From the Hidden City (Warhammer Lizardmen Temple-City Quest)

CuttleFish2.0 · May 18, 2020

Mage-Lord Wik'keer'mal
Lord of the Lost City, Lifebringer, Master of the Jungle, Friend of the Young

Born to the Third Spawning and charged by the Great Plan of the Old Ones to tutor the warmbloods in the correct methods of harnessing the winds Wik'keer'mal took to the task with perhaps greater ease and excitement than any save the Old Ones themselves could have predicted. Great joy the Slann took in the task, so much that some amongst the sublime communion took to calling him Friend of the Young. A title he treasured.

It was not only the dro'ka'khanx and itz'xa'khanx that drew his eye, long ago Wik'keer'mal had become fascinated by a smaller example of the Old Ones vast intellect and foresight; bees, which flourished in the new world the Slann were creating under the guidance of their masters. When he took up his place in Zlatlan he brought with him many colonies to study and meditate on.

His mastery of the Jade Wind, coupled with his vast store of knowledge of biology and anatomy have made Wik'keer'mal a surpassing healer. Capable of restoring entire legions of Saurus warriors to hale health from near death his efforts kept the armies of Zlatlan, and the fleeing forces of the other Temple-Cities, alive when they should have been utterly exhausted. Without his aid the garrison of the city would be even more meager.

Traits:
Master of Ghyran: Having studied the wind of life and growing things, Wik'keer'mal's unmatched by none but earlier Spawnings. Gardens bloom with naught but a thought, hatchling beasts sprout to full maturity in moments at his will, and the jungle itself answers to his call. +30 to Warfare and Healing.

Healer: In most cases any non-fatal injury is one which a Lizardman can shrug off, in time, no matter the caste. Other times the injury is so dire and the magic of a Revification Crystal either too imprecise or ineffective. In those cases Wik'keer'mal is called upon. Boosted by Ghyran Focus.

Mentor: To the Third Spawning was given the task of educating Dwarfs and Elves in Albion long in the wanings days of the ordering of the world. +20 to Diplomacy with elves and dwarfs.

Apiarist: Long ago, before the coming of the eternal enemy, Wik'keer'mal became fascinated by the humble bee. At least one hive is his constant companion, even in battle, reminding him of the use of other creatures and the designs of the Old Ones even in small things.

Synergy Trait! Mentor + Apiarist!
Kindly Senior: Wik'keer'mal through his work with the younger races and caring for his bees has mastered a method of communication and thought few other Slann have. He sees their value and understands, to some extent, how they experience the world. This eases the way for offering guidance and warnings to which they will actually listen, and to getting Wik'keer'mal into their good graces when he makes a request. +30 to Diplomacy with warmbloods.

Equipment:
Buzzing Palanquin: There is always at least one bee hive on Wik'keer'mal's palanquin, though it offers nothing save the presence of his beloved creatures.

Fivefold Hive of Jade: Enhances Ghyran Spells when cast through. Negates 2 failures while researching plants and animals. Cannot use any other focus.

CuttleFish2.0 · May 18, 2020

Zlatlan, the Hidden City
Ruled by Mage-Lord Wik'keer'mal, Lord of the Lost City, Lifebringer, Master of the Jungle, Friend of the Young
Date, the Year 11650 Since Itza's Founding (approx. -3350 IC - End of Turn 19)

Walls - Intact

Southern Gate (Tepok) - Intact
Eastern Gate (Chotec) - Intact
Northern Gate (Xhotl) - Intact
Western Gate (Yuxa) - Intact
Wall Defenses - Intact

City Defenses - Partially Restored

Towers - Intact
Wards - Intact
Traps - Expended
Sentinels -Intact

Outer Defenses - Intact

Bunkers - Intact (w/ Patrol Roosts adds 3 dice per turn)
Patrol Roosts - Intact (w/ Bunkers adds 3 dice per turn)
Fortified Harbor - Untouched

Selling - Nuum Feathers, Nuum Leathers, Bronze Daggers, Miscellaneous Pelts, Timber.
Buying - Ivory, Cloth, Timber, Tin, Silver, Gems. Exotic Live Specimens*.
*You have made your interest clear.

Guardian Statues - Intact
Terradon Roosts - Intact

Skink Barrios - Occupied
Temples - Occupied

Major Temples - Intact 9/9 (Chotec, Huanchi, Tepok, Tlanxla, Tlazcotl, Tzunki, Uxmac, Xholankha, and Xokha)

Certain temples of the Old Ones contain specialized apparatus within them that either aid the slann in some task or enable them to perform certain complex (even for slann) rituals. Most do not need to be 'assigned', they either activate or do not, but during their use they can become 'exhausted' and be unavailable for a turn or more. The specific conditions vary between Artifacts.

Temple of Tepok - Arcane Inference Engines.
Effects: Allows the study and further enhancement of artifacts of all types. Once an artifact has been enhanced the Engines are spent and must recharge for a turn.

Temple of Uxmac - Masterful Orrery of the Gods.
Effects: Divinations are more likely to succeed, whenever a prophecy is discovered roll a d10; on a 3 or lower the Orrery is spent and must recharge for a turn.

Grand Temple of Xholankha - Floating Gardens of Xholankha
Effects: Has a chance to produce research opportunities in the form of new and exotic flora and/or fauna. Any action researching flora, fauna, or the Wind of Ghyran is more likely to succeed.

Temple of Xokha - Clinometer of Xokha.
Effects: Assigning the Clinometer of Xokha to any project tagged with 'Construction' adds half-again the highest characters 'Construction' skill to any relevant rolls. At the end of the turn it was used on, roll a d10 and on a 2 or lower the device is spent and must charge for a turn.

INACTIVE Temple of Huanchi - Crossroads of Huanchi.
Effects: During sieges allows rapid redeployment of elite forces across Zlatlan and remote activation of active internal defenses.

Minor Shrines - Intact 10/10 (Caxuatn, Conalxa, Itzl, Potec, Quetli, Quetzl, Tzcatli, Xapati, Xhotl, Yuxa)
Mortuary Shrines - Intact, Emptied
Unknown 1/1 - Damaged

Mortuary Complex - Intact, Secure
Temple Barracks - Occupied, Intact
Temple Gardens - Intact, Productive
Fields

Grain Fields - Intact, Productive
Reed Paddies - Intact, Productive
Vegetal Gardens - Scattered, Productive
Aziki Fields - Intact, Productive

Granaries - Intact, One-Half Capacity and Rising
Spawning Pools - Damaged

Exterior Spawning Pools - Functional 10/10
Interior Spawning Pools - Functional 4/4
Subterranean Spawning Pools - Functional 7/7

Armories - Full
Forge Districts - Intact, Producing
Assembly Yards - Intact
Terradon Percheries - Intact
Carnosaur Pens - Intact
Stegadon Pastures - Intact
Cold One Pens - Intact
Bastiladon Pastures - Intact
Dragon Turtle Cove - Intact
Vaults - SEALED.

Overall Condition - Lightly Damaged
Infrastructure Level - 1

Population:

Skinks

Population: Small

Saurus

Population: Small
Temple Guard Garrison - Patient

Kroxigors

Population: Tiny

Chameleon Skinks

Population: Miniscule

21 Slann

4 of the 3rd Spawning
5 of the 4th Spawning
12 of the 5th Spawning

Terradons

Population: Moderate
State: Acceptable

Carnosaurs

Population: Tiny
State: Contented

Stegadons

Population: Small
State: Contented

Cold Ones

Population: Moderate
State: Stabilized

Horned Ones

Population: Tiny
State: Stabilized

Bastiladons

Population: Small
State: Contented

Dragon turtles

Population: Small
State: Wary

Overall Fleet Size: Small
Condition: Untouched

War Canoes

Size: Moderate
Condition: Intact

Coastal Monitors

Size: Small
Condition: Intact

Frigates

Size: Very Small
Condition: Intact

Cruisers

Size: Very Small
Condition: Untouched

Assets:
Abyssal Exploration Gear x12
Damaged Engine of the Gods x1
Solar Engine x5
Damaged Solar Engine x1
Revivification Crystal x4
Howdah with Great Bow x53
Disc of Yuxa
Obsinite Dragon Eggs x176

Large Chunk of Meteoric Iron (Soaked in Azyr) x1
Ivory of unknown animals.
Fragments of Dragon-Turtle Egg x7
Crates of Elven Steel Weaponry (Quality: Medium) X 12
Crates of Elven Cloth (Quality: Low)
Elven Maps of the Seas between Ulthuan, Huitzacatlan, and Chuqitzan

CuttleFish2.0 · May 18, 2020

Old Ones of Zlatlan:
Major or Minor status is entirely dependent on whether they have a Shrine or a Temple and is not indicative of anything else.

Chotec - Lord of the Sun, Lord of the Oncoming East. Day Star.

Giver of energy and life, burns away the impure with cleansing flames.

Huanchi - The Jaguar, the Illusive.

Domain of stealth, illusions, deception, and misdirection. Associated with shadows, mists, and transitions.

Tepok - The Feathered Serpent, the Inscrutable.

Who protects from harmful magic. Associated with clear skies, sacred spaces, wards.

Tlanxla - Warrior-God, rides into battle atop a Sky-Chariot
Tlazcotl - The Impassive.
Tzunki - Master of Sea and River and Lake, Storm Caller and Wind Shaper.

Holds purview over all forms of water, fresh or salt, and purifies by washing away taint. Associated with both change and delimitation.

Uxmac - Messenger of the Gods.

Associated with wind, language, archives, and divination.

Xholankha - The Lost.

Associated with the natural world, time, and cycles.

Xokha - God of Stone, Strength and Duty.

Caxuatn - Predator God.
Conalxa
Itzl - God of Beasts.
Potec
Quetli - Warrior-god, "protector of the True Way"
Quetzl - Protector God, Warrior God.
Tzcatli - The one who gives strength to warrior's arm
Xapati
Xhotl - The Phoenix, the Undeniable.

Who chooses those destined for greatness. Associated with spawning pools, long term plans, and the Great Plan.

Yuxa - Lord of the Farthest West, Master of Dusk. Frog Father.

Invoked when skink priests cast active magic. Associated strongly with slann themselves.

Characters:
- Hierarchy. There is a strict hierarchy to command within Lizardmen society. Slann by default are always 'in charge,' but they often stand outside of the strict hierarchy and are never counted as 'in charge' of an action. Command passes in this manner; Slann -> Skink Priest -> Saurus Old Blood -> Skink Chief -> Scar-Veteran -> Skink
Scribes and Artisan-Priests are counter as 'Skink' characters.

Whichever character comes earlier will be 'in charge.' In cases where characters of equal rank are assigned to an individual action, the character with more directly applicable benefits will take precedence. All other benefits still apply.

Assignable Characters:

First Spawning: 0
Second Spawning: 0
Third Spawning:

Memre-Xoq of the Third Spawning
- From Teotiqua
- Skills:
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Slann of the Third Spawning: +30 to Magic. +15 to Warfare.
— Memory Specialist: Adept at delving into the minds of others.

Macuiltotec of the Third Spawning
Skills:
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Slann of the Third Spawning: +30 to Magic. +15 to Warfare.
— Burning Mind: Favors the use of Aqshy.
— Maimed: +20 to Warfare. Lost right arm in the defense of the Temple of Skulls.
- Equipment:
— Personal Spear: A finely wrought spear of bronze, stegadon bone, and gold.

Wik'keer'mal of the Third Spawning
- Skills:
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Slann of the Third Spawning: +30 to Magic. +15 to Warfare.
— Mage-Lord of the Green Wind: +30 to Warfare and Healing. Knows Battle Magics of Ghyran.
— Mentor: +20 to Diplomacy with elves and dwarfs. Taught elves and dwarfs.
— Apiarist: Fascinated by bees, Wik'keer'mal has undertaken long years in caring for the creatures.
— Kindly Senior: +30 to Diplomacy with warmbloods.
- Equipment:
— Buzzing Palanquin: Mount. Mundane beehives hang from this palanquin.
— Fivefold Hive of Jade: Magical Focus. +15 to Warfare, Healing, and Magic. Negates 2 failures while researching plants and animals.

Fourth Spawning:
Huaxi of the Fourth Spawning
- Studied the Black Eggs
- Skills:
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Magical Construct Adept: +10 when dealing with all forms of magical construct.

Mextlep of the Fourth Spawning
- From the Golden Tower of the Gods
- Skills:
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Slann of the Fourth Spawning: +20 to Magic. +10 to Warfare.
— Mage-Lord of the White Wind: +30 to Warfare and Healing. Knows Battle Magics of Hysh.

Telepi'oja of the Fourth Spawning
-Studied the Black Eggs

Udhi-Tegha of the Fourth Spawning
- From Cuexotl
- Mentor to Ecu'otta
- Skills:
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Slann of the Fourth Spawning: +20 to Magic. +10 to Warfare.
— Geomantic Web Specialist: +15 when dealing with the Geomantic Web
— Seals of the Old Ones: Allows easier, intrinsic manipulation of the Geomantic Web. +1 when dealing with the Geomantic Web

Fifth Spawning:
Alhuanti of the Fifth Spawning
- Wields Ulgu

Chiccti of the Fifth Spawning
- Helped Cleanse Nahuantl

Ecu'otta of the Fifth Spawning
- From Cuexotl
- Student of Udhi-Tegha
- Skills:
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Slann of the Fifth Spawning: +10 to Magic. +5 to Warfare.
— Geomantic Web Novice: +5 when dealing with the Geomantic Web

Gar'ata'xamundi of the Fifth Spawning
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Slann of the Fifth Spawning: +10 to Magic. +5 to Warfare.
— Diviner: +10 to Diviniation.

Ha'marentongz of the Fifth Spawning
- Crafted original Mirror-Shield of Quetzl

Hixha'zaq of the Fifth Spawning
- From Tlaqua

Huan'lza'qotl of the Fifth Spawning

Huanxi'otl of the Fifth Spawning

Lixhua of the Fifth Spawning

Qu'ahn'Oh of the Fifth Spawning
- Studies Daemons

Qu'ata'xamundi of the Fifth Spawning
— Magic: Yes.
- Traits:
— Slann of the Fifth Spawning: +10 to Magic. +5 to Warfare.
— Diviner: +10 to Diviniation.

Tzahuan of the Fifth Spawning
- Helped Cleanse Nahuantl

Awanabil'tat
- Type: Chief
- Specialization: Architect
- Skills:
— Construction III (+30)
— Leadership I (+10)
- Traits:
— Touch of Tepok: Awanbil'tat can sense the energies of the Geomantic Web.
— Secrets of Sacred Geometry: +5 when dealing with the Geomantic Web.

