Sup, /tg/, I need lamia help.So I was populating some island archipelagos in my setting, and I thought that lamias would make a good indigenous species. As I have them put together right now, they're based off anacondas. Expert swimmers/climbers and powerful constrictors, average length is ~25 feet long.The part I mainly need help with is culture/physical implications.In terms of culture, I like a lot of the aspects of traditional Samoan culture, and might use that as a springing off point, particularly in the areas of familial importance and gifting, but I need more ideas/places to look for ideas. I'm also not sure what kind of dietary habits a lamia would need to have searching for lamia threads on sup/tg/ leads to only a bunch of questsAlso if you into gurps tell me what's wrong with the template http://pastebin.com/vDD82u3y
Carnivores seems to be the tradtiional route but 25 long is fucking huge and would require a huge amount of energy. They'd perhaps be really lazy to conserve energy or what.You could go with the choice of making the omnivores either because of "Duh human upper half" or because of the obvious that it opens them up to as many food groups as possible.
>>30925226I was afraid of getting too hueg, but it seems like it's easy to go way too short as well.Omnivores is good idea. Setting is maaaagic so at the end of the day I can insert extremely nourishing superplants if I can't figure out anything else, but I'd prefer to have as much plausible consistency as possible.
>>30925160i think you know what hey eat
They worship a deity that grants them loads of fish. Bam, dietary concerns solved.
>>30925280If they're omnivores, they could climb up trees to reach the whatever fantasy fruit may be up there.
If you use island archipelagos, if they are as plentiful as some of the French ones, they should have no problem. Fish at sea, meat, wild vegetables and fruits in the forests, all ushered by volcanic soil.Yeah, put them in a hot spot archipelago that grew from volcanic activity.
>>30925344Hmm, a possibility. The deities of the setting are set in stone, but there is a god whose portfolio contains The Moon, the ocean, and trade, so it's finaglable. They can swim fast, so maybe they can fish by just swimming with nets, as long as they anchor the net to their body.
Probably primarily fishing given their size. Lots and lots of fish. Maybe some whaling as well.Just imagine it about 10-20 Lamia wrapping themselves around this giant whale. Group constricting.
>>30925383>>30925385Aight, good points. So, it'll probably be a varied diet with a heavy emphasis on fish, and I'll make sure there's volcanic activity.>>30925459I-is this possible? Because I'm not going to lie, 20 lamias grabbing arm to tail end to form the MEGACHOKE may be the greatest mental image yet, right after two lamias swimming through crystal clear waters with a net between the two of them.
>>30925160there are two routes one can go with lamias op, they either eat people, their human torsos developed over long periods of time to lure in and nom unsuspecting people that they fascimile, like those fishes that have a lure, or they need to hunt something that requires their tail to kill it. something huge they can pin and slay with a tool.If you don't give two fucks about realism, this is where you call it good, with one or two of those things, they probably hunt their game and opportunistic everything else like humans did. however, having them in small islands isn't always the best unless these islands are far from actually small, if you want realism, lamia's are fairly large most of the time, and their torsos are around human size or bigger. Island dwarfism will road block this race if theyre indigeoness to something as small as the samoan chain of islands. Their tail though would probably make them adept at swimming, climbing trees, and desert movement. having them exist in these kinds of environment makes sense, they are probably only a partial warm blood rather than a cold blood, if you want to incorporate that reptillionness, as their human like intellegence will spur them to more and more activity to survive, tool building, water gathering, and other necissary activities that isn't hunting and fucking. whatever you do do not make them shitty hora hora sperm sucking cum dumps like most of /tg/ views them as. make them powerful, cunning, even if they might be reletively weak from a civilization standpoint. The conquistadors that went to inca didn't expect to come out on top, they pretty much shat their pants at what they found, the fight only started by small chance, and they won by even less.
>>30925459Couldn't the whale just go underwater and drown the lamias?
>>30925543>and they won by even less.Being walking machines of biological war certainly helped too.
>>30925577that helped them keep the place, not grab it.
Not a lamia, but have a fishing snake.
I run them in my setting but they are desert dwellers. Are yours cold blooded? Mine are and they cremate their dead to 'warm up' the soul and allow it to pass on. Just an idea you can steal if you want.Also, it was in a thread last night, I posted that courting involves the male having to survive a dose of the female's venom to prove his dedication and strength.
>>30925543Insightful. I'll probably go for the second of those two options, maybe some form of larger sea creature. The size of the islands is somewhat malleable, but I'd like to keep them decently small. What about something like Hawaii-sized?I'm not exactly sure how to do partial-warmblood in GURPS terms, or what that exactly means. Right now they're cold-blooded. Should I just dump that out? It would make me cry a little, as the template's already pretty expensive.>>30925559Well, presumably they could unlink if needs be, but the way I have them built right now, they can hold their breath from anywhere in the range of ~4 minutes of extremely strenuous activity(sprinting/fighting) to upwards of 40 minutes if they're floating completely still.
>>30925646That's almost cute. Too bad I'm remembering how that fish has his insides being melted by venom while still being alive.
>>30925646And a happy baby cobra.
>>30925652Stealing the cremation thing.Being based on anacondas, these lamias aren't venomous right now.
>>30925543>whatever you do do not make them shitty hora hora sperm sucking cum dumps like most of /tg/ views them asThis, you have nodea how much I support this ideaI'm >>30925652and in that setting they are now allied with the mundane confederacy (the world is split in 2 with one continent containing magic and one without) The 'naga' is what I call them, to avoid the assumptions of magical realming, but they fought a war against a well armed, technologically superior force and gave them one of the worst wars in the history of the confederation.
>>30925680Almost? Look at these eyes and tell me this isn't adorable.
>>30925685>>30925783Fak you, my favourite animals are snakes and posting adorable ones is distracting me from helping OP, because of d'awwww
>>30925783Sorry, I have seen a little girl go into a coma and wake up with severe sequels after being bitten by a snake when I was younger, they will never be more than almost cute.
>>30925814>severe sequelsHuh?
I don't really collect lamia pictures, but here's one that might be useful
>>30925851Sorry, French slipping through. Aftereffects.
>>30925677hawaii is too small, I was thinking like borneo or sumatra/java. gives them a nice chunk of world with thick jungle and fishery, and a booming spice industry to make then relevant no matter their tech level.as for blood coolnesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterothermythere you go. as for peramiters, depending on size, and weight, a lamia would probably be around 30' long give or take, do not make stubby lamias, 25-50 is likely, a nice range for adults, their weight will be a lot but remember they can spread it out over a long area. this is assuming a torso that is human in size.
>>30925814>wake up with severe sequelsLike Star Wars?
>>30925851sounds like consecutive comas.
Alright, OP here.So, what's been figured out thus far.The lamias live on a small-ish volcanic archipelago. In GURPS terms, they're probably ~TL 2(Iron Ageish) - Most of the setting is TL 3(medieval)-TL 4(Renaissance) with lots of magics replacing modern technologies.They worship Bokrug, the god of, among other things, the sea.Their diet is varied, containing fruits, roots, herbs, but mainly fish. They fish smaller fish with nets, and fish larger game by swimming down to it, constricting it, and stabbing it to death with a knife like the bastard child of Hulk Hogan and Captain Ahab.Lots of emphasis placed on the family and communal growth rather than individual worth. Warmth is life Which brings up an interesting point, as their deity also has the Moon, so perhaps that represents that they know that they'll return to him when their night eventually comes and they grow cold? Dumb idea?They cremate their dead to ensure the soul has the warmth to make it to the afterlife.I'd also like to figure out traditional dress and weapons, as well as more things to flesh out day-to-day life, like crafts.
>>30926083>living in a volcanic archipelago>not having a mountain god
>>30925995Alright. That's a bit larger, though I can dig it. Java island's a good size. Spice, you say. Iiinteresting.Interesting on size. I don't study reptiles, of course, but the variation in adult length seems kinda high, unless 50 feet is like extreme outfielder case. Maybe it isn't?
>>30926114Well, the island's off the coast of a continent full of fey tied to the land. A bunch of spirits of place, if you will. Maybe I could have an angry volcano spirit that demands virgin sacrifice or something silly like that.
>>30926127Ausfag here, grew up around snakes and I have seen 7foot+ carpets and they're maybe 6 inches thick. Turn that up to full on lamia scale and you get one big fucking snake.
>>30926083>weaponsDaggers, spears, tridents and nets. It fits with their fisherman lifestyle. They'd already be familiar with the weapons.As for dress, I usually have mine mostly nude, but with various tribal adornments. Since they seem to be a rather simple society, perhaps hand made earrings and jewelry might be how they display individuality. Different piercings might relate to different things such as how many children someone has sired, orcs slain or something.>>30926127You'd need a long ass tail to support the weight of a human torso. You'd probably need a 25% body to 75% tail ratio to keep them mobile. But then they become gargantuan beasts.
>>30926127yeah, the islands under the indoneasian banner in our real world is the original location of, and still afaik one of the greatest producers of spices such as cloves, nutmeg, and cassia. which didn't exist in europe untill south east trade started becoming a reality.
>>30926083Due to the fishing, I would say nets and spears are popular. Some snakes can also catch birds, and the nets would help with that. As for traditional dress, no idea, though I do like the idea of brightly colored scale paint to during festivals/religious ceremonies, or dark scale/skin paint for camouflage. Scale colors and patterns could also be indicative of their rank/family. As for crafts... no idea.
