Shaktar

The Shaktar are a species of dragonmen whose ancestors are believed to be The Ancients, who were the first intelligent species on Miranda. As an intelligent species they are aware of others of their kind even though they appear very dissimilar in both size and shape.

The shoag actually represents the largest sub-species of the shaktar. The various species of shaktar typically gather in mono-species populations that have each developed their own distinct culture. The shoag refer to each of these cultures as the clans, each clan has very little interaction with other clans.

The shoag call themselves the Clan of Life because they are the truest branch of the Ancients. They are the most numerous of the shaktar, being found upon nearly all lands of Miranda.

They walk fully upright and measure about 6 1/2 feet at the tip of their head. Physically their bodies most closely resemble humanoid-crocodiles. They have scales, claws, webbed feet (but not hands), and a powerful tail. While their bodies are not fully streamlined, they are very fast swimmers over a short distance using their tail to propel them while their feet allow them to make quick changes in direction. A nictitating membrane and palatal flap allows them to open both their eyes and mouth while underwater.

Unlike crocodiles and other lizards, their head more closely resembles a human with a extended snout and jawline. Their mouth is full of sharp teeth, that are regularly replaced, and well-suited eating meat not plants. Their eyesight is about the same as a Human, but their hearing is terrible requiring anyone talking to them to be within a few feet to be clearly understood. They make up for this by having a superior sense of smell, it is the best among the intelligent races of Miranda.

Technically they are omnivores, but the shoag only eat a small amount of vegetable matter over a month's time, not enough to sustain them.

Main Article: Marlot

The Clan of Stone died out long ago, but many shoag still believe that they live on somewhere in the high mountains. There were rumors that the Stone Clan attacked an Holy Irillian Empire Legion north of the Caragan Sea, but the scholars who have visted the site believe it was an Elven ambush and not an ancient reptilian race.

The shoag know that the Stone Clan were larger than them, standing nearly 12 feet tall when fully upright. Their heads were larger with a more prominent snout and jawline. Unlike the shoag they preferred walking on all fours, except when running. Finally the Stone Clan were able to command stone and earth using only their will, an ability not seen in any other shaktar species.

Main Article: Zeti

The shoag typically refer to them as the cursed or blighted clan. Unlike the other shaktar, the Sun Clan are driven by instinct and not true intelligence. They can use tools and can even fashion crude implements of stone and wood, but they remain woefully inadequate for the descendents of a species that once ruled this world.

Their society travels in large packs consisting of males and unmature females. When the females mature they will take the best males and form their own harem, which is the only society they form. The males will stay with the female until she has driven them off or she is no longer capable of bearing young. Males that leave the harem will rejoin a pack if they are still physically able.

See also: Draken (distant cousins)

The shaktar actually represents a large grouping of species that all descend from a common ancestor. This common ancestor is believed to be the Ancients, but that could be simply myth. The various species of shaktar typically gather in mono-species populations have have each developed their own distinct culture. The shaktar themselves refer to each of these cultures as the clans as they see themselves as one. Each clan has very little interaction with other clans, instead pursuing their own ends.

While the shaktar tend to resemble reptiles from their outward appearances in that they have scales, they are not. All of the shoag clans are warm-blooded and give birth to live young, except the Clan of the Sun that is cold-bloodied and egg-laying.

The shoag are the most numerous of the shaktar and given what few pictorial representations appear the ones that most resemble their ancestry. They stand over six feet tall with powerful muscles and a thick tail. Their head is human-shaped except for a large protruding snout and a jawline filled with sharp teeth. Covered with nearly uniform sized scales on front and back they appear as a giant man-lizard.

It is believed that the Marlot died out before the Age of Empires began. The only possible sighting since that time was an ambush of Irillian Legion by scaly creatures that appeared to rise from the nearby stones. Several scholars have visited the site of the attack and none have found any evidence of the Marlot. They are presumed to have died out.

The Zeti, known to other shaktar as the Clan of the Sun, are the least like the others. They are the smallest and least intelligent of the shaktar, rarely forming any social bonds besides small male harems during the breeding season. While they are capable of using tools, they have never developed anything beyond simple stone and wood tools that they use for hunting. Regardless their hunting packs are devastating to even the most disciplined soldiers as they are skilled a both ambush and hit and run raiding.