Lacerta

Geography
A land to the northwest of the continent, verdant and beautiful, lush with every resource. Massive forests cover much of the inland range, washing up the eastern mountains, while plains stretch towards a meandering coastline.

The forests grow increasingly dark and foreboding towards the northern border, past which Lepus lies. To the east, the great mountain range of the continent separates Lacerta from the Canian desert; to the southwest, the tall trees give way to the prairies of Vulpecula, while the southeastern edge turns to damp Hydran marsh.

People
The Lacertans are a deeply spiritual but astoundingly disorganized people. Renowned as much for their medicine and bountiful, fertile land as they are for their incredibly thorough(ly crazy) nature-based religions, legends, and bizarre crossbreeding with less-than-human entities, Lacertans in general revere and live together with their land. From nobility to peasant, they coexist with a truly gorgeous but also truly lethal (depending on the place) forested and grassed land full of monsters, curses and maybe even spirits, all of which share an intimate part of their lives.

The line between humanity, divinity and nature is blurred not just in their beliefs but also in their very nature and DNA. Somehow, the people have interbred with magical aspects of the land. It’s normal for a Lacertan to have one or more inhuman aspects to them, either in appearance or ability; Lacertan pairings (of which there are plenty) can be Highly Inauspicious and result in common citizens with claws, fangs, or stranger tendencies. In addition, while some dismiss it as a cultural stereotype that those of Lacertan descent are at higher risk of born or developed insanity, it may be a true, natural result of their blood and lifestyle.

They are generally known as being hedonists as well. Recreational drug use is common, as is casual sex, though often a Lacerta will consider this an aspect of their spirituality.

Unless it’s the very wrong neck of the woods or you’ve wronged their own, Lacertan hospitality is famously well-known, from poor to rich, and their nobility is as lavish as their gardens. As a nation of itself, it holds many alliances and trade connections with other countries; and though inhabitants of smaller villages may never leave their home, a guest is nearly always welcome.

The Lacertan lifestyle can be agrarian, though rarely aggressively so. Family structures tend to be highly disorganized, due in no small part for their culture’s complete lack of interest in or competence at monogamy. It’s not uncommon or looked down upon to be uncertain of one’s parentage.

Settlement/Government
Lacerta runs at best via a disorganized, informal, and barely regarded quasi-feudal system, lacking formalized structure or law in the most part; settlements range from small villages to castles surrounded by sprawling cities, all working around nature, not through it. Bigger, more popular ones are full of foreigners visiting for the healthcare, beauty, and love of life. These Lacertan cities, quaint compared to more industrialized civilizations but huge and populated nonetheless, have their robin hoods, their lawless, even their agnostics.

The Order of Knights
The Order of Knights is a sacred and orthodox ‘church’ which focuses on the protection and honorable presentation of Lacerta both within and without its borders. Rather than having entire armies (which would be impossible to maintain with Lacertans), the Order specializes in raising, training, and imbuing knights with superhuman levels of skill that allows one man to BE an army. There are generally no more than a couple dozen Knights at any one time, and each is revered for their strength and skill. Most of them have unique magic prowess in different areas, which can be as scattered as Lacerta’s many religions.

However, the primary unifying factor of the Order is its strict moral code. Knights are expected to behave like Knights at all time. They must forever be honorable, respectful, proud, reserved and so forth. Marriage is generally discouraged, but is not unheard of, however it must be done with members of ranking Lacertan nobility. While Knights are far too valuable to be ‘done away with’, they will be assigned boring dignitary jobs if their actions are too much of an embarrassment to allow them to remain at home.

Spirituality
Local customs and beliefs can vary wildly from area to area with no logical pattern or consistency. Locals in one village may warn you not to piss off the local roach spirit because you’ll find your shoes full of roaches in the morning, and the next village may have completely different traditions where you must wear a mask of Kokoli's through a certain neck of the woods because it grants you His ability to trick the Wumperts that lay there (though some are universal - don’t step on spiders, you’re asking to get sick!), while the next may seem much more toned down, merely blessing their meal.