Atahuinqua
- Type: Priest
- Specialization: Oracle
- Mount: Tenqu'itt (Troglodon)
- Skills:
— Magic: Oracular
— Divination II (+20)
— Combat II (+20)
— Evasion I (+10)
- Traits:
— Oracle: Reroll one failure per Action they are assigned to. +10 to Divination.
— Witness of Caledor: Has peered deeply into the Great Vortex and glimpsed its mysteries.
— Honed: +15 to Combat. Has sparred with not only the saurus of Zlatlan but marines of Cothique, mages of Saphery, Sisters of Avelorne, and Yvressian nobles.
— Troglodon Bond: Tenqu'itt is young yet, unfit yet to be ridden. Still their growing bond allows she and Atahuinqua to fight fiercely together. +5 Combat when fighting alongside Tenqu'itt.

Gif'a-Gahb
- Type: Priest
- Specialization: Heavens
- Skills:
— Magic: Azyr
— Warfare II (+20)
— Combat I (+10)
— Construction II (+20)
- Traits:
— Priest of the Blue Wind: +10 to Warfare and Divination. Knows Battle Magics of Azyr.

Ittetuhlot
- Type: Chief
- Specialization: War Leader
- Skills:
— Warfare II (+20)
— Construction II (+20)
- Traits:
— Stegadon Rider: +10 to Warfare and Combat while riding a stegadon.
- Equipment:
— Tail of the Golden Monkey. Prosthetic Tail. +5 to Combat. A slim prosthetic tail made of bronze that is able to grasp objects and act like any other limb.

Mai'xon
- Type: Artisan-Priest
- Specialization: Architect
Skills:
— Magic: Hysh
— Construction I (+10)

Poh'paloq
- Type: Chief
- Specialization: Flight Leader
- Mount: Riz (Terradon)
- Skills:
— Construction II (+20)
— Warfare II (+20)
- Traits:
— Expert Terradon Flyer: +10 to Warfare and Combat while flying.

Xehtzaihl
- Type: Artisan-Priest
- Specialization: Shipwright
- Skills:
— Magic: Chamon
— Construction I (+10)
- Traits:
— Shipwright: +10 to Construction related to building, designing, and maintaining ships.

Xilotl
- Type: Artisan-Priest
- Specialization: Smith
- Skills:
— Magic: Chamon
— Construction I (+10)
- Traits:
— Smith: +10 to Construction related to metals.

Zille'mi
- Type: Priest
- Specialization: Heavens
- Skills:
— Magic: Azyr
— Diplomacy II (+20)
— Combat I (+10)
— Construction II (+20)
- Traits:
— Priest of the Blue Wind: +10 to Warfare and Divination. Knows Battle Magics of Azyr.

Huatza-Botl
- Type: Oldblood
— +5 to Warfare, +10 to Combat
- Skills:
— Warfare III (+30)
— Combat II (+20)
— Navigation I (+10)
— Leadership I (+10)
- Traits:
— Blessed of Tzunki: +10 to Warfare, Combat, Navigation while at sea or in wetlands.
- Equipment:
— Leviathan-Bone Harpoon (Pelagic Championship): Hybrid Melee/Ranged Weapon. +15 to Combat. Control over water when at sea, sufficient to dash moderately sized vessels if unopposed. Chance to Command marine creatures as large as a stegadon.

Khaxilitli
- Type: Scar-Veteran
— +5 to Combat
- Skills:
— Combat II (+20)
— Perception I (+10)
— Navigation (Land) I (+10)
- Traits:
— Blessed of Chotec: +5 to Combat. Tireless vigor fills their flesh.

Loqtli
- Type: Scar Veteran
— +5 to Combat
- Mount: Hra (Horned-One)
- Skills:
— Combat II (+20)
— Warfare I (+10)
— Tracking I (+10)
- Traits:
— Horned-One Rider: +10 to Combat while riding Cold-Ones or Horned-Ones.
— Blessed of Itzl: +5 to Combat. Savage ferocity and an unwavering sense of justice.

Qu'Qu-Kor
- Type: Temple Guard
— Can only be assigned to actions with Slann or Skink Priests.
- Skills:
— Combat II (+20)
— Perception II (+20)
— Concealment II (+20)
— Tracking II (+20)
- Traits:
— Blessed of Tepok: Lesser magics break under their assault and greater ones are dulled by their unwavering defense.
— Ancient Guardian: +20 to Combat while defending their charge.

Rheameninthys
- Type: Handmaiden of the Everqueen
— +5 to Warfare, +10 to Combat
- Skills:
— Warfare II (+20)
— Leadership I (+10)
— Navigation I (+10)
- Traits:
— Devoted to Isha: While not a priestess of the goddess, she is still ardently devoted to her in all her forms.
— ???: ???
- Equipment:
— Spirit Bow: Ranged Weapon. +10 to Combat while fighting at range. Even heavy armor fails in the face of a missile fired from this bow, only magic can protect from its blows.

Non-Assignable Characters

Cuaqli
- Type: Scribe

Hua'Ximni
- Type: Chameleon Skink
- Specialization: Eldest

Liss'en Ohp
- Type: Foreskink
- Specialization: Korai Wrangler

Tehe'Tenq
- Type: Scribe

Tli'Tli
- Type: Priest
- Specialization: Beasts

Tzakani
- Type: Scribe

Xo'Ar-Uhn
- Type: Terradon Rider
- Mount: Fwee (Terradon)

Axa-Dun
- Type: Saurus
- Specialization: Cold One Rider
- Mount: Tlexi (Cold-One)

Boqitzil-Axali
- Type: Scar-Veteran

Gor-Toq
- Type: Scar-Veteran

Ixtlec
- Type: Saurus
- Specialization: Cold One Squadron Leader

Miccuatoco
- Type: Scar-Veteran

Qoli
- Type: Big

Korai
- Type: Big

Equipment:

Mirror-Shield of Quetzl.
Effects: Upon activation deflects incoming projectiles, mundane or magical, back in the direction of the attacker. Robs them of much of their speed or impact. Recharges at a rate relative to the number and power of the projectiles reflected.

Carapace of Winds.

Effects: Armor. Functions as mundane armor; when bearer is struck by magical weapons or magic the armor absorbs a portion of the power (completely nullify weak attacks and destroying simple enchantments) and uses it to temporarily enhance its wielder.

Disc of Yuxa.

Effects: Caster Focus/Mount. Greatly enhances casting speed, power, and focus of a single individual while they are stood/seated atop it. Can operate indefinitely within Zlatlan, more limited outside of it.

Skink priest characters equipped with the Disc of Yuxa have all their dice count as slann dice. Slann count as being one generation higher than their normal generation.

Possible Enhancements:
Supreme Lordship of the Heavens - Imparts even greater effects upon the user and also extends operation time outside of Geomantic Web significantly. Completely immobilizes the user and elevates them high into the air.

Alignment of the Sacred Choir - At the expense of some efficacy of the effects themselves upon individuals, spreads the effects to any two other casters within direct communication of the primary caster.

Black Egg.

Effects: Allows a Young Obsinite Dragon to be awoken b during battle. Lasts anywhere between 14 and 92 minutes, at the end of that period the Egg has a chance of being destroyed (DC60).

Elite Units:

Quetzl's Mirror Guardians
Unit of 256 saurus wielding shields enchanted with a derivative enchantment of the Mirror-Shield of Quetzl. Can only be deployed within Zlatlan or its immediate environs (Restriction lifts on Turn 12).

Quetli's Chosen
Unit of 64 saurus all spawned at once. Faster, stronger than typical saurus, their presence and attacks are anathema to daemons and all things bearing the taint of chaos.

Naval Assets:

Abyssal Exploration Gear
Composed of several bronze-gold rings enchanted to counteract the water pressure at depths; these wrap around the neck, arms, chest, legs, and tail. Alongside is a mask of ray-bone to allow for underwater breathing, fins of bronze and ray-leather for better control while swimming. And finally a sloping crystal dome fit over the eyes and head to allow for better visibility at depth.
Crew Size: 1

War Canoe
Carved from enormous tree trunks, the smallest of these canoes can carry a handful of Skinks or two to three Saurus while the largest examples can see more than a full cohort of Skinks packed in. The latter can only be made by trips into the deepest jungles to fell one of the towering giants of the jungle canopy.Propelled by paddles and poles.

Crew Size: 5 to 120

Coastal Monitor
Wide bottomed with a shallow draft and low broad front perfect for quickly moving from deck to shore these vessels are built from simple wooden planks lashed together with thick woven rope, sealed with resin pitch, and topped by a single mast. This makes the process of quick repairs outside of drydock relatively easy, damaged sections can be cut away and new ones fashioned from available trees to be lashed in place and sealed again.

Designed to slip from treacherous coastal waters to the faster running currents of the wide river entrances and swampy marshes they also carry long poles, usually crewed by the few Kroxigor aboard, for travelling up river. Reed mats and the typical small rounded shield are often attached to the sides of the monitors, providing both cover and camouflage. Sometimes a single greatbow is mounted towards the fore or aft. Or a handful of mounted blowpipes. But mostly offensive capacity is provided by the crew.

Crew Size: 20 to 80
Armament: 1 Greatbow or 5-7 Mounted Blowpipes

Frigate
With a deeper hull and two masts, the frigate is much more capable of extended voyages and traversing deeper waters than the coastal monitors. Though the majority of the hull is fashioned from the same wooden planks as the monitors, though using more permanent construction techniques, below the waterline the wooden hull actually interlocks into a stone bottom. Worked with some of the same enchantments as the palanquins of the Slann, this stone keel actually reduces the apparent mass of the ship; allowing the sails to push the frigate a degree faster than it's apparent size might indicate.

To each side of the ship, an angled series of spars extend, typically covered in the same matting of reeds the monitors employ, which attach to enormous canoes. Detachable, these canoes serve as both outrigging to help stabilize the ship in rough seas and deep waters and as landing craft to send parties ashore or to navigate up smaller waterways. Only uncoupled when the parent vessel is safely anchored and close to shore. Additionally the space between each canoe and the main hull doubles as extra storage space for supplies, materials, or spoils of war.

Typically mounted with several greatbows, a plethora of blowpipes, and space for more of both. These are the primary aggressors of the Lizardmen fleet.

Crew Size: 100 to 240
Armament: 4-7 Greatbows and 10-20 Mounted Blowpipes

Cruiser
Built along similar lines to the frigates, simply scaled up and with a few key differences; the most notable of those being that cruisers carry three masts, lack of outrigging, and the fact that the stone keel extends up the side of the ship in thick ribs spaced evenly down the length of the hull. Wider at water level than at the height of its top deck and with the bare stone protruding out from the wooden portions of the hull, cruisers have a certain vaguely skeletal appearance

At the bow the ribs extending from the keel join into a jutting prow, often capped with a vicious obsinite tipped ram, capable of tearing flesh and scale and wood apart with even a glancing blow. Meanwhile at the aft the stone forms a solid plate of reinforced stone, engraved with an enormous shining glyph of the Old One Tzunki.

Capable of mounting numerous Greatbows across both it's lower and upper decks, though with severely curtailed arcs of fire for the former, and liberally festooned with blowpipes the cruiser mixes speed with firepower. The aftcastle - reinforced by the final set of stone ribs and anchored to the aft stone plate - flairs out past the edge of the hull and is designed to mount either two solar engines, attached so that each has a clear one-hundred and seventy degree arc of fire, or a single engine of the gods. Of course until and unless such precious treasures can be spared from the defence of Zlatlan itself those mountings go unfilled.

While they can match frigates for speed in a chase they have notably slower ability to enact course changes or come about.

Crew Size: 200 to 500
Armament: 10-15 Greatbows and ~40-60 Mounted Blowpipes (2 Solar Engines or 1 Engine of the Gods)

*Overrides other bonuses.
**Assignable only to designated actions.

Feel free to vote now.

CuttleFish2.0 · May 20, 2020

Turns
Each turn spans 10 years.

During that turn you will select five (5) actions to work on (split between Projects and Expeditions), to which you will assign characters.

Actions are split broadly into two categories: Projects and Expeditions. I'll give some more details on them each in a little bit, but for now just think of them as actions that focus on Zlatlan itself and actions that focus on places outside of Zlatlan. They will be formatted like this:

Action Name: Description
Character Limit: #. Tags: Tags. Requirements: Tags (#).

Character Limit: the maximum number of characters that can be assigned to an action.
Tags: single word descriptions of what is expected for that action.
- Ex. Construction, Warfare, Risky, Multi-Stage, etc.
- Risky: action is more likely to result in injury or have significant consequences in case of failure.
- Multi-Stage: this action is likely to take multiple turns to 'fully' complete, though it will not necessarily be locked in once selected
- X Generation: action gains benefits from being assigned a slann of the appropriate spawning
Requirements: character fitting this description are requiredfor the action to be valid in a plann.
- An action that is tagged "Requirements: Slann (1)" for example will require at least one slann to be assigned.
- Other requirements may be for specific characters, equipment, or skills.

During a turn each action will have a series of updates involving challenges, encounters, and choices which will guide the development of that action. Rather than rolling dice to accumulate successes in order to complete a given action, your characters will complete stages of each Project/Expedition depending on choices made during that turn. Descriptions for each action provide an idea of the goals of said Project or Expedition and will not guarantee any specific results.

Some actions will lock in over multiple turns until they complete, but those will be explicitly called out. Most actions will not require pre-commitment to multiple turns of focus. Choices and rolls during the turn itself may affect which of those applies to a given action.

Feel free to suggest new Projects or Expeditions and I will review them and create options for them as appropriate. See the sections below for some basic guidelines on Projects and Expeditions.

Projects
Projects are all actions which take place 'local' to Zlatlan. That is, if a crisis were to arise those characters would be able to affect the outcome of that crisis. Often this means complex infrastructure projects or magical research.

There are fewer restrictions on what characters can take part in Projects than for Expeditions.

Expeditions
Expeditions are all actions which take place outside of Zlatlan. They take characters far away from the temple-city to distant locations and are much more likely to result in 'locked in' characters and actions. Characters on Expeditions will almost certainly be unable to respond to a crisis.

There are many more restrictions on what characters can take part in Expeditions.

Constructing an Expedition Force
Each potential expedition will have a maximum allotment of force that can be brought along, depending on travel method, goals, and other factors which will be listed alongside Supply at the bottom. Supply represents not only the required feed, water, gear, and other supplies those units need but also the willingness of Zlatlan to see those units gone for extended periods of time. Every cohort of skinks or kroxigor, band of saurus, and warbeast will cost a certain amount of points (and maybe have additional requirements on their inclusion).

You do not have to include the breakdown of the expeditionary force but doing so will leave it up to me, and I will err on the side of simplicity rather than inclusion.

