Introduction: the "Terrible Lizards"

65 million years ago, an asteroid crashed into the world in what was known as the K-T event. this had mixed effects, but three main things arrived from it.

1.) mammals were able to establish dominance.

2.) the first 30 Draconequi were born from the resulting chaos

3.) the majority of dinosaurs died out

Now, it was established some time ago that birds are dinosaurs, but non-avian dinosaurs have clung to existence in parts of the world, competing with newer predators. some have feathers, others don't, but they all are still alive.

Now, given 65 million years, some magic radiation, certain conditions, and brain size, it's natural some became Really, REALLY smart.

it should be noted that among the sapient dinosaurs of Concordia, those with a knack for singing achieve prized status among dinosaur communities; their appearance is looked forward to even among other species. Dinosaur tribes encourage Singers to perform in their territory by providing them food for one week after a performance.

The Song is a universally understood piece of music, its meaning long lost to history. The Dinosaurs only know that it holds great significance.

The Thunder and the Dark is a ballad, sung during times of mourning. It speaks of a time of great death and an age of darkness which followed, covering all of the world. Most believe it speaks of a meteor impact or astronomical eclipse.

The Thrum is a song which is different in every telling, but it crosses species' boundaries and is a deep, warbling thrumming sound (as per the name among non-saurians). It is performed only at a time of great evil, when an individual dinosaur or tribe performs something so heinous, so harmful to dinosaur-kind that justice must be undertaken. Burning down food supplies, wide-scale slaughter of entire tribes, and other acts of dinosaur genocide are the most common times when the Thrum is sung.

When the Thrum is performed, it carries across the air for miles, summoning dinosaurs of all species to the singer. The song communicates knowledge of said atrocity to the best of the singer's knowledge, filling the listeners with great rage. Upon hearing the news and determining the truthfulness of the statement (a false Thrum carries the death penalty), the assembled dinosaurs commit war against the offending parties.

***

TROODONTIDS

Skryke

"I used to warn the uninitiated that skrykes hit hard on the attack, much harder then their svelte build and light weight would suggest possible. Sheer velocity is their first weapon, They come at you fast, rapidly appearing out of nowhere. Exploding from cover then springing high to fell their opponent with a flurry of rapid raking kicks to the stomach and groin. Taloned wings dig into the shoulders or hold the unfortunate soul's head in position so that the jaws can savage the face and throat. Several would attack a patrol at once, each selecting a different target, mauling them, then leaping to another, attempting to cripple as many in quick succession as they could. They would get right in amongst us, unpredictable whirlwinds of teeth and claws. Those of us able to shoot often wouldn't for fear of hitting our comrades. And then as if on cue the skrykes would vanish into the bush as suddenly as they appeared. The assaults lasted only a matter of seconds but they always left carnage behind them. The griffs I knew who survived such encounters were all horribly disfigured, blinded, faces mangled, castrated, ghoulish testaments to the ferocity of an enemy who was losing the war, but refused to lose quietly. "

the Skryke is a small, sapient coelurid native to a small island in the Great Pelagic Ocean

Thier language is a mix of birdlike squawks warbles etc... along with the chracteristic screeching locater call used by members of hunting parties to indicate position to one another. their taloned, stiff fingered hands are still geared toward prey manipulation and climbing (young skrykes have proportionally longer arms then adults and are partially arboreal, though even adults climb trees fairly well). Therefore tool use is virtually non existent due to a lack of evolutionary pressure to develop this ability. This of course puts them at a disadvantage against the griffin settlers to the island, whose mastery of tool use gave them the upper hand. Socially they are sort of a cross between stone-age griffins and hyenas. Society is matriarchal and like hyenas the offspring of the alpha female automatically share their mother's high status. hereditary rule is somewhat common, however coup d'etats where a ruling "family" is suddenly and violently overthrown are known to occur on occasion. Females in general are dominant due to larger average size. Mating is at the female's discretion and she typically chooses a male that impresses her somehow (generally through hunting or fighting prowess). Though a female may have a "favorite" male consort with whom she consistently associates and chooses as a mate for more then one breeding season skrykes are not monogamous in the literal sense. The status of males unrelated to the matriarchal line is partially dependent on the status of the female they consort with (thus a male who is favored by the clan matriarch enjoys greatly elevated status, especially if he has fathered chicks with her).

They follow a "religion" of sorts centering around the "Sky Mother". Skrykes believe that when they die that they will join the Sky Mother in soaring over the earth for eternity. Birds are viewed as divine kinfolk and treated with reverence and believed to be messengers from the Sky Mother. Skrykes are skilled mimics, they imitate the sounds of their prey to confuse or lure it, and some are able to develop limited proficiency in the speech of other species. Small prey is generally easily dispatched with the jaws (usually with a quick bite/shake maneuver), or killed with a "death squeeze" by the large clawed hands during which they grip the prey and contract, driving the claws into the prey's body (similar to how hawks kill prey with their feet) larger animals require group hunting and are driven into traps or run to exhaustion by relay teams of hunters. A skryke on it's own is essentially limited to small game hunting.

