Response X) Ask the slaver a million questions. (The number of questions may vary based on available counting methods)
Improvement G) Prospect the land. Teshi Ekon and a group of trolls will be searching and prospecting area for useful resources to use.
The sweat had stopped pouring from Tenshi's brow but his back still ached from the hard work, though rest was the last thing on his mind at the moment. The water ways had been set up, all they needed now was water to flow through them to make this land prosperous. While he had been working hard alongside the others his mind had gathered an idea together. It had turned over and over in his thoughts, he had polished the words he would use and smoothed out any problems until he was ready to walk along the sand and dirt the covered the area. He travelled across the crude pathways that had been carved between the tents and the fireplaces, dodging guy ropes and scattered debris made by the nearly four hundred people that called Hunzuu home.
The overwhelming presence of those around him was tangible as he trudged through the throng of energy and life. Each twist and turn held a new and varied sight and sound from peoples daily lives. The smell of food roasting on a firepit, the snoring of a sleeping troll under the shade of his tent or the babble of conversations caught and lost Tenshi's attention as he picked his way through the camp. A group of small children raced past him trying to catch one another, their infectious laughter drew his attention from his thoughts and towards the camel-skin tent that stood alone in centre of the crush. People had squeezed into every possible space Hunzuu had, yet had left a respectable arms length from the chief's tent.
Tenshi pulled the tent flap aside and ducked into the shaded tent, the camel skin doing little to muffle the sounds of bountiful life outside. Csini sat quietly to one side of the tent, sitting comfortably amongst a few pillows sewing ripped clothes back together. Tenshi bowed respectfully to her and she responded with a slight tilted her head. Malak was a few steps further into the tent carving meaningless symbols into a chunk of sandstone he clung to as if it would spring to life and tell him the answers to all his problems. The pair sat quietly wandering through their own mental world, but the room was still abuzz with the chatter that permeated the camel-skin walls.
“My Chief, I've had an idea.” Tenshi began, uncaring of what thoughts were broken by his interruption. The chief looked up, as if waking from a dream, his eyes were unfocused and he nodded for Tenshi to continue while he regained himself. “We must search the lands. The ancestors brought us here for a reason, they must have left a gift for us in the soil. Someone must have found something, maybe one of the children has picked up a strange rock or....” Tenshi's words trailed off as Malak put down his carvings and nodded.
“Travel amongst the people, ask any questions you wish.” Malak's clipped words gathered pace as ideas flooded his mind. “We shall send people into the nearby area to search for resources.”
Senwe considered the words of the stranger carefully. Trolls were no stranger to keeping slaves, or to being slaves, but this man made a living from keeping them. A dangerous man, he pondered as he gathered his thoughts.
“Greetings, stranger. I am Senwe of the Ekon tribe. We are travellers from the far southlands who seek a place to call our own.” He gestured to the reed mat as a show of good faith and to the goats cheese and water the trio had shared, “will you join us amongst the gods to discuss the matters of these lands and your business?” The two warrior trolls stood and moved a few spaces away from the god tent to make space for the stranger.
“You speak of Giwabi, are they the owners of the soldiers who have watched us with such interest?” The questions bubbled up in his mind like water at an oasis and spilt from him in a torrent. “Could you show us to the leader of the Giwabi tribe so that we may talk and what would you trade for those you hold?”
The New World, The Burnt Branch Confederacy Aokki, The Palace Auditorium 17th of February 4901
“Honoured Ajaw,” began the messenger-slave with the poise of someone about to be flayed alive “my honoured Ajaw Zatle humbly requests that this vendetta between our people ends.”
“You raid my villages, sacrifice my warriors to your gods, and think that this is over? Why shouldn't I tear out your throat where you stand?” Screamed Ajaw Chuzzoxk at the helpless messenger. The flickering torches that lit the auditorium and his muscular form conspired to create a terrifying sight for the nervous figure.
“Our warriors' honour was satisfied and our gods were appeased. Your kidnapping of my honoured Ajaw's sister has received recompense and is finished in her eyes. You overstepped your bounds Honoured Ajaw.” The messenger was held to be untouchable on the luxurious mosaic circle of flooring which stood at the centre of the amphitheatre, striking anyone speaking there was forbided by long and honoured tradition.
“And now I seek recompense for a new matter against your lands!” Ajaw Chuzzoxk visibly struggled against the rooms mind-wardings as his anger bubbled over. He stalked across the amphitheatre's floor menacingly with his tail thrashing in anticipation and his teeth bared.
The room was packed with delegates and representatives from across the Confederacy who watched the unfolding disaster with great interest. A low-level murmur of their conversations rumbled around the stone amphitheatre like a tropical storm as each of them positioned themselves for or against the motion that would inevitably be raised. Opinions changed like a swirling whirlpool amongst the onlookers as Chuzzoxk's anger strained the boundaries of tradition and the soothing mind magics that embraced the room.
“Honoured Ajaw. Revered Delegates. Let us adjourn for the night.” Interrupted Speaker Acuru who'd watched Chuzzoxk pace the luxurious mosaic floor far too long now. With a subtle gesture to Rinzu to proceed, he began to harness his powers. He leant forward heavily and focused his magics upon the Ajaw's mind, worming into cool the fiery temper the was clearly bubbling over.
A chorus of agreement rippled across the amphitheatre as hundreds of lizardfolk rose from the stone benches and shuffled into the humid night air, arguing and chattering as they departed. While the crowd dispersed, Chuzzoxk thudded towards the Speaker with fangs jutting from his snarling mouth. The distraction gave the messenger enough time to begin the most dignified sprint possible as he made a swift exit from the theatre and to a safer location.
“I wasn't finished.” Spittle dripped from Chuzzoxk's mouth as he spat out the words. Drawing himself up to his full height in challenge to the Speakers words he stood with eyes attempting to bore a whole into the Speakers resolve.
Speaker Acuru unwaveringly returned the Ajaw's stare without saying a word as the anger began to drain from the Ajaw. Rinzu's mind magic had taken hold and was guiding the Ajaw's mind towards a more controlled place. He deflated slightly and his posture relaxed, as he realised what was happening to him. With a flick of his tail he turned and stalked from the chamber out into the humid night.
Rinzu sagged once the irate Ajaw was out of sight and breathed heavily, Lizardfolk magic was draining on the individual who practised it.
“Go home Rinzu.” Speaker Acuru, resting his manicured claws upon his friend's blotchy scales.
“His emotions were out of alignment Speaker. I must check the wardings to ensure....”
“Go home Rinzu.” He repeated with a finality that couldn't be debated.
“Yes Lord Speaker.” Rinzu stood to leave and the receding sound of his feet slapping on the cobblestone steps faded away into the night. Acuru remained for a moment and stood in the Auditorium watching the last of the braziers hissed and spit their final breaths. The distant sound of the city faintly reached him, drowned out by the rumble of the looming monsoon that hung menacingly over Aokki.
Two celestial weeks ago, a small gang of Chuzzoxk's warriors had stalked into the town of Yacesk and kidnapped the sister of Ajaw Zatle. Small-scale honour skirmishes were common amongst the Khokos of the Confederacy as they established dominance amongst the towns and were used to compare relative strengths.
Five days afterwards, the combined might of all of Yacesk's war-Khokos gathered in a great host of warriors and stalked through the lands of Iqagus, capturing and stealing as they went. These sorts of actions were rare but not uncommon amongst the smaller tribes and Khoko of the Confederacy, but a whole Ixlaok mobilising for an honour war was a major and troubling event for the Confederacy.
Messages had buzzed through the Urzeri mind network speaking of gory sacrifices to the gods and raucous feasts held over three night in Yacesk. Chuzzoxk's attempt to gain more prestige amongst the Ajaw had backfired horribly and his villages were decimated by the warriors of Yacesk as a result, his villagers dragged into slavery or sacrificed to the gods. The normally choleric Ajaw had reached unheard-of heights to his already prestigious anger.
The New World, The Burnt Branch Confederacy Aokki, The Palace Urzeri Room The next morning
“He can breath as much fire as he wishes Lord Speaker, it will not change the fact that he stole my sister.” The words projected strangely from blank porcelain mask worn by the Urzeri acolyte. Magic-infused smoke lay heavily throughout the chamber deep under the Palace, it's sweet taste made it feel like the smoke was peeling and stretching back the veil of reality in the chamber. Echoes moved strangely across the stone walls and the furtherest parts of the chamber were so engulfed amongst the mist that you could be mistaken for believing you were in a swamp.
“He will retaliate and this will escalate further Ajaw Zatle.” Acuru spoke to the false-faced acolyte who stood before him knowing that his message and his features would be projected to a similar acolyte in far-off town of Yacesk.
“It will be from a weakened position and we both know that.”
“The other Ixlaoki will intervene if things go too far.”
“I will defend what is mine Lord Speaker, as Chuzzoxk failed to do.” The Ajaw's words were spoken with such surety.
“And so I will try to recover your sister to prevent this from getting worse.” Zatle's porcelain faux face reacted to the subtle insult. Chuzzoxk wasn't the only Ajaw who failed to protect what was theirs...
The New World, The Burnt Branch Confederacy Yigzi, The Yutlao Tribe's Complex 23rd of Feburary, 4901
Bayan's orange eyes watched over a group of burly human slaves who were struggling to load the last of the junglewood onto their appointed wagon. His hawkish features double-checked his list to ensure that everything was ready to go. Six wagons had been loaded with the most exquisite items from across the tropical Burnt Branch Confederacy. Planks of vibrantly coloured junglewoods sat alongside blocks of jade the size of a dog, perfectly preserved jaguar pelts were piled next to cages holding parrots of dazzling colours, and vast quantities of bitter cocoa powder were preserved in beautifully decorated ceramic jars.
Each of the covered carts could easily buy hundreds of slaves or vast jungle estates deep in the Confederacy, but instead they had been gathered for what would hopefully be the first part of a long lasting trade relationship with the Miranid Empire. Word had been given by the Confederate Council to open negotiations on a positive and friendly note with its neighbours and Speaker Acuru had even sent his most trusted cousins to negotiate.
Once again Bayan smoothed his flowing robes nervously. Everything was so close to being ready for him to travel to his ancestral home. Though he was descended from the Fararual of the southern lands his family had moved away two generations ago. Would call him “Üarim” when he arrived and treat him as a brother when they see his olive skin or would they remember his family as the far-roaming huntsmen and women who left their lands for the Confederacy.
“Everything is ready Master Agorlu.” Bayan called up the steps as the junglewood thumped into place and was tied down. “We can leave now.” A solitary lizardfolk rose from his prayers at his families' shrine, sacrificial blood dripping from his hands. Human attendants moved to his side, cleaning the blood and gore from Agorlu Yutlao's claws as they reattached his travel cloak.
“Good work Bayan.” His reptilian voice hissed. Even without trying, Agorlu has a pronounced hiss to his voice that reminded people around him of a hissing snake.
“Have the gods bless our travels, Master?” The shrines priests busied themselves burning the remainder of the diplomats offerings to Srolzaxl, the smoke would rise to the place of the gods and they would; hopefully, be pleased.
“What the gods said is not your business, just remember to translate everything the Miranidian say, precisely as they say it.” Agorlu slung a travel bag into the wagon as he pulled himself up into the seat claws scratching along the wooden support. “If they insult us or are unpleasant then I would understand that as the translator your position forces you to relay these terrible words to me, but if you change their words or their meanings to please me....” The meaning was as clear to Bayan as the roasting sacrifice upon the alter was. He nodded humbly to his Master, making it clear he understood.
“Good.” Agorlu nodded back. “I have been told the journey is long. Let us pass the time by you telling me all you know of your cousins.” As the convoy began its winding journey towards the Miranid Empire, Bayan began to retell the stories his ancestors had told him of his people.