Infantry
- Saurus Band (1 Points)
- Skink Cohort (0.25 Points)
- Kroxigor Cohort (0.25 Points) (Requires: 0.25 Points of Skink Cohorts Each)
Cavalry
- Horned One Squadron (4 Points) (Requires:1 Points of Saurus Bands Each)
  - Max: 8 Points
- Cold One Squadron (2 Points) (Requires: 2 Points of Skink Cohorts Each)
  - Max: 8 Points
- Terradon Squadron (1.5 Points) (Requires: 0.5 Point of Skink Cohorts Each)
  - Max: 9 Points
Warbeasts
- Carnosaurs (5 Points) (Requires: 0.5 Point of Skink Cohorts, 2 Points of Saurus Bands Each)
  - Max: 15 Points
- Bastiladon (1.25 Points) (Requires: 0.25 Points of Skink Cohorts Each)
  - Max: 16 Points
- Stegadon (1.25 Points) (Requires: 0.5 Points of Skink Cohorts Each)
  - Max : 16 Points
Wargear
- Solar Engine (1.5 Points) (Requires: 0.25 Points of Skink Cohorts Each)
  - Max: 6 Points
- Greatbow Howdah (0.25 Points)
  - Max: 6 Points
- Revification Crystal (1.5 points) (Requires: 0.25 Points of Skink Cohorts Each)
  - Max: 3 Points
- Black Egg (1 Point) (Requires 0.5 Points of Priests)
  - Max: 6 Points
Special
- Priest (0.5 Point) (Requires: 0.5 Points of Skink Cohorts, 2 Points of Saurus Bands)
  - Max: 2 Points
  - +10 Magic/+5 Warfare for Each Point on Expedition
- Quetzl's Mirror Guardians (1.25 Points)
  - Max: 1.25 Points
  - +5 Warfare when Defending Locations
- Quetli's Chosen (2 Points)
  - Max: 2 Points
  - + 15 Warfare against daemons and other chaos corrupted enemies.
- Chameleon Skinks (1 Point) (Requires: 0.5 Points of Skink Cohorts)
  - Max: 1 Point
  - +30 Navigation (Land)/Tracking/+20 Perception on Expedition
  - Allows Assasination and Sabotage
- Rheameninthys (3 Points) (LOCKED)
  - Max: 3 Points
- Tyrecmion, Amnil, Isobar (2 Points) (LOCKED)
  - Max: 2 Points

Slann
Each turn will still see rolls to determine how many slann you have available. But now these slann are characters, though ones with sharp limits on how and when they may be used, and can simply be assigned as you do other characters.

The limits on slann though will often leave you with excess slann characters. So what to do with them? Introducing Temple Actions; these are a range of actions which will mostly not have direct and immediate narratives attached but which can affect other actions, provide new avenues of development, or hint at dangers/opportunities on the horizon.

Three categories of Temple Actions are:

Divination: Read the heavens for a sign of what the future holds. Chance to gain one or more prophecies, or to aid an action this turn.
Meditation: Delve into memory and study the twisting strands of magic. Gain understanding of a prophecy.
Contemplating the Sequence: Seek understanding of the Great Plan. Chance to gain a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the world.

On any given turn your slann will mostly end up assigned here.

Characters
Obviously all of this means that characters no longer provide dice to actions.

Instead characters have skills and traits which add bonuses to their rolls during actions they are assigned to, or provide unique opportunities for during those actions which would not be available otherwise. These should not be treated as exclusive lists of their capabilities — except in obvious cases, such as the use of magic — but rather as highlighting areas of particular specialty. You will have the chance, over the course of the quest, to improve characters skills, to gain new traits, evolve current ones, and gain equipment for your characters; all of which will impact how they are able to complete future actions.

Though be warned not to expect such opportunities to be frequent.

Zlatlan

But wait, so will we no longer be building up our Temple-City?

No. You will still be working to repair, improve, and maintain Zlatlan. The focus will simply be on your using characters to do so.

There will be fewer actions available to you overall, but this will come from a reduction in 'makework' actions rather than a loss of options. Each action available to you will have the promise of interesting things or places to discover, fun fights to have, and/or people to talk to.

Part of the reason I lost the energy to continue with the quest was because there were more and more actions whose updates amounted to little more than 'you did more of the same stuff you did last turn.' This was my own fault.

And I would hardly lay most of the blame on that, actual real life events had much more to do with it but it was part of it.

You will still have the opportunity to guide those sorts of actions, but I can more easily handle having them pop up as sporadic choices which continue in the background rather than having to be an actual main part of the turn.

Basics
Each turn, currently, spans 10 years (was 100 prior to reaching Infrastructure Level 1).

In order to complete, or make progress towards completing, and action you assign a certain number of dice. These dice are then rolled against a DC and if any matches or exceeds that number a success gets added for each die that did until the required number of successes is reached. Successes persist across turns unless otherwise stated.

But, most actions have 'Limits' on them. These represent various things which constrain the number of dice you can put towards a certain action — either per turn or in total — and can and will fluctuate over time.

Dice
Before every turn, a certain number of dice is rolled (currently 5d10) to determine how deeply the Slann of Zlatlan are affected by Lethargy for the upcoming turn. The results of those rolls are then used to calculate how many dice you will have for the turn, using this formula:

30 (Base) + (70 - (Rolled Number)) = # / 10 = # of Dice

These dice can be freely applied to any action besides Learning actions, up to their limits. Limits can only be exceeded through the use of characters.

You Slann Dice per turn is calculated by rolling a number of d20's equal to the number of slann in a given generation and measuring the result against the DC. Each roll that beats the DC is awake and available for that turn.

Your number of Slann Dice per turn is calculated similarly, taking the result of the formula above (before dividing it in half), for each 'decade' of activity you have on a given turn, rounded down, a number of dice equal to the number of Slann for a given Generation is rolled. These dice must match or exceed a DC and if they do then the Sann are considered 'awake' for that period of time and you gain 1 Slann dice of that Generation.

In practice, how this works out is like this:

30 (Base) + (70 - (40)) = 60 / 2 (Due to Inefficiency) = 30 Dice

60 / 10 = 6

3 3rd Generation Slann reside in Zlatlan. 3 Dice are rolled 6 times.

Out of 18 Rolls, 5 beat the DC.

+5 3rd Generation Slann Dice

Repeat for all other Generations.

Characters
Some actions, or certain critical successes, can lead to the introduction of special characters. These are individuals of import with specialized skills that have explicit and concrete impacts on your chances of success; any character without specifically noted mechanical benefits has none. Characters also have restrictions on what sort of actions they can contribute to, generally framed as benefits only going towards certain classes of actions.

Characters must be assigned to a specific action in order to gain their benefits, like so:

[-] Action: # Dice, Character

Unless otherwise stated, either somewhere in the characters' details or in the action itself, only one character may be assigned to any given task.

Note: in certain cases, some urgent actions are gate by certain other actions. When it is appropriate, successes in excess of the needed number will automatically apply towards those efforts. In such situations, if you would like to assign a specific character to said follow-on action first confirm that the action will occur and then in the same manner as above, indicate the assignment:

[-] Action: # Dice, Character 1
-[-] Follow Up: Character 2

Learning Actions
Like other actions Learning Actions require accumulated successes, but unlike most other actions they require Slann Dice and do not have limits. Each Slann Dice, depending on its Spawning (or Generation), has a certain floor below which that dice cannot roll - when the rolled number would be below that, instead the floor is substituted - and each Action itself has an affinity for a specific Spawning. When Affinity and Generation match the DC is reduced by 10; with further reductions coming for each Generation of the dice above the Affinity.

As voting continues I figure this is a good time to give you a little explanation of how Turns will work.

Turns will take place over a period of 100 years, with the number of actions you can perform controlled by how many of those years you are awake for with a floor of 30 minimum. On any given turn you will have between 30 and 93 years of activity.

But how does that actually work mechanically? Well before we get to that we have to talk a bit about how you actually perform actions during a turn. Basically it works similar to Paradox of Choice, where you spend die rather than 'actions.' For each die that beats the DC for a given action you gain a success which build until the required number of successes for that action has been met and, generally, unless an action states otherwise those successes persist permanently until the action completes one way or another.

How do I determine how many die you receive per turn? Under normal circumstances ever year you are awake and active you gain one die for the turn. Characters and even certain projects or events may confer additional die. But, you do not start under normal conditions.

At the start, you will receive only 1/2 of an action for every turn. Rounded up. So, 65 years of alertness would translate into 33 actions for a turn. This is due to the enormous hole you are still struggling to dig yourself out of; you have a lot of repairs to do and are suffering the worst of effects of the Great Catastrophe personally still. So are the rest of your Slann.

Which leads me into the only action category which does not operate under that same system; Learning. Instead of using regular actions to research and conduct other learning actions you use the POWER OF SLANN - by which I mean your Slann are what provide the dice for your research. So the amount of researching you can get done in a turn is determined separately. For every ten year increment in a turn each Slann has a chance of being alert and awake. And the dice they provide also have different floors of success (3rd floor at 30, 4th at 20, and 5th at 10).

Once you have addressed the major repairs and made some progress addressing your lethargy, turns will shift from 100 years turns to 10 year turns.

Edit: Something I forgot to mention. Limits. Actions (except for Learning) generally have Limits; this is a per turn limit of the dice which can be applied to a given problem, representing the need for specialized labor to focus on other tasks as well. They also sometimes represents the use of a limited resource. Thus limits can and will fluctuate between turns on some actions. This information will also be included in the first Turn.

CuttleFish2.0 · May 22, 2020

World map. You are in the Southlands. And here is map of the more southern parts of the Southlands, where you are. Though don't trust the maps too much except in terms of general features.

Tentative Map of Zlatlan (Not to scale, not final, many details are subject to change).
Map of Inner City of Zlatlan (closer to Scale, unlikely to change substantively).

CuttleFish2.0 · Aug 13, 2024

What is the Geomantic Web?

Power. Control. Harmony.

All apt definitions.

But to properly define the Web, my student, we must first define the aethyr.

Warmbloods; those you have taught— and those yet untaught, conceive of the aethyr, of the Winds as the natural state of magic. To them there are rocks and trees and rivers and there is fire… and there is Hysh and Ghyran and Aqshy and the one leads to the other always, a consequence of the form of the world. Qhaysh is the unity of the divided world, discrete existence rendered into balance and harmony by careful balance of forces against one another.

Even amongst the blind magic is of and in the world. An invisible, untamed force which must be wrestled into compliance with their own designs that balance countervailing pressures.

These understandings are not wrong, merely incomplete.

For whether it is the High Magic you have taught the itza'xa'khanx or the Runes which the dro'ka'khanx have devised, the aethyr is not a balance of forces and pressures. It is possibility, unconstrained and unlimited. Purest potential without regard to physical law or logical axiom. Alone the aethyr has no terrain, no bias, no nature; it is an endlessly churning expanse stretching in all directions and no directions, birthing and destroying all that is imaginable and unimaginable. Each of the Winds, Qhaysh, Runes, and all the magics of their gods are impositions on that state.

Those portions which we can safely visit are but extension of the world-material into the aethyr. Islands of barely comprehensible stability floating atop endless depths which hide leviathans beyond the banal horrors of the Enemy. All the Realms of the Enemy are but droplets within the ocean.

Byproducts of—

Pardon, such matters should not be spoken of, even here, until the Great Plan is nearer completion.

Now, where was I again? Oh yes— the Winds, Runes, even petty blessings of their gods. All magic. None of it is the aethyr, though it is of the aethyr.

How does this aid in explaining the Geomantic Web? Because, before the coming of our Masters and the opening of the Polar Gates, even then magic was known upon this world; wielded by Shartak and Fimir and Giants. Sufficient enough to ar amongst themselves for eons uncounted, but little more than petty lores of meager power.

What more could they be? Souls may draw some small dregs of magic into the world, but rarely more than enough for a petty spell save by careful safeguarding of such flows for weeks on end. And yet, I have heard it from Lord Kroak himself that the Giants at least wielded formidable magics in raising their fastnesses. How? Ley lines.

Down in the lowest depths of the world the pressure mounts to levels beyond anything possible upon its surface and temperatures approach those of the surface of stars. As the liquid portions of the world's core rotate, with vast currents flowing at uneven rates around the solid inner portions— the created magnetic fields twist and contort within that region. Such conditions lead to momentary rifts in the veil between the world-material and the aethyr, lasting only seconds at their longest and more likely nanoseconds. Magic flows in through such rifts and is subsequently pushed out and up towards the surface.

Where it gathers into vast lakes and rivers. Layers of intangible aethyric terrain which flow through the planet in complex patterns until they eventually escape through the surface of the world. Some is transformed by this passage into forms more familiar, the Winds most predominantly. But the vast majority simply continues falling up through the atmosphere like rain.

Only to meet a downpour from the opposite direction. Creating atmospheric layers of ley lines as differential aethyric pressure fronts interact with each other. Similar processes in the coronas of stars produce an identical form of magic which falls upon the world, carried by the light of those distant stars.

This magic, created in such alien conditions lacks the character of the Winds or Rune magic. It is muted. Sedate. Without the wild temperament that makes the Winds so dangerous. For obvious— though, in retrospect, flawed, reasons we call this earthbound magic. And it is these same flows, upon which we now build the Geomantic Web, that the first inhabitants of this world used to carve out their petty empires.

Our command of earthbound magic of course far out strips theirs. We are able pull it up from greater depths than they could ever hope, fueling spawning pools and temples and forges and gateways.

What is the Geomantic Web? A machine, built to harness the lifeblood of the world. It is our Power and it is our Control and it is our Harmony.

Notes: While the current vote wraps up over the next day or two, have something I've been working on... since basically the start of the quest, in some form or another, but which has finally reached a satisfactory form. An explanation of what earthbound magic is, what the Geomantic Web is, and what magic/the aethyr is, broadly speaking.