>>30926220Alright. I especially dig the use of daggers and nets. Given their natural reach, I could also see spears, though it might be overkill.I'd hesitate to go for mostly nude, simply because that has high potential for magical realm, but I like the jewelry stuff. Is it easy to find precious stones on islands, or would they need to trade for that kind of adornment?Right, I was thinking about 25 feet, for ~6 feet of body to ~18 feet of tail that picture's torso is loooooong, but I might say variation of 25-35 ft. length just to keep it malleable.
>>30926272>As for crafts... no idea.I'd say maybe woodcrafts or something. Plenty of wood on tropical islands and they need something to do when they're warming up right?also>tfw you will never engage in god-tier cuddling with a lamia waifu
>>30925160The GURPS template seems fine, except the "Weak Arms" seems awfully cheap. You know, tool-using creatures use ST with their arms/manipulators the most. Is that RAW?
>>30926295Maybe they could skin/tan the hides of their larger catches? I know you can tan whales due to QI. Their foreskins, anyway. But that's a bit magical realmy. I don't know what style would be used, but it would likely just be the torso since the lower half would take waaaay to much to clothe.
>>30926127oh, and i forgot to comment on length, lamia need to be rather large to deal with their torso in the way a human would, remember that most snakes simply cruise around at ground level, their heads only rear up when they need to look at things or when they are threatened. lamia have a human torso, so they will want to make use of it and protect it, keeping it from rubbing itself raw on the ground, so a larger, stronger tail is a must compared to a normal snake, in addition, a tail in length isn't all freedom like some would imagine, that size basically equates to 1/3rd its length in reach, so a 30 foot lamia would be able to strike outwards 10 feet at best unless it was super duper unusual, given they live in forests and have a heritage of ambush predators, it makes sense for them to retain a long length to give them reach. let alone the length needed to take on creatures large enough to make their tail stay relevant at all. I admit i meant sumatra/java as kind of a "two for one" deal when I mentioned them evolving there, but its honestly up to you, if you want a bunch of irrelevant but exotic creatures sitting in shack huts for sustainability then I guess you could go with hawaii style in size.
>>30926295I think portraying them as nude can be perfectly fine so long as you keep it controlled. Don't go having them flaunting their bodies like sluts. Just have it be casual nudity.If you're still not that geeked about it, I'd just give them simple fur or leather clothing. Keep them looking very tribal, but takes it farther from "Dare you enter my magical realm?". Something perhaps resembling this style of dress for males.
>>30926356>tfw you will never engage in god-tier cuddling with a lamia waifuDon't start that. We're trying to help OP make an interesting race for his setting.
>>30926356Or even glass, they have large fires that they gather around which they also use to create coloured glass that is used in jewlerry and othre ornaments.
>>30926272Cool. I especially like the idea of paint during festivals.I was looking at the tattooing traditions of various cultures in the pacific islands, like the Maori Tā moko and the Samoan Pe'a, and thought that I might do something similar. Not sure where exactly I'd say they'd put the tattoo, though. Maybe the arms or the neck/face.
>>30926272Ivory crafts from the fish and things seem like a decent aspect. Plenty of stuff could be made from that. Hell, go full Zora and you could have them make instruments out of fish bones.
>>30926384Now that I think of it, perhaps they could have a fur trade? They give foreigners spices, crafts and such, and get warm furs that can be heated by the fires and donned at night to keep warm.
>>30926295if you don't have any problem making the body 6 feet (twice as large as a human) why are you so stuck on stubby tails? sorry but if the human torso takes up 6 feet I would say you'd be better off with the 25-50 range.
>>30926403I meant it as a joke to bring forth the idea of how strong they would be, I mean, pick up a snake and thye aren't rock solid but there's a lot of power in those muscles.
>>30926378>The GURPS template seems fine, except the "Weak Arms" seems awfully cheap. You know, tool-using creatures use ST with their arms/manipulators the most. Is that RAW?It is, and it was bothering me. It's a modifier for the Extra Arms advantage, which can also be applied as disadvantages to existing arms.You can buy up Arm ST (5 points/level for two arms), so it'd make sense to me to buy down Arm ST for a similar cost (-5 points/level), but I'm not sure that's the most kosher way to do it.
>>30926220as long as we're going with islander theme the kris and shark teeth sword sound like decent aditions for straight up warriors.
>>30926449Ah, my apologies for not being clear. When I was talking about 'body', I meant the portion that the lamia saw fit to raise up off the ground, which'd be about 3 foot-ish of torso and 3 feet of (trunk?). Not loooongtorso.
>>30926509On that note, the noses of these things would hurt like a bitch.
>>30926509>>30926546Like this?
>>30926484Seems it's RAW. -5 points for each decreased Arm ST might be quite too much, though, but loosing most of the advantage from 100 points of stats for -5 doesn't seem right.The high ST is there to represent the powerful tail right? You could give them "Tail ST" for +2,5, like Arm ST but with (-20% ST modifier, -30% No Fine Manipulators).
>>30926511Yeah, unless OP is cool with them basically doing a constant Cobra pose and being about 3 foot from ground to head, you've gotta figure on a bit of snake in the "torso" length.
>>30926659It does that, but it also represents increased HP. Theoretically the reduced Arm ST would also be subject to the size mod, but -40 pts for -10 Arm ST might still be too much. The tail ST could be a good idea, combined with HP. A bit pricy, but manageable.
>>30926687there is no "snake" on "torso" lengthconsidering we're talking body and tail, I'm not sure why you are talking like it is obvious?
OP again, updated Lamia template with suggestions, down to a much more manageable 65 points. http://pastebin.com/in527pzDAs for arts and crafts, woodworking sounded like fun, particularly in the ideas of sculpture. Tattoo art in line with traditional culture as well. I was also thinking some kind of music and/or dance, though I don't know how lamias would dance, exactly. Maybe combine the two and have loops of bells tied along the tail length for something strangely akin to tap-dancing. Maybe with those fire batons too. Don't know. Just throwing out ideas.Also, thinking about that volcano spirit. If I put one in, what kind of relationship should it have with the lamias?
>>30926083>I'd also like to figure out traditional dressIn my setting i've gone with light, airy veils etc. think middle-east belly-dancers. though maybe in your setting they aren't at a level where such things would be popular. they are light, minimal hindrance when swimming. they dry very quickly in the sun. something like pic related. ignore the man-face.
>>30926983>something like pic related. ignore the man-face.my mistake, try again.
>>30926931>As for arts and craftsWhat about coral growing. Nips shape and form bonsai trees, lamia being aquatic and...long-lived? could grow coral into all kinds of different forms to then sell or to act as a legacy.>Also, thinking about that volcano spirit. If I put one in, what kind of relationship should it have with the lamias?fickle. volcano islands are a blessing but the eruptions themselves are a curse.
>>30926983>>cripple the snakeits like a lamia version of a girl with no legs, this lamia literally cannot do more than flop to move.
>>30927105>long-lived? could grow coral into all kinds of different forms to then sell or to act as a legacy.another thought. coral growing could be an inter-generational craft if the lamia don't live long enough to see it done personally.
>>30926983Valid, yea. Probably do a lot of stuff with silk, as it strikes me as a prime material for drying fast, and they don't need as much of it, plus it has potential for many lovely colors. They can probably trade for it, or maybe silkworms can live on tropical-type islands. Dunno.
>>30927160wrong picture. yes, the stuff around the tail is nothing but a hindrance.
>>30927105>>30927186I like this coral bit. I like it a lot.What kinds of things would a volcano spirit ask from the population/would the population prepare without being asked in an attempt to appease it? Offerings of food/art? Entertainment? Other things I'm not thinking of?
>>30926295Gems depend on the volcanology of the islands - an active magma column could bring up small amounts of various igneous/metamorphic minerals from underground as well as a fairly steady supply of obsidian, which polishes up nicely (especially if it's got the right composition).>>30926931A volcano would be a pretty good god of chaos/destruction, due to the tendency to rain fiery death down on an island for no discernible reason. It might have an "eternal battle" kind of deal going on with one or several of the more benevolent gods, like Ra and Apep in Egyptian mythology. Or it could be like Pele: not really evil, but with a long history of being vengeful and having poor impulse control.
>>30926931With dancing I see it as a sort of mix between belly dancing and how the stereotypical cobra rises out of the basket with that sort of swaying motion
>>30927235>Entertainment?I'd go with that. Fickle, powerful but a spirit the lamia are happy to have around. Giant bonfires once a year and a party all night long. The bonfires are there for the spirit to manifest in the flames and talk to and observe the lamia. Or something.
>>30927279There might also be coiling dances, where two or more Lamia intertwine
i would think lamia art would be pottery or sculpture. as for religion i think they would be rather keen on astrology and astral navigation especially if you're going to have them be island culture and boating or swimming everywhere. i've always seen lamias as being very good at trade due to a joke about them being good at selling snake oil.
>>30927269Useful information! That obsidian is very pretty. Looks like they could get some nice ornamentation going.>>30927279>>30927315So, yes, there are easily ways for lamias to dance that don't involve jumping around.>>30927288I like the bonfire party idea. Yeah, fickle, impulsive, but kind of friendly seems to be the best way to go.>>30927338Yeah, this stuff looks good. Especially sculpture. I don't know how plentiful clay would be on a volcanic island for making pottery. Astrology and such ties into the deity Bokrug well, and trading connects the lamias to the rest of the world, so they're likely to pop up other places.So, there's this interesting relationship between the deity Bokrug and this volcano spirit forming. The volcano spirit is more responsible for the welfare of the island as a whole in big ways, managing eruptions, fertility of the earth, and the like. And Bokrug holds more over the afterlife of the Lamias, and serves well for mysticism, but is kinda a party pooper, as it seems he associates a lot with death for them.
