Naga

Lizard People

The naga are (on average) the tallest, strongest and most aggressive sapient organisms of Legere. The naga are primarily subterranean dwellers, and as such have exceptional vision in low-light conditions, as well as the ability to use vibrations on the ground to determine the distance and positioning of materials in the pitch black.
Naga are covered in scales, have tails and reptilian claws. As such, they're often referred to as "lizard people". Cold-blooded by nature, naga are able to maintain proper blood temperature thanks to the warm temperatures of their subterranean kingdoms. Being reptiles, naga lay eggs as offspring. They have short lives in comparison to humans, but make up for it with their exceptionally high birth rate. Naga females can give birth to 3-6 eggs per nest, and can lay more eggs every 3 weeks. Because of how many offspring a naga family may have, the relationship between the children and their parents is far less important than the familial relations typically seen in humans and duns.
Naga scales are practically limitless in terms of colour, with all manner of colours and patterns in between. These colour mixes and patterns are based on genetics, and are often the defining features between individuals.
Naga are capable of moving incredibly fast by dropping on all fours. Using their tails as counterbalances in conjunction with their very long arms, they can cover ground much quicker than other races. Some few naga have been recorded to be able to run at speeds almost as fast as horses for an extremely brief duration.

Naga tails are not necessary for balance, and are capable of regenerating very quickly if injured or cut off.
Naga are also capable of eating very sour (acidic) foods. Members of many other races look upon nagas' over-fondness of sour and spicy foods as bizarre. However, this is a strength for naga considering their primary livestock are acid cows.
Table of Contents (Click to Expand/Collapse)

Basic Information

Anatomy

Naga are bipedal, digitigrades with a tail and exceptionally long arms. While standing upright, naga arms extend down far enough that their fingertips are well past their knees. Naga also possess a long neck and a serpentine skull with two eyes, two ear holes behind the eyes, and two nostrils over the mouth. The nostrils serve only has respiratory orifices, as naga detect scents with their forked tongues.

Eye colour and scale colour are all dependant on genetic heritage, and these features are one of the key identifying features of individual members of the species. While naga are able to easily pick out more subtle traits among themselves, outsiders will usually see most average naga as the same in terms of facial structure. Naga eyes are slitted vertically, usually displaying a vibrant coloured iris. Their scleras are black, as opposed to the white found in humans, duns and many other animals.

Naga tails are approximately as long as one of their arms, but are not prehensile in the sense that they could be used to pick up objects (with ease). Naga also possess a line of subtle bony protrusions running down their back, starting at the base of their neck and ending at the tip of their tail. Naga tails grow back even after being cut off at the base.
Naga possess claws, which can be sharp and grow very long if not put to use. Working class naga usually appear to have shorter, stubbier, blunt nails. A naga possesses 4 fingers and a thumb per hand, and 4 toes per foot. The lizard people also have a mouth full of sharp teeth suited to their diet of meat.
Naga are endoskeletal with dense bones to support the strength of their powerful muscles.
Along the back and sides of their heads, naga produce soft, fleshy tendrils almost like dreadlocks. These tendrils grow like hair, and regenerate in a similar manner to their tails.

Biological Traits

Adrenaline and Pain Tolerance

Naga are incredibly vicious creatures, naturally competitive and quick to resort to physical violence to solve issues. Sustaining injury quickly floods a naga's system with adrenaline, whipping them into a frenzy. This also allows them to have a high pain tolerance, with more and more adrenaline released with every injury sustained. As such, naga often become fearless in the face of potential injury, for better or for worse.

Acid Resistance

Naga scales and flesh are resilient to acid, granting them defense against their primary livestock.

Naga have raised acid cows since time immemorial, and their tough mouths, throats and stomachs have allowed them to essentially ignore the acid-engorged flesh of the creature when eating them. This also extends to spicy food, with capsaicin being unable to perturb naga much when eating.

Thermophysiology

Being reptiles, naga are ectotherms, relying on an external source of heat to maintain their body temperature. Resultantly, naga cities are often built around pockets of geothermal heat, for example a nearby magma chamber. Surface-dwelling naga may simply bask in the sun's light like a lizard in order to warm themselves. For long journeys in cold, dark caverns naga may bring a magical heat-emitting device similar to a heat lamp with them.

