Fiction:The Firmament/Lamia

"Don't mistake their alluring form for a weak one; a lamia can easily overpower a man with little trouble, and will likely delight in doing so."

- Unknown

Lamias are a species of being who sport the upper body of a humanoid and the lower body of a serpent, who are indigenous to the land of Khalmartis in Dryadala. They are typically seen as servants to gorgons.

Biology
The average lamia possesses an upper body reminiscent of an elf, and a body composed of a massive snake tail from the waist down. Their humanoid halves typically have fair skin, with their serpent bodies sporting various scale colours; green, brown, red and black are among the most common. The average adult lamia is 3.0 meters long from head to tail-tip, but usually stand upright at around 2,0 meters tall. Lamia sexes are significantly uneven, with females being much more common than males.

History
The lamias are descended from a population of elves who ventured south during ancient times, in an expedition done for the purpose of exploring and then conquering new lands. Led by an ancestral figure known as Medusalen, they eventually arrived to the region known today as Khalmartis, establishing a new state which was able to live a safe and self-sustaining life away from the forests of Eondrassana. When the Greenskins of Dracatakh invaded Dryadala and begun the Great War, the elves of Khalmartis refused to provide aid to their brethren, believing they would be safe by simply staying at the other side of the Great Sea of Sands.

For turning their back away from their people, the Elven Gods cursed the elves of Khalmartis, turning them into serpentine monsters; the higher castes turned into the first gorgons, while the lower castes became the first lamias. Over the following thousand years, the snake-like folk of Khalmartis moved on with their lives and made a name for themselves as the most influential empire of southern Dryadala.