Nesting Lizards

Nesting lizards is the common name for a number of species of small arboreal salamanders which can be found in wet, wooded areas of eastern Raiven, including the Vellan swamp and the Titan Penninsula. These amphibious insectivores are small, usually measuring only a few inches when fully grownbuild nests of mud and fallen foliage in the splits and hollows of trees growing close to the water.

The trees offer the nesting lizards protection from both predators and the elements, with nests both well camouflaged and difficult to access, as well as ready access to the lizards' preferred food source. Insects which rest or attempt to feed on trees which house nesting lizards are easy game for the speedy quadrupeds, which in turn results in healthy trees safe from bark beetles, webworms, and other pests which would harm them.

This relationship is clearly a great boon to the nesting lizards, but it's not the perfect solution. For one thing, there are still birds of prey which can access and tear open lizard nests. Beyond this, nesting lizards begin their lives fully aquatic and the females must lay their eggs in still water. The brilliant, pinkish egg masses of nesting lizards can sometimes be found clinging onto flotsam, but these tend to get eaten by fish and other aquatic predators. However, if the roots of the lizards' nesting tree or others nearby extend into the water the eggs will often be found hidden within the root system where they can hatch and the larval juveniles can feed with some protection. Once they mature their legs will be fully grown and their skin thickened enough to retain moisture in the upper areas of the trees.

Nesting lizards are generally seen as benign, but useless creatures. They are all incredibly toxic to humans and dwarves, and while most other peoples are capable of eating many of the species safely most describe them as unpalatable, though there are some who consume nesting lizard eggs as a delicacy. Several of the species native to the Vellan swamp also secrete a mucus from their skin which is a dangerous neurotoxin to virtually all air-breathing creatures. While simple exposure usuallly results in nothing more than temporary numbness  in the area of contact, ingestion or contact with tissues such as eyes, mouth, or wounds can result in paralysis or even respiratory failure. Predatory fish seem immune to this effect, but such fish which consume large numbers of nesting lizards can build up the toxin in their meat leading to accidental poisoning of creatures and peoples who consume the fish.