The Reptite Council The Reptite Council
His Dark Lordship
At the Tyrano Lair...
Spacecat and Edgar stepped into the council room set up by Azala. A great, round, stone table stood in the centre of the room. Azala set at the back wall.
"Welcome. Please take a seat."
Edgar and Space sat next to each other, out of place amongst these "lizardmen." Over fifteen minutes several other reptites, some looking like scholars, some sages, and Nizbel and a few of Azala's personal guard. There was one seat left.
"Where IS he..." grumbled Azala.
After waiting a half hour, sighs came from all over as a cloaked figure came in. He wore a black cloak, his face was semi-exposed. It was made up of several metallic plates, in a somewhat lizaric form. He looked like a robot lizar. On his left hand was strapped a chainsaw, and it was hard to tell if his hand was actually there or if his arm was connected to the chainsaw. Strapped on his back was a gigantic broadsword and in his hand he carried a shotgun. He spoke, and his entire range of teeth looked like steel nails.
"I hope I am not too late." croaked the creature.
"And who might you be?" asked Spacecat.
"Call me the watcher." he said. He sat down.
"Now." started Azala. "We are being forced into the war, it appears. I have received several alliance propositions from many of the groups involved. But, I believe we can no longer be neutral. The attack on Nizbel only proves this."
Nizbel nodded, and held up the moogle head he had strapped to his belt.
"Now, my late friend, the Dark Lord, had informed me that the dark gods, who be the only concerned with this war, have already chosen Mog as the victor. This is partially why I have tried to remain neutral so long. I am not skilled in the ways of the heavens, but I do know you don't want to piss the gods off."
"There is a way." interrupted the watcher.
Everyone looked at him.
"Well?" asked Edgar.
"Eons ago, the ancestors of the Lizar and the Reptites split due to the continental drift. The Reptites, living in the forgotten continent(Africa) were required a more upright position, but not by much. They retained their age old agility and ferocity.
"Northeast from the forgotten continent, the ancestors themselves were continuing their evolutionary path. They became more agile, and developed claw hooks on their feet, as opposed to the reptites who did most of their killing with their jaws.
"A land bridge at one point connected the Lizarians to a new continent. Many creatures transcended this land bridge. The Lizar colonized this new world. Here they survive today where their cousins perished centuries ago.
"Both creatures had a special trait: Curiosity. This caused them to explore different possibilities. This begun by laying complex ambushes for their prey, and later resulted in a particular Lizar saving herself from an angry mother Tiklkaka-"
"And what's that in human?" asked Spacecat.
"Acrocanthosaurus, I think you named it. Roughly the same size as a T-Rex, preceded it by about 40 million years though. Anyway...
"She was likely doomed, as they endangered the Tiklkaka's nest. But she lead the beast to the ambush site of a sea predator, the K'karia-"
"That being?" asked Spacecat again. All the reptites sighed.
"Kronosaurus. 50 ft long marine reptile. Anyway.."
"The K'karia leaped out of the water and grabbed the Tiklkaka, and hauled her out to sea. This made the female lizar think. Having defeated a creature three times her size in the least with her brain, she felt she made an accomplishment. She began to test out other experiments, like using rocks to cause the swift Gignagl-"
"That being?" everyone groaned in annoyance again.
"Struthiomimus. Looked like a ostrich."
He continued.
"-and using sticks to move seaworthy logs around. Other family groups in the area seemed to take note of these, and they mimicked her, and as they traveled across the continent, other mimicked them. And they traveled back.
"Something similar was happening on the forgotten continent, sparked by a similar situation. But, the Reptites had more innovation. Using chunks of wood to put those creatures they preyed on out of their misery, they developed the first artificial weapon.
"The curiousity between the two peoples grew, and each developed more ideas. The Lizar discovered that those annoying rocks that hurt their feet could be used to cut things. The Reptites discovered how to throw stones to bring down smaller prey from a distance.
"These innovations developed a universal tool between the two groups: The sling. And while this went on, others of the races began to use logs as boats and sticks as oars.. and all this time they wondered if there was anything beyond that endless sea...
"And ultimately, some adventurous lizar decided to find out. Hauling logs to the oceanside, while the seabeasts slept, and set sail. Obviously suicide, but they quickly learned to fish curious creatures out of the water to eat, and that the sea beasts were uninterested in the wood, just what might fall off it.
"Out of some 200 adventurers, about three landed on the coast of the forgotten land. And they traveled inland, overjoyed by their discovery. They saw new, fantastic creatures, and.. in the end, made contact with the reptites.
