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Chalnath Expanse Campaign - Imperial Investigation: For the servants of the Emperor, each new contact with beleaguered regions in the Imperium Nihilus brought fresh news of falling or fallen worlds, continuing to far outweigh any tales of heroic resistance. In the blighted Chalnath Expanse of the northern Ultima Segmentum, scores of Imperial star systems were in the throes of uprisings and civil wars, scourged by fear-mongering prophets. Into these fractures, more than one xenos ideology seeped. Since the emergence of the Cicatrix Maledictum, the nearby watch fortress of Mortguard and its surrounding watch stations had weathered not only the ferocious Warp storms that had afflicted the surrounding sectors, but surges of xenos as well. Though many aliens had been wiped out by the birth of the Great Rift, many more were driven to invading new territories after losing their own, or were scattered into the path of weakened Human worlds by raging empyric tempests. Such threatening occurrences seemed to have afflicted the Chalnath Expanse.From its own network of astroduct splicing, comm shunts and informants, Mortguard identified a growing alien influence on the Imperial systems of the Chalnath Expanse. Its exact nature was revealed by Inquisitor Jazad D'ontor. The elderly Ordo Xenos investigator sent an encrypted missive to Mortguard's watch commander, Agathon. The Inquisitor's transcripts and vid-captures showed the hand of the T'au Empire at work. After worming their way onto poverty-stricken Frontier Worlds, the T'au had openly moved against several recalcitrant systems. On some worlds, D'ontor revealed, Astra Militarum regiments attempted to hold back T'au offensives, but other regiments were embroiled in vast civil uprisings of unknown origin. D'ontor had no answers as to how or why the T'au had appeared so far to the galactic north of their primary territory in the Eastern Fringe, but made clear that this was surely only a prelude to a full-scale invasion.The old investigator had intercepted T'au delegations making for the pivotal expanse worlds of Cestis and Saint's Halt. He had lost a sizable party of Inquisitorial Acolytes in the Arrajian System, too, and believed that all three locations faced being lost. Should they fall, the T'au would spread like a stain, corrupting the Chalnath Expanse from the inside out to threaten the vulnerable worlds at the southern rim of the region. From there, a major Warp route led directly to the Segmentum Fortress at Kar Duniash. The xenos could not be allowed to threaten so vital an Imperial stronghold.In response, Watch Master Agathon led three entire Watch Companies from Mortguard to the worlds of the Chalnath Expanse. D'ontor's evidence gave suggestions of possible T'au disposition, but the Deathwatch had deeper suspicions. The T'au, they believed, were not the only aliens in the expanse. Broken reports of mutants and religious sects, not to mention D'ontor's missing retinues, all reeked to Agathon of Genestealer Cult infections -- a foe the Deathwatch of Mortguard had fought before. |
Chalnath Expanse Campaign - Assault on Arrajian IV: After losing assets sent to scour the trade guilds of the Arrajian System, Inquisitor D'ontor had set watchers at the system's perimeter, sure that a T'au fleet was poised to attack. The Deathwatch, however, believed the canker of a Genestealer Cult was already there. Shrouded rapid strike vessels from Mortguard stalked the system, monitoring vox-traffic and analysing astropathic signals sent to other systems in the Chalnath Expanse.The Deathwatch discovered that the entire system was on a war footing. The trade guilds were pouring funds into raising Astra Militarum defence regiments as well as private paramilitaries, from the glacial algae seas on Arrajian II to the mag-trawlers skimming the atmosphere of the gas giant Arrajian IX. Everything pointed to preparation for a system-wide conflict, a laudable precaution given T'au aggression against other systems of the expanse.With a precise teleport strike, a single Proteus Kill-team led by Watch Lieutenant Alvor manifested in the servo-ducts beneath the guildhouse on Arrajian IV. Their aim was to uncover the true reason for the Inquisitor's missing assets. Within solar minutes of their arrival, the kill-team came under attack from "work gangs" of Genestealer hybrids and degenerate Aberrants. Kill-team Alvor pushed through one duct after another, seeking some source to the infection.For two solar days, the kill-team fought higher into the guildhouse's foundation, losing more and more of their number. All the while their signals back to orbit were blocked by psychosqualls of xenos static. By the third solar day, the kill-team had slain dozens of xenos-corrupted guilders, but only Brother Tyvus survived to pull himself to the surface and activate his teleport homer, taking into orbit a tale of widespread alien infection and twisted experimentation.Within solar months the system had fallen to the Genestealer Cult, but Mortguard now knew the truth and would return. |
Chalnath Expanse Campaign - Battle of Cestis: On the mountainous and barren world of Cestis, in the south-east quadrant of the Chalnath Expanse, T'au pioneers of the Fifth Sphere Expansion had already gained a foothold. Their Earth Caste engineers had erected a research station, while their Water Caste envoys bribed Human black marketeers to keep its presence hidden. Watch Captain Seraphus, who had overseen the interrogation of one such pirate, knew from his Ordo Xenos data-inloads that these sites were the T'au's common means of eventual invasion. Either built piecemeal inside such stations by a veritable army of the aliens' robotic drones, or snuck in under a stealth field projected by its domed surface, these structures could amass huge military presences under a charade of "scientific research."Attacking with all haste, the Deathwatch deployed air superiority squadrons and heavy ground forces supported by Land Raider armoured transports. The tanks advanced through valley floors, converging along routes established by a preceding Spectrus Kill-team. Drone-controlled turrets bearing T'au heavy weaponry studded the valley walls firing towards the Imperial force as swarms of drones poured from hidden boreholes. The Deathwatch's snipers felled dozens of the skimming drones, while heavier fire carved into the turrets that lined the scree.Portals opened in the research station's curved surfaces and T'au Battlesuits jetted out. Their weapons immobilised one Land Raider, blocking the route for those behind. In response, Deathwatch armoured battle groups joined sniper fire squads and set up lethal kill zones.What should have been a single hammer blow would drag on in a battle of attrition, spreading across the mountains of Cestis as both sides continued to pour larger forces into it. |
Chalnath Expanse Campaign - Battle of Saint's Halt: The Chalnath Expanse Shrine World of Saint's Halt was home to billions of people. They crowded into cramped coastal cities that were squeezed between acidic seas and inland plateaux dominated by continental reliquary palaces. The Deathwatch strike cruiser Void Sentinel, upon translation into the system, found the world already under siege by the forces of the T'au Empire. Native Planetary Defence Force infantry regiments of the Saint's Tidecasters fought alongside the battle-sisters of the Order of the Blue Robe, and Astra Militarum forces from the Riatov and Pennutsk Systems that had breached the T'au orbital blockade to reach the surface.From Void Sentinel's command throne, Watch Master Agathon conducted Mortguard's global campaign against both T'au cadres and Genestealer Cult uprisings. Hive Tor Saev burned, illuminating the southern pole. At Hive Delina, the Absolutis Arch was hung with bloody Loyalist corpses as their Genestealer Cultist murderers defended the city from T'au bombardment. Vast battle lines had opened up around every major hive city; Agathon concentrated his strikes against three.At Leonis Hive, the watch master directed kill-teams to sabotage a Shield Generator protecting the T'au flank from Riatov artillery companies. To Gedronis, he dispatched waves of Storm Speeders to cut off the xenos grav-tanks attacking the Gate of the Emperor's Vengeance, hoping to allow the Adepta Sororitas trapped there to break out. Mortguard's Watch Company Quintus in its entirety smashed into the T'au offensive outside the planetary capital city, Boran Prime. In a storm of special-issue bolter ammunition, cleaving blades and psychic scourges, the T'au buckled. The Deathwatch drove them back into the claws of xenophile cultists who declared themselves to be the Hivewyrm, forcing the two breeds of xenos to turn on each other.In orbit, Deathwatch reserves awaited the ambushes Agathon knew both faithless xenos species were capable of initiating. When the next one struck, he would be ready, as the war for the Chalnath Expanse ground on. |
Chalnath Expanse Campaign - Ork Invasion: Drawn by the raging, three-sided conflict in the Chalnath Expanse, massive Ork forces soon arrived in the region. They poured from the Ful'na Nebulae in ragtag invasion fleets. With the Thaxaril, Riatov, and Barolyr Systems barely pacified, the conflict continued to rage on half a dozen other fronts.Commander Shadowsun proved unwilling to allow this new menace to destabilise the precarious expansion of the Nem'yar Atoll into Imperial space. Deploying her forces in a complex web of interlocking positions throughout the Vy'las, Mets'ah, and Aso'da Systems, she began a Kauyon-style campaign on an interstellar scale. She planned to use this strategy to blunt the Greenskins' momentum and crush the threat they posed to the continuance of the Fifth Sphere Expansion. |
Chamber Militant - Chamber Militant: A Chamber Militant is the formal name given by the Adeptus Terra to the military arm of each of the three major branches or "ordos" of the Imperial Inquisition, the secret police and intelligence division of the Imperium of Man.The Ordo Xenos (Alien Hunters) is served by the Deathwatch Space Marines, the Ordo Malleus (Daemonhunters) by the elite and highly secret Grey Knights Chapter of Astartes and the Ordo Hereticus (Witchhunters) by the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, better known as the Sisters of Battle.Usually, these organisations are only called upon by their respective ordo in cases of dire need, when all other options to deal with a given situation have been exhausted.For example, the Grey Knights are called upon only when a daemonic infestation has grown to the point that the efforts of a lone Inquisitor and their chosen Acolytes and other agents can no longer contain it.Inquisitors also often make use of specially-trained units of elite Storm Troopers, known as Inquisitorial Storm Troopers.Some regional Inquisitorial conclaves in various sectors of Imperial space also appear to have their own unique, dedicated military forces to draw upon, such as the the Stormwatchers Space Marine Chapter who are the "sanctioned blades" of the Caligari Conclave. |
Chamber of the Astronomican - Chamber of the Astronomican: The Chamber of the Astronomican lies at the heart of the Forbidden Fortress in the Himalazian (Himalayan) Mountains on Terra that serves as the headquarters of the Adeptus Astronomica and is the seat of the Astronomican beacon itself.It is filled by 10,000 psykers specially chosen to power the Astronomican with their life forces, all known as "the Chosen," so that the Emperor of Mankind can calibrate and direct it across the galaxy to serve as a pole star for long-distance FTL travel through the Warp by the Imperium's starship Navigators.The chamber itself is a massive sphere located within a single peak often referred to as the "Hollow Mountain." The peak has been resculpted into a great dome to form the upper half of the sphere which comprised the chamber.Its entire inner surface is covered with ten thousand seats, with each seat facing the centre, where a great ball of psychic energy blazes in the air. The ball is created by the Chosen as they release their vital strength to power the Astronomican.This energy is then directed by the mind of the Emperor as a "psychic light," reaching across the vast stretches of the void for approximately 70,000 light years in a sphere around Holy Terra.Up to a thousand of the Chosen die every day to feed the Emperor's insatiable and growing hunger for psychic power. When they die, there are always more psykers ready to assume the honour. |
