Nalinivati

Nalinivati

(Deity)

Titles

The Serpent's Kiss
First Mother (nagaji)
Queen of Nagas

Adjective

Nalinivatan

Realm

Yanjira, Maelstrom

Alignment

Neutral

Areas of Concern

Fertility
Nagaji
Snakes
Sorcery

Worshipers

Nagaji, naga, sorcerers, lovers, snake cults

Edicts

Seek out magic and use it, use poison, heal poisons, bear or adopt children, raise snakes

Anathema

Kill a harmless snake or swan, spurn friends due to jealousy or romantic competition, betray your offspring, separate lovers

Follower Alignments (1E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (1E)

Charm, Magic, Nobility, Rune, Scalykind

Subdomains (1E)

Arcane, Divine, Leadership, Love, Lust, Wards

Follower Alignments (2E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (2E)

Magic, naga, passion, wyrmkin
Alternate: Family, glyph

Favored Weapon

Urumi, bite/jaws

Symbol

Lotus flower wherein a snake lies coiled

Sacred Animal

Snake

Images of Nalinivati

Source: Dragon Empires Gazetteer, pg(s). 61 (1E)
Tian Xia World Guide, pg(s). 37 (2E)

Nalinivati (pronounced nah-lee-nee-vah-TEE) is the patron naga goddess of the snake-like humanoids known as the nagaji. She is a goddess of fertility, snakes, and sorcery, and is mainly worshipped across Tian Xia.

Appearance

Nalinivati is depicted as a huge naga of unknown type with brilliantly colored scales that shimmer mesmerizingly, adorned with gifts of jewelery and flowers, and wearing trinkets, crafted items, and tomes on her waist. Her form takes on more humanoid or serpentine aspects depending on with whom she communes and whether she wants to appear comforting or terrifying. In art, she is often depicted as either emerging from an egg or protectively guarding either a single egg or a clutch of eggs.

Religious symbol and animal

Her religious symbol is a lotus flower wherein a snake lies coiled. Snakes are sacred animals to those of her faith.

History

Some tales depict Nalinivati as having once been a mortal naga sorceress. Through her magical powers and many daughters, she established Nagajor, ruled as its first queen, and founded its major institutions which persist today. Her female descendants continue to rule Nagajor as Matriarchs. Other tales depict her as having been a mortal snake who cared for her family and other snakes, became a sorcerer, and eventually queen of Nagajor. In these tales she later transformed herself into a naga in order to prove that through labor, dedication, the pursuit of knowledge, and magic, one could become anything.

She ascended to divinity through unknown means near the end of her life and is now worshipped in many neighboring nations, as well as her home of Nagajor. Alternately inspired by and jealous of Daikitsu's kitsune, Nalinivati created the nagaji and gifted the ancestry with free will, and they number among her most devout non-naga worshippers.

Relationships

All nagas are considered daughters of the Vudran goddess Ravithra, but Nalinivati's path to becoming a naga was especially unusual. Tales suggest she originally emerged from Ravithra's throat, but Nalinivati was in fact born a mundane snake who became a sorceress, then first queen of Nagajor, and then transformed herself into a naga before achieving godhood.

Nagaji of Nagajor greatly oppose scholarly theories that worship of Nalinivati was brought to Nagajor from Vudra by way of the Darklands, and instead maintain that Nagajor was the origin of the spread of Nalinivati's worship, including to Vudra.

Nalinivati has been romantically linked with the kitsune deity Daikitsu, although both deities deny this claim; they are longtime platonic friends, and are celebrated together during a festival of fertility in Tian Xia. Nalinivati's shrines are often decorated with gifts from Daikitsu's followers and vice versa.

Church

Some scholars claim that Nalinivati worship migrated from Vudra to Tian Xia through the Darklands. Nalinivati is also known to her worshippers as the "Queen of Nagas" and as the "Serpent's Kiss". Her worshippers are most commonly sorcerers, nagaji, and smitten lovers (in her fertility aspect) but she also has many snake cults dedicated to her. She is most popular in the realm she founded, Nagajor, but is also commonly worshipped in Tang Mai, Xa Hoi, and Xidao. Many offer gifts of milk and meat to wild snakes in honor of Nalinivati and pray to her when seeking her blessing to start a family.

Genealogy and heritage are important to Nalinivati and her worshippers. She judges based on family as well as individual merit. The Lotus Annals are a book written by Nalinivati's great-granddaughter Holadi that contain many stories about and parables told by the goddess before she ascended to godhood. While not considered a true religious text, the Lotus Annals are thought to contain considerable spiritual wisdom for worshippers of Nalinivati.

Favored weapon

Nalinivati's favored weapons are natural jaws or bite and the manufactured urumi. This favored status by Nalinivati's followers led to a wider popularity for the urumi across the Inner Sea region.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.