Troglodon

Their clammy presence revealed by ominous hissing, the great beasts known as Pale Death, or Troglodons, are amongst Lustria’s deadliest hunters. Lone cave-dwellers, Troglodons haunt subterranean grottos, emerging only to feed. These creatures are virtually blind, but hunt using senses other than sight. Swaying sinuously, the Troglodon uses its quill-like whiskers to track motion, while its forked tongue tastes the air. Upon locating its target, the Troglodon springs and bites, savaging its quarry with jaws full of hollow teeth able to pump forth noxious venom. The predator is known to spit this toxic bile, which helps the Troglodon triangulate their victim’s location, as the fluid makes a distinctive sizzling sound as it sears flesh.

Skink Priests claim that the twin-tailed beasts are marked by the Old Ones, the Serpent God Sotek or perhaps both. The ferocious creatures are untameable and all who approach a Troglodon provoke a lethal attack, with one exception. A Skink Oracle, a lone Skink spawned with a forked tail, can instantly tame the Pale Death, often adorning it with gems or precious metals to show its sacred status. The Troglodon deigns to serve as a mount for the tiny Oracle and, once bound into service, the loathsome beast will never abandon its master.

Mounted on a Troglodon, a Skink Oracle travels the land, using his obscure divining powers to seek out lost artefacts of the Old Ones or to investigate disturbances felt in the geomantic web. As with the Skink Priests, Slann Mage-Priests can see the world through the eyes of a Skink Oracle and can cast spells through them. This telepathic link means the Oracles often appear just when they are most needed - further adding to the superstitions surrounding the mysterious Skinks and their revered mounts. All Lizardmen rally at the wailing cry of the Troglodon, for its eerie call stirs their savagery and proves they have the Old Ones’ favour.