Obscene Symphony

The Gladiators of Arlen

@Kymera That could be fun, couldn't it? If you want, I can send you some information about nagas that Kailea would probably know, given that she had a similar lifestyle to them and shared their homeland.

The Gladiators of Arlen

I'm really excited to be joining you guys! I noticed a bunch of things in your character sheets that would be relevant to my character as well. For example:

@Kymera Your character is a trader's daughter from Ashar - the nagas, native to Ashar, are nomadic and thus often trade on their travels, so your character would probably at least know of them, if not have dealt with them before.

@Eisenhorn Your character forges his own weapons. Mine makes her own as well, so there's one thing in common.

@Enzayne Because reasons, I predict that your character won't like mine all that much, but I don't want to go further into it than that because spoilers.

Also, in case any of you are interested, I'll be doing a more detailed write up on naga culture and characteristics for the Codex, because I'm a nerd like that.

Obscene's Scratchpad

Naea, Who Strikes

_{Note: There are some differences between this image and her actual appearance.}

Naea, Who Strikes

”Strike fast and true, or not at all.”

Profile

Full Name: Naea, of Ishtar
Titles/Nicknames: Who Strikes, the Whipmaker (these likely wouldn't precede her; it's only those of her kind that she's met and those of other races she's traded with that would ever have learned them)
Age: 12 (human equivalent: ~25-30)
Race: Naga
Gender: Female
Sexual Orientation: Polyamorous (vague, I know. Shhh)

Scale Color: Dark grey-blue, dark grey-brown underside, black markings outlined in white
Eye Color: Rust
Height (resting posture): ~6'
Overall Length (nose to tail): ~18'
Weight: ~600lbs

Appearance: To the uninitiated, Naea has nothing visually female about her. Her torso, much resembling a human man's in shape, boasts strong arms and a muscular chest and back. However, nagas or those familiar with them would notice her flat head (forming a slight curve from her crown to the tip of her nose - her jaw curves in much the same way, as a smooth curve from neck to chin) and pronounced waist, both feminine naga features. Her hood, open only when angry, threatened, or as a show of might, is wide and beautiful, patterned on the front with two half-circles, and on the back by two large false eyes. Her scales, the colour of a midnight sky, have been polished to a shine by the blowing sands of Ashar, and stand in stark contrast to her intense, rust-coloured eyes.

Personality: Nagas are a stoic and cordial people, and Naea is no exception. Upon first meeting, many are taken aback by the intensity of her unblinking gaze. She is not quick to show emotion, least of all affection, and will often default on aggression in an unknown or threatening situation. To others, she is curt and to the point, unlikely to include unnecessary flourish in anything but dance. In combat, she's quite the opposite: many would call her a show-0ff, with her eye-catching movements and excessive flare, all to catch the eye of the beholder. If one were to get to know her, they'd find that she has her passions, and puts all of herself into everything she does, be it dancing, fighting, or plaiting a whip. Her temper is slow to burn, but sufficiently provoked, the object of her anger will find it to strike hard and fast. As a rule, she holds her head high and carries herself with an elegance that betrays her muscular form; to those around her, she exudes dignity and pride.

Combat

Strength: 5
Dexterity: 9
Intelligence: 7
Cunning: 9
Magic: 1
Willpower: 7
Endurance: 6
Charisma: 7

Weapons of Choice: Two sun-bleached, six-foot stockwhips and a ten-foot, dark leather bullwhip. She also carries a sleek khopesh with a leather-wrapped stone handle.

Armor/Combat Apparel: With her tough scales to protect her, Naea wears very little into battle: a simple dark brown leather sash around the waist to hold her khopesh and whips, painted with spots and dashes of bright orange and white; hardened leather bracers (similarly painted), and a scale mail medallion hanging at her sternum.. She also often paints her scales with white, orange and bright blue war paint.

Fighting Style: Due to the nature of her weapons, Naea excels at both keeping her enemies at a distance when necessary, and drawing them in close when she's ready for the kill - this alone makes her a versatile fighter who can often fill the roles of buffer and infiltrator alike. In addition, nagas are notoriously dirty fighters: Naea is no different, and as such, underhanded moves and cunning strategy are second nature to her.
Another popular naga tradition is to incorporate fluid, dance-like motion - for dance is the highest form of art in naga culture - into combat styles. Naea takes this showmanship a step further with her whips, using them both to dazzle the audience and confuse and intimidate her opponent before using her dagger to finish them off.

Magical Affinity: None at this time.

Legacy

Place of Birth: Ashar
Social Status: Nomad, respected in her group
Alignment: Water

History: Naea was born into a proud family group of nagas who, like so many of their kind, made a life out of roaming the vast deserts of Ashar. By way of naga culture, her family was a typical one: they took well-traveled routes from oasis to oasis, trading what they could along the way. Crossing paths with other groups or loners was common, and usually involved music, dancing, and much storytelling. She passed many happy nights this way, dancing to the drums and the flicker of the firelight, listening to tales of heroes and monsters and travels under the vast desert sky. In between short stops at oaeses, most days were spent tirelessly moving towards a new destination, doing everything from hunting to carving along the way.

