Naga

We endure because of our traditions -- A Naga saying
Naga is the Sidhe word for us. The more correct name would be Sarpaiya, people of the snake. But I will use Naga for your sake. We are a proud people with a long history, one full of tragedy, sure, but also heroes and humor. Because of it, we have a rich culture. And that rich culture has allowed us to survive even in the darkest of times, not just survive but thrive. I could talk endlessly about my people and their stories. However, you seem busy, so I will as the humans say stick to the point.

Basic Information

Anatomy

We resemble humans on the top half and snakes on the bottom though only vaguely. Our entire body is covered with tiny scales like most reptiles. This means that we have no hair on our heads. Nevertheless, we have hair-like structures on our outer eyelids that function and look like eyelashes. Sages are fascinated by our jaws being made in four separate pieces like a snake. But unlike snakes, we can't separate our jaws because cartilage links the bottom two pieces.
From our hip to our head is about a quarter of our total length. The other three-quarters is a long muscular tail instead of legs. Many Terrestrial Folk feel our form is a disadvantage not understanding our tail is prehensile. Since it can grip onto masts, rails, and even ropes far superior to any legs I've seen, I would suggest it was an advantage here on the Sky Sea.
Our hands are different from most other Folk. We have the normal four fingers and thumb. However the first and second, and the third and fourth are bound with a membrane. These membranes allow us to swim through the sky sea more effectively while the split in the center means we don't lose any dexterity. I have heard they also work well in water.
Our internal organs are similar to those of most Folk. Except for part of our digestive system, most of our organs are found in the upper quarter of our body. Our diet requires that our digestive system be longer and extend into our loswer body.
I find that many Folk have trouble telling our gender. While we give birth to live young, we don't nurse them. So females have much curvier hips giving them a more hourglass figure than men. Regardless, both genders have similar flat chests. Men on the other hand are over half a foot longer than women or stand 3 inches taller.
It should be noted when discussing anatomy that our bodies transform on the five elemental Terra. There we gain legs. As soon as we re-enter the Sky Sea our proper bodies return.

Genetics and Reproduction

It is a myth we hatch from eggs. Can you imagine the size of one? In actuality, we give birth to live young like most Folk. Our pregnancies last for about fifteen months. While our young are born a bit smaller than many Folk, they have a more developed digestive system.

Growth Rate & Stages

Like many species of reptile, we shed our entire skin at one time. Younglings shed each time they grow significantly. Once we reach our full growth, we shed a bit more than once a year.
In their first year, an infant will shed about once a month for the first six months and then every other month for the rest of the year. They will have approximately tripled their birth weight and be one and a half times their length at birth. By the end of their second year, they will have quadrupled their birth weight. Younglings continue to grow until they are about twenty albeit at a much slower pace. This growth tends to come in unpredictable fits and starts.
Our kind doesn't show the effects of old age until after 200. Most try to stay on the sea as long as possible, therefore cover up infirmities. When they finally have to leave the ships, they decline rapidly. Most individuals die of old age a year or two after moving permanently to a terrock. It is unclear if this is due to genetics or depression.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Most people know we are obligate carnivores. We don't any get nutrition from plant sources. What they don't know is that we swallow our food whole. Well we do cut it up into "bite-sized" pieces first. I guess I should say that our teeth are such that we can't chew our food. The size of that bite is the size we swallow.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

We have the normal five senses plus one unusual one. Our senses of taste, smell, and touch are similar to terrestrial Folk. Our sight and hearing are a little different. 
Along with outer eyelids, but we also have nictating membranes, sometimes called inner eyelids. These let us use our eyes in air or in the Sky Sea. Otherwise, the Sky Sea would damage them. Also, we have much more trouble seeing differences between shades of red and orange but can see colors into the ultraviolet band of light. To us, most Folk are missing a whole color.
We don't have ears, but despite what some Sidhe sages may have written, our hearing is excelent. Basically, our jaws and the skin of our spine transmit sounds to our ears that are hidden beneath our scales. If our ears were open, they might get damaged by the Sky Sea. This way they are nice and protected and our heads are sleeker to boot.
Like the sky whales, we are born with an Aefa's organ. It allows us to sense the type and strength of Aether currents. Some people compare it to tasting or smelling. However, I find that a little like saying seeing is like touching with your eyes: not very accurate. With it, we can track and sometimes identify things based on the aether that flows through them. Naga don't rely on this sense like other species in the Sky Sea.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

A person's name is a part of themselves. Our full name includes our given name, profession, and clan. In formal situations, we add one or more famous ancestors. In informal situations, we might be introduced with just our name and a descriptor such as bright eyes or steady hand. A child uses their age instead of their profession until they are formally apprenticed,.
Common male names include Anbu, Chirrag, Daharv, Eehan, Fannis, Loehis, Kaevin, Neesin, Partiv, Raggav, Suhas, Tarroon, Vikkarant, Akillan
Common female names include Preeya, Kileeka, Akeela, Aneeka, Cheetra, Deveeka, Eesa, Nava, Vanee, Iseeta, Kirtee, Lateeka, Meera, Sanvee, Veddeeka, Yameenee, Sroovee

Gender Ideals

The notion that based solely on one's gender a person is better at a profession has never sat well with us. We do recognize that physical differences such as increased strength or delicate fingers might make a person better at a job. Whether those characteristics belonged to a man or a woman, mattered far less. While some jobs do see a disproportionate number of men or women in them, no career is forbidden based on gender.

