Interlude – Lizardfolk II

Interlude – Lizardfolk II

Life for the migrated lizardpeople was comfortable, but different. The migrants enjoyed the comforts and the outward safety, but in private, they argued and bickered over the tradeoff. Jaan suffered their pleas and whines, for he is chief.

It is him, who they blame for their situation, after all, he suggested this particular location.

"This place is not the way of the lizardpeople."

Tradition, as it is, resisted change.

Jaan felt tradition was helpful, it helped them make good decisions. But he was not beholden to them. They were not a rule. Tradition was not always the answer.

Thus lies the first schism with tha matrons, as that was not how matrons saw it. The matrons believed that tradition was the only way for young lizardfolks to be lizardfolk.

Veer away from that, and the lizardfolks are something else entirely. It was as if a lizardfolk, and the culture around being a lizardfolk was inseparable.

That schism was at the heart of their dispute. Was tradition law, or just a recommendation?

His ears, if he was human, wouldve fallen off, and he could now recite their arguments by heart, the words imprinted into his mind.

But he didnt believe it.

Their culture was part of the problem.

Even in their small clan of lizardfolk there were the traditionalist, and the modernist who embraced the new way.

He had hoped there was a bridge somewhere. Something to bring the two sides of the clan together. It existed somewhere, but as of now, he did not see the way to it.

***

"Aeon intends for the lizardfolk leaders to see what life is on Treehome. Ten of your most senior representatives are invited for a trip to the Treehome, this trip will take about three to four weeks."

"A trip to Treehome? Where is that?" The matrons asked.

"Aeon's homeworld." Jaan gasped. In his day to day life, he had heard whispers and rumors that these people were otherworlders, but it was another thing to travel there.

Naturally, they couldnt miss the opportunity. Jaan and nine others came, and there were many others. Lizardfolk, elves, and the other migrants had all selected their own representatives for the trip. Jaan recognised a few familiar faces, faces he met during the monthly migrant integration meetings.

They gathered for the trip at the floor of the gigantic tree of Branchhold.

They didnt like being here, just approaching it felt them with a sense of such overwhelming dread and he could see the same, pale faced expression on his other clan members. They werent exactly sure why.

They brought some luggage along, stored in standardized bags provided by the Branchhold's officials. On the ground, there was clearly some differentiation between the officials of Branchhold, and those of this 'Treehome'.

They had a slightly different badge that pulsed and had a strange scent.

"Please stand here. The transportation process will begin shortly."

Jaan saw the first of the other groups vanish suddenly, and one of the matrons shouted in surprise. The officials quickly calmed her down, explaining that it is a teleportation spell of some kind. The matrons shouted back, at first, claiming that it lacked the mana presence for a spell.

"Chief Jaan, you're next." The officers guided them to the location. He stood, and just as suddenly, he felt a vine touch him. It sent something through him, and at that point.

[You will be sent to another world. Do you agree?]

He could refuse, but he felt that the spell could send him through anyway. He knew by instinct it was powerful enough to overpower him. Jaan nodded, and it was instantaneous.

In a sudden, he was elsewhere. The rest of the representatives from his clan joined him just moments later. The eldest matron was amazed. She hadnt known of a skill that could send one through worlds.

The air immediately felt different, the stench of the demonic presence gone, replaced by the overwhelming presence in the air, a kind of natural magic. Branchhold was still surrounded by quite a lot of corrupted demonlands, territories unclaimed, and that stench still drifted to Branchhold occasionally.

Here. nothing.

"Welcome." Everyone was here, and there were a hundred of them. They were located in a deep valley, though with all the bright lighting, it's hard to tell. "Please, this way." They were guided to a convoy of tour beetles.

The wide-eyes lizardfolks were led into protected beetles, where they witnessed the vast, sprawling metropolis of Freshka. Freshkas various districts were visible as the beetles crossed the little crest of a hill.

Jaans slitted lizard eyes scanned the metropolis from their vantage point. The segments of the academic district with the towers of the FTC, the military-magic district where the Valtrian Order and the mages trained, and the sprawling economic and residential segments that took up all the spaces in between.