CuttleFish2.0 · Aug 26, 2024

Glossary of Saurian Vocabulary

Aziki - red berry native to Huitzacatlan; grows in hilly, moist conditions. Juice is very mildly caffeinated, while teas prepared from the dried and ground seeds are highly caffeinated.
Botl'i - heavy, rectangular shield, slightly curving inward at the sides, primarily used by skink cohorts in formation.
Cani - erupt, burst
Cho'mundi'khanx - lit. 'world ignorant people.' Humans, generally, but non-uplifted warmbloods generally.
Chuqitzan'xlamund'botl - Lustria ("Where progress was made to affirm the world's solidity"), Often shortened to Chuqitzan ("Land of First Steps").
Chuq'ryb - Planet closest to the sun.
Dro'ka'khanx - lit. 'people of digging.' Dwarfs.
Huichuqitz'tzacatlan - Southlands ("Small mirror of our first progress'), usually shortened to Huitzacatlan ("Small Mirrored Land").
Huiniyot - lit. 'small hunters.' Smallish semi-arboreal hunters domesticate to manage pest populations in Zlatlan.
Itz'xa'khanx - lit. 'people (in the) middle (of) cold rain.' Elves.
Ko'chuul - newly spawned.
Lo'chulq - brown spider modified by slann of Zlatlan to produce Caxuatn's Venom a neurotoxic venom which in high doses rapidly induces painful muscle spasms, followed by paralysis, and then stoppage of the heart. Also produces silk, females exhibit partially social habits, especially during egg-laying.
Loqkro'ata - Sixth planet from the sun.
Macuahuitl - lit. 'mace blade.' Most common sidearm for saurus, a heavy stone mace studded with either obsinite or bronze teeth down one or two sides.
Nuum - Large flightless bird native to Huitzacatlan, prefer jungle edges. Omnivores.
Pezo - low growing thorny plant native to Huitzacatlan.
Quchi - traditional shield of the Servants of the Old Ones; small, rounded with a crescent cut out at the top.
Qu'gor - similar to the quchi in basic form, save that the shield stretches out in a long rounded triangle, exclusively used by cavalry forces.
Tehqu - Tree native to islands off of Chuqitzan, whose bark has a waxy inner and outer surface. Used as backing for important reed-paper scrolls to preserve them for slightly longer.
Xaxla - large oval shield, pinched in the middle for use with spears, used primarily by saurus warriors.
Xiliqu - tree native to Huitzacatlan, grows in recently burned areas. Seeds propagated explosively.
Xlanahual - magic, as in spellcasting.
Xlanaxpati - warpstone.
Xlabotl - totem animal.

I have gone through the quest a fair few times, searching out terms I have used in the past, but if you notice any missing please inform me.

Phrases
Path of Quetli - phrase meaning to find the correct way (proper, true; as defined by the Great Plan) of being or doing things.

Tlanxla Willing - phrase meaning, 'if fate decrees it,' 'with good luck'

Calendar
Each year is divided into 5 solar months, of 80 days each, called Seasons or 16 lunar months, of 25 days each. While the each of the five solar months are named, the sixteen lunar ones are not.
The Seasons are;

Chotec's Season - Summer (Winter in Northern Hemisphere) - New Year
Caxuatn's Season - Autumn (Spring in Northern Hemisphere)
Yuxa's Season - Winter (Summer in Northern Hemisphere)
Potec's Season - Winter to Spring (Summer to Autumn in Northern Hemisphere)
Tlanxla's Season - Spring (Autumn in Northern Hemisphere)

EVA-Saiyajin · Mar 22, 2025

I've collected GM statements outside of updates on various subjects so that people can more easily look things up. It may in time include bits from updates.

It will probably remain in this broad quote format to make it easier to CTRL F stuff.

GM's official Statements on Matters Many

Great Catastrophe events:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Other 3rd generation too, as the various Temple-Cities fell during the Great Catastrophe most were able to evacuate in relatively good order. Southlands weren't as badly hit as Lustria was, but they were also all universally newer and less well developed so it was sort of a wash initially. Of course that also meant the place they were falling back to wasn't as capable of resisting despite not being quite as hard pressed. Then you lost some in the fighting.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
EVA-Saiyajin said:
@CuttleFish2.0
Is this what killed half the Slann from the Polar Gates collapsing?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Generally? Yes, in the sense that the world being submerged into the aethyr/warp/sea of souls/etc. led to hordes of Chaos daemons battering down the doors of every temple-city during which a great many slann died.

Directly, maybe a few. But only for those engaged with very specific magic at the time. Probably not more than two or three in the entire world. Though others would have been caught the... uh energetic results of certain sensitive magical phenomena at the time.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Before coming Zlatlan Wik'keer'mal rarely had the same attendants from decade to decade. Then once he was in Zlatlan he was working first to expand the Geomantic Web in the Southlands (eventually to move beyond, further east) then very suddenly managing the greatest disaster that had ever faced the Lizardmen and helping to organize the fighting retreat of 7 other Temple-Cities across a continent, fending off attacks on his own city, while simultaneously sending what few resources could be spared across the ocean to Lustria which was facing an even greater assault.

It's only really been feasible in the last six centuries and for many of those he was also afflicted by lethargy that saw him asleep more than he was awake, some centuries he didn't wake but for a handful of years.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Chupayotl falls in -3894. Great Catastrophe ends sometime in -4421/4420, but the Southland Lizardmen were pushed back to Zlatlan sometime before -5000 and then some very weird things happened. Technically speaking it may not quite qualify as having been 'two or more millennia' by a strict reading of a calendar, but time ran a little strange a points during everything for you guys. So, you know...
Or I was just being fanciful in my writing.

Pre-Catastrophe stuff:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Yes, but no. 'Deep magic' was used for larger, slower magic casting (which was a lot of what the slann did even early on), but in terms of combat magic the slann were using something closer to Elementalism. Though an Elementalist from a more modern period of time would hardly recognize what they were doing; both because it was a much more refined/advanced version of the cobbled together magic humans were/will be capable of, and because the magical conditions of the world were quite different. How direct interactions between the First Spawning and the Old Ones themselves were is something of mystery even to other slann.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Access to the Paths of the Old Ones was never 'fully extended' to the Southlands. You could still theoretically access them, it would just take significant amounts of magical oomph and you'd be more likely to end up not quite where you wanted at the end of the journey. Plus yes, some not insignificant amount of danger.

There are a lot of things that the Lizardmen did before the Great Catastrophe that were... good enough stop gap measures waiting more long term solutions to take over. Eventually. But when your hammer is as wonderfully versatile as magic with the seemingly endless reserve of the intact Geomantic Web to call on, well proverbs about nails don't seem so ominous.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
In the past? Anything you can think of practically. Before/during the Great Catastrophe you fought dragons, dragon-ogres, fimir, random one-off horrors, primitive tribes of humans, orcs, and other things since wiped from the face of the world by your own efforts. Some of those things flew, whether on wings or by magic and even on a few scattered occasions primitive technology. You've faced everything from mobs of wild animals to well organized armies who could field crude artillery.

Again most of which you actively sought out to kill.

Ability to get more Slann:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
For Learning actions sure. Though I'll be upfront and say you won't be getting anymore Slann for a while.

Can Slann Runecraft?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Given that it's an entirely new branch of study for you, you have no idea. Maybe.

Slight correction; though Rune magic was developed in the 'presence' of and with the cooperation of the slann, it is actually a development of the Ancestor Gods themselves. Based somewhat upon your glyphs, but still very much a product of dwarfen minds and souls and traditions.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
. As for whether or not Wik'keer'mal can do Dwarfen Runecraft? No. Because that specifically relies on drawing on the 'Glittering Realm' and Dwarf belief in specific ways. But... well, I there has been a personal action since the first turn to do some thinky-thinking on the various solutions, methods, and shortcuts both the elves and the dwarfs developed under your tutelage.

Why didn't Lizardmen have ships before?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Zlatlan does not have a harbor, it is near the coast but not on it and the Lizardmen have never needed anything so crude as a physical vehicle to traverse the world at will. Why with the Geomantic Web covering nearly a quarter of the world a Slann could at will move between any of the Temple-Cities with an army, and in the very very rare instances when it was necessary to say ford a river that same Slann could in a matter of minutes conjure a bridge out of magic by drawing on that same Web even at great physical remove.

Travelling about in primitive constructions of wood and fiber, pulled along by naught but wind or the muscle power of fighting troops? Inefficient. Purely the province of warmbloods. Lizardmen have better methods for all that nonsense without fussing about with currents, waterlines, and navigation charts. All that junk. Just... as soon as they put this pile of brick back together. Boy that sure is a big pile of bricks.

What happens to Zlatlan when Wik'keer'mal is asleep?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Zlatlan continues to function, though due to the nature of Lizardman society, the pace of activity takes a dive. Saurus, Kroxigors, and Skinks all enter into a sort of holding pattern. They'll undertake repairs on things like walls and address problems, but their solutions will generally tend towards patching over a problem rather than proactively seeking out a way to solve the issue - if the food issue becomes dire enough they'll just kill off a bunch of your bestiary rather than establish a more reliable food source by say setting up a port where fishing vessels regularly go out, after all if there were intended to be a structure there the Slann would have told them, since so long as a population remains its numbers can be brought up later.

As for turns where Wik'keer'mal is totally asleep, currently that won't happen. In the future... well fully freeing the Slann of their lethargy won't be happening any time soon so it could happen.

Elves and Lizardmen prior to Great Catastrophe/Wik'keermal's Elvish students:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Elven knowledge of Lizardmen is a strange, fractured affair. Personal contact with Slann in particular and Lizardmen in general before the fall of the polar gates fell into two categories; one, where certain elves of extreme magical talent and intellect were spirited away to be taught the secrets of the cosmos in secret, and two, where adventurous elves (like Aenarion) left the safety of Ulthuan to explore the incredibly dangerous world and happened to have a run in with (and perhaps even fight alongside) patrols and/or armies of the Lizardmen. There was never widespread contact. But stories got carried back and so there are some, scattered and incomplete fragments of knowledge about Lizardmen available to the elves. Whether any particular individual or group will be aware of them is chancy.

I'm comfortable saying this because this is information Wik'keer'mal himself would either know or have deduced with rapidity. Though the program of specific and accelerated training had ended long before the gates fell the Slann had not stopped observing the progress of the projects the Old Ones had entrusted to them. Then everything went promptly to shit.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
The very very very basic format of how both the elven and dwarf Slann training camps went is; Old Ones create/modify species into dwarfs and elves, then assign task of getting them up to snuff to Slann, Slann observe for a long period of time and select extremely talented examples of their race and teach them lots of neat tricks about the world (if you see these types of rocks dig down to find shiny, apply heat to this type of rock, these plants are good for making food with, these animals produce lots of meat, this is how magic works at a very basic level, etc). There were several successive repetitions until shortly before the Chaos showed up to ruin everything.

Though after the first few repetitions it was much less rote lessons and more 'we're going to explore this topic for a few decades, I'll keep you from killing yourself and you figure shit out.'

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Pretty much the only location you know of in the place is something called the Forge of the Old Ones, which was connected with some of the uplift efforts Wik'keer'mal and others undertook. But it was long ago abandoned as those efforts tapered off.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Wik'keer'mal doesn't really know how Thyriol felt about him, it wasn't something he concerned himself with. As for his attitude towards Caledor, there was never any altercations or incidents between the two of them that he was aware of. Mehane was long done with her teaching by the time Thyriol rolled in and Wik'keer'mal didn't get the chance to teach her daughter so he doesn't really have any way to guess beyond general loyalty because she was his nominal ruler.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
The isolated Old One facilities in Albion were where the teaching was done, and after he went to take charge of Zlatlan. There was never any reason for Wik'keer'mal to go to the place, especially when the memories of the 5th Spawning were readily available, well as far as such things go at least. He's seen much of its environs through scrying and other such methods, it was part of the long term observations the slann were conducting.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Early on in the process of uplifting the Dwarfs and Elves there was a long time when neither species live much longer. Before they developed their major modes of living/got given an island paradise.

Just because you can theoretically live for centuries doesn't stop a troll from chewing your head off because you wandered into its path looking food to feed your tribe for the next few weeks. And without those extra centuries elves are just slight taller and faster humans and dwarfsa re slightly shorter and tougher humans (edit: anatomically speaking, the architecture of their souls and their psychologies are still vastly different). Developing a unique magical tradition based on the fundamental social, psychological, and aethyric characteristics of a species that will take centuries to pay off is... kinda what Wik'keer'mal specializes in.

What falls under "construct"?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Constructs in this case refers to semi-autonomous or autonomous magical entities; things like the dwarfs Rune Golems, wizard familiars, certain sorts of spirits, Nehekharan Uhsabti and other statuary, Chaos Dwarf Hellcannons, and even many undead. While there is overlap with the Geomantic Web, hence why this action gives you a chance to gain traits regarding it, it is fairly narrow.

Old Ones:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
No, the general domains of the Old Ones are known to you (any that aren't specified by canon are for the moment intentionally left blank for filling in later, but I've been thinking hard since I knew what you were getting form the Cleansing of Nahuantl).

Tepok is the Feathered Serpent, the Inscrutable. Invoked to protect against harmful magic. Yuxa, by comparison, is associated with the actual casting of and manipulation of magic. Yuxa is also associated with Coatl's alongside Tepok.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Though, as to Old Ones that would be... associated with the metaphysical 'cost' of taking a life; I would look to Caxuatn who is also called the Eater of Souls, or Itzl whose purview also covers 'Justice.'

CuttleFish2.0 said:
I adore what you've done for the "character" of the individual Old Ones, where do you get the idea Potec had a particular forge?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Because the notion of Potec having 'a forge' and 'a hammer' which can be ritualistically referred to is metaphysically useful. Whether or not such objects or locations actually ever existed in reality, the idea of them is magically powerful.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
So far as slann like Wik'keer'mal are concerned such things have always been part of the Old Ones. They just happen to know that whether or not Potec ever had an actual 'Forge' matters a lot less than the fact that the idea of Potec's Forge exists and is a useful lever to pull on when doing magic. If pressed the slann would probably agree that the idea of 'creating' new... mytho-narratives for the Old Ones is possible; they would not necessarily be eager to try.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
EVA-Saiyajin said:
Actually speaking of shadows @CuttleFish2.0 who has greater prominence/importance in Xlanhuapec, Tzunki or Huanchi?
Tzunki. Xlanhuapec's mists are... formidable in a way that do not align with Huanchi, there is a more elemental tack to the Mists which wreath the temple-city than one would associated with the Jaguar.

Coatls

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Alas, there are no known Coatl anywhere but Lustria.

Edit: Coatl have... semi-consistent territories in Lustria and can be actively communicated with, but their 'part' in the Plan (like most of the Plan) is unknown in any but the most general sense (they have one, and it has to do with magic and Geomancy).

Dwarves prior to Great Catastrophe/Wik's Dwarven students:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
More Valaya than Grungni or Thungni. As for whether or not Wik'keer'mal can do Dwarfen Runecraft? No. Because that specifically relies on drawing on the 'Glittering Realm' and Dwarf belief in specific ways. But... well, I there has been a personal action since the first turn to do some thinky-thinking on the various solutions, methods, and shortcuts both the elves and the dwarfs developed under your tutelage.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Not from Thyriol.

If you're asking me...

Grungni
Valaya
Gazul
Thungni

With a heavier focus towards Valaya.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
The very very very basic format of how both the elven and dwarf Slann training camps went is; Old Ones create/modify species into dwarfs and elves, then assign task of getting them up to snuff to Slann, Slann observe for a long period of time and select extremely talented examples of their race and teach them lots of neat tricks about the world (if you see these types of rocks dig down to find shiny, apply heat to this type of rock, these plants are good for making food with, these animals produce lots of meat, this is how magic works at a very basic level, etc). There were several successive repetitions until shortly before the Chaos showed up to ruin everything.

Though after the first few repetitions it was much less rote lessons and more 'we're going to explore this topic for a few decades, I'll keep you from killing yourself and you figure shit out.'

