Ryslig's Expanded Monster Guide
Nov. 6th, 2022 01:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waitingforplayer2The Expanded Guide is edited by Chiaki Nanami.
The Expanded Guide begins with a condensed & re-edited version of Spengler's Guide, written several years prior. This contains broad knowledge of the 23 monster types at the time, and largely features the information covered in Ryslig's bestiary.
The new content in the Guide consists entirely of individual monster testomonials.
Submissions to the Guide can be made by anyone at any time, in a drop-off box at the Insert Coin arcade. The form below can be used as a template for any monsters looking for inspiration or structure for their entries. Nanami copies out the entries longhand, and stores the information in several locations, so that the information is never lost.
A copy of the current manuscript may be requested for casual perusal at any time.
As of now, the Expanded Guide has not yet been officially published on the peninsula.
MONSTER ENTRY SUBMISSION TEMPLATE
The Expanded Guide begins with a condensed & re-edited version of Spengler's Guide, written several years prior. This contains broad knowledge of the 23 monster types at the time, and largely features the information covered in Ryslig's bestiary.
The new content in the Guide consists entirely of individual monster testomonials.
Submissions to the Guide can be made by anyone at any time, in a drop-off box at the Insert Coin arcade. The form below can be used as a template for any monsters looking for inspiration or structure for their entries. Nanami copies out the entries longhand, and stores the information in several locations, so that the information is never lost.
A copy of the current manuscript may be requested for casual perusal at any time.
As of now, the Expanded Guide has not yet been officially published on the peninsula.
NAGA
Date: 2022-11-06 06:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-11 08:06 pm (UTC)Most everything. I'm stronger than I used to be, and faster, and much more flexible. I can see better than most folks because I see with my tongue, so I get heat readouts on everything around me. I'm height-adjustable so if I need to reach things high up or see over crowds it's no trouble.
What do you dislike about being this monster?
Being a snake in this climate can get frustrating when winter rolls around. I usually tuck heat packs and hot water bottles in the inside pockets of my coats to keep myself from sleeping all day or, God forbid, hibernating. Shedding is no fun either, though it got easier with time and practice. Warm water really helps.
And it took me a real long time to figure out how to dance with no legs.
What is something unique to you about being this monster?
I'm not sure if there's anything I've got that other snakes don't have. Maybe my horrible vestigial toes? When my scales came in my legs melted together but the pinkie toes stayed down at the end of my body. Apparently this is a thing some snakes have, though they get claws like when they used to be lizards which I think is marginally less awful.
What types of creatures or beings influenced your monster form?
Snakes. Possibly a specific type of snake, but I'm no snake expert and I couldn't tell you. I know there's rattler in me somewhere given I have a rattle and venom, and whatever the other part is has stripes.
What is it like to feed as this monster?
Straightforward. Nothing surprising if you know anything about how snakes eat. I need meat and I need at least a grown human's worth of it every month, though that'd be if I was just barely scraping by on keeping myself fed. I have to eat them whole and I have to eat them live, though if you wiggled a dead body at me it'd be enough to trick the snake brain into not knowing the difference. The rattle makes it more humane than it might be otherwise. I can make them think they're relaxing on a beach drinking a smoothie and happy as a clam. A good portion of my food comes from folks in hospital who know they're not ever getting out and want to go comfortably, and the rest comes from people who are stupid enough to attack a thirty foot long man-eating snake. I figure if they tangle with the bull they must know they're risking getting the horns.
One thing nobody tells you is that if you eat a person whole you're probably not going to be able to digest their clothes. You'll be coughing those back up in half an hour or so and it's not pleasant.
From what I've heard there's another way some snakes feed that has to do with making meat smoothies out of people rather than eating them whole, but I don't do that and honestly it sounds much worse out of the two options.
What are some notable physical features you have as this monster, and what do you like or dislike about them?
