Lamia

Tal-Maresh, the Lore Keeper of the Yth Marad, on the Origins of the Lamia: Listen child as I tell you of our glory. We are the Lamia, the children of Nakasha, Chosen of the Great Devourer-That-Encircles. Long ago child, when the world was young, before the rise of the Warm-bloods then did we rule the World! Our First Home was far away, in a warm land of great deep forest and tumbling rivers, and there our Queen first rose up in glory. With the aid of the Saurian we built the mighty Pyramids as a focus of our power - and which others later copied. It was our destiny to rule and so we spread across the World even into cold lands and dry deserts for the Glory of our Immortal Queen, The Lady Nakasha We dealt with the Dragon and their spawn, with the Naga-Khans, the feathered Serpents, the Medusas and even the foul Basilisks, for they were of our ilk. For we are serpents plain and all serpents are our sisters.

Excerpted in part from Encyclopedia Allerius
Revised by Imperial Chronicler Ortorius

Abstract

The Lamia are a sentient race of serpents, with humanoid torso and arms, but serpentine head, tail, and body. Until recently, the Lamia were believed to be extinct until a small handful of them were identified as being a second class citizenry of the Xet Alliance, where they serve mostly as scribes and aides and enjoy commercial and social autonomy but are prohibited from taking part in politics. Some Lamia are believed to have shape-shafting abilities, though these stories have never been confirmed and are widely refuted. The Lamia are gifted spellcasters and capable warriors, and unlike many races are believed to have predated most sentient life on the planet. Today, there are few Lamia in Alleria and those that do manage to cross imperial borders remain in hiding or are never discovered.

Physical Appearance

Lamia are a serpent race and have gone by a number of names in local racial lore and mythology, including the Snakemen (Humans) and the Serpentines (Elves). Adult Lamia typically measure 15 feet in length and 'stand' 6 - 8 ft, not including tail. Forced to slither and slide upon their bellies, the Lamia are covered in scaley skin with a wide variety of colors and designs, ranging from blacks and purples to vermilion, turquoise and various browns and greens. Lamia eyes are golden, lavender or green and appear crescent and snake-like. Lamia do not blink, but instead bring down a thin membrane to cover the eye for protection; it is also widely believed that Lamia do not have tear ducts. The Lamia were thought to be vain creatures, believing themselves to be the most beautiful of the races and for this reason they usually wore little clothing, though in recent history they have adopted extremely ornate breastplates, helms, hats, and an assortment of minor garb.

Climate / Terrain

The Lamia once ruled over a vast empire in the deserts to the West, and are known to be quite fond of dry, hot, arid environments. However, the Lamia can easily adjust to just about any climate, despite their cold-blooded nature. Modern Lamia reside in the swamplands, jungles, and deserts of the Xet Alliance to the West, though a growing number of them speak of fondness of Allerian streams, rivers, lakes and ponds.

Organization

In ancient times, the Lamia maintained a Theocratic Empire ruled by the immortal Serpent Queen Nakasha, a powerful Necromancer said to be the mate of a demigod minion of Jalat, God of Death. The Society was largely matriarchical with all females being considered Priestesses of the Serpent Queen who was herself attended by a court of Seven Handmaidens. Nakasha and her Handmaidens were effectively the ruling council of the Lamia Empire. Classically, males in Lamia society were divided into three castes:

THE PRIESTS
A second level of the elite in Lamia society, the chosen mates of the Serpent Queen and her handmaidens were the male priests, who themselves maintained an internal structure built upon strength and sexual prowess.

THE ZEALOTS
The elite warriors of Lamia society, the rumored formidable and terrible opponents were charged with defending and controlling the empire's borders.

THE OVERSEERS
All remaining Lamia males were said to be workers, but due to the expansionist nature of the Lamia Empire, it is believed that they themselves would only rarely have to had worked and instead these males were likely Overseers who controlled the slaves and other oppressed races.

Racial History

The Lamia Empire had at least three major power-centers: the royal Temple City of Lin'shassis (sometimes spelled Lak'shessis), the prosperous trading City of Shissar (originally a Saurian city), and the great City of Sshrae'ssa (on the banks of the Koor River). Though extensive archaeological excavations have been undertaken in the Great Deserts to the west of Arakmat, but no Lamia ruins have been discovered; it is likely that these strongholds and their remains may have been further to the west. The Lamia Empire was responsible for the First Enslavement of the Saurians, though the Serpent Queen later released the Saurians after they helped construct the Ziggurat and granted them considerable freedom and autonomy, a fact for which the Saurians remained loyal and grateful. Much of internal Lamia History remains unknown to this day, but what is known is that a religious cataclysm prompted the Serpent Queen and her Seven Handmaidens to enter into a slumber within the catacombs beneath the Sacred Palace and Lamia Society experienced a steady, gradual decline under the inept rulership of the male Priests, who stole power from the Priestesses following Nakasha's hibernation.