Following the uneasy truce between the skrykes and the griffin colonists some skrykes have taken to maintaining herds as a readily available source of food. They acquire the animals by trading with griffin settlers. Settlers can provide local skryke clans with livestock in exchange for permission to access rich mining areas inside the clan's territory without fear of attack. The griffin fascination with gems and precious metals baffles the skrykes, who have no use for such things, thus they are more then willing to trade a few shiny rocks for something edible like a herd of pigs.

Like parrots, corvids, etc.. skrykes are very skilled mimics and some individuals are able to become quite fluent in the languages spoken on the island such as Equestrian, Griffish, Germane, Neighponese and Saddle Arabian. During the griffin-skryke conflict, special "mimics" would lure enemy patrols into traps with an impersonation of a griffin voice, or spread chaos by imitating officers and shouting out rapid contradicting orders to soldiers. conversational skryke speech often omits words like "the", "and" , and large complicated multi syllable words are not often used. Most skrykes have a grating, high-pitched, or slightly nasally tone when speaking another language. When speaking another language while angry or threatening (such as issuing a warning in terms a griffin or pony can understand) most skryke's will adopt a deeper, extremely harsh growling voice to accentuate their point. Skrykes who are especially skilled mimics however can perform nearly perfect imitations of a griffin or pony voice. watching a skryke speak Equestrian, Griffish, etc.. is a strange sight since their words often do not synch up with their jaw movements. Like birds skryke's manipulate sounds almost exclusively in their throats without using lips or their tongues. so watching a skryke speak is at times a bit like watching actors in a foreign language movie that's been dubbed in Equestrian.

Kothrah
a Grik

the Kothrah (Grik, Tagranesi, Zebesians, Miako), are native to Zebes, a large Island in the Crystal Ocean. Kothrah society is basically patriarchal, with families being formed by a single father and his multiple wives, however in kothrah society it is the father that guards the eggs and raises the hatchlings, kothrah have little concept of motherly love (most of them don’t even know which of their father’s wives is their biological mother since all of the eggs are put together and fiercely guarded by the father), but consider fatherly love to be the greatest. This doesn’t mean that kothrah females lack affection for the offspring, they actively aid in raising the hatchlings and nowadays some of them have started to subvert this tradition. The main exception is that the leader of the Kothrah is the "Celestial Mother" who acts as empress of the Kothrah.

a Miako

Kothrah have no taboo about cannibalism, ‘once it has stopped moving, it is meat’ to them, and in their point of view nothing can be wasted, not even the dead; they also still practice war cannibalism to honor slain enemies, eating a fallen foe means absorbing his/her strength and courage to them. In ancient times, they liked to make their captives watch their comrades cooked and eaten before doing it to them.

Kothrah are expert sailors, and masters of reverse engineering.

It should be noted here that the different names refer to different populations/races.

Grik are black, and the best sailors, and divide themselves into two catch-all castes: the Uul, who are the workers and warriors, and the Hij, who cover everything from Commanders to artists. they are the most violent of the Kothrah races, and they will not hesitate to eat enemies, or for that matter, fellow Grik

Tagranesi are orange and black striped, and have developed gunpowder. they are the only Kothrah race where the thought of eating anything that can talk is unspeakable. they also have a coming-of-age ritual where they must go out to sea in a canoe, then return.

the Miako are dark green, and have stone-age tech

Finally, Zebesians are dark grey, with the males having a crest of red feathers.

Hidden Runner

Omnivorous natives of Concordia, very little is known about the reclusive Hidden Runners. They are active only at night, though no one has ever found their daytime hiding places. Their large, round eyes reflect light like an owl’s, and their pale gray-blue skin is haunting in moonlight. These two traits have earned them the nicknames “moon lizards” and “ghost dinos.”

Like most dinosaurs (both sapient and non sapient), Hidden Runners use scent markings to define their territory, usually done by older individuals who have higher social rank, thus showing how powerful a pack is. While high rank is usually won through experience, females who carry the leader's eggs automatically gain higher status

As their name suggests, Hidden Runners try to remain hidden, and usually flee if discovered. Their hiding ability makes encountering them very different from discovering them, however. Many a nighttime traveler has been startled to realize he is only a few feet from one of these beings, which promptly sprints away. Groups of hidden runners are almost never seen. When encountered, though, they are surreal: an oblivious passer-by will witness a seemingly still forest come to sudden life as twenty or more previously hidden ghost dinos suddenly flee.

Hidden Runners have limited relations with other intelligent dinosaurs, though hey are known to engage in trade with silverclaws and bix.

When forced to fight, it has been discovered that Hidden Runners have an ace up their sleeve: a venomous bite which causes the victims to experience hallucinations, mass sensations of pain, high fevers, and eventually paralysis. They are also known to lay out complex traps, and often use these rather than fighting directly.