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Pretty much the only location you know of in the place is something called the Forge of the Old Ones, which was connected with some of the uplift efforts Wik'keer'mal and others undertook. But it was long ago abandoned as those efforts tapered off.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Early on in the process of uplifting the Dwarfs and Elves there was a long time when neither species live much longer. Before they developed their major modes of living/got given an island paradise.

Just because you can theoretically live for centuries doesn't stop a troll from chewing your head off because you wandered into its path looking food to feed your tribe for the next few weeks. And without those extra centuries elves are just slight taller and faster humans and dwarfsa re slightly shorter and tougher humans (edit: anatomically speaking, the architecture of their souls and their psychologies are still vastly different). Developing a unique magical tradition based on the fundamental social, psychological, and aethyric characteristics of a species that will take centuries to pay off is... kinda what Wik'keer'mal specializes in.

Other Magics:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Divine magic, no, that's not something you have experience with. If/when it develops it will be a result of the belief system of the Vohlu and how they view the divine.

Animism
By definition, from Merriam-Webster; "attribution of conscious life to objects in and phenomena of nature or to inanimate objects." In essence a system of beliefs where animals, natural phenomena, objects, locations, and plants, all have souls... or at least, can, have souls.

This is sort of what the Vohlu already believe at the moment, though their belief structure isn't quite so organized or developed as the animist belief systems of earth; they are relatively young as a people. Broadly they believe that there are 'spirits' that can inhabit a wide range of things and that some of these 'spirits' are representative of or materially present within certain real things, i.e., that Njem is the sun and Njat is the moon and Lashu is the other moon. Individual animals also have spirits. Spirits can also be in certain places. They are also sometimes also the dead of the tribe/band.

As a system of magic, animism focuses on binding/contracting/making pacts with the various spirits that 'naturally' exist. Or creating them when they don't.

Such 'agreements,' when performed with normal or only marginally magical animals (giant spiders, griffons, basilisks, etc.) are similar to familiars in nature. They could be permanent or temporary. Involve a certain amount of empowerment of both sides of the magical link.

With more powerful entities (dragons, ancient tree spirits, ancestor spirits, etc.) are generally only temporary and involve an explicit exchange; where the human would promise some sort of favor, give up something of magical value, or make some other form of sacrifice and the 'spirit' would lend some of their magical power to the human in the form of say a spell or a blessing or some sort of magical trinket or a promise of aid.

Groups of humans could make more permanent agreements those same spirits (or greater) for protection of a specific place or for specific blessings over a group/location.

Lesser spirits, below even animal, could be bound into objects to enchant those objects with magical effects or consumed for magical growth (quickly for a temporary boost, slowly for steadier, permanent growth). Often these sorts of spirits would in fact be created by the human in question, drawing magical energy out of the aethyr and shaping it for their needs.

For all of this, exact effects would depend on the kinds of spirits involved, hence the low versatility. But the immediate familiarity would allow the Vohlu to quickly grasp and start attaining reasonable levels of mastery over the practice even if the higher ends of potential are constrained by available 'spirits.'

Geomancy
Those technologies with the most direct, practical, application towards Geomancy would be;
Stoneworking
Woodworking
Mathematics
Astronomy
Forestry

'Best' is a vaguer concept.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Geomancy doesn't do many 'spells' in the sense of waving your hands and having a fireball appear, but it does a lot of magical effects based on infrastructure, geoforming, and architecture.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
It would actually have very low versatility, for two different, but interconnecting, reasons; first because 'Petty Magic' is the catchall term for spells that are usable by any Wind aligned wizard no matter what Wind they make use of, they sort of exist outside of the Eight Winds of magic, but they interact differently with other traditions of magic, and in order to function they have very sharp upper limits on their capability. Petty magic can heal minor wounds, scratches and small bites from say a fox or a small rodent, but will simply not work on larger wounds or wounds that have been left to start healing on their own for too long (hours). Secondly, Hedge Magic is a category very tightly tied to the Empire's Colleges of Magic and seeks to catch everyone who isn't using a graduate of those colleges and can't force the Colleges to sit up and take notice by dint of obvious power. Hedge Magic a random assortment of whatever a person born with magical talent could figure out on their own without getting lynch and/or exploding into gribblies.

On the first that would be Animism, empowering and contracting with extant spirits (or creating new ones when you can't find one that will do what you want).

Alchemy meanwhile straddles a line between actual chemistry and magic and would have required you take both Herbalism and Poisons to be an option.

Theoretically? Yes. Practically, no; the amount of ghyran needed would be enormous and require constant upkeep from more slann than currently live on the continent, you would also need a ready amount of powerful tree spirits of the kind that arise from trees/groves that have existed undisturbed, saturated by magic, for centuries.

Unfortunately, no. While the basic notion is... possible, its more the sort of thing a slann can get up to rather than humans just starting out with magic. Cutting out the ability to do magic is, relatively simple so far as messing about with the soul. Not easy. But pretty simple, it's a bit like cauterizing a wound.

Taking a part of a soul, lopping it off grafting it onto another soul is much more complicated. And even when successful can have unexpected consequences.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Yes, see the Dragon-Sphinxes examined earlier this turn. Elementalism makes frequent use of animated constructs, though they are not very long lasting in most cases. Animism, Wind Magic, and Druidism can do it readily enough.

It would not be a tradition all on its own though.

There are a number of ways to accomplishing what you describe with the 'skull helm idea' that would not rely on soul surgery, they would have their own drawbacks and fall under different magical traditions. Wind Magic can do something like that as could Geomancy. Psionics could definitely do it. Animism too. If all you want is to pass on skills/knowledge through magical means basically every tradition has some sort of option somewhere; whether those methods are safe, effective, useful, or what have you is a different question.

Enchanting is not its own magical tradition, most of the traditions available allow for it in some manner. Unless you're a dawi, descended from Thugni; then you're a runesmith.

So if you come up with a way of enchanting sufficiently interesting/unique/all-encompassing it might qualify as its own magical tradition.

Lizardmen morale/cowardice

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Yes, in a certain sense. Saurus, skinks, and kroxigor are all capable of feeling intense fear and have natural instincts to preserve their own lives. But. And this is a large but, it tends not to happen in battle because larger numbers of their fellows has a dampening affect on those instincts; so even a front line of skinks will sustain much heavier casualties than the same number of humans or elves or even dwarfs would.

In fact, the battle that just happened was one of the few situations where 'routing' would actually be likely. Because the numbers of troops on your side were so low and because your infantry was entirely composed of skinks,if you'd started taking heavy casualties your troops probably would have broken and routed.

As for whether there's a stigma. Well that's a bit of a complicated question; under most circumstances no, because the conditions that are going to lead to routing generally mean the forces in question have already been thoroughly defeated and thus most other Lizardmen are going to see it more like force preservation than cowardice. But, if you had a skink breaking 'randomly?' Then, sort of. In that case the assumption would be that they were 'defective' somehow or had be cursed by Chaos in some way, which could easily mean execution.

Mirror-Shield of Quetzl:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
It can cover a length of about 30 Saurus at a depth of two or three ranks. Rather than be limited by an absolute number of things it can reflect at once, it's primary drawback is that the more stuff (and more powerful stuff) it deflect the longer it takes to recharge for another go. So if you ti deflects a few hurled stones it might be ready to go again in like fifteen seconds, but if it reflects a hundred arrows it might take a couple minutes before it can be used again.

Also it has to be activated, it doesn't operate automatically, which means that if its wielder is caught unawares they'll still get hit.

Zlatlan population:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Population numbers... you started out with a little under 50,000 Lizardmen in total in Zlatlan. Heavily skewed towards Skinks (like hilarious skewed). Replacement rates vary, because when fatalities are low all the (operational) Spawning Pools in the entire city only throw out maybe a few dozen newly spawned Lizardmen in a decade, but when they spike you can see a single pool loosing a thousand in a single year. After Nahuantl for instance there was a spawning of about ~400 Saurus, ~1000 Skinks, and ~200 Kroxigors over a two year period - seemingly from a combination of both the bodies you lost and the surge of Geomantic Power you received.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
You started with around 50k and now have somewhere a little over 60k. Peg it at ~20-30% growth in the nearly 4 centuries you've been controlling Zlatlan.

Spawning Pools:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Population numbers... you started out with a little under 50,000 Lizardmen in total in Zlatlan. Heavily skewed towards Skinks (like hilarious skewed). Replacement rates vary, because when fatalities are low all the (operational) Spawning Pools in the entire city only throw out maybe a few dozen newly spawned Lizardmen in a decade, but when they spike you can see a single pool loosing a thousand in a single year. After Nahuantl for instance there was a spawning of about ~400 Saurus, ~1000 Skinks, and ~200 Kroxigors over a two year period - seemingly from a combination of both the bodies you lost and the surge of Geomantic Power you received.

How the Pools know when you've taken those kinds of casualties isn't clear, even to the Slann and will be an avenue of investigation once you get to Infrastructure Level 1. Not a quick one either. Though nowhere near as long as the Sequence.

Still repairing Pools does have immediate mechanical effects because the spawning seem to prioritize things; you have a pretty severe lack of a lot of the mid-to-low level specialists that help keep a temple-city in good repair. Masons, architects, chiefs, etc. For the simple reason that they were needed on the walls commanding, repairing, and firing weapons at the endless tide of daemons bearing down on the city and so took heavy casualties, this is in part why some things are starkly limited (like wall repairs) whereas other things aren't (like pool work). So repairing Pools will gradually increase your dice pool (sort of), but more importantly it'll raise limits on some things and decrease the overall number of successes needed on others. But you have to remember that for all their advanced magical knowledge the Lizardmen and technical knowledge on many things, they still operate largely at subsistence levels; there's little automation going on in temple-cities, things are produced by hand in artisan fashion you just do things much more efficiently than anyone else because individual Lizardmen have relatively little ego (sort of).

Dwarfs would take a look at the rate one of your weaponsmiths turns out blades and such and salivate. Then they would take a second look at grumble loudly about all sorts of practices unbecoming of a master and go back to feeling smug. But for a second they would be jealous. So, yeah, you're not going to be repopulating cities quickly, but it is an achievable feat.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
As Simon said, you just don't know.

One thing you do know is that Spawning Pools seem to shut down fairly quickly in most cases when temple-cities get heavily damaged (which, for clarity, means significant sections of the city infrastructure outright destroyed or rendered inaccessible); they seem to required a lot of local 'Geomantic Power.'

CuttleFish2.0 said:
As promised, images of the intended layout and of the current progress;

Plan:
Current Progress:

Most of the new spawning pools will less than half the size of even your Temple spawning pools, fractions the size of even your smallest above ground pools. The four largest will only be about the size of the Temple spawning pools. By volume of spawning pool space you'll be adding about a third of your existing pools.

Last damaged spawning pool will be fixed this turn, that was what was behind the countdown for when you had to start Experimental Pool Work.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
This is not true.

From the first update of Experimental Pool Work last turn:

Second Generation slann know how to add pools to a temple-city safely and have done so. Third, Fourth, and Fifth Gen slann all know how to make completely new spawning pools in completely new temple-cities, which is much more straightforward magically that adding them to an existing temple-city.

Orc Reproduction:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
As it's come up I'll head this off at the pass, other threads have gotten into shit for these sorts of subjects and I gave a fair bit of thought to the subject before things got rolling, orcs do not reproduce by spores in the canon of this quest. How they do is not entirely clear to you, but it evidently involves slightly more than the simple presence of orcs.

To step completely out of the limits of in character knowledge and be explicit about things, if I figure out a way of making orcs into something more like people rather than narrative driven designated acceptable murder targets slash narratively convenient exterior threats I'll be taking it. I've done so with other distasteful elements of canon, though those haven't shown up yet, just so I can write in this universe with a modicum of my own sanity intact and not be worrying about bumping up against forum rules on the regular.

Slann vs Elf Natural Magical Ability:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Yes, but for different reasons. Elves were designed by the Old Ones to be exceptional conduits for the winds in relatively large numbers, their natural instincts let them gather and channel in such ways that the magic actually 'sticks' to them which leads to a sort of compounding property where the more they have to do with certain kinds of magic the more easily and broadly they are able to flex that same magical power. On the other hand, Slann understand magic and have... let's call them multi-threaded, minds that allow them to on the fly perform the sort of immensely complicate calculations involved in the highest tiers of magical acts. They can harness raw amounts of power that would, quite literally, burst an elf into glittering clouds of pure magic but none of that energy 'sticks' to them in the same way it does for an elf. Even Wik'keer'mal isn't attuned to Ghyran the same way an elf mage focused on the wind would be. He can still regularly out perform them in complexity in scope, and simple experience makes up most things in the ease department but casting for all slann is an act of imposing their will on the chaotic elements of ambient magic.

Keeping Slann Safe:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
No, Slann going out in the midst of an army for a particular purpose is one thing, but sending them out to sit in an unsecured location for years on end is not something any of your Lizardmen would accept.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
He explicitly order them to wait else where, obedience to the slann runs deep. Even so ff it had been anywhere but inside Zlatlan they would not have listened.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Macuiltotec is still a slann. He's not going to be charging into the thick of a melee just because he has a spear.

Tzula-Pec would physically wrestle him into submission before allowing that to happen.

High Magic/Qhyash vs single-wind magic:

Qhyash can do basically anything the magic of a single wind can do... it just often takes more roundabout methods to do them. Now, sometimes that's better because maybe it avoids unwanted side effects - like say creating dhar if you need multiple different effects that are associated with different winds. But there are specific cases where monofocusing on a single wind can get you much more... intricate effects in a specific subject. Let's take Ghyran for example, no particular reason at all, at its highest levels can be used to greatly alter or literally craft new, unique, lifeforms out of whole cloth.

You could do the same with Qhaysh but it would be more complicated and likely take significantly longer and you would necessarily sacrifice certain potential paths by needing to introduce elements of other winds; essentially creating a more balanced animal but one less focused on the aspects that make it stand out. Granted using High Magic would also probably open up other (less dramatic) possibilities. There are trade offs.

Relic Priests:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Mmm, on the one had yes. Not something really within the capabilities of the slann.

Sort of.

Wik'keer'mal could construct something resembling a slann physically, and even matching a small measure of its mystical power. But, the effort would take several decades (after a likely even longer process of discovering how exactly to do it) and would only be temporary (a decade or two at most at minimum levels of strain, days or hours or even just moments if the spirit of the slann in question exerts themselves).

So, yes there is a potential project in that, but as a warning you would only be able to get up to a 2nd or 3rd Generation slann into it and it would only be able to provide a single slann dice for a turn or two or possibly act as a very powerful tactical weapon. And each time you would need to spend decades of your personal dice on the effort just to create one.

