The Lizardfolk Druid

Lady Lah Jiy Kah (a.k.a. The Blue Fang)

Lah Jiy Kah is the oldest daughter of the chieftain Lah Jiy Sun of the Southern Marshes Lizardfolk. Born into an unusually egalitarian society, even by Lizardfolk standards, she was always expected to and groomed towards being the successor and next in line for her father. This fate never sat well with her however, as she always felt her purpose lies elsewhere, not at the head of a tribe.

Kah's younger siblings, a sister and two brothers, always looked up to her. Turning towards their big sister from an early age whenever they needed support, a shoulder to cry on or words of wisdom, they too came to see her as the next leader of the tribe. Their parents were loving, but with their own responsibilities it fell on Kah from an early age to take care of the household and her younger siblings. Chieftain Sun oversaw the legislative decisions within the tribe, acting as an “adjudigator” of internal disputes as well as the head of diplomatic relations which mainly concerned the other two lizardfolk tribes of the Southern Marshes. Kah's mother Sae on the other hand spent much of her time tending to the sick and the wounded,

warriors returning home from a tribe dispute and guards safeguarding the village injured over the course of their duties. Life in the marshes was wrought with danger and diseases, and she knew this better than most.

by BelleDeesse

As part of growing up as the future chiefess of the tribe, Kah was also expected to train herself in the role of a healer as this was a tradition and something expected from the eldest women in the tribe. In order to achieve these powers and skills she was introduced to the care and tutelage of the village shaman druid, Fey Jin Fas, who quickly became like another mother figure to Kah. Spending long days in training and learning about nature and its natural healing properties was not quite enough to sate Kah's latent curiosity and slight rebellious nature and it would quickly become clear to Fas that her pupil was more interested in utilizing nature as a weapon instead of a healing aid, but long as she was also learning at least the basics of healing Fas considered her job done. Whatever helped keep her young protege focused on the lessons she was trying to part to the young heiress.

In trying to come up with a focus for a specific school of magic Kah's mind quickly raced to a particularly harsh winter that almost cost the lives of much of her tribesmen, herself included. Instead of letting the trauma of that negatively affect her however, Kah decided to try to conquer it. Being surrounded by water the development of ice became a simple matter of magically lowering the temperature to allow ice to form, and although apprehensive initially Fas was ultimately willing to help her learn to control this facet of nature as well. These lessons however took place hidden from the rest of the tribe, as it was viewed unorthodox for the healers to train in the offensive as well as the defensive and restorative magicks. This meddling with ice magicks did come with one notable change however, as the tips of Kah's white scales started to develop a light blue tint. Although not entirely successful in dispelling the rumors caused by this, the mentor-pupil pair managed to explain this away by blaming it on certain secretive concoctions they were experimenting with in order to boost the potency of Kah's magical abilities.

Although the Lizardfolk generally spend the vast majority of their life within their own somewhat isolated communities with little contact with outsiders, occasionally some lost travelers enter the marshes, and sometimes they come with the intended purpose of trading or learning, if they are brave enough. Because the chieftain (or the chiefess) is usually the one doing all the talking in such situations, Kah was also mentored by her father in common. She did, however, have an ulterior motive to learn it. The idea of becoming a chiefess was far less appealing than the idea of becoming a traveling adventurer, and the more she learned to speak common the more stories she learned from those few outsiders passing through and by their lands. Whilst even to this day she still has some ways to go in order to speak common fluently and effortlessly, she is fully capable of understanding everyday topics and partaking in those conversations.

by Riley Otto

Life in the Lizardfolk communities has been rather tribal and communal for nearly a century, ever since the last Great Purge was ordered by the late Earl Pharam of Triarch, a sizable human settlement acting officially as the capital of the region.

