Snakes, Why'd It Have To Be Snakes

The Scaled of Nalinivati

Many of the ascended deities came from human stock; Aroden, Cayden, and Irori to name a few. But in the far Eastern realm of Tian Xia one of their deities ascended from the serpentine naga. Before rising to divinity she carved out a nation for her people and created a servitor race in the nagaji, who she later gave free will as a god. So today we look at Nalinivati, the Tian deity of fertility, nagaji, snakes, and sorcery. Here are three possible sects for use in your games.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Nalinivati. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The Serpent’s Kiss What character do you make?

For more information on Nalinivanti:

Nalinivati’s Pathfinder Wiki Page 

Nalinivati’s Archives of Nethys Page 

The Serpent’s Nest

Although a majority of her worshipers are nagaji, there are pockets of other followers of Nalinivati around Tian. One such sect, The Serpent’s Nest, has followers in small towns all over the country. The Serpent’s Nest is a group of midwives who aid in everything from conception through postnatal care. The sect uses both mundane and magical means to facilitate all aspects of childcare.

Clerics, sorcerers, and bards make up a bulk of those who once adventured and settled down to become members of the sect. Many more of the group’s members are just adepts and experts who specialize in medical care. There is no specific entry rites to join the sect, just willingness to aid mothers and would-be mothers. Many seek acceptance into the group after losing children of their own so that others do not need to feel their pain.

The Scaled Sentinels

Nalinivati is consider both the mother of the naga nobility in Nagajor and the creator of the nagaji race. A group of all female nagaji sorcerers have both dedicated themselves to The Serpent’s Kiss and to defending her children, the royal naga. The Scaled Sentinels are considered elite guards and every naga ruler keeps at least a few on retainer if nothing else as a sign of their status.

All of the nagaji who make up The Scaled Sentinels are female, just as the rulership is matriarchal. Each one is a sorcerer as well, with the abberant, arcane, and serpentine bloodlines being the most popular. Some of the members will also learn a martial form, usually becoming an eldritch knight, or an monk fighting with the UlarTangan style.

The Envenomed

Worship of the Serpent’s Kiss is uncommon outside of Tian but not unheard of. The most common place to find devotees of Nalinivati beyond Tian-Xia’s borders is the Impossible Kingdoms of Vudra. Although the naga of Nagajor insist that their kind spread out from Tian, it is rumored that the nagas came from Vudra first and snake cults are not unheard of there. The Envenomed is a secretive cult of assassins whose signature is death by poison.

The sect includes both martial and magical members. Rogues, monks, and fighters make up a core of the martial arm of the sect. They use a fighting style similar to UlarTangan which mimics the movement of snakes. The magical arm of the sect are wizards, sorcerers, and magi who specialize in poison spells. There is also a group of alchemists dedicated to concocting the most lethal and hardest to detect poisons.

Some deities slither into the hearts of her followers. Who is your disciple of Nalinivati? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Serpent’s Kiss? Where does their devotion to this Tian deity come from? Let me know in the comments.

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Character 86 - Borgo Blackscale

Illustration by Luis Perez

Snakes. This week our random rolls really gave us the opportunity to get serpentine. We had a half-orc who follows the goddess of the naga and all things snake-like. He was big but not strong, hefty but not durable. Although touched by divine power at birth and the fact he at one point died really spoke to a divine class, his low wisdom made that impossible. We had to make do with a high intelligence and a high charisma. So to that end I kept to the basics and went with the sorcerer class. But how did I tie it all together? Let’s find out.

Borgo Blackscale

Borgo Blackscale was born to a small enclave of orcs living in the swamps of the Hooktongue Slough. His tribe had lived in the area for a few generations after fleeing Numeria. Upon their arrival they had come to follow a water naga who used the area they were dwelling as her summer home. If they served her she promised to protect them from the boggards and trolls that infested the area.

The orcs became a serpent cult, serving the naga and paying homage to the goddess of her kind, Nalinivati. Occasionally the naga would bring other followers, lost mainly, to the little village and one of these men would become Borgo’s father. When the half-orc was born he was blessed by the shaman and came into the world with a crack of divine energy.

The cult was pretty self-sufficient, most of what they needed could be found in the swamplands. The group would occasionally need to hire out to run off particularly foul beasts when the water naga was in her winter home, and a mercenary crew arranged to come through around that time every year. The band was small but effective and always dealt fairly with the orcs. Borgo was always keen on the mercenaries being able to travel where they wanted when they wanted, and he respected them for their fairness with his people.

Growing up Borgo wanted the freedom that the mercenaries had, although he quite misunderstood what kind of responsibility freedom meant. He wanted to be an outlaw like tales he heard of famous other ne’er-do-wells in the River Kingdoms. He even went so far as to rob a young wizard who was travelling the waterways near the swamp. But the use of violence to threaten another never sat right with him so he never told anyone although, he regrets it deeply.

Illustration by Luis Perez

On his fifteenth birthday Borgo was officially inducted into the cult. As all who had come before him, the rite of passage was a trial by snake bite. The snakes they use usually didn’t give more than an allergic-like reaction but Borgo went into shock and died. His passage over to the other side was brief, but long enough to give the boy – now a man – a new outlook on life. His emotional changes were also accompanied by physical changes, which included a patch of black scales on his chest.

Between being touched by Nalinivati at birth and his near death experience, something awakened inside of him. The touch of the serpent in his blood allowed him to force his will upon the world in strange new ways. When the water naga returned in the summer she found the young boy struggling to manifest his power and she trained him. She taught him that his powers came from within and showed him how best to force them into existence. For this Borgo would always love his mentor although he knew she would never reciprocate.

When she could teach him no more she suggest that he do as she did; head out into the world and explore, although never forget about home. So Borgo packed his things and made plans to set out into the world. His plan is to travel for a year and then return home and share his experiences.

So what became of your half-orc? What class did the he choose? How did he die? Why did he rob a spellcaster? Who was the mercenary that influenced him?

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The character illustration was created by the fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart.