A Cold One raptor on the prowl.
Cold Ones, called Nauglir in the Dark Elven Druhir tongue, are feral, carnivorous reptilian beasts that can be found on the New World continents of Lustria and Naggaroth. These species of giant reptiles are used as mounts by both the Dark Elves and the Lizardmen.
Quick Answers
What are the Cold Ones in the Dark Elven Druhir language?
What continents are the Cold Ones found on in the New World?
What species use the Cold Ones as mounts?
What drives the Cold Ones to attack warm-blooded creatures?
How do the Cold Ones hunt their prey?
Role
Concept art for a Cold One utilised by the Dark Elves created for Total War: Warhammer II.
Cold Ones are rapacious reptilian predators, fuelled by a savage blood-lust that drives them to attack any warm-blooded creature that comes near. Cold Ones hunt in packs, and are perfectly capable of bringing down creatures many times their own size.
Rendering of a Cold One for Total War: Warhammer II.
As soon as they become aware of their prey, the pack will surge forth, some of their number harrying and snapping at their quarry, while the rest of the pack swings forward to left and right. Once surrounded, the unfortunate victim will quickly be dragged down and consumed.[3a]
Rendering of a Cold One used by the Dark Elves for Total War: Warhammer II.
Cold Ones are found in many places but are most commonly seen on the continents of the New World that lie just to the west of Ulthuan. Their habitats range from the tunnels and mountains under Hag Graef in the realms of the Dark Elves on Naggaroth, to the Lustrian jungles hundreds of miles to the south that are home to the Lizardmen.
Rendering of a Cold One used by the Lizardmen for Total War: Warhammer II.
The appearance and nature of the Cold Ones can vary depending on where they live; those found below Hag Graef are darker-skinned and less robust in appearance than those that hunt within the Lustrian jungles, for example. There have even been reports of Cold One packs that bear mottled camouflage or tiger-like stripes upon their backs.[3a]
Cold Ones can be broken to the saddle, and are used as cavalry mounts by both the Dark Elves and Lizardmen. However, breaking them in this way tempers their normally savage nature, and although still ferocious compared to most mounts, it leaves them dull-eyed and sullen compared to their wild cousins.[3a]
For this reason, wizards will sometimes bind pocks of feral Cold Ones to their will with a Scroll of Binding, and then unleash them at the start of a battle to surge uncontrollably forward and savagely attack the foe. Used in this way, a large pack of Cold Ones can inflict terrible harm, while smaller packs are ideal for snapping and biting at the flanks of the opposing army.[3a]
Use by the Lizardmen
.png){kind=link}
A feral Cold One, part of a pack used by the Lizardmen, as depicted in Total War: Warhammer II.
Certain Lizardmen Saurus may be spawned with the instinctive ability to tame and ride Cold Ones. Perhaps the normally vicious Cold Ones recognise a similar cold-blooded cunning in these Saurus. These Saurus form into units of Cold One Riders and serve as shock cavalry.[2a]
Very few Lizardmen are able to ride a rare Horned One, and only then a beast that has been reared with great care from hatching. It is said that to master such a beast, a warrior must be blessed in the sight of the Old One Itzl. Such warriors are extremely rare and are often spawned alone. Truly, these riders are great warriors, fated to perform mighty deeds in the sacred name of the Lizardmen's god of beasts.[2a]
Because of their ferocious nature, Cold Ones that remain untamed are known to be placed in packs and used as beasts of war by the Lizardmen.[4]
Use by the Dark Elves
A Dark Elf-trained Cold One, outfitted in heavy barding, as depicted in concept art for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.
The Dark Elves of Naggaroth make use of units of Cold One Knights as shock troops. Many Dark Elf nobles and sorceresses ride to battle on Cold Ones; the Witch King Malekith himself rewards his favorite nobles with Cold One Chariots.[1a]
The Dark Elves discovered the Cold Ones some time after their exile to Naggaroth from Ulthuan. They were first used in battle by Amareekh Khail and his companions at Athel Oreirian.
Khail's unit and its Elf-flesh banners became infamous among the High Elves. Their legend is only equal to that of the Bloodscythes, a chariot regiment from Hag Graef, lauded by the Dark Elves. Cold One Knights also use Cold Ones for the arena game shakhtila which pits two teams of Cold One Knights against each other where the object of the game is to kill more slaves than your opposition.[1a]
Notable Cold Ones
- Spite - Spite is the Cold One mount of Malus Darkblade.
Miniatures
Trivia
The Cold Ones are likely based on the Dromaeosauridae family of dinosaurs, popularly knows as "raptors." They seem to most closely resemble earlier depictions of raptors which showed them as scaled dinosaurs rather than the feathered dinosaurs they were disocovered to be. Their size, however, may likely be based specifically on the Utahraptor, the largest known member species of the Dromaeosauridae.
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (8th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 42
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Lizardmen (8th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 34
- 3 Storm of Magic (Supplement)
- 3a: pg. 95
- 4: Total War: Warhammer II (PC Game)
Gallery