Death Runner

Death Runners are the third sapient race native to Skull Island. These organized hunters live in the jungles in nomadic packs. They have a seemingly intense hatred for Equine life, possibly going back to when the Muans who settled on the island built their wall and introduced foreign fauna, with two species of terror bird, 2 herbivorous birds, a centipede-eating bird, the Burglar Monkeys, and the Rat Monkeys among them.

All these species have since established themselves on Skull Island, and thankfully managed not to mess up the ecology too badly.

However, the Muans also brought one other species, and these were used to establish their rule on the island.

Using their massive apes, the Muans pushed the Death Runners out of their territory. When the Skull Island colony collapsed, the troodontids were swift in their retribution, stopping only when the last of the Skull Islanders took refuge along the coasts and in a well-defended interior village.

Like many maniraptorans, female Death Runners can grow much larger than the males. In this case, it can be extreme, as the males on average reach 6-7 feet in length, while females can attain a total length of about 12 feet.

Of course, occasionally, a "Queen" Death Runner is born. These individuals have a genetic quirk which causes the development of crocodile-like scutes instead of feathers, as well as a length of up to 29 feet.

DROMAEOSAURIDS

Silverclaw

the biggest threat to settlers in Storm Valley and the Concordian Frontier, Silverclaw societal structures are advanced tribal structures, complete with differing roles such as warrior and shaman. Leadership is not inherent, but frequently competed for in acts of dominance, political power struggles, or series of unpopular decisions. The eldest females in the tribe are shamans, trained in knowledge of primitive chemistry and herbalism, used to make healing salves and poisons. They've been known to fake retreats to lure attackers into a trap, conceal their numbers to give attackers a false sense of advantage, and even use sniper rifles from higher vantage points (the gun's positioned against a rock or stable object in this case).

Most raptor tribes are officially recognized as nation-states by the Concordian government, and have various treaties between them. This does not make them allies, however. Soldiers and settlers have engaged in battle with raptor tribes over territory, resources, and personal vendettas. Sometimes raptor leaders exiled from a tribe join pony society as pseudo-citizens.

When they declare war, they prepare extensively, sharpening tools for claws, and gathering ingredients for salves and poisons. They are capable of guerilla tactics and wars of attrition, and have even dug tunnels under fences and buildings to undermine their foundations. Sometimes when fighting other raptors or settlers "on even terms" (no ironclads or flying), they'll agree to an honorable battle between agreed-upon parties. No ambushes, both sides pick designated warriors, and the losing side drops its grievances and returns to their lives, as well as ending the war. Silverclaws only offer this to groups proven to be trustworthy. Those who violate this contract will be scorned and villified by all tribes (even rival ones) if word spreads.

Drode

Found on an unnamed island near (but not in) the Galard Archipelago, little is known of these manipulative dinosaurs beyond that they worship a being called "Crayak"

OVIRAPTORIDS

Shri

Omnivorous natives of Concordia, the Shri are also the only Concordian saurian race (besides possibly the Hidden Runners) that have taken to traveling the seas.

Being larger and vastly stronger than the fleet footed Hidden Runners, Shri are more prone to use said strength to achieve their means. While no means as blunt and aggressive as the other, larger theropods, Shri are known for taking the quickest path to achievement. They are a very short-sighted race in that regard.

While omnivorous, Shri prefer and lust for sea food, especially mollusks and other shelled sea creatures. This sea faring life has led them to be the greatest ship builders and mariners in Concordia.

ORNITHOMIMIDS

Kigi

Nomadic natives of Concordia, the kigi carry few belongings, but a small conversation with one proves they are far from being savages.

Kigi are among the most sophisticated sapient dinosaurs in Concordia, and often work as messengers or wandering storytellers.

Kigi, interestingly, have two temperaments based on coloring. While all are omnivores, tan and green kigi are more inclined towards eating vegetation. Grey kigi, meanwhile, prefer protein... especially eggs.

The two groups tolerate each other, mostly because coloration is a matter of chance rather than a true division of the species.

TYRANNOSAURS

Quintaglio

Covered in a soft layer of fuzz, these sapient tyrannosaurs live on a peninsula in southern Lemuria. the males have a dewlap which inflates into a bright red globe under "certain conditions" (mating) or when angry. Blue is considered a "bad" color among them, as when most (besides priests) lie, their lips turn a bright blue. they are expert navigators, sailors, and astronomers

roughly 150 years ago, the Quintaglios underwent a major renaissance. First, an astronomer named Sal-Afsan discovered the thing known as the "Face of God" was simply a planet, realizing that the world was not flat and making the quintaglio's first sail around the world (never drifting far enough north to encounter other lands. though blinded for his "heresy", he still managed to effectively take down the Larskian priesthood.

