Lizardfolk

Lizardfolk are adapted primarily to bipedal locomotion. While they can adopt a quadrupedal pose, it is not usually beneficial to do so. Their long, muscular tails aid balance in an upright position, in extreme cases by acting as a third support, and can be used to grip or manipulate items, though this is awkward for objects above chest level. Their feet are digitigrade with five sharp claws able to grip surfaces firmly. Their hands have four fingers with three segments each and an opposable thumb with two segments; these are also tipped with very powerful and sharp claws.  

Sexual Dimorphism

The distinction between males and females can be impossible to discern without close examination. There are no obvious differences in musculature or bone structure, nor any secondary sexual characteristics such as breasts. Because of this, and because females lay eggs and do not bear live young, there are almost no social distinctions between genders either, the only caveat being that females need more nutrition in order to produce eggs, and this is accounted for in rationing.

Lizardfolk have extremely limited ability to regulate their own temperatures. In general, they are better able to tolerate hot temperatures than cold ones. This has caused them to prefer locales which other species often regard as inhospitably warm, and this fact has both relieved and increased tensions between these groups at various times. Their temperature is a significant factor in their behavior and social structure, since they are always aware of the possibility of a change in weather or other conditions that may inhibit their activity.   Above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, they will experience mild discomfort and seek short sojourns in shade or water to cool, but will not be seriously inconvenienced. Only from long exposures above 100-110 degrees do they suffer severe health deficiencies, which can become life-threatening after many hours.   Below 70 degrees, a Reptilian will experience discomfort and seek direct sunlight or warm areas, and may become noticeably slowed after a few hours. Below 50 degrees, they enter torpor and their bodily processes slow considerably, most noticeably movement. Below freezing, they are likely to fall unconscious and may suffer health deficits; however, if the change is gradual, a Reptilian can survive weeks or months in subfreezing temperatures if they get enough food beforehand.   To combat this major limitation, it is common in civilized Reptilians to wear heavy clothing at all times, particularly made of wool or a similar material. When possible, clothes will be enchanted to maintain an optimal body temperature. The rare (and inevitably high-status) individuals who wear such articles are able to operate at full speed continuously, but must eat more to sustain their lifestyle and age slightly faster.

A healthy female can lay one egg every six months; these take about 12 months to gestate and hatch, and must be kept warm throughout development. The eggs are kept in communal hatcheries with specialists who are trained both in tending to the eggs and bodily fending off any incursion, as Reptilian outlaws sometimes raid the hatcheries for easy food. Lizardfolk are not inclined to keep track of their particular offspring, instead viewing the eggs collectively as an asset belonging to the community.

Young Reptilians are able to walk within a few days of hatching, but need approximately two decades to mature fully. They are kept in creches with dedicated teachers who help them through every stage of development while also teaching them language, history, self-defense, and any other skills that are deemed necessary in their culture. As individuals reach the age of 14 or so, they are given over to apprenticeships in trades which are in high demand, or in which they show great aptitude.   Reptilians, if able to maintain good health, can easily live more than a hundred years. As they age, they become gradually taller and stronger, and thus more attractive to the opposite sex. Couplings are considered a private matter; there is no societal expectation of marriage, but many couples choose to cohabitate or to copulate exclusively with each other because they find this arrangement desirable.

Being cold-blooded, Reptilians prefer a warm environment, and thus are commonly found in deserts, rainforests, and places that other Lineages find unpleasant. The particulars vary by subtype.

They are only able to subsist on meat, and this puts some pressure on their agricultural activities. Left to its own devices, an individual will gladly hunt only what it needs, but they are instead encouraged (with varying levels of coercion depending on the society) to supply extra food to those who practice other trades, as well as to save for winter. Instead of just hunting, they raise and keep livestock, growing crops only to the minimal extent needed to feed them. Fish, land beasts, and fowl are all common, but beasts of burden are rare.

