The Mud Coast
The Mud Coast comprises 500 miles of muddy coastline and 62,000 square miles of warm, swampy interior that borders the Green Realm to the west and the Crescent Sea to the east. This land is ancient, as primeval as the nearby forests of the Green Realm, and in a constant state of growth and decay for uncounted millennia. This land had once been at the bottom of the Crescent Sea until some unknown event caused the waters to recede ages ago. Today, a growing nation of lizardfolk and tsathar dedicated to the worship of the Mother of Dragons calls this salt swamp home. The coast is largely avoided by sailors and is generally shunned by the guardians of the Green Realm, who maintain outposts along their borders with the Mud Coast to protect against any incursions by lizardfolk into their forested kingdom.
History and People
Long ago, the vast salt swamp that makes up the majority of the interior of the Mud Coast was at the bottom of the Crescent Sea until some unknown event caused the waters to recede. During what came to be known as the Age of Dragons, lizardfolk moved into this region and established temples and cities within the swampland. Some came to worship the Mother of Dragons while others sought guidance from Behemoth. They made pacts with great and powerful beings who granted them access to sorcery and power over the very fabric of the world.
Eventually, those of the Cult of the Mother of Dragons became twisted by the powers they had summoned, and in the name of the Mother commenced the wholesale slaughter and sacrifice of intelligent life around them. At first, this meant any of their distant kin serpentfolk who wandered into the swamps and locathah who laid their eggs upon the muddy shores. But in the end, the lizardfolk turned upon themselves in a mass sacrifice of their own folk that left their civilization in ruin toward the end of the Age of Dragons some 400,000 years ago.
Fallen into barbarism, the descendants of the original lizardfolk remain in the Mud Coast and dwell among the ruins of their fallen civilization. They harry ships foolish enough to weigh anchor off their coast and continue the ancient tradition of tormenting the locathah. Until recently, the greatest threat to the lizardfolk has been themselves. Eking out a brutal existence, the various tribes have long warred with each other, taking slaves of their own kind and practicing cannibalism in order to steal the life essence of their enemies.
But less than a hundred years ago, a new Cult of Tiamat arose among the lizardfolk in the swamps, and new rituals to the Queen of Dragons have been wrought. The cult’s prayers were heard and recently Tiamat sent her draconic emissary, Qoatl Boax, to the ruins of the ancient city of Ajsak Telek to serve as god-king of the lizard folk in her name. Upon his arrival the priests of Tiamat set about unifying the disparate tribes of the scale and tooth, slaughtering those who would not swear allegiance to the new rulers of Ajsak Telek. Qoatl Boax has overseen reconstruction of the city’s defenses. He has also ordered exploration of the ruins of the ancient cities in search of forbidden artifacts and ancient hieroglyphs that — once deciphered — may reveal long-lost secrets.
Unified and with newfound strength, the lizard folk venture as far inland as the edges of the tree line where their expeditions die in a rain of arrows or they find themselves beset by packs of wolves, prides of leopards, or picked to the bones by waves of giant hawks. Undeterred, the sorcerer priests of Ajsak Telek are merely testing the strength of the elves, much like a tiger tests the bars of its cage.
The lizardfolk are not the only race that calls the Mud Coast home. Tribes of tsathar hide deep in the swamps and worship their dark god in areas so desolate that even the lizardfolk don’t venture there.
Government
More than half of the lizardfolk who dwell in the Mud Coast live in the swampland in one of a dozen or so tribes, each led by a powerful chieftain who is usually a barbarian, warlock, druid, or sorcerer. They live lives not so very different from other primitive folk, with the majority of chores involving the gathering of food and protecting the tribe from trolls, catoblepas, shambling mounds, vegepygmies, hags, and other dangerous denizens of the swamplands known to prey upon the lizardfolk.
Closer to Ajsak Telek, governance is far more organized, with Qoatl Boax as the supreme authority and Yax Telek, the Mouth of the Dragon, as the wyrm’s second in command. Below those two, various chieftains are given authority over territories near the capital (or, in a few cases, more distant areas of strategic import or that contain ruins to be explored), including the semi-settled lizardfolk in their area. The chieftains also act as military leaders with a certain number of warriors under their command. All positions of authority, including subchieftains and warrior leaders, are appointed by those directly above them, though Qoatl Boax has the authority to appoint or remove anyone at his whim.