Second, Afsan's son, an archaeologist named Kee-Toroca, led the first expedition to the Unnamed Southern Continent, where he discovered several species of flightless "Wingfingers" (pterosaurs), and developed a theory of evolution, independent from Dartwing's.

Finally, the first Quintaglio psychoanalyst, Nav-Mokelb, determined the cause of quintaglio territoriality.

Quintaglios are exclusively carnivorous, like their Tyrannosaur ancestors. They bring down larger prey by hunting in packs. While they are advanced enough to use weapons to kill prey, their culture forbids it; Quintaglios hunt the old fashioned way, running prey down and dispatching it via tooth and claw. Quintaglio hunts are led by special female Quintaglios who perpetually emit the pheromones characteristic of being in heat, though they are typically also sterile.

While Quintaglios consider themselves to be civilized beings, deep down their thoughts and actions are ruled by their primal, territorial instincts. Quintaglios hate physical contact with one another, value their privacy and have a wide circumference of personal space. Spending too much time in the company of others, or extended time in close quarters with other Quintaglios can cause them to enter an animalistic frenzy known as Dagamant.

When a Quintaglio is in dagamant, he or she will bob their torsos up and down (a common threat gesture in non-sapient tyrannosaur species), and males will inflate their dewlap sacks. A Quintaglio under dagamant loses all conscious control over their actions, and will attack with unrelenting viciousness and bloodlust until it wears off or one or both are killed; for this reason, to kill another while in dagamant is not considered murder by Quintaglios.

Seeing a Quintaglio in dagamant can trigger it in others- in overpopulated areas, or on crowded ships, "Mass Dagamant" has been known to occur, and tales are told of the Galadoreter, a ship where entire crew went into a territorial frenzy and everybody on board was killed.

a map of the quintaglio peninsula, before they discovered the rest of Lemuria

Quintaglios are a very religious race. Their original creation myth tells of a god who laid the "Eight Eggs of Creation". From the first egg came all the water, and from the second came the land. From the third came all the air, and from the fourth came the sun. From the fifth came the stars, planets and moons, and from the sixth came all the plants. Finally, from the seventh came all the herbivores, and from the eighth and final egg came the carnivores which preyed upon them. God created the five original female hunters by biting off her left arm. They wished to create as God did, so she bit off her right arm and created the first males, the mates of the original hunters.

Quintaglio tradition states that a Quintaglio must go on at least one proper hunt in their life in order to go through the rites of passage. After a successful hunt, the Quintaglio gets a hunting tattoo which symbolizes their passage into adulthood. Adults with no hunting tattoo are accorded no status at all.

The Quintaglio mythos was further expanded when roughly 2000 years ago, the Quintaglio prophet "Larsk" discovered what he believed to be the face of God (actually Jupiter when seen through a massive magnifying glass built into a hollow island by ancient Mahars), and a religion was built around the worship of The Face of God. Larsk's descendants became the Royal Family, and rule all of land. Dy-Dybo, former Prince and current Emperor, is a part of the Royal Family and a direct descendant of Larsk. This religion adds a new tradition to Quintaglio society; that of sailing across the ocean to retrace Larsk's voyage and gaze upon The Face of God.

There also exists a cult known as the Lubalites. This cult is based around the worship of the original five hunters, particularly Lubal, and rejects the notion that The Face of God is actually God, adhering more closely to the original creation myths set forth in the sacred scrolls. Worship of the original five was banned by Larsk, but the Larskian faith has been discredited and the Lubalites are now free to engage in worship of the original five without persecution.

A special order in the Quintaglio Priesthood are known as the "Halpataars", or "Bloodpriests". In order to prevent overpopulation, a Bloodpriest is assigned to devour seven out of every eight Quintaglio hatchlings a day after they hatch. The Bloodpriest first goes into a trance, then dons a purple robe and enters the nest; there, he chases the hatchlings and eats all but the fastest, strongest one. The order of the Bloodpriests is exclusively male; the original Bloodpriest was Mekt, one of the original five hunters, but she passed on the tradition to males because she felt it was inappropriate for one who lays eggs to dispatch hatchlings.

When it was found the bloodpriests were the CAUSE of Quintaglio territoriality about 100 years ago, it was decided that, rather than hatchlings, seven of every eight eggs would be eaten. the "New Quintaglios" and their descendants are distinctly less territorial.

Island Quintaglio

living on one of Lemuria's peripheral islands, these island dwellers are smaller and less aggressive than their mainland cousins, completely without the territoriality normal Quintaglios have. males and females both have dewlaps, they wear copper jewelry, cook their food, and have no qualms about using weapons, having developed gunpowder and actual guns. females lay four eggs, as opposed to the eight their cousins lay, and are capable of lying.

When Quintaglios first met their island cousins, things did not go well. the sight of the islanders drove the mainlanders into Dagamant, the Quintaglio battle/territorial rage, even though no territory had been breached. the only exceptions were the "new" Quintaglios who had not experienced the culling of a bloodpriest as hatchlings. relations, while strained, are better now.

