Viper (lakshu)

Viper was a lakshu who served the reigar known as Cholana.

Personality
Viper was a cynical woman and one who showed herself to be more patient and strategizing than was typical of members of her race.

Possessions
Around her forearm, Viper proudly wore a coiled jeweled snake, which was in fact a shakti a magical totem that could transform into a powerful suit of armor or a giant snake at her command. The scale armor granted Viper increased speed in combat and the ability to spit venom. The snake form of the shakti was large enough for her to ride.

History
When Viper had grown up to reach her full combat strength, she became the bodyguard of the reigar Cholana, taking an oath to protect her mistress for life. It was then that she received her name, a name that matched the duplicate of her mistress's shakti that she was then given as a gift.

As Cholana's bodyguard, Viper had been present when that eccentric woman performed a daring experiment within the phlogiston. Cholana had sailed into the flow within a longboat. Viper watched from the deck of Cholana's esthetic, as her mistress foolishly tried to channel the rainbow-colored substance into a mural. Instead, the phlogiston exploded. No remains of either Cholana or the longboat were ever found.

However, Cholana later strangely reappeared, without explanation, and took control of her esthetic again. From the start, Viper new that her returned mistress could not possibly be the real Cholana, as Viper's shakti no longer functioned as anything more than a bracelet. However, she bided her time and observed, waiting for the opportunity to learn the truth and slay the imposter who pretended to be her old mistress.

Viper was aboard Cholana's esthetic when that vessel came within view of the legendary Spelljammer. "Cholana", using a magical sapphire pendant about her neck, tried to communicate with or observe the massive alien vessel. When doing so, her reigar "glory", a series of sparkling motes that ever orbited such creatures, began to fade. Then, they suddenly exploded away from her, and her body began to expand and grow. Viper dodged the blast of the exploding motes and rolled into a defensive posture, as "Cholana" transforemd into her true form, a radiant dragon. The dragon, Celestial Nightpearl, gave no mind to the lesser creatures around her, as her massive body's bulk crushed the smaller spelljamming vessel. As the ship fell apart, Viper hurriedly grabbed the Arcane wizard who sat at the helm and fled with him to one of the escape boats. The two escaped as Celestial Nighpearl's wings and tail shattered the esthetic.

Appearances

 * The Radiant Dragon