The Lizardmen of this community seem to have moved here out of necessity, they were being threatened by external forces, and due to their concern of their own future and what might await them, they had decided to move out of their original homes near a small swamp with shallow waters where they caught fish for food easily.
But they were forced out of that place because of what they had been seeing, apparently they had been seeing strange groups of wild lizardmen coming from the deep layers of the forest coming with weapons and wandering around, they have not attacked them or something, as they seemed coordinated into doing something else, they were mostly watching over the village and the duchy behind it, for whatever reason.
They seemed to might have some reason, of course. Perhaps they either wanted to invade the place or just kill everyone. I wouldn't blame them as much, part of these wild lizardmen were from this own village of lizardmen driven away from the grasslands, they might want revenge.
"Lord Drake, we were driven out of the grasslands long ago by the people living in that big city… And that smaller city…" Said Kraxka. "Long ago, before I was born… When our tribe came to this jungle, we were surprised by the wild lizardmen, as my father once said… they were savages and wilder, and we were forced to stay in the border of the jungle to survive…"
"I see… That must have been rough." I said. "We came here from the snow lands, we are exploring the area and doing as we please for the most part. I wanted to join this city's society and learn more things about this world, but we came into contact with you when you came here…"
"I see, Lord Drake must have a big life filled with adventure! And yes… I was forced to take the decision of moving here because we didn't had any other options…" Sighed Kraxka. "We don't have the possibility of moving outside as the people will drive us away and attempt to kill us like they did with my father… And if we go deeper into the jungle, we'll get into the wild ones territory and they might try to kill us or force us to join them or die… We decided to move to this place, a sacred place which we thought was the resting place of a holy spirit, but it ended being an even more glorious being, a Scaled God such as you, Lord Drake."
"So that's how it is… You were forced to come here because you pretty much didn't had any other options…" I sighed. "The people outside would try to kill you, and the lizardmen here… are savage and probably don't accept your more civilized society… I understand now. Was this place ideal? I suppose it must be because it drives off most living beings, so it was a good place… Very well, I will allow you to stay around my castle."
"R-Really?!" asked Kraxka, the other Lizardmen around us were all happy, opening their jaws in surprise. "L-Lord Drake, you're so benevolent with our humble folk! You're truly a Scaled God amongst Scaled Gods!"
"Oh, Lord Drake!"
"Lord Drake, thank you!"
"Lord Drake, we shall serve you for eternity!"
"Our King! Scaled King!"
"More than just a King, he's a God!"
"Lord Drake, thank you so much!"
The Lizardmen were all kneeling before me and it felt honestly quite embarrassing to see them like this, but I couldn't do much for this, they were just happy that someone was finally giving them a hand in these gruesome and trying times, and it made me happy that I can help them out in exchange for their info and cooperation as well, this is not a just give without anything in exchange scene after all, I also want to get a lot back to me.
"You guys should relax for a bit." I said. "Let's calm down and talk a bit more… Anyways, Kraxka, I was wondering something, where do you guys came from and how did you originated? There seem to be more intelligent lizardmen in here, but they're spread all around the place, with a vast majority of them being "savage" for their wilder conducts… I was also wondering if there are more like you guys."
"There should be more like us, and we originated from long ago, a tribe of lizardmen was said to have caught some animals and raised them to eat them, this is how we Pastoralist originated, we moved to the grasslands where there were not many predators, and thrived in such places happily, moving around the place when it got colder." Said the chief. "Or this is what my father used to tell me as tales before going to sleep, we were children of the earth and we appreciated nature and the gifts that nature gave to us…"
I see, so the Lizardmen have their religions and mystique too, it is interesting to think about it in more detail, but I suppose that's how it is for them. They seem to have been common lizardman that specialized in raising cattle instead than constantly hunting and gathering, making them more civilized as they required more order in their settled down villages than hunters and gatherers.
Like that, they slowly became more and more calm, and less wild, I suppose? But if its that easy, it means that lizardmen do have the intelligence to become as civilized as people, then why are they treated like monsters? Did they came from dungeons? Can dungeons really create such intelligent living beings that are just as sapient as us? Goblins, Ogres, Orcs, and Yeti from Dungeons are dumb as a rock and use tools and other things out of the abilities they passively have magically, not because they learned them through intelligence. And well, a monkey can also wield a sword and attack someone with it, right?
So… lizardmen are clearly intelligent. I wonder if there is any dungeon that produces them to prove if this theory is right or not?