Respect Your Elders v2 - Galactic Boogaloo [Warhammer Lizardmen Quest]
- Thread starter Xantalos
- Start date
- Sci-Fi Fantasy
-
- Tags
- warhammer warhammer 40k fantasy sci-fi science fantasy science-fantasy kitchen sink space fantasy isha kroak (warhammer fantasy) mazdamundi (warhammer fantasy) magic empire quest actions have consequences dinosaurs ia ia kroak fhtagn lasers lizardmen qm likes speculation and questions slann what could possibly go wrong?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
What exactly did they do?
DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
they grabbed the rooms by the goolies and pulled them into place
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, thanks for the effort, but that tells me all of nothing.
DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
They found the room's metaphorical scrotum, that normally only the Slann can grab
They grabbed these metaphorical scrotums
And pulled them until the important rooms they couldnt dismantle were in the proper place, 5cm "to the right"
I don't know what else you're looking for, here.
Xantalos
Turtle-Speed Writing
Those structures have magic embedded in them to such an extent that they basically have a corresponding metaphysical architecture that mirrors their physical state. The skink priests very carefully grabbed these frameworks and moved them, thus causing the actual buildings to move.
DocMatoi
Theoretical Lover of Girls
- Location
- within 2 hours of the White House
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh, so its more like magneto grabbing wolverine by his skeleton then by any metaphorical scrotum
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Something less obscene that goes to actually explain it as opposed to making an analogy out of it.
- Location
- India
Can a powerful psyker able to learn and master geometric magic from slan? I am talking about likes of Magnus, emperor or malcador.
Xantalos
Turtle-Speed Writing
Theoretically, but it'd be pretty difficult. Due to how intricately it interfaces with both materium physics and immaterial principles, it's difficult at best to grasp for all but the most intelligent beings. It's kinda like trying to do theoretical physics equations on the fly while also performing a street magician act and solving a rubik's cube by using it like a hackey sack, all at once.
Lizardmen Technology Level
Xantalos
Turtle-Speed Writing
Esoteric Properties: Widespread enhancements and magical boosts that allow the lizardmen's equipment to function above what would otherwise be physically possible.
Baseline Enchantments: All lizardmen equipment is significantly more durable, and may have properties such as weight, tensile strength, and friction selectively altered during its creation to a moderate degree. Allows for the widespread usage of monomolecular edges where advantageous. Not dependent on the Geomantic Web for functioning.
Geomantic Enchantments: A network of spells that enables all lizardmen equipment within the Geomantic Web to run at maximum capacity so long as power is available. Allows shields to hold indefinitely unless broken, and magical artifacts to utilize constant activation of their spells, including Glyph Bombs. Effects scale with Geomantic Web and distributed enchantments – currently Magnitude 3.
Materials: A list of what materials lizardmen equipment is commonly made out of.
Obsinite: A magically-forged black stone created by breaking down receptive material and infusing it with a specifically calibrated, multi-Wind enchantment to grant it both the monomolecular sharpness of obsidian and greater strength than steel. Obsinite is a potent material used in a large variety of lizardmen armor and weapons, although it is very heavy.
Bronze: The tablets of the Forging Districts came imprinted with a specialized recipe for creating a strong, long-lasting variety of bronze that the smith kroxigors immediately comprehended. It is used where the weight of obsinite would be a detriment, but protection is still required.
Gold: Many of the items of the lizardmen have gold symbols or lining shaped into them during their making. Although soft and pliable enough to be useless as armor, alchemically treated gold is a natural conductor of magical energy, allowing for items to be imbued with magical power.
Melee Weapons: Weapons designed primarily for killing in close-quarters combat.
Obsinite Weaponry: Swords, axes, maces, spears, and other close-combat weapons made out of obsinite. These weapons often blend multiple roles, such as the halberds wielded by Temple Guard or the axe-swords swung by Saurus Warriors. They have been enchanted with a bevy of passive buffs, allowing their edges to attain monomolecular thinness without breaking down, decreasing their weight while keeping their mass the same, and increasing their tensile strength enough to cleave through stone.
Temple Guard Armament: Distinct from standard saurus weaponry, Temple Guard weapons are enchanted to better serve their role as guardians and protectors. Consisting primarily of long-handled halberds and maces, these weapons are infused with magic that guides their movement to better deflect projectiles or other attacks, and in some cases can even attract them towards itself, diverting them from their previous course.
Gun-Cleavers: A variety of implements either designed for attachment to the guns of the lizardmen or built into the weapons themselves. Bayonets turning rifles into spears, collapsible handles allowing axe-heads to protrude, slots for braces of bullets to be inserted into and act as makeshift warhammers.
Ranged Weapons: Weapons designed primarily for killing from afar.
Automatic Rifles: Long, blocky guns made of obsinite and inlaid with gold filigree. These guns utilize a series of enchanted bronze mechanisms to shape bullets out of an inserted ammunition block, allowing them to fire fusillades of bullets at speeds previously only matched by the Mochantian orks. They are imbued with a number of subsidiary enchantments to improve the velocity, stopping power, range, and accuracy of their shots, and are wielded by skinks, saurus, and kroxigors, their size increasing with each step. Kroxigor-grade rifles could be mistaken for small cannons, and fire sharpened spears of obsinite nearly 30 centimeters long.
Sniper Rifles: Extended rifles with significantly more gold ornamentation, including a number of glittering rings affixed to the barrel. These devices have a significantly extended range compared to the ordinary models, friction and wind-resisting enchantments allowing their rounds to kill a target from multiple kilometers away. They are equipped with a number of specialized lenses, each attuned to a singular wind of magic that highlights certain features of the battlefield to whoever looks through them. These effects can stack and blend when multiple lenses are employed, and a skilled enough sniper can use them to make shots that would otherwise be impossible, sending their bullets coursing around obstacles and through small gaps. Wielded primarily by chameleon skinks.
Blow-Darts: Dipped in poison and shot out of pipes, these darts are barbed to more easily penetrate and tear flesh. The pipes have been enchanted to boost the velocity of the darts, which have been redesigned with denser materials that weigh the same to increase their penetration. Wielded almost exclusively by chameleon skinks.
Defensive Equipment: Equipment meant to protect the user.
Obsinite Shields: Made from a shaped block of obsinite, with metal handles affixed to the back, and spikes to the front. Good for both blocking hits that would have damaged the wielder and bashing skulls in under its weight. Their weight has been massively reduced via enchantment, and their tensile strength has increased significantly, allowing them to block stronger hits while retaining their offensive capabilities thanks to their mass being unaffected.
Obsinite-Bronze Plate Mail: Form-fitting obsinite plates with enchanted bronze mail between allowing for full range of motion, this armor is infused with a variety of minor spells allowing for the heavy obsinite to be worn as if it were lightweight metal or hide. Worn by nearly every lizardman in direct combat roles.
Golden Glyph Armor: Similar to standard obsinite plate, but with intricate golden glyphs worked into the edges of each plate. These glyphs allow for the channeling of magical energy either into or out of the body, letting mages cast more efficiently and for those wearing this armor to be enhanced by others, temporarily increasing their capabilities in a variety of ways. Worn primarily by skink priests and temple guard.
Enchanted Skull Helmets: Only worn by temple guard. Grant the wearer increased perception, reaction time, and speed.
Fireblood Plates: A set of ten scale-replacing stone plates affixed to a lizardman, these talismans contain an enchantment capable of turning the nervous system to plasma, contained only by the interlinking of each Plate to its fellows. If an infestation attempt occurs, the links are broken temporarily and the enchantment unleashed, subsiding when the attacking Ayacmanik is ash. Overuse of this feature, such as by repeated infestations in a short span of time, will kill the affected lizardman. Additionally, they work best inside the Geomantic Web, where it is possible to draw on their power. Outside of it, the possibility exists for their charge to be worn out over long periods of time, rendering them ineffective until recharged. This is, however, only a slim possibility.
Magical Trinkets: Minor magical creations, with their effects usually limited to a minor enhancement of the user in some way.
Old One Charms: Necklaces with a centerpiece wrought in the image of an Old One's symbol, each grants a minor enhancement to that Old One's portfolio - Chotec grants a boost to vigor and a minor resistance to heat, Tepok lets the wearer percieve, but not alter, magical phenomena, etc. A common sight, nearly every lizardman bears one or more.
Wind Charms: Rings, necklaces, bracelets, and other artifacts resembling jewelry that are infused with minor protective charms based off a specific wind of magic - heat resistance for Chamon, occasional flashes of immediate foresight for Azyr, and so on. A common sight, nearly every lizardman bears one or more.
Magical Equipment: Actively useful magical devices, capable of having a significant effect on personal combat.
Cube of Darkness: An apple-sized black cube that when correctly manipulated can absorb the energy of one magical attack, that it then spends a period of hours breaking down into its basest components. Can also be used to trap daemons. Moderately rare despite their ongoing production.
Glyph Spheres: Small bronze spheres carved with magical glyphs and banded with gold. When charged with sufficient amounts of magic, a glyph sphere can be used to generate a wide variety of deadly magical effects in a small area around them, effectively functioning as reusable magical grenades.
Lesser Eternity Keys: Used only by senior temple guard, these artifacts grant a lesser version of the time-slowing effect that each slann's Eternity Warden possesses, allowing the temple guard to blitz their opponents and obliterate them.
Magical Artifacts: Magical devices powerful enough to be relevant to entire battlefields.
Ark of Sotek: A stone box with spouts leading out of it, engraved with Sotek's symbols. When fires are stoked beneath it, an endless amount and variety of snakes pour out of the spouts, agitated by the heat and coursing towards the closest enemy. They possess magical venom. Can be part of defensive emplacements or mounted on a bastilodon.
Solar Engine: A yellow crystal mounted within a complex, glyph-laden apparatus. When activated, fires a potent magical laser focused through lenses on the front. Can fire in short bursts or sustain fire, but the longer it fires the more heat builds up, limiting maximum firing time for fear of damaging the firing apparatus. Can be part of defensive fortifications or carried onto the battlefield. Also used in large-scale building construction.
Revivification Crystal: A crystal saturated with potent healing energies, mounted in a focusing array that can direct its magic towards individuals or entire groups. Capable of rapidly sealing wounds, regrowing limbs, and even ressurecting the (very) recently dead, depending on the degree of focus. With the advent of weight-reducing enchantments, a team of skinks may now carry it if needed. Used on a wide dispersal setting to increase the growth rate of lizardmen crops.
Arcane Engine: A squat stone box-device that rumbles and glows from within. It contains a reservoir of stored magical power that it uses to power a preset spell for potentially days. It is most often used to project a magical shield, but can also be configured to sustain any area-of-effect spell, which it will cast in an area around the device itself. This allows it to be used in an offensive capacity, where it is mounted on a bastilodon and set to bathe the surrounding area in flame or electricity. They are a common sight in lizardmen cities, used to automate the repetitive casting of spells used in enchanting and obsinite production, among other things.
Glyph Bomb: A larger Glyph Sphere, 1 meter in diameter, with proportionately-increased impact upon detonation. Where a Sphere may destroy a squad of enemies if correctly placed, a Glyph Bomb is capable of vaporizing entire buildings or flattening city blocks, and they possess the same wide variety of potential effects that their smaller counterparts do.
Omen Mortar: A 3-meter hollow stone pyramid emblazoned with sigils of gold and gem-studded obsinite consoles. It fires 2-meter rectangles of obsinite that have been infused with destructive spells, and guides them to pre-determined targets with precognitive magic that allows them to swerve around obstacles and impediments. If given time to affix its targeting matrixes, it can bombard a location from several kilometers away with pinpoint accuracy.
Tempest Prisms: An azure counterpart to Solar Engines that can channel lightning and call down fierce storms when activated. Its surface drops in temperature with use, and will eventually begin to freeze its operators solid if overtaxed. For this reason they're often paired with Solar Engines, as their conflicting auras counterbalance each other. Used for anti-air purposes.
Fortifications: Magical constructions specifically meant to enhance the defensiveness of a temple-city.
Metropolis Preservation Barriers: A variant of the personal shield spell matrix utilized by slann to defend themselves, combined with void enchantment theory to allow the magical construct to sustain itself at far greater physical sizes and operate at much greater energy efficiency than would otherwise be possible. These factors allow the spell to be anchored into specially-constructed pylons built into the walls of a temple-city, powering the immense forcefield with the might of the Geomantic Web. Thus, the larger the city, the more energy reserves there are to draw upon, and the stronger the shield becomes. Duration that the shield can be held up is determined by overall Geomantic Web magnitude.
Sacred Sites: A variety of unique, extremely powerful artifacts tuned into the geomantic web, used to defend cities with esoteric abilities. Each city has an array of them, usually displaying effects according to each city's pre-existing proclivities.
Mechanical Devices: Technological devices that do not fit into any of the above categories.
Bolt Throwers: A gargantuan bow that requires a Kroxigor to draw, these devices are aimed by marksmen skinks and fire arrows that are closer in size to spears at tremendous speeds. Most commonly seen mounted on the walls of temple-cities, or on top of older bastiladons and stegadons. Their bolts have been converted to gargantuan obsinite harpoons, capable of cracking solid stone upon impact.
Monument Cannon: A great looming obsinite cannon the size of a kroxigor, clad in gold and bronze and gems. It is mounted upon a rotating base that allows it to aim anywhere from slightly below level to straight upwards, though they spend most of their time pointing at the sky. A small gunner's seat rests at the base for its skink operator, filled with complex glowing readouts and arrangements of levers. It fires obsinite spears that are drawn to their targets with amplified tracking enchantments, which shatter into a cloud of deadly shrapnel just before impact. Also known as Shrieking Serpents for the distinct high-pitched tone its ammunition gives off when accelerated to high velocities.
