Swamped

"Was this person holding a weapon?"

"Weapon? Weapon?"

Maybe it doesn't know what that is. You carefully show your mudpike.

"Something like this, for instance. For fighting with?"

You aren't sure it understands.

"No! Weapon? No!"

You've got no idea if that means it wasn't a weapon or if that just means it wasn't a mudpike. Maybe you can narrow down the shape or material.

"Was it made of metal? Something shiny, like the tip of this mudpike." You point at it.

"Yes! Metal. No! Metal!"

Yes and no?

"Do you mean it was shiny, but not the same way as this?"

"Yes! Yes! Shiny!"

So it's made of a different metal.

"Was it entirely metal?"

"Yes! Entirely! Shiny!"

Most weapons aren't, they've got wood or leather somewhere in there for better grip. So it probably wasn't a weapon. But what else could it be, and how can you ask in a way this lizard will understand?

The first thing you can think of that you can work out how to describe for the lizard is a figurine, or a small statue of some sort. That doesn't seem likely, but you may as well rule it out while you think about what else it could be.

"Did it look like a smaller human?"

"Yes! Smaller human!"

Huh. How about that.

Not that you have any idea what to make of that, but it's info, at the very least. You think you might be out of things to ask about now, and should probably move on to getting your little informant some food, but maybe there's something you haven't considered yet.