Arconians

At a Glance

A proud and ancient people, the Arconians come from an earlier and more savage era, and as Galdor’s elder race, it can be difficult to understand them. They are bipedal saurians, bearing two arms ending in dexterous hands, with long lizard-like muzzles and thick tails for counterbalance. Most grow to be roughly the size of a human. Arconians are a strong and primal race, most often finding roles as shamans or warriors.  

Arconians

Arconians are an ancient people, strong and proud, their past lost deep within the mists where legend, mythology, and history coalesce. What is known of their past comes from the study of those few surviving artifacts, tablets, and temples, most of which are either stored by Galdor’s academic centers or protected by those same institutions. Rarer, often difficult to reach and jealousy guarded by modern-day Arconians are other often more preserved and complete sites. Centuries of study by linguistics experts and loremasters have provided a working understanding of Ssürrêc hieroglyphs, the oldest known forms of written language. While few Erenoform tablets, the most ancient of written Arconian records, have any links to Galdor’s modern language, some have contained clues allowing for portions of the language to be decoded. Revealing secrets and histories that modern Arconians, with their shamanistic oral traditions, have long lost to myth and legend. Legends say that in the final era of The War of Creation, the first Arconian emerged from the warm rivers and mud lands of the equatorial band to become the planet's rulers. Though primitive and nomadic these First Borne would eventually settle and become recognizable as the modern race. While much of this early history is hotly debated, and even some of it given over to guesswork and fanciful interpretation, what is known is they began to herd the smaller dinosaurs they hunted and depended on. Later they produced the first bone and stone tools, built the first semi-preeminent shelters, and eventually became less nomadic settling into domestication and farming. They slowly spread across the early proto-continents of Galdor loosely organized into tribes based on their bloodlines which often share a range of consistent physical traits. These barbaric tribes were poised at the brink of war with one another for hundreds of generations, before the rise of Dynastic rulers and the first mighty empire.   It is the ruins of that once great empire, in the Megalithic structures it left behind that many of their secrets still remain trapped. Loremasters agree that this Empire’s understanding of the magic as science was much more advanced than those of the first Elvenborne civilizations and that the Arconians controlled vast lands before the Sundering. They built their temples in locations of immense Aetheric or Ruinic energies, where legends told of massive amounts of god-blood being shed in the titanic battles of the War of Creation. Places where leylines of Aether or Ruin crossed, whether this was a divine direction, luck, or science is a topic still hotly debated. Undeniably Arconians were the first to rotate crops, layout cities, tap into magic, map the stars, and describe the existence of planes. Their massive City-Temples were built at sites where legend claims the Wyrmqueen hid her eggs across Galdor and forged the heart of their empire. However, as the great glacial ice sheets of the Koldian Wasteland and the Ghost Ice began to creep across the land, the Sundering ended the Third Age their great Saurian Cycle and their great civilization descended into wars where brother fought brother.   Only a scattering of ruins remains of the once great civilizations they built, for many times as the other races spread across Galdor they reclaimed the stones of Arconian structures as raw materials. Not all is lost though as from time to time Galdor reveals a lost megalithic structure or hidden jungle shrouded City-Temple. While it is theorized that twelve should exist, one for each of the Dragon broods both chromatic and metallic, only a handful have been uncovered. While the City-Temples vary in size and spread, those discovered all follow a specific set of rules when it comes to structuring. The heart of each rests a massive stone pyramid, sometimes stepped and other times smooth, other minor temples follow the same pattern as the central structure and are arrayed in a circle around it. Pathways or streets in these central districts are, or were paved with larger stonen often many times larger than cobbles. Concentric ringed pathways or streets radiated from this central district to an outer wall of most likely timber and stone, how many streets depending on the size of the city.   Structures within these cities followed the terrain, some might be built more vertically, taking advantage of rock outcroppings. While others could extend down into cave systems, or be built out into the waters of a coastal shoal. In some cases, City-Temples have been observed to have three to four-story dwellings. One mostly complete and preserved example lies in the Savage Lands, its main temples shaped like great stepped structures covered in Erenoform and Ssürrêc Hieroglyphs. Another, mostly reclaimed by the desert sands, can be found in the Crescent Desert taking more of the structure of a smooth-sided pyramid. Wilderlands' north-east coast holds another, and one of the largest ruins found to date, boasting three massive ziggurats at its center. Two remain completely intact and inhabited, the Temple-City of Raonesh Cor which can be found in the Wild Straits the other lies just west of the city of Dangi. Modern Arconians still claim these two remnants of their lost civilization, with only the enigmatic Temple Guard and Great Seers, having access to their central temples.   