Spitting Serpent Island is an island located off the coastline of the Vampire Coast of Lustria, and home to an unknown source of power. Currently, it is controlled by the Vampire Luthor Harkon and used for the creation of experimental, magically-altered mutant soldiers for his armies.
After Luthor Harkon had lost his magical powers, he searched for new sources of power. One night, he felt a magical presence on Spitting Serpent, an island he had ignored until then. Exploring it alone, Harkon came to a magma chamber deep within the volcano's heart and there found an alien shrine, like nothing even the Slann had built. A voice came into his mind, "...awaken...free me...I serve...."[1a]
Before he lost his connection to the Winds of Magic, Harkon had seen that Spitting Serpent Island was strong in Shyish, Dhar, and Ghur -- the Wind of Beasts -- perhaps drawn by the entity in the volcano. Long after, fortune placed within his grasp Emil Morot, a brilliant Bretonnian surgeon who had also mastered Ghur. After years of torture both mental and physical, he broke the doctor's will, and Morot became his willing servant.[1a]
Now Doctor Morot runs a "hospital" on Spitting Serpent Island. Often seen prowling the streets of New Bechafen in search of those "needing treatment," he takes them to the island, where he cuts and chops and grafts and works magic, creating obscene hybrids of mortals and beasts. These monsters are intelligent enough to serve as soldiers for Harkon, yet have none of the limitations of the Undead. So far, the results have been mixed: the "patients" either go mad and have to be destroyed, or they...fall apart. Nonetheless, should Harkon's scheme succeed, it will give him an army even the Slann mage-priests might not be able to resist.[1a]