Lizardfolk are still seen as savages by most people, but their fortitude and strength have also been acknowledged as something to be respected, even coveted. Now the relative peace of the tribes has however been jeopardized as the western tribe has fallen under new leadership. The oldest son, Mor Ron Tis, of the late chieftain is known as a ruthless warrior and a merciless warlord, and ambitious to boot. The fear is he might try to unite all lizardfolk tribes under one rule, that of his own, and being one of the three most powerful tribesmen in all of Barrow Marshes he might just have what it takes to pull it off. Scouts have also reported an increase in strange visitors in his village, seemingly making some sort of deals with the new chieftain. Because of the cloaks worn by these visitors it has been impossible to make any specific identifications, but all the visitors have on their cloaks a crest; one depicting three animal prints and a whip surrounded by laurel leaves and separated by a slanted cross, all embroidered in red on a black background.

It was not long ago that things did indeed take a turn for the worse, as lizardfolk from the southern marsh tribe started going missing. This caused a lot of concern and after each disappearance a scout party was sent after them to find out what had happened. Occasionally the tracks would lead the scouts to the corpses of their fellow tribesmen, riddled with gashes and cuts clearly caused by lizardfolk weapons, and the victims were brought back to the village to be tended to and prepared for their final ceremonies. Other times however the tracks seemed to lead straight out of their lands and directly to the territory of the enemy. With no clear or apparent signs of battles or scuffles these individuals were deemed traitors, those that would rather save their own hides and cower in front of the new up-and-coming chieftain. Lah Jiy Kah felt there was more to it than that, and so apparently did Fas judging by her closed off and worried demeanor of late, but it was not until the mentor herself also disappeared and was likewise branded a traitor that Kah decided to take action. Unwilling to believe one of the people she trusts the most could ever turn on the tribe, Kah recruits the aid of Sen Phi Tri, a childhood friend and a member of the tribe scouts, to track Fas down.

Sneaking out of the village was challenging due to the heightened security in place thanks to the recent events, but with guile and cunning and a clever distraction in the form of a peculiar ice sculpture depicting an alluring female lizard, the pair made their escape. The path to the western border was long but eventually they made it. Although beginning to fade in the rough environmental conditions the tracks clearly lead straight into the enemy territory. However, unlike with the tracks reported prior, a short way into the territory signs of battle were found. The scouts had missed this because they never entered said territory over the course of their investigation, assuming the same had happened to Fas as those that left before her. This discovery both worried Kah and gave her new resolve, confirming her suspicions; her mentor did not defect.

Circling the grounds of the western tribes they slowly made their way in closer to their village, and almost immediately spotted a number of steel cages against its back wall. Fearing for the worst Kah made a b-line for the cages and sure enough this is where her mentor resided. She whispered through the cracks in the wall, directly behind Fas' cage, and got her attention.

"Kah! You sstupid girl, what are you doing here!?" Fas hissed in panic, watching over her shoulder in fear of the guards seeing

"I knew you weren't a traitor. I knew ssomething had happened to you. I had to come find you!" Kah replied with conviction in her voice.

"Lower your voice! Lissten! The dissappearances were not our tribessmen changing ssides! They drug them and ssell them off! Ssome kind of venom! Makess them mindless, makess them obedient." Fas hastened to explain.

"You can exssplain everything once I get you out!" Kah tried calming her mentor.

"Theress no time! They are coming, any minute now. You musst run. You musst find uss. Look for the banner, the cresst with the whip. Look for the sslavers and come for uss. I will help you regain your possition with the tribe, I will overturn the exsspulsion. You musstn't wasste time, you must follow uss! You must do thiss ass our future chieftess! Now go!"Fas demanded with a tone more distressed than Kah had ever heard.

Fas had barely finished her sentence when three, large, muscular lizardfolk guards appeared around the corner into view, and walked up to the cage.

"Resissting your medissine? That'ss ssurprising.", said one of the guards upon realizing Fas' lively condition, and proceeded to grab his blowgun and fire a dart into Fas. Kah, staying completely still and low, watching this happen through the cracks of the wall, noticed an almost immediate change in Fas' behavior. Her posture slouched and her eyes glazed over.