"With these two innovative minds, and the curiousity absolutely boiling over, the three lizar and a group of reptites devised a way of communicating through pictures in the sand. The surprise of this is they held discussions and traded their inventions.
"And they decided to try and go back. And they devised a way. They took skins from the beasts they killed, and they stringed it. They logged fallen tree trunks together and formed a crude, giant raft.
"They launched, with the three lizar and several reptites, and let the tides take them where it pleased. They were all dying of scurvy and going mad when they finally hit their shore. But their sacrifice changed the world.
"Surprised by this, the people tried to make a sort of map, a decent seaway. They chipped tools and made carving knifes, and tried several ways to refine their primitive oars. After many attempts, they did it.
"With this, the Lizar made a raft of their own. Setting people to work on these paddles, they send several carcasses for food, and threw them to the great sea beasts to keep them away. And, with their faces in the right direction, they passed the ocean again.
"This was the breakthrough. The Lizar brought several objects they deemed valuable as gifts. Mostly stones and weird things they carved out of bone, but they were unique. These caught the reptite's eye, and they in turn gave them objects of value of their own. And the Lizar headed back with their raft, with newly caught food and even a few reptites deeming to see the new world.
"The objects the reptites gave the lizar caught their eyes, and they desired more. They rafted across the Atlantic again and proposed trade. The reptites agreed, and within ten years there were rafts constantly fording the Atlantic. The first trade route.
"Ideas began to spread like wildfire between the two peoples. Seeking to expand the sling, some lizar, having noticed a particular tree had a softer feeling than the others, attempted to place sinew between parts of them. After that they tried to fire rocks with it. When that failed, they tried sticks. These didn't work either except the somewhat straight ones. When one managed to stick one of these missiles two inches into a tree, however, then they began to work on this fantastic new device. They placed the sharp rocks they cut things with on the ends of their straight missiles, and even went so far to fire their missiles at other creatures. Some creatures were affected, some merely flinched, but they had invented the first bow.
"These innovations were then traded to the reptites, who in turn traded ideas they had come up with. Ground berries and mud added to the attraction of the males, and thus began war paint.
"However, while this went on for at least a thousand years, tensions began to build between the two races as each began to take their relationship for granted. People on either sides refused to return gifts with their own gifts, ruining the trade route. Some kept strong to the tradition, but many became greedy.
"By this time both groups had developed wearing hides, effective bows, hand knives, armour made for animal shells, baits, fire, even. They began to think invincible.
"Eventually, one side placed the straw that broke the camel's back. Quarrels raised between the two peoples. What appeared to be trade missions were in fact warriors armed with spears, preparing for raids. These petty quarrels built a feeling of mistrust, which made the situation worse, and erupted in a full scale war.
"This war lasted a good 20 years. Great deaths came on both sides. Trading and invention stopped as people became consumed with `the enemy.' The conflict was finally resolved when a few groups realized how stupid it was and formed their own little societies, trying to revive the trade routes and attempting to restore the innovation that had filled the renaissance.
"It took awhile, but many of the warriors looked over at these people and saw them becoming more refined. Reptites and Lizar, working together, and with astonishing results. The curiousity was being restored, and more and more warriors called off their hatreds to take part in the interesting experiments going on.
"Eventually, those who wanted to raid were outnumbered by those who wanted to learn. Their numbers continued to decline, and full trade was restored. Their renaissance wouldn't be restored but enough of it was there to keep the peoples on track.
"Entertainment became popular, and storytelling became the most popular. People recollected the events from what their primal tongues had told them before. Carved on wood and spoken by mouth, the tales continued. But people began to worry. What if the wars started again?
"So, a group of Reptites and Lizar devised, via the witchcraft practice that was growing like wildfire, they took a rock. This rock was painted with special symbols, representing, respectively, four elements. These, in the old days and even now, held an extreme hold on the lizar and reptite peoples beliefs and actions. According to myth and legend, the elemental spirits supposedly blessed this rock so that, if held before one bent against one of the two peoples, it would shatter his mind."
"Great, but what happened to this rock?" asked Azala anxiously.
"Probably eroded away." replied the watcher.
"Well, what the hell was the point of that then!?!" asked Edgar angrily.
"The rock wasn't alone.." replied the watcher. He stood up. "I'm tired. Can we continue this tomorrow?"
Everyone nodded, and they left the room to their respective homes in the lair.