Mucosa (Oriental ratsnake) (Nalla Phetigom)

Nalla has the coloration of a Naja and is one of the guild leaders at the guild she calls 'the guild of stories'. She is a stickler for the truth and will instantly distrust anyone who lies to her and it will be incredibly hard for her to regain their trust. She has a disdain for sarcasm as she sees it as jokes wrapped in lies. She is not very good at staying organized and is often surrounded by messes of her own making. She also despises the cold and any time she travels to snowy locations she bundles up as much as she can.

Nalla's backstory is still in development as she is a main, recurring NPC

As a young Serpentes Nalla had loving Indian Rat Snake parents. She to was born as one, however, when she was on a trip with her family they had been turned away from an event that she had wanted to see due to them not being in the High class. As the rest of her family accepted this and turned to leave, she decided to slip away from them to see if she could convince the Animalian to let her in. She lied to them and stated that she wasn't a Rat Snake, no she was a Naja and if they turned her away they were be making a foolish mistake. Believing her lie they let her into the attraction.

Little did she know this lie would seal her fate. As she looked around the place she wondered if she could get her family in the same way she had, however before she could think too much about it she quickly found someone grabbing at her and clamping her mouth shut as they pulled her away from the crowd. She tried to struggle out of the grasp but was unable to and before she knew it she had passed out.

When she woke back up she was locked up somewhere dark and cold and could hear other Animalian shouting in anger about something. It wouldn't be till much later in her life that she would realize that they had been talking about her. These kidnappers were upset because they had stolen her away because they had thought she was a Naja and wanted to milk the venom out of her. But as she was not one they were angry. Not wanting to waste the work that went into kidnapping her they decided that they would still find a way to use her.

As her colors already looked similar enough to that of a Naja they decided to complete the look and brand her with the few marking she was missing. After she had healed enough from that ordeal they then went about forcing her to wander around different places convincing other younger, weaker Naja to come with her. Once she had convinced them to follow either through bribes or other means she would take them off somewhere secluded where the Animalian who had kidnaped her would take the new victim.

Out of fear of being hurt or killed Nalla always did as she was told. She still got beat around every now and then and her burn scars never received any medical attention, but she found if she kept her head down and followed instructions she would be spared the worst of it. When she wasn't out trying to convince others to follow her she spent most her time in a small dark room. The walls of which were quite thin and when all was quiet she would try to have conversations with the captives on the other side. She would apologize and would listen to their stories. She didn't really care what they talked about, she just wanted someone to talk to so she wasn't so lonely, and when they were to sad and upset to talk she would recite the stories she had learned from others to them to try to calm them down. The captives on the other side of the wall would constantly cycle out and whenever a new one appeared she would try her best not to think about what had happened to the last one. 

As the years moved on her captors started to give her a few more freedoms and would even get her to feed the other captives. She soon felt as if she had to stay not just out of fear, but because she was the only one able to give the captives any kind of rest from the torment of their captors. Unlike their captors, she was soft and calm with her fellow enslaved Serpentes. Where they would throw the food at their captives, she would make sure to give them as much food as she could. It was during this time that she was told a particular story that stuck with her. The Animalian's eyes had been so full of determination, of assurity that the myth he spoke of was real that the story never really left the back of her mind. For the rest of her life, she would think about this story and wonder about how real it actually was.

Now nearly an adult she knew little about anything other than her life with the kidnappers, but that would soon change. In the middle of the night, the compound exploded, quite literally.  A rival group had broken into the compound and was raiding it for anything of value. As she watched her captors be killed she knew this was the time. If she was caught then they would surely kill her as she was no use to them. So she hid. She laid herself among the refuge and rubble and tried not to listen as those around her were slaughtered and taken captive. She sat in her hiding place for hours until the sun started to rise. Slowly creeping out of her hiding place she found that she was alone without even a messed-up home to return to.

As she wandered around for the next few weeks trying to figure out where she belonged, she made a promise to herself that she would do her best from this point on to never lie as not only had lying gotten her into this situation, but she felt as if she had spent an entire life lying to survive.

It takes a bit of time, but eventually, she manages to find her parents, however rather when she approached them they did not recognize her in the slightest. The years she had been gone not only aged her because she had grown older, but the treatment she had endured had made her age even more than normal. Confused and hurt she managed to mutter her way out of the conversation with them so she could have some time to think about the situation she was in. As she observed her parents she saw that she had not been the only one to grow older in the years she was gone, her parents had to and they were getting on in years. After stewing for a bit she came to the conclusion that if she were to return to them, if they were to see what had happened to her, well it may just cause their hearts to stop and she had enough death on her hands as it was. She wouldn't be able to take being responsible for her parents as well.

With a final nod goodbye, she decided to leave them be and move on with her life in whatever it brought.

And that would have been that, she was content to live off in the woods by herself where she could write down stories she had learned long ago as a way to honor those she had wronged. She would wander into town every now and then to sell some herbs and spices to the locals in exchange for a few sides which she could spend on necessities and watch her parents live the rest of their lives. However, one day when she came into town a traveling guard spotted her and recognized her as one of the members of the old gang she had been forced to take part in.

