Lizardfolk

Classification: Uncommon Races
Of all the "civilized" races, the Lizardmen more than any other walk the line between "civilized" and "bestial".
Whether a particular Lizardfolk is going to look at you as an ally or a potential meal largely depends on where you meet them. Lizardfolk as a species completely lack emotional concepts like empathy, being almost mechanical in their view of the world. In simple terms, a Lizardfolk classifies everything as either a "threat" or "food", a mentality that is not simply a cultural way of thinking but ingrained in them on a biological level. They are completely devoid of emotion, and as such one should not expect a Lizardfolk to exhibit anything resembling compassion or fear. A Lizardfolk looking at an injured comrade is far more likely to see them as a source of food than an ally in need of aid. A LIzardfolk would stare down a dragon and feel no fear, only logically coming to the conclusion that it is something they cannot handle and thus opting to flee.
Lizardfolk originate from the region to the southwest of Torvahl, and west of Daeamorant, for which there is little cohesion with regards to a name. Anyone who makes an expedition into wild, uncharted territory of the region should not expect any of the attempts at courtesy and cultural norms they might experience while interacting with Lizardfolk in the countries of Torvahl or Daeamorant, as these tribes adhere to the old, primal mentality of the original Lizardfolk. Should one manage to spot a Lizardfolk among the trees and undergrowth of their wild home, be wary, for you very well may be surrounded by a hunting pack.
A fascinating aspect of Lizardfolk society is their complete disregard for intellect. Lizardfolk as a species consider complex thought or reflection to be a hindrance, and believe that thinking leads to inaction, ultimately causing more negatives than positives. It is for this reason that Lizardfolk as a species value decisive action over rumination. They hold to this belief so strongly that female Lizardfolk will specifically choose not to mate with intelligent Lizardfolk, and this natural selection means that as a species, nearly all Lizardfolk are below average when it comes to intelligence compared to most other humanoid races, even the Orcs that most races view as being dumb brutes. Furthermore, due to their cultural and religious beliefs as a species, Lizardfolk raise their children to disregard and even despise intelligence, which only further cements the species disdain for it as a whole. Lizardfolk tribes live in such staunch defiance of complex thought that they have achieved virtually no technological advancement: Only one in every 10 tribes is advanced enough to manage huts, and most tribal Lizardfolk use clubs or perhaps a sharp stick as a weapon, with the rare tribe having advanced enough to develop spears.
This viewpoint is very strange to most other races, and it would not be surprising for someone to look down on the Lizardfolk species for choosing to deliberately avoid intellect or advancement. One should consider however why the Lizardfolk think this way before judging them. Lizardfolk believe that life is meant to be lived, and that a Lizardfolk who thinks is a Lizardfolk that is wasting their life. They view time spent in contemplation as pointless, unnecessary, and wasteful, as, to a Lizardfolk, the point of life and its greatest pleasures are to hunt, fight, and breed. Furthermore, the religious beliefs of the Lizardfolk warn against thought, as in such stories one of the progenitors of their race spent their entire life in thought, never actually making a decision due to the fear that they would make the wrong one. This indecision was so great that it eventually led to this Lizardfolk splitting into two entirely separate beings, creating the male and female sexes of the species. Lizardfolk view intelligence as corrupting and degrading to their deliberately simple and straightforward way of life. Someone contemplating this distinct philosophy should also remember that "intelligence" is not the same thing as cunning or wisdom. Lizardfolk can be incredibly cunning in the right scenarios, and an individual underestimating a Lizardfolk's capacity because they assume the Lizardfolk is simply mindless is making a grave mistake.
One fascinating aspect of this cultural belief system is that there is in fact one type of Lizardfolk that is not only allowed to be intelligent, but revered for it. Whenever a Lizardfolk is hatched, there is a very small chance that it will be born as both male and female. In addition, these hermaphroditic Lizardfolk are always far more intelligent than others of their species, and it is for these reasons that the Lizardfolk believe them to be an embodiment of their overthinking progenitor being made whole again. The Lizardfolk view these anomalies as holy, and they become the Shamans of a tribe. While typically a Lizardfolk society is led by the strongest and most adept hunter in the tribe, it is not uncommon for a Shaman to become the leader of a tribe, during which time the tribe will often achieve significant technological advancement, though usually this advancement regresses within a few generations as Lizardfolk do not record information through any method other than oration.
This mindset makes Lizardfolk something of a conundrum when considering their somewhat recent integration into more civilized societies. When taking into account the knowledge that they are entirely adherent to logic, one could safely assume that some more intelligent Lizardfolk see the benefits of interaction with other races and have thus opted to enter these larger groups of sentient races because the benefits outweigh the costs, some even going as far as learning how to emulate emotion to curb the suspicions of other races. These Lizardfolk were initially exceedingly rare, but over the centuries those born and raised within other societies seem to be slowly adapting to their environment, and in a lot of ways are very different from the traditional Lizardfolk of the jungle, such as their ability to speak the Common language as well as their understanding and willingness to adhere to a culture's laws. It can therefore be safely assumed that as a whole, these "civilized" Lizardfolk have some degree of higher intelligence than their primal counterparts, and these fringe members of the species are shunned by those of their species that keep to the old ways for being, essentially, heretics and outcasts by the standards of wild Lizardfolk tribes.
A final interesting fact about Lizardfolk is that their native language is Draconic. It is believed by the Lizardfolk that they were taught this language by the original dragons, and it is this belief that leads scholars to question the origins of Lizardfolk as a species. Records from the Age of Dragons are exceptionally rare, and so gathering concrete information from the time period is exceedingly hard to find. It is common speculation that Lizardfolk may have some shared lineage with the original dragons, and they might even be one of the first races to exist in the Emergent Plane.