Saurus

When the Lizardmen march to battle, it is the Saurus who make up the hardened core of the fighting forces. This is no surprise, for the Saurus were created solely for the purpose of war and protection. The Old Ones cultivated this race of reptilian warriors, although whether they created them entirely, or raised them up from some primordial life form of the jungles, is not clear. What is assured, however, is their role and function. In the prehistory of the world, a time before the coming of Elves or Dwarfs, it was the Saurus who pacified the lands, fighting great battles and exterminating entire species in accordance with the Old Ones’ plans.

Saurus are brutish yet disciplined creatures. Even unarmed, they are extremely dangerous — their sharp claws can gouge grooves into rock or tear out a foe’s throat with ease. Their muscular tails can smash a man’s ribcage and their mouths are full of enormous dagger-shaped teeth. The power of their crocodilian jaws is such that a vicious Saurus bite can sever a limb or crush steel. If not killed outright, those bitten by a Saurus bear infected wounds, often succumbing to a foul fever and dying within a matter of days.

Although unable to master more complicated devices, Saurus use simple weapons to devastating effect — wielding obsinite-tipped spears and heavy clubs spiked with jagged stones. Using their great strength, Saurus can leave the roads and hack through the dense jungle of Lustria using brute force alone; however, they are more accustomed to exerting it against their foes’ stoutest legions.

Although they can, at times, appear slow of reflex and sluggish, Saurus can still achieve speed on the march thanks to the power of their loping gait. Their tough hides bear spines, bony crests and thick scales that can turn aside all but the surest of sword strokes. For further defence, Saurus will at times bear shields - bladed crescents made from the cured hides of the large scaled beasts that prowl the deepest jungles. Saurus are cold-blooded and seemingly impervious to pain, able to sustain horrific wounds and fight on without making a single sound of protest. Indeed, so alien are they that they register no emotion save a single-minded savagery.

Saurus are not birthed, but spawned - crawling full-grown from the dark pools constructed for such purposes many ages ago when the Old Ones walked the world. They arrive not individually, but as a cohort — an entire military unit that will stay together for the rest of their lives. All those spawned together bear the same colouration and markings as their brethren. They share a mindset, acting with an eerie, but unspoken synchronicity — the whole formation turning as one, or launching an ambush, without the need for so much as a single spoken word.

Although they do so infrequently, Saurus can speak. Their language is little more than deeply growled one-word commands. These orders issue forth from a Spawn Leader - the greatest amongst their number since they first emerged from the spawning pool. In the course of their long lives of battle, it is not unusual for a Saurus spawning to lose their champion. In such cases, if the unit survives, another of its members will eventually grow into the role — or, as the Lizardmen say, receive the gifts of the Old Ones.