High Serpentine

How the High Serpentines came to be. ..
. . .is a query that has lasted a thousand generations. Of course, with every passing millennium, the truth becomes more and more illusive. Some tribes theorize that their ancient ancestors were four legged, fire breathing beasts. Maybe they even had wings. Others assume they had multiple heads, and there are other that logically assume that all of them were once giant snakes. Well, what’s the use of being called “serpentines” if there wasn’t a snake heritage somewhere down the line. That usually gets some laughs at the temple.

Whatever be the truth of those that came before, they are no longer, and the High Serpentine race is the here and now.

General Description
These reptilian giants - their average height being 15’ - 20’ walk among the deserts, jungles, mountains, and forests of Abexilas. As they stride; their long necks cut through the sky, with long coarse manes flowing in the wind; their muscular bodies cast blankets of shadow over the earth; their huge paws strike earthquakes with every step; and their long thick tails wag with such relaxed ease behind their tall slender frames. Despite their enormous size and reptilian essence, this race is intelligent and quite sophisticated. Temples, roads, towns, and cities - even epics, sculptures, and banks - have been produced by their hands.

Furthermore, they've fashioned their own language - Tetronese. Although it has gained a reputation from foreigners for being extremely difficult to translate and learn, this attribute nevertheless speaks to the volume of progression that this anthromorphic race has achieved.

Place of Origin and History
Their origins lie in the desert, where even to this day, many lizardkin pilgrimage from far and wide to marvel at, pray within, and be among the monolithic ruins of their ancient ancestors.

In truth, many of the High Serpentine still dwell within the desert. It’s the home to their largest and most historical cities - with their mudbrick walls having been maintained for several thousand years. However, the arid biome, as mentioned earlier, isn’t their only domain, and there’s good reason and a good long story as to why that’s the case. Though, for the time being, I’ll grant you a brief summarization.

It's no surprise that with their stature, strength, and resistance to the heat, the lizardkin have few natural predators; yet, they still suffer many natural challenges. Natural disasters such as dust tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes are the typical enemies of the lizardfolk.

Additionally, their history books describe sorrowful eras where scores of their population were eliminated by deadly diseases injected from insects or by malnourishment during tremendous droughts. Of course, the lizardkin’s preference for arid environments make these troubles inevitable. Many infamous characters - or heroes, depending on which tribe and which person you ask - of days past have sparked schisms - or issued migrations - in an attempt to alleviate further suffering from living in the desert. This is how the different tribes came to be.

Consequently and unfortunately, as with all rivaling communities, wars, pillagings, and other atrocities have been committed to and fro - brother against brother, sister against sister. These times of tragedy have seen many - far too many -  families broken, legacies destroyed, feuds ensued, and trauma inflicted. Even many generations after, the sins of the former have scarred the latter, and, now, any hope of reuniting the tribes is a fleeting afterthought. Many, accompanied by painful groans and heavy sighs, have concluded that, “the reality is what it is.”

Regardless,  hope still resonates with the youth, and the previous decades have seen revolutionary progressions in executive, legislative, judicial, cultural, and marital decisions. Afterall, a shining new dawn arises on the High Serpentine.