One thing that is generally accepted about intelligent races is that they are mammalian. This is of course a narrow scope point of view, and grossly inaccurate to boot. In fact even a cursory study of cryptozoology shows that there are far more non-mammalian, or more accurately non-humanaform sapients than bipedal mammalian sapients.  Just about any layperson could name a small handful of examples without straining themselves, such as Dragons and the Fay-kin. Quite a few would name the various reptiloforms, including the grossly misnamed Troglodytes, and the grotesque Trolls, though to be honest, in the case of the later there is little to recommend regarding culture, much less a study of what culture exists among the nearly beastial monstrousities. Yes, Trolls are intelligent, even capable of language and tool use very nearly on par with any other species. However, they have not even the rudiments of a culture, and to find two or more trolls working together is a sure sign of outside agency.  No, if you wish to learn more of Trolls, a biological study is where you should seek enlightenment.

Of course, what brings us here is not Trolls, as facinating as you might find them, but the various sorts of so called Lizardmen.  Rather than attempt to discuss each species in individual terms, it is more fruitful to discuss the commonalities of the type together.  Certainly any given species and tribe has enough richness to occupy a dedicated researcher for a lifetime, yet for the common researcher there few differences worth mention.  

This is not for a lack of difference, merely that our perspective, regardless of race, is so very different that such differences are essentially meaningless compared to aforementioned similarities.  

So, without much preamble, we proceed to our assumptions forthwith.

Assumption One: Lizardkin is refering to a wide variety of races, all sharing the following traits: Intelligence and language, bipedal forms, reptillian ancestry and characteristics and being roughly mansized. Other traits will be nearly universal as well, with specific exceptions being noted in the study.

Assumption Two: No Lizardkin appears manlike to even a casual glance, and their morphology is obvious. Such a morphology naturally presents a difference in linguistic development, communication and so forth, likewise their biology is suffiecently different that it's impact upon their culture is paramount to understanding them.

Assumption Three: No lizardkin on record is predominantly herbvorious.  It is suspected that the nature of such reptiles is such that they never develop higher intelligence.

Assumption Four: No Lizardkin species is the dominant race, either overall, or only within the lizardkin subset.  Caveat: A different school of thought, supported by some Source Documents, suggests that at one time the Lizardkin were the dominant species, and had a highly developed culture at one time. It has even been suggested that such a culture may have been that of the mythic Titans, and that other races were their slaves. However, there is insufficent evidence to support this.

Assumption Five: Lizardmen, or -kin, are currently stone age near savages, with a few isolated cultures evidencing bronze age weaponry and tools. Again, while some source documents suggest higher levels of development, this is rare enough and unsupported enough to suggest these examples were either in error, perhaps mistaking another race, or are exceptions rather than the rule.  

Assumption Six: Lizardkin have a relationship to dragons, often worshipping them as Gods.  Some Lizardkin species may also have native Gods they worship as well. Dragons have been shown by many Source Documents to engage in dialog with Lizardkin to a greater extant than they might with primative human cultures. More to the point, Dragons are not known in most source Documents to engage in dialogs with civilizations, rather with individuals.  There are, of course, exceptions. Dragons are rather contrary in that they refuse to behave according to accepted behavioral models, seeming to spite existing ones for the sheer joy of frustrating researchers.

Assumption Seven: Lizardmen are egg layers and many species exhibit cold blooded tendancies. However, no primary lizardkin species is noted for exhibiting only cold blooded behavior, suggesting an evolutionary adaption paralleling the development of intelligence.  It is possible that purely cold blooded species are unsuited for higher orders of intelligence.

Assumption Eight: Many lizardkin species exhibit subpar intelligence, appearing more akin to orcs intellectually. However, it could be noted that overall, lizardkin do not appear as adaptable as other races and use their intelligence in suboptimal ways. While Orcs appear, even with limited intellect, to have remained technologically on par with other species, less intelligent species of Lizardkin appear to lag even compared to peer races.

Assumption Nine: Conversely, Lizardkin almost universally are stronger and tougher than they should be. Certain species within the type exhibit fantastic abilities, and are universally fearsome combatants.  Of all the intelligent races, only Orcs have exhibited the ability to fight pound for pound against lizardkin on a regular basis. Even the smaller breeds of Lizardkin have been known to hunt Kobolds, another intelligent species known for disproportionate strength, for food.  

Assumption Ten: The vast majority of Lizardkin species have demonstrated a marked tendency towards a semiaquatic existance.  Comparatively few species have developed in a desert environment, despite the wide variety of ordinary reptiles in such lands. It is suggested that swamps and other wetlands require more cunning, and thus intelligence, than deserts. Another school of thought suggests a progenitor species, possibly Dragons, responsible for uplifting various lizard species, thus limiting them to the environment favored by the responsible parties.  That said, there have been a few demonstrated Desert Lizardkin, often competing in that niche with Insectoforms, which ironically should be more common in the aquatic regions but are not.  