"Is it docile enough to be transported now? Can you guarantee it's not going to cause any issues?" said a voice behind the guards. A cloaked figure stepped forward closer to the cage. The hood of the cloak covered most of his facial features, but the person had a sharp jawline and long blonde hair strands flowing down from under the hood. He continued with a calm, cold and calculative tone; "We're going to have a problem if your venom proves ineffective, you know?"

One of the guards turned towards the man and said, "Sshe iss ready to be transsported at your earliesst conveniensse."

"Let'ss get out of here!" Kah heard Tri whisper behind her suddenly, startling her and causing her to hit the side of the wall.

"Who goess there?!", the voice of the guards roared from the other side of the wall.

Quickly the pair made their way back into the darkness of the marshlands, just barely able to lose the pursuing guards.

"We have to go back to the camp, Kah! We have to tell the chieftain!", Tri tried convincing Kah, but she had already made up her mind.

If she were to return now her father would never let her leave to save her tribesmen. He would never let her abandon her future duties. After all, leaving the tribe grounds meant automatic expulsion from the tribe. As if this opportunity to set off on her own adventure was not enough incentive, there was also the matter of following fresh tracks out of the marshes. Any time wasted meant more distance to close, making it easier for Kah to lose any leads or tracks that might aid her in finding them. Kah managed to convince Tri to return to the village, to tell what had happened and where she had gone off to. And so, after many years of dreaming for the opportunity she was now presented with, despite the less-than-ideal circumstances, Kah set out to begin her own journey.

Fate would not allow Kah to simply look for her quarry in peace, however. After several weeks of travel, catching rides from settlement to settlement from lower rank Wolverines, she found the weight (or lack thereof) of her coin pouch concerning. The only way forward was taking up odd jobs here and there, anything that no one else would agree to do, in order to pool together the coins needed for the next leg of the trip. This also slowed down the pursuit considerably and the trail was getting ever colder. It was then that the word of a she-lizard looking for work reached the ears of individuals it should not have.

_{by Methylated Spirits}

Kah had just settled into an abandoned warehouse after a long day's work, and had just barely fallen asleep, when she felt a sharp sting on the side of her neck. Her vision became blurred, her movement become as if slowed down and she started feeling disoriented, which is the last thing she clearly remembers. Sure enough, when she next came to, she found herself in an iron cage being transported somewhere, her memory between then and now consisting of nothing but short flashes of the events of the past couple of days. Despite her best efforts trying to shout at the driver, demanding for answers, her pleas fell on deaf ears.

Alignment

Neutral Good

Date of Birth

22nd of Friga

Year of Birth

643 AM 22 Years old

Gender

Female

Eyes

Yellow

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Silvery grey scales

Height

6'6"

Weight

222 lbs.

Known Languages

Lizardfolk, Common, Druidic

Apparel & Accessories

Lah Jiy Kah wears a white hooded cotton cloak, with a chiffon veil affixed to the hood to further aid in concealing her appearance, underneath which she carries hide armor to protect her more vulnerable areas. She also carries a scimitar for battle where her magical abilities won't suffice.

Motivation

Lah Jiy Kah's primary goal in life, outside of the immediate goal of finding her tribesmen, is to learn about the world and the people living in it. Having spent her entire life in the Southern Marshes the world at large feels strange and new and in stark contrast to how she used to live. In addition, being out in the world all alone is dangerous, and thus she is on the lookout for company as both added security and an aid in showing her the ropes. In the big picture however, Lah simply wishes to be part of something larger than herself and to contribute to the good of the realm.

Likes & Dislikes

She grows attached to people who prove dependable and reliably rather fast, and will do anything to protect them, greatly enjoying the company of such trustworthy individuals. On the other hand she hates feeling indebted to others and strives to pay off her debts as best she can.