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Itza, called the "First City," is the greatest of the surviving temple-cities of the Lizardmen and is home to the most powerful and ancient practitioners of magic to be found anywhere in the Known World. Foremost amongst them is the venerable Slann relic priest, Lord Kroak, whose indomitable spirit has guarded Itza against the return of Chaos since the Great Catastrophe. Although it has been hard-pressed on several occasions, never once has Itza yielded to an attacker.[1a]

The city is dedicated to Itzl, the lord of cold-blooded beasts. It is strange to find large temples dedicated to this Old One within the precincts of a temple-city; their complexes are generally confined to the outskirts. Yet it was on the Great Pyramid of Itzl that Lord Kroak cast his final spell of banishment against the Daemons who assaulted the city during the first incursion of the power of Chaos into the mortal realm. This pyramid houses artefacts of such power even the Slann do not dwell upon them, and it blazes like a beacon for those with witchsight.[3a]

History[]

Itza was the first temple-city to be constructed by the Lizardmen and the Old Ones many thousands of years before the birth of Sigmar. For many years, the city prospered and grew powerful. But then the Daemons of Chaos came during the events of the Great Catastrophe, when the Old Ones' Polar Gates collapsed and the power of Chaos flodded uncontrolled into the mortal world.[1a]

Great Catastrophe (-5600 IC)[]

Somehow, the Polar Gates constructed by the advanced alien race known as the Old Ones at the top and bottom of the Known World exploded, unleashing the unrestricted flow of magical power from the Realm of Chaos into the mortal plane. From this rift in reality, Daemons flooded the mortal realm and began assaulting the Lizardmen temple-cities as well as the settlements of all the other mortal races. The Lustrian Lizardmen looked to their creators for aid against the onslaught of Chaos during what came to be called the Great Catastrophe, but found them either dead or to have fled to locations unknown across the cosmos.[1a]

When temple-city after temple-city fell, at last the way was clear for the Daemonic hordes to besiege Itza, the First City of the Old Ones and lynchpin of the Lizardmen's arcane defences. Itza was under the protection of Lord Kroak, first of all the Slann spawned upon the Known World and the mightiest of the Lizardmen's mage-priests. The energy dome raised by Kroak around Itza crackled with energy, turning Daemons to dust as they railed against it. Yet after years of strain to maintain the shield, even Lord Kroak could sustain such mystic walls no longer, and with a final surge, he exploded the barrier outwards, flattening the surrounding jungle. A hundred thousand Daemons were banished in an instant. Nevertheless, the remainder, numbering in the thousands, swarmed savagely into Itza at last.[1a]

Nakai, one of the greatest Kroxigors to ever have spawned, participated in the defence of Itza. It was in the battle for Itza that Nakai first rose to prominence. He killed four score of the foul Daemons holding the vital Bridge of the Stars until reinforcements arrived, earning him great honour. So great was the tally of Daemon-things reaped by the Kroxigor that day that it is said Daemons fear that site in Itza as they do no other place in the mortal world, hearing the death knell of uncounted numbers of their kin echoing down the millennia. Nakai was thought slain at this time by his kin, until his unexpected reappearance nearly three thousand years later.[5a]

No battle was more fiercely fought than the one amongst the streets of Itza. Only an epic stand by Kroak's army of Temple Guard prevented the Daemons from overrunning the temple-city's Great Pyramid. For many days and nights, the elite Saurus warriors stood firm on the lofty Bridge of Stars. Using his reservoirs of magical energy, Kroak prepared his final incantations. As the last of the Temple Guard was cut down by Daemonic claws, Kroak spouted forth spells that were the preserve of gods, raining fire from the heavens to vaporise the foe. Time stood still as the fabric of the universe strained from the outpouring of sheer arcane power.[1a]

Yet eventually even the Slann succumbed. A dozen Bloodthirsters, protected by the favour of their Chaos God Khorne, fought through the deluge of spells and reached the top of the pyramid. There, they fell upon Kroak's form, ripping him apart in a savage instant. So overcharged with arcane energies was Kroak that his spirit fought on, refusing to let even death hinder him. Set free of his flesh, Kroak's radiant will soared above the ruins, scourging the invaders with a divine light that was like unto a second sun. The First City was saved.[1a]

