Lizardmen

The Lizardmen are the surviving oldest civilization on Avernus, and in the galaxy as a whole. They were the servants of the Old Ones, and in that role were responsible for creating much of Avernus. The Lizardmen of Avernus are split into two separate empires, each of which is dominated by a different species. These empires have been warring for countless eons over culpability for the death of the last of the Slann, a war that Saint Lin managed to bring to and end. For a while at least.

While the Lizardmen at first seem to be a primitive society barely out of the stone age, on closer examination they retain much of their old knowledge and technology, some of which is unimaginably advanced.

## Physiology

There are four main species of Lizardmen, the Slann, the Saurus, the Skinks and the Kroxigor. Of these the Slann Mage Priests, the leaders of the race are extinct on Avernus, and possibly in the galaxy. All Lizardmen are born in Spawning Pools following a set schedule, though with the loss of the Slann no more pools may be made. All Lizardmen are totally immune to the taint of Chaos, biologically immortal and grow stronger as they age.

The Slann were psykers of incredible power and control who were responsible for countless psychic feats of impossible power under the direction of the Old Ones. They were the undisputed leaders of the Lizardmen and since their loss the Lizardmen have struggled for direction.

The Saurus are the warrior-caste of the Lizardmen. Saurus are large, blue, reptilian warriors. They are over eight feet in length from head to the tips of their tails, and are covered in thick scales which act as armour. They have large jaws filled with razor-sharp teeth and have large talons that allow them to maul an opponent. The Saurus have an instinctive grasp of warfare, and their bestial appearance belies their ability to enact perfectly timed manoeuvres - however, they can be quite savage in combat, raining multiple attacks on their unfortunate opponents in quick succession. The only known sub-species of the Saurus are the Temple-Guard, who were spawned to protect the Slann and the most sacred sites of the Lizardmen. Generally a quarter of all Lizardmen are Saurus.

The Skinks are small, nimble aquatic reptiles who act as the middle class of the Lizardmen, fulfilling the countless necessary roles that were not covered by one of the other species. There are three known sub-species of Skinks, the Skink Priests, the Chameleon Skinks and the Red Crested Skinks. Skink Priests are the leaders of the Skinks and are the only true psykers of the Lizardmen barring the Slann. Chameleon Skinks combine chameleon skin that makes them near impossible to detect by conventional means with a set of psychic powers tailored for stealth and act as the covert operatives of the Lizardmen. Generally half of all Lizardmen are Skinks.

Kroxigors are huge, brutish crocodilians who walk upright and almost double the height of a saurus. Kroxigors do most of the physical work in lizardmen society. They posses an instinctive understanding of the use of all tools and an ability to quickly master any craft they put work into. The Kroxigor are the craftsmen and workers whose efforts keep Lizardmen society functioning, with tasks ranging from tilling the fields to building and maintaining the Engines of the Gods. While the Kroxigor rarely march to war, when they do they demonstrate that weapons to are tools that they can master, and that their strength and toughness are far greater then even their massive forms suggest. Generally a quarter of all Lizardmen are Kroxigors.

## Powers and Technology

### Powers

#### Saurus

As well as their inborn talent for war and strong bodies the Saurus have a passive psychic power that greatly hurries the development of their weapons into relics and artifacts. Saurus are built for war in all its forms, and have a mentality unsuited to civilian endeavors.

The Temple-Guard additionally have a series of powers that enhance their senses and the ability to go without the need for food or rest, allowing them to remain on guard eternally.

#### Skinks

Normal and Red Crested Skinks are capable of using psychic powers to assist with the taming of animals, with the sub-species having their own powers.

Skink Priests are able to use one of eight unique psychic disciplines, and seem to be able to use the Warp in ways that normal psykers can only dream of.

Chameleon Skinks posses set of psychic powers tailored for stealth that both allows them to bypass a even larger set of detection methods and hides their presence in the Warp.

#### Kroxigors

Korxigors psychic abilities further enhance their instinctive understanding of the use of all tools and an ability to quickly master any craft they put work into.

### Technology

On first look the technology of the Lizardmen is a strange mix between stone age and impossibly advanced. This is to an extent inaccurate, but there is still a massive gap between the technology that the Lizardmen can use and maintain and the technology that they can produce. Rather then being due to lost knowledge as is usually the case with fallen civilizations, this is due to the fact that almost all of the Lizardmen's more advanced technology requires the presence of a Slann Mage-Priest to produce, making it impossible since the loss of the Slann.

