Sitara

Fourth and final Hunter, again with a wonderful profile by Mocaw! Isn't he a genius? XD

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Character Name: Sitara
"Ancient Naga"
Age: Really Really Old, but don't say anything to her about it or you'll die.
Species: Naga

** Background **
Sitara belongs to a race of near-immortal naga who have lived underground for much longer than human history has recorded, carrying out a peaceful existence far beneath the earth where it is nice and warm. Like the amazons of legend, the Naga race is made up entirely of females, and they capture male furs from the surface as breeding stock, to live out their lives as sex slaves to the sultry nagas. Since the average naga pregnancy lasts a hundred years, naga children never meet their fathers. Sitara was no exception.

Sitara was raised by her mother Indara, who was one of the more powerful magi among the naga, and instructed Sitara in the arts. Unfortunately, the young naga had little Talent for magic, preferring instead to hunt the salamanders that lived in the underground rivers using her bow and arrows. Competitive from an early age, she would drive herself to unheard-of levels of talent with her weapon of choice, earning a name as one of the most highly skilled archers in the Underground Kingdom.

She might have lived out a happy life in those circumstances if fate had not intervened.

When she was a young girl, she witnessed her mother sealing the Efreeti Sherezad (fire spirit) inside a lamp to protect the world from its violent acts. This little event would have severe implications on her future: as it turned out, the lamp was passed from hand to hand until it wound up in the possession of a man named Sebastian Fiore, a sorcerer with great power and ambitions of greatness. Binding the Efreet to his service, he ordered Sherezad to get him a naga so that he could use portions of its blood and hair for some arcane ritual. Seeing a chance for revenge, Sherezad called up the same naga who had sealed her away. Unfortunately, Sitara's mother had died some time before in a mishap, and Sitara herself was the one who was summoned. Even more unfortunately, Sitara was quite beautiful, and Fiore had a thing for exotic and beautiful women. Using his powers, he bound her to him as his slave, bound by magic and chains to serve his every whim.

Sitara languished as Fiore's slave for several years, terrorized by the sadistic sorcerer, chained to his throne and made to serve his cruel and bizarre desires or risk his wrath. She was his favorite toy, and had to endure many hardships while Sherezad watched with gleeful laughter. There were many nights when she'd shiver in her captor's arms, wishing that she could run away, but terrified about what could happen if she did.

This went on until the day that a strange knight charged into the heart of Fiore's stronghold, demanding the return of her friend. On that day, Sitara witnessed a woman actually stand up to Fiore's charm and powers. Even though Kayla was, at the last, unsuccessful, she had still made the effort, and Sitara was inspired to make her own escape.

Her escape plan took the better part of a year, but in the end, she pulled it off without a hitch. She could have returned home, but something about the surface world still called to her. For one thing, there was the sun, which they didn't have underground: sure, they had warm rocks and underground rivers of fire, but it wasn't the same thing as lounging sleepily in the sun. And then there were men. On the surface, there were many beautiful and handsome and strong men to choose from, instead of underground, where the best she could hope for was a quick session with a slave while other nagas waited in line for their turn. Besides, there was the memory of that strange knight who had inspired her to rebellion. Naga society, based on honor as it was, demanded the repayment of all debts, and Sitara owed that strange knight the greatest of all debts.

The fact that she'd been having dreams about a strange woman garlanded in leaves who asked her to aid her "chosen champion" had little to do with her final decision. That's her official story and she's sticking to it.

In any case, she decided not to return home. Crafting a bow and some arrows from the native trees, she sought out the strange knight from her memories, guided by the skills taught to her by her mother. She found Kayla outside a small town that the knight had just liberated from bandits, walking straight into an ambush without a care in the world. The falcon was justifiably surprised when a flight of arrows exploded out of nowhere and skewered half a dozen would-be assassins within the space of a couple of heartbeats.

That was how Kayla gained her first traveling companion, and Sitara began paying off the enormous debt she owed the woman who had inspired her to freedom.

She's not sure what she'll do after she's finished doing that, but she's sure she'll think of something.


