Chapter 4: allies and adVersaries 123Plains, godless by the centaurs, and thieving by the
people of Tal’Dorei. Some gnolls have found a home in
Kymal and Westruun, and other tribes like the Dust-
paws have formed a tentative alliance with the city-folk
to ward off the bloodthirsty Ravagers.
lizardfOlk
Once, the depraved lizardfolk were called the Kuul’tevir,
noble masters of the earth and sky, created in the image
of the first dragons—and in the time of the Founding,
they built cities with magic nearly on par with that of the
elves. The fires of their furnaces burned so hot their blood
turned cold, and protective powers granted to them by
the gods so great that their skin turned to scales. In those
times, they were the paragon of warrior-priests.
However, in the wake of eons of violent, selfish pursuits
during the Age of Arcanum, they are left now diminished,
their cities turned to rubble, their magic forgotten, and their
god-empress succeeded by a cabal of petty warlocks. After
untold eons, many lizardfolk were so desperate to escape the
squalor of K’Tawl Swamp, they chose to be dominated by
the Cinder King. In their occupation of Emon, they once
again felt a twinge of their ancestors’ glory—but it has again
turned to ash. The few surviving lizardfolk kingdoms are led
by warlocks who siphon power from demons and immortal
spirit nagas, forfeiting their souls in a vain hope to emerge
once more from the swamps and conquer Tal’Dorei.
The remains of a lizardfolk empire inhabited by the Chil-
dren of the Cloaked Serpent, a people more humanoid than
lizard-like, can be found on Visa Isle, south of Daggerbay.
sahuagin
Known by sailors as the “sea devils,” the shark-like
sahuagin are both enemy and ally to humans who ride
the waves, and are rumored to have spawned from a bot-
tomless trench in the ocean floor. Pods of sahuagin have
no de facto leader, and are usually have no more than six
members, though sometimes several pods band together
and collaborate on tasks they could not accomplish alone,
forming schools. These schools follow the will of the
majority, and disobedience to this will is surprisingly rare.
The few sea devils who dominate multiple schools through
personal strength are known as barons, and are as hated
as they are revered. Sahuagin schools that fall under the
sway of a baron are those most known for their piracy and
slaughter, for they steal treasure to appease their tyrant’s
greed. Free schools often offer their service as mercenar-
ies, aiding humanoids as much as they oppose them.
There are some pods that have fallen under the twisting
influence of abhorrent, alien gods beyond the boundaries
of reality. These often become cults of worship, merging
pods into larger societies in service to the maddening
whispers of these forgotten terrors, hidden within isolated
ruins or swamp dens.
min Otaurs
Originally created during the Age of Arcanum as
living siege weapons and protectors of labyrinths where
treasures and secrets were hidden away, minotaurs have
had to find their own purpose in the aftermath of the
Calamity. Like most folk, when freed, they immediately
retreated to the places that were most comfortable for
them, and there they remain to this day. Clans of mino-
taurs can often be found in winding mountain passages
and intricate cavern systems, using their innate compre-
hension of labyrinths to easily navigate such defensible
spaces. The few roving clans of minotaurs that remain in
Exandria have developed an isolated culture that prizes
martial prowess but are led by spirit-whisperers similar
to warlocks.Fey
People don’t discover the fey; the fey discover people.
Though enchanted forests are their favored domain, the
fair folk can be found wherever the power of nature is
strong—even a flower garden in the middle of Emon. Of
course, Emonian fey scholars debate which came first:
did the fey come to a forest because it was magical, or
did the magic bloom because of the fey? All fey mysteries
have the same solution: if an answer exists, it is known
only by the Archfey, and they don’t like spilling secrets.
The Feywild is a place of intense emotion. Happi-
ness becomes elation, anger becomes fury, and passions
become obsessions. The very shape of the fey are defined
by their innermost feelings, and even siblings can take
different forms based on what they feel most strongly
about. Two daughters from pixie parents are just as likely
to be a sprite and a satyr if one sister is drawn to war
and the other to wild parties. It is uncommon—though
certainly not unheard of— for a fey to completely and
spontaneously change form after a life-altering event.
Since most fey live for upward of three centuries, par-
ticularly unstable fey take nearly a dozen forms over
the course of their life, wildly altering in shape, sound,
gender, and all other things mortals take for granted.
The only immutable fairies are the Archfey. Immortal,
imperious rulers of fairykind, the Archfey very rarely
travel to Exandria, instead spending their time scheming
against each other plotting elaborate political overthrows.
Of course, when mortals enter their realm, the Archfey
take notice and often spy on them in person, using clever
disguises and misdirection to keep them from disrupting
their own maneuvering. Most recently, Vox Machina was
trailed by Lord Artagan of the Morncrown, a jovial Arch-
fey who finds the incursions of mortals more amusing
than distressing.
The Arcane Pansophical has identified four other
Archfey, though little else is known about them. They
include Lord Saundor the Forsaken (now deceased),
master of the Shademurk; Lady Elmenore the Unforgiv-
ing, High Warqueen of the Burning Vale and Matriarch
of the Seelie Court; and Potentate Sammanar, They-
Who-Walk-Unseen, keeper of the Sun’s Shadow and
Master of the Unseelie Court. Finally, a Pansophical spy
in the Feywild has uncovered the existence of an Archfey