The New World, The Burnt Branch Confederacy Aokki, The Speakers Chambers Later that day
“Are you sure fur-foot. This is what the Eastern Empresses said?” Acuru lowered the paper transcript, which had been translated into Yutlao for him, as he looked over the fox-like features of the Amerean who stood before him.
“Yes Lord Speaker. She spoke to vast crowds to tell them this message, though she choose an old form of Amrean to speak in. It was written down and passed far and wide across here Empire.” The Amerean's travel clothes were covered in mud and jungle sap. He'd obviously travelled a great distance at speed to hand deliver this message.
“Discipline the barbarians, share their generous beneficence” Scoffed Speaker Acuru. “What is she up to?”
“Sritos hasn't provided more for you Lord Speaker. He doesn't with to speculate without more information.” The Amerean shuffled uncomfortably as he spoke.
“Well done fur-foot. See to it that you are well rested tonight.”
“Thank you Lord Speaker.”
“Before you return to Sritos' side.” Acuru turned to the messenger, extending his arm forwards he opened his clawed hand to show a piece of silk parchment covered in elegantly written Amrean script. “Translate this message for me. It arrived shortly before you did.”
The Amerean messenger reverently took the message and cleared his throat before reading it.
“From the Esteemed Gwangyeong Empress, Avatar of the Sun God, Defender of Civilization and Pacifier of the Barbarians, addressed to…”
The Yutlao tribe rules with a light-touch from the capital, Aokki the largest city in the Confederacy, over the various other tribes and towns. News and proclamations travel slowly across these hostile lands and messages are regularly distorted by the staggeringly low literacy rates outside of the towns.
Head of Government: Speaker Acuru of the Yutlao Tribe
Summary:
The largest tribes of the Confederacy controls what would be considered towns by more advanced civilisation as their personal domains, with a plethora of tiny villages and hinterland farms being associated with each of the towns. The tribes then send or permanently keep a representative in the capital, Aokki, to ensure that their peoples' needs are met by the Confederacy.
The fractured natures and desires of the various representatives causes friction between the building blocks of the Confederacy, with pride and various feuds slow the processes of agreements and compromises to a glacial paces. One basic mechanism of the state though has always continued unhindered by these petty squabbles, the “Agrari” or “annual tithe” requires that each of the building blocks of the Confederacy, known as “Ixlaok” provide either people as labourers on the building or maintenance of grand projects or for wars over a specified period of time, if this isn't possible or desirable then a payment of goods or food is accepted instead from the “Ixlaok”.
A Ixlaok is the largest scale political component the Confederacy and they consists of a single central town and an ever-shifting number of hinterlands villages that are under its protection and provide for the townsfolk. But a Ixlaok isn't formed solely on the basis of territory, it is in fact much more focused on familial bloodlines and ethnic or tribal groups as Ixlaoki are formed by “Khoko” which are smaller political units comprised of a series of interrelated families and familial units which unite together for strength and cooperation. A khoko is usual rather limited in their scale or size and tend to stay within their Ixlaok. As such a Ixlaok is formed of between five to twelve Khokoi ethnic groups which specialise in various trades or crafts.
As part of their traditions, each Khoko pays and maintains a temple to their respective gods which can be as elaborate or simple as the Khoko can afford, with the wealthiest having carved vast temple-complexes out of the swamp lands for themselves. Each and every Khokoi though maintains a school-complex for their children with no standardised education system, sometimes inside the temples themselves or sometimes as separate entities. Here the next generations of the Khokoi are taught: the basics of fighting, about their religions, and some of the languages of the Confederacy.
The only school not segregated by which Khoko you were born into is in the capital where any lizardfolk can attempt to join the “Yuknu”, the most prestigious school in the Confederacy. A students capable of entering is judged based on a punishing series of physical, social and mental trials. Those who manage to pass these trials enter the school become “Jothi” and are taught: law, linguistics, religion, music, art, fighting and how to be servants. Once they've survived their time in the Yuknu, the Jothi become indispensable for the Confederacy as they leave their training as strong and capable individuals who form a ruling elite which are usually sent back to their Ixlaoki to take high positions as rulers or state officials.
Under the careful guidance and watchful eyes of the Jothi, the Confederacy have gained a stability and sense of purpose that drives the Ixlaoki forwards towards large-scale projects. The two most common being the construction and maintenance of a crude road system, along with an ambitious food storage and distribution network that gathers food in times of plenty and distributes it back out during times of need. Besides these beneficial programs, the Jothi struggle to convince their representatives to help with other larger projects of state, no matter how revolutionary or innovative it may be.
Economy:
The Confederacy's economy is heavily based in agrarian farming or swamp fishing with villages pooling their resources together and selling their excesses to the larger town-based Khokoi who don't have the space to farm for themselves. Most of the lizardfolk living in this lifestyle survive on simple subsistence agriculture supplemented by trading with the nearest towns quite happily. Those that live in the towns tend to work in one of the many small Khoko-run workshops that are in every town and produce much of the necessities of day-to-day life for both the agrarian and town based population.
Each Khoko-run workshop, called “Aetheqa”, are based around large numbers of individuals producing the same goods as everyone else in the Aetheqa in single building or small confined area. These Aetheqa can vary based on the Khoko which controls them, ranging from comfortable places where workers can sit around and communally weave or craft items while chatting, to enforced labour camps used to create massive quantities of items for profit.
Slaves are forced to do the most dangerous or laborious jobs, such as: quarrying, construction work, or logging projects with the occasional assistance from “Agrari” workers who volunteer to join the work crew. These jobs are difficult and have a shockingly high mortality rate for those that work there.
Despite extended pressure over time the Confederacy has failed to standardise its currency across their lands as such it has a fluctuating number of coins and tokens that are used to trade in the different areas each having different values making travel across the land challenging. This problem becomes even more pronounced when traders leave the towns and travel to the various villages as each individual village may not only have their own bartering method or system of currency but also their own language or dialect.
To ensure the sanity of long-distant traders there are counting houses called “Dalziz” in each of the Confederacy's towns which can convert currency and even offer basic banking services such as loans or deposits as well as providing translators for the many languages of the Confederacy. Even the Dalziz not standardised across the Confederacy and occasional disputes between them crop up over the validity of another's counting methods.
Main imports: Guns, Gunpowder, Iron, Steel Exports: Lumber/Timber, Fish, Poisons, Translators, Jade Industries: Large-scale farming and fishing, Cottage-industry weaving and melee weapon-making Technology level: 15th Century Aztec Empire (Pre-Spanish arrival). Large-scale organisation of the State. “Hegemonic” (indirect) rule over other tribes and states.
Primary Species: Lizardfolk
Lizardfolk are tall humanoid creatures that look like a cross between a powerfully built human and a bipedal lizard. They have clawed hands, a long tail, and a toothy jaw and are usually between six and seven feet (1.82 to 2.13 meters) tall and they have a muscular tail which is usually between three and four feet (0.91 to 1.21 meters) long. They have green, gray or brown scales that cover most of their bodies with the exception of smaller and softer scales that cover their bellies.
The species is naturally aquatic and can move almost as gracefully in water as on land. Their scaled bodies provide a streamlined figure in the water, while their powerful tails provide stability to their movements when passive or an extra boost of speed when swiped from side to side. Lizardfolk's lung structure differs from other humanoid species, as they have adapted to environments where air isn't always available. Not only do their lungs take a larger proportion of the space in their chest cavity, but they are also divided into six & five lobes rather than the human three & two allowing greater compartmentalisation and storage of air for greater periods of time.
Due to these biological differences they can hold their breath comfortably for four times longer than an average humanoid, as such they are quite comfortable on land, in rivers or in lakes and while they are capable of swimming far out into oceans they tend not to stray from sight of the land.
The species are omnivores with a noticeable preference for meat, with rumour suggesting specifically human meat. Though they will eat anything if it becomes necessary, to the point of having some eating habits during famines that they find normal, but other species find revolting such as culling the slave population and feasting on their bodies.
Secondary Species: Humans, Üarim, Goblins
Population:
A population census hasn't yet been successfully completed by the Confederacy, but estimates vary from between fourteen and thirty one million inhabitants across the land. With the vast majority of the population being Lizardfolk and a small but noticeable minority of humans & goblins who inhabit the area as well.
Culture:
The Confederacy's society is surprisingly stratified between nobles and commoners, both of which are further divided into elaborate hierarchies of power based on social status, a Khoko's responsibilities, and power. Stronger Khokoi would dominate weaker ones socially and extract tribute from the weaker which creates a further stratification based on how strong or weak your Khoko is. Lizardfolk also create hierarchies inside their Khoko based on their ties: of blood, ancestry, faith or skill against others in their Khoko and these bonds create a strong sense of group amongst the Confederacy as they each knows their place in society and try to outdo the others around them.
A tradition that dates back long into Lizardfolk history is that of mutual help and defence, as the swamps and jungles they live in are harsh environments that require constant cooperation to thrive in. This mutual cooperation was truly stretched to the limit during the Time of the Irzuco when all of the tribes came together to help their brethren and cousins. This war also spawned another central part of the Confederacy's culture, a strong distrust and fear of “outsiders”. While the concept of “Outsider” is very malleable and can change based on how well they know you, it helps to solidify the internal workings in favour of those who have lived and thrived alongside others in their Khoko and thus strengthening the Khoko.
Religious and Other Beliefs:
The Confederacy is quite relaxed about the religions of their population. The people of the Confederacy worship a dizzying array of gods and pantheons, with a towns streets full to bursting with: temples, shrines, and alters to a staggering array of figures creating a riot of colour and fervour for all to see as these pseudo-religions compete to try and attract new followers with the most showy displays.
As long as the people add “Srolzaxl”, the Patron God of the Yutlao Tribe, to their pantheon of deities they can worship whomever they wish. The Yutlao say that Srolzaxl fiercely grips domain over the passing of time and the rhythms of life in his claws, plucking those that don't worship him from the rhythms of existence and abundance to wander the lands of the lost forever.
Speaker Qathrit, the semi-mythical founder of the Confederacy, has also found a place amongst the religions of the Lizardfolk. A large minority of the tribes worship the Speaker as a divine figure and retell stories of his famous exploits and his skilled speeches around the campfires of the villages. Many of these stories have been inflated by time and repetitions. One story tells of how Speaker Qathrit lulled the jungle to sleep with only a few calming words so that his wife could sleep peacefully, not to be disturbed by the endless noises of the night time jungle when she was pregnant.
Where stories of Speaker Qathrit are told, those of Hadyar Khus the Feathered also rear their ugly head. Tales of Speaker Qathrit defeating the near-automatons of Hadyar Khus are replete in Lizardfolk culture and the tales both venerate Speaker Qathrit and teach valuable lessons to the younger audiences.
Location/Territories:
The Burnt Branch Confederacy is location on the western side of the New World, in an area mostly composed of marshlands close to the west coast and steaming jungles further inland.
Aokki, the capital is a city of mudbrick and stones dotted with canals and giant temples the resides next to the only lake in the Confederacy, Lake Dizarsi which provides a bountiful quantity of fish and sea(lake?)foods. The other towns are: Ortaz, Uttass, Iqagus, Irouzae, Yigzi, Drixu, Allusk & Yacesk are dotted around the Confederacy usually near rivers or water sources. The vast majority of the population live in either Aokki or one of other the towns.
Each of the towns is supported by a plentiful number of villages, which are smaller concerns with a handful of wooden shacks on poles to keep away from the regular flood waters or jungle predators. These villages consist of two or three extended family groups that eke out a their subsistence living from the lands and animals around them.
Climate: Temperate Marshlands & Tropical Forests
Military:
As part of the “Agrari” each Ixlaok can be required to raise large part of their populations for military service as a levy for the state. The number of lizardfolk who turn up is entirely decided by their respective Ixlaok and the skill of the levied troops varies based on the training they received in their Ixlaok's schooling. Generally these levied troops are significant in number, but very poor in skill and training. Armed with basic iron or steel melee weapons and negligible armour they pose little threat to a skilled or trained combatant, their strength however is in guerilla warfare specifically in the swamps and jungle in which they were born and raised.
