Ilujanka

This article is about the lizard race. For the Invention components, see Ilujankan components. For other uses, see Dragon rider.

This article or section is incomplete and could do with improvement. Reason: Mr. Mordaut in the Varrock museum has more information, and One of a Kind You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.

Hannibus, one of the last remaining ilujanka.

The ilujanka (pronounced /ɪluːjæŋkə/ il-loo-YAN-kah), also known as the Lizardmen, are a race of reptilian humanoids originally from a world known as Iaia. Most of them were brought by Zaros to fight for him during the Second Age, and after showing their talent at riding Dragons, they became known as the Dragon Riders.

They were first mentioned briefly by the warrior Viggora, during The Curse of Zaros miniquest. They were mentioned again in Postbag from the Hedge 43, where the Mahjarrat Enakhra denied their existence, before featuring in the Last riders book, and are also featured in the quest One of a Kind.

Culture

The ilujanka have a well-developed culture, although it is fairly primitive due to the lack of magic or technology on Iaia. They live mostly as farmers and craftsmen. They live in peace with one another and with large creatures inhabiting Iaia's marshland known as gurhs. In return for helping them search for food and tending their eggs, these animals allow the ilujanka to use them to plough their fields.

There used to be many tribes of ilujanka, but due to their infertility, only a few villages remain. In the last decade, only one new ilujanka was born. According to Vicendithas, he believes that something occurred with the ilujanka that caused them to inefficiently absorb anima, which in turn caused their race to decline.

Superstition is an important part of the ilujanka's lives. They believe in an Olun'dai, a sort of predestined fate in accordance with which all events occur. Ilujanka highly value their own role in the Olun'dai, called the Olun'det. Because of this philosophy, they see themselves as equals to the other species on their planet, even if they are the only sentient beings. In the philosophy of the Olun'det, they do not fear their extinction. They prepare the world for the other species and have accepted death.

They are able to bond with the gurhs and share their minds, thoughts, experiences and memories, a trait unique to their race. When a group of ilujanka were brought to Gielinor by Zaros, they found that they were able to execute this ability on dragons as well. The ilujanka proceeded to tame and bond with dragons and served in Zaros' army as Dragon Riders. Unlike gurhs, some of the more ferocious or tormented dragons are harder to calm down, such as metal dragons.

History

Origins

Hailing from Iaia, the ilujanka are a peaceful race who bonded with the wildlife on their planet, most notably the gurhs. At an unknown point in time before Zaros' arrival to the planet, the anima on Iaia changed from pure to pristine. This in turn caused the ilujanka to start rejecting their planet's anima, resulting in a drastically reduced birth rate. As the ilujanka lived peaceful lives farming and crafting, they did not know what had afflicted them and were unable to discover the cause. At some point in their history, the ilujanka encountered the gorajo race, as depicted in Pastkeeper's tapestry. However, when this was or how this came about is not known.

Just as things seemed desperate, however, they were approached in their settlement by Zaros, in the form of a shadowy man. Zaros offered them a cure for their infertility; all they had to do was accompany him from their world to his. Faced with such a prospect, such new hope, most accepted and followed Zaros through a portal to Gielinor, a world much different to their own.

Serving Zaros

It was in this world that the race developed an affinity with dragons, the closest animals to the gurhs that they had left behind. They were able to tame the creatures, and ride them. They also had to quickly learn concepts that were redundant in their old world: combat, war, betrayal, loyalty and lies, with loyalty coming easiest to them, doing as Zaros commanded in the hope he would reward them with offspring. Despite it being a novelty to them, war also proved to be one of their strengths, and they began to be feared by Zaros' enemies, by whom they were dubbed the name by which they are most known: the Dragon Riders.

However, as time wore on, the Empty Lord did not gift them as he had promised, despite their petitions, telling them to wait until after the war, as Zaros required the powers of an Elder God to give them fertility, which would be obtained once the war was over. Ultimately the Dragon Riders, who once numbered in the dozens, were reduced and diminished to but a handful of five: Hannibus, Morvannon, Apropos, Balustan, and Ablenkian. At this time Zamorak, Zaros' finest general, offered to fulfil Zaros's promise on one condition; that two of their remaining five join him as personal bodyguards.

