Lizard Men

Lizard men (known amongst themselves as the "Thepa") are a race of magically created lizard/human hybrids which populate the damp underground grottos of Sosaria. In later ages, they proved themselves as civilized and intelligent creatures, and were eventually incorporated into Sir Cabirus's visionary Abyssal Colony.

Description
Created from some of the foulest of Mondain's magics, lizard men were birthed from the combination of the wizard's own expendable servants and great reptiles which dwelt in the Sosarian wetlands. Strong and dangerous in battle, these cool blooded creatures were once a significant threat to dungeon-faring adventurers in the earlier ages of Sosaria.

With time, however, these creatures came to develop both culture and language, in spite of their monstrous origins. Long hunted as unthinking beasts, the lizard folk were almost eradicated from the lands which would become Britannia, and were, in fact, thought extinct until Cabirus' colonists came upon a tribe surviving in the Great Stygian Abyss. The settlers treated these reptilian men with understanding, and found them capable of understanding human speech, although they were largely unable to replicate it. The lizard men eventually were given a place among the colonists of the Abyss, living harmoniously amidst men, goblins,  mountain-folk and  trolls for a time. In this motley settlement, the lizard men appeared to divide themselves into tribal units based on pigmentation, with green, red and gray tribes living in distinct territories. Curiously, the gray lizard men (enigmatically referred to as the "Silent Ones") were capable of pronouncing human language.

After the destruction of the Abyssal Colony, the lizard men were not seen in Britannia again during the course of the Avatar's adventures there, although the colonists as a group were said to have resettled in the dungeon Destard. It is unknown if this strange race ultimately vanished at last from the land or if these creatures retreated once more into places unknown to men

Notable Examples

 * Ishtass: a gray lizard man seeking knowledge of his lost chieftain, Ossikka
 * Iss'leek: a red lizard man capable of instructing others on the "Water Walk" spell
 * Sseetharee: a green lizard man who guarded the imprisoned human, Murgo

Trivia

 * Gremlins are apparently of some relation to the lizard men, even though the two races bear little resemblance to one another.
 * Lizard men were to be included in the canceled Ultima X. See Planned Monsters for Ultima X for further details.
 * In order to make things easier there is a Guide to Lizard Men Language.