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Army Fluff Your Army's Fluff

Slanputin
Carnasaur

Slanputin

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I love creating a deep background lore for my Lizardmen army, with my opponents and I inter-weaving the backgrounds of our respective armies to create an on-going, dynamic meta-story. I really enjoy reading their backgrounds, and the different perspectives they generate in battle reports.

I thought it'd be interesting to see what *you guys* have written as a background to your armies, giving a brief summary of your fluff to create a general mish-mash of creativity and interesting reads!

My contingent is based in the heights of the Spine of Sotek mountains. Garrisoned within the Halls of the Holy they keep watch over the more inscrutable and ominous artifacts of the Old Ones, where Skink Priests arduously try to understand their alien design and mysterious power, and the Saurus ensure no foreign eyes look upon them. Presiding over them is the Mage-Priest Lord Xhaltan who, isolated from his brethren and obsessed with understanding the forbidden powers under his stewardship, has traveled too deep into the darkness during his cosmic meditation. Thus he has a rather warped perspective, believing that destroying Chaos can only be achieved by understanding it first, and it's end is best achieved by magnifying its internal conflicts. Many of his contingent are fearful of his reasoning, but the Skink Priests dampen such heretical thoughts by keeping them in a state of religious hysteria.

This basically serves as a way to weave some cosmicism into my narrative, and provide reasoning as to why they sometimes have an alliance with Daemons on the battlefield (my other army). Their fluff is reflected in their aesthetic: the bases are a mix of volcanic flow and snow-born mountain, to represent the dangerous and vagarious nature of their home. This is also reflected in the models themselves, with more powerful creatures (Saurus, Stegadon, Salamanders...) having a volcanic colour scheme, and those more slight (Skinks, Terradons...) having a glacial pallet.

So guys, what's *your* fluff?!
 
I began building my army as a end times army builder challange project so the baisic idea is that my oldblood Eztli Achcauhitl (roughly translated means blood leader or blood king) is sent to reawaken his spawning pools which had been destroyed by the skaven. With the help of his skink priests he reawoke the two spawning pools (one for Saurus, one for skinks and kroxigor) and so the tribe of the bloodied scales was rebirthed, ready for war.
 
Good job Slanputtin and Link_t_c. Here is mine.

Klodorex is a small Temple City with worker, beast, and warrior (Sotek) castes of Skinks and spawnings of Sauri and Kroxigor not unlike many other Temple Cities of the First Children of the Old Ones. It was led in theory by the Slann Merestar, but Merestar was comatose (even by Slann standards) for centuries after his first attempt to guide humans directly failed miserably. After leading the rest of the city's Slann to lucidity after they were mentally imprisoned with an unsolvable riddle he shared his revelations.

-The First Children of the Old Ones lack the numbers and mystical might to eradicate the Anathema (Skaven, Fimir, Orcs, etc) completely or forcibly relocate the Prodigals: Elves, Humans, Dwarves, and Ogres to their ancestral homelands. To do both at once is doubly impossible. Thus Mazdamundi's interpretation of the Great Plan is impractical

-The Prodigals were created to serve the Will of the Old Ones. The First Children of the Old Ones can't handle the Anathema by themselves, so the Prodigals were logically intended to help. Since the Anathema clearly recognize no borders so it must not be an aberration of the Old One's Plan that the Prodigals have expanded geographically. Thus Mazdamundi's interpretation of the Great Plan is counterproductive.

-The Prodigals are hampered in their efforts against the Anathema by the actions of the Fallen (Dark Elves, Chaos Dwarves, Warriors of Chaos, various crazy wizards, etc). The Fallen's dark urges feed the Chaos Realm indirectly and make it easier for the Old Foes (Daemons) to cross into the material world. Therefore the Fallen must be eradicated before meaningful action against the Anathema can be undertaken. Mazdamundi's interpretation of the Great Plan barely differentiates between Prodigals and Fallen, factoring aberrant behavior to being corrupted from their geography alone. Thus Mazdamundi's interpretation of the Great Plan is oversimplified.

Mazdamundi and the Slann of Itza and Hexoatl were so unused to being defied by lesser Slann, that they largely ignored Klodorex until Klodorex had won many supporters among other smaller Temple Cities. A questing party of Skinks recovered a lost magical item that reopened telepathic communication between Lustria and the Southlands so the Slann of the Southlands now support Merestar's interpretations reaching out to Southland's Prodigals directly .