Regeneration

The lizard-like naga do not possess elevated regeneration across their entire body like some falsely believe, but rather have the ability to completely regrow their tail should it be injured or removed from the body. This can take a long time, ranging from 3 to 8 weeks depending on size. However, this regeneration is complete and yields a new tail that is nearly identical to the one that preceded it.
The nagas' tail regeneration extends to one more part of their body, which is their tendril-hair. Like the mane of a lion, naga grow a set of 8-13 fleshy, scaleless tendrils from the back of the head. These tendrils are treated the same way as humans treat hair, being cut to varying lengths depending on gender, fashion or practicality. These grow back much slower than their tails- if cut to the skull, it can take over 2 months for these tendrils to reach elbow-length. Note that unlike hair, these tendrils have a maximum length and will stop growing once they reach this point. For males, the tendrils will often grow to about elbow length while females' can grow as long as knee-length. Tendril wounds also heal quickly, with raw flesh disappearing within 24 hours.
Hair-tendrils have nerve endings, so naga can feel using them. Some believe that they actually cannot feel because of the frequency of them being cut by naga, but in reality it's simply the adrenaline generated from wounds that allow the process to be painless.

Lifespan

The average lifespan of a naga is 50 years, although this is because of their violent tendencies and the perpetual state of war the underground kingdoms are in. Naga as old at 80 have been confirmed to have lived, but this is rare due to the headstrong, adrenaline-fueled aggression that every naga possesses. This is just as well, since the naga reproductive rate is high and without the high frequency of death to match, they would quickly run out of space in their subterranean territories.
The short lifespan of naga manifests comically in their history: the rapid death and replacement of royalty, military officers and nobles means recorded history for naga is very, very messy and often missing important figures that will never be known to the world. Resultantly, naga resort to mythology often to fill in the gaps in their lightning-paced history.

Physiological Differences in Gender

Male naga, like male humans or duns, are typically built larger and more muscular while females are slimmer with wider hips ideal for laying eggs. As mentioned previously, males' hair-tendrils do not grow as long as females'. Female naga also have higher pitched voices.
From a glance, those unfamiliar with naga may struggle to differentiate a female and male, as there are no distinctive differences in facial structure. Naga also lack breasts because their offspring don't need a liquid diet during their early days. Naga also emit pheromones which help to identify gender, at least among their own kind.

Subraces

With the high reproductive rate of Naga, distinct phenotypes have surfaced within the different naga kingdoms. These help identify nationality of a naga in the same way facial structure and skin colour is used by humans to determine their own heritage.

Lus'hisal Naga

• bony protrusions from deltoids
• larger sized scales- rougher appearance and texture of skin
• females grow longer hair-tendrils and tails- tendrils can reach the ground while the tail can grow as long as 2 whole meters

Hiskrallion Naga

• shorter snout
• smaller sized scales- colloquially called "smoothscales" by other naga
• only 3 toes make contact with the ground- fourth toe manifests as a dewclaw on the inside of the legs

Vish'hisal Naga

• toes curl in an arch rather than flat on the ground
• small bony spike protrudes from tip of snout
• protrusions along the back and tail are more pronounced

Hisgession Naga

• back and tail lack bony protrusions
• fourth toe manifests as a dewclaw similar to a Hiskrallion
• snout nostrils are situated more on the side due to a more pointed shape of the overall head

Hysh'hisal Naga

• display a prominent dewlap (less prominent in females)
• some individuals actually develop a neck frill- this is a recessive trait that doesn't often appear among the population
• smaller but more numerous hair-tendrils

Sahgess'hisal

• hair-tendrils are less round and more flattened
• longer tongues
• toes curl in arches similar to Vish'hisal naga

Genetics and Reproduction

The naga people reproduce sexually, with their species comprising of male and female counterparts. After being impregnated by a male naga, a female naga will lay 3-6 eggs following a 1-week gestation period. Eggs typically hatch after a week, and a female is ready to lay more eggs after 3 weeks have passed since her last laying.
Naga eggs appear as a brown colour, darker than brown chicken eggs.

Growth Rate & Stages

Naga are well-known for their rapid growth and frequent reproduction. After hatching from their eggs, naga are already quite smart considering their age, able to crawl and manipulate objects with relative ease. It should be noted that newborn naga actually lack a tail and will quickly grow it over the course of a couple months. Infant naga are also capable of eating meat.
By 1 year, a naga is an adolescent able to talk/communicate well and assist in labour that the parents may impose upon them. Naga will continue to grow until they are 10 years old, where they become sexually mature and are considered to be fully grown in size (approximately). It is often at this point that a naga will become independant and depart from their parents' household, making way for more children.

