Reptite

An ancient race of reptilian humanoids. By all accounts, they are the earliest sapient race to have evolved in the Web of Worlds, and up to the point of their near-extinction in the Gate Dimension's prehistoric era they were the most advanced. (though some scholars dispute this -- see below)

Sub-races and Racial Makeup

The Reptites are not one singular race; rather, they are divided into four distinct sub-racial types.

• Green Reptite (Sauro Sapiens Sapiens)- This is the most common sub-race, the one most think of when they conjure a mental image of the reptites. They stand about as tall as a human, with thick green-to-green-yellow scaled bodies, short vestigial tails and three-fingered hands that end in claws. Green reptites are the most populous, and tend to take leadership roles, especially when dealing with outsiders. Most of the reptites that have gone to the surface are greens.
• Brown/"Newt" Reptite (Sauro Sapiens Diplocaulus)- Physically similar in most ways to the greens, save that their skins are a dull brown in color. The scales of this variant are also much finer than those of Shazaks, such that their skin appears smooth and shiny when wet. Brown reptites are amphibious, have slightly longer and broader tails, and possess salamander-like gills in addition to lungs and nostrils. The newt reptites live in the deepest caverns on Giant's Claw, closest to the cavernous lake at the very heart of the reptites' insular world.
• Feathered/"Raptor" Reptite (Sauro Sapiens Troodontidus)- Of similar stature with green reptites, feathered reptites tend to have a more lithe build: thinner limbs and much less robust torso musculature. Their arms and heads and backs sprout colorful feathers, with plumage ranging from blue to red to white. Their feet boast velociraptor-like slashing toe-claws, which make it problematic for them to sport any sort of footwear. Gatian anthropologists have formed a hypothesis that reptites of this subspecies may actually have been the evolutionary precursors of the lancer race of Mystics, but this is merely conjecture and is difficult to factually nail down since the Mystic races were purportedly the result of magical augmentation and experimentation by the ancient Zealans, and precise scientific records of these experiments do not meaningfully survive into the modern day.
• Horned/Cerean Reptites (Sauro Sapiens Ceratopsus)- The horned reptites – colloquially called cereans – are much larger and, generally, physically stronger than the other sub-races. The cereans are distinguished first and foremost by their heads, which bear three horns (two from the forehead, and one at the tip of the Reptite's beak-like snout) and a tall bony crest-fringe that sweeps upward off the back of the Reptite's head. This crest likely once served as a natural defense mechanism before Reptites evolved into upright-walking creatures; the fringe may once have protected a quadrupedal creature's neck from attack from above, but on an upright-walking humanoid sauroid it's mostly a cosmetic feature..

As reptiles, Reptites are cold-blooded, and so prefer warmer climes. They also have an inexplicable susceptibility to lightning magic.

Near-Extinction and Re-Emergence of the Reptites

Reptites were once the dominant sapient on Gate III, and built a society of a surprising level of sophistication in Gate's prehistoric era. They had mastered stone and mortar construction, and had a barter economy that was largely reliant on the Reptites' tamed Dinosaurs as beasts of burden. Reptites had not, however, learned to wield magic, though several Reptite leaders had developed impressive psionic ability.

It is documented that a meteor struck Gate III toward the end of the prehistoric era, ushering in an ice age. Nearly all Reptites and Dinosaurs died off as global temperatures plumetted; those that survived did so by establishing subterranean settlements close to geothermal heat sources. Inheriting the world from the Reptites were the Enlightened Ones of Zeal.

At some point during their long survival underground, the Reptites developed Draconicism, and for the first time became a magic-wielding race.

Reptites began to re-emerge only recently, and have become a common sight in the province of Chorras. The Reptites and their priesthood are closely aligned with Chorras' governor, Dregoth.

Were Reptites the First?

It was Rajaat's claim that the Nu actually preceded the Reptites, and boasted a flourishing and noble shamanistic society before the Reptites had established their kingdom. Very little archaeological evidence exists to support this claim, but some scholars are beginning to lend some credit to Rajaat's theory of a "Blue Age" in the early prehistoric era.