilian
humanoids
. They are one of the five progenitor races, or Creator Races
, of Faerûn
. Eons prior to the current storyline of Dungeons & Dragons, they built and maintained empires across most of the continent. These ancient and evil creatures are now almost extinct. Most sages who know of the sarrukhs' past glory simply refer to them as the saurians, the sauroïds, or the progenitors of the Scaled Ones.
The sarrukh have left a lasting legacy: the racial diversity of the scaled races of Faerûn. They took the scaly, reptilian animals and monsters native to Abeir-Toril
and modified them into sentient
beings such as the yuan-ti
, nagas
, pterafolk, saurials, asabis, lizardfolk
, troglodytes, tren, and others.
race.
Problems of their own making eventually caused the sarrukh empires to crumble. This created a vacuum in which the sarrukhs' created races rose to prominence and established power centers of their own—many of which are still active to this day. However, the sarrukh have still managed to remain relevant in modern-day Faerûn. Despite their small numbers, they still command the loyalty and respect of the races that they had created. An immense rift has formed, though, between the surviving sarrukh clans, and the enmity among them could lead to open warfare between the scaled races.
al bodies and those with more serpentine bodies. The ones who are more serpentine resemble certain yuan-ti abominations, with snakelike bodies and heads as well as powerful arms that end in vicious claws. The bipedal kind of sarrukh has a humanoid upper torso, humanoid arms and legs, and a snakelike lower body. All sarrukh have distinctive, gleaming red eyes that strike fear into the hearts of all the scaly races.
iron for steel weapons and armor, which made them virtually invincible. Within a hundred years, they had conquered most of Faerûn.
The sarrukhs' Mhairshaulk Empire arose around −34,800 DR on the Chultan peninsula, and the Isstosseffifil Empire followed in −34,500 DR, based in what is now the Great Desert of Anauroch. Okoth, the first of the sarrukh empires, still encompassed the sarrukhs' homeland. Lesser realms, which included the city of Ss'thar'tiss'ssun (located in what is now the Forest of Wyrms) and the city of Ilimar (which is now split between the Great Swamp of Rethild and the Gulthmere Forest), sprang up outside of the two great empires of Mhairshaulk and Isstosseffifil. These regions constituted the major hubs of sarrukh civilization, and the first stable portals in all of Faerûn were created to connect them.
As sarrukh civilization expanded, they discovered that the shamans
of the primitive races living in certain wilderness areas held magical lore that they had not yet encountered. The sarrukh studied these primitive forms of magic and consolidated their discoveries into a series of tomes. Upon completion, these books, which contained both easily researched magical knowledge and obscure information, were brought to Oreme, the capitol of Isstosseffifil, for study, where the most magically gifted among the sarrukh and their servitor races pored over them. The sarrukh empires did not last long enough to gather the full fruits of their work, but this collection of minds grew into its own secret organization—the Ba'etith. This group's members consolidated and extrapolated the bounds of their newly found knowledge, penning the Golden Skins of the World Serpent (discovered by the Netherese centuries later and renamed the Nether Scrolls) many thousands of years after the fall of their empires.
The empires of the sarrukh continued to grow until the sarrukh eventually became the minority in their own empire (much like the real-world Roman Empire
). Thousands of other races tended to them, fulfilling their needs and desires. The sarrukh savored the finest meats, surrounded themselves with gold, jewels, and other finery, and enjoyed all the luxuries of a civilization at its zenith. As with so many empires since, however, the sarrukhs' increasing dependence on other races would lead them in a spiral ever downward.
The first of their empires to fall was Okoth, collapsing circa −34,100 DR after a century of civil strife that caused many sarrukh to emigrate to different planes
of existence. Isstosseffifil followed suit around −33,800 DR during a war with the mysterious magical creatures known as phaerimm
s. During this war, the leaders of Isstosseffifil rerouted the Narrow Sea, causing it to flood the Underdark
(where the phaerimms resided) but also precipitating major climatological changes that doomed their own realm. Mhairshaulk was the last of the sarrukh empires to fall, its inhabitants sliding into deep hibernation
s circa −33,500 DR.
