The Second Empire of the Taxlatl

Some of the Folk of Cartyrion aspire to be part of a great kingdom or empire. Some look back to their histories to see that they aalready have. But the Taxlatl, the Lizardfolk of Cartyrion, have a history that features not one, but two great empires, and a legacy that suggests one day a third will arise.

A Brief History

The First Empire of the Taxlatl began to rise almost as soon as the lizardfolk were Awakened in the year 15,317BCR. It expanded peacefully, establishing trade and even social relationships with the Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Feliseans already walking the world. When Humans first appeared about 900 years later, they approached the newcomers with goodwill. But those first barely civilized Humans harbored disease - a disease that almost wiped out the Taxlatl people entirely. Enough were lost that the Empire faded into disrepair, and its people were reduced to subsistence living not unlike the Human newcomers.

It took many thousands of years for the Taxlatl to recover. Eventually, though, the lizardfolk rediscovered much of the skill and technology that allowed them to achieve greatness the first time.

Second Taxlatl Empire

Established

426BCR

Fell

end of the Great Strife (1 CR, 2271 years ago)

Capital City

Taxl gra Kalakhrassa

They began to build great cities once more, and linked these cities which spanned much of the world with extensive trade routes. The Taxlatl flourished, and all the other Peoples of the world also benefited. The Second Empire was declared in the year now called 426 BCR (Before the Common Reckoning). This was a commercial and social empire more than a political one; it did not attempt to subjugate any existing nation or kingdom - at least not initially.

The Fall of the Empire

The empire was still rising in influence around the world when the Great Strife broke out, pitting the armies of those loyal to the The Gods of Coercion against those of the The Gods of Consent. Due to the overarching influence of the Taxlatl priesthoods, and particularly that of Sssekhasssa, the Warrior God of the Lizardfolk, the Empire found itself at the forefront of the forces that would ultimately lose the two-hundred-year god war. The early battles of the war provided many great victories for the Taxlatl armies and their allies. The cavalry mounted on Armored Trihorns was greatly feared. But the tides turned, and the final defeats saw that total crushing the Empire. Their capital city of Taxl gra Kalakhrassa - City of the Plains was razed to the ground, and the powerful magics of the victors reduced the fertile and productive plains of the Taxlatl lands to fetid swamplands to ensure they would not rise again.

Legacy

In the two millenia since the fall of the Empire, the Taxlatl have been reduced to a primitive people. Some of their people took to the marshes and fens, others to the deserts and rocky seacoasts. But they remember their history thanks to the Past Singers - bard priests who keep the lore of the people and remind them of their destiny of greatness.

Though most were destroyed in the end days and aftermath of the Great Strife, some physical remnants of the empire can still be found. Where their great cities once stood, some structures still exist, hidden deep in the swamps. In the land now known as the Coldmarsh Fens, near the former capital, remnants of roads can be found and followed as paths through the marshes.

The legacy of their feared cavalry survives as well, thanks to the Tyrnabay mercenaries that call themselves the Third Empire. Wild Trihorns gathered from the Coldmarsh Fens have been trained as fierce and formidable war-beasts to carry their Taxlatl riders into battle - if the price is right.

Credits

Banner map of Cartyrion by RPGDinosaurBob using Inkarnate
All sidepanel images of player races by RPGDinosaurBob using HeroForge