Namaste

Lately I am crocheting like crazy and created a little naga.

He is such a nice fellow, I had to paint him. And with crocheting and painting came the story. Skip it, should you not be interested. Photoshop, free photo ressources and a Wacom Intuos Pen & Touch tablet.

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The old and worn street with the cracked flagstones is polished by many, many feet. It winds through the jungle, the humid heat being almost unbearable... at least for foreigners. But in this country foreigners are a really rare sight. Instead colourfully dressed people with dark skin and eyes and black hair are to be seen. Women in beautiful saris, some merchants and simple farmers or workers populate the street.
A few turn away from the main street at the statue of a great snake-like creature, almost overgrown by lush greenery. Orchids adorn its head and a colourful bird built its nest between the gaping jaws and long fangs. The path is narrow, the flagstone stairs worn, but sometimes the foliage allows a glimpse of an ancient building, towers and peaks rising above the trees. A temple.

The building is as ancient as the path that leads to it and some parts seem to have cracks and some of the beautiful stone masonry decoration is long gone. Still there are children playing at the surrounding canal, women and men carrying sacrificial flowers and fruits and the building is adorned by little flags and carpets. Everywhere are statues or reliefs of humanoid creatures with the lower body of a snake. Barefoot the people enter the temple complex, crossing the little bridge. Some ascets are sitting on stone pedestals, offering blessings or insight... or wait for a pilgrim to give them water or food.

While the sun slowly sinks, golden light plays on pillars and curtains and then the pilgrims gasp and bow deeply before the creature standing at the entrance to the inner sanctum.

"Namaste, namaste, my friends. Please, do come in amd be welcome in the temple of The Great Naga."

A warm and friendly voice with a very slight hiss in it.

"My name is Muskura Sathi and I will be your guide, while you are here."

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Muskura Sathi was born in dire times. Nagas lay eggs but stilll breastfeed the young (this is the version of nagas I have in MY campaign setting) and due to the fact, that his parents had to flee from a hostile clan, his mother was very weak. She did not have enough milk and had barely enough strength to carry her little son. During the monsoon they found this ancient temple and worshippers of the Great Naga took them in.

That is rather unusual because... Nagas are predators by nature, they have their own culture and usually don't mingle with humans that much. Either humans can be prey... or a naga likes to be worshipped as a god in an old temple, having pilgrims for entertainment for example. Often they think they are superior to humans.

The priests in the naga temple took the whole family in and tried to rescue them from exhaustion and malnutrition. That worked for the baby and his father, but not for the mother. Still Drrhata, the father of the baby was very thankful and stayed in the temple, to raise his son there, in honour of the Great Naga and the priests.

Sathi got his name when he was able to move around on his own and here, in this temple, he grew up to a well educated and rather friendly fellow. He loves to talk to humans and especially to play with children. He is gentle, for he never learned to hunt and kill, as many of the wild clans of nagas do.
Still one should NEVER underestimate him. Should anybody threaten the temple or his friends and mentors, he turns into the dangerous creature he is. He has poisonous fangs and an incredibly strong tail. Sathi move quick as a snake and can spit his poison and cover his skin with an acidic liquid. On top of that he has strong claws and can climb better than expected. Finally he is able to turn himself into a giant snake.

Since he lives with humans and in an indian setting, he adopted the habit of wearing jewellery and sometimes even clothing. On top of that he learned from the priests and besides being well-read, he is a priest of the Great Naga by now. He can heal an weave a bit of divine magic. Most of all he is a healer though... and a scholar able to recitate many, many malquani sagas by heart.

Should you want to know more about him or his setting, feel free to ask.