He had seen large cities, but never so large.

Ive never seen a city so large. One of the female matrons said, and the eldest matron was just silent. Jaan knew she had a lot to take in. Silence was how she processed information.

After a short moment, the beetles ferried them through the streets on the dedicated branchways that crisscross the city. Traffic was hardly ideal in Freshka, even the dedicated branchways had to share traffic with many other beetles, among the other dedicated paths made from branches, and underground root paths that moved people from place to place.

And so messy. Another human, one of the leaders of the human-faction of Branchhold commented.

Some refer to that as being alive. A city that lives.

Jaan began to tour the districts. Their first stop was the education district, and they were greeted by four young Lords of the central continent. A treefolk, a human, a centaur and a lizardfolk.

He froze when he saw one of the Lords and Ladies was a lizardfolk, covered in all kinds of badges and dressed in a beautiful set of armor. Whoever planned this trip was clever, and he noticed the matrons themselves glared enviously at the young lady.

Greetings, I am Lady Ghairen. The lizardfolk lady spoke to them. It is my honor to greet our esteemed visitors from Branchhold. It is indeed a shock to me, to know that lizardfolks exist on other worlds too, and also a great honor, that I am tasked with introducing the ways of my fellow lizardfolk to the representatives of Branchhold. Greetings.

The matrons glares were a mix of both envy and pride. She was tall, and her body strength did not pale to any male. There was a deep sheen to her scales, a clarity to her eyes, a glint to her teeth. Jaan himself was fairly flabbergasted to beauty. It was an admiration not unlike seeing a goddess. He had to dig deep and to pull himself to react.

Now, Ill be your guide during this process. For the lizardfolks, we will be touring some of the lizardfolk enclaves in Freshka, and also a dedicated tour of the lizardfolk villages in the outskirts. We will also be meeting a few elite lizardfolk Valthorns, the valiant warriors who protect us from the demons.

Everyone nodded, the lady had some kind of skill that seemed to just hold their attention, even if what she said was boring.

A matron immediately ribbed Jaan. Why dont you speak like that?

Jaan snarled. Wrong class.

***

The college of the nobility and the commoners wasnt of much interest to the lizardfolk. The elves and humans, however, found it thoroughly fascinating, as they had some kind of schooling and academy system back home and so could compare notes.

Then, they went on to the military academy and that was when the matrons truly, truly revealed a thirst he had rarely seen in them.

The Valthorns had an area where the lizardfolk Valthorns trained, and all of them were strong, powerful individuals. Their stares and glances were greedy, filled with desire, even the eldest matron.

Lady Ghairen nodded, as if she expected the reaction, she was used to the scene so she didnt react to the sight of these powerful lizardfolks. The Valthorns will perform a demonstration of their levels of strength. The group here is part of the junior batch, at around level 60 to 80. The military of Treehome are organized around the Valtrian Order, which has the mass military forces, the Valthorns, which comprised the elite forces of Treehome. Within the Valthorns itself, there are further segregations into specialized units, with the junior batch of level 60 to 100, the senior batch of level 100 and above, and the elites, the best of the senior batch.

Level 60 to 80 is the junior batch? One of the matrons wanted to faint.

Of course. Lady Ghairen smiled. The bar to enter the true Valthorn ranks is level 100.

Level 100!

To be able to challenge the demon champions single-handedly, level 80 is the minimum. You will meet a few level 100 lizardfolks later on.

How do they train till such levels? Jaan was curious about the specifics.

Thats classified. I do not know the full details of what the Valthorns go through. There are some guesses and rumors, of course, that Aeon has some secret dungeons for the Valthorns, but no one has ever found them.

I see. Jaan admired the incredible build and strength of the lizardfolks, and felt proud that lizardfolk could stand toe to toe with the best of them.

The humans and elves were less impressed with the high leveled elves, because they too had seen level 80 elves and humans, but rather, they were taken aback that lizardfolks, that they normally consider to be generally weaklings, even at the same levels, display such exceptional strength.