Their natural affinity with watery environments and ambushing from high up in the trees allows them to inflict terrible damage to armies who don't know their lands as well as they do, but this leaves them ill suited to traditional line and musket warfare as they simple don't have the space to practice such things. As such the levies are usually only raised from a few Ixlaoki and only for a campaign or a single year and then they return home afterwards to their villages and lives to keep the population of the Confederacy stable.
Rather than specialise in a trade or a craft, a handful of Khokoi in the Confederacy specialise in warfare itself. They train as small units from childhood to be incredibly skilled warriors who work as units of a few hundred lizardfolk at the will of their Ixlaok or whoever pays them well enough. These Bhask-Khoko (or war-Khoko) have formed a warrior aristocracy amongst themselves and are dedicated to fighting and either capturing or killing as their entire livelihoods. Capturing an enemy in battle is a quick route to admiration for these warriors as whoever was captured can either be ransomed back or sold as slaves.
The final part of the Confederacy's war machine are the slaves who manage the logistics of a campaign army on behalf of their masters and carry the prerequisite supplies in vast convoys through the jungles. In particularly desperate situations the Bhask-Khoko may call upon these slaves to fight alongside them to try and tip the balance of a campaign or to preserve dwindling food supplies. In these desperate situations, the slaves are either used as bait to draw rash foes from advantageous positions or as waves of bodies that soak up ammunition that might endanger the more precious warriors.
Despite their fearsome claws and strong tails, the warriors of the Confederacy still enter combat armed with manufactured weapons. Black-powder struggles in the damp swamps and jungles that the lizardfolk live in so they tend towards using simple and reliable melee weapons such as small axes or maces to hack at their opponents. Javelins are commonly seen as a secondary weapon and are usually thrown at the beginning of fights before the lizardfolk close in for the kill. Occasionally one of the javelins will be attached to a rope to convert it into a crude harpoon, these are used to drag unfortunate victims into the water where the lizardfolk thrive. Armour rarely used as it slows a warrior travelling through the thick forests or while swimming through the swamps, but crude reed or wicker shields are much more commonly used to protect Confederacy warriors.
Magic Prevalence/Usage and Elemental Alignment:
Magic, known as “Kher”, is only used by about a quarter of the population of the Confederacy who are known as “Kheras” or “Magicians/magic users” and the knowledge needed to successfully use it is kept as a well guarded secret by the few Khoko that study it.
The Lizardfolk are elementally aligned towards the concept of “Mind” and study this concept broadly across the Confederacy with the wielder being called “Kheras-Yuz” or “Mind magicians”. The kheras-yuz are most famous for their “Urzeri” network, a communication network that stretches across the Confederacy by using telepathic communication through blank masks worn by the kheras-yuz and forming a connection to another far off kheras-yuz who also is wearing such a mask. Anyone who speaks to one of these blank masked figures will have their facial features and words projected, or at least the recipient believes that they are, onto the distant blank mask and it even appears that the mask moves and speaks as they are despite the sender being many hundreds of miles away from them. The knowledge of this is tightly controlled by a few Khokoi who relay message across the Confederacy for a high price.
On a more individual level kheras-yuz practice a more subtle form of mind magic. Fights between lizardfolk are stopped by kheras-yuz merely dampening the combatants anger to less deadly levels, construction plans or council suggestions are shown directly into the minds of those who would build or accept these plans, and unknown creatures are “read” to understand who they are and what they want. These practices are a known factor of life and are used regularly based on the level of skill the kheras-yuz possesses.
While not aligned to the concept, a single Khoko in the western city of Drixu focus on the element of Liquid as their speciality. These “Kheras-Acotlu” or “Liquid Magicians” have plenty of practice in the swamplands they inhabit and have even had limited success building an aqueduct system in their town to provide fresh water for their people.
History/Background Info:
The western jungles and swamps of the New World have been inhabited by lizardfolk longer than any written record. As small isolated tribes they dotted the landscape that no civilised people would setting in for long and continued a savage lifestyle amongst the rich plethora of creatures which inhabited their swamps and jungles. It was in these simpler times that many myths and legends rose.
It wasn't until a creature, damned by the gods themselves, rose from the deepest of sinkholes did the Lizardfolk know true fear. It moved through the night with a cloak of darkness shrouding upon its shoulders and a veil of tears upon its face. It's presence was marked by entire tribes vanishing from their villages without a struggle, their food still cooking upon the fire. The only sign left by each of the vanished tribes was a single granite statue in the centre of the village which looked identical the tribes Speaker immobile and terrified.
The tribes became known as “The Departed” or “Irzuco” and as whole Ixlaoki vanished the remaining tribes gathered themselves together to find a solution. Scouts and hunters were sent across the land to discover the source of this disaster. Hundreds were lost.
Nearly five long years after the Irzuco first began to vanish a single wounded scout returned to Aokki telling stories of a corrupted Mind magician of incredible power who was the cause of this problem. They were called “Hadyar Khus the Feathered”, a creature who's gaze turned people to stone and whose hair were venomous snakes. They had unleashed terrible mind magics upon the tribes that had vanished, turning the tribes people into near-automaton like creatures with no will or soul of their own.
As this revelation spread throughout the lizardfolk lands so to did the slave armies of Hadyar Khus the Feathered as they began a campaign of devastation across the lands. Hordes of mindless lizardfolk who had once been cousins or friends slaughtered or captured anyone in their way and burnt the rest with soulless glassy-eyes.
It was in this time that the semi-mythical figure of Speaker Qathrit appeared to aid the tribes in the time of greatest need to aid and unified the tribes. Though they didn't put their differences aside at his requests, they understood that they needed to cooperate and band together to defeat Hadyar Khus.
The unification sparked a vicious civil war amongst the lizardfolk. Spirited guerilla raids were used by both sides to harass the other through the dangerous terrain and whole villages were slaughtered or captured in the war. Hadyar Khus' mindless forces regularly swept aside the Proto-Confederacies forces as they drove their way towards Lake Dizarsi and the city of Aokki but as they did the Kheras-Yuz were devising ways to undo Hadyar Khus' foul magics.
As the slave armies reached the outskirts of Aokki the Speaker unleashed his most deperate plan to survive. His forces set fire to the surrounding jungle. Rolling smoke clogged the battlefield and waves of forest creatures fled from the fires into the slave armies lines. Ferocious and savage lizardmen stalked through the smoke attacking the Irzuco who mindlessly defended Hadyar Khus.
The fighting was bloody with an entire generation of Lizardfolk dying upon the primitive weapons both sides wielded in brutal civil war. It is said that Hadyar Khus was defeated that day as the Kheras-Yuz stole his magic from his guards and poisoned weapons brought him low. As dawned rose the Battle of Lake Dizarsi had been won, but rumours spread of Hadyar Khus retreating to the sinkholes that spawned him. Speaker Qathrit stood up once more and spoke of how unity must be maintained to ensure their future survival. He spoke of the defeat of the foul Hadyar Khus and the misuses of kher and how it should be limited to prevent this happening once more.The tribes agreed to the Speakers plan, and the Confederacy of the Burnt Branch was formed.
A great deal of time has passed since that invasion and the lizardfolk culture moves slowly. They have dragged themselves from the Stone Age at a remarkable pace despite their constant infighting. Will it be enough to resist the wandering eyes of other empires?
These trolls are so-called for their beige skins just as much as their tendency to inhabit deserts, steppes, savannas, and all manner of other arid climes. They have great endurance, are not bothered by heat or sun, and can go for many days without food or drink. They are competent builders and have created some of the oldest civilizations in the world, but compared to their other brethren they are very short of stature, comparable to humans. Average strength/speed, cunning, bad diplomacy, high reproduction, can regenerate fast.
Capital: Hunzuu (A small temporary camp)
Ruler: Malak of the Ekon Tribe
Type of Government: Tribal
The Sand Trolls divide themselves into “Tribes”, nebulous groupings that vary from a dozen trolls to just under one hundred per tribe with each being self-sufficient in their lifestyle. The various tribes have followed many different paths throughout time, some of them create small camps around oasis or springs in the desert while others move with their flocks and herds through the harsh sands to survive. Blood connections means nothing to them, loyalty is earned through hard living together not through the accident of birth.
With the coming of the “Flood of Tears” many have been displaced from their lands and old lives. Tribal structure has collapsed as their Chiefs die and their Sand Shapers vanish into the night, those that remain pledge themselves to whoever can provide for their families. The Ekon tribe has flourished in this time, as they had set up camp ahead of the Flood and give a difficult choice to all that ask their aid “surrender wholly to our wisdom or return to the deserts.”
Few refuse, and the sudden surplus of people has turned the Ekon from a minor familial group of a few dozen into a sprawling camp of Sand Trolls, all connected only by their forced loyalty to Chief Malak. Survival comes to those that aid the original Ekon, those that don't are either enslaved, or sacrificed to satisfy Awa's great hunger by the Sand Shapers.
With this influx of people, many new people and ideas have flourished. Where once the Ekon only had to think about a small group, now they have to ponder larger-scale supply problems alongside those dissatisfactions of the newly arrived and the original tribes.
Religion:
The Ekon have a strong belief that their ancestors still inhabit this world and that death is just another step in their lives. The dead are not quite in this physical world but they do inhabit a nearby place, from there they whisper advice to their descendants and ward them from harm. So the Ekon make regular offerings to “Those that walk out of sight” treating them to fine gifts and to a honoured place at the table to keep their favour.
The three strongest of the ancestors hold a mythical place in this little pantheon of parents. Awa of the Bloodied Teeth, Kushi of the Bubbling Spring and The Great Howler Lwita guard and guide the tribe if properly venerated. For in the harshest deserts only those with ancestors strong enough to aid their descendants survive. It is even said by the Sand Shapers, the priests of the tribe, that in the quietest of nights you may be able to hear the ancestors battling the Marru the other side of the veil to keep their descendants safe.
The Ekon tribe honours the triumvirate with sandstone pillars carved into the likeness of their ancestors masks around their camp while individual tribesfolk carve smaller statues in their huts to their ancestors. The statues of the Bloodied Teeth are places of sacrifice and arterial red that placate Awa's rage and ferocity, while the statues of Kushi always overlook the water sources to keep them pure and flowing, finally the pillars of Lwita are frequently moved as they must be on the highest dunes in sight of the tribe to scare away the Marru, bipedal jackal-like creatures that hunt both the nights and the otherworld to capture Sand Troll and feed on their flesh.
Culture:
The Ekon tribe and its vassal tribes have developed a ... rugged approach to life. If it can't be: carried by the camels, dug out of a dust storm and survive being smashed over someone else's head then it's not going to last long amongst the rough-and-tumble of Sand Troll life.
Despite a strictly formalised ritual for sharing water with strangers, the Sand Trolls can barely tolerate each other. Resources are amazingly scarce and valuable, and Sand Trolls have a nasty habit of surviving. They hoard what little water they can find and the precious food and would happily beat others into a stupor and bury them neck-deep in the sand dunes.
Though the sands are harsh, and in some cases groups of Sand Trolls can go years without seeing anyone other than their tribe. As such they develop a sense of “Us vs. Them” from a young age “Our tribe vs Your Tribe”, “Family or Threat”. This mentality makes compromise and diplomacy a difficult concept as sharing and politics are usually resolved in the most underhanded manner possible, with a fight between Sand Trolls being considered successful if the other tribe has been beaten into unconsciousness and everything valuable has been stolen from them.
Geographical Location:
Coming out of the Southern desert (the bottom of the map) the Ekon-Danna are arriving between the two mountain ranges.