Most of the technology that the Lizardmen can currently produce is made of Obsinite, a material that looks like simple obsidian but has many properties better fitted for high grade Adamantium. This material is used for everything, from weapons and armour to building blocks and roads. Additionally Obsinite seems to be highly effective at absorbing Warp energy, and at channeling certain forms of Warp energy. The Lizardmen seem to be able to produce simple seeming but incredibly advanced psychic wards out of Obsinite and bronze, which are able to enhance their protection against a wide range of attacks, both psychic and not.

The more advanced technology of the Lizardmen are mostly what they call Engines of the Gods, psy-tech so advanced that it blurs the line of magic and technology and is capable of incredible feats of power. While the creation of many of the more powerful Engines of the Gods requires a Slann, several of the more simple devices are still in production. Known examples include producing a combat arena in which all wounds, including soul death can be healed, summonsing powerful psychic blasts at continental ranges, massed enhancement and healing effects, massed banishment effects and similar.

We know much of this technology relies on the Geomantic Web, but are unsure as to the exact extent.

## Empires

### Saurus Empire

The smaller of the two Empires the Saurus Empire has a mere fourteen major Temple-Cities, along with their territories. These Temple-Cities spawn a greater proportion of Saurus than normal, with a half of all spawnings being Saurus. The Saurus Empire is optimised for war, with the entire Empire existing to wage war. This Empire is run by a council consisting of all Saurus Elders (Saurus over ten thousand years) and the most respected Saurus Oldbloods (Saurus over a thousand years). In war they rely on their large numbers of well equipped Saurus and tactical brilliance to achieve victory.

### Skink Empire

The larger of the two Empires the Skink Empire has twenty-three major Temple-Cities, along with their territories. These Temple-Cities spawn a lower proportion of Saurus then normal, with a eighth of all spawnings being Saurus. In exchange they spawn far greater numbers of Red Crested Skinks. The Skink Empire has a far more flexible society then the Saurus and has many trade ties with other peoples of Avernus. In war the Skink Empire makes heavy use of hit and run tactics and a large menagerie of powerful warbeasts, using its comparatively few Saurus as elites.

### Itza

Itza is the oldest and most powerful Lizardman City, and the only city to have remained neutral in the eternal war. It is here that most of the Slann Relic-Priests are entombed, and it was here where the final Slann met their end. Itza is ruled by the Temple-Guard, who preserve its neutrality.

## Notable Lizardmen

### The Ancient One

The Ancient One is the oldest living Lizardman, and most likely the oldest living being. His exact age is unknown but according to the Krork he was a mid-tier hero in the War In Heaven known as the Firstborn, and even then he was considered old. In fact the Ancient One predates Avernus considerably. Theories range on his exact age, but the upper bound is being amongst the first Saurus spawning 250 million years ago.

The Ancient One was there for the birth of Chaos, and has been one of its greatest foes ever since, earning the tittle of the 'Eternal Enemy of Chaos'. Over a hundred Exalted Greater Daemons have met their true and final end on his spear, and it is rumoured that he was the first to truly end the life of an Exalted Greater Daemon of each of the Five Great Gods of Chaos. Furthermore, he is the only rival of Be'lakor the First Prince of Chaos and arguably the most potent asset chaos possesses aside from the Gods themselves.

Saurus grow faster, stronger and tougher as they age, and the Ancient One is well over sixty million years old. As such it should not be surprising that his sheer physical capabilities are on par with the Primarches, if not greater. However far more impressive is the transcendental level of skill and willpower that the Ancient One has developed. With his spear in hand you have seen the Ancient One slay a pair of Exalted Archangyls within two hours, most of which was spent chasing the second Archangyl. Just as impressive as this skill is the Ancient Ones ability to ignore all psychic powers wielded by anything short of an Apex Psyker, and to greatly resist even those powers.

In battle the Ancient One wields his spear, a war-spear of the Old Ones gifted to one of their elite soldiers in the War In heaven. While during that legendary war it was nothing particularly special, these days even the least of the weapons of the War In Heaven are impressive, and it was not the least of weapons. The Spear of the Ancient One has grow far past its humble beginnings much as its wielder has, being tempered in the blood of countless being of incredible power and skill over the ages. In modern times it is one of the most powerful artifacts in existence, with only the greatest of Divine Artifacts being its better.

### Tlixchoctan the Bane, Saurus Elder

Renowned as the greatest warrior of the Saurus, the Bane was spawned in Xhotl the City of Heroes in the midst of a daemonic incursion and rather than confusion immediately rallied his spawn brothers in the defence of the city. In this battle the prodigal saurus would take up the rough hewn slab of stone that has since become their great axe and slew their first greater daemon, a minor one of little renown, but a great feat for one who was only a few days old at the time.

