Shark Guard (Upgrade : Wanizame)

In the year 512 YSD, the Wizards of the Seven Cities created the Beastmen as guards, servants... and playthings.

Perhaps one of the most bizarre experiments of a particularly imaginative wizard was to create a hybrid between man and shark, a breed which the wizard hoped would make unsurpassed naval troops.

The members of the Wizard Council were not convinced and decided to trade the military use of the Sharkmen for a political one: they offered the creatures as a gift to the Naga lords.

The Naga welcomed the Sharkmen as equals rather than slaves, and offering them honorable positions as guards of their underwater palaces. In return, the Shark Guards follow their masters with unyielding pride and loyalty.

Shark Guard – Wanizame abilities

• Ferocious Wound (Basic & Upgrade): "Use your chopsticks! You're a true Naga, not a Wanizame!" This common expression in the Lotus kingdom, given by parents to their children as they learn table manners, refers to the way Shark Guards attack their enemies in the most uncivilized of manners. Not only are the wounds inflicted difficult to staunch, but also they often cripple their targets, reducing their capacity to move.
• Blood Frenzy (Upgrade): "You think he's ugly, now? Wait 'til the blood starts spilling." Anyone who has ever fought and survived a battle with Wanizame remembers their Blood Frenzy. Their first attacks are ferocious, but once they've caught the whiff of blood, they become possessed with a hunger to finish off their prey.

Coral Priestess (Upgrade : Pearl Priestess)

Coral Priestesses are healers and diplomats within Naga society. They come from the Coral Nagas, the smallest of the three Naga species who dwell in the lagoons and on the shores of the Jade Sea islands. Their scales are bright and multi-colored; their faces are almost human.

One of the most unique features of the Coral Nagas is the fact their hair is made of living snakes. The snakes are usually asleep and arranged in an elaborate topknot, but a strong and unexpected emotion or danger can wake them up.

Coral Priestess – Pearl Priestess abilities

• Waves of Renewal (Basic & Upgrade): "May the Waters of Shalassa renew your body and spirit." Countless Naga have heard this prayer of the Pearl and Coral Priestesses in the most heated moments of battle. It bathes them in a powerful aura that heals their wounds, removes any negative thoughts, and dispels the effects of enemy magic.
• Eyes of the Medusa (Upgrade): "It was like the fire inside me had been drowned in a bucket of chilled ale." This report, from a Dwarf pirate to his captain after a skirmish with a Pearl Priestess, illustrates well the effects of the Naga's mesmerizing power. It dulls the minds of their enemies, making them much slower to react.

Kappa (Upgrade : Kappa Shoya)

Often jokingly described as the offspring of a toad and a turtle, Kappas are in truth minor Water Spirits linked to the rivers and lakes, bound to a material shape by their alliance with the Naga priesthood.

Travellers from other lands often make fun of the Kappa’s appearance and demeanour, but the Naga know better and never underestimate the martial talents of these strange creatures.

Kappa – Kappa Shoya abilities

• Leap (Basic): "Jumps like Jaguar. Fights like demon." Orc Warriors admire the Kappa for the challenge it gives them during a battle, as it leaps from an amazing distance to deliver a devastating attack. Because the Kappa is a minor spirit enemies often underestimate its intelligence, but it knows when and where to leap in order to gain the maximum benefit of surprise. The longer the pounce, the more destructive its landing.
• Splashing Leap (Upgrade): "Those blasted Shoyas have sent more of my men to the grave than the swords of their Naga masters!" Baron Gunnar, leader of the first imperial expedition to Hashima, shouted those words to his captains after his humiliating defeat against the Naga. When the Kappa Shoya lands from one of its Mighty Leaps, it splashes a toxic substance that is said to burn a man to his very soul.

Spring Spirit (Upgrade : Mizu-Kami)

Spring Spirits are major Water Spirits linked to the purest waters. As such, they are found in the springs and waterfalls that are close to Water Dragon veins or nexuses.

Often summoned by the Naga priesthood to participate in one of their rites of cleansing, they also guard Naga warriors on the field of battle by melding with these allies and providing them with spiritual and magical protection.

Spring Spirit – Mizu-Kami abilities

• Spirit Link (Basic): "They pass it on to a living creature through spiritual linking... We must duplicate it!"

  The Wizards of the Seven Cities were fascinated by the Spring Spirits who accompanied Naga ambassadors. In particular, it was their ability to bond with an ally and share any magical blessing from which one or the other benefited.

  The Wizards, who sought to master this power for themselves, were exasperated by repeated failures. It seems that their lack of faith in Shalassa was the major impediment. In fact, the Spring Spirits simply meld a part of their substance with their living allies, making the both of them one in the Spirit World.

• Pain Reflection (Basic & Upgrade): “Burn a tree and you burn part of yourself. Take a life and you take a part of your own. Kill a Spring Spirit and you kill a part of your soul."

  The Elves of Irrolan hold Spring Spirits in great esteem. Though they recognize them as creatures of Shalassa, they symbolize one of the greatest teachings of Sylanna, the Dragon-goddess of Earth: harmony.

