"I swore that the Lammasu had a keener mind than the wizard who claimed to control it. Alas, I was right."
A Lammasu of the Dark Lands, favoured mount of Chaos Dwarf Sorcerers[2a]
The Lammasu is a Manticore-like Chaos beast with the body of a gigantic bull, a powerful mace-tipped tail and a massive, ugly head. It is a wise and crafty beast that makes its lair in the Dark Lands.[2a] The Chaos Dwarfs believe it to be a rare mutation of the Great Taurus, and less a beast than a physical manifestation of the Dark Lands' rage.[1b][3a]
Role
"Believed to be a rare mutation of the Great Taurus, the magical Lammasu are the living embodiment of the Dark Lands' rage, exhaling sorcerous clouds to protect their riders."
- —Description of Lammasu in Total War: Warhammer III.[3a]
A Lammasu as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.
A Lammasu is a creature with magical properties,[1b] one that is not only acclimated to magic, but that also lives and breathes the very stuff of sorcery.[2a] It breathes not ordinary air but the power of magic itself, drawing into itself the power of the Winds of Magic.[1b] [3a]
Indeed, the Lammasu possesses a minor, but potent, spellcasting ability, the backwash of which manifests as whirling clouds of black sorcery which wreathe and curl about the beast every time it breathes. This magical exhalation enwraps the Lammasu with protective power protecting it from hostile spells.[2a][1b] Furthermore, enemies fighting Lammasu in melee often find the smoky threads of sorcery befouling their magic weapons, dampening their power and preventing them from striking the beast to full effect.[2a][3a]
Lammasu rarely seek to enter battle themselves, at least not as first resort. A Lammasu would far rather convince other beasts to do the dirty work for it. In stark contrast to its breathtakingly ugly appearance, the Lammasu possesses a peculiar and insidious charisma that it uses to further its own agendas. When reinforced by the Lammasu's magical artifice, this can leave the creature's victims befuddled and suggestible in the span of a few short minutes.
Great Tauruses, Wyverns, Pegasi, Griffons -- all are susceptible to the Lammasu's honeyed words and cunning manipulations. Only the most maddened and ferocious of monsters can withstand the Lammasu's voice, and then only out of red-fogged rage, rather than any conscious resistance. Whilst the Great Taurus is undoubtedly the king of the Plain of Zharrduk, it only reigns because the Lammasu is content to let it.[2a]
The Lammasu is the favourite mount of Chaos Dwarf Sorcerers,[1b] who have used them as steeds for thousands of years, but who's to say whether it is the mount or the rider that truly commands the partnership?[2a][3a]
Miniatures
Trivia
The Lammasu is based on the Lamassu, a creature/deity of Assyrian mythology depicted as a hybrid, with the wings of a bird, the head of a human and the body of a lion or a bull.
Sources
- 1 Warhammer Armies: Chaos Dwarfs (4th Edition)
- 2 Warhammer: Storm of Magic (8th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 129
- 3: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
- 3a: Lammasu Unit Description
Gallery