>>30927338Also medicine, with the whole 2 snakes coiled being the medical thing and all
>>30927428i would assume its possible to make pottery out of any kind of fine dirt and water and a kiln. i imagine they would have some sort of throwing table that would have a different kind of mechanism than traditionally thought for humans because i don't think they'd be good at kicking the table around but there's other ways of getting things to rotate. or maybe its strictly "hand" worked pottery
>>30927706Alright, yeah. That makes it a distinct possibility. Hand worked pottery strikes me as slightly more likely, but they could also probably just have a table on an axle that they wrap their tail around and pull hard on to get it spinning. Not sure how they'd maintain, the spin, though.
>>30927706also if death is a thing for them they may have a tradition of making fermented drinks out of various fruits for drinking and cooking with and also using sea salt for preserving food and maybe even embalming their dead. if they're more savage then maybe even head shrinking and pickling things with brine made from sea salt
>>30927773True on the accounts of making fermented drinks and salts. I've decided that their funerary rites involve cremation, which can also involve creating urns, assuming they deem fit to keep the ashes.
>>30927804salt also was a good commodity for trade for a good portion of human history. there's probably a niche market for lamia salt. as for clothing i would think they would use their shedding skins as cloth and maybe have some sort of process to make it less flimsy. also medicinally i doubt they would have any kind of science behind their medicine. it would probably be cures and panaceas passed down shamanistic style
>>30927804Perhaps they preserve the bodies until the bonfire festival each year and that's when the cremation happens. So that they can travel together and help each other reach the afterlife, fits in with the community focused culture too.
>>30927940True, true.I didn't think about using shed skins as cloth. Feels a little squicky when I think about it, but I guess it's more akin to humans using hair than their own skin as clothing.And yup at the medicine. Herbalism, rituals, and blatant healing magic, probably.
>>30927985>blatant healing magicMaybe they have some very effective medicines/spells that are secret to all but the lamia shamans. Which leads slavers and pirates to seek to capture one as if they could, their price on the market would be immense. You could use that as a plot hook, rescue/protect the shaman or hunt down the pirates that have arrived recently.
>>30928028True. Probably do it with Alchemy in gurps based off of herbalism and make a few custom elixirs. Not sure what effect they should have, exactly, however.
weapons? i would imagine some of them might prefer some sort of strangulation chord. since they would have a hard time staying upright while moving i would imagine some sort of dagger or claw or wrist razor. anything longer and i think it might get cumbersome to carry
Alright, OP for the last time for this night.Thank ye elegan/tg/entleman for helping me out with fleshing out these lamias. The thread didn't even degenerate into imagedumping or sperging.I'd love to keep talking about this in the morning if the thread's still alive. If not, I have the thread as it is saved, and I'll request it to get saved on sup/tg/.Things that I still haven't decided yet that people might want to comment on/bump the thread with while I sleep>Name of archipelago/island>Naming conventions of the lamias>Notable other creatures(Particularly large-ish sea creatures they might wrassle)>More superstitions/beliefs/holidays>More crafts/magic/practical specialties.>...architecture?>Other stuff that I can't think of.
i suspect they probably have no formal law system other than tribal commune. they probably have a leadership role that can be challenged through battle. musically i think they have instruments they can make as long as they aren't too complicated. they probably have ceramic flutes if pottery is a thing like ocarinas and drums definitely. they probably could make wooden flutes like pan flutes too if they rrrreeeeeeally wanted to but i don't think you'd see them much.
>>30927279>Lamias>bellydancingOh lawdy, this is hittin' every button I've got, anon!Gaaaaah.
>>30928329>Notable other creatures(Particularly large-ish sea creatures they might wrassleMaybe some kind of large carnivorous creature that is considered sacred to the lamia tribes as king of the sea and for a leader to claim rulership of all the tribes he must slay one in single combat.
>>30928329naming would be familial until some sort of coming of age ritual where they go out and slay the biggest thing they can find and bring back and thus gain a title in addition to their familial name. language would probably consist of rolled Rs and hissing noises so their names would also probably reflect that as well like RRihhssahii or oshhiRR. writing (if they even have it) would probably be sylabic alphabet and omg hula dancing lamia would be epic
>>30928329Architecture would tend towards low buildings, no second stories. Ramps where we would have stairs. Fire pits, with attendant chimneys, to keep warm in the night. Perhaps a greater emphasis on tunneling and underground construction? Given their powerful swimming abilities, in many places they might be built into the water. Since they're cold-blooded, they'd be designed with climate control in mind- floors made of particular kinds of heat-retaining dirt, for example, among other kinds of microclimate engineering. I can't say more than that, since it's not a topic I'm familiar with.Magic/superstition- perhaps Shamans could commune with spirits and departed ancestors by deliberately inducing hypothermia or other near-death experiences? There would also be numerous rituals surrounding their hunts of large sea creatures- appeasing the spirit of the great departed beast, eating specific body parts to gain its powers, that sort of thing. Perhaps it could also be a rite of manhood. Holiday: a ritual where people who have had near-death experiences and their families burn offerings to the moon, perhaps themselves in effigy? I'd expect a lot of burning in their religion, given their cold-bloodedness and volcano-worshipping. Other holidays could be putting on plays and dances before raging bonfires to entertain the volcano spirit. Also, there seems to be very little sun-worship going on, which seems odd given the emphasis on fire. What do they have against worshipping the sun? Naming conventions should be Hawaiian, I think. It should be known by foreigners by something that translates, essentially, as 'the lamia isles.' No opinion on local name. Note: given all the burning that seems to be going on, the areas around their settlements would be deforested. This might have severe consequences down the line if they don't practice good forest husbandry, in the form of soil erosion and habitat destruction. That's outright killed civilizations before.
>>30927269if we're going south east asia, its hella volcanic
>>30927203>herpumm, no anon, the problem is the tail isn't so much a tail as a lump of flesh that couldn't do much more than gently flop your torso around. she doesn't even have enough to support herself into a coiled round shape
>>30928641Also, a cool thing I've found: Albanians have a practice known as 'sworn virgins' in which a woman who has sworn to celibacy is allowed to live as a man, with all of the rights and responsibilities that entails. A similar thing occurs in Afghanistan, where prepubescent girls are allowed to take on the role of a boy in public until they hit puberty, if the family has no sons. Something to think about, if there's strict delineation of gender roles.
>>30928641>>ramps.clearly you are not snake enough. try thinking outside your human mind, if you are a snake living on an island with limited resources, do you "a" waste labor and effort to create potent ramp technology, or do you B, find and cut a log for a pole and simply climb your way up via being a snake? snakes have no reason to use a ramp except to move lots of goods, a single two story house thats a simple affair will be built with climbing poles for lamia to ascend or descend across the dewlling or in some cases depending on culture and the size of families, a whole appartment complex of homes. I still think making them wholly cold blooded despite them having human like activity for long duration of time. as for making sure the dirt is warm... that seems pretty crazy, they would probably just go with good old fire pit or a kotatsu like thing, for them to curl up around and relax. Not sure how I feel about hawaiian names either, though theres nothing wrong with them I guess, the image I have of them with op leans more towards the kind of aztec like culture. and having names that aren't easy on the tongue seems fitting for a race of skanes. and yes, this is why I suggested they live on a large island. they are much larger than humans, will need more food, and are already a strain on the environment, having them on a big island like borneo would help alliviate that, as would making them not need to burn shit 24 7 just to be fucked to do things.
>>30928714generally i would think this is cool but in my experience you don't really want to play up gender roles in rpg settings because of how awkward it gets trying to explain how not sexist you are "its just their culture!" it might be good to have on tap for just in case someone asks but i wouldn't bring it up unless there is some sort of physical reason for gender roles
since its volcanic and not unheard of for snakes to live underground they probably have places where the volcano can warm their housing underground and i would assume they have a good grasp of seismic activity around the volcano being able to feel through their body
>>30928947Since there's a volcano, perhaps there are also hotsprings? If there are, they'd probably be considered sacred due to them being a combination of the Volcano god and the Sea god's domains.
>>30928991there we go, an idea that isn't retarded, they dont need magic dirt, they have hot springs.
i would think that glassblowing would be pretty popular for intelligent snake people if they have fire and sand and a love for being warm but im not sure how that would fit in a not-so-industrious society like we're building for snakefolk in your setting. but if they were to have any kind of science at all i would think they totally could have some glass technology like say for warming up housing with sunlight or boiling off water for their salt production or general containing of things
>>30929076How I thought it'd work earlier in the thread is some kind of enclosed fire pit that acts as a heater and a glass furnace.
>>30929020I wouldn't even want to touch this setting my my group, as much as I love the ideas in the thread, lamias bellydancing and sitting in hot springs would set off their magical-realm sensors, even if it isn't a magical realm.
>>30928329Weapon wise, could they make some kind of barb that can be attached to their tails, either just for stabbing or even dipped in poison from plants/fish.
>>30929445they could, i just think having a strong tail is already a good weapon. they use it to move i dont think they can swing it effectively for a tailblade also i dont know how they would attach it without it being kinda uncomfortable or cumbersome
>>30929504i guess they could have piercings along the sides of their tails towards the end for some throat slitting action
>>30929504I was thinking something similar to a ring, just with a cone over the top of it that slips over the tip of the tail and sits on there. Whether or not that'd work is beyond me though.
i just imagine they would rather sit in hiding with war paint and wait for something to pass by then drop down from a tree or spring out from a bush and choke a thing with a rope then constrict it til its dead than try and stab something and let it bleed out. when you're a reptile you dont want to chase things.
>>30929646Fair enough, that does make more sense.
