Serpent

The skills of the Serpent are wide-ranging and powerful, though often in indirect ways. They generally fight with a whip and a dirk, or may strike with their fangs, inflicting one of dozens of venoms upon their enemies. They create and traverse a network of wormholes that criss-cross the continent, can hypnotise their opponents and plant harmful suggestions in their mind, may climb up into the treetops and traverse the forests from branch to branch, strike at a distance with the fabled Darkbows, and more.

Serpent

Serpents are often attracted to rather shady careers though there are some notable ones who have chosen a cause and fought for it their entire lives. They might be found in any city or might choose to simply roam cityless.

The skills of the Serpent are wide-ranging and powerful, though often in indirect ways. They generally fight with a whip and a dirk, or may strike with their fangs, inflicting one of dozens of venoms upon their enemies. They create and traverse a network of wormholes that criss-cross the continent, can hypnotise their opponents and plant harmful suggestions in their mind, may climb up into the treetops and traverse the forests from branch to branch, strike at a distance with the fabled Darkbows, and more. A competent Serpent is an extremely frustrating opponent to fight as well, for few can inhibit their movement well enough to keep them still for very long.

Subterfuge

Subterfuge is a diverse skill, encompassing abilities ranging from the secret rattle that those of serpentine ambitions may use to communicate with each other, to archery, the conjuring of illusions, dimensional wormholes, and various stealth and attack abilities.

Abilities in Subterfuge

Rattle	Knowledge of the coded Serpent Lord tongue.
Hide	Conceal yourself from view.
Scales	Coat yourself in protective, serpentine scales.
Garrote	Choke the life out of a target with your whip.
Evade	Misleading your pursuer.
Shadow	Shadowing a target in order to track them.
Flay	Flay the anti-venom sileris coatings from your enemies.
Waiting	Awaiting a target to be shadowed.
Pacing	The ability to anticipate and keep pace with others.
Bask	Bathing in the hot sun.
Block	Obstructing departure with your body.
Swinging	Swinging up into the treetops.
Secret	Give someone an item without their knowledge.
Scan	Scanning the forest floor from the treetops.
Bowmanship	Use of the valued projectile weapon.
Seize	Grabbing unwary victims from the forest floor.
Shove	Sending a hapless victim crashing to the forest floor.
Noose	Covert and deadly assassination from the trees.
Aiming	Increase your accuracy in shooting.
Listen	Detect action and conversations nearby.
Dispel	Rid your environment of illusions.
Lipread	The ability to understand what is said while deaf.
Eavesdrop	Listen even through closed doors.
Slit	Cut the throat of a helpless victim.
Wind	Further increase your accuracy through wind compensation.
Ghost	Give yourself a ghostly appearance.
Doublestab	Quickly administer two venoms to a target with your dirk.
Envenom	Dip your arrows in venom.
Seek	Sense for dimensional wormholes.
Warp	Open and enter a dimensional wormhole.
Illusion	Create an illusion of your choosing.
Crossbows	A powerful projectile weapon.
Cloak	Hide your actions from others.
Dash	Sprint in a particular direction.
Lightwall	Create a palpable wall of light.
Resonance	Allow sounds to resonate through a distant wormhole.
Darkbows	Using the infamous darkbows of Hashan.
Splice	Create a dimensional wormhole.
Pinshot	Focus your fire upon the feet of your victim.
Appraise	View the contents of another adventurer's inventory.
Backstab	Attack from the shadows.
Channel	Hurl an object through a dimensional wormhole.
Pickpocket	Deftly pilfer from unsuspecting targets.
Bind	Hog-tie an unconscious or sleeping opponent.
Colours	Dye your arrows to categorise them.
Execute	Subject your enemy to a merciless execution.
Sources	Sense out all dimensional wormholes.
Weaving	Weave and dodge like the cobra itself.
Yank	Use a whip to pull an opponent into your room.
Vortex	Suck an unwilling target into a wormhole.
Snipe	The ability to sharpshoot.
Cancel	Destroy a wormhole.
Secondsight	See wormholes with greater clarity.
Snake	A pet snake to assist you in combat.
Phase	Alter your status in space-time itself.