Ayotlbotl: The Turtle Bunkers are effectively a modification of pre-existing lizardmen fortification designs, differing only in the addition of multiple sets of wheels on their undercarriage and attachment points for warbeasts such as Bastilodons to be hooked onto. While not swift by the standards of the vehicles of the orks, their ability to thusly move on the field of battle is a not-inconsiderable advantage, allowing groups of lizardmen to advance under enemy fire where Umbrella Shields cannot be spared.
Parraxuda-Class Hunter Ship: A sharp spearhead-shaped ship that cuts through the ocean with ease thanks to enchantments of speed upon its hull and twin banks of oars. It may boost its speed temporarily through the use of an Arcane Engine, allowing it to close with enemy vessels and fire a harpoon from the cannon on its prow. Once anchored, the Parraxuda will reel itself in and board the enemy with its complement of Saurus troops, quickly and efficiently disabling whatever enemy threatens lizardmen naval dominance.
Turtle-Class Transport Ship: A gargantuan, hollow block of stone the size of a barracks, fitted with spellcrafted sailcloth and both an Azyr and Ghyran skink priest to allow it to move through the oceans. This ship is built for a single purpose - to safely transport massive amounts of supplies, soldiers, or both from one ocean-facing destination to another. Its design reflects this simplicity of thought, with no time or effort spared on other frivolities that would impact its function.
Warbeasts: Any of the tamed jungle beasts utilized in battle.
Bastilodon: A very large, stubborn, armored warbeast. Possesses a natural shell made up of several layers of extremely thick, tough plates denser than stone. Has a bone club at the end of its tail it uses to smash enemies. Now clad in shaped plates of obsinite, the durability of the bastiladons has shot up even further. Its bone club has also been reinforced with metal spikes for additional damage.
Stegadon: An extremely ill-tempered warbeast the size of a bus with a collection of very large, sharp horns protruding from its frontal faceplate and a propensity to charge at whatever is annoying it at high speed. With the advent of the forging districts, it is armored in obsnite and its horns have been capped with jagged spikes.
Terradon: A flying, pony-sized dinosaur with leathery wings and a pointed beak. They are extremely quick and agile, with a propensity for dive-bombing their prey.Save for their wings, they have been armored nearly entirely in obsinite, their beak and talons capped with sharp bronze to stab and cut. In battle they carry bombs to drop on the enemy.
Ripperdactyl: A foul-tempered, scaled flying beast that travels in packs and preys on anything it sees, even attacking creatures that far outsize it. Extremely persistent, often following and harassing prey for days once it has the scent. Particularly enraged by the scent of a particular Lustrian toad which preys on its eggs, and will relentlessly attack anything painted with that scent. Their claws have been armored with sharp metal, and their bodies are encased in obsinite.
Cold One: Pack-hunting raptors that exude a numbing slime from their scales and in their saliva. Lizardmen are immune to it, but most any other creature exposed to it will develop localized paralysis around the site of exposure. Very agile, vicious, and single-minded, they instinctively operate as a group even in battle, making for effective light cavalry. They are armored primarily in bronze mail which is soaked with their slime, but their extremities are clad in obsinite.
Horned One: A larger breed of Cold One that trades some agility and the numbing slime for thick scales, sharp horns on its head, and greater maximum speed. Fully armored in obsinite, their riders are now able to brace their spears for greater impact on the charge. Their horns are also capped with spikes.
Salamander: Predatory creatures sizing up at 15 feet long. Spits an extremely volatile liquid that ignites on contact with air, resulting in a stream of napalm-like flaming goo that sticks to whatever it touches and is nearly impossible to extinguish. Moves equally quickly on land and water. Now fully armored in obsinite plate and fitted with blades on its claws.
Razordon: An herbivorous creature slightly larger than a Salamander. Covered in bony spikes, and when agitated will flex muscles that cause the spikes to be shot out at tremendous speeds. The spines themselves are hollow and covered in tiny barbs, making them stick in their targets and cause further damage upon removal. When trained and used as short-range artillery, can fire their spines in a specific direction, and fire only a specific portion of their spikes. Possesses a store of replacement spikes within its shell much like shark teeth, allowing for multiple volleys. Their vulnerable bellies have been armored in obsinite, allowing them some measure of protection if an adversary approaches too close.
Carnosaur: A monstrous therapod standing twenty feet tall. Possesses extremely tough scales, powerful muscles granting it great agility for a beast its size, and grasping frontal claws with thumbs. Very intelligent, capable of learning and independently executing battle tactics. The ultimate in lizardmen superheavy cavalry. Armored in obsinite plate and fitted with bladed gauntlets in battle.
Troglodon: Quadrupedal warbeast slightly smaller than a carnosaur. Blind, but possesses keen senses including the ability to sense the movement of nearby organisms. Extremely nimble despite its size, it injects prey with a potent venom that has magical properties, and can also spit this venom. Frequently paired with a skink priest, and is steadfastly loyal to its master once bonded. Fitted with obsinite armor, their flesh has become even more pale.
Dread Saurian: At least half again as large as a carnosaur, but capable of growing larger, the Dread Saurian is an apex predator even amongst Lustria's vicious ecosystem. Possesses latent psyker power that it instinctively uses to augment its blows and heal its wounds. When equipped with slann-forged magic armor, this power can be drawn out and used to manifest a variety of effects, each themed around a different Old One.
Coatl: A gigantic serpent with multicolored scales, feathered wings, and a head resembling a dragon's. It is highly intelligent and a natural magic user, capable of instinctively reshaping the terrain around it according to its will and warping space in a limited volume to both avoid attacks and destroy foes. Seen as heralds of Tepok, they are not mounted or tamed, and aid lizardmen forces on their own volition.
Loquatl: An extremely large, ferocious avian predator of comparable combat prowess to the younger dragons of Mallus, sans the fire breath. Loquatl are strong enough to bear a squad of skinks upon their backs, allowing them to serve as mobile firing platforms. They are armored in obsinite and have their claws and horns capped with bronze spikes. Currently only present in Hexoatl.
Huantitzli: Known as Vine Stalkers, Huantzitli are like a nightmarish cross between a frog and octopus that use dozens of sticky, slimy tentacles to clamber around like a spider. They can squeeze through incredibly small spaces, construct webs of mucous to use as impromptu vantage points, and spit said mucous in corrosive globs that swiftly harden into a stone-like substance, dissolving the flesh of their prey. They primarily accompany the Chameleon Skinks in their duties. Currently only present in Hexoatl.
Titanic Creatures: Warbeasts comparable to the size of cities, these are armies unto themselves.
Thunder Lizards: Rare sights for any lizardman, Thunder Lizards are colossal specimens, standing several hundred meters high at the shoulder and their length stretching over a kilometer long. They resemble a cross between a komodo dragon and a brontosaurus, and ceaselessly tread across the planet in search of food. When they find a creature their instincts deem a threat, their undersides light up as their organs generate an immense gout of plasma that they fire out of their mouths in the form of a devastating laser. Currently uncontrollable save for the combined efforts of many slann, which may sway their titanic course.
Quango: A creature only matched by the Thunder Lizards in scale, a titanic sky eel with midnight blue skin and diaphanous fins that split light into prismatic radiance. It lives in the upper atmosphere, and can strike at its foes from afar by generating exotic radiation bursts and a liquid that instantly freezes any liquid it comes into contact with. Only the slann may hope to direct this creature in any capacity.
Baseline Enchantments: All lizardmen equipment is significantly more durable, and may have properties such as weight, tensile strength, and friction selectively altered during its creation to a moderate degree. Allows for the widespread usage of monomolecular edges where advantageous. Not dependent on the Geomantic Web for functioning.
Geomantic Enchantments: A network of spells that enables all lizardmen equipment within the Geomantic Web to run at maximum capacity so long as power is available. Allows shields to hold indefinitely unless broken, and magical artifacts to utilize constant activation of their spells, including Glyph Bombs. Effects scale with Geomantic Web and distributed enchantments – currently Magnitude 3.
Materials: A list of what materials lizardmen equipment is commonly made out of.
Obsinite: A magically-forged black stone created by breaking down receptive material and infusing it with a specifically calibrated, multi-Wind enchantment to grant it both the monomolecular sharpness of obsidian and greater strength than steel. Obsinite is a potent material used in a large variety of lizardmen armor and weapons, although it is very heavy.
Bronze: The tablets of the Forging Districts came imprinted with a specialized recipe for creating a strong, long-lasting variety of bronze that the smith kroxigors immediately comprehended. It is used where the weight of obsinite would be a detriment, but protection is still required.
Gold: Many of the items of the lizardmen have gold symbols or lining shaped into them during their making. Although soft and pliable enough to be useless as armor, alchemically treated gold is a natural conductor of magical energy, allowing for items to be imbued with magical power.
Melee Weapons: Weapons designed primarily for killing in close-quarters combat.
Obsinite Weaponry: Swords, axes, maces, spears, and other close-combat weapons made out of obsinite. These weapons often blend multiple roles, such as the halberds wielded by Temple Guard or the axe-swords swung by Saurus Warriors. They have been enchanted with a bevy of passive buffs, allowing their edges to attain monomolecular thinness without breaking down, decreasing their weight while keeping their mass the same, and increasing their tensile strength enough to cleave through stone.
Temple Guard Armament: Distinct from standard saurus weaponry, Temple Guard weapons are enchanted to better serve their role as guardians and protectors. Consisting primarily of long-handled halberds and maces, these weapons are infused with magic that guides their movement to better deflect projectiles or other attacks, and in some cases can even attract them towards itself, diverting them from their previous course.
Gun-Cleavers: A variety of implements either designed for attachment to the guns of the lizardmen or built into the weapons themselves. Bayonets turning rifles into spears, collapsible handles allowing axe-heads to protrude, slots for braces of bullets to be inserted into and act as makeshift warhammers.
Ranged Weapons: Weapons designed primarily for killing from afar.
Automatic Rifles: Long, blocky guns made of obsinite and inlaid with gold filigree. These guns utilize a series of enchanted bronze mechanisms to shape bullets out of an inserted ammunition block, allowing them to fire fusillades of bullets at speeds previously only matched by the Mochantian orks. They are imbued with a number of subsidiary enchantments to improve the velocity, stopping power, range, and accuracy of their shots, and are wielded by skinks, saurus, and kroxigors, their size increasing with each step. Kroxigor-grade rifles could be mistaken for small cannons, and fire sharpened spears of obsinite nearly 30 centimeters long.
Sniper Rifles: Extended rifles with significantly more gold ornamentation, including a number of glittering rings affixed to the barrel. These devices have a significantly extended range compared to the ordinary models, friction and wind-resisting enchantments allowing their rounds to kill a target from multiple kilometers away. They are equipped with a number of specialized lenses, each attuned to a singular wind of magic that highlights certain features of the battlefield to whoever looks through them. These effects can stack and blend when multiple lenses are employed, and a skilled enough sniper can use them to make shots that would otherwise be impossible, sending their bullets coursing around obstacles and through small gaps. Wielded primarily by chameleon skinks.
Blow-Darts: Dipped in poison and shot out of pipes, these darts are barbed to more easily penetrate and tear flesh. The pipes have been enchanted to boost the velocity of the darts, which have been redesigned with denser materials that weigh the same to increase their penetration. Wielded almost exclusively by chameleon skinks.
Defensive Equipment: Equipment meant to protect the user.
Obsinite Shields: Made from a shaped block of obsinite, with metal handles affixed to the back, and spikes to the front. Good for both blocking hits that would have damaged the wielder and bashing skulls in under its weight. Their weight has been massively reduced via enchantment, and their tensile strength has increased significantly, allowing them to block stronger hits while retaining their offensive capabilities thanks to their mass being unaffected.
Obsinite-Bronze Plate Mail: Form-fitting obsinite plates with enchanted bronze mail between allowing for full range of motion, this armor is infused with a variety of minor spells allowing for the heavy obsinite to be worn as if it were lightweight metal or hide. Worn by nearly every lizardman in direct combat roles.
Golden Glyph Armor: Similar to standard obsinite plate, but with intricate golden glyphs worked into the edges of each plate. These glyphs allow for the channeling of magical energy either into or out of the body, letting mages cast more efficiently and for those wearing this armor to be enhanced by others, temporarily increasing their capabilities in a variety of ways. Worn primarily by skink priests and temple guard.
Enchanted Skull Helmets: Only worn by temple guard. Grant the wearer increased perception, reaction time, and speed.
Fireblood Plates: A set of ten scale-replacing stone plates affixed to a lizardman, these talismans contain an enchantment capable of turning the nervous system to plasma, contained only by the interlinking of each Plate to its fellows. If an infestation attempt occurs, the links are broken temporarily and the enchantment unleashed, subsiding when the attacking Ayacmanik is ash. Overuse of this feature, such as by repeated infestations in a short span of time, will kill the affected lizardman. Additionally, they work best inside the Geomantic Web, where it is possible to draw on their power. Outside of it, the possibility exists for their charge to be worn out over long periods of time, rendering them ineffective until recharged. This is, however, only a slim possibility.
Magical Trinkets: Minor magical creations, with their effects usually limited to a minor enhancement of the user in some way.
Old One Charms: Necklaces with a centerpiece wrought in the image of an Old One's symbol, each grants a minor enhancement to that Old One's portfolio - Chotec grants a boost to vigor and a minor resistance to heat, Tepok lets the wearer percieve, but not alter, magical phenomena, etc. A common sight, nearly every lizardman bears one or more.
Wind Charms: Rings, necklaces, bracelets, and other artifacts resembling jewelry that are infused with minor protective charms based off a specific wind of magic - heat resistance for Chamon, occasional flashes of immediate foresight for Azyr, and so on. A common sight, nearly every lizardman bears one or more.