>>30926427Their tails are covered in scales, their human portion not so much. So in turn, ritualistic tattooing to brings design/scales to the human torso to offset the difference?
Oh boy, were still alive. Here we go.>>30928411Aight. I can dig all that. Having a leadership role that can be challenged through battle is good. I especially the ocarinas. Starting to develop a picture in my mind of the things the average lamia has in their bag. Stuff like a knife, an ocarina, a healing mixture or two.>>30928498Alright, cool. Something like a shark, then? It'd be really tough to wrestle, but maybe possible if they're smart about it and strike fast. When I think sacred sea creature, I still think whalesquids because I just got done watching Suisei no Gargantia>>30928627I like the idea of a coming of age ritual. Also adds potential for more festivals, maybe a yearly thing where all the new adults must go out and hunt what they can. I'd hesitate to have heavy Rs and hissing noises, since I think they probably talk normally due to having human-like mouth parts.>>30928641>>30928790Alright, something near-ish to the shoreline, with a firepit built into the center of the ground and a prominent support structure built of maybe something like palm trees that's easy for them to climb up and around, as well as sturdy enough to support both them and the house structure.I like the stuff about the shamans, some good ideas that work well together.Iiinteresting things for the holidays. So, a bonfire's probably a part of most holidays that they have.I like the Aztec names a lot, though if I maybe make enough example names to figure out a good blend with a softer tongue like hawaiian, I might like that more.Point taken on the name, I suppose. I'll have to continue thinking for their local name.And very true on the point of deforestation. Though the location that they're in has a tendency to grow trees faster than normal, I suppose being somewhat environmentally conscious would be wise.
>>30928329>Notable other creatures(Particularly large-ish sea creatures they might wrassle)Giant crabs that can swim as well scuttle along the sea-bed. Domesticated giant crabs as beasts of burden when crossing islands with goods. >...architecture?mmm, well. i may be under-esetimating your lamia but bush-hovels/mud-huts seems to be their level. Could also have some dug out elaborate caves with underwater entrances that the lamia have used for hundreds of years as a hidden refuges. Left over of by-gone days that is still used somewhat, for storage if nothing else. If they ever get to stone building then in my setting i've gone with a mix of aztec stone building in the middle of lake and venice style narrow canals, with sun-bathing plazas dotted around the place. Alternatively, some of them could go water-nomads route. Wide boats which they travel on from place to place with only a few/secret land locations that they call home also. or something.
>>30928663Ah. yes. You're right.
>>30932242Aaaand continuing.>>30928714>>30928876Also interesting. It's fine if I play up gender roles in this setting. There's precedent for it in other civilizations in the setting (Stuff like women in one of the nations not being allowed in the military barring special cases), so I suppose the ideas of gender roles was something my peeps wanted to explore, though I haven't really put a lot of thought into it.>>30928947>>30928991>>30929020>>30929428A good idea, and something that could reduce the strain of burning on the environment somewhat. As kind anon has noted, however, I'm not going to go into any detail about it because of the potential for magical realming, though that's not something my group usually does ever. I'll just note that hot springs exist on the island.>>30929076Hmm. Since the island's large enough, I'd probably say that they can get enough freshwater between reserves on the island and whatever they can collect via rainwater. I picture their housing designs as fairly open, with a firepit and maybe a small place to retreat underground for things like when storms hit. Glass is probably a bit too industrious for them.>>30929445>>30929504>>30929567>>30929572>>30929646Mmm, also interesting. Yeah, they can already hit with their tail pretty hard, something to the tune of 2d+1 damage for the average lamia, in a world where a normal human has 10 HP. Granted GURPS works a bit differently from a lot of other systems in what happens below 0 HP, but that's potentially enough damage to knock a man unconscious with broken ribs in one hit. Tailblade's interesting, but yeah, I'm not sure how they'd attach it, exactly. Piercings sound painful, given how muscly snaketails are, and I don't know how they'd interact with organs.>>30930036Yes. This is good. Something transitioning up from the base of the human torso appeals to me.
>>30932242>>30932369This has been a good thread OP, but its now 12:30AM and I have uni tomorrow. Will check in later and see where this goes.
>>30932369>Tailblade's interesting, but yeah, I'm not sure how they'd attach it, exactly.a glove with lots of little clasps that grab on to the lamia's scales maybe? sounds fairly secure and if it get's grabbed or stuck it's only a few scales lost. sounds like an above average in expenses weapon if it has lots of little clasps. that would be a lot of fine work for just one weapon.
>>30932424Its not unheard of for cultures to have weapons that are more ceremonial or traditional as a mark of office. Similar to how an officer gets a sabre in the military. Perhaps a poisoned barb/tailblade features in one of their legends and it is a mark of office to use one.
>>30932317Giant friendly crabs are cool. And I like the idea for potential domestication. It's another cool creature to add. Maybe call them something like bull crabs?Yeah, right now I'm picturing their hut as something like four large tree trunks Or maybe even living trees) with a platform lashed between them for a second floor, and some sort of ceiling above that. The bottom level has a firepit and maybe a hole leading to a cellar if they've put in the effort to dig one out. Very little in the way of walls. Maybe some of the newer huts are introducing ideas of more traditional architecture learned via trade, though.Underwater caves sounds like a good place for them to retreat during stuff like typhoons, plus they could use it for storage and it has a really cool visual aesthetic. Interesting setting info on your lamias.Nomads are a possibility. I picture that at least a few of them might leave home to become traders/pirates, at the very least.
>>30932424>>30932445Aww yeah, that's cool. I didn't even think about potential legends until right now. I'm gonna have to start thinking about a suitably cool legend that could involve the tailblade.Maybe the tailblade's the mark of either a tribe chief, a shaman, or a dedicated tribe hunter/warrior.
>>30932509I'm the guy with the desert naga from up the thread. That desert has naga, scarabs and scorpions. Poisoned barbs could come from a contact with some scorpion folk from ages ago and the weapon stuck as a sign of friendship. I know that's how it is with mine.
>>30932522Mmm, that's true. The closest fleshed out civilization I know of is that there's an island of minotaurs in the same general sea area. Maybe something involving them? Something like a legend where a lamia out-wrestled a minotaur and took his horns. Or maybe something cooler.
>>30925543What? That had nothing to do with their cunning. The conquistadors were idiots. They won because they had superior technology, because the populace was afraid of them (partly because of their superior technology and partly because of how foreign and godlike they seemed), and because they had native guides and slaves who betrayed their people to translate for them and sabotage their opponents. Go back to history class.
>>30932584Diseases were also a thing.
Here's a thought for the lady lamia. Human women paint their nails. I don't fancy transferring that habit to the lamia personally. However, what about painting or tinting the scales close to their human torso? That is an area that would naturally be protected from abrasion.A typical decoration could be a ring of scales painted a jade green or bright orange or aquamarine. Mix it up with multiple rows of colours coming together to form an art-work almost. blues merging into greens, in to yellows, into reds.
>>30932717Sounds pretty goodVid unrelatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN3z3eSVG7A
>>30932717Yeah, that sounds super cool. Especially as a common practice for festivals and the like. So I was reading about Maori moko in this thread that I apparently missed yesterday. http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30888640/#p30888849Extremely cool, and sounds extremely painful. I don't know if a torso tattoo is as painful as a facial tattoo, but it probably isn't for the faint of heart, especially if it's done with a shark tooth.Interesting in that it makes the tattoo artist also something of a chronicler.And in line with that, most likely making the required beast for a chieftan some sort of shark, though I'm not sure if I'll make it a great white or something more custom.
>>30932853sounds like it would go well together with the light clothing mentioned here>>30926983Could be a real aesthetic there. maori tattoo's are pretty great looking. i can't think of better personally.
>>30932912The tattoos are pretty good, but the people aren't the best from the ones I've met while I lived over there for 10 years.
the problem with tattoos on the snake half is they shed skin they would probably be more into ceremonial painting. maybe even a familial pattern tradition. any tattoos would be on the human half. i would also think they would be into trophy collection. like fangs of their enemies knotted into necklaces and then upon death hung on a wall so that their offspring can know their heritage and history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_tubeI was thinking.....when it's raining...if those go down-hill....if you make them really smooth...it'd be like a water-slide that lamia kids use to have fun in.
>>30932939Right. I'm thinking that the tattoo's put at the base of the human torso like anon said here. >>30930036So I was thinking that they'd have tattoos about their ancestors along the back, more distant closer to the base of the spine. Don't know how far back it'd go, exactly. From one side, the mother's line, and from the other, the father's line. As it comes around to the front of the torso, the tattoo switches to describing the individual lamia. Their talents, accomplishments, culminating right around the navel, where I think it'd be cool to have a design relating to whatever creature they bested as part of their coming of age ceremony. So presumably the tattoo would be received at the end of that ceremony, as the final trial.
man this is cool we should do more alternate monster culture explorations. like what would tropical tengu culture look like, or tundra minotaurs.
>>30933038They happen semi-regularly, same with world-building threads but they usually get drowned by quests and deck/army list threads.
>>30925160Really interested in what you're doing here, I love fleshed-out monster cultures.Inspiration:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_iguana#Behavioural_ecologyThese buggers sun on the rocks until they are warm enough to go diving for food, then come out of the water again when they get too cold and repeat the process. Seems like it'd work for your guys too.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Oceanian_cuisineshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_of_Oceaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity_of_New_CaledoniaAn archipelago is gonna have a hell of a lot of different creatures. Consider how long it's been separate from the mainland. Basically forever? Go Darwin's Finches on this setting.Are they going to be ground-based? Sleep in the trees with hammocks? Primitive huts?Do they have any natural predators?