How far can a Slann use Arcane Vassal?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Basically out to your harbor (which is about two hours walk for a skink along a wide, well leveled, dirt road). Beyond that it's possible to receive sort of... impressions of things through a priest, but things get much muddier very quickly and once the horizon starts to come into play you get nothing.

Zlatlan's Magical Defenses:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
A lot.

Mess up scrying. Reduce impact from direct magical attacks. Sap strength from daemons if they do get inside your walls. Amplify friendly spells. Basically make Zlatlan a very friendly place for the Lizardmen and a distinctly unfriendly place for everything directly infused by the powers of chaos with a measure of their strength.

Post Great Catastrophe/Vortex, pre-quest/Chupayotl sinking stuff:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Repairing its walls, most of the pools it started with, cleansing the immediate surroundings of serious taint. Dealing with raids by greenskins, beastmen, the occasional daemon band. All of it with much less leeway than you had at the beginning. The Southlands temple-cities were largely bypassed by the bulk of the attentions of Chaos, but the difference between 'largely' and 'completely' is incredibly vast, even at maybe a tenth of the cumulative weight of daemonic presence as Lustria faced you just barely escaped without having actual temples defiled or losing integrity in your sequence of sacred plaques.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
As a very simplified answer; a lot of figuring how to feed all the people now living in Zlatlan and their warbeasts using only the land inside the temple-city, integrating the remnants of 8 temple-cities into Zlatlan, redoing emergency repairs on breached walls, restarting some semblance of more regular industry, cleansing and purifying every inch of the city, organizing and sending out the garrisons to the other temple-cities, figuring out how to feed everyone efficiently, rebuilding enough housing for the population, figuring out how to keep the warbeasts from killing each other and their handlers, and more. All while the slann were more often asleep than they were awake and even when awake could usually be found deep in meditative consultation with the slann in Lustria figuring out how to buttress the Vortex with the Geomantic Web.

Healing Slann/Macuiltotec:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
It did indeed. As before, you could learn to reconstruct fascimiles of slann bodies which means you could by default learn to make new limbs. You could probably even do it just by pumping Macuiltotec up with an inordinate amount of Ghyran and forcing his body to regrow the limb (though with a significantly higher cost associated than similar efforts on non-slann Lizardmen and individual warmbloods). All that said it hasn't been really much of an impediment for the other slann so far.
He also... kinda likes how it makes him look. Or might have other notions on how to address the matter once you hit the next infrastructure level.

Does Zlatlan have a watch-and-relay system?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Infrastructure like that existed in the past and like the road network you will have future options to reestablish it. You just need to set up the support structure to make it something that isn't horribly time consuming.

Geomantic Web stuff:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Some of that will become clearer when the turn is up (eventually, there's a lot of stuff going on in the background that I was figuring out last night) but not all temples will have clear and immediately noticeable effects; mostly their primary job is to form the core of the actual Geomantic Web.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Access to the Paths of the Old Ones was never 'fully extended' to the Southlands. You could still theoretically access them, it would just take significant amounts of magical oomph and you'd be more likely to end up not quite where you wanted at the end of the journey. Plus yes, some not insignificant amount of danger.

There are a lot of things that the Lizardmen did before the Great Catastrophe that were... good enough stop gap measures waiting more long term solutions to take over. Eventually. But when your hammer is as wonderfully versatile as magic with the seemingly endless reserve of the intact Geomantic Web to call on, well proverbs about nails don't seem so ominous.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Yes. You can't complete the work in the Geomantic Web before the actual physical architecture is done because then there's nothing for it to latch onto, but that doesn't mean you can't put any work in it - theoretically if you got all 4 successes on one turn and the architecture still weren't done it would waste the last success and you'd be stuck with 3/4 successes.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Gotcha. Did clearing them contribute to our ability to hit Infrastructure Level 1 in this past turn? And, as we take more actions to sort out the city's geomantic issues and get things unclogged and working better, will we get more information on the role the temples play in mechanical terms?

CuttleFish2.0 said:

You did need a certain minimum of temples up and active to hit it, but you reached it... ~~turn 2 I think?~~ on turn 3. Yes.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Not every temple necessarily has an Infrastructure Artifact, and not all that have them have activated.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Temple-cities are not all that can contribute or be plugged into the Geomantic Web. For example the Guardian Statues of Ancient Gods connect to it and use that power to 'protect' the bay Zlatlan and Nahuantl sit astride. But doing so requires that the structures in question are properly aligned and situated, and have the correct internal structure and glyphs inscribed on them; all things which were largely set aside in the rush to get the harbor up and running, because it wasn't like you could link it up anyway, but now you can. Unfortunately because the work wasn't done at the start it requires some finessing to make sure everything fits correctly and you don't cause snarls in the Web (which could get nasty).

Benefits of doing it are that the harbor has a passive source of magical power to call on for arcane defenses, that it can actually feed energy into the Web with a lot of future development and large scale magical efforts within it's boundaries are much easier (thus easing the construction of your larger ships... which really really really rely on magic to do basically everything).

CuttleFish2.0 said:
EVA-Saiyajin said:
Actually, considering the recent shutdown of the Crossroads of Huanchi, I'm wondering if it would be possible to deactivate Grand Temples with apparatuses that aren't being used in a turn, so as to empower other things, or if that would disrupt the overall functioning of the city-glyph.

Possible, but not something to do on short notice and carries certain risks to the infrastructure in question along with the larger Geomantic Web. If you really need more metaphysical oomph it might be something to consider, but otherwise the pay off would simply not be worth the effort in most cases.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
You cannot 'downgrade' something like the Meditation Sanctum like that no, and more generally the energy of the Geomantic Web is not like a generator supplying a certain current to power on devices. At least not for your more useful/interesting artifacts like the Meditation Sanctum, a lot of lesser utilities do at least seem to operate like that. But for things like the Meditation Sanctum or the Infrastructure Artifacts like the Clinometer of Xhoka its less about how much 'power' they get than metaphysical space that the temple-glyph they are attached to. This is why expanding the Embassy can increase the frequency, because the metaphysical impact of the attached space acts to ease the path of the Meditation Sanctum.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Geomancy covers a broad swathe of magical techniques; from the sort of magical rituals portrayed in Respect Your Elders that can reshape continents and wipe away cities, to things like what you're seeing here. I'm not 100% clear on what you mean by 'like that,' but in general Geomancy does focus on the steady build up of a spell to a given peak that results in a sudden change. As it utilizes earthbound magic basically exclusively (at least directly) it is not as well suited to more immediate effects as the Winds are.

I keep meaning to put together a sort of primer on the Geomantic Web, but it keeps slipping my mind these last few months and then I get busy. You call it earthbound magic (your use of that term would be somewhat confusing to both elven mages and later human magic users) because it is magical energy that has been quite literally 'bound up in the earth,' and thus been largely stripped many of its Wind specific properties.

Much of what the Web does is take the Winds and transform them into earthbound magic... though back before the breaking of the Polar Gates what it mostly did was transform it back into the Winds for battlefield use. There strict limits to the volume of magic it can handle, hence the need for the Vortex when the Winds started pouring in. Using the earthbound magic of the Web doesn't require an aloof state of cold rationality, in fact one of earthbound magics prime benefits is its lack of reaction to heightened emotional states, that said because of its nature it also requires a lot more patience and intentionality to wield than the Winds. After all it lacks the natural resonance with mental states that makes the Winds so attractive (literally!) in the first place.

I originally planned to include some references to how the slann of Age of Sigmar go about creating their troops, but it never quite fit into anywhere in the action. So basically yes, in principle there should be ways to create veteran lizardmen at will.

While a Ghyran based spell could create something superficially resembling the body of a lizardman... it would not be able to form the soul properly and. Being so suffused in one of the Winds would necessarily make it vulnerable to corruption.

As you see throughout the rest of the updates there is a psychic equivalent of "talking in the ether" as you put it, but it is generally not used for communicating about theory because the more 'conceptual' methods allow for much quicker dissemination of techniques and knowledge. Though not without their own drawbacks.

Imagine a plane, then draw a line extending up or down from the surface of that plane; the line is orthogonal to the plane because it lies outside of the plane, no part of the vector the line describes can be expressed in terms of the plane (well, sort of). Three-dimensionally the easiest example fo orthogonality is time. You can't describe movement in time by describing any vector in a volume of space.

In this case; imagine you have two sheets paper, one laying flat on a table while you hold over it. Now if there were a piece of string glued at either end to one of the pieces paper, it would be 'orthogonal' to both pages. The Geomantic Web is the string. The pages are the material world and the aethyr.

Hope that helps. I wouldn't recommend trying to think about orthogonality in relation to more than two dimensions much, most people (myself included) struggle with it. As far as I know the only visualization is stuff like hypercubes/tesseracts.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
The Froggy Ninja said:
Does that imply that building floating structures would allow us to expand the Web to draw on atmospheric stellar ley lines or are we already tapping those the same way we're tapping deep mantle lines?

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Simon_Jester said:
I think we'd have to build the structures in space above the planet, or at least way up in the atmosphere, like "edge of space, you must be a rocketplane to get this high" high up.

Which seems to be what the Old Ones apparently did with the polar gateways before those got turned into Chaos rifts in the Great Catastrophe.

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CuttleFish2.0 said:

There were good reasons, beyond simple defensibility, that the Skytitans built their castle on the highest peaks they could find.

Such micro-rifts require three conditions, so far as the slann understand (despite the confidence with which they speak, this is still mostly theoretical. Direct observation has thus far proved impossible, even with astral projection); extreme pressure, i.e., >200 GPa, extreme temperature, at least above 4400 C (~8000 F), along with strong and variable magnetic fields.

While warpstone was not unknown before the Great Catastrophe it was nowhere nearly as widespread, it was much less common. Uranium is, at the very least, an extant element that exists distinct from warpstone; beyond that the slann have not had the opportunity (or inclination) to study warpstone closely enough or in large enough quantities to fit it neatly in this theory with high confidence. It does mostly seem to be condensed and materialized dhar, rather than a magic infused or magic producing material.

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CuttleFish2.0 said:
Because the Geomantic Web is active (no matter how weakly), and also just because of how the continents are laid out in the southern hemisphere, the Winds of Magic can't concentrate as heavily as they can elsewhere in the world. Means markedly less magic induced mutations exist given your latitude and, theoretically, a more difficult time for daemons to manifest. But the conditions daemons need to manifest are already far enough outside the norm that its not practically of benefit; it would only show in the long term strategic considerations.

In other words you're no less vulnerable to a daemon invasion than anywhere else at your relative latitude in any immediate sense, but you're in a better position in case said daemonic invasion attempted to siege you out.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
There is a limit; basically anything that has an effect over an area larger than roughly a city-block will have either its effect or duration severely curtailed.

Your Geomantic Web just can't really support doing much more, but within that bound you have a relatively large amount of slack for two reasons; one, Zlatlan is being fed by all the remnants of the Geomantic Web in the Southlands and is the only temple-city drawing anything but the bare minimum and two, 'power' for the Geomantic Web is less a finite resource and more an expression of metaphysical weight. Below certain thresholds (and outside of specific sorts of effects) the draw from any individual piece of infrastructure has only a minor effect on the overall capability of the Geomantic Web to support more pieces of infrastructure. So if the effect you are trying for is... 'mundane' enough you can afford to add a lot of things, but once you start getting either large or more meaningful impacts you'll need to consider whether the Web can support it and for how long.

But, honestly... even if you start proposing truly ridiculous things I won't mind. At worst they might end up scaled down or they might inspire some other more viable idea.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
EVA-Saiyajin said:
Actually, considering the recent shutdown of the Crossroads of Huanchi, I'm wondering if it would be possible to deactivate Grand Temples with apparatuses that aren't being used in a turn, so as to empower other things, or if that would disrupt the overall functioning of the city-glyph.

Possible, but not something to do on short notice and carries certain risks to the infrastructure in question along with the larger Geomantic Web. If you really need more metaphysical oomph it might be something to consider, but otherwise the pay off would simply not be worth the effort in most cases.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Drawing a distinction between Ghyran the 'shade' of magic that often embodies growth and water and the Wind of Ghyran is possible; the Winds as they exists on Mallus at scale are epiphenomena, consequences of the interaction between the aethyr at the specific locations of the poles. And often a useful tack to take for certain forms of rituals/spells.

It's not so much a matter of nature versus form. Rather... 'mood' might be the closest analogy. Ghyran as it appears in the Web isn't different in kind or degree from the 'Wind of Ghyran,' but there is some difference in the way it... 'expresses' itself. Hopefully we should get to explore questions like this in future updates more in depth.

Prophecies:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
For slann soonish means decades to a century.

Edit: As for the complaints about not being explicit about the meaning of the prophecy... well even for the slann peering into uncertain futures is a tricky business. Half the fun (for me) in the prophecy options come from getting to give you guys vague clues about future potential events without outright telling you and seeing what you can figure out.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
To an extent this is as intended, because number one having you guys hit the prophecy button over and over again and get explicit or near explicit answers is asking me to do a lot of groundwork for uncertain rewards given how early everything is within the universe in question; a lot of the details of things i have to essentially make up out of whole cloth because, Warhammer as a setting isn't much concerned with detailed histories for pretty understandable reasons. If i give you prophecies about canon things there's a large risk of them being... completely butterflied away just by the natural course of the game even without you guys taking any special steps to address them.

So each time you guys hit the prophecy button I have to come up with medium to long term events and arcs that you can reasonably interact with and have an effect while not overburdening myself with work. That means forcing you guys to slow down on that sort of thing, which means making you work a little more for the information. Hence obfuscation. And honestly? I hasn't worked because someone has already pretty much cracked it.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
No? It would have depended on the exact degrees of success rolled. Bare successes probably would have just gotten you the prophecy as is, but more significant successes might've gotten you a different prophecy, or two half-complete prophecies, or something (mmm probably not two half-complete prophecies).

Improving the Fivefold Hive:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Make a bee with an incredibly lethal sting? It would even die in the attack, hooking into Ghyran's cycle of life theme.

CuttleFish2.0 said:

That would be a path to doing it by evolving Wik'keer'mal's Focus.

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CuttleFish2.0 said:
Second, what do you think of an upgrade which involves aiding his abilities to project himself/his power over longer distances, or at least to better channel his power through distant subordinates. The idea in my head was that it would better allow him to stay in contact with others or exert his influence without having to leave Zlatlan himself, vaguely inspired by that scene where the bees were moving between hives without crossing the intervening space. Maybe it could rely on those subordinates carrying a metaphysical piece of said hive with them. Would this work, or is it too weak/strong

CuttleFish2.0 said:

As for your idea otherwise... I'm not entirely certain I understand what you're asking.

No the bonuses of the Fivefold Hive do not apply to enhancing itself. Mostly because altering it is about manipulating the Winds of Magic rather than seeking to understand or work on a living thing.

Something like you describe is perfectly suited to be the next stage of Wik'keer'mal's focus's development. It wouldn't be the only aspect of the enhancement, but as the major purpose of it is very much suitable.

