Fairy Tales - No Holds Barred

For this alternate setting for the Cinderella story, there is more than one sentient species residing in this world of Magic, of Fantasy. A mix of lizard and human, they are known officially as Gekkota D and P (a reference to the two groups whose main difference is how they stand, D for Digitigrade and P for Planitgrade) and more derogatively as Lizards.

Normally 150-165 cm, the Gekkota D legs have very short shins with elongated feet that stand behind the main body, counterbalanced by the long flexible tails they have. Long jaws, sharp teeth, and clawed hands and feet of a predatory species, though they are generally a caring group with a strong concept of family. Usually a dark to medium green for their scales, with a paler green-white underbelly, and slitted eyes that can have their irises rounded for improved night visibility. Intellect is generally lower than an equivalent human, their IQ ranging from 70-80% that of a human’s in most cases, though this is enough for them to learn what they need to get by. They are also more vulnerable to temperature extremes, and need to use their environment to aid in temperature regulation.

Gekkota P are physically built a little more like humans in the superficial sense, in that the leg design is identical, save for the slightly wider waist to allow for their tails (which are generally slightly shorter and thinner than their Type-D counterparts), and ranging from 160-180 cm in height. Their scale colour usually ranges from blue-green to teal-green for the main body, with amber-yellow to green-yellow on their undersides.

In both cases, they are not an egg-laying species, giving birth to live young with said young having a dependency on their parents for the first few years of their lives.

Usually habituating the more Southern regions of this world, many travelled further North for work, or rather, they were travelled North to have their, ‘services’, put to use by the populace.

Often seen working the low-end jobs that others don’t want, or as low-level servants within households, and for little more than some food and a roof. It is not unusual to see even a lower-income household have at least one Gekkota residing to perform the menial tasks that leaves both parents free to work for money.

Wealthier households will oft-have several Gekkota in their service, with only the Topmost Elite employing paid human servants, a means of displaying their wealth and power by being able to afford such help.

For a time, this enabled a burst of growth in the wealth and prosperity of the Northern Kingdoms, for a time, it was good.

But the good times were not to last.

The Economies built on slavery of a race faltered as the influx of cheap labour stifled growth, and discontent set in. Wealth went into decline, and the enslaved race began to push for recognition.

It came slowly, tentatively, but bit by bit, they began to attain a few rights. Little more than to make what they already had a requirement, and enough loopholes to keep the pay down to an absolute minimum, but it came nonetheless. Enough to quell the unrest and allow a small recovery to begin.

And then came the invention of Steam.

With it, carriages could carry far more than before, delivering goods and people across greater distances. Ships that once needed sails and the wind could now power their own way across the seas and oceans. On special rails, carriages could takes hundreds of tons, hundreds of people from one end to the other. Roads smooth enough for use complementing this, some of sufficient money or rank able to own personal transport.

And still - with a handful of exceptions - the Gekkota were Second-Class Citizens in the Human-Ruled Lands.

But how does Cinderella fit into this story now? She could be human, living in this world with her own beliefs and sense of right-and-wrong.

But she might be Gekkota? Which opens up a whole can of possibilities to be explored.