Lizard Folk
Lizardfolk, also known as lizard men, are a race of reptilian humanoids native to Ghemjana.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Lizardfolk are semi-aquatic reptilian humanoids. Their skin is covered in scales and varies in color from dark green through to shades of brown and gray. Taller than humans and powerfully built, lizardfolk are often between 6 and 7 feet tall and weigh between 200 and 250 pounds. Lizardfolk have non-prehensile muscular tails that grow to three or four feet in length, and these are used for balance. They also have sharp claws and teeth.
Although non-reptilians struggle to tell the difference between males and females, lizardfolk can easily distinguish themselves.
Lizardfolk have to keep their skin relatively moist and need to wet their bodies regularly if they are in dry climates. For this reason they are particularly fearful of desert landscapes.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Lizardfolk are quite diverse in their diet.
Lizardfolk are omnivorous, but strongly favor meat when they can get it. According to stories, to the lizardfolk, the most delicious meat is humanoid flesh, especially human, but this claim is more-or-less unfounded. However, some tribes do consume captives and enemies slain in battle, but more civilized tribes often resist this craving. Meanwhile, ritual cannibalism of deceased tribe-members is customary and seen as a sacred duty.
Lizardfolk are quick to consume anything that was edible. For this reason, lizardfolk never keep pets.
When hunters bring back prey, adult lizardfolk eat first, taking what they wish. The young are usually left with the scraps, and more often than not subsist on edible plants foraged from around the tribe's lair.
Biological Cycle
Lizardfolk females lay clutches of eggs, from which their young hatch. The eggs are kept well protected in the tribe's lair. The life of a hatchling is especially hard. Lizardfolk reach maturity within five years of hatching.
As lizardfolk age, their bodies slow down. Most lizardfolk over the age of 60 spend their days laying on warm rocks in the sun. Although lizardfolk age much the same and have a similar lifespan to humans—the oldest reach 80 years of age—it is rare for lizardfolk males to grow old as they usually die in combat long before.
Behaviour
Lizardfolk have no interest in money or jewels. They also do not much value accumulating knowledge if it is not practically useful. They largely value things based on whether or not it is good to eat. If it is, it quickly got their attention; if not, it is ignored. Lizardfolk can often become distracted at the appearance of food, even if they are in combat. They are easier to parley with after a meal, and a hungry lizardfolk is completely obstreperous.
Lizardfolk can be highly dangerous when provoked. However, they are not inherently evil; they are simply savage and have a hard time fitting in with the civilized world. Those that venture into towns or cities are often alarmed, frightened, or offended by the environment. Few try to adapt, let alone assimilate into Ghemjanan societies. Instead, they feel their part is to learn about "softskin" ways and in turn show them how "real people" live.
Most lizardfolk have little interest in battle tactics or strategy, and they fight as a disorganized mass of individuals. Despite their impressive hunting skills, lizardfolk often rely on strength and weight of numbers in battle, and simply charge their foes head-on. At the most, they will try to push foes into water, where lizardfolk often enjoy an advantage.
However, if lizardfolk are being attacked or pursued, or their camps are in danger or their territory invaded, their hunting skills come to the fore and they lay traps, snares, and pitfalls. They organize ambushes and raid enemy supplies. The more advanced tribes attempt cleverer strategies and traps. A great many lizardfolk lairs are defended by traps.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Lizardfolk gather into tribes. A typical tribe might have 150 lizardfolk, with around 50 male, 50 female, and 50 hatchlings. Another might have only 30–60 adults, with half as many hatchlings and one tenth that number in unhatched eggs.
Lizardfolk society is patriarchal and leaders hold their positions for their strength and power alone. Although challenges for leadership are rarely made, anyone in the tribe can try and seize power from the leader. This will leave the tribe unorganized and vulnerable until a new leader takes charge or the old leader has reasserted their position. Lizardfolk leaders are most often barbarians or even druids. In a tribe, they will be assisted by two lieutenants. Many skilled warriors are fighters and barbarians.
