Nagas and Soul Fangs

Ok. I've been asked asked a couple of times now to post a detailed description of my Soul Fang idea. This idea was intended for everyone to use, so once I'm done explaining it all, you can feel free to go nuts with the idea and use it as much as you want.

Okay. So everyone knows Nagas have fangs. You ever seen some guys put teeth of animals they've killed on a necklace or bracelet or something? A Soul Fang is the exact opposite. A Soul Fang is Magical Naga Fang made out of pure diamond. These Fangs can only be obtained by performing the extremely difficult action of saving a Naga's life from something they fear greatly.

As I said before, these Fangs have magical properties. They can only be generated by Nagas when they feel as if they owe their life to whoever helped them. A Soul Fang acts as a defense mechanism against the dangers of Felarya and activate when the owner of a Soul Fang begins to panick, loses control of their anger or experiences an intense adrenaline rush.

As for what these Soul Fangs actually do, from what you've read you're probably guessing somewhere along the lines of an extreme increase in both magical and physical strength. If you did, you are very close. A Soul Fang's purpose is to allow the owner to enter the Soul Mode. The Soul Mode is an Alternate form that the owner takes on when threatened. The appearance of this form differs from person to person as it is basically a reflection of their personality. Like all Felaryans, The Soul mode usually transforms the owner of the Soul Fang into a human-animal hybrid. This form gives the owner increased physical and magical strength. They are also capable of using a special ability that is only usable by the owner.

However, like all good things in life, there's a catch. There are two drawbacks to having a Soul Fang. The first revolves around predator sense. Because of the incredibly high magical properties that the Soul Fang has, if you own one, you stand out to most predators. They will know exactly where you are, what you are, and on top of that, what you are doing. This is practically a death sentence to anyone who hasn't mastered the Soul mode yet. The second is the issue of control. Humans find this part the most difficult to master due to their civilized way of life. Those without strong animal instincts will find it extremely hard to control the Soul mode due to it's violent purpose. Any that do not exercise control of their animal side will immediately go berserk and attack everything around them until everything that moves is dead.

These Soul Fangs are also inseparable from their owners unless they give them away willingly. (which most end up doing, for obvious reasons) Because of the magic in the Fangs, if they are forcibly taken away from their owners, The Fangs turn to stone until the owners reclaim them.

This is my idea. Hope you like it, sorry it took so long to explain in detail. Feel free to use it whenever and wherever you like. Please tell me what you all think.

Razor

EDIT: I've removed the part about increased magical knowledge because nobody in particular (including myself) thought it was necessary.

Hey man, you expanded on it greatly! nice, I want to use it in a story, so I'll respect the rules and ask you first man

Thanks! And like I said, this idea is for everybody. Go nuts.

Iamawesome789 wrote:

Ok. I've been asked asked a couple of times now to post a detailed description of my Soul Fang idea. This idea was intended for everyone to use, so once I'm done explaining it all, you can feel free to go nuts with the idea and use it as much as you want.

Okay. So everyone knows Nagas have fangs. You ever seen some guys put teeth of animals they've killed on a necklace or bracelet or something? A Soul Fang is the exact opposite. A Soul Fang is Magical Naga Fang made out of pure diamond. These Fangs can only be obtained by performing the extremely difficult action of saving a Naga's life from something they fear greatly.

As I said before, these Fangs have magical properties. They can only be generated by Nagas when they feel as if they owe their life to whoever helped them. A Soul Fang acts as a defense mechanism against the dangers of Felarya and activate when the owner of a Soul Fang begins to panick, loses control of their anger or experiences an intense adrenaline rush.

As for what these Soul Fangs actually do, from what you've read you're probably guessing somewhere along the lines of an extreme increase in both magical and physical strength. If you did, you are very close. A Soul Fang's purpose is to allow the owner to enter the Soul Mode. The Soul Mode is an Alternate form that the owner takes on when threatened. The appearance of this form differs from person to person as it is basically a reflection of their personality. Like all Felaryans, The Soul mode usually transforms the owner of the Soul Fang into a human-animal hybrid. This form gives the owner increased physical strength and complete knowledge of any kind of destructive magic. They are also capable of using a special ability that is only usable by the owner.

