lore

Most archaic and least understood of all the Elder Races, many believe the Saurians built sophisticated civilisations when the Elves were still wearing animal fur. The oldest works I possess name these enigmatic jungle dwellers as Venerable Ones. It is rumoured theirs was a cold, cruel reign, and the younger races looked upon them as tyrants.

The time of the Saurians and the Dawn Age ended when they were cast down by Elves and Dwarves, or else swallowed by the sea in some cataclysm of that turbulent time.

Ruins that remain, even in the heart of Vetia, attest that Saurians built structures which eclipse all to come since. Their magics were capable of connecting continents and effecting change on a global scale. Their descendants endure, yet they are a shadow of what they once were, scattered among isolated jungle valleys. Reports from colonial expeditions claim they remain timeless in physical appearance, as if copied from the carvings of their crumbling temples. They still eschew steel in favour of bronze, yet their hides are tough as mail, their poisons defy all healers, and their soldiers act with an unnerving unity of purpose.

The Saurian Ancients are believed to have used magic longer than any other race. The relationship of the Cuatl with magic is like breathing air – their pampered bodies reflecting the degree to which their mind has focused upon its use in spell craft. No longer requiring the words or gestures, they are able to act and communicate telepathically and through others. Paradoxically, they value order and structure to such an extent that some of the wilder paths of magic are beyond philosophical acceptance, maybe even beyond intellectual grasp. Yet the paths they are able to use, they employ with exceptional skill, while making use of Skink practitioners to connect with their environment and the many beasts which complement their civilisation.

Of all the mysterious beasts that plague this world, the Saurians are surely the most poorly understood. Reptiles of varying size that walk like men, they are encountered commonly enough that their existence is beyond doubt, but their true nature and objectives continue to escape our knowledge. Of special interest is their possible connection to ancient myths of reptilian demigods or daemons who supposedly subjugated all peoples in a global empire of oppression.

Long study of the many sources on saurian lore leads me to conclude that there is little, if anything, that links the creatures found today to those of the "Dawn Age". If there was indeed an ancient empire, its descendants were scattered by its fall, and survive today in a series of enclaves within hidden or well-protected regions of the world. There is reason to believe that several of these have since re-established contact and operate as a larger alliance of some kind, while others remain isolated. Though these confederated enclaves have no easily discernible leadership or government, some theorise they are united by a common religious or philosophical mission. Understanding of this mission, if there is one, is not helped by their inability to speak any comprehensible language.

“It was not always so,” said the Mangyiniki chieftain, his shift from exuberance to solemnity seemingly reflected by the reed god-masks arrayed around the hut.

“Once, we were not warriors. There were devils who walked on the land as scaled beasts, with blood that ran not hot and red, but cold and blue. And they held our ancestors in bondage, working them to the bone for their wicked plans. But the sky-gods saw all, and punished them, and the sky itself fell on them and we escaped. But they linger, even now, in the deep jungles, and make new plans. They come, sometimes, to speak with us, and we have seen their patterned monoliths.”

I shivered in the tropical heat. My host, brightly clad in feathers and warpaint, could not have been more different from the birdlike white-haired nursemaid who once terrified my juvenile mind with her Ullsberger peasant folktales, full of lurking snakes and lizards who stole naughty children to rebuild their ancient dominion of slavery. Yet the chieftain’s tale seemed eerily familiar, a common footprint in the primordial fears of humanity. What horror did our distant ancestors endure that has scarred us so? And did it indelibly mark these reptiles too?

Day 32
My presence remains undetected, and the new vantage point has proven most fruitful. I believe I have finally confirmed von Möltburg’s conjecture that the microcephalic quadrupedal specimens he dissected after the Renzigen Expedition are in fact the males of the species. Four to twenty inches in length, they are barely sentient, capable of little
more than fertilising eggs almost as large as they are.

Day 33
Well, it seems we can conclusively discard old Gahlengeld’s theory that the “Gila” form a hereditary warrior caste. In over three weeks I have yet to observe any difference in the social roles fulfilled between them and the smaller “Skinks”. Interactions in general are remarkably non-hierarchical for such a primitive society. It would appear their respective roles in times of war are driven by necessity rather than inborn right.

Day 34
At last! A glimpse of the elusive “Caiman”. It wandered in at dawn, clearly no permanent part of the community, but welcome nonetheless. Spent over four hours observing it arrange shells in elaborate patterns along the riverbank, oblivious in childlike wonder. Even the other saurians avoided it, casting quizzical glances at its works.

Much of our scant knowledge of the Saurians comes indirectly from the human nations who live in closer proximity to their enclaves. While attempts to communicate directly with the minds of their corpulent, allegedly mind-reading mages typically ends in even greater confusion or madness, there are some who over the centuries have discerned more useful information. Of particular interest is the account of the natives of the southern Sunrise Sea archipelagos, who speak of a mighty, but exceedingly dangerous island of Saurians which they call "Atua".

Though no Vetian has ever laid eyes on it, it is said that Atua is the greatest of the surviving Saurian enclaves, and that it was Atuan Saurians who first sought out and united other groups into the so-called "Vitalist" confederation we observe in modern times. It is this alliance which is responsible for its bizarre and seemingly random attempts to influence world affairs, so it is said, to advance a grand cosmic crusade against entropy itself.

According to the locals, the potent amphibian-like mages of the Saurians are not, as the superstitious assume, immortal creatures hailing from the primordial Dawn Age itself, but relatively new beings, a species which only reappeared in recent centuries. Some sources suggest this emergence may have coincided with the global upheaval triggered by the Inferno event in the Age of Waste, but this must remain mere speculation.

