Lizardmen, HE and the Paths of the Old Ones

[Grimstonefire]

So I've been reading Giantslayer and it got me thinking...

How would the Lizardmen react if the High Elves regularly entered the paths of the old ones and cleared out as many of the mutant beasts as they could?

Would they attack the HE as it 'not being part of the plan'? Or would they just let them get on with it?

It strikes me that if the HE could push out all other creatures (except LM) they could slowly but surely attempt to force out chaos for the most part. Maybe build lodestone structures or something to try and syphon off the chaos energy where the paths are corroding the most.

If I remember correctly Teclis theorises that the paths run to the gates at the poles. So obviously there would be limit as to how much could actually be achieved.

Anything like this would have to be a win for the good guys if even a fraction of it could be achieved.

[giant stegadon]

By "paths to the Old Ones" do you mean plans? I think the Lizardmen would be pretty fine with the High Elves clearing out Chaos. The Lizardmen can be more pragmatic/reasonable than people often give them credit for.

In their army book, the timeline describes in 2349 Dark Elves are attacking High Elves at the Citadel of Dusk. The Lizardmen use an invisible bridge, walk over it, kill all the Dark Elves, and then leave "without saying a word." So at least they have realized there's a difference in them. That's a start.

The Slann seem to realize the numbers of the Lizardmen aren't enough to retain the once global control and many sites of the Old Ones. Unfortunately the guys that have control of a lot of these sites are now the High Elves- who also are low on numbers.

[LotlBotl]

Eh, what people said. The Lizardmen aren't gonna go on a killing spree without reason - if you're one of the creations of the Old Ones, and you're not:

A) Desecrating anything that the Old Ones had a hand in

B) Stealing anything that the Old Ones had a hand in

C) Trying to kill the Slann, or steal their remains

D) Helping Chaos

E) Doing anything at all to the Sacred Plaques

Then they're far more likely to observe you and record what you're doing, and probably fail to understand what you're up to.

As far as I remember, during 6th Edition, some of the standing Cities still had safe access to the Paths of the Old Ones, but I have no idea what's up with it nowadays. And considering how Giantslayer underscored what was happening in the Paths, the Elves definitely do not want to spend any more time in there than is necessary. I seriously doubt that they would be able to clear out the Paths, or even decide to try it out.

[Grimstonefire]

@giant
No, I did mean Paths. Incase people haven't heard of these they are basically magical pathways build by the Old Ones that run under the warhammer world and defy many laws of physics.


@Lotlbotl
I'm not so sure about them not being able to. Well, they could do some work for sure but they could never clear them out completely (as I said before).

The overall feeling I had after reading Giantslayer was that Elves are exceptionally long lived. Teclis said he'd love to return to Albion with more sorcerers and a small army and study it all properly.

If Chaos can force it's way onto the paths to cause harm (nearly wiping out half the old world, Ulthuan and most of the Dwarf realm), then I would have thought the High Elves would desperately want to learn a lot more about it all. Being a mystery they do not have the answers to when they've studied everything else to death makes me think they would really want to learn more. Just for the challenge of it.

Not to mention the fact that it will only be a matter of time before WoC find a way to use them again.

[Francis]

I am of the opinion that the "paths of the Old Ones" are in fact webway portals which span the globe. I think it is safe to say that since these most likely would have been dependent upon the two Polar Gates to connect them to the rest of the webway, therefore they will never be completely safe. Then again Mazdamundi seems to be using them on a regular basis and Teclis scares away all the daemons that assault Felix just by looking their way. If Teclis did get to lead a force of SMs and mages into them I think they could be cleared if they wanted to. That would give traditional High Elf hit and run tactics a whole new level.

[SouthlandLizardman]

Does the book mention the Southlands at all?

[sulla]

By "paths to the Old Ones" do you mean plans? I think the Lizardmen would be pretty fine with the High Elves clearing out Chaos. The Lizardmen can be more pragmatic/reasonable than people often give them credit for.

In giantslayer, Bill King basically gives the Old ones a planetary version of the 40K Eldar Webway; a series of paths through the aether crisscrossing the planet.

