Difference between revisions of "Nagas"

Revision as of 02:54, 28 May 2011

The naga Negeyari and her friend Enishi taking a welcome rest. Picture by arseniquez and used with artist's permission. For larger version visit arseniquez's gallery

Nagas are half human, half snake people. A wide variety of species and sub-species of nagas exist on Felarya. From the enigmatic diamond nagas to the rare Hydranagas with three human bodies attached together, there are far too many to be listed properly. Their size varies a lot, ranging from 6 feet "head to ground", to about "120 feet head to ground", with very different body lengths. Smaller nagas are the most common type, though in Felarya, the term "naga" tend to refer to the giant specimens who are, obviously, infinitely more dangerous and feared. Indeed, giant nagas pose an enormous threat to adventurers in the jungle. They are fast and very agile predators, surprisingly silent for their size and possess huge appetites. They love to ambush convoys and small groups of humans. A typical giant naga eats about 5 humans a day to stay healthy, and many more in order to feel satiated. They eat animals if the hunt is going poorly, and some have even included fruits and vegetables in their diet.

Felaryan nagas possess two stomachs. The smaller one is situated in their human half and is used for small preys, while a much bigger one is situated withing their snake body. A naga eating a small prey would only use the first stomach, as it would be a waste of energy to "warm up" the larger one. In that case the food arrives in the large stomach already digested, so the large stomach just acts like an intestine and moves the food along to the intestines proper. A naga that ate something bigger, however, would require the use of the bigger stomach, so the smaller stomach stretch and let big meals pass through, as if it were simply a section of the naga's throat. Theorically, all nagas are able to swallow very large preys, unhinging their jaws and possessing very extensible throat and stomach. However, in Felarya many of them are used to eat small preys, leading to these mechanism to atrophy somehow. Some nagas like Crisis are almost unable to use them any more. Nagas have very strong stomachs. Not only it can digest just about everything, but it's very resistant to damage as well. Once an unfortunate adventurer finds himself trapped inside one, there is really only one thing that can happen...

In battle, nagas mostly use their tail, along with their bare fists and sometimes a weapon. A naga's tail is tremendously strong, and can do great damage when swung, crushing their foes between the ground and their tough scales. In spite of their physical powers nagas are usually peaceful towards other creatures and are not really a war-like race. The major exception is when dealing with dridders, who have been their natural enemies since time immemorial. Most nagas are potentially powerful spell casters, though their talent appears rather late in their life (aside from ice and emerald nagas, to whom magic is as natural as breathing). Nagas usually have a favored element, which means that they feel more at ease and focused when in contact with that element. They are also more prone to learn magic based around this element, and more resistant to being damaged by it as well.

Small Nagas

A much more common variant than their giant cousins but encountered less, "small nagas" which are approximately human-sized, are very elusive. As the majority of them are loners, similar to their giant cousins, they prefer to avoid confrontations with groups, especially those consisting of humans. Their skins sell well in certain markets, and there are plenty of people harboring a grudge against their larger cousins to justify hunting them for such means. Most smaller nagas tend to give Negav a wide berth as a result of these bad relations, and so the humans living there are widely unfamiliar with them.

Like their giant counterpart, small nagas are able to swallow creatures their size and so are dangerous to humans. However they will only attack human-sized prey when they are sure they have a place to safely digest without their movement handicapped by a bloated tail. To a giant predator, a small naga that's just eaten a big meal is a very easy and filling catch. Therefore they are rather careful about attempting to eat such comparably large prey, and may consider for some time the circumstances before deciding to eat you or not, conversing all the while. Some clever small nagas are able to get away with eating humans often as long as larger suspects are blamed, but many more would rather keep away. Like nekos, they often prey on tinies. Small nagas sometimes form far-between villages, which are rather rare.

The naga Galya, playing with fire. Picture by arseniquez and used with artist's permission. For larger version visit arseniquez's gallery

Known nagas grouped by elemental alignment

• Nature: Crisis, Namesta, Terra

• Ice: Rin, Aniya

• Lightning: Anna, Masumi

• Fire : Scala

• Earth: Aurora, Garnet, Kaiten

• Water: Vivian, Saya

• Wind : Fiona

• Unaligned/alignment not known: Katrika, Malika, Jissy, Kai, Queztal, Monty, Ajab

Sub Species

• Hydranagas

• Diamond Nagas

• Pit Nagas

• Gorgons

• Oceanic Nagas

• Sea Krait Nagas

• Credits to Tora044 for the Sea Krait nagas idea, to Zoekin for the Oceanic nagas, to Fish and Oldman40k2003 for some precisions on naga anatomy, to Melancholy-Melody13 for writting the description of Gorgons.