Ahuecoatl-Xomapu, Union of the Star-Alligned Cities

Residential Species

Pilihuanti

Creature Class: Reptilia, Lepidosauria, Squamata

Stature: Possessed of a humanoid figure with leathery skin making up the surface of their stomach and chest area, the backsides of both pairs of limbs, the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet, and the bottom exterior that lines their tail. The rest of their body is covered with rough scales that protrude like stones sticking from the earth, routinely flaking during the dry seasons. Their complexion is as variable as any other species, with ethnic groups to the south typically displaying the colors blue and green, while to the north the most common gradient is a dark orange.

They stand on two digitigrade legs that end with a set of sindactyl feet with clawed stubby digits, the same number of digets can be counted along their predatory and clawed hands which comes accompanied with an opposable thumb. Their tails are long and prehensile, with wide keratin spikes running down from the base of their backside to the last quarter of their appendage. Both skinks and sauri possess a large and bony crest, with the sauri often displaying bigger and more imposing ones atop their heads.

Natural Disposition: The typical Pilihuatni is by nature a benign creature, exhibiting scant mood swings through out it's life even during it's adolescent phase, though they are still able to undergo times of extreme mental duress, displaying symptoms similar to that of depression. Their mental attributes are by all means comparable to those of other sophonts spread across the continents, and thus showcase an incredible amount of sophistican through their capacity for cultural change and diversity, paired with their own endemic set of technological advancements.

National Norms: The modern Pilihuatni have been ingrained with an unbreakable sense of duty to their people, ideology, and state. This nationalist zeal manifests through a highly pragmatic outlook that is always seeking out potentional beneifts for the empire of Ahuecoatl-Xomapu. Whether or not this trait is something truly endemic to their biology, or just some cultural norm that has penetrated deep into their collective psyche, the lizardfolk are often willing to take an action which can be seen as a benefit to their kind, whilst at the same time being a detriment to their individual self.

They are communal by a fault thanks in no small part to their agrarian lifestyle. As such, it is extremely common among inhabitants of the more rural areas to show a strong familiarity with their immediate neighbors, with the typical Pilihuatni of these areas often possessing an acute knowledge of the local languages to better communicate with their adjacent kin. Even within the limestone urban centres of the empire, it is expected for a person to possess a good number of connections with those whom they cohabit their residential complex with, with even whole domestic blocks sometimes coming together and celebrating in respect for a deceased elder or for the acomplishments of respected individual. As for the cititzens of those military towns who stand idle at the feet of fortress walls, the state often encourages intermingling between the assigned garrison and their subject civilians, with festive banquets proving a favortite event of both parties when they happen to be commenced at the end of each month.

Average Lifespan: 70 - 110

Racial Traits

Secrets of Stealth: The Pilihuatni as a species possess numerous different magical traditions stemming from before the unification of their homeland. While few would ever be so bold as to claim the superiority of one tradition over the other, there exists one school of mysticism that has managed to enrapture nigh-all of Ahuecoatl-Xomapu's scarce mages. The coven of the Silent Seraph, originating from the province of Parquiklu, is an ancient set of customs that allow it's practitioners to become as unseen as the unimaginary itself, walking through veils placed up them by sheer will alone.

Domestic Drakes: Well accustomed to the behaviors of the lesser beasts whom they share their country with, the Pilihuatni enjoy a special relationship with the fauna of their homeland. From the most meager of tree lizards to the most daunting of the pack-hunting dracomorphs, all species have been meticulously catologued and identified within the vast libraries of the state. It is only natural that the lizardfolk would hold a desire to tame such beasts, and it is only even more natural for it's solution to take the form of magic. The Writ of Serpents, a codified set of rituals and charms that were collected by the Imperial Mage Academy, is a school of mysticism that allows the user to bond themselves with any given reptile of a non-cognitive disposition. It is not a form of mental bondage, but rather it simply allows the mage in question to be able to coax animals to perform tasks willingly.

Sexual Dimorphism


Skink, the House Husband

Natural Height: 4′7″‒6′1

Average weight: 150 lbs.

Mental Disposition: Displays an incredible sense of calm and reasoning within any given situation that falls outside of the realm of combat. When they do find themselves within such instances of assailment a skink may often fly into a berserk trance not too dissimilar to the ones exhibited in the sauri when they find themselves into harm's way.

Status In Society: Despite the physical difference between skinks and their sauri counterparts, there exists within few Pilihaunti cultures any sort of indication that the sauri have ever saw fit to undermine and abuse their male parallel. While there are definetly professions which exhibit a higher concentration of one gender or the other, this is rarely in any way a systematic affliction, for within all of the subordinate institutes which comprise the empire there are hardly any laws preventing a Pilihuatni of whatever shape from attaching themselves to a job of their choosing. For rather, most Pilihuatni will take their pragmaticism to the extreme and deduce which roles they would be able to be better utilized in, taking heavily into account both physical and mental condition. As such, many young skinks often take apprenticeships under older Pilihuatni who possess experience within the realms of medicine, science, agriculture, and other such professions. However, as with all things cognitive and mortal, the skinks are not without their own individual mindsets, and the sauri do not find it unexpected or improper for a skink to be working among their ranks.


