Nagani

Race : Nagani

Appearance : Lizard-like bipedal; blue green skin with orange striped highlights; yellow eyes, body has silky hair covering body, 3' long tail.
Average Height : 4'5'
Average Weight : 160 lbs
Average Lifespan : 250 years (Unknown)
Typical Climate : Warm, Semi Tropical, Tropical, Desert, Mountain

Description : They appear to be what they are. A lizard that walks on two legs. They have the appearance of a lizard with facial features that give expressions and feelings. Although their skin is not scaley like a normal lizard. It is smooth and covered with thin silky hairs that give them their orange and darker stripes. Their tail can not be used to grip things but they can use it as a distracting weapon causing more blunt damage than any real harm. The have sharp claws and fangs that make them intimidating in battle, since they use them very well as well as any weapons they choose to learn. They have a bluish green skin with stripes and highlights of orange that makes it difficult for them to blend into any natural surrounding. Their age of 250 is simply a guess as no one has ever seen one die of old age, but the general age of 250 is around the time when they are not seen anymore by the rest of the world.

Distinguished Traits : Other than looking like an upright lizard man they have formidable claws and a distinguished tail, they have a very poor night vision. Similar to a normal human, they need light to be able to travel at night or in the darkness.

Personality : The Nagani are an off spring of sorts of the semi intelligent lizard man race. They have grown into a very intelligent race and have learned to hate their similar cousins with a passion. They have had many hardships because of their ignorant and brutal kin. Many times being hunted down because they were mistaken as one of the other lower intelligent and more brutal reptilian folk. They have broken apart from their unintelligent kin, as they see them being unintelligent and the reason why most cultures do not like them, and have tried to carve their own part for their race in the world. They are honorable creatures that help most people in need. Though their hardships are many and the list is long, they are getting some semblance of respect in the lands. Mainly in the human lands that border their native lands. They are still feared and are outright hated in some areas in the land.

Home : They live in the marsh and swamp lands to the east of the Kingdom of Ediren. They have chosen this as their home as no one bothers them for their wetlands. They have developed a way to grow agriculture and raise small herds of animals for stock. They have grown into a prospering civilization and have actually raised small stone cities out of the swamp where they live above the watery murk. They have formed a small government that is divided into three distinct classes, the slaves, the commoners, and the pipiltin or the born nobility. Slaves are those born of the poor who work their lives at the whim of the commoners and pipiltin. Those who ran from service and could make it to the steps of the royal palace were granted freedom instantly and raised to commoner. Those who fail are sacrificed. Slaves can also buy their freedom from the pipiltin but this is rare and very expensive. Commoners are the farmers and lowly merchants and traders and servicemen. They are those who peddle their services for the culture with their skills. They are free and own their own property and have complete rights of the law as dictated by the pipiltin. The pipiltin are the nobility who are born to their status. However, nobility is not just the rulers but the religious caste, their magical caste, and their builders, and smiths of metal. All seen as a higher form of person. The nobility chose their rightful ruler over all the Ssladiva. This person is called the Tlatoani and has absolute voice over everyone, except the head priest in times of religious ceremony. The Tlatoani maintains the laws and functions of the culture.

Relations : Their culture is based around clutches. Each clutch is its own little family, with more males than females in the clutch. Normally there will be around five adult males for every one adult female. Nagani can not reproduce until they reach adulthood at around 100 or so years so their numbers stay small. They have family values similar to most intelligent races. Having laws and guidelines to rule where chaos would reign if they were not implemented. They are a very orderly culture, seeing everything as having to be in a certain place, often causing most to be perfectionists by nature alone. They do not like thievery, or anything to do with the shady side of life. They feel they would be no better than their ignorant cousins if they resorted to such tactics. All such behavior is frowned upon and normally dealt with harsh punishments when found.

They are compassionate toward those who deserve it, and ruthless to those who do not. They have welcomed any peace with the intelligence races that has been offered, often siding with them in wars and battles to show their trust and worthiness. They are true to their word always and will never break a promise. Their honor matches that of the Keirn. Their military tactics are brutal but efficient, often some armies having one or two as a military advisor in times of war.

Religion : Religion plays a very important role to the Nagani, for they feel that without the Gods they would not be able to have distinguished themselves from their ignorant cousins. They worship all the Gods, feeling that to leave one out would cause that God anger and be forced to punish them. They believe in the balance of the world, for every day there is night, for every good there is bad and their destiny depends greatly on all the Gods approval. There is a special day in their calender for each God and they have special services for each of these days. The priest is a very highly respected position and anyone bringing harm to a priest brings the wrath of the Gods, therefore anyone harming a priest whether directly or not is normally sacrificed to appease the Gods before they get angry.

Language : They have their own form of language that is very difficult for anyone not of their race to understand much less master. It is a form of hisses and guttural grunts used mainly for imparting feeling and desire, not really communication. They have developed the ability to understand and speak the basic traders common but even so they can never speak it fluently without their telltale hissing speech. Their written language is a form of simple pictographs that detail their meaning. They can however learn other forms of written language.

Favored Profession : While most of the favored professions that the Nagani may want are of the pipiltin caste, they have strong loyalty to their family and culture and would anything to protect them. The warrior caste is very important to the Nagani, for while they are not pipiltin, they are not commoners or slaves. They are outside most of the laws of their culture. Except the of laws about harming the priests. They are respected, for without them they would probably fall before their enemies and be no more.