Lizardfolk

Javali Names: Acxotli, Cipactli, Cualli, Eloxoc, Etolpah, Huemoq, Huicatl, Ichtaca, Mahuzioh, Matlal, Metzli, Moctezuh, Tizoc, Tlalli, Teicuh, Teyaca, Xoco, Yaquiq

Javali are given a singular personal name at birth. They make no distinction between male and female names, and family names are not often used. Javali are expected to stand on their own merit without special treatment based on the reputation of their relatives. Based on their achievements, exceptional Javali may be given a surname or title by a superior as a way to honor them. Javali Surnames: Famine-breaker, Hidden-claw, Hunt-master, Legion-slayer, Swift-victory, Sword-shaper, Track-seer, Wall-breaker

The Javali are a very guarded people. They have difficulty understanding the ways of most outsiders, and their less rigid lifestyles. When a matter of Javali diplomacy comes along, this lack of understanding usually leads one side or the other to insult or war. Luckily for the Javali, they consider war to be their specialty. Javali society has three basic levels. There is an upper class of rulers, senior warriors, and spiritual leaders; a lower class made up of the general population; and a bottom class made up of slaves and outsiders. Childhood education, starting at the age of three, is mandatory for members of all classes. Combat and hunting skills are taught to all. Leadership skills, history, and ceremonial duties are taught to the upper class, while trades and home skills are taught to the lower classes.   Upward movement between classes is possible. Slavery is neither permanent, nor hereditary. A slave can buy their freedom, or earn it by saving the life of their master, and the child of a slave is born free. Generally, the only way for a member of the lower class to move up is to become a career warrior, and climb the ranks to a leadership position.   Javali keep permanent settlements, sometimes using a combination of hard work and slave labor to create elaborate, lasting cities primarily comprised of great stone buildings. Intricately decorated temples, stepped pyramids, and stone or mud-brick dwellings are hallmarks of high Javali society and strong tribal alliances. Less prosperous settlements are typically made up of wooden stilt-houses built directly over swamps, or mud-walled dwellings with thatched roofs built on solid areas adjacent to the wet swamp soil.   Almost all Lizardfolk speak Javali and Common.

Family

When a male Javali desires to find a mate, he may try to impress a female Javali with his might or cunning by giving her trophies or showing off during hunts to see if she notices. However, the female Javali must also be in desire of a mate for his attempts to even work. In Javali culture, the women have the sole power to start the proper mating ritual. Once a woman has found a male mate she is impressed with- she will offer him a task testing his might or his cunning, depending on what she values most. If she wants the male Javali to prove he is a strong enough mate, she will ask to be able to watch as he takes on a large, dangerous beast by himself. If instead she wishes to prove his cunning, she will choose a different type of prey- one that requires not only brute strength but skill and intelligence to overcome.   If he chooses to accept, he must then complete the task before he can truly claim her as his mate. If he were to flaunt off the fact she chose him, it may make her deny him mate status due to looking cocky or overconfident. Additionally, if he fails the task in her eyes too many times or in too poorly of a fashion, she will look elsewhere for a mate or wait more time for him to improve his skills.   If the male Javali does succeed, the two will officially be mates for as long as they hold up to one another's standards. In celebration of both such a wonderful hunt and the new Javali mating pair- the two will hold a large feast for the entire clan using the meat and such of the beast the male Javali just slain to prove his worth. It is known as a rather great time in Javali culture, with food and games aplenty in celebration of the newly made mate-pair.   If one partner believes the other does not hold up they would believe and therefore wishes not to be within the mating pair, they can simply leave. Although of course there can be emotional repercussions if it’s not mutual agreement, but if the pair had a clutch and the child is still young they both have a hand in raising the hatchling like the rest of the clan.   It is common for female Javali to try to time their clutches to hatch together, or to wait for warmer weather so that they require less intervention to keep them warm. Should a clutch occur in cold weather, mothers will take turns tending a fire where the eggs are kept to keep them at the optimal temperature. The cooler end of the incubation range tends to hatch more females, while the hotter end tends to result in more males. More specifically, the optimal incubation temperature is between about 82°F (28°C) and 90°F (32°C). If the incubation is kept at 86°F (30°C) there will be about 50/50 of boys and girls, while at 88-90°F (31-32°C) there will be closer to about 75% males and vice versa for females. Mothers have a pretty strong intuitive sense of this temperature range, especially by their second clutch.   Once a clutch has successfully hatched, the males of the clan go out on a hunt to celebrate the birth of a new generation. They will then use the meat for a great meal to feed both the new children and the mothers who worked so hard to make sure the clutch hatched properly. Parts of the beasts would then be used to create the children’s first toys and weapons, all uniquely made by each parent pair for their biological child. For example, if the child is a child of an upper-class warrior they may have a toy sword made. If it is a child of two lower-class Javali they may get a toy based on the trade of their parents. Likewise, the hides of the beasts will be used for making the new clothes for the Javali hatchlings as well.   Because of how Javali are hatched, Javali do not necessarily have just ‘family units’ of their parents and biological siblings. Instead, they also have close sibling bonds with their fellow clutch mates, in which they will be raised, trained, and educated together as a group. To clarify, however, it is not odd for clutch mates of different parents to be attracted to one another or want to become a mate-pair with a clutch mate.