Magical Equipment: Actively useful magical devices, capable of having a significant effect on personal combat.
Cube of Darkness: An apple-sized black cube that when correctly manipulated can absorb the energy of one magical attack, that it then spends a period of hours breaking down into its basest components. Can also be used to trap daemons. Moderately rare despite their ongoing production.
Glyph Spheres: Small bronze spheres carved with magical glyphs and banded with gold. When charged with sufficient amounts of magic, a glyph sphere can be used to generate a wide variety of deadly magical effects in a small area around them, effectively functioning as reusable magical grenades.
Lesser Eternity Keys: Used only by senior temple guard, these artifacts grant a lesser version of the time-slowing effect that each slann's Eternity Warden possesses, allowing the temple guard to blitz their opponents and obliterate them.
Magical Artifacts: Magical devices powerful enough to be relevant to entire battlefields.
Ark of Sotek: A stone box with spouts leading out of it, engraved with Sotek's symbols. When fires are stoked beneath it, an endless amount and variety of snakes pour out of the spouts, agitated by the heat and coursing towards the closest enemy. They possess magical venom. Can be part of defensive emplacements or mounted on a bastilodon.
Solar Engine: A yellow crystal mounted within a complex, glyph-laden apparatus. When activated, fires a potent magical laser focused through lenses on the front. Can fire in short bursts or sustain fire, but the longer it fires the more heat builds up, limiting maximum firing time for fear of damaging the firing apparatus. Can be part of defensive fortifications or carried onto the battlefield. Also used in large-scale building construction.
Revivification Crystal: A crystal saturated with potent healing energies, mounted in a focusing array that can direct its magic towards individuals or entire groups. Capable of rapidly sealing wounds, regrowing limbs, and even ressurecting the (very) recently dead, depending on the degree of focus. With the advent of weight-reducing enchantments, a team of skinks may now carry it if needed. Used on a wide dispersal setting to increase the growth rate of lizardmen crops.
Arcane Engine: A squat stone box-device that rumbles and glows from within. It contains a reservoir of stored magical power that it uses to power a preset spell for potentially days. It is most often used to project a magical shield, but can also be configured to sustain any area-of-effect spell, which it will cast in an area around the device itself. This allows it to be used in an offensive capacity, where it is mounted on a bastilodon and set to bathe the surrounding area in flame or electricity. They are a common sight in lizardmen cities, used to automate the repetitive casting of spells used in enchanting and obsinite production, among other things.
Glyph Bomb: A larger Glyph Sphere, 1 meter in diameter, with proportionately-increased impact upon detonation. Where a Sphere may destroy a squad of enemies if correctly placed, a Glyph Bomb is capable of vaporizing entire buildings or flattening city blocks, and they possess the same wide variety of potential effects that their smaller counterparts do.
Omen Mortar: A 3-meter hollow stone pyramid emblazoned with sigils of gold and gem-studded obsinite consoles. It fires 2-meter rectangles of obsinite that have been infused with destructive spells, and guides them to pre-determined targets with precognitive magic that allows them to swerve around obstacles and impediments. If given time to affix its targeting matrixes, it can bombard a location from several kilometers away with pinpoint accuracy.
Tempest Prisms: An azure counterpart to Solar Engines that can channel lightning and call down fierce storms when activated. Its surface drops in temperature with use, and will eventually begin to freeze its operators solid if overtaxed. For this reason they're often paired with Solar Engines, as their conflicting auras counterbalance each other. Used for anti-air purposes.
Fortifications: Magical constructions specifically meant to enhance the defensiveness of a temple-city.
Metropolis Preservation Barriers: A variant of the personal shield spell matrix utilized by slann to defend themselves, combined with void enchantment theory to allow the magical construct to sustain itself at far greater physical sizes and operate at much greater energy efficiency than would otherwise be possible. These factors allow the spell to be anchored into specially-constructed pylons built into the walls of a temple-city, powering the immense forcefield with the might of the Geomantic Web. Thus, the larger the city, the more energy reserves there are to draw upon, and the stronger the shield becomes. Duration that the shield can be held up is determined by overall Geomantic Web magnitude.
Sacred Sites: A variety of unique, extremely powerful artifacts tuned into the geomantic web, used to defend cities with esoteric abilities. Each city has an array of them, usually displaying effects according to each city's pre-existing proclivities.
Emerald Pools of Itza: A vast, mostly-underground complex of specialized spawning pools housing great numbers of tadpoles that function as a blank template. When a lizardmen soul connected to the Geomantic Web dies within the physical or conceptual space of Itza, it is caught by specialized aetheric harnesses and transplanted into a tadpole, which rapidly grows into an identical copy of that lizardman's body. This effectively allows for Itza to have infinite casualty replenishment, as it functions for dinosaurs as well.
Nightmare Engine of Xlanhuapec: A complex-many-layered polyhedron with a giant stone funnel atop it, the Nightmare Engine intakes the mists surrounding Xlanhuapec and extrudes it as magical constructs infused with the deepest fears of entities approaching the city with hostile intent. They are drawn to the mind of the entity their form was drawn from, and will swarm them, only dissolving back into mist once they are torn into shreds.
Yagoqua's Omnipresent Atlas: A weatherbeaten stone mosaic laid into the ground outside Yagoqua and engraved with carvings that shift and move and highlight themselves in differing colors. Its magic constantly maps and tracks the movement of everything within its area of effect, and transmits this data in real-time to the lizardmen within the city. This allows army formations to assemble and maneuver without words, artillery and mages to target their attacks with unerring accuracy, and makes enemy ambush or subterfuge around the city an impossibility.
Acceleration Capacitor of Muukhexla: The Acceleration Capacitor is a device that siphons excess kinetic energy from within the surrounding area - from the wind, the movement of the lizardmen, the rotational force of the planet - and stores it in a set of whirling gyroscopes. It then redistributes that force back to the city's lizardmen at opportune moments, allowing an attack to land with several thousand more pounds of force than normal, passively enhancing the workforce of the city, and protecting its inhabitants by forming temporary shields of pure force around their bodies when attacked.
Imposed Aura of Potec: This Sacred Site is comprised of a titanic lattice of stone containing a spherical region of space that has been metaphysically condensed until nothing but the purified essence of clarity and serenity remains within. When Tenqu'itzcal is in danger, the edifice opens and allows a pulse of supernatural calm to issue out across the city and its surroundings, infusing everything around it with such extremes of tranquility that all motion temporarily ceases - bullets halt in midair, spells become inert, and any foe stands unmoving. The defenders of the city are unaffected, allowing the lizardmen to slaughter their foes with impunity while the effect is active. Stronger enemies tend to break out of the effect more quickly, but nothing can go unaffected.
Territorial Typhoon Totem of Tzunki: A miniature lake was dug out to house this stone totem, which depicts one of Tzunki's more animalistic incarnations - a shape resembling a lizardman, with webbed fins extending from the face like a lion's mane and glittering yellow eyes with slitted pupils. It looms over the brackish water it resides in, the stone encrusted with brine and barnacle. Upon activation, the water in the lake is whipped up by intangible winds, forming a whirlpool that is then mirrored by the manifestation of a localized typhoon around Amamaniliztli. The rain propelled by this storm is supernaturally enhanced to be as sharp as obsinite, shredding any enemy that approaches to small bits, and the winds of the storm blow spells and spirits off course. Lizardmen defending the city are immune to these effects, walking through the storm as though it were a clear day.
Magmatic Infusion Pylon: Taking the form of a gigantic spike of ruby-encrusted gold driven deep into the earth, the Magmatic Infusion Pylon allows the lizardmen of Tletl'notec to harness the terrifying power of the fire beneath the earth. At a moment's notice, any lizardman in the city may summon a coating of magically-infused lava to wrap around themselves as armor or cast forth as a searing attack. The strength of this effect scales inversely with the duration of its summoning and how widely it is being utilized - an army may wreathe themselves in burning rock for minutes or hours at a time, while a single squad would be able to do so indefinitely.
Qotlpetl's Serpentine Idol: A gigantic ivory fang the size of a small hill, carved with savage pictographs of snakes devouring all the foes of the lizardmen. This white obelisk's aura infuses the flesh of every lizardman in the city, imbuing them with a varying catalogue of supernatural snake-associated traits. The most common of these is obscenely rapid healing that takes place via molting, allowing even severed limbs or otherwise mortal wounds to be healed within minutes.
Chotec's Burning Eye: A gargantuan mirror of gold and electrum mounted upon a rocky spire northeast of Hexoatl. It is fitted within an obsinite gyroscopic frame that allows it to turn to face the position of the sun, absorbing its energy for future use. At will, the artifact may call down beams of blazing sunfire across the Solar City's territory to blast and melt through any of its enemies. The strength of these beams and their duration can be scaled according to the internal logic of the artifact.
Orbital Clinometer of Tlaxtlan: A massive, inverted pyramid of stone embedded point-first in the earth that holds a reservoir of void-black water atop it, the fluid's depths shining with the outlines of Mochantian constellations. A chunk of moon-rock floats over the center of the water, shaped into a replica of Mochantia's moon. The Clinometer may, at will, either call down an existing piece of orbital debris with pinpoint accuracy upon an enemy of Tlaxtlan, or generate a projectile if none are currently in existence. The meteorites are swathed in a haze of magical force as they descend, the intensity of which increases with their size.
Yenehectua's Radiant Prism: A complex array of refractive crystals that all reflect and amplify the light of a central, massive pillar by means of refracting the pure light of the original prism into an exponentially larger array of frequencies, magnifying them, and sending them back to their source. Upon detection of a foe, the Radiant Prism may unleash a barrage of light rays to sear through their targets, or a variety of different effects depending on which colors and frequencies the bolt that strikes is made out of.
Forge Matrix of Chalkaro: An enormous bronze sphere made up of hundreds of thousands of interlocking parts, hovering upon a soot-blackened pedestal. Each component of the sphere is metaphysically tied to a piece of Chalkaro, and when under threat, the Forge Matrix may selectively imbue those pieces with energy and instruction, causing the city to act in its own defense. Guns and spikes will spontaneously grow or unfold from walls and flagstones, statues will animate and stride forth, and the very structure of the city will rearrange itself to better defend its inhabitants.
Breath-Stealing Spore: A honeycombed spire of rock several hundred meters high, the Breath-Stealing Spore emits a cloud of cloying, sour, purple-tasting spores that rest dormant in the air around the Garden City of Aztlan. When enemies approach, these spores activate, and great clouds of them swirl in the air, drawn to open skin and unprotected airways. The spores drain life force on contact, leaving desiccated husks behind when they are done their grim work. When fully saturated, they fall to the ground and leak their stored energy into the soil, allowing for new life to come from their reaping.
Restorative Timepiece: A large, hovering hourglass, crafted of jade and emerald, and filled with a glowing green liquid. When the Timepiece inverts itself, it sends a rush of healing energy across the scope of the City of Bones, mending the wounds of its lizardmen inhabitants. To its foes, it delivers the same, but the energy does not heal them, instead spontaneously generating tumors and supercharging the growth of parasites and plagues within their bodies. In extreme cases, the flesh of such foes will rebel against its own form, the cancer afflicting them literally reaching out and strangling them.
Discordant Archway: An archway of shattered stone that barely holds itself together, hovering suspended in place where the pieces simply cannot support each other. It projects a malign effect across Tekuanzi's territory that degrades a foe's ability to coordinate or cooperate with other beings. At first, this sows infighting, paranoia, and disorganization among enemies of the city, but progresses with continuing exposure, becoming an inability to recognize other beings at all, then their surroundings, and finally themselves. Eventually, a creature exposed to the Archway for long enough will simply stop functioning as their body's organs, cellular systems, and even thoughts fall apart into an incoherent mess.
Nightmare Engine of Xlanhuapec: A complex-many-layered polyhedron with a giant stone funnel atop it, the Nightmare Engine intakes the mists surrounding Xlanhuapec and extrudes it as magical constructs infused with the deepest fears of entities approaching the city with hostile intent. They are drawn to the mind of the entity their form was drawn from, and will swarm them, only dissolving back into mist once they are torn into shreds.
Yagoqua's Omnipresent Atlas: A weatherbeaten stone mosaic laid into the ground outside Yagoqua and engraved with carvings that shift and move and highlight themselves in differing colors. Its magic constantly maps and tracks the movement of everything within its area of effect, and transmits this data in real-time to the lizardmen within the city. This allows army formations to assemble and maneuver without words, artillery and mages to target their attacks with unerring accuracy, and makes enemy ambush or subterfuge around the city an impossibility.
Acceleration Capacitor of Muukhexla: The Acceleration Capacitor is a device that siphons excess kinetic energy from within the surrounding area - from the wind, the movement of the lizardmen, the rotational force of the planet - and stores it in a set of whirling gyroscopes. It then redistributes that force back to the city's lizardmen at opportune moments, allowing an attack to land with several thousand more pounds of force than normal, passively enhancing the workforce of the city, and protecting its inhabitants by forming temporary shields of pure force around their bodies when attacked.
Imposed Aura of Potec: This Sacred Site is comprised of a titanic lattice of stone containing a spherical region of space that has been metaphysically condensed until nothing but the purified essence of clarity and serenity remains within. When Tenqu'itzcal is in danger, the edifice opens and allows a pulse of supernatural calm to issue out across the city and its surroundings, infusing everything around it with such extremes of tranquility that all motion temporarily ceases - bullets halt in midair, spells become inert, and any foe stands unmoving. The defenders of the city are unaffected, allowing the lizardmen to slaughter their foes with impunity while the effect is active. Stronger enemies tend to break out of the effect more quickly, but nothing can go unaffected.
