Naga

The Naga are an ancient, evil race of serpent-headed reptilian humanoids who rule the Yallock forest. They serve the snake goddess Tiamat, are steeped in black magic, scorn all warm-blooded beings as lesser creatures, and can speak with and sway every kind of reptile. Legends abound about them and their dreaded rulers, the half-humanoid, half-serpent Nagaraja, but nearly all real knowledge comes from the Zephyr.

The two peoples are mortal enemies. The Naga lay traps for Zephyr in the treetops and cast nets to catch them as they land, and the Zephyr attack Naga on sight. Zephyr who escaped captivity describe their captors as sinister and bestial, drinking mammal blood from hammered gold cups. Prisoners are beaten, tortured and caged in bamboo until they are sacrificed to Tiamat.

Captured Naga goods impressed Melkurion's party. Even common warriors carry finely made curved daggers decked with gold, often with serpent-head pommels and sometimes rubies or other gems for eyes, and the Zephyr also showed jeweled pendants, rings and armbands that would sell well in any civilized land. A Naga wizard's silk robes and headdress, sized for a taller-than-average man, closely matched the costume of the priests of Qaddan's infamous snake sect. Melkurion also mentions Naga riding wyverns, without saying whether this is common or, as others claim, limited to certain elite warrior bands.