Lacertiller

Lizard otters. Native to Tiber’s many tributary systems. Omnivorous diet; focused mostly on fish and small animals but are known to scavenge. Can often be seen around the settlements of the serf districts where they have been known to scavenge from human waste. They give birth to live young, usually in litters of 1-3 and their mating season occurs every 6 months. In the wild, they typically live from 12-24 years but in captivity with advanced medicine have been known to reach 35. Seemingly unaffected for the most part by Empress’ tears the species living closest to the oceans tend to have the tips of their Keratin scales tinted purple. Whilst there are several species of Lacertiller the most documented species are the ones that live in the rivers of the most hospitable parts of Tiber. The commonly seen species generally have coloration of reds, yellows, oranges, browns and greens with pale green and light brown being the most common. Rumours persist that in the deep jungles exist Lacertiller species of a wonderful array of colours including white, gold and blue, the colours of house Eridanus. Whilst most of these rumours are unsubstantiated the popularity of said rumours, especially amongst the nobility have made the Lacertiller a favourite of the house second only to the sky whales. A group of Lacertiller’s is called a lounge. They are not generally aggressive to humans unless protecting a newborn litter but generally are only strong enough to harm children or the infirm.

Growing up to about a meter and a half in length from nose to tail they are very fast swimmers, reaching up to 40kph but are also very manoeuvrable on land. They are amphibious quadrupeds. Owing to their increased aggressiveness and symbol as an ominous sign to the house the red-scaled species of Lacertiller have been the most hunted and are the only common variant near to extinction. Though one lounge of red Lacertiller is maintained around The Red Ledger as a symbolic warning. Forming mostly family networks the Lacertiller tend to live in family groups that hunt together usually consisting of somewhere between 4 and 30 individuals, though rare lounges of Lacertiller’s have been known to reach well over 100 members. The family units hunt in packs but rarely if ever stray into the open oceans, remaining mostly in the rivers and on land.

Boasting a hardy nature Lacertiller tend to have little problem adapting to an urban environment providing there is a source of food and water nearby. It is possible to domesticate Lacertiller, but it required them to be hand reared from birth or a lot of time and resources making it near exclusive to the nobility of Tiber. Whilst Lacertiller can be taken on spaceships their reliance on water makes them uncomfortable on extended journeys and it is hard to maintain them off Tiber, only the richest of nobles can afford to upkeep such standards and House Eridanus greatly limits the number of Lacertiller allowed off Tiber (Essentially treating them how China treats Pandas.)

Whilst they are eaten by humans their cultural popularity and general playfulness makes them treated more like pets than food. Whilst serfs may hunt them to eat in noble districts Lacertiller’s are generally free to run wild unless they infuriate a noble, in which case they will probably be killed.

[For combat encounters, 1HP, 12AC, +0 attack, 1d2 damage, 20m move, morale level 3, skills +2, saves 16+, physical save 12+, more likely to flee than fight]