Territorial Typhoon Totem of Tzunki: A miniature lake was dug out to house this stone totem, which depicts one of Tzunki's more animalistic incarnations - a shape resembling a lizardman, with webbed fins extending from the face like a lion's mane and glittering yellow eyes with slitted pupils. It looms over the brackish water it resides in, the stone encrusted with brine and barnacle. Upon activation, the water in the lake is whipped up by intangible winds, forming a whirlpool that is then mirrored by the manifestation of a localized typhoon around Amamaniliztli. The rain propelled by this storm is supernaturally enhanced to be as sharp as obsinite, shredding any enemy that approaches to small bits, and the winds of the storm blow spells and spirits off course. Lizardmen defending the city are immune to these effects, walking through the storm as though it were a clear day.
Magmatic Infusion Pylon: Taking the form of a gigantic spike of ruby-encrusted gold driven deep into the earth, the Magmatic Infusion Pylon allows the lizardmen of Tletl'notec to harness the terrifying power of the fire beneath the earth. At a moment's notice, any lizardman in the city may summon a coating of magically-infused lava to wrap around themselves as armor or cast forth as a searing attack. The strength of this effect scales inversely with the duration of its summoning and how widely it is being utilized - an army may wreathe themselves in burning rock for minutes or hours at a time, while a single squad would be able to do so indefinitely.
Qotlpetl's Serpentine Idol: A gigantic ivory fang the size of a small hill, carved with savage pictographs of snakes devouring all the foes of the lizardmen. This white obelisk's aura infuses the flesh of every lizardman in the city, imbuing them with a varying catalogue of supernatural snake-associated traits. The most common of these is obscenely rapid healing that takes place via molting, allowing even severed limbs or otherwise mortal wounds to be healed within minutes.
Chotec's Burning Eye: A gargantuan mirror of gold and electrum mounted upon a rocky spire northeast of Hexoatl. It is fitted within an obsinite gyroscopic frame that allows it to turn to face the position of the sun, absorbing its energy for future use. At will, the artifact may call down beams of blazing sunfire across the Solar City's territory to blast and melt through any of its enemies. The strength of these beams and their duration can be scaled according to the internal logic of the artifact.
Orbital Clinometer of Tlaxtlan: A massive, inverted pyramid of stone embedded point-first in the earth that holds a reservoir of void-black water atop it, the fluid's depths shining with the outlines of Mochantian constellations. A chunk of moon-rock floats over the center of the water, shaped into a replica of Mochantia's moon. The Clinometer may, at will, either call down an existing piece of orbital debris with pinpoint accuracy upon an enemy of Tlaxtlan, or generate a projectile if none are currently in existence. The meteorites are swathed in a haze of magical force as they descend, the intensity of which increases with their size.
Yenehectua's Radiant Prism: A complex array of refractive crystals that all reflect and amplify the light of a central, massive pillar by means of refracting the pure light of the original prism into an exponentially larger array of frequencies, magnifying them, and sending them back to their source. Upon detection of a foe, the Radiant Prism may unleash a barrage of light rays to sear through their targets, or a variety of different effects depending on which colors and frequencies the bolt that strikes is made out of.
Forge Matrix of Chalkaro: An enormous bronze sphere made up of hundreds of thousands of interlocking parts, hovering upon a soot-blackened pedestal. Each component of the sphere is metaphysically tied to a piece of Chalkaro, and when under threat, the Forge Matrix may selectively imbue those pieces with energy and instruction, causing the city to act in its own defense. Guns and spikes will spontaneously grow or unfold from walls and flagstones, statues will animate and stride forth, and the very structure of the city will rearrange itself to better defend its inhabitants.
Breath-Stealing Spore: A honeycombed spire of rock several hundred meters high, the Breath-Stealing Spore emits a cloud of cloying, sour, purple-tasting spores that rest dormant in the air around the Garden City of Aztlan. When enemies approach, these spores activate, and great clouds of them swirl in the air, drawn to open skin and unprotected airways. The spores drain life force on contact, leaving desiccated husks behind when they are done their grim work. When fully saturated, they fall to the ground and leak their stored energy into the soil, allowing for new life to come from their reaping.
Restorative Timepiece: A large, hovering hourglass, crafted of jade and emerald, and filled with a glowing green liquid. When the Timepiece inverts itself, it sends a rush of healing energy across the scope of the City of Bones, mending the wounds of its lizardmen inhabitants. To its foes, it delivers the same, but the energy does not heal them, instead spontaneously generating tumors and supercharging the growth of parasites and plagues within their bodies. In extreme cases, the flesh of such foes will rebel against its own form, the cancer afflicting them literally reaching out and strangling them.
Discordant Archway: An archway of shattered stone that barely holds itself together, hovering suspended in place where the pieces simply cannot support each other. It projects a malign effect across Tekuanzi's territory that degrades a foe's ability to coordinate or cooperate with other beings. At first, this sows infighting, paranoia, and disorganization among enemies of the city, but progresses with continuing exposure, becoming an inability to recognize other beings at all, then their surroundings, and finally themselves. Eventually, a creature exposed to the Archway for long enough will simply stop functioning as their body's organs, cellular systems, and even thoughts fall apart into an incoherent mess.
Mechanical Devices: Technological devices that do not fit into any of the above categories.
Bolt Throwers: A gargantuan bow that requires a Kroxigor to draw, these devices are aimed by marksmen skinks and fire arrows that are closer in size to spears at tremendous speeds. Most commonly seen mounted on the walls of temple-cities, or on top of older bastiladons and stegadons. Their bolts have been converted to gargantuan obsinite harpoons, capable of cracking solid stone upon impact.
Monument Cannon: A great looming obsinite cannon the size of a kroxigor, clad in gold and bronze and gems. It is mounted upon a rotating base that allows it to aim anywhere from slightly below level to straight upwards, though they spend most of their time pointing at the sky. A small gunner's seat rests at the base for its skink operator, filled with complex glowing readouts and arrangements of levers. It fires obsinite spears that are drawn to their targets with amplified tracking enchantments, which shatter into a cloud of deadly shrapnel just before impact. Also known as Shrieking Serpents for the distinct high-pitched tone its ammunition gives off when accelerated to high velocities.
Ayotlbotl: The Turtle Bunkers are effectively a modification of pre-existing lizardmen fortification designs, differing only in the addition of multiple sets of wheels on their undercarriage and attachment points for warbeasts such as Bastilodons to be hooked onto. While not swift by the standards of the vehicles of the orks, their ability to thusly move on the field of battle is a not-inconsiderable advantage, allowing groups of lizardmen to advance under enemy fire where Umbrella Shields cannot be spared.
Parraxuda-Class Hunter Ship: A sharp spearhead-shaped ship that cuts through the ocean with ease thanks to enchantments of speed upon its hull and twin banks of oars. It may boost its speed temporarily through the use of an Arcane Engine, allowing it to close with enemy vessels and fire a harpoon from the cannon on its prow. Once anchored, the Parraxuda will reel itself in and board the enemy with its complement of Saurus troops, quickly and efficiently disabling whatever enemy threatens lizardmen naval dominance.
Turtle-Class Transport Ship: A gargantuan, hollow block of stone the size of a barracks, fitted with spellcrafted sailcloth and both an Azyr and Ghyran skink priest to allow it to move through the oceans. This ship is built for a single purpose - to safely transport massive amounts of supplies, soldiers, or both from one ocean-facing destination to another. Its design reflects this simplicity of thought, with no time or effort spared on other frivolities that would impact its function.
Warbeasts: Any of the tamed jungle beasts utilized in battle.
Bastilodon: A very large, stubborn, armored warbeast. Possesses a natural shell made up of several layers of extremely thick, tough plates denser than stone. Has a bone club at the end of its tail it uses to smash enemies. Now clad in shaped plates of obsinite, the durability of the bastiladons has shot up even further. Its bone club has also been reinforced with metal spikes for additional damage.
Stegadon: An extremely ill-tempered warbeast the size of a bus with a collection of very large, sharp horns protruding from its frontal faceplate and a propensity to charge at whatever is annoying it at high speed. With the advent of the forging districts, it is armored in obsnite and its horns have been capped with jagged spikes.
Terradon: A flying, pony-sized dinosaur with leathery wings and a pointed beak. They are extremely quick and agile, with a propensity for dive-bombing their prey.Save for their wings, they have been armored nearly entirely in obsinite, their beak and talons capped with sharp bronze to stab and cut. In battle they carry bombs to drop on the enemy.
Ripperdactyl: A foul-tempered, scaled flying beast that travels in packs and preys on anything it sees, even attacking creatures that far outsize it. Extremely persistent, often following and harassing prey for days once it has the scent. Particularly enraged by the scent of a particular Lustrian toad which preys on its eggs, and will relentlessly attack anything painted with that scent. Their claws have been armored with sharp metal, and their bodies are encased in obsinite.
Cold One: Pack-hunting raptors that exude a numbing slime from their scales and in their saliva. Lizardmen are immune to it, but most any other creature exposed to it will develop localized paralysis around the site of exposure. Very agile, vicious, and single-minded, they instinctively operate as a group even in battle, making for effective light cavalry. They are armored primarily in bronze mail which is soaked with their slime, but their extremities are clad in obsinite.
Horned One: A larger breed of Cold One that trades some agility and the numbing slime for thick scales, sharp horns on its head, and greater maximum speed. Fully armored in obsinite, their riders are now able to brace their spears for greater impact on the charge. Their horns are also capped with spikes.
Salamander: Predatory creatures sizing up at 15 feet long. Spits an extremely volatile liquid that ignites on contact with air, resulting in a stream of napalm-like flaming goo that sticks to whatever it touches and is nearly impossible to extinguish. Moves equally quickly on land and water. Now fully armored in obsinite plate and fitted with blades on its claws.
Razordon: An herbivorous creature slightly larger than a Salamander. Covered in bony spikes, and when agitated will flex muscles that cause the spikes to be shot out at tremendous speeds. The spines themselves are hollow and covered in tiny barbs, making them stick in their targets and cause further damage upon removal. When trained and used as short-range artillery, can fire their spines in a specific direction, and fire only a specific portion of their spikes. Possesses a store of replacement spikes within its shell much like shark teeth, allowing for multiple volleys. Their vulnerable bellies have been armored in obsinite, allowing them some measure of protection if an adversary approaches too close.
Carnosaur: A monstrous therapod standing twenty feet tall. Possesses extremely tough scales, powerful muscles granting it great agility for a beast its size, and grasping frontal claws with thumbs. Very intelligent, capable of learning and independently executing battle tactics. The ultimate in lizardmen superheavy cavalry. Armored in obsinite plate and fitted with bladed gauntlets in battle.
Troglodon: Quadrupedal warbeast slightly smaller than a carnosaur. Blind, but possesses keen senses including the ability to sense the movement of nearby organisms. Extremely nimble despite its size, it injects prey with a potent venom that has magical properties, and can also spit this venom. Frequently paired with a skink priest, and is steadfastly loyal to its master once bonded. Fitted with obsinite armor, their flesh has become even more pale.
Dread Saurian: At least half again as large as a carnosaur, but capable of growing larger, the Dread Saurian is an apex predator even amongst Lustria's vicious ecosystem. Possesses latent psyker power that it instinctively uses to augment its blows and heal its wounds. When equipped with slann-forged magic armor, this power can be drawn out and used to manifest a variety of effects, each themed around a different Old One.
Configuration of Chotec: Envelops the Saurian in an aura of white-hot flame that can be manipulated according to its will. Allows it to breathe fire.
Crystalline Eye of Tepok: Grants the ability to turn the Saurian's form ethereal, rendering it immune to non-magical damage and letting it selectively phase through obstacles. Passively gives its attacks bonus magical damage.
Golden Shroud of Tlazcotl: An aura of Hysh-based magic blooms from the Dread Saurian, so bright it can blind those who gaze on it. Daemons and other hostile magical enemies are burnt by the aura, and dark magic within the area of effect is weakened or destroyed. If fitted with special lenses, it can focus the light of this aura into piercing lasers.
Quetzl's Flawless Glyph: Imbues the Dread Saurian's flesh with a density and toughness exceeding that of any terrestrial metal, rendering it massively resistant to physical damage. Additionally, its apparent mass is increased manyfold to other entities, rendering it nearly impossible to impede and granting its strikes immense kinetic energy.
Huanchi's Shadow Rebus: Renders the Saurian nearly unnoticeable through perception-based magic, allowing it to sneak to and ambush from places a gargantuan predator should not logically be able to. Additionally, it still retains this concealment even in pitched combat, making fighting it an excersise in bewilderment.
Red Fang of Tlanxla: The Dread Saurian's claws and fangs turn blood red and grow jagged edges. It gains a tremendous aptitude for combat, attacking faster, with greater strength, and utilizing instinctive skill rivalling any saurus. More terrifyingly so, it also gains an unspoken understanding of battlefield tactics, allowing it to utilize its potent talents to their fullest effect.
Itzl's Resplendent Crest: A great crest of bone grows from the Saurian's head, marking it as blessed by the King of Beasts. Wild creatures find themsleves drawn to its presence, and will act along with it, resulting in them becoming the heads of massive swarms of jungle creatures.
Serene Pearl of Potec: The air around the Dread Saurian is supernaturally calmed, and any hostile magic that nears it fizzles out under its flawless aura. It is thus rendered virtually immune to magical attack, and greatly weakens daemons in its area of effect, with the weakest of them being outright snuffed out.
Tzunki's Aquatic Cloak: The Dread Saurian is rendered far quicker and more agile in water, and can selectively exude an 'after-image' of water when it moves, resulting in this bonus always being active and shielding it from wounds. It can use this ability offensively as well, sending iron-hard whips of water towards its enemies with lashes of its tail.