Generally it emphasizes humanity’s part in the grater order of nature, and a reverence for the world around them; they believe in gods and spirits all over the place, within a Balance where possibly everything has a life and place. While the higher gods are acknowledged, there is much greater familiarity and reliance on minor local gods.

Art
Lacerta is known for its traditions of body art, ranging from simple lines and curves to elaborate full-body workings: these range from stylized renderings of elements of the nature around, to spirit marks, to the more down-to-earth bawdy variety.

Technology
Lacertan medicine is known to be unusually effective, even in the more developed countries beyond. Centered around long tried-and-tested herbalistic knowledge and traditions, there's no denying that spiritual perceptivity (and perhaps even spiritual power) plays a role as well.

Cuisine
Fresh, healthy, savory and flavorful, varying from simple to full of spices and sauces but always rich with natural flavor. They put all' parts of the lizard to use.

Native Creatures
۞ Beebats - Commonly attracted to silksings for some reason no one really knows. There may be some magic involved as the wines made from their honey is said to be incredibly intoxicating and reminds anyone who drinks it of a comfortable, lazy summer.

۞ Bearbees - Less common in this area, they are as typical, found often near a beebat colony.

۞ Kimp (Green Child) - These bipedal lizards are approximately the same height as a small child and their demeanor often resembles one. Usually swathed in cloth, they impersonate people for as long as it amuses them. They have quills down their backs which are venomous and can actually be shot for a few feet of distance. They have a great affinity for shiny things and are mildly psychic.

۞ Pederpes - Derpy lizards in this area are sleeker, faster. They prefer trees and often have a mottled brown and green coloration. They are agile and can jump from tree to tree with ease. Their running speed on land is far above a humans.

۞ Pipe Fox - More spirit than animal, these little creatures hang around the pure, old places in Lacerta (of which there are many). “Pure” can be anything from a idyllic grove to an old musty well that hasn’t been touched in centuries. As long as the taint of pollution and technology is far, far away. They love water but breathe small puffs of fire when startled. Legend has it that they can transform into great nine-tailed foxes, but few have lived to see such a sight.

۞ Purrwisp - This four legged mammal is some bizarre mix of a fox and weasel in appearance. Sleek, elongated in form, it’s face poofs out into a cunning, wedge shaped look. Perhaps most noticeable is its huge black eyes, and fanning, furred tail. It has a slow, lazy walk and bright red stripes through its black coat. … It’s lazy demeanor has a good reason, feeding only on poisonous plants and insects almost every inch of this adorable looking creature is toxic to the point of deadly.

۞ Sapling - (Beauty Pet) Despite the misleading name, these creatures are not trees or even... possibly plants. Believed to be tree spirits by many Lacertans, these bipedal creatures often live in deeply wooded areas and rarely stray far from the water pool where they were born. They have a somewhat waspish temperament, and regenerate when hurt. They don’t need to eat anything as long as they have sunlight and water.

۞ Silksing - These ethereal creatures resemble nothing so much as fluttering V in the air that drags a sheer, opalescent veil behind it. No normal creature of flesh and blood, this strange insect moves almost like an aerial jellyfish and the shimmering trails it leaves in the air is some beauty to see. They take no normal food or water, but instead feed on the natural magic of the land. They are normally solitary and considered by some to be good luck spirits; however, particularly strong mages may attract whole swarms of them for their travels... a beautiful, but ultimately dangerous sight.

۞ Squidrats

۞ Tet- Small rodents with a row of spikes down their spine a tuft of fur at the end of their tail, they are omnivorous, a common pest and the spikes on their back are barbed and snap off easily making stomping on them a generally unwise decision. They are considered disease carriers and not eaten as a practice.

۞ Warbler - A songbird with a long, fin-like tail. They travel in small colonies and are a favored meal for stews.

The First Cycle
Very few of Lacertan descent still walked at this point, and those that remained, if not already crazed, all too soon grew to be.

Affiliated Characters

 * Aeron Ferham
 * Aerta Ferham
 * Buttercup (Ter) Ferham
 * Sir Cobra of Lacerta
 * Razzy Ferham
 * Isaiah, Priest of Horn