Tiskraan

Typical Attributes

Bod 5, Chi 4, Mnd 6, Ref 6

Schticks

• Dazzle (#)
• Diversion
• Legs
• Tail (2)

Description

Tiskraan are clever and eloquent lizard men. They are clannish but also roguish. They are about 3 meters from snout to the tip of the tail, but when erect their head are held about 150 cm of the ground, giving an impression of about human length. Their faces are reptilian, but still readable to humans. Tiskraan are egg laying, and cannot interbreed with most other humanoid races, though they can be pleasant enough partners. They are kin to kobolds, though it is unknown whether they can actually breed.

Tiskraan have a prehensile tail, that they can use in combat of for simple manipulation. It is also used when they swim, and all tiskraan swim very well. In point of fact, not all Tiskraan have fully developed legs, and leg-less ones find land living arduous.

Tiskraan live in close-knit clans. Inside the clans, and to strangers admitted into clan life, they are humorous, witty, prankish, rough-and-tumble characters full of joy and mischief. They combine work and play, making no clear distinction between them, and serious work is often disguised as games or ceremonies. They make their work part of their lives, and often work very long hours, but not very intensively. The human notion of work for salary, when you work certain hours, get paid, and then leave with no care or responsibility, is utterly alien to them. They are intensely competitive, and love to gamble. They also play games of charm and dominance amongst themselves, and consider courtship and feuds to be important, worthy of time and attention. Their main weapons among themselves are wit and poetry.

Those lizard men living far from civilization, on remote islands, are often open and friendly. But near human lands, they become more hostile and reclusive, often withdrawing to remote parts of the land to avoid the advance of settlers and farms. It is rumored that they have entire cities in their own lands, but only rarely do they live in human cities, and even then they have their own semi-submerged quarter.

Tiskraan live far to the east, in the lands of Khadar, whose ancient empires were largely made up of Hayya-bas. They are still dominant in the far southeastern reaches of the world, where they live in marshy cities from whence traders bring fantastic fabrics, pearls and delicacies unknown in the west.