Now Klodorex is at the center of a Lustrian the Great Debate, which most Slann recognize as the world's messiest civil war, though Prodigals would not recognize it as a true "war" since Slann would never dare harm another Slann and neither side wants to deplete their armies.

Merestar is conducting an experiment to try to come up with a new technique to thwart Chaos using two Daemon Lords as guinea pigs. He is considering eternally imprisoning daemons in the material world rather than simply destroying them in the material world (and letting them re-spawn in the Chaos realms over and over again). Unfortunately his test prison is attracting would-be rescuers.

Klodorex has recently (seemingly) eradicated Lustria's small greenskin presence. Their eyes are set on closing off the Dark Elves' invasion routes, and clear out the remaining Lustrian Skaven. They are also stealing ships from Lustrian raiders intact with the eventual plan of opening up an exchange with the Southlands.

Hexoatl and Itza are trying to tie Klodorex's hands by requisitioning soldiers. They also have to deal with Lord Renliss. An outcast vampire lord intent on draining a Slann's blood to advance his mystical power whom Klodorex has partial magical control over. While any Slann will do, he has recruited a banshee with a strong personal grudge against Merestar.
 
I’ve flip-flopped a lot on my army’s background and theme but I’ve somewhat settled down and decided not to change it anymore, rather to expand on it. My army is a great host marching forth from Hexoatl with the rather ambitious goal of putting everyone back in their place, to stem the tide of Chaos and eradicate all things contrary to the Great Plan. My fluff is broken down to follow a handful of characters in their quest to fulfil Mazdamundi’s plan for the world.

Eternity Warden Szeratops is one of the oldest Temple Guard in Hexoatl. He’s a veteran of many long campaigns and has fought at the side of the more active Slann for generations. He has now been tasked with uncovering the secrets surrounding the origins of the Saurus, to bring success to Hexoatl’s future endeavours.

General Zpakatax (also known as Darkscale) is an aggressive saurus leader blessed by Quetzl. He leads one of the main forces of Hexoatl as it establishes itself in the Old World in preparation to set right all that has gone astray there.

Aki-Pterix was spawned alone under the temple of Tepok in Hexoatl. His purple feathers and aptitude for magic marks him as unique among saurus. Szeratops distrusts his aloof nature but he has a great purpose and his potential is fostered by Mazdamundi.

I also plan on converting a bunch of Slann for different lores. Expensive and unnecessary? Yes.

Slann of Metal/Fire – dwells in the forges beneath the city guiding skink artisans in the crafting of weapons and magic items. He was attacked by daemons during the Cataclysm which severed his mental link to other Slann and disfigured his face. He now wears a Death mask at all times, despite being alive to signify the end of his influence and ability to enact the great plan. Still a powerful mage and essential in the process of arming Hexoatl he is revered as legendary by the denizens of the city.

Slann of Life/Death – a Relic priest like Lord Kroak, his body is dead but his mind very much alive. During the Cataclysm he was key in morphing Lustria’s ecology into the deathworld we know it as today. Although most of his powers have faded he still has a mastery over the intricacies of life and death and is often called upon to bolster the city’s defences outside its walls in the wilds of the Lustrian rainforest.

Slann of Heavens/Light – the great astromancer of Hexoatl. Peerless in his predictions and calculations and instrumental in unravelling the secrets of the Plaques and devices left by the old ones. Arguably one of the most influential Slann in all of Lustria, but his aloof nature (even for a Slann) lends to arrogance which is not well received by his fellows. Has an unhealthy rivalry with Tetto-eko.

Slann of Beasts/Shadow – The most warlike of the leaders of Hexoatl, known as the Horned Toad. A master of predatory strategies with an unmatched control over beasts of war. Also my least developed character

Wandering Deliberations/high Magic slann – Pure neutral slann. Has complete control over the winds of magic and his body shimmers with a pearlescent swirl of colour which changes depending on which winds he calls upon. He has never communicated in any other way than psychically. Another not fully fleshed out character

Lizardmen Death Cult
With the rise of Nagash and the saturation of death magic less savoury elements have began to arise in Lizardmen society. With Mazdamundi on the march and many of the leaders of Heaxoatl focusing their efforts elsewhere a small sect has emerged in the City of the Sun proclaiming the virtues of Necromancy. In essence, Necromancy is not so far removed from High magic. Both are the focussed and refined result of combining all 8 winds of magic (necromancy being derived from Dark magic which is basically High magic with a YOLO attitude). A single slann from the 5th generation has openly announced his proficiency in the dark art. While decried as contrary to the natural order, scouring of the plaques of the old ones makes no mention of how to handle such an event. Not wanting to waste the life of a single Slann in such desperate times, he and his followers have been allowed to march with the armies of Hexoatl as they seek to purge the world of aberrancy. Once the crusade is over, then the fate of this wayward slann will be decided.