Champion - Champion: A Company Champion is a consummate Space Marine warrior who is charged with defending the honour of his company, his Chapter and the Emperor of Mankind Himself.Usually the company's finest swordsman, a Company Champion engages the warlords and champions of the foe in single combat, leaving the company Captain free to conduct the wider battle, rather than engage in a series of personal combats.Company Champions serve key roles in the rituals and ceremonies of their Chapter, representing their Battle-Brothers in rites, rituals and mysterie just as they do in war.A Chapter Champion is the most skilled fighter of an Adeptus Astartes Chapter's Honour Guard. Wielding an energised blade in each hand, this superlative duellist is ready to challenge any enemy leader to single combat in his commander's stead, and all his training is bent to this goal.Such a singular display of martial superiority and devotion has been the salvation of more than one Chapter Master's life and turned the tide of countless battles. |
Champion - History: It is believed that the first Company Champions were to be found in the ranks of the Space Marine Legions as they fought in the Emperor's Great Crusade during the late 30th Millennium. Although most records from this time were lost during the dark days of the Horus Heresy and the strife that followed, there are fragmentary reports of heroes armed with shining blades and clad in the mightiest suits of power armour who protected their liege lords, the primarchs and praetors of the Legions, on the field of battle.What is known is that when the Ultramarines primarch and Imperial Regent, Roboute Guilliman, came to break up the Legions and wrote the Codex Astartes in the early 31st Millennium –- the tenets of which still guide the organisation of the Adeptus Astartes ten millennia later – Company Champions were firmly established as part of every Chapter's structure.It is likely, given the great emphasis placed on personal honour within the Realm of Ultramar, that the concept of champions who protect the Masters of the Chapter originated within the XIII Legion, though none now can say for sure. |
Champion - Champions at War: When Company Champions take to the battlefield, it is as part of a Command Squad, assigned to accompany a great hero of the Chapter. Most commonly, the Champion –- along with several other Veteran Battle-Brothers -- will fight alongside his company Captain, but he can also be seconded to the service of his company Chaplain or a member of the Librarius.The champion's role within the Command Squad is threefold. Firstly, and most obviously, he is an avatar of war, bringing death to the foe with blade and bolt. Often, his commander will need to focus on the wider battle, manoeuvring forces to achieve victory, and the Company Champion will be tasked with his protection, ensuring that any enemy who seeks to harm the Captain, Librarian or Chaplain meets their end, spitted on an energy-wreathed sword.The Company Champion also acts as counsellor to his commander. While his focus is on martial skill and strength of arms, the Champion's insight is often invaluable, giving his commander a different perspective on the unfolding events on the battlefield. The Champion's knowledge of martial styles can often inspire interesting tactical options that a Captain or Chaplain may not have considered.The third -- and arguably most important -- role of a Company Champion in war is to act as his commander's second. While they are technically outside the chain of command and outranked by Lieutenants and Sergeants, Company Champions are veterans of hundreds of battles and have often served at the side of their Captain for longer than any other Astartes.Should they fail in their duty to protect their commander, a Company Champion will often be looked to to provide leadership and ensure that the Captain's plan is carried out, his duty completed. This is a great burden, for should the battle be lost, the Champion will have failed twice, both to protect his liege and to fulfil his fallen commander’s duty – dishonouring them both.Few Company Champions have ever failed in this way, and those who have often choose to stand down from their position and take up the role of a penitent in whatever way their Chapter Master sees fit, be it returning to the ranks as a simple Battle-Brother, or embarking upon a dangerous and almost certainly suicidal mission in an attempt to redeem their honour. |
Champion - Ceremonial Duties: All Space Marine Chapters have ceremonies and traditions that go back terran centuries or millennia to their Founding. These are often accompanied by rites and rituals in which the Chapter's Chaplains lead the Battle-Brothers.There are as many different such traditions as there are Space Marine Chapters, and they will usually revolve around significant events -- the recruitment of new warriors for the Chapter, movement between companies or promotions to higher ranks. Among the duties of Company Champions is the representation of their own company during such rituals where multiple companies are involved.For example, the Crimson Fists have a ceremonial blooding for any warrior who moves from one company to another, where the Champions of both the Battle-Brother's old and new companies perform a mock combat, with ritual steps that represent an honour-duel that Rogal Dorn is said to have performed with each of the Imperial Fists Legion Captains who left to command new Chapters in the Second Founding.One of the better-known ceremonial duties for Champions from many Imperial Fists Successor Chapters is to represent their brothers at the Feast of Blades, a great ritual combat that takes place at least once a Terran century. Each of the Chapters formed from Dorn's bloodline nominates a champion, usually chosen from amongst the Company Champions, competing for glory and the right to host the next Feast.It is a great honour to be chosen to represent the Chapter, and those who are frequently find that their Chapter Master has an eye on them for promotion in the near future. |
Champion - Selection: The Champion of each company is chosen very carefully, for his skill in battle may be the difference between life and death for his Captain, and therefore between victory or defeat in battle. Company Champions are rarely warriors of rank; those with the skill to command their fellow Space Marines in battle are better utilised as squad Sergeants or Captains.Instead, Champions are chosen for their skill at arms. By the strictures laid down in the Codex Astartes, it takes an act of great personal valour for a Space Marine to be considered for the role of Company Champion, as well as a demonstrated record of humility where others strive for personal glory. Such warriors must always keep the safety of their commander uppermost in their mind, even as they match blades with the deadliest of foes.Different Chapters, however, choose their Champions in different ways. The Silver Skulls cleave strongly to the visions of their Prognosticars, who see those marked for greatness and sequester them away to be trained in the arts of duelling until their very body is a weapon, every instinct honed to a razor edge.The Imperial Fists and many of their Successor Chapters hold great tournaments whenever a Company Champion dies, where any warrior of the company may compete to take up the mantle of the fallen hero and represent their Captain. Few sons of Rogal Dorn can resist such an opportunity, and many friendly grudges result from these tournaments, spurring unsuccessful Battle-Brothers on to ever greater feats of valour on the field of battle.It is even whispered that among the Mortifactors, the warrior who hunts and slays the killer of a former Company Champion and takes the foe's skull will be named as the new Champion. It is said that such hunts have taken Battle-Brothers of the Mortifactors as far afield as the hidden city of the piratical Drukhari and into the depths of the Eye of Terror itself.It is true that when the Mortificators march to war, their Captains often go unaccompanied by a Champion, lending credence to such wild-seeming rumours. |
Champion - Power Weapons: Company Champions must always be prepared to engage their foes in single combat, and so are typically equipped with some of the finest arms and Power Armour to be found in the Chapter vaults.The primary close combat weapon for many Company Champions is a master-crafted Power Sword, accompanied by a Bolt Pistol for ranged combat and Frag and Krak Grenades, though this is by no means universal.The Champions of the Stone Hearts Chapter, for example, are known to have a preference for heavy maces or mauls, reflecting the culture of their homeworld, where such weapons, crafted from stone and hardened wood, are used in ritual combats to decide the hierarchy of local clans. When these bludgeons are recreated in adamantium and equipped with energy fields, they are vicious weapons, capable of knocking an enemy’s head from his shoulders or crashing through armour plate.The Clan-Champions of the Storm Lords, on the other hand, have been seen to emulate their progenitors in the White Scars Chapter by making use of long, diamond-tipped lances wreathed in shimmering energy fields, preferring to destroy their target with a single decisive strike, though these warriors keep powered tulwars as secondary weapons for the rare occasions when an enemy survives their initial attack.Even amongst those Champions who make use of swords, there is near-infinite variety. From nimble duelling rapiers to heavy-bladed claymores, there is no type of blade wielded by human hands that has not been used by a Company Champion somewhere in the Imperium. Each Champion strives to completely master his chosen fighting style, training with his blade and shield to the exclusion of all else, the better to defend his Captain and uphold the honour of his Chapter.When different Chapters come together in a theatre of war, it is common for Company Champions from the forces involved to come together to fight duels and learn from each others' fighting styles and preferences.Many weapons and combat styles that originate from one world have spread across the Imperium in this way, and it is not uncommon for Chapters that have never fought alongside one another before to find that their Company Champions have surprisingly similar methods of waging war. |
Champion - Combat Shields: Regardless of their preferred weaponry, Company Champions are trained duellists and make use of many techniques handed down by skilled combatants since time immemorial, and codified in Roboute Guilliman's great work. Their role as defender of their Captain, as well as a hunter-killer, means that they often carry a Combat Shield to accompany their blade.Small bucklers that are typically affixed to the forearm, Combat Shields are equipped with a less powerful version of the energy field found in the Storm Shields of Terminators, and Company Champions train tirelessly to make best use of this extra defence.The Codex Astartes outlines three main uses for a Combat Shield in a duel: Firstly, the shield can be used to deflect blows. The Combat Shield's small size and energy field make its primary purpose to intercept and parry an enemy's strike, allowing the Company Champion to deliver a riposte.Second, the shield can hide and protect the sword hand. By angling his Combat Shield correctly, the Company Champion can both protect his sword hand from enemy blows and hide it from their view, allowing him the element of surprise as the foe struggles to anticipate his next strike.Whilst a few Chapters -- typically those whose view of war is more brutal and straightforward -- eschew this style of fighting, seeing it as dishonourable, most Company Champions are happy to have this technique in their arsenal.Finally, the Combat Shield can be used by the Astartes to direct attacks. While not nearly as effective as a blade or a Bolter, a strong strike with a Combat Shield at the right moment can knock an opponent off-balance, or even more if the power field makes contact with bare flesh. Many an overeager enemy has found themselves at the mercy of a Company Champion after being felled by an unexpected jolt of energy from a Combat Shield.Many other techniques have been developed over the ages by particularly inventive or daring Champions. Whilst many of these remain in use within just one Chapter, handed down from weapons-master to warrior across generations, many have spread across Chapters that have fought in the same war zones, and some have even made it back to Macragge, there to be enshrined in the addenda to the Codex Astartes, held within the Library of Ptolemy. |
Champion - Company Champion: A Company Champion wields the following wargear as standard:Curadh Pattern Artificer ArmourBolt PistolMaster-Crafted Power SwordCombat ShieldFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades |
Champion - Chapter Champion: A Chapter Champion wields the following wargear as standard:Artificer ArmourChampion's BladePower SwordFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades |
Champion - Armour: While many suits of Space Marine Power Armour are as old as the Imperium itself, handed down from Battle-Brother to Battle-Brother, repaired and refitted a hundred times or more, Company Champions are given a unique honour. Upon ascension to the role, a newly-appointed Champion has a bespoke suit of armour crafted for them.When a Champion eventually falls, should his body and armour be recovered, it is preserved and displayed with great honour in the Chapter reliquaries, every plate of the armour etched in remembrance of the hero's many victories. Thus are the deeds of each and every Company Champion commemorated for all time.The standard pattern of Champion armour -- known informally as Curadh Pattern variant armour, after a title for heroes in ancient Terran -- is laid down in the Codex Astartes. Based loosely upon the design of the Mark VII Aquila Pattern battle-plate, the Curadh Pattern variant comes with additional reinforcement upon the shoulder guards, designed both to display the many badges of honour a Company Champion is entitled to wear and to provide greater protection.A similarly reinforced breastplate is often emblazoned with a winged shield. Uniquely amongst his Battle-Brothers, a Company Champion is entitled to bear personal heraldry. Many choose not to, but some commemorate particularly notable feats of valour by adding them to the shield upon their chests. Amongst the Ultramarines, it is also common for Champions of noble Ultramarran birth to display all or part of their family heraldry on their chest plate.The helms worn by Company Champions are often designed to echo knightly helms of old, as seen in fragments of ancient tapestries and the tattered remnants of illuminated manuscripts. While little is remembered from these long-lost times, it is known that medieval knights from Terra's ancient past were chivalrous individuals dedicated to the defence of the innocent -- ideals that Company Champions are seen to represent. |
Champion - Chapter Variant Titles for Company Champion: ChapterVariant TitlesExcoriatorsCompany ScourgeGrey KnightsBrotherhood ChampionIron HandsClan ChampionSpace WolvesGreat Company Champion |
Champion - Company Champions of Renown: Clan Champion Oros Telemar - Oros Telemar was a Clan Champion of the Iron Hands Chapter. In 237.M38, Clan Garrsak of the Iron Hands was deployed to the Herevok Sector to help put down an insurgency that had gripped more than twenty worlds. Upon their arrival, they discovered that the rebels were, in fact, Chaos-tainted Heretics, aided by Traitor Marines from the Emperor's Children Legion of old. The Iron Hands fell upon their ancient foes with relish, cleansing them from world after world in the name of Ferrus Manus, slain in a bygone age by the Emperor's Children Primarch Fulgrim in an act of fratricide which changed history. Taking a handful of Space Marines with him, Telemar crossed the sector in pursuit of his quarry, eventually chasing him down to an airless asteroid on the outskirts of a long-abandoned planetary system. There, Telemar and his men engaged Lucius the Eternal, the Chaos-corrupted swordsman and Champion of Slaanesh. Eventually, Telemar prevailed, striking the Traitor down and taking his sabre and whip to display as trophies of victory on the Iron Hands homeworld. When he returned to the clan, the war was over, and the Iron Hands departed for Medusa. When their ship arrived in orbit around the Iron Hands homeworld, the vessel was silent, refusing to answer hails or follow recognised approach vectors. Ship's logs revealed much to the Iron Hands' horror that Telemar had begun to change, ritually scarring himself and repainting his armour in wild and sickening colours. Eventually, his will had snapped and he had rampaged through the ship, killing all the crew and passengers with the weapons claimed from the Traitor, before entering a saviour pod and disappearing into the depths of the Immaterium. To this day, none are sure exactly how this happened, though this is well, as to try and explain the methods of Chaos is to invite madness. Later sightings of Lucius in war zones across the Imperium and beyond have only added to this mystery.Company Champion Brayden - In the years before the fall of their homeworld of Ogrys, the Invaders underwent many trials. Their most notable feat was a daring assault upon the Eldar Craftworld of Idharae in 852.M41. The entire Chapter gathered to leave the Craftworld a floating wreck, and many valorous deeds were performed in Idharae's domes and tunnels. The 1st Company, under the command of Captain Ravinger, deployed en masse, teleporting into the centre of the Craftworld and laying waste to all around them. As the Eldar reacted and more forces were drawn from the periphery of Idharae to deal with this immense threat, the Terminator-armoured Veterans of the 1st Company found themselves fighting back to back, Storm Bolters and Assault Cannons running hot; Power Fists and Lightning Claws reaping a fearsome tally of Eldar warriors. In the midst of the battle, Captain Ravinger fell, his hearts pierced by the blade of a mighty Wraithlord ghost-construct. With victory in the balance, his Champion, Brayden, rallied the company around the ancient and proud banner of the 1st Company and stood over the body of his lord. No count exists of how many foes Brayden slew in the hours that followed, but all who saw his deeds attested that he fought with the valour of Rogal Dorn himself. When the battle was won and the Masters of the Chapter convened to decide who would succeed Ravinger as the First Captain, Brayden was unanimously nominated. Stepping forward under the gazes of the great and good of the Invaders, he humbly declined the honour, declaring that he was a warrior and a servant, not a leader, and that another would be better placed to command the company, another whom he would pledge to protect unto death. He nominated a Sergeant of the company and stepped back into the shadows, content that his duty would continue.Company Champion Cadulon - Cadulon is a name celebrated in the annals of the Iron Knights Space Marines and revered by every Chapter that sends warriors to the ritual Feast of Blades. Known to his brothers and rivals alike as the "Saint of Blades" for his skill at arms, Cadulon rose to the position of Company Champion when his predecessor was killed by a Dark Eldar slaver-queen in battle on the world of Cystan. Over the centuries that followed, Cadulon became renowned for his swordsmanship, wielding an estoc with consummate ease. Three times Cadulon represented his Chapter at the Feast of Blades, the great competition between the Successor Chapters of the Imperial Fists Legion. On his first appearance, he won the contest, besting the chosen champions of eleven other Chapters. On his second, he was narrowly defeated by the Black Templars' representative, but he returned once again and claimed victory a second time, one of only a handful of Space Marines to do so. Eventually, Cadulon was promoted to the rank of Captain and served with distinction for nearly a century in command of the 4th Company until 226.M41, when he crossed blades with a Dark Eldar Archon on the world of Omeros. With his Command Squad and his own Company Champion kept busy by the twisted alien's minions, Cadulon found himself fighting single-handedly against the Archon and a dozen Incubi. Even the Saint of Blades could not hold out against so many skilled foes, and he was incapacitated. The last that any of the Iron Knights saw of Cadulon, he was being carried, still struggling against a dozen captors, into the writhing darkness of a Webway portal. His final fate remains unknown.Company Scourge Contego Micah - Brother Micah, of the Excoriators Chapter, served as the 5th Company's Company Scourge (Company Champion). His predecessor had lost his life defending Corpus-Captain Thaddeus on the Kruger Ridge on the world of Veiglehaven from an ambush by Chaos Space Marines of the Alpha Legion. Micah was young for his position but a cool, impassive Excoriator. He was a gifted marksman and took the responsibilities of Company Champion seriously. Micah was just as unhappy about former Chapter Scourge Zachariah Kersh's promotion to Corpus-Captain over Veteran Whip (Sergeant) Skase, as were all the other Astartes in the 5th, but had studied his new commander's orders and their mission brief and had volunteered practical propositions regarding the company's security on Certus-Minor. Like many of his brothers, he was determined that the Excoriators would not fall to the predations of the Alpha Legion again -- even if that meant keeping Zachariah Kersh alive. Micah was killed defending the Imperial Cemetery World from the large Khornate Blood Crusade known as the Cholercaust.Company Champion Petronius Nero - Petronius Nero serves as the current Company Champion of the Ultramarines 4th Company. He serves in Captain Uriel Ventris's elite Command Squad, "The Swords of Calth."Company Champion Gaius Prabian - Gaius Prabian serves as the current Company Champion of the vaunted Ultramarines 2nd Company. He serves in Captain Cato Sicarius' elite Command Squad known as the "Lions of Macragge."Cato Sicarius - Cato Sicarius is the current Captain of the Ultramarines 2nd Company. Before his meteoric rise within the ranks, he formerly served as the Company Champion of the lauded 2nd Company, known as the "Guardians of the Temple," which is the most famous and honoured Battle Company of the Ultramarines Chapter.Company Champion Tolemion - Tolemion was a Company Champion of the Genesis Chapter. A formidable warrior who was zealously loyal to the Emperor, he took part in the assault conducted by his Chapter on Tsagualsa against the treacherous Night Lords warband of the Chaos Champion Talos Valcoran. Wielding his mighty Thunder Hammer he fought against the "Soul Hunter's" squad known as First Claw. Unfortunately he did not survive the encounter as he was impaled on Talos' Power Sword by the severely wounded Night Lord named Xarl. Tolemion praised the Emperor before being beheaded. However, Xarl died from blood loss from the wounds Telemion inflicted upon him soon after their confrontation.Wolf Guard Arjac Rockfist - Arjac Rockfist, also known as "The Man-Mountain," "Grimnar's Champion" and the "Anvil of Fenris" is the personal Champion of the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar of the Space Wolves Chapter. Arjac was formerly a blacksmith of the Bear Claw tribe of Fenris, whose true skills lay not at the forge, but in the crucible of battle. His incredible strength and fortitude so impressed the Great Wolf that he was made Grimnar's personal Champion even before he was inducted into the Space Wolves as an Astartes and made the leader of Grimnar's Wolf Guard.Wolf Guard Mikal Sternmark - Wolf Guard Champion to Wolf Lord Berek Thunderfist, Mikal had to take charge of the Thunderfist Great Company during the Charys Campaign. At the height of the fighting and the sorcerous influence of the Thousand Sons, Mikal succumbed to the call of the Wulfen and in a fit of rage slaughtered the Imperial General Lady Commander Athelstane. He was placed under the care of the Wolf Priests for some time, but returned to serve as Berek's Champion one last time in his final stand and died at the side of his Wolf Lord. Mikal wielded the relic Power Sword Redclaw.Wolf Guard Thorin Shieldsplitter - Former Champion of the Thunderfist Company, the aging Thorin was replaced by the upcoming Mikal Sternmark but remained a loyal and dependable warrior. During the Charys Campaign it was Thorin who stood over the bier of the Wolf Lord Thunderfist with his two-handed Power Axe, prepared to defend the comatose Wolf Lord with his life if need be, and should he recognize death as imminent, his task was to trigger the Melta-charges planted within Berek's bier and make sure that the enemy would not get the chance to sully the body of the Wolf Lord. |
Champion Consul - Champion Consul: A Champion Consul served as the Champion of the Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. The bygone Legion rank of Consul was often granted to a Centurion and collectively they were referred to as the Legiones Consularis in High Gothic, although this covered many different ranks and specialties.Consuls served as both officers of the line and specialists in every conceivable doctrine of war. A Champion Consul's sworn task was to hunt down and slay the commanders and heroes of an enemy force in single combat. Armed with the finest weapons available, these deadly warriors embodied the honour of their Legion. |