However, like all good things in life, there's a catch. There are two drawbacks to having a Soul Fang. The first revolves around predator sense. Because of the incredibly high magical properties that the Soul Fang has, if you own one, you stand out to most predators. They will know exactly where you are, what you are, and on top of that, what you are doing. This is practically a death sentence to anyone who hasn't mastered the Soul mode yet. The second is the issue of control. Humans find this part the most difficult to master due to their civilized way of life. Those without strong animal instincts will find it extremely hard to control the Soul mode due to it's violent purpose. Any that do not exercise control of their animal side will immediately go berserk and attack everything around them until everything that moves is dead.

These Soul Fangs are also inseparable from their owners unless they give them away willingly. (which most end up doing, for obvious reasons) Because of the magic in the Fangs, if they are forcibly taken away from their owners, The Fangs turn to stone until the owners reclaim them.

This is my idea. Hope you like it, sorry it took so long to explain in detail. Feel free to use it whenever and wherever you like. Please tell me what you all think.

Razor

How.

I'm considering holding you responsible for endangering the life of my friends, for they were reading along with me and nearly choked to death while in a fit of raucous laughter.

I'msorrywhat? If you don't think it's good then please don't use it.

Well time for a critique, brace yourself for impact.

1. First off you seem to be generalizing this for all nagas to be able to give such fangs, which is frankly excessive for an object of the power you state, but worry not child! For there is a subspecies of Naga that is just perfect for an idea like this, the aptly named Diamond Naga: http://www.felarya.com/wiki/index.php?title=Diamond_Nagas ! The idea is a bit more workable if the item is only produced by Diamond Nagas since they are pretty damn rare, and are naturally very magically inclined.

2. The fear aspect is really restrictive here, one would have to know the naga's fear and be able to save it from said fear. Also worth noting is that if a Naga is deathly afraid of something, 9 times out of 10 it's cause that one thing is dangerous enough to carve them into mincemeat with barely any effort. So what chance has a human adventurer have against something that even giant, magically inclined nagas would flee for their lives from? Not very much that's for sure. This too is easily fixable if you take my diamond naga advice. Making it a symbol of true friendship with a Diamond Naga. Cliche I know, but still acceptable idea since A: Diamond Nagas are extremely rare, and B: They're not really ones to just shake hands and make friends with a human instead of just eating them.

3. It's worth noting that naga teeth do not grow back, so unless the naga knows a really damn good orthapedic surgeon who's crazy enough to walk around in a giant predator's mouth, they are gonna have a big old hole in their smile. My advice is rather then make it a fang, make it a scale that has been specially enchanted by it's previous owner, or simply make it a metaphorical fang rather then a literal one.

4. I'd say ax the part about gaining knowledge to destructive magics, that's a bit too much, but a sharp increase in magical and physical power is fine enough.

Other then that I'd say it's fine enough, just refine it for now and we'll see how it goes from there.