Quirag

Sapient tyrannosaurs, Quirag are mostly found in Concordia.

These beings are obsessed with dynasties and extremely close family relations, and outside of their family, don't expect much hospitality, as the Quirag are known for holding generations-long grudges between warring clans and with other species (a large part of the history of dragons in Equestria tells of a long war with the "thunder lizards"), and they don't forget or forgive easily.

As is the case with all species, Quirag can vary in personality, but tend to fall into one of three categories: bullying territory-holders, solitary loners who just prefer a simple life, and families of "ranchers" who look after herds of ceretopsians and hadrosaurs.

Quirag remember their lineages and are ardent genealogists. Their family trees constitute grand dynasties that trace their history back thousands of years. The extent of this interest is evident in their language, which includes hundreds of words to denote very specific familial relationships, including terms for “paternal aunt,” “son of a father’s cousin,” and “grandmother’s sister’s mate’s brother.” Quirag within the same region know each other and, if they’re related, are probably on good terms. This means they will come to each others’ aid and perhaps even cooperate during lean seasons. In normal circumstances, however, they will still guard their hunting grounds like any territorial creature. Ultimately, loyalties depend on family ties.

A typical encounter between two unfamiliar Quirag begins with a lengthy discussion of family history. They exchange genealogies until they have established their exact relationship. These conversations sometimes go on for hours. Inevitably, though, the two creatures will find some common link. Once the link is known, they know something about their relationship: either they are from different clans, or distant relatives within the same clan, or close relatives of some kind. This then determines their attitude toward each other.

Quirag society is difficult for outsiders to understand. They are solitary creatures that are rarely seen with others of their kind. At the same time, relations between interrelated individuals are extremely close. It is almost as if Quirag are a society of hermits: they prefer to be alone, but when forced into contact with one another, they remember and acknowledge social bonds.

A Quirag dynasty is a collection of clans whose bloodline converges on a single patriarch at some common point in their past. All Quirag share a basic form of ancestor worship– youth respect their elders, and family ties are always honored– and this is the glue that holds the dynasties together.

The dynastic rulers are the Tyrant Kings. Just as a Quirag has access to the hunting grounds of its children and its grandchildren, a Tyrant King has lived so long that it has access to the hunting grounds of as many as ten subsequent generations (and sometimes more).

Quirag chicks who grow up learning their family trees know that they are part of a dynasty. They know their ruler is the Tyrant King who is their great-great-...-great-grandfather. They recognize their tyrant king on sight, and give him free rein of their hunting grounds. (It’s good that they’re so hospitable– it’s not like they could stop him!)

The descendants of a Tyrant King take turns bringing portions of their kills in tribute. Even though some must travel great distances to offer their tribute, a Tyrant King has so many descendants that he remains well-fed. The Tyrant Kings reside in luxurious caves or lairs, some hibernating for long periods, others more active. Currently, the three main Tyrant Kings in Concordia are Rog Grar (the youngest, at 270), Sibdan (a Tyrant Master, true age unknown, but at least 450), and Kil Karn (350, and oddly an extrovert who is constantly traveling through his territory, learning about goings-on and matings within his family. He is also considered the most intelligent of the Tyrant Kings, often displaying stunningly precise knowledge of his realms.)

Surprisingly, these giants are also master psionists, and the oldest and wisest, the tyrant kings and tyrant masters, have immense mental power that they can channel into powerful psionic abilities.

THERIZINOSAURS

Shishi

highly aberrant therizinosaurs, Shishi are found in both Neighpon and Concordia. These are the most rarely seen type of sapient dinosaur, to the point that even other sapient dinosaurs are divided on whether they exist or not.

These dinosaurs are capable of moving on the ground, but prefer hanging upside-down like massive tree sloths. Also unusually, they only lay one egg, as opposed to a clutch, and the mothers dutifully look after their chick when it hatches.

ALLOSAURS

Prek

Natives of Concordia, the Prek are invaluable for their services as sauropod herders. protecting their charges from outside attack as well as culling the herd.

Stone Cutter

Native to Concordia's Storm Valley, Dracotherizinos is a long-armed predatory dinosaur. Its arms are not so long as those of other long-armed giant saurians, but they are far more muscular and robust, and the claws are harder and thicker. In fact, allied with the great strength of this dinosaur, they can literally cut rock, and Stone Cutters make full use of this in the construction of buildings and a defensive wall in and around its city state. The Stone Cutter itself is a uniform dull black in color, and takes advantage of this to hide in the depths of forest and jungle, waiting to ambush its victims. It has an average length of 40 feet.

They have little in the way of tools, but they need little; their huge claws provide all the cutting, digging and building implements they require. Each creature dwells in its own private building, built of rough-hewn blocks of stone. All the buildings are arranged in blocks, with wide avenues or streets separating them. There is a massive circular arena in the exact center of the city, and the entire mess is surrounded by a wall 25 feet tall. Entry and exit are by a single opening, marked by a massive wooden gate composed of the trunks of the largest trees that could be found, with more massive trunks set at an angle inside to provide bracing and keep the thing shut when everyone's inside.

