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Description
The yagai are among the oldest sentient species in existence, aquatic, monstrous humanoids who share traits with both the cunning serpents and savage crocodilians of Oru’s deepest jungle-swamps. They are the darker half of the Amekari, the world’s two ancient reptilian races - each the spawn of Amek, the lost sire-god of all reptiles.

While they certainly share some distant, forgotten ancestor with the bold grigari of the deserts, the two races could not be more different. The yagai are the Children of the Moon - silent, predatory creatures of shadow and claw, brutally strong and unnervingly fast when roused to carnivorous bloodshed. They are instinctive masters of stealth and ambush, the natural predators of any and all...yet despite their physical superiority over most lesser enemies, they have always loathed open war. They have no use for glory or dominance, preferring to thrive in secrecy and quiet adaptation, patiently studying the ignorant flailing of the lesser races as they have done through all the waning Ages of the world.

The yagai have always been. They are firstborn of the Amekari, tracing their secret histories back into the murky depths of the Dawn Age and beyond...but unlike most other non-human species, they were never brought low by the Ancients, the Long Dark, or the genocidal Wars of Wrath that followed. In fact, most human societies now assume the “snake-men” of the deep jungles have been extinct for thousands of years; one of many such races doomed to annihilation in bloodier Ages past, a mere footnote in the history of humanity’s ascension. In fact, even among the Wise, there are those who believe the yagai never even existed at all; nothing more than a strange, half-forgotten myth spawned in far more ignorant, primitive times.

This ambiguity is of the yagai Broodmothers’ own design, carefully cultivated over untold generations of man. Unlike their arrogant feathered cousins, the Children of the Moon have never sought even the most basic interaction with the lesser races of the world. They have stayed hidden from humanity’s great empires for thousands of years, taking great care to prevent any knowledge of their existence from spreading; from the overnight disappearance of curious scholars and foolish treasure hunters, to the merciless slaughter of entire villages, down to the last child. The history of the world is littered with the countless skulls of all who underestimated humanity’s thirst for slaughter, and affinity for genocide; the yagai vowed long ago to never find their own skulls among them, and secrecy has ever been the key to their survival. In fact, even if their flesh-rending jaws could speak the dull tongues of ape-kind, granting any smallest hint of mutual understanding, the yagai would never change their ways. Aside from their estranged grigari cousins, they see all other sentient races as inherently inferior, little better than cattle - to be eaten if docile, and exterminated if not.

Such has it always been, and will forever remain.

The Brood-Lords of the yagai are the warlords and battlemasters of their kind, highly skilled and heavily armed, brutal and cunning to the last. Most importantly, Brood-Lords possess an inborn affinity for the massive reptilian predators that haunt their watery blood-grounds. They can instinctively dominate such creatures for use in battle, warrior and mount united in cold-blooded, carnivorous ferocity.

Among the most common of these predators are the gorgons - huge, land-dwelling crocodilian monstrosities, each more than capable of crushing an entire water buffalo between its massive jaws. In fact, gorgons are the first creature any ambitious yagai warrior must learn to dominate, before he can ever hope to be recognized as a warleader, much less a full on Brood-Lord. The ability to ride an armored gorgon into battle is a sure sign of the lost god Amek’s favor, hopefully the first of many to come. The most venerated and powerful Brood-Lords only grow more skilled from there, some even learning to commune with the great Saurians of the deepest jungle-swamps. A Brood-Lord fighting atop such an incredibly powerful apex predator is truly a holy sight indeed, a mark more than sacred enough to bind entire tribes to his will.

Description
The yagai are among the oldest sentient species in existence, aquatic, monstrous humanoids who share traits with both the cunning serpents and savage crocodilians of Oru’s deepest jungle-swamps. They are the darker half of the Amekari, the world’s two ancient reptilian races - each the spawn of Amek, the lost sire-god of all reptiles.

While they certainly share some distant, forgotten ancestor with the bold grigari of the deserts, the two races could not be more different. The yagai are the Children of the Moon - silent, predatory creatures of shadow and claw, brutally strong and unnervingly fast when roused to carnivorous bloodshed. They are instinctive masters of stealth and ambush, the natural predators of any and all...yet despite their physical superiority over most lesser enemies, they have always loathed open war. They have no use for glory or dominance, preferring to thrive in secrecy and quiet adaptation, patiently studying the ignorant flailing of the lesser races as they have done through all the waning Ages of the world.

The yagai have always been. They are firstborn of the Amekari, tracing their secret histories back into the murky depths of the Dawn Age and beyond...but unlike most other non-human species, they were never brought low by the Ancients, the Long Dark, or the genocidal Wars of Wrath that followed. In fact, most human societies now assume the “snake-men” of the deep jungles have been extinct for thousands of years; one of many such races doomed to annihilation in bloodier Ages past, a mere footnote in the history of humanity’s ascension. In fact, even among the Wise, there are those who believe the yagai never even existed at all; nothing more than a strange, half-forgotten myth spawned in far more ignorant, primitive times.

This ambiguity is of the yagai Broodmothers’ own design, carefully cultivated over untold generations of man. Unlike their arrogant feathered cousins, the Children of the Moon have never sought even the most basic interaction with the lesser races of the world. They have stayed hidden from humanity’s great empires for thousands of years, taking great care to prevent any knowledge of their existence from spreading; from the overnight disappearance of curious scholars and foolish treasure hunters, to the merciless slaughter of entire villages, down to the last child. The history of the world is littered with the countless skulls of all who underestimated humanity’s thirst for slaughter, and affinity for genocide; the yagai vowed long ago to never find their own skulls among them, and secrecy has ever been the key to their survival. In fact, even if their flesh-rending jaws could speak the dull tongues of ape-kind, granting any smallest hint of mutual understanding, the yagai would never change their ways. Aside from their estranged grigari cousins, they see all other sentient races as inherently inferior, little better than cattle - to be eaten if docile, and exterminated if not.

Such has it always been, and will forever remain.

The Brood-Lords of the yagai are the warlords and battlemasters of their kind, highly skilled and heavily armed, brutal and cunning to the last. Most importantly, Brood-Lords possess an inborn affinity for the massive reptilian predators that haunt their watery blood-grounds. They can instinctively dominate such creatures for use in battle, warrior and mount united in cold-blooded, carnivorous ferocity.

Among the most common of these predators are the gorgons - huge, land-dwelling crocodilian monstrosities, each more than capable of crushing an entire water buffalo between its massive jaws. In fact, gorgons are the first creature any ambitious yagai warrior must learn to dominate, before he can ever hope to be recognized as a warleader, much less a full on Brood-Lord. The ability to ride an armored gorgon into battle is a sure sign of the lost god Amek’s favor, hopefully the first of many to come. The most venerated and powerful Brood-Lords only grow more skilled from there, some even learning to commune with the great Saurians of the deepest jungle-swamps. A Brood-Lord fighting atop such an incredibly powerful apex predator is truly a holy sight indeed, a mark more than sacred enough to bind entire tribes to his will.