Saurask

The saurask are an ancient race of cold-blooded saurian humanoids native to the western lands of Mahdi, and most see them as brutal, primal creatures with no concept of mercy. They are descents of jungle-dwelling forest kobolds who grew tall and bulky to withstand the hostile environments of the dense, humid wilds, but unlike their smaller ancestors, saurask hold little biological relations with dragons and more closely share traits with dinosaurs.
Their numerous, powerful clans were once widespread across the western jungles of the continent until they were pushed out of their northern territories by the Ak'teshi Empire many thousands of years ago. Since then, they have become ubiquitous throughout the Iotian Rainforest as mere shadows of their once great tribal civilizations. They protect what little land they can. As such, they are xenophobic and hostile to outsiders, even to other beast-men of the jungle.
Since the fall of the Ak'teshi, the saurask clans have made it their purpose to reclaim the territory now held by the Tahosian Dynasty the only way they know how: by force. However, they have been thwarted at every turn due to the difficulty of navigating the Ak'tuin's Back Mountains that separates both regions. Over time, relations between both civilizations have turned hostile.
Saurask culture is primitive and caste-based, organized into a simple ruling caste, a warrior caste, and a worker caste. The ruling caste will often take on the roles of the priesthood, to sacrifice working caste individuals in bloody, cannibalistic rituals to Taurask, a creature they view as their god.
Hundreds of years ago, a powerful green dragon by the name of Verdavang convinced the saurask priesthood to summon Taurask from the Savage Fen into the

Materium with aims to conquer the Dynasty. Taurask burrowed through the treacherous Ak'Tuin's back mountains and marched into the Dynasty. However, the monstrous creature was halted at the Battle of the Five Gods.

Alien Minds

Only a fool looks at the saurask and sees nothing more than scaly humanoids. Their physical shape notwithstanding, saurask have more in common with iguanas or dinosaurs than they do with humans, dwarves, or demons. Saurask possesses an alien and inscrutable mindset, their desires and thoughts driven by a different set of basic principles than those of warm-blooded creatures. Their savage jungle homes might lie hundreds of miles from the nearest human settlement, but the gap between their way of thinking and that of the smooth-skins is far greater. Despite their alien outlook, some saurask make an effort to understand and, in their own manner, befriend people of other races. Such saurask make faithful and skilled allies.
The saurask's reptilian nature comes through not only in their appearance but also in how they think and act. Saurask experience more limited emotion than other humanoids. Like most reptiles, their feelings largely revolve around fear, aggression, and pleasure.
Saurask experience feelings as detached descriptions of creatures and situations. For example, humans confronted by an angry troll experience fear on a basic level. Their limbs shake, their thinking becomes panicked and jumbled, and they react by instinct. The emotion of fear takes hold and controls their actions. In contrast, saurask see emotions as traits assigned to other creatures, objects, and situations. A saurask doesn't think, "I'm scared." Instead, aggressive, stronger creatures register to the saurask as fearsome beings to be avoided if possible. If such creatures attack, saurask flee, fighting only if cornered. Saurask aren't scared of trolls; instead, they understand that a troll is a fearsome, dangerous creature and react accordingly.
Saurask never become angry in the way others do, but they act with aggression toward creatures that they could defeat in a fight and that can't be dealt with in some other manner. They are aggressive toward prey they want to eat, creatures that want to harm them, and so on. Pleasurable people and things make life easier for saurask and should be preserved and protected, sometimes at the cost of one's own safety. The most pleasurable creatures and things are ones that allow saurask to assess more situations as benign rather than fearsome.

Utility and Survival

The saurask mindset might seem unnecessarily cruel, but it helps them survive in their hostile homelands of Iotia. The jungles they inhabit are filled with a staggering variety of threats. Saurask focus on survival above all, without sentiment.
Saurask assess everyone and everything in terms of utility. Art and beauty have little meaning for them. A sharp sword serves a useful and good purpose, while a dull sword is a dead weight without a whetstone.
Saurask see little need to plan more than a season or so into the future. This approach allows them to maintain their current level of influence in the world, but it limits their growth. Saurask have no interest in developing writing, making long-term plans, or cultivating other methods to progress beyond their simple existence as hunters and gatherers.

Hapless Soft-Skins

At their core, saurask view other humanoids with an indifference verging on pity. Born into the world lacking stout scales and sharp teeth, it's a wonder they have managed to survive for so long. The typical human would barely make it through a day in the hostile jungles of Iotia.
Still, if other creatures prove useful to saurask, those creatures can trigger a protective response made all the stronger by their apparent weakness. The saurask assess such beings as hatchlings, young ones incapable of protecting themselves but who might prove useful in the future if they receive care.