Physical Description: Arconians are tall bipedal lizards, with long lizard-like snouts and broad powerful tales. On average they stand just a bit taller than elves, although their posture is often described as hunched, crouched, or perched when standing still and they move as if they are staying low and stalking prey. Their scales are not like a Kosan or a Wyrsi, but more like snakes or lizards often smooth to the touch reaming tough to penetrate. Living links to a past era they are often very cold and almost feel wet, but not slimy, to the touch. Most are covered in either dermal spines, crests, or ridges and sport facial frills, horns, crests, and spikes. After thousands of years, most of the original Arconian tribes are lost, the few that remain do however share several physical traits. Mostly in coloration, allowing outsiders to determine which tribe or bloodline an Arconian may belong to.   Society: Coming across as either extremely introverted or incredibly xenophobic, Arconians often appear to be nothing but warlike cannibals to outsiders. Their distrust and fear of other races are driven by their cultural loss and their own seemingly slow decline toward extinction. Shamanistic belief in elder or spirit worship underpins most of their social structure, which is further linked to specific tribal religious beliefs, which can set them apart from even each other. No matter how small each village has a Seer and at least a single Temple guard, in turn report to one of the remaining Great Seers. One is of the Diamondback bloodline, in Raonesh Cor, and the other is of the Swamp Walkers, in Dangi. Temple Guard are chosen by these Great Seers from the best warriors of the tribe, often in brutal blood sport events to determine who is worthy enough to stay or become a replacement. Most Arconians are illiterate, in the sense of most of Galdor's modern higher education and almost none can read any of their own ancient languages. A small percentage of Arconians have a complex understanding of Ssürrêc Hieroglyphs, while most others can read and use the most basic levels of the Erenoforn’s glyph system. Those who do learn to speak and read the more modern and common tongues of Galdor are either born outcasts, with no knowledge of their heritage language, or adventurers. Arconian culture relies heavily on oral tradition and storytelling, and they highly value the bardic traditions even of other races. The few outsiders who have seen the inside of an Arconian village often tell of the amazing tribal dances and acts that accompany even the most basic of histories taught to hatch-lings.   Relations: Arconians often seem harsh, easily agitated, and extremely xenophobic, coming across as outspoken racists and being easy to provoke a fight. Usually just to prove they are better than so-called 'pink-hides'. The rest of Galdor has never made it easy on them, the Elvenbonre races often seeing them as too alien to even attempt to understand. An Arconian will constantly 'taste' the air with their long forked tongues, a behavior that is incredibly useful for detecting their own environments and dealing with social situations while being extremely unsettling to outsiders. They are most likely to get along quickly with the Kosani, who they share several traits with. Much like the Kosani it is near impossible for an outsider to tell the difference between a male and female Arconian, however as the Kosani share the same sexually divergent traits they have no trouble with the distinction. The racist slur “Lizard-Folk” is often used by outsiders to refer to an Arconian, and even some Arconian will call the most barbaric and feral of their kind “Lizard-Folk”.   Alignment and Religion: Arconian religion is highly shamanistic, with their entire social structure centering around the most elder shamans, called Seers. The recounting of epics and origin stories is very important and several centers around the Great Darkness when the world was Sundered into two halves. While the meaning of this is lost on modern Arconians some of the eldest of epics hint at the abilities of legendary Seers said to safely traverse the Darkwater. These myths often outline cities of shining silver, gold, and platinum that lays amid some unspoiled natural paradise. While they acknowledge the existence of the gods, for its is hard to ignore beings that make their presence felt with direct action, they only follow a select few and they never use their common names. They universally don't accept that Saint Augustine is a god, and they mostly avoid the Elemental Court. Most follow Märrej ôkü, which is the Ssürêc pronunciation of the Erenoform glyph for The Forge. Others may also follow Kährôcc (The Wyrmqueen), Ssej ssôc Ên (The Sister), and Xecc Ssûrr (The Hand of Law). Arconians convenience all the gods as reptilian in nature, often depicting them as hairless humanoids covered in scales. Most might be considered Chaotic-Neutral in nature, as they adhere to ethics and principles based on their culture, which can be hard for outsiders to understand.   Adventurers: Arconians rarely choose the path of an adventurer, as not many can ever get over their xenophobia, and those that do venture out are often uncouth and racist. Most that do decide to venture out into the world are often those exiled from their tribes, or those sent to seek out lost Arconian artifacts and relics. In the event that a Great Seers dies from violence, their entire surviving Temple Guard will be cast into exile, as their failure allowed their master to die. The Ssarûng Company is one famous example of this “Law of Exile”, as the founding members are all ex-Temple Guard although the mercenary group has swelled to nearly a thousand troops of mixed races since its founding.

