Kor'ghal Horde - Hyskrit Clans

More detailed history:

The malicious terrors beneath the sands, the snake-men of the Hyskrit have a bloody past. One of the few races that were here before the land was called Aesyr, they lived a rather isolated existence. They never ventured from their desert homeland, content with the brutal desert of the Dune Seas. It is here that they formed many city-states based on clan centered tribes. It is within these city-states that each city was sponsored by a god that they had to appease with blood sacrifice.

The world that the Hyskrit knew was a scorched, hot desert where the only liquid that was most precious was not water, but blood itself. It was a snake eat snake world as their brutal gods lusted for the life water with an undying thirst that will never be satiated. Due to this, there was never a time in their history where there was peace. The way that their society functioned prevented this from happening.

Towards the later part of their history, there was suddenly a rush to something the snake-men have never dared to do...conquest. They were content keeping to their own cities, only participating in wars when they needed sacrifices for their gods. This was the first time conquest had ever entered the picture and they had no idea how to deal with it.

A new Queen had risen from one of the weakest of the city-states, slaying the previous Queen. Stating that she was under the care of a new god, a god that was more powerful than the others, no one had taken her seriously. Though, she did earn her place as a Queen and thus her god was legitimized, with the old one now forgotten, everyone thought it would be life turned back to normal. It wasn't the first time such an usurption had taken place.

But this new Queen did not stop there, soon more city-states were falling to her forces. Reports had said that the Hyskrit of her clan fought with an energy and ferocity never before seen. Soon, tales were being told of half-naked berzerkers springing from the ground with the face of a king cobra on their chest. Thanks to the independant nature of the Hyskrits who were always too busy warring with each other for sacrifical victims, they were unable to unify and handle this new threat. And with every new city conquered, every temple desecrated, and new followers joining the army, this **** of conquest just grew more powerful.

Within no time, this new Queen had conquered all of the Hyskrit and brought them under a unified banner and called herself Empress. She also worked to strengthening the bonds between the city-states by having her patron god, Syss'rah become the king of the pantheon and by using her magicks to mind-control a new council of Queens to help her rule her people, even choosing a Queen for the city-state she originated from. It is even rumored among the snake-men that she had plans to take them out of the desert and try to take the world outside by storm.

Sadly, the Empress was not able to rule her people for long as indications of a magical catastrophe from the south had happened. Fearful of what would happen to her people, the Empress had sacrificed herself to the gods to beg for their help. Finding the blood of the most powerful Hyskrit equal to the task, the gods had made all of the Hyskrits to retreat to their newly furnished temples and hibernate. For thousands of years, the snake-men slept protected by divinity. Meanwhile, the sands of the Dune Seas grew and their cities sank. They became lost to history as they slumbered.

Hundreds of years after Humans had started to inhabit the desert, the cities were found once more. Archealogical digs into strange ruins broke the magic at the temples and the snake-men slithered onto their ancestral home once more. Only, they were met with another threat to face as soon as they awoke from eon long slumber. And this time, their fortune would not be as pretty.

With a majority of their kind slaughtered by the new inhabitants, they were **** to retreat from their sacred lands. One clan was blessed by their god of oases, rivers, and water to be able to live in the vast oceans, becoming the Naga. The other survivors however went south to the Steppes to lick their wounds, but only had more conflict flung at them. For to the south, they had met the dreaded Kor'ghal Horde spearheaded by their new Orcish leaders.

Even more clans had perished until they were **** to surrender, having nowhere else to go. Once they had well over fifteen clans, now they were reduced to three. The Warchief of the Orcs went to their Queens, seeing their mind-controlled state to work for the best interest of the entire Hyskrit race. Exploiting this, he made the Queens see that serving under him was the best means to survival, and they submitted. And when the Queens submitted, so too did the rest of the snake-men.

Now they fight with both the Greenskins and the Beastmen to fight against the Fey Court and the Allied Coalition. Their gods eager for blood, and their people desiring to return to their homelands.

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Hyskrit Society Now:

The state of the snake-men now is considerbly different than they were back during their peak. They are an endangered, dislocated people **** to return to their days of glory. They are also faced with a situation they had never thought they would ever see themselves being in...equal to that of the Beastmen in standing, under the boot of the Greenskins. Though, even then they might be considered less as you might find an occassional Beastman in leadership positions, meanwhile there are no Hyskrits in charge of anything within the Horde.

Militarily speaking, all Hyskrits are conscripted to serve. Only the Queens and some selected breeders are not put in harms way. The ones in the military join up with various warbands and legions within the Horde to serve as shock troopers. Their tactics make them ideal for ambushes, guriella warfare, quick strikes, and intimidation performances. A snake-man's recklessness in battle make them easy to kill in combat, but their prowess makes them more than worthwhile as they cleave through enemy forces. And thanks to their connection to the Blood Snake, an incredibly effective warrior can find their bodies being renewed and healed as they bath in the blood of those they slaughter in the field. Many Hyskrit attack groups bring with them slaves they had captured in battle to sacrifice before combat to obtain the blessings of their gods.

As for how the Hyskrit people organize themselves in groups, well it depends on the utility that a snake-man find themselves talented in. Those that offer no particular talents, find themselves as either sacrifices to be used when slaves are low, or as breeders to keep the population from further dwindling. The others will find themselves to be warriors, hunters, or witches.

Warriors and hunters are self-explanitory, but witches are something special to the Hyskrit. A uniquely female position in Hyskrit society, these are the ones that both conduct magic and fill the "priesthood" of Hyskrit religion. They are able to commune with the god of their clan and through blood sacrifice, whether it be of their own or a victim's, they are able to use their wicked magics. Due to the violent nature of their way of life, their blood magic is incredibly devastating to those unfortunate enough to find themselves victim to a witch's game. They have the option of either staying away from the field of battle, or to join in using their magic to support the attack forces.

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Pantheon:

While there are technically four surviving clans, one of them went out into the ocean and became the Naga. So this means there are effectively only three clans of the Hyskrits within the Horde. Thus, there are only three gods that the Hyskrits worship.

Syss'rah - The Hyskrit god of war, typically refered to as "The Blood Snake". All Hyskrit gods demad sacrifice off and on the battlefield, and Syss'rah is not an exception. Syss'rah only desire is bloodshed, war, and misery. He is depicted as a giant king cobra and requires war leaders to do sacrifice (whether with a Hyskrit victim, or a victim of other sentient species) if they wish for victory. Many warriors paint king cobra heads on their chest with little armor, so as to allow Syss'rah to taste the carnage they bring to him.

Kiira'systa - The Hyskrit goddess of magic and matriarch of witches, revered as "The Horned She-Devil". It is through her that the Hyskrit are able to perform magic with blood magic. As such, the clan that worships her makes up the majority of the witches that are alive today. She is depicted a horned rattle-snake, and it is said that drinking her venom gives one great magical powers at the cost of their soul. Her venom marking them so she may devour them in the afterlife.

Shaab'ryla - The Hyskrit goddess of the sun, the moon, and hunting, who also goes by "The One That Never Sleeps". She normally receives sacrifices to end the day, and end the night. She never sleeps for one eye is the sun and the other eye is the moon, closing one eye while opening the other signifies the day and night cycles. Due to their life in the desert, this also signifyed the change of what to expect from a hunt, since msot of the creatures had picky sleeping schedules. When an eclipse happens, it is considered a bad omen as Shaab'ryla has gone blind, thus poor hunting and low supply of food.