Naga



The naga were an ancient race of serpent-men that existed before the rise of Man and the fall of the Kami. They were the oldest of the civilizations, spanning the far west of the modern Rokugan. Before the fall of the Kami, the naga entered an enchanted slumber in an attempt to preserve their dying race.

Naga Physiology


The naga are large quasi-humanoids with human-like torsos and snake like lower bodies. They were typically scaly and reptilian in appearance, with a greenish tint being the most common, though some browns and other shades were occasionally present. The tail of a naga could be anywhere in the range of 10-20 foot long. Typically, the tails of the Constrictors were normally the longest, while the Greensnakes tend to be smaller and more agile. An upright naga can range from four to seven feet tall normally, but they can raise themselves up even higher. Naga move with the same general pace and endurance of a man, but the tail gives them an advantage that allows them to move just as fast in nearly any terrain. Unfortunately, they do tend to leave a distinct trail marking their passage. Unless trained to accept them, horses tend to avoid naga, presumably due to smelling similar to snakes.

Mutations and Abominations
Some naga, especially the magically talented Cobra Bloodline, have features veering further from the 'human' norm. This appears to be a result the closeness some eggs have to the magical pearls in their hatcheries. Typically these naga have a much more snakelike appearance, to include such features as cobra hoods and heavily scaled torsos. Many other naga are noticeably unsettled by the more extreme variations. Another mutation grants some naga the ability to breathe underwater. While normally only air breathers, some naga are hatched with gills in their necks or torsos. In some more extreme cases, the naga have mutated to the point that they cannot breathe air at all. These mutations tend to be ignored by most naga. Once a generation, a naga is hatched with such severe mutations that it is declared to be an 'Abomination' and is cast out to live on it's own. Most do not survive this, but those who do, and who return, are often some of the greatest heroes of the naga. If they travelled to the Burning Sands and stayed long enough the 'Abomination' was transformed in a wretched, abominable beasts and the most hated enemies of the Naga race, the Naar Teban.

Female Nagas
At puberty, female naga gain the ability to alter their form, taking on a typical bipedal nature, though they are still obviously not human unless they take efforts to conceal their features. This ability involves five hours of ritual mediation, followed by the shedding of the skin to reveal the other lower torso. Due to the lack of use, female naga tails tend to be shorter than most males, and many have some minor difficulties utilizing some of the advantages the male naga enjoy. In addition, physical skills take twice as much effort as they must learn how to do such actions with and without tails. This change has many different benefits for the individual naga female from being able to ride horses to increase their abilities in combat or duels.

Festivals
A known naga festival was Naag Panchami.

Naga Society
The Naga were a peaceful race, preferring tranquility and serenity to conflict. Exception to this rule existed in the Asp Bloodline.

The race was organized by bloodline, with each of the five controlled a single large city. The heads of the bloodlines were very powerful individuals, their authority superseded only by the most powerful priests and military commanders.

The race as a whole was ruled by the Qatol, the high lord of the Naga. Beneath the Quatol were the Qamar, commander of the naga army, and the Dashmar, the leading diplomat.

Naga history
Over the years, the naga have affected and been affected by many events unfolding in Rokugan.

The Naga Empire
Thousands of years before the Fall of the Kami and the creation of Rokugan, the Empire of the Naga was a thriving culture dedicated to arts and science. They became complacent, and some did not heed prophecies and warnings of a Great Sleep to come. Others had become complacent due to their biggest threat, the Ashalan, having been dealt a society-crumbling blow. Some believed they had to enter the great sleep to preserve their culture, and some hoped to defeat an enemy they knew to come, known as the Foul.

Naga tale about the Nothing
Once, the People stood beneath the Bright Eye's radiant gaze, and felt her warmth alone. She was our lover, a mother to the creatures of the world and the beloved lady of the People. Her eye was that of kindness. Her mate, the Pale Eye, was jealous of the things of the world, and he caused her to weep for his hatred of her beloved people. The Pale Eye, cold from anger and envy, watched as the People sang praises to the Bright, and so he hid his face in the Shadow. He gave no warmth to the People, no friendship or hope, and to his mate the Bright Eye, he gave pain.