Tribal shamans, meanwhile, are usually clerics who worshiped Semuanya. Shamans rarely serve as leaders, and by-and-large only offered advice.
Females in the tribes are responsible for hatching eggs, raising young, and maintaining the camp. All the females in the tribe will work together to raise the young. They monitor their hatchlings closely, as the young are difficult to handle and tend to wander off, away from camp and into the wilderness.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The eggs and skin of lizardfolk are bitter and inedible.
The skin of lizardfolk can be fashioned into armor.
Facial characteristics
Lizardfolk have yellow eyes.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Lizardfolk generally inhabited marshes and swamps in the temperate and warm regions of Ghemjana. The majority dwell in swamps in well-hidden lairs, but around a third of the lizardfolk population actually lair in underwater caves that are filled with air.
There are populations of lizardfolk in Emjarren and Southland, in the marshes and swamps, especially the Black Marshes.
In Hestoria, lizardfolk can be found in the Riverlands, around the delta called Lizard Marsh.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Lizardfolk are strong and hardy beings, and their thick scaly hides protect against attack. They can hold their breaths far longer than humans can, up to twice as long as an equivalent human. This ability enables them to operate underwater in their marshy homes.
The lizardfolk's tails aides them in keeping their balance and in leaping, and makes them particularly gifted swimmers.
Lizardfolk are also noted to have darkvision.
Civilization and Culture
Average Technological Level
Lizardfolk fashion primitive weaponry and tools from wood, stones, and plants they find in the wetlands. Lizardfolk prefer weapons they can fashion themselves from what is available, and so they tend to be simple and limited in variety. More advanced tribes make use of a wider range of weaponry and shields. Moreover, they will sometimes utilize weapons they found or stole; tribal leaders typically get to use items that have been stolen or bartered from other races. The barbed dart is a weapon unique to the lizardfolk. However, their claws and teeth are often sufficient.
Camps vary in style from tribe to tribe. The simplest are just damp leaves used for bedding, but more developed lizardfolk tribes build crude dwellings.
They do not keep animals as pets or mounts, but occasionally a lizardfolk druid might employ their magic to charm a dinosaur and ride it into battle to awesome effect.
A species of giant gourds is staple of the Lizard Marsh. These enormous edible fruits are hollowed and dried out by the lizardfolk of the Marsh, making them into oversized containers, often bigger than an adult human in size. These gourds are painted, decorated, and used to store various liquids, such as fresh water, fermented alcohol, and small swimming snacks.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Lizardfolk speak Draconic and smarter individuals sometimes learn bits of Common. Depending on where they live, lizardfolk might learn other languages like Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll, Goblin, Orc, or other languages used in their area, and even Aquan. Most ordinary lizardfolk are illiterate.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
When a member of the tribe passes away, they are eaten by the others in a ceremonial wake. In this way, they became part of the tribe again, not just figuratively but literally. It is considered a tragedy of the body of a tribe member cannot be recovered after death and eaten, as they will be unable to rejoin the tribe and be forced to wander the swamps of the afterlife alone.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
The lizardfolk have no traditions of farming, cultivation, or animal raising, so food is acquired through fishing, hunting, scavenging, or stealing. Those that dwell near other humanoids raid their neighbors for food, supplies, and even slaves. The tribe's survival is its primary, or indeed, only concern. When they feel threatened, or when food shortages would lead to starvation, a tribe will do absolutely anything to guarantee its survival, even committing acts others would see as despicable.
Most lizardfolk are content to live their lives out in the swamps and marshes where they were born but, on occasion, some will venture outside their swampy homes to hunt bigger and more dangerous prey. Sometimes a lizardfolk even desires to know more about the outside world, but mostly to bring knowledge back to their leader. When they do so, lizardfolk rarely travel alone. If they leave the swamp, they will do so in pairs or groups of three. Lizardfolk fear that, without others of their own kind with them to remind them of who and what they are, they will lose their identity and be seduced by the ways of civilization and never come home again.
History
The lizardfolk themselves have no written history. Lizardfolk themselves believe they were one of the first humanoid races on Ghemjana. In their story, lizardfolk have dwelled in the swamps since the beginning and that all the civilized races outside have evolved from weak lizardfolk who could not endure their harsh life and left the swamps. Thus, the lizardfolk look down upon the civilized races as weaklings. Outsiders think it more likely that lizardfolk are an offshoot of the ancient Creator Race known as the sarrukh, appearing long before any of the interloper races came to Ghemjana.
Regardless, it is clear that lizardfolk had an unimaginably ancient culture, virtually unchanged over the eons.
During The War of the World's, when mindflayers invaded Ghemjana and attempted to enslave the world, a battalion of Ilithid landed in the swamps of Hestoria. 800 Ilithid and their support marched in, only 7 made it out alive. They told tales of being eaten alive and the area was considered too hostile to go into.
Common Myths and Legends
Most lizardfolk worship Semuanya, who focuses solely on the survival and propagation of the lizardfolk species. This religion is maintained by clerics who served as tribal shamans; they bestow Semuanya's blessings on the lizardfolk people whenever required. Although they have no shrines or temples, nor even regular ceremonies, lizardfolk are very proud of their religious traditions and their deity. However, Semuanya is an uncaring and unfeeling god who dismisses even the suffering of his followers, expecting them to take care of themselves.
Thanks to Semuanya's close links to nature, and because lizardfolk are naturally close to the land, ready to take what it gives them, many lizardfolk have no problem shifting to worshiping nature itself. This leads to a high number of lizardfolk druids.
However, the lizardfolk have other gods. Their original god was Essylliss, who focused on the lizardfolk themselves. But as Semuanya's influence grew, Essylliss's worship declined until he was almost forgotten. He is followed by a bare few lizardfolk.
There is also the cult of Sess'innek, a demon lord who represents dominion and his version of civilization. He seeks to corrupt the lizardfolk, and creates the demonic lizard kings to this end; they operate as tribal leaders or shamans. Sess'innek's followers are hostile, territorial, and greedy. They try to convert all other lizardfolk to their cult, or else kill them off, and they attack Semuanya's shamans on sight.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Neighboring lizardfolk tribes will often ally against formidable enemies, even against other hostile lizardfolk tribes.
The relationship of lizardfolk to other races is considered to be mostly that of hunter to prey. Lizardfolk of somewhat more civilized nature understand that other races might know something worth learning, and are ready to parley. Lizardfolk are most likely to negotiate with halflings. Nevertheless, lizardfolk consider themselves stronger and thus better than most other races and therefore think of themselves as "real people". Lizardfolk refer to most of the civilized races as "softskins".
Lizardfolk rarely interact with other races as their swampy homelands are home to few other sentient creatures. Their main competitors in the swamps are bullywugs, whom lizardfolk tend to despise. They sometimes ally with locathahs, or choose to serve highly dominant creatures like dragons or nagas.
In places where lizardfolk raiding parties threaten civilization, interracial relations can be particularly bad, In the lake town of Koss the hunting of lizard folk became a sport.
In rare events when lizardfolk are aided by members of other humanoid races and became respected among a tribe, robed lizardfolk shamans create large enchanted amulets of bronze. These items are universally recognized by all lizardfolk and proclaim that the wearer is a trusted friend. The amulet protects the wearer from any and all lizardmen attacks unless forced to defend themselves. The magics weaved by the lizardfolk are complex dweomers that make it instantly apparent if the medallion was copied. Additionally, these amulets are attuned to a specific wearer, making them useless when sold, gifted, or stolen.
Origin/Ancestry
Humanoid
Lifespan
80 years
Average Height
6' to 7'
Average Weight
200 lbs to 250 lbs
Average Length
Tail 3' to 4'
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Most lizardfolk are green skinned, though some may have a more brown or yellow tint to them.
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