Mahanaga

The town of Mahanaga is built at the foot of the great Monastery of the Serpent King. Several hundred years in age, the town manages a thriving and healthy economy based around farming (especially of rice) and the breeding of rare serpents as pets and sources of antivenin.

Serpents are naturally drawn to the Monastery, and the monks must routinely carry the serpents away from it, lest its corridors become too filled with them. They usually take these serpents down to the Fang Market in Mahanaga, where residents of the town are permitted to bid on ownership of those serpents. All such proceeds go towards supporting the monastery and its monks, while the residents of the town make more than their return in money. The monks who run the Fang Market have laws against non-residents from bidding in the Fang Market, which helps maintain the town's economy.

The town itself knows that there is a great serpent god associated with their town somewhere, though it is very reclusive. THe monks who serve him do not worship him, and forbid others from doing so, saying that it angers the Serpent King. In truth, the interactions between the Serpent King and the townsfolk of Mahanaga is somewhat more...intimate. Occasionally, a woman in the town will give birth to a child with beautiful golden eyes. Such children are destined to serve in the Monastery of the Serpent King as monks, and are brought to the monastery upon leaving childhood (around the age of twelve or so).

Noteworthy Locations in Mahanaga

The Monastery of the Serpent King

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The Cloister

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The Platform

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The Fang Market

The Fang Market is where the Serpent Monks congregate once a week to sell the various serpents that have been drawn to the Monastery. All such sales are made to residents of the town, who then turn right back around and either sell the snakes to others directly, or take them home to use in the making of any number of local products: large serpents are butchered for meat and snakeskin, while venomous ones are milked for poison (either to be sold directly or turned into antivenin).

The Fang Market's center is called the King's Throne, and is simply a dias carved with serpent motifs where the monks do the selling. The rest of the Market is made up of the various booths, blankets and wagons where residents of the city sell their wares. By local custom, no one sells serpents or ophidian-derived products anywhere but the Fang Market.

A small pavilion built alongside the Serpent's Kiss caravanserai, facing the Market, is reserved for visitors and travelers who wish to watch the goings on while sipping tea. Important local merchants are often invited to meals beneath the canopy here to discuss large purchases of native goods.

The Serpent's Kiss

The only caravanserai in Mahanaga, the Serpent's Kiss caters primarily to merchants and other travelers who come through the area. The locals never congregate in its tearoom, by local custom.