Champion Consul - History: The origins of the position of Champion Consul are believed to harken back to the early years of the Emperor's Great Crusade during the late 30th Millennium. Although most records from this time were lost during the dark days of the Horus Heresy and the strife that followed, there are fragmentary reports of heroes armed with shining blades and clad in the mightiest suits of power armour who protected their liege lords, the primarchs and praetors of the Legions, on the field of battle.A Legion Champion's sworn task was to hunt down and slay the commanders and heroes of an enemy force in single combat. Armed with the finest weapons available to his Legion, these deadly warriors embodied the honour of their Legion. During the Horus Heresy, the following were the most common types of Champion Consuls encountered on the battlefield:Loyalist Champion Consul - Chosen from the best blades of their Legion, a Champion Consul bore the honour of their chapter or company in battle, and was armed and armoured in the finest panoply of war. Their sworn task was to seek out the foe's mightiest warriors, and slay them in glorious single combat. Such victories were a crushing blow to enemy morale, and an object lesson in their Legion's superiority. A Loyalist Champion Consul was a skilled duelist -- armed with a massive two-handed Paragon Blade, with a Combi-melta at their side. Their finely-wrought Artificer Armour often featured a flowing tabard, as well as a knightly gorget to guard against return blows. Medallions and decorative chains proclaimed the Consul Champion's many victories, marking him as a foe worthy of any challenger.Traitor Champion Consul - Those Champion Consuls pledged to the Traitor Legions served the same function as their counterparts in the Loyalist Legions but took great pleasure in cutting down any Loyalist lapdogs foolish enough to stand in their way. A Traitor Champion Consuls was a paragon of martial expertise and an expert in the art of dealing death to the followers of the False Emperor. They were armed with a deadly Paragon Blade for parrying blows and lopping off Loyalist heads while wielding a Volkite Serpenta to melt through enemy armour at range. The bulky and tough Artificer Armour worn by a Traitor Consul Champion was multi-layered, given even more protection, and was often adorned with the icon of the Eye of Horus, so there was no mistaking as to whose cause they fought for. |
Champion Consul - Unit Composition: 1 Consul Champion |
Champion Consul - Wargear: Artificer ArmourIron HaloParagon BladeBolt PistolMelta BombFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades |
Champion Consul - Optional Wargear: Cataphractii Pattern Terminator ArmourAssorted Close Combat Weapon (Any type) (As replacement for a Paragon Blade)Combi-bolter (As replacement for Bolt Pistol)Volkite Serpenta (As replacement for Bolt Pistol) |
Champion Consul - Notable Champion Consuls: Corswain - Champion of the Dark Angels, Corswain's name is one that echoes down through the ages. Exemplifying the qualities of stalwart determination and mastery of the blade, Corswain was the rising star amongst his brothers in the annals of the Great Crusade. His was the righteous path of the Paladin and being born of Caliban but not an ingrained scion of The Order, Corswain was uniquely placed to bridge the divisions within the Legion in its formative years under its primarch; a position recognised and put to good use by Lion El'Jonson. Under the Lion, Corswain would be groomed to serve not any one Host or Order within the I Legion, but to command the respect and knowledge of all. Even as the dust of the Age of Darkness settled, Corswain was remembered in such hallowed company as Raldoron, Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, for his level-headed and disciplined authority as a commander, and alongside Sigismund of the Imperial Fists for his relentlessness in the heat of battle.Sigismund - Sigismund was a name that echoed through the Great Crusade even before the darkness of the Horus Heresy made him the stuff of legends. Born on Terra and raised to the Legiones Astartes as the Great Crusade was at its height, he ascended in rank and renown thanks to a simple fact: he was a warrior of unparalleled lethality and ability. Beneath the primarchs, there has, perhaps, never been a more skilled warrior in combat. Across the battlefields of hundreds of worlds and the duelling floors of every Legion, he was never defeated. The fire of the crusader always burned brightly in him, and if one warrior could embody the Great Crusade's spirit of noble conquest it was Sigismund. Those who faced him in the circle of blades, or stood beside him in battle, speak of a fury shackled by an iron will and an inherent genius for dealing death that bordered on the supernatural. It was this skill and fire that brought Sigismund to command the Templars of the Imperial Fists' 1st Company, and the most exalted position in the Imperial Fists beneath Rogal Dorn himself. |
Champion Consul - Sources: The Horus Heresy - Book One: Betrayal (Forge World Series), pp. 109, 115, 191, 237The Horus Heresy - Book Three: Extermination (Forge World Series), pg. 270Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Second Edition - Liber Astartes (Specialty Game), pp. 23, 108, 146, 166-167, 236-237, 310Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Second Edition - Liber Hereticus (Specialty Game), pp. 23, 108, 146Warhammer Community - Sunday Preview: Loyalist Champion Consul (20 Aug 23)Warhammer Community - Forge World Pre-orders – This Loyalist Champion is a One-man Praetor-killing Machine (25 Aug 23)Warhammer Community - Heresy Thursday – Put Loyalist Weaklings to the Sword With the Traitor Champion Consul (14 Sept 23)Warhammer Webstore - Loyalist Champion ConsulWarhammer Webstore - Traitor Champion Consul |
Champion of Chaos - Champion of Chaos: A Champion of Chaos, also styled as a Chaos Champion, is an individual who has dedicated his or her life to further the cause of a particular patron Chaos God, or Chaos as a whole in the form of Chaos Undivided. He or she is either an extremely powerful warrior, such as a Chaos Space Marine, or a psychic Chaos Sorcerer.Chaos is attractive for the simple reason that it offers enormous power to those willing to turn away from the light of the Emperor and dedicate themselves in body and soul to the Ruinous Powers.For many who walk its dark path, it offers the only hope of betterment in a galaxy ruled by an often oppressive Human Imperium where opportunities for true happiness and advancement are the prerogatives of only a tiny, privileged minority, and where the only escape from literal starvation or persecution by an uncaring bureaucracy lies in the egalitarian favours of Chaos.For unlike the Imperium of Man and so many of the other servants of order in the galaxy, Chaos judges its devotees on merit and skill alone and rewards them for their successes or failures harshly, but fairly.In fact, many of those who champion the Dark Gods would claim that only Chaos offers true justice to the peoples bound into the corrupt and dying realm ruled over by the Corpse Emperor. |
Champion of Chaos - The Road to Power: The road to power begins by first offering body and soul to Chaos: either to an individual Chaos God or to Chaos Undivided. Not all who choose to so dedicate themselves are accepted by the Ruinous Powers, who truly only want the elite of mortals in their service as their Champions.Often it takes a spectacular deed of courage to attract the attention of the Ruinous Powers. If the candidate is accepted by a Chaos God or Chaos Undivided, he or she receives a Mark of Chaos from their Chaos patron. This is the patron Chaos God's own Mark or the Mark of Chaos Undivided, and each mark confers some supernatural ability or physical characteristic.Once a Champion receives their Mark they begin to attract followers from the lesser servants of Chaos including mortals and even Daemons if the Champion proves powerful and successful enough. The Chaos Gods use their Champions to further their aims in the material universe. The Champion's life becomes an endless series of battles, raids and quests to serve the interests of the Ruinous Powers.As the Champion serves Chaos they become increasingly physically altered through mutational "gifts" granted by their patron. The road to power ends eventually either in the Champion being reduced to a mindless and formless Chaos Spawn due to persistent failures or ascension to daemonhood as an immortal and powerful Daemon Prince as a reward for success.All Chaos Champions are mortal and can be killed, although this is always a dangerous undertaking as they are exceedingly powerful foes. A Chaos Champion's followers are known as a Chaos warband. Warbands are deadly rivals to each other, often combatting each other to gain the attention of their patron Chaos Gods.Even followers of the same Chaos God are rivals for their patron's fickle favour. Sometimes shaky alliances are formed between the warbands of extremely powerful Champions. The truly successful Champions of Chaos are ultimately rewarded with immortality and are elevated to the rank of Daemon Prince and given control over their own Daemon World within the Warp. |
Champion of Chaos - Aspiring Champion: The most common form of Chaos Champion found among Chaos warbands, the Aspiring Champion leads squads of Chaos Space Marines, including the Chosen, Raptors and Havoc Squads, or warbands of Human Heretics and Chaos Cultists, and usually pledges their loyalty to a more powerful Chaos Lord. |
Champion of Chaos - Terminator Champion: Terminator Champions are those Aspiring Champions of the Heretic Astartes who have somehow acquired a suit of Tactical Dreadnought Armour, often through killing the previous owner themselves. Terminator Champions are the leaders of the rare Chaos Terminators. |
Champion of Chaos - Possessed Champion: Possessed Champions are the leaders of the Possessed, mortal psykers or Heretic Astartes who have been possessed by a Daemon of the Warp. Possessed Champions are often possessed by a powerful Daemon and horribly mutated by the Daemon's presence beyond even the mutational "gifts" granted to their fellow Chaos devotees by the Ruinous Powers. |
Champion of Chaos - Plague Champion: Plague Champions serve as the Death Guard Traitor Legion's Plague Marine squad leaders. A Plague Champion is often the most horribly disease-infested individual in the unit as well as the toughest to defeat and the most dedicated to the service of the Plague Lord, Nurgle. |
Champion of Chaos - Noise Champion: Noise Champions are the most dedicated Chaos Champions of Slaanesh and the leaders of the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion's Noise Marine squads. Noise Champions commonly brandish rare sonic weaponry unavailable to most other Chaos Space Marines. |
Champion of Chaos - Skull Champion: Skull Champions are the leaders of the World Eaters Traitor Legion's Khornate Berserker squads and are seen as the members of the unit who are the most bloodthirsty and devoted to the Blood God Khorne, as well as the most skilled berserker in the squad. |
Champion of Chaos - Aspiring Sorcerer: Aspiring Sorcerers are apprentice sorcerers still in training to become a full-fledged Chaos Sorcerer; Aspiring Sorcerers are the leaders of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion's squads of Rubricae and the especial devotees of the Lord of Change, Tzeentch. |
Champion of Chaos - Biker Champion: As the name implies, Biker Champions are the leaders of Chaos Space Marine Assault Bike squadrons, and they are usually extremely bloodthirsty and obsessed with speed. |
Champion of Chaos - Chaos Lords: The greatest Champions of Chaos are called "Chaos Lords" and these individuals are often aligned with one of the four Chaos Gods and become the mightiest Champions of their chosen deity.Often this status grants them a measure of the power of their patron god, including mutations and greater resilience, enhanced strength and psychic abilities. |
Champion of Chaos - Champion of Khorne: The most bloodthirsty and savage fighters in the galaxy, Champions of Khorne lust after the spilling of blood and the roar of battle to satisfy their own murderous cravings and the desires of the Blood God Khorne.They are experts in many melee weapon forms which others could not master, yet Khornate Champions do not fight in a graceful manner, preferring instead to bludgeon their way through a large number of enemies, Chainaxe in hand. Only the greatest battles can sate these Chaos Lords' endless thirst for blood and death.Champions of Khorne scorn all psykers like their patron god and particularly enjoy slaying Chaos Sorcerers. |
