Saurus

Saurus are a type of Lizardman which feature in Games Workshop’s Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar settings.

Description
Cold-blooded reptilian humanoids, the Saurus were bred by the Old Ones in ages past for a single purpose: to wage war. With powerful jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth, long, lashing tails, and tough, scaly hides, it is something they are admirably suited to.

Like all Lizardmen, Saurus are spawned in pools deep underground in groups known as cohorts. These cohorts emerge from their spawning pools as fully-grown warriors, ready to enter the service of their masters, and will remain as a unit for the entirety of their lives. They possess an almost telepathic affinity with each other, and on the battlefield the entire cohort will move and fight like a single organism, instinctively knowing how and when to react to anything which may occur. Although Saurus have an extremely limited form of intelligence, they are birthed with a natural understanding of how best to use a weapon in any given situation, and this gives them an astonishing versatility when it comes to battlefield roles; they are equally at home deploying as a defensive block of spears as they are charging headlong into combat equipped with nothing more than their natural arsenal.

Occasionally, a Saurus of exceptional martial prowess will outlive the others of its cohort. In such situations, the creature will become even larger and stronger than its former brothers. These individuals are known as Scar-Veterans or, in the case of particularly long-lived and potent Saurus, Oldbloods. They become the battlefield commanders of the Lizardmen, and are terrifyingly powerful warriors, with a few even possessing the ability to make one of the deadly dinosaurian Carnosaurs their mounts.

Sub-Species
Although most of these creatures are birthed as regular warriors, there exist two distinct types of spawnings which differ from the majority of their species.

Cold One Cavalry
Cohorts of Saurus gifted with the innate ability to tame and ride the raptor-like creatures which inhabit Lustria known as Cold Ones. They ride them into battle as fast shock-and-awe troops, and are the only Lizardmen known to be able to harness the power of these vicious beasts.

Temple Guard
Larger and even more tenacious than regular Saurus, the Temple Guard are an extremely rare spawning. Whilst all Lizardmen are devoted to the service of the Slann, Temple Guard are fanatically devoted to their masters, and will fight to the very last warrior to protect their master. Each Temple Guard is specifically attuned to a particular Slann, and will never leave its side until the day either the master or the soldier dies.