Sith-makar

Largely concentrated in the distant jungles of Am'Shere, east of the known world, the sith'makar are but one part of three clans of a group of reptile humanoids who call themselves the Children of the Flame. They are an evolved breed of lizardfolk, descended from dragonkind, and have recently embraced that ritual through ritual and magic, and elevated themselves above and beyond the common variety of their species. The exact origins of The Children of the Flame are somewhat debatable and shrouded by numerous conflicting reports, but it is generally believed that they are the descendants of a type of precursor race of draconic humanoids that were used as laborers, slaves and foot soldiers by dragon overlords during the early years of the second age, after the passing of the Time of Glaciers. In those days, it is said that the good dragons grew sympathetic to the plight of their children and spirited some away to several hidden enclaves scattered across The Great Continent. One such enclave was in what is now known as Am'shere, a thick jungle region in the deeps of the largely unexplored sub-continent of Jammur, and it is here that the majority of the Children of the Flame reside.

Since that time the Children devolved into various branches. Yet, of all of them the sith'makar retained the greatest belief in their draconic heritage and held sacred the Memory of Blood that ran deep within them. Throughout their existance, this belief allowed frequent births of the sorcererous bloodlines to occur, and eventually, the development of certain innate powers tied to their ancient heritage that would set them apart from their fellows, and recall the heritage of the Children of the Flame.

Scholars who encountered them of late came to refer to these individuals as "dragon touched" or "dragonkin." These individuals begain to stand out from the more common sith'makar, and scholars as well as the tribal shamans agree that these dragonkin mark the beginnings of a great change. Stories that leak from Am'shere tell of a pact made between the sith'makar and active dragons of good and neutrality who, by ritual and agreement, jump-started the latent power in the willing. Through ritual and magic then, the rumors go, the sith'makar have begun to truly reflect their draconic heritage and the heritage of the former Children of the Flame. They are beginning a phase that their shamans refer to as "the Rebirth." It is this new class and breed of sith'makar, the dragonkin or "dragon touched," that are available for play on Ea, and their existance marks the next evolution of the sith'makar, as they move forward to explore this Rebirth and re-establish their ancient heritage.

All this is recent. For most of their history, the Children of the Flame were involved in a devastating insular and cyclical civil war with one another (see the Am'shere file). They fought for survival, and they fought for territory. Contact with other species occurred but tended to be limited to fringe contacts wherein the sith'makar, among the Children, where the most accommodating to explorers. Travelers from The Great Continent and often came to serve as guides as these travelers sought to explore Am'shere or expose the sith'makar to cultures beyond their own.

The status quo of racially-driven conflict remained even a century later as scouts from the empire of Charn encountered the clans and in a violent clash, set the precedent for years to come. Charn used Am'Shere as harsh training grounds for their own elite troops in the war against Myrddion and in the process they were destroying the lands held by the Children of the Flame. The atrocity did not stop there--Charn also took slaves, an act that colored the sith'makar's view of humanity for years to come. The clans briefly united against this threat and successfully drove Charn back.

In the process however, the tribal shamans discovered several portals leading from Am'shere back to the Great Continent which they began to use to send envoys of their own out to the depths of the continental interior. The sith'makar sought metal, trade and exploration. Several generations have passed since then and the sith'makar are making their presence known in scattered parts of the world. Some time has passed since this and sith'makar trade caravans, settlements and even members of the adventuring community have become a rare but accepted sight and additional insight into their isolated culture has occurred, bringing them more into the forefront of history. The rediscovery of their heritage as quickened this pace, even as the sith'makar as a culture work to adapt to these changes, as they have always been a slow-moving race.

Physical Description

Appearancewise, the "dragon touched" among the sith'makar reflect both saurian ancestry and their more ancient draconic ones. They possess colorations and structures that imply the metallic and chromatic bloodline at the root of their history. Overall there is no one universal look for them, and the bloodline has been so mixed and diluted over the years that though certain traits may dominate, the bloodlines mix among them in a way that is truly unique. No sith'makar could be said to be purely of red dragon ancestry or any other (that is, even a "red" will show traces of other lineages). Instead, they are their own race. Generally speaking, family lines tend to determine their colorations and features as well as their caste-based system. As a race, they are large and, due to their reptilian nature, physically imposing but deceptively fast on their feet, with long tails to counterbalance them, and at times horns or dramatic, colorful frills that often accent their speech. Their unique features can play a distinctive role in their communication: their heritage is a language based on old draconic, whose original speakers possessed similar traits. They are comparable in size to half-orcs, being somewhat taller then humans, possibly even approaching seven feet in height.

