Igilna (Lizard Folk)

== Igilna: First of the World==

The Igilna are a race of both warm and cold blooded, humanoid, lizard folk that live in the mid-western hemisphere. Originally the Igilna were one, very distinct, species of snake-like people. These Igilna were, at one time, the most powerful, and oldest, species on the planet. Civil war, and over-use of magic lead to their downfall and near extinction before the first age. By the time the first age had rolled around the Igilna were a scattered and almost infintile-like race desperetly trying to rebuild their once great nation. But with so much reliance on magic, the survivors had little choice but to adapt and return to a simpler life.

Khanti: Children of Khant
The Khanti are a sub-race of the Igilna that evolved and adapted to living in the northern savaana. This group is farthest from their old form; their bodies are long and slender with wide heads. Two large upper arms and two smaller lower arms are situated on the torso. Males and females share a similar average length of about 7.5 feet, and scale color ranges from tan to black, with females sticking closer to the tan shades and males to the darker shades. Both males and females are sometimes born with a frill around the head which they can expand and retract, used for body-tempeture control and intimidation. Most Khanti born with frills are treated as special, and often become chieften or skilled hunters.

The grasslands in which the Khanti live have scattered ruins of old Igilna forts, towers, towns and libraries. All of which have been picked apart and cleaned by the survivors and Kith'ra, a cat-like people who share the grasslands with the Khanti.

Originally the Khanti had no contact with the Kith'ra until the middle of the first age. First contact with the Kith'ra was hostile, as the Kith'ra did not enjoy others hunting their lands, and the Khanti did not enjoy the Kith'ra moving into theirs. Though the two peoples would clash many times, neither side really wanted to start a war, instead setteling to small skirmishes over resourses and heated negotiations. It wasn't until later in the second age that these people stopped fighting each other and became allies in their war with the Orkhai.

Culture and Religion
The Khanti live in a tribalist system of semi-mobile villages of about fifty-eighty adults. Several tribes dot the grasslands and move in a somewhat complex figure eight pattern that allows for the tribes to stay out of each others way, but gather once a year to celebrate and share.

Males and females are treated equally amung the Khanti, though females tend to take on the role of hunters, gatherers and warriors, while the males take the role of teachers, crafters and guardians. This is due, mostly, to the fact that in the early days of the Khanti, males were busy working on restoring their old culture, while females were sent out to hunt and gather. Over time this primarily became the norm because of the scale color patters, which allowed the females to move through the grass more hidden.

A typical female lays two to five eggs after a short three or four month pregnancy. After the eggs hatch the female stays close to her hatchlings for a week or two before they are sent to their fathers to be educated. The adult males of the tribe, or more spesifically, the adults who have chosen to be instructors, gather all the hatchlings to teach them how to do basic things; grooming, gathering, weaving, carving, and cooking. This type of "schooling" generally lasts two to three months, after which the children are expected to choose a profession, guided by the village elders. Then the children are assigned to a mentor, typically their parents if they choose to follow the same path, and after several months of guided training become adults.

Once a year the tribes all meet at a large oasis in the middle of the grasslands called Khant'o'shan, or Spirit of Khan. The Khantoshan was where the Khanti's first leader lead them and split them into tribes and made up their way of life, it is also where he died, coiled at the base of a tall tree located in the middle of the pool of water on a small burm. The gathering of tribes last only one week, and during that time the tribes compete, share and trade. During this time the newly appointed adults of each tribe are expected to find a mate and the competitions they hold cover various skills that help the young adults find a partner. Most young adults meet their potential partner and spend the week together, however they are forbidden from mating or living together past that point. Instead they must part and return the next year and compete again, if the partners still deem each other fit then they are allowed to join and must choose who's patron tribe they will follow. Generally each partner travels with the other tribe for a year before deciding on a final place to call home.

Khant
(See Main Article: Khant (Tribal Leader))

He was the Khanti's original leader. It was he who lead them out of the jungles and into the grasslands to find a new life and escape the still present civil war before the first age. Khan was a educated man, and a philosopher who knew a small ammount of blue magic, which he eventually taught to the followers who would become the Khanti. Khant taught his people to live simle lives, and that the magic he was passing down to them was dangerous in many ways. He taught them that to survive they would need to rely on themselves, and not the magic as was the foolish mistake of their people. Khant told his people to keep moving, as stagnation and complacency would ruin them in the future.