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Super long-range Slann support:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
@CuttleFish2.0 , can Lord Wik lend a personal support die to such an operation in the form of periodically dropping remote magical bombardment on the orcs from Zlatlan, working through the priests accompanying the army? Or would that involve Lord Wik going out onto the field in person?

CuttleFish2.0 said:

He could certainly do it in person. To do it from Zlatlan would required at least 4 other slann and one of his personal attendants be accompanying the army.

On his own it would be about the equivalent of another howdah with a greatbow.

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CuttleFish2.0 said:

Without the support of the larger Geomantic Web he has to spend a lot more effort on precision aiming, taking into account the curvature of the planet, the local Winds in both locations, and making sure that at no point in that process does anything induce a miscast which doesn't leave a lot for raw power. Even just two more would let you handily turn a small scale battle, but for a full up army vs army conflict four is the minimum. Especially because the greenskins have casters of their own who will take notice and start trying to fuck with you at some point.

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Can Wik'keer'mal use the Disd of Yuxa?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
No, but only because Wik'keer'mal already has a focus, which is in its own way potentially quite powerful (accounting for future upgrades). You can still get an effective 2nd Gen slann by giving it to one of your other 3rd Gens tho.

Dragon Turtle sizes:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
The largest Dragon Turtle known to you - from truly ancient records from a few centuries after the separation of the continent - was roughly twice the size of a stegadon. Most, from what scant encounters your records contain, seem to be only a little larger than a stegadon when fully matured.

Abyssal Exploration Gear range:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Deep, but not like deep. Not going to put solid numbers to it.

You can safely explore just off the continent shelf a bit for a few moments. Beyond that anyone you send down isn't coming back up.

Dragon Turtle size and image assistance:

Karnax626 said:
Spoiler: Dragon Turtles

@CuttleFish2.0 Is this similar to what you had in mind for the dragon turtles?
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That would be on the bigger end, and the limbs are wrong - think more sea-turtle - but otherwise its not wrong.

Wik and Black Eggs:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Wik's personal bonus does not apply for the Black Eggs - they're not living in the sense of having cells and such which is what his focus gives him an advantage in.

Metals Lizardmen like:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Rheameninthys mentioned that it was well received. And yes, if someone comes buy loaded down with tin you will buy it. Hell if some elf comes with a few spare tin utensils or plates you'll buy it - it really is quite valuable to you because bronze is your go to metal for basically everything.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Gold is your second go to metal. You know of former gold mines but cannot access them without securing your territory. If you were extracting it would not trade it away except in exceptional circumstances. Or to another temple-city that needed it.

Both bronze and gold are very enchantable metals (thought bronze doesn't take well to heavy enchantment) which means you highly favor using them seeing as you have consistent and reliable access to magic users and a magic tradition/infrastructure to enchant items en mass far in excess of even elves relative to your overall population.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
1) Are there any other bronze alloying components we need and don't have?
2) Do we even have a gold mine, and how long can we keep things up at this rate if we don't find a supply?
3) How do we source obsinite and do we have the means to continue supplying that?

CuttleFish2.0 said:

1) Anything mundane you don't have (I am not any particular expert on either industrial or early metallurgy) is substituted with magic, which you have plenty of.
2) There are no currently operable gold mines within Zlatlan's territory, but you know of old mines and existing deposits that could be exploited. you have enough for the next long while, if it's going to be an issue you'll get a warning and ways to address it at least a few turns before it becomes one.
3) You take mundane rock and you apply large amounts of magic to it in very specific ways over many many months. Addressing bottlenecks in your supply was one of the first things you did, and if you start running into problems with obsinite you probably have much bigger, more immediate, problems that need addressing.

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CuttleFish2.0 said:
EVA-Saiyajin said:
That's pretty cool, very Warhammer combining archaic means of records with advanced and metaphysical means of analysis.

What's the significance/purpose of the enchanted gold-bronze plates @CuttleFish2.0 ?
Control, on their own the lenses could 'cut' the grooves in the stone. But it would require active attention from the artisan-priest to control the Winds to correctly 'write,' whereas with the additional pieces of the gold-bronze plates the enchantment takes care of encoding the information and the artisan-priest merely has to let it know what information to encode.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Inefficient at best is a good way of describing it. Transmuting industrial quantities of metals is risky; when it's small batch quantities the caster in question can usually keep a close enough eye on things and control circumstances enough to avoid to the potential pitfalls, but once you get above a certain amount that becomes increasingly more difficult - requiring more priests - enough so that even for Lizardmen it's highly likely you'll miss something. End up with too many impurities, or metal that's just straight up... wrong somehow. Not an acceptable risk, especially when it's comparatively easier to go out and find it and dig it up. You're rarely lacking in raw muscle power after all, also means your priests can be doing other things - like actually enchanting the bronze you produce and monitoring critical infrastructure.

Obsinite is a big fat glaring exception, largely because even though it sort of resembles mundane obsidian that's basically where the similarities end and thus as something that doesn't exist naturally magic is less snitty about being forced to create it wholesale. A little also goes a lot farther than the same amount of bronze. It's very nature rejects also corruption and obsinite actively absorbs magic as it forms - in fact once you've got a critical mass of it, a significant part of your process involves making sure it stops getting made rather than increasing yield.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
You do have obsinite. Bronze is also not inferior to obsinite to Lizardmen, they have different uses; namely that bronze takes enchantments 'better' than obsinite does (though the latter takes enchantments exceptionally well, the nature of the bronze you produce lends its certain advantages from a magical binding stand point).

Gold, bronze, and obsinite are all bedrock materials for the Lizardmen, not being able to produce even one (barring lack of raw ingredients) would be a much bigger deal. Quite literally crippling without some serious and seriously expensive workarounds.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Obsinite resists corruption, it doesn't repel Chaos. it's an important distinction.

Bunkers:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
I should point out, though, that if you review the action text, the bunkers aren't just little forts. They're also sites where we can (apparently- @CuttleFish2.0 , am I wrong about this) sites where we can use our "magic radio" setup to communicate directly between Zlatlan and the bunker garrisons. If that is true, then it may impact the calculation, by giving us a huge communication and coordination advantage over a wide area, something the orcs can't duplicate.

CuttleFish2.0 said:

Correct, though it'; not quite 'magic radio.' Slightly closer to 'Magic Telegraph' in terms of relative bandwidth for information, though without needing to string literal wires between places. It builds off of similar principles to how communication between Zlatlan and Chupayotl functioned, though with distances much shortened and compacted such that slann are not necessary to operate the system (which is also where the constraint on how quickly and how much information can be transmitted).

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Southlands jungle Vs Lustrian jungle:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Even if they decide to do some jungle exploring, how the fuck are they going to even find Zlatlan? Isn't there like a thousand miles of uncharted jungle, filled with all sorts of interesting diseases and exiting wildlife, between us? Even if they miraculously manage to march straight to us, while somehow finding enough food to feed 100k+ warriors, there is no way that orcish logistics would actually allow a protracted siege.

CuttleFish2.0 said:

To an extent yes, but you don't live in Lustria so it's not memetic levels of deadliness from which entire tribes do not return. Sufficient numbers of orcs wandering blindly will find you eventually if they keep heading in the right general direction, and there are sufficient numbers of orcs (just not heading in the right general direction).

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CuttleFish2.0 said:
For Quest Canon; heavy jungle extends a bit south of the Yuatek River before thinning out into more regular temperate forest scattered with plains, before turning into a largely savanna/grassland/semi-desert mixture to the southern coast.

Can Skinks ride Cold Ones?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
They do, though it does not happen all that often.

Zoats: What do we know?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Nothing. You've - as in the Lizardmen as a whole, barring some unconfirmed glimpses - never encountered them.

Salamanders:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Do Salamanders have any non-combat role in Lizardmen civilization? I understand they're big fire lizards, and I can imagine a few ways they might have civillian, or atleast as civillian as lizardmen get, applications. It might be worth grabbing them and razordons over the next few turns, both because it would give us more warbeasts but also potentially more power to various industries depending on their benefits.

CuttleFish2.0 said:

Not really, they're both fairly temperamental species that have to be handled carefully so that they don't kill the skinks directing them in combat. They're one of the newer aquisitions to the Lizardman roster.

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CuttleFish2.0 said:
An expedition to Lustria would be no more a guarantee of Salamanders than the current option, it would have a better chance in some ways and a worse one in others (the Salamanders in Lustria 'belong' to the Temple-Cities there, no guarantees there are 'enough spares' for them to give some to you).

Zlatlan maps:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Been working on the turn outline and the first update of the turn, part of which prompted me to collate the loose sketches/ideas into a proper drawing of Zlatlan and then I figured I might as well share that with you guys.

So here; have a map of Zlatlan (not to scale, details very much subject to change) and a map of the inner, central portion of Zlatlan (not likely to change substantively, containing both Wik'keer'mal's Temple and the Grand Temple of Xholankha). Both can also be found in the Maps threadmark under the informational tab.

Leadwood:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Where stone gets use in your ships it is literally part of the enchantment that lightens your ships and gives them extra juice. Leadwood is dense enough that it sinks in water, which means using it generally enough to make a difference would massively increase the weight of each ship and would require a complete redesign of each vessel from the ground up to incorporate and doing so would still likely end up being a net loss on your ships speed and maneuverability. For a frankly minimal increase in survivability against direct impacts (though a much greater resistance to fire attacks).

Leadwood is not a super special magical material, it's merely a slightly souped up version of the very real life leadwood. It has its uses but it also has actual drawbacks.

Obsinite Dragon eggs:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
As for boosting Gif'a-Gahb's magic; if you want to do that you have the Disc of Yuxa. Obsinite Dragon Eggs can either be used to temporarily unleash a Young Obsinite Dragon or, theoretically, power some form of long term magical construct/enchantment.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Yes? That said, the Obsinite Dragons do not last hours on hours - if you're very lucky it might last 1 hour, more likely it would be 15 to 30 minutes - so awakening them is something only to be done in the midst of or right before battle. If your forces encounter a Warboss, have an Obsinite Dragon Egg available, and feel the need to use it they will. Assets give your forces options.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Currently the dragons created by the Black Eggs only last, at most, about an hour and a half- outside of special, rare circumstances. Also, if you go back to when you used them against the green skins you'll see that the dragon is very... wild, a thing entirely of animalistic instinct, incapable of following more complex instructions than 'go here and kill that's really. So unless what you want to send them to do is wreck a portion of sunken Chupayotl or kill some 'fey' (not entirely certain who or what you mean), they're not the tool for the job.

Any other potential utility from them would require both using them more and/or diving into complex magical theory/researching in order to reveal.

Moving sacred plaques:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Plaques can be moved, but... doing so is not risk free (they're magically powerful, though in ways thoroughly orthogonal to the way most artifacts are, and that makes them attractive to things). Mortals can break into places and circumvent protections that your traditional enemies can't.

Lizardmen Dwarf creation/comparison:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
But you have to remember that for all their advanced magical knowledge the Lizardmen and technical knowledge on many things, they still operate largely at subsistence levels; there's little automation going on in temple-cities, things are produced by hand in artisan fashion you just do things much more efficiently than anyone else because individual Lizardmen have relatively little ego (sort of).

Dwarfs would take a look at the rate one of your weaponsmiths turns out blades and such and salivate. Then they would take a second look at grumble loudly about all sorts of practices unbecoming of a master and go back to feeling smug. But for a second they would be jealous. So, yeah, you're not going to be repopulating cities quickly, but it is an achievable feat.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Sort of. A Grandmaster dwarfen smith would produce a set of armor better in quality than what most of what your smiths would. But it would also be done within a paradigm completely divorced from the one you usually operate within - your saurus don't usually go out decked head to toe in plate armor, but many dwarfen thanes do, and for good reason as many of the threats your forces have historically faced were better faced with magical protections rather than purely physical ones. More, you could not later on take the commissioned piece of armor and enchant it to the same degree of effectiveness as you usually do for the armor your forges produce - because those enchantments are done at the time of forging - though in the end it would probably even out to about the same level of protectiveness. To start getting superior equipment you would need to look to commission from a Runelord.

The idea isn't bad, necessarily, but it's also not one that automatically conveys benefits. To do stuff like what you're talking about you'll need to develop your relationship with the dwarfs and establish a better physical connection. Or somehow entice them to establish an enclave nearby.

Making the Southlands jungle more deadly:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
For both, that's the realm of a personal project action; though I'll warn you now that you're not going to be replicating what was done in Lustria during the height of the Great Catastrophe (for a number of reasons, including - though not limited too - the lack of massive amounts of ambient magic, a much reduced Geomantic Web, and differences between the environment of Lustria and the Southlands). You cannot increase the rate of skink/kroxigor/saurus spawnings through a ritual, but you could supercharge population growth for your warbeasts.

Why don't we use more armor?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
- your saurus don't usually go out decked head to toe in plate armor, but many dwarfen thanes do, and for good reason as many of the threats your forces have historically faced were better faced with magical protections rather than purely physical ones. More, you could not later on take the commissioned piece of armor and enchant it to the same degree of effectiveness as you usually do for the armor your forges produce - because those enchantments are done at the time of forging -

Personal project scale and development:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Theoretically possible. Likely to be expensive (in terms of slann power).

I want to be sure things are clear on the subject of scope; Personal Project fall, broadly into two categories - one, where the project has a narrow impact (the Fivefold Hive) and two, where the project as a broader impact (the Grand Temple, most of these ritual ideas). For the first category the project will, with some wiggle room depending on the exact roll, just autocomplete with a single investment of personal dice. Meanwhile the second category will generally need to meet a stricter minimum and upon success will open up further actions (whether research, or more normal) that will let you actually get the desired effects.

So you could 'design' the ritual you're talking about with a personal project and then next turn you would have it available to start working on enacting it.

What are Oracles?

CuttleFish2.0 said:
I don't believes it's an official unit or hero or anything in the tabletop game but there are a number of references to them. Basically, they are largely very similar to Priests of the Heavens in that they are heavily Azyr aligned, but they do not do direct spellcasting as such (though they can serve as conduits for slann). At least not at battlefield scales. No battlemagic for them.

Instead they are focused around divining and short-term prophecy and fate and destiny. Find and hiding and the protection of sacred places. They're an integral part of Lizardman society, if not particularly one that shows in the more... notable moments. For instances it is oracles that monitor and track spawnings - discerning the approach of particular meaningful ones and picking out those saurus and skinks blessed by the Old Ones in ways less immediately obvious. Every temple consecrated within Zlatlan was consecrated by teams of oracles. In the past, they helped the Lizardmen find rich veins of metal ore and suitable stone.