>>30925677Partially warmblooded in Gurps is easy I think because of the way cold-blooded interacts with temperature tolerance.Just give them cold-blooded -5pts disadvantage and then give them a level of temperature tolerance which will double the time they need to spend in the cold before they stiffen up.Though, if they are just NPC:s I think this is really unnecessary to stat out.
>>30933027Tattoos might work on the human portion, but snakes shed their skin. I've done studies where we mark them with paint and it just comes off anywhere from a couple days to a couple months later. Therefore I'd expect the aesthetic value of the scaly portion to be based on their health - lamias carefully grooming themselves and taking long, warm, fragrant baths to help their skin shed neatly and cleanly. Snake owners also give their pets baths to help stubborn sheds.
>>30925280Have them maybe gain some of their sustenance 'magically' from sunlight. So lots of sunbathing during the day, sluggish and inactive at night.
>>30925160One thing about ST in Gurps is that lifting strength actually applies to usages of strength where you are using slow steady pressure such as when you are choking someone. If you want you could reduce their normal strenght and instead give them Lifting ST to strangle people with.
>>30933072Alright, yeah. Makes sense for a cold-blooded creature.The place-spirits I mentioned before were actually conceived based on Animism, so yeah, this fits well. I think it's an interesting dichotomy that exists, having both the revering of spirits and the worship of an overall god by the same culture, since both exist in the setting.Ooh, lots of cool foods. Looks like burying stuff in a pile of hot rocks is a common way to cook foods in island culture, so they probably cook food like that a lot.And looks like sculpture's also common. Heh, maybe the volcano spirit demands giant busts of themself a la the Moai so that all who come to the island may know of their great beauty.Mmm. Gotta figure out more creatures. Got bull crabs, and maybe some form of large shark. Ideas of people welcome.Some fleshing out of architecture has been done. Basically primitive houses consisting of platforms lashed between trees, with firepits and a sort of roof, and maybe a cellar if they've dug one out.Haven't thought about anything land-based on the island. I'd presume they fulfill the slot of apex predator on land, though the water's a completely different story. Maybe I'm wrong about the land too, though?
>>30925160Would Lamias be venomous or constrictors?
>>30933155why not both maybe gender defined? females have venom and males constrict?
>>30933097>Just give them cold-blooded -5pts disadvantage and then give them a level of temperature tolerance which will double the time they need to spend in the cold before they stiffen up. Didn't think about that for temperature tolerance. Radical.>>30933132Oh, they're not just NPCs. Like I've noted, lamias might become traders or pirates. I'm even planning on playing one in the near future, probably.>>30933132Hmm, possible. I think between being partially coldblooded and the diversity of rich foods available on the island, they're probably plausible as they are, though I'll think about this point.>>30933141A valid point. I might raise it some. I think doing tail ST as something based off arm ST with HP added on works better in this case, though, because that way they can strike hard with the tail as well, while still having human-level arms without costing all the points. Might give them some additional lifting ST and lower the tail ST some, though. That way they can hit hard with the tail still, but full power comes when they're constricting.
>>30933151>Heh, maybe the volcano spirit demands giant busts of themself a la the Moai so that all who come to the island may know of their great beauty.10/10 would worship
>>30933155>>30933176I have lamias as being based on constrictors, anacondas in particular. Seems to work well with strength, climbing, and swimming. I'm not sure if that kind of sexual dimorphism can exist, though I suppose nature's crazy enough that it wouldn't surprise me.
>>30933203Another thing to think about is if they are live birthing or egg laying. Considering we have both possibilities in their genetics it might be something to consider because underground hatcheries would probably exist for eggs.
>>30933151Yes on the cuisine. I've actually had food cooked in the ground in a town in New Zealand that was pretty much on top of a volcanic area. Hot springs steaming everywhere, and sulfur crystals between the cobblestones in the street. Shit was unreal. Perhaps they could use that as a secondary source of heat (the sun being primary)?
>>30933285Rotorua? Place smells like shit but its pretty unreal. I lived down the ass-end of the country where it was nut-freezingly cold all the time. We did that down there with a 44 gallon drum and some logs.
>>30925385This would also lead to lots of vinyards. Tropical, brown skinned amazon lamias getting sloshed on wine and fish would be great.
>>30933230As a kneejerk I'd say live birth, because that's what happens with anacondas anyways, and the lamias are somewhat mammalian.>>30933285Yeah, cool. Geothermal energy. Got justification for the hot springs that got mentioned earlier.>>30933319Alright. I was wondering what kind of alcoholic beverage they would develop, as it seems that every kind of culture manages to make one somehow. Wine in ceramic jars seems as good as anything. Hush, lest you activate all the boners. Still got stuff to get done.
>>30933305Yep. Unfortunately it was during the winter, but we still visited an interesting geothermal park (Waiotapu I think.)
>>30933365>I was wondering what kind of alcoholic beverage they would developDepends on what grows there. Tropical fruits lead to tropical alcoholic beverages of which I know little about, grains give us beer and whiskey, sugar cane is rum, and grapes be wine.If they subsist off of some kinda magical fruit like was discussed earlier in the thread, they would orobably make some kinda booze out of that too. Maybe some kinda magical moonshine that lets their shamans and/or little snakelings who are coming of age go on crazy vision quests or something.
>>30933439Alright, something tropical could be cool. And I like the idea of a magical fruit, simply because I like including weird plants in my settings.So, what would the fruit look like, and what special properties would it have before and after fermentation. I'm inclined to go with something awesome and exotic on both fronts, simply because tropical fruit is typically awesome and exotic.
>>30932598They didn't play that significant a role in the conquest, they were just insult to injury.
>>30933543Alcohol is relatively rare in island cultures since there are no grains and the climate causes fruit juice to spoil at 80F rather than ferment at a nice 55F. I'd go magical on that, or have their drug of choice come from something else on the island (compounds produced by frogs or beetles, perhaps?) Some birds also use these natural chemicals as mite repellant (and reptiles can get mites too, trust me - they dig in between the scales and are very hard to remove).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anting_%28bird_activity%29
For some reason, I imagine the Lamia equivalent of running or sprinting would be them getting really low to the ground, slithering at high speeds, possibly dragging themselves along with their hands.
>>30934280What if they stored their liquor in watertight jugs, very very deep underwater.
>>30934414That's actually what I was thinking. I'm consolidating what's been decided thus far in one big block, which I'll post when I'm done, and we can go from there.
>>30934414How would they discover that method? Alcohol was discovered by mistake; beer, for example, was the result of a farmer discovering that one of his barrels of grain had become waterlogged and deciding he was going to do something with it anyway.I can't think of any reasonably likely way that one could incidentally discover that leaving a tightly sealed jug of particular fruit juices underwater at a certain depth for a certain amount of time resulted in booze. Having a watertight jug that can stand that pressure wouldn't be common, dropping one filled with fruit juice in deep water wouldn't be terribly common, and somehow fishing one up would certainly not be likely, never mind the odds of dropping it in the right place, landing at the right depth, and being found after it's been down long enough to become booze but not so long that it then moved on to vinegar.
>>30934529Well, we've discussed that they might store objects in underwater caves. Perhaps at one point they stored fruit juice, and came back to get it, only to find it fermented.
>>30925160FISHING!HERDING!STRANGE MONSTER EATING!no non-meat eating because I love varying race diets to include different staples and different off-limits foods!
OP here, consolidating what's been decided thus for the sake of recording, plus an easier reference for those just entering the thread. Feel free to bash at what I've written. I might have forgotten things, or did something horribly wrong.Lamia Template: 65 pointsAttributes: HP+10(Size -20%) [16], IQ-1 [-20], HT+1 [10], SM +2 [0] Advantages: Amphibious [10], Constriction Attack [15], Crushing Striker(Tail, Clumsy -2 to hit -40%) [3], Damage Resistance 3(Flexible -20%, Tail Only -20%, Can't Wear Armor -40%) [3], Doesn't Breathe (Oxygen Storage x25, -50%) [10], Flexibility(Double Jointed) [15], Nicitating Membrane 1 [1], Temperature Tolerance 1 [1], Tail ST+5 (Size, -20%) [12], Lifting ST+5 (Size, -20%) [12] Disadvantages: Cold-Blooded(65 degree comfort) [-10], Distinctive Features(Tattoo) [-1], Likes Warmth [-1], Congenial [-1], Low TL 2 [-10], No Legs(Slithers) [0]Physical description: All lamias appear as a humanoid upper body attached to the body of a massive snake, with a total length of 25-35 feet at adulthood. Their humanoid body is a deep tan with typically dark or red hair, and their snake tail can vary widely in color, from yellows to greens and browns, and even a few blues. They dress lightly in colorful clothing made of silk and their own skin. Lamias who have passed the rite of adulthood take care to prominently display their N'detatde (waist tattoo).
>>30934625Area and Structure: Lamia live on an island chain off the coast of Xin, near Ril-Risola(Minotaur island). The largest central island is home to a volcano, as well as much of the lamia population. The area around the volcano is covered in lush jungle and hot springs, eventually transforming to sandy beaches at the coastline. The coastline is dotted with massive granite heads of a vaguely humanoid shape. The lamias themselves live in communities built in and around the trees near the shore. Platforms of wood with leaf canopies hang over tamped dirt platforms with firepits and burrows, with trees forming the corner supports of the open, two-story huts.Community Organization: Lamia society is community-oriented. Common activities such as sunbathing, fishing, hunting and crafts are all usually done with others, and solitary time is limited. A chieftan leads the tribe, and each person in the tribe has an expected duty to fulfill, though mutual help with responsibilities is the norm. Celebrations, mourning, and day-to-day life are all done as a tribe.Food: The diet of a lamia is as varied and colorful as its surroundings. Large amounts of seafood are supplemented with tropical fruits, roots, and meat from land animals cooked in firepits. Alcohol exists in the form of sweet wines and liquors made from local fruits, fermented in sealed ceramic jars placed in cool underwater caves.
