Sauraki

Sauraki

  Overview
The Sauraki are an ancient reptilian people, born of scales, sun, and soil. Adaptable and fiercely independent, they inhabit some of Wakodia’s harshest environments—from tangled jungles to scorched badlands. Though their origins are lost in myth, many believe the Sauraki once served forgotten draconic or primordial powers. Today, they live in clan-based societies, honoring ancestors and survival above all.  

---

 

Physical Characteristics

Appearance: Sauraki possess scaled skin, elongated tails, clawed hands, and reptilian facial features, but their bodies are humanoid in build—upright, muscular, and agile. Their heads are distinctly reptilian, varying in shape and ornamentation depending on lineage. Scales range from earthy browns and greens to shimmering golds or deep blacks, blending into their environments.
Lifespan: Mature at 15, average lifespan 80–120 years.
Height and Build: Typically 5.5 to 7 feet tall, muscular and lean, with powerful legs and flexible tails.
Notable Traits: Sauraki often develop crests, spines, or ridged horns with age, and their scales may form natural patterns echoing their homeland.  

---

 

Subraces

The Sauraki are divided into distinct subraces shaped by their environments:

Okhuri – Jungle dwellers of the Thornscale Tangle, possessing elongated, angular snouts, earth-toned scales, and subtle crests along their head ridges.
Dreadjaw – Swamp and river folk of the Thornscale Tangle, with broad, heavy jaws, robust builds, and dark ridged scales suited for murky waters.
Serathith – Desert nomads of the Scourge Flats, sleek and narrow-headed with faint hood-like crests, their smooth scales blending seamlessly with the sand.  

---

 

Culture and Society

Sauraki culture values endurance, cunning, and memory. Clan loyalty supersedes all other ties, and each subrace maintains its own rites, hunting practices, and ancestral songs. Elders hold authority through proven survival and wisdom rather than lineage. Outsiders are rare; diplomacy is approached cautiously, seen as a slow hunt rather than open trust.  

---

 

Religion and Cosmology

The Sauraki venerate primal forces—sun, stone, blood, and fang—rather than personified gods. Some clans honor the Great Coil, a mythic serpent said to encircle the world’s roots; others whisper of The First Maw, a devouring hunger older than death. Ancestral spirits are invoked through bone-readings, shed-skin offerings, and venom rites.  

---

 

Role in History

Sauraki history is carried in oral epics and scar-carved ritual marks. Though seldom recorded in the histories of empires, their actions have shifted borders, raided supply lines, and closed wilderness paths to trespassers. Their defiance of imperial incursions is whispered in the stories of broken banners at jungle and desert edges.  

---

 

Magic and the Sauraki

Sauraki favor elemental and primal magic: druids, rangers, and sorcerers with ties to sun, venom, or earth. Arcane spellcasters are rare, but spirit-callers and poisonbinders hold respected mystical roles. Among the Serathith, blood-rites blend magic with venomous alchemy.  

---

 

Legacy

The legacy of the Sauraki lies in places untouched—tracks in the mud, bones beneath roots, ruins reclaimed by vine and sand. Their stories move through whispers, scars, and remembered hunts rather than books or monuments. Where others see wilds, they see home.