Since then Tilxchoctan has grown in power and skill in battles against the Skinks, the world and the daemonic finding himself to be the Bane of all enemies he has faced. His pair of victories in the tournament and brief battles with the Ancient One serve as proof of his capacity and skill.

Now ruling the city of his spawning the now Elder welcomed Lin as a scourge of the Daemonic, but was doubtful that a truce could be reached with the skinks, never mind peace, which was almost an alien concept to one literally born into war.

His surprise when Lin succeeded possibly helped spur his leadership of a combined Saurus and Skink force that successfully crossed a continent and an ocean during the heights of the incursion to participate in the battle of Dis, where he personally held the breach created by the First Circle with none, but his personal guard.

While Lin maybe gone the Bane has discovered an odd friendship with the Astarte known as Idimane Quintor of the Crimson Crusaders, the two meeting during the third incursion when the remains of Captain Quintor’s Crimson Crusaders reached Dis. Believing they were still in the warp Captain Quintor attempted to assault the lizard, only to be thrown to the ground quickly. The appearance of a swarm of daemons parted the two until they came back to back, making a game out of who could kill the greater number of abominations. Since then Captain Quintor has come several times to the city of heroes, his curse finding itself soothed within a place protected by the immense wards of the Old Ones, and his skills tested to their limits again and again by the elder lizard, as the two compare tips on how to best gut greater daemons.

### Skink High Priest Gehtu Lord of the Starlit City

Lord of the Starlit city of Axotl Gehtu is likely the eldest living Skink and possesses a depths of experience and power earned over a life that comfortably predates the Imperium by at least three thousand years.

With this he is armed with millennia of experience in warfare, management and combat, as well as honing the innate psycic abilities available to skinks to an extraordinary edge. In particular his abilities in divination are staggering, considering that it is not his primary area of focus, with the elder lizard forseeing events far in the future and deep in the past. For example he claimed to have seen Lin’s arrival several thousand years before the Saint actually arrived, and greeted him by answering several questions as if he had responded to a long conversation.

However, his greatest gift is his innate understanding of the Engines of the Gods that the Old Ones left to their children, with his mastery of them surpassing all others. Indeed it was Gehtu who put one of these engines to use to heal Saint Lin, extending his life by a few more years when even the best experts of the Eldar deemed it impossible.

During the peace talks Gehtu was one of Lin’s most regular allies amongst the Skink priests, his immense age and knowledge making him respected and able to cool the most aggressive of their kind, steering them inexorably towards the end of hostilities.

Gehtu did not stand idle when Lin was threatened. Despite Axotl being assaulted by a vast force of Angyls, Gehtu aided Avernus’s navies integration with the wider world’s network and directed the controlled power of several engines of the gods in the defence of Dis, killing innumerable daemons despite the vast distance. Since Lin’s death he has also been amongst the first to place a plaque depicting Lin’s place in the Lizardmen’s history within their temples.

### Joriq: Eternity Warden of Itza

The title of Eternity Warden is regarded with immense complexity in lizardmen society. On the one hand it is the highest title of a sacred office, those who in the past were charged with the direct safety of the Slann mage priests, the leaders of the Temple Guard, the best of the best…

And they are failures.

For the Slann are no more and the Lizardmen have fallen into sorrow and darkness because of it.

Their legends state that in those black times, both Skinks and Saurus considered permanently abolishing the position of Eternity Warden amongst other punishments to be levied upon the Temple Guard for their failure to protect the Slann, but it was the intervention of the Ancient One, one of the few times he directly intervened in their civilisation that prevented that.

He stated the need for the Temple Guard and Eternity Wardens remained, to guard the bodies of their fallen leaders and see to the safety of the Spawning Pools and that he would personally see to the skill of their leaders.

So it has been that the mightiest of the Temple Guard still become the Eternity Wardens of their respective cities, and for millions of years each of these already pussient warriors have been trained personally by the Ancient One into engines of destruction.

Joriq is the latest of the Eternity Wardens of Itza, who returned from the Ancient One’s training to a vast battle outside of the walls of Itza where he finally slew Xe'achtor the Slaughterer, ending the first battle of the civil war to take place near the First City in over 60,000 years.

Since then the defender of the greatest Relic Priests has viciously enforced the neutrality of Itza from the rest of the war, and has directed his forces to drive away any, Skink or Saurus they suspect of intending to prosecute the war within 10 miles of the city, as their battles may pose a threat to his charges.

And old and experienced Saurus blessed with the strength of the Temple Guard and the benefits of the Ancient One’s training, who is looked to as the effective leader of the Temple Guard, Joriq was barely convinced to allow Itza to act as the central neutral ground for the peace negotiations. However with the war seemingly ended, he is slowly allowing more Saurus and Skinks to enter the first city, albeit under heavy and suspicious watch.

