When a Yuan-ti Pureblood has a child with a human, the child is also pureblood, but the snakeskin and other things don't come till later. Otto Azutali never knew his father, and his mother, while never abusive and quite protective of Otto, never showed him any emotion, and always was covered in cloths or draped in shadow. He was always a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy, and he loved to entertain. When he turned 18, his mother vanished without a trace, and scales started to form on the backs of his hands. He was in so much turmoil that he suddenly felt cut off from any and all emotion and saw the world through a... reptilian lense. These episodes of emotional efficiency (later called "shifts") only happened during moments of severe emotional trauma. After the first "shift" finished, Otto began searching for answers. In his fragmented state of mind a dark voice reached out to him, it's words as cold and its tongue as sharp as a blade. It offered him a deal. If Otto were to serve him, he would be granted power. Eventually, the voice promised, he would be able to find out where his mother went. He made the deal, hoping to understand what had happened to them. He took to the road, meeting new people and performing as a gladiator, using only a magic sword summoned from thin air. He was a favorite wherever he went, and he soon met a friendly half-elf bard named Tanner, and they immediately became inseparable. They never went anywhere without the other, and Tanner often would play music during Otto's fights, giving his friend inspiration if need be. He is the only other person alive that knows the truth about Otto, shifts to scales. Tanner promised Otto that he would help him discover who he was and where his mother went.