Lizardfolk (Yashchedax)
Lizardfolk are a sentient, native species to
Rusk. Lizardfolk are Eudraconids (i.e. 'true dragons') having a single set of adult teeth, hatching from eggs, having external hatching triggers, and possessing three pairs of limbs (though in lizardfolk the 'wings' are vestigal and housed entirely within the body). Lizardfolk largely inhabit swamps, marshes, and forests, and populations are known to inhabit the Fenhollow and the Whisperwood. Lizardfolk are rarely seen in drier areas around Farhold.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Like all
Eudraconids, lizardfolk lay eggs. Most lizardfolk lay a single egg at a time which is then maintained communally in one large clutch. As a result, direct parentage of lizardfolk is very difficult to determine. Eggs are leathery and generally weigh 8-10 pounds each, and take about six months until they are ready to hatch.
As with their relatives, Lizardfolk embryos enter a form of topor upon reaching the end of development, instead of immediately hatching. This topor period can last years: scholars have reported eggs remaining viable after even three years of stasis. Hatching is triggered by a rapid increase in temperature, such as being placed in direct sunlight on a very warm day, or being placed on hot coals. It is believed this topor evolved to allow eggs throughout the year to hatch as summer approached. Hatching has been highly ritualized in most lizardfolk societies, with many having a set hatching date where the year's eggs are induced to hatch at the same time. This generally falls on an auspicious date such as a lunar cycle, period of prey arrival, or high holiday.
Growth Rate & Stages
Young Lizarfolk form generational bands with their clutchmates that can last for life, eventually becoming hunting parties. Lizardfolk have similar lifespans to humans, reaching maturity at approximately 12 years of age, though when operating as a clutch they can become self sufficient by three years of age. They can live considerably longer than humans, however, with extreme examples of 150 years old or more recorded.
Ecology and Habitats
Lizardfolk are naturally hydrophillic and tend to live near bodies of water, or at least in environs where water is abundant. This typically means tropical and temperate lowland and coastal environments such as marshes and swamps, though they can also be found in grasslands and forests.
Lizardfolk are obligate carnivores and as such tend towards hunting, fishing, and sheparding. As a result, lizardfolk bands tend to remain small unless they have an ancillary food source (such as Kobold beetle farms). Lizardfolk are both cannibals and Sentivores and have no qualms with consuming both their own dead and those of enemies they have slain. Some lizardfolk bands even actively seek out sentient prey to consume.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Lizardfolk are surprisingly artistic for such a spartan culture, with a particular affinity for scrimshaw. Indeed, some houses and establishments sell scrimshaw trinkets and jewelery made from the teeth and bones of animals and adventurers alike.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
While Lizardfolk have a diverse range of names, two traditions seem to be universal. First, lizardfolk children are not named immediately, but after enough time for their personality to develop (usually around the two year mark). Names are chosen by consensus of the clan's adults, though the children themselves often have input. Second, lizardfolk tend to append the 'ox' suffix as an honorific to venerated or notable members of their clans. This suffix mimics the names of infamous dragons of history, who's names ended this way. This reminder of draconic heritage reinforces the authority of one so named; leaders and officers can often be identified in a group by their name alone.
When lizardfolk die, clan artisans will scrawl the dead's life story on their bones (usually the skull or femur). Once the scrawl is finished, the soul of the lizardfolk is considered released.
Beauty Ideals
Lizardfolk have few possessions and have no desire for ornamentation of anything larger than what they can carry. They do, however, seem to highly value anything that can pattern their scales, including paint and ink (though for some strange reason, not tattoos). Lizardfolk also value personal ornamentation including piercings, feathered crowns, necklaces, bracelets, weapons, and favorite tools. The patterns of colored scales can often be used to distinguish clans at a distance.
