Designing the lizardfolk inhabited Valley of Dread?

[Quickleaf]

My six players are headed to the Valley of Dread sometime in late February/March (or thereabouts). They're currently 6th-level, but will be 7th/8th by the time they reach the valley, and are a savvy and detail-oriented group who seem to enjoy an even balance of combat, exploration, and interaction. The Valley will probably be a 2-3 session arc.

The Valley of Dread is a roughly 6,000 sq. mile region of Chult that's painted in very broad strokes as being inhabited by lizardfolk tribes. Even having Return of the Lizard King (DMs Guild Adept adventure), there's not a lot of detail.

How would you design this "jungle"* region? And how would you differentiate the various lizardfolk tribes?

Or, if that's too big of an ask, what resources would you recommend?

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Here's a quote from Tomb of Annihilation about the Valley of Dread:

[SECTION]Valley of Dread. Explorers entering Chult from the east are likely to trek through this passage, which is contained by the windworn Sky Lizard Mountains to the north and the jagged Sanrach Mountains to the south. The valley of dense jungle is well named; it's a stomping ground for dinosaurs of all kinds. It's also home to savage kingdoms of lizardfolk ruled by heartless lizard kings and queens.[/SECTION]

And here's a map of the area with 10-mile hexes:
[SBLOCK=Map]

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My group is heading there because one of the players is running a lizardfolk PC from the region; he was a shaman who used to receive visions from Semuanya to guide his people, but lost them after a traumatic event. Now, a warmongering tribe of lizardfolk led by a Lizard King is taking over the various lizardfolk tribes and preparing to go on the warpath against neighboring settlements. The PCs are trying to stop this & figure out what robbed away the lizardfolk PC's visions. The player of the lizardfolk is a self-admitted fan of dungeon delving.

I started a "vision board" to help with my brainstorming...

EDIT: I tried looking for details in older editions, but discovered that (AFAICT) the "Valley of Dread" was created for 5e's Tomb of Annihilation adventure. I found no earlier references.

[SBLOCK=Searching for references to the Valley of Dread]

• Though it's hard to make out details, it seems from Ed Greenwood's original map there was no demarcation for "Valley of Dread."
• The "Valley of Dread" was not referenced in the 1990 Forgotten Realms Atlas (by Karen Wynn Fonstad); instead the general region is referenced as The Chultengar.
• The AD&D2e FRM1 The Jungles of Chult followed suit in 1993, no reference to "Valley of Dread", instead describing the general region as The Chultengar.
• The 3rd edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide makes no reference to the "Valley of Dread", though it does include lizardfolk in Chult's demographics (60% humans, 20% goblins, 10% lizardfolk, 5% wild dwarves, 4% pterafolk).
• The 4th edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2008) includes no references at all to that section of jungle. It's simply unlabeled on the map.
• Thus, AFAICT, the first time "Valley of Dread" was used seems to be 5e's Tomb of Annihilation.

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EDIT EDIT: I realize that "jungle" is an imprecise term, and I've been reading @famoushippopotamus' Guide to the Jungle on Reddit explaining more accurate terminology. I use "jungle" initially because that's how it's described in the sourcebook.

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

A good way to differentiate the tribes could be to have them value different traits based on the primary way that tribe survives the harsh environment:

Survival method: trapping small to mid sized game
Values: Cunning and planning. By extension this tribe seeks victory without ever directly confronting their enemies instead relying on subterfuge or guerrilla tactics.

Survival method: big game hunting
Values: Bravery and strength. The classic warrior-centric society. The hunters that are capable of taking down the mightiest of beasts are the leaders.

Survival method: farming
Values: Cooperation and community. The tribe must work together to work the land, use magic to make farming in the jungle suitable and protect their stationary crops so they have adopted a "no one gets left behind" mentality

Survival method: trading
Values: Bargaining and appraisal. This tribe primarily lives in lands with little food but contains a valuable commodity so they make contact with outsiders to fill their needs. They value most the individuals that can get the greatest deals.

 

[Quickleaf]

That's a helpful lens, thanks [MENTION=6784845]MonkeezOnFire[/MENTION]!