Ecology and Habitats

These reptilian people are cold blooded, building settlements where there are warm pockets of geothermal heat and avoiding other colder caverns. Some naga also live on the surface, but they will typically stick to hotter places like the Kaktis Desert or the Sangmyung Valley.
While their natural home is underground in the dark, naga do not have any issues with the excessive light on the surface, although it may take some time for a naga's eyes to adjust if emerging from the underground for the first time.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Naga are carnivores, and require a bountiful influx of protein to support their rapid growth, regenerative abilities, and strong muscles. They are not exclusively carnivores, however, and are capable of consuming plant matter on occasion (although this provides them with little to no nutritional benefit).
Naga have raised acid cows since time immemorial, and their tough mouths, throats and stomachs have allowed them to essentially ignore the acid-engorged flesh of the creature when eating them. This also extends to spicy food, with capsaicin being unable to perturb naga much when eating.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Majority of naga live underground, but it's not unheard of for naga to make their lives on the surface world. In the underground world, naga are dispersed across 6 different territories ruled by different monarchs.

Kingdom	Information
Lus'hisal	"The Bountiful Naga's Kingdom" - The kingdom of Lus'Hisal is filled with mineral-rich rocks ideal for raising acid cow livestock, as well as harvesting precious minerals and metals for trade or tools of war. Located under the Fellwater Sea.
Hiskrall	"The Kingdom of the Naga Queen" - The Hiskrallion kingdom is unique among the others. For thousands of years, the Hiskrallions have been led by a queen rather than a king. This queen, bestowed the title "Hiskrall" is essentially equivalent to a king's position in a different kingdom. This is the primary defining nature of the Hiskrallion kingdom, as its lands contain neither an obvious strength or debilitating weakness. Located below the frozen lands in the northern region of the Kingdom of Corgath.
Vish'hisal	"The Ice Naga's Kingdom" - The Vish'hisal kingdom is situated at the lowest depth of any other kingdom, primarily because of the extremely cold temperatures found at its surface in the Phayu Wing Mountains. The deep, dark depths allow more geothermal heat to leak into their lands, which provides a welcoming embrace for naga who travel to the surface to harvest chunks of ice as a source of water.
Hisgess	"The Kingdom of the Water Naga" - The Hisgession kingdom features two wide, rapid rivers running through its center. The buildings in this land are often constructed along cavern faces, suspended over the fast-moving waters in order to maximize usage of available space. Located below the Sangmyung Valley.
Hysh'hisal	"Divine Naga's Kingdom" - The close proximity of lava lakes means that hydrisikk sightings are a common occurrence. For the naga who worship these gargantuan serpents, it makes this place extremely spiritual. Many naga make pilgrimages to this land, and the (relatively) neutral Hysh'hisal people welcome them to visit. Located under the Faction Sea.
Sahgess'hisal	"Hot Water Naga's Kingdom" - A humid, wet land that features hot springs that create what some may see as "clouds" hanging along the ceiling of the caverns here. Located under the waters South of Millstone Lagoon.

Average Intelligence

Naga are not really intelligent relative to other sapients. They retain the ability to grasp high-level concepts, but this is often smothered by a naga's overwhelming impatience. They often think first with their stomachs, and next with their fists. Of course, being competitive, one may be able to guide their energy by introducing a problem as a competition- naturally competitive by nature, a naga's desire to win is something that's very hard to extinguish. For example, the hundreds of years of military technological advancement was only achieved because of the naga's voracious appetite for victory over their opponents.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Naga are cave dwelling, subterranean creatures and possess abilities that allow them to thrive in low-light environments. Naga are able to see exceptionally well in the dark, with a high amount of rod cells within their eyes allowing them to see better than other sapients in dim light. In even darker environments, naga have two tools up their sleeves to see- in close quarters, they have thermal vision which allows them to see the body heat of nearby organisms or objects. For further distances (usually around 9-10 meters away), naga can detect vibrations running along surfaces that they are in physical contact with. These two features combine to allow naga to move around in tunnels where the sun doesn't shine and torches may be absent.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Hydrisikk are worshipped by the naga as near-deific beings of immense power. Before the Demon Wars, the hydrisikk were considered to be demi-god children of the ancient naga gods. Contemporary worship revolves around the idea of respecting the gargantuan serpents in order for good luck and protection to fall upon you.