The arena building contains far more space than is necessary to hold the entire city's population. The lower levels, which must have been laboriously dug out of the ground, contain dungeons large enough to hold a wide variety of dinosaur captives. stone cutters eats flesh, but they do not keep animals for food later on, much less properly domesticate them. The inhabitants of the city go hunting every few days, not only to kill other dinosaurs for food, but to gang up on lone individuals and physically drag them into the city and its waiting dungeons. Once there, they are kept alive for a special purpose. Every several months, the population of the city turns out to enjoy a serious of vicious gladiatorial games, in which young and adults alike pit themselves in mortal combat against captive creatures of varying sizes and degrees of danger. Note that although Dracotherizinos itself is a pure carnivore, it does grow extensive gardens nearby to feed the captive population (its claws make adequate plows), and it shares portions of its kills with those carnivores it manages to capture. The games are presided over by the alpha male and female (though this term seems inadequate for such intelligent creatures), whom Bertrand Gautier, the griffin who discovered them, immediately christened "Caesar" and "Caesonia."

The social life of these creatures is a combination of the cultured and the brutal. When individual dinosaurs of this species have spare time on their hands, they are frequently seen chiseling pictures on the walls of their homes, the arena, or the defensive wall. These pictures are of various terrain features, in which their kind are shown, invariably in battle, killing or capturing other dinosaurs for the arena. The lone exception, reported by an adventurer who was captured and sentenced to the arena, but who later escaped, shows a crowd of the creatures surrounding what appears to be a swirling mass of fire or energy of some sort. This has led some scientists to speculate that this particular dinosaur race is somehow connected with a greater, now dead, civilization, which may have been responsible for the bizarre weather conditions of Storm Valley. Despite living a civilized lifestyle of sorts, Dracotherizinos still has a regular mating season. The males compete for the rights to individual females in the arena, dueling each other with great swipes of their heavily-clawed forearms - it appears biting is not allowed - until one male can no longer catch and parry the strokes of his opponent with his own claws. As soon as a combatant takes a serious wound, the contest comes to an end and the next one begins.

SPINOSAURS

Kragg

Found within Concordia, Kragg tend to live in swampy areas such as the Great Coastal Expanse, living in prides of three to five adults: one adult male, and the rest adult females. The pride may have as many one child per female. The adults hunt alone or in pairs, bringing their kills back to the rest of the pride to eat. They alternate on hunting duty. When not hunting, the others laze about in the water. Each pride has its own territory, and they will aggressively contest any other large carnivore within their territory.

Quirag and Kragg generally avoid each other, but fights between the two are always heated when they do occur

NOASAURS

Antarctican

Native to the Unnamed Southern Continent, the Antarcticans build their cities around volcanoes and geothermal vents.

Antarcticans are unusual. they have five digits on each hand and foot, and walk with a plantigrade locomotion (on the flat of the foot), completely erect. furthermore, they resemble snakes more than anything, and actually have six limbs, though a pair is always vestigial, like a true snake's legs. their teeth are small, and their bit force is equivalent to a small foal's, pinching without hurting. a few also have a third eye.

Antarcticans live in a caste system. at the top is the Queen and a population of breeding females. below them are the Warriors and Civilians

Warriors have four arms and no legs, slithering around like snakes. they form the main defense of the cities.

Civilians, such as this young female, make up the rest of the population.

Antarcticans have a fear of deep water, stemming from their home environment's cold, hypothermia-inducing waters.

Antarcticans compete with Lemurians for the title of "Oldest Civilization", but sadly, little is actually known of their technology or their cities.

While Antarcticans shouldn't have a concept of love due to their caste system, there is a tendency for certain individuals to prefer the company of certain other individuals, but this isn't "love" or "friendship" in the familiar sense of the words.

additionally, they do not believe in the supernatural... or rather, they don't think about it, since their society is based on logic and reason.

SAUROPODS

Krog'ha

Sauropods were the last dinosaurs anyone expected to be intelligent. However, in a series of valleys in Concordia, a race of intelligent, elephant-sized herbivores have existed unnoticed by non-saurian sapients until a mere 2 decades ago.

Krog'ha, thanks to their long lives, are very knowledgeable about the history of the valleys and significant events. However, singing is particularly important to their culture, more so than any other native Concordian saurian. Among other saurian races, Krog'ha Singers are especially valued, and even non-Singers of this species are given a wide berth, as their tails can be wielded like a whip, strong enough to break a Quirag's jaw.

Krog'ha are unique among sauropods for having a high amount of interest in their children, even going so far as having the adults produce a sort of "vomit milk" for the sauropodlets, much like a pigeon.

