The Kurindans, Part 3: From Scales to Fluff (07/2006)
Whoa! It has been literally a year since I lasted updated this series. What has been going on in that time? Well, my models have been sitting in the basement of my friend Pat, who has been painting them for me in exchange for cash and figures to build his Witch Hunters army. Ironically, those same Witch Hunters are currently battling my Lizardmen in the Goth Girls Gone Wild! campaign.

The army is almost fully painted (you’ll see some pics below). And while Pat has been faithfully plugging away, what have I been doing on this project? Mostly drafting and revising countless army lists (more about that next time) and trying to craft a good background story, or “fluff,” for them. 

“What’s My Motivation?”
Jungle visitors who have followed this army’s origins in the Themed Army Ideas (here and here) will know that they already have a backstory: the Kurindans—reptilian aliens—briefly established a small empire within the galaxy before falling into a barbaric decline. But where to go from there? Given that 40K is a game all about fighting battles, what are the Kurindans fighting for? 

Answering that question took longer than I thought. One idea I had was that the Kurindans could be trying to reclaim their lost empire—but that sounded too much like the Eldar. They could be trying to strike back at the Imperium, their former rival for power—but that sounded too much like Chaos and Tau. They could be interested solely in looting and pillaging—but that’s too similar to Orks and Dark Eldar. Being xenophobic, they could be trying to wipe out all other sentient lifeforms—but that’s what Tyranids and Necrons have built their careers on, isn’t it?

Eventually, I settled on a motivation that I haven’t seen done very often in 40K: a quest. 

“Vision Thing”
Led by !Klrt, a recently-elected tyrant-king of exceptional strength, intelligence, and (for Lizardmen, anyway), charisma, one band of Kurindans has begun traveling among the planets of their former empire, gathering together their scattered people. Sometimes other Kurindans have swayed by !Klrt’s oratory; usually, they submit only after !Klrt defeats their leader in single combat. 

!Klrt is no mere warlord—he has a vision for the Kurindan race. Once all the Kurindans have been united under him, they will set off for a distant world named only in the most ancient myths. What do they hope to find once they finally reach this place, if it really exists? Certainly not safety and a chance to rebuild—this is 40K, after all, not Battlestar Galactica. 

No, at the end of their quest, they hope to find redemption—and the destruction of the entire universe. Two universes, actually.

“I am the Lizard King...I Can Do Anything”
The main character in the army is, of course, !Klrt. The first part of his name, by the way, is pronounced by pressing one’s tongue against the roof of the mouth and releasing it, making a sort of clucking sound. As is typical of most Kurindan leaders, !Klrt is bigger and stronger than the others in his band. What sets him apart from the leaders of other bands is his vision for the Kurindan race.

!Klrt insists that the only reason the universe exists is so that the Kurindans could rule it under an empire, with all other races subjugated as slaves. The Kurindans were on their way to attaining that goal when they began to fight among themselves and lost their empire. Having fallen, their people are no longer worthy to live, and neither is the universe that was to be theirs to rule. Therefore, the Kurindans and the universe must die.

Mere suicide or allowing themselves to be destroyed by any of the inferior beings—humans, Eldar, Orks—that infest the galaxy would be even more shameful. The only way for the Kurindans to redeem themselves is to travel to the home world of their supreme deity—“The Slayer of Gods”—report their failure, and accept his punishment. So great will The Slayer’s wrath be, !Klrt claims, that it will destroy the physical universe and the Warp as well. Those Kurindans alive today are surely doomed, but all might not be lost. If, in their course of their journey to The Slayer’s world, the Kurindans continue to display their bravery and skill at arms, The Slayer might—might—concede that their race still had some small worth. Perhaps, after a long time, the Slayer will re-assume his female form of The Cosmic Mother and re-create the universe and the Kurindan people, allowing them to try again to fulfill their destiny.