Saurus, the Muscle Mommy

Natural Height: 6′1″ – 7′4

Average weight: 200–250 lbs.

Mental Disposition: To the average warmblooded foreigner, the sauri may appear as these unrelenting amazons of the barbarian east. But such a state exists only within the confines of conflict, for when placed in more neutral situations the sauri prove themselves to be no less civil than their male counterparts, often exuding a sense of tranquility which can appear even more unnerving to the unnacustomed outsider.

Status In Society: While some outsiders may be ready to assume that with the sauri being the Pilihuatnis' main source of military, they are automtically relegated to the roles of dull war machines sent to bolster whatever conflict the Supreme Monarch deems worthy at the moment. But that is certainly not the case, as is with most assumptions perscribed to the lizardfolk. Sauri, as with their male counterparts, are not forbidden from taking on roles that would otherwise have nothing to do with the armies of Ahuecoatl-Xomapu. Though it is for the same reason that many skinks do not choose to go down the path of a warrior, plenty of sauri feel more suited for a life of diligent labor. They eschew the more intellectual positions available to them not out of disrespect or scorn, but simply through the general assumption that their strength would prove more useful within the roles of miners and smiths, of tree fellers and house builders. This previling thought, however, has not prevented from there exisiting sauri philosophers, alchemists, architects, and other such creatives and intellectuals both within contemporary times and within the anals of the past.

Societal Life

Technology

Military

Religion

Political Structure

History 

Economy, will be worked on

To try and assign to the Pilihuanti as a whole a singular mode of existence to their multi-faceted nation would be an oversight, for as diverse as the lizardolk themselves are, so too are the lands they've come to inhabit and the adaptations they've made to live in them.


Subsistence
In the jungles of the Kansuri Peninsula, the local Pilihuanti have perfected an ingenius method of agriculture within their dense and humid homeland. Utilizing a technique of slash-and-char, the southern Kansuri Pilihuanti have managed to not only overcome the low nutrition value of their endemic earth, but as well benefit the ecosystem as a whole with their efforts. Through this practice, the Pilihuanti have managed to overcome the low nutrition value of their endemic soil, enriching their land not only for their selected crops but also for the multitudes of wild vegetation that would've otherwise had no chance to grow underneath the shadows of overgrown thickets, which in turn allowed for local animals to prosper within their new environments. With this tradition established, the Pilihuanti of southern Kansuri have since farmed some of the most vital crops to the Pilihuanti diet. From the beautiful colicatwi maize with it's sweet taste and mix-colored kernals, to the exotic blood-red totumati flesh fruit which has become a staple of imperial cuisine to as far as the northern frontiers and within the courts of the Ulqu peninsular nobles.


In northern Kansuri where the winds blow dry, the rains fall hard, and the plateaus stands strong, the ancient Pilihuanti of this region possessed to themselves their own method of agriculture suited for their homeland, a tradition which one may find commonly among those lizardfolk who have stuck to the ancient ways before the Era of Resounding Unity. Braving the steep slopes of their eternal watchers, the ancestral Pilihuanti of these lands would tap into the damp earth of the mighty plateaus and source from them the water needed to build upon these mounds mighty terraces which held aloft their impregnable farms. But keeping with their nomadic culture, the Pilihuanti would burn their monuments before leaving for the next plateau as the monsoon season began it's reign, enriching the soil for when they would inevitably come back and repeat the cycle.

Along the dense coastlines of the mainland, the Pilihuanti who reside have perfected a method by which there is no need to tear up the soil, for rather they supply themselves solely through the abundance of the earth they cultivated. Silviculture was the means to their prosperity, actively guiding the land in such a way that it would benefit both the lizardfolk proper and the land that they called home. From what would appear to be a universally thought-of idea among the Pilihuanti of the east, so too did the people of the northwest coasts choose to use the dancing flames just enough to encourage increased plant growth amongst the rising ashes. They would take from those wild and undomesticated greens, plants that bore berries and could be weaved into cloth, seeds which they would plant meticulously, ensuring for themselves a reliable source of food and material within their own natural garden. Such traditions are still vehemently followed upin until this day, standing strong in face of the large scale agriculture introduced from the southern imperials.

The peoples of the Ulqu Peninsula, and the natives of the twin-islands which would go on to become the capital of Ahuecoatl-Xomapu, upheld a tradition of maritime nomadicism long before the Pilihaunti would come together as one nation. The bay between the two peninsulas offered the disparate fishermen of the region innumerable atolls, plots of land which the lizardfolk could once more utilize to stunning effect. The Pilihaunti of these regions would go on to create aquatuc gardens of coral and kelp, attracting all manner of sea creature they felt more than willing to eat. From sea cucumbers, to sponges, to sea urchins, and sorts of mollusks and arthropods, the Pilihuanti managed to eke for themselves a living out on the ocean, surviving solely on caught fish and atoll-farm animals, returning to land only to renew their hulls and make love. There still remain a myriad of homeless sailors who rely on such a living, bringing with them their whole families out across the mighty waves.

MAP OF THE PROVINCES