Ok, style question:
It seems that our Seraphon/Lizardmen are heavily inspired by the Mayas (cases in point: All pictures in this thread), but I also spotted some stuff that looks clearly Toltec, Mixtec, Zapotec or Aztec.
So am I right in assuming that if I get inspired by any of them it is ok fluff-wise for the Seraphon?
Lizardmen (and the star-lizards) are very influenced by the Mayas and other pre-Columbian cultures of the New World. My favorite is the Mayans of course, but the examples you mentioned are all great ones, especially the Aztecs.
Toltec: statues from the sacred city Tula (in Mexico), their culture also may have been partially responsible for the rise of the northern Mayan city states like Chichen Itza
I also saw a replica of one of these statues when I visited San Antonio:
Mixtec: I don't know a lot about these guys, but they have some beautiful Codexes. They were contemporaries of the Aztecs.
Both are pictures from the Codex Zouche-Nuttall
Notice the character named "Lady Six Lizard..."
Aztec: the Lizardmen of Warhammer definitely take a huge amount of influence from these warriors, from simple things such as blood sacrifice to the whole return-mythos of Queztacotl coming back from the East (SOTEK). Other historical allusions are the smallpox epidemics that devastated their populations with the arrival of the Spanish (think Clan Pestilens...)
Photo courtesy of
@Deet
Zapotec: these are one of those pre-Columbian cultures that I am getting better at identifying. They make a lot of small "snake idol" statues, normally of priests or warriors in a seated position, often with elaborate headdresses.
This next one is a picture I took in the Denver Art Museum, makes me think of a skink priest...
Eventually I will start uploading more of the Mayan or other pre-Columbian pictures I have, I enjoy finding these kinds of artifacts on display in museums or elsewhere.
Olmec: definitely the best known for the giant, broad-nosed heads found across their homelands. Almost look African in nature, and were partially responsible for the myths that developed concerning ancient Africans or Israelites having travelled from the Old World into the New World and founding ancient, lost civilizations.
wow you saw that thing in person? That's awesome, I have definitely never seen anything remotely like this before. I have been to a few non-GW game stores with decent scenery pieces, but something like this would be an awe inspiring sight!
