Tawanlinsuyu

The Empire of Four Regions

Race: Lizardfolk (Ayar)
Cultural Basis: Incan Empire
Language: Quecha
Capital: Qosqo
Government: Kritarchy (rule by judiciary)
Current Ruler: Highest Judge Ekkekko
Religion: Animism/Polytheism
Gods: Inta (Sun Goddess), Anta-Lukowa (Water-Giver), Anta-Mukala (Stone-Giver), Anta-Paku (Law-Giver), the Igigi (lesser gods, animistic spirits)

The lizardfolk, who call themselves Ayar (“the People of the Sun”) once ruled a flourishing empire in the mountainous jungles south of the Jagged Sea and east of the Fertile Basin. They were particularly advanced in the areas of mathematics, medicine, architecture, and shamanic magic, and although their region has little in the way of strong metallic ores suitable for weaponry, the abundance of volcanic obsidian gives them a perfectly viable substitute. Tawanlinsuyu is governed by the Council of Judges, a ruling judiciary body that interprets and enforces the laws that, according to legend, were passed down by the sun goddess Inta to her third son, Anta-Paku, who founded the empire. The Council of Judges is required to maintain a ratio of three male judges to every one female, to represent Inta and her three sons, and it is also in deferance to the legend that the Highest Judge must always be female. Ayar society is strictly egalitarian, and the empire's government has many socialistic tendencies. It is the law that all of the Sun's People must be provided for, and as such many necessities, such as food and even clothing, are distributed to the citizenry by the government. Tawanlinsuyu's infrastructure was unrivaled in the known world, with a great network of roads spanning the empire, large stores of provisions were kept in case of emergency, and shelter forts were constructed at regular intervals along every road such that no traveler would ever need to spend the night without protection. Communication was also exceptional, as runners were kept at each of these shelters, and would pass any message from one to the next, allowing news to travel hundreds of miles in a day. A term of military service is mandatory for all healthy lizardfolk.

Eighteen years ago, the human city-state of Ashur and its (at the time) subjugated sister-state Akkylon went to war with Tawanlinsuyu, seeking to expand its borders into the lush tropical grassland that formed the most arable region of the lizardfolk empire. The war lasted three long years and was quite bloody, only ending with the magical cataclysm that obliterated Ashur. Although the magical attack attempted by the greatest of the Akkylonian Wizard Priests backlashed horrifically, it was also partially successful - many of the Ayar's greatest cities, including the capital of Qosqo, were decimated by black fire that fell from the sky, and lizardfolk died by the hundreds of thousands. In the wake of the Kunallakya (“Day of Sorrow”), as it came to be called, the Ayar infrastructure was all but destroyed, and all of its most populous cities were laid to ruin, their populations decimated. Where eighteen years ago mighty Tawanlinsuyu had boasted a population of nine million, now there were barely four million lizardfolk left.

Worse, due to a quirk of lizardfolk biology, their young must be rigorously trained and educated at a very early age (their developmental cycle being quite fast), or they become irrevocably feral and barely-sentient. After the destruction of the cities and the loss of such a significant portion of the population, many clutches of young went untended, resulting in a flood of feral lizardfolk, sorrowfully labelled Alinkasqayar (“People Lost to the Sun”) by their civilized cousins. Now the Ayar struggle to rebuild amid the ruins of their former glory, competing for land and resources with their barbaric brethren.