Response C) Establish peaceful contact. Sand Shaper Senwe is being sent to use the world renowned Trollish diplomacy to talk to the Humans and find out who they are.
Improvement A) Improve Food. Teshi Ekon is ordered to carve out farmlands for the animals to graze on, people to grow food on, and to provide stability (and distraction) for the population.
“They could be anyone my Chief. They could be primitive hunters we would crush in moments or tribal folks hired by a continent spanning empire.” Teshi words trailed off. He'd reported his findings, but the information was sparse. The assembled crowd of trollfolk chatted amongst themselves at Teshi's words each adding their own perspectives and observations to their friends and any who stood beside them.
Malak thought deeply as he idly drew patterns with his finger in the sand. A subtle nod signalled that he'd heard Teshi' advice as he crouched down. The bottom of his robes stroked the sands around him which had been disturbed by the feet of the growing village.
“The Great Howler shouts over all other ancestors, the future is unguided for now.” The trollfolk shuffled awkwardly as the Sand Shaman began speaking. Their type had a dark reputation over the ancestors and the world around them that many found distasteful. “The song of Honoured Lwita pound through the lands of the other-side but we are surprised that She of the Bloodied Teeth sleeps soundly through this. I do not believe now is a time for war, my Chief.”
Another nod towards Senwe showed the chiefs understanding as he gazed across the hollow eyes of the crowd that had come to see council being held. There were few in Hunzuu who didn't know about the humans by now, for as the humans watched from a distance the people of Hunzuu watched back. Trepidation had spread through the tents quicker than any wind or disease could. Not only were the humans not desert-dwellers but they weren't Sand Trolls!
Looking across the dishevelled crowd, Malak saw so many people who had been displaced so recently. Their faces still haunted by the memories of friends and family who hadn't survived the perilous Flood of Tears. He knew that the Sand Trolls were refugees seeking comfort and stability, not warriors craving battles and glory.
“Our people are in no state to fight.” The crowd hushed at Malak's whispered words, straining to hear what they would do. “Sand Shaper Senwe, gather your wits and a canvas. Discover who these humans are and what they want of this land, but do not mention the Flood of Tears for we must not show weakness.” Senwe nodded at the Chief requests.
“Teshi, I have other plans for you.” Malak stood up to address the jostling crowd around that had formed around the council.
“We, the Ekon-Danna, wish to provide for all who have decided to joined us. Each of you has travelled far and suffered much to pledge yourselves to my tribe, now we wish to provide stability to you all. To do this we must ask that you provide your time and labour towards our goals.” The assembled crowd, unsure what exactly this meant, began murmuring at the Chiefs words as he raised himself up and gestured to Teshi.
“Where water flows, Life grows.” Silent nods and disquiet mumbling rumbled through the crowd. “Teshi will be organising the use of our water supplies. We shall create greener lands with artifice and innovation with which we can graze our livestock upon.”
“You heard the chief. Be prepared for some hard labour!”
The days passed as the finest minds of Hunzuu begun pondering the task of artificially irrigating lands around the sprawling camp and stakes were placed to mark out areas of interest from larger-scale livestock pens. But as the harsh sun began its long descent below the horizon and into the ancestor-world, a trio of figures traipsed from the tangle of tents and trolls that was Hunzuu bearing three totems the same size as themselves. Each sandstone totems was carved with a frightening face on on side of them, this alongside their weight made them troublesome to carry and the trio's walk was awkward and slow.
They travelled a short distance to where the Humans had last been seen coming from and reverently placed the totems, each giving off a dull thud as it impacted against the packed sands. Two of the figures, warriors by the way they held themselves, unrolled a thick canvas they had been carrying and began attaching it to the top of the totems they had placed.
“Oh, She of the Bloodied Teeth,” the third figure chanted to his totem which he had placed as the furthest from where the humans would arrive from. “Take this offering of my blood, so that you might sleep undisturbed throughout these talks.” With those words he pulled a flint dagger from his robes and cut a long line through his palm. As the blood flowed, the figure slathered his crimson life across the totems teeth before his wounds sealed the shallow wound. He bowed and moved to the second totem, holstering his dagger once more.
“Honoured Kushi of the Bubbling Spring,” the harsher tones had faded from his voice as he approached the second totem. “Bless these fine lands we now find ourselves in.” He drew a water pouch from his robes and continued “and spit your bounty across these talks with these unknown others we find in our paths.” He sloshed a handful of water into the totems mouth, checking some of the water remained in the totems carved mouth before putting the water skin back and moving to the third totem. As he reached the third totem the two warriors had finished fastening the canvas atop all three sandstone pillars and had lain a crudely woven reed mat across the floor to rest on.
“Lwita, you who have guarded our tribes since time began,” the third figure continued “we seek to tarry in your domain of wind and words for a time.” With a wave of his hand the third figure signalled to the two warriors. The pair began to howl and blow on the final totem as the third continued. “May our words and actions honour you and your kin.”
With the area sanctified properly Senwe slumped down onto the reed mat beside the two warriors who had finished howling. Chunks of goats cheese and flasks of water were handed between the trio as they began sharing stories and waited for the humans to arrive, hopefully in peace.
The Yutlao tribe rules with a light-touch from the capital, Aokki the largest city in the Confederacy, over the various other tribes and towns. News and proclamations travel slowly across these hostile lands and messages are regularly distorted by the staggeringly low literacy rates outside of the towns.
Head of Government: Speaker Acuru of the Yutlao Tribe
Summary:
The largest tribes of the Confederacy controls what would be considered towns by more advanced civilisation as their personal domains, with a plethora of tiny villages and hinterland farms being associated with each of the towns. The tribes then send or permanently keep a representative in the capital, Aokki, to ensure that their peoples' needs are met by the Confederacy.
The fractured natures and desires of the various representatives causes friction between the building blocks of the Confederacy, with pride and various feuds slow the processes of agreements and compromises to a glacial paces. One basic mechanism of the state though has always continued unhindered by these petty squabbles, the “Agrari” or “annual tithe” requires that each of the building blocks of the Confederacy, known as “Kroaz” provide either people as labourers on the building or maintenance of grand projects or for wars over a specified period of time, if this isn't possible or desirable then a payment of goods or food is accepted instead from the “Kroaz”.
A Kroaz is the largest scale political component the Confederacy and they consists of a single central town and an ever-shifting number of hinterlands villages that are under its protection and provide for the townsfolk. But a Kroaz isn't formed solely on the basis of territory, it is in fact much more focused on familial bloodlines and ethnic or tribal groups as Kroaz are formed by “Khoko” which are smaller political units comprised of a series of interrelated families and familial units which unite together for strength and cooperation. A khoko is usual rather limited in their scale or size and tend to stay within their kroaz. As such a kroaz is formed of between five to twelve ethnic groups which specialise in various trades or crafts.
As part of their traditions, each Khoko pays and maintains a temple to their respective gods which can be as elaborate or simple as the Khoko can afford, with the wealthiest having carved vast temple-complexes out of the swamp lands for themselves. Each and every Khoko though maintains a school-complex for their children with no standardised education system, sometimes inside the temples themselves or sometimes as separate entities. Here the next generations of the Khoko are taught: the basics of fighting, about their religions, and some of the languages of the Confederacy.
The only school not segregated by which Khoko you were born into is in the capital where any lizardfolk can attempt to join the “Yuknu”, the most prestigious school in the Confederacy. A students capable of entering is judged based on a punishing series of physical, social and mental trials. Those who manage to pass these trials enter the school become “Jothi” and are taught: law, linguistics, religion, music, art, fighting and how to be servants. Once they've survived their time in the Yuknu, the Jothi become indispensable for the Confederacy as they leave their training as strong and capable individuals who form a ruling elite which are usually sent back to their Kroaz to take high positions as rulers or state officials.
Under the careful guidance and watchful eyes of the Jothi, the Confederacy have gained a stability and sense of purpose that drives the Kroaz forwards towards large-scale projects. The two most common being the construction and maintenance of a crude road system, along with an ambitious food storage and distribution network that gathers food in times of plenty and distributes it back out during times of need. Besides these beneficial programs, the Jothi struggle to convince their representatives to help with other larger projects of state, no matter how revolutionary or innovative it may be.
Economy:
The Confederacy's economy is heavily based in agrarian farming or swamp fishing with villages pooling their resources together and selling their excesses to the larger town-based Khoko who don't have the space to farm for themselves. Most of the lizardfolk living in this lifestyle survive on simple subsistence agriculture supplemented by trading with the nearest towns quite happily. Those that live in the towns tend to work in one of the many small Khoko-run workshops that are in every town and produce much of the necessities of day-to-day life for both the agrarian and town based population.
Each Khoko-run workshop, called “Aetheqa”, are based around large numbers of individuals producing the same goods as everyone else in the Aetheqa in single building or small confined area. These Aetheqa can vary based on the Khoko which controls them, ranging from comfortable places where workers can sit around and communally weave or craft items while chatting, to enforced labour camps used to create massive quantities of items for profit.
Slaves are forced to do the most dangerous or laborious jobs, such as: quarrying, construction work, or logging projects with the occasional assistance from “Agrari” workers who volunteer to join the work crew. These jobs are difficult and have a shockingly high mortality rate for those that work there.
Despite extended pressure over time the Confederacy has failed to standardise its currency across their lands as such it has a fluctuating number of coins and tokens that are used to trade in the different areas each having different values making travel across the land challenging. This problem becomes even more pronounced when traders leave the towns and travel to the various villages as each individual village may not only have their own bartering method or system of currency but also their own language or dialect.
To ensure the sanity of long-distant traders there are counting houses called “Dalziz” in each of the Confederacy's towns which can convert currency and even offer basic banking services such as loans or deposits as well as providing translators for the many languages of the Confederacy. Even the Dalziz not standardised across the Confederacy and occasional disputes between them crop up over the validity of another's counting methods.
Main imports: Guns, Gunpowder, Iron, Steel Exports: Lumber/Timber, Fish, Poisons, Translators, Cloth Industries: Large-scale farming and fishing, Cottage-industry weaving and melee weapon-making Technology level: 15th Century Aztec Empire (Pre-Spanish arrival). Large-scale organisation of the State. “Hegemonic” (indirect) rule over other tribes and states.
Primary Species: Lizardfolk
Lizardfolk are tall humanoid creatures that look like a cross between a powerfully built human and a bipedal lizard. They have clawed hands, a long tail, and a toothy jaw and are usually between six and seven feet (1.82 to 2.13 meters) tall and they have a muscular tail which is usually between three and four feet (0.91 to 1.21 meters) long. They have green, gray or brown scales that cover most of their bodies with the exception of smaller and softer scales that cover their bellies.
They have a natural affinity for swimming and this combined with their powerful tails and their extraordinary ability to hold their breaths for long periods of time makes them quite comfortable on land, in rivers or in lakes. They are biologically capable of swimming far out into oceans but tend not to stray from sight of the land because little useful is out at sea for them.
The species are omnivores with a noticeable preference for meat, with rumour suggesting specifically human meat. Though they will eat anything if it becomes necessary, to the point of having some eating habits during famines that they find normal, but other species find revolting such as culling the slave population and feasting on their bodies.
Secondary Species: Humans, Goblins
Population:
A population census hasn't yet been successfully completed by the Confederacy, but estimates vary from between fourteen and thirty one million inhabitants across the land. With the vast majority of the population being Lizardfolk and a small but noticeable minority of humans & goblins who inhabit the area as well.
Culture:
The Confederacy's society is surprisingly stratified between nobles and commoners, both of which are further divided into elaborate hierarchies of power based on social status, a Khoko's responsibilities, and power. Stronger Khoko would dominate weaker ones socially and extract tribute from the weaker which creates a further stratification based on how strong or weak your Khoko is. Lizardfolk also create hierarchies inside their Khoko based on their ties: of blood, ancestry, faith or skill against others in their Khoko and these bonds create a strong sense of group amongst the Confederacy as they each knows their place in society and try to outdo the others around them.
