Sotek, the god of serpents, watching over his prophet Tehenhauin.
Sotek, often called "Sotek the Deliverer," and the "Serpent God," is the god of war and serpents and one of the most infamous gods of the Lizardmen of Lustria. The most significant sacrifice the Lizardmen have offered up to their distant gods was that which heralded the coming of the Serpent God Sotek.[1a]
The war against the Skaven of Clan Pestilens lasted an age and the deeds and events that transpired in that time are the subject of much legend and hearsay. It is known that Tehenhauin, the Prophet of Sotek, offered up a vast number of Skaven captives. His followers slaughtered untold numbers of the vile ratmen in a ritual so potent the twin-tailed comet that had dominated the skies for centuries blazed overhead, heralding, they say, the coming of Sotek to the mortal world. Since that time, Sotek has come to represent the deliverance of the Lizardmen from those creatures that are the result of deviation from the Great Plan.[1a]
Sotek is perceived as a mighty serpent that swallows whole the enemies of the Lizardmen, digesting them for millennia in his distended belly. It is Sotek that the Lizardmen invoke when they go to war against the servants of Chaos, and every temple-city has a large temple-pyramid devoted to him. In the aftermath of a momentous victory, the temple-cities resound to the chanting of the warriors and the ring of sacrificial blades striking stone altar blocks having sliced through the neck of a drugged captive. At the height of these ceremonies, the blood of the servants of Chaos gushes in torrents down the steps of the pyramid, to mingle with the waters of the great rivers.[1a]
Quick Answers
What is the significance of Sotek in the Lizardmen culture?
What role did Sotek play in the war against the Skaven of Clan Pestilens?
Who is Tehenhauin in relation to Sotek?
What sacrifices are made by the Lizardmen to Sotek?
Why is Sotek often referred to as 'The Deliverer'?
History[]
Rise of Sotek[]
Icon of the Cult of Sotek Lizardmen army led by Tehenhauin, the Prophet of Sotek, as depicted in Total War: Warhammer II.
Between the years -1399 and 100 IC, a massive Skaven force under the leadership of Clan Pestilens attacked Lustria. Granted immunity by their divine patron to the jungle plagues that spread through the jungles of that tropical continent, in addition to the power to create new ones by their dark god, the Horned Rat, the Skaven began to lay waste to the land, killing countless Lizardmen, and reducing the Temple-Cities to rubble.
As they rampaged, a breed of Skinks with red crests rose to prominence with Tehenhauin at the front, who spread the prophecy of Sotek, who quickly became popular particularly amongst the Skinks, the most vulnerable to the Skaven plagues. Sacrificing throngs of Skaven to Sotek, Tehenhuain rallied his forces around the statement that the Serpent God would consume the Rat God, and expel the horrible foe from their homeland.
Once satisfied with the blood he drank, Sotek emerged in force, with a sudden infestation of serpents emerging in the Skaven lairs. Proving themselves completely immune to the Ratmen's plagues, they eventually forced the rats into the open, where they could be challenged. After a long campaign, the Skaven were forced to retreat, and were left with no other choice but to completely evacuate Lustria. As the Clan fled to the ocean, they were pursued by their reptillian enemies, and on Fuming Serpent Island, they confronted Pestilens main horde. Supposedly Sotek himself appeared with a sea of slithering snakes.
Eventually the Skaven forces were destroyed, but the Clan survived by escaping on their rotting ships to the Southlands. However, it is said that Sotek dove into the ocean after them, and pursued them back to the tunnels, where he now remains. Such is the legend of Sotek, and his rise to godhood. Initially the Slann were reluctant to acknowledge him, but with the miraculous victory over the Skaven, coupled with the immense popularity he had with the Skinks, temples were eventually built to the Serpent God's honor. Worship of Sotek would soon begin to equal, if not eclipse, that of the Old Ones.
Lore of Beasts[]
Skink Priests in a Sacred Host of Sotek are only allowed to take spells from the Lore of Beasts.[2a]