!Klrt’s Followers
!Klrt has convinced thousands of Kurindans to follow him on his apocalyptic quest. The Kurindan people have two species: a small, agile race—Imperial records usually refer to them as “Skirmishers” or “Newts”—and a larger, more physically powerful race—usually called “Saurians” or “Troglodytes.” Kurindans are omnivorous, warm blooded, hatch from eggs, and though not unintelligent, lack much of the human capacity for creative thought and independent decision making. While !Klrt’s quest may sound utterly mad to more philosophically sophisticated cultures, it resonates well with most Kurindans who hear of it. 

When they lost their empire, the Kurindans also lost their knowledge of spaceflight: no matter. On more than one occasion, !Klrt and his forces have commandeered alien starships and forced their crews to take them where they want to go. They also have been able to call upon the warp-manipulating abilities of mutant psyker Kurindans—usually referred to as “Shamans”—to create temporary wormholes through the space/time continuum, allowing whole armies of Kurindans to literally walk from one planet to another. 

Progress along the quest has been slow. Inevitably, captured starship crews attempt to rebel, sabotage their ships, or are simply killed and eaten by the Kurindans after landing. The wormholes created by Shamans are difficult to create—requiring a great expenditure of psychic energy—and do not extend very far in astronomical terms (stretching, at most, from one solar system to the next closest). 

Kurindans have an irrational hatred of all other races and almost always attack if they perceive themselves to be stronger, devouring the slain and enslaving the survivors. !Klrt’s followers are gripped by the same xenophobia and are also motivated by religious zealotry, convinced that the more “aliens” they kill, the more likely The Slayer of Gods will deign to re-create the universe. In battle, Newts usually serve as scouts, harassing flanks or tying up the enemy with numbers while the Troglodytes advance and finish off the enemy. A few of the more experienced, battle-hardened Troglodytes ride Dracosaurs (q.v.) and serve as captains, directing others. 

In addition to creating wormholes that allow the Kurindans to move from planet to planet, Shamans act as advisers to !Klrt, assisting him in inspiring and controlling the others and helping him to divine the way towards The Slayer’s world. Shamans do not eat physical food—instead, they gorge on the on the spirits of the slain, becoming so bloated that their legs can no longer hold them up and they are forced to levitate to move about. On the battlefield, they unleash psychic bolts of energy that cripple tanks and kill enemy troops, releasing more spirits that they quickly devour. 

Beasts of Battle
The Kurindans do not possess any significant technology, but they are aided in battle by several species of reptilian creatures from their home world. These critters have varying degrees of intelligence and can accept commands from Kurindans. 

Lurkers are six-limbed arboreal creatures with great strength and razor-sharp claws. They are chameleons and move very quietly. Lurkers are intelligent enough that they can be given a series of complex instructions and be trusted to faithfully carry them out with little or no supervision. Thus, Kurindans often use Lurkers to ambush scouts or to infiltrate the enemy’s base and attack key squads or personnel. 

Dracosaurs possess intelligence comparable to a horse and are used by Kurindans in a similar role. Dracosaurs are no faster than a typical Kurindan but are strong, resilient, and can spit a powerful acid. Mutant Dracosaurs are larger and have even more potent acid spittle. 

Finbacks are squat but move very quickly, flinging themselves along with their bellies mere inches above the ground. Approximately as intelligent as dogs, they are used for hunting, running down and tearing apart their quarry.

Hydrasaurs are large, sturdy creatures whose multiple heads possess flame and acid breath weapons of considerable range, making them ideal to serve as living tanks. Hydrasaurs are approximately as intelligent as gorillas and can fulfill simple orders with minimal supervision. 

Megasaurs are even larger, more massive monsters who are virtually immune to all but the most powerful weapons and who possess a horrific flame breath weapon. Megasaurs are rare and considered to be the children of The Slayer. 

More to Come
Now that I have the fluff written, I’m back to hammering out what I hope to be a more effective army list than my initial attempt. Stay tuned….

Related Pages
Kurindans Themed Army Idea (Ork rules)
Kurindans Themed Army Idea (Tyranid rules)

Posted July 2006
 

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