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( I am not pleased with any of this in the least. It will have to do for now. Written in the wee hours of the morning. Sue me. )
Meretseger could aptly be described as statuesque; beautiful to behold and at times surreal compared to many a Tub-izen; blemishless, as if carved by the divinities she was named after. A serpent from the waist down, and a woman from the waist up, there were many names for her kind from the more frequent 'monster' and 'Naga' to the less-frequent 'Lamia' and even 'Medusa', though qualities from the lattermost certainly hold true: in lieu of hair, Meretseger bears a lively tangle of snakes, from vipers to cobras and constrictors all of varying lengths and bearing unique and hypnotic patterns of their own. The only similarity amongst them is their colour: a dazzling pearl, complete with all the nacre-shared iridescence. They are very much alive, and seem well-behaved, though they often reflect their owner's emotions more vividly than she does.
Enwrapped about her head is a well-kept cobra uraeus, fashioned from gold with only the faintest signs of aging, semi-tarnished silver decorating the interior of the cobra's 'hood.' Below that headdress, curiously, is a black length of cloth, wrapped about her eyes and disappearing behind her head into that tangle of serpents. Emblazoned on the cloth in gold rather clearly are crude, basic images of the eyes of Horus, of Ra and Djehuti. They are placed -- fittingly -- over the location of her eyes, though their image is often slightly distorted in the folds of the fabric as it shifts with time.
Her face and upper body are startlingly human, and very much feminine with a lithe frame, porcelain skin, and a smallish, sharp nose. She sported full breasts, and lips painted an even gold. Her ears were likewise adorned with golden, low-hanging, intricately-detailed chain-tassel earrings, frequently the playthings of her serpentine friends while she is distracted. Hugging her neck up to her jaw -- almost unsurprisingly -- is a neck corset of gold and silver; a heavy, metallic thing that bleeds down onto her upper chest. Worn and looking rather ragged, it is embellished with awing amounts of detail: serpents and symbols of ages past, and despite the pockmarkings of age and tarnish, beautiful scarabs inset with gemstones of brilliant lapis lazuli and rich jade stud the piece, adding a stunning, shocking variety of colour to her form. This was the only form of modesty her chest kept, otherwise remaining bare-breasted to the world, and apparently careless about it.
Snaking down her left arm (with all manner of puns intended) is an armlet: two snakes of gold and silver entwined, while on her right wrist were some simple, golden hoop bracelets. While fingers are bare of decoration, her nails are like sharp, hooked, reptilian claws, sharing the same pearlescence as her 'hair'. Often she curls her right-hand fingers inward to dance and play along her bracelets there like chimes in times of idleness.
The skin nearing her waist is visibly different, at first transitioning into a leathery pebbling and then replaced entirely by scales altogether, though her stomach didn't change until much lower; starting a fair distance beyond her navel. It is here that a lengthy, golden silk cloth hangs like an archaic miniskirt, hugging the curve of her hips, though it wasn't immediately apparent if it was designed for modesty or simply fashion.
The scales of her tail are the same pearly-silver as her nails and 'hair', with a healthy shine that is almost blinding in direct sunlight. Slightly-darker, chevron-shaped bands run horizontally along her tail in a pattern, but in no way detract from her natural beauty -- if anything, adding a sense of centering and balance to it. The polished, pearly scales give way to a belly and underside that match her upper-half's skin: a soft, delicate white. Curiously, her serpentine half is also devoid of trinkets and jewelry, presumably for comfort, and ease of locomotion.
At times, she remains completely motionless save for the random darting of a long, purple-black forked tongue from her mouth, further lending validity to that first-written descriptor. Her body stretches easily over thirty feet from head to tailtip, though she is usually coiled or otherwise bunched, seeming much smaller.
Beautiful gift art done by Keila!
- 6/15/12 Minor Update! -
Meretseger has taken to lounging in her human form again, a bit of a shock to anyone more accustomed to her natural, serpentine form. Standing at about 5'10'', her legs were fittingly quite lithe, and perhaps a spot lanky. Her skirt, fitted for her wider, serpent-form's 'hips', hung a bit lopsidedly and heavily, and often required adjustment. Still topless and careless, she kept all of her adornments and jewelry -- even going as far as sporting anklets on her now-bare feet!
Her hair kept that pearlescent sheen, as if her headserpents were literally straightened and split to hairs, reaching her lower back in length, cascading in silvery, iridescent waves, complimenting her alabaster skin -- statuesque was only all the more fitting, now! Her eyes, while revealed in this form, were hardly as magical as one might expect: with irises of gold, they were certainly out of place on a human, but with their slitted pupils and mercurial shimmer, they were hardly out of place on one who was naturally a snake. The markings on her blindfold were now blazed across and around her eyes like some form of tattooed birthmark, and while curious to behold, she didn't seem to care; often too thankful to be able to see again, in this form!