Many sarrukh died in the collapses of their great empires, but likewise, many also survived. The sarrukh of Isstosseffifil retreated into lichdom
in the depths of Oreme, where they were protected by the asabis that they had once created and where they still sleep to this day. The sarrukh of Mhairshaulk were faced with starvation, so they began a cycle in which thousand-year hibernations alternated with brief periods of activity, during which food gathering and procreation could take place. The mighty clans of Okoth, however, wandered the planes of existence for millennia, but never did they find a plane where they wished to remain for more than a generation. This nomadic existence across foreign planes hardened them and turned them inexorably toward evil.
With the sarrukh of Okoth gradually turning to darker ways, a few dissenters emerged. They turned to a fragment of the World Serpent known as Jazirian
. Jazirian transformed them into couatl
s. A war then took place between the couatls and the far more numerous Okoth sarrukh. The couatls managed to hold their own in the war until a darker fragment of the World Serpent known as Merrshaulk
slew Jazirian, forcing the couatls to flee back to Abeir-Toril
, where they came to settle in the continent of Maztica. There, the god Qotal embraced them as his divine minions, and the couatls considered him as a reincarnated Jazirian. A few couatls broke away from this group and returned to Faerûn in order to deal with the sarrukh residing in the Jungles of Chult. This splinter group looked to Ubtao as its patron deity.
The Okothian sarrukh began to explore the Barrens of Doom and Despair
after the war with the couatls. There, they discovered a reptilian race known as the khaastas. The sarrukh believed the khaastas to be inferior and weak, so they attempted to enslave them. The khaastas resisted the sarrukh and declared war on them. Allied with demons, the khaastas ultimately won the centuries-long war. The few remaining Okothian sarrukh retreated to Faerûn, where they went into hiding in the crypt of Sar'Rukoth near the shore of Azulduth.
The Okothian sarrukh soon realized that Sseth had sunk into a sort of hibernation and was barely answering their prayers. During the Time of Troubles
, Sseth stopped answering prayers altogether. Faced with the threat of the khaastas, the Okothian clerics turned to Set
, the god of evil in the Mulhorandi pantheon. In their bargain, Set agreed to answer their prayers if they helped him in binding Sseth to eternal slumber. Thus, at the end of the Time of Troubles, Set absorbed Sseth's portfolio. About eleven years after the Avatar Crisis, Set began answering the prayers of his new worshipers (including the yuan-ti, who still believed their prayers were being answered by Sseth).
The betrayal of Sseth has caused some undesirable consequences for the Okothians. Sseth is now beset by nightmares and thrashes against his bonds, awakening the hibernating serpentfolk elsewhere in Faerûn. The sarrukh of Mhairshaulk are now emerging from their hibernation. They seek to liberate Sseth and oppose the sarrukh of Okoth. The Mhairshaulk sarrukh now work to re-awaken the ancient yuan-ti empire of Serpentes, which is loyal to them.
Pil'it'th, the legendary albino sarrukh leader, is leading the Cult of Set in Okoth. Under him, the cult in growing in strength. The cult's members are primarily Scaled Ones, but others have also joined its ranks. The khaastas have recently been appearing in the region of the Lakes of Salt, resulting in battles between them and the cult.
The sarrukh remember distinctly the heights to which their race once climbed and the fall to where it lies now. They are individually powerful, but their low numbers force them to rely on the races that they created. During the height of their empires, the sarrukh became lazy and domineering. Instead of directly involving themselves with the rest of the world, they delegated their building and fighting to the lizardfolk, with the yuan-ti supervising those activities and acting as the sarrukhs' personal servants. The nagas were entrusted with the tasks of magical research, exploration, and guarding important individuals and places. Withdrawing into their palaces, the sarrukh never emerged without heavy protection. Despite the fall of their mighty and grand civilizations, the sarrukh's attitude has changed little. They are interested in the goings-on of the world but choose to remain apart from it. They instead send out their yuan-ti servants or small groups of nagas to learn what could be learned and report back to them. The most important consideration for the sarrukh is now preserving each and every member of their race.
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
setting of the game Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
, the sarrukh are a race of reptilian
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
humanoids
Humanoid (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, humanoid is a type of creature, or "creature type". Humanoids are any creature shaped generally like a human , of Small or Medium size, with few or no supernatural or extraordinary abilities...