A tradition that dates back long into Lizardfolk history is that of mutual help and defence, as the swamps and jungles they live in are harsh environments that require constant cooperation to thrive in. This mutual cooperation was truly stretched to the limit during the Time of the Irzuco when all of the tribes came together to help their brethren and cousins. This war also spawned another central part of the Confederacy's culture, a strong distrust and fear of “outsiders”. While the concept of “Outsider” is very malleable and can change based on how well they know you, it helps to solidify the internal workings in favour of those who have lived and thrived alongside others in their Khoko and thus strengthening the Khoko.
Religious and Other Beliefs:
The Confederacy is quite relaxed about the religions of their population. The people of the Confederacy worship a dizzying array of gods and pantheons, with a towns streets full to bursting with: temples, shrines, and alters to a staggering array of figures creating a riot of colour and fervour for all to see as these pseudo-religions compete to try and attract new followers with the most showy displays.
As long as the people add “Srolzaxl”, the Patron God of the Yutlao Tribe, to their pantheon of deities they can worship whomever they wish. The Yutlao say that Srolzaxl fiercely grips domain over the passing of time and the rhythms of life in his claws, plucking those that don't worship him from the rhythms of existence and abundance to wander the lands of the lost forever.
Speaker Qathrit, the semi-mythical founder of the Confederacy, has also found a place amongst the religions of the Lizardfolk. A large minority of the tribes worship the Speaker as a divine figure and retell stories of his famous exploits and his skilled speeches around the campfires of the villages. Many of these stories have been inflated by time and repetitions. One story tells of how Speaker Qathrit lulled the jungle to sleep with only a few calming words so that his wife could sleep peacefully, not to be disturbed by the endless noises of the night time jungle when she was pregnant.
Where stories of Speaker Qathrit are told, those of Hadyar Khus the Feathered also rear their ugly head. Tales of Speaker Qathrit defeating the near-automatons of Hadyar Khus are replete in Lizardfolk culture and the tales both venerate Speaker Qathrit and teach valuable lessons to the younger audiences.
Location & Territories: See latest Map of the New World
The Burnt Branch Confederacy is location on the western side of the New World, in an area mostly composed of marshlands close to the west coast and steaming jungles further inland.
Aokki, the capital is a city of mudbrick and stones dotted with canals and giant temples the resides next to the only lake in the Confederacy, Lake Dizarsi which provides a bountiful quantity of fish and sea(lake?)foods. The other towns are: Ortaz, Uttass, Iqagus, Yigzi, Drixu, Allusk & Yacesk and are dotted around the Confederacy usually near rivers or water sources. The vast majority of the population live in either Aokki or one of other the towns.
Each of the towns is supported by a plentiful number of villages, which are smaller concerns with a handful of wooden shacks on poles to keep away from the regular flood waters or jungle predators. These villages consist of two or three extended family groups that eke out a their subsistence living from the lands and animals around them.
Climate: Temperate Marshlands & Tropical Forests
Military:
As part of the “Agrari” each Kroaz can be required to raise large part of their populations for military service as a levy for the state. The number of lizardfolk who turn up is entirely decided by their respective Kroaz and the skill of the levied troops varies based on the training they received in their Kroaz's schooling. Generally these levied troops are significant in number, but very poor in skill and training. Armed with basic iron or steel melee weapons and negligible armour they pose little threat to a skilled or trained combatant, their strength however is in guerilla warfare specifically in the swamps and jungle in which they were born and raised.
Their natural affinity with watery environments and ambushing from high up in the trees allows them to inflict terrible damage to armies who don't know their lands as well as they do, but this leaves them ill suited to traditional line and musket warfare as they simple don't have the space to practice such things. As such the levies are usually only raised from a few Kroaz and only for a campaign or a single year and then they return home afterwards to their villages and lives to keep the population of the Confederacy stable.
Rather than specialise in a trade or a craft, a handful of Khoko in the Confederacy specialise in warfare itself. They train as small units from childhood to be incredibly skilled warriors who work as units of about one hundred lizardfolk at the will of their Kroaz or whoever pays them well enough. These Bhask-Khoko (or war-Khoko) have formed a warrior aristocracy amongst themselves and are dedicated to fighting and either capturing or killing as their entire livelihoods. Capturing an enemy in battle is a quick route to admiration for these warriors as whoever was captured can either be ransomed back or sold as slaves.
The final part of the Confederacy's war machine are the slaves who manage the logistics of a campaign army on behalf of their masters and carry the prerequisite supplies in vast convoys through the jungles. In particularly desperate situations the Bhask-Khoko may call upon these slaves to fight alongside them to try and tip the balance of a campaign or to preserve dwindling food supplies. In these desperate situations, the slaves are either used as bait to draw rash foes from advantageous positions or as waves of bodies that soak up ammunition that might endanger the more precious warriors.
Magic Prevalence & Usage and Elemental Alignment:
Magic, known as “Kher”, is only used by about a quarter of the population of the Confederacy who are known as “Kheras” or “Magicians/magic users” and the knowledge needed to successfully use it is kept as a well guarded secret by the few Khoko that study it.
The Lizardfolk are elementally aligned towards the concept of “Mind” and study this concept broadly across the Confederacy with the wielder being called “Kheras-Yuz” or “Mind magicians”. The kheras-yuz are most famous for their “Urzeri” network, a communication network that stretches across the Confederacy by using telepathic communication through blank masks worn by the kheras-yuz and forming a connection to another far off kheras-yuz who also is wearing such a mask. Anyone who speaks to one of these blank masked figures will have their facial features and words projected, or at least the recipient believes that they are, onto the distant blank mask and it even appears that the mask moves and speaks as they are despite the sender being many hundreds of miles away from them. The knowledge of this is tightly controlled by a few Khoko who relay message across the Confederacy for a high price.
On a more individual level kheras-yuz practice a more subtle form of mind magic. Fights between lizardfolk are stopped by kheras-yuz merely dampening the combatants anger to less deadly levels, construction plans or council suggestions are shown directly into the minds of those who would build or accept these plans, and unknown creatures are “read” to understand who they are and what they want. These practices are a known factor of life and are used regularly based on the level of skill the kheras-yuz possesses.
While not aligned to the concept, a single Khoko in the western city of Drixu focus on the element of Liquid as their speciality. These “Kheras-Acotlu” or “Liquid Magicians” have plenty of practice in the swamplands they inhabit and have even had limited success building an aqueduct system in their town to provide fresh water for their people.
History & Background Info:
The western jungles and swamps of the New World have been inhabited by lizardfolk longer than any written record. As small isolated tribes they dotted the landscape that no civilised people would setting in for long and continued a savage lifestyle amongst the rich plethora of creatures which inhabited their swamps and jungles. It was in these simpler times that many myths and legends rose.
It wasn't until a creature, damned by the gods themselves, rose from the deepest of sinkholes did the Lizardfolk know true fear. It moved through the night with a cloak of darkness shrouding upon its shoulders and a veil of tears upon its face. It's presence was marked by entire tribes vanishing from their villages without a struggle, their food still cooking upon the fire. The only sign left by each of the vanished tribes was a single granite statue in the centre of the village which looked identical the tribes Speaker immobile and terrified.
The tribes became known as “The Departed” or “Irzuco” and as whole Kroaz vanished the remaining tribes gathered themselves together to find a solution. Scouts and hunters were sent across the land to discover the source of this disaster. Hundreds were lost.
Nearly five long years after the Irzuco first began to vanish a single wounded scout returned to Aokki telling stories of a corrupted Mind magician of incredible power who was the cause of this problem. They were called “Hadyar Khus the Feathered”, a creature who's gaze turned people to stone and whose hair were venomous snakes. They had unleashed terrible mind magics upon the tribes that had vanished, turning the tribes people into near-automaton like creatures with no will or soul of their own.
As this revelation spread throughout the lizardfolk lands so to did the slave armies of Hadyar Khus the Feathered as they began a campaign of devastation across the lands. Hordes of mindless lizardfolk who had once been cousins or friends slaughtered or captured anyone in their way and burnt the rest with soulless glassy-eyes.
It was in this time that the semi-mythical figure of Speaker Qathrit appeared to aid the tribes in the time of greatest need to aid and unified the tribes. Though they didn't put their differences aside at his requests, they understood that they needed to cooperate and band together to defeat Hadyar Khus.
The unification sparked a vicious civil war amongst the lizardfolk. Spirited guerilla raids were used by both sides to harass the other through the dangerous terrain and whole villages were slaughtered or captured in the war. Hadyar Khus' mindless forces regularly swept aside the Proto-Confederacies forces as they drove their way towards Lake Dizarsi and the city of Aokki but as they did the Kheras-Yuz were devising ways to undo Hadyar Khus' foul magics.
As the slave armies reached the outskirts of Aokki the Speaker unleashed his most deperate plan to survive. His forces set fire to the surrounding jungle. Rolling smoke clogged the battlefield and waves of forest creatures fled from the fires into the slave armies lines. Ferocious and savage lizardmen stalked through the smoke attacking the Irzuco who mindlessly defended Hadyar Khus.
The fighting was bloody with an entire generation of Lizardfolk dying upon the primitive weapons both sides wielded in brutal civil war. It is said that Hadyar Khus was defeated that day as the Kheras-Yuz stole his magic from his guards and poisoned weapons brought him low. As dawned rose the Battle of Lake Dizarsi had been won, but rumours spread of Hadyar Khus retreating to the sinkholes that spawned him. Speaker Qathrit stood up once more and spoke of how unity must be maintained to ensure their future survival. He spoke of the defeat of the foul Hadyar Khus and the misuses of kher and how it should be limited to prevent this happening once more.The tribes agreed to the Speakers plan, and the Confederacy of the Burnt Branch was formed.
A great deal of time has passed since that invasion and the lizardfolk culture moves slowly. They have dragged themselves from the Stone Age at a remarkable pace despite their constant infighting. Will it be enough to resist the wandering eyes of other empires?
I've made a few alterations to parts, notably: History, Religion, and Magic sections.
Nation Name: The Confederacy of the Burnt Branch
Flag:
Type of Government: Hegemonic Tribal Confederacy
The Yutlao tribe rules with a light-touch from the capital, Aokki the largest city in the Confederacy, over the various other tribes and towns. News and proclamations travel slowly across these hostile lands and messages are regularly distorted by the staggeringly low literacy rates outside of the towns.
Head of Government: Speaker Acuru of the Yutlao Tribe
Summary:
The largest tribes of the Confederacy controls what would be considered towns by more advanced civilisation as their personal domains, with a plethora of tiny villages and hinterland farms being associated with each of the towns. The tribes then send or permanently keep a representative in the capital, Aokki, to ensure that their peoples' needs are met by the Confederacy.
The fractured natures and desires of the various representatives causes friction between the building blocks of the Confederacy, with pride and various feuds slow the processes of agreements and compromises to a glacial paces. One basic mechanism of the state though has always continued unhindered by these petty squabbles, the “Agrari” or “annual tithe” requires that each of the building blocks of the Confederacy, known as “Kroaz” provide either people as labourers on the building or maintenance of grand projects or for wars over a specified period of time, if this isn't possible or desirable then a payment of goods or food is accepted instead from the “Kroaz”.
A Kroaz is the largest scale political component the Confederacy and they consists of a single central town and an ever-shifting number of hinterlands villages that are under its protection and provide for the townsfolk. But a Kroaz isn't formed solely on the basis of territory, it is in fact much more focused on familial bloodlines and ethnic or tribal groups as Kroaz are formed by “Khoko” which are smaller political units comprised of a series of interrelated families and familial units which unite together for strength and cooperation. A khoko is usual rather limited in their scale or size and tend to stay within their kroaz. As such a kroaz is formed of between five to twelve ethnic groups which specialise in various trades or crafts.