** Talents **
Sitara has unmatched skill with any ranged weapon, but especially the bow. She is capable of firing an entire quiver of a dozen arrows within the space of three seconds, placing each of them within a millimeter of her chosen target. Her skill is such that she is able to deflect arrows in midflight, cleave the wings off a fly without damaging the insect's body, even precisely strike special acupuncture points in order to disable an opponent without killing them. The only downside is that she is limited by the number of arrows in her quiver, but while she still has ammunition, she is an unstoppable force of nature.

In close combat, Sitara prefers to grapple, using her powerful snakelike tail to crush and constrict her opponents: a slow, lingering death that tends to frighten even her friends. It's also proven an effective method of interrogation: people tend to get very talkative when a huge snake is wrapped around your chest squeezing the breath out of your body.

Like all nagas, Sitara is immune to most poisons and venoms. She also has an extremely potent sense of smell (or taste, to be exact: like snakes, she can "taste" the air using her tongue). She can also sense the heat emissions from living creatures using her Jacobson's organs, allowing her to fight even in pitch-blackness. Many opponents have been terminally surprised by arrows being fired with pin-point accuracy in pitch-black night, although, perhaps mercifully, they usually haven't had enough time to feel much of anything before they died. . .

In addition, Sitara has amassed quite a wealth of knowledge over the years: most of it is knowledge that applies to naga society, but quite a bit of it can be adapted to life in the surface world. This knowledge emcompasses an impressively broad range of subjects, from herbalism to geology to magic (just the theory, not execution).

She is also surprisingly seductive for a girl who happens to be half-reptile.


** Personality **
Sitara's philosophy can be summed up in the following sentence: "Life is short, enjoy it while you can." Consider that this is coming from someone who can live over a thousand years, and you can understand the level of hedonism this involves. Sitara lives her life to the fullest and does everything with gusto and enthusiasm: eating, drinking, fighting, loving, everything. She is often at odds with Kayla, whom she views as a bit of a stick-in-the-mud who needs to loosen up a bit! She's been more successful at that recently. Some say that Sitara's even managed to get Kayla to. . . have FUN! (gasp!) Horror of horrors, will wonders never cease!

She also has a terribly competitive side that can make her appear arrogant and selfish. Sitara has lived in the shadow of her mother all her life, and feels that she must live up to her mother's great stature. She can be an exhibitionist, flaunting her skills and talents and assets and drinking in the praise and attention like a drug. She is also a perfectionist, never allowing herself to fail: even the smallest failure can cause in her a deep despair and depression, although she will always appear flippant and happy to outsiders. Her moping she does in private.

Kayla is one of the few people who sees past her arrogant persona and sees the kind soul within. Sitara knows this, but it doesn't bother her. The knight is so honorable and honest that the usually quite private naga has no real problem knowing that Kayla sees her in this way.

Her favorite hobbies are: flirting, drinking, and teasing Scarlett.


** Sexuality **
By normal standards, Sitara is a horrible slut, but you have to understand where she's coming from. In the naga world, sex is usually reserved for reproduction, as the few males who live down there are kept extremely busy servicing the many horny female nagas who use them for pleasure. Lines of an hour or longer are not uncommon. So in many ways, a naga on the surface world is a bit like a child let loose in a candy store. Add to that the fact that Sitara is one hot little reptile, who attracts a lot of attention from males, and you can understand why things tend to get a little out of hand around her.

She can do amazing things with the tip of her tail, too.


** Quotes **
"I LOVE it up here! The sun, the food, the MEN! Especially the men. . . can I stay here forever? PLEASE?!"

"Oooooooh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!!!!!"

"Now, my dear friends, please watch as a REAL expert shows you how this is done!"

"I admit it, you're better than me. . . no shame in that. *pause* Excuse me a moment."

"Now the way I see it, by the time we reach Fiore, Kayla will have skewered him with a spear, Constantina will have taken off his head with her sword, and every single woman in the world will have slaughtered him and tortured him by various means. I have no problem with that. I just want to be able to spit on the remains when everyone else is finished. That'll do it for me."