Leviathan

Likely the most famous creature on the continent, at the center of the Shovani capitol of Shova dwells Leviathan. A seven-headed hydra the size of a mountain, Leviathan is the single largest animal known to exist. Leviathan stands at the literal and figurative center of dragonborn and lizardfolk society as the protector and leader of their capitol, and has enormous and varied influence on virtually every aspect of Shovani society.
By Shovani convention, Leviathan is never referred to using pronouns or the designation "the." Leviathan is simply Leviathan, though foreigners and some scholars carry on a lively debate about whether "it," "they" or some other moniker would be most appropriate, since Leviathan has no discernible sex organs or gender. For the sake of convenience, this entry sometimes references Leviathan by neutral pronouns, but the reader should avoid uttering them aloud in the presence of Shovani citizens, as this may cause offense.
While lizardfolk will tell you that Leviathan has always existed, the first reports of the massive creature date back about three hundred years, when the emergence on shore of what one witness described in a text as "a six-headed lizard god" caused a miniature tsunami. This seems to suggest that Leviathan is amphibious, or at least capable of swimming, but this is largely speculation because after only a month spent wandering the region, Leviathan selected a spot in the high plains, north of a large mountain range and what is now Allacraus, and has remained at that precise spot ever since. At the intersection of two major rivers, Leviathan's place of settlement had good soil and was already among the territory in contention in a long-running conflict between several groups of reptilian humanoids. The dragonborn, lizardfolk and several less populous species quickly realized that they were no longer in charge.
Legend has it that the delegations waited six days and six nights before any were brave enough to approach the creature, though given the importance of the number six in Shovani culture this could well be revisionist symbolism. When a delegation of tribes approached, they offered their allegiance, their worship and their services in supplying the creature whatever it required. Leviathan surprised all of them by accepting their allegiance and granting them permission to build a city around Leviathan, but explicitly asked not to be worshiped, as it was not a god. Some scholars dispute whether that claim has any real meaning, given that Leviathan claims to be the creator of all lizardfolk races and to be owed their allegiance, but Leviathan has never claimed supernatural powers or status, and has explicitly decreed that it has no authority over the souls of the lizardfolk, and that they "may wander as they will" when they have departed this life. Despite its decree, however, much of the city's care of and interaction with Leviathan has religious trappings, and the faction in charge of communing with the creature are known as priests.
Regardless, that event marked the establishment of the Shovani nation, a unified, militaristic empire whose emphasis on order and discipline parallel significant political and military clout. Even without Leviathan, the modern Shovani army could probably field the largest force on the continent, and the Shovani are very open about discussing this fact. Leviathan confirmed speculation that it viewed defense of the city as its responsibility on the one and only occasion the city was attacked, during the most recent war. The enemy army had made it within sight of the city, and Leviathan's lack of a response emboldened the foolish commander, who ordered strikes on the city with long range artillery, reasoning that the creature couldn't move without trampling its own capital and had no way to reach the invading army.
After only a single barrage landed in the city, Leviathan opened three of its six maws, and an overwhelmingly bright light coupled with enormous atmospheric pressure caused moderate damage to the city infrastructure merely by the proximity of its origin thousands of feet above the city. The three heads swept across the horizon once, and where there had been an army there was now a smoking canyon carved out of the rock. To this day, that canyon exists as a testament to the unfathomable power that the creature seemed to almost casually deploy.
Not much is known of Leviathan's personality. Leviathan's six heads are each independent minds capable of their own thoughts and decisions, though they seem able to converse with one another without speaking aloud. Despite their numbers, the heads have never publicly disagreed on anything, and Leviathan regularly rotates them so that at any given time, two are asleep, one is available to speak with the populace and the other four are awake and watching over the city.
Leviathan is so massive that just ensuring it has places to rest its heads required major construction. Six "Temples" are situated throughout the city, each built around massive courtyards where the heads lay to sleep or converse with their people. The heads have individual names, but they are known to only the highest levels of the priesthood and considered major secrets. Though each head can speak aloud, the volume and force of the vibration produced by Leviathan's natural voices have made it more practical for the priesthood to use telepathy magic when consulting their titanic ruler.
The most recent notable happening concerning Leviathan is an event known as "The Rising," in which a wound the creature received in a recent war sprouted a seventh head. This is significant because many cultural and social symbols of the Shovani were organized around the number six in honor of the six heads of Leviathan, including the existence of six major castes and six members of the ruling council. The full implications of this for Shovani society have yet to be realized, but many groups are already pressing for change. As to why the new head came about and how, Leviathan has been silent. Other than authorizing the creation of a seventh "temple," no official decrees have come forward yet about what this seventh head means.
The greatest mystery concerning Leviathan is how it manages to survive and sustain itself. Indeed, it continues to grow, albeit very slowly, and it does not visibly eat or drink, though it has been seen to bathe its head in the river from time to time. What no one in the nation realizes is that the being known as Leviathan does eat, by means of a kind of proximity telepathy. Drawing in the sustained mental energy of the populace around it, Leviathan converts expelled thoughts and dreams into energy in order to sustain its existence. How it survived before this is uncertain, but many Shovani would be surprised to learn that Leviathan depends almost as much on them as they do on Leviathan.
This psychic feeding process is at least part of the reason the creature prefers authoritarian, almost dictatorial rule for its nation. Leviathan is affected by the mental emissions of the surrounding citizens much as a human is affected by a balanced or unbalanced diet. To some extent then, Shovani's tradition of iron-clad authority is just as much a matter of taste as it is a question of governing philosophy.