As part of their traditions, each Khoko pays and maintains a temple to their respective gods which can be as elaborate or simple as the Khoko can afford, with the wealthiest having carved vast temple-complexes out of the swamp lands for themselves. Each and every Khoko though maintains a school-complex for their children with no standardised education system, sometimes inside the temples themselves or sometimes as separate entities. Here the next generations of the Khoko are taught: the basics of fighting, about their religions, and some of the languages of the Confederacy.
The only school not segregated by which Khoko you were born into is in the capital where any lizardfolk can attempt to join the “Yuknu”, the most prestigious school in the Confederacy. A students capable of entering is judged based on a punishing series of physical, social and mental trials. Those who manage to pass these trials enter the school become “Jothi” and are taught: law, linguistics, religion, music, art, fighting and how to be servants. Once they've survived their time in the Yuknu, the Jothi become indispensable for the Confederacy as they leave their training as strong and capable individuals who form a ruling elite which are usually sent back to their Kroaz to take high positions as rulers or state officials.
Under the careful guidance and watchful eyes of the Jothi, the Confederacy have gained a stability and sense of purpose that drives the Kroaz forwards towards large-scale projects. The two most common being the construction and maintenance of a crude road system, along with an ambitious food storage and distribution network that gathers food in times of plenty and distributes it back out during times of need. Besides these beneficial programs, the Jothi struggle to convince their representatives to help with other larger projects of state, no matter how revolutionary or innovative it may be.
Economy:
The Confederacy's economy is heavily based in agrarian farming or swamp fishing with villages pooling their resources together and selling their excesses to the larger town-based Khoko who don't have the space to farm for themselves. Most of the lizardfolk living in this lifestyle survive on simple subsistence agriculture supplemented by trading with the nearest towns quite happily. Those that live in the towns tend to work in one of the many small Khoko-run workshops that are in every town and produce much of the necessities of day-to-day life for both the agrarian and town based population.
Each Khoko-run workshop, called “Aetheqa”, are based around large numbers of individuals producing the same goods as everyone else in the Aetheqa in single building or small confined area. These Aetheqa can vary based on the Khoko which controls them, ranging from comfortable places where workers can sit around and communally weave or craft items while chatting, to enforced labour camps used to create massive quantities of items for profit.
Slaves are forced to do the most dangerous or laborious jobs, such as: quarrying, construction work, or logging projects with the occasional assistance from “Agrari” workers who volunteer to join the work crew. These jobs are difficult and have a shockingly high mortality rate for those that work there.
Despite extended pressure over time the Confederacy has failed to standardise its currency across their lands as such it has a fluctuating number of coins and tokens that are used to trade in the different areas each having different values making travel across the land challenging. This problem becomes even more pronounced when traders leave the towns and travel to the various villages as each individual village may not only have their own bartering method or system of currency but also their own language or dialect.
To ensure the sanity of long-distant traders there are counting houses called “Dalziz” in each of the Confederacy's towns which can convert currency and even offer basic banking services such as loans or deposits as well as providing translators for the many languages of the Confederacy. Even the Dalziz not standardised across the Confederacy and occasional disputes between them crop up over the validity of another's counting methods.
Main imports: Guns, Gunpowder, Iron, Steel Exports: Lumber/Timber, Fish, Poisons, Translators, Cloth Industries: Large-scale farming and fishing, Cottage-industry weaving and melee weapon-making Technology level: 15th Century Aztec Empire (Pre-Spanish arrival). Large-scale organisation of the State. “Hegemonic” (indirect) rule over other tribes and states.
Primary Species: Lizardfolk
Lizardfolk are tall humanoid creatures that look like a cross between a powerfully built human and a bipedal lizard. They have clawed hands, a long tail, and a toothy jaw and are usually between six and seven feet (1.82 to 2.13 meters) tall and they have a muscular tail which is usually between three and four feet (0.91 to 1.21 meters) long. They have green, gray or brown scales that cover most of their bodies with the exception of smaller and softer scales that cover their bellies.
They have a natural affinity for swimming and this combined with their powerful tails and their extraordinary ability to hold their breaths for long periods of time makes them quite comfortable on land, in rivers or in lakes. They are biologically capable of swimming far out into oceans but tend not to stray from sight of the land because little useful is out at sea for them.
The species are omnivores with a noticeable preference for meat, with rumour suggesting specifically human meat. Though they will eat anything if it becomes necessary, to the point of having some eating habits during famines that they find normal, but other species find revolting such as culling the slave population and feasting on their bodies.
Secondary Species: Humans, Goblins
Population:
A population census hasn't yet been successfully completed by the Confederacy, but estimates vary from between fourteen and thirty one million inhabitants across the land. With the vast majority of the population being Lizardfolk and a small but noticeable minority of humans & goblins who inhabit the area as well.
Culture:
The Confederacy's society is surprisingly stratified between nobles and commoners, both of which are further divided into elaborate hierarchies of power based on social status, a Khoko's responsibilities, and power. Stronger Khoko would dominate weaker ones socially and extract tribute from the weaker which creates a further stratification based on how strong or weak your Khoko is. Lizardfolk also create hierarchies inside their Khoko based on their ties: of blood, ancestry, faith or skill against others in their Khoko and these bonds create a strong sense of group amongst the Confederacy as they each knows their place in society and try to outdo the others around them.
A tradition that dates back long into Lizardfolk history is that of mutual help and defence, as the swamps and jungles they live in are harsh environments that require constant cooperation to thrive in. This mutual cooperation was truly stretched to the limit during the Time of the Irzuco when all of the tribes came together to help their brethren and cousins. This war also spawned another central part of the Confederacy's culture, a strong distrust and fear of “outsiders”. While the concept of “Outsider” is very malleable and can change based on how well they know you, it helps to solidify the internal workings in favour of those who have lived and thrived alongside others in their Khoko and thus strengthening the Khoko.
Religious and Other Beliefs:
The Confederacy is quite relaxed about the religions of their population. The people of the Confederacy worship a dizzying array of gods and pantheons, with a towns streets full to bursting with: temples, shrines, and alters to a staggering array of figures creating a riot of colour and fervour for all to see as these pseudo-religions compete to try and attract new followers with the most showy displays.
As long as the people add “Srolzaxl”, the Patron God of the Yutlao Tribe, to their pantheon of deities they can worship whomever they wish. The Yutlao say that Srolzaxl fiercely grips domain over the passing of time and the rhythms of life in his claws, plucking those that don't worship him from the rhythms of existence and abundance to wander the lands of the lost forever.
Speaker Qathrit, the semi-mythical founder of the Confederacy, has also found a place amongst the religions of the Lizardfolk. A large minority of the tribes worship the Speaker as a divine figure and retell stories of his famous exploits and his skilled speeches around the campfires of the villages. Many of these stories have been inflated by time and repetitions. One story tells of how Speaker Qathrit lulled the jungle to sleep with only a few calming words so that his wife could sleep peacefully, not to be disturbed by the endless noises of the night time jungle when she was pregnant.
Where stories of Speaker Qathrit are told, those of Hadyar Khus the Feathered also rear their ugly head. Tales of Speaker Qathrit defeating the near-automatons of Hadyar Khus are replete in Lizardfolk culture and the tales both venerate Speaker Qathrit and teach valuable lessons to the younger audiences.
Location & Territories: See latest Map of the New World
The Burnt Branch Confederacy is location on the western side of the New World, in an area mostly composed of marshlands close to the west coast and steaming jungles further inland.
Aokki, the capital is a city of mudbrick and stones dotted with canals and giant temples the resides next to the only lake in the Confederacy, Lake Dizarsi which provides a bountiful quantity of fish and sea(lake?)foods. The other towns are: Ortaz, Uttass, Iqagus, Yigzi, Drixu, Allusk & Yacesk and are dotted around the Confederacy usually near rivers or water sources. The vast majority of the population live in either Aokki or one of other the towns.
Each of the towns is supported by a plentiful number of villages, which are smaller concerns with a handful of wooden shacks on poles to keep away from the regular flood waters or jungle predators. These villages consist of two or three extended family groups that eke out a their subsistence living from the lands and animals around them.
Climate: Temperate Marshlands & Tropical Forests
Military:
As part of the “Agrari” each Kroaz can be required to raise large part of their populations for military service as a levy for the state. The number of lizardfolk who turn up is entirely decided by their respective Kroaz and the skill of the levied troops varies based on the training they received in their Kroaz's schooling. Generally these levied troops are significant in number, but very poor in skill and training. Armed with basic iron or steel melee weapons and negligible armour they pose little threat to a skilled or trained combatant, their strength however is in guerilla warfare specifically in the swamps and jungle in which they were born and raised.
Their natural affinity with watery environments and ambushing from high up in the trees allows them to inflict terrible damage to armies who don't know their lands as well as they do, but this leaves them ill suited to traditional line and musket warfare as they simple don't have the space to practice such things. As such the levies are usually only raised from a few Kroaz and only for a campaign or a single year and then they return home afterwards to their villages and lives to keep the population of the Confederacy stable.
Rather than specialise in a trade or a craft, a handful of Khoko in the Confederacy specialise in warfare itself. They train as small units from childhood to be incredibly skilled warriors who work as units of about one hundred lizardfolk at the will of their Kroaz or whoever pays them well enough. These Bhask-Khoko (or war-Khoko) have formed a warrior aristocracy amongst themselves and are dedicated to fighting and either capturing or killing as their entire livelihoods. Capturing an enemy in battle is a quick route to admiration for these warriors as whoever was captured can either be ransomed back or sold as slaves.
The final part of the Confederacy's war machine are the slaves who manage the logistics of a campaign army on behalf of their masters and carry the prerequisite supplies in vast convoys through the jungles. In particularly desperate situations the Bhask-Khoko may call upon these slaves to fight alongside them to try and tip the balance of a campaign or to preserve dwindling food supplies. In these desperate situations, the slaves are either used as bait to draw rash foes from advantageous positions or as waves of bodies that soak up ammunition that might endanger the more precious warriors.
Magic Prevalence & Usage and Elemental Alignment:
Magic, known as “Kher”, is only used by about a quarter of the population of the Confederacy who are known as “Kheras” or “Magicians/magic users” and the knowledge needed to successfully use it is kept as a well guarded secret by the few Khoko that study it.
The Lizardfolk are elementally aligned towards the concept of “Mind” and study this concept broadly across the Confederacy with the wielder being called “Kheras-Yuz” or “Mind magicians”. The kheras-yuz are most famous for their “Urzeri” network, a communication network that stretches across the Confederacy by using telepathic communication through blank masks worn by the kheras-yuz and forming a connection to another far off kheras-yuz who also is wearing such a mask. Anyone who speaks to one of these blank masked figures will have their facial features and words projected, or at least the recipient believes that they are, onto the distant blank mask and it even appears that the mask moves and speaks as they are despite the sender being many hundreds of miles away from them. The knowledge of this is tightly controlled by a few Khoko who relay message across the Confederacy for a high price.
On a more individual level kheras-yuz practice a more subtle form of mind magic. Fights between lizardfolk are stopped by kheras-yuz merely dampening the combatants anger to less deadly levels, construction plans or council suggestions are shown directly into the minds of those who would build or accept these plans, and unknown creatures are “read” to understand who they are and what they want. These practices are a known factor of life and are used regularly based on the level of skill the kheras-yuz possesses.
While not aligned to the concept, a single Khoko in the western city of Drixu focus on the element of Liquid as their speciality. These “Kheras-Acotlu” or “Liquid Magicians” have plenty of practice in the swamplands they inhabit and have even had limited success building an aqueduct system in their town to provide fresh water for their people.
History & Background Info:
The western jungles and swamps of the New World have been inhabited by lizardfolk longer than any written record. As small isolated tribes they dotted the landscape that no civilised people would setting in for long and continued a savage lifestyle amongst the rich plethora of creatures which inhabited their swamps and jungles. It was in these simpler times that many myths and legends rose.
