Editing Slann (section)

==Oldhammer==
Whilst the Slann are remembered as the bloated toad [[mage]]-kings of the [[Lizardmen]], that's actually a relatively ''modern'' development. Both races go all the way back to 1st Edition, but they were initially an entirely separate race!

Back in 1e, Slann debuted in the scenario "Legend of Kremlo", before making it into the Forces of Fantasy [[splatbook]] for 1e. Here, they were portrayed as essentially a race of frogmen with an [[Aztec]]-themed society; they had once controlled a vast empire that linked mighty city-states built around huge ziggurats with great highways, but in the present their empire had been hugely reduced by incursions from [[Norsca]]ns and [[elf|elves]]; only the core of the Slann empire remained intact, and many slann had devolved into primitive tribes living a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the tropical rainforests surrounding the remaining slann city-states. They could field wizards, but those wizards were nothing special, and they also fielded many slann warriors, armed with blowpipes, daggers, swords, tomahawks and exotic polearms called "water scythes", with their ranks further bolstered by drug-addled castrated human slave-soldiers.

In 2nd edition, Slann society appears in the corebook, which builds upon the minor lore from Forces of Fantasy. Here, the slann are said to have once had a mighty technologically advanced society, one that made them "lords of time and space", as the book puts it. However, in the modern era, they are nearing the end of a long, ''long'' fall from grace, having descended into barbarism and turning their backs on the technologies that once empowered them. Their grip over [[Lustria]] is waning in the face of human encroachment, and the more primitive tribals are even beginning to abandon what is left of their culture in favor of aping humans - presumably, there is still a lingering slann empire at the core of the territories controlled by the tribal primitives, but it's not explicitly mentioned. Imperial slann are the only forces capable of appearing in the game, where they act as leaders to lobotomized, castrasted, drug-addled human slave-troops. Again, they have no special relationship to magic, although they are capable of becoming wizards. [[Lizardmen]], in contrast, are restricted to the Ravening Hordes [[splatbook]].

In 3rd edition, the future of the slann began to take shape. Here, they appear in the corebook and in Warhammer Armies as one of the defacto army lists, and for the first time, they are explicitly associated with the [[lizardmen]] - in 1st edition, their only connection was that they would ride [[Cold Ones]], believed to be a relative or degenerate form of lizardman, and in 2e that lore was lost. Simply put, 3rd edition represents the single greatest body of lore on Oldhammer slann!

Their lore is based on their 2e lore, with the bulk of it to be found in the corebook. New additions to the lore have the Slann in the role that would later be taken over by the Old Ones in 5th edition; an advanced alien race that descended to a primeval world and decided to colonize it, reshaping its geography and slaughtering the native races that attempted to defy them or which they simply viewed as unnecessary. Of these, one of the few survivors are the [[lizardmen]], now reduced to scattered barbarian tribes - ironically, this lets the slann field [[lizardfolk]] and [[troglodyte]]s in their armies, representing vassals forced into service. They now have an Emperor, named Mazdamundi... yep, this is where [[Lord Mazdamundi]] began! A new addition to the lore is the existence of warrior brotherhoods based on totemic beasts amongst the "high" slanns, as well as the primitive tribal warriors rounded up from their jungle homes. They still field the lobotomized eunuch slave-warriors of past editions, but these are described as a recent addition to their forces, made up of captive would-be human settlers to their lands.They can also field [[Pygmies (Warhammer Fantasy)|pygmy]] troops as allies, and are known to be allies to [[Coatl (Warhammer Fantasy)|coatls]].

Slann wizards also finally get some lore; they can freely wield Battle Magic, Daemonic Magic, Elemental Magic, [[Illusionist]] Magic and [[Necromancer|Necromantic Magic]]. Also, slann wizards believe their powers depend on their spiritual purity, and that touching the earth is a defiling act; as a consequence, they are born into battle atop steeds or litters (usually carried by human slave-things), and should they be forced to walk, then no matter how powerful the slann wizard, they can't cast any spells higher than 2nd level! This edition also establishes slann mages as the most powerful and learned of all the races in the Warhammer world, still hoarding vast treasure troves of arcane knowledge that [[human]] or [[elf]] mages would ''kill'' to get their hands on.

In 4th edition, the slann and the [[lizardmen]] both vanish complete, with no mention of them to be seen. It wouldn't be until 5th edition that we would see them return in the first "Warhamemr Armies: Lizardmen" army book, in which they abandoned their old lore and became the slann as Warhammer knows them today, their original lore only surviving amongst those who preserve Oldhammer lore. Like us.