Malivorm

Capital: None

Ruler: Thaktikal Moon-Seeker, Alahuat

Government: Tribal

Primary Race: Lizardfolk

Primary Language: Draconic

Regional Bonus: By the Great Wyrm - The lizardfolk revere dragons and strive to be like them in all ways, granting you a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate and Spellcraft.

Regional Feat:Septic Bite

Description

An unknown quantity, the lizardfolk are found in all walks of life and can often be found aboard Halfling sailing vessels of all places, but the largest concentration of them is in Malivorm, in the deep swamps of the Green Wastes.  There they worship their ancestors, whom they believe descended from dragons, and practice a strange form of totemic magic in addition to the arcane gifts of the Namitha Ardrua.  Outsiders are generally discouraged in Malivorm, but they keep a few small ports open and have extensive trade agreements with the city-state of Whisthaven.

They are divided into fiercely competitive tribes that often engage in ceremonial 'wars' that amount more to contests of martial strength and magical prowess that they feel brings them closer to the ideal of perfection embodied by their draconic idols.  Each of these tribes is ruled by a sikar, a warrior-shaman who must combine physical skill and arcane knowledge at the highest levels to be worthy of the right.  These leaders, in turn, swear fealty to more powerful tribal heads called ulat in a loose feudal system that relies more on tradition than on religion or taxation.  An ulat can command the loyalty of a single sikar up to dozens of them, though if they ever lose the support of all their followers, they become a mere sikar again, themselves.

Entire regions of Malivorm are ruled by one of the (currently) nine oxatl that command the allegiance of a score or more ulat.  A great deal of prestige is granted to the tribe of an oxatl, including breeding rights with members of subservient clans and the ability to take promising youths as tilk--apprentices--for whatever skill or profession is desired, but they must also be able to lead and defend those who rely on them.  Above even the oxatl is the tribe of Malivorm's ruler, the alahuat.  Currently, Malivorm is ruled by the half-dragon Thaktikal, who is disturbed by Whisthaven's growing militance and believes it is important to the future of his people that they seek other avenues of trading with foreigners.

History

The lizardfolk of Faengleis were broken by the war with the Orodravian, their numbers decimated and facing eternal exile from the swamps of their ancestors with the raising of the High Wall.  Though they were able to replenish some of their number from the ranks of freed slaves--of which a disproportionate number were lizardfolk--they could not still the heartbreak that threatened their continued existence.  Losing everything they had once held dear might have broken them, if not for the intercession of Tinnerum of Ilvindale, a bronze dragon left physically scarred by the war.

Coming to the wizardess Sehux Brown-Arrow in AG 2, he had her guide her people to the Green Wastes, where he christened her the first alahuat, a word meaning "healer of the spirit" in the bronze dialect of draconic.  Under Sehux's rule, the lizardfolk slowly began to rebuild what had been lost to them, though there numbers were too few to do anything but build a pale imitation of the great lizardfolk empire of Jade Spire.  With the passing of years, they settled at first for a loose approximation of a culture once rich in writing and music that further deteriorated until the only real research was in areas of magic, with ever-increasing emphasis on personal strength and valor.

Foreign Relations

Malivorm does not particularly forbid outsiders, it simply makes no effort to help any through the deadly Green Wastes in which they make their home.  The result is such that actively discouraging tourists might end up reducing the body count of would-be tourists.  Their only consistent point of contact is with the mercantile city-state of Whisthaven, where they trade the products of the swamp for goods they cannot get normally, such as fine dwarven steel or textiles from the elves.