Cult of Sotek

"The time of the Great Serpent is nigh!" One of the most significant events in the history of the Lizardmen was the rise of the Skink cult of the Serpent-God, Sotek. Traditionally, the gods of the Lizardmen were, and still are, the Old Ones, said to have come to the world in its primeval era from beyond the stars: such shadowy entities as Tlaxcotl, Chotec, Quatl, Tzunki, Xapati, Huanchi and the inscrutable Tepok, whose decree was for the world to have a central place in their unknowable plans. Sotek was a new god, an upstart god, the 'God of the Skinks', whose fateful prophecy was an obscure cautionary detail known only from a single plaque once kept in the great pyramid-temple of Chaqua, the City of Gold. The former Mage-Priests of Chaqua had believed the Plaque of Sotek contained the true words of the Old Ones, but tragically did not ponder on them, assuming they spoke of events in the very distant future. Little did they know that Sotek’s prophecy not only predicted the collapse of the Warp gates, but also an imminent cataclysmic invasion of Lustria by the Skaven, starting with a deadly plague sweeping over the land. And so, when a virulent sickness arrived in Chaqua and decimated the population, it was already far too late. Soon, the unprepared Mage-Priests of the temple-city were also overcome by the sickness and perished. With the spawning pools infected and countless Skinks sick or dead, the events prophesized by the Plaque of Sotek had begun. Doom had befallen the City of Gold… The remaining population of Chaqua were now leaderless, but the few survivors were of the particularly resilient generation of Skinks known as the ‘Red Crests’. The greatest amongst them was an individual with a zeal for slaughtering Skaven very rarely seen in the dispassionate Lizardmen’s ranks – Tehenhauin, the Prophet of Sotek. As his following grew, the Cult of Sotek quickly became the focal point of the Lizardmen’s counter-offensive against the ratmen’s virulent invasion. For Sotek himself is prophesised to be a mighty serpent of such awesome size and appetite that he can swallow the Rat God himself and spend thousands of years digesting him! Having led the remaining cohorts of Chaqua on a migration ahead of the plague, Tehenhauin triumphantly grasps the Plaque of Sotek as he leads his apostles against Skaven armies wherever he finds them. It seems impossible for a short-lived Skink to attain his lifespan, but it is whispered that as a snake sheds its skin and is renewed, so too does Sotek’s Chosen. The prophecy states that the Serpent-God’s coming shall be heralded by the appearance of his forked tongue in the sky, but also that his invocation can only be made possible by sating his near-boundless appetite for sacrificial offerings. Tehenhauin will not rest until the waters of the River Amaxon run red with sacrificed Skaven blood, empowering Sotek to deliver Lustria from the rodent-spawn once and for all!