Itza


 * For the settlement with the same name, please see Itza (settlement).

Itza is a playable Lizardmen faction introduced in Total War: Warhammer II at launch and later made playable with the Empire Undivided Update.

The faction was previously led by the Saurus Old-Blood Rinki but is now ruled by Gor-Rok, the Great White Lizard. Itza can be found in the heart of Lustria.

To play as Itza, you must download the free-DLC "Gor-Rok" which can found here.

Background
Itza, the First City is the greatest of the surviving Temple-Cities and it is home to the most powerful and ancient practitioners of magic to be found anywhere in the world. Foremost amongst them is the venerable Relic Priest, Lord Kroak, whose indomitable spirit has guarded Itza against the return of Chaos since the Great Catastrophe. Although it has been hard-pressed on several occasions, never once has Itza yielded to an attacker.

The pyramid-temples clustered in the heart of Itza are taller than mountains and are great conduits of power. At times, the concentration of so many ancient Slann causes the very air to seethe with arcing magical energy, while at others, a palpable feeling of serene contemplation overcomes all who visit. Itza is a sprawling city with dozens of distinct districts, each overcrowded and bustling with Skinks who move at a frenetic pace. The skies above are filled with Terradons, each carrying messages or perhaps a dignatary from some far distant temple-city. Here are housed the greatest armies of the Lizardmen and also their greatest treasures. Buried in the labyrinth beneath the city’s wide streets are vaults that hold many of the Old Ones’ creations.

Itza itself is one of the most impressive of all the extant temple-cities.The wide avenues are crowded with scribes and artisans, going about the business that is vital to the running of such an important place. And watching over it all are the warriors of the Host of Ina. The temple-city's armies are second to none, for they guard the First City, the sacred ground upon which the Old Ones themselves once walked, and beneath which in buried vaults are housed the most powerful of the Old Ones' creations, devices so potentially devastating that not even the Slann Mage-Priests dwell upon their nature long. Itza has never once, in over 10,000 years, yielded to an attacker. The consequences of it doing so are too terrible to contemplate, and not only for the Lizardmen.

Faction Effects

 * Begins the campaign with access to Lord Kroak
 * Rite of Resilience: unbreakable and defence for Saurus
 * Recruit rank +3 for Saurus Scar-Veterans
 * Upkeep -20% for Saurus units

Starting territory
Eye of the Vortex Mortal Empires
 * Northern Great Jungle (Itza settlement only)
 * Southern Great Jungle (Itza settlement only)



Diplomatic traits
Diplomatic traits:
 * Cold-blooded Logic - the immutable, alien logic of the Lizardmen means they will only consider strong, emotive states when engaging in diplomacy.
 * Aggressive - belligerent and warmongering, their armies reach far and wide with little regard for defence.
 * Dissonance - other generations follow a false plan, they cannot be trusted.

Trivia

 * Many things in the Warhammer universe are references to the real world and Itza is most likely a reference to Chichen Itza, a Mayan temple-city in modern day Mexico.
 * Creative Assembly on dynamic start positions when playing as Itza/Gor-Rok: "One of the more important ones is that we moved Nakai away from the Northern Great Jungle so that Gor-Rok doesn’t need to be at war with Nakai’s vassal before he gains control of his first province. This is beneficial in several ways: firstly, it makes Gor-Rok’s start a little easier inkeeping with how we envisioned his difficulty curve. Secondly, it means that we don’t force an altercation between the two – they are after all both working towards the great plan (although you can of course head to war if you take a particular disliking to Nakai)."