Naga

X Worldbuilders:

GM James R

Mike W. (u/n: maelforrest)

Troverthian image of Guardian Naga

Nagas are immortal and ancient beings, possibly older than Quelmar itself.

About

Most Nagas are indestructible short of divine intervention or a wish of some kind. However, specific subtypes of nagas may have specific methods of destruction that are unique to that class of creature.

Biology

Naga do not have arms or legs, instead relying on a serpent-like body. Naga do have faces that resemble those of typical humanoids such as elves or mans.

Subtypes

Mindsnare Naga

Mindsnare Nagas (MSN) are a particularly deadly variaty of Nagas, as they exist both in physical form, but can also metamorphize into a pure psionic being, living the back of a creature's mind, infiltrating its thoughts, obscuring its memories, and taking deep root in a Dreamscape, making it nearly undetectable and indestructible without killing the creature as well.

If left to brew in a creature's mind long enough, the Naga can begin to have toxic and dangerous effects on the world around it, starting small but slowly growing. It has been theorized that a single MSN's range could take a psionic grip on the entire realm if left inside the mind of a particularly ancient creature such as a Dragon or a Tortle.

Some of the powers a Mindsnare Naga has include:

• Ensnare: the Naga’s tail lashes out and ensnares a creature within 30 feet.
• Enrapture: the Naga stares into the eyes of anyone captured in its snare and casts a magic command.
• Enervate: the Naga spits a corrosive acid up to 60 feet that burns through leather, wood, metal, and flesh.
• Engage: the Naga can instantly move up to 40 feet.
• Enfeeble: the Naga projects a sibilant whisper into the mind of a creature within 60 feet, wracking it with mental anguish.

The last ability of an MSN is to psionically anchor itself to any piece of divine architecture in the real world, much like a phylactery, allowing its psionic essence to stay immortal in the mind of creatures for as long as the architecture stood.

A particularly powerful example of an MSN "Perfect Storm" was the Naga's Glaik of Galik, in which a single MSN brought Galik to its knees around 500 PR, and was able to anchor itself among pillars hidden deep in the massive urban labyrinth that is Galik.

Another MSN had infected the mind of the Autom Lord/Vessel in the 800s PR, but was exterminated by The Moon Court.

Mindsnare Nagas, unlike some of the others below, can be destroyed by distilling them down to pure sionic energy and destroying them in an psionic environment such as a Dreamscape.

Behavior

Nagas interact with one another with a certain degree of mutual respect among subspecies and a sense of hierarchy among different subspecies. The Dark Naga, when meeting a Guardian Naga, will be curt and jealous. A Guardian Naga will have a certain assured nature.

Nagas, over time, become obsessed with purity, power, and guarding items and sites of great power. Where Guardian Nagas form the equivalent of templars and orders, Dark Nagas and Water Nagas form covetous camps and covens. Bone Nagas are reclusive and viewed the same as a human might judge a zombie or skeleton. Nagas make nests and small groups, but do not otherwise form large societies like the Yuan-Ti, often devolving into debates and posturing before making meaningful establishments.

In any group of Nagas there will be a clearly established leader, who often claims to speak to one of the various deities purported by the Nagas. Among Dark and Water Nagas this is an unstable position, with scheming and plotting often having the leader disposed - or the entire group dissolving into eternal feuds. In groups of Guardian Nagas the hierarchy is absolute, with complex titles and commandments for each individual Naga. Any attempt to deviate would require centuries of subtle maneuvering and subterfuge.

Nagas mate with the same partner only once, taking dozens of different partners over the course of a millennium. The kind of Naga does not dictate the form of the offspring (rather, it is reliant upon the cosmological activity at the time of mating) - yet it is rare for different subspecies to mate due to differing dispositions. Even among Nagas of the same race, there is an alpha in mating relationships too, this position is not reliant on sex, however.

Notable Naga

• Shydrach and Sanative: A group of sparring naga that The Last Around came across during an infernal emergence.

Behind the Screen

Naga behavior here is influenced by the Naga Ecology post found here.