Headguard, second in command to Malin du Val

Nax

male

21

2 meters normal
5 meters complete length when measured from the tip of the tail to the crown of his head.

Jet black

like that mohawk style but instead of a mohawk its in a ponytail

green-golden-yellow with brown spots and thin vertical irises

Yuan-ti

skin: medium brown
Scales: dark blue with cyan tints

upperbody: well trained for hand to hand combat and battle with spears/ tridents.
tail: one big muscle mass

He has patches of snake scales on both his arms and chest. his throat is covered in scales as well and there are small clutches of barely a cm in diameter scattered on his face.

Nax does not wear clothes as he feels it restricts his movement.
At most he wears leather chest armour or arm guards or a sweater + coat in winter after Malin's constant nagging.

Constantly exasperated by Malin's impulsive actions, other than that his emotions are near impossible to read. He rarely takes action without thoroughly planning things first and often chooses for a "hit first, ask later" approach when faced with unfamiliar situations.

Nax mostly travels along as he enjoys the opportunity to see the world and learn new fighting techniques. So far his motives can be summarized as:
Keep Malin from dooming herself and everyone else for all eternity
Beat the crap out of anyone/anything that challenges him to a fight (no killing)
Become known as the strongest and most knowledgeable yuan-ti warrior in history.

Nax is very bad at talking his way out of things. It doesn't even occur to him that something could be solved by talking when in a semi-hostile situation.
To Yuan-ti, his easily engaged wrath and perceived attachment to the human Malin is a definite weakness.

In general humans, elves, dwarfs, gnomes and every other humanoid is inferior to the Yuan-ti and only suitable as slaves, entertainment and sacrifices.
Most of the circus artists fall into the entertainment category

He's obviously a skilled fighter and is good at learning new languages or deciphering old ones. His extensive planning skills are nothing to be snorted at either and people often wonder if he isn't secretly omnipotent.

hunting

In general, he's very cold to everyone and talks down to others. When it comes to those belonging to the circus he's more willing to listen and help without it benefitting him than he would anyone else.
Like all Yuan-ti's, Nax lacks the expressive emotions that most other species experience. He actively denies the few emotions that he does have, pride, wrath and joy are relatively strong, as he sees them as a nuisance.

As second in command, his tasks consist out of ensuring the safety of his fellow beings in the circus, getting Malin out of trouble, planning their travels/tours and anything else that would require longterm insight.

emerald green

rabbit

the glaive which was given to him by the master of the temple

python

11-16: head guard of the Yuan-ti temple
16- : second in command to Malin, head security

1. Most of the time Nax is regarded as a monster by the guards and people of the towns they visit. Especially clerics and paladins of the so said "good-aligned" gods are extremely hostile and unwelcoming towards him.


2. He could easily strangle a horse using his tail if he wanted to.


3. Snakes and snake-like creatures almost automatically take a liking to him by default.


4. Malin has tried to set him up on dates multiple times, either with high-priestesses of cults or with skilled warriors. She did so because she was bored.


5. The nickname Nax became commonly used among the circus artists because most find his actual name, which has a lot of snakelike sounds, difficult to pronounce

The glaive he carries is a magical and sacred weapon that uses the souls of those he killed to fuel his divine magic skills.
he wishes to keep the fact that he can actually feel emotions and has a sense of humour hidden at all costs, especially from Malin.

Void is especially wary of Nax's perceptiveness and takes extreme care to never give him conclusive evidence of his true nature.

The circus, as a collective, keeps it hidden from him that in the first two years some assassins joined with him as their target. Malin had known this from the start and allowed them inside after which she had sent Nax on a mission with a small group to investigate some ruïns. the rest of the circus swiftly and discretely got rid of the assassins one by one in the next week. Since Nax takes pride in his title as a warrior, all members of the time agreed to never speak of it again.

Malin du Val: He does not necessarily like her as her impulsive behaviour often messes up his plans. However, he does have great respect for her skills in magic and music and often finds himself impressed by her quick adjustments during battle. He values her presence mostly as an ally by contract.

Rostal: he's mostly neutral on all fronts towards the minotaur although he does recognize him as a worthy opponent if they were ever to engage in battle.

Void: He's suspicious of the cat as he has noticed a few things about it that don't add up. For example, no normal cat would disappear on an island without a trace and then pop up again on the mainland four days later. It hasn't done anything significant yet though so Nax mostly keeps an eye on it.

Nax was bred for the express purpose of becoming the head guard of the temple. His younger years were filled with hours of physical training in the early mornings and late evenings while the light of day was used for the studying of ancient texts.
At the age of 11, he became the official head guard.
At the age of 13, he met the 8 year-older Malin and her companions of that time for the first time as they wandered into the temple in search of a particular scroll containing information on a tomb. Malin's masterfull persuasion of the Yuan-ti chief and her unrelenting fascination for all things (especially arts) unfamiliar made a deep and positive impression on the young Nax.
When Malin returned three years later on her own looking for someone to help her achieve her dream, she took a quick liking to the now older and wiser Nax who had slowly developed an interest for the world beyond the temple. After three months of unrelenting arguments to both him and the chief of why it was a good idea for Nax to come with her, she finally got what she wanted.
It took another year before they had left his homeland and two more before they could officially call the acumulated group of strange beings a circus. Thanks to Nax's carefull planing they quickly rose up to be the most succesful traveling entertainment show among the civilasation of men.

The final argument that won Nax and the Chief over for Malin's plan was that knowledge of the world would make it easier for them to rise back to their rightful place.
Nax has a fascination for Malin's expressive and impulsive ways and follows her out of the conviction that her understanding of most intelligent life and culture makes it a lot easier for him to travel around without being constantly attacked by adventurers. If she were to become too much of a liability that directly jeopardizes his wellbeing he wouldn't hesitate to ditch her.

Among the circus artists, The beast-tamer Rostal is the only one who would stand a chance in a physical fight against Nax while Malin can easily evade his attacks and push him towards losing his coolheadedness.