The Saurian Kingdoms

''Lands filled with great birds and lizards who can devour even the greatest of warriors. Lands populated by savages. Lands covered in deadly flora. These are the Saurian Kingdoms.''

History
Little is known of the lands known as the Saurian Kingdoms. The various tribes who inhabit the region have an oral tradition of history, so scholars find a difficult time discerning history from myth. What little is known is a cross reference between archaeological studies and the histories of nearby nations such as Eylstrana.

''The Lands have been our people's since we were people. Our tale was told by our ancestors, and our decendants will tell it the same. Since the time of the great one eyed gods, to the days of the foriegners with their black stone, we have told the tale. When the fires burned and the flood waters came, we told the tale. On this night, we tell the tale, and when tomorrow comes, we will tell it again.''

Cyclopean Era
The region of the Saurian Kingdoms seems to have been just as wild and untamed during the time of the cyclops empire as it is today. Because of this, cyclops civilization does not seem to have penetrated the region. Archaeological digs suggest that the saurian people knew of the cyclops empire and feared them greatly.

During the decline and eventual destruction of the cyclops empire, the saurians were plagued by a devastation that shrunk their numbers to approximately 10% of the population. Following this collapse the saurians left little mark as they reverted to hunter-gatherer types. It wasn't until the rise of the Antediluvians that the saurians returned to their pre-collapse numbers.

The Time of the One Eyed Gods
''Long ago, when the oldest stories were being told, the Lands were bountiful and the People made war with each other. Out of the north came massive men with one eye each. They came with war in their hearts. The People for the first time stood as one and showed the large folk the strength of the dinosaur. Great Malaba lead the People on a great hunt to drive the giants away. Near the Second Lake Malaba and the hunting party found the giants had made dwellings. The People had not yet learned the practice of making these dwellings, so they approached with caution. ''

''The giants came to meet Malaba and the hunting party. Their chief, known as Setto, had a dream of this meeting. Setto said to Malaba that war between the giants and the People would spell death for all. So Setto plucked the war from her heart. Malaba did not believe and held war in his heart still. But Setto foretold Malaba would go home to find his mate with child. Setto made a bet with Malaba. If his firstborn was a son, he would raise the son in the fury of the raptor and it would be this boy that slew Setto. Instead, if his firstborn was a daughter, she would come to lead the People and strike a bargain with the giants. Setto and the giants would remain where they had made dwellings at the second lake until this had passed.''

''Suspicious, Malaba took Setto's deal, but left the hunting party to watch the giants. Malaba's mate Ziza was indeed with child. And indeed as Setto expected, she gave birth to a daughter of Malaba. Malaba knew that Setto offered no trick, and war would destroy the People. So he returned to Setto's dwellings when his daughter, who was named Niwa, had come of age. Setto rejoiced when she saw Malaba and Niwa. A great feast was held in celebration.''

''The people learned much from the giants. In exchange the giants were allowed a path along the River of the Morning Sun. The People lent their riders and the giants shared their wisdom. The People learned the ways of making dwellings, the ways of divining the future, the ways of forging bronze, and many ways of magic. The giants learned the ways of taming the saurians, the ways of finding food, and the ways of telling tales. For many seasons, and many generations the giants and the People shared many things, but this would not last.''

''Word came from beyond the lakes and beyond the plains that calamaty was soon to come. The one eyed giants could foretell their doom as Setto foretold the doom of the People. But this dream was not of many paths, but only one. The one eyed giants would know a destruction that would strip from them all they had including themselves. The People wished to help, but it was the giants that would help the People. To save the People from the calamty that would soon befall the giants, one of every family would stay behind while the rest walked into the spirit world. The giants taught the People the old magic that would let them do this, but many of the People feared as this was the same magic that made the dead walk.''

''For many seasons, and many generations the People walked in the spirit world. There they watched as the world crumbled apart. The dreams drove the giants mad and war returned to their hearts. Many homes were crushed in the rampage, many lives were lost. The People remember that it was the one eyed giants that sent us away to one day return, and that is why we venerate them.''

Antediluvian Era
When the antediluvians arrived in Anura the saurian population exploded. It is believed that the antediluvian technology was stolen by or somehow traded to the saurian people which gave them the upper hand against their dinosaur neighbors. During the antediluvian era the people of the region tamed dinosaurs and began to use them in primitive agriculture. The deluge that whipped out the advanced peoples likewise knocked the saurians back into a stone age, as evidence of large scale agriculture vanishes after this point in history.

The Time of the Black Metal Demons
''Here this. When the People wandered the spirit world, they watched those they left behind from across the mist. They wandered so long because the one-eyed gods declared it. In the spirit world the People learned many secrets that they would need when they returned. And they would need to wait to return so that this story can be told.''

''The People that stayed in this world once saw a star fall from the sky. Bright like the sun, the stars were hidden as if it were mid day at mid night. This omen they knew well would mean the coming of great calamaty but also the return of their cousins. They took to the heart of the jungle and waited for the black ships.''

''With the help of the one-eyed gods, the People long ago made ships that could travel beyond the horizon. They traded and traveled across the sea. But they always returned to the Land. The black ships were many times larger than the largest of even the one-eyed gods' ships. The black ships came from far beyond the horizon. And they would not take their passengers to their land again.''

