u/gingecharmander

The Exarch of the East, Tc'Hack, clapped his beak in displeasure as he stared at the report. The Lairds of the sky-isles had reported a decrease in the fish harvest brought in from the ocean. This would not do, not at all. The Petra of the Isles depended on that harvest to keep their standing firm with the Rex. Already, that blowhard of a Rax in the North had questioned why, as advancements were made across the valley, the Petra should claim sole dominion over the floating lands. Even worse, those who flew with the flocks of the South were encroaching on his territory. Tc’hack had logged a formal complaint against the Exarch of the South, but instead of reprimanding her, the court had simply turned more scrutinizing eyes onto him.

Unlike the other Exarchs, the Petra had successfully held tight to their sky-title for generations, flying under the radar of previous Rexes because only a Petra Titan could physically reach the floating islands. But news was spreading fast. Innovation was coming to the shores, and Tc’hack could no longer push it back, not while his region failed to meet the demands for food. The noble Titan had to take matters into his own wings. He had to investigate what was happening before there was no time left.

Thulagh practiced smiling in the mirror kept in her private chambers. As Exarch of the South, it was her job to maintain the most public-facing role in the Rexdom. Many Small-folk never ventured far into the interior; there was little reason for the foreign merchants and sailors who stopped in port to do much more than buy their wares at River-Reach and continue to more prosperous shores. Nevertheless, River-Reach boasted a permanent Small-folk population that had grown over the years, and it was important to the Rex that a friendly atmosphere be maintained.

This was precisely how the Aether-born Volk had come to be granted her Exarchery. Thulagh was intelligent and spent time abroad learning about the Small-folk, and she was acutely aware that some Small-folk found the Aether-born unsettling, too similar, yet completely foreign with their unblinking, sharp eyes. Which was why she found the need to practice her expressions. The other Exarchs often looked down on the young Volk, mistaking her youth and her willingness to entertain the Small-folk as weakness. That leathery Petra, Tc’hack, would be the first to learn the dangers of underestimating her. Already, many of his own sky-Lairds had begun to funnel their tribute to her instead. With each passing day, it became clearer that the Small-folk held the key to the future, and Thulagh would be the one to lead the Saur-kin there.

The palace of the Exarch of the North sat empty, held together only by the sheer willpower of the servants left behind. Despite being named Exarch many cycles ago, Xarak refused to leave the open plains, continuing his life as a herdsman. He still maintained his duties, the towns remained fed, and the defensive force trained. Yet, the Stalwart Rax was far from ignorant. While he hated the convoluted political theater the other Exarchs loved to play, he knew exactly what that little Volk in the South was doing.

Thulagh could plan to lead the Rexdom into whatever merchant-driven future she envisioned, but Xarak was determined to ensure the herds would never cease, and the bison would always graze. Every time the Southern Exarch tried to push her new "Small-folk" trade regulations into his territory, Xarak was there to block them with a blunt, unyielding refusal. He didn't scheme in the shadows; he simply used the massive economic leverage of the northern meat supply to keep the South's ambitions in check. This was the way it had been in the time before, and Xarak would make damn sure it remained that way until he was buried. We came from the plains, and in the end, we would all return to them to nurture them.

Therauh was tired. She had been the Exarch of the West for more cycles than anyone could remember, and her own grandchildren had already migrated back to the All-Egg. This was the burden of the Volk Titan; she had outlived the other Exarchs' predecessors twice over.

The ambitious Tc’hack, the dreaming Thulagh, and the plain-addled Xarak were nothing special to her. The herds of the West were indomitable; her Volk Titans stalked the ancient canopy forests, entirely self-sufficient, feeding the majority of their own population with the dense fruits and vegetation of the land. She needed nothing from the other provinces, and they required nothing from her. She ruled the West with little regard for the comings and goings of the others, content to roam the vast expanse of the western forests while leaving the mundane tasks of governing to her local Lairds.

Exarchs of the past had accused her of harboring treason because of her isolation, but her loyalty to the Rex was unbreakable. Despite her lack of active rulership, she was always kept around because she remembered. Passed down from Exarch to Exarch, her long memory held the truth of the first pact. She knew the sacred, hidden ground where the massive bones of every great Rex lay buried, and she guarded the terrible secrets of the ancient Tyrant. Let the children bicker over fish and the boundaries of the plains. The West remembers, and the West remains.

A low guttural rumble echoed across the open field. I could feel it deep in my bones as I pressed myself deeper into the tall grass, trying to physically will my heart to stop beating so loud. I was the only one left; these dammed creatures killed everyone else. Those teeth, those awful fucking teeth. It only took one bite, and they were just gone. My heart started to race as I thought about what had happened to the rest of my team.

Fuck, calm down, it will hear you.

