Cretasus Natives

The Peoples/Dinosaurs/Natives of Cretasus

The following is a detail of the known societies of Cretasus. Just as the flora and fauna show an odd mimicry of prehistoric Earth, many of the social structures and cultures that emerge mimic those from history.

---

The Tyrant Shogunate

Most of the T. Rexes that fall into a society are members of a Shogunate. These tight-knit alliances all trace their roots to a single, ancient figure. What very few realize is that some of these figures are still alive, ruling generations of descendants with a tiny iron fist. Those who wish to challenge these Tyrant Masters are laughed aside, for their reign is absolute. Even the other Tyrant Masters within the Shogunates respect their rule. Each Shogunate uses the name of their common ancestor as an identifier of their ties.

The Shogunates present a clear and present danger to those in lands near their hunting grounds- they are insular, xenophobic, and generally a bad place to be if you are not related to a Shogunate Rex. However, they are a vital part of Cretasus's ecosystem, a damper on the populations of anything small enough to fit in their jaws.

The Shogunate most non-Tyrannosaurs encounter is the Earthshaker tribe. They are unusually mellow for tyrannosaurs, sometimes even trading with outsiders for goods and cultural items. Their tiny arms and lack of natural resources make their metallugrical skills weak, but nonetheless they are one of the few Tyrannosaur clans to make armor and weapons, which they sell to other Rexes, as well as those brave (or stupid enough) to reach their lands.

Tyrannosaurs rely on brute strength and numbers. But as their bodies deteriorate from age, new powers begin to awaken.

---

The Protoceratops Villages

Rather than a specific cultural tie, the protoceratops seem to have a society resembling a mishmash of monastic traditions. They live in seclusion, storing vast libraries of knowledge, training in forms of combat, and seeking enlightenment. However, there is a noticeable difference in that they are a very secular species- attempts to spread Christianity have been met with responses ranging from laughter to month-long inquiries about the physical impossibility of a manifold-spaced craft made entirely of wood and the moral implications of murdering a nation's firstborn.

Nonetheless, a Protoceratops on the horizon is often a welcome sight. Those encountered outside their hidden cavern monasteries are often scholars and explorers, always with something new or interesting that they have seen. While they are often targeted by the predators of Cretasus due to their physical frailty, they are quite capable of defending themselves. This is because their quest for enlightenment, shunning their physical strength for that of their mind, unlocks fantastic powers that set them apart from other ceratopsians- a Protoceratops Psyker is a reasonable challenge for a tyrannosaurus.

These Psykers are usually found guarding the libraries of the Protoceratops, although some are so powerful they can will themselves where they are needed.

---

The Nanuq Lodges

The Nanuqsaurus, or Polar Bear Lizard, is a diminutive relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. At 21 feet long, they can't afford to rely on their physical strength and brutality to secure a position in their arctic homes. This has led them to specialize in mercantilism, fishing, raiding, and conviviality, leading to a society resembling Earth's vikings. They fell trees using simple tools, hollow them out using their claws, and sail across the seas in search of treasure, plunder, and adventure. Though encounters can go either way with a Nanuq ship, they are uniformly hospitable on home ground, offering lodging and food to visitors. Because of this, most expeditions to the arctic involve a stop at a Nanuq village.

Even outside their villages, Nanuq are fairly calm, if a bit boisterous. They hunt and fish for food and sport, favoring fatty prey such as mammoths and plesiosaurs to get oil and meat. They prefer not to harm sentient prey, considering snatching a trophy a "kill" for the purpose of scorekeeping. Where the Protoceratops produce psykers, Nanuq produce berserkers and totemic shamans.

The known Lodges are Mammoth, Plesiosaur, Mosasaur, and Odobenocetops.