However, it's not as nice as it seems, as these intelligent sauropods use their offspring in a hereditary system of “youth slavery”, having the smaller offspring perform more complicated tasks of manipulation, manufacturing, and so on. Work hard, and the kids “earn their vomit”. Parental care means "when you’re overseeing their labor, make sure that at least some of these worthless little bastards survive to adulthood”, not “lavish each child with love and attention”, and parents are fairly ruthless about culling the unfit from their immense clutches. Cannibalism is rampant, both of adults on their offspring and of juveniles on hatchlings.

Me'nak

A relatively small sauropod species, the Me'nak are the only members of the sauropod family found in extreme northern latitudes, as well as the only ones who retain a coat of feathers past adolescence.

Two unique physical features make the average Me'nak's profile unmistakable. The first and most obvious are the pair of color-changing sails decorating the neck.

These sails are used for communication, flashing messages across the tundra to other Me'nak.

The second feature is the small club at the end of the tail. Normally, this is a feature more often associated with primitive sauropods like Shunosaurus, as opposed to titanosaurs. This club is used only when the Me'nak has no other alternative but to fight.

Unlike their Krog'ha cousins to the south, as well as most sauropods in general, Me'nak are doting parents. They have to be, as the evolutionary pressures of their home have resulted in Me'nak females only producing one or two eggs in a clutch, as compared to the 20-100 found in other sauropod species (the live-birthing sauropods of Skull Island being an exception).

Me'nak are solitary nomads, rarely coming into contact with other sapient races

Kret'ma

"Change what you can, accept what you can't. If there's a problem, try to fix it. If you can't, sometimes you just gotta move on. If you want to know what to do if you don't want to move on, you're asking the wrong sauropod, kid. I'm a loner, that's the way I've always lived. I've always done it my way, movin' on, lookin' for some place a little better. Sometimes I get lonesome. Sometimes I feel a bit crowded too. My footsteps were planted on the wanderin' trail long ago. I'm too old to change now."

Loners by nature, Kret'ma are one of the last Diplodocids in a world where most sauropods are of the Titanosaur group.

Kret'ma roam across Concordia, Carcosa, Equestria, the Lunar Republic, and even North Griffonia, mostly avoiding populated areas and never staying in one place for long, rarely talking and avoiding company, appearing as silent, enigmatic wanderers whose moralities are unknown, self-restrained in their emotions even in a clear moment of displeasure.

Their tails are their most powerful weapon, like a massive whip covered in thorns, and old individuals are said to be accurate enough with their tails to snap a single leaf off of a tree, though the most often thing they're employed for is defense against predators.

Kret'ma rarely even associate with their own kind outside breeding season, when males are known to actually kill each other over mates. Females will lay a single egg, and oddly it's usually the fathers who take care of the hatchling.

Due to their loner natures and tendencies, other herbivorous dinosaurs often treat these sauropods as harbingers of bad luck, though the Kret'ma don't particularly seem to care about the negative reputation.

CERETOPSIANS

Bix

native to Concordia, the Bix are clever, linguistically capable, and renowned as diplomats and sages. their myriad libraries dot the landscape

Zulep

Also native to Concordia, these ravaging barbarians are a relentless culture of warriors. Zuleps have natural barbarian rage, are resistant to fire damage, engage in ritual scarification, drink the blood of their enemies in spite of being herbivores, are stated to be weak to regimented forces that their chaotic combat style isn't meant to face, and have a coming of age ritual where they must take the scalps of a number of large creatures equal to how many years they have lived. They caused the extinction of at least two other sapient ceratopsian species and have made plenty of attempts to wipe the scholarly Bix out as well

Kagzar

Native to Concordia, these mighty three-horned dinos live in mass herds that thunder across the plains, forming annual migration routes and a strict hierarchy. Any foreign Kagzar that wishes to join a new herd must undergo weeks of scrutiny before being accepted or rejected.

Among Kagzar, only assertiveness and certainty count, while no benefit is believed to lie with being open about personal uncertainties and insecurities. Acting otherwise is unheard of in their society. Kagzar leaders never voice personal misgivings, and always maintain their role as the face of assertiveness for the entire herd.

PACHYCEPHALOSAURS

Grekk

Native to Concordia's Storm Valley, the Grekk are a highly advanced civilization. discovered fairly recently, the Grekk are at a technological level parallel to modern ponies.

However, other Grekk prefer more tribal communities, tending to be really obsessive about the concept of home, with herds staking out a big rock, cave, or stand of trees in the middle of open plains as “home base”. They are adamant about defending this home base and will fight pretty much anything that gets too close to their home.

STEGOSAURS

Spiketail

The "grumpy old folks" of Concordia's sapient saurians, stubborn, surly herbivores. Herds are matriarchal, with herds being composed of interrelated individuals and their mates. The males are the major contributors of parental care, rearing the near spineless young. When eggs are laid after the rutting season in winter, the male covers them and guards them until they hatch, feeding from meals brought by his mate and off his own reserves of fat.