Discussing Lizardkin is a singular challenge, not unlke discussing Kobolds. Few researchers have gained access to various communities without becoming food for their subjects, and lizardkin are even rarer than the xenophobic Kobolds among more civilized species.  Couple that with the wide variety of species we must cover and the task seems sisyphion.  

However, it is not. Unlike Kobolds, it is possible to learn the language of various Lizardkin tribes, and for they to speak the language of humaniod species, though not without difficulty. Likewise, unlike the Kobolds, few lizardkin seem adverse to contact with other intelligent lifeform, provided they do not already view you as a food animal.  Once a meaningful dialog is opened up, a great deal might be learned, and as there is dialog between tribes of various species a great deal can be learned simply by the expedience of finding a native guide. Of course, one might have to suffer the indignity of being viewed as a pet or potential 'emergency food source'.

Lizardkin are likely to be an Elder Race, though as there was virtually no contact with other species in earlier times, it is hard to say for certain.  The only solid records that exist are early Elvish myths that speak of terribly cunning creatures of the swamp that harrowed a splinter tribe on their journey to their homeland.  

Less solidly, the presence of incredibly ancient stone ruins deep in the swamps, often guarded by local tribes, suggests more to the story.  When combined with the myths of various tribes, and their own legendary stories, a complex picture arises.  

Some of the more developed Lizardkin, particularly the aptly named 'Lizardmen', have stories that suggest they once had 'mighty tribes' that welcomed all their kindred species into an Ur-tribe. This Ur-Tribe is actually older than their own 'creation myths' though untangling that is a subject of some complexity better left to mythohistorians. This Ur-Tribe is often refered to as the Tribe of the Gods, and fell to a war against terrible alien beings, also called Gods, or something analogous to 'demons', and was eventually destroyed, scattered and forbidden their former greatness by terrible magics.  

This suggests, at least for our purposes, that at one time the Lizardmen had a civilization of some complexity and power. To destroy such a civilization in a protracted war would require a great deal of work, and would be reflected in the histories of that culture. As every historical culture, but one, has a reasonably well documented history that should conceivable cover such a war... and does not, that only leaves two possiblities. The first is that some un-recorded or unknown civilization, or very possibly Gods or Demons of some sort destroyed some primative Lizardman culture utterly, leaving only primatives squatting in the remains. The other, and more likely possiblity is that the Titans, whose records we do not have, destroyed a potential upstart or rival. Such records would have been lost with the rest of Titan culture. That would make the Lizardmen the oldest race still extant, being contemporaries of the mythic (and properly speaking, unnamed) Titans.

Moving up through to the modern Era, many Lizardkin species show a remarkably stoic attitude towards their culture. It isn't that they don't see the benefits of 'growth' in their culture, it is that they don't care to change what is working for them. Iron or steel weapons may be superior to copper and stone, but if copper and stone work, why change?  Environment is a factor as well, there. Iron and steel rust in swamps, while more primative materials are easier to replace and in some cases last longer.

Lizardkin are the apex predators of swamp life, and this reflects in their culture. Lizardkin tribes fear nothing, not even their Gods. Only another tribe would be a threat.  Lizardkin of various tribes have legends that support this, that their gods gave them dominion over all things. They even have names for themselves that reflect this belief structure, names like Jungle Lords, though they obviously must be of the local dominant species to claim such hubris.

Lizardkin respect survival above all else, thus older members of the tribe are venerated, as are tribe members who overcome some terrible ordeal. If you survive something, the Gods look favorably on you. This can be the easiest way for an outside to get an 'in' with their culture, to survive the swamps unaided. Easy, of course, being a relative term. Slightly more practical, if not appreciably easier is to engage in ritual combat with the feircest member of the tribe. Within species such activities are used for dominance or short term leadership selection, and are rarely lethal, however if an outsider fails (and lives) he is likely to become a meal later. Likewise, if the outsider wins, but only by trickery, leaving his opponent alive (no lizardkin would submit willingly in such a ritual to an outsider), then he is also likely to be eaten... if somewhat later than the loser would have been.  Thus, the only way to properly earn the respect of the tribe is to kill your opponent before he could kill you. Survival first.

Once one has become a member of the Tribe, Lizardkin are remarkable accepting of outsiders.  Thus it becomes important to understand the cultural taboos.