I dont want to paint the wrong picture, here. Lady Ghairen clarified. The Valthorns, even the lizardfolks, are trained from young. These lizardfolks are designed, and educated for the long war against the demons. They are selected for their exceptional combat talents, and not all lizardfolks live such lives.

How many lizardfolk are there? A matron asked. How many serve as tools of war?

From what publicly available data revealed by the Valthorns, only less than three thousand lizardfolks serve in the Valthorns, though about hundred and seventy thousand serve in the Valtrian Order throughout the central continent. Our total population, based on the estimates collected by the FFA, puts our lizardfolk at somewhere around eighty million.

Eighty million?!

Yes, one third of that number lives in the area of Wetport Lapule, which is the lizardfolks de facto capital. The rest are scattered all over the continent, in smaller towns, swamp and marshland cities, or in the various villages.

The matrons looked at each other, curious what a great lizardfolk city was like. Will we be able to visit that city?

Lady Ghairen wasnt sure, and looked at a Valthorn assistant. Ill get back to you on that.

And if enough people believed in it, the system absorbed elements of the symbols.

***

Jaan couldnt get the matrons to stop talking, but luckily, the minders and the children had to go back to their care centers.

Yet, he could see it in some of the matrons, who realized that traditions changed.

Yes, there is an argument to hold onto original traditions, to write them down, to remember why they were, and what they were for. Jaan knew that their own matrons understood the traditions, and their purpose.

The beetle now led them to tour the rest of Wetport Lapule, which was different.

There was a bustle, an energy in the docks that was palpable. Everyone did something, and wanted to do something. There was always a ship setting out, and even though the skies looked cloudy, no one seemed to mind.

Just being here made Jaan feel like he was a slacker.

The eldest matron stood next to Jaan, and sighed. They are so strange.

Strange? Jaan asked.

Lizardfolks. Sailors.

Their world is different. They have large oceans, while ours only has one large one.

Their traditions, their ways. So different.

Jaan nodded. We may be similar in appearance, but their people changed over time.

A ship sailed in, battered, but the captain was a large, burly lizardman. A giant lizardperson with scars, and tattoos that glowed. Level 50 [Pirate War Captain]. Enchantments. He wore gloves made of some kind of unusual steel, thick with magical enchantments.

But look at them.

The matron gave out a long sigh. Thats the thing. I cant say they are wrong. They have life, they have dignity, their own city, their own culture. These lizardfolks belong here, unlike us, running and fleeing from the flames of war. Our kingdoms never last more than a decade, and here-

They have the might to defend their claim. We dont.

You know we usually fall to infighting. The matron answered.

Lizardfolks of mountainworld are segregated. Separated. Treated as disposable units deployed just to overwhelm their enemies with sheer numbers.

The largest they had was just a city not even one tenth of this monstrous, sprawling agglomeration. They never got large enough, which was ironic, given their breeding patterns designed for volume.

Even when they did, infighting broke their clans and villages apart, and they were back to square one. The poorer average quality of lizardfolks meant many just died along the way. Their poor skills and abilities meant they couldnt even feed that many, if they wanted to.

Jaan nodded. I dont believe they are entirely right, Matron. But there are things to learn from their path. Something in between the two traditions.

The matron shook her head. Mixing traditions is even more dangerous.

Jaan shrugged, and saw what they liked. Lizardfolks of Wetland Lapule were truly masters of herbs and potions, due to competition among the [herbalists], [witchdoctors] and [shamans], and far better record keeping and tracking of recipes by the central authority.

There was tradition, but new traditions could also be made.

***

District Chief Saraf, when we were back on Freshka, we saw some Valthorn lizardpersons. Are there any here?

Saraf laughed like it was the most ridiculous statement ever. Is your village so small that they didnt even put a Valthorn? The Great Tree has people everywhere. Everywhere.

He then pointed in a particular direction, where Jaans eyes suddenly saw a giant tree, just as large as the one with the flames, located slightly further inland, but still deep in the suburbs and districts of their city. Strange. Why didnt I see that before?

Tree-magic. Saraf laughed. I think. Or some godly shenanigans. But if you want to find Valthorns, that is where you go. Thats also the super rich-district, and the administrative district of Wetland Lapule.