Cold and Calculating

Most humanoids describe cold-blooded people as lacking in emotion and empathy. The same label serves as an apt depiction of Saurask.
Lacking any internal emotional reactions, saurask behave in a distant manner. They don't mourn fallen comrades or rage against their enemies. They simply observe and react as a situation warrants.
Saurask lack meaningful emotional ties to the past. They assess situations based on their current and future utility and importance. Nowhere does this come through as strongly as when saurask deal with the dead. To a saurask, a comrade who dies becomes a potential source of food. That companion might have once been a warrior or hunter, but now the body is just freshly killed meat.
A saurask who lives among other humanoids can, over time, learn to respect other creatures' emotions. The saurask doesn't share those feelings but instead assesses them in the same clinical manner. Yes, the fallen dwarf might be most useful as a meal, but hacking the body into steaks provokes aggression in the other humanoids and makes them less helpful in battle.

Religion

Seemingly counter to their cold and logical thinking, certain tribes of saurask practice a form of primitive religion. These tribes worship Taurask, an entity from the Savage Fen who they believe embodies the ideals of survival and the propagation of the saurask species. This religion is maintained by clerics who serve as tribal shamans and bestow Taurask's blessings on the saurask people whenever required. Although they have no shrines or temples, nor even regular ceremonies, saurask are very proud of their religious traditions and their deity. However, Taurask is an uncaring and unfeeling entity that dismisses even the suffering of its followers, expecting them to take care of themselves.
Thanks to Taurask's close links to the wilder, more savage elements of nature, and because saurask are naturally close to the land, ready to take what it gives them, many saurask have no problem shifting to worshiping nature itself. This led to a high number of saurask druids.

Saurask Names

Saurask take their names from a language descended from the Draconic their kobold ancestors once used. They use simple descriptives granted by the tribe based on an individual's notable deeds or actions. For example, Garurt translates as "axe," a name given to a saurask warrior who defeated an ore and claimed his foe's weapon. A saurask who likes to hide in a stand of reeds before ambushing an animal might be called Ach-uak, which means "green" to describe how she blends into the foliage.
Saurask make no distinction between male and female in their naming conventions. Each example name includes its translation in parenthesis.
Saurask Names: Achuak (green), Aryte (war), Bae-shra (animal), Darastrix (dragon), Garurt (axe), Irhtos (secret), Jhank (hammer), Kepesk (storm), Kethend (gem), Korth (danger), Kosj (small), Kothar (demon), Li-trix (armor), Mirik (song), Othokent (smart), Sauriv (eye), Throden (many), Thurkear (night), Usk (iron), Valignat (burn), Vargach (battle), Verthica (mountain), Vutha (black), Vyth (steel)

Saurask Traits

Saurask Traits

As a saurask, you have the following traits.

Ability Score Increase. Increase one ability score by 2, and increase a different one by 1, or increase three different scores by 1
Age. Saurask reach maturity around age 14 and rarely live longer than 60 years.
Alignment. Most saurask are neutral. They see the world as a place of predators and prey, where life and death are natural processes. They wish only to survive, defend their territories, and reclaim the lands they once lost.
Size. Saurask are a little bulkier and taller than humans, and their colorful frills make them appear even larger. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet.
Bite. You have a fanged maw that you can use to make unarmed strikes. When you hit with it, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier slashing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes at a time.
Hunter's Lore. You have proficiency with Harvesting Kits and gain proficiency with two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival.
Natural Armor. You have tough, scaly skin. When you aren't wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. You can use your natural armor to determine your AC if the armor you wear would leave you with a lower AC. A shield's benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.
Hungry Jaws. You can throw yourself into a feeding frenzy. As a bonus action, you can make a special attack with your Bite. If the attack hits, it deals its normal damage, and you gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Trade-tongue and Draconic

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Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Forest Kobold
• Kobold

Lifespan

60 years

Average Height

6' 1"

Average Weight

220 lbs

Geographic Distribution

• Iotia
• Iotian Rainforest
• The Known World

Saurask Speech

Saurask can master Trade-tongue, but their mindset results in a speech pattern distinct from other humanoids. Saurask rarely use metaphors. Their speech is almost always literal. They might pick up idioms, but only with some difficulty. Names confuse them unless they are descriptive. They tend to apply their own naming conventions to other creatures using Trade-tongue words. Saurask use active verbs to describe the world. A saurask in cold weather might say, "This wind brings cold" rather than "I feel cold." Saurask tend to define things In terms of actions, rather than effects.