#lizard herders

[identicgenetity]

Man, I sure hope the reptilian vessels I herd for a living don't evolve to command me and my species...

...ah I'm probably being paranoid, right?

Me rn:

[here-be-descriptions]

The Lizard Herders, their lizards, and their descendants; from “All Tomorrows”. Artwork by C. M. Kosemen.

A chronicle of humanity's future evolution.

“They were the lucky ones. Instead of unrecognizably distorting them as they had done to most of their subjects, the Qu had merely erased their sentience and stunted the development of their brains.

Distantly resembling their ancient forebears on Earth, the primitives led feral lives for an unnaturally long time. They never regained sentience after the Qu left, despite having every incentive to do so. This was partially due to the total absence of predators on their garden world, resulting in no advantage for intelligence. Furthermore, the Qu had made some small but integral changes to their brains, tweaking with the structure of cerebellum so that certain features associated with heuristic learning could never emerge again. Once again, the reasons for these baffling changes remained known only to the Qu.

The dumb people eventually settled in a symbiosis with some of the other creatures that inhabited their planet. They began to instinctively “farm” some of the large, herbivorous reptiles, ancestors of which were brought from Earth as pets.

Soon the balance of this mutualism began to tip in the reptiles’ favor. The tropical climate of the planet gave them an inherent advantage, and they underwent a spectacular radiation of different species. They encountered no competition from the only large mammals on the planet; the brain-neutered descendants of the starfarers. Faced with a reptilian turnover, the only adaptation the sub-men could muster was to slip quietly into bestial oblivion.”

“One of humanity’s eventual inheritors was not even human. They came from the reptilian stock that had proliferated during the demise of the Lizard Herders.

Theirs was a true case of a world turned upside down. As the humans degenerated into witless animals, the cold-blooded reptiles prospered in the tropical climate of their planet. Millennia passed and they began to produce increasingly smarter forms, one of which, distantly resembling featherless versions of the predatory dinosaurs of the past, actually crossed over the threshold of sentience and built up a series civilizations.

These fledgling cultures were quick to understand the true origin of the monstrous ruins littering their planet, ruins that until then had been considered natural aberrations or timeless memorabilia of gods. Now, however, they saw the intermingled ruins of the Qu and the Star People for what they really were. It was through this understanding that the biologically unrelated Sauros’ took up the cultural identity of humanity.

In their archaeological efforts, the Sauros began to understand that the animals they used for food and labor were descended from the founders of their very existence. And somewhere in the stars lurked the forces that malformed them, forces greater than the Star People, dark forces that might someday return. The human animals served as a remainder, just as Panderavis had, that if the Saurosapients wanted to assure their continued existence in the cosmos, they had to be watchful.

The pressure of such a reality put their cultures under enormous stress. Some factions turned to made-up religions and remained ignorant under an umbrella of comforting fantasies. Others acknowledged the threats of the galaxy, but reverted to a paranoid rhetoric of conservationism. The galaxy had scared them greatly. Finally, there were those who saw the galactic redoubt and acted to face the odds, however great they might be. Conflicts and even wars were not uncommon between these three factions.

In the end, the centuries-long dispute began to resolve in the progressive factions’ favor. As they expanded their spheres of knowledge, influence and activity, the Saurosapients became as “human” as any other civilization opening up to the galaxy.”

[drekasal]

An All Tomorrows Thought

We know that the descendants of the Lizard Herders devolved to become the present-day, domesticated stock of the Saurosapients, but we’ve only really seen one depiction of them—the picture of one being the mount of said saurian. It’s non-sapient nature is apparent, but what about other attributes? Does it always move on two legs, or can it switch between a bipedal and quadrupedal gait by command of its master? Do close rider-mount bonds develop as would a human and a horse from today?

And what of livestock, pets, or other domestic forms? How would they look? There’s so much untapped potential there, one I definitely want to explore!

[kyuss6161]

Art by u/Funk-E-Beatz

[arwenkenobi48]

All Tomorrows OCs (a.k.a. The Interplanetaries)

Dhustynh Prowler is a pacifist Killer Folk who looks like he’s cosplaying as Indiana Jones. He has golden fur, green eyes and black hair with blonde highlights. Despite the fact that he’s vowed never to take the life of another sapient being, he tends to get quite hotheaded.

Herbert Dacius, also known by his stage name “Space Age Herbie” and simply “Herbie” to his friends, is a Satyriac with two toned hair: one side is blue and silver, the other is red and gold. He’s the designated weird one of his friend group, extremely excitable, worryingly energetic and constantly hopping from one obsession to the next. He loves his friends and music more than anything else.

Kwynn Von Python is a Snake Person author, known only by their strange nom de plume. They have green eyes and pinkish skin and always wear a cute blue sweater. They love nothing more than curling up with a good book and having a smoke and their friends often turn to them seeking knowledge/wisdom etc. Definitely the shy yet smart type, yet they always manage to come out of their shell among their closest friends.

Natalli Strider is a Saurosapien who is always accompanied by her human steed, Chuck. She’s quite the thrill seeker and often is the instigator of many an adventurous journey. Despite this, she often ends up being the voice of reason when the going gets tough. She has golden eyes, a red body and blue limbs and tail, similar to a strawberry poison dart frog. Aside from mumbling and shuffling around, Chuck doesn’t do very much aside from being his owner’s preferred method of transportation.

And why are they called The Interplanetaries you may ask? Because that’s what they do. They’re pioneers in the art - and science - of space travel (at least for each of their respective species). This quartet (or quintette if you include Chuck) travel to all sorts of different worlds, some of which offer safety, friendship and discovery, while others are fraught with danger. But no matter what, they always stick together and take each day as it comes, and that’s all that matters.

(As of the time of writing this, I haven’t yet decided if they actually meet in person or if they’re travelling in separate crafts and communicating via holograms. This idea is still in its infancy.)

[warryboy3148]

these guys were just chilling and tbh i get it