Naga will often leave sacrifices for these slithering giants in order to have them protect their borders. Hydrisikk are smart enough to recognize that the naga leave them food (often times surplus acid cow livestock), and enter a nonverbal agreement to defend their lands from outsiders- foreign, hostile naga; unwelcome human explorers; Strife invaders; etc.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

It's not uncommon for naga names to seem like tongue twisters for non-native Sikliss speakers.
Some examples include Sifish, Hisasash, Shihisas, Sissis, Sophisal, Krasalash, Sikarashas, Phossus, Gesh, etc. A few names like Hiss, Fish, and Gess can lead to comedic encounters with Tradespeaking travellers.

"So, uh, what's your name?"
"Gess."
"Uh, I don't know."
"No, it's Gess."

Familial last names don't exist, instead replaced by a national last name that many naga wear with pride. However, the name of the naga's father will often be attached in order to differentiate among others with potentially the same name.

As an example, a male Hisgession naga named Shoshikass whose father was Shegash would have the full name of "Shoshikass Hisgess, son of Shegash Hisgess".

The only exception to this rule is for Hiskrallion naga, where the last name of Hiskrall is reserved for the Queen and her succeeding daughter as a title. Hiskrallion naga take the last name of Krallshess, which translates roughly to "queen's servant". Additionally, naga full names are tracked by mother as opposed to father.

A male Hiskrallion naga named Shoshikass whose mother was Shegash would have the full name of "Shoshikass Krallshess, son of Shegash Krallshess".

As a final note, naga names lack a gender category- all names are suitable for both male and female naga. This is likely because naga often have so many offspring that they can't be bothered to put too much effort into finding unique names for every child.

Major Organizations

As mentioned earlier in this article, naga have divided into 6 different kingdoms across the subterranean caverns of Legere- Lus'hisal, Hiskrall, Vish'hisal, Hisgess, Hysh'hisal and Sahgess'hisal. Each kingdom has developed a unique culture based on the environment it was founded in. The restricted passageways within the underground also lead to interesting dynamics within the varying kingdoms:
Lus'hisal is a rich land of metals and crystals, making it an ideal place to wage war against to try and get loot. However, it's rather isolated location means that only the Hisgessions have easy access to them.
If the Hisgessions attempt to mount a raid on the Lus'hisals, they leave themselves vulnerable to an assault by the Hiskrallions. Vish'hisal and Sahgess'hisal naga also frequently send warriors against each other and Hisgess, keeping each other's population and relative prosperity in check.
The closest thing to a "neutral" realm within the naga's lands is the Hysh'hisal kingdom. Hysh'hisal is seen as a religious capital, home to priests and caretakers who commune with the hydrisikk. Engaging in war with the Hysh'hisals is often seen as taboo, and can cause all other factions to turn on the offending party. Hysh'hisal has a strained relationship especially with Hisgess because they have tried many times to assimilate Hysh'hisal into their own lands. Each time they were repelled by the Hysh'hisal's more than capable warriors, and then forced to retreat and defend their homeland by Lus'hisal and Hiskrallion forces at their doorstep.
The underground is a large place with many nooks and crannies, some of these serving as homes for independent naga factions. Some of these groups are rebels, others deserters, but most are overly-competitive naga who believe they have the power to establish a seventh kingdom.

Beauty Ideals

Being a war-driven race, beauty is not a significant focus for their kind. However, the aristocracy at the center of naga kingdoms (namely reigning monarchs, noblenaga, war room generals and the like) do enjoy refining their looks to flaunt their wealth. One of the key features of a rich naga may be their sharp claws. Lower-class naga, such are farmers or soldiers would likely have duller claws as a reflection of their labour. After all, a noblenaga would not have any grunt work to perform that may result in their sharp claws being worn down. The claws of naga may be sharpened using a short of grindstone and polished with wax or some other varnish in order to give them a sharper, shinier look. This appearance of claws mirrors how several human cultures may see pale skin as attractive because it implies that they are rich and can afford to stay indoors unlike poorer folk who may have to work the fields for a living. Sometimes artificial "claw caps" may be worn by nobility (such as military officiers who may have recently been in battle) to disguise blunt or damaged claws.

Jewellery is also a common way of flaunting wealth or status, with saurium being the primary valuable metal for naga as opposed to something like gold for humans. Saurium bracelets, necklaces, ankle bracelets and rings are all commonly found among nobility. For lower class individuals, piercings are a common sight as they are seen as more "practical" jewellery that won't fall off or rattle in combat or during work. Piercings can be found along the eyebrow, nose, tail and hair-tendrils.