. They are one of the five progenitor races, or Creator Races
Creator Races
In the fictional Forgotten Realms setting, the intelligent species are classified into groups known as "races", which, in this context, generally refers to an intelligent species, such as humanity, elves or goblins...
, of Faerûn
Faerûn
Faerûn is a fictional subcontinent, the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. It is described at a relatively high level in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting from Wizards of the Coast, and various locales and aspects are described in more detail by separate...
. Eons prior to the current storyline of Dungeons & Dragons, they built and maintained empires across most of the continent. These ancient and evil creatures are now almost extinct. Most sages who know of the sarrukhs' past glory simply refer to them as the saurians, the sauroïds, or the progenitors of the Scaled Ones.
The sarrukh have left a lasting legacy: the racial diversity of the scaled races of Faerûn. They took the scaly, reptilian animals and monsters native to Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril is the name of the fictional planet that makes up the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, as well as the Al-Qadim and Maztica campaign settings and the 1st edition version of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting.The name is archaic, meaning "cradle of life." It...
and modified them into sentient
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
beings such as the yuan-ti
Yuan-ti
The yuan-ti are a fictional species of evil snakemen in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. The species comprises a number of castes. In some campaign settings, the yuan-ti are descended from evil human cultists who mixed their bloodlines with those of serpents...
, nagas
Naga (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, nagas comprise a variety of similar species of intelligent aberrations with widely differing abilities and alignments. Nagas appear as large snake like creatures with humanoid heads. They often range widely in coloring and scale patterns, but are all...
, pterafolk, saurials, asabis, lizardfolk
Lizardfolk
Lizardfolk are a fictional humanoid species in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Publication history:...
, troglodytes, tren, and others.
Publication history
The sarrukh (progenitor race) appeared in third edition in Serpent Kingdoms (2004), also appearing as a player characterPlayer character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
race.
Overview
Millennia ago, the sarrukh dominated all of the continent of Faerûn. Their mighty empires were the first in the world, encompassing the jungles along the shore of Azulduth, the eastern shore of the Narrow Sea, and the Chultan Peninsula. The sarrukh enslaved or sacrificed other creatures in the name of their god, the World Serpent.Problems of their own making eventually caused the sarrukh empires to crumble. This created a vacuum in which the sarrukhs' created races rose to prominence and established power centers of their own—many of which are still active to this day. However, the sarrukh have still managed to remain relevant in modern-day Faerûn. Despite their small numbers, they still command the loyalty and respect of the races that they had created. An immense rift has formed, though, between the surviving sarrukh clans, and the enmity among them could lead to open warfare between the scaled races.
Physical description
There are two different types of sarrukh—those with bipedBiped
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs, or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning "two feet"...
al bodies and those with more serpentine bodies. The ones who are more serpentine resemble certain yuan-ti abominations, with snakelike bodies and heads as well as powerful arms that end in vicious claws. The bipedal kind of sarrukh has a humanoid upper torso, humanoid arms and legs, and a snakelike lower body. All sarrukh have distinctive, gleaming red eyes that strike fear into the hearts of all the scaly races.
Racial History
The sarrukh built the first significant civilizations of Toril, their empires rising and falling between −35,000 DR and −33,500 DR. This race of intelligent scaled creatures first appeared in the area known as Okoth, which is south of Mulhorand. The development of the sarrukh was relatively uncontested, and thus, their population quickly surpassed the level sustainable by the local resources. The sarrukh then spread rapidly throughout much of Faerûn, conquering other lands and starting new civilizations as they went. They met short-lived and disorganized resistance from the savages that inhabited the lands; furthermore, the sarrukh had already learned to smeltSmelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
iron for steel weapons and armor, which made them virtually invincible. Within a hundred years, they had conquered most of Faerûn.
