From the point of view of a human, slarges are hostile
intelligent reptiles that walk on their hind legs and use metal, a trick
they have perhaps learned from their old ennemies, the orcs. They are gnarled
with heavy scales, knobs, horns and spikes, and are generally hostile to
all other beings. Very few human have been able to establish a friendly
contact with the slarges, and even less have even the simpliest notions
of their language. Slarge do not seems to have domestic animals, and are
seen in cooperative bands of up to a several hundred hunters during the
fire season. Slarges are never encountered during the cold monthes of dark
and sea seasons. Two variety of slarges can be meet on the island. Giant slarges wander
mostly alone, and appears to often pursue a single occupation. One may spend
its life teaching itself how to master the great sword, and take every opportunity
to challenge anybody to a fight, Another may only forge armor, or become
a shaman and bind nothing but wraiths.
Giant slarges are huge muscular lizards, often taller than 7 or 8 feets.They
are equipped with powerfull claws and a thick hide. They are extremely sensitive
to cold temperature, and appears to slow down significantly below 20°C.
They are, however, very resistant to heat and have been seen to bath into
hot springs with temperatures above 80°C.
Lesser slarges are about the size of a man, and are cooperative. They skin
is much thinner, but they also are more agile and fast. They attack in coordinated
groups, often following pre-arranged tactics.
Contrary to their large conterpart, lesser slarges are never found alone,
and always appear to have a task to accomplish. Lesser slarges also despise
cold, but do not appear to be affected as much as the great slarges. To
human eyes, it is impossible to recognize the sexe of a slarge, and the
only discernable difference appears to be the colors and forms of their
skin marking patterns.
The attitude and life style of the slarge are almost entirely dictated
by their genetic material. The appearant hostility of all slarges encountered
in the island comes from the fact that most of them are warrior slarges.
Their extreme territoriality and natural aggressiveness makes them highly
likely to attack at the smallest sign of danger. Often, the simple vue of
arms and armors is interpreted as an aggressive behavior.
Because of their cold-blooded nature, slarges needs to artificially maintain
their body temperature in such a cold climat as Griffin Island. It is the
reason why they have elected to live on the bank of the Kta lake. The large
Kta lake is constantly supplied with warm water by the geothermic activity
of the island and the presence of active volcanos at his bottom. On its
shore, the slarges have erected large colony-hives burried into the volcanic
soil and supplied by hot springs, and they retreat in them during the cold
monthes of winter. For that reason, it is impossible for them to expand
their territory since they would have to surrend each winter the conquests
of the summer.
Slarge craftsman are renown for their skills. Even if they often lack inovative
spirit, they excel at perfecting and refining old designs.
Great slarges have the unique ability of encoding their experience into
their genetic material so that it can be directly tranfered to their offsprings.
They appears to be able to do so only for a limited number of skills, and
a slarge must totally devote himself to his speciality before the many years
of training start to influence his genes. This appears to be the reasons
for the extremely strange and focused behavior of the great slarges. At
some times, great slarges stop wandering on the island and go back to their
original clan to become a breeder slarge. Breeder slarges are parthenogenetic
and lay batches of eggs without needs for mating. These eggs are guarded
and cared by their tribe until they hatch into lesser slarges. The newly
hatched slarge is born with all the physical abilities and the knowledge
of the skill that was mastered by its breeder. A swordmaster breeder, for
example, will be able to give birth to many lesser slarges, all with the
optimum physical attributes for handling a sword, and an instictive knowledge
of sword fight. This extreme specialisation, however, limites the usefulness
of the lesser slarges for anything else than their genetically intended
purpose.
After laying a certain number of eggs, the great slarge dies, exhausted
by his reproductive task.
Within each slarge clan there is a special kind of great slarge called the
Breeder Mother. The breeder mother's eggs have no particuliar genetic speciality,
but produces lesser slarges that are the sexual stage of the life cycle
and mate normally, giving live birth to infant giant slarges. The breeder
mother appears able to live and lay eggs for hundreds of years, and she
controls either by the use of pheromons or unknown methods, the reproduction
of the other breeder slarges. For example, the breeder mother is able to
block the reproduction of the swordmaster breeder until the clan needs warriors,
avoiding to burden the tribe with non-needed small slarges and preventing
the waist of the egg-laying abilities of the breeder. Since it takes about
six monthes for an egg to hatch, the breeder mother is responsible for the
long-term planning of the clan goals.
Every slarge in the clan, independantly of its position, is under the absolute
control of the breeder mother, and the perception of a threat to their breeder
mother instantly throw every member of the hive into a stage of berserk
frenzy directed toward the potential aggressor. For that reason, the breeder
mother usually remains deep within the hive, protected by hundreds of specialized
and fanatic bodyguards. To plan the futur of the clan, she relies on the
reports of lesser slarge spies and scout.
Before the days of great slavery, the entire slarge empire was under the
control of a single breeder mother, and acted cooperatively. However, when
the orc hero Gor Trag managed to enslaved the breeder mother by sorcery,
he was able to take control of the entire slarge nation.
Following the liberation by Zar, the slarge nation decided to prevent the
risk of such an event occuring again, by allowing the development of 4 new
breeder mothers, and the splitting of their community into five clans. With
that split died the great unity that had been their strenght and weakness.
It is today much more difficult to enlist the cooperation of the entire
slarge nation toward a common project, since every clan now has his personal
agenda. Combat between the clans are still unknown to the slarge, and it
is impossible for one clan to take over another, since a perceived threat
to any of the other breeder mother would send the warriors of the attacking
clan in berzerk frenzy against their own troups.
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