In trying to grasp lizardfolk culture, I was looking through older D&D sources and discovered there are a plethora of lizardfolk "sub-races" that map to different types of lizards – Agrutha (Crocodilian lizardfolk), Tokay (Gecko lizardfolk), Varanid (Komodo lizardfolk), Wallara (Chameleon lizardfolk), etc. This is picked up on in Return of the Lizard King which describes several of these as sub-races, but also includes Gila lizardfolk, and two tribes that include mixed sub-races.

I might be able to map some of those to your suggested survival methods...

 

[Quickleaf]

I was a bit stymied finding real-world references, because when you have a valley usually there's a river (or rivers) flowing through it, the valley acting as a watershed. No river is shown on the map.

Something like the Albertine Rift (Uganda, the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania) is riddled with lakes and rivers. Similarly, the Cauca valley in Colombia is named for the river that flows through it. So I'm not sure how (or whether) to use those for inspiration.

 

[77IM]

You could assume that the river is too small to show on the map, or perhaps too large -- many swamps are just super-wide slow-moving rivers, and this fits well with your inspirational images of swamp-jungle.

I played a lizardfolk tempest cleric in ToA, and it was great fun. The credo of my people was "You are what you eat." Literally. Humanoids are soft and squishy because they are always eating bread. Lizardfolk eat scaly fish and fearsome dinosaurs! Whenever the party would kill a tough foe, my character would eat a part of it, to gain that foe's strength. This would weird people out when the foe was intelligent (and I had to pass an Intelligence (cook's tools) check to eat grung without getting poisoned). Plus I kept promising to eat the other party members if they died, which is a great compliment; I would have been honored if they would eat me when I died. I found it baffling that anyone would burn or bury the corpse of such skilled warriors when you could eat them. Even the weakling mage has a tasty brain that somebody could eat!

 

[Quickleaf]

You could assume that the river is too small to show on the map, or perhaps too large -- many swamps are just super-wide slow-moving rivers, and this fits well with your inspirational images of swamp-jungle.

I played a lizardfolk tempest cleric in ToA, and it was great fun. The credo of my people was "You are what you eat." Literally. Humanoids are soft and squishy because they are always eating bread. Lizardfolk eat scaly fish and fearsome dinosaurs! Whenever the party would kill a tough foe, my character would eat a part of it, to gain that foe's strength. This would weird people out when the foe was intelligent (and I had to pass an Intelligence (cook's tools) check to eat grung without getting poisoned). Plus I kept promising to eat the other party members if they died, which is a great compliment; I would have been honored if they would eat me when I died. I found it baffling that anyone would burn or bury the corpse of such skilled warriors when you could eat them. Even the weakling mage has a tasty brain that somebody could eat!

Brilliant Yeah, "cannibalism as compliment" works great for lizardfolk.

I figure, since lizardfolk can hold their breaths like crocodiles and have a swim speed, that the Valley of Dread must have lots of small bodies of water, even if there are no major rivers on the map. I don't know what the scientific ecological term would be...swampy jungle maybe?

I'm imagining the edges of the Valley closest to the northern & southern mountain ranges are like cloud forest, a perpetual layer of fog trapping in moisture.

 

[IchneumonWasp]

I figure, since lizardfolk can hold their breaths like crocodiles and have a swim speed, that the Valley of Dread must have lots of small bodies of water, even if there are no major rivers on the map. I don't know what the scientific ecological term would be...swampy jungle maybe?

Maybe you mean mangrove forests? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove

 

[Quickleaf]

Maybe you mean mangrove forests? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove

I've only ever seen mangroves along Thailand's coast. My understanding is that they grow in coastal areas with brackish waters. If you check out the map in my first post, the Valley of Dread is landlocked between two mountain ranges. I don't know if it would make sense to have mangroves growing there?

I know the boggy jungle fantasy art I'm using as inspiration looks more like mangroves, but the closest real-world inspiration I've found are the Rwenzori-Virunga moorlands...which, as I understand, are sort of a blend of swamp and cloud forest.

 

[Quickleaf]

I worked up a hand drawn hex map last night – my rough draft of the Valley of Dread...

This probably makes more sense if you've seen a map of Chult (a zoomed in view of official map is in my OP). Still not sure what kind of monster territory/lair I'm putting in hex #6659...
Also need another adventure site in Shazak tribal territory, and one in Zopchik tribal territory...

Brown areas are mountains.
Green areas are jungle unclaimed by any lizardfolk tribe.
Yellow signifies a contested territory around Semuanya's Birthing Stones.
Pink indicates a dangerous monster's territory.
Red indicates strong yuan-ti presence - what I've dubbed the "Yuan-ti Basin."

White (blank) hexes are claimed by the warmongering Akabkan tribe (from Return of the Lizard King). This tribe is more of a confederacy including multiple lizardfolk sub-races.
Orange hexes are claimed by the xenophobic Shazak tribe (a lizardfolk sub-race/culture introduced in DRAGON magazine for the Savage Coast / Red Steel setting).
Blue hexes are claimed by the peaceful/trading Zopchik tribe (from Return of the Lizard King). This tribe includes mixed sub-races.
Purple hexes are claimed by the Wallara (Chameleon) tribe (a blend of Mystara, DRAGON magazine for the Savage Coast/Red Steel, and Return of the Lizard King sub-races).

I have notes on 7 distinct lizardfolk tribes (more on them later), 4 are single sub-race, while 3 are mixed sub-race.

Adventure Sites by Hex
5956 Kuluth-Mar (from Paizo's Age of Worms adventure path in DUNGEON)
6156/6157 The Creeping Bridge
6357/6457/6458 Salamandrin Temple
6658 Pyramid of Sess'innek (from Return of the Lizard King)
6658/6757/6758 Zerzura ("lizardfolk city" interpretation of mythical city)
6461/6462/6561 Viper Temple (from Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir computer game)
6753 Ch'gakare's Tomb (hinted at in Tomb of Annihilation, but not described)
6961 Catacombs of the Lizard Kings
7057 Semuanya's Birthing Stones
7159 The Great Tookoo
7258 Floating Rocks of Eor (riff off of "human lands of Eor" in I2 Tomb of the Lizard King)

 

[Quickleaf]

Giving a bit more thought to the Valley's backstory...

Valley of Dread
Lying between the Sky Lizard Mountains and Sanrach Mountains, the Valley of Dread is a swampy mist-shrouded rainforest. It serves as a drainage basin for both mountain ranges, sloping downward to the eastern plains of Thindol. The Valley is populated by a great diversity of dinosaurs and seven lizardfolk tribes.(1)

Centuries ago, the Valley of Dread was ruled by Sakatha the lizard king, a vassal of the ancient black dragon Mergandevinasander. Fleeing from hostile genies in the distant lands of Zakhara, Mergandevinasander crashed in the protected Valley; during his convalescence, the dragon convinced Sakatha to serve him, though theirs was always a tenuous alliance.(2)

Eventually, Sakatha betrayed his master, stealing a ring of three wishes from the dragon's hoard which he used to rise to power, ousting Mergandevinasander, who fled to the Swamp of Sorrows (the Aldani Basin). Growing obsessed with self-glorification, Sakatha conquered many lizardfolk tribes and launched an offensive against Omu, but was mortally wounded in battle by the human champion Ch’gakare. For his bravery, Ch’gakare was named “Count of Eor” in the western reaches of Thindol. Mergandevinasander’s retaliation nearly destroyed the lizardfolk tribes. Using his last dying wish, Sakatha wished that he might live to drink the very blood of those who had defeated him, and the blood of their offspring through the ages. 50 years later, he returned as a vampire and went on to terrorize Thindol in a quest to reestablish his reign until he was slain by mercenaries.(3)

The world forgot Sakatha, but not the lizardfolk. Some remember the suffering and tragedy wrought by the last lizard king, while others long for bloody glories of a bygone age. In recent years, a new lizard king has emerged calling himself Kes’thak, turning his bellicose eye toward the “softskin” lands of Chult. With his smooth-talking shamanic advisor Ossil forging a new tribal confederacy, Kes’thak stretches his tyrannical claw outward…(4)

(1) From Tomb of Annihilation, page 83.
(2) Mergandevinasander is referenced in Dragons of Faerûn, page 153.
(3) Sakatha and his backstory are adapted from I2 Tomb of the Lizard King.
(4) Kes’thak and his backstory are adapted from Return of the Lizard King (DMs Guild).