Most nurgah, besides those that have different features due to their breed class, have a human face with long, pointed ears that slope downward behind their heads instead of upward like most creatures. Their hair is most often pure white and their eyes have narrow reptilian pupils. Their bodies are covered with scales that come in many different colours, shades, and patterns. Long horizontal under scales begin under their chins and to the tip of their tails. From the waist down the nurgah have a long snake like body. The nurgah have elven proportions for the upper part of their bodies, though these are covered with scales instead of flesh. Their tongues are very long, and many are forked like that of a snake. Nurgah also have retractable viper like fangs set within their sharp teeth. Some changes are made to these features depending on their class.
Nurgah never stop growing. They shed like snakes and other reptiles. Only their snake half grows, becoming longer and longer with each shed. It is a sign of age to become quite long.
The four main posts of nurgah society are the Larne, Ravlt, Lasph, and Nyzet. These are not jobs in their society, but the type of nurgah they are. More often than not, though, the type of nurgah they are will contribute to their place in society.
Larne
These nurgah cannot wield magic. They are unable to control magic at all other then the innate nurgah abilities and the magic of crystals. Though they are unable to use magic, they are regarded higher than other nurgah breed classes because they are the cleverest, and the most dangerous. Their plots are legendary, and have brought much distress to other creatures and races. Nurgah Larne have spines on their bodies. These spines take on all different designs and are found on all different parts of the nurgah Larne. Some have spines that begin at the top of their shoulders, and travel to almost the end of the tail. Some have just fans on their arms, or a single line on the tail. Between these spines some nurgah Larne have a thin membrane.
Their scales are diamond shaped, offering solid armor. These scales offer protection from many magics, though the basic weaknesses to magics listed for this race still apply. Their scales are slightly raised, giving the Larne a rough feeling to the touch.
Ravlt
Ravlt nurgah have wings. Their snake bodies are very long and thin. Upon their elvish backs they sport a pair of very diabolical bat wings. These wings allow them to fly short distances, but are normally not large enough to support the awkward body of a nurgah for very long. Nurgah Ravlt can use these wings for fighting, as they are tipped with deadly claws, gliding or flying short distances, and to give their body uplift during a fight, allowing their tails to clear the ground and strike out at the opponent with their whip like tails. The older nurgah Ravlt cannot fly very well, but they have an interesting adaptation that allows them to glide easier. The Ravlt can collapse the rib bones of their snake halves, flattening themselves to increase surface area of their bodies and glide like a ribbon.
The nurgah Ravlt scales are very smooth to the touch, and have a strange wave shaped end. Ravlt have the weakest scales, unable to stop a blow from even a knife. These nurgah tend to wear some sort of hard leather over the tops of their snake halves.
Lasph
The Lasph nurgah are the most dragon like of the race. From the waist down their snake half is very thick and muscled. Their tail is not very long, but short and thick. The scales are sharp and can cut flesh like razors if they brush against those who are unprotected. The tip of the tail is very hard, and can be used as a club. Lasph nurgah are most often fighters, raiders, and soldiers of the chaotic society.
The Lasph nurgah head is not very human like as the rest of the race. They have a short, fat snout filled with sharp teeth and decorated with long canine teeth. They have all other features of the rest of their race.
Nyzet
The Nyzet nurgah has nothing strange about them. They have smooth, rounded scales over a proportionately long snake half, and smooth under scales. While Nyzet can hold any place in the nurgah society, as any other breed classes can, they do not have any special adaptation or decoration about their forms. They have the same elvish top half, and snake lower half. Their scales are not very hard, but offer common protection, like that of hard leather.
It is not unheard of for nurgah to break away from a city in small groups and form camps, or journey to the surface to cause chaos to the above.
Though the nurgah are chaotic and insane, they can easily join forces against a common enemy or for a common goal. These abilities make the nurgah terribly dangerous to others.
Nurgah are an underground dwelling race. They live within the caverns where only the begris and scergs have dared make their homes. Even the scergs despise the nurgah, and the two races always fight when they clash in the caverns. The begris fear the nurgah and often go far out of their way to avoid coming any where near the vipers territory.
Because the nurgah are very rarely seen upon the surface of Aztersil other races known nothing but stories of their brutality and insanity. The nurgah have no allies on the surface. If there is rumors of nurgah roaming the surface lands, teams of hunters will jump at the chance to make a name for themselves to fight and kill it. They are a much hated and feared race.
Children in the nurgah world are not typically looked after. Within each city of the nurgah there is a hatchery. Here, pregnant females lay their eggs then forget about the children. Those that hatch will eat the other hatchlings or unhatched eggs in order to survive. Once the hatchling nurgah is strong enough to leave the hatchery, they will do so of their own accord. This happens at no specific age or time, just when that particular nurgah hatchling is strong enough to leave.