Relationship Ideals
Lizardfolk have close, life-long bonds with clutchmates, often evolving into hunting parties and sometimes even clans themselves. Ideal lizardfolk relationships are communal, open, and group-oriented.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Draconic (various dialects)
Common Etiquette Rules
Lizardfolk greet each other by sharing food, a process which has become ritualized to a small morsel. Either party can provide this food, as it is not considered individual property in lizardfolk society. Adventurers should have meat at hand when moving through lizardfolk territory, lest they be forced to consume a gift of person-meat.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Lizardfolk culture can be distilled into three principles: practicality, balance, and honor.
As hunters, fishers, and shepherds, lizardfolk have a practical bend that can border on brutality. Lizardfolk waste few resources and prize economy and utility over most things. This is reflected not only in their structures (which are rarely adorned) but most notably in their behavior. Lizardfolk tend to use language economically and think carefully before they speak. Their speech is plain and direct, or even blunt. Lizardfolk tend to deal with even heavy topics such as life, death, and killing with a matter-of-fact casualness that borders on chilling to those unaccustomed to it. Lizardfolk are often described as having only two emotions: enraged and nonplussed.
Lizardfolk practicality extends to their second cultural touchstone- balance. Lizardfolk are generally highly in-tune with their surroundings, on which they rely for survival. Because their young can hibernate before birth, Lizardfolk tend to be very deliberate with their resource and food planning, only hatching when food is abundant enough- even if this would result in eggs expiring. Lizardfolk make not only excellent navigators, trappers, hunters, and fishers, but also conservationists. They have a strong culture of self restraint and sustainable hunting practices. Indeed, all flesh within a clan's territory is considered their property, though this is interpreted to various degrees. In many clans, this philosophy is extreme, with clans exerting ownership over not only the bodies of slain adventurers, but living ones as well- taking them as slaves or food.
The third cultural pillar of lizardfolk society is honor. Honor is generally interpreted as protecting the clan from both violence and starvation, and immortalizing clan mates through ornamentation of their skeletons after death. Lizardfolk leaders tend to be highly revered and respected within their clans, and they tend to rule by consensus rather than through threat of violence. Non-clan mates (including slaves and chattel), however, are considered below honor.
Lizardfolk are not known to practice agriculture of any form- they form exclusively hunter-gatherer societies when alone. This limits the upper range of band size to what the surrounding area can naturally support unless the band is embedded within a
Kobolds society or has Kobold slaves.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
As a non-farming species, lizardfolk are extremely food conscious and territorial. Food is rarely wasted, and food that has spoiled is usually repurposed for fish traps. The bodies of lizardfolk themselves are considered property of the clan upon death, and
the dead are ritually consumed as soon as practical, sometimes even upon the field of battle. Indeed, an honorable death followed by consumption by one's own clutchmates is considered not only the highest honor possible, but also a form of immortality.
Common Taboos
Refusing food, especially the flesh of clan-mates, is considered a grave offense in lizardfolk culture and can quickly escalate to violence. This can cause major tension with peoples that do not partake in
Sentivory. Similarly, wasting food (such as not eating a kill in its entirety) is considered the equivalent of refusing food and can be met with similar force. Adventurers venturing through lizardfolk territory should be extremely careful to consume or otherwise dispose of the bodies of monsters slain, lest the clan find the carcass and pursue those who wasted it.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Like many peoples, lizardfolk's relationship to other species depends on the clan. Clans encountered to date range from neutral and avoidant to hyper aggressive and murderous. Despite the risk, the
Ministry of Trade is particularly interested in establishing trade with neutral clans.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Draconis populus
Geographic Distribution
NOTICE TO ADVENTURERS
When planning to encounter lizardfolk, ensure you have meat on hand to offer as greeting, less you be forced to accept and consume the meat offered by the lizardfolk, which may be an old friend.
When travelling through lizardfolk territory, ensure you only kill or trap what you can eat, carry or bury: wasted food is considered an extremely grave insult and can result in violence and even pursuit from the local clan.
Comments