Naga do not use makeup as a vanity, rather applying war paint when on the eve of battle. Donning war paint is a symbol of being prepared to go into battle rather than a way to doll oneself up for a formal event.
In terms of physical appearance, naga place emphasis on the physical strength of individuals as something worth passing down to their children. As such, sexual attraction arises not from how strong a naga looks but rather how strong they are. In other words, actions speak louder than appearance. This strength does not necessarily have to be physical (displays of mental fortitude or tactical genius are also arousing), but physical feats of strength are often the most obvious and "loud".

For more information, see the Courtship Ideals part of this article.

Gender Ideals

Male and female naga are roughly equivalent in terms of opportunity and importance. This is because naga view the world through the lens of conflict- whatever advantages can be procured should be used. While females are on average weaker than males, if there is something that they excel at, they should be allowed to carry it out, for the good of the naga's people.
Since naga are reptilians with offspring that require no breastfeeding, mothers are not required to stay at home and nurse their children for long periods of time. A period of supervision is required to protect the offspring from hurting itself, but because of how quickly naga mature, this period is short-lived and frees up the parents' time.
Perfect equivalency is nonexistent however, and in majority of the six naga kingdoms, only a male is allowed to inherit the throne. In order to track lineages, naga trace fathers, and the king is considered to be the father of his kingdom during his reign. The only exception is in the Hiskrallion kingdom, where the Hiskrall (naga queen) reigns as the mother of the nation. Naga are traced back by their mothers instead of their fathers. The reason for this tradition is unknown, lost to the ages due to centuries of war. It's suspected that the Hiskrall believed that because males are physically superior in most cases, they are the ones who should always be on the front lines- a male on the throne was a waste of what could be a winning soldier in a war.

Courtship Ideals

Naga courtship is a bizarre mix between the competition of animals and the gestures of affection a dun or human may make towards a potential mate.

Naga are incredibly vicious creatures, naturally competitive and quick to resort to physical violence to solve issues.

The competition of securing a mate is something that goes both ways- females compete over males, and males compete over females. This often ends up seeing the strongest male and female together, and the others together in descending level of strength.

Fights and confrontations are quick to break out in between various naga who are aware of each other's interest in a mate. While a human may simply attempt to out-romance an opponent, naga are upfront about their interests and fight for dominance- any naga too shy to engage in a brawl isn't worthy in the first place to the potential mate. This fighting between suitors is not a messy, chaotic process like a brawl in the streets or a ruckus of bedlam in a tavern. Instead, naga organize meetups at designated fighting pits in order to prove their strength over others. Victories are recorded so that other potential mates can look up others for potential mates or competition, depending on gender.
These fights are not final in determining who wins the hand of a partner- perhaps the female that the males are competing over saw the losing contestant carry something incredibly heavy the other day. Or maybe, the male who the females are competing over heard that one of the contestants succeeded in tricking multiple other naga into falling into a river last week.

Victory over competing suitors is not the final challenge for naga- they must now endure the trial of winning the respect of their potential mate. At the same time, they must also make a judgement call on whether or not the mate is worthy of their own respect. These trials are more relatable by humans, as they consist of displays of wealth, skills (cooking, cleaning), and socialization. Naga may be cold-blooded creatures, but they have thoughts and emotions just like humans or duns! Things that are less practical like similar interests, sense of humour, etc are all things that both parties test the waters of while they are courting.
So at the end of the day, a naga may gain the attention of several strong potential mates, but pick a weaker one simply because they are more similar in mind. This sort of courting is seen in humans where more desirable-appearing suitors may lose out to another suitor with a more interesting personality.
Arranged marriages or keeping bloodlines pure are not a priority of the naga. Dowries or other ways of leveraging relationships as diplomatic operations are unheard of, mainly because unlike some human societies where men dictate how their daughters or sisters should, naga allow females to fight and compete for their own mates- let the strongest survive and reproduce. Additionally, the relations between parents and offspring are weak and disallow the dictation of their sons and daughters anyways.
The only forbidden act within naga courtship is engaging in relations with a citizen of an enemy state. The exclusion to this rule is if a defector joins a rival state, but this is extremely rare because of the pride a naga has in their own fatherland.

Noblenaga and even princes or kings are not shunned for courting "commoners," because again, the worth of a naga is in their strength. However, the emphasis on strength for nobility is much more emphasized because they wish to ensure that their bloodline remains powerful and their legacy survives with power.

Courting is usually short, around a month or two (which is relatively long for a naga) before it ends in one of two ways- the couple departs, or they engage in marriage.