>>30934648Arts and crafts: Lamia create many kinds of pottery and other ceramics. Jars and urns to store food, fresh water, and funerary ashes are common, as well as other objects like ceramic spoons and instruments such as ocarinas and drums. Lamia indulge in body art in the form of paint as well as the N'detatde, and are fond of song and dance.Faith/Reverence: For day-to-day life, lamias revere the spirit of the volcano, and do their best to keep it happy with offerings of art, entertainment, and numerous festivals. The shaman of each village acts as a medicine man, priest, and liason with the volcano spirit. On a larger scale, lamias revere Bokrug, the deity of the ocean and the night, and believe that they will return to his domain of the Dark Sea in the afterlife. Special reverence is placed in warmth. Heat in the form of sunlight, fire, hotsprings, and the volcano is prominent in the average lamia's partially-coldblooded life, and indeed represents life to them. When a lamia dies, a pyre is built by the shaman of the tribe, to ensure the soul is warm enough to return to the Dark Sea.
>>30934665Holidays and Rituals: Most festivals include a bonfire on the beach or the slopes of the volcano, as homage to the warmth of life, and to amuse the volcano spirit. Dancing around the bonfire goes long into the night, surrounded by music and plentiful food. A festival might be thrown to celebrate birth, a good hunt, to honor the fallen, or just for fun. The coming of age ritual is also important in a lamia's life. Yearly, the new young adults of the lamia are sent out, each to hunt and bring back the mightiest beast they are able within three days (A future chief is expected to best a great white shark on their own). If they are successful, they will recieve their N'detatde, an intricate tattoo that curls around their waist, in a painful tattooing process accomplished with a shark tooth on a stick. Starting at the base of their spine, the tattoo first chronicles their family. Their mother's path from the left, and the father's from the right. When the tattoo curls around to the front of their abdomen, it transitions to detailing the individual lamia, their talents and accomplishments, culminating in a stylized design of the creature they bested for their ceremony at the base of the navel. The N'detatde is a source of great pride and honor for a lamia and its family.
>>30934681Weaponry/armor: Lamia prefer to work light, in a form of combat that's evolved alongside constant fishing and hunting. Common weapons are long knives, nets, and spears, supplementing the lamia's already impressive reach. When faced with a single target they feel they can overpower, a lamia will strike, grab, and constrict, while stabbing with their knife. Lamia don't wear much in the way of armor, relying on their dexterity, reach, and scales to get them by, though some heavy warriors will wear jerkins of treated skin or metal armor acquired through trade. The tailspike is a ceremonial lamia weapon, worn by the chieftans of the tribe. It represents power, and dates back to a legend where long ago lamia came to the island and wrestled it from the minotaurs, who fled so quickly to Ril-Risola that they dropped their horns, which the lamia then claimed. Whether this is true or not, the tailspike is a formidable, but difficult to use weapon, focusing all the strength of the lamia's tail to one impaling point.Trade: Trade is a more recent occurrence in lamia lifestyle, but one that grows quickly. Traders are fond of the varied spices and fruits available on the lamia's island, as well as their local crafts. It has gotten to the point where the more dubious traders have started creating counterfeits to sell(A genuine lamia chieftan's necklace, made of ferocious shark teeth! Only ten gold!). Some lamia take the opportunity to leave home and sail the sea as a trader, or even a pirate.
>>30934691And that's it for what I have so far. There's probably important stuff missing.
>>30934708OP I like your thread, but will take some hours to eat through it due to multitasking.But you keep being super.
>>30934625>Cold-Blooded(65 degree comfort)Pardon me as I'm not familiar with GURPS terminology, but does that mean that they're most comfortable at 65 degrees? Because that's sort of exactly the opposite of what cold-blooded means. A cold-blooded animal needs higher ambient temperatures to live, not lower.
>>30934756No, it means that they're comfortable ABOVE 65 degrees. If their temperature drops lower, they start getting sluggish and undextrous. Hotter temperatures are fine.
>>30934775Ah, ok, that makes sense.
>>30933226>I'm not sure if that kind of sexual dimorphism can existjust a slight size difference. females not quite as long while having snake bodies that are just as muscly while the human torso is feminine/slender. culturally....meh. not my thing to think about. whatever.
>>30934529>>30934573If nothing else, you could chalk up the idea to trade/foreigners. Lamia then starting a brand new trade in fruit derived drinks.
>>30934875I was more referring to the venomous/nonvenomous comment. Though, if these lamias are based on anacondas, I don't know if maybe the females have a tendency to be larger (as in anacondas), or smaller (as in humans). Maybe it balances out to them being pretty even in size. Dunno.>>30934929True. It's a very good possibility for...what do you call alcoholic drinks made with tropical fruits?
Lamia and mermaids are quite similar. They both rely heavily on shoreline fishing.Lamia and mermaids may even be related.Either way, they're probably doing business if they've come into contact with each other.
>>30934394that seems about right.Low to the ground high speed slithering, using their human torso as well.Whether their arms are tucked or pulling depends on the environment.
>>30934529>can't think of a way that would come aboutSimple, anon.One of their fruit-pot canoes gets tipped over.Most are recovered, but some sat at the bottom for quite a while before being found.
I'm fucking stealing stuff from this thread and none of you can stop me. Amazing material, these threads are what makes /tg/ worth it.Got me thinking that I might work Lamias into my setting as one of the Dragonspawn species. Dragonkin are super varied there and have humanoid species and completely snakelike species already so Lamia/Naga wouldn't be much of a stretch after that.What with someone mentioning Suisei no Gargantia, I started wondering if it's possible to make a larger, more ocean-based strand of lamias. They could grow fuckhueg if they didn't move on land much, like 90' or something, but how would they feed? I'm thinking probably magically sucking energy from sunlight to support eating and thus being big on sun worship. They' mostly just live by sunbathing on some rocks in the middle of the sea, then diving to hunt a sharks or whales. Seafarers would probably worship them as ocean demigods and adventurers or pirates would try to kill one every now and then as a carcass would be worth enormous amounts of money.
>>30935192>an adventurous lamia fisher dives too deep and meets an adventurous mermaid clam fisher who dived too shallow>cue simultaneous ''what the fuck are you''sIts kind of adorable to imagine.
>>30935228>how would they feed?They strangle whales.
>>30935253Continue imagining it, because it's a good thing to imagine.
>>30935253They dove to greedily, and too deep.You know what they awoke in the darkness of the Brocean.
>>30935254But can the whale population support it? They can't swallow whales whole and sit on a rock for two weeks digesting it due to the human part.
mermaids and lamia complement each other really well, honestly.Mermaids get land based workers, lamia get produce from deeper than they can dive to feed their MASSIVE BULK
>>30935431a single whale lasts 'em weeks.though they use more mundane methods of food storage than swallowing whole.
>>30935431Actually, maybe they don't swallow it whole but just strangle a whale, gorge on it for a day or two, then sit there for weeks sunbathing and letting the meat digest. This could work.
>>30935254>Strangling whalesMust be a microwhale I guess.
>>30935446Mermaids also get booze. Booze is probably pretty hard to come by in the ocean. Scylla/whatever you feel like calling octopus girls could also make for some interesting complements to lamia.
>>30935461The way I'm imagining it they'd live a super primitive life, with no need to do anything but sunbathe, hunt, eat and mate seeing how they're not threatened by nearly anything. They'd have no need of a dwelling and I have a hard time thinking how they'd preserve food.
>>30935510Well technically they just have to shove their tail in its blowhole and wait it out.
>>30935510A few working as a group could maybe strangle a big whale they could all live weeks off of?
>>30935543it might be a while unfortunately, whales are -real- good at waiting it out now that I think about it.we might have to re-think strangling to FIERCE SEA BATTLES, because strangle doesn't work on whales now that I remember they hold their breath like six hours.
>>30935543They'd have to be able to hold their breath longer than the whale in that case.
>>30935446Plus, metal tools. Assuming the lamia have metalworking, of course, but with all the bonfires it's not too much of a stretch to assume they've discovered smelting.
>>30935625Well, they might not have great metalworking themselves, but they can certainly acquire superior metal tools through trade.
>>30935543The whale could just submerge and suffocate the lamia before it runs out of air.
>>30935532If there's any sort of land borne night predators they might lounge in treetops and build high rises that jut out of the canopy for treetop sunbathing. Mostly I just love the idea of lamia spending their days getting drunk and sunbathed up in the trees, and because treehouse villages are like one of my favorite things next to floating islands.The mermaids should also have domesticated sharks, since sharks are basically just big old sea puppieshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Mbz1Caiq1Ys#t=110s>>30935574>>30935587>>30935691I actually thought the whale strangling in general was kind of dumb, I was just offering my thoughts on the only way it would be possible to cut off their air supply. Smarter would be they use their tails to wrap around their victim and give them some leverage for multiple stabbings.
>>30935714>mermaid shark pets>trained sharks>of all speciesHuh.
>>30935737They just want a good meal and a belly rub. Compared to dolphins, sharks are incredibly timid creatures, their biggest problem is that biting things is usually how they identify them. If they actually found humans tasty and went for more than one bite, there would be a lot less reported shark attacks and lot more reported deaths by shark attack.
