I gathered more information today than I thought, but even more questions were born.
ok, let's sort it out the important information I got:
it is possible to mutate and grow into a different type of lizard.
currently I know
- the basis (warrior type, most inhabitants)
-claw type (doctor)
-advanced fighter? (warehouse boss)
- unknown (currently leader)
- positions from the leader of this nest can be legally acquired by beating the previous one.
- the current leader does not enjoy a good opinion, it is possible that I can make a rebellion and replace the current one, it will make it easier for me to do some work in the future.
-there is the method to grow stronger through "ritual" after killing powerful beasts. I don't know if that's true or just a religious lie. requires more information.
specifically beast that can be used:
- Ash Drake
- megafauna
When I was walking towards the mine, lost in thought, one of the lizards ran at me and knocked me over.
"What the..."
"Hatchling?
Go! run quickly to hatchery!
Ash storm is incoming!" he said and they started running towards the White den.
"Ashstorm?
Is there weather in cave?"
I looked around then noticed gray pieces like snowflakes starting to fall nearby, I grabbed one and looked closely
"snow? no
more like... ash?
why are they all terrified?
Everyone flees to the side of the buildings as if their lives depended on it.
hmm
better hurry, there must be a good reason why everyone's in such a hurry"
I started running towards the hatchery which wasn't that far away and I managed to get there in a seconds, but when it was almost inside I felt a jolt of hot air, so hot, that felt like someone was pressing a hot iron on me.
plus the wind that almost blew me away.
"what the fuck...!"
suddenly I felt a hand that grabbed me by the hand and threw me inside the hatchery.
"it was close new hatchling,you would been have blown away if it wasn't for me." said a familiar voice.
I opened my eyes and saw the lizard who gave me the digging tools when I was born.
"well the rest of the hatchlings are probably dead by now." he said with a slight sadness in his voice and slammed his fist into the wall next to the entrance, then the stone door fell from the ceiling and closed the entrance.
before I could ask what that was, a wave of pain greeted me from my right side, when i look I saw that my right side of my body was devastated. Many of my scales were slightly melted, cracked or completely missing.
" i have been there maybe 5 second and my right side are that broken?!
what was that?!
volcano eruption?"I thought
"you pretty lucky hatchling, not many manage to survive their first ash storm, usually even if they are told to go back to buildnig when ash starts to drop, they ignore or are too slow and become part of the storm."
"What was that?" I asked ignoring the pain
"Ash strom, it happens every few days or once a month, but each time it takes a handful of our warriors on a hunt or a new hatchlings.
if you're not close to shelter during the first signs of, then you're dead.
that's why the current leader does not participate in the hunt at all, even he is not safe from ash storm.
coward" he said with a slight displeasure
I looked around for hatchers and saw 6 hatchlings
"Quite few of them, is it a normal amount or low, I have no comparison.
plus I didn't see any female during toring, are they hidden?
if so, then probably in leader hall, in such societies created on strength, the leader has most if not all females."
'How many hatchlings were there before Ash storm?" I asked the hatchery guard
he looked at me and then said.
"about 15" he said
"15?! that's more then half die!" I thought shocked.
"is it normal that half die in an ash storm?" I asked to make sure
"if so, speed reprductiy of this lizards are scary!" I thought
"Usually most of them die, not many make it to the shelter in time from the mine. Usually only those who returning with the ores make it." he said
"most!?
Even if we assume that half of them die once a month instead of several times a month, how fast do they produce those eggs?
it's hard to consider it a reproduction at the moment.
if they give birth to several dozen a month.
is it just the leader who does it or do they have orgies?
while exploring I counted about 87 lizards, so this nest probably has about 90 to 100 male lizards?
how old is this nest?
how can they keep the population so high. That they keep dying at least a few adult a month, should they go extinct or am I underestimating their ability to reproduce?
maybe growth to adult is much faster?
maybe a year or less. I wouldn't be surprised if I was an adult next month.
and last question on my mind, are they migrated from the larger nest?
hmm that would make sense from how advanced they are." I started to put my thoughts together and asked another question
"Did we migrate from some larger nest and settled here?" I asked curiously if my theory was correct.
"hmm? why this question?" He looked at me with a strange and intense look and then said
"I don't know if we've been part of any other nest in the past.
and I'm already 15 and I haven't heard from my friends who are much older either, maybe the warhouse boss knows something, he's one of the oldest."
'15 years...