Relationship Ideals

Marriage

After courting for 1 or 2 months on average, a naga couple can agree to unite themselves in marriage. This is a great celebration for naga, as it represents the couple preparing to work together to create more members of their kingdom through children. Weddings are only 1 day, but involve a great feast and entertainment. The guests to the party are friends of the couple being wed- typically parents do not attend because the relationship between parents and children are not strong. Naga marriages are monogamous, likely because of the difficulty present in the courting phase. Some records suggest that polygamous relations may have existed in ancient times, but was a rare occurrence at most.

Children

Naga reproduce incredibly quickly, with females always laying multiple eggs per impregnation. This leds to naga households swarming with children (assuming the parents can support such numbers), and attachment to such numbers of children just never develops. This is part of why naga leave their homes as soon as they can- the saying "the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" applies doubly for naga. Friends they make are more like family than their own bloodline.

After being impregnated by a male naga, a female naga will lay 3-6 eggs following a 1-week gestation period. Eggs typically hatch after a week, and a female is ready to lay more eggs after 3 weeks have passed since her last laying.

A pair of naga will create as many offspring as they see they can, since increasing the population of their kingdom is seen as an important duty. More citizens mean a larger army. Typical naga families will consist of around 20 to 25 children. Poorer naga may only have 5-18 children (varying greatly on economic status) while the richer may have upwards of 30 or more children. The exclusion to this massive volume of offspring is actually present in royalty. In order to avoid dramatic power struggles over who succeeds the throne, royalty keep the number of their offspring lower. Naturally, competition is encouraged so that only the strongest inherit the crown, but the last thing naga want is a civil war that divides their kingdom and leads to a period of instability and weakness.
On the topic of controlling the amount of offspring, naga perform a very unorthodox and often (to non-naga) jarring practice- they smash their own eggs. If a female lays eggs that she and her mate deem excessive and they will not be able to support, they will not hesitate to destroy them. They do this very early on, before anything has even developed within the egg- practically the moment an egg is laid.

Average Technological Level

Naga technology is primarily driven by their eternal drive for bloodshed. A constant state of war within the Legerian underground has caused countless iterations of weapons and armour to be developed. However, while the nagas' arms race is in constant motion, technology revolving around everyday life has not advanced as far. Utilities and standards of living for naga are relatively low, save for royalty and nobles.
Naga are famed for their usage of saurium, an orange metal with excellent durability and a weakness to acid.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

The primary language of the naga is Sikliss, which translate's roughly to "the gods' speech". In naga mythology, their language was gifted to them by primordial naga deities, hence its name. Naturally, its true origins can't be traced because of the naga's poor historical documentation.
Every kingdom of the naga possesses a dialect of Sikliss, but the language does not mutate into a form that renders it impossible to understand by a foreigner. A Hiskrallion naga would easily be able to understand a Hisgession's speech, but would immediately pick out that they're from somewhere else.
An important thing to note is that the word "naga" is not the Sikliss word for their own kind- "his" is the Sikliss equivalent to the word "naga" in Tradespeak.

Common Etiquette Rules

Naga manners are similar to humans' and duns', albeit slightly more unruly due to their nature. For example, naga friends may greet each other by surprising them with a knife stab to the tail. Such an act would be unacceptable for a being that lacks the naga's regenerative capacity in their tails.
When greeting each other, it's customary for naga to grip their tail with one hand and lift their other hand so it faces upwards to signify they mean no harm and that they come in peace. If their tail is missing, then they will resort to extending both arms, palms upwards. Either action shows that the naga is not wielding a weapon and therefore does not intend to inflict harm. It's considered poor manners to greet an individual with your hands hidden, for this reason. There are small variations on this method of greeting, depending on where the naga is from- sometimes a bow is added, sometimes the palms face forward as opposed to upwards, etc.
If a naga is greeting someone they have intent of challenging, they will point at them, usually accompanied by a shout. Therefore it's also considered poor manners to point at people without violent intent. Typically naga will point at things or people using all four of their fingers to avoid accidentally pointing at individuals and conveying the wrong idea.

Bowing to royalty is a must. This also extends to military leaders, COs, etc. Naga typically bow by getting down on one knee and lowering their gaze to the floor. Commoners and low-cast citizens are often expected to hold their tails in the presence of royalty or nobility, both during and after bowing to them.

The symbol of utmost disrespect in naga culture is mutilation of the tail. If a naga bites and tears off the tip of their tail, it means they wish only the worst upon the one they are looking at.