So... that's 6 Slann plus Mazdamundi.... Anyone got some spare Slann they don't need?
 
This is my fluff:
Pahuax , now called The Temple-City of Ash, was nearly destoyed after great catastrophe of Chaos Wars. It was empty for thousands and thousands years. Surrounding of temple-city was turned to hostile sandy plain filed with ash, sulphur a poisonous plants.
The first one, who resettles town after uncountable years, was a steamy jungle and its deadly residents, which were able to adapt to this harsh place and their skins due to survival purposes change colours, from natural tones to shades of fire. This sign of both life and death attracted many saurus and skinks, which were created in pools of this temple-city before years. The old Pahuax lizardmen, which weren’t in city during catastrophe. The survivors of Pahuax are not only saurus and kroxigor warhosts but also skinks scouts and mainly priest emissaries. They take a rule over the temle city in its early days.
The settlers start with rebuilding of city, new barracks were erected, anvils rings under hammers, blood canals of sacrificial altars was filled with blood. At last, the Great Pyramid Temple of Xholankha The Lost was finished. Because the Old One of lost ones and believers in return is good god for this Temple-City.
As manifestation of agreement of Old Ones with rebuilding of Pahuax the new chameleons breeds in sacred pools around city and like a symbol of new era of a Temple-city of Ash all skinks, saurus and kroxigors, which were spawned in those days have a grey ashen skin in many variations.
When Venerable Conclave of Slann saw establishing of the temple-city and mainly an agreement of Old Ones, they send a Slann to take a rule over this city.
When Ar Muzencab (Lord of bees) came, the oldest rulers of the temple-city, the highest priest of Xapati Quloq-Tlaz (Obsidian Mind) and white scar-veteran Accat (Lord of ritual scarring), which both remember old Pahuax, give him might over city.
Now Pahuax can again play its role in fulfilling of Great Plan.
 
My fluff coincides with Scalenex's, my lizardmen live on an island in the middle of The World Pond, with a single 2nd Generation Slann as the leader, they had slipped into barbarism and worshipped the most fearsome animals (Carnos and Rippers) before he arrived, and you don't become civilized in an instant so they still revere them, the spawning pools don't put out normal Saurus, just Temple Guard, Scar Veterans and Oldbloods, so the skinks are extremely militaristic
 
Was looking for a thread like this.. Been trying to write the story behind my army for some time but with the whole AOS coming about I'm on a standoff since I haven't read much about it yet, just heard and read small bits every now and then. With my D&D going on I have tried to work more on it but at the same time just come up with new things that's not really Warhammer to be fair. I have however taken inspiration from the "High Saurian" thread. With that said I have some fluff going on with my army and I hope to build on it as my army gets better. As for now, my army does not have an "active" slann and is ran by it's Skink priests.

As the Temple of Tzoa remains sealed from any outsiders, the Skink priests are sure their Lord will awaken from it's deep and centuries long meditation. The priests has kept the temple grounds safe with it's army of temple guards and warriors who are covered with relics, armor and weapons made out of steel, or silver while all gold were mainly stored around Tzoa's temple. The priests tried to hear or see signs from their Lord but years of silence has lead the lizardmen into a somewhat frenzy where they head out to hunt every evening in order to preform massive blood sacrifices ontop of their golden temple in hopes of getting signs from Tzoa. As the priests drain their sacrificial offerings, the Skink Chieftain Itzi'Tenqtec tries to find signs of what's to come and what to do. They have done this for centuries with very little progress regarding their Lord's state but they have no thought of ending their now tradition. The Temple stairs are watched by Zlagor'Loqoq who was an unusually strong Skink with a large shield that covered himself completely and held a long spear. The temple grounds are heavily guarded mainly by the oldblood Krotza who had been blessed twin-tails when he spawned into the world, he with his saurus warriors has defended the grounds without mercy since they spawned and Krotza has hunted the biggest prey in the region for their sacrifices. While a Scar-Veteran named Matzara was on the offensive ontop of his carnosaur leading a cavalry of cold ones, they covered more land faster at removing outside threats and striking terror into those few who managed to run away. Until this day they have soaked the temple with the blood of their enemies and honorable prey trying to awake or hear from their Lord Tzoa.

