Xlanhuapec, the "City of Mists," was the second Lizardmen temple-city to be founded[1a][3d] in Lustria. It is a mysterious place that holds many secrets left behind by the Old Ones.[4b]
History[]
Xlanhuapec was founded by the Old Ones around 5000 years after their arrival, following the same design as Itza. As the Great Catastrophe (ca. -5589 IC) began five millennia later, this places its founding around -10000 IC.[1a][2a]
In -2374 IC, Lord Hua-Hua of Xlanhuapec claimed victory in a 500 year old debate about what to do about the younger races. No other Slann spoke to Lord Hua-Hua for the next thousand years in protest.[4c]
In 901 IC the Xaki Star was swallowed by Morrslieb, prompting a delegation of Mage-Priests to set out from Xlanhuapec with a column of workers to begin the re-founding of the ruined city of Huatl.[3c][4c]
In 1721 IC a Dark Elf raiding force used the Black Way to attack Xlanhuapec, bypassing the city's arcane defences and penetrating its outer quarters. The Lizardmen used the mists and their knowledge of the city's layout to mount a series of devastating ambushes and slaughter the intruders.[3c] None escaped the mists.[4c]
In 2223 IC, Daemon Prince Slaa'Ulaan reappeared in Lustria for the first time since the Great Catastrophe. The Slann who had defeated him then, Lord Huinitenuchli of Pahuax, had since relocated to Xlanhuapec and could not be roused from his slumber. For this reason, it was his subordinate, Lord Tenuchli, and his Eternity Warden Chakax, Prime Guardian of the City of Mists, who faced the vile Daemon Prince at the Pillars of Unseen Constellations. Slaa'Ulaan slaughtered the Lizardmen and grievously injured Lord Tenuchli, but Chakax hacked the Daemon Prince's form into a steaming mass and stood guard over his fallen master for an entire cycle of the moon, until a search party from Xlanhuapec found them. The still unconscious Tenuchli was returned to the City of Mists upon the back of a Stegadon, the ever-devoted Eternity Warden keeping pace beside it every step of the way.[3a][4a]
During the time of Lord Amoxixan's second ascension, a Thunder Lizard was observed locked in deadly combat with some form of sea monster that had risen from the depths and come inland from the Tarantula Coast. The combat between the two creatures lasted an entire cycle of the moons, and destroyed vast swathes of the jungle. At the last, the combatants smashed through the outer limits of Xlanhuapec. Though many Slann pooled their magical powers, the Mage-Priests were unable to penetrate the beasts' frenzied minds to steer them clear. When the warring beasts had finally passed on, entirely unaware of the destruction they had wrought in their passing, the ancient Temple of the Lost had been destroyed, along with countless numbers of the irreplacable relics that had been housed within since before the time of the Great Catastrophe.[3b]
Geography[]
For its own protection, the entire city is perpetually wreathed in banks of coiling mist and it is possible to pass within a few yards of its boundary stones without noting the city’s sprawling presence, so thick are those swirling vapours.[3d][4b]
The Slann and Skink Priests of Xlanhuapec are especially skilled in the elemental magical arts, for the city occupies an auspicious alignment on the lines of the Geomantic Web. At all times, one of the city’s Slann Mage-Priests must maintain the cloying cover of mists, a spell that has remained uninterrupted for long ages. The Slann’s very words turn to creeping vapour, filling his chamber with cloying fog and spreading forth to encompass the entire city[3d][4b] - a sprawling metropolis that extends dozens of miles in all directions from the mountainous heights of its centremost pyramid.[4b]
The environs are said to be watched by magical beings made from water and air, summoned into existence by the magic of the Old Ones. These magical constructs arc possessed of terrible strength and vitality near the City of Mists, but they soon dissolve to nothing the further they travel from it. Thus, an intruder heading south-west from the Mosquito Swamps would be wise to turn back the instant he glimpses in the corner of his eye some illdefined figure tracking him through the half-light. Should he carry on, only a gruesome death in the all-encompassing mists awaits.[3d] Few invaders have ever been able to penetrate the city and live to tell the tale, although those survivors have spread many rumours of the city’s matchless treasures.[4b]
Xlanhuapec houses a number of ancient artifacts, including the Placid Pool - reflective waters that allow world-spanning visions; the Device of the Great Beyond - a communications relic through which others from far distant stars occasionally speak, and an Eternity Ship — a great egg-shaped vessel within which time does not flow. These hoarded treasures and more are jealously guarded and it is a death sentence for any outsider to so much as glimpse the city beneath its protective shroud of mists, for Xlanhuapec is ground sacred to the Lizardmen.[4b] Another famous artifact hailing from the City of Mists is the Jaguar Standard, which has been borne to battle by countless victorious armies across all of Lustria and beyond.[4d]
The temple-city of Xlanhuapec is a repository for some of the Old Ones' greatest artefacts. The Placid Pool, the Eternity Ship, the Device of the Great Beyond — all lie in Xlanhuapec’s vaults. No outsider is allowed within its borders and even other Lizardmen are sometimes regarded with suspicion.[6a]
During the End Times, the Skaven, thanks to the Device of the Great Beyond, managed to make contact with a race whose language was very similar to Eltharin and appeared to originate from beyond the skies — however, the device was destroyed before it was possible to identify the interlocutors.[6a]
Notable Locations[]
Temple of Mists[]
This temple is the source of the mist that surrounds the city, defending a force of Skinks and Saurus within. It also allows Xlanhuapec's swirling mists to take the form of elemental creatures of water or air in order to assist Lizardmen armies in battle.[5]
Temple-City Glyph[]
The icon of the Lizardmen army of the temple-city of Xlanhuapec as depicted in Total War: Warhammer II. It is known as the "Immortal Coil."[5]
Xlanhuapec is surrounded by the Guardian Mist, summoned into being by the incantations of the Slann mage-priests. The temple-city's glyph is the "Immortal Coil," representing the incantation that shall be spoken as long as Xlanhuapec stands.[3e]
Notable Slann[]
- Hua-Hua[4c]
- Uxicuxi[1b]