Winter is a massive challenge to Reptilians, and preparing for winter is one of the greatest individual drives toward civilized living. Food producers take care to set aside some portion of their yields, though they take only the minimal efforts to preserve them. When fall arrives and temperatures begin to drop, Lizardfolk gather and hold huge communal feasts in which they glut on whatever food they have, then retire to large sleeping chambers where they hibernate in huge piles of dozens together, or in some cases hundreds. These chambers are guarded by elite guards who use magic to ward off the cold and, in many places, also maintain hypocausts and similar heating systems to keep the sleeping chambers warmer. The sleeping Reptilians begin to wake when their caloric stores finally begin to run out, or when the guards decide that the weather is adequately comfortable and wake them.

Reptilian society is rigidly structured, with its members strictly ascribed roles and vocations based on their aptitude and the needs of society as determined by its administrators. While some view this as an ideal system, many find it stifling and cruel. As well, there tends to be little means for a person to change their status once it has been bestowed, so those who prove ineffective at their jobs may cause problems for others. In particular, if a ruler has some failing or shortcoming, their flaws will extend to society as a whole with seldom a way to address the issue.   Some uphold Reptilian society as an ideal of egalitarianism and meritocracy, where any child can achieve any level of status or any occupation independent of their parentage or the circumstances of their birth. In reality, Reptilian communities tend to be as stratified as any other, with several creches taking care of the young and differing greatly in the amount of resources to which they have access. Thus, those born in poor areas are less likely to win great esteem, because their means to do so are diminished. This also means a given ruler is likely to be related to the previous one, and in some cultures there is a preference for scale color or facial features, increasing this likelihood. While an individual tends not to care much how their specific progeny fares after them, social forces mean they're likely to end up in a similar place.

They have long faces with blunt snouts and straight mouths, comparable in real life to komodo dragons.

Reptilians are the primary species in the Southern Continent, and make up a significant majority of Grakim and Drathis particularly. They are also major inhabitants in the Central Subcontinent, the Neglessi Isles, and the Mantle of Mehen.

Intellectual capability is comparable to that of other sapient Lineages; however, because they are seldom inclined to seek self-improvement for its own sake, most are completely uneducated beyond the bare minimum of training required for their job. Those whose roles necessitate further education, or who are in leadership positions study in several fields, and also attempt to pass on their learning to others as they deem appropriate.

Lizardfolk have eyes on the sides of their head, but facing primarily forwards; this gives them a very wide range of view, but without binocular vision, and a fairly large blind spot directly behind their head. Their vision is keyed primarily to movement, though they can distinguish colors. The specifics vary considerably by subtype. Their sense of smell is very keen, and can detect even the faintest traces of biological matter. Their hearing is moderately good, but lacking external ears, they are unable to locate a source of sound.

Most Reptilian names are given in the Drauth language, regardless of place of origin. First names are typically descriptive, either of the individual (reflecting physical traits such as the the pattern of their scales, or personal traits such as a reckless tendency to leap into danger), or of the environmental conditions (sandstorms, phases of the moon, etc). These are bestowed on hatching, and to prevent any confusion, within a given hatchery, no two individuals from the same hatching cycle share a name. Surnames are taken from the place of hatching, usually the town, or in large cities, the particular borough.

Aside from their reproductive apparatus, males and females are physically identical. Because of this, they have difficulty understanding gender as it is employed within Mammalian cultures. It is rare for any role or title to be restricted by sex, and in many social contexts the distinction is considered minor at best. In occupations that feature travel or danger, especially the military, provisions are made for those who lay eggs to have them cared for and transported to a hatchery in a more preferred location, often a nearby town. The ability to lay eggs is treated as a minor physical trait, like a particular scale color, rather than a defining personal one.

By nature, Lizardfolk are not inclined to form family groups, nor do they seek permanent life partners. Instead, during times of leisure, they form couplings according to their own preferences, with same-sex couplings happening on occasion, and no expectation that these encounters will result in a long-term relationship. That said, some pairs do regularly seek each others' company due to personality compatibility or other traits they admire in one another.

