Carrion Lizards
He was that desperate to get away?
Lapis watched as her stake slide down the wall and into the Pit, where he tumbled into a pile of gore and fabric. The cleaners turned to stare at him as he scrambled to his feet and raced to the open entrance gate.
A pile lurched up as he passed, and a head as long as half of Lapis's height snapped at him. He screamed and jerked away, but she thought blood freely flowed down his arm.
She sighed and turned away. Even if he made it out of the Pit, bites from the lizards were deadly if not properly cared for immediately. The shank, considering his attire and thinness, did not have the funds to keep himself alive. She would ask the guard to post an addendum to the stake about the unlucky turn; another chaser who did not mind going through a dead man's things would take it. The pay was not much for the return of the ring, but a new or desperate chaser would snatch the easy payout.
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General Info
Despite the nickname carrion lizards, the human-sized reptiles are formally known as inland greens. Fossil history puts their beginning squarely in Siindersouth and Zouldan, but they migrated north when the warmer climes expanded. Inland greens have two subspecies, the northern greens and the southern greens. The only difference is their tolerance for cold or heat; northern greens can weather snowy winters, while southern ones can handle hotter weather. They do so through a secretion that coats their scales, providing heating or cooling effects depending on the temperature.
Description
Physical
- Inland greens
- are named for the green color of their scales. Scale color ranges from a brownish olive-green to a brighter leaf green. Mountainous greens will often have brown scales on their back, and green on their belly
- on average, the top of their head reaches a human's waist, though some can top out at shoulder height
- they have a flatter, wide head and long jaw with sharp teeth, round irises and pupils, and ear holes covered by a thin membrane. Their large nostrils can close, protecting the nasal passage while they grab a bite to eat from a dead body
- have four limbs that stick out to the side, and four long, non-retractable claws on each foot. They can run faster than a human for short distances
- have a tail as long as the rest of their body. The tip can break off, but regrows
- have bacteria that grows in their mouths and on their claws that is deadly to living beings
Behavioral
- Inland greens
- are carnivores. Their diet consists solely of meat. In the wild, they ambush or stalk prey, targeting larger mammals like deer, sheep and pigs. They will bite or scratch their prey, and wait for the bacteria to kill them before eating. In captivity, they rarely move much further than their next meal, or into shelter.
- reproduce 1-2 young every 5-6 years, and can live for a couple of centuries
- in the wild, males have elaborate mock battles to win female interest, and partners change from year to year. In captivity, they tend to remain with the same partner
- they are not aggressive unless provoked. Leave them be, and they will reciprocate
- greens live in colonies of ten to thirty individuals. In these colonies, the young and old are cared for by the adults. Once the elderly pass, they drag the body away from their wallow, and leave it to scavengers.
- they do not have a social hierarchy, and no leader
Carrion Lizards
Why inland greens were Dentheria's carnivore of choice is unknown, but the empire brought them to Jiy, a place that did not have a previous population, from the mountains of southwestern Dentheria. They installed them in the Pit, and the puppet king declared dead individuals would be fed to them. The first colony started with ten males, ten females. When the Pit caught fire and the lizards perished a few years after, fifteen were brought in to replace them; seven males, eight females. Over time, the puppet kings outlawed all funerals in Jiy, and a large, steady supply of human bodies made up their food source. Both times a problem arose; the lizards did not want to eat the dead provided for them. Since the Dentherions already sprayed the enclosure with chemicals to mitigate nasty corpse diseases, they added another that enticed the lizards to eat what it covered. Using the spray, Dentherion scientists trained them on what to eat.
The Jiy carrion lizards grow larger than their wild siblings, as they have a steady food supply and do not have to risk injury hunting. They are also far lazier, preferring to lounge in the sun all day and retreat into the temple at night to avoid the black flyers that take the opportunity to snatch food from the enclosure.
Every so often, one tears through the entrance gate the pit cleaners use and wander around Jiy. It rarely takes much effort by the cleaners to herd them back to the Pit. These wanderings happen often in warmer weather and never in the snowy months.
The carrion lizards have a terrible reputation in Jiy, one ill-deserved but which reflects the hatred of the puppet kings and the empire, rather than the animals themselves.
This is reflected in their name. Dentherion calls them the Pit lizards, while locals attach carrion to them. They believe that is how the empire sees the peoples under their control, whether living or dead--carrion.
Some residents have taken 'carrion lizard' too seriously. Families who can no longer care for young children, their disabled members, or the elderly, will bribe the guards that stand at the cleaner's gate and leave the unwanted at the bottom of the stairs.
The lizards will attack them, their wilder instincts triggered by the crying and pleas for help. Once bitten or scratched, the unlucky die within a day. The palace has forbidden anyone, guard or cleaner or citizen, to rescue these helpless people, as they see them as disposable.
*UN-FUN FACT: in the LoN serial, the street rat Rinan was one of those abandoned children. The old thief Chinder broke the law and rescued him from the Pit.
The most famous carrion lizard is Mama Poison, who is not a carrion lizard at all but the average citizen doesn't know that.
Legend claims that Mama Poison is the mother of all the current carrion lizards, and evidence for this is her size--she is larger than a farm wagon, with a tail even longer than her body. Only an old lizard could grow that big. The other lizards seem afraid of her, and when she bats them in the head, they leave her alone.
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