As leaders of military expeditions/forces they tend to 'happen' upon isolated enemy elements or to find previously unknown routes through difficult terrain. To rely upon surprise and swift, deadly strikes. On hitting the foe from an unconsidered angle.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Sort of. It ties into the difference between an Oracle and skink Priest of Azyr. Atahuinqua was able to divine a rough idea of what the expedition would face in a matter of minutes, and by connecting that information with other methods (dreams, casting bones and shells and such, etc) they were able to guide the expedition. But you'll notice Atahuinqua did not just tell the Cold One riders and others to look out for an encampment of greenskins and such and such location.

Oracular magic is very broadly applicable and very simple in execution, capable of working on minimal resources, but it is also quite... fluid.

Unlike the astrological prediction provided by Gif'a-Gahb and other priests, which are usually fairly precise and explicit (at least so long as they are concerned with relatively 'immediate' futures).

Garden Guidelines:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Lot's of good ideas here. A few comments; you will not - full stop - get fully sapient species from the Floating Gardens, nor can you get a number of things which are physically too large to easily fit within the (admittedly more roomy than they appear, but basically nothing significantly larger than say a rhino or giraffe) Temple grounds, some of the suggestions are for things whose effects are a bit too... beneficial?

Things like the hysh-trees that purify areas or absorb warpstone are all but certain not to randomly pop up. Something that might be a predecessor, which could then be developed into that, to that might. I'm not saying this to discourage anyone or as any sort of... reprimand? Just as a warning of what you can sort of expect to see appearing from the the Floating Gardens. At their most magical they might resemble at most the Vampire Tree suggested by @Sinsystems - largely because the tree as described is actively hostile and dangerous and so would pose a challenge - but you might also just get weird varieties of grass or new grains. That's mostly why I'm responding to these suggestions at this point, to make sure everyone knows that I have noticed the ideas but also to set a bit of expectation going forward.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
While the Garden is a potent piece of magic, it has its limits. So far it hasn't produced anything larger than a tree and most of the novels creatures noted have been significantly smaller, not surpassing a pig in size.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
I wouldn't object. But forewarning, the larger something is... the less likely it is to appear through the Garden. And basically no creature will ever appear in enough numbers to start a viable population, if you want war beasts you have to go out into the world and get them.

Ulthuan aquatic travel time:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Last time it took about 8~ months round trip. Without having to escort the merchant vessels, it could be cut down to 3-4, but more realistically it would be about 5~ for a non-urgent mission. That said I would say no on being able to recall and send back Atahuinqua on the same turn just as a matter of balance.

Lizardmen flying creations:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
You've never built anything that truly 'flies.' Slann's palanquins hover, and some buildings in higher-level cities are suspended in air through magic, but both are reliant on abundant magic and move slowly if at all.

Maximum military allocation:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Think less than half that. Maximum mobilization is only for do or die scenarios. See the time a quarter of a million greenskins were bearing down on your still vulnerable (by your standards at least) temple-city and you put everything but a minimum barebones garrison force on the front lines. Stripping Zlatlan to a third would leave it unacceptably vulnerable.

Past experience with dragons:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
that I said possibility of it being hostile. Dragons, in the experience of the Lizardmen as a whole, are varied in temperament (though with the caveat that they are always self-assured) enough that there's no real solid prediction of what's likely to be the outcome.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
90% of encounters between slann and dragons have ended in the death of one. Usually the dragon. The other 10% occurred after the survivors of the species agreed to be bound to service to the elves.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Not in the sense lizardmen mean. Neither are they cold blooded.

Dragons are their own category.

Earthbound magic:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Earthbound magic is not a description of a technique of magic, there's no 'earthbound magic' enchantments like there are Wind magic enchantments. It is when physical objects absorb magic over time, but critically it is not the Winds as they are present within objects because that would be, again, Wind magic. And as the name implies there is a specific and practical property of 'earthbound magic' which has to do with the fact that it is bound up in the earth or things of the earth which makes it different to Wind magic.

I said that you your magical artifacts don't "usually make direct use of the Winds in large quantities." I was not saying that either it or Wind attuned objects in general were useless to you.

Your artifacts typically take in earthbound magic for 'power' and convert it to Winds as needed to create specific effects that are more efficiently done via the Winds, or otherwise simply used the earthbound magic to do what it needs to.

The unfortunate counterpart to that is that the continent is... a continent away still and several times larger than Ulthuan.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
As for powerstones; you could create them easily enough. But for spells you prefer to be more efficient over pulling on more power and are cognizant of the repurcussions of adding more Winds to any given area of the world. On the other hand your enchantments and magical artifacts don't usually make direct use of the Winds in large quantities, instead they pull on earthbound magic which is much more cooperative and reliable.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Earthbound magic doesn't really have 'reagents,' magically attuned components are more of a Wind thing.

Skink Priests and magic:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
On the subject of priests of different winds.

Ghur and Azyr have, historically been the two most useful lores for your forces. In the thousands of years the Servants of the Old Ones spent spreading the Geomantic Web across the world and clearing away species declared unsuitable for the world to come by the Old Ones very few of your regular enemies made use of metal armor, so Chamon's most potent multiplying factor was nonexistent.

Most of the environments you fought in tended to be wet; at the shores of ancient lakes where abyssal creatures crawled up out of the depths, fens and marshes teeming with Fimir, in the shadows of retreating continent glaciers, etc. so Aqshy was similarly disadvantaged. Hysh was situationally more useful, while plenty of your enemies from that time called upon dark gods, few of them actually had the pull to get much of anything across the protection the Old Ones built into the Polar Gates, the Lore of Light's greatest utility is in cleansing corruption and there... just wasn't that much corruption around to cleanse. Ulgu and Shyish were considered very useful, but lost out because of the overwhelming usefulness of Azyr and Ghur; the Lore of Heavens gives you not only potent and adaptable battlefield weapons but also a toolset that allows you to manipulate the time and place of a battlefield by divining enemy action, leadership, and vulnerabilities. On the other hand Ghur builds on the already existing strengths of the Lizardmen in general, saurus and kroxigor are already naturally tougher and aggressive and savage fighters so a wind that plays into that only makes them that much fiercer as well as having applications in roles and situations off the battlefield; calming your beasts of burden and offering an avenue of intelligence that was nearly omnipresent (wild animals).

So you've just never seen a need to develop your priests of the other Winds to battlefield relevance, especially when their magics are often very useful at other tasks; Chamon and Aqshy allows for superlative smiths and metal workers, Chamon and Hysh both also make for excellent builders and designers with the latter also being generally better at constructing the ubiquitous wardings which protect many of your constructions. Ghyran means your farms are enormously more productive than the size of your population suggests; really without it you probably wouldn't be able to sustain your Temple-Cities as you do. Shyish priests tend the tombs of the Relic Priests and will not shirk their duties for anything but an imminent invasion of the city itself. Ulgu simply do not spawn.

Have in in fact never spawned in all the records of Zlatlan and all the memories of its slann.

In terms of how they measure up against elf mages; it's complicated. Newly spawned a skink priest would be roughly equal to a 'graduated' elven mage, but most elven mages will be generally better than most skink priests, except for your most experienced examples which will rival a 'standard' Archmage in terms of raw capability, but will of course fall far short of the greater examples. Teclis would run absolute circles around even the very best skink priests... metaphorically.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Yes, and no. In the same sense that even humans with souls deeply attuned to specific Winds can use Petty Magic without worry, they can also manipulate Geomantic Magic to a certain extent (though lack the finesse to do so with much complexity and raw metaphysical oomph to call on it directly; so only in the simplest ways and when either a slann or appropriate geomantic infrastructure makes it available). On the other hand their souls are directly attuned to a specific Wind so they can't actually directly touch a Wind they're not attuned to... though the exact method is different than it would be in humans.

Edit: To be clear, Skink Priests are relegated to Ghur and Azyr magic for battlefield utility, all other Winds are covered by artisan-priests of various stripes. Save for Ulgu.

Teleporting to Ulthuan:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Yes, with the understanding that actually teleporting isn't going to happen until much, much, much later (once the Geomantic Web Zlatlan is attached to is boosted up) and would be one way until you improve your relationships with the Phoenix King a lot (plus some research and other actions). And even then it would be a once every few decades sort of thing.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
While the 8th edition Armybook does that Tepec-Inzi 'transported' his army to the Ashen Coast, the other source for the event has Tepec-Inzi chasing the Dark Elves on foot with his army.

That said, it would be possible for the Lustrian slann to teleport an army that distance (and further, if the need was great enough), but the portion of the Geomantic Web Zlatlan is connected to cannot support that sort of thing.

Horned Ones:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Exclusive, no. But proportionally, Zlatlan has a lot more Horned Ones than any temple-city of Lustria; enough to have an actual stable breeding population. In Lustria, their riders have to go out and capture a wild Horned One, and they are rare, most temple-cities have a handful of Horned Ones with the largest temple-cities perhaps having a squadron or two. You have three, and have managed to mostly maintain them over the centuries (sometimes one of the squadrons is badly under strength) while keeping up the numbers of Horned Ones is an ongoing effort for your counterparts in Lustria.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Physically Horned Ones are slightly larger, and have horns. That's about it for major physical differences (there are hundreds of very minor ones). Socially though they're more aggressive and not as pack oriented as Cold Ones; Cold Ones operate much like wolves do, in terms of social dynamics, but Horned Ones are more like bears or lions in their behavior. Cold Ones hunt and live as family units typically, with both parents taking relatively equal responsibility in feeding and rearing young, but with Horned Ones the males typically fuck off after mating and the females raise their young for relatively brief periods of time before turning them loose.

Troglodons:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
An older troglodon will have more of a personality initially and they'll learn 'slower.' Younger troglodons will be less capable to start but will pick up things much quicker. Though its more that older troglodons have their own ideas of how to do things and Atahuinqua will have to spend time convincing their mount that they really do know how to do things. With an older troglodon the relationship will be more like an equal partnership, but with a younger one it'll be more like parent-child or older/younger siblings.

In terms of difficulty... well that depends on what you mean?

Difficulty in catching them? That depends on the specific circumstances; Atahuinqua could run into an old troglodon that forms an instant connection with them or they could run into a younger one whose parents really disapprove of them trying to snatch their baby. Circumstances and chance play a role on that front and there's no gaurantee either way.

Difficulty in binding them to Atahuinqua? No difference.

Difficult in training them? Younger will be easier, older will be harder. But older will come in with experience and will apply lessons more quickly while younger will be an ongoing effort on Atahuinqua's part that (depending on personality and how young they are) could take decades to fully pay off.

CuttleFish2.0 said:
That's not a concern. Something about the magical binding between an Oracle and their mount seems to extend the troglodon's already long life even further; it's unclear if they become biologically immortal because a lot died during the Great Catastrophe and then the rest died in the centuries after as the Oracle's they were bound to tried to do the work of four or five times their number. Up until the fall of Chupayotl none of the ones that had been bound since had died of old age.

Spirits and/or Athel Loren:

CuttleFish2.0 said:
Forest spirits are not unknown to you. Wik'keer'mal has never noted any specific individuals, a few served as minor impediments to the foundings of a number of temple-cities, Zlatlan being one of them, but not serious ones.

While it is known that there is a magical confluence in the general region of Athel Loren, and it was for a time considered as a site for future expansions of the Geomantic Web (much further in the future), such plans are a distant memory and it was never more than theoretical. Detailed surveys were never conducted. Nor even prelimainary scouting.

6. Spirits definitely exist, though they are mostly too weak/simple for you to bother with. Anything any of the common spirits could do you can already do more efficiently/reliably or simply have no interest in doing. More powerful spirits are rare and... have not tended to get along well with you as they are generally unwilling to make themselves subservient to the Old Ones and the Great Plan, which is the bare minimum for you to allow powerful things to coexist with you (when they're not powerful enough to tell you to fuck off).

By their own measures, the Volhu already deal with spirits. Though their definition of that is broader than your own and includes Wik'keer'mal himself. How true that actually is something Zille'mi will be specifically investigating in this action.

As for elementals, something close to them sometimes take shape in the deserts near the equator. Otherwise they mostly don't exist outside of those created by magic wielders.

Random stuff:

watcheye456 said:
might as well put those out of the way.

1. What about more undercut vectors? 1,1. Can deamons and chaos gods influence people and spirits similar to them acting in Norska?
2. Is our main advantage on that front lack of physical connection to broken polar gate?
3. Is Tzzench curse a thing that can mess them up? (or is it later in cannon, forgot that part?) 3,1. Do we have anything atm to help with that?
4. Bad moon mutation is one thing, that still happens, is it less influential that close to Zlatlan? 4,1. Or does it glow does not reah our front yard?
5. Do we have to worry about possesion via dream/vision as much as elsewhere? 5,1. could we even tell?
6. Does that mean spirits and elementals reigh supreme in the eather for the time being? 6,1. Would we consider intoducing Vohlu to them?
Click to shrink...

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

1. No. You would only, theoretically, start getting to Norsca levels down near the tip of the continent, but again because of both the Geomantic Web and physical layout of the southern hemisphere magic can't usually reach the same levels of saturation.

2. No. While the land connections between the northern polar wastes and the continents play a part in the how magic flows, a larger factor are things like the Mountains of Mourne which 'gather' the Winds before they flow out into the rest of the continents. Norsca act similarly along with the mountains in the north of Naggaroth.

Meanwhile, the mountains in the southlands run north-south and mostly let the Winds flow freely towards the Vortex.

3. I'm not sure I know what you mean with this... if you're talking about the unpredictability of magic; that actually has almost nothing to actually do with Tzeentch. Except in the sense that Tzeentch can sometimes take advantage of it or nudge things towards bad outcomes when the power of Chaos is highest.

You have a lot of ways to make magic less unpredictable, though most are innate to being Lizardmen and have to do with how your souls are built.

4. You are as much subject to the light of Morrslieb as anywhere else. Though the general lower levels of magic in the immediate environment lower the overall risk from it somewhat.

5. Slann? Skinks? Saurus? Kroxigor? No. Not outside of very unique and bad circumstances. Humans and other living creatures, yes and yes you could tell if you were looking for it- which you sort of mostly do by default, though more subtle entities could evade detection from most of your techniques.

6. Spirits definitely exist, though they are mostly too weak/simple for you to bother with. Anything any of the common spirits could do you can already do more efficiently/reliably or simply have no interest in doing. More powerful spirits are rare and... have not tended to get along well with you as they are generally unwilling to make themselves subservient to the Old Ones and the Great Plan, which is the bare minimum for you to allow powerful things to coexist with you (when they're not powerful enough to tell you to fuck off).

By their own measures, the Volhu already deal with spirits. Though their definition of that is broader than your own and includes Wik'keer'mal himself. How true that actually is something Zille'mi will be specifically investigating in this action.

As for elementals, something close to them sometimes take shape in the deserts near the equator. Otherwise they mostly don't exist outside of those created by magic wielders.

From the Hidden City (Warhammer Lizardmen Temple-City Quest)

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