Common Dress Code

Naga fashion can be just as opulent and over-the-top of human fashion, with flowing dresses and ornate robes dominating the wardrobes of nobility. Because naga do not have breasts, exposure of the chest is not considered nudity. In fact, many naga outfits proudly display the chest in order to showcase the musculature of the individual, regardless of gender. Naturally, the groin remains covered.
In naga formal wear, the arms are usually covered up to the wrist. The tail and legs usually remain uncovered for flexibility and comfort, although they are often decorated with jewellery and piercings.

History

Naga have lived under the world's crust for millenia, working, fighting and spreading throughout caverns like wildfire. In fact, the massive cave network found below the surface of Legere was primarily created by naga pioneers of ages past.
Naga history is extremely chaotic, and differs from location to location. This is partially because of their competitive nature leading them to be biased towards their own nation's greatness, but also because naga die so often in battle in international and civil wars that many key historic figures and their followers may disappear before their deeds could be recorded properly. This leads to naga history being full of rich mythology where legendary warriors of empyrean might achieve the deeds of those whose names have been lost to the ages. For modern surface-dwelling scholars, this has proven to be problematic because it's nearly impossible to tell whether a prominent historical figure was real or a tale.
Naga, human and dun history has also often intermixed in combat. Because naga live below surface territories, the line between, say, the Corgathian kingdom and the Hiskrallion kingdom is ill-defined at best. The only thing that has stopped the naga from waging wide-scale conquests of the surface is their disinterest in living on the bright, sunny lands where no cavern ceiling covers them. Naga were fortunate to be impacted the least during the Demon Wars, leaving them far more powerful than the surface kingdoms at the tail end of the conflict- most surface military powers would agree that they could not survive an all-out naga invasion of their lands.
Naga in recent years have also begun to migrate to the surface because their superior physical abilities are often appreciated by many looking for sell-swords.

Historical Figures

As highlighted multiple times already in this article, the naga do a poor job of differentiating between legends and actual historical figures. The line between these two natures has become so blurred that it is impossible to distinguish any of the following people as real, made up, or embellished.
The following is a list of some of the most well-known naga across the entire underground of Legere. While each kingdom has their own set of legendary folk heroes, there are only a handful of figures so prominent that foreigners celebrate their accomplishments as well.

Shaka Krallshess, Son of Kassash

Shaka was a Hiskrallion general who was known for standing against two armies at once. It is said that during a mighty battle between Hisgess, Sahgess and Hiskrall, Shaka's troops were decimated during an unfortunate clash where the Hisgess and Sahgess both collapsed onto them. Shaka alone survived, and fought off both armies at once. He mounted his varakira and charged through both enemies' ranks, cleaving through them with sword and running them through with his lance. Shaka's furor was so great that he managed to inflict unimaginable casualties upon the opposing armies, forcing them both to retreat- protecting Hiskrall's borders long enough for their forces to regroup.
Shaka's mighty victory was so astounding that even modern day Hisgess and Sahgess still perpetuate his story, despite him being a foreign hero.

Kallussiss Hisgess, Daughter of Sisliss

A brave commander during some of the nagakind's earliest recorded battles, Kallussis was forced to make a last stand to defend Hisgess from a Strife invasion force, but she and her troops knew they were outnumbered. While Kallussis was an extraordinary combatant, it was her brains and her tactical genius that made her the person she is known to be today. She ordered her troops to scale the cavern walls and begin chipping away at the massive stalactites on the cave roof. Kallussiss then went to lure in the Strife by herself, fooling them into thinking she was fighting alone. Just as the enemy closed in on her, she yelled the command, and her soldiers swung their weapons to cause the roof of the cavern to fall. This killed Kallussis, her naga, but most importantly a significant amount of the enemy. This also sealed off this passage for good, preventing the enemy from being able to traverse there. While this story is widely believed to be true, no one has found the actual cavern that Kallussiss supposedly collapsed.
Kallussiss is often referenced by naga in the modern day as an example of someone who is smart, often in a teasing, affectionate way.

"You're such a kallussiss!

Shesh Hysh'hisal, Son of Skashik

Shesh is revered far and wide as a prophet of sorts, with some naga actually worshipping him like a saint. Shesh is one of the historical figures who is well-known by naga but likely to have never existed. This is purely due to the fact that there is only one story about him, and it seems unlikely that such an important figure doesn't have more documentation on him, even for naga.
Shesh's main feat was that he could apparently talk to hydrisikk with a form of Sikliss that was more pure to its original form. The hydrisikk, being older than any naga, would then divulge great words of wisdom and varying proverbs upon Shesh, who would then publish these proverbs and have them spread around the caverns to elevate the naga race. While these proverbs are well-known, there are no records of the naga who spread them initially, and therefore there is no confirmed direct tie to Shesh.