Lizardkin do not have communal meals. Traditionally the hunter consumes what he can of his meal before another tribe mate can learn of it. The rest he offers to the cheif or local leader who then takes his share before allowing the rest to take their shares according to pecking order.  In lean times, the lowest members only eat what they can catch for themselves.  Lizardkin do mate for life in most species, though some have a single fertile female per tribe, which is made up of her mates and children, this is more common among the so called Troglodyte species (the more amphibious and primative lizardkin, rather than subterranian) than among the more social dry land lizardmen.  A lizardkin will typically share all food equally with mate and any hatched children, typically via regurgitation.  Obviously, sharing food by reguritation is a sign of extreme affection, though it can be viewed as patronizing.  On the other hand, if one is incapable of hunting for oneself and refuses to be fed it is an insult of some degree, only assuaged by the offending party 'proving' they can hunt for themselves immedeatly.  As lizards do not chew food, but rather rip it apart or swallow it whole, the regurgitated food must be heavily digested prior to sharing.  It is highly recommended that those unprepared for the necessity of eating, er, lizard vomit not allow themselves to be heavily injured or diseased during their stay.

Of note, Lizardmen also do not have a strong medical tradition, with some taboos about medical care, even magical in nature. If one is injured or ill, one must first prove capable of surviving the injury or disease without help before they will aid your recovery. Self aide is perfectly permissable, it should be noted, even encouraged.  Surviving a life threatening injury or illness however, earns one great status, particularly if the individual can regain their former strength.

All lizardkin species lay eggs, which must be cared for to varying degrees. The newly hatched infants are given a minimum amount of care, and regardless of tribe or species are released, or even chased, from the home of his birth before early adolescence, a full fledged member of the tribe. Young lizardkin learn quickly from birth by observation, and those incapable of caring for themselves are consumed by their parents as early as possible.  There are some forms of apprenticeship common throughout the tribes. One must pass a series of traditional rituals before acceptance from a mentor figure. The rituals may or may not be formalized, and the young, or outsiders hoping to learn something, may not be told they are undergoing such rituals. This sort of worthiness testing is prevelant at every level of the tribe, and persists between tribes of all races to varying degrees.

Dragons are viewed as another tribe of Lizardkin, though in many cases each individual dragon is viewed as it's own tribe, and dragons as a whole considered a race of lizardkin as well. Dragons, as the oldest tribes, are highly respected. Worship is gained by force, earned by Godlike behavior, or stolen by treachery from individual tribes. Lizardkin are not an extremely religious group, and active worship and veneration is a cultural analomy imposed from without.  

The presence of significant testing and ritual behavior is not, as stated, innately religious. Lizardkin accept the existance and power of Gods and Spirits readily enough, but view any religious activities as merely bargining for power or favors. The rituals and traditions therefore must have another origin. This lies in their predatory natures and natural territorialness. In order to form higher levels of social structure than normally found in nature, the Lizardkin turned to ritualized practices to establish dominance and territory with resorting to combat every time the left their 'nest'.

Lizardkin 'villages' are unusual to say the least. Lizardkin do no wear clothing to protect themselves from the environment. Adornments serve to establish status in the tribe, particularly for larger tribes where one might not be known on sight, or practical value, such as belts to hold equipment, or primative armor (made typically from bones) for warriors.  Very large, well established tribes, with many villages comprising them, may have a high degree of ornamentation so that any member might know all they need to simply by glance at a stranger.  Many of the adornments used for such identification also serve practical value. The warriors of the tribe are identifiable by their weapons and armor, each village or specific duty denoted by the exact designs of the same.

Of course, Lizardkin don't have architecture as we understand it.  Nests typically are mounds of dirt and mouldering vegitation with hollowed spaces within for sleeping and storing of treasured possessions.  Some races/tribes erect wooden palisades to denote borders, others use totems or fetishes. Often the only indication of settlement to an outsider would be some ritual furniture of stone or wood, altars, high seats, combat 'rings' and nothing more. Since food storage is an impossiblity, and impractical for lizards anyway, there will typically be no larder or other indication of lean times, though more aquatic races or tribes situated on rivers or lakes, may have permanent traps and fishing lines in the water.

A few lizardkin tribes do build permanent 'nest structures' out of stone, or within large stone complexes. Typically, such nest structures include more mound nests inside dark, cool rooms, and 'leak proofing' is undesirable. For smaller complexes, often decorated with shallow bas releif carvings, they are likely to be the work of the tribe within recent memory. For larger complexes, or those that are highly ornate, the complexes are likely to be remenants of older, possibly alien, cultures rather than belonging properly to the tribe itself.  

