Great Serpents

## Appearances

The **Great Serpents** are three ancient, powerful pythons that are worshiped by VIPER.

## History

### Birth

50,000 years ago, towards the birth of the Valdorian Age, the **Great Serpents** Beda, Xoruba, and Nama were born in a cave in a mountain range of what would later become Cameroon in West Africa. The three were exposed to a combination of volcanic gasses that suspended their aging, allowing them to grow until they became sentient. After a thousand years had past, and humans walked on the land of the Great Serpents and formed nearby tribe that worshipped the Serpents as gods, adding to the snakes emerging from their cave to conquer new lands.

#### Beda

Beda, the first of the Great Serpents known for his barbarous nature, became the tyrant of an empire, where he ruled with fury until he was slain by a mercenary during the Atlantean Age. Beda's legacy extended beyond his death, leading the superstitious tribes that formed after his death to remember his as the Mighty One.

#### Xoruba

Xoruba traveled east during Beda's rule, where she created a nest and slept for millennia. She awoke in the days long after Atlantis had fallen, during the dawn of recorded history, when the Sahara grasslands had become covered with sand. Alone in this new world, Xoruba allied herself with the forces of Chaos and become known as Apep and Apophis, greatest foe of the gods, the serpent who tried to swallow the sun. Xoruba was slain during Egypt's First Dynasty, but, like Beda, was not forgotten, as cults dedicated to Apep worship her in modern day.

### Nama's Machinations

Nama, the wisest of the Serpents, preferred the role of trickster to that of conqueror and rather than trying to become the embodiment of primal power, he learned sorcery. For amusement, he released evils into the world to study mankind's reaction and revel in the destruction. As humanity grew larger and champions emerged, Nama molded them into pawns for his ends, leading them against the Sharna-Gorak and using his gift of prophecy to tailor warriors into conduits for chaos.

In the centuries after the death of Beda and Xoruba, Nama shed his serpent form and traveled as Nunyamo, an African warrior-scholar, making his way to China. On his journey, Nunyamo taught the practice of snake worship and handling, leaving many legends in his wake.

#### Attempting Conquest

At the height of the Dark Ages, in what would later become known as Armenia, Nunyamo began his conquest of the world. Gathering six great barbarian chieftains from lands as far as Germany and Mongolia, he forged the Serpent Blades for his warriors and set them upon Bludrinkig, a great dragon, who they brought before Nunyamo. Using his sorcery, Nama forced the great dragon to serve as his warriors' vassal, telling them that Fate itself chose them to restore order to the world.

Nama's warriors became known as the Six Vipers as their armies ravaged villages and towns, creating a dark legacy they reveled in. However, before Nama's warriors could pursue their conquest to faraway lands, a mercenary snuck into their camp and, at the behest of the great dragon, slew Bludrinkig, crippling their power. Enraged at each other for this defeat, the warriors drew their enchanted blades and attacked one another. In the aftermath, their weapons were scattered across the globe to be destroyed in secret, away from the eyes of the world as it healed. Most were successfully destroyed, but a few made their way back to Eastern Europe, where they were buried, awaiting to be rediscovered.

#### Creating the Golden Serpent

After his failed conquest, Nama became recluse until he was confronted by Geiskivaro, the son of Bludrinkig, who demanded Nama make right the horrors he subjected the great dragon to. Agreeing, Nama transformed Geiskivaro into a dragon even more powerful than his father. As further recompense, Nama bestowed upon Geiskivaro a three foot tall python statue of pure gold, The Golden Serpent, which he cursed to attract the treasure-hunters of the land. After a band of Vikings seized Geiskivaro's treasure and discovered the curse on the statue, they sealed it in a box with the bones of a Catholic saint and shipped it across the ocean, where it sunk before reaching its destination and became lost to the sea.

After the loss of the Golden Serpent, Nama once again shed his serpent form and sired three children before returning to his birthplace and returned to his slumber.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 *VIPER: Coils of the Serpent*