The older nurgah will adopt these rogue children into families if they need members. The children will then be trained to fight and to survive. Nomadic nurgah that move in bands outside of their cities or even on the surface world will lay their eggs anywhere where instinct tells them is safe. These young nurgah live away from their society and tend to be more wild and savage than those that are raised in the cities.
Female nurgah are slimmer than the males, for all breed classes. They lay eggs, like all reptiles, and do not have breasts as females of other races do. They do not nurse their young, and hardly do anything at all to take care of them. Young nurgah are left to fend for themselves from birth, or hatch.
Like the scerg, the nurgah care little for others, and even others of their own kind. As far as the nurgah are concerned, there is only one of importance in their world, and that is themselves. They are extremely untrustworthy, even within their own families. Nurgah tend to delight in torture, drawing out death to its fullest extent. A nurgah of good personality or even one who follows a life that would include others is completely unheard of. While the scerg have society and inner workings, the nurgah is nothing but chaos. Nurgah are extremely unpredictable, while the scergs are much more predictable in their actions. Nurgah can act kind to others, make friends, and then destroy the other in any way they can when trust is found.
Nurgah are known for their insanity. Though they are very crafty, they are extremely unstable mentally. The vast amounts of knowledge a nurgah can consume (see abilities) creates a sense of instability with their mentality. This is most likely why their society is so disordered.
All nurgah priests wear an emblem around their necks. This emblem is shaped like a twisted viper, matching their god's position at the center of the crystal.
Nurgah vision is perfect in the darkness, as they are a cave dwelling breed. The light of the sun is blinding to them. They have a type of infrared vision that allows them to see heat in the underground darkness.
As stated before, nurgah are cannibalistic, and eat the flesh of other races. This is not only due to their taste, but to a very special ability all nurgah possess. When a nurgah eats the flesh of another, he learns a percentage of what the other once knew. This can be fighting styles, information, locations, anything. Very powerful nurgah take this ability into a new level, feeding upon their generals who have fed upon countless enemies to become unstoppable warlords. The ability is limited slightly by portions and percentages. A nurgah cannot simply eat a finger and know everything the other once knew. The percentage of the body eaten matches the percentage of the information learned. If the nurgah eats 10% of the body, it learns 10% of the information. The nurgah does not choose what information it gains. If it ate an arm, it might learn nothing more than the childhood memories of the eaten. 100% of the body would be everything but bones and undesirable, indigestible parts.
This ability only works with creatures that are intelligent, which is mainly why the nurgah eat other races instead of just animals. The ability does not work for unintelligent animals due to the fact that most of their knowledge and actions come from instinct instead of real knowledge.
All nurgah have a set of retractable, viper like fangs. Poison sacks attached to these fangs tip these fangs with a paralyzing poison. When a nurgah sinks these fangs into flesh, the bitten will, in a matter of thirty seconds, find themselves unable to move. The nurgah will normally choose to feast upon their prey, still alive, while they are in this state. The poison will affect a normal creature for about five minutes.
Like snakes, nurgah can easily climb the stone walls of their homes. They live upon the ceiling and the floor of the caverns. They often travel upon the ceiling of tunnels and drop silently down upon their prey before they are known.
They often use twin swords or poison tipped arrows of their own design to take down their enemies. A deadly mix between their skills as fighters and their natural abilities make the nurgah one of the most powerful races in the world.
The nurgah capital city. This place is deep in the pits of the underground. It is a place of evil, hatred, and madness. No other can step foot here but for the nurgah themselves and the few slaves that they take. The city spreads into five different caverns, with many lava rivers twisting and winding through this city, keeping the temperature here very warm. These caverns are arranged so the four smallest caverns form a square around the center, largest cavern. The buildings are arranged into something of a beehive, with many curving tunnels. The nurgah have made their homes inside of the stalagmites and stalactites of these caverns. At the center cavern, a massive red crystal pulsates with an eerie red light. This crystal is the nurgah god, and is found within a massive stalagmite at the center of the cavern. Only priests are allowed into this building. Within the city of Ancyran there exists only chaos and corruption among the nurgah.
When a nurgah lives to near its death it is revered highly by other nurgah. Upon the aged nurgah's deathbed, it is custom for all nurgah close to him to stay with him until the last breath. Before the last breath is made, a feeding frenzy begins. The nurgah invited to the death feed upon the flesh of the ancient nurgah to gain portions of his knowledge.
0-12years avg 6ft from nose to tail
13-100 years avg 12ft from nose to tail
101-200years avg 28ft from nose to tail
201-300years avg 46ft from nose to tail
301-400years avg 62ft from nose to tail
401-500years avg 78ft from nose to tail
501-600years avg 90ft from nose to tail
601-death avg 116ft from nose to tail
Lasph have been known to have a very common mutation of four arms. Those that do have four arms are regarded highly among the other Lasph because it allows them an odd ability. Lasph with four arms can stand on their four arms like a four legged animal, curling their snake half over their backs like a scorpion.