It wasn't until a creature, damned by the gods themselves, rose from the deepest of sinkholes did the Lizardfolk know true fear. It moved through the night with a cloak of darkness shrouding upon its shoulders and a veil of tears upon its face. It's presence was marked by entire tribes vanishing from their villages without a struggle, their food still cooking upon the fire. The only sign left by each of the vanished tribes was a single granite statue in the centre of the village which looked identical the tribes Speaker immobile and terrified.
The tribes became known as “The Departed” or “Irzuco” and as whole Kroaz vanished the remaining tribes gathered themselves together to find a solution. Scouts and hunters were sent across the land to discover the source of this disaster. Hundreds were lost.
Nearly five long years after the Irzuco first began to vanish a single wounded scout returned to Aokki telling stories of a corrupted Mind magician of incredible power who was the cause of this problem. They were called “Hadyar Khus the Feathered”, a creature who's gaze turned people to stone and whose hair were venomous snakes. They had unleashed terrible mind magics upon the tribes that had vanished, turning the tribes people into near-automaton like creatures with no will or soul of their own.
As this revelation spread throughout the lizardfolk lands so to did the slave armies of Hadyar Khus the Feathered as they began a campaign of devastation across the lands. Hordes of mindless lizardfolk who had once been cousins or friends slaughtered or captured anyone in their way and burnt the rest with soulless glassy-eyes.
It was in this time that the semi-mythical figure of Speaker Qathrit appeared to aid the tribes in the time of greatest need to aid and unified the tribes. Though they didn't put their differences aside at his requests, they understood that they needed to cooperate and band together to defeat Hadyar Khus.
The unification sparked a vicious civil war amongst the lizardfolk. Spirited guerilla raids were used by both sides to harass the other through the dangerous terrain and whole villages were slaughtered or captured in the war. Hadyar Khus' mindless forces regularly swept aside the Proto-Confederacies forces as they drove their way towards Lake Dizarsi and the city of Aokki but as they did the Kheras-Yuz were devising ways to undo Hadyar Khus' foul magics.
As the slave armies reached the outskirts of Aokki the Speaker unleashed his most deperate plan to survive. His forces set fire to the surrounding jungle. Rolling smoke clogged the battlefield and waves of forest creatures fled from the fires into the slave armies lines. Ferocious and savage lizardmen stalked through the smoke attacking the Irzuco who mindlessly defended Hadyar Khus.
The fighting was bloody with an entire generation of Lizardfolk dying upon the primitive weapons both sides wielded in brutal civil war. It is said that Hadyar Khus was defeated that day as the Kheras-Yuz stole his magic from his guards and poisoned weapons brought him low. As dawned rose the Battle of Lake Dizarsi had been won, but rumours spread of Hadyar Khus retreating to the sinkholes that spawned him. Speaker Qathrit stood up once more and spoke of how unity must be maintained to ensure their future survival. He spoke of the defeat of the foul Hadyar Khus and the misuses of kher and how it should be limited to prevent this happening once more.The tribes agreed to the Speakers plan, and the Confederacy of the Burnt Branch was formed.
A great deal of time has passed since that invasion and the lizardfolk culture moves slowly. They have dragged themselves from the Stone Age at a remarkable pace despite their constant infighting. Will it be enough to resist the wandering eyes of other empires?
It turned out a little long I'm sorry to say. Turns out you should check the writing requirements for a game BEFORE you get halfway through it.
Nation Name: The Confederacy of the Burnt Branch
Flag:
Type of Government: Hegemonic Tribal Confederacy
The Yutlao tribe rules with a light-touch from their capital, Aokki the largest city in the Confederacy, over the various other tribes and towns. News and proclamations travel slowly across these hostile lands and messages are regularly distorted by the staggeringly low literacy rates outside of the towns.
Head of Government: Speaker Acuru of the Yutlao Tribe
Summary:
The largest tribes of the Confederacy controls what would be considered towns by more advanced civilisation as their personal domains, with a plethora of tiny villages and hinterland farms being associated with each of the towns. The tribes then send or permanently keep a representative in the capital, Aokki, to ensure that their peoples' needs are met by the Confederacy.
The fractured natures and desires of the various representatives causes friction between the building blocks of the Confederacy, with pride and various feuds slow the processes of agreements and compromises to a glacial paces. One basic mechanism of the state though has always continued unhindered by these petty squabbles, the “Agrari” or “annual tithe” requires that each of the building blocks of the Confederacy, known as “Kroaz” provide either people as labourers on the building or maintenance of grand projects or for wars over a specified period of time, if this isn't possible or desirable then a payment of goods or food is accepted instead from the “Kroaz”.
A Kroaz is the largest scale political component the Confederacy and they consists of a single central town and an ever-shifting number of hinterlands villages that are under its protection and provide for the townsfolk. But a Kroaz isn't formed solely on the basis of territory, it is in fact much more focused on familial bloodlines and ethnic or tribal groups as Kroaz are formed by “Khoko” which are smaller political units comprised of a series of interrelated families and familial units which unite together for strength and cooperation. A khoko is usual rather limited in their scale or size and tend to stay within their kroaz. As such a kroaz is formed of between five to twelve ethnic groups which specialise in various trades or crafts.
As part of their traditions, each Khoko pays and maintains a temple to their respective gods which can be as elaborate or simple as the Khoko can afford, with the wealthiest having carved vast temple-complexes out of the swamp lands for themselves. Each and every Khoko though maintains a school-complex for their children with no standardised education system, sometimes inside the temples themselves or sometimes as separate entities. Here the next generations of the Khoko are taught: the basics of fighting, about their religions, and some of the languages of the Confederacy.
The only school not segregated by which Khoko you were born into is in the capital where any lizardfolk can attempt to join the “Yuknu”, the most prestigious school in the Confederacy. A students capable of entering is judged based on a punishing series of physical, social and mental trials. Those who manage to pass these trials enter the school become “Jothi” and are taught: law, linguistics, religion, music, art, fighting and how to be servants. Once they've survived their time in the Yuknu, the Jothi become indispensable for the Confederacy as they leave their training as strong and capable individuals who form a ruling elite which are usually sent back to their Kroaz to take high positions as rulers or state officials.
Under the careful guidance and watchful eyes of the Jothi, the Confederacy have gained a stability and sense of purpose that drives the Kroaz forwards towards large-scale projects. The two most common being the construction and maintenance of a crude road system, along with an ambitious food storage and distribution network that gathers food in times of plenty and distributes it back out during times of need. Besides these beneficial programs, the Jothi struggle to convince their representatives to help with other larger projects of state, no matter how revolutionary or innovative it may be.
Economy:
The Confederacy's economy is heavily based in agrarian farming or swamp fishing with villages pooling their resources together and selling their excesses to the larger town-based Khoko who don't have the space to farm for themselves. Most of the lizardfolk living in this lifestyle survive on simple subsistence agriculture supplemented by trading with the nearest towns quite happily. Those that live in the towns tend to work in one of the many small Khoko-run workshops that are in every town and produce much of the necessities of day-to-day life for both the agrarian and town based population.
Each Khoko-run workshop, called “Aetheqa”, are based around large numbers of individuals producing the same goods as everyone else in the Aetheqa in single building or small confined area. These Aetheqa can vary based on the Khoko which controls them, ranging from comfortable places where workers can sit around and communally weave or craft items while chatting, to enforced labour camps used to create massive quantities of items for profit.
Slaves are forced to do the most dangerous or laborious jobs, such as: quarrying, construction work, or logging projects with the occasional assistance from “Agrari” workers who volunteer to join the work crew. These jobs are difficult and have a shockingly high mortality rate for those that work there.
Despite extended pressure over time the Confederacy has failed to standardise its currency across their lands as such it has a fluctuating number of coins and tokens that are used to trade in the different areas each having different values making travel across the land challenging. This problem becomes even more pronounced when traders leave the towns and travel to the various villages as each individual village may not only have their own bartering method or system of currency but also their own language or dialect.
To ensure the sanity of long-distant traders there are counting houses called “Dalziz” in each of the Confederacy's towns which can convert currency and even offer basic banking services such as loans or deposits as well as providing translators for the many languages of the Confederacy. Even the Dalziz not standardised across the Confederacy and occasional disputes between them crop up over the validity of another's counting methods.
Main imports: Guns, Gunpowder, Iron, Steel Exports: Lumber/Timber, Fish, Poisons, Translators, Cloth Industries: Large-scale farming and fishing, Cottage-industry weaving and melee weapon-making Technology level: 15th Century Aztec Empire (Pre-Spanish arrival). Large-scale organisation of the State. “Hegemonic” (indirect) rule over other tribes and states.
Primary Species: Lizardfolk
Lizardfolk are tall humanoid creatures that look like a cross between a powerfully built human and a bipedal lizard. They have clawed hands, a long tail, and a toothy jaw and are usually between six and seven feet (1.82 to 2.13 meters) tall and they have a muscular tail which is usually between three and four feet (0.91 to 1.21 meters) long. They have green, gray or brown scales that cover most of their bodies with the exception of smaller and softer scales that cover their bellies.
They have a natural affinity for swimming and this combined with their powerful tails and their extraordinary ability to hold their breaths for long periods of time makes them quite comfortable on land, in rivers or in lakes. They are biologically capable of swimming far out into oceans but tend not to stray from sight of the land because little useful is out at sea for them.
The species are omnivores with a noticeable preference for meat, with rumour suggesting specifically human meat. Though they will eat anything if it becomes necessary, to the point of having some eating habits during famines that they find normal, but other species find revolting such as culling the slave population and feasting on their bodies.
Secondary Species: Humans, Goblins
Population:
A population census hasn't yet been successfully completed by the Confederacy, but estimates vary from between fourteen and thirty one million inhabitants across the land. With the vast majority of the population being Lizardfolk and a small but noticeable minority of humans & goblins who inhabit the area as well.
Culture:
The Confederacy's society is surprisingly stratified between nobles and commoners, both of which are further divided into elaborate hierarchies of power based on social status, a Khoko's responsibilities, and power. Stronger Khoko would dominate weaker ones socially and extract tribute from the weaker which creates a further stratification based on how strong or weak your Khoko is. Lizardfolk also create hierarchies inside their Khoko based on their ties: of blood, ancestry, faith or skill against others in their Khoko and these bonds create a strong sense of group amongst the Confederacy as they each knows their place in society and try to outdo the others around them.
A tradition that dates back long into Lizardfolk history is that of mutual help and defence, as the swamps and jungles they live in are harsh environments that require constant cooperation to thrive in. This mutual cooperation was truly stretched to the limit during the Yllendyrian Invasion when all of the tribes came together to help their brethren and cousins. This war also spawned another central part of the Confederacy's culture, a strong distrust and fear of “outsiders”. While the concept of “Outsider” is very malleable and can change based on how well they know you, it helps to solidify the internal workings in favour of those who have lived and thrived alongside others in their Khoko and thus strengthening the Khoko.
Religious and Other Beliefs:
The Confederacy is quite relaxed about the religions of their population. As long as the people add “Srolzaxl”, the Patron God of the Yutlao Tribe, to their pantheon of deities they can worship whomever they wish. As such the people of the Confederacy worship a dizzying array of gods and pantheons, and town streets are covered in: temples, shrines, and alters to a staggering array of figures creating a riot of colour and fervour for all to see as these pseudo-religions compete to try and attract new followers with the most showy displays.
Location & Territories: See latest Map of the New World
The Burnt Branch Confederacy is location on the western side of the New World, in an area mostly composed of marshlands close to the west coast and steaming jungles further inland.