I thank you for your opinion. Though I must admit you had me worried for a second. I thought you were just gonna be downright rude for a moment! But anyways I guess I didn't really give the explanation enough detail. Your post just made me realize that. So, let me explain so you can understand a little better. I made this idea for everyone to use. Not just those with diamond nagas. That would just be downright unfair of me. If someone wanted to have their character get their hands on a Soul Fang, they'd have to invent an entirely new one. Seems like a bit of a hassle to me. (It's okay, you can call me lazy for that) Also every living thing has a fear of something. Their greatest fear could be an object, an animal, or even just death itself. This makes it easier for some to get one, simply save the life of a Naga that has no greater fear than death. However, in the case of nagas like... Let's say Crisis, you'd have to slay a tonorion that's attempting to kill her. But of course, you made a very good point. How is a human/Neko supposed to save the life of something with enough destructive power to easily kill them? He/she would have to put his/her life on the line. THAT is the reason why these things are so rare in Felarya. Anyways, I just hope you can see I'm trying to make Soul Fangs obtainable, but extremely hard to get. Someone going way overboard with the Soul Fang idea would have more than two of their characters have one. As for the Felaryan dentist bit, I would like to point out that these Fangs are involuntarily GENERATED by any naga, be they skilled in magic or not, if their lives are saved from something they fear greatly by a human/neko/whatever. I never said they were removed. A naga could give a Soul Fang to someone and still have a full set of teeth. Also, the part about the destructive magic, I was wondering whether it was a good idea or not. Glad to see someone spoke up. My idea was basically to give the user a wider range of ways to inflict damage. Enhanced physical strength to help for melee combat, and enhanced magical strength and of knowledge, to make the enemy, burn, freeze, fry, and of course, explode. But I guess it wasn't really needed was it? So I guess I could settle for only mages and the like being able to use such attacks. Besides, the majority of the fighting that my first Soul mode, the Dragon mode, was based around was brute force. So I guess I'll cross that out. Hope that answered any questions you had. If I wasn't clear enough, or you have any more questions, feel free to post again. I'm more than willing to make a change as long as it doesn't screw up the basic idea.

W-3-K wrote:

I'm considering holding you responsible for endangering the life of my friends, for they were reading along with me and nearly choked to death while in a fit of raucous laughter.

Don't.

That kind of attitude is not welcome here (to put it mildly), and you know it.

If you do want to comment, make it a helpful and constructive critique.

Honestly I only really see this working with Diamond Nagas, if anything. Not just for the reasons Nekko stated, but this would imply that all nagas have massively empowered macguffins waiting to be given off, would have humans flocking to help nagas when it's the last thing they should do, and to me it just really feels like an uninspired gimmick to have yet more characters with super-powered dark sides they can't control but let them beat anything.

Sorry if I sound rude but I just don't see this working.

French snack wrote:

W-3-K wrote:

I'm considering holding you responsible for endangering the life of my friends, for they were reading along with me and nearly choked to death while in a fit of raucous laughter.

Don't.

That kind of attitude is not welcome here (to put it mildly), and you know it.

If you do want to comment, make it a helpful and constructive critique.

I second this. There is a big difference between constructive criticism and Warriors... comment.

That's okay uh... SlimeToad (sorry, it just sounds a bit rude), that's your opinion. As for the bit about people trying to help nagas in order to get a Soul Fang, I forgot to mention the knowledge of the Soul Fangs is limited to a few. Only a handful of Nagas even know what they are, and how to get them. Hellsol, (one of my characters) is one of said Nagas. But, he only gives knowledge about the Soul Fangs to those that have already obtained one, AFTER the user has sworn that they will keep the Soul Fang's secrets safe. If they break this oath, the person they share the information with dies. (Please note that I made the things. I can talk about em as much as I want.) Anyways, I respect your opinion. It's just like I said before, if you want to use it, you can. If you don't want to use it, don't.

It isn't a bad idea, but I see two big issues:

The first is the practical issue. Nagas are big, and their fangs are big. A naga fang would be like three feet long, and probably weight a decent little weight to a human, as it is a big chunk of bone. You'd need to devote a lot of room in your pack just for it.

The second issue is the fang's effects themselves. "Extreme" is a fairly broad term, and I would be interested to get a more accurate depiction of what it does. I mean, is this thing going to turn any human into a battlemage-level magic user? Greater than battlemage? Then you have the "soul mode". It just seems a bit TOO much to me. You already have this magical item that enhances someone's magical abilities, I just don't see why it also needs an anime-style transformation mode.

I think the best solution would be for it to be a piece of a naga's scale that they chip off and enchant. Could it have some kind of magical effects, sure. I just think making nagas walking super-hero factories is a bit much.

Just a note not all Naga's are your big giant eat a party of fifteen adventurers and have room for more in less then an hour or so blond bomb shells with a tail for legs. There are also the more commonly seen though less commonly mentioned smaller human sized Nagas just to remind everyone that Giant Nagas aren't the only ones inhabiting Felarya

Also chances are unless your an off worlder your not going to want to save that Giant Naga or human sized Naga that's in peril your probably going to move along and let Felarya nature take its course or take a chance and attack that Naga as well so you and your mates can have a story to tell and make a killing off selling its scales on the Felaryan black market.

