Artonia Shine-Tail - Lizalfos Tribe Elder

Name: Artonia Shine-Tail
Sex: Female
Age: 85
Eyes: Purple
Hair: White
Height: 5’9”
Weight:  160 lbs

Favored moves: Lariat, suplexes, chokeslam, various hard strikes and various submission holds.
Finishing move/s:

Shine-Tail Slam: Artonia grabs her opponent around the neck, grabs their waist, lifts them as high into the air as she’s able, then drops her body down onto the mat, bringing the opponent down with a powerful chokeslam, with extra momentum from her own drop.

Dominator: Artonia bends her opponent over, grabs them around the waist, and lifts them upside down onto one of her shoulders with impressive strength, gets a running start and slams then down with force, face and chest first onto the mat.


Appearance: An orange lizard woman with a white Mohawk and a hardened body, toughened up by years of life and training.

Personality:
Artonia is a stern, but kind leader, always looking to teach and impart lessons and wisdom, but fully willing to berate and humble those who need it without sugarcoating any of their flaws or mistakes. She takes her tribes legacy and continued survival very seriously, and doesn’t waste much time, having a very terse speaking style and spends little time on humor or pointless conversation. While she can be more conversational, its usually reserved for people or situations that require it, not something she actively seeks out.

That being said, she is not without social grace and etiquette, and not without kindness and sensitivity, though she doesn’t show such things very often or very publicly. Focused, determined, and work/goal oriented, she has no problems ordering others about, or calling them out on their shoddy work or behavior, but is also the first to assist or help when called upon.

In the ring, she is much the same, willing to compliment or criticize an opponent’s style or technique, and taking a pragmatic approach, looking to end her matches in quick fashion, rather than play around and risk taking damage she doesn’t need to take.


Past:

Years past, before the Overseer managed to pacify and unite all of Gaia under his leadership and banner, Gaia was a much different place. Magi-tech was still in its infancy, communities lived mostly separated in tribal communities, small villages, or at largest, keeps. There were would –be-Kings and rulers everywhere, and all were willing to fight to gain more land and power. Monsters roamed free, with none but the bravest warriors able to slay or capture them to keep the land safe.

Enter the Lizalfos tribe. A specific tribe of desert dwelling sand lizards, living on the fringes of the Hot Expanse, known for being the largest, hottest desert lands in all of Gaia, where even other lizard types, despite needing the sun and heat to keep their blood warm, mostly only live on the outskirts. The land is dry, growing appropriate food, while possible, is difficult, and like many other places in Gaia, the land was home to plenty of larger predatory creatures happy to make sentient folk a meal.

Like many tribal cultures, certain tribes had certain skills they excelled at, for the benefit of themselves and others. For the Lizalfos tribe, this skill became combat specifically. As one of the larger tribes with the most manpower, they took it upon themselves to act as hunters and defenders of the area and other tribes around them, from both invaders, of which there were few, and large predator creatures, of which there were many. They would study these creatures, learn their patterns and abilities and weaknesses, and then hunt and slay these monsters, studying their body parts and creating weaponry and armor that made them more effective. For this, the other tribes were grateful, and offered the tribe what food and supplies they could share in exchange.

When the tribe began branching out and making contact with other tribes outside of the desert, the village Elder at the time, Artonia’s great grandfather, saw a way for the tribe to profit from these skills, offering the use of his men as monster hunters for other regions, bodyguards for travelers who had need to travel to or through the Hot Expanse, in exchange for money, supplies to keep the tribe fed and sheltered, and knowledge, wanting to learn about other cultures weapons, combat techniques, forging, and so on.

This proved to be a good deal for the Lizalfos, as through these supplies and knowledge, they made stronger weapons, better armor, learned new techniques and adapted them into their own, making them smarter and better fighters as a result. When the various rulers of Gaia’s lands decided to go to war with each other, they found another way to profit, offering their services as mercenaries and soldiers, choosing no real sides except those willing to pay in gold, supplies, and knowledge.

They became so skilled in fact, that their exploits became the stuff of legend over the years, so much so that the other lizard tribes of the Hot Expanse asked if the Lizalfos would move away from them, fearing reprisals from enemies they might make. Accepting this consequence, the tribe moved further into the desert, a long journey closer towards the center, where they found a stretch of large canyons, that not only provided secrecy and protection from being discovered, including hidden areas to hide their egg clutches, but had access to oasis and even underground mineral hot springs, known for their healing effects, which their mystical shamans infused with their magics to make even stronger and more potent.

For generations, the Hot Shelter, as they named it, kept them safe from enemies and reprisals, the lizard tribes on the outer edge serving as middle men between the Lizalfos and outside communities, keeping them safe through their association, and the tribe thrived, growing in skill and reputation over the year, with many foreign warriors trying to make the journey to the Hot Shelter to learn their techniques…at least, until the day the Overseer came to visit.