As they walked across the land, prepared to give names to all, the Pale Eye lagged jealously behind. Alone, his eye was caught by a small slip of Shadow which hid beneath a rock and did not want a name. "Let us make a deal," the Pale Eye said to the Bright. "I will provide the names, and you will choose which creature to give them to." The Bright agreed and it seemed a fair agreement, and so they spread the Names among the world. Jealous of the love that the People had for the Bright Eye, the Pale chose not to show the hiding Shadow to his mate, to let it stay as it wished and be free. And when the Bright had used all the names he had given her, the Pale did not offer more and the thing within the Shadow remained as it was, unnamed and unmade. After the Bright and the Pale stepped again into the Sky, the Shadow greedily used its power to feed upon the People. Pleased to avenge its father, the Pale Eye, it devoured the bodies of the People, twisted them beyond bone and scale.

Yet among the people rose a hero. His name, at the time was Qatol. He was a warrior, a dread-mind-hunter, bringer of food. The Qatol fought the darkness with weapons of steel and jade, but nothing drove it away. More died. More vanished into the Shadow, never to be seen again, their souls lost forever. The Bright Eye, weeping as her People died, could do nothing. She could not break the bargain with the Pale, and she had no other names to give. Angered, she sent her youngest son to steal a name from the Pale, but he fell to the earth with his brothers and sisters, defeated.

No name was ever given, and the Darkness that Walks remained free.

Great Sleep
Time took a greater toll on the naga then expected, and unforeseen tampering by the nezumi and humans dealt a great amount of damage.

Initial Awakenings
In 815, after the Return of the Ki-Rin, a small group of Shadowlands creatures broke through the defenses of the Crab Clan and entered the Shinomen Mori. These creatures destroyed a large cluster of naga eggs. This disturbance to the Akasha caused many naga to awaken, and they quickly crushed the Shadowlands force, leaving nothing but a foul, Tainted marsh in its place.

Naga ruins
In 925, on a mapping expedition of the outer reaches of the Shinomen Mori on behalf of the imperial cartographers, Shinjo Fujimaka and Ikoma Gohesu discovered the ruins of a great naga city. There had been naga ruins discovered before this event, but none of this size, which indicated a major naga settlement. Many scholars believe that this intrusion into the naga lands caused the initiation of their slow awakening process.

More Awakenings
The naga scouts had been awakening for centuries, but in 1124 they awoke in significant numbers. It was a slow process, requiring months or, in some cases, years. During the Clan War, sometime before the Battle of Beiden Pass in 1127, the awaking Naga were approached by humans. Their leader, Mirumoto Daini, explained that he had been sent by his leader Toturi to ask for aid from the Naga in defeating the Foul and the Crab Clan who had allied with them. The Naga agreed to join forces with Toturi, in exchange for the Black Lion's promise that he would not seek to take the Emerald Throne for himself. The Naga told their legend about the origin of their kind to Doji Shizue.

The Naga during the Clan War
The naga participated in many of the conflicts during the Clan War. From the first major Battle of Beiden Pass to the last, fighting the shadowlands armies on the Second Day of Thunder the naga heroes and their forces had an important role in helping defeat Fu Leng and Yogo Junzo's minions. The ambassadorship of Mirumoto Daini to the Naga was one of the most compounding reasons for the Naga taking part in the affairs of the humans at all.

Battle of Beiden Pass
Prior to the Battle of Beiden Pass there had been several smaller forces of naga bushi, spearmen and archers that had ventured out into Rokugan. Even the occasional naga shugenja had accompanied them. At the Battle of Beiden Pass itself the naga were drawn upon as allies of Toturi's Army and the Unicorn and Dragon allies.

Second Day of Thunder
The Naga were led by the Qamar on the Second Day of Thunder, most notably in a joint attack with some Phoenix forces led by Shiba Tsukune. The Naga and Phoenix attacked a unit of Yogo Junzo's reinforcements heading for the Imperial Palace. The Qamar was killed by the Necromancer leading the forces before Tsukune could kill him. The Isha picked up the Qamar's Spear and became the Qamar.

Naga and the Crab
In 1129, after the Clan War, the Kaiu family needed to repair the Kaiu Kabe, which had been severely damaged. The Crab and naga allied and resolved to move against the Shadowlands to end its threat forever. The Qamar of the naga pledged that every able naga would strike out against the Shadowlands with their new Crab allies once the Crab were ready. With the rebuilding taking priority, the assault was scheduled for the following spring. In the spring of 1130, as planned, the Crab and naga marched into the Shadowlands. Early on, there were nearly no casualties for the naga and Crab. The beasts of the Shadowlands seemed unprepared for such a large, bold invasion. During this time, Hiruma Castle was finally reclaimed following its destruction four centuries prior, in 716.