Food

Javali have a huge love for the thrill of the Hunt, especially since their diets require so much meat. ‘The Hunt’ is not always targeted to land animals either, and can include fishing and larger creatures of the water. Javali, from their utilitarian lifestyles, will find a use for nearly every part of a hunted creature’s corpse; their cuisine even includes the use of bones and animal fat for flavor. Javali are skilled in a variety of ways to prepare meat, such as roasting on fires, stews, grilling meat, making jerky snacks, and more.   While other cultures may just resort to keeping livestock, the amount of meat they require would make taking care of livestock too much of a drain on resources. Besides, hunting is used to build teamwork and as training for younger Javali.   Due to the fact Javali are not Mammals, they have no inclination to keep livestock for milk either. They do not use dairy products, such as butter and cheese, in their cuisine due to that lack of desire and taste for milk. Instead of butter for frying or rubs or coating, they may use animal fat or fish oils. If a Javali were to eat dairy products they would likely have a rather violent reaction and be unable to digest it.   While Javali may not have large dedicated farmlands for crops, smaller groups may upkeep certain crops to use in their meals. Certain crops often seen are tomato, onions, corn, carrots, spinach. They also would transplant certain berry bushes, herbs and other foragable plants back to their clans to protect and take care of.

Traditional Javali work clothing tends to be fairly minimalistic, as they come from a hot climate, and their scales provide much of the protection they require. When doing physical labor, both males and females typically wear only a breechcloth made of cloth or soft leather. At other times, a colorful cape-like garment made of cotton, or rough, vine fiber cloth is worn in addition to the breechcloth. Commoners wear this garment by passing one side under the arm, and knotting the ends at the opposite shoulder, leaving one side open. Members of the upper class drape the garment around both shoulders, tying it in the front into a cloak-like shape. Javali typically wear leather, open-toed footwraps to protect the scaleless pads of the feet. Due to the shape and length of the toes, traditional shoes are considered far more awkward than they are worth.   Javali don typical armor for heavy combat, usually either scavenged and adapted for their body shape, or made of bone and boiled leather. While Javali do have the ability to work metal, raw ore is often difficult for them to acquire in large enough quantities to outfit an entire settlement’s complement of warriors.

Accessories

Javali commonly decorate themselves and their weapons with claws, teeth, bones, and other hunting trophies.   Javali also use intricate works of feathers for their weapons and accessories in efforts to resemble the strongest warriors of their ancestry. Their favorite feather to use is deep green Hentra feather, but will happily take feathers from stronger beasts as well to use to adorn themselves.

Javali when they are not fully entrenched in war and conflict take the time of victory (or loss) to be able to create works to recreate the tells in more physical means. For those who enjoy a more 3D medium one may carve wooden sculptures or even create works of clay. Uniquely, they create rather ornate pots and plates made of clay, engraved and painted vibrantly to illustrate great times of battle and success and rub in the misery of those who may oppose them. A daily reminder of that tribe’s strength and history. For a Javali who enjoys more with working with fibers and strands, they may create brightly dyed tapestries that have been intricately woven upon a primitive form of a loom. Each thread is lovingly tended to in order to tell the larger stories that the Javali would like a visual representation of. This artform is one of the more often seen forms of recording history compared to any written documents. Therefore, lower class Javali often pick up weaving tapestries as one of their trades in order to be a sort of ‘scribe’ of the common Javali.   In the sense of song and dance, Javali tribes during times of large gatherings will have dances they do in beat with loud percussion instruments of varying sizes. The beats vary from intense compositions with many difficult notes at a fast tempo to slower songs that only help provide a rhythm for the tribe or clan to dance to. In more affluent tribes, they may also have bone flutes and horns added into the mix as well. Most Javali know a few of these classic dances and songs, but some are unique to where they are from. The dances themselves often involve clapping, stomping their clawed feet on the ground, and maneuvering their tails in grand ways.

Creation Story

Javali believe that The Master was their creator, and, as he was aptly named, their master. They also agree that the urges were also his creation.  

Common Myth

Cahiltzur was once challenged by the spirit of famine, and they met in Cahiltzur’s temple to do combat. When it appeared that Cahiltzur would win, the spirit of famine began using dishonorable tactics to get the upper hand. This angered Cahiltzur so greatly, that his cries of rage woke the mosaics from the temple walls, and they came to fight by his side, defeating his enemy together. To show his thanks, he gave the mosaics the spark of life, and a permanent form. The tiles they were made of became the scales of the Javali, and to this day Cahiltzur still sends visions and omens to call them to righteous battle.

No solely Javali settlements have been discovered by the Anoman colonists. Perhaps you can discover one, or make your own...