Super rich?

Yup. If youre one of the Guild Lords or great Admirals, youll have a home in District XII. Its a fancy, really upscale place where theyd kick you out, if you got a scale out of place.

Really?

Jaan stared, and Saraf eventually shrugged.

Alright, Im half joking. The Valtrian order doesnt do that. But the private establishments do. Uppity farts with half dropping tails between their legs.

If you didnt tell me, I wouldnt think you look out of place. Jaan smiled.

Meh. Saraf cursed. They think Im a tryhard. Fools with too much money and too little brains. Theyll be poor in a generation or two.

Jaan didnt get it, but he nodded.

Anyway, lets not bore you with class dynamics in this swamphole. Jaan saw through Sarafs fake laugh. All was not perfect here, and so, Jaan tried to poke a bit harder.

Whats life being... poor?

Fantastic. You just make your babies with some whore from the bar, and dump them at the Valtrian orders nurseries, and its no longer your fucking problem, then youre back to serving on the decks and a deckhand, then at night youre pissed drunk somewhere, somehow, but never actually falling into the bay. Saraf said. Then, you try to claim every orphan lizardfolk who made it as somehow your descendant. One you dont have a hand in raising.

Jaan felt that sounded way too personal, as if he lived it.

Hah. Didnt expect that, right? But anyway, Im kidding. I wouldnt want to be poor again. Its terrible. All that alcohol doesnt numb the fact that society sees you as worthless.

Another set of statements Jaan couldnt wrap around his head.

But honestly, its the middle class who gets shoved. Mainly from stupid, ridiculous, absurd property prices. You know us lizardfolks, we dont like tall skyscrapers like humans or elves, we like our homes on land, with some bits of flowing water and all that. Thats why weve kept building outwards and pretty much taken over the entire bay! The other races now call this place the Bay of Lizards.

They were now back on the deck.

Huh. Its almost entirely why they instituted production quotas. This place essentially bore the faults of lizardfolk over-birthing in the earlier half century. Aeon wanted to repopulate the lizardfolk population, which was fine and all, had everyone listened to their directives and lived in the old lizardfolk lands where theres still a lot of space, but every other damned lizardfolk wanted to be here.

The chief stared at the district chief again, and couldnt help but ask. Why?

Its the biggest market for lizardfolks. Highest wages, good competitive roles, best employers, and the land where all the famous non-Valtrian lizardfolks live. If you want to work for a famous [buccaneer admiral], this is the place to be.

Dont chiefs tell the young lizardfolks what to do? Jaan asked, as if the idea was so ridiculous. Why were younglings not listening to orders? In his mind, there was room for discussions and all, but once the decision was made, everyone had to follow.

That was the way. Oh lord youre one of those oldies that still want to dictate younglings, arent cha?

Jaan paused, and felt like he too got slapped in the face. Metaphorically.

Haha, my bad. Dont mean to step on your old tail, but seriously, young lizardfolks these days are brought up with so many supplements and provided with such large amounts of knowledge and education, theyre just different. You gotta adapt, or you wont keep your role for long.

Wha-

I can feel that you come from a place unlike this, but reality is, the young will have their own thoughts, and they wont agree with you all the time. Time to let go. Let them experiment. This place was an experiment, after all. Though, I suppose you could also say this damned place is an experiment that went on for far too long and its high time Aeon stepped in to revamp this damned bay.

Suddenly, he now understood the matrons resistance.

Tradition dictated that they defer to the matrons on matters of family and raising younglings, and he tried to change it.

Here, his role was subject to change. He was old, and felt old. This was what it was like to feel like the worlds changing too fast, and you cant keep up.

He had been too selfish, and perhaps ignorant. He thought that his own position was safe from change. Was the matrons resistance arising out of insecurity over their own roles in the future lizardfolk society?

Where do they go from here?

***

Spaizzer

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Those that bought it, thanks! <3

This is just a side story on the life of lizardfolks. I keep getting requests from readers to write more about the story of those living under Aeon's rule, and this is one of the attempts. There are a few more on patreon, some worked, some didn't.