Champion of Chaos - Champion of Nurgle: Disease and death are the most potent forces in the galaxy and the Champion of Nurgle embodies all of these. These Chaos Lords are swollen and bloated, often little more than moving sacks of pus and infectious diseases. Their bodies have been dulled to pain and as such can endure immense amounts of damage before they die. |
Champion of Chaos - Champion of Slaanesh: Desire is a powerful emotion and the Dark Prince Slaanesh is the embodiment of all desire, with his Champions revelling in their pleasures. They take joy from the ending of life on the battlefield, a perverse pleasure for which the desire is constantly increased.The senses of the Champion of Slaanesh are increased beyond Human recognition and their minds are so fast to react that they fight in a blur which many enemies cannot even see, let alone defend against. As a result, Slaaneshi Champions are often the greatest swordsmen in the galaxy. |
Champion of Chaos - Champion of Tzeentch: Potent psykers and Chaos Sorcerers make up the ranks of the mortal followers of Tzeentch, and his most potent servants in realspace are his Champions. The enhanced psychic powers Tzeentch grants his Champions allows them to project Warp-based abilities which no loyal follower of the Emperor would dream of unleashing.Champions of Tzeentch often wear charms and pendants to protect themselves from the Daemonic powers of the Immaterium; although the dangers are lessened because of their service to the Lord of Change even Chaos Lords fear the entities of the Warp. Often the Champion is merely a pawn in one of the endless larger schemes of Tzeentch, but useful pawns are often the best protected by the Changer of Ways. |
Champion of Chaos - Exalted Champions: For every Chaos Lord making their grisly mark upon the galaxy, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of common Chaos Champions vying for the favour of the Ruinous Powers. Each is an exceptional warrior; whether they are known for their martial prowess or sheer animalistic brutality, the most elite of the Chaos Champions, known as "Exalted Champions," inevitably leave a trail of corpses in their wake.In seeking out and slaying the most vaunted of enemies, Exalted Champions hope to draw the eye of the Dark Gods. They do so with good reason -- from the perspective of a power-hungry madman, at least. Unlike so many other deities given obeisance across the galaxy, who remain distant and unknowable, if they exist at all, the Ruinous Powers of Chaos are very real entities, and willing to reward or punish their supplicants on the whim of the moment.An Exalted Champion that proves a capable pawn in the Great Game will find themselves rewarded with abilities far beyond those of even the most accomplished mortal. Warp-given "rewards" usually appear first as blemishes or stigmata, then, as time passes, as strange protuberances or abilities that become ever more pronounced over the passage of time.Their nature is sometimes suited to the recipient's personal agenda -- a bloodthirsty butcher may become possessed of insane strength, whereas a leader of warriors might find their commands obeyed without question. Other times these "gifts" of the Dark Gods might be hideously disfiguring, or even physically crippling, for what the Ruinous Powers consider a blessing might be seen by mortals as the vilest curse.Those Exalted Champions who sprout extra limbs, razor-sharp horns or extra eyes soon find ways to turn their new gifts to slaughter -- many a Chaos warrior has found such growths to be effective tools in a fight. Because the blessings a Chaos Champion receives usually increase the carnage they are able to wreak, they increase the likelihood they will be rewarded by their gods once more, and so the cycle continues.Should a warrior find themselves with too many gifts, their much-altered body and genome will reach a breaking point, mutating into a fleshy abomination that is doomed to spend the rest of its short existence in agony and madness. Such is the razored edge walked by these Champions; on one side lies eternal servitude to the entities of the Warp, and on the other, hideous devolution into a mindless Chaos Spawn.An Exalted Champion fulfils a double role in the warband of their master among the Chaos Lords. They are an effective leader in those times when their lord's efforts must be focused elsewhere, and it is common for them to be accompanied by a band of Chaos Cultist retainers and hangers-on, or a Chaos Space Marine honour guard. More than that, however, an Exalted Champion is their master's executioner, seeking out the leaders of the enemy and matching themselves against them in single combat.The Exalted Champion's experience, hard-won over Terran centuries, sometimes millennia, of battle, is allied with a ferocious thirst for violence and the potent wargear of the Chaos Space Marines, further bolstered by the gifts of the Dark Gods.This makes them an inspiring warrior, a weaponmaster who can fight toe-to-toe with an Ork warboss or Drukhari aristocrat and emerge triumphant. Whilst gore still sizzles on their blade, the Exalted Champion offers the undiluted glory of victory to their patrons. Their warband raises victory cries around them, fighting on all the harder as the severed head of the enemy is held up for man and god to see. |
Champion of Chaos - Unit Composition: 1 Exalted Champion |
Champion of Chaos - Exalted Champion Wargear: Bolt PistolChainswordFrag GrenadesKrak GrenadesCombi-weapon (Any type, replacement for Bolt Pistol)Plasma Pistol (Replacement for Bolt Pistol or Chainsword)Chainaxe (Replacement for Bolt Pistol or Chainsword)Chainsword (Replacement for Bolt Pistol or Chainsword)Lightning Claw (Replacement for Bolt Pistol or Chainsword)Power Fist (Replacement for Bolt Pistol or Chainsword)Power Maul (Replacement for Bolt Pistol or Chainsword)Power Weapon (Any type, replacement for Bolt Pistol or Chainsword) |
Champions of Thanatos - Champions of Thanatos: The Champions of Thanatos is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown genetic origins and Founding. |
Champions of Thanatos - Chapter Colours: The Champions of Thanatos primarily wear black power armour. The insets of the shoulder pauldrons are bone. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest is yellow.The black squad tactical specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran or command -- is indicated on the right shoulder pauldron. A white High Gothic numeral centred on the squad specialty symbol indicates squad number.The colour of the shoulder pauldron trim indicates company number in accordance with the Codex Astartes -- i.e. white (1st Company), yellow (2nd Company), red (3rd Company), etc. |
Champions of Thanatos - Chapter Badge: The Champions of Thanatos' Chapter badge is a large, white skull with stylised, black wings protruding from its sides, centred over a pair of crossed ebon scythes, on a field of bone. |
Chancer's Vale - Chancer's Vale: Chancer's ValeImperialThe world's primary export is salt evaporated from the world's seas by its slum-dwelling population. The world's people were so desperate that they became easy targets for the spread of a particularly pernicious Genestealer Cult, the Pauper Princes.Though still formally controlled by the Imperium of Man, Chancer's Vale is now ruled by the Pauper Princes in all but name. |
Chancer's Vale - History: The Pauper Princes originally hailed from the ochre-hued Imperial slum world of Chancer's Vale, which although still listed as an Imperial-held planet is almost entirely under the cult's sway. Much of the populace lives in the squalid shanty towns that pepper the coasts, their skin badly desiccated by the constant mining of minerals from its barren seas.The planet exports millions of tonnes of saline cubes every year to those planets in the same sector that have no seas of their own; these are used for scores of purposes, from curing meat to the preparation of healing salves. Those of the Pauper Princes who hail from Chancer's Vale have a wrinkled, pale cast to their skin -- an appearance that marks them out as blessed scions of the cult's "holy land" to those who have colonised other worlds in the cult's name.Such is the deprivation and abject poverty of Chancer's Vale that many of its people originally joined the cult not because they were forced to by coercion or the Genestealer's corrupting "Kiss," but because they were desperate for a way off the planet.Word had spread that there was an offshoot of the Imperial Cult thriving in the principal spaceport of Senfarr -- though the source of its formation, the Purestrain Genestealer that still made its lair on the super-barge Just Strength, remained secret.From the Just Strength came a cult which preached hope, solidarity and new beginnings, an intoxicating mixture to the downtrodden and desperate population of the planet's searing coasts.The first and most talented demagogue of the cult, Magus Marovitch Tenndarc, spoke with such conviction about a new life amongst the stars that thousands fell under his sway in the space of a few short solar weeks. Swathes of the world's populace united in their devotion to the messiah known as the "Star Saviour" -- the cult's Genestealer Patriarch.Every Emperor's Day, the Magus sermonised to rapturous applause about the glories to come. Tenndarc died saving the Star Saviour himself -- the cult's Patriarch -- by diving in front of a Ratling sniper's bullet. The Abhuman assassin was torn to pieces within the solar hour, Tenndarc attained the status of saint, and the cult's flock quadrupled in size overnight.Since that day the cult has had a fierce hatred of Ratlings, and in any war zone that harbours these diminutive Imperial Guardsmen, they will go to great lengths to destroy them -- for that which nearly killed their Patriarch may one day finish the job, and this they cannot allow. |
Changeling - Changeling: The Changeling, also known as the "Trickster of Tzeentch," is a Daemonic Herald of Tzeentch who epitomises the Lord of Change's love of sowing discord and distrust, and his perverse sense of humour.Tzeentch long ago bestowed upon the Changeling a doppelganger's ability to assume any shape, from that of the tiniest insect to the largest Greater Daemon.The Changeling carries out practical jokes in both the Realm of Chaos and realspace, always intended to bring about the constant change so beloved of his patron.The only shapes that the Changeling cannot assume is that of Tzeentch and his own, for he has long forgotten his original form, and desperately seeks to regain this knowledge through any means necessary.Only the Great Schemer knows the Changeling's true form, and he will never reveal it so as to keep his favoured pawn under his control. |
Changeling - History: The most accomplished trickster amongst Tzeentch's Daemons is the Changeling, the embodiment of the Great Schemer's need to meddle and deceive. The Changeling is possessed of a supernatural ability to assume the shape of any other creature in the universe with unfailing precision.He is the ultimate doppelganger; there is no form that the Changeling cannot duplicate, no mannerism he cannot adopt. From small animals to towering alien monsters, common citizens to planetary governors, the Changeling has impersonated them all.Indeed, the only image that the Changeling is unable to replicate is that of Tzeentch himself, for the Great Schemer will not tolerate any being mimicking his identity.The Changeling is a restless and mischievious daemon who roams the galaxy and the Warp alike, playing devastating practical jokes upon the unwary. He lives to sow discord and conflict, and delights in breeding mistrust and confusion.Many lords throughout the galaxy have made unusual and disastrous decisions, only later to deny that they were ever even there at the time the decision was made. On many battlefields, a great hero has fought an opponent that was his mirror-image, his comrades unable to tell the difference between the two until it was too late.It was the Changeling in the image of the sainted Lord Commander Solar Macharius who ordered the retreat on Goranna just as the real Imperial Warmaster was directing his forces forwards on the front lines.In the guise of a lowly Gretchin, the Changeling made a few alterations to Warboss Gitsmasha's favoured Megashoota -- a fact that only became apparent when it next fired, blowing Gitsmasha and his retinue of Nobz to tiny green pieces.On one occasion, the Changeling took the shape of a Keeper of Secrets and answered the summoning of an Imperial Commander whose vast palace was besieged by the vengeful Dark Angels Space Marines. The Changeling traded the souls