Spiketails are deliberate in their thoughts, and tend to gravitate in a linear fashion. If they smell an enticing plant, they locate and eat it, if a male's mate is upset, he will go to her, and without fail, she'll tell him her problems. Spiketails are not slow, but they simply see no need to overcomplicate issues or argue about irrelevancies.

ANKYLOSAURS

Ruutsa

Native to Concordia, Ruutsa pretty much prefer to be left alone in their nomadic matriarchal bands as they plod across the plains. Their herds wander constantly, but will settle down in one spot – the lushest grazing spot they can find – when it is time to breed. The choice of where to settle is decided entirely by the area’s ability to support the herd for a prolonged period of time, and although the lusher regions get more than their fair share of attention, they will be dropped without regret if a prolonged drought or blight spoils them.

Negotiating with these armored saurians is like talking to a brick wall, and as such, few ponies are willing to talk to them

HADROSAURS

Bigmouth

Native to Concordia, these sapients graze in large herds. The herds will congregate where the grass is greenest (so to speak), forming enormous populations in rather small areas.

Yes this was quite a read, but the Antarcticans are really intriguing. :D I like this thread and hopefully would be able to expand the knowledge of this someday :)

what I mentioned about the Antarcticans is literally the total of all knowledge given about them in the Manga Centaur no Nayami.

It's basically a slice of life story... on an alternate Earth where vertebrates evolved from a six-limbed ancestor. otherwise, it's still our earth

3139852 ...updated again!

3336371 Reading through this thread again was great and you have a lot of info under the Quintaglio Continent. So much to explore in each sub-topic :D

3336937 It's actually not a continent, they just didn't know other lands existed

3337001 I read through that part of the thread again. Is that an understood sort of thing? I mean it does talk about a lot of things ranging from religion, and how things went down from time to time, and even how the earliest kind got to the place. Maybe my mind is tired, but I didn't see that there.

If it wasn't, then I wouldn't mind accepting in that concept at all. :)

3337028 right under the picture in italics

3337089 *shoot himself* *dies* How did I missed that reading through it thrice?

3337090 it's small and easy to miss.

Sadly, given the setting of your story, the only one of these your characters would encounter might be the Kothrah. they were pirates with an "Attack! Attack! Attack!" mentality, sending wave after wave of troops at enemies. retreat was unknown, and those who survived after the army was defeated were eaten.

3337115 Yeah, luckily the setting of the story is not the very beginning of the series. I purposely did it so that if enough people were interested I would just do the prequel to the one I'm doing now that would have more world-building and other stuff :P

3337121 yep!

3337121 added 1 last species

3337264 Yes, love that they keep their clever nature. Most most interesting the Ironclaws are. Of course the silverclaws and the Kothrahs are great as well. Now I need to start mapping out the prequel and sequel to the series.

This story is gonna get packed with a whole bunch of stuff :)

3337278 excellent.

3337278 made the final revision, adding to the Kothrah entry

3339407 Wow, nice descriptions, and the variety is great :)

3339412 that should be the last revision to this post

3339420 Yes, for now at least.

3339659 yeah.

I'll get more into the siege of Fort Phil Kearney that I mentioned under the Ironclaws in a different post. In the meantime, here's a simplified funny version of one of their parts.

"You see that pony fort being attacked by angry tyrannosaurs? LET'S THROW BEES AT IT!"

3339697 LOL, bees. That's sure gonna be a lot of them if they want the "angry tyrannosaurus to runaway.

3339703 Oh, no, the bees will be thrown at the ponies

3339710 Wow, that's messed up, lol. :3

3339714 Hey, the Ironclaws were there first!

3139691
I've just added the first chapter in my story to feature the Saurians (although it's towards to end of the chapter)
http://www.fimfiction.net/chapter/603256

Also, what names do Tagranesi call themselves? (are they named like the elite's in halo, eg. "Rtas 'Vadumee", or are they named after adjectives like the equestrians are?

3464639 they tend to have names made of screeches and small body movements, usually denoting something about themselves (Half-Tail, Broken Hand, etc...)

When speaking common, they can't make noises that require lips (P, B, M, etc...)

3464854 Does that extend to all the Kothrah?

or does each sub species have unique naming traditions?

3464931 With the exception of the Grik, who are like this:

Birth to Age 5- Hatchling (insert number)

Age 5- receives name.

Age 10- is designated as Uul (insert name)

Promotion to Hij- Hij (insert name)

3139691 those Kigi...

Nostalgia trip

also, the deeper of the voices sound really familiar, but i can't place it, for some reason i keep thinking Tim Curry

3672115 Jeff Bennet, I think

3672115
3339714 Psychic Tyrannosaurs?

Psychic Tyrannosaurs

3139691 drode

I know where that's from.

4731224 Good.

4731235 I made a group for them. I can provide a link but...it's more fun if you go to my page and touch the blue cube.

4731247 WHEE THE ESCAFIL DEVICE!!!