Trying to fit in my 40k lizardmen into lore with a big hammer. I'm going to put some ideas down here to keep track of them and also for some feedback. This is all extriemly Work In Progress and I might need to learn some more AoS lore to make this work... General idea: During the departure from The World That Was, a temple-ship fleet got lost and sucking into the warp. Only a few ships survived the process. When they emerged on the otherside into the New World (40k universe) they came under attack and fled into deep space, losing a few more ships in the process. The starseers ran into problems when they found that the skies were unrecognisable. They were really somewhere new. They could also detect the corrupting influence of Chaos and knew that no matter what happened, they had to fight it. Leadership: In all the confusion and devistation of the warp travel and attack the temple-fleet's Slann was lost. In his absense, the top Starseers, Oldbloods and other top ranking lizards formed a Star Council to discuss plans to fight Chaos, how to locate their lost Slann (and find out if he was even still alive) and organise what was left of their kind. Equipment: It became very clear that the wargear that served them and the Great Plan in the World That Was was not going to cut it in the New World. Luckily, the Old Ones had seen to it that in their withdrawel to deep space, they encountered a lost Imperial cargo fleet/forg world. It took the fleets greatest minds to figure stuff out but they eventually unlocked the secrets of operating these new weapons of war and begain equiping and training their warriors in order to strike out at the forces of Chaos. Spawnings: While the losses to the temple-fleet were great, each ship itself retained a huge number of warriors and so many of the existing spawnings from the World That Was were available for work and war. After their first few battles, the spawning pools on the Temple Ships began to activate once again to replenish the supply of warriors. Those that emeged from the post-arrival spawnings were subtly different. They had an innate understanding of technologies the previous generation had taken a long time to grasp. Their minds were nimbler and their ideas, different. Even the Saurus of these new spawnings seemed to posess a greater level of interlect than the older cohorts. No matter these changes however, they still were utterly devoted to following the Great Plan and fought with efficient brutality in combat. Questions: This is stuff I need to figure out- Would there be any cooperation between these guys and other factions when fighting the common enemy of Chaos? Will the Imperium of Man see them as nothing more than Xeno scum? Are they able to manufacture their own equipment or is each loss unrecoverable? Will they have a colony world they land on and build up or are they just going to stay on board the temple ships? Gotta figure out some characters. Would members of the Star Council go and fight? Cheers
If you wanted to tie in Seraphon lore into your 40k lore, you could hint that the Slann is still alive because your other Seraphon/Lizardmen haven't lost their sanity yet. in the Seraphon lore (i'd have to look up where in the tome i read it) its said that when I slann is slain/dies that their underlings go insane/feral. So in the lore those Slanns that are sick/dying somehow will purpously die on important nodes so that their temple cities/hosts will continue on to fight intruders even after their passing. I dont know much about 40k, but thought i'd offer this up incase it helps I like what you have so far
Thanks! I didn't know this. I've seen vague hints that without skinks holding society together then the others turn feral but not about the Slann's role in this. I'm writing up a bit more of an origin story at the moment and at some point I might need some powerful Slann magic so I might have to rethink the 'lost slann' idea.
Even when the slann isn't dead and the lizards feral, the skinks will take up that role while the slann is having their centuries long nap/meditation. Easy enough fix, the slann is currently in the midst of his aforementioned nap. Just say that it was a particularly long one, even by slann standards, and the attendants who normally take the steward role were lost, along with the line of succession, leaving only those who never had the prerequisite training for the role to take charge. When a slann naps, ain't nothing waking those lazy roads before they're good and ready.
I'll put this in my pocket for later I think. Having the Slann alive but completely unresponsive might be a thing to pick up later.
I think I'm going to go ahead and say they land on a lost forge world. Partly because it seems like a good source of all the resources they have (and could potentially produce if they can figure it out) and partly because the visual appeal of vines climbing up old chimneys and jungle overgrowing vast, abandoned industrial facilities.