Although Itza was delivered from the assault of Chaos, the war raged on. Across the globe, the younger races also faced the Daemonic legions. Despite retreating to their mountain holds, the Dwarfs had been decimated. The Elves of Ulthuan suffered tremendous loss, but in the end, their [[[High Elf Mage|mages]] enacted the Great Ritual -- a spell that created a vast magical vortex at the heart of their island-continent of Ulthuan that drained away vast amounts of the magic that flooded the world from the remains of the Polar Gates. Deprived of the requisite amounts of ambiebt magical energy to sustain themselves in the mortal realm, the Daemons were banished back to their seething realm, yet the mortal world was irrevocably damaged, forever after saturated with magic and the monsters it had created.[1a]

Dark Elf Theft of the Star Stela of Quetli (315 IC)[]

Tepec-Inzi Campaign

The Lizardmen forces of Itza campaign to reclaim the Star Stela of Quetli from the Dark Elves in 315 IC.

After the Elven civil war of the Sundering, the Slann pondered their course of action towards the Dark Elves for many centuries. Their decision was made when the Druchii began launching raids against Lizardmen settlements. This culminated in the theft of the most sacred Star Stela of Quetli from Itza. The Slann Tepec-Inzi marshalled the armies of Itza, meeting Mazdamundi in the temple-city of Hexoatl to marshall a truly massive Lizardmen host.[7a]

The Lizardmen pursued their prey to the cliffs of the Boiling Sea, where Tepec-Inzi incinerated hundreds of Dark Elves with a powerful blast. The survivors formed a battle line between the ocean and the Lizardmen. Few escaped, but those that did still held the Star Stela. Several more battles were fought in Naggaroth as the Lizardmen hunted those survivors until they finally reclaimed the ancient artefact ten months later and placed it back in its vault in Itza.[7a]

Vampiric Invasion (876-976 IC)[]

After the creation of the settlements of the Vampire Coast in 876 IC, the Vampire Lord Luthor Harkon slowly grew his Undead Zombie Pirate empire along the northeastern coast of Lustria. Two years after a mocking coronation of himself as the new "emperor" of the Vampire Coast, he launched a devastating attack against Itza. The Slann Xlotc managed to force this army north towards Oyxl, where it was utterly destroyed.[6b]

A century after this defeat, the Vampire launched another invasion of the Lizardmen-held interior of Lustria. However, his forces were decisively defeated by the Kroxigor Nakai and the forces of Itza under the Slann Lord Xltep at the Battle of the Eclipse. The Vampire Coast's power was greatly reduced for many years after this defeat.[6b]

Geography[]

Wh2 main lzd itza crest

Icon of the Lizardmen army of the temple-city of Itza as depicted in Total War: Warhammer II.[4]

Many thousands of years ago, at the very dawn of creation, the Old Ones came to the world, and remade it according to the tenets of their own vision -- a vision impenetrable to all but the most enlightened and godlike of beings. Legend states that upon the ground first trod by the enigmatic Old Ones was built a city, one that stands to this day, 12,500 years after its founding. That city is Itza, called the First, greatest of the Lizardmen temple-cities and home to some of the mightiest practitioners of magic in the world. Itza is located amidst the most impenetrable regions of the Lustrian jungle, many miles inland of any point at which explorers and invaders might make landfall upon the eastern coast.[2a]

There are no easily travelled routes that may be followed, at least by anyone other than those native to Lustria, for Itza lies a great distance from any river. Even a party that has navigated the Amazon or Lambada will be forced to abandon their boats and trek across the densest jungle to be found on the continent. And that's assuming the lizardmen allow the invaders to get that close. To the west of Itza is the great mountain range known as the Spine of Sotek, a range that stretches the length of the entire continent and is passable at only a handful of points. At the Chasm of the Condor, the pass closest to the city, the sentinels of Itza stand vigilant, ready to send back word should intruders attempt to approach from the west.[2a]

Layout[]

Itza is a sprawling city with dozens of distinct districts, each overcrowded and bustling with Skinks who move at a frenetic pace. The skies above are filled with Terradons, each carrying messages or perhaps a dignitary from some far off temple-city. Here are housed the greatest armies of the Lizardmen and also their greatest treasures. Buried in the labyrinth beneath the city’s wide streets are vaults that hold many of the Old Ones’ creations. There are devices of such potential devastation that not even the Slann mage-priests dare dwell upon their nature for long.[1a] More Slann live in Itza than anywhere else and their power makes the air seethe, or fall serene with their contemplations.[3a]