The betrayal

After a week since this event, Zamorak - through the events narrated in the miniquest The Curse of Zaros - acquired the Staff of Armadyl; a weapon which was believed to have enough power to kill Zaros himself. And so Morvannon and Apropos returned with this news, suggesting that the five of them should ride with Zamorak; however, Balustan and Ablenkian disagreed, believing it unwise to betray the Empty Lord, who promised to end their infertility after the war - if they warned him of the plot, surely he would reward them. Only Hannibus maintained a neutral stance, thinking that either action could lead to their extinction, and if they remained neutral, the winning side would thank them. Due to their infighting, they did not partake in the betrayal, as shown in Kharshai's memories of the event.

In the end, both Zaros and Zamorak disappeared - and all five were labelled traitors by their own allies. The Zarosians viewed Balustan, Ablenkian and Hannibus as traitors for not coming to Zaros's aid, while the Zamorakians believed Morvannon and Apropos abandoned Zamorak in his time of need. The two would eventually return in the Sixth Age; Zaros did not mention the Dragon Riders, while Zamorak was convinced that the Dragon Riders had betrayed him.

Balustan and Ablenkian were killed by Zarosian-aligned ripper demons, Apropos was killed by Zamorak's vampyre allies, while Morvannon was torn by hellhounds commanded by the Twin Furies. The Zarosians also attempted to hunt Hannibus, but he was able to elude his pursuers and return to the cave wherein his race had been brought to the world, with his dragon still at his side. Hannibus would be able to hide here for many years until Enakhra would eventually hunt him down and turn him into a statue, intending to give him to Zamorak, but she was unable to deliver it to him, and the statue eventually came into the hands of Robert the Strong. Robert attempted to free him, but was unable to. His exact whereabouts were unknown afterwards, although he was still alive, albeit imprisoned, until the Sixth Age.

Morvannon, who had been killed by Zamorak's forces, was pregnant - no one had suspected it, as they believed the ilujanka were infertile. Her mount Gorvek survived, found the egg and hid it in stasis until the time was right. From this egg hatched Vindicta, who vowed to avenge her people by bearing her mother's equipment. Vindicta would be trained by Gorvek, affiliated herself with Zaros and decided to avenge her mother and the others by killing the Twin Furies.

Decline and the end

In the Sixth Age, the World Guardian found Hannibus' petrified statue and reanimated it. Hannibus, tired of fighting to no end, began a journey to attempt to return home without the gods' assistance. With their help, Hannibus was able to find a white dragon named Therragorn, who could travel through the Abyss into different worlds. They were attacked by Kerapac, who wished to use the World Guardian for an experiment, promising to heal Hannibus if they helped him. The World Guardian had no other choice and helped Kerapac with an experiment, who then upheld his word.

Therragorn, who survived the attack, was able to get a glimpse of the ilujankan homeworld of Iaia, travelled there, arrived at a village and asked anyone if they knew of Hannibus. Sharrigan, a descendent of Hannibus, responded to her call and arrived to Gielinor to see Hannibus. She would tell him and the World Guardian that ilujanka have not been able to produce any eggs for the last ten years, the deaths are starting to mount, and the population is in decline. They had begun to carve their history into a great tree on their home plane, and were prepared to meet their fate. Hannibus, at the suggestion of the World Guardian, would choose to either return home or take Kerapac's offer to be put in stasis and seek one more chance at a cure for his people.

A potential comeback

Regardless of Hannibus' decision, Kerapac eventually created a serum after destroying the Stone of Jas and gave it to Hannibus. Hannibus in turn used it on his people. While incomplete, the serum began to have promising effects and more of the ilujanka were able to bear children. After speaking with the World Guardian, Kerapac departed to make sure that Hannibus was using the serum correctly.

Kerapac continued his work, but unfortunately, he became too obsessed with killing the Elder Gods that he ended up shelving his research on an Ilujankan cure. After he was bound back into Jas' service, his son, Vicendithas, decided to continue his father's work, but he needed to obtain his memories from the Effigy Incubator in order to do so, acquiring the assistance of the World Guardian.

Hannibus later brought Vindicta to Iaia to show her the ilujankan homeworld, but she was left unimpressed. The visit was not completely fruitless however, as many of the younger ilujanka were intrigued by Vindicta's size and her experiences on Gielinor, prompting them to leave their homeworld and explore a new one, which they hoped to settle down in. Sharrigan soon returned to Gielinor and settled on Anachronia with other pioneers, collecting artefacts from the Orthen Dig Site.

