Lustria

In the Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, Lustria is a region located to the south of the Naggaroth, modelled in many ways on the pre-Columbian Americas.

Overview

The principal inhabitants of Lustria are the Lizardmen, whose cultural trappings are based upon the Maya, Aztec, Inca and Toltec people. The rain forests of Lustria are full of brightly coloured birds, large reptilian creatures and many poisonous insects that make human habitation difficult.

The other inhabitants are all recent arrivals who have come to Lustria from their homelands in the Old World. Their major settlements are along the Eastern coast, though there is at least one group of immortal women descended from the Norse living in the jungles. These women are known as Amazons, a direct reference to the warrior women who lent their name to the real world geographical equivalent of Lustria (see Amazon Rainforest). Another group of inhabitants are the Pygmies who are long time enemies of Slann. It is unknown if any pygmies are still alive.

In gaming terms, adding Lustria to the Warhammer world allowed the Games Workshop to explore several new armies and provide a backdrop for several existing genres of adventure, from the conquistador raids to Indiana Jones style hunts for lost treasures (particularly in Warhammer Quest).

History of Lustria

The Slann record that Lustria was originally attached to the Southlands, just as real world South America was attached to Africa. As part of the Old Ones plan, the two were separated and changed from barren wastelands into fertile jungles. It was around this time that most of the Lizardmen Temple-Cities were founded and populated.

Skaven were the first of the younger species to vie for control of Lustria. There Clan Pestillens infected many Lizardmen, particularly the larger species, with a plague that weakened their power and caused many of their cities to fall into ruin. This was only reversed with the rise of the snake god Sotek, around the Imperial Year 0, who drove the Skaven out of Lustria.

Before the discovery of Lustria by the Norse, a trading vessel from the Old World was caught in the fierce currents off the coast of Araby and swept into the swirling waters of Ulthuan. The wrecked ship was washed up months later on the south eastern shore of Lustria. Unbeknownst to the crew, one of their passengers had been a vampire and although all the humans died in the disaster, the vampire and his off-spring lived and founded a new realm of undead in the New World.

The first human to reach Lustria (and survive) was the Norse seafarer Lost Erik, who recorded landing on an island just off the coast of Lustria and looting gold from Lizardmen. He failed to realize the extent of the land and it was drawn on maps as a small cluster of islands. This story is based on an amalgamation of real world events that led to the European discovery of the Americas; first the Norse expeditions to North America, and the voyage of Christopher Columbus, who failed to realize he had discovered a new continent.

Lost Erik's son, named Losteriksson, was the first Old Worlder to reach the mainland of Lustria. After trekking inland in search of treasure, Losteriksson and his men left Lustria as rich men, only to return and settle down where they first landed, naming the settlement Skeggi, after Losteriksson's daughter, the first human to be born in the New World. The name 'Skeggi' is perhaps a joke by the writers on the name of the British coastal resort of Skegness, often referred to as 'Skeggy'.

Since Losteriksson returned with gold and riches, Lustria has been a popular destination for adventurers seeking to make a fortune and this has resulted in several Lizardmen cities being looted. The increase in traffic to Lustria has also increased the number of ships wrecked on its coast, which has served to swell the number of helpless victims the undead of the Vampire Coast can add to their ranks.

Lustrian overview

"Lustria is known as one of the most hostile environment in the entire Warhammer world.The hot and steaming air is too heavy for "warmbloods" lungs, which means they quickly weaken and become sick. The forests are roamed by fierce beasts larger than the drakes of the old world. Marshes and bogs are covering the site of the eye, in the bogs leaches big as a mans arm reside who can suck the blood out off the man within a couple of seconds if they are not burned away. However one drop of blood can cause an even more difficult situation because the marshes are filled with hungry creatures who strip the flesh off an adult man slowly and painful.During night chaotic roars and thundering stomps shakes the jungles and makes it impossible to sleep. Those who however find peace or collapse in clear exhaustion may wake up the day after finding their numbers slightly reduced. A not too subtle track of blood leads into the forest. A silent predator might have dragged them away. The Lustrian environment makes traveling hard; the unforeseeable flushing rains makes the body tired and not able to use entirely. In some places however, the sky is visible, a thunder-clad sky which overviews the enormous temples. Greed is fatal, running towards a gleaming statue a small dart flies into the neck, causing paralyzing effects. The domain of the lizardmen is the domain of doom for the warmbloods."

Cities, settlements and locations of Lustria

Skeggi is a Norse settlement at the Northern coast of Lustria.

Hexoatl is the city in which the oldest living Slann, Lord Mazdamundi resides.

Itza is the oldest of the Lizardmen cities and the first to have been founded by the enigmatic Old Ones. The Slann of the first spawning, as well as Skinks, Saurus and Kroxigors, were all created by the Old Ones so that they could participate in the building of Itza, each race being responsible for a separate aspect of the city's construction.

Quetza is a ruined Lizardmen city which became infested by the Skaven of Clan Pestillens. From here, plagues spread virulently through the jungle, devastating many other cities.

Chaqua was the Lizardmen city where the rise of the serpent god Sotek was first prophesied. A great migration of Skinks spread the cult among the other cities.

The Vampire Coast, which is inhabited by the above mentioned undead, lies on the Southern coast of Lustria, and is ruled by a ruthless vampire pirate named Luthor Harkon, a mad vampire of the Von Carstein bloodline. He is the reason for the name "the vampire coast".

References

* Stillman, N. 1997. "Warhammer Armies: Lizardmen". Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN-10: 1872372562
* [http://www.icirclegames.com/lustria/downloads/lustria_map.pdf A map of the main regions of Lustria]