Scaly Beasts Appear

The gods of the Taxlatl People, the The Reptisssar, are in one way or another responsible for most of the scale-bearing land creatures of Cartyrion, though they did not create them in the remarkable variety that can be found today. It was knowledge imparted to the Taxlatl People - knowledge of how to selectively breed creatures to suppress some traits and maximize others - that allowed the lizardfolk to create almost as many distinct species of creatures as Berdea of the Alevar had made thousands of years earlier.

Simple Beginnings

As the Taxlatl themselves were Awakening, so too were a variety of small creatures to assist them in their early years. Herds of herbivorous reptiles arose in the plains and wetlands near the Taxlatl's home center. Small, fast bipeds appeared among the people; these were used to assist in hunts of these creatures, but also of other small wildlife whose range had expanded into the lands that were now Taxlatl. Other small, long-jawed creatures were trained to hunt and retrieve fish in the pools and streams of the wetlands. Finally, a membrane-winged creature no bigger than a hawk of today was also provided to hunt small game. These semi-domesticated creatures would be the targets of selective breeding until the fall of the first Taxlatl civilization - so much so that none of the original creatures remain in the World.

Selective Breeding and Natural Selection

Just as Humans would one day breed the wolves introduced by Goblin gods, the Taxlatl extensively bred the biped hunters they had been given. Some descendents could run faster; some were bred to be companions to Folk living in the great cities. As the Taxlatl expanded their range, the herbivores were bred to be larger, smaller, more sure-footed, or whatever was needed to adapt to new terrains and forage.

As the first Taxlatl civilization grew and encountered other Folk, there were many clashes. To continue their expansion, the Taxlatl bred many creatures for war. The winged creatures were bred large enough to accept a mounted rider. Creatures like the Armored Trihorn, which survives in the wild today, were fearsome land mounts.
The Taxlatl and their beasts were unstoppable -- until they encountered Humans. The "softskins" didn't offer much resistance militarily, but a disease common and mild among the Humanfolk turned out to be deadly to the Taxlatl; one wave of the Human-introduced plague nearly wiped out the entire lizardfolk People. In less than 30 years, the First Taxlatl Empire crumbled, leaving small pocket settlements leading subsistence lives.

At this time, many of the creatures the Taxlatl had domesticated went feral, and natural selection replaced selective breeding. The creatures spread out from ever former Taxlatl settlement and soon could be found just about everywhere on Cartyrion that any of the Folk existed.

Scaled Beasts Today

Today, the descendents of the creatures provided to the first Taxlatl occupy deserts, forests, plains, marshlands, lakeshores, and rivers. Some are quite small; apart from the venomous snakes and lizards, these would be harmless. Some, like the Sleeperjaw in the Feywood marshes are quite dangerous. Some, like the Two-Frilled Sandrunner have been domesticated by other Folk.

But in the lands around the Broken Ranges and to the west of that range - the original Taxlatl homeland, the most fearsome scaled creatures can be found. Herds of Trihorns now run wild, but are hunted by equally large carnivores that would consider a member of the Folk little more than a tasty snack.

Credits

All sidepanel images of playable Folk parentages by RPGDinosaurBob using HeroForge

Banner image by agfcontact from Pixabay