Venom

Venom is a skill possessed only by the Serpents. It involves the production of various venoms by glands. These glands are remnants of evolution and lay dormant in most people. To those with the skill though, they can be used to great effect. First, one must SECRETE a particular venom. There will be a short pause while your glands produce the chosen toxin. Once the venom has been secreted, it cannot be held in the bloodstream indefinitely. Each venom has a risk factor incorporated into it. The more powerful the venom, the greater the chance of it backfiring and affecting the producer. To get the venom out of the bloodstream, one must either BITE another adventurer or PURGE the venom from your body.

Abilities in Venom

Secrete	The ancient ability of producing venom.
Bite	Sinking your fangs into an unfortunate victim.
Purge	Cleansing your venom sacs of poison.
Shrugging	Resist the detrimental effects of venoms.
Sumac	Minor damage.
Xentio	Loss of coordination.
Oleander	Blindness.
Eurypteria	Gives the victim delusions of invulnerability.
Kalmia	Inhibits the respiratory system.
Digitalis	Causes unbearable shyness.
Darkshade	Makes the victim allergic to sunlight.
Curare	A venom of muscular paralysis.
Epteth	Shrivel up the arms of your unlucky victim.
Prefarar	Increase the recipient's sensitivity.
Monkshood	Disfigure your victim, causing disloyalty in those around.
Euphorbia	Induces spasmodic vomiting.
Colocasia	Gives blindness and deafness.
Oculus	Forces the recipient's eyelids open.
Camus	A more powerful version of Sumac.
Vernalius	A venom that weakens the muscles.
Epseth	Cause the legs of your victim to become useless.
Larkspur	Causes great dizziness.
Slike	Give the curse of anorexia to your victim.
Voyria	The deadliest venom known to mankind.
Delphinium	Put your victim to sleep.
Notechis	Induce haemophilia in a target.
Vardrax	Grants an insatiable addiction.
Loki	An unpredictable toxin.
Aconite	Cause sheer stupidity in your opponent.
Selarnia	Forcing your victim back into mortal form.
Gecko	Causes the recipient to become foully oily.
Scytherus	A venom that thins the blood.
Nechamandra	A venom that chills the veins.
Transecretion	The ability to instantly secrete a venom.

Hypnosis

Where a skill like Venom is a naturally developed ability, and a skill like Subterfuge is an ability with many magical elements, Hypnosis is a science. It has long been known that our subconscious mind is a powerful force and that it can be influenced in mysterious ways, but until a forgotten Serpentlord discovered the principles of Hypnosis, there was no way to use it.

With this skill, you will be able to sink someone into a hypnotic trance, possibly even without them realising it, and implant various subliminal suggestions. You then seal your victim's mind and implant a timer that determines how long after the hypnosis has been triggered until the suggestions start becoming active.

Abilities in Hypnosis

Hypnotise	Their minds are yours.
Impatience	Inability to concentrate on focused tasks.
Clumsiness	Inability to use weaponry effectively.
Amnesia	Causes the victim to forget to do his next action.
Addiction	A terrible addiction.
Paranoia	They are out to get you, believe me.
Loneliness	Fear of being left on your own.
Claustrophobia	Fear of enclosed spaces.
Stuttering	Anxious difficulty with speech.
Hallucinations	Vivid hallucinations to plague your foe.
Pacifism	Loss of desire to cause anyone harm.
Hypersomnia	A condition that prevents insomnia.
Dementia	Hugely distorts victim's perception of the world.
Deadening	Weakening of the mind.
Epilepsy	Throw your victim's nervous system into disarray.
Agoraphobia	Fear of open spaces.
Masochism	The love of your own pain.
Analyse	Discover the implanted suggestions in someone.
Recklessness	Ignorance of health and disregard for well-being.
Vertigo	Fear of heights.
Cleanse	Clean yourself or another of suggestions.
Lethargy	A distinct lack of energy.
Anorexia	Loss of desire to eat.
Disrupt	Destroy your opponent's mental equilibrium.
Mesmerise	Much subtler, near-undetectable hypnosis.
Confusion	Causes the mind to become confounded.
Stupidity	Abject, stumbling idiocy.
Generosity	Indiscriminate, overwhelming generosity.
Action	The ability to suggest an action of your choice.
Hypochondria	The conviction that one is constantly afflicted.
Imprint	Store the mental state of your subject.