The snake body's the obvious one. About thirty feet of it from nose to rattle, which is apparently on the longer end. I can be my own chair and all but it does make getting through doorways in a timely manner difficult. I've got inch-long claws that I can't retract and that grow back real fast if I try to file them down, so I've just learned to work with them. Scales are a given and I've already talked about shedding, but it's worth saying I've also got scales over my eyes and that means I don't blink unless I do it on purpose. I've found some people find that off-putting, same as the fact that I look like I don't breathe because everyone's looking at where my human lungs would be but my lungs are about six feet long and down in the snake body. My jawbone's split, too, so when I yawn my face looks like a real nightmare. The beard helps cover it a little but I try not to do it around people who are newer or more faint of heart.
What are some notable psychological changes you have as this monster, and what do you like or dislike about them?
The strangest was the urge to hide in little dark corners. For a while at the start I was shoving myself partways into cabinets or under chairs. Now I have a box at home I built just for the purpose. I also take more naps, generally at least one in the middle of the day if I can get it, under one of my heat lamps. I also get real irritable whenever it's time to shed; I can usually tell it's coming up because I'll start to be in a foul mood for no good reason.
Would you become this monster again?
Yes. I've been plenty of others but I'll always come back to snake. That's what I'm meant to be.
Would you become this monster for good?
That's the plan at present.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-17 06:46 pm (UTC)It has its uses, I suppose. If I flick out my tongue, it helps me to see heat signatures, so finding people in the dark is easy even without enhanced night vision. Being able to balance myself on most of my tail is useful for reaching the higher shelves.
What do you dislike about being this monster?
Winter is awful. Do not recommend trying this monster in the winter months. Cold makes me sluggish and tired, and considering Nagas don't have legs, we can't exactly remove ourselves from a cold surface like those with feet can. Honestly, I've asked Mana to change me to something else this winter so I don't have to deal with it again. If not for that I would likely bury myself in a warm blanket pile for a few months, and that wouldn't do me any favors. Also, shedding is terrible. It's itchy and I get particularly irritable and half-blind in the process. Soaking in the tub is a good way to help, but I also have to fit fifteen feet of myself in a tub, and that isn't an easy feat. Also, I'm unable to look in mirrors without them breaking, which is incredibly inconvenient.
What is something unique to you about being this monster?
I don't know too many other Nagas, so I'm not particularly sure. Of the ones I know, I haven't met anyone with purple scales, so I guess that counts.
What types of creatures or beings influenced your monster form?
Snakes, though Nagas here are clearly heavily based on the Nagas of Hindu and southeast Asian folklore. My fog form seems to be based on the Noise form of my former Conductor, from my best guess and from what I've been told.
What is it like to feed as this monster?
Unless I'm in my Fog form, I'm unable to unhinge my jaw to swallow a body in its entirety, so the meat has to be cut into chunks instead. Thankfully, I have no gag reflex and my throat seems particularly flexible, so I can even go so far as swallowing whole or mostly-whole organs. Theoretically, I could simply blend the meat, but why would I want to do that?
What are some notable physical features you have as this monster, and what do you like or dislike about them?
I'd say the long body is a trademark, considering the other Nagas I've met are in a similar boat. It's easy enough to coil up and be somewhat out of the way, but otherwise you take up a lot of real estate. Sidewinding does at least help me to get from point A to point B a bit more quickly. Not that I'm not fairly quick normally, of course, but dragging that much tail around can be a bit cumbersome.
What are some notable psychological changes you have as this monster, and what do you like or dislike about them?
I've noticed that when my hunting instincts are considerably high, my body reflexively and rather violently coils around my prey. It helps with keeping them still, but it's taken some time to get used to. I do also enjoy hiding out in warm, dark places, and my travel form comes in very convenient for that. If I so choose, I can simply burrow into the pile of warm blankets that serves as my bed.
Would you become this monster again?
I'll have to eventually.
Would you become this monster for good?
It's not my preference, but it will do until I can change to something else permanently.