Itza itself is one of the most impressive of all the extant temple-cities. The concentration of the most venerable of Mage-Priests in one location at times causes the very air to seeth with magical power, arcane energies arcing from the pyramids' summits, while at other times a feeling of serene contemplation overcomes all who visit it. All around the high temple pyramids gather flocks of Terradons, each carrying a skink dignitary from a far distant city. The wide avenues are crowded with scribes and artisans, going about the business that is vital to the running of such an important place. And watching over it all are the warriors of the Host of Ina. The temple-city's armies are second to none, for they guard the First City, the sacred ground upon which the Old Ones themselves once walked, and beneath which in buried vaults are housed the most powerful of the Old Ones' creations, devices so potentially devastating that not even the slann mage-priests dwell upon their nature long. Itza has never once, in over 10,000 years, yielded to an attacker. The consequences of it doing so are too terrible to contemplate, and not only for the lizardmen.[2b]

The Pyramid of Sotek[]

At the very heart of the temple-city of Itza is to be found the largest of its pyramid temples - that dedicated to Sotek. From the altar atop this mighty structure the Priests of the Red Cult lead daily ceremonies of appeasement and veneration of the twin-tongued serpent god. Upon the high days of Sotek, the entire population of the temple-city gathers in the central plaza - even the remains of Lord Kroak himself are brought out - to voice their adulation of their god. It is said that the hissing chants sent up by the multitudinous congregation are amongst the most unsettling of sounds to be voiced from mortal throats, and they can be heard for many miles around.[2b]

The Sacrificial Pit of Sotek[]

Pyramid temples and plazas dedicated to the Serpent God Sotek have a deep sacrificial snake-pit descending into the depths beneath. At the bottom dwell enormous serpents, a manifestation of Sotek, fed by sacrificial victims hurled down from above. As the First City, Itza receives a great many of the captives taken all across Lustria by its own armies and by the hosts of the other temple-cities. These are forced to trek many hundreds of miles through the most perilous jungles in the world, fitting punishment for the woe they would do to the children of the gods. Upon reaching Itza, a journey that may take many months, the captives are sacrificed by the thousand as due veneration to the Serpent God, lending Sotek the power to continue his eternal war against the god of the rat spawn.[2b]

The Pyramid of Lord Kroak[]

This huge structure houses the remnants of the venerable Lord Kroak, the first spawned slann and most powerful of the Old Ones' servants. The desiccated body of the relic-priest is at most times housed deep within the pyramid, and guarded by a cohort of the mightiest Temple Guard. At significant times, however, Kroak's body is brought to the temple atop the pyramid, where his spirit gazes out through millennia-dead eyes across the domains of his lost masters. The pyramid is decorated with sculptures painted in striking colours, depicting aspects of Kroak's life and the battles in which, even after his death, his actions have been critical.[2b]

The Temples of the Old Ones[]

These temples, each dedicated to a single Old One are attended to by scores of Skink Priests, who maintain ancient plaques and artefacts housed within the secret vaults beneath. Each day ceremonies are enacted upon the altars atop each pyramid temple and at certain days of the year, or at the conjunction of portentous stellar phenomena, the air sizzles with the power of the ancients called forth by their ever-loyal servants.[2b]

Ruined Temples[]

Many structures in and around Itza have been allowed to fall into apparent disrepair. The truth is that the Lizardmen measure such notions by different standards than Men or Elves. Some structures may be allowed to crumble almost to dust before being rebuilt to their former glory at the command of a Mage-Priest or the prompting of a prophecy. Many is the plundering adventurer who has mistaken such a ruined structure for an unguarded one, and paid the ultimate price for their ignorance as its sentinels strike to defend its riches.[2b]

Mage-Priests' Pyramids[]

Although each pyramid temple is dedicated to a god, who will also be considered to be a manifestation or messenger of one of the Old Ones, it serves as a residence for a Mage-Priest. Exceptionally revered Mage-Priests may even have a pyramid temple built for them. The mummified relics of former Mage-Priests are hidden in crypts within their own pyramid temples, or the temples of the gods. From the palanquin chamber in the temple atop the pyramid, the Mage-Priest can commune telepathically with other Mage-Priests on top of distant temples or even receive inspiration from the sun, moons, stars and planets to which the pyramid is aligned. The palanquin rests on a plinth enclosed by a sacred pool. Saurus guards and Skinks attend the Mage-Priest in the surrounding chambers and pillared porticos.[2d]

Avenue of Lizard-Sphinxes[]