Killing Mind of Tlazcotl: The Dread Saurian is rendered utterly invulnerable to any negative mental effects, and can keep fighting even through grievous injuries that would kill even other Saurians. It exudes a potent aura of fear that paralyzes all but the strongest of wills and can shatter enemy morale with naught but a roar.
Xhotl's Fated Instant: The Dread Saurian is blessed by the Old Ones, their attention bending fate itself. This manifests in a variety of ways - projectiles fired at it will miss by inches regardless of aim, its strikes will consistently hit vulnerable spots on its target, and enemies seeking to slay it will find their fingers fumbling, their feet tripping over nothing, and their equipment breaking down or jamming at the worst possible moment.
Crystalline Eye of Tepok: Grants the ability to turn the Saurian's form ethereal, rendering it immune to non-magical damage and letting it selectively phase through obstacles. Passively gives its attacks bonus magical damage.
Golden Shroud of Tlazcotl: An aura of Hysh-based magic blooms from the Dread Saurian, so bright it can blind those who gaze on it. Daemons and other hostile magical enemies are burnt by the aura, and dark magic within the area of effect is weakened or destroyed. If fitted with special lenses, it can focus the light of this aura into piercing lasers.
Quetzl's Flawless Glyph: Imbues the Dread Saurian's flesh with a density and toughness exceeding that of any terrestrial metal, rendering it massively resistant to physical damage. Additionally, its apparent mass is increased manyfold to other entities, rendering it nearly impossible to impede and granting its strikes immense kinetic energy.
Huanchi's Shadow Rebus: Renders the Saurian nearly unnoticeable through perception-based magic, allowing it to sneak to and ambush from places a gargantuan predator should not logically be able to. Additionally, it still retains this concealment even in pitched combat, making fighting it an excersise in bewilderment.
Red Fang of Tlanxla: The Dread Saurian's claws and fangs turn blood red and grow jagged edges. It gains a tremendous aptitude for combat, attacking faster, with greater strength, and utilizing instinctive skill rivalling any saurus. More terrifyingly so, it also gains an unspoken understanding of battlefield tactics, allowing it to utilize its potent talents to their fullest effect.
Itzl's Resplendent Crest: A great crest of bone grows from the Saurian's head, marking it as blessed by the King of Beasts. Wild creatures find themsleves drawn to its presence, and will act along with it, resulting in them becoming the heads of massive swarms of jungle creatures.
Serene Pearl of Potec: The air around the Dread Saurian is supernaturally calmed, and any hostile magic that nears it fizzles out under its flawless aura. It is thus rendered virtually immune to magical attack, and greatly weakens daemons in its area of effect, with the weakest of them being outright snuffed out.
Tzunki's Aquatic Cloak: The Dread Saurian is rendered far quicker and more agile in water, and can selectively exude an 'after-image' of water when it moves, resulting in this bonus always being active and shielding it from wounds. It can use this ability offensively as well, sending iron-hard whips of water towards its enemies with lashes of its tail.
Killing Mind of Tlazcotl: The Dread Saurian is rendered utterly invulnerable to any negative mental effects, and can keep fighting even through grievous injuries that would kill even other Saurians. It exudes a potent aura of fear that paralyzes all but the strongest of wills and can shatter enemy morale with naught but a roar.
Xhotl's Fated Instant: The Dread Saurian is blessed by the Old Ones, their attention bending fate itself. This manifests in a variety of ways - projectiles fired at it will miss by inches regardless of aim, its strikes will consistently hit vulnerable spots on its target, and enemies seeking to slay it will find their fingers fumbling, their feet tripping over nothing, and their equipment breaking down or jamming at the worst possible moment.
Coatl: A gigantic serpent with multicolored scales, feathered wings, and a head resembling a dragon's. It is highly intelligent and a natural magic user, capable of instinctively reshaping the terrain around it according to its will and warping space in a limited volume to both avoid attacks and destroy foes. Seen as heralds of Tepok, they are not mounted or tamed, and aid lizardmen forces on their own volition.
Loquatl: An extremely large, ferocious avian predator of comparable combat prowess to the younger dragons of Mallus, sans the fire breath. Loquatl are strong enough to bear a squad of skinks upon their backs, allowing them to serve as mobile firing platforms. They are armored in obsinite and have their claws and horns capped with bronze spikes. Currently only present in Hexoatl.
Huantitzli: Known as Vine Stalkers, Huantzitli are like a nightmarish cross between a frog and octopus that use dozens of sticky, slimy tentacles to clamber around like a spider. They can squeeze through incredibly small spaces, construct webs of mucous to use as impromptu vantage points, and spit said mucous in corrosive globs that swiftly harden into a stone-like substance, dissolving the flesh of their prey. They primarily accompany the Chameleon Skinks in their duties. Currently only present in Hexoatl.
Titanic Creatures: Warbeasts comparable to the size of cities, these are armies unto themselves.
Thunder Lizards: Rare sights for any lizardman, Thunder Lizards are colossal specimens, standing several hundred meters high at the shoulder and their length stretching over a kilometer long. They resemble a cross between a komodo dragon and a brontosaurus, and ceaselessly tread across the planet in search of food. When they find a creature their instincts deem a threat, their undersides light up as their organs generate an immense gout of plasma that they fire out of their mouths in the form of a devastating laser. Currently uncontrollable save for the combined efforts of many slann, which may sway their titanic course.
Quango: A creature only matched by the Thunder Lizards in scale, a titanic sky eel with midnight blue skin and diaphanous fins that split light into prismatic radiance. It lives in the upper atmosphere, and can strike at its foes from afar by generating exotic radiation bursts and a liquid that instantly freezes any liquid it comes into contact with. Only the slann may hope to direct this creature in any capacity.
Eightfold Winds: A key foundational element of lizardmen magical theory. The Eight Winds are a system wherein the potential energy of the Warp is divided into eight separate spectrums, or Winds, each of which manifests, embodies, and utilizes a variety of concepts, substances and emotional states. If properly utilized, they are a safer method of manifesting magical power than drawing on the raw substance of the Warp, and their effects may be combined to craft enchantments greater than the sum of their parts. Beings unable to maintain multiple simultaneous streams of thought or emotional states are limited to wielding one Wind at a time, lest the energies congeal into Dhar, an unnatural and forbidden form of magic. Additionally, improper channeling of a Wind can lead to conceptually-aligned mutations called Arcane Marks forming on the user's body and soul, making it far more difficult to wield any Wind but that of the Mark. This lore is used by all lizardmen spellcasters.
Qhyash: The product of harmoniously weaving multiple Winds together into a single spell without blending them, Qhyash is capable of achieving results that are greater than the sum of its components. It requires significant focus and a mastery of all eight Winds to be properly utilized, but grants a practitioner an extreme variety of potential effects to utilize in their casting. While many spells make use of all eight Winds, an equally large number use a lesser blend, depending on the desired result. This renders a master of Qhyash both versatile enough to counter most magical threats, and powerful enough to neutralize them. It is used in a limited format by fully staffed Skink Priest circles, and had been passed down to the asur of Ulthuan in ancient days.
Tepoq'xlata: Otherwise known as True Qhyash, this is the most basic level of magic practiced by the slann mage-priests. This form of Qhyash involves far more precision and detail than its watered-down variants. Minute amounts of each Wind are patterned on top of each other in intricate formulae, utilizing obscure conceptual connections and patterns to cause spells to help construct themselves. Precise shades of each Wind are used, drawing upon individual concepts within each Wind's purview to allow for more synergistic blending without risking Dhar creation. The density and complexity of spells using this method is vastly greater than what would otherwise be possible - where an ordinary Qhyash spell would likely utilize eight strands of magic, a True Qhyash weave could incorporate anywhere from several dozen to hundreds of individual notes of magic. This form of magic is only used by the slann, as no other known being possesses the mental strength and flexibility to properly control it. Many of the other fields of magic the slann utilize are merely differing applications of True Qhyash, rather than separate disciplines entirely.
Dhar: The antithesis of Qhyash, Dhar is the act of crushing and blending together myriad bits of Warp energy into a focused shape with nothing but will. While more direct in its usage than other methods, Dhar creates metaphysically unstable spells that are controlled only by the caster's mental fortitude. Its energies have a tendency to curdle and taint their surroundings with metaphysically stagnant concepts, and have a high probability of inducing mental, physical, and spiritual mutations simply by their use. The lizardmen know enough of the workings of Dhar to counter and destabilize its manifestations, but do not make use of it.
Basic Divination: The Immaterium does not process time in a linear fashion, and so it is possible to search for visions of the past, future, and far-away places. The process of doing so is difficult and often tedious, requiring the practitioner to sort through many different possibilities before arriving at the correct vision. The lizardmen thus take a brute-force approach to the problem, relying on their mental fortitude to manually find whatever truth they seek. Only slann and elder skink priests of Azyr, the Celestial Wind, are capable of this, and are able to see short distances into the future and past. It is known that Adohi-Tegha, the eldest slann of Tlaxtlan now voyaging among the stars, had access to a more advanced form of this art.
Basic Mind Manipulation: This discipline encompasses telepathy, the direct manipulation of mental states, and the alteration of perception. It can be achieved through a variety of methods - Ulgu and Aqshy skink priests are capable of certain effects under the purview of their respective Winds, all lizardmen spellcasters are capable of using their Winds to convey simple attitudes and notions to other mages, and slann utilize telepathy, among other things, to link their minds in the Sublime Communion. Chaacalot, the Second Generation slann formerly residing in Xlanhuapec, was known to be capable of a number of sophisticated techniques in this field.
Biomancy: Covering the ability to manipulate the biology of oneself or others at will, biomancy is a delicate and difficult skill, particularly when reshaping other beings, for an unwilling soul will resist any change being wrought upon its vessel. Skink priests of Ghyran and Ghur are capable of biomancy, with the former being more varied and potent thanks to Ghyran's conceptual underpinning of life. Slann are also skilled flesh-shapers, capable of analyzing the biological makeup of other beings and making alterations on the molecular level with enough analysis.
Astral Projection: Requiring significant strength of spirit and comprehension of fundamental Immaterial concepts, Astral Projection is a discipline that allows the user to temporarily detach their soul from their body and transport it elsewhere. This can be used for reconnaissance, to enhance certain other forms of magic such as divination, and also as a form of temporary possession known as an Arcane Conduit. Slann utilize this to channel their powers through skink priests from miles away, allowing them to cast spells from afar with little loss of power and at no risk to themselves. Astral Projection is used only by slann.
Teleportation: An overarching term for moving from one location to another without crossing the intervening distance, there are many different forms of teleportation. The most simple, yet potentially dangerous is simply moving oneself through the Warp, where distance is irrelevant. The slann do this, relying on their immense defensive capabilities and mastery of Immaterial principles to move through the Warp with maximal efficiency. Elder skink priests are also capable of some forms of teleportation, most commonly involving dispersing their bodies into conglomerations of their Wind, which then reforms at the closest conceptually-aligned location to their desired destination. Priests of Azyr, for instance, may teleport in a burst of lightning from one hilltop to another.
Telekinesis: The ability to directly manipulate the physical world through little more than one's will. Slann are the primary lizardmen users of telekinesis, even the weakest of them able to levitate multi-ton boulders with ease or grasp individual particles of sand with a tendril of their mind. Skink priests of Azyr can use air currents to approximate these effects, and those of Chamon can manipulate the physical properties of most objects without touching them. They are speculated to be able to generate electromagnetic fields to move things, but as of yet none have reached the age where they are capable of this feat.
Conceptual Manipulation: A blanket term used to describe the ability of slann to grasp the embodied forms of certain concepts and change or remove them. This is mostly used in combat against daemons and spirits, the bodies of which are composed of congealed masses of certain concepts. By attacking the underlying essence making up the true forms of spiritual entities, the slann are thusly capable of disassembling them, thus permanently killing them. In the case of Chaos daemons, this also prevents the Warp energy that made up the daemon from immediately returning to the possession of their patron Power, instead dissolving it into the Warp proper. Huintenuchli, the once-ruler of Chaqua, was skilled in the process of tapping into particularly complex concepts for use in his magic.
Void Magic: A slann-exclusive discipline, Void Magic is the ability of utilizing various kinds of conceptual voids to form protective barriers, offensive channels, isolation chambers, and a wide variety of other effects. Most applications of void magic are used in conjunction with other disciplines - slann use it to enhance their magical shields by incorporating self-sustaining voids into the architecture of their shield spells, and to trace momentary pathways of metaphysically empty space from themselves to their targets, increasing the effective power of their offensive spells. Other uses exploit the self-sustaining nature of the voids, such as the Void Sanctums of the slann that allow for decades-long meditative states. The most significant application, however, is the ability to envelop other spells in a void in such a way that renders the enchantment self-sustaining - a discovery that is sure to lead to a great increase in the intricacy of enchantments that can be brought to bear by spellcasters and infused objects alike.
Geomancy: A difficult school of magic for even the slann, Geomancy is a highly advanced discipline comprising the mixing and exploitation of both real-space and Immaterial concepts and principles, allowing the caster to manipulate the fabric of reality to independently form magical effects with almost no actual output of energy. It is, in essence, casting without casting, the process of rooting oneself in the world so deeply that the natural processes of existence carry out the user's will without any effort. The immense difficulty in utilizing it is repaid with its immense potential - the most obvious use of Geomancy is in the catastrophically powerful Geomantic Rituals of the slann, but subtler, no less devastating applications exist. Against a versed practitioner of Geomancy, lesser casters can often do nothing but struggle as the world turns against them. Physical laws only apply selectively, any form of matter or energy can be used and manipulated in a near-unlimited variety of ways, and even the spells of enemy casters will often twist and rebel against their channelers, reshaping themselves as they are assembled into forms harmful only to their makers.
