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.

Client Species

The reptites kept a number of tamed creatures, many of which have survived alongside the reptites in the shelter of the Giant's Claw caverns:

• Winged Apes– A sapient client-race of large apes, sporting long spiralled-horns on their heads and bat-like wings coming off their backs. At one time it was suggested that these apes were the ancestors of hominids in Gate, but this theory has long since been discredited. Their horns and wings, unusual for a primate species, may be the result of psionic modification. Winged Apes have been the most successful at adapting to the modern era; they dispersed from Giant's Claw and had established populations in Denadoro and the Medinan continent as early as 1998 AD. A prominent member of this species is Albion, a ZAPS agent who has become the chieftain of the Hadozee tribe of Highlanders.
• Terrasaurs– Large, robust dinosaurs that have served reptites in the past as beasts of burden and war. Evidencing very early draconic evolutionary traits, terrasaurs are capable of breathing fire. They possess small, vestigial wings, but typically cannot fly without psionic aid or enhancement.
• Avian Rexes– Small, winged dinosaurs that serve the reptites as pets, companions and scouts. The reptites would train and employ the avain rex not unlike a human would train and employ falcons and messenger pigeons. Avian rexes are surprisingly strong, and have a shocking capacity for carrying heavy loads in flight – likely this is due to some latent psionic ability, which is common enough among the reptites and their ilk.
• Runners– These muscular crested dinosaurs look a bit like miniaturized hadrosaurs. Roughly the size of a large pony, the Runner was (and is) frequently used by the reptites as a land mount.
• Dactyls– Large, quadrupedal dinosaurs boasting powerful leathery wings, a crested head, sharp bird-like beaks and a thick, muscular tail. The dactyl was believed entirely extinct until its reemergence around the time of the Death Peak incident in 1999 AD. Historically, both reptites and early modern humans tamed and trained these beasts as flying mounts; that tradition continues today, with Guardian knights of the Order of the Dragon often learning to ride a dactyl mount as a symbol of their status. During the Guardian Civil War, reptite and Chorran units mounted on dactyls served as scouts and skirmishers against the Guardian land invasion of Chorras.
• Tyranos– A monster of legend in the Gate Dimension, tyranos are still believed to be mostly extinct, though the reptites of Giant's Claw claim to have a mated pair of tamed beasts secreted away deep in their caverns. Tyranos were large, predatory dinosaurs that stood thirty feet tall and breathed fire like a dragon. There are rumors of tyrano sightings on the Velorian Islands in the south of Medina; these rumors purport that members of the pyra ring operating there have tamed at least one tyrano, and employ it as a weapon.

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.