Lizardperson
| LIZARDMEN | |
 Lizardperson |
Genus: Basiliscus Lizretus Homeworld: Tizira Central Authority: The Empire Restricted Job Roles: N/A Guides: No external guides |
Not to be confused with the little lizards.
Sentient non-humans hired by Nanotrasen to fill in gaps in their Human workforce.
Functionally Lizards are nearly identical to Humans mechanics wise, but they suffer from lack of protection under certain Silicon Laws and they tend to be looked down upon by most of the (human dominated) crew.
Lore
A Basic Rundown
Lizardpeople originally hail from Tizira, in the Rizkalon system, though throughout their four centuries in the stars prior to meeting humanity they have spread over several planets and systems. This outward expansion was hindered by a lack of plasma and bluespace resources in their local sector, stunting their technological advancement and therefore their development (and rollout) of effective FTL engines, with many vessels within the navy not having been fitted with them prior to First Contact. Their technological level remains below that of their human rivals, aggravated by a limited transfer of ideas between the two species.
Tizira is notably more arid than Earth, with small, shallow seas and less arable land. In addition, the planet has a diminished ozone layer, leading to higher-than-average levels of solar radiation reaching the planet's surface. As cold blooded creatures, the lizards thrive in this environment, with major cities being built close to the coastlines and smaller settlements spread across the wide drylands and deserts.
Lizard society emphasises strict militarism and a rigid caste system. The caste system limits social mobility, separating society into distinct bands- however, as with many things in lizard society, enlistment in the military can change this. The military is intertwined deeply into lizard culture- all must serve a tour of mandatory service in the army after coming of age, it is customary for every citizen to be armed (typically with a blade, but into the modern era firearms have become commonplace), and the sight of a soldier on every street corner is not only typical but expected. Advancing in the military heirarchy is one of the few ways a low caste lizard might hope to raise his social standing.
As one travels further from the core systems however this culture softens. A century and a half of contact with humanity and a limited projection of power from Tizira has made lizards on the frontier of the empire much more humanlike in their mannerisms. There are many lizards alive today who have never lived within the borders of the empire, and care little for its customs.
Fun Factoids:
- The moon of Tizira was famously bombed by the TerraGov Expeditionary Corps during one of lizardkind's many conflicts with humanity, creating a noticable "scar" across the surface which can be seen from the planet. The Planet Cracker drink is named for this event.
- The Imperial Lizard Army is famous for their melee skirmishers, who utilise throwing weapons and short-ranged firearms to great effect alongside razor-sharp blades. Despite their embarassing defeat by humanity, they're still well respected within lizard society.
- The Draconic spoken by lizard crewmembers is a Spacer form of the language, created by decades of isolation from Tizira. Lizards from the core systems speak a distinct form of Draconic, known as "High Draconic" or "The Emperor's Draconic".
- With the newfound (and uneasy) peace between humans and lizards, some degree of cooperation between the species has blossomed. Tizira lends an expeditionary force to the human-led Anti-Xenomorph Coalition. Much of this cooperation is pushed by the present ruler of Tizira: the young Empress Arael-Daesa I, who has pursued a more pro-human foreign policy than her predecessors, much to the chagrin of both the military old guard and a significant portion of her people.
- Pronouncing X as "ecks" is badass.
Tizira: The Jewel of the Empire
While the Lizard Empire has come to encompass many planets over the course of its existence, none have been able to attain the level of beauty that is attributed to the capital, Tizira (Life-Mother). A rugged, arid planet, Tizira has small, shallow seas, and limited farmland, with most of the planet's surface being covered in vast badlands and savannahs, as well as deserts and small mountain ranges. In the more humid areas near the oceans, particularly around the equator, rainforests and tropical jungles thrive, acting as a home to an incredible range of biodiversity, as well as being the native homeland of the Tree Lizards. Additionally, in the northernmost and southernmost regions of the planet, temperate forests exist, as well as marshlands and rolling green hills. At the poles, a small band of tundra exists, before the polar ice caps. These areas are sparsely habited, as they are far from the natural habitat of the lizards.