Notable Lizardmen in my army thus far:
  • Slann, Tzoa. [Absent until I get a proper Slann]
  • Skink Chieftain, Itzi'Tenqtec. Current ruler.
  • Skink Brave/Champion, Zlagor'Loqoq, unusually strong and twin-tailed Skink.
  • Oldblood Krotza, twin-tailed saurus on foot. Defensive war-leader.
  • Scar-Veteran Matzara, riding his carnosaur. Offensive war-leader.

    For the D&D:
  • Serpent [Sslyth], Vrrotzo. Snake-like warrior.
 
Hi all! I saw this thread and thought it looked interesting. Everyone else's have been really good, so I'll give it a go and try not to disappoint...

The temple city of Quez-kan'esh (green coast), was founded just before the catastrophe, as the slann began to extend outwards into the regions of the new races. Quez-Kanesh lies in what is now the bad lands, in a cove constantly shrouded by mist, what happened to its previous occupant occupants is a mystery. It was discovered by a slann of the second spawning, who had sensed some focal point of energy, and tracked it to the bad lands, and to Quez-kan'esh. Upon arrival, he ordered the search of every crevice of the temple, but no trace of the magical source could be found. Confused by this, he immediately floated up to the highest temple, and meditated upon his problem.

The army of skinks and saurus he'd brought with him, took this as a sign that he meant to stay, and for the first time in thousands of years, the sound of roars and high pitched chatter pervaded its walls, the ancient spawning pools were unblocked, and the temple peaks which stuck up out of the fog seemed to radiate purpose once more.

Lacking the traditional jade and obsidian with which weapons were traditionally made, the skinks learned to work with iron and bronze, emeralds and gems. Their armies go to war armed with unshatterable bronze blades, clad in glittering iron armour. The few krokigor that spawn are used to mine the deep tunnels from which they harvest their precious metal. Having learned their new art, they consider themselves above their 'savage' saurian brethren, and attempted to become more independent of their feral masters in Lustria.

But their great wealth comes at a cost, and Quez-kan'eh is constantly assailed by huge hoards of green skins, and here they have none of the great beasts of Lustria to protect them. It is only a matter of time, but what breaks first, their pride or their walls, not even the old ones can say...

I based this around my accidentally giving my lizards metal weapons, then decided it looked pretty cool, so painted my whole army like that. I also haven't got many ripperdactyls or troglodons, so thought this fitted quite well (I also play against Orcs ALOT). Let me know what you think, thanks!
 
Fhanados said:
During the Cataclysm he was key in morphing Lustria’s ecology into the deathworld we know it as today.
Click to expand...

Deathworld by Harry Harrison should be mandatory reading for anyone designing their own little slice of paradise.

My own fluff basis was the dissonance between the official LM fluff and the obvious misbehaviour of my miniatures on the table top.
Pure bred death machines miss all of their attacks. Implacable defenders suddenly flee. That kind of misbehaviour.

My Army and Fiction Fluff Background:

The sensible Slann of Lustria sent all of their oddball / inept servants on important, but one way missions to a particular temple city, Los'tmabo'tl. This was done mainly to preserve the reputation and dignity of the Infallible Forces of Lustria. Aside from banishing the misfits, the Slann were quite tolerant of them be cause they had been spawned by the will of the Old Ones for some reason. Keeping them in one place seemed wise, given the possibility that the Old Ones would return, declare the misfits to be an error, and expunge them all in flames.

The Slann who ruled over Los'tmabo'tl was Taisteslaikch'cken (now deceased ?). He probably became the lord of Lustria's not-finest because he was always so deep in contemplation that his brother Slann figured he might not notice.

The more detailed version is contained in The False Moon War, particularly chapter 3.

It is planned that my main characters will finally return to Los'tmabo'tl to find it very much changed. They will either be fleeing before or leading a Dark Elf Army at the time. At my current work rate, this will take years

The benefit of such a non heroic background is that I can't really get too disappointed if they fail badly on the table top.
 
This is kind-of army fluff...

Some of my favourite ever fluff on L-O was a narrative campaign report named "Finding the Naq" by @thedarkfourth which he posted on his own blog back in 2013.

While I was searching for the links I discovered that he / she / it has continued to write. I am bumping up the old thread and adding chapter links to the last post. Please follow the links, enjoy the chapters and post comments to encourage him / her / it to return to the jungle.
 
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