Lore of Sotek: A form of magic utilized by particularly devout adherents of Sotek, the bloody serpent god of war. Like all divine lores, this is not so much proper spellcasting as the ability to channel the power of the god in question through the priest, resulting in magic that is more restricted than conventional spells, limited to certain conceptual purviews corresponding with the deity, but often more potent within those boundaries. Sotek's lore covers Serpents, Venom, and Blood. Some example miracles of the Twin-Tailed One include turning the blood of themselves or others into venom, severely damaging those not blessed by Sotek. His priests may induce frenzied bloodlust in the faithful, strengthening their bodies and causing them to ignore wounds taken in battle. They can summon hordes of serpents to assail the enemy, coat their weapons in holy venom, and even heal grievous wounds by shedding their skin.
Lore of Ayotzl: Similarly to the Lore of Sotek, Ayotzl's magic involves the channeling of the Mist Swimmer's power through a devout mortal. The Death Turtle's power is thus restricted to the concepts of Numbness, Death, and the Ethereal. Some examples of these miracles include the summoning of mist that impedes sensory input and induces unconsciousness in those enveloped by it. Ayotzl's priests can forestall death from mortal wounds, break the minds of their foes with the certainty of their own demise, and induce a state of serene tranquility in the minds of themselves or others. The high priest Krom'tli has even demonstrated the ability to call upon those souls residing in Ayotzl's realm, bringing them back as temporary specters made of fog to defend the living. Ayotzl's other clergy have yet to attain this level of potency, however.
Geomantic Infrastructure: Made distinct from the discipline of Geomancy by its rooting in physical constructs, Geomantic Infrastructure is one of the key foundations holding up the lizardmen empire. Through careful alignment and tapping into metaphysical channels present in the material plane, lizardmen cities are capable of harnessing the colossal force present in the movement of continents, running this surge of energy through sets of enchantments that bridge the Immaterium and real-space. This ethereal machinery generates an impossible excess of power from nothing, feeding what is necessary back into the planet and using the rest to power a wide array of magical architecture. Passive anti-daemonic wards, enchantments that bolster the strength and endurance of every lizardman, great pools of clean mana, even minor spells that hold the stones of cities together without maintenance are all powered by the Web. It is a self-sustaining, immensely complex network of parts, capable of generating immense displays of power, foremost among them the great Geomantic Rituals of the slann. While not a discipline of magic in and of itself, it bears mentioning simply due to the sheer genius of its construction.
Relic Priests: The process by which the dead slann function is unknown, save for the fact that their spirits reside on the infinitely-thin border between life and death. Not much is known about them among the slann, save for Zaqunda, the Steward of Itza who now travels the stars.
Qhyash: The product of harmoniously weaving multiple Winds together into a single spell without blending them, Qhyash is capable of achieving results that are greater than the sum of its components. It requires significant focus and a mastery of all eight Winds to be properly utilized, but grants a practitioner an extreme variety of potential effects to utilize in their casting. While many spells make use of all eight Winds, an equally large number use a lesser blend, depending on the desired result. This renders a master of Qhyash both versatile enough to counter most magical threats, and powerful enough to neutralize them. It is used in a limited format by fully staffed Skink Priest circles, and had been passed down to the asur of Ulthuan in ancient days.
Tepoq'xlata: Otherwise known as True Qhyash, this is the most basic level of magic practiced by the slann mage-priests. This form of Qhyash involves far more precision and detail than its watered-down variants. Minute amounts of each Wind are patterned on top of each other in intricate formulae, utilizing obscure conceptual connections and patterns to cause spells to help construct themselves. Precise shades of each Wind are used, drawing upon individual concepts within each Wind's purview to allow for more synergistic blending without risking Dhar creation. The density and complexity of spells using this method is vastly greater than what would otherwise be possible - where an ordinary Qhyash spell would likely utilize eight strands of magic, a True Qhyash weave could incorporate anywhere from several dozen to hundreds of individual notes of magic. This form of magic is only used by the slann, as no other known being possesses the mental strength and flexibility to properly control it. Many of the other fields of magic the slann utilize are merely differing applications of True Qhyash, rather than separate disciplines entirely.
Dhar: The antithesis of Qhyash, Dhar is the act of crushing and blending together myriad bits of Warp energy into a focused shape with nothing but will. While more direct in its usage than other methods, Dhar creates metaphysically unstable spells that are controlled only by the caster's mental fortitude. Its energies have a tendency to curdle and taint their surroundings with metaphysically stagnant concepts, and have a high probability of inducing mental, physical, and spiritual mutations simply by their use. The lizardmen know enough of the workings of Dhar to counter and destabilize its manifestations, but do not make use of it.
Basic Divination: The Immaterium does not process time in a linear fashion, and so it is possible to search for visions of the past, future, and far-away places. The process of doing so is difficult and often tedious, requiring the practitioner to sort through many different possibilities before arriving at the correct vision. The lizardmen thus take a brute-force approach to the problem, relying on their mental fortitude to manually find whatever truth they seek. Only slann and elder skink priests of Azyr, the Celestial Wind, are capable of this, and are able to see short distances into the future and past. It is known that Adohi-Tegha, the eldest slann of Tlaxtlan now voyaging among the stars, had access to a more advanced form of this art.
Basic Mind Manipulation: This discipline encompasses telepathy, the direct manipulation of mental states, and the alteration of perception. It can be achieved through a variety of methods - Ulgu and Aqshy skink priests are capable of certain effects under the purview of their respective Winds, all lizardmen spellcasters are capable of using their Winds to convey simple attitudes and notions to other mages, and slann utilize telepathy, among other things, to link their minds in the Sublime Communion. Chaacalot, the Second Generation slann formerly residing in Xlanhuapec, was known to be capable of a number of sophisticated techniques in this field.
Biomancy: Covering the ability to manipulate the biology of oneself or others at will, biomancy is a delicate and difficult skill, particularly when reshaping other beings, for an unwilling soul will resist any change being wrought upon its vessel. Skink priests of Ghyran and Ghur are capable of biomancy, with the former being more varied and potent thanks to Ghyran's conceptual underpinning of life. Slann are also skilled flesh-shapers, capable of analyzing the biological makeup of other beings and making alterations on the molecular level with enough analysis.
Astral Projection: Requiring significant strength of spirit and comprehension of fundamental Immaterial concepts, Astral Projection is a discipline that allows the user to temporarily detach their soul from their body and transport it elsewhere. This can be used for reconnaissance, to enhance certain other forms of magic such as divination, and also as a form of temporary possession known as an Arcane Conduit. Slann utilize this to channel their powers through skink priests from miles away, allowing them to cast spells from afar with little loss of power and at no risk to themselves. Astral Projection is used only by slann.
Teleportation: An overarching term for moving from one location to another without crossing the intervening distance, there are many different forms of teleportation. The most simple, yet potentially dangerous is simply moving oneself through the Warp, where distance is irrelevant. The slann do this, relying on their immense defensive capabilities and mastery of Immaterial principles to move through the Warp with maximal efficiency. Elder skink priests are also capable of some forms of teleportation, most commonly involving dispersing their bodies into conglomerations of their Wind, which then reforms at the closest conceptually-aligned location to their desired destination. Priests of Azyr, for instance, may teleport in a burst of lightning from one hilltop to another.
Telekinesis: The ability to directly manipulate the physical world through little more than one's will. Slann are the primary lizardmen users of telekinesis, even the weakest of them able to levitate multi-ton boulders with ease or grasp individual particles of sand with a tendril of their mind. Skink priests of Azyr can use air currents to approximate these effects, and those of Chamon can manipulate the physical properties of most objects without touching them. They are speculated to be able to generate electromagnetic fields to move things, but as of yet none have reached the age where they are capable of this feat.
Conceptual Manipulation: A blanket term used to describe the ability of slann to grasp the embodied forms of certain concepts and change or remove them. This is mostly used in combat against daemons and spirits, the bodies of which are composed of congealed masses of certain concepts. By attacking the underlying essence making up the true forms of spiritual entities, the slann are thusly capable of disassembling them, thus permanently killing them. In the case of Chaos daemons, this also prevents the Warp energy that made up the daemon from immediately returning to the possession of their patron Power, instead dissolving it into the Warp proper. Huintenuchli, the once-ruler of Chaqua, was skilled in the process of tapping into particularly complex concepts for use in his magic.
Void Magic: A slann-exclusive discipline, Void Magic is the ability of utilizing various kinds of conceptual voids to form protective barriers, offensive channels, isolation chambers, and a wide variety of other effects. Most applications of void magic are used in conjunction with other disciplines - slann use it to enhance their magical shields by incorporating self-sustaining voids into the architecture of their shield spells, and to trace momentary pathways of metaphysically empty space from themselves to their targets, increasing the effective power of their offensive spells. Other uses exploit the self-sustaining nature of the voids, such as the Void Sanctums of the slann that allow for decades-long meditative states. The most significant application, however, is the ability to envelop other spells in a void in such a way that renders the enchantment self-sustaining - a discovery that is sure to lead to a great increase in the intricacy of enchantments that can be brought to bear by spellcasters and infused objects alike.
Geomancy: A difficult school of magic for even the slann, Geomancy is a highly advanced discipline comprising the mixing and exploitation of both real-space and Immaterial concepts and principles, allowing the caster to manipulate the fabric of reality to independently form magical effects with almost no actual output of energy. It is, in essence, casting without casting, the process of rooting oneself in the world so deeply that the natural processes of existence carry out the user's will without any effort. The immense difficulty in utilizing it is repaid with its immense potential - the most obvious use of Geomancy is in the catastrophically powerful Geomantic Rituals of the slann, but subtler, no less devastating applications exist. Against a versed practitioner of Geomancy, lesser casters can often do nothing but struggle as the world turns against them. Physical laws only apply selectively, any form of matter or energy can be used and manipulated in a near-unlimited variety of ways, and even the spells of enemy casters will often twist and rebel against their channelers, reshaping themselves as they are assembled into forms harmful only to their makers.
Lore of Sotek: A form of magic utilized by particularly devout adherents of Sotek, the bloody serpent god of war. Like all divine lores, this is not so much proper spellcasting as the ability to channel the power of the god in question through the priest, resulting in magic that is more restricted than conventional spells, limited to certain conceptual purviews corresponding with the deity, but often more potent within those boundaries. Sotek's lore covers Serpents, Venom, and Blood. Some example miracles of the Twin-Tailed One include turning the blood of themselves or others into venom, severely damaging those not blessed by Sotek. His priests may induce frenzied bloodlust in the faithful, strengthening their bodies and causing them to ignore wounds taken in battle. They can summon hordes of serpents to assail the enemy, coat their weapons in holy venom, and even heal grievous wounds by shedding their skin.
Lore of Ayotzl: Similarly to the Lore of Sotek, Ayotzl's magic involves the channeling of the Mist Swimmer's power through a devout mortal. The Death Turtle's power is thus restricted to the concepts of Numbness, Death, and the Ethereal. Some examples of these miracles include the summoning of mist that impedes sensory input and induces unconsciousness in those enveloped by it. Ayotzl's priests can forestall death from mortal wounds, break the minds of their foes with the certainty of their own demise, and induce a state of serene tranquility in the minds of themselves or others. The high priest Krom'tli has even demonstrated the ability to call upon those souls residing in Ayotzl's realm, bringing them back as temporary specters made of fog to defend the living. Ayotzl's other clergy have yet to attain this level of potency, however.
Geomantic Infrastructure: Made distinct from the discipline of Geomancy by its rooting in physical constructs, Geomantic Infrastructure is one of the key foundations holding up the lizardmen empire. Through careful alignment and tapping into metaphysical channels present in the material plane, lizardmen cities are capable of harnessing the colossal force present in the movement of continents, running this surge of energy through sets of enchantments that bridge the Immaterium and real-space. This ethereal machinery generates an impossible excess of power from nothing, feeding what is necessary back into the planet and using the rest to power a wide array of magical architecture. Passive anti-daemonic wards, enchantments that bolster the strength and endurance of every lizardman, great pools of clean mana, even minor spells that hold the stones of cities together without maintenance are all powered by the Web. It is a self-sustaining, immensely complex network of parts, capable of generating immense displays of power, foremost among them the great Geomantic Rituals of the slann. While not a discipline of magic in and of itself, it bears mentioning simply due to the sheer genius of its construction.
Relic Priests: The process by which the dead slann function is unknown, save for the fact that their spirits reside on the infinitely-thin border between life and death. Not much is known about them among the slann, save for Zaqunda, the Steward of Itza who now travels the stars.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Mostly stuff we already knew, but now we have a convenient place for it to be stored.
The blessings for the Dread Saurians are very, very cool.
The blessings for the Dread Saurians are very, very cool.
Nix's Warden
Welcome to Hades
- Location
- United States
Pffffffffft. We have a Creed and Stealth Titan analogue. That's hilarious.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's actually very similar to what Corax does.
Xantalos
Turtle-Speed Writing
It's a fair bit tougher than steel in its base form, if not quite as strong as gromril, but it's very receptive to enchantments that will eventually be able to boost it to ridiculous toughness at its highest levels.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
What I hear is "Sphessssss ship huuuullllll". And if we can have our guys wearing that, that's just incredibly funny and cool.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
And with that, you know what's coming up guys.
Enjoy the reading of a society defining the cliche of "Stone Age successors of super advanced civilization" while hoping for good Slann rolls.
Enjoy the reading of a society defining the cliche of "Stone Age successors of super advanced civilization" while hoping for good Slann rolls.
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Xantalos
Turtle-Speed Writing
I'm honestly not sure if it's more appropriate for the dwarfs or the lizardmen to have individual troops capable of withstanding orbital bombardment through sheer toughness, but it is a hilarious mental image nontheless.
Oh, turn post incoming when I get home, call it four hours or so.