Common Dress Code

Our Hoods

I, like the rest of my kind, wear a hood vaguely resembling a cobra's. It's an elaborate collar made of magical metals and gems. The device attaches to the wearer using a fillet around their head and rests on their shoulders. Starting at about a year old, Naga wear one their entire lives. Each is a work of art as individual as the wearer. 
More than just art, our hoods are magical devices that serve as life preservers and communication apparatus. As life preservers, they aid us in concentrating air around our faces. We learn to use the hood to quickly gather all the good air from around our bodies in case we fall overboard. That way those searching for us will have the maximum time to get us back aboard safely.
I am sure you know that out on the Sky Sea sound doesn't travel; you can't hear a person standing a few paces from you. Our hoods allow us to send and receive short messages mind to mind. Don't worry though, they don't let us read a person's thoughts without their permission.
Men's and women's hood are slightly different.  A man is always a single being consequently his hood has a single point at the very top. In contrast, a woman might be a single individual or she might be two if she is pregnant. Representing that duality, her hood has two points on either side of her head.

Other Clothing

 Since almost all of us travel on the Sky Sea, our clothes tend to be made of practical fabrics. The most common is made of rock. Through a special process, rock is ground, melted, and drawn out into silk-fine threads. These can be used in many ways including woven as cloth. As well as this saggar parchae, rock cloth, we also use wool, cotton, linen, and leather in many of our clothes. Silk is beautiful but more fragile. Thus, it is reserved for trim such as on cuffs and necklines.
There is one garment you will never see our Folk in: pants. Instead both men and women wear kaftans. A women's version tends to be voluminous. From a little below the arms, the gown flares out with the addition of triangles of fabric called gores. Fabric is expensive and labor-intensive. So the larger the gores, the wealthier the woman. Women also like to cut the back of their Kaftan longer than the front so it trails behind them if they live on a carrier or terrock. Those whose profession allows it have wide sleeves but women who do a lot of manual labor such as craft work or fishing, tend to have narrow ones. Most women only wear a single layer but some do follow the men's style of having a second Kaftan. 
Men's clothing tends to be slimmer since they don't have hips. A man's main garment is cut like a T with its sides either completely straight or with a slight flare. Over this, if they can afford it, they will wear a second garment cut up the center. The first kaftan will always have straight sleeves but wealthy men's second might have sleeves as wide as a woman's. 
As for outerwear, women tend to wear either a very long rectangular shawl that they wrap around their body or a smaller rectangular garment that is slit up the center to form a poncho. Men usually wear a half-circle cloak reaching at least to the hips especially when voyaging on the Sky Sea. Women who do a lot of voyaging have been adopting this fashion.

History

Origin

Unlike the Sidhe, we don't claim to know when and where we were created. Our legends suggest that we were made through a collaboration between Sarakah and Rafona. They placed us in the terrock Ullinae and provided for all our needs until we were strong enough to sail the Sky Sea. Our songs remember when Lapansi was lost in the deep Sky Sea thousands and thousands of years ago, so we must be at least that old.

The Curse

According to legend, our ancestors recognized that the sun had great power and tried to harness some for themselves. A group of magic users created a school of magic that tapped directly into that power. According to their calculations, the small amount of magic siphoned off would do no lasting harm. It seems the sun disagreed. They wiped all knowledge of the magic from our minds. They also cursed us so we could only have our true forms in the Sky Sea. When we enter the confinement of a Terra, we gain legs and lose our tail. When the Human Terra hit Havaesa forming the Archipelago, it did something to the magic. We retain our true forms when we pass through what is laughingly referred to as their containment.

The Bogin Conquest

In our long history, it has never been our way to fight in other people's wars. We chose instead to provide shelter to the refugees in our terrock fortresses. Unfortunately, the Boggin didn't see this as a neutral stance or perhaps they feared our freedom. Either way, they committed genocide of our race. We just barely survived by being constantly on the move. Before the conquest there were thousands of clans; now the clans number about two dozen. We lived mainly on the terrock before. Now we live a life on the Sky Sea. Don't look like that. We endure; the Boggin don't. 

The Humans

Likely, we saw the Human Terra first when it arrived in our universe hurtling wildly through the Sky Sea. And it was the Naga that started rescuing survivors when it hit Havaesa. We welcomed the Humans initially. In them, we saw many similarities. That's why we helped them lash together the Archipelago.  But they didn't respect the natural world. All they want to do is exploit every resource for as much gold as they can get. Don't let it be said that we are prejudiced though. Some humans reject their race's ways and they give us hope.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Snow Shrews - They love comfort and harmony too much but do make good trade partners.
Sky Dancers - The Boggins damaged them even more than us.
Humans - Their exploitation of the Sky Sea's resources must be stopped.
Pixies - Of all the Folk they could imitate, why did they choose the worst?
Lutra - They need to leave their trees once in a while.
Keldin-They support our fight to preserve the Sky Sea's riches.
Sidhe - They respect us and we respect them.
Kuwattu - Strong noble warriors.
Alma - Magnificent craftsman if only they wouldn't sell their ships to the Humans.
Sobbekians - Our most valuable trade partners.
Tiluan-Ku - Most of what they say is nonsense but their warnings have saved us more than once.

Lifespan

250 years

Average Weight

Men and women both weight on average 270 lbs.

Average Length

From Head to tail tip women average 10 feet in length and men average 10 feet and 8 inches.

Geographic Distribution

• The Sky Sea

Related Organizations

• Blackstone Defenders

Related Ethnicities

• The Blackstone Clans
• The Deep Sea Clans
• The Winter Home Clans