Setting the Setting - OD&D (3LBB) & AD&D2e - Part 9 - Cultures: Drak'Thul Marauder Lizard Men

 

So far, in the Cultures subseries of my Setting the Setting posts, I've detailed the dominant culture of the area, Eldorian Humans, our three major cultures - the mercantile Thunderan Dwarves, the Egyptian-like Sunari Elves, and the militaristic, Roman Empire inspired Tauren Minotaurs - and two of our minor cultures - the Vindhyaksha Goblins and the Hearthwarden Halflings. I'm saving our second Human culture for last, so next up we have Lizard Men.

For the Cultural Archetype, I eschewed rolling and selected Barbarian. With our Minotaurs, Goblins and (yet-to-be-posted) Orcs having all gotten different cultures by rolling, I knew I wanted to have Barbarian on there somewhere and this was the best fit.

Barbarian: The realm is a tribal group or kingdom of people considered barbarians by their neighbors. These can be historical barbarians such as the Celts, Picts, or ancient Germans, or you may prefer to mold your kingdom after fantastic barbarians such as Robert E. Howard's Cimmeria. The Complete Barbarian's Handbook may be a good resource for your campaign.

While it could be fun to have higher-tech barbarians in a setting, for Technology Level I rolled on Table 23 of the World Builder's Guidebook, but limited options to the top 5, ending up with Savage.

Savage: Savage cultures form tribal regions or barbaric kingdoms (don't confuse a savage level of technology with the description of a savage culture, above). like Stone Age cultures, savage peoples make use of rudimentary agriculture and maintain semi-permanent camps or settlements. Several villages or clans may be united under a single high chieftain or king, but a large savage region is more likely to be divided into rival groups of tribes. Savage cultures average in with Bronze Age or Ancient technology, although Stone Age or Dark Ages technology is possible depending on the amount of contact the savages have with more advanced societies.

So far, we're looking pretty classic Barbarian with these Lizardfolk. Next up is Social Alignment, and since I have 9 cultures and there are 9 options on the table, I have been setting things up over the last several posts to have each culture have a different Social Alignment. With 6 already rolled or chosen, and one held in reserve, I selected Chaotic Neutral out of the 2 remaining options.

Chaotic Neutral: This is a region without any kind of central authority. Small clans, tribes, or guilds may form alliances or wage war with each other as they see fit. There is no law enforcement, although there may be accepted standards of behavior or vendetta justice. Countries in the process of disintegration through invasion, civil war, or catastrophe could be called Chaotic Neutral.

For the culture's form of government, I looked over the options, paying special mind to the ones we hadn't used yet. I ended up selecting Dictatorship as a good fit. This is the internal government of the culture itself, while the government of the area in general is a kind of Religious Satrapy.

Dictatorship: One supreme ruler holds absolute authority, but is not necessarily dynastic. In other respects this resembles an autocracy.

Hierarchy: A feudal or bureaucratic system which proceeds through different levels of a religious institution.

Satrapy: Conquerors and representatives of another government wield power over the region, ruling it as part of a larger empire. The satraps themselves might be bureaucrats and military officers, or they may be unusual characters or monsters of some kind, such as dragons, beholders, or vampires.

So, we have Savage, Barbarian Lizardfolk, ruled over by a warlord with an iron fist. 

The Local Campaign Area Chapter goes on to Subsistence Systems, culture/race relations, and Population Level, but I feel like these are best addressed when we get to detailing and mapping the land itself and plotting the settlements. 

Putting Barbarian Lizardfolk into the Culture Name Generator at Vondy.com, the option that came up which I liked the best was 'Drak'Thul Marauders,' and I went with 'Drak'Thul' as the demonym and name of the language. 

I also thought of migratory patterns, and through some rolls and choices, decided on settlement waves for our 9 cultures. The Drak'Thul, like the Halflings and the Elves, are original natives of the area. I noticed the Elven culture has 'Thal' in the name, and the Lizardfolk 'Thul' - this may relate to something deep in the ancient past of the area, perhaps referring to some ancient conflict between the two, with the Halflings perhaps caught in the middle. 

So, we have savage barbarian Lizardfolk, who have survived all these long centuries, in the face of the better organized Elves, and later incursions from the Minotaurs, Goblins, Eldorians and others. This perhaps speaks to their great prowess and resilience, or perhaps there's some other, hidden reason.