Having this be a general for all Nagas seems a bit reckless to me I can understand it being for a subspecies of Nagas or a skill passed down by a clan of Nagas but not all Nagas in general.

Also I am going to side with those saying it being a part of their scale rather then an actual fang/ tooth. Those are by far more common and easier to replace than a tooth/ fang from their mouth.

And for the fang to be able to change what a person's appearance is to that of another hybrid creature? I am sorry but that is stuff of power that I believe rightfully belongs in beings like Guardians and the few freak accidents where people are whisked away from their worlds and involuntarily changed into another creature (most commonly a Naga for some reason). And rides a bit to close to that of a certain trope I forget what its name is but it sounds horribly similar to me though likely by accident then by purpose.

walkingbyself wrote:

Just a note not all Naga's are your big giant eat a party of fifteen adventurers and have room for more in less then an hour or so blond bomb shells with a tail for legs. There are also the more commonly seen though less commonly mentioned smaller human sized Nagas just to remind everyone that Giant Nagas aren't the only ones inhabiting Felarya

Also chances are unless your an off worlder your not going to want to save that Giant Naga or human sized Naga that's in peril your probably going to move along and let Felarya nature take its course or take a chance and attack that Naga as well so you and your mates can have a story to tell and make a killing off selling its scales on the Felaryan black market.

Having this be a general for all Nagas seems a bit reckless to me I can understand it being for a subspecies of Nagas or a skill passed down by a clan of Nagas but not all Nagas in general.

Also I am going to side with those saying it being a part of their scale rather then an actual fang/ tooth. Those are by far more common and easier to replace than a tooth/ fang from their mouth.

And for the fang to be able to change what a person's appearance is to that of another hybrid creature? I am sorry but that is stuff of power that I believe rightfully belongs in beings like Guardians and the few freak accidents where people are whisked away from their worlds and involuntarily changed into another creature (most commonly a Naga for some reason). And rides a bit to close to that of a certain trope I forget what its name is but it sounds horribly similar to me though likely by accident then by purpose.

Oh yeah, there are smaller nagas, their so timid to show themselves I forgot about them,
"Also chances are unless your an off worlder your not going to want to save that Giant Naga or human sized Naga that's in peril your probably going to move along and let Felarya nature take its course or take a chance and attack that Naga as well so you and your mates can have a story to tell and make a killing off selling its scales on the Felaryan black market."
There are people who would run, and there are people who see a giant naga being their friend a viable asset
Everything else I agree with you though

French snack wrote:

W-3-K wrote:

I'm considering holding you responsible for endangering the life of my friends, for they were reading along with me and nearly choked to death while in a fit of raucous laughter.

Don't.

That kind of attitude is not welcome here (to put it mildly), and you know it.

If you do want to comment, make it a helpful and constructive critique.

Oh, of course, how bad of me. Allow me to correct my err;

The idea as a whole seems to be based in no actual logic. You seem to be endowing a species with an ability that it is nowhere stated to be capable of actually possessing, and probably isn't based upon what can be deduced from the canon as it is presently and the use of simple reasoning. For instance, how, per say, is a naga actually capable of spontaneous generation of a diamond? Or imbuing said miraculously produced diamond with any inherent magic? More importantly, what true benefit to the context would this actually be? A contribution which would affect the majority, if not all of a species should be sensible, in my eyes, and something other than an inane addition which more than likely would be brought into existence out of the desire for fantasy fulfillment on part of the creator. This idea would be akin to me proposing the idea of a fairy ability to spontaneously generate new extremities to better enable them to exist in social circumstances by increasing the efficiency of their handshakes. It is one of those things that, when, if ever, placed in, wouldn't really make a great deal of sense or better the idea being expanded upon.

I'll exchange my "How" for a "Why"

Okay a couple of things.