>>30935714They have platforms lashed higher in trees above their firepits. I'm not sure how one would accomplish treetop construction on palm trees, but it's potentially intriguing.Taming sharks might conflict with the fact that murdering sharks is an important part of lamia culture, if they are to be friends.
>>30935793>treetop construction on palm treeseach is bent towards the middle, with rope in-between?Sort of like a suspension bridge in shape.
>>30935787>mermaids that identify things by biting them.Heh.
>>30935793Humans love dogs but also love to hunt wolves, it could be something like that. Lamias hunt the Great Whites alongside mermaids but the gentle little nurse sharks that frolic in the sandbars and reefs are off limits.>>30935812It could be changed to gentle, playful nibbles for mermaids. That would also mean mermaids have very poor eyesight and would need some sort of guide whenever they're out of water where their sense of smell isn't so keen.
>>30935737http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Mbz1Caiq1Ys#t=110s
Constriction based attacks aren't to strangle things, they are to crush them to death. These Lamia wouldn't need to worry about a whale wholding its breath since they are pulping the internal organs.
>>30926272>Scale colors and patterns could also be indicative of their rank/family.Well, it seems to me, that lamias could use brightly-coloured patterns and undulating movements to confuse fish and make them easier to catch.Subsequently, working-class or poor lamias need to have these markings to make their livelihood. Upper-caste lamias could have monocoloured/darker scales because they don't NEED bright colours to survive.
>>30936297do fish actually get dazzled like that?
>>30935087>what do you call alcoholic drinks made with tropical fruits?wine. apparently, you can call any fruit derived drink wine. not just grapes. cider. kvass.
>>30936482Check out cuttlefish and how they hunt.
OP here. Made a martial arts style for lamias fighting in close combat. Might make two more, one for spear/net fighting, and one for tailspike fighting. Those'll come later, though.Style: Lamia Close Combat: 5 pointsThis is the combat style favored by lamias against single opponents in close range. It features quick, overwhelming attacks, intended to incapacitate or kill the target as quickly as possible. Lamias typically hold back for a few rounds, Evaluating their target and before they close in with an All-out(determined) grapple attack against the enemy's torso or neck, quickly constricting and stabbing. Some masters were rumored to stun a target with smooth, swaying motions, before closing in and killing them before they can notice. Fighting underwater, Lamias will also grapple the opponent, dive deep, and dash their body against sharp rocks.Skills: Wrestling, Knife, BrawlingTechniques: Targeted Attack (Knife/Neck), Choke Hold, Ground Fighting(Wrestling), Combination(Constrict/Torso + Knife/Neck), Feint(Knife), Spinning Strike(Knife)Cinematic Skills: Hypnotic Hands, Power Blow, Pressure PointsCinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow, Springing Attack, Pressure Points Strike, PiledriverPerks: Cotton Stomach, Ground Guard, Power Grappling, Sure-Footed(Water)Optional Traits:Advantages: Tail ST, Lifting ST, Combat Reflexes, Enhanced DodgeDisadvantages: Bloodlust, Reputation(Monstrous killer)Skills: Acrobatics, Aquabatics, Breath Control, Swimming
>>30935228>I started wondering if it's possible to make a larger, more ocean-based strand of lamias.well funny thing. see this image. >>30926983an anon pointed out quite correctly that her tail is far too short for a lamia.however, for your more aquatic lamia species. a short powerful tail with a splayed tip would be very advantageous. snakes are not fast swimmers, a shorter more powerful tail to propel them through the water would make them fast. you would then get comparisons with mermaids.
>>30935714I'm imagining the giant lamias as more adapted to sea to the point that they would find it hard to climb a tree and even harder to find a tree that can support their enormous mass. They don't land on islands or mainland where there are predators they'd need to worry about when sunbathing but on small outcrops that mostly just support seabirds. They might cultivate a symbiotic relationship with some birds that would clean their scales of parasites and the like while they rest. They wouldn't be stupid but there really wouldn't be anything for them to worry about in life to the point that innovation is futile.Although, I do love the drunk treetop lounging idea. Maybe the mainland smaller lamias do that.
>>30936693I was just thinking that anacondas loaf in trees all the time and if these jungle-island lamias were based off them, then they would probably hang out in trees, too.Though I suppose there's no reason that an island big enough to have a sizeable jungle wouldn't also have enough room for both a coastal and treetop lamia society, with the coastals acting as a bit of a middleman between the junglers and the mermaids.Of course, that might also be bogging things down in too much extraneous details, so feel free to disregard it.
>>30936268That might require some strong lamias in the case of whales that can dive real deep. They can already handle crushingly high pressures.
>>30925160BUT! Can you FUCK 'em
>>30936868mmmmight be possible.I don't know the numbers on crushing strength of a snake that large VS whale crushing resistance.
>>30936967Thats why it would take groups of Lamia to crush a single whale.
>>30936997Would need to be a pretty darn small whale. Maybe an orca.
even a blue whale is only has 50 feet circumference, tail to tip it would only take 2-3 lamia to completely cover the entire thing. To actually damage it it would probably take about 10 Lamia to seriously threaten it in an apecriable amount of time.
So, OP again. I realize that I need to flesh out that volcano spirit more than I have. Need to decide things like name, appearance, specific demands, that kind of deal. In this setting, spirits even have the ability to make contracts with others and bestow them with some of their powers. What kind of powers might a lamia get from a pact with a volcano spirit?
>>30937268The power to light shit on fire, obviously. Pyromancy in general. If the volcano spirit has domain over volcanic soils as well, you could also get plant- and growth-oriented druidic powers.
>>30937522Alright, cool. I suppose that'd happen to the shaman of each village. Having the power over fire also means that the shaman can initiate the festival bonfires, and immolate the dead for the purposes of cremation. Holy fire batman.And they'll also have to be skilled at herbalism. In a setting full of magical herbs, I'd suppose that you could probably find some particularly potent ones on a tropical island. Maybe even fruits that explode. That'd be fun. Or other things I can't think of.
>>30937725Ambulatory fruits, that seek out the best patches of soil and then bury themselves. Predatory fruits, which follow other fruit around and then lay their seeds in their flesh. Sterile soldier fruit, defending seed-bearing fruit from predators and scavengers.
>>30937940Glorious. I really like the idea of fruit/plants that look for the best place to grow by walking around, then plant themselves down.Also, expanding on exploding fruit, the plant scatters its seeds by having its pod explode. Makes it dangerous to handle. If you manage to 'defuse' it, though, presumably either through pro herb skills or magic, the flesh around the seeds is highly nutritious. Hmm.
>>30937268>What kind of powers might a lamia get from a pact with a volcano spirit?mmm. I'm thinking energy storage ability. akin to how a volcano builds up and up before finally exploding. A spell that allows a lamia to store energy within itself, maybe akin to meditation. Which the lamia can then release for a burst of crazy physical strength. Would go well with the wrestling/brawling combat style of your lamia.
>>30937268>What kind of powers might a lamia get from a pact with a volcano spirit?S/he gets to be his/her people's Sun, keeping them warm and keeping the bonfire throughout the night. Like the mighty volcano, they are able to radiate heat and destroy as well as provide life and growth.On that note, maybe give them some healing/rejuvenation powers alongside the bog standard pyromancy and destruction, since volcanoes represent both ends of the spectrum
>>30938513>>30938610Both good ideas.So I suppose a volcano lamia mechanically might lose cold-blooded all together, and also stuff like healing magic, and power. Good stuff.
Giving this one bump, just in case any eyes want to look at it at make comments. I'd especially appreciate it if people familiar with GURPS'd let me know what they thought about the martial arts style here. >>30936654
>>30937268Sex.
>>30935253swimming up to the shallows, to get a scale-to-scale hug from your lamia gf. feeling the coils brush your tailfin.I'll stop now, this isn't the thread for this kind of thing.
>>30943558I guess she was fishin for more than one kind of clam
>>30925160You know, you're gonna have a player who doesn't know what a lamia was, and when that happens, you'd better damn well think of a way to describe it without sounding all "magical realm".
>>30945053>You know, you're gonna have a player who doesn't know what a lamia was, and when that happens, you'd better damn well think of a way to describe it without sounding all "magical realm".Well, I've got the physical description up here. >>30934625I don't know if it sounds magical realmy, but I suppose it might. Suggestions if you think so?
>>30945053"Like Medusa, but without the snake hair and petrifying gaze." Doesn't seem that hard.
>>30945241Few people think of "snake below the waist" when they think of Medusa.
>>30945263Really? Most of the depictions I've seen had the lower half as a serpent. Odd. Alright, they're like mermaids, then. But they live on land and their lower halves are snakes, not fish.
>>30938082>Also, expanding on exploding fruit, the plant scatters its seeds by having its pod explodeThis exists, you know.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hura_crepitans
>>30945398Oh nature, you never fail to simultaneously grab me with wonderment and horror. That's pretty cool. And it even has uses besides being explodey. Have those things ever hurt people?
>>30945398God damn, it even looks evil.
I really enjoyed this
>>30926149>>30926114Can have them worship two divinities - the moon as bringing the bounties of fish and the volcano as bringing the bounty of the land. They could even associate their cycling temperature with them - active during day's warmth being dedicated to a volcano and seeing sleep during cold night as communing with the moon.Cremation would be like volcano god sending them off to the final rest at the moon god.
Oh god I started following this thread this morning at work from my phone and spent every free minute I had reading through and screencapping all the awesome ideas you guys have been coming up with. I'm so happy it's still alive. I fucking LOVE this kind of world building and I love you all for doing it
>>30932995Or have them connected to a lake up the mountain. Not fully submerged, but just at the shore level (i.e. the tube was created long ago and then an earthquake moved shit around to pull it up), so there is a constant small stream going down them.
