Ixtangi
Ixtangis are a species of chameleon-like people, originating from the jungle planet of Doganga in the Vast. The ixtangis’ history on their beautiful, verdant planet is long and painful, and they’ve only recently been saved from the brink of planetary destruction, thriving in floating island-countries that dot Doganga’s skies.
Ixtangis are tall and reptilian, and their default colorations are green, red, blue, or black. Their scales are actually mostly transparent; any colors that ixtangis display result from their manipulation of the liquid crystals beneath their layer of glass-like scales. They are able to change the structure of these crystals and the resultant colors at will and can even become functionally invisible to observers by mimicking the scenery behind them. They have two sets of eyes that are able to move independently from one another, granting them a wide range of vision. Their snouts taper in thick, wedge-like horns, and some ixtangis also have large, bony crests that they like to accessorize with jewelry and precious stones. Their mouths are filled with razor-sharp teeth, and their tongues are long and retractable. Ixtangis have long, flexible tails that end in a scorpion-like stinger. They rarely find themselves using this poisonous barb in modern times, but they may lash out if startled or if they have no other option.
Ixtangis continually fought a planet-threatening disease called the Blighted Bark. This supernatural plague resulted from the ixtangis’ overuse of Doganga’s natural resources. When the ixtangis’ central government finally realized how far they’d pushed Doganga’s ability to support the ixtangis’ continued existence, it commissioned a council of powerful ixtangi spellcasters, known as gleamscales, to push back against the civilization’s overuse of natural resources. Performing an extremely potent, centuries-old ritual passed down through the gleamscales’ literature, the gleamscales intended to replenish the planet’s resources, and—for a few years—it worked.
Little did most ixtangis know, the gleamscales’ rituals made use of evil magic, taken from Abaddon by irresponsible gleamscale progenitors. The ixtangis, who thought themselves successful, rested on their laurels while the malevolent magic from the rituals interacted with the innate magical properties of Doganga’s jungles. This caused the magic to conjure shadowy and sickly vegetation and animals, which then spread this plague, known as the Blighted Bark, to the surrounding regions.
After a decade of the Blighted Bark taking over all of Doganga’s jungles, the ixtangis were at a loss. Their efforts to repel the blight failed, and with no means of leaving the planet, they accepted their fate, resolving to die with their Doganga. Then the it happened.
The blight mysteriously vanished and the planet swiftly went back to its old verdant self. Now Ixtangi populate many jungle planets vowing never to destroy another world.
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