Yes, a couple of you make a very good point. How is someone supposed to carry a soul fang from a giant Naga around? It would just be a waste of space. This is actually the reason I believe that a Soul Fang should remain what it is. A Fang. If you ever plan to use the idea with a giant naga, be creative! My main character, Michael Clarke, uses his Soul Fang as a weapon whenever he doesn't uses the Soul Mode to fight. (in other words, a lot) He has his connected to a gauntlet he wears on his left arm, and uses it to stab and slice at his attackers. The only downside is, he has to polish it daily. (With the Felaryan rust thing and all) And of course, giant nagas aren't the only type of naga out there, the first Soul Fang was made by Hellsol. He's only just two stories tall.

And also, for those who don't believe this idea should have been mentioned, please remember that I only posted this idea before it was fully thought out because a few other people liked my idea and wanted to use it. This is simply a rough idea. If you don't like it, that's your opinion. Just don't use it. I'm still open to advice and constructive criticism though. Thank you all who have given me a few helpful tips, I just wanna let you know that I'm considering a few of your ideas. I'm new, so I do think it would be best to listen to those who have been around a while.

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Yes, a couple of you make a very good point. How is someone supposed to carry a soul fang from a giant Naga around? It would just be a waste of space. This is actually the reason I believe that a Soul Fang should remain what it is. A Fang. If you ever plan to use the idea with a giant naga, be creative! My main character, Michael Clarke, uses his Soul Fang as a weapon whenever he doesn't uses the Soul Mode to fight.

I'm not sure how useful a three foot long, likely fairly hefty, tooth is going to be for a weapon. I mean, really all you could do is grab onto the base and poke at people with it. It doesn't have nearly the utility of an actual weapon. If you wanted to turn it into a weapon, you would need to break off a chunk, or shave away nearly all of it to make something reasonable (I have to wonder about fragility issues at that point though).

Also, didn't you say the tooth turned into some form of diamond when it became a soul fang? Could the average person even work with something like that? There's a reason people don't make whole weapons out of gem stones, especially something as hard and difficult to work with as diamonds. Could you even modify it with standard tools?

Also, if you did shave it down, wouldn't that reduce it's magic? Less area to hold the enchantment and so on.

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He has his connected to a gauntlet he wears on his left arm, and uses it to stab and slice at his attackers

It's like three feet long, and around a foot wide. How can someone just strap that to a gauntlet? If they did, it would be way too heavy and awkward to wield with one arm. The only option would be to shave it down, but then you run into the issues mentioned above.

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The only downside is, he has to polish it daily. (With the Felaryan rust thing and all)

.........Bone does not rust. Neither does a gem/crystal/diamond.

Also, it is only Deluran weapons that suffer from an accelerated degradation in Felarya. Most people think its something in the metal they use, or something applied during the weapon making process. Of course, ALL guns do need to be maintained in a wilderness environment, but only the Delurans seem to suffer from accelerated rusting and degradation.

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And of course, giant nagas aren't the only type of naga out there, the first Soul Fang was made by Hellsol. He's only just two stories tall.

That goes back to something a couple people have said. It just seems a bit much to make some kind of race-wide addition/ability like this. I think you are best limiting to a specific sub-species or naga, or have it be something only a skilled naga enchanter could make (although, I suppose any race could make something similar if that is the case).

Still think the anime-style transformation super-mode is too much. Would probably be better to only have it enhance magic. Then it's basically just doing what ascarlin does.

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Still think the anime-style transformation super-mode is too much.

Turboman would disapprove.

Iamawesome789 wrote:

Okay. So everyone knows Nagas have fangs. You ever seen some guys put teeth of animals they've killed on a necklace or bracelet or something? A Soul Fang is the exact opposite. A Soul Fang is Magical Naga Fang made out of pure diamond.

Pure diamond? Made of Magic? Being able to make a Giant Naga-fang-sized Diamond with magic is - disregarding any of the items magical properties - huge. The applications of such from an economic, industrial, or, hell, pretty much any setting...