''When the people of the south in their black ships arrived, the People in this world watched with bated breath. If they were found, they would die. And the black ships passed, and the people clad in black metal passed with them, towards the site of the fallen star that lit up the night sky like the sun. Three moons later, when no more black ships passed by the Land, the mists parted, and the People were made whole again.''

''The final gift of the one-eyed gods was knowledge of this story before it was told. The People hid within the jungle. They could not farm like the days of the one-eyed gods. They were forced to stay in one land and farm it. Crop was grown tightly. The People lived on top of themselves. The dwellings could not be made to be moved, for they can only house so many. Stone was drawn up from the River of the Setting Moon and trees of the jungle were felled. The People built a dwelling to rival all others which they named Ankhen; in which they all lived.''

''Those clad in black metal approached the Land and the People were afraid. For those clad in black metal had terrifying sorcery and weapons of demons; magic that could crack the earth; gleaming stones that could wrack one with pain from one hill to the next. The demons approached the Land but the dinosaurs were not afraid. They came to the People's aid and drove out the demons. Many of the dinosaurs died, but the demons did not find the People's great dwelling.''

''The weapons and armors of the demons were taken and used. The hottest fires could not melt the armor, or even make it bend. The weapons caused only pain and death. So what was found was gathered together and cast into the Lonely Waters. This is why we do not drink from these waters, and why we keep the Lonely Waters within a hands length of the horizon.''

The Dark Era
After the deluge whipped the antediluvians from Anura the people of the Saurian Kingdoms fell into a dark age that they haven't recovered from. The great saurian city of Ankhen fell into disrepair and was eventually all but abandoned. Farming techniques were lost and fields were reclaimed by nature. In spite of this, it was during this period that the primitive writing system of the saurians was developed.

The Time of Returning
''Remember this: all things change, and with it the People. For many seasons the demons in black metal did not tread the Land. The People were cautious, and did not leave the jungle for many more seasons. When they did, they rejoiced. No longer were they confined to the great dwelling of Ankhen. No longer were they bound to their fields season after season. The People could return to the ways before they walked in the spirit world or hid in the jungle.''

''But all things change, and with it the People. Their time in Ankhen had given the People new interest. They had learned that the lineage of dinosaur can be changed to make new dinosaurs. Dinosaurs you see today were once very different. More rugged, less specialized. In Ankhen the fields must be plowed and the felled trees must be moved. The dinosaurs that make these chores easier make children who do so better. And so the long tradition the People have always known takes a new form.''

''So the people spread from Ankhen, leaving it for the jungle to take back. They took from it the marks used to remember the tales of the dinosaurs. The People fought over this. Some think the marks would make us lazy and forgetful, stealing the tales from our heads. Others say that the marks are not for us, but for the dinosaurs. We write their lineage and only their lineage. We speak our tales and only speak our tales. And so it has been since the People have returned from the jungle into the Land.''

The Thruhmuth Era
During the time of the Thruhmuth empire the Saurian Kingdoms were extraordinarily violent. A great many clashes were met between the saurians and what is now Brausau and INSERT KINGDOM 11 HERE. In spite of their primitive technology and fighting abilities, the Saurian Kingdoms were never claimed by Thruhmuth due to the sheer destruction inflicted by the dinosaurs that the saurian people tamed.

The Time of the Thruhmuth
''And so there rose a people in the plains and the badlands and all lands beyond them. They wore metal of grey and this caused the People to fear them. But the People had marked which dinosaurs fought the demons in black metal, and from their brood bore out fierce dinosaurs we ride to this day. They feared the people called Thruhmuth but they put their trust in their dinosaurs.''

''The people of Thruhmuth arrived from the River of the Rising Sun and spoke as monkeys with head injuries. After much telling of our tales, and much hearing of theirs, the People learned to understand the Thruhmuth. The Thruhmuth claimed that the Land and the People were under the rule of a king of kings in the plains. The People did not understand how they could be ruled by a king they did not know, or how a king could rule kings. And so the People did what Malaba intended for Setto. The dinosaurs did better with the Thruhmuth than with the demons in black metal, so the People knew that Thruhmuth were men and not demons.''

''Thruhmuth fought and fought claiming the Land was theirs and the People were too. But the dinosaurs and the riders showed that the People were not to be ruled by a king in a foreign land. Many seasons, and many generations passed before Thruhmuth stopped trying. And then the sea people say that Thruhmuth was no more, as the People would have been had they not heeded the one-eyed gods.''

The Death
Following the collapse of Thruhmuth, the conflicts with the Saurian Kingdoms shifted to Brausau's armies. Both sides of this conflict abruptly stopped fighting upon the devastating plague that ravaged Anura. Since then, the saurian people have slowly become even more isolated than before, with the one exception being trade with the Prismatic Isles thriving.

The Death
''But Thruhmuth warriors returned, calling themself Brausau now. The People continued to defy their king. Many seasons passed, and the Death came for all. The people of the sea told the People that all the world beyond the rivers and beyond the plains had suffered what the People suffered: a sickness that claimed so many lives. This was only a few seasons ago, and the pain is fresh. Know this, if the People are no more, then so too are our tales. The tales will echo through the spirit world where the People once wandered.''