Society and Lands

The major sith'makar society is the one in Am'shere on the continent of Jammur. Though not the only one, as other enclaves was established across The Great Continent, Am'shere represents the iconic sith'makar establishment and place of sovereignty. There the tribes are ruled by their great Silver Queen, a descendant of the ancient silver dragon who is said to have freed their precursors from an ancient slavery, and who spirited them away to the safety of the jungle. Thus, their ancestors had not looked to explore--but rather establish themselves, as their history had been dark and terrible.

A sith'makar home is typically a communal and lodge-like affair, with areas sectioned off for rituals or other functions. A central fire traditionally provides warmth, though the shamans also claim it as symbolic of their ties to their dragon ancestors (as in literally "Children of the Flame"). Such fires are often the focus of tribal rituals or social events.

Their basic societal unit is the tribe. Established tribe names include but are not limited to: Shurik, Sashenka, Fyothor, and Kadesh. Tribe names and flavors favor the draconic speech of their ancestors (in some or many cases, the sith'makar's dialect has changed sufficiently that they are unaware of the tribe name's original meaning).

sith'makar naming conventions for themselves are similar, with a first name given at hatching. Because of the jungle's inherit danger and the sith'makar's own dangerous past, a sith'makar acquires a second name only if they survive their first year. This name is given by tribal shamans or priests, who select it after a traditional period of meditation and visionquesting. This second name may be anything descriptive, though it usually indicates a trait the elders believe the child will possess. Common possessive prefixes include but are not limited to ve or vethi, as the names tend to be highly personalized.

The hatching of children is a celebrated event in Am'shere's dangerous environment, which gives the tribes a somewhat matriarchal stance as the protection of the eggs and their care often takes a primary role against the dangers of predators. This slight inclination is reinforced with the legend of the Silver Dragon, as well as the rulership of a Queen. This does not mean male Sith are unequal--merely that the dangers they have had to endure make the protection of young a higher priority than it otherwise might be.

Children of the sith'makar, especially the new dragonkin among them, inherit a rich tapestry from their parents and a rich and ritualistic tribal life. As they grow, for instance, they are ushered into a tribal caste system. Gradually, a child will be guided into an appropriate caste of a hunter, a warrior, a gatherer, a priest, and so on based on their talents and inclination within their tribe. To complicate matters, however, the Rebirth and emergence of the "dragon-touched" has added complexity to this most ancient of traditions, and a "dragon touched" individual is considered a member of a higher class even within these groupings. Among even these castes, they may form subgroups based on predominant coloration. In response, the elders of the tribe have emphasized cooperative childhood games and hunting-groups to ensure tribe members continue to work together. These measures have proved successful, both because of the dangers of their native environment, and because the ancient blood of dragons is so mixed that the sith'makar, even the "dragon touched" are much more a single people than a fractured one. There is no doubt, however, that these dragonkin are the future of the tribes, and the shamans watch each new hatchiing anxiously.

As they move forward to reclaim their destiny, the sith'makar adjust slowly to the changes around them. Travelers come back with reports of new ideas or concepts, which must be adjusted and fit within the tribes' way of thinking. Some merchants have begun to establish trade with cities such as Alexandria and return with new ideas and commerce. Am'shere's exotic caravans draw the attention of crowds, and in the midst of it all, the sith'makar shamans, druids, and priests chant of the Memory of Blood, which guides the sith'makar in their path as they move to reclaim their ancient heritage, and forge it anew.

Other Races

They are not an industrious race, having spent centuries in isolation and only within the past century or so having begun moving out to experience the idiosyncrasies of the outside world. By and large, as a result, sith'makar will get along with other species with a, If you don't bother me, I wont bother you type of attitude.

Alignment and Religion

For many generations, the sith'makar knew nothing of the ancient gods and instead had developed an animistic and spiritual viewpoint of the higher powers of the universe. The sith'makar's form of nature worship led to complicated hierarchies of druidic circles that studied the world as best they understood it. Layered atop these beliefs was the worship of dragons and dragonlike beings. In recent years, missionaries from The West have brought the knowledge of the gods to The sith'makar, although with mixed results. In the past, the sith'makar had known the gods though in their isolation they had forgotten their names, and instead began to merge them with higher spirits, or associate them with a great hero in their collective past. As their connection with the outer world grows, the sith'makar struggle to reconcile these understandings, and do so in a way that gives them a unique perspective. Among them, Daeus and Maugrim embody the aspects of dragons, and Coyote is given many names, often represented locally in the form of a well-known and ancient trickster, whose abilities foiled an enemy to take his food, or taught a lesson in a creative way.

sith'makar tend towards neutrality. Being a race that grew up in the deeps of the jungles of Jammur, they don't necessarily have the same perception on morality as western societies and instead focus on the necessity of survival. That said, exposure to the gods of good and evil and the mingling of societies has produced more variances in the sith'makars' outlook. The Memory of Blood also impacts this by giving the sith'makar, and the new "dragon touched" among them an instinctual leaning and disposition that are fractured mirrors of their parent races, although this too is distilled down over the long ages such that it is mostly a sub-conscious thing than them somehow being forced one way or the other due to their colorations.