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Depends how deep into the grudge book the race doing the orbital bombardment is, and how drunk the dwarves are, methinks.
how does this interact with the mindcontrolling parasites?
BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Re-reading through these I just have to comment that this sounds like fitting a Dread Saurian with sunglasses of swag so it can shoot eyebeams at fools like Mechagodzilla.
- Location
- United states of america
Dread saurian with awesome shades: get on my level scrubs
Xantalos
Turtle-Speed Writing
Doesn't really affect them since they have enough collective willpower to resist that.
Turn 4
Xantalos
Turtle-Speed Writing
The sky was overcast over the temple-cities, a blanket of grey clouds stretching for miles. In places they darkened to great patches of near-black, wind currents piling clouds on top of each other into great conglomerations swollen with moisture. Static friction buzzed within them, saturating the air with the anticipatory tension that comes before a storm. The wind picked up, whistling through the streets of Xlanhuapec, and the skink sentries atop the outer wall and in the surrounding jungle noted an unusual frequency of Ayacmanik movement, heading east, away from the city. The oversoul of the creatures appeared to be directing a substantial portion of its host bodies in the area away, though the reason for such an act remained unclear.
Ayacmanik concentration around Xlanhuapec has reduced from Large to Small-Moderate!
The time has come for the lizardmen's home to gain a name! Choose from these options, majority vote wins. This vote is seperate from the usual plan votes.
[] Tlaloc
- The name of an Aztec god of rain, appropriate to the faction theme.
[X] Mochantia
- Literally means 'place we live at', which is both hilarious and fitting.
[] Tochan
- Means 'our house', for the same justification as above.
[] Ilhuicatl
- Means 'at/in heaven', appropriate considering it being a planet and all.
[] Ixalan
- Magic: The Gathering reference, also cool to say.
[] Sanctum
- There were a fair amount of suggestions like Citadel or Haven, which basically amounted to 'a protected place'. This follows that general theme.
The curse shrouds the Communion! These are the only lucid slann this turn:
1 Third Generation Slann
22 Fourth Generation Slann
115 Fifth Generation Slann
As the Geomantic Web is level 2, you have 8 actions total, two actions for each of your temple-cities. Please vote by plan, and indicate which city is performing which action. For further information on the action system, consult the Mechanics threadmark on the front page.
You have six hero units available: Mazdamundi, Kroq-Gar, Chakax, Teninhuan, Awanabil'tat, and Tiqtak'to. You may assign them to boost a city's action, or take an action independently. Some actions may only be taken by certain hero units.
Purge the Parasite - The Ayacmanik are a potentially dangerous foe, capable of harnessing the megafauna of the planet and using them against your kind. Their presence cannot be tolerated near the temple-cities, and the saurus live to purge those who would threaten their sacred ground. Muster your armies and march! Effect: Patrol the area of the designated city and destroy any Ayacmanik nests found. Must specify number of units participating in this action. Time: 1 Turn.
Dinosaur Accommodations - The scaled warbeasts your people use were crammed into the temple-cities before your people evacuated, and are currently in somewhat cramped conditions. Their skink and saurus handlers are quite skilled and will keep them from causing a ruckus, but it is likely the dinosaurs will be unwilling to participate in breeding activities until proper accommodations are built for them. Set the Kroxigor to it. Effects: Constructs living space for all dinosaurs save for Carnosaurs, Dread Saurians, and Coatl in specified city, allowing them to breed. Time: 1 Turn. Needed: Xlanhuapec, Tlaxtlan.
Dinosaur Accommodations, Exotic Edition - There are some breeds of dinosaur that have capabilities beyond the norm. Carnosaurs, perhaps the ultimate in conventional cavalry. Coatl, who warp the land with strange magics. And the fearsome Dread Saurians, the ultimate predator even in this alien death-world. To go with their supreme utility to the lizardmen, each of them have somewhat exotic habitation requirements that need to be satisfied before they will act as they did in Lustria. Effects: Constructs living space for Coatl, Carnosaurs, and Dread Saurians in specified city, allowing them to breed and exercise their capabilities in defense of the city. Requires standard dino pens to have been built. Available: None
Assign Slann Ruler - With the departure of the elder slaan, many of the temple-cities have been left without a ruling mage-lord. While the slaan in charge of a city typically does not deal with day-to-day matters, having a figure to consult on important issues will aid the skink chieftains in matters of efficiency. Effects: Appoint a slaan to rule over the specified city, granting a minor boost to action power of that city and greatly increasing defense capability if attacked. Unlocks other actions. AN - While the Mind Fog is active the bonus may sporadically vanish as the ruling slaan falls victim to it. I will accept character proposals with this action, with the caveat that while the voted character will be noted they will not become a hero unit (yet).
Perform Geomantic Ritual - The Geomantic Web is newly established still, but it still houses enough energy to smite stone and reshape the earth. You alone have the capability to wield that power; what you do with it is up to you. Mazdamundi required for this action. The objective of it is subject to write-in - see the front page for examples of use. Additional slaan assignment will boost the speed (and at this magnitude, power) of the resultant ritual, varying depending on the number of mage-priests assigned.
Awaken Additional Slann - Your brethren sleep, trapped in a cloying fugue of the senses and memory. For any other, it would be impossible to change that fact. But you are Mazdamundi, Lord of the Solar City and heir to incomprehensible arcane might. For a time, you will defy whatever malign entity is behind the curse and rip some of your kin free. Effect: Roll an additional dice in a chosen generation of slaan to attempt to free more from the clutches of the Mind Fog for the turn. If this option wins, a vote will be held to determine where to assign the awakened slann. Mazdamundi is required for this action.
Transfer Populace - The lizardmen will go where their masters command. If a city is underpopulated, excess population from other cities may be diverted until the spawning pools make up the lack. Effect: Transfer specified amount of lizardmen and/or dinosaurs from one city to another. Does not count towards action total except if transferring very large numbers.
Found New City - The secrets of the spawning pools have not yielded themselves as of yet, but there is no time to waste. The Web must be expanded, no matter the risk of over-extension. New temple-cities must be founded, and it is the unceasing labor of the lizardmen that will make it so for the first time since the Old Ones walked Mallus. Effect: The specified city founds a new temple-city, locking in its action while it sends workers and materials out to the site of a new city. Spawning pool tech not unlocked, new cities will not increase their own population. New cities will be treated as if they have already been scouted and patrolled. Time: 4 Turns. Each subsequent city action devoted reduces time by 1 turn.
Improve City - In order to harness greater levels of geomantic power within a city, the entirety of the metropolis must be upgraded. Some of your cities have fallen far from where they once were - bring them back to their former splendor. Effect: Upgrade a city to the next level of geomantic infrastructure. Time: Equivalent to the level being upgraded to - level 1 -> 2 will take 2 turns, etc. Each subsequent action devoted reduces time by 1 turn. Maximum upgrade level is 3.
Set Up Fortifications - Patrols have been set up, and the debris of ages past has been cleared from the streets of the temple cities. But there is still more that could be done - fortifications outside of the cities themselves, defensive emplacements in the surrounding jungle, traps and forts to make life hell for intruders. Effect: Sets up mundane (by lizardmen standards) fortifications in the area surrounding the selected temple-city. Time: 1 Turn.
Exploit the Jungle - This planet is home to a very wide variety of deadly and thus useful creatures. Some of these species may hold potential as warbeasts, if they are captured and trained. Effect: Domesticate a new species of alien beast. Can either search for anything useful, give directions on what capabilities to look for, or suggest species to take (subject to GM vetting). Time: 1-2 Turns, depending on species. Can only be done in Hexoatl and Itza - further cities unlocked by setting up dinosaur pens.
Dispel Mind Fog - Enough is enough. It is time to rip the veil of sluggishness off of your brother slann. The full might of the Sublime Communion will be needed for the lizardmen to prosper in this new world, and until they are freed you are held back. With what has been learned about the nature of the curse, fully removing has been determined to currently be infeasible. Effect: Break the curse, freeing the slann from the mind fog. Degrees of success possible. Difficulty: Greater than Impossible for fully removing the curse. This may be reduced by increasing the strength of the geomantic web and repeated attempts at this action.
Examine Mind Fog - Know thy enemy. For all it has enveloped the slann for thousands of years, you still know almost nothing about the Mind Fog, what it is, or how it functions. Without a clear picture of how it effects the minds of the slann, peeling it back from their brains will be a far more difficult task than it otherwise would be. Effect: Learn more about the mind fog. Each successive use of this research reduces the difficulty of Dispel Mind Fog by a variable amount, as well as giving information about its nature. Estimates indicate that 1 more investment of effort comparable to the last two should reveal all usable pieces of information.
Mind Fog: Alternate Solutions - The revelations into the nature of the mind fog have generated some discourse within the slann - perhaps there are other avenues of getting rid of it other than directly attacking an entity of unknown but considerable strength. The prospect of empowering Sotek to do battle with the creature has been raised, as well as other, more estoeric avenues of action. All that they need is to be investigated. Effect: Investigate the viability of an alternate way of dealing with the mind fog and begin figuring out how to implement it. Directed via write-in, consult with GM prior to inclusion in a plan. Difficulty: Variable.
Examine Planet - This is an unknown world you have come to, and the slann are no longer occupied with holding back the depredations of Chaos. Some of the younger generations wish to soar above the planet in their astral forms, to inspect every facet of it in order to satisfy their curiosity. You have cataloged the central continent, but there are still the other two to survey. Effect: Learn about the planet. May focus on Northern, Southern, or Central continents. Examining more than one continent at once boosts the difficulty by one step each. Exceeding the minimum requirements will reveal more detailed information. Central continent has been scouted, but further examination may reveal more details. Difficulty: Easy
Search Relic Vaults - The hidden vaults of the temple-cities contain artifacts of great and terrible power. No living being truly knows the extent of the things found within, but the ancient technology of the Old Ones would surely be of great use if they could be deciphered. Effect: Searches the relic vaults for useful items, all of which are generally examples of tech that has not yet been unlocked. Choose between Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Defensive Equipment, Magical Trinkets, Magical Equipment, Magical Artifacts, Mechanical Devices. Write-ins accepted for specific examples.
Consult Relic Priests - The spirits of long-dead slann still cling to their bones in ancient mausoleums held deep in the innermost sanctums of their cities. Lingering near the veil of life and death as they are, their withered spirits are capable of dispensing great wisdom, but they sometimes prove unresponsive for their own reasons. Effect: The Relic Priests may provide advice on a random topic, greatly increasing progress to unlocking or improving it.
Deific Template - The power to build gods would be an immensely potent ability, but the chain of prophecy the Old Ones wove to create Sotek was complex indeed. It will take time to distill the core elements of the process and figure out what is needed to shape a gestating warp entity according to a coherent design. It promises to be a lengthy process, but the potential rewards are immense. Effect: Design a standardized god creation process. Difficulty: Hard.
Teach Geomantic Rituals - Once the art of geomancy was held by all of your brethren, but those days are long past. Now you are the only repository of the ancient knowledge required to harness the devastating power of the geomantic web. It is time to do what you have not done for millennia, and spread your teachings. Effect: Spread the knowledge of geomantic rituals to other slaan, eliminating the need for Mazdamundi to conduct every one. Mazdamundi required, obviously. Until the Mind Fog is lifted this action will be unreasonably difficult as the curse wipes the knowledge from the minds of your pupils.
Examine Spawning Pools - It is truly the greatest of ironies that you possess sufficient cognitive power to dwarf any mortal mind and crush Lords of Change in contests of will, yet you know almost nothing of your origins. The spawning pools in your cities regularly disgorge members of the other three breeds of lizardmen, yet the way they function is still unknown to you, let alone how to construct new ones. This will have to change. Effect: Figure out how to build new spawning pools. Difficulty: Absurd. Approximately 7/10 progression.
Examine Tablets of the Old Ones - Until you find a way back to Mallus, the ancient Plan of your creators will have to be ... put on hold. But that does not mean that the wisdom they left behind on their golden tablets is now useless - the development of your people was ordained upon them. With study, you may be able to reclaim some of the glory you have lost. Effect: Unlock various sections of your tech tree. See sub-sections for examples, though alternate options may be inquired about with the GM.
- Forging Districts: Sections of temple-cities entirely dedicated to industry, churning out arms, armor and technomagical devices for the legions of the lizardmen. Difficulty: Hard
- Sacred Sites: Magical defense systems set up as automated sites that exert effects either passively or when the territory they protect is attacked. Elaborate to set up, but the effects they exert can be quite potent. Difficulty: Very Hard
- Level 4 Infastructure: The next level of geomantic architecture and city complexity, with all that implies. More defenses, more temples, more spawning pools, more geomantic pathways allowing for greater utilization. Difficulty: Very Hard
- The Great Plan: The unfathomably ancient designs of the Old Ones. No longer viable to complete until Mallus is found again, but perhaps inspiration for other things might be drawn from its examination. Difficulty: ???
Know Thy Enemy - The Ayacmanik's capabilities have been exhaustively pored over by your saurus oldbloods, but little is known of them as a species. How do they communicate? What is the nature of their coordination? How extensive is the infiltration of their host? These and many more questions must be answered if they are to be effectively fought. While research has revealed most notable facts about them, the slann believe there is more to uncover about the creatures. Effect: Learn more about the Ayacmanik, increasing military effectiveness against them and discovering any remaining secrets they have. Difficulty: Hard.
Ascertain Their Usefulness - Some have suggested that the Ayacmanik may be able to be dealt with in some way that does not involve extermination - perhaps there is a way to raise their collective to sapience without sacrificing lizardmen hosts, or subdue the species to use their coordinative capabilities. This may bear investigating. Effect: Investigate the viability of communication with the Ayacmanik. The direction taken may be directed with a write-in, subject to GM vetting. Difficulty: Hard.