>>30938082If you can defuse one, you could also put the fuse back on. That opens up the possibility for weaponized plants.
>>30950924Eh, unlikely. Defusing would mean preventing chemical reactions from going off and it's much harder to restart them than to stop them.
>>30951375Not necessarily. It could be something like taking a clamshell and stabbing it into the fruit at *just* the right spot to separate the "primer" from the rest of the fruit. Then you throw it, it bounces, the shell pops out and kablooie. Definitely not a risk you would take without a lot of foreknowledge, kind of like knowing which mushrooms are edible. And it's not like they would stack a bunch of these in an armoury somewhere, it is a fruit after all.There is all sorts of stuff you can do with plants. A 20 foot tall 20 foot wide fence made entirely of thorny rose vines makes a great wall. But since this is the jungle we have more exotic stuff to play with. You could do something like make a spidersilk tripwire and hook it up to a pitcher plant full of caustic acid.Or giant venus flytraps.
Oh hey, we're still alive. So, I figured it might be important to figure out the size and makeup of the average tribe, with roles. The ones I can think of right now are>chieftain>shaman>warriors (several)What else? Is pottery s difficult enough to be a dedicated role? Perhaps someone has to watch all the children, or maybe the Collen follow their parents.
>>30951936Except the fruit doesn't have a "primer", it's just one blob of volatile organic compounds.
>>30952884>CollenBluh, children. Typo on my phone.
>>30952891Would be cool if someone took that and engineered them into Stage Trees from the Niven verse. Being able to grow solid fuel rockets would be handy, even if they weren't powerful enough to get a ship into space.
>>30952884Responding to myself, but whatever. A few more that I thought of.>fisherman>gatherer (for the spices and such)>brewmaster if they' making enough alcohol to trade.Lamian brewmaster sounds fun to play, not gonna lie.
>>30952891It's a fruit, not a grenade. It would be fairly pointless from the tree's perspective to make fruit so volatile a stiff breeze would make them burst. The whole point is to spread seeds around to propagate the tree, so it's only going to detonate the fruit if the time is right and the seeds are ready. So with a little know how it should be possible to trick a fruit into thinking the time is right. Or picking a fruit that's about to blow and delaying that reaction until it is where you want it.Or why not both? Maybe there really ARE grenade fruits on the same tree. Seedless fruits that look the same as the others and are even more delicious, IF you manage to pick one. This would be an example of those sterile soldier fruits someone mentioned earlier.
>>30953072>It would be fairly pointless from the tree's perspective to make fruit so volatile a stiff breeze would make them burstJust the opposite, actually, the longer they sit on the branch the longer the compounds have to decay. The compounds simply do not reach the right balance to explode until the fruit is ripe, because the production of those compounds are part of the ripening process. As soon as the fruit is ready to grow, it's ready to blow at the earliest opportunity.Also if we're talking about the real-world tree, the fruit do in fact tend to explode before they're ready if disturbed. That's what all the spines on the tree are for; keeping animals away from the fruit until they fall off on their own and detonate when they hit the ground.
How would caltrops effect lamias/nagas/snakelegs in general?
>>30925459It'd be goddamn near impossible to choke a whale to death. They can hold their breath a long damn time, and their sheer size and biology makes cutting off the blood supply nearly impossible.Just have them stab the damn great fishies.
>>30953187Well, since a lamia's snake portion is scaled up, its scales are thicker. Also, the tail doesn't step down, it sweeps side to side. So I assume they'd brush them away without harm to themselves.
>>30952884If they are a small island nation it's very likely that every member of the tribe will fulfil several rolls.The major ones would be the hunters and the gatherers though. Some spends their working day hunting, some gather. Other work such as rudimentary crafting is done during resting hours.All individuals (usually the men at certain agespans) acts as the "warriors". The tribe might an official chieftain or they have "slightly more influential individuals who usually represents the tribe outwards". The might have a judicial system, but more likely justice is done ad hoc by counselling.Old individuals get the "easy" jobs like watching the kids, taking care of the sick and such.
>>30953255Bluuuuh.How about Dire War Mongooses?
>>30953288Depends on if they can get the first strike in to squeeze them to death. In any case, fortunately dire war mongooses aren't a natural island predator.
>>30953280Alright. Cool. I still like the idea of a shaman as a dedicated role, especially in a setting with such flagrantly supernatural forces. Not quite sure about leadership, but I might say chieftain simply for the sake of simplicity. It's harder for me to wrap my head around the other one.
>>30953123Hmm, we may have to deviate from the real world fruit because that one is only two inches wide, and if it's so volatile it would be impossible to collect by hand without magic. That's a lot of work and danger to recover something so small. So either it's a very rare delicacy or the fruits are somewhat bigger, like mango sized. Of course that also makes them even more dangerous.>>30953187Well if metal isn't available the best caltrop you could make would be a stone d4. That wouldn't bother a snake too much because it wouldn't be sharp enough to hurt them given how much pressure they put on it.On the other hand, if you make much bigger cinderblock sized "tank traps" they would be reasonably effective because the Lamia couldn't simply push them aside and can't move over them.
>>30953405It's not impossible to collect, just impossible to "disarm and rearm." You can pick them, carve them, and hollow them out safely if you're careful. The name "sandbox tree" came from the practice of using the halved rinds of the fruit as pen sandboxes.
>>30953280>>30953383Eh, actually, thinking about it a little more, the second option also sounds viable. If we did that, though, who leads the tribe in combat, and who makes decisions when there are disputes?
>>30953475Having them detonate on command seems like something a shaman would have in her bag of tricks, and not something soldiers or gatherers would do on a regular basis.>>30953478In this kind of setting I doubt battles would be large or strategic enough to require any sort of commanding general. So the warleader would likely just be the best warrior. Or perhaps the one most experienced with the terrain the battle takes place on.
>>30953596Oh, sure, that certainly sounds like something a shaman would be able to do. I was talking about the bit with the clamshell in >>30951936
>>30953255Well actually, if you take their sweeping motion into account you could maybe make some sideways facing spears for them to stab themselves into. You would have to conceal them well, though.
>>30953763But why would you do that, anon? Thinking about it hurts my soul.
>>30953901Because if you don't think about the weaknesses and flaws you can exploit of the race you are homebrewing, you run the risk of making shitty mary sue faggotry, like those pangolin kobold things /tg/ made once upon a time.
>>30953763Even so, it become a question of which takes more energy; puncturing the scale, or moving the caltrop. You'd either have to make them very dense, very sharp, or braced/embedded in something. And if the latter, they aren't really caltrops anymore, are they?
>>30953948They're on a volcanic island, obsidian could be used.Though really, a better delaying tactic would likely be some way to tangle uo their tail in saying so you can hit their more vulnerable upper half.
>>30953641I guess it could still work if the chemicals inside were binary and only mixed together right before the fruit is ready. This would be a different fruit from the RL example. There could be a pocket of primer chemical separated from the seeds by a membrane. When the seeds are fully developed the pressure from the expanding seeds punches through the membrane, the chemicals mix and the fruit pops, sending the seeds flying everywhere.In order to harvest it safely you would need to take something long and sharp like a razor clam shell or a piece of reed and stick into the fruit between the membrane and the seeds. Essentially you're putting a *pin* into it to prevent the two parts from mixing. Since you are breaching the skin that also means you have to eat the fruit immediately.>>30954031I'm guessing defensive measures would include a mix of barbed wire analogues strung at chest height and sharpened obstacles on the ground as a sort of area denial. For such an agile race, restricting the movement and speed of your attackers would be quite important.Also I just learned that sea snakes can hold their breath for several hours. Sea snakes also have flat cross sections which allow them to swim with an undulating motion. Althrough regular round shaped snakes can also swim. Do you think Lamia divers would wear some sort of fin device like a human diver would wear flippers?
>>30954198For deep and difficult dives, it may be possible. As it stands, though, they're already quite adept swimmers. The main thing that comes to mind with such a flipper device is that it would be quite a bit of material to make, and I'm not sure what it'd be made of.
>lamia shaman casts Wind Walk
>>30954550what
>>30954562It's a flying snake.
>tell me what's wrong with the template http://pastebin.com/vDD82u3yIt's GURPs, for one thing.
>>30954585how
>>30954550>Looks like the Ol Quetzl Boys are at it again!
>>30954612Magic. Didn't you read the post?
>>30954612Their ribs are hinged and can be flattened out to give the snake enough surface area to glide effectively.
>>30954524Wood, vines, reeds, rattan. That sort of thing? Most of it would quickly wear out and or rot away in the climate. So I think they would only use these things for deep diving or long distance travel between islands. I guess it would kind of be the Lamia equivalent of a canoe, since they can't fit in a small boat, they just wear a fin and swim faster.
>>30954719Alright. That's pretty cool. So I guess in GURPS terms it'd probably just give them a level of Enhanced Move(Water) * 1.5, kinda like a bicycle.
A lamia isn't actually a person with a snake for their lower half. That's a naga. A lamia is basically a centaur but with a lion fora lower half instead of a horse.
>>30956465A naga isn't actually a person with a snake for their lower half. That's a yuan-ti. A naga is basically a serpent but with a human face fora head instead of a snake head.
>>30956465Christ, its one of those wyvern/dragon fags.
>>30955377Also I just thought of something. Maybe they can use seashells to cover the tailfin? Big wide ones like scallop shells would probably work, and they don't degrade in seawater.