Aokki, the capital is a city of mudbrick and stones dotted with canals and giant temples the resides next to the only lake in the Confederacy, Lake Dizarsi which provides a bountiful quantity of fish and sea(lake?)foods. The other towns are: Ortaz, Uttass, Iqagus, Yigzi, Drixu, Allusk & Yacesk and are dotted around the Confederacy usually near rivers or water sources. The vast majority of the population live in either Aokki or one of other the towns.
Each of the towns is supported by a plentiful number of villages, which are smaller concerns with a handful of wooden shacks on poles to keep away from the regular flood waters or jungle predators. These villages consist of two or three extended family groups that eke out a their subsistence living from the lands and animals around them.
Climate: Temperate Marshlands & Tropical Forests
Military:
As part of the “Agrari” each Kroaz can be required to raise large part of their populations for military service as a levy for the state. The number of lizardfolk who turn up is entirely decided by their respective Kroaz and the skill of the levied troops varies based on the training they received in their Kroaz's schooling. Generally these levied troops are significant in number, but very poor in skill and training. Armed with basic iron or steel melee weapons and negligible armour they pose little threat to a skilled or trained combatant, their strength however is in guerilla warfare specifically in the swamps and jungle in which they were born and raised.
Their natural affinity with watery environments and ambushing from high up in the trees allows them to inflict terrible damage to armies who don't know their lands as well as they do, but this leaves them ill suited to traditional line and musket warfare as they simple don't have the space to practice such things. As such the levies are usually only raised from a few Kroaz and only for a campaign or a single year and then they return home afterwards to their villages and lives to keep the population of the Confederacy stable.
Rather than specialise in a trade or a craft, a handful of Khoko in the Confederacy specialise in warfare itself. They train as small units from childhood to be incredibly skilled warriors who work as units of about one hundred lizardfolk at the will of their Kroaz or whoever pays them well enough. These war-Khoko have formed a warrior aristocracy amongst themselves and are dedicated to fighting and either capturing or killing as their entire livelihoods. Capturing an enemy in battle is a quick route to admiration for these warriors as whoever was captured can either be ransomed back or sold as slaves.
The final part of the Confederacy's war machine are the slaves who manage the logistics of a campaign army on behalf of their masters and carry the prerequisite supplies in vast convoys through the jungles. In particularly desperate situations the war-Khoko may call upon these slaves to fight alongside them to try and tip the balance of a campaign or to preserve dwindling food supplies. In these desperate situations, the slaves are either used as bait to draw rash foes from advantageous positions or as waves of bodies that soak up ammunition that might endanger the more precious warriors.
Magic Prevalence & Usage and Elemental Alignment:
Magic is only used by about a quarter of the population of the Confederacy, and the knowledge needed to successfully use it is kept as a well guarded secret by the few Khoko that study it.
The Lizardfolk are elementally aligned towards the concept of “Mind”, and study this concept broadly across the Confederacy with the “Urzeri” network being their most famous application of this type of magic. The “Urzeri” system is a telepathic communication network based on magicians wearing blank masks and connecting to a magic users in a different location who also is wearing such a mask. Anyone who speaks to one of these blank masked figures will have their facial features and words projected, or at least the recipient believes they are, onto the distant blank mask worn by the magic user so that the mask moves and speaks as they do while they stand far away from it. The knowledge of this is tightly controlled by a few Khoko who relay message across the Confederacy for a price.
While not aligned to the concept, a single Khoko in the western city of Drixu focus on the element of Water as their speciality. They have plenty of practice in the swamplands they inhabit and have even had limited success building an aqueduct system in their town to provide fresh water for their people.
History & Background Info:
The western jungles and swamps of the New World have been inhabited by lizardfolk longer than any written record. As small isolated tribes they dotted the landscape that no civilised people would setting in for long and enjoyed a long and content existence.
In the year 1832, the Yllendyr Imperium was expanding rapidly as they came to the end of “The Wars of Barbarian Subjugation” in which they brought much of the Old World under their grasps. A Yllendyrian Prince, being the seventh son of the Emperor, decided to take an auxiliary legion of various subjugated races to conquer new lands. They set sail eastwards from their homelands under the guidance of the Prince to claim new lands as their birthright with little support from the Yllendyr Imperium who was busy fighting other wars of subjugation.
Their arrival sparked a unification amongst the Lizardfolk tribes. As the marauding armies of the Prince burnt their way across the lizardfolk lands, a semi-mythical figure, Speaker Qathrit appeared the time of greatest need to aid and unified the tribes. Though they didn't put their differences aside, they understood that they needed to cooperate and band together to defeat these foreign invaders.
The unification sparked a spirited guerrilla war against the Princes armies and constant harassment forced them towards Lake Dizarsi and further away from possible reinforcements. The ferocious and savage lizardmen simply set fire to the surrounding forests and slaughtered the auxilia in droves amongst the rolling smoke of the blaze and the venomous creatures of the jungles.
The fighting was bloody, with an entire generation of Lizardfolk dying pulling down the more advanced Yllendyr forces with primitive weapons, but as day dawned the Battle of Lake Dizarsi had been won. Speaker Qathrit stood up once more and spoke of how future invasions would come and how he wouldn't survive to unite the tribes once more when they did. The tribes agreed to the Speakers plan, and the Confederacy of the Burnt Branch was formed.
A great deal of time has passed since that invasion and the lizardfolk culture moves slowly. They have dragged themselves from the Stone Age at a remarkable pace despite their constant infighting. Will it be enough to resist the wandering eyes of other empires?
Water is the greatest equaliser in the desert. The meekest troll who discovers an untapped oasis can rise higher than any vulture can soar. Water holds untold power for the desert dwellers, even the richest sand troll can still die of thirst if unprepared, and something has tipped the balance amongst those remorseless desert dunes.
For months, rumours had passed across the migration paths, dangerous words telling of precious oasis that were now nothing more than barren sand. Even more worryingly the rumours were growing in frequency. Increasing numbers of tribes, parched of throats and weather-beaten were moving from their old oasis northwards towards more fertile grounds. They came in small numbers at first telling stories of loved ones now lost to rival tribes, to thirst beyond their incredible endurance, or more disconcertingly the “Marru” that stalk the fireside stories of the tribes.
Malak scoffed at first at these tall tales as he took in those that he could, and sacrificed those he couldn't to the merciless sands of his home. What started as a trickle of starving refugees soon turned into a torrent of trolls. The water had stopped bubbling to the surface in their lands, but the deluge of people it had created concerned the normally stoic tribefolk of the Ekon.
They had been named “Danna” by those they took in, “Patrons” or “Givers” in the old Trollish tongue, when really they had just had the foresight to move first. The Sand Shapers had spoken to the people of the Ekon long ago and predicted a “Flood of Tears”. Senwe, the Chief Sand Shaper, had stood before the tribe telling them of how the ancestors had whispered in his dreams and how they told them to move before the tears engulfed them.
That was but a year ago now, but it felt like a lifetime for Malak as he watched tribe upon tribe of Trolls trudge towards his make-shift camp through the shifting sands. Many former enemies and old allies had been brought together as refugees to his lands. They had packed up their meagre possession onto their camels and sand-skimmers and travelled northwards much as the Ekon had done not so long ago.
“I've never seen so many hollow eyes.” Breathed Csini in hushed tones. “The Javyn, the Nuenvan, Balashi all humbled by the sands...”
Malak placed a comforting arm around his first wife.
“The ancestors will guide us. As they have always done and no Marru will face the gods, or our warriors.”
Nation Name: Ekon-Danna (Literally: Ekon the “Patron” or “Giver” Tribe)
Represented Colour: Light Green
Race/Breed: Sand Trolls
These trolls are so-called for their beige skins just as much as their tendency to inhabit deserts, steppes, savannas, and all manner of other arid climes. They have great endurance, are not bothered by heat or sun, and can go for many days without food or drink. They are competent builders and have created some of the oldest civilisations in the world, but compared to their other brethren they are very short of stature, comparable to humans. Average strength/speed, cunning, bad diplomacy, high reproduction, can regenerate fast.
Capital: Hunzuu (A small, temporary, camp)
Ruler: Malak of the Ekon Tribe
Type of Government: Tribal
The Sand Trolls divide themselves into “Tribes”, nebulous groupings that vary from a dozen trolls to just under one hundred per tribe with each being self-sufficient in their lifestyle. The various tribes have followed many different paths throughout time, some of them create small camps around oasis or springs in the desert while others move with their flocks and herds through the harsh sands to survive. Blood connections means nothing to them, loyalty is earned through hard living together not through the accident of birth.
With the coming of the “Flood of Tears” many have been displaced from their lands and old lives. Tribal structure has collapsed as their Chiefs die and their Sand Shapers vanish into the night, those that remain pledge themselves to whoever can provide for their families. The Ekon tribe has flourished in this time, as they had set up camp ahead of the Flood and give a difficult choice to all that ask their aid “surrender wholly to our wisdom or return to the deserts.”
Few refuse, and the sudden surplus of people has turned the Ekon from a minor familial group of a few dozen into a sprawling camp of Sand Trolls, all connected only by their forced loyalty to Chief Malak. Survival comes to those that aid the original Ekon, those that don't are either enslaved, or sacrificed to satisfy Awa's great hunger by the Sand Shapers.
With this influx of people, many new people and ideas have flourished. Where once the Ekon only had to think about a small group, now they have to ponder larger-scale supply problems alongside those dissatisfactions of the newly arrived and the original tribes.
Religion:
The Ekon have a strong belief that their ancestors still inhabit this world and that death is just another step in their lives. The dead are not quite in this physical world but they do inhabit a nearby place, from there they whisper advice to their descendants and ward them from harm. So the Ekon make regular offerings to “Those that walk out of sight” treating them to fine gifts and to a honoured place at the table to keep their favour.
The three strongest of the ancestors hold a mythical place in this little pantheon of parents. Awa of the Bloodied Teeth, Kushi of the Bubbling Spring and The Great Howler Lwita guard and guide the tribe if properly venerated. For in the harshest deserts only those with ancestors strong enough to aid their descendants survive. It is even said by the Sand Shapers, the priests of the tribe, that in the quietest of nights you may be able to hear the ancestors battling the Marru the other side of the veil to keep their descendants safe.
The Ekon tribe honours the triumvirate with sandstone pillars carved into the likeness of their ancestors masks around their camp while individual tribesfolk carve smaller statues in their huts to their ancestors. The statues of the Bloodied Teeth are places of sacrifice and arterial red that placate Awa's rage and ferocity, while the statues of Kushi always overlook the water sources to keep them pure and flowing, finally the pillars of Lwita are frequently moved as they must be on the highest dunes in sight of the tribe to scare away the Marru, bipedal jackal-like creatures that hunt both the nights and the otherworld to capture Sand Troll and feed on their flesh.
Culture:
The Ekon tribe and its vassal tribes have developed a ... rugged approach to life. If it can't be: carried by the camels, dug out of a dust storm and survive being smashed over someone else's head then it's not going to last long amongst the rough-and-tumble of Sand Troll life.
Despite a strictly formalised ritual for sharing water with strangers, the Sand Trolls can barely tolerate each other. Resources are amazingly scarce and valuable, and Sand Trolls have a nasty habit of surviving. They hoard what little water they can find and the precious food and would happily beat others into a stupor and bury them neck-deep in the sand dunes.
Though the sands are harsh, and in some cases groups of Sand Trolls can go years without seeing anyone other than their tribe. As such they develop a sense of “Us vs. Them” from a young age “Our tribe vs Your Tribe”, “Family or Threat”. This mentality makes compromise and diplomacy a difficult concept as sharing and politics are usually resolved in the most underhanded manner possible, with a fight between Sand Trolls being considered successful if the other tribe has been beaten into unconsciousness and everything valuable has been stolen from them.
Geographical Location:
Coming out of the Southern desert (the bottom of the map) the Ekon-Danna are arriving between the two mountain ranges. (To be confirmed with the GM)
