Naga

Of all the races of Genesis, few are as distrusted as the naga.
Born of the same demon ancestry as the Seraphs, the Naga originally fought at the side of their kin and came to share the same hated reputation. Their strength and battle prowess made them skilled warriors; under the direction of the First, Ahkriss, they were a dangerous force and were greatly feared. It is likely that without their aid, the early Seraphs would have been eliminated in a matter of decades.
However, for unknown reasons the Seraphs turned on the Naga several centuries after their mutual creation. Driven before the attack of their former allies and with no hope of aid from the other races, the Naga fled deep into the East and vanished. It is widely thought that they perished there at the hands of the Seraphs; however, conclusive proof of this has never been found. In reality, the Naga live on. Their existence is a fiercely guarded secret, fueled by their hatred for the other races; they will do anything to ensure the continuation of their existence. Ahkriss still leads the Naga, and it is her guidance that has kept them safe through the millenia.

Typical Physical Characteristics

Naga are intensely sexually dimorphic, and look radically different physically; while both sexes share the base traits of a serpentine body and humanoid torso, males are more animalistic and more powerfully built, while females are far more human. An additional intermediate ‘androgynous’ phenotype exists and can be expressed by either sex, but it general considered undesirable and sacrificing the positive traits of either sex with no real benefit. Hatchlings expressing the third phenotype or weakly expressing either sexual phenotype are generally devoured at birth.
Both male and female phenotypes tend to weigh several hundred pounds, stretching maybe twenty feet long from head to tail and 'standing' at a height of seven feet for males and six feet for females. Their body is entirely covered in scales, but these take on a drastically finer size and subtlety on the upper torso and can easily be mistaken for skin when not viewed up close. Naga have hair, both on their heads and on a lower-body crest extending down the spine; they have two sets of horns on their heads, long keratinous 'spurs' protruding from the elbows, and sharp claws. Eyes are solid black. Both males and females exhibit lower-body patterning similar to snakes, often featuring a pale underbelly, with males tending towards duller colors and females towards brighter. Males have a draconic or reptilian head and neck, with powerful jaws and sharp teeth, while females strongly resemble humans but also have sharp teeth and secrete a potent paralytic venom they can use to enhance their bite.
Naga have limited affinity for natural magic, but share the same strong innate abilities as the Seraphs. They can generate and manipulate flame, and are generally immune to heat and burns.

Life Cycle

Over time, dilution of their demon blood and inbreeding has led to the naga having shorter and shorter lifespans. While the First were immortal and their early generations were comparable to elves in terms of longevity, their average lifespan is now shortened to 60-70 years and naga who live past this age are rare.
'Childhood' is a period with very little tenderness or tolerance for bad behavior; hatchlings are carefully scrutinized for potential defects or undesirability, and those who considered acceptable are raised in a structure of fierce competition and conformity until reaching adulthood. Naga mature quickly and reach sexual maturity by approximately fifteen, though they're seen as undesirable mates who are likely to produce inferior offspring until they reach their full strength several years later. Only the strongest males are given the opportunity to pass on their genetic information, while most female naga produce clutches of young every few years through their years of peak fertility from 20-40.

Reputation

Existing primarily as the stuff of legend since they went into hiding in the distant past, the naga are remembered as an intensely proud, merciless, and powerful people. They were considered the enemies of the other races on their own merit, but also for the role they served as allies and protectors of the first generations of the Seraphs; like their demonic ancestor, the Immortal Flame, they're thought to be fundamentally opposed to and incompatible with the people of Genesis.
While their distinctly alien appearance was reason enough to consider them monstrous, the naga's harsh regulation of their own bloodline was considered similarly abhorrent. The naga were considered cold, unempathetic and reptilian. For their part, though, the naga consider everything they do an act of necessity to preserve a population that's constantly on the verge of extinction. They have nothing but scorn for a world that they considered against them from the start, and believe that the other races have no understanding or capacity for the hard choices they've always made to survive.
Despite their association in the eyes of the other races, naga and Seraphs hold a particular hatred for one another. Seraphs view naga as monstrous bastard children of their god, unworthy of sharing the Flame's lineage; naga have never forgotten that the Seraphs turned on them and tried to hunt them into extinction after the naga faithfully safeguarded them in their earliest and most vulnerable years.

Social Structure

Unique among all the races, the naga are few enough that their entire population exists as a single society. The population living within Vyskass Shard is the total sum of their numbers, generally totaling somewhere in the range of 500 individuals who call the Cistern their sole home.
The naga have always been led by the First; the direct children of the Immortal Flame's second son Zahak, who exist as the immortal first examples of the naga race. In the past this meant leadership by a mated brother and sister, Kar'kess and Ahkriss, but since Kar'kess's disappearance only Ahkriss remains as their Godqueen. As the strongest and wisest of their race, she's their leader in all things and the ultimate, unquestioned authority.
Though Ahkriss is the ultimate arbiter and has a fair amount of direct involvement in the day-to-day goings on of her people, there's a basic hierarchical structure among the general population. The strongest individuals have a higher position of authority, with females slightly dominant over males. Smiths hold a position of power among males, and Ahkriss's chosen handmaidens hold a position of power among females. Those who've proven themselves capable of producing strong offspring similarly hold status and a prioritized position when it comes to mating rights.

Societal Norms and Values

For more specific racial customs, see Naga Customs.
TRADITION AND CEREMONY
The naga have little use for tradition; their ways are immortalized in Ahkriss herself, and to try and regurgitate rituals and ceremony would be a reminder of their increasingly dwindling vitality as a race. For the most part they simply live day to day, with little thought for the past or the future beyond a desire to survive and a hunger for vengeance.
LOVE, SEX, AND MARRIAGE
Among the naga, matings are more of a matter of strategy than of love; only the most viable males are granted mating rights, and females typically have multiple partners over the course of their fertile years. Mating outside of the careful orchestration for ideal genetics is highly prohibited, with little mercy for those who have the poor sense to do so. There's little sense of romance or longterm relationships.
However, naga aren't without affection as a race. Following mating, a pair will maintain a close intimate relationship during the several months of gestation and incubation of their clutch and are surprisingly sentimental towards one another. Even after their young are hatched and the parents part ways once more, the small population size means that many naga form a sort of extended 'family' based on the complex web of past mated pairings.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Crime is rare, largely due to the fact that the naga are a single small population in a single location; there's little motivation to give in to baser impulses with so little opportunity to avoid punishment, and naga aren't known for their mercy. That said, there's also a great deal of sanctioned violence within society, meaning that undesirable behaviors rarely have a chance to take root without harsh retribution. Most naga never even consider the sort of actions that might constitute a crime, instead following the mandates of their society and the will of their Godqueen on instinct.
DEATH
With their increasingly short lifespans, most naga are raised to never think a great deal of death; it's an inevitability of the harsh environment they've been forced into, and they focus on the simple pleasures of the here and now instead. They've little sentimentality for the dead, and commonly breakdown the bodies of the fallen for the meat and leather. The desert is harsh, and they take full advantage of available resources even when said resource is one of their own.
The exception to this rule is Ahkriss, who's seen countless generations of her increasingly frail children come and go and still mourns each and every one. Though she conceals her grief well, the immortal feels a surprising amount of affection towards her people; affection that she's careful to conceal, encouraging them to harden their hearts instead.

Relevant Articles

INDIVIDUALS
Ahkriss
LOCATIONS
Vyskass Shard
The Cistern

OTHER
The Immortal Flame
Seraphs