Several events from Lamia history are widely reported to have occurred under the leadership of the Priests. During a great barbaric invasion across the seas, many civilizations in the West were believed to have perished or fallen, including the fall of the fabled Forbidden City of Xia, heart of the Lutran Kingdom, only the Lamia were able to repel the invasions. The celebrations which followed the liberation of the desert from the barbarian invaders at the hands of the oppressive Lamia certainly helped their public image and led to the first ever petitions of client-states, namely the Lutrans and the Rodenti, to fall under the protection of the Lamia. Yet, centuries later, when Archaxetanian monarchs were viciously crafting the Xet Alliance through bloody conquest, each constituent race of the Lamia Empire was given a choice: surrender and survive, or resist and be annihilated. The Lamia were the first to almost unanimously - likely through sheer exhaustion and general malaise or sadness - surrender and capitulate to the Xet, and for this they were granted special status as "Second Citizens" of the Alliance. Almost all other races chose to either fight - as did the Saurians - or flee - as did the Lutrans, the Rodenti, and others. In the Xet Alliance, the surviving descendants of the Lamia are afforded remarkable autonomy, permitted to practice their rich cultural heritage and even allowed to own possessions and engage in commerce. However, their freedoms strictly end there and they are forever reminded by their Xet overlords that they are second-class beings sworn to servitude. This treatment is considerably more lenient than the fate of the Saurians, for those few that survived the Xet onslaught were enslaved in a brutal system of property-based slavery, with no rights and treated in many cases more poorly than animals and beasts of burden.

Special Abilities and Combat

Lamia are known to be exceedingly sensual and sex is believed to be a major occupation of Lamia society, especially among the priesthood. Of their abilities they are said to have the power to mesmerize others with their intense stare, a natural ability based in physiology and not in any magic. It has been reported that this ability has been used to seduce and then devour unwary Human and Elven lovers (and it is said that they consider most other humanoid races too repulsive to mate with). Apart from their mesmerizing stare, the Lamia are believed to be both naturally strong and agile, able to strike with serpentine speed and lightning reflexes. Legends say that the Lamia made deadly opponents and they had habits of making a dramatic show of their attacks. Lamia use a variety of weapons and could also strike with their tails or crush an opponent in their muscular coils. Lamia have been known to devour the still warm bodies of other humanoids; some tales reveal that Nakasha and her Handmaidens were fed on the bodies of children and babies, and also to draw mana from their to bolster their own. This has of course given the entire race a reputation much more sinister than almost any other, and for a while, many were thankful that it was believed they were extinct. Lamia also make formidable spellcasters, using their powerful minds to entrance and enchant, but their magic was forever a part of their religious practices.

"Go to sleep, brat, or Nagasa will eat you up!"
Tuixi, an Allerian Human, to her little brother.

Religion

The Lamia Empire was a Theocracy, ruled by the religious caste and an immortal queen, Nakasha, who maintained a rigid and strict control over the entire population. Devout worshippers of Jalat, God of Death, the Lamia viewed Death as a sacred and beautiful occurrence, a passage from a lesser extistence to a more pure and serene form; accordingly, Necromancy was widely practiced in the empire as a form of religious magic. A smaller proportion of spellcasters in Lamia society took up Mysticism, finding it fairly simple given their natural abilities so closely mirrored the persuasive and mesmerising elements of that spellcraft.

The Lamia (and their slaves, and to a lesser extent, employed laborers) built great monuments to Jalat that reflected Lamia morbid fascination with death. A great cataclysm of sorts rocked the religious establishment when Queen Nakasha and her Seven Handmaidens entered a deep slumber, reportedly after Nakasha had indicated that she could become more powerful than Jalat himself; she referenced the power of Risthal, a planetar, whom she could use to liberate her people from Jalat's mortifying grip. This event, which led to the collapse of the Lamia Theocracy, and the rise of a series of religious Priest-Kingships led by Male Lamia, was known as the Great Nightmare.