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Concept - Crocodilia
A recent episode of a Radio Show called Quirks and Quarks had a segment regarding prehistoric crocodiles. Further research reveals to me an opportunity. The researchers mentioned above have discovered that Crocodiles once occupied a far greater set of niches than they do now. Their range covered everything from 20-foot-long meat-eating BoarCrocs to insect-eating DogCrocs whose heads would fit in the palm of your hand. In addition to the rich history and diversity of the crocodillia in the age of the dinosaurs, there is a great deal of mythology surrounding crocodiles.

I suggest then, a group of monsters and a set of races rooted in crocodilia.

The monsters would be based off the various prehistoric variants found in the age of the dinosaurs.

I picture the Crocidilian race as a departure from the wild Crocodiles. They are anthropomorphic. Their skin is leathery, but not armored or scaled, a ghostly remnant of their cousins. Their tails have shrunk, become vestigial. Their claws, their teeth, their snouts all remain virtually unchanged. A rift in their society formed virtually the moment their shambled masses could be considered a society. They are now The Suchos, The Nuga, The Kanhe, and The Pinchi. Like the Tengu and the Heket, their tribes are visually and distinctly different.

Emerging from an enclave, from a seclusion rattled by the waking dragons, they spread across newly accessible Elona with vigor. Palawa Joko reels from this unexpected threat.

I imagine the crocodilian race as unique in Tyria, in that they are completely unspectacular. Other races were forged in the Mists. Other races were placed on Tyria by a greater being, for a greater purpose. The history of other races is steeped in Magic.

Crocodilians have no such history. The crawled from the swamps and the rivers on their bellies. They were given no quarter and their only forge was an unforgiving world. Their history is not fanciful nor whimsical, it is the grim weight of reality. Once their seclusion from the Fantasy of the Tyria we know is shattered by the waking of the Dragons, they set out to prove their worth. The debate over their 'worth' quickly divided their society.

The Suchos
Based on Egyptian culture. Power-hungry and narcissistic, the Suchos strive to bring all of Tyria to their knees before them. They erect monuments in their name. They subjugate and discard species to do their bidding. They worship Sobek, and have erected the great city of Arsinoe in honor of their leader, Petsuchos, a supposed decendant of Sobek.

The Suchos see themselves as the true sons of Tyria, entities born straight from the earth rather than the aliens that trample the world.

The Nuga
Based on Austronesian culture. Seafaring and aquatic, these tattooed merchants can be found in port cities. They live in floatellas, modular structures partially above, partially below the water. Each bloodline controls a floatella, merging them and separating them in the interest of economy and warfare.

The Nuga tolerate the world, obsessed instead with the familial matters that plague their tribe.

The Kanhe
Based on Grecian-Roman culture. They refuse their beastly origins. They wear robes, study the arts, and govern with civility. They are desperate to be recognized as a model of intelligence and class. They are desperate to not be recognized as the monsters of their history. Order and civility rarely comes easily, it sometimes needs to be enforced at the edge of a sword.

The Kanhe seek acceptance amongst the 'new'found races of Tyria, desperately seeking to distance themselves from their ferocious lineage.

The Pinchi
The Pinchi culture is animalistic; rooted in the desire to return to the predatory ways of their Monstrous cousins. They're warlike and savage. A rite of passage for their young is the slaying of a wild crocodile, their first weapons and armor built of its flesh.

The Pinchi embrace their past so completely it engulfs them, seeking a return to a feral time.

TedTheShred 00:31, 27 January 2010 (UTC)