Serpent Clan

The Serpent Clan is one of the four major clans of Battle Realms.

Description
A derivative of the Dragon Clan, the Serpent Clan have forgotten their honorable ways and have resorted to thievery and deceit. Serpent clansmen are Yin followers. Unlike their Dragon ancestors, they do not scorn the use of firearms; instead they have learned to employ its use in many of their fighting arts. Even though the Dragon Clan knew how to use gunpowder, it was the Serpent Clan which uncovered its secrets.

History
The Serpent Clan was forged out of those of the Dragon Clan who fled south to escape the ravages of the Horde. Since then, for four generations the Serpent Clan has dominated through force and cunning, until the death of Lord Oja and the treachery of the Lotus Clan created a dangerous struggle for power among the three Clans on the island.

Like their totem, the Serpent Clan knows the value of a stealthy approach and a sudden, lethal strike. Their soldiers tend to be tricksters and thieves as well as deadly fighters, skilled in techniques to baffle mounted pursuit and lure opponennts into ambush. The Serpent Clan also possesses the secrets of gunpowder, and has adapted it to many offensive purposes; indeed, while the Dragon Clan may have been the ones to first discover the power of gunpowder, it is the Serpent that mastered the use of it. While the Dragon clan followed the ways of Yang, the Serpent has turned to the ways of Yin, as a result of abandoning their honorable ways in favour of easy paths to power. In addition, the Serpent clan lost faith in the Dragon Deity of their parent clan; they laugh at the notion that a great divine being watches over them, for they remember how the Horde swept through the lands and killed all it came across, regardless of faith. Now the Serpent rules through strength and fear, knowing that other clans are waiting to take over should they show weakness. Unfettered by high-flown morals, all ways are open to them.