The sarrukhs' Mhairshaulk Empire arose around −34,800 DR on the Chultan peninsula, and the Isstosseffifil Empire followed in −34,500 DR, based in what is now the Great Desert of Anauroch. Okoth, the first of the sarrukh empires, still encompassed the sarrukhs' homeland. Lesser realms, which included the city of Ss'thar'tiss'ssun (located in what is now the Forest of Wyrms) and the city of Ilimar (which is now split between the Great Swamp of Rethild and the Gulthmere Forest), sprang up outside of the two great empires of Mhairshaulk and Isstosseffifil. These regions constituted the major hubs of sarrukh civilization, and the first stable portals in all of Faerûn were created to connect them.
As sarrukh civilization expanded, they discovered that the shamans
Shaman (Dungeons & Dragons)
The shaman is an alternate playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Dungeons & Dragons :The Orcs of Thar covers orcish shamans...
of the primitive races living in certain wilderness areas held magical lore that they had not yet encountered. The sarrukh studied these primitive forms of magic and consolidated their discoveries into a series of tomes. Upon completion, these books, which contained both easily researched magical knowledge and obscure information, were brought to Oreme, the capitol of Isstosseffifil, for study, where the most magically gifted among the sarrukh and their servitor races pored over them. The sarrukh empires did not last long enough to gather the full fruits of their work, but this collection of minds grew into its own secret organization—the Ba'etith. This group's members consolidated and extrapolated the bounds of their newly found knowledge, penning the Golden Skins of the World Serpent (discovered by the Netherese centuries later and renamed the Nether Scrolls) many thousands of years after the fall of their empires.
The empires of the sarrukh continued to grow until the sarrukh eventually became the minority in their own empire (much like the real-world Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
). Thousands of other races tended to them, fulfilling their needs and desires. The sarrukh savored the finest meats, surrounded themselves with gold, jewels, and other finery, and enjoyed all the luxuries of a civilization at its zenith. As with so many empires since, however, the sarrukhs' increasing dependence on other races would lead them in a spiral ever downward.
The first of their empires to fall was Okoth, collapsing circa −34,100 DR after a century of civil strife that caused many sarrukh to emigrate to different planes
Plane (Dungeons & Dragons)
The planes of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game constitutes the multiverse in which the game takes place.In the earliest versions of Dungeons & Dragons, the concept of the Inner, Ethereal, Prime Material, Astral and Outer Planes was introduced; at the time there were only four Inner Planes...
of existence. Isstosseffifil followed suit around −33,800 DR during a war with the mysterious magical creatures known as phaerimm
Phaerimm
The phaerimm are a fictional species of creatures in the Forgotten Realms setting, in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
s. During this war, the leaders of Isstosseffifil rerouted the Narrow Sea, causing it to flood the Underdark
Underdark
The Underdark is a fictional setting which has appeared in Dungeons & Dragons role-playing campaigns and Dungeons & Dragons-based fiction books, including the Legend of Drizzt series by R. A. Salvatore...
(where the phaerimms resided) but also precipitating major climatological changes that doomed their own realm. Mhairshaulk was the last of the sarrukh empires to fall, its inhabitants sliding into deep hibernation
Hibernation
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...
s circa −33,500 DR.
Many sarrukh died in the collapses of their great empires, but likewise, many also survived. The sarrukh of Isstosseffifil retreated into lichdom
Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the lich is an undead creature; a spellcaster who seeks to defy death by magical means.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
in the depths of Oreme, where they were protected by the asabis that they had once created and where they still sleep to this day. The sarrukh of Mhairshaulk were faced with starvation, so they began a cycle in which thousand-year hibernations alternated with brief periods of activity, during which food gathering and procreation could take place. The mighty clans of Okoth, however, wandered the planes of existence for millennia, but never did they find a plane where they wished to remain for more than a generation. This nomadic existence across foreign planes hardened them and turned them inexorably toward evil.
With the sarrukh of Okoth gradually turning to darker ways, a few dissenters emerged. They turned to a fragment of the World Serpent known as Jazirian
Jazirian
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Jazirian is the couatl deity of Community, Peace, Learning, and Parenthood. The couatls believe Jazirian to be the embodiment of supreme purpose and fate, the invisible force that moves the strings upon which all other gods move...