  Spring Spirits can link with their allies for beneficial purposes, but they can also link with their enemies to reflect the pain that is inflicted to them.

• Lifeguard Membrane (Upgrade): "Pound the water out of him first… and then maybe he'll listen."

  This popular expression, common throughout Ashan, means that a cuff on the side of the head is sometimes the best way to get the attention of someone who is ignoring your side of an argument.

  Its origin comes from the various Water Spirits, whose liquid material shape greatly reduces all physical and magical damage directed toward them.

Snow Maiden (Upgrade: Yuki-Onna)

Snow Maidens are major Water Spirits linked to the frozen aspect of Water (ice and snow). They have lived with the Naga for centuries in harmony, isolated in their mountain retreats.

Snow Maiden – Yuki-Onna abilities

• Frozen Touch(Basic): "Shalassa has three moods: one that scalds, one that cleanses, and one that chills you to the bone."

  All Nagas learn this lesson at a very young age.

  Though water can be used as a weapon in all three of its states, the Frozen Touch of the Snow Maiden is most effective when one strives to paralyze clusters of opposing troops on a battlefield.

• Frozen Caress (Upgrade): The effects of the Frozen Caress of the Yuki-Onna were immortalized in a play about a daimyo who fell in love with one. To counter the maiden's tremendous powers of cold that froze him nearly to death every time he kissed her, the daimyo went on a long quest to find a necklace of eternally burning pearls. He wore the jewels around his neck every time he was near the Maiden, and when that still was not enough to maintain his hardiness, he had them fashioned into a belt.
• Ice Shards (Upgrade): "Snow can be a warming blanket, but ice is always a deadly bed."

  The Duchies of the Wolf and Griffin share the latter saying, as both of them are familiar with the dangers winter brings to their lands. The Yuki-Onna can call upon these powers to create daggers of ice that will line the soil, in wait for those foolish enough to tread the treacherous zone.

Kenshi (Upgrade: Kensei)

These honorable and powerful warriors, part of the Deep Nagas (the largest of the three Naga species), are distinguished by their dark scales and faces that are more reptilian than human. They reside in underwater cities at the bottom of the Jade Ocean.

Kenshi – kensei abilities

• Challenge(Basic & Upgrade): "It was as if time stood still... and there was only him and me in a cloud of slashing steel and a mist of invigorating blood."This entry in the diary of the pirate queen Tawni Solace tells of a fierce battle with Nagas at sea. It is the first record she is the first to speak of the challenge of the Kenshis. Once one of these valiant warriors crosses swords with a chosen enemy, it is difficult to attack anyone else but him.
• Unlimited Retaliation (Basic & Upgrade): "As the ripples subside, the water returns".

  Fighting a Naga Kenshi is like throwing a stone into a lake. Their martial art is inspired by the movement and flow of water, that will always return to the place it has been pushed away from. It is thus impossible to attack a Kenshi without receiving a blow in return.

• Four Waves(Upgrade): "High tide, low tide and the waves of blood between. The poet kills with his brush, the Kensei writes with his sword."

  These lines from the rebel daimyo Yamana were reportedly sent to the Shogun of the Imperial Empress, as he was about to engage his battalion of Kenseis. They attest to the respect Yamana attributed to the celebrated Four Waves, the combat style mastered by these elite warriors. Yamana surrendered without a fight and was allowed to kill himself through the honorable "Drowning Kiss" ritual.

Kirin (Upgrade: Sacred Kirin)

A powerful Water Spirit linked to the celestial waters in all their aspects (rain, hail, clouds, fog, mist…), the Kirin is known in the Naga culture as the bringer of wisdom and chooser of lords.

It is said that a warlord who brings a Kirin to battle is blessed by Shalassa and the whole army benefits from the spirit's heavenly aura.

It is also said that one who rides the Kirin may travel faster than the wind, but at the cost of his own life.

Kirin – Sacred Kirin abilities

• Water Flows Freely  (Basic & Upgrade): "The Kirin is born of water, and like the rain, cannot be harnessed."

  In an ancient Naga bestiary, discovered by the Necromancer Sveltana during her legendary journey across the Jade Ocean, the painting that accompanied these words showed a magnificent Kirin moving with determination through a forest of fierce warriors.

  On the battlefield, she later discovered that the Kirin's legendary powers were more than a fable, as even the most powerful magic could not hinder the spirit's swift and graceful movements

• Trail of Mist (Basic): The Kirin leaves a misty magical trail behind it wherever it walks that is thick enough, it is joked, to give even an Orc a proper bath. But on the battlefield very few find it a laughing matter. Though the mist never lingers long, the enemy armies always waste precious time groping their way through.
• Hailstorm Aura (Upgrade): "Where it walks, the water of the sky falls in thundering acclaim to its purity."

  The Eternal Empress is said to sleep in a bed decorated with silk sheets, embroidered with images of the terrible Hailstorm Aura of the Sacred Kirins.

  Though the Empress slumbers in perfect warmth, those who have battled against these powerful spirits speak only of the tremendous cold they felt when the storm it summons hit them.