The Skinken is a small tribe of Human and Elven survivalists who have learned how to survive in the jungles of Lustria on the outskirts of the Norscan port of Skeggi by copying the ways of the Skinks of the Lizardmen.[1a]
Those who walk away from Skeggi are desperate. They could not survive the chaos and violence of the pirate port, but the jungle will assuredly eat them alive. Some decide that the only way to survive is to learn from the lizardfolk and copy their ways. Almost all of them die, because the Skinks guard their knowledge carefully. But over the centuries, a small tribe of Humans and even a few Elves have formed a pseudo-society they call the Skinken, and have learnt just enough jungle craft to survive.[1a]
The tribe worships the Lizardmen as semi-mythical beings who are deeply in tune with the earth, and make offerings to them in the hope they will come and teach things to their devotees. The wary Skinks, for their part, have figured out that the tribe is a safe place to come to try to understand more about how the strange ones from across the ocean think, so occasionally they make an appearance, enjoying the lavish banquets and gifts they receive when they do.[1a]