Discussion Free will

[Caneghem]

So I have always envisioned Lizardmen as any other type of creature... when they are born they have a set of inherent urges. Of course, these bred in directives seem to be more strongly rooted into the being of each type of Lizardman... when people are born we are eventually led to perform the required food/shelter/reproductive functions instinctively (though culture usually supercedes instinct), but nowhere near as strong as what compels the lizards.

So my question is, do any of them have free will? I would imagine the skinks come the closest, being the most intelligent. I guess what I'm really asking is... would a Saurus leader ever breach the chain of command? Say a skink priest relays a message from a Mage-Priest, would the Saurus ever do what he believes to be right, or is his programming purely as a weapon to be wielded by others?

The books seem to imply that skink priests often disagree in creative ways about the interpretations of Mage-Priest mumbo jumbo. Skinks seem as though they are smart enough to sometimes question their station in life, and also smart enough to not be openly insubordinate. When I was reading about skinks disagreeing about interpretations of sacred writings and mutterings, I was seeing this as a way of them injecting their own opinions into how things should be done.

So your thoughts?

 

[asrodrig]

I think the way a Saurus' brain works is a form of inverse domestication. They were first spawned to protect the Slaan, so they were given a strong instinct to fight, especially if the orders to do so came from the Slaan. After countless millennia of being spawned for the same purpose, their brains started acting like that on their own. I think they have free will, but in the same way as a hunting dog, won't disobey when someone tells him to do what he does best.

 

[beardedgecko]

from the fluff, there have been several lizardmen who have gone off on their own, the SMP xianchua, (whos bat A$$ crazy and refuses to touch the ground), Tichi Huici (or inzi huinzi, who leads a unit of Skink horned one riders and works as a Dog of War unit), the Old one Kroxigor who is off doing what he wants killing mammals, and I think Kroq gar would be the closest Saurus wise. After he leads his unit out of the ruined city, he essentially runs his own guerrila raids until he meet Mazdumandi. The independet Saurus are definetly the rarest cases. Each case they always wait till they're like the last of their spawning

 

[novatomato]

(though culture usually supercedes instinct)

That statement just about sums it up. The culture of the Lizardmen states that the Saurus are warriors and as such they do the fighting, which is perfect for them as they are naturally gifted in that area. It does not detract from there ability to think and process independent ideas it is just that they are successful in their role so they do not need to rebel from there cultural upbringing.

 

[Eternity_Warden]

I use a dispel scroll against your casting invocation of nehek on this thread.

 

[hellbreaker]

I use a dispel scroll against your casting invocation of nehek on this thread.

Sigged.

Cheers!