For the shortness of their lives, nagas are exceptionally fast learners. It was tradition for a naga to take up a craft, and Naea quickly learned and settled on whip-making. She had a natural talent with whips, both making and using them; soon enough, her whips were a popular trade item, and passerby who recognized her would stop to watch her dance, surrounded by the flourish and cracking of her whips. Routines such as this made her arms and torso strong, and her reflexes quick - after all, losing track of a whip's tail is a painful mistake nobody wants to repeat.

Of course, dance was not her only pursuit. Sparring was a common and honoured pastime in her culture, and as an adolescent, she trained with other naga youth in the art of combat with traditional weapons: short blades, staffs, and the khopesh. Soon enough she grew from a slender youth to a strong, substantial adult, respected among her kin as a skilled dancer and a capable fighter. At length she took to using her whips in sparring matches, attracting onlookers in oases and villages when she met khopesh with whip in friendly competition. Though she loved it, she never considered a professional career as a gladiator until an onlooker mentioned that audiences would love her style.

The idea of being a gladiator stuck with her for some time, and she found herself unconsciously training harder and challenging more and more skilled opponents. Perhaps she was working toward a goal without knowing it, but at last, it was encouragement from her younger brother Enlil that sent her to Risha seeking fame. Now, she hopes to catch the eye of sponsors at the Risha tournament, and will be giving her all to make that happen.

Other:
- Due to their dwindling numbers, frightening appearance and stereotypes of a quick temper and a deadly bite, many humans and Beasts alike fear nagas or write them off as indiscriminately dangerous. Naea cuts an intimidating figure, which does not exactly help her in this respect.
- Nagas and harpies have been at each others' throats for as long as nagas have been in the Five Realms. Naea is no exception.
- Naea bears a host of raised lash marks on her arms, torso and tail, almost all of which were clumsily self-inflicted years ago.
- For reference: female nagas are almost always larger and stronger than males.

Obscene's Scratchpad

Nagas: Enormous snakes with humanoid torsos, Nagas were the last of the Beast races to arrive in the Five Realms before the creation of the Heart Tree. Once living and thriving in all but the coldest and darkest environments, a booming skin trade found the nagas hunted almost to extinction for their valuable skins. While the trade has been outlawed, poaching is still common and has reduced their numbers to loners and small family groups roving the deserts of Ashar. Magical prowess varies among Nagas from none at all to moderate power - though little to none is most common.

The Gladiators of Arlen

Well, thanks to the ever-accommodating @CollectorOfMyst here, it looks like I'll be joining you guys! I'll have my sheet up sometime tomorrow, but for now I must sleep (I have a tour group of forty children coming in tomorrow, wish me luck)

The Gladiators of Arlen

You...might wanna check in with @CollectorOfMyst about that. There was a cut-off, but one of our players did have a computer death so we are technically down a person. Maybe with some grovelling you might be able to change the boss's heart.

@Atrophy

Oh, I can grovel like a champ.

The Harpies, in particular, intrigue me.

The Gladiators of Arlen

<Snipped quote by Obscene Symphony>

You could always join in and be slightly harassed by the pyromaniac (and or myself).

*suggestive eyebrow waggle*

@Kymera

Ah, but here I thought this one was full?
and was very sad to see the "full" banner

The Gladiators of Arlen

Welcome back, @Obscene Symphony! Still lurking in my RP, I see.

@CollectorOfMyst

I reserve my right to be a slightly-less-than-silent observer!
Plus I'm enjoying reading this, so you can probably expect to see me lurking around from time to time.

What is the hardest thing you've ever done?

@SleepingSilence Thank you. I appreciate that.

And yeah, crippling illness! Mine was a horrible strain of some kind of flu that was going around, which evolved into some sort of bronchitis (my doctor was kind of a huge quack and pretty much refused to test or really even examine me, and wouldn't give me any kind of diagnosis. I've switched doctors since then). I was sick for a bit over two weeks, during which time I could barely breathe (-15 Celsius weather is just what sick lungs need, right?) couldn't bring myself to eat more than like, some crackers in a day, and endured this wonderful full-body pain and chest constriction the entire time. Did I mention nighttime nausea? That was great.

I only recently got rid of the cough via steroid inhaler (fun side effects, by the way. Day-long hitters are just the best) meaning that my lungs are finally clear and I can actually climb the stairs without panting!

Yeah, maybe a sturdier person might have held up a bit better to whatever that was, but I'm pretty tiny, so it was unexpectedly harsh on me.

Sorry about what happpened to you and your sister. I hope you're both doing well now!

The Gladiators of Arlen

@CollectorOfMyst 0.0

_{I've been spotted!}

XD

Nah, I can just never say no to gladiators. So possibly business OR pleasure, depending upon my societal tier and cultural norms surrounding gladiator fights. Perhaps I must do further research before I can answer...

_{and then she promptly fell asleep}