Shortly after the retaking of Kyuden Hiruma, there was an apparent shift in the attitudes of the naga. They quickly and silently withdrew, leaving the Crab stranded in the Shadowlands. The Crab could only watch helplessly as their allies abandoned them. Scouts were quickly deployed to the Kaiu Kabe for more soldiers and supplies, but none of the messengers survived the journey.

The naga returned in 1132 to help the Crab, but found they were too late to fight. To atone for their abandonment, Shashakar used an artifact known as the Black Pearl to restore life to the recently-deceased Crab Clan Champion, Hida Yakamo. This merged Yakamo's soul with the Akasha and his mind with Shashakar. Unfortunately, the Taint that was present in Yakamo seeped into the Akasha, causing the Naga great pain and forcing them into another hibernation.

Naga and Hitomi
In 1131, the Qamar's son, Kazaq, left the Shinomen Mori and climbed the mountains of the Dragon Clan to Kyuden Hitomi. Hitomi greeted him with open arms as if he were an expected guest. Soon after, Kazaq emerged from Kyuden Hitomi bearing the mystical tattoos of the Dragon, severed from the Akasha forever.

In 1130, the naga, led by the Qamar laid siege to the Dragon provinces. It was unknown to most why the naga attacked the Dragon. Their rampage destroyed three minor strongholds of the Dragon, one of them was Kyuden Kitsuki, until they were suddenly halted by the appearance of the monks of the Brotherhood of Shinsei. Many believed the Brotherhood were there to parley with the Naga to end hostilities, but when the Brotherhood, mostly former Togashi family Ise Zumi led by Hoshi, joined forces with the Naga, many were taken aback. Hitomi's own brother, Mirumoto Daini, also chose to side with the Naga. It became clear within weeks that Hoshi has also mastered the art of making tattoed men himself, and many of the Brotherhood swore fealty to the newly-established Hoshi name.

At the same time, the naga finally reached the base of Hitomi's mountain. During their attack, the power from Hitomi's Obsidian Hand inadvertently freed Shosuro from her crystal prison beneath the former Kyuden Togashi. Also during the chaos, the renegade Ise Zumi Kokujin stole the daisho of Togashi.

In 1132, Toturi sent the Monkey Clan, lead by the Captain of the Imperial Guard, Toku, to end the fighting by attacking the naga. The naga revealed to Toku that Hitomi had been warped by the Lying Darkness. When she had corrupted Kazaq with the Lying Darkness, it had sent a revelation through the Akasha about what and where The Foul really was. Unfortunately, by the time the Naga explained this, Shosuro had been freed and Hitomi had ascended. With their immortal enemy eluding them once more, the naga returned to the aid of their Crab allies.

Naga and the Unicorn, Legacy of the Naga
In 1135, as the naga prepared to re-enter hibernation, they gave to the Unicorn Clan a great golden pearl. In return, the Unicorn swore to defend the Shinomen Mori during the naga's sleep.

The golden pearl was a secretion of the Akasha, meant to aid in the cleansing of the race. After most of the naga had returned to their slumber, the pearl hatched into a fully grown human woman with all the memories of The Akasha. The woman declared that her name was Akasha. The Unicorn Clan adopted her into their clan, seeing her as an eternal link between them and the sleeping naga.

Tsuno and the Naga
In 1158 the Tsuno killed the Unicorn patrol guards, took the naga cities and were torturing the sleeping Naga, and using their pain to transport themselves across Rokugan creating connections between the Realm of Slaughter, where they dwelling, and the Mortal Realm to attack by surprise and quickly retreat.

Naga Schools
The Naga were usually trained for specific units, rather than individual schools like the Rokugani.

Notable Naga Schools included the Naga Jakla, Naga Scout, Naga Slayer, Naga Vedic and Naga Warriors (as Naga Bushi, Naga Spearmen or Naga Bowmen).

Schools were called castes by Naga.

Naga Holdings
For a list of the most notable homes of the Naga, see Naga Holdings.