Another guttural rumbled, this one closer and deeper. The silence returned for only a second before three more rumbles sounded back from different directions.

The bastards are triangulating.

Those rich pricks said this would be an easy job: get in, steal that artifact, and get out. These monsters basically worshipped the stone, and these hulking brutes were smart. They had tracked me down and caught us out here with our pants around our ankles. We didn’t even take the artifact. This shit was personal.

What was that?

Sounds like a person walking through the grass. Someone from the group must have survived. Slowly I pulled my body towards the sounds of human feet sticks and rocks scratching my arms and legs I didn’t dare stand and show those monsters where I was. Feet! I looked up, but the eyes were wrong somehow, and they were standing like they weren’t afraid. It smiled at me before making a whistling sound. The earth rocked in anger as I heard the monsters running toward us. Hot pain, searing pain. I tried to cry out to do something I wan-

The Saur-kin are not like the small-folk, and while many strides have been made since the Aether born first introduced to the small-folk as truly awakened beings on the same level as our own it has become our responsibility to help those who may choose to visit the Rexdom.

The Saur-kin are three races or species that present in three different forms due to the power of the All-Egg. Each form has a vital role to play, and to understand the Saur-kin, you must first understand the forms even more than understanding the different species.

The Titans are those who take the form of the ancestors; they remain unchanged since they were first awakened. The Petra Titans have a wingspan on average of 30 feet long, and when they stand on the ground, they stand 10 to 12 feet tall. Their massive weight means they often do not leave the Rexdom as they cannot soar for miles like the ancestors once did, but it does allow them to support the weight of the Aether born who can ride them to and from the islands in the sky. The Rax Titan resembles that of a what some little folk call a therapod standing much shorter than the Petra at 6 ft on average but boasts an impressive 18 to 23 feet long with powerful muscles and sharp claw on each foot the Rax are formidable. They will similarly also allow themselves to be ridden but it is not as often common as like with the Petra. The Rax Titan has taken up the role of being the primary food providers for the Rexdom, being the largest producers of animal products, maintaining large herds of Plains Bison to feed all but the Volk Titans. Which brings us to the Volk the most imposing of all the Titans an imposing 35 feet long at average and a fully stretched out height of 12 feet the can remain eye to eye with even the largest Petra. Large, they require a lot of food, and as being the only Saur-kin that can only eat plant matter, they are rarely in one spot for too long unless a town can support their dietary requirements. Beyond the role they serve in the moving goods and acting as trade caravans, many Volk Titans are the lore keepers and are well respected for their long memories. When visiting it is important to understand we do not expect you to learn our language and while the Titans understand common, they are unable to speak it so it is best if you wish to converse with a Titan to seek a Stalwart or Aether born’s assistance.

The Stalwarts are what the small-folk would call the in between the Petra stalwarts stand shorter than their Titan siblings at seven feet tall but are much lighter and agile then them. While they have lost the wing membranes the retain the sharp articulated claws used to hold on to sheer surfaces. For this reason the Stalwart Petra feel just at home clutching to the side of a cliff as any small-folk would be in a town. A crest and pointed chin sets them apart from the other Stalwarts and the prominence and vibrancy of the crest being an indicator of gender. The Rax Stalwart stand a bit taller then their Titan counterpart averaging closer to 6’ 6’’ there most distinctive feature is the digitigrade legs and sharp sickle claw while their hands end in three fingers and a thumb. Feather adorn their body with males able to grown and cut them akin to a small-folk’s beard. They primarily serve in ranching, traditional agriculture or as the small standing defensive force. Finally the Volk who tower over the other Stalwarts at 8’ with thick pillar legs and heavy builds they are the primary builders and manual labors of the Rexdom unlike the Titan form they favor a sedentary life and are most often found in cities.

Among the Aether born there is little difference between the species appearing most often like the small-folk. They retain the eyes of the others sharp and with a nictitating membrane. Many small-folk can find them confusing as despite their similarity to them they lack what we understand to be mammalian sexual traits making them hard to gender a concept we still struggle with understanding why it would matter if not their mate.

Another strange feature of the Saur-kin we have come to find is the way we reproduce when it becomes time for hatching season any Saur-kin family who wishes for a child must migrate to the All-Egg where their new egg will be laid and nurtured by its light. While we can only mate within our forms the offspring can be born of any form.

An excerpt from “The Small-Folk’s Guide to the Rexdom,” narrated by the Volk Titan Theragon to his son, the Volk Aether Born Thera.

NAME: The Rexdom of the Saur-kin

FLAG/SYMBOL: A simple banner displaying a claw, crest, and Volk foot

LOCATION:

Main Land Claim

Sky Isands Claimed

GEOGRAPHY: The Rexdom is centered along the river valley of the Great River where islands float in the sky above. The region is humid and warm with mild winters, allowing for tall grasslands and fertile farmlands. The towering mountains around cause boggy lands to form around the mountain bases as it slowly flows back out to the ocean.