. Jazirian transformed them into couatl
Couatl
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the couatl is a large serpentine creature, and in 3rd edition is considered a native outsider.-Publication history:...
s. A war then took place between the couatls and the far more numerous Okoth sarrukh. The couatls managed to hold their own in the war until a darker fragment of the World Serpent known as Merrshaulk
Merrshaulk
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Merrshaulk is the yuan-ti deity of poison and somnolence. "Merrshaulk" is likely a dwarven rendering of his name; the yuan-ti pronounce the name more like "Mi-Shao-Shur," although they view it as too holy to pronounce around outsiders...
slew Jazirian, forcing the couatls to flee back to Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril is the name of the fictional planet that makes up the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, as well as the Al-Qadim and Maztica campaign settings and the 1st edition version of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting.The name is archaic, meaning "cradle of life." It...
, where they came to settle in the continent of Maztica. There, the god Qotal embraced them as his divine minions, and the couatls considered him as a reincarnated Jazirian. A few couatls broke away from this group and returned to Faerûn in order to deal with the sarrukh residing in the Jungles of Chult. This splinter group looked to Ubtao as its patron deity.
The Okothian sarrukh began to explore the Barrens of Doom and Despair
Barrens of Doom and Despair
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Barrens of Doom and Despair is an evil-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of Outer Planes that form part of the cosmology retroactively introduced in the third edition of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting...
after the war with the couatls. There, they discovered a reptilian race known as the khaastas. The sarrukh believed the khaastas to be inferior and weak, so they attempted to enslave them. The khaastas resisted the sarrukh and declared war on them. Allied with demons, the khaastas ultimately won the centuries-long war. The few remaining Okothian sarrukh retreated to Faerûn, where they went into hiding in the crypt of Sar'Rukoth near the shore of Azulduth.
The Okothian sarrukh soon realized that Sseth had sunk into a sort of hibernation and was barely answering their prayers. During the Time of Troubles
Time of Troubles (Forgotten Realms)
The Time of Troubles, also known as the Arrival, Godswar, and Avatar Crisis, is a fictional time period in the chronology of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game...
, Sseth stopped answering prayers altogether. Faced with the threat of the khaastas, the Okothian clerics turned to Set
Set (mythology)
Set was in Ancient Egyptian religion, a god of the desert, storms, and foreigners. In later myths he was also the god of darkness, and chaos...
, the god of evil in the Mulhorandi pantheon. In their bargain, Set agreed to answer their prayers if they helped him in binding Sseth to eternal slumber. Thus, at the end of the Time of Troubles, Set absorbed Sseth's portfolio. About eleven years after the Avatar Crisis, Set began answering the prayers of his new worshipers (including the yuan-ti, who still believed their prayers were being answered by Sseth).
The betrayal of Sseth has caused some undesirable consequences for the Okothians. Sseth is now beset by nightmares and thrashes against his bonds, awakening the hibernating serpentfolk elsewhere in Faerûn. The sarrukh of Mhairshaulk are now emerging from their hibernation. They seek to liberate Sseth and oppose the sarrukh of Okoth. The Mhairshaulk sarrukh now work to re-awaken the ancient yuan-ti empire of Serpentes, which is loyal to them.
Pil'it'th, the legendary albino sarrukh leader, is leading the Cult of Set in Okoth. Under him, the cult in growing in strength. The cult's members are primarily Scaled Ones, but others have also joined its ranks. The khaastas have recently been appearing in the region of the Lakes of Salt, resulting in battles between them and the cult.
The sarrukh remember distinctly the heights to which their race once climbed and the fall to where it lies now. They are individually powerful, but their low numbers force them to rely on the races that they created. During the height of their empires, the sarrukh became lazy and domineering. Instead of directly involving themselves with the rest of the world, they delegated their building and fighting to the lizardfolk, with the yuan-ti supervising those activities and acting as the sarrukhs' personal servants. The nagas were entrusted with the tasks of magical research, exploration, and guarding important individuals and places. Withdrawing into their palaces, the sarrukh never emerged without heavy protection. Despite the fall of their mighty and grand civilizations, the sarrukh's attitude has changed little. They are interested in the goings-on of the world but choose to remain apart from it. They instead send out their yuan-ti servants or small groups of nagas to learn what could be learned and report back to them. The most important consideration for the sarrukh is now preserving each and every member of their race.