The great avenue that leads in to the First City is lined for many miles with great statues of mighty Lizards, hewed millennia past from single stones. Those few visitors who have returned from Itza have all told of the impression granted by these silent and unmoving sentinels, for they are all of nightmarish aspect and tower high above the mortals passing below. Some have sworn the monolithic heads have slowly moved to follow their passing. These travellers also report that the avenues are lined-with cloying swamps that boil with carnivorous life reminding travellers that there is only one way into or out of, Itza — and that is travelled only at the discretion of the city's masters.[2d]

The Bridge of Stars[]

Located several miles to the east of Itza, the Bridge of Stars is a structure as ancient as the temple-city itself, spanning a vast chasm rent in the earth aeons ago, before even the coming of the Old Ones. Located as it is at a major approach to the city, the Bridge of Stars is heavily defended by the cohorts of Itza, and has been the site of many a defeat for the Lizardmen's foes. It was famously held by the venerable kroxigor Nakai during the Defence of Itza against the Chaos hordes when the Polar Gates fell. So great was the tally of Daemon-things reaped by the Kroxigor that day that it is said such creatures fear the site as they do no other place in the material world, hearing the death knell of uncounted numbers of their kin echoing down the millennia.[2d]

Pyramid of Itzl[]

It was during the epic defence of Itza, when the Polar Gates collapsed and Chaos engulfed the world that Lord Kroak sat atop the great Pyramid of Itzl, a calm amidst the hellish storm. It is said that the pyramid contains the most powerful and arcane machineries of destruction, and that the first of the Slann Mage-Priests unleashed these in a cataclysmic tempest of mystical power that reduced the rampaging hordes of Daemons to ashes. Such is the power still contained within the pyramid to this day wizards and others with the mystic sight can sense its latent potency from many miles away. As they draw nearer to the source, they often experience a great deal of discomfort, and it is doubtful that any but the most skilled of mages would survive standing upon the pyramid itself, so strong is its arcane, destructive potential.[2d]

The Barrios of the Skinks[]

The barrios of the Skinks form the suburbs of the city. Here the Skinks live and pursue their craft of making the artefacts of Lizardmen civilization. It has a teeming population of many tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands, the majority being Skinks. In the open spaces around the barrios are kept the Stegadons and other beasts needed for work in the vicinity of the city, or ready for marching out with the army. Others are kept in small clearings further out in the jungle, among the overgrown ruins on the edge of the city, or at the outlying stone quarries and mines.[2d]

Spawning Ponds[]

Typical of many temple-cities, Itza occupies a clearing in the jungle bordered by swamps. The roads leading into the city cross over these by means of paved causeways, flanked by avenues of lizard sphinxes carved from massive blocks of stone. The swamps are the spawning places of the city, where Lizardmen have been born since time immemorial at times decreed millennia ago by the Old Ones. Some of these places may have been enclosed by stone embankments and made into rectangular sacred ponds infested with piranha fish. These hazards act as defences for the city, trapping unwary foes who try to approach through the jungle to circumvent the causeways' guards.[2d]

The Emerald Pools[]

The shimmering and beautiful Emerald Pools are truly a sight to behold. Even cold-blooded, reptilian eyes can detect their beauty. Medicine is produced here in large numbers by the temple-city's Skinks and the pools act as a great centre for healing in the city and among the Lizardmen species as a whole.[4]

Vaults of the Old Ones[]

Here, all knowledge and plaques relating to the Old Ones are stored. It is said that secrets of Chaos, and maybe even how to finally defeat it, are contained here.[4]

Trivia[]

The Lizardmen temple-city of Itza is largely based on Chicen Itza, a large Mayan city in the real world that shares its name and aesthetics with the temple-city.

Notable Inhabitants[]

Sources[]

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Lizardmen (8th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 9
    • 1b: pg. 22
    • 1c: pg. 52
  • 2: White Dwarf (UK) 306
    • 2a: pg. 74
    • 2b: pg. 75
    • 2c: pg. 76
    • 2d: pg. 77
    • 2e: pg. 78
    • 2f: pg. 79
  • 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Lustria (RPG)
    • 3a: pg. 95
  • 4: Total War: Warhammer II (PC Game)
  • 5: Warhammer Armies: Lizardmen (6th Edition)
  • 6: Conquest of the New World (6th Edition)
  • 7: White Dwarf (UK) 306
    • 7a: pg. 15
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