BIOLOGY/ETHNICITY: The Saur-kin are made up of three different species that within themselves have three different forms. The Rax descended from the ancient Utahraptor, The Ptera descended from the ancient Pteranodon, and the Volk descended from the ancient Vulcanodon. The three forms are broken down into:

Titan: Intelligent and retain the form of their ancestors. They retain all aspects of their dino counterparts and communicate through a language known as Saurian which is spoken through infrasonic thrums and clacking of beaks for the Petra, however, they can understand standard languages if taught.

Stalwarts: they retain aspects of their dino ancestors but are bipedal and more humanlike. Common among all is their lack of traditional mammalian gender differences their ability to grow a beard for men being one of the few ways to tell the gender. In addition, they all maintain sharp birdlike eyes. The Rax stands at around six and half feet tall and retain digigrade legs their tail and sharp claws, but their arms end in three fingered and a thumb. Their heads appear human at first glance but on closer inspection a line of feathers run down their scalp. The Petra stand at seven feet tall with a skull that elongates out reminiscent of the crest the more prominent a crest is being another indicator of gender and a pointed chin.  They are thin yet surprisingly agile using modified claws to cling to and climb surfaces that most would struggle with. The Volk stand as the most imposing of the kin, often reaching heights of eight feet with thick, pillar-like limbs and broad, flat feet that anchor them to the stone. Their necks are elongated and heavily muscled, leading to a squared, powerful jawline.

Aether-born: The most unique among the Saur-kin the Aether-born appear human in almost every way. They retain the lack of mammalian gender differences, often their unique sharp bird-like eyes being the only way to tell an Aether-born from a normal human. If looking long enough, a nictitating membrane can also give them away.

As Rax, Ptera, and Volk are the species and Titan, Stalwart, and Aether-born the forms while they can only have children with the same form the children are not necessarily born of the same form.

HISTORY: Legends say that long ago jn the long-forgotten past there was four Saur-kin that discovered an artefact that granted them intelligence beyond the others and soon after the first of the other forms began to be born among them. Using this they put aside their difference and began to work together. The legends of the herds say this time period lasted for countless generations until one powerful member of the 4^(th) race became hungry with power and subjected the others and created the Rexdom naming him self as the Rex and ruled over all. Eventually they were overthrown and a new government formed to more fairly rule the Saur-kin. This story is passed along to warn the hatchlings of the past but there is no evidence that a 4^(th) race ever existed. They began to remove themselves from isolation more as they learned about the other races of the world.

SOCIETY: Following the uprising that usurped the Tyrant Rex they created a new form of government. The nation would be led by the Rex who would be selected while still an egg to be the next successor. The egg could only be chosen from the Origin Herds, the herds believed to be the same for each race that first discovered the artefact. This power rotates between the herds, so no one race of Saur-kin dominates beyond a generation. Below the Rex are the Exarchs. There is one Exarch for each compass direction and below them are the Lairds of the towns and herds.

CULTURE: The Saur-kin have an almost culture of dueling ways of life. The traditional way of life is in the Herds, ruled by a Laird they travel nomadically across the land both tending to beasts of burden and ensuring they do not stay too long an area and eat all the vegetation. Then there are the towns which are gaining more and more prominence as their wealth attracts others in. Given the unique nature of the Saur-kin when an outsider wants to deal with them it is far easier to locate a town and deal with the Laird of the town then hope to stumble across a Herd. The two still rely heavily on each other and Herds will often visit the same towns the same time of the year to gain the luxury of the city and provided the meat of the domesticated animals to the town. They are generally easy going group and welcome any into their towns. While slow to anger the Rax make a formidable fighting force.

OCCURRENCE OF MAGIC: Magic is common and it is not uncommon to see items being levitated by Titans or other such small tasks being made easier for the Saur-kin.

FADED WONDER: Known as the All Egg a strange metal object with symbols in an unknown language and figures that appear to be Aether-born decorate it. This is the object that legend says granted the first intelligence to the Origin Herds. Today it resides at the Rex’s Citadel, and it projects an aura that allows for the birth of the different forms. For this reason, when a couple wishes to have an egg they must travel to the nesting grounds outside of the capital. Saur-kin may lay an egg anywhere but it will not be viable unless lain within the nesting grounds.

IMPORTS, EXPORTS, & MAJOR INDUSTRIES:

• Major Industry: Exotic pets (smaller dinos were saved and are now sold as a luxury to other elites) Meat production, Mercenaries (war, and heavy load carrying)
• Exports: Pets, Preserved Meat and Hides, Grains,
• Imports: Fine crafts, Textiles, Salt, Lumber, River Silt