Most lizardkin favor a certain rugged simplicity to their equipment. Spears are common, though often the crudest, being only sharpened sticks in most cases, clubs and axes of solid construction are preferred for close work. Ideally, weapons are of a single solid piece, thus axes are only prevelent in metalworking tribes, while clubs or maces are of stone or wood. Larger breeds prefer thrown spears, or even Atl-atl spear launchers for ranged combat, while smaller breeds are reknown for their use of blowguns with poisoned darts.  Some breeds, such as crocodillians, make comparativly complex, yet primative, weapons such as stone 'claws' to enhance their already formidable array of natural weapons, while the 'Troglodytes', or aquatic species, often known for their extreme stupidity, use such complex weapons as nets and bone tipped harpoons.   Despite appearences, no Lizardkin is a lumbering brute, all show extremely high degrees of cunning, feildcraft and even tactical accumen. Teamwork, however, is often lacking except among the small to midranged lizardmen, who show the highest degrees of organization and social structure. The largest Lizardmen, while no less intelligent or cunning than their smaller brethren display a certain arrogance that seems to inhibit teamwork even among their own kind. Lizardmen, regardless of size, tend to form into multi-racial tribes.

Lastly, the word tribe, in regards to lizardkin is somewhat confusing. Elvish and Human tribes tend to be essentially extended families. Among lizardkin this is not the case, and the term is essentially used to denote the sort of social structure that appears to exist. Tribes, to lizardkin are geographic and social in nature. A shared body of traditions and a contiguous geographic placement makes a lizardkin tribe more than any other factor.  Most tribes share a formal 'contract' or 'treaty' that establishes when they were founded and what constituites members of the tribe. Such documents are carved in stone, often in the form of a stellae, and are replicated on wood or bone staves carried by tribal leaders, who are typically older and stronger warriors or hunters.  It should be noted that some tribes have extremely rigid caste structures, particularly among the Lizardmen, though entry into a caste, or changing castes is relatively easy. The rigidity, in this case, refers to the principle that only members of a given caste may perform certain activities, or have special rights and duties.  It is these larger more complex tribes that represent the greatest intrest outside their swampy homelands, as these larger tribes are very rapidly taking on aspects of a higher order of civilization and in many cases are expansionistic and eager to deal with the outside world, if only on their own terms.

Nicely done.

I've taken the approach in the past in trying to document "alien" species to as much relevant detail as possible, tkaing the Megatraveller books "Solomani and Aslan" and "Vilani and Vargr" as the models. (because we have to start somewhere).

In a current in-development game I sent 3 pages of material to a co-writer, only to have her send me back 3 paragraphs of further questions.

If only every game dev spent as much time..

I write for my own amusement, but I long ago learned the technique of asking 'why'. Why do this, why do that. What does this imply?

And every damn time I answer one, I find three more have sprung up in it's wake.  And reflexively, I try to answer them all... Most of these articles ended when I realized how much time I was spending on them, not when I ran out of stuff to say.  

This does explain the occasionally poor organization of the ideas.

That's some good work, alright.

I find it has a touch of "It was raining on planet Mongo that year" about it.  What I mean by that is that it feels kinda simplistic to talk about cultural trends of a whole family of species.  It's sort of hard to extrapolate from the single datapoint we have of an intelligent, cultured species, but I'd still expect to see a bit more variation.

Keep up the fine work.


Cheers,
Roger

Quote from: RogerThat's some good work, alright.

I find it has a touch of "It was raining on planet Mongo that year" about it.  What I mean by that is that it feels kinda simplistic to talk about cultural trends of a whole family of species.  It's sort of hard to extrapolate from the single datapoint we have of an intelligent, cultured species, but I'd still expect to see a bit more variation.

Keep up the fine work.


Cheers,
Roger

The trouble I had with this one was a simple one. See, when trying to keep things reasonably generic, you have to avoid going into specific species. D&D, for example, has three for four subspecies of lizardmen alone, plus the lizardlike troglodytes and more.  Now, if we are willing to accept that the three groups of lizardmen are expressions of the same species, you have to start bringing in similar species, many of which seem to exist as different expressions of the same type.  

Rather than try to stick to D&D tropes, and rather than detail a thousand minor variations that may be as much tribal as racial, I was forced to deal with the gross details of the group.

The regurgitation bit was a fine piece of work, Spike.  I hope to someday inflict a steaming bowl of half-digested lizard puke on an unsuspecting party.

Quote from: fonkaygarryThe regurgitation bit was a fine piece of work, Spike.  I hope to someday inflict a steaming bowl of half-digested lizard puke on an unsuspecting party.

Please do, with my blessings! That's the fun part of knowing the culture of another species... cross species taboo violations.

Wasn't there one on Dragons?