of the desperate man's daughters for a "powerful artefact" which in the fool's own words "would put an end to the siege."The moment the commander activated the device, the shadowy forms of several Deathwing Terminator Squads materialised around him, locking onto the device he was holding in his hands -- a Teleport Homer the Changeling had stolen from the Ravenwing. The siege was indeed soon over while the Changeling dallied with the man's pretty scions.The Changeling's pranks are not limited to the mortal realm. Countless wars have been started between the Chaos Gods by the Changeling's practical jokes, such as when he cut Slaanesh's beloved hair with a stolen Hellblade whilst the Dark Prince slept, or the time he snuck a trio of Nurglings onto the Skull Throne, creating a hideous noise and an unholy mess the next time Khorne sat down.The Changeling proved instrumental in orchestrating the events that began the Siege of the Fenris System in 999.M41. Disguising himself first as a Dark Angels Scout Marine and later as Sammael, the Grand Master of the Ravenwing, the Changeling convinced the Dark Angels' Supreme Grand Master Azrael that the Space Wolves had become mutated and were responsible for attacks on Dark Angels targets across the galaxy, leading them to launch an assault upon the Fenris System.The majority of the Changeling's adventures are carried out according to his own motivations. Only rarely does Tzeentch direct his trickster, for the Great Schemer enjoys watching his pranks with amusement.As the Changeling weaves his uneven tapestry of mayhem, terrible wars and unrest follow, and while he would prefer to be long gone before the fighting begins, he is well prepared to defend himself; when cornered, he will blast apart foes with his sorcerous powers or, in close combat, take the form of his attacker and use his own powerful weapon against him.So many times has the Changeling altered his appearance and shape that even he has forgotten what his original form was, and so when not in the guise of another being, he cloaks himself in a long shroud from the gaze of others.It is whispered by Tzeentch's other Heralds that beneath his cowl, the Changeling is in a state of constant flux, randomly changing between all the faces he has assumed in the vain hope of rediscovering his original features. However, only the Great Schemer remembers the Changeling's true form, and he keeps the secret for himself so as to forever keep the Changeling under his control. |
Changeling - Wargear: The Trickster's Staff |
Chaos - Chaos: Chaos, also known to its servants as the Primordial Truth or the Primordial Annihilator, and to the Imperium of Man as the "Archenemy," is a metaphysical, psychic force embodied by the malevolent entities comprised of emotional energy that exist in the Immaterium.The entities who embody Chaos are mostly Daemons, but the term also encompasses those mortals who pursue the goals of Chaos, ranging from simple peasants and/or manufactorum labourers who serve as Chaos Cultists, to Traitoris Militarum, planetary militia, Imperial nobles, planetary governors, and even the mighty Chaos Space Marines and Hereteks, Traitor Titan Legions and Chaos Knights of the Dark Mechanicum.Chaos is also itself the turbulent psychic energy that comprises the alternate dimension known as the Immaterium. It gives shape to the nightmare domains of the individual Chaos Gods that are collectively called the Realm of Chaos by scholars of the Inquisition. Chaos is almost synonymous with the Warp -- the two concepts are inseparable, for Chaos is the limitless ocean of spiritual, psychic and emotional energy that defines the Immaterium and underlies the 4-dimensional material universe of space-time.Chaos is a great and raw force of change and power, and is both physically and spiritually corrupting, though it is not in itself necessarily "evil." While its adherents and servants act in ways that are often malevolent, some devotees of Chaos are more dedicated to the service of freedom and change than of the pure selfishness that Humanity and most other intelligent species define as nefarious.However, more often than not, the Chaos Gods reward individual accomplishment in such a way that the ends justify the means, and the absence of hierarchy and emphasis on individual freedom leads to the pursuit of excess and personal aggrandisement that can only be characterised as damnation; the physical and spiritual corruption of mind, body, and soul.The most evolutionarily-advanced mortals, psykers, can utilise the energy of Chaos, thus making them capable of abilities which transcend the standard physical laws of the material universe as Humanity understands them. However, the malevolent power of Chaos can gradually corrupt a psyker, tainting their mind and body and turning them into the unwitting slave of the Dark Gods.The most powerful entities of Chaos are the four great Chaos Gods, also known as the "Ruinous Powers", who each embody one aspect of the greater force of Chaos and can be worshipped individually or as an entire pantheon known as "Chaos Undivided."The iconic symbol of Chaos is the eight-pointed star, representing the infinite possibilities of Chaos. Ultimately, Chaos and its entities seek nothing less than the complete destruction of the material universe, so that all of Creation is once more consumed by the primordial and uncontained energies of Chaos.In general, Chaos is a malevolent spiritual force that represents the collective negative aspects of the psyches of every sentient being in the Milky Way Galaxy, and most likely in the wider universe. Because Mankind is by far the most populous intelligent species in the galaxy of the 41st Millennium, the Chaos Gods particularly embody Humanity's myriad and particular flaws as a people. Chaos corrupts Mankind so easily because it speaks to the character flaws inherent in every man and woman and seeks to exploit the weaknesses of their all-too-Human natures. It takes an extraordinary individual of truly iron will and selflessness to resist the serial temptations of Chaos.It is also these inherent character flaws that produce the rampant physical and anatomical mutations of individuals exposed to Chaos energies, as these mutations are driven by the inner flaws of the person's psyche being made manifest in their physical person as Chaos bridges the gap between the Immaterium and realspace.With all the obvious dangers associated with Chaos, such as mutation, Daemonic possession, and spiritual damnation and eternal enslavement, some might wonder why anyone would willingly choose to serve the Ruinous Powers. The answer is actually simple. Chaos judges its mortal servants solely on their abilities and their records of success and failure in promoting the agenda of the individual Chaos Gods and of Chaos Undivided as a whole.Chaos also offers those who serve it the opportunity to perhaps one day wield power and respect far beyond the dreams of most mortals' avarice. For so many people, but particularly in the oppressive, feudal Imperium of Man, where too often family connections and inherited wealth are rewarded rather than ability, and where it is impossible on many Human worlds for a talented individual to ever better their lot, Chaos actually offers a substantial degree of freedom and the only real meritocracy that they have ever known.But Chaos is not a benevolent force, and for the vast majority of those who fall to Chaos' temptations, they will never reach either power or position and will be little more than faceless puppets in the endless schemes of the Dark Gods. While Chaos may reward success with power, even the mightiest Chaos servant at the pinnacle of their power becomes only a slave of Chaos, never its master. Most who serve Chaos will fail in their quests for power, eventually ending up as possessed Daemonhosts, mindless Chaos Spawn, or simply as just another corpse in the heap, a pawn whose usefulness to the Ruinous Powers has ended. |
Chaos - Dawn of Creation: At the dawn of time, the powerful and ancient alien species known only as the Old Ones nurtured some of the primitive intelligent species of the galaxy, guiding their evolutionary development to suit a specific purpose. The Warp at this time was not the intrinsically hostile place to life it has become in later ages.Once the Necrons arose to challenge them and nearly wrought their extinction because of their alliance with the malevolent Star Gods known as the C'tan, the Old Ones created new psychic warrior species to battle the threat they posed, hoping that these species' stronger ties to the Warp and potent psychic powers would turn the tide against the Necrons and their C'tan masters in the ancient War in Heaven. One of these species was the ancestors of the Aeldari and among the others were the Krork, who may have been the ancestors of the green-skinned Orks.Just before the birth of the Emperor of Mankind on Terra in the 8th Millennium B.C., three of the major Chaos Gods of the present, Khorne, Tzeentch, and Nurgle, had already begun to take form in the Warp, although it would take until the end of Terra's European Middle Ages midway through the 2nd Millennium (ca. 1400 AD) for them to fully awaken.Slaanesh did not awaken until the 30th Millennium, brought into existence by the terrible collective psychic flaws of the ancient Aeldari, with its birth to consciousness in the Warp marking the end of the Aeldari's great interstellar empire and the Age of Strife, as well as the beginning of the Emperor's Great Crusade and the birth of the Imperium of Man.In truth, time as mortals experience it has no meaning within the Empyrean, and from the point of view of the major Dark Gods, all four of them are relative newborns -- while, at the same time, they have existed since the first mortal woke to self-awareness in the galaxy tens of millions of Terran years ago.The rise of Chaos and the first three Chaos Gods seems to correspond to the rapid rise and development of Humanity in the galaxy, implying that Mankind, of all the self-aware species of the galaxy, was primarily responsible for the disharmonising of the Warp and the birth of the first three Chaos Gods, or at least the major Chaos Gods in their current form.Although, without question, all the sentient species of the Milky Way played a role in the birth of the Chaos Gods, it seems that Mankind has an especially close relationship with Chaos, or that the nature of Mankind's collective psyche is particularly aggressive, unstable and yes, chaotic. |
Chaos - Age of the Imperium: Over one hundred centuries ago the all-powerful Emperor of Mankind was interred in a huge stasis crypt called the Golden Throne in the bowels of the Imperial Palace on Ancient Terra. He has not moved or spoken in thousands of standard years, but his legacy lives on in the vast Imperium he helped to forge through an era of violence and conquest.In the intervening span the Imperium has slowly crumbled, battered by wars from without and dissension from within, but it remains unbelievably powerful. A million worlds united in the name of Mankind; monotheistic, xenophobic, paranoiac, and fuelled by war. With its vast fleets and uncounted armies the Imperium remains probably the single most powerful entity in the galaxy of the 41st Millennium.The adepts of the Adeptus Terra, the Priesthood of Earth, cling to power ferociously, ruling on in the name of the undying corpse on the Golden Throne despite the Emperor's millennia-long silence. They hold the worlds of the Imperium in a constant state of terror, proselytising their zealotry and feeding the fears of the populace to keep them cowed and malleable. An Imperial citizen is raised from birth to believe that unseen forces are gathering to attack them and that their way of life could be destroyed at any moment, and that only the God-Emperor stands between them and damnation.Under the guise of protection whole populations are held hostage to authoritarian controls; searches, seizures and summary executions are routinely justified under the banner of omnipresent threat. The Imperium thrives on war and oppression. Its weapon factories and orbital shipyards run night and day, arming its forces, and faceless conscripts by the billion are hurled into conflicts they cannot win. Imperial citizens are indoctrinated from birth to hate and fear outsiders, particularly intelligent alien species, and at any given time the Imperium is fighting dozens of genocidal conflicts.This perpetual state of war and fear has served the Imperium well over its many Terran centuries of existence, reinforcing its self-righteous declaration of itself as defender of Humanity while driving a wedge between itself and the other intelligent starfaring species of the galaxy.The