Kal'Ichik
Abstract
To write a paper for final marks in Professor Lighthearted's sophomore Cultural History class, about "A notable figure from history that arose out of a different culture than my own". The history of the Lizardfolk of eastern Taisha was chosen as the Culture of Study, and their most famous king, Ichik, as the subject of this academic work.Introduction
Kal'Ichick was a warrior king, a philospher, and a first rate surfer. He led the Lizardfolk during the events of The Lowland Tsunami, and is almost single-handedly credited with keeping them together as a people. He was a charismatic leader, a fierce warrior, and a cunning adversary, but he was also so much more than those things. He was able to take information from any source and synthesize it into a workable plan of action, a rare trait amongst any population, and he was also devoted to his people, life and limb.
Materials and Methods
This scholarly work leaned heavily on the research of Bardic College professor Gnelson Gneedlepoke; an adventurous Gnomish researcher who travelled extensively in the Taishan lowlands, east of the Seraph Mountains. Additional research was gathered first hand from Lizardfolk tribes visited by the humble author of this academic product, who embedded himself within various tribes to record word-of-mouth legends and lore. The methodology was simple; the author used a Hat of Disguise and learned to speak Draconic very well. The author also needed to learn several regional dialects and three distinct accents, earning a minor in Linguistics in order to accomplish this task.
Results
The history of this great king has been recorded in surprising detail, from his birth to his aged departure. However, it is only within the Lizardfolk community that these stories of his deeds and sacrifices are common knowledge. The literal derth of scholarly works, on the matter of Lizardfolk, makes this research project a good start, only.
To paraphrase the referenced translations, which are available as appendices in volumes four through eighteen inclusively, it was Ichik who brought the few survivors of the tsunami together from disparate parts of the flooded lowlands. It was he who led his people through the Seraph Mountains, across the arid Rhegev Desert, and thence to the tropical islands of Teotachetlan.
While inhabiting the tropical islands was idyllic, for a time, there finally came humans into their realms. And, humans doing what humans do, they drove the already displaced Lizardfolk out of house and home, once again. Kal'Ichik took up his stave, and led his people back to Taisha. Back, to their ancestral homelands on the eastern shores of the continent.
This time, however, it was far from idyllic. Their homeland had become even more wild and inhospitable while they had been away. Yet still, the Lizardfolk persisted; only this time, they were smart about how and where they built their villages and social centers. Ichik took pages out of every culture's book to build secure and safe homes for his people. They used stone, and wood, and grass, and limestone mortar. They used sluices and dams to control the water around their homes. They built shelters higher up on the slopes of the mountian, and erected watch towers along the shores.
Kal'Ichik introduced ritual into the lives of the Lizardfolk; rituals that could, and would, save many lives during times of calamity. And when, after the Drought of Fires swept through the lowlands, the Lizardfolk emerged, they were prepared, with stores of preserved food and fresh water enough for a year. They were able to survive, although the heat and stress of the great fires rendered many of the Lizardfolk infertile.
It was during this time that Kal'Ichik began to lay clutches of eggs, for the population had dwindled even further during that stressful time frame. In this way, Ichik literally became the great-father of the Lizardfolk, and they came to revere him almost as much as they did Nyssa the Crone. And when, six months later, the rains came pounding back into the Lowland plains, life sprang back into action. Flowers bloomed, plants and trees took root, and animals began to return to the Lowlands.
Once again, Ichik took up his stave. But this time, he left alone. It was time for the Lizardfolk to move on without him, said he, and he walked away towards the setting sun. There, to this day, Lizardfolk will swear he lives, alive and well, living in a hidden hermitage in the Seraph mountains. He will come back, say the legends, during a time of great need and dire desperation.
Discussion
These stories are stitched together from hundreds of tellings, and are what the Lizardfolk consider to be canonical truth. There are several points that would, immediately, put this view into question. We know Lizardfolk can spontaneously begin laying eggs during times of great stress. Or, at least, we had surmised it. However, Lizardfolk have a mean lifespan of ~80 standard years. Ichik would have had to have been at least three hundred years old to have done all of this according to the historical records that we do have. We kknow of the tsunami, for instance, from several cultures around the oceanic basic. We know of the Lizardfolk being driven from the islands around Teotachetlan circa one hundred and twenty years later. We know the timing of the great fires and droughts that plagued Taisha. These are all verifiable, and logic would have it that Ichik simply could not have been alive for them all.
But some of the Lizardfolk say he was blessed and beloved of their deity, Nyssa, and granted eternal life in order to fulfill his mission to protect the Lizardfolk of the Lowlands, forever and always.
This point of view is an obvious and clear-cut case of hero worship. The chances of a deity granting any mortal eternal life are infinitesimally small; however, the humble author of this academic product would welcome any and all debate on the matter, once again referencing the derth of information on the subject.
Recommendation
Much more study is necessary to come to any hard and fast conclusions about these peoples; they have been woefully understudied, and grievously misunderstood, for centuries, now.
Limitations
There are only two main sources for this academic product, and while the author is, himself, one of those sources, much more study is needed to expand upon what has, herein, been only begun.
Conclusion
Kal'Ichik was a real Lizardfolk King; of that, the author is certain. But much more study needs to be done to verify many of the claims surrounding him and his eternal life. It would be interesting, also, to discover the genesis of Ichak's egg-laying metamorphosis, and what the long term repercussions were, or would have been.
Comments