### Aksi’Moquandi the Hand of Chaqua

The Kroxigor of the Lizardmen are often in the awkward situation of being truly neutral compared to the Skinks and the Saurus. Neither side blame the Kroxigor for the fate of the Slann and both sides need them for their innate understanding of construction. Without the Kroxigor the cities of the lizardmen would deteriorate from their current exceptional condition, the weapons and tools that both sides utilise would be lost etc.

For this reason Kroxigor are frequently called on to mediate between both sides, indeed when Lin helped talk both Skink and Saurus to peace, he was aided by experienced Kroxigor diplomats when he could not go himself whilst the meetings were defended by Kroxigor guards to ensure there was no foul play.

Amongst the Kroxigor the Hand of Chaqua, sometimes called the relic saviour, bares the most renown in the modern era.

His title is obvious, for one of his limbs has been replaced with a brilliant gold prosthetic. One of the most prized engines the lizardmen possess, a Hand of Gods.

The Lizardmen have few of these items and even fewer of a type that are intended not for combat, but for crafting, and Aksi’Moquandi is the only Kroxigor 90,000 years to successfully complete the trials to prove his worth and have the item grafted to his very soul.

Originally the Kroxigor rested within the Chaqua the City of Gold, crafting wonders for those that came to him, but during a particularly devastating battle between the Skinks and Saurus the sacred forging districts were threatened, among them many highly sacred relics. Frustrated and fearing for the safety of the artefacts Aksi’Moquandi took up his forging hammer to drive both away, bellowing admonishments and chastising them for their near blasphemy, as his arm exploded into an incandescent forge flame hotter than the sun.

The force of the Kroxigor’s will and drive combined with the presence of the holy engine and his blandishments stunned the combatants and forced them to flee in shame.

Since then the Forger has traveled the lands of the Saurus and Skinks with an army of attendants, gathering, preserving and restoring sacred items that have been lost in the constant fighting, whether they be golden trinkets or vast temple complexes.

While certainly a mighty warrior, his skill as a crafter makes him sort for by the greatest warriors of both cousin species, although there are very few that meet his harsh standards, for he judges every moment spent in the war as a slight against the Old One’s honour and refuses to utilise his arm save for more worthy callings like crafting items to destroy the demonic.

## History

The Ceremony of Remembrance is a once a thousand years event in which the Lizardmen remember the entire history of the galaxy, and what has been lost and gained over time. This is considered to be one of the holiest events to the Lizardmen, and took a dozen years to complete.

Over the first seven years it covered the early existence of the Old Ones, including their first encounter with xenos and the creation of the Lizardmen as well as their early attempts to shepherd younger races, to varying levels of success. This included first ten billion years of the Old Ones existence. Its hard to picture just how old the Old Ones truly were, and how long their civilisation lasted. You thought that the Ancient One was old, but the Old Ones usually reached a billion or more years before moving on.

The final five years of the Ceremony of Remembrance is where you started seeing parts of history that you recognised. Starting eleven billion years after the Old Ones left their world when an intergalactic army of robots invaded the galaxy aiming to wipe out all life. At first the Old Ones, never having needed to wage war before, were on the backfoot but within a few decades they turned their powers to war, holding the line even as the First Spawning of Saraus Warriors were spawned. It is here that the Ancient One, silent until now starts spaking. He speaks about how he and his kin were armed with weaponry devised by the Old Ones and Slann and sent into battle, and how they at first held the line and then started pushing back the robotic hordes. In many ways, it sounds like fighting a robotic version of the Tyranids, with them retaining the same ability to rebuild from near-total losses if they had raw materials. The Ancient One goes into how as the war went on he and his brothers learned more of the ways of war, and their weaponry and tactics became more and more effective, allowing them to push back the foe. A thousand years after the war had begun the last invader was destroyed, and the Old Ones set to work on healing the galaxy of the damage inflicted. While the galaxy seemed to have returned to normal there was a new addition, with the SarausWarriors joining the Kroxigor Builders, the Skink Administrators and the Slann Mage-Priests among the servants of the Old Ones.