A much younger man in those days, the Overseer had been a traveler in his youth, and in fact, had met Artonia’s great grandfather during his own youth, the two men bonding and traveling together for a time, striking up a friendship. Now he had returned, in Artonia’s youth, and came to the Elder, her great grandfather, old, but still strong, with a request. The Overseer had grown tired of the constant wars across Gaia, had grown tired of seeing the destruction and bloodshed during his travels, and felt it was time to do something about it. He wanted to conquer, not just for his own glory, but for the sake of having true peace, uniting the land under one ruler, and putting an end to generations of fighting, for which he needed the help of the best fighters on Gaia, a proposal to which his friend agreed.

Now fighting under the Overseers banner, the Lizalfos found their greatest glories, legends heightened to extremes, in the years of combat that followed, even as those battles cost them greatly at the same time. The fighting was extreme, and lasted for years, as would-be-king after king, ruler after ruler, was defeated, mercy shown to the ones willing to cooperate together, and doom for those who didn’t. Even Artonia herself, only a young woman at the time, fought in several battles during the final years of conflict.

By the end, Gaia was finally at peace, The Overseer was in power, and the Lizalfo’s tribes name was held up in glory…but at a cost, as many of their warriors were slain, many of the survivors coming home wounded and retiring from combat, and while her beloved Great Grandfather would die peacefully in his bed, his successors, her grandparents and parents, would fall in battle as well, leaving her, still a young woman in her 20’s at the time, as one in charge as Elder.

But with peace…came another issue entirely.

With no more wars to fight, there was little need for mercenaries anymore. No need for soldiers. The Overseer had his Wardens handling protection and policing duty against smaller criminals like poachers, and the large predatory monsters that had been common in Gaia were still existing, their numbers were much smaller after years of being hunted and slain, and the Wardens, with their advanced Magi-tech, were able to capture and imprison many.

In short…there was simply no real work for the Lizalfo’s tribe to do anymore. Nobody came to visit their far isolated Hot Shelter, there was no need of their services as warriors, protectors, hunters…they had made themselves obsolete by obtaining their victory, and Artonia spent the next several decades watching as her people slowly degraded.

With most of the old warriors and trainers dead, or retired after surviving the wars, the newer generations did not receive the same incredible training, did not learn the same incredible skills, but they knew all about the legends and histories, and grew boastful as a result, thinking themselves as great warriors despite many never seeing any combat at all. Not that they would. Their legend and skills were so respected and feared, that none dared to challenge them…but that only meant the younger generation had no practice either, the tribe sinking further into its peaceful decline.

Artonia saw this decline, and wondered just how she could change it. Now old herself, the very last of the old warriors, but fit and strong, she watched as the younger generations grew egotistical and weaker, and feared for the fate of her tribe, especially as the other lizard tribes all found ways to modernize and move on from ancient ways. Should she abandon all their history and significance, adopt a more peaceful modern life style? Was there a way to keep their reputation and history alive?

Then she received a letter that changed things. The Overseer actually wrote to her, telling her of how, now that he had brought peace to Gaia, he had spent the decades sense building up communities and cities, and in one, the capital city of “Tsubar”, he was starting…a fighting league. One designed around non lethal combat, even erotic forms of combat, meant for the entertainment of the masses, and, due to his long time friendship with her great grandfather, and his longtime respect and admiration for her tribes skills, he wanted to offer her the chance to train her fighters to be something different, and to join him in this new venture.

The offer…was tempting. As soldiers, as mercenaries, as warriors…the Lizalfos tribes time was done…but as wrestlers…they could live again. New purpose, new ways of training, new skills to gain…perhaps that was the answer. If she could train this new generation to be fighters and wrestlers for spectacle and entertainment, rather than bloodshed, she could curb their egos, get them to take things seriously, and perhaps, even give the tribe a new legacy to strive for and be proud of, while carrying the old traditions along with them.

She wrote back, accepting his offer, and began creating new training methods. She would do this, their tribe would continue its success and legacy, not on the fields of battle, but in the rings of wrestling!

Fun Facts:


Despite being in her 80’s, Artonia is still fit and active, with her age giving her no issues. This is due to the hot springs under the Hot Shelter. Already filled with precious minerals that have healing effects on the body, the water was amplified by the magics of the tribes Shamans, rejuvenating the body. While already a long lived species, able to live up to 100 years in age naturally, this new development has extended the tribes life spans to an unknown degree, allowing them to be fit and active well into old age.  (note, this was inspired by the real life Tuatara lizard, which, in captivity can live up to past 100 years, and has been theorized to be able to live up to 200 years, as the second longest living reptile)


Artonia’s particular family line has produced orange lizards with orange and white tails, and for reasons not entirely understood, her line evolved to have a certain amount of control regulating the heat they bring into their bodies from sunlight, and when they want to, can make the tip of their tails glow with heat, which they use to light their way in the dark, for personal comfort, or for other uses (like hentai matches). This unique trait earned her family the name “Shine-Tail” in days past, which became adopted as the family lines clan-name.


Attire:

Artonia Shine-Tail: