Witchlight Lizardfolk

The brutal lizardfolk of the Witchlight Fens are an ever-present danger to travelers and settlers alike. Though lizardfolk tribes are always hazardous to other humanoids, the Witchlight lizardfolk answer to a powerful black dragon overlord, and that makes them more dangerous.
The Witchlight lizardfolk live in the vast swamps of the central Nentir Vale. Like others of their kind, they are primitive, tribal, cruel, and very dangerous to local humanoid settlements. Their sacrificial rituals and their desire to capture and eat trespassers make them feared neighbors.
Outsiders describe the glowing balls of dancing light within the swamp as “witchlight.” There are actually many different types of witchlights, including the bizarre fastlights, which are tiny spheres of magical energy that have a natural aversion to living creatures. Unlike others of their race, the Witchlight lizardfolk have learned how to catch the evasive fastlights and siphon their magic for other uses.
Over the past hundred years, many lizardfolk tribes have begun worshiping the powerful black dragon Shadowmire (page 98) as a living god. His intention to supplant their own living deity-kings is either lost on them, or seen as proof of his superior intelligence and power. A loyal chieftain or marsh mystic directs the tribe and interprets the dragon’s commands. Though many tribes follow the dragon, they are not a single organization. Shadowmire encourages them to remain separate, acting as allies that vie for his attention and approval. Although many Witchlight lizardfolk tribes obey the dragon, nonaligned tribes still maintain their own chieftains.
Lizardfolk of the fens reside in abandoned settlements, isolated isles, and hut villages. They are fiercely territorial, even in dealings with others under Shadowmire’s influence. Sentries and hidden traps guard their encampments, making an effective early warning system.
Brackmarsh Tribe: The Brackmarsh is the largest lizardfolk tribe. It is spread out among several dozen camps and settlements north and west of the Nentir River that the Brackmarshes invaded or that were abandoned when the residents fled Shadowmire’s assaults. From this location, the tribe is a significant threat to Nentir River travelers and local inhabitants northwest of the Witchlight Fens. It has sent occasional raiding parties into the northern Cloak Wood, but the lizardfolk dislike the environment too much to expand their settlements into the forest.
The Brackmarshes are dedicated to Shadowmire and have a strong connection to him through their shaman leaders, the marsh mystics. The dragon uses this link to maintain his influence throughout the tribe, as well as to remind the tribe who’s in charge when he eats one of the mystics or the chief for his or her failures.
The Mistkiller Tribe: The small yet powerful Mistkiller tribe lives along the eastern border of the Witchlight Fens near Harken Forest and Kalton Manor. Thanks to their distance from Shadowmire’s lair, the Mistkillers enjoy greater autonomy than other tribes under the dragon’s influence, and they occasionally free themselves completely from his rule. They continually feud with the Daggerburg goblins (page 38) of the western Harken Forest, sometimes at Shadowmire’s request. Their hatred of the goblins is so great that they host especially festive feasts when one or more is captured. The Mistkillers take their name from the mists that arise from the White River in the eastern parts of the fens, because their raiding parties often emerge unexpectedly from those mists to attack. Thanks to larger numbers of blackscale lizardfolk among their ranks, their raids are more violent than most attacks by the other lizardfolk tribes.
Crushwater Tribe: The Crushwater tribe roams the central Witchlight Fens, usually near the confluence of the Nentir and White rivers. So far, the Crushwaters have resisted Shadowmire’s rule, though most speculate they are too dimwitted to understand the potential benefit to such an alliance. The Crushwater tribe is fiercely independent, having few allies among the other tribes, and preferring it that way. It helps that the Crushwaters are strong enough to oppose most local threats, and brutal enough to dissuade the other lizardfolk tribes from attacking. They’ve been known to send raiding parties far up both the Nentir River and the White River in search of better hunting grounds.