Ok, no idea if I should put this here or a seperate thread but here is a short story for the origin of these guys: Spoiler: The Escape. The Arrival The temple-ship limped along into deeper space. Parts of the hull had been sealed off to prevent too much damage from the various breaches. Many lives had been lost in the stasis chambers that were exposed to the ruinous vacuum of the infinite depths. The few remaining ships in the fleet kept close by, each having gaping wounds of their own. The escape from the World That Was had been traumatic. Starseer Tik'ol'tec recalled it painfully as he slumped back into the thrown in the command chamber. The cataclysm wrought by the powers of Chaos that sundered the very continent of Lustria had consumed the world. It was only the wisdom of the Old Ones and the Slann who had saved them. Those who had managed to make it into the Temple Cities were carried away from the fiery extinction all around them. Plenty, unfortunately did not make it. As the cities were lifted, the magics of the great mage priests shifted and changed the stonework. The burning sky was locked away behind a shell of stone. All those who were not magically inclined were shut in stasis to preserve the resources as the mighty temple-fleets sought a new home. But they were far from safe. As the world was consumed, vast bursts of Chaotic energy were sent in all directions. One wave caught the Temple fleet of Tik'ol'tec and sent it reeling. Some ships were completely destroyed in the instance, many other were sent tumbling into a void that was not of the mortal realms. Daemons and creatures of Chaos manifested in the plazas and corridors and has to be fought off. Some of the warriors were awoken from their stasis slumber to hold the line and push back the incursion. The fighting went on for what seemed like an eternity but eventually the daemons were pushed back and eliminated. Their forced waning just as the ships began to emerge into something that resembled mortal spacetime. The respite had been small however and almost as soon as they had emerged they were once again set upon by the forces of Chaos. This time they had their own ships that house terrible weapons. But it wasn't just the ships that possessed weapons unseen before- boarding parties of strange knights bore large projectile weapons that could tear through Saurus and Kroxigor flesh with devastating ease. Only protection wards summoned by Skink priests were able to cover the warriors enough for them to close in on the enemy. These fights had been even more bitter than the last but eventually the temple fleet lost its pursuers and the remaining crew could take stock. By all counts, they were reduced in number by three quarters. What was worse was the loss of contact with the Slann. Try as they might, no Starseer or star priest could detect no sign of them. They would be on their own. The fleet still continued on the pre-directed path the Slann had ordered though. Where they were headed, no one could say. The stars outside were too different to determine anything any more. After almost a year of travel, the ship began to slow. It was something everyone could notice. Tik'ol'tec rushed to the command chamber to see what was happening. The vast windows showed a tiny spec in the distance. A scan performed by a lesser priest showed that it was a world they were heading towards. A new system. What form this world was, none could say. They would all be in the hands of the technology of the Great Old Ones and the guidance of the Mage-Priest who was no longer with them. One by one, members of the Stat Council found themselves in the Command Chamber, staring out of the windows at their approaching destination. What they could see from the windows and what was being reported in was almost unbelievable. Gargantuan ruins as far as the horizon. This place had clearly once been inhabited, but was no longer. It reminded Tik'ol'tec of the abandoned temple cities of Lustria, having been overwhelmed by the ratmen or the forces of corruption. But they were on a tiny scale compared with the vast oceans of development that lay before them. Tik'ol'tec felt a small pang of fear as the temple ship shuddered as a series of thuds shook the place. Realmshaper engines had disengaged themselves from beneath the ship. They were heading to the planet below to prepare the way ahead of them. From the huge observing window, the other ships could be seen, moving to different areas. Collections of Realmshaper engines were calving away from them too. From all the readings from the planet, it was clearly a dead world. Its atmosphere was a choking mix of hydrocarbons, sulphur and heavy metals. How the Realshapers could create something inhabitable amongst that was unclear but not a shred of doubt crossed his mind about the technology of the Old Ones. The thrill of discovery did stir inside him however. All had been panic and fear for as long as it had been since the ruination of the World