Old Ones

The Old Ones were an ancient, hyper-intelligent, and near omnipotent starfaring species that may have been reptilian in nature and who served as the mysterious shaping hand of the Warhammer World, creating its current geography and climate. They arrived on the world in what would become the continent of Lustria more than 17,000 years before the present and proceeded to shape its geography and inhabitants according to the mysterious demands of some greater plan, moving the world closer to the sun to make its environment more temperate and creating new sentient races or modifying already existing ones to inhabit it, including the Slann and Lizardmen, the Elves of Ulthuan, the Dwarfs and the Humans.

In addition, the Old Ones constructed two great warp gates at the poles of the planet. These were used to cross into an immaterial, interdimensional realm known as the Aethyr, or the Realm of Chaos, which allowed the Old Ones to traverse immense distances of space in a mere instants.

At some point between 8,100 and 7,000 years before the present, these gateways collapsed, puncturing the barrier between the physical and the immaterial universes, thereby allowing Chaos to come into the world. After this event, known as the Great Catastrophe, the Old Ones disappeared from the world as they were unable or unwilling to stop the flood of Chaos from destroying their creation, leaving their endeavors on the Warhammer World to be completed by their servants, the Slann and the Lizardmen.

As a result of the departure of the Old Ones, the knowledge of their true nature and power have been lost to the Lizardmen. With no living Slann remaining to recall any first hand knowledge of their long-departed masters, the Lizardmen no longer regard the Old Ones as benevolent rulers, but now worship them as long-lost gods of war for whose return they patiently await.