Iamawesome789 wrote:

These Fangs can only be obtained by performing the extremely difficult action of saving a Naga's life from something they fear greatly.

As I said before, these Fangs have magical properties. They can only be generated by Nagas when they feel as if they owe their life to whoever helped them.

As mentioned by others, this seems a bit... tacky. It does not help that your later posts seem to suggest you made this up specifically to justify an action / item in one of your story. The explanation of how / why they're made is also a bit lacking.

Iamawesome789 wrote:

A Soul Fang acts as a defense mechanism against the dangers of Felarya and activate when the owner of a Soul Fang begins to panick, loses control of their anger or experiences an intense adrenaline rush.

By sending them into a mindless berserker rage? That's not a defense mechanism: It's a suicide-enabler.

Iamawesome789 wrote:

As for what these Soul Fangs actually do, from what you've read you're probably guessing somewhere along the lines of an extreme increase in both magical and physical strength.

Why? Furthermore, if they have the potential to make these, why doesn't the Naga use it itself to remove / survive their great fear? You can bet your bottom dollar that if I knew the process to make one of these, and due to creator-fiat I was unlikely to lose control, I'd craft one for myself ASAP and carry it on me 24/7.

Iamawesome789 wrote:

A Soul Fang's purpose is to allow the owner to enter the Soul Mode.

If I may, please come up with a better name than "Soul Mode". Also, as a bit of a hint: The "Soul" part isn't the problem.

Iamawesome789 wrote:

The Soul Mode is an Alternate form that the owner takes on when threatened. The appearance of this form differs from person to person as it is basically a reflection of their personality. Like all Felaryans, The Soul mode usually transforms the owner of the Soul Fang into a human-animal hybrid. This form gives the owner increased physical and magical strength. They are also capable of using a special ability that is only usable by the owner.

Why am I getting vague Bleach vibes here?

Iamawesome789 wrote:

The second is the issue of control. Humans find this part the most difficult to master due to their civilized way of life. Those without strong animal instincts will find it extremely hard to control the Soul mode due to it's violent purpose. Any that do not exercise control of their animal side will immediately go berserk and attack everything around them until everything that moves is dead.

This... makes no sense. Because Humans don't have something tugging at their mind, they are more vulnerable to mental manipulations? Wouldn't it be the other way around? "Uh-oh, Catgirl has a crippling weakness for hunting Neeras, and Soul Fang's kicking it into overdrive", "Best not be bite-sized, Lucy the Harpy sees everything that can fit into her mouth as food", etcetera?

*Facepalm* Rcs619, firstly, Michael does not use his weapon like that. He mostly uses it to bash, rip and stab the enemy. Secondly, the Fang is not removed, it is GENERATED through magic. Thirdly, Michael is an Earthan who is working with the Delurans to recover his younger brother Flint, who was taken by a couple of Fairies called Xir and Mel. Therefore, his Gauntlet is made out of Deluran metal because they built it for him. It is the Gauntlet that rusts, not the Fang. He has to keep it from rusting completely or the technology inside that supports the fang will become useless.

Anyways, sorry if I sound a bit rude, so I think I've decided on a few of your ideas. If you guys think it would make the idea better, I'll add the diamond Naga idea because everyone likes it so much, change the Soul Mode to a sort of supercharged adrenaline rush and leave the transformation to the actual berserk state because everyone thinks it's overused, (I have to say it's true, It's in nearly every anime/manga I've watched/read) maybe change the name of Soul Mode if enough people say the name isn't good, and to top it off, I'll even make the things destructable when they've been turned to stone because everyone doesn't want Nagas to be capable of turning people into fighting machines so easily. Oh and I just remembered to tell you something very important, once the owner of a Soul Fang dies, the Soul Fang blows up. So, shall I apply these changes or does it need a little more than just that?

Well personally, I like the idea I mean...it's cool and all. It would be even more coolest if it could be applied in the actual setting But continue like that, you may just happen to think of a great idea!

I think it would help if you explained what you are trying to achieve with this idea, what it would provide to storytellers, how it could be used, etc.
Because to me it looks like a variant of this.