Lizard men

Lizard men
Lizard man, from Memoirs of Sir Cabirus
First appearance:	Ultima I
Last appearance:	Ultima Underworld

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' 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

Lore

“	When Mondain first came to our land he performed unspeakable experiments with his servitors and the fierce reptiles that inhabit some of the streams and rivers in the south of our land. The result was the Lizard Man, a being both reptilian and human in a single body, armed with cruel teeth and a disposition to match its appearance. – from The First Age of Darkness (Ultima I)

“

"The Dark Ages" is the name given to that long-ago time when the Triad of Evil stalked the lands. In those same years when Lord British first arrived upon our shores, a young mage named Mondain was perfecting his skills in the arcane arts. The wizard slew his own father in order to seize a gem with mystic powers. Mondain subverted the jewel to evil purposes, and began a campaign of unrest and dismay against all of the world. In his most foul experiments, Mondain dissected his own servitors as well as the great reptiles which then dwelt in the southern swamps. Reuniting the body parts through magical means, he created a variety of strange sauran forms. One strain proved successful, and thus came the Lizard men into our world. After Mondain was slain, the Lizard men were hunted down one by one until none remained. Or so it was thought, until our colonists came to settle the Abyss! Here we found the last clan of the reptilians living in the grottos. Inspired by Compassion, we forbore slaying the monsters and taught them of the Path of the Avatar. To our delight, the Lizard men can understand the common tongue, but not speak it. Goblins and Lizard men intermingle in the wetter portions of the Abyss, and have a friendly rivalry with the Mountain-Folk (the mountain-men hate dampness, and would build channels and drain the Abyss if left to themselves!). – from Memoirs of Sir Cabirus (Ultima Underworld)

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.
• Guide to lizard men language has been published.
• The original Ultima I (non-remake) Apple version has lizard men available as race number 0. This requires modifying the saved game, or editing the game code to allow selecting that race. Text strings for said race selection remain in the only in the 1986 Apple remake but the game won't show the string.

Gallery

• 

  FM Towns-port of Ultima I

• 

  Ultima X concept art

• 

  Lizard man illustration from Quest for Clues

See Also

• Gremlins
• Sakkhra
• Ultima I monster data

External Links

• Table of lizardmens' vocabulary, Sir Cabrius' homepage