Reptilians generally speak the dominant language in the land in which they reside (particularly Common in the Central Subcontinent, Grakila in Grakim, and Drauth in Drathi.), but many, especially those living in lands dominated by other races, retain Drauth as a home language to use among their own kind.

Because they have neither external genitalia nor secondary sexual characteristics, Reptilians have no social need to cover themselves. Instead, clothing is defined largely by function: primarily, to retain body heat, and to offer physical protection against danger. Secondarily, it serves to indicate the wearer's occupation and social status, and is often color-coded or bearing specific symbols to achieve this end. Reptilian clothes vary somewhat in design, but tend toward a simple format, resembling a frock or tunic with some amount of embellishment as appropriate.

Lizardfolk have occupied the Southern Continent and some part of the Northern for at least fifteen thousand years, and it's widely accepted that their presence dates back a hundred thousand or more. Details are vague, because although they have had the physical and mental capacity to form societies for a long time, they did not do so until they encountered other Lineages (particularly Orcs who settled the Orc Kindgoms on the tip of the Southern Continent) and political and military threats forced them to organize in order to protect their own lands.   Once the trend began, it snowballed into a powerful movement in the form of the Drathi empire, which spread across the Southern Continent, but never managed to quite dominate it, as Reptilians not born in the empire resisted its advancement, and those who were born near its borders gradually lost faith in its values. For centuries, the edges of the empire boiled with tiny kingdoms and republics, until finally Grakim managed to gather enough land and foster enough influence to permanently keep the older power at bay. Since then, the two major Reptilian nations have had a complex and tenuous relationship, their borders waxing and waning as they struggle for dominance of their part of the continent. while those Reptilians dwelling in Neglessi, the Central Subcontinent, and the Mantle of Mehen make their own arrangements.

The most common Lineage for Lizardfolk to encounter is Humanity, especially around the Central Subcontinent. The relationship between these is complex, having contained many wars, religious missions, and lucrative trading deals through history. Within the Subcontinental area, the two tend to live in separate communities, though there are some where they coexist. Generally, Lizardfolk regard Humans as potentially useful but unreliable, and avoid contact with them when not necessary.   Dragons are more concentrated around the Southern Continent than elsewhere, and thus interactions with them are more common. These can be friendly or hostile or anything in between, depending mainly on the nature of the dragon. Of course, those Lizardfolk who worship Eiha or live in the Mantle of Mehen have mostly positive interactions with Dragons.   Draconites are also more common in the area, and tend to have their own designated areas away from Lizardfolk populations, similar to the situation with Humans. But in some cases, the two Lineages live together and occasionally even interbreed. In contrast to Humans, Reptilians see Draconids as predictable, but seldom of much use, and so they tend not to either seek out or avoid them.   Faeries are about as common as anywhere else, and their relationship with Lizardfolk is much the same as with most Lineages: they're regarded as a nuisance and potential threat, to be shunned when possible and dealt with carefully when necessary.   Elementals seem to be encountered more frequently by Lizardfolk than others, though this is hard to prove. Likewise, the nature of the stories of these encounters are so strange that it is seldom possible to accept them, and so the true nature of the situation is difficult to glean. Ultimately, Elementals frequently appear in Lizardfolk culture as mythic or rhetorical beings, and this impression certainly colors any interactions the two Lineages do have.   Orcs once held a significant portion of the Southern Continent, and it was their expansion that spurred the development of Reptilian society in the first place. There are many stories, mostly horrific in nature, about their prowess and martial natures. Surviving Orcs are now held with a wary regard, and may sometimes be cautiously respected, while other places ban them.   Dwarves and Elves do not commonly encounter Lizardfolk, and so neither side of this cultural equation has a strong bank of prejudices to draw from when they do meet.