Travelers to Am'shere may make note of their death rites. Caught between their past, future, and middle, the sith'makar often burn their dead to prevent the attraction of predators into their tribal lands. The shamans then scatter the ashes on well-known sites, in the belief that placing the ashes of the heart (and sometimes the body) encourages the "spirit" of that sith'makar to remain there and watch over the tribe. These sites may be outposts, sacred landmarks, or even a lodge the tribe returns to on a regular basis. A sith'makar venturing from their tribal lands may take with them a vial of dirt from one of these grounds, and therefore take with them the "spirit of protection of their ancestors."

Locations known to have been the domain of dragons are also sacred--shamans may hold important rites among the ancient and rising bones of a great silver or red dragon.

Adventurers

sith'makar explorers who are learning much of the western world in order to take news back to distant Am'Shere are the most common type of explorers someone is likely to encounter. Trade caravans are not unheard of though still relatively rare. sith'makar who are curious about the world beyond what they have known for so long often join these caravans and make their way slowly from the distant east into the great western lands. sith'makar who adventure are quick to adopt the customs and ways of other races that they come into contact with. They are interested in the magic, weapons, armor, wealth and appearances of other cultures.

Recent Events

The phenomenon that is the "Memory of Blood" is a recent one by sith'makar reckoning, triggered by a pact made by ancestral sith'makar with good dragons that triggered the power of their ancient bloodline. As a result the dragonblooded have risen as a vision of their future, and past, that the sith'makar realize they are moving towards. More standard Lizardfolk who lack their same potential for epic deeds and a fervor of study into their draconic heritage exist as the large bulk of sith'makar population but have proven unsuitable for the development needed to transcend their current status and reclaim their ancient heritage. It is hoped that one day the great enthusiasm of some to embrace this new status quo will envelop all members of the Children of the Flame and usher in a new era.

Amidst their internal struggles, the sith'makar have enjoyed a respite from Charn's raids as the old nation's internal rot festers, but the fall of Rune has introduced new elements and challenges. With the lack of a governing body, some tribes have witnessed poaching by opportunistic mages, keen on the scent of dragon blood, and viewing the sith'makar, particularly their hatchlings, as ripe for targeting. This has not endeared the sith'makar to the formal practice of magecraft within the world.

sith'makar Racial Traits

sith'makar mature at the age of 10 and live roughly 450-500 years.

sith'makar Average Height and Weight
Name	Base Height	Base Weight	Modifier	Weight Multiplier
sith'makar, male	5ft 6in	160 lbs	+2d12	x7 lbs
sith'makar, female	5ft 0in	120 lbs	+2d12	x7 lbs

Sith'makar Starting Age
Adulthood	Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer	Bard, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger	Cleric, Druid, Monk, Wizard
16 years	+1d4	+1d6	+2d6

• Classification: humanoid (reptilian)
• +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -2 Intelligence: sith'makar are incredibly tough and exude a powerful presence due to their draconic blood, but they are not prone towards complex thinking due to their more instinctual outlook on life.
• Medium Size: sith'makar are Medium sized creatures and so have no flaws or benefits due to their size.
• Normal Speed: sith'makar have a base speed of 30 feet.
• Natural Armor: sith'makar hides are very tough. They have a +2 AC of natural armor.
• Memory of the Blood: sith'makar are humanoids with the reptilian subtype.
• Immunities: sith'makar are immune to the frightful presence ability of dragons, as if they were dragons. They are also immune to sleep effects and paralysis effects.
• Draconic Heritage: A sith'makar must choose an energy type at 1st level, based on their heritage. The sith'makar gains resistance 5 to this energy type.
• Draconic Vision: sith'makar have Darkvision 60ft and Low-light vision.
• Breath Weapon (Su): Once a day at 9th level, the sith'makar's draconic heritage awakens in the form of a breath weapon. This breath weapon deals 1d6 points of damage of your energy type (chosen at 1st level) per 2 hit dice. Those caught in the area of the breath receive a Reflex save for half damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 your hit dice + your Charisma modifier. The shape of the breath weapon depends on your dragon type (as indicated in the Pathfinder Sorcerer section in their SRD), but the size is 1/2 that listed on the chart.
• Hold Breath: sith'makar can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to three times their Constitution score. For one hour a day they can Breath Water.
• Languages: All sith'makar begin play speaking Common and Draconic. sith'makar with high Intelligence scores can choose any of the following bonus languages: Celestial, Infernal, Jotun, Khazdul or Yrch-Speak.