Religion
The lizardfolk in the far-flung tribes along the fringes of the Mud Coast practice a form of animism that is very reptile-centric in nature, looking to crocodilians, monitor lizards, and similar beasts that resemble themselves. Increasingly, however, the Cult of Tiamat has spread, and the influence of the Queen of Dragons is growing by the day. This is particularly the case near Ajsak Telek where Qoatl Boax brooks no challenge to his mistress. Some few lizardfolk look to Behemoth but do so largely in secret.
The worship of Tiamat demands sacrifices, and the altars of the newly rebuilt pyramids of Ajsak Telek run with the blood of the lizardfolk’s victims once more. Bands of hunters from the city now stalk the coastal waters for locathah and anchored merchant or pirate vessels. Others hunt along the edge of the timberline delineating their territory from the Green Realm in search of unsuspecting wild elves.
In lieu of prisoners, the lizardfolk are known to slaughter unaffiliated tribes in mass sacrifices or even volunteer members of their own brood to ensure the favor of the Queen of Dragons.
Trade and Commerce
The lizardfolk of the mud banks seldom trade with anyone. Much of their gear is made up of stone and leather, metals that such as bronze and copper that resist rust, or sharpened bone. This is not to say that equipment possessed by the dwellers of Ajsak Telek are not sophisticated in other ways and means, or that their weapons are any less deadly in skilled hands.
Upon the arrival of Qoatl Boax, weapons and technology have taken on a decidedly more advanced nature, as vaults are uncovered from the ruins filled with weapons of the ancients. These weapons have been awarded to Qoatl Boax’s most faithful servants. These include axes and maces of sturdy bronze, and javelins tipped with a rust-less iron alloy that supplement the churt missiles hurled by the atlatl of their coastal brethren. Still, the denizens of Ajsake Telek dig deeper as their excavation continues, bent on finding the fabled war bows of the ancients.
The lizardfolk are aware of more advanced weaponry, having been subjected to it by pirates and navies that have assaulted their coastal villages, and would certainly be interested in acquiring such weapons should the opportunity present itself.
Military
Since the ascendency of High Priest Yax Telek and the arrival of Qoatl Boax, the lizardfolk of Ajsake Telek have been organized into military units and have begun training in advanced combat techniques.
Below each chieftain are a number of expert warriors called kochatl. Each kochatl commands four experienced soldiers called popatl, each of whom in turn commands eight fighters known as tzitzi tmati. In addition, 100 kochatl (along with the corresponding number of popatl and tzitzi tmati) directly serve Qoatl Boaz in Ajsak Telek
.
Ajsak Telek itself is further protected by the Chosen of Tiamat known as the qoatl tmati. These elite knights are fighters and sorcerers trained in more orthodox methods of combat than their barbarian cousins who dwell in the outer villages. They are often heavily armed with bronze weapons and enchanted items, and mix potions from the abundant resources of the swamps around them.
Thus far, the newly organized forces of the lizardfolk have only been tested in lesser combat where they move against villages or raiding parties into the Green Realms in search of weapons and magic.
Major Threats
Thick sludge and muddy swamps, with their clouds of mosquitos and biting flies, make for an unattractive locale to most not otherwise native to the Mud Coast. As such, the largest threats to the Mud Coast are internal, from the hidden enclaves of tsathar, or beasts and other hazards found there, such as dinosaurs, flesh-eating bacteria, piranha, stirges, and the hags who keep their covens among the muddy backwaters.
Wilderness and Adventure
The Mud Coast itself is a vast wilderness of thick mud and a mangrove swamp that is home to a variety of threats and challenges. There are still many ruins that have not yet been uncovered, and it is believed that a gate to the Styx is hidden there where the waters run directly from the Mouth of Tsathogga. A rumored temple to this malevolent Frog God is believed to be kept by tsathar monks somewhere in the trackless wastes. The masters of Ajsake Telek would like to see it conquered and its secrets stolen for the greater glory of Tiamat.
Region
The Mud Coast
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