Eighty million years later a new race rose to prominence, the Necrontyr. This barbaric race was ruled by a hereditary noble caste that constantly warred among each other for more wealth and power, and was short-lived due to inbuilt genetic issues making cancers common. These rulers noticed the immortality of the Old Ones and their servants, and desired it for themselves. The Old Ones refused to pass on the secrets of immortality to the rulers of the Necrontyr, worried about making an immortal ruler caste and instead offered a cure for the Necrontyr’s cancer which would allow for the entire population to reach a decent age, not just the ruling caste who could afford the treatments that the Necrontyr could make themselves. The Necrontyr refused, and shortly thereafter declared war on the Old Ones as part of a political ploy to stop various rebellions and attempts at secession, a war that the Old Ones quickly won. After winning the Old Ones drove the Necrontyr back to their core worlds in the Halo Stars, and exiled them there until they can more peacefully interact with the galactic community that the Old Ones had set up. The Old Ones hoped that the Necrontyr’s defeat and humiliation would break the dominance of their ruling caste, and allow them to form a more stable, and less aggressive, form of government. As unrest started to tear down the Necrontyr’s social order it looked like the Old One’s plans would come to fruition, and then another force was brought into the equation. The Necrons managed to attract the attention of the C’Tan, the star grazers an ancient race older than the galaxy itself which feasted on the lifeforce of stars. It is unknown exactly how the short-lived Necrontyr attracted the attention of these beings, but the result was clear. With the guidance of the Star Gods the Necrontyr pushed their already advanced technologies ahead by leaps and bounds, and the various insurgents were put down for a time. Soon enough the C’Tan offered the Necrons as a whole the immortality the Old One’s once denied their ruling caste, in the form of bio-transference. With the acceptance of this offering by the Silent King the immortality, and unity, of the Necrons was assured, as was their eternal service to the C’Tan, who had drunk their life force as they were transferred in a great betrayal that still haunts the Necrons to this day.

With that, the War in Heaven started in earnest, with the Legions of the Necrons spearheaded by the C’Tan pushing back the Old Ones and their Saraus Warriors on all fronts. Soon enough the Old Ones started to seek the aid of those species that they had uplifted in the past, and further uplift them to boost their ability to aid. With this, the Necrons rapid push slowed to a crawl, with them slowly pushing back the forces of the Old Ones and their allies. In response, the Old Ones started making entirely new races to wage war against the Necrons, with the Krork being the most prominent. This slowed the war into a stalemate, with ever more advanced weapons being deployed on both sides. Soon enough weapons of such power that they could not be used in the galaxy without destroying it started to be deployed and then pulled back, creating the very real risk that nothing would survive the War in Heaven. This forced the war to drag on evermore, as no longer did the sides need to simply defeat their foe, but they now needed to also devise counters to all of their foes superweapons. None remember exactly how long the War in Heaven lasted, and none can as time itself was but another weapon in that war.

*The tales of the War in Heaven lasted four years in total, and included tales of such heroism and grief that you wept at them.*

Eventually the C’Tan and their Necron slaves stood ascendant, and crushed all but a handful of scattered remnants of the Old Ones forces, who were getting ever more desperate in their efforts to avoid defeat. It was at this point that the last Slann of Avernus, and probably of the galaxy attempted to create a weapon that can easily slay even C’Tan, and brought the End of All into the galaxy. While they managed to seal what they had brought forth into the shape of a blade and bind it with thirteen seals the aftereffects of their actions brought their end, and brought Chaos into existence. At this point the Necrons turned on their C’Tan masters, shattering all of them in one of the greatest feats in the history of the galaxy. This was not without cost however, as the C’Tan took the vast majority of the Necrons fleets and legions with them, leaving those few that remained in a bad positions to deal with the scattered remnants of the Old Ones forces and the various apocalyptic forces unleashed by both sides over the course of the war. As such the Necrons withdrew to hidden Tomb Worlds, and entered into the Great Sleep while their automated systems rebuilt their forces.

This left a handful of scattered races of the Old Ones allies and servants as all that remained in the galaxy, along with dozens of apocalyptic forces, including the newly risen Orks that rose out of the grave of the Krork, the Enslaver Plague, the Time-lost, the Primal forces of Chaos, and many other forces out of nightmare. Three million years after the Necrons entered the great sleep the Aeldari emerged victorious, being the only forces left in the galaxy with any real strength. Thus began the era of the Aeldari Dominion.

For fifty-seven million years the Aeldari Dominion dominated the galaxy, despite the occasional rise of the Orks, the K’Nib or other ancient foes. In this time Avernus, the last remaining outpost of the Lizardmen and through them the Old Ones continued its ancient tasks, waiting for the Old Enemy or the Folly to return to haunt them. Then came the Fall.

*The last six months of the Ceremony of Remembrance covered the Fall and events since then, events that you were already familiar with. It was amazing to see yourself and those you know in the final stages though,and to know that as long as Avernus existed your deeds and struggles would not be forgotten.*