Vicendithas continued his experiments, eventually discovering that Iaia's anima had somehow changed over time, being one of the main reasons behind the Ilujankan infertility crisis. He made a serum and acquired three volunteers, but one of them, Etuya, died. With her sacrifice, Vicendithas was able to reformulate his serum and the two remaining subjects eventually laid a cluster of eggs, the first in thousands of years. It is unknown if or when the eggs would hatch, but Vicendithas was proud of his work and believed he and the World Guardian had potentially changed the fate of the Ilujanka.

Loss of Iaia

After listening to the pleas of Hannibus to bring the eggs of the Elder Gods to Iaia to die a peaceful death without pain, Seren brought them to Iaia, not to die but to hatch. This would inevitably destroy the world and all life on it. Seren refused to listen to further pleas with the only thing on her mind to protect her family. Some of the Ilujanka accepted their fate, while others left for Gielinor, either to carry on their traditions or were convinced by Vindicta. The Ilujanka that went to Gielinor were transported to Anachronia, where pioneers from Vindicta's previous visit to Iaia helped the brethren settle down alongside some of the Nodon who were finally free from the Elders' control.

With the aid of a needle shard and the Nodon hibernation pods, Vicendithas was able to recreate an illusionary world of Iaia for the Ilujanka to continue their traditional lifestyle within, known as the Dream of Iaia.

Known ilujanka

• Hannibus: chose to be neutral in the conflict between Zamorak and Zaros and survived, one of last known surviving Dragon Riders, companion of the King Black Dragon.
• Morvannon: defected to Zamorak; torn apart by the Twin Furies' hellhounds on Zamorak's order, former companion of Gorvek.
• Apropos: defected to Zamorak; killed by Zamorak's vampyre allies.
• Balustan: remained loyal to Zaros; torn apart by Zarosian ripper demons.
• Ablenkian: remained loyal to Zaros; torn apart by Zarosian ripper demons.
• Sharrigan: a descendant of Hannibus, brought to Gielinor by Therragorn, one of the last known surviving white dragons. They are now on Anachronia with others, collecting artefacts.
• Vindicta: the daughter of Morvannon and Hannibus, a Zarosian general, one of the last known surviving Dragon Riders, companion of Gorvek.
• Carthalo: an ilujanka encountered during the Heartstealer quest alongside Mr Mordaut.
• Etuya: perished in Vicendithas's research to cure the ilujanka's infertility.
• Elder Chahoua: a villager leader, who remained on Iaia until it perished.
• Pastkeeper: an ilujanka in-charge of telling the stories of their past, who remained on Iaia until it perished.
• Craftmaster: an ilujanka craftsmen who chose to evacuate to Gielinor to further train his son in their craft.
• Pondkeeper: an ilujanka in-charge of the fish wildlife who chose to evacuate to Gielinor with some fish specimen.
• Plantkeeper: an ilujanka in-charge of the plants, who chose to remain on Iaia until it perished.
• Plantkeeper's Sister: An ilujanka who chose to evacuate to Gielinor and was entrusted with some plant seeds by her sister.
• Heedi: an ilujanka botanist who created the eternal magic tree by crossbreeding magic trees with Iaian baobabs.

Trivia

The unused Lizard man-model from 2004, that eventually became the ilujanka.

• They were originally mentioned in the original members announcement and the Behind the Scenes article on 31 March 2004 as the Lizardmen. Although they were not initially released, a model was nevertheless created for them, but it went unused and was never released into the game. They later were reworked into the modern-day Dragonriders.
• The culture of ilujanka bears a strong resemblance to the African Yoruban culture due to their use of rich metaphors and imagery, as well as when Sharrigan mentions about the Olun'dai. It is in a way, a closely worded form of Orun.
• Their name may come from Illuyanka, a dragon from Hittite mythology.
• Ilujanka were said in a lore talk to have a similar lifespan to humans. It can be discussed if this is actually true considering Vindicta's egg being conceived around the time of Zaros' fall at the end of the Second Age. Additionally, the Last Riders book states both that Hannibus was present from the time of the race's arrival on Gielinor and that ilujanka can die of old age. Zaros's dialogue in Fate of the Gods places this earlier in the Second Age.