The Great Sallass Hiskrall

Sallass was the first Hiskrallion royal matriarch, revered for how she led her siblings into battle against the existing royal institution. Though outnumbered and with all odds stacked against them, Sallass's tiny rebellion successfully seized the throne and respect of the ancient Hiskrallions, and her bloodline has reigned since then upon the throne.
To note, Sallass, often referred to as the Great Hiskrall out of respect, is never called to be the daughter of someone like other naga are. This is to symbolize her as an "ultimate parent of the Hiskrallion Kingdom," and calling her the daughter of someone else would diminish her honour. So much time has passed now that no one even knows her ancestors anyways.

Eksahgesh Vish'hisal, Son of Shikshik

Eksahgesh is one of the latest of naga folk heroes, well known not only to those who live beneath, but also the people of the surface. Eksahgesh, also called Eks by his human friends, was a skilled blacksmith who travelled to the surface world during the Demon Wars to supply small human militias with saurium weaponry and armour. While naga care little for the generosity shown by this kind-hearted individual, their true respect for him comes from the tale of his glorious death in battle against the demons. With his mallet in one hand and a Phovezilan longsword in the other, Eksahgesh charged headfirst into a line of imp crossbowmen who were hampering Phovezilan forces from advancing North to the base of the Phayu Wing Mountains. Eksahgesh would die, succumbing to numerous wounds, but he had inflicted great damage to the enemy's crossbowmen, forcing them to retreat while the Phovezilan elementalists could push forward. After the battle had concluded, White Archers carried his body back to the Snowy Mountain where his comrades would receive it and hear the tale of his valour.
Eksahgesh is a role model for most sauriumsmiths, since his crafts were made so well that they could withstand the forces of evil. Oftentimes statues of him can be found in forges, positioned in a spot where he can "oversee" the smithing of saurium equipment.

Common Myths and Legends

The naga believe in a sort of "primordial pantheon" of godlike figures that gave birth to their kind. These figures aren't so much as actual deities, but some kind of more powerful, ascendant race that predates the modern naga kind. These mythical beings, named the Hyshsik, were said to have had two sets of offspring- their firstborn, the Hydrisikk, and their lesser children the His (or as they are often called, the Naga).
The Hyshsik were said to be mighty warriors and ingenious creators (by the naga's standards, anyways), gifting naga with their language and access to their stockpiles of wealth hidden within the earth.

The Hyshsik grew restless, concerned that their offspring were not perfect- unworthy of being their own flesh and blood. And so the great Hyshsiik set out to elevate the mighty Hydrisikk and their lesser His to a state of power that would undeniably prove the strength of the Hyshsik that runs through their blood. To war the Hyshsik went, against their own offspring. They spilled the blood of their own children, creating a mighty scarlet river that ran through once silent caverns, a testament to those who were powerless and a shame upon the hallowed Hyshsik. For is it not the purpose of a new generation to surpass its predecessor?
The Hyshsik did not slaughter in vain, however- eventually, united by the coming eve of their extinction, the His and Hydrisikk banded together in a holy union that was powerful enough to shatter the armour and scales of the exalted Hyshsik. Seeing their children overcoming them, the Hyshsik died in peace, assured that their bloodline would reign long and with great dynamism.

— Naga Legends

It could be that the Hyshsik were originally a faction of upper-echelon naga that the main people rebelled against and overthrew thousands of years ago. The inferior bookkeeping and common transcendence to legend that naga historians are infamous for would then give rise to this tale.

Statues and other depictions of the Hyshsik portray them as tall, muscular saurian humanoids who lack a tail. Their heads are similar to nagas', but the snout is significantly shorter, and there is a third eye positioned in between the two normally-placed ones. Their left hand is a serpent's head, but lacking eyes- only two large fangs and a forked tongue are present here. Their right hand is like that of a naga's, often gripping a weapon or staff in a symbol of power.

Naga armour and some headdresses often display a third eye in the middle of the wearer's forehead. This is to symbolize the three eyes found upon the Hyshsik, and is supposed to bring blessing and exalted strength upon the naga who wears it. This eye is often made of a gemstone that matches the intended wearer's eyes, with the inside hollowed out and then inked black to create a "pupil".

Lifespan

50 years

Average Height

2 meters

Average Weight

140 kg

Average Length

Tail Length = 1 meter

Average Physique

Extremely strong. Indisputably stronger than all other sapient races on Legere.

Related Materials

• Saurium