Mythicals: Facts and Fiction

Nagas, Lamias and Gorgons

Half snake and half human, there are four main kinds. For the first to be tackled, the males and general persons are generally called nagas while the females are called nagis. There are two species in this category one of which has two subspecies.

All nagas have their own distinct color and pattern combination and generally have black eyes. Their senses are heightened and they can also see the infrared range. Nagas tend to mate for life with rare exceptions.  

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One of the two types of nagas has a human form, a snake form and a halfway form. The other only has the halfway form but is completely coated in scales. The latter has a subspecies with a humanoid head and chest while another subspecies' only humanoid ties are its size and its apparent arms.

Just like a full snake, they shed their skin during select months of the year, skin which carries a high price in some worlds and towns. Unlike a snake, not all Feb this species carries eggs, whether they do our don't friending on how Homan they are, as in, an evolutionary factor.

Even with a human form, however, the former species of nagas still keep their scales no matter the form. The human nagas are generally dwellers of rural or suburban communities, or on the outskirts of cities, where they can go and lure their prey if they decide they wish to eat a human, though they tend to stick to larger forest animals. Other than providing a place for hunting, many city hospitals and clinics keep doctors who, often unknown to the other staff, are nagas as well and provide treatment for the nagas, including aiding in the birth of a snakelet.

Said snakelets are born in their halfway form due to the mother being in her own half form during birth. This is because of instincts left over from when nagas lived wild and away from many humans, instincts which place the mother into her strongest form as a way to hopefully deter any who may think to try and prey on her and her children. These children cannot control their form shifting until the age of one and otherwise are stuck in said halfway form, making diapers all but useless, though towels are a good alternative as the baby generally will not try moving around for a while. These nagis produce breastmilk like any human.

Nagas generally tend to mate for life with their heart only belonging to one, but there are cases where one has required a birth servant of sorts to aid in bringing forth a child when at least one from the couple is sterile and thus unable to cause or partake in a pregnancy.

It is often quite common to keep pieces of the snakelet's birth and their first shift as well as perhaps a few teeth to remember the child's firsts.

This kind of naga is technically warm-blooded in all but their full-snake form due to being partially human, though they do not start as such, causing the babies to need extra care and attention so that they do not end up in a state of hibernation.

The warmer climate nagas and those of the colder climates do not differ much besides the fact that they have grown accustomed to the place they live, meaning those from colder climates preserve more heat than those of the warmer ones, often seeming much warmer than a typical human.

Their fangs have an important role when it comes to living and surviving. As a snake, they are poisonous with a nearly incurable substance but when in their naga forms this poison becomes a change-initiating agent, turning the bitten into a naga or nagi, though whether they are a temporary one or not is up to the one who bites.

A temporary naga is generally a type of slave or servant, a human who was given the form of one to tend to their master's or mistress' every need and desire, often used when one's mate is away, and then eaten once they return, usually whole although the mates may instead decide to split the human between themselves.

This type is not to be confused with lamia, however, as, while they are similar to the more humanoid nagas, they do not shift forms, making hiding tough. Other than that, however, they are the same.  Lamias, however, are wish far more likely as a species to give birth by laying an egg.

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The latter, however, are covered completely in scales with only the slightest hint of being humanoid, this being their arms and, depending on the subspecies, their head and chest.

The more snake-like ones, who merely have arms as a difference, tend to be more prone to be controlled by instincts and are more akin to a primitive tribe than a well-learned and ordered clan. Usually, however, the more humanoid the torso the smarter the naga tends to be and those with fully-human torsos have a more structured civilization.

The full-scale species, though, are fully cold-blooded and cannot exist without a heat source lest they end up in hibernation which can lead to death. Because of this, they tend to only live in more tropical climates, such as jungles and other places near the equator.

The ones with a more humanoid torso, despite appearing to be nearly full reptiles, produce milk from their breasts like the shifting kind

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Gorgons, on the other hand, can be of any of these, they are merely a variation of each that also has snakes in place of hair, though one can rarely tell the difference. As well, they tend to have stronger magic than most and live far longer. Only a few are able to turn one to stone, however, and those few are all descended from the original stone gorgon, Medusa. But there is also other elemental magic that can be manipulated by these creatures.

As for Medusa and her descendants, the only ways to be unaffected by their stares is with a reflective surface or by being blind, unless you yourself are descended from her in which case, should your own stare have grown in, you will not be turned.