Don't know how many of you are aware of this, but GW's Facebook team is running 'Ask the White Dwarf' segments on their page. I asked a question regarding the corporeality of the Seraphon and got quite an interesting answer that should be useful to AoS writers.
So they can go native (as in feral?) without the influence of the Slann? Interesting idea. This seems to also imply that the Slann aren't simply summoning memories and then tossing the leftovers back into the ether after the battle is done, but literally creating life from star-magic, based on a remembered being/type of creature, and setting in free? Seems like their power levels have been increased since the fall of the Old World significantly.
Ok, that sounds good. I like it. The more I read of the fiction I am astonished how bad Slann are ingame. From all what I read now in the last six months about this Warhammer universe it seems Slann are the most powerful wizards in the universe, matched by VERY few others (Mortarchs? a few High Elf wizards perhaps?), just one step away from being gods. The game....well, let's say the game rules do not really do them justice.
I think they mean they're fully independent creatures within the world at large over psychic constructs, rather than feral. Sounds like the Slann are the new spawning pools.
This would imply that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th generation Slann could remember / summon 1st Generation Slann who could then wander off with surviving Saurus, Dino's and Krox to build anew. They could... "...have an army of Lizards and Dinosaurs; its home base is a lost city in a steamy, swampy jungle..."
I always figured they always had that kind of power, it's just they rarely apply their full attention to the things in front of them. That's why a 5th generation Slann plays the same on the table as a 2nd generation Slann.. The 2nd generation is barely aware that he is in a battle while the 5th generation Slann is focusing mostly if not entirely on the battle.
I'm glad they finally acknowledged this and gave us a somewhat less murky answer. We are born of the stars and live among the people, as Seraphon, the Star-Children. Personally, I'm still curious what happened to all the sauras that made it off the World that Was. They supposedly never die from old age, so wouldn't some of them have still be around?
I do believe that the fact that, once summoned, Seraphon can live independently from the Slann is also explained in the Battletome. I don't have it with me for reference at the moment, but if I remember correctly, in the timeline one of the events involves a Slann being slain in battle but the Seraphon army still triumphing, and another where a Slann is killed and the remaining Guard standing guard over his remains for hundreds of years. I will have to check when I next have it with me though
And what of Kroq-Gar? He supposedly escaped on the Temple-Ships after Mazdamundi ordered them to evacuate. WHERE IS MY GOD-SLAYER?
Lost in a maze of corridors waiting for a TARDIS to turn up so the TimeLord can lead him out of the maze.
This is how I took it... The Slann are the trigger, and with enough celestial energy and will they can manifest them (or perhaps themselves?) into reality proper.
I like this a lot, I do hope we get a book giving us some named Characters (Kroq-Gar) badly. Would love to get a 16-20 wound Carnosaur that could put the pain on Beastclaw raiders or Maw Krushas.