Imperium's ponderous, gargantuan military grinds relentlessly forward, seeking new wars to embroil itself in, driven by its own momentum and blind arrogance. Some Imperial citizens darkly joke that an outbreak of peace would be the greatest disaster that could ever befall the Imperium, but in truth the adepts of Terra are quite able to find enemies in their own ranks.Planets groaning too loudly beneath Imperial tithes are quickly branded as "Traitors" or "Heretics" and just as quickly feel the iron heel of the Imperial military on their necks. On Loyalist Imperial worlds witch hunts are actively promoted by the authorities; in particular mutants and psykers are mercilessly singled out and hunted down. Mutants are killed out of hand on many planets amidst calls for "genetic purity," but in places where they are too numerous and too vital to the economy to wipe out they are pushed into an underclass despised and feared by "normals" or "mundanes".Psykers have the crueller fate by far in the Imperium. The Imperium lays claim to any individual showing the slightest psychic ability. Periodically, often solar decades apart, the ominous Black Ships and the agents of the dreaded Inquisition come to each Imperial world to demand its crop of psykers for processing on distant Terra. The slightest flicker of potential is enough for the Inquisitors, and their holds are filled with thousands, young and old.All but the tiniest fraction of those who enter the Black Ships are never heard from again. Legends abound of their eventual fate; some say that their souls are fed to the Emperor and that a thousand are sacrificed every solar day just to keep his guttering life-spark vital and the psychic beacon of the Astronomican bright. Others say the psykers are blinded and castrated in both their bodies and powers, and that once diminished they are joined to a great choir that endlessly chants mindless praises to the God-Emperor into the uncaring void.Whatever the fate of the psykers may be, the coming of the Black Ships is a great terror for any world, and their appearance frequently triggers rioting and rebellions from peoples unwilling to give up their own family members to feed the Imperium's voracious appetite. Such resistance is ruthlessly crushed by whatever means necessary.The Imperium is said to encompass a million worlds but accurate numbers are impossible to gauge. In the time taken for reports to cross the galaxy conquered worlds are regained and new ones are lost more quickly than Administratum scriveners can update their ponderous data stacks.The worlds of the Imperium include every conceivable type, from isolated colonies to thriving Hive Worlds, from mono-culture Agri-worlds to vast orbital forges; wherever Humankind has made a place for themselves in the galaxy they stands beneath the shadow of the Imperial Aquila.As has been proven in the past, if the forces of the Imperium could ever be unified and set to a single purpose there is nothing they could not achieve. Fortunately for the other inhabitants of the galaxy, Human endeavour has been thwarted by the unthinkable distances involved in their sprawling empire, internal dissension, and inter-departmental rivalry.Even with the illusion of centralised control given by the Adeptus Terra, parts of the Imperium tens of thousands of light years apart can do little to support one another in practical terms. Instead rulership often devolves down to loosely aligned sub-sets of the most influential worlds colluding to exploit their immediate neighbours under the guise of Imperial authority.The Imperium has been far more successful in creating a common cultural and philosophical centre by dominating science, education, and the arts on worlds from one side of the galaxy to the other. The history and viewpoints of the Imperium change drastically, depending on whom you ask. To some, the Imperium of Man is a bulwark against the tides of darkness, a brutal but necessary defence against forces that would rip Humanity asunder.To others, it is a harsh, crumbling monolith, lashing out with blind fury against those who want to save Mankind and lift them to their true potential. It is an obstacle, and one that must be overcome at all costs.Which is correct? Both, and neither. All depends on one's point of view. A champion of the Imperium such as a Space Marine Brother-Captain or Puritan Inquisitor likely takes the former view, or perhaps holds the Imperium in even higher regard. On the other hand, a Chaos Champion of the Ruinous Powers (perhaps a member of one of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines) almost certainly takes the latter view. Needless to say, the following account is penned from the viewpoint of the Disciples of the Dark Gods, those who fight against the Imperium of Man, and the forces of Order in all their forms. Is it correct? That is for the reader to decide. |
Chaos - Origins of the Imperium: Mankind spread across the stars far before the rise of the Imperium. Long ago in a forgotten golden age innumerable worlds were settled by Humans, and dozens of different cultures flourished across the great wheel of the galaxy.Within the Imperium this first great expansion by Humanity is now known as the Age of Technology. That age is believed to have begun slowly, as multi-generational colony ships crawled across the void at sub-light speeds. However, as Mankind discovered the secrets of Warp travel around the 15th Millennium A.D., their expansion accelerated rapidly.Whole worlds were terraformed by these first waves of colonists, and their handiwork is still apparent thousands of standard years later. Many of the scientific wonders of that age are unparalleled in present times, and most of the greatest creations made by the ancients are reckoned to have been irretrievably lost during the ensuing Age of Strife.Tech-scholars and autosavants of the Adeptus Mechanicus obsessively seek out traces of technology left from the Dark Age of Technology, as its sophistication far exceeds anything built later. Some few artefacts are found from time to time, objects that have endured down the Terran millennia due to the craftsmanship and forethought of their makers.On occasion a voidship that has lain trapped in the tides of the Warp for aeons is cast out into the material universe and brings with it a treasure house of Dark Age technology for those bold enough to seize it. Whatever the source might be, the adherents of the Cult Mechanicus descend on Dark Age technology -- "archeotech" -- like a pack of jackals. Their explorator fleets comb the stars constantly, and are always alert for the slightest rumour.One discovery that has been key to the rise of the Imperium is Standard Template Construct technology -- the STC system, as it has become known. It appears that the technomancers of the earliest times created a robust, automated factory program and database to support their emerging colony worlds, complex systems that could be adapted to local conditions and use a variety of raw materials.Templates have been found for everything from gigantic plasma reactors to steam-driven traction engines that were created to fulfil the needs of the early Human interstellar colonists. However, most of the templates from the Dark Age of Technology are lost, and as such, even a single STC data template is a treasure beyond compare. Each new discovery is dutifully filed and hidden away in the archives of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Knowledge is power in the Imperium, and in many ways the STC system embodies the highest knowledge Mankind can now achieve.The Dark Age of Technology exists only in myth in present times, and the causes of its ending are poorly understood. Many Human cultures across the galaxy share similar stories of a breakdown of the golden age, of entire regions becoming isolated by raging Warp storms and turning against themselves in crippling wars.Others tell of a time of apotheosis for Mankind, when mutations and psychic powers became increasingly prevalent, and predatory beings from Warpspace used such open conduits to feast on the living. Worshippers of the Ruinous Powers maintain that these times were the triumph of Chaos, when Humanity's first fumbling attempts to rule over the mortal realm were cast down into anarchy by cackling Daemons from the Warp.Whatever the cause, the Dark Age of Technology gave way to the Age of Strife. The patchwork remnants of Human civilisation fought against each other as well as the hordes of aliens now swarming in to sack their worlds. Many Human civilisations were enslaved or completely wiped out; others reverted to barbarism as order crumbled. Only worlds where the rising tide of psykers was rigorously repressed evaded the plummet into nightmare and madness. Old Earth itself became completely isolated by Warp storms for several thousand standard years, collapsing into a state of total anarchy, with savage gangs of techno-barbarians roving the ruins of its ravaged continents.Followers of the Emperor of Mankind claim that He first appeared on Old Earth during the Age of Strife in the late 29th Millennium, and that His true name and origins were obscure even then. The nameless Emperor fought His way to the top of the techno-barbarian tribes and nation-states, conquering them one after another. The Emperor emerged as a saviour, they say, leading armies across Terra in His efforts to re-unify it. The ranks of His armies swelled with eager followers and conquered tribes forced to pledge fealty alike.The Emperor united them all with a vision of Humanity made whole once more, free from slavery and the chains of barbaric ignorance. He foresaw a day when His followers would leave Old Earth and strike out across the heavens to cleanse the scattered worlds of Humanity of both aliens and Daemons.Some speculate that the Emperor must have had some precognitive sense of the approaching emergence of Slaanesh and the effects of that event on the Warp. His psychic acuity is the stuff of legend and undoubtedly it was sensitive enough to sense the coming cataclysm.While Earth remained isolated by Warp storms the Emperor was able to ascend to Mars and there He found the Tech-priests of the Cult Mechanicus still enumerating among the rusting machinery of their predecessors. In perhaps His greatest coup before the creation of the Imperium itself, the Emperor convinced the Tech-priests of Mars that he was the physical embodiment of their deity, the Omnissiah, and so won their fealty in the Treaty of Mars signed in 739.M30.The Emperor's followers like to portray this joining of Terra with the Cult Mechanicus as a joyous occasion, the rejoining of two parts of a whole. Despite their propaganda the link was not an entirely comfortable one and, as would be proven later, a large number of the Tech-priests did not truly accept the Emperor as their living god. Nonetheless, with the Tech-priests' help the Emperor set about His final preparation for the coming crusade across the stars.Fearing that the power of Chaos would eventually corrupt all of Humanity at some point in the future, the Emperor set about creating Mankind's saviours: the primarchs. The primarchs were genetically engineered transhumans with god-like powers, bred for strength and loyalty. The Emperor's intention was to create an entire subspecies of transhumans from the genetic template of the first primarchs. He hoped that His efforts would create a laboratory-bred purity completely immune to the influences of Chaos.Followers of the Emperor maintain that the primarchs were never intended to truly replace Mankind, rather that they were to be shining examples of Humanity free from the taint of corruption, used to lead the Emperor's armies in His reunification of the Human sphere and His revitalisation of Human civilization. However, the Runinous Powers perceived the Emperor's schemes and seized the foetal primarchs before they could reach maturity. Seeing the potential value of the primarchs as weapons against the Emperor, the Ruinous Powers did not deign to destroy them, instead scattering them far and wide across the galaxy. The primarchs then developed independently, beyond the Emperor's reach and guidance, only being rediscovered later as the Great Crusade advanced.Hence the Emperor lost His first battle with Chaos before He even left Old Earth. The Emperor was unable to re-create the primarchs in the time left to Him, and even now the birthpangs of Slaanesh were becoming louder and louder as the dark godling came to full wakefulness. Instead the Emperor evolved a new plan. Using genetic material that had been imprinted from the primarchs into laboratory golems, He reproduced some of their qualities as discrete biological organs.By implanting these organs into young, growing male Human bodies, some of the qualities of the primarchs could be recreated, albeit in a lessened form. In this way the first Space Marines were created, and soon entire Legions of Astartes were created utilising vat-grown genetic material from the primarchs.Loyalists also portray this event as a source of great rejoicing among the Emperor's followers, although the reaction of the Thunder Warrior veterans that had fought for His cause during the Unification Wars being supplanted in this manner can be imagined to be less than effusive. Nonetheless the transhuman Space Marine Legions were destined to become the killing edge of the Emperor's forces for the coming crusade and within the Imperium thereafter.When the Prince of Chaos, Slaanesh, finally burst forth to full waking, his birth-scream shook the galaxy in the early 30th Millennium. Despite its relative proximity to the newly-forming Eye of Terror, Old Earth escaped much of the ruin visited elsewhere. The churning Warp storms surrounding Ancient Terra absorbed most of the psychic shock wave before being shredded apart by it, leaving the Warpspace around the cradle of Humanity quiescent for the first time in thousands of standard years.Now was the moment for the reunification of Mankind, and the Emperor's shining fleets swept outward into the darkness at His command. The Imperium was forged during the centuries that followed in an era of conquest and expansion in the late 30th Millennium known as the Great Crusade. |