That Was. How long ago had that been? It was hard to say. Without the natural cycles of sun and moon he had become chronologically lost. And he was by far not the only one. A weariness had set in amongst all on board. All who were awake and attending to duties that is. He envied the vast population who still remained in stasis. For them, hardly any time would have passed. Though they also would not have had the time to come to terms with the loss of everything. Still, there would be so much work to do later, to build a new home for themselves, to search for their lost Slann and to begin preparing to fight the forces of Chaos. Approximately thirty days had passed between the temple ship's landing and the unsealing of the doors. The progress of the Realmshapers had been closely monitored. The atmosphere had changed dramatically and those first breaths of air from outside felt good. Along with the touch of natural ground. The sizzle of insects and the chirping of songbirds high in the branches were a welcome sound. Scouting parties had been sent out to find resources and the first construction teams were preparing the ground of the first buildings. Saurus has been sent in small squads to secure the area. Tikol'tec himself had started exploring the nearby ruins himself. He had several other lesser skink priests with him, noting down discoveries they had made. Huge towers of brick and metal reached to the skies. Vast buildings were packed with unknowable machines, rendered silent by exposure to the elements from collapsed roofs. From the appearance though, it appeared to be an expanse of workshops on a scale beyond anything they had known in Lustria. In two weeks the first weapon caches were discovered. A few scribes noted that they shared similarities with weapons used by some humans. They would be useful if the inhabitants of this realm were making use of powerful ranged weapons. Six months later, a team of particularly enterprising skinks had worked out the operation of some of the vehicles they had found. A whole year had passed by almost in an instant for Tik'ol'tec with all the work he was throwing himself into. Observatories were being constructed to divine the new stars, the first cohort of citizens in stasis were being revived. The Realmshapers had been in near constant demand for attention as they worked overtime pushing up roots through many metres of industrial waste and development. Contact between different settlements had to be established with causeways cleared through the rubble and jungle. The first regiments, trained with the new weapons had been formed. Finally, news had reached him that the first of the machines of this world had been started. It produced small, odd shaped metal components from sheets. The next set of machines that ingested these were still under examination, but it was a sign of some progress towards something greater. If the Old Ones had brought them to this world, they must have known that they would posses the means of deciphering how to use it. For Tik'ol'tec, they were absolutely correct.
I really like the story, I think its a great start and gives a good picture of the origins of your temple host. There are a few word hishaps, but otherwise I dig it (example: Spoiler: Story Spoiler How the Realshapers could create something inhabitable amongst that was unclear but not a shred of doubt crossed his mind about the technology of the Old Ones. You should definitely post this in the story section of the forums, I'm sure many others would enjoy this.
Hishhaps eh! Also I thought this was the story section? I've got another couple in the works. I could post them seperately though.
Renamed the thread title to something cooler I just thought up. (Actually its a title for a story I'm drafting and I thought it would be a cool name for this faction)
I have not. Though I do have some squat guns (from 1994) that I plan on using for some skink snipers. At least I think they are. I made a mistake when doing some late night ebaying looking for rattling sniper rifles
Having a bash at 1) if I can draw a passable saurus and 2) ideas for differentiating those spawned in this new world. A few items of clothing like a simple poncho or kilt. Possibly a ridge of orange or red scales down their backs? Still trying to think of a name for these generations. I'm between New Brood (vs Old Brood, those who were spawned in Lustria) or Second Spawning.
For want of a better place to post this: I'm thinking of running an art and web-dev stream this evening starting at about 9pm GMT+1. It's going to be lizardmen themed as I try to learn how to draw them and modify a website I've made to host stories. I'll host on my Picarto channel: picarto.tv/PyroDragon In other news, I've got another story on the way but its grown to 2k and I've just decided to add a big boss fight which needs to be written out.
Drew up my Starseer character who's been in a few stories now. I am going to have to make him an actual model soon.