Investigate the Quango - The egg of the mysterious creature known as the Quango is an enigma. It possesses a powerful aura and hails from the time when the Old Ones walked the earth still, so it must be immensely potent. But nothing is known about it, save for its name and age. Predictive visions of what could happen if it is induced to hatch have ranged from an ancient, withered corpse, dead of old age long before it was born, or fleeting glimpses of immense power and majesty. It would do well to determine what it is and how to avoid killing it in the process of getting it out of the egg. Effect: Figure out how to hatch the Quango without killing it. Difficulty: Very Hard
Ayacmanik concentration around Xlanhuapec has reduced from Large to Small-Moderate!
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The time has come for the lizardmen's home to gain a name! Choose from these options, majority vote wins. This vote is seperate from the usual plan votes.
[] Tlaloc
- The name of an Aztec god of rain, appropriate to the faction theme.
[X] Mochantia
- Literally means 'place we live at', which is both hilarious and fitting.
[] Tochan
- Means 'our house', for the same justification as above.
[] Ilhuicatl
- Means 'at/in heaven', appropriate considering it being a planet and all.
[] Ixalan
- Magic: The Gathering reference, also cool to say.
[] Sanctum
- There were a fair amount of suggestions like Citadel or Haven, which basically amounted to 'a protected place'. This follows that general theme.
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The curse shrouds the Communion! These are the only lucid slann this turn:
1 Third Generation Slann
22 Fourth Generation Slann
115 Fifth Generation Slann
As the Geomantic Web is level 2, you have 8 actions total, two actions for each of your temple-cities. Please vote by plan, and indicate which city is performing which action. For further information on the action system, consult the Mechanics threadmark on the front page.
You have six hero units available: Mazdamundi, Kroq-Gar, Chakax, Teninhuan, Awanabil'tat, and Tiqtak'to. You may assign them to boost a city's action, or take an action independently. Some actions may only be taken by certain hero units.
---Actions---
Purge the Parasite - The Ayacmanik are a potentially dangerous foe, capable of harnessing the megafauna of the planet and using them against your kind. Their presence cannot be tolerated near the temple-cities, and the saurus live to purge those who would threaten their sacred ground. Muster your armies and march! Effect: Patrol the area of the designated city and destroy any Ayacmanik nests found. Must specify number of units participating in this action. Time: 1 Turn.
Dinosaur Accommodations - The scaled warbeasts your people use were crammed into the temple-cities before your people evacuated, and are currently in somewhat cramped conditions. Their skink and saurus handlers are quite skilled and will keep them from causing a ruckus, but it is likely the dinosaurs will be unwilling to participate in breeding activities until proper accommodations are built for them. Set the Kroxigor to it. Effects: Constructs living space for all dinosaurs save for Carnosaurs, Dread Saurians, and Coatl in specified city, allowing them to breed. Time: 1 Turn. Needed: Xlanhuapec, Tlaxtlan.
Dinosaur Accommodations, Exotic Edition - There are some breeds of dinosaur that have capabilities beyond the norm. Carnosaurs, perhaps the ultimate in conventional cavalry. Coatl, who warp the land with strange magics. And the fearsome Dread Saurians, the ultimate predator even in this alien death-world. To go with their supreme utility to the lizardmen, each of them have somewhat exotic habitation requirements that need to be satisfied before they will act as they did in Lustria. Effects: Constructs living space for Coatl, Carnosaurs, and Dread Saurians in specified city, allowing them to breed and exercise their capabilities in defense of the city. Requires standard dino pens to have been built. Available: None
Assign Slann Ruler - With the departure of the elder slaan, many of the temple-cities have been left without a ruling mage-lord. While the slaan in charge of a city typically does not deal with day-to-day matters, having a figure to consult on important issues will aid the skink chieftains in matters of efficiency. Effects: Appoint a slaan to rule over the specified city, granting a minor boost to action power of that city and greatly increasing defense capability if attacked. Unlocks other actions. AN - While the Mind Fog is active the bonus may sporadically vanish as the ruling slaan falls victim to it. I will accept character proposals with this action, with the caveat that while the voted character will be noted they will not become a hero unit (yet).
Perform Geomantic Ritual - The Geomantic Web is newly established still, but it still houses enough energy to smite stone and reshape the earth. You alone have the capability to wield that power; what you do with it is up to you. Mazdamundi required for this action. The objective of it is subject to write-in - see the front page for examples of use. Additional slaan assignment will boost the speed (and at this magnitude, power) of the resultant ritual, varying depending on the number of mage-priests assigned.
Awaken Additional Slann - Your brethren sleep, trapped in a cloying fugue of the senses and memory. For any other, it would be impossible to change that fact. But you are Mazdamundi, Lord of the Solar City and heir to incomprehensible arcane might. For a time, you will defy whatever malign entity is behind the curse and rip some of your kin free. Effect: Roll an additional dice in a chosen generation of slaan to attempt to free more from the clutches of the Mind Fog for the turn. If this option wins, a vote will be held to determine where to assign the awakened slann. Mazdamundi is required for this action.
Transfer Populace - The lizardmen will go where their masters command. If a city is underpopulated, excess population from other cities may be diverted until the spawning pools make up the lack. Effect: Transfer specified amount of lizardmen and/or dinosaurs from one city to another. Does not count towards action total except if transferring very large numbers.
Found New City - The secrets of the spawning pools have not yielded themselves as of yet, but there is no time to waste. The Web must be expanded, no matter the risk of over-extension. New temple-cities must be founded, and it is the unceasing labor of the lizardmen that will make it so for the first time since the Old Ones walked Mallus. Effect: The specified city founds a new temple-city, locking in its action while it sends workers and materials out to the site of a new city. Spawning pool tech not unlocked, new cities will not increase their own population. New cities will be treated as if they have already been scouted and patrolled. Time: 4 Turns. Each subsequent city action devoted reduces time by 1 turn.
Improve City - In order to harness greater levels of geomantic power within a city, the entirety of the metropolis must be upgraded. Some of your cities have fallen far from where they once were - bring them back to their former splendor. Effect: Upgrade a city to the next level of geomantic infrastructure. Time: Equivalent to the level being upgraded to - level 1 -> 2 will take 2 turns, etc. Each subsequent action devoted reduces time by 1 turn. Maximum upgrade level is 3.
Set Up Fortifications - Patrols have been set up, and the debris of ages past has been cleared from the streets of the temple cities. But there is still more that could be done - fortifications outside of the cities themselves, defensive emplacements in the surrounding jungle, traps and forts to make life hell for intruders. Effect: Sets up mundane (by lizardmen standards) fortifications in the area surrounding the selected temple-city. Time: 1 Turn.
Exploit the Jungle - This planet is home to a very wide variety of deadly and thus useful creatures. Some of these species may hold potential as warbeasts, if they are captured and trained. Effect: Domesticate a new species of alien beast. Can either search for anything useful, give directions on what capabilities to look for, or suggest species to take (subject to GM vetting). Time: 1-2 Turns, depending on species. Can only be done in Hexoatl and Itza - further cities unlocked by setting up dinosaur pens.
---Research---
Dispel Mind Fog - Enough is enough. It is time to rip the veil of sluggishness off of your brother slann. The full might of the Sublime Communion will be needed for the lizardmen to prosper in this new world, and until they are freed you are held back. With what has been learned about the nature of the curse, fully removing has been determined to currently be infeasible. Effect: Break the curse, freeing the slann from the mind fog. Degrees of success possible. Difficulty: Greater than Impossible for fully removing the curse. This may be reduced by increasing the strength of the geomantic web and repeated attempts at this action.
Examine Mind Fog - Know thy enemy. For all it has enveloped the slann for thousands of years, you still know almost nothing about the Mind Fog, what it is, or how it functions. Without a clear picture of how it effects the minds of the slann, peeling it back from their brains will be a far more difficult task than it otherwise would be. Effect: Learn more about the mind fog. Each successive use of this research reduces the difficulty of Dispel Mind Fog by a variable amount, as well as giving information about its nature. Estimates indicate that 1 more investment of effort comparable to the last two should reveal all usable pieces of information.
Mind Fog: Alternate Solutions - The revelations into the nature of the mind fog have generated some discourse within the slann - perhaps there are other avenues of getting rid of it other than directly attacking an entity of unknown but considerable strength. The prospect of empowering Sotek to do battle with the creature has been raised, as well as other, more estoeric avenues of action. All that they need is to be investigated. Effect: Investigate the viability of an alternate way of dealing with the mind fog and begin figuring out how to implement it. Directed via write-in, consult with GM prior to inclusion in a plan. Difficulty: Variable.
Examine Planet - This is an unknown world you have come to, and the slann are no longer occupied with holding back the depredations of Chaos. Some of the younger generations wish to soar above the planet in their astral forms, to inspect every facet of it in order to satisfy their curiosity. You have cataloged the central continent, but there are still the other two to survey. Effect: Learn about the planet. May focus on Northern, Southern, or Central continents. Examining more than one continent at once boosts the difficulty by one step each. Exceeding the minimum requirements will reveal more detailed information. Central continent has been scouted, but further examination may reveal more details. Difficulty: Easy
Search Relic Vaults - The hidden vaults of the temple-cities contain artifacts of great and terrible power. No living being truly knows the extent of the things found within, but the ancient technology of the Old Ones would surely be of great use if they could be deciphered. Effect: Searches the relic vaults for useful items, all of which are generally examples of tech that has not yet been unlocked. Choose between Melee Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Defensive Equipment, Magical Trinkets, Magical Equipment, Magical Artifacts, Mechanical Devices. Write-ins accepted for specific examples.
Consult Relic Priests - The spirits of long-dead slann still cling to their bones in ancient mausoleums held deep in the innermost sanctums of their cities. Lingering near the veil of life and death as they are, their withered spirits are capable of dispensing great wisdom, but they sometimes prove unresponsive for their own reasons. Effect: The Relic Priests may provide advice on a random topic, greatly increasing progress to unlocking or improving it.
Deific Template - The power to build gods would be an immensely potent ability, but the chain of prophecy the Old Ones wove to create Sotek was complex indeed. It will take time to distill the core elements of the process and figure out what is needed to shape a gestating warp entity according to a coherent design. It promises to be a lengthy process, but the potential rewards are immense. Effect: Design a standardized god creation process. Difficulty: Hard.
Teach Geomantic Rituals - Once the art of geomancy was held by all of your brethren, but those days are long past. Now you are the only repository of the ancient knowledge required to harness the devastating power of the geomantic web. It is time to do what you have not done for millennia, and spread your teachings. Effect: Spread the knowledge of geomantic rituals to other slaan, eliminating the need for Mazdamundi to conduct every one. Mazdamundi required, obviously. Until the Mind Fog is lifted this action will be unreasonably difficult as the curse wipes the knowledge from the minds of your pupils.
Examine Spawning Pools - It is truly the greatest of ironies that you possess sufficient cognitive power to dwarf any mortal mind and crush Lords of Change in contests of will, yet you know almost nothing of your origins. The spawning pools in your cities regularly disgorge members of the other three breeds of lizardmen, yet the way they function is still unknown to you, let alone how to construct new ones. This will have to change. Effect: Figure out how to build new spawning pools. Difficulty: Absurd. Approximately 7/10 progression.
Examine Tablets of the Old Ones - Until you find a way back to Mallus, the ancient Plan of your creators will have to be ... put on hold. But that does not mean that the wisdom they left behind on their golden tablets is now useless - the development of your people was ordained upon them. With study, you may be able to reclaim some of the glory you have lost. Effect: Unlock various sections of your tech tree. See sub-sections for examples, though alternate options may be inquired about with the GM.
- Forging Districts: Sections of temple-cities entirely dedicated to industry, churning out arms, armor and technomagical devices for the legions of the lizardmen. Difficulty: Hard
- Sacred Sites: Magical defense systems set up as automated sites that exert effects either passively or when the territory they protect is attacked. Elaborate to set up, but the effects they exert can be quite potent. Difficulty: Very Hard
- Level 4 Infastructure: The next level of geomantic architecture and city complexity, with all that implies. More defenses, more temples, more spawning pools, more geomantic pathways allowing for greater utilization. Difficulty: Very Hard
- The Great Plan: The unfathomably ancient designs of the Old Ones. No longer viable to complete until Mallus is found again, but perhaps inspiration for other things might be drawn from its examination. Difficulty: ???
Know Thy Enemy - The Ayacmanik's capabilities have been exhaustively pored over by your saurus oldbloods, but little is known of them as a species. How do they communicate? What is the nature of their coordination? How extensive is the infiltration of their host? These and many more questions must be answered if they are to be effectively fought. While research has revealed most notable facts about them, the slann believe there is more to uncover about the creatures. Effect: Learn more about the Ayacmanik, increasing military effectiveness against them and discovering any remaining secrets they have. Difficulty: Hard.
Ascertain Their Usefulness - Some have suggested that the Ayacmanik may be able to be dealt with in some way that does not involve extermination - perhaps there is a way to raise their collective to sapience without sacrificing lizardmen hosts, or subdue the species to use their coordinative capabilities. This may bear investigating. Effect: Investigate the viability of communication with the Ayacmanik. The direction taken may be directed with a write-in, subject to GM vetting. Difficulty: Hard.
Investigate the Quango - The egg of the mysterious creature known as the Quango is an enigma. It possesses a powerful aura and hails from the time when the Old Ones walked the earth still, so it must be immensely potent. But nothing is known about it, save for its name and age. Predictive visions of what could happen if it is induced to hatch have ranged from an ancient, withered corpse, dead of old age long before it was born, or fleeting glimpses of immense power and majesty. It would do well to determine what it is and how to avoid killing it in the process of getting it out of the egg. Effect: Figure out how to hatch the Quango without killing it. Difficulty: Very Hard
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