Lizardfolk

The Lizardfolk are a people who have been shaped, possibly more than any other, by their enslavement by the serpentfolk. Their people remain isolated, and many would say primitive, due to their total rejection of all aspects of the society they were forced to participate in by their former masters.

History

The history of the lizardfolk is one which leaves scholars deeply frustrated. Their own histories are oral, and they are reluctant to share it with outsiders, and they only appear in the records of the other races as tools of the serpentfolk, revealing little about the lizardfolk themselves.

Before the Serpentfolk

Nearly nothing is known about the lizardfolk before their enslavement by the serpentfolk. If one can get a lizardman to talk about it, they will likely tell you that they lived in the swamp, minding their own business, like they were before you bothered them.

The Reign of the Serpentfolk

The serpentfolk enslaved the lizardfolk early in their rise, and would go on to use the lizardfolk as their preferred slave-soldiers in the rest of their conquests. Whatever society the lizardfolk might have had before their enslavement was wiped out as their subjugation stretched into the centuries. The sight of a line of armored lizardfolk marching into battle became a chilling sight to all those who stood in opposition to the serpentfolk.

After the Cataclysm

As reptilian creatures, the lizardfolk were affected by The Cataclysm in much the same way as the serpentfolk, vanishing in an instant as the magical backlash rushed across the soon-to-be Shattered Continent. Only the lizardfolk and their masters in an isolated serpentfolk city on the far side of the shield mountains were spared, as the magical backlash failed to penetrate the imposing mountain chain. The serpentfolk tried to prevent their slaves from learning that the mighty serpentfolk empire was gone, but once that news spread, it wasn't long before the lizardfolk rose up and slaughtered the remaining serpentfolk to the last. Once their masters had been dealt with, the lizardfolk defaced the city and the temples, cast off the trappings of their enslaver's civilization, and disappeared into the nearby swamps.

Modern Times

Today, the lizardfolk still live in the swamps, although with the help of the Shield Mountain Dwarves, they have expanded to the saltwater marshes on the other side of the island, bringing them into contact with human settlers and traders, and some of their numbers have spread out across the world in search of adventure.

Lizardfolk Society

The Lizardfolk live a technologically simple life in the swamps of Shield Island, having rejected the trappings of civilization after their liberation from the serpentfolk. They are cautious in their dealings with outsiders, engaging in limited trade with the Shield Mountain Dwarves and various tribes on the western side of the Shield Mountains, and the people of Waylon's Landing on the eastern side.

Lizardfolk and technology

Their time enslaved by the serpentfolk has left the lizardfolk with a lasting hatred for anything related to them, and deeply held societal taboos against using magic items of serpentfolk manufacture. Because of the broad nature in which the taboos are described in the lizardfolk oral traditions, their taboo isn't strictly limited to magic items, but rather to any item where the lizardfolk don't understand exactly how it works, including clockwork items and essentially anything whose mechanism is obfuscated. While technically the taboo only applies to lizardfolk, anyone who is considered to be a close friend by a lizardfolk may find their posessions subject to the taboo as well.

Lizardfolk magic users all know a ritual that has been named by a rather pompous human scholar as the Ritual of Ophidian Revelation, which reveals if any magic items within it's bounds are of serpentfolk manufacture. Non-casters who are preparing to explore the world are typically given amulets which allow them to conduct the ritual themselves.

Religion

Main Article: The Wild Soul

Whatever gods the lizardfolk may have followed before the rise of the serpentfolk, all knowledge of them was lost in the generations of slavery which followed. Modern serpentfolk religion was deeply shaped by their time in slavery, reflected both by their rejection of "civilization" and devotion to personal freedom. Belief in The Wild Soul encourages living in a matter more consistant with nature, embracing the idea that people are merely animals and should embrace their place in the natural world rather than trying to rise above it. Freedom is a core tenet of The Wild Soul, and its followers believe that freedom is the most natural state and should be fought for with tooth and nail.

Lizardfolk out in the world

Lizardfolk are exceedingly rare, for obvious reasons, and have only recently moved east of the Shield Mountains and come into contact with the outside world. Now that they have established villages in the saltwater marshes in the east of Shield Island, they have come into contact with human settlers and traders, and some of their number have spread out across the world in search of adventure. Their rarity and exotic appearance ensure that lizardfolk attract attention wherever they go, whether that be from scholars, curious rulers, or less savoury elements.