Abundant natural resources include high-quality iron, silver, coal, salt, and hydrocarbons suitable for use as spacecraft fuel, resulting in the capital having a thriving material economy. In addition, the planet is host to most lizard corporations and companies, and has become a large tourist destination for lizards and non-lizards alike. However, many visitors find the atmosphere on the planet oppressive once they arrive- owing to the large military presence and generally stuffiness of the local populace when compared with the more open colonies.
Tizira possesses three moons. The largest of its moons, Atrakor ("Night Sky Lord" in High Draconic) was famously bombarded by the TerraGov Expeditionary Corps during one of lizardkind's many wars with humanity, giving the Lord his distinctive scar. Colonies exist on all three moons, harvesting valuable minerals to sustain the lizard economy. A number of orbital habitats exist too, though their quality is dubious and critics of the government accuse them of using them as offworld slums to house the poor and destitute out of sight and out of mind.
Tourist Information:
- The capital of Tizira is the city of Zagoskeld, translating to "Great Sea's Edge" from High Draconic. Its metropolitan area is home to around 1/16th of the planet's population. The city is home to the Imperial Family, whose palace overlooks the bay and is a popular tourist destination in the city. It's located on the Zagosk, or Great Sea, and as expected is also a major port city for intraplanetary trade.
- Tizira is home to around 10 billion lizardpeople, making it the Empire's most populous planet. A further 500 million live in orbital habitats and in colonies on its three moons.
- The urban density is highest around the oceans, with settlements further from water being smaller and less densely populated. Rural areas have survived the advancement to the space age, unlike on Earth.
- The many wars of lizardkind have resulted in much of the ancient architecture of the planet being lost or ruined. The few remaining well preserved sites are now strictly guarded as cultural heritage sites. Zagoskeld's old city is one of the best preserved areas of Medieval Lizard architecture, and the Imperial Palace is a key example of this style.
- While High Draconic is the official language of the Lizard Empire, officially around 2500 languages are recognised as still living by Lizard scholars. Strong cultural divides still cause issues for the central government, even centuries after unification.
The Lizard Currency
To understand lizard currency, it is first important to understand lizard mathematics- owing to the lizard physiology of 4 fingers per hand, many number systems on Tizira throughout history were to a base 8, instead of humanity's 10. From this, a hexadecimal number system developed to base 16, and this is today used across the planet. Lizard currency, therefore, is also to a base 16. The Tiziran Rena, or Crown, is the only official legal currency on Tizira, although Universal Credits are also frequently accepted by larger companies and in major cities.
A complex systems of coins dominates the Rena, with coins representing fractions of a full Rena. The smallest increment is the sekata (half kata), which is 1/32th of a pelata or 1/512th of a rena. From there, the increments build up as such: 1 kata (pewter) = 2 sekata (1 k) 1 selkata (two kata) = 2 kata 1 talkata (four kata) = 4 kata 1 yalkata (eight kata) = 8 kata 1 pelata (iron) = 16 kata (1 p, 1/-) 1 korta (gold) = 32 kata = 2 pelata (2 p, 2/-) 1 alsan (sword) = 64 kata = 4 pelata (5 p, 5/-) 1 serena (half rena) = 128 kata = 8 pelata (10 p, 10/-) 1 rena (crown) = 256 kata = 16 pelata (1 r, 20 p, 20/-)
Currency below a few rena is frequently expressed as pelata/kata, as these are fairly convenient coins to carry. Rena notes exist to the base 16, in order of 8 rena, 16 rena, 32 rena, etc.
The Ashwalkers
Since Nanotrasen first arrived at the scorched hellscape that is Indecipheres, mining expeditions have mysteriously disappeared in the ashy wastes, never to be seen again. At the same time, a new threat emerged- known colloquially as Ashwalkers by the mining crew, these monsters seem similar to the lizards that humanity has known for decades, but rougher and more primal.
Some 200 years ago, shortly before First Contact with humanity, the lizards created their first FTL-capable vessel- a colony ship, the ICS Thazakto, which would be sent off with the intent of finding a steady source of plasma, a material which had long eluded lizardkind and stunted their technological advancement. In a grand ceremony, the Thazakto pierced the light-speed barrier, and vanished into the great beyond in search of this miracle material. And then, there was nothing. Tizira never heard again from the pioneers aboard the ship.
