Naga

Second of the Aṣṭagatyaḥ

Basic Information

Anatomy

They don't have females or males, but their physical design is similar to that of male humans (when humanoid enough to justify a comparision). Their form matches their intelligence level and dimension in a spectrum that goes from the biggest ones having a perfectly human torso and human-like intelligence, while the smallest ones are nearly identical to normal snakes. Nagas usally prefer to stay in their natural form, but they are able to transform in humans if necessary, though they can't quite hide the serpentine pupils or the biforked tongue.

Genetics and Reproduction

Nagas have no sexual organs, thus no distinction between female and male; of curse the don't reproduce sexually, either, being mostly asexual beings. They reproduce with magic, selecting a recipient for their Seiðr and giving birth without the need of another of their own species, though they can infuse the recipient with two different Seiðr. The whole process is very tiring and takes a lot, making the Naga vulnerable and defensless for at least a month, so they tend to reproduce only when they feel near death, or when with others Nagas guarding them.

Growth Rate & Stages

Similar to human's but they tend to live longer

Ecology and Habitats

There are three differnt kinds of Nagas, with unique carachteristics and abilities depending of their habitat; this can be desertic, aquatic or abroreal.

Dietary Needs and Habits

They mostly eat prey, birds, eggs etc. They are meat-eaters though, and depending on the dimension of the creature they can easily eat large pray and at times even humans. They don't go especially out of their way to eat humans. though, but they won't hesitate to eat ones too close to their territory.

Additional Information

Social Structure

They are solitary creatures, they live by themself, far away from others of their kind

Geographic Origin and Distribution

They are mostly concentrated in the Middle Gea, in the Jungle and near the Desert, though not further.

Average Intelligence

Human-like

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Nagas retain various charachteristics from snakes, for example recarding their sight, arboreal nagas have a more developed sight compared to water ones, stereoscopic and sharper, they can also see colors, as opposed to desert nagas, and though all of them have vertical pupils, the more powerful can switch with the rounded pupil during the hours of daylight.
Along with the five main senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) some snakes have another sixth sense. The ability to sense the heat of other creatures. The three main groups of nagas have heat sensitive pits: In the aquatic and arboreal nagas a row of heat pits are located on the lips in crevices called supralabial pits (top jaw) and/or infralabial pits (bottom jaw). These pits are able to sense slight changes in the ambient temperature, a valuable hunting tool for a nocturnal hunter.
The other group, the desert vipers, have concentrated their supralabial pits into only two super sensitive heat pits and unlike those of the boids, these pits have the ability to actually give a heat image to the brain, so now instead of heat seeking we have heat seeing. The pits are comprised of a double chamber divided by a membrane and positioned against a prominenet cavity in the maxillary bones. The pit membrane itself is comprised of a double sheet of epidermis, separated by connective tissue, tiny blood vessels, and free nerve endings from the trigeminal nerve. There is a small pore in front of the eye that connects the inner pit chamber with outer air leaving the outer pit chamber to form the visible pit on the naga's face. These pits are easily mistaken for nostrils thus making the naga look like they have four instead of two nostrils.
The heat seeing ability of the pits allows pit vipers to hunt their prey in the complete darkness of a moonless night or in the hole of the prey. These pits are so sensitive that a blinded naga can sense a mouse that is a mere 100 warmer than the surrounding air from 70cm away.
As for their magical senses they use them mostly to recognize appetible pray to dangerous creatures, especially when in regars to humans, they tend to stay away from Seiðr users.

Arboreal Naga

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• The Dragon of The East

Scientific Name

Aṣṭagatyaḥ

Origin/Ancestry

Born of Seiðr

Lifespan

100-200 years

Average Height

2-2.5 meters

Average Length

15-20 meters