It was then that she started to run. She managed to keep ahead of the determined guard for nearly a year, but eventually, he caught up to her and captured her. She was thrown in a large town jail as the guard left to tell the news to those that had wanted her captured ( a week's travel at least). 

As she sat once again trapped she was eventually joined by three other Animalian, the ones that would eventually become the other guild leaders. The three chatted with one another and eventually found a connection that they all shared, a mystery that they all needed to solve. Knowing it would be impossible to solve behind bars, the four of them decided to break out.

Over the next few years, the four of them did their best to solve their mystery. Going on fantastical adventures, seeing unbelievable sights, and gathering ancient stories. Unable to simply just listen to the stories, Nalla decided that much like the stories she had documented from her childhood, she would also choose to write down the stories she learned from those she met on her adventures.

At first it was more out of habit than anything. However, as the other leaders noticed what she had started doing they wanted to join in. Each had their own reason for wanting to write down these stories, legends, myths, and tails, but they were united in wanting to document the story's pasts and purposes. Together they decided that they would create a book filled with the stories they learned and the Animalian who told it.

Nalla's purpose in making this book, the Animalian Almanac, is to figure out what stories are true and what ones are not. She wants to document them and separate the lies from what really happened. After all, if a story isn't true, then it is simply a creative lie, and she can't stand lies.

Once the four Animalian had started to collect these stories they felt as if they needed a name and perhaps an organization of sorts to help gather others to aid them in collecting their legends. They quickly all agreed that they should make a guild and a base camp, however, the name was a bit harder to agree on. Each wanted their own name with Nalla voting for 'the guild of stories' and none of them willing to give into what the others wanted. Ultimately the name they registered was TBA Guild with the hopes of making an official name later.

Nalla and the leaders all still want to find the answer to that original story that united them and from time to time they find clues to help solve it, but that has been put on the back burner as they work on writing down the stories and finding the truth.

Nalla still tries to keep an eye out for guards or others that may recognize her, however, she has yet to find another Animalian who recognizes such a small player in the kidnapper gang. She often wears scarves or other clothing around her neck to hide the burn scars on her neck. However, if anyone sees them they would simply believe that she is a Naja and she likely wouldn't correct them as she spent a good part of her life being one.

She is a bit absentminded at times and super messy. She has a strong will and will state her mind in most situations. Quick to point out small lies and yell at large ones she is a good person to have on hand if you are wanting to find the truth within others' lies. 

She has no call to action as she is not a playable character. She shows up a number of times as an NPC in one-shots and should not be played by a player.

Main outfit | She wears a dark blue top hat and pleated skirt that has a wide waistband. On the right side (her right) of her hips a brown satchel sits and on the left side a wide waistband holds a brown coin bag. Her undershirt is a white button-up with frills down the front and a tall cuff. A black waist jacket sits on top of it with white frilled cuffs and an adjusting strap in the back that has 2 silver buttons on it. The front of her jacket has a wide lapel and collar. The lapel has 6 silver rivets on it that silver ribbons are wrapped around to hold her jacket mostly closed. Around her neck, a frilled choker can be found with a silver ribbon around it as well as an opal pendent on its front. Her hat often has a white or silver ribbon on it but it can be any color (often changing depending on the event/ holiday)

She is a Mucosa and has modern eyes.

Winter outfit | When traveling in cold terrain, Nalla bundles up tightly as she can't stand the cold, reminding her a bit too much of bad times. She wears several hats on her head and multiple scarves around her neck. She often drapes one or two small blankets over her nose as well to help keep it warm causing really only her eyes to poke out of her clothing. She will often wear multiple jackets and long, thick gloves as well as an insulated blanket strapped to her tail. What exactly she wears in terms of color or design changes and is not specific, as long as she is fitted out with way too much winter clothing then she is good to go. It is not uncommon in the cold environments for her to have a hot drink in her hands.

Ideas for what you could draw her doing:

-getting upset at someone for lying/ giving them a good talking to

-Talking to adventures to send them out on quests/ getting information back from them

-reading/ doing research on something as she drinks a hot drink

-pinning papers up on the wall and attaching strings to connect ideas from them.

- star gazing

-listening to someone tell a story

-putting ointment on the back of her neck

-sleeping at a table surrounded by papers

- examining a set of sides from her coin bag

Winter Outfit Ideas:

-Drinking a hot cup of cocoa at the Frozen fish as she looks over a bunch of papers

-bundling up tightly to keep warm

- shivering as she tries to slither through the snow

-sitting by a warm fire and enjoying it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVD28UpY3fA&ab_channel=HamsterTacos - a song relating to when she was deciding to join the other leaders in the mission to figure out the mystery they all had in common that related to the stories she learned when she was a child

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2fezyjs_aY - its not perfect, but in general this is the feeling and ideas that were going through her head when she watched her parents grow old from afar.