worldbuilding project lizard doodles because i love them very much
more info about them under cut
these guys!!! these silly guys!!! (disclaimer; i am not a biologist i just think silly lizards are fun)
basic information:
HABITAT: Grasslands, prairies, open spaces; range mostly centered around the central valley, but they've spread out over time. Migrate south in winter (northern Mekerine, eastern Soleni) and north in the winter (flatter hills of southern Aureliat and Dimatzi.) LIFESPAN: 14-18 years CAST AFFILIATION: Deus Radian, Deus Tellarae; lightworking, heavily affiliated with tellaric values like language and precise migrations. CAST USERS?: Yes - Lightcasting DIET: Omnivores; a large part of their diet is the various plants found on Pavilic prairies, but they're also known to eat insects when given the opportunity. ACTIVE WHEN?: Nocturnal
relation to Pavilic culture:
According to the mythos, these lizards (which do not yet have an actual name, i'll figure that out later) are how language came to be. These guys are pack animals. They're sort of like deer/elk; they stay in large groups, camouflaging into their environments through their colors and the grass-like strands on their backs. The more you have of that camouflage, the better it looks, so they stick together. However. You have these big groups, and you have no way from them to talk to eachother. These creatures don't have eyes, but they have an incredibly developed sense of smell- the only eye-like thing they have is the photoreceptors on their skin. Over time, they evolved to communicate using the one material they could both recieve and give; light. On their heads are two, incredibly flexible flaps (which i'm calling their communication flaps or CFS for now), and these- which emit light at a wavelength only half visible to humans- is how they talk. These flaps have these emitters on the underside, so that when fully extended, the light only goes outward; it pierces through the grasses and is detected by other lizards, but isn't able to be seen directly by aerial predators. If they're adapted to see the light at all, they'll see so much of it and see it diffused throughout so much that they can't pinpoint the exact location of one; and again, these are big groups. However, language in and of itself is very connected to Deus Tellarae- she's the god of rules, laws, cycles, and mathematics, and that extends to language somewhat. It's a myth that the morse-code like light patterns that these lizards communicate with was a gift from her. Different groups of lizards will have slightly different patterns of communication, and each specific lizard will have it's own exact frequency at which it emits light. This, combined with the mix of it's camouflage, is an incredibly effective way of identifying individuals.