Names

Arconian names are a combination of their tribal caste as a prefix, an aspect of the natural world or title based on their actions as hatchlings, and an honorific syllable form that is used to separate the two. Arconian society lacks gender-enforced norms or roles, and there is no difference between male and female names.   Tribal Prefixes: Tribal prefixes are based on caste, although some Arconians lack a caste or their familial tribes are intentionally caste-less.   The most common caste prefixes are: Ku(crafts-lizard), Ma(farmers), Ka(hunters), Zy(scouts) Xi(warriors), Ox(lore keepers), Na(storytellers), Teo(nobles), Que(temple guard), Itz(mystics), and Ezk(seers), Aur(dragon-blooded) and the Sre(caste-less) are rare but are often much revered and considered heroes.   Rarer, although often encountered by adventurers is Ssar(outcast), it is this prefix that the famous mercenary company takes its name.   Aspect Names: Aspect names are given as a hatchling comes of age, and either reflect a specific environment or reflect a specific action.   Some common aspects are: Cuhtli(desert or wasteland), Akumi(swamps or marshes), Kaax(jungle or forest), Nikte(oceans or seas), Ecati(mountains or badlands), and Saaki(planes or grasslands) make up the names taken from environments.   Whereas: Baaxal(sharp of wit or a trickster), Kan(sharp-eyed or incredibly perceptive), Totec(prone to rages or a berserker), Chiciik(unpredictable or a sudden storm), Balam(gifted stalker or scout), and Chukik(gifted in unarmed combat or grappling).   Honorifics and Examples: Lastly, is the honorific structured syllables, made up of vowel sounds designed to work with a Saurian tongue. Commonly: Ea(juvenile or inexperienced), Io(master), Oe(adventurer), Uu(tribal alpha), and Yi(Elder).   Example: Queôtotec would be translated as: Tribal Alpha of the Temple Guard known to go into a berserk rage in combat. Whereas, Maiôakûmi is: A Master Farmer of the Swamps.

Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Intuitive 1	Self-Taught 2	Trained 3
13 years	+1d4 years (15 - 17 years)	+2d6 years (15 - 25 years)	+3d8 years (17 - 31 years)

Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	5 ft. 3 in.	+3d8 in. (5 ft. 6in. - 6 ft. 9 in.)	130 lbs.	+2d10×5 lbs. (132 - 230 lbs.)
Female	5 ft. 6 in.	+3d8 in. (5 ft. 6 in. - 6 ft. 9 in.)	130 lbs.	+2d10×5 lbs. (132 - 230 lbs.)