On the other side of the artificial wormhole, chaos ensued. The trip had created an electromagnetic pulse, a risk of FTL travel unknown to the unexperienced lizards. Worse still, the Thazakto found itself caught in the gravity well of a nearby planet immediately on dropping from FTL speed, and the already weakened ship found itself unable to escape. The damage was severe, and of the crew of 300, only 120 emerged from the smouldering wreckage on what was to be their new home- a lava-drenched hellscape, where ash hung heavy in the air. Indecipheres.
The ship was reorganised into a makeshift shelter, and the survivors knew they would need to adapt to survive. Laws relaxed. Order crumbled. And then, the lizards made a dark discovery: the Necropolis, and its dark tendrils.
The evil of this new land seeped into their psyches; soon, they found themselves reverting to their basest urges, driven only by primal instinct- and of course, the guiding hand of their new master, the Great Tendril, which creates new Ashwalkers in their twisted image when fed with the lifeforce of sacrifices.
Now, the Ashwalkers stand, having taken the mantle of custodians of the Necropolis, ready to repel any invaders they find in their new homeland. To hunt.
On Rehabilitation of Ashwalkers
While the psychological and physiological alterations brought about by the Necropolis are numerous and severe, Nanotrasen scientists have, via extensive testing, found some success in rehabilitating ashwalkers taken from the surface of Indecipheres. Via removal of exposure from the Necropolis, alongside careful reintroduction to normal lizard living conditions and the social environment of the station, some ex-ashwalkers have had their Necropolis Adaptation reversed, and been successfully reintegrated with normal society where they serve as a novel source of labour for Nanotrasen's spinward stations. Many more, however, have died during attempts, or been driven mad in the process.
Roleplay
Lizardmen names are based on Verbs-The-Nouns, an example being Eats-The-Lemons or Stuns-The-Perp. They may also have tribal-ish fantasy name (based on argonians from the elder scrolls) with a hypen in-between in a similar manner to a randomly generated lizard name.
Generally Lizardpeople tend to form close knit communities with other Lizardpeople, and they tend to be wary around Humans, due to a combination of the limited amount of Lizardpeople on station but also due to the harsh treatment their species suffered hundreds of years ago by Humans. While many Humans are somewhat racist towards Lizardpeople many Lizards tend to hold little ill will towards Humans, however some Lizardpeople are oft just as racist towards Humans if not more so and are usually singled out as such.
While the central United Earth Government enforces harsh policies against Lizardpeople, and Nanotrasen exploits the unwanted status of Lizardpeople for financial gain, some fringe and even criminal organizations are surprisingly welcoming toward Lizardpeople, whether this is due to them being genuinely progressive or them simply needing anyone of the right skill sets to work for them, the attitude is appricated among the Lizardpeople that work with them and usually ensures a near unbreakable loyalty.
Amusingly Lizardpeople who work with Nanotrasen Security forces also near universally show a near unbreakable show of loyalty to their team. However this can be more attributed to how NT Security heavily emphasizes friendship and cooperation between security personal which thus encourages high loyalty, that and a big pay check.
Gameplay
Lizardpeople are a optional playable race. You can make a lizard character in the character panel, and change aspects of its appearance such as skin color, spines and antennae. Lizards attack with their claws to slash and hack people, though this does not deal any additional damage. They also tend to hiss when talking(because of their tongue) and are more resistant to heat and less to cold.
Random names for lizardpeople are hypenated. They are generated by taking two names from a gender-specific list of lizard names.
Note that as a lizard, the AI does not consider you human and is not obligated to listen to you and an Asimov AI will often respond lethally should they find you harming a human, however this also means the AI can allow you to put yourself into harm's way in a positive manner, such as opening an airlock exposed to space to save someone.
You can speak in Draconic, a language understood by lizardpeople (as well as silicons and the Curator) by preceding your speech with ,o. To speak on the radio in Draconic, use the radio code first, i.e., "; ,o Hello lizardsss!" You can also set your default language to Draconic with the language button on the HUD. WARNING: Speaking in lizard language around humans has a high chance of making the humans hate you. Even more than usual.
