LOST WARHAMMER: LUSTRIA

This post is part of a series on unpublished Warhammer supplements. The first in the series is here.

The idea of a Lustria supplement dates back to the very early days of Warhammer. Lustria was, in fact, one of the first parts of the Warhammer world to be described in any detail. It initially appeared in ‘The Legend of Kremlo the Slann’ in the first Citadel Compendium (November 1983).

‘The Legend of Kremlo the Slann’
(Download as PDF)

Richard Halliwell blended historical Mesoamerica at the time of the conquistadors with the ideas of Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods? and created a hybrid science fantasy setting. It echoed other science fantasy settings like MAR Barker’s Tékumel and possibly also drew on other sources for inspiration. It also introduced Warhammer‘s first distinctive race, the slann.

In 1983-1984 the setting continued to evolve in inserts included in miniatures sets and supplements. They described some of the slann’s ancient technology, and provided short army lists, which included the first appearance of cold ones.

‘The Duelling Circles of Khorne’

Second ‘Arcane Ramblings’

Forces of Fantasy

The Book of Battalions

In September 1984 the second Citadel Compendium carried further material in the form of ‘Rigg’s Shrine’.

‘Rigg’s Shrine’
(Download as PDF)

Via a curious case of word association this article added Amazons to the setting, along with advanced weapons from the High Age, such as bolt pistols and needle guns.

We have the technology…

By WFB2 Lustria was the most fully described part of the Warhammer world. A host of Lustrian creatures had been described (Amazon, coatl*, cold one, culchan, giant frog, giant leech, giant snail, giant tick, jaguar, slann). Lustria was even the setting for the scenario in the WFB2 rulebook, ‘The Magnificent Sven’.

Lustria is a vast continent dominated by jungle in the north and huge rolling grasslands to the south. The most notable feature of the land is the mighty Amoco-Cadiz river system, which penetrates most of the north of the continent.

Apart from many exotic animals, Lustria is home to two kinds of native humans (Amazons and Pygmies), and the Slann. The Slann once ruled Lustria as the Aztecs ruled Mexico, and, like the Aztecs, they have become the victims of foreign colonialism and greed. The remains of the once vast Slann Empire now occupy only the northernmost part of the continent. The Norse and Old Worlder explorers, adventurers and traders who have ousted them have settled along the north-eastern coasts. From here they launch expeditions inland in search of Slann gold or the natural treasures of the land: animal skins and mineral wealth.

– Warhammer Fantasy Battle, second edition, ‘Battle Bestiary’

In 1985 the setting had been sufficiently described that a Lustrian supplement was advertised as imminent:

Richard Halliwell has almost completed his script for Lustria – a complete role-playing continent for Warhammer. From what we’ve seen already Lustria is shaping up to be an invaluable playing aid, with full descriptions of the cities, lands and peoples of Lustria. Complete city maps are given, together with building plans for houses, temples, fortresses and other buildings of this land.

– ‘Bubbling Under’, the first Citadel Journal (May 1985)

Of course, the supplement turned out not to be as imminent as advertised, but the idea lingered on. It was mentioned in a discussion of future WFRP1 supplements in March 1987:

In time it is intended to cover most, if not all, parts of the Warhammer world, probably starting with Lustria.

– ‘Open Box X-tra’, White Dwarf 87 (March 1987)

When WFB3 was published, it also contained Lustrian creatures, though fewer than WFB2. It is not clear whether Lustrian creatures were omitted because of a lack of space or a withdrawal from the Lustrian setting. It seems most likely not to have been the latter as Lustrian material continued to appear for WFB3, such as the Slann army lists in White Dwarf 96 and Warhammer Armies. In April 1988, when White Dwarf 100 carried Basil Barrett’s Lustrian adventure ‘The Floating Gardens of Bahb-Elonn’. This provided background on pygmies, their gods Brobat and Beesbok, witchdoctors and ancestor spirits.

In November the same year there was another announcement of the Lustrian supplement:

WFRP is not forgotten with several major supplements on the horizon including … new rulebooks dealing with the ancient civilisations of the east and the jungles of Lustria.

– ‘Culture shock’, White Dwarf 107 (November 1988)

The supplement was even mentioned in Flame advertisements in subsequent months, but never appeared.

As far as I remember, Lustria was one of Hal’s back-burner projects, but work on the 2000AD games, Space Hulk, Dark Future, and others always came first. I never saw any of his notes for Lustria, and I don’t think there was ever a complete manuscript.

– Graeme Davis, Strike to Stun

I remember that Hal [Richard Halliwell] had constructed a large and quite detailed map based on south and central America – and there must have been substantial text to go with that – but it would all have been typewritten or handwritten. With the first draft of Realm of Chaos everything was hand written – so it was quite possible for something to be considered ‘nearly finished’ as a piece of design work without it being fully developed – but we certainly got ahead of ourselves a bit sometimes…. Things changed very rapidly in the early 80’s and sometimes projects just got put aside when something else came along – as happened with RoC[,] too. Hal also didn’t work for GW consistently – he would work for a while and then go off round the world for a while – especially at that time – he took a motorbike down the Pan-American Highway and a lot of the inspiration for Lustria came form [sic] that trip….

… I think it’s fair to say it might have included some fantastic gags[.] 🙂 Look at Hal’s scenario ‘The Magnificent Sven’ for Warhammer 2 (set in Lustria) and I think you’ll get an idea – the introductory text for that is classic Hal – Also the story of Kremlo the ‘Slann’ (originally Kremlo the Kroxigore – Hal’s original name for the ‘Daemon Aztec Frogs from Outer Space’). Both of those are rooted in the Lustria supplement[,] even if not part of it.

– Rick Priestley, comments on Facebook

It is odd to think that something that was worked on for so long (and which was supposedly in a near-complete state in 1985) vanished without trace.

The next post in this series can be found here.

For more about the development of the Lustria supplement, see also this post.

This post has been amended since it was first published.

FOOTNOTE

* Evidently derived from D&D‘s couatl, which first appeared in Eldritch Wizardry (1976).

Internal art by John Blanche. Title image and internal art used without permission. No challenge intended to the rights holders.

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