….

Silence is what the ruins provided sweet Emily on this soon-to-be-eventful day. Slithering silently through the jumble of rubble and overgrown vines and bushes, she found a cool shaded tree, perfect for a soft doze. She had entered this apon trying to find a place to nap, and to her surprise and luck, here was a perfectly shaded tree, full of fruits, and birds to ease her hunger when she felt it was needed. Slithering up with ease, she coiled herself onto a branch, gently placing a small golden orb inside her coils, and laying her body on top, completely hiding her human half. She listened to the sound of silence before falling asleep. 

The ruins had secrets, and spirits of all sort, and a naga like her certainly had no business using it to her desires. Hero's and gods alike come to this land, searching for truths about the ruins. And yet a merely 14 year old naga would come for a nap. It makes one question, is this land as dangerous as one has might've questioned before?

When the silence was broken, it rang in her ears like a bell. A bird chirped, right next to her ear. Her clawed hands shot out like a cobra's jaws. She grabbed the bird, and crushed it on impact. Aww…. and he was such a pretty bird… She said aloud. She dropped the bird to the ground, and broke apart. She stretched. There was no point in sleeping now. She slithered down the tree slowly, slithering over the bird, crushing it completely. Slithering around the ruins carefully, not wanting to cut her soft under-belly on any sharp rocks.

Rounding the corner, she saw someone walking towards the ruins.  

…

A deity? A god? An overly dressed warrior tired from battle? Idea's rattled around in her head like bells in a barrel. As the figure came closer, she hurried and slithered into an abandoned stone house, watching the figure closely, fangs out, claws sharpened.

She was waiting to strike. 

"Maybe I should just seal the place shut." A woman dressed in plain clothes over light armor stood before the mouth of the ruins, the opening leading down into darkness. It was no secret now what these ruins used to be, though not everyone had been around to learn this information. Here laid the remains of Edelweiss, the precursor kingdom to what was now Adeluna. Despite the rush to excavate and plunder what relics were left behind, interest dwindled with time. Any news became old news quick. Life moved on, like how it had after all world events. Unfortunately people would probably forget the dangers of venturing into these enchanted depths and find themselves hopelessly lost indefinitely in the underground. By the time they realized they needed a magical light source just to see, it would be too late. Hence, her current train of thought. Better safe than sorry, and after the last wave of adventure seekers there probably wasn't anything left worth to dig up. 

For safety's sake, she slapped on a couple dozen talismans all over the entrance with several coats of adhesive. She'd have to come back later to bring some rubble to block the place off. "Spelunking! Spelunking! Are we gonna go spelunking?" Came a small voice from behind. A ferret popped his head out of her knapsack, eyes shining with excitement. Looking over her shoulder, she reached back and scratched his head lightly. "You finally decided to wake up. I can't believe you managed to snore through the ride here with all of the junk inside my bag shifting around. And no Niall, we're not going spelunking. Not today. But the weather looks nice enough, so come on and stretch your legs." Lifting the furry noodle by his midsection, Shiloh put him on the grass. Immediately he began to jump and roll around, doing his ferret war dance. He had a lot of pent-up energy to burn, and once he was awake he'd go full throttle until he passed out. 

She was busy keeping an eye on him as he explored his new surroundings, just in case. In one second he could be meters away, and it wasn't good for him to run off on his own. Like all ferrets, Niall had no fear of man or beast–having tried to jump on creatures ten times his size. But despite his natural affinity for causing mischief, he always knew how to make her smile. "Don't run too far. Stay where I can see you, little buddy." She said, and he gave an enthusiastic ok in reply. Taking out her wayfinder's widget, she considered the idea of mapping out the tunnels and combining them into a map. If she couldn't prevent people from poking their noses where they didn't belong, then at least they could go in knowing where they were going. 

She eyed the women and her friend carefully, not knowing what her next move would be. Clearly she was armed, and had an advantage, for this young naga was only 14, and still learning how to thrive on her own in this mysterious land of Revaliir. She watched silently from the window, wondering what she was going to do next. Thats when she noticed the ferret. Easy prey… She thought. The last thing she had eaten was a were elk, and that was weeks ago. She was hungry, but she new that the ferret wouldn't hold her for long.

She slowly began to transform, growing into a 50 foot naga, and slithered out from behind the house. She watched the ferret carefully, tracking his every move through her vision, staying still, blending into the overgrown shrubbery. When she was in naga form, she was only waiting for prey to innocently pass by her. She would hide in tall grass, tree's anything that matched her scale colors. 

She would wait in this form for hours, days, weeks, sometimes even months, but she was patient. And when the unsuspecting victim would wander to close to her jaws? She would lash out, like a cobra, and devour her meal. But small animals, she would swallow while their still alive. So she waited for the ferret to be so innocent enough to waltz by the bush she was in. And as soon as he wandered close enough, she lashed out, opening her jaws. 