Lorentum, 933
Battalion of waiting saurians showed synchronised excitability at the same instant. No clear provocation. Prelate Abbinger theorises long-distance shared emotional connection.

Northern Equitaine, 936
Two dozen smaller saurians brought stones bearing intricate, highly structured non-repeating patterns. Departed after depositing stones at crossroads.

Nedarac, 947
Saurians presented poor renderings of Arandad writing in apparent attempt to share philosophical ideas with Highborn scholars. After study, the messages dismissed as superstition; the saurian emissaries slain.

Chensk, Volskaya, 948
8,000-strong saurian warparty appeared in the night with no warning. Levelled town, leaving ruins arranged in indecipherable pattern. Departed before state forces could engage.

Monopatea, 951
Large saurian party arrived at height of famine. Left 150 barrels of fruit and grain of tropical origin.

Nebelak, Augean subcontinent, 959
Infernal colony captured by saurians accompanied by giant scaled monsters, previously only ever sighted in Virentia. Inhabitants enslaved, made to construct monoliths, until freed by relief army.

How can they not see? The Gods, mere Man, the struggles of the petty Nations! Nought but children squabbling in the face of the tide that rushes to drown them all! How could they be so blind? Blind to the war that rages all around them, blind to the Eternal Crusade waged since the dawn of time when ragged mortality first tore itself bloodied from the womb and, defiant, screamed at the heedless cosmos! Can they not perceive it in the lowliest germs that sprout their crops, in the swarms of rutting vermin that writhe in their sewers, in their own flesh and bone? This miracle, this crux of reality, standing alone athwart the tide of crawling Chaos! It is no god, no airy spirit, that holds back the fulcrum of existence, teetering on the precipice of form-erasing, self-ablating void! It is Life! Life! Alone in all the cosmos, endlessly renewing, constantly mutating, clinging onto every crevice, every toehold, in the infinite cold darkness! If only they could see!

Q: Herr Selig, recently I became aware that the Cuatls of Saurian society are considered a new development, perhaps a response to the daemonic incursions of the Age of Waste. However, the famous Equitan tapestry reproducing the world hymn shows what seems to be such a creature as far back as the first age. Is this perhaps an error in the replication? Or how might such difference be explained?

A: A scholar’s question, which deserves a scholar’s answer. What I wouldn’t give to work with you on a treatise on the intricacies of Saurian history.

There are two conflicting pieces of information which relate to this issue. First, it seems clear from the scraps of history and legend which survive from the Dawn Age, that the Cuatl were present in that time. In fact, they dominated at the time, even among the Saurians themselves. There are too many pieces of circumstantial evidence which corroborate this to discount it as false.

The second element is the issue you have referred to - centuries back, but long since the Dawn Age had passed, there was an...emergence of Cuatl. From their presence being limited to nothing but myth and ancient history, there began to be recorded sightings - albeit still rare and scattered across the world.

I’m afraid I don’t currently have the answer to why this discrepancy exists. For some reason, the Cuatl disappeared from across the world at around the same time. Then, years later, they returned just as suddenly as they had departed.

During the intervening period, who can say what occurred. I’ve heard theories ranging from the Cuatl crossing into the Immortal Realm, and only returning on the need of their people, to a secret valley conclave into which they retreated until the world had moved on and was ready for their talents. Another supposition has them all hunted down systematically, until they no longer posed any threat to the other races.

Lastly, the theory that the Cuatl were forced to lay low. The danger they presented was well known, they were the monster’s children to be feared, and would be hunted so long as a trace could be found. Remove the trace, and the trail went cold. In time, even the longest-lived hunters died off, and the need for secrecy lessened. Although this would have required an incredible level of cooperation.

Much of this will remain speculative, unless the Saurians themselves decide to impart some of their secrets. I invite my more learned readers to propose their own answers to this conundrum, perhaps we can test our theories together.

Sir, on behalf of Empress Sophia I hereby grant you a commission of 5,000 men and 27 galleons for the purpose of re-establishing control of the imperial colony of Aguadulce. You will set sail this summer to Virentia, where you will refortify and expand the encampment, and oversee the plantations’ immediate return to productivity.

As you know, the colony was recently abandoned after an encounter with a local species of giant reptile. This is what we know:

The ancient creatures known as saurians were thought to be nothing but legend until Captain Fernando Cabeza reported several sightings in the jungles around Aguadulce. The reptilians walk on two legs, carry weapons and other tools, and have appeared in varying forms, most growing to around 4 feet. When the animals reportedly provided our colonists with food during their first winter, Cabeza determined that their size and lack of intelligence made them perfectly suited to working in the plantation.

After several months of successfully capturing and harnessing the labour of many such creatures, Cabeza reported a number of plantation workers struck down by poisoned darts. The reptiles used a fast-moving, shifting formation that made it difficult to return fire.

The camp soon came under full-scale attack; the garrison of 300 mercenaries and the other colonists were ordered back behind the palisades. Using pistols and crossbows, the enemy were temporarily forced back, but soon returned in larger numbers, using what Cabeza described as “a huge, be-spiked monster” to break down the wooden defences. Only a handful of men returned to the ship.

This report no doubt explains the much larger expeditionary force with which you have been entrusted. The colony at Aguadulce is much too profitable to abandon – your services to the Destrian Empire are of the utmost importance to its future. The Empress herself has expressed an interest and will be notified of your progress. She expects great things.