[m1acca1551]

Guarding the pathways and clearing out chaos wont actually help the HE at all.

a) it stretches an already thin army
b) by clearing them out the DE if they found them wouldnt run into the host of daemons and other unpleasant creatures there.
C) DE spies will know something is up when armies of soldiers start disapearing and popping up all over the place and as the old saying goes "all roads lead to rome"

[Danny_D14]

Guarding the pathways and clearing out chaos wont actually help the HE at all.

a) it stretches an already thin army
b) by clearing them out the DE if they found them wouldnt run into the host of daemons and other unpleasant creatures there.
C) DE spies will know something is up when armies of soldiers start disapearing and popping up all over the place and as the old saying goes "all roads lead to rome"

I've never quite been sold that the DE know everything the HE are doing. I think Orcs stumbling into it is far more likely! lol

[LotlBotl]

The overall feeling I had after reading Giantslayer was that Elves are exceptionally long lived. Teclis said he'd love to return to Albion with more sorcerers and a small army and study it all properly.

Yeah, but that's Albion, there are more ways to show up there than just the Paths, and especially when the sacred mists surrounding the island disappear. Consider this: In Giantslayer, every mage on Ulthuan knows that the corruption of the Paths is very, very slowly passing over to the island. Why have they done nothing about it until Teclis noticed the problem with Albion? Because the Pathways are incomprehensibly complex, easy to corrupt, very difficult to repair. So long as the way to Ulthuan is closed, then the conservative High Elves are not gonna do anything about it. They have better chances of clearing out the northern mountain ranges than they do of cleaning the paths.

If Chaos can force it's way onto the paths to cause harm (nearly wiping out half the old world, Ulthuan and most of the Dwarf realm),

They have to get through the locked doors that the Old Ones put up. If those fall, then there's absolutely no one in the entire world, save maybe the combined Slann, that could block up the entrance the same way it was before. Elves are exceptionally skilled at magic, but they don't hold a candle to what the First Generation of Slann and the Old Ones were capable of. Teclis himself said that to understand the basic mechanics of the Pathways, it would be the study of his lifetime. He's not saying that it could be replicated, and he's, well, Teclis.

He's not the first one to go the paths either. Others tried - and their tales are basically "stay away from the Paths"

Not to mention the fact that it will only be a matter of time before WoC find a way to use them again.

Yeah, but that's after more than seven thousand years of trying to break in. With the Paths sealed again by the power of the Slann and whatever else the Lizardmen did after settling onto Albion, who knows how long that'll take?

[Rybo5000]

I recall reading somewhere that Lizardmen intend on killing everyone eventually but Chaos takes priority. So I'd imagine if Chaos is ever dealt with; they'd turn on everyone.

[someone2040]

I recall reading somewhere that Lizardmen intend on killing everyone eventually but Chaos takes priority. So I'd imagine if Chaos is ever dealt with; they'd turn on everyone.

Lizardmen aren't intent on killing everyone, they just want everyone to fulfil their purpose in the Old Ones plans and only that purpose.
So they hate Orcs and want to eradicate them, because they were never part of the plan of the Old Ones.
They want to put all the Elves back on Ulthuan (Dark, Wood, High, all of them), because that's what the plans of the Old Ones say.
They don't hate any of the races (apart from probably Chaos and Skaven), just want to put things back to the way they're meant to be.

[TheDungen]

Isnt the orcs a creation of the old ones? i remember reading somewhere that they created, something that sounded very much like orcs, as some sort of biological weapon to use agaisnt their enemies.

[MOMUS]

Isnt the orcs a creation of the old ones? i remember reading somewhere that they created, something that sounded very much like orcs, as some sort of biological weapon to use agaisnt their enemies.

This is fantasy not 40k.

[Jape]

Well out of curiousity where did the Fantasy Orcs comes from? Considering all races are either spawn of the Old Ones or Chaos corruption?

[Urgat]

They were brought accidentally by the Old Ones as spores that were stuck to their ships. When the Old Ones realized they had free-riders, it was too late, the greenskins were already everywhere.

[zoggin-eck]

What books specifically mention the "paths" in this way? Is it mostly Giantslayer, or is there more? (SIlly me, I've never read the current Lizardmen book).