Chaos - Great Crusade: The Emperor first directed His forces in pursuit of His lost primarchs, no doubt fearing to allow such god-like beings to stray far from His guidance. The Emperor sought after them with His psychic powers and was drawn across time and space to the places where His genetic offspring could be found.In each place they found the primarchs to be full-grown leaders and warriors within their adoptive culture. The Emperor must have believed His experiment to have been a success, for the lost primarchs proved to have no discernible taint of corruption about them despite their brush with Chaos.There are many Imperial legends of the Emperor meeting one or other of His primarchs for the first time during the Great Crusade. Most speak of a mysterious stranger arriving at the primarch's court and performing one or more impossible deeds -- usually including defeating the primarch himself in combat -- before the revealing His true identity as the Emperor -- the primarch's gene-father. In the legends the awestruck primarch pledges lifelong allegiance to the Emperor and happily joins His entourage immediately. It's certain that such stories are used to mask the ugly truth that several of the lost primarchs had to be physically subdued before they would agree to join the Emperor.The Emperor showed great indulgence to His foundlings. As each primarch was won over to the Imperial cause they were given command over a Legion of Space Marines raised from their own genetic material. With their primarch leading them a Space Marine Legion became utterly unstoppable, a fearless army of transhumans that would conquer or perish no matter the odds.Some felt that the love the Space Marines exhibited toward their primogenitors exceeded even their conditioned loyalty to the Emperor. With the Emperor at its head and the primarchs at His side, the Great Crusade swept all before it. It is likely that no greater armada has ever been seen in the galaxy before or since.The Emperor's forces certainly did not lack opposition, and heavy fighting marked their progress. Wherever the silver ships landed the flames of war followed. The Emperor's followers found many strange and terrible worlds in the void of the galaxy where Humans and aliens coexisted, or Chaos reigned triumphant -- these they purged most mercilessly of all.Alien empires were driven back and defeated by the Great Crusade; enslaved populations of captive Humans were set free. Psykers and mutants were ruthlessly massacred and the followers of the Chaos Gods forced into hiding. Many aliens learned to hate and fear the Imperium during the Great Crusade, and the rabid xenophobia of those times has been attributed to all Humans ever since.In some places coalitions of Human worlds had survived the Age of Strife and many of these attempted to resist the Imperial onslaught from Ancient Terra. Untold billions were killed by the Space Marine Legions and much precious technology was lost when the Emperor's forces resorted to brute force to overwhelm more advanced worlds.The Great Crusade's indiscriminate use of Virus Bombs and Cyclonic Torpedoes obliterated secrets that had been preserved for millennia. Increasingly the Legiones Astartes began to find themselves deployed against Human populations whose only crime was an unwillingness to join the Imperium. The Emperor's message of unification had changed to one of domination, and those that did not submit were branded enemies to be righteously purged. The Great Crusade rolled onward relentlessly, sustained now by its own momentum as it swept outward to the very fringes of the galaxy.In the wake of the crusading forces the future infrastructure of empire moved into place on the conquered worlds; local governments and nobility became subject to the Administratum, the Adeptus Arbites replaced judges and lawmakers, over time even mechanicians and technologists became supplanted by the ancient Mechanicum.Planetary governors took control, providing they met their tithes. Decrees from distant Terra imposed rigorous conformity on wildly divergent peoples and cultures, establishing a pattern of oppression and drudgery that became the norm for life in the Imperium.Despite the warning signs, the majority of Humanity rose to the challenge of rebuilding its ancient heritage in exchange for the promise of a better future. For a time the unity and strength of the Imperium seemed unstoppable, and the Ruinous Powers of Chaos appeared to have retreated to their own realms. It was not so. |
Chaos - Horus Heresy: The primarchs had not escaped their brush with Chaos entirely untouched. As the Great Crusade wore on their dreams became disturbed by the insidious whispers of the Ruinous Powers. Each primarch's character was severely tested by the unspoken urgings, each of them thinking that they alone bore such flaws.The future promise of power became a temptation for some; in others their pride or martial prowess opened a path of spiritual corruption. Little by little their all-too-Human flaws deepened into obsessions. Fully half of the eighteen primarchs eventually failed the test and were seduced by the Ruinous Powers, their corruption occurring in ways so subtle that they never even suspected that their own loyalties were changing until it was too late.Horus Lupercal, the greatest primarch of them all, was utterly convinced of the virtue of the martial ideals for which he fought. He enjoyed the Emperor's greatest trust and the admiration of the other primarchs, gaining the coveted title of Imperial Warmaster in the wake of the Ullanor Crusade of 000.M30.He had stood at the Emperor's side from the earliest days of the Great Crusade and through the many long years that followed. Legends say that they fought back-to-back at the Siege of Reillis and the Emperor saved Horus' life. At the Battle of Gorro, Horus is said to have repaid the debt by hacking the arm from a frenzied Ork warboss that was intent on choking out the Emperor's life.As the Great Crusade advanced the Emperor eventually returned to Terra to administer His rapidly growing domain. He entrusted Horus with leading the crusade along the Eastern Fringes, little realising that by doing so He was planting the seeds of His own betrayal.As the Great Crusade pushed outward in the final solar decades of the 30th Millennium Horus had begun to perceive the Emperor's actions as craven and dishonourable. All too often compromises were made that he felt were weak and unworthy of the Master of Mankind while wanton destruction was unleashed on other worlds on the slimmest pretext. The Emperor abandoning the crusade forces after the Triumph of Ullanor in favour of returning to the administrative centre of the now-vast Imperium in pursuit of some secret agenda confirmed Horus' worst fears. The coming age of enlightenment and understanding preached by the Emperor as the Imperial Truth was nothing but a mask for His own pusillanimous greed.Surely the warriors that had fought so hard to conquer deserved some say in how their conquests were ruled? What kind of man seeks to become sole ruler of the galaxy? So, perhaps, the worms of doubt began to squirm in the brilliant mind of Horus. Perhaps he even foresaw a time when the Emperor would have to be rid of him -- the mighty warrior with no worthy opponents left to fight.Following the events on the world of Davin when he was healed of a mortal wound incurred against the forces of Chaos by Chaos Cultists in service to the Temple of the Serpent Lodge and sealed a pact with the Chaos Gods to save his own life from a Chaos toxin, Horus began to quietly lay plans for rebellion. He subtly sounded out some of the other primarchs and began the slow process of gathering his far-flung forces. Horus' allied Space Marine Legions were gradually seduced by their sense of pride and loyalty to their primarchs into serving their own gene-fathers and the Warmaster above the Emperor.Initially, the Space Marines had little idea that they were being led astray. The taint spread slowly and subtly, and only later when they reached the point of outright rebellion did their veneer of reason fall away to reveal that Chaos had invaded their hearts. In the midst of Horus' preparations, the Imperial Commander of Isstvan III declared the whole of the Isstvan System an independent principality. The Emperor, ignorant of Horus' plans, ordered him to move to pacify the rebellious system.The Warmaster was unwilling to be drawn into a planetary campaign just as his schemes were coming to fruition and chose instead to virus bomb Isstvan III from orbit in what became known as the "Isstvan III Atrocity". Twelve billion souls died in a matter of solar minutes, their rapidly rotting carcasses consumed by a firestorm that enveloped the entire planet for solar days afterwards.During the bombardment a group of Loyalist Space Marines discovered signs of the corruption and treachery in Horus' followers. They succeeded in seizing control of the frigate Eisenstein and fled into Warpspace to warn the Emperor. Horus withdrew to Isstvan V to marshal his forces for the confrontation to come.The Emperor hesitated, shocked by the betrayal of his Warmaster and unable to believe that his best friend, gene-son and general was really marshalling forces against Him. However, even as He learned of the betrayal, dissent and rebellion spread throughout the Imperial Army.Meanwhile, on Mars those who had denounced the Emperor as a False Omnissiah saw that their time had come. The Mechanicum's own fabricator-general, the most powerful magos of Mars, unleashed ancient, forbidden weapons on the surface of the Red Planet as Tech-priests and the Hereteks of the newborn Dark Mechanicum fought for dominance in what became known as the "Schism of Mars".The fragile Imperium tore itself apart as recently-conquered star systems declared independence, and newly-appointed planetary leaders seized their chance to declare for the rebellious Warmaster. Confusion reigned and at first many failed to recognise the resurgence or involvement of the Ruinous Powers, seeing the great conflict as a purely political one between Horus and the Emperor.The rot of Chaos spread quickly, passing from the Warmaster's forces to their allies and even their enemies with shocking speed. Loyalists and Traitors clashed on hundreds of worlds across the galaxy. After an almost fatal delay the Emperor ordered seven full Space Marine Legions to destroy Horus and his rebel forces at Isstvan V. He had recognised finally that the rebellion could only be brought to an end by eliminating its figurehead and inspiration: the Warmaster Horus. More precious solar months were lost organising and mobilising the forces to reach the other side of the galaxy.Horus was not idle in the intervening time and consolidated his hold on hundreds of star systems by declaring himself their new emperor. Wherever Horus' banners were raised the corrupting influence of Chaos quickly followed.The Emperor's retributive strike, now known as the Drop Site Massacre of Isstvan V, proved to be a disaster. Of the seven Legiones Astartes dispatched to destroy Horus, four of them had secretly already been turned against the Emperor by Horus and helped massacre the other Loyalists instead. The Warmaster now controlled