Sarrukh The sarrukh are a race of reptilian humanoids . They are one of the five progenitor , or Creator Races , of Faerûn . Eons ago , 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 sauroids , 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 , naga s , pterafolk , asabi , lizardfolk , troglodyte s , tren , and many other Scaled One s . 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 between the surviving sarrukh clans , and the enmity among them could lead to open warfare between the scaled races . Physical Description . Sarrukh are shape shifters , though not to the same extreme as doppleganger s or lycanthrope s . They are known to have two forms : One with a bipedal form and one with a more serpentine form . In their more serpentine form they resemble certain yuan - ti abominations , with snake - like bodies and heads as well as powerful arms that end in vicious claws . The bipedal form of sarrukh has a humanoid upper torso , humanoid arms and legs , and a snake - like lower body . All sarrukh have distinctive , gleaming red eyes that can strike fear into other races . It is because of the sarrukhs ' dual form that they created a vast amount of reptilian creatures in a variety of different forms . 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 smelt iron for steel weapons and armor , which made them virtually invincible . Within a hundred years , they had conquered most of Faerûn . The 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 portal s in all of Faerûn were created to connect them . As the 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 capital 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 Romans ) . 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 . Downfall . 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 phaerimms . 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 hibernations 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 lich dom 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 . Split . 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 . Deity switch . 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 . This included the yuan - ti , who still believed their prayers were being answered by Sseth . Consequences . 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 . Before the Spellplague . Pil ' it ' ith , the legendary albino sarrukh leader , is leading the Cult of Set in Okoth . Under him , the cult is 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 sarrukhs ' 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 .