When the naga lunged out from hiding, the last thing she remembered was seeing the ferret in plain view. The next moment, the serpent's jaws were met with empty air. The woman had already walked several meters past her, and the ferret's excited chattering could be heard in the distance. When a great green snake emerged out of the bushes, Shiloh had caught sight of it's gaping mouth poised to swallow Niall. Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat as she unconsciously cast stasis on the reptile's head. From the ferret's point of view, suddenly a huge snake jumped out from nowhere, then froze. His little eyes stared up at it in awe, not fully realizing he was about to be eaten. Standing up on his back legs, he was amazed that it stopped moving like that. "Whoaaaa! I've never seen a snake that big before! Hey, why isn't it moving?" Coming up to her familiar, Shiloh gently picked him up and put her around her neck. "It is a big snake. Very big, in fact. By it's size, I doubt it's native to the area. Hmm, it does seem to be 'stuck' doesn't it? I wonder why? …Hey, is that an oak tree over there?" The ferret perked up and looked where she pointed, and in a flash Niall was bounding towards the tree laden with acorns. Though he was no squirrel, so he couldn't climb up the tree beyond the first foot from the ground. Instead he decided to play-fight with the fallen acorns.

All was peaceful around the ruins, and now the woman the serpent had seen earlier was now looking at her from a safe distance…with a large switchaxe in her hands. If the serpent had been looking for a deity, unfortunately she had found one. As the brunet woman looked over the naga, Shiloh was sure it must have come here from elsewhere. There was no way the local wildlife could support a creature of this size for very long. Even a young dragon would have to seek out larger prey to whet its growing appetite. Naturally all living creatures needed to eat in order to live, however attempting to attack her little ferret friend was unforgivable. But since she couldn't expect an animal to know any better, she'd let this offense slide for the first time. But if it didn't take the hint and tried to do it again–she would have to engage in 'justified self-defense'. Through her body language Shiloh made it clear that she was fully aware of the snake's presence and current position, all while silently watching it with a fixed, unflinching gaze.

She starred at the women for a long time. Her weapon, then to her ferret, then to her, then back to her ferret. She flicked her tongue in and out, smelling the woman. She slithered out from the bush, exposing her full length, and standing up to 20 feet tall. She starred unblinking into her eyes, slowly slithering around her in circles, never breaking her gaze. Her weapon could easily cut through her scales, but they were thick enough not to make her shed any blood. She eyed the ferret once more. She couldn't decide if she wanted to make a move or not. She stopped circling the woman after a few minutes. She could change into her human form and run off, her half naga form, or slither into a higher position in which she had an advantage.

And an advantage she had. Her scales were thick, but smooth enough to slither over even the sharpest rocks with ease. So she could move quickly to a high vantage point. She eyed the woman one more time. Although, it would be easy to wrap around and constrict her, the weapon she held, if squeezed tightly enough, could easily cut through her scales and into her soft muscles. She slithered quickly into the overgrown hedge, disappearing from view completely, blending into the environment. She moved quickly, onto the roof of a nearby building, overgrown with shrubs and tree's. As she blended in, she waited for the perfect moment to strike. 

'Brazen' would be an understatement for what the large snake did next. Apparently she had underestimated the beast's tenacity, or in this case–sheer stubbornness. As the snake was contemplating on what to do, Shiloh was watching its every move. It eventually chose to leave into the underbrush, all while Shiloh was still watching. But even perfect camouflage didn't mean she had lost sight of where the serpent went. She was very much aware of the massive, glaring life signature moving into position. She knew where it was, no matter where it slithered. And if showing she was armed wasn't a strong enough of a warning, then she would have to make it clearer. "So that's how it's going to be then? Don't say you weren't warned. I can still see you, even if my eyes aren't facing where you are." Taking out a vial of liquid lacriamium, she coated the edge of her switchaxe in the enchanted oil. 

Turning towards where the serpent's life signature radiated from, she clicked her tongue before saying one word: "Fulgur." Out of the clear blue sky, several bolts of lightning assaulted the building where the great snake was hiding. The plants and trees which had overtaken the ruin were scorched and splintered as they were charred black by the freak lightning strikes. Frustrate an animal enough and they should learn to find easier pickings. And if they didn't take the hint after the first few times, then any retaliation was justified as self-defense. Mentally Shiloh was counting the seconds passing while she waited to see if her message had gotten through. What was supposed to be a day off to check on specific locations while letting Niall get some fresh air had been ruined by this unexpected encounter. And if she couldn't convince this big snake to bugger off, then she'd leave. She had a tight schedule to run, one that didn't allow interruptions from external variables. She had placed the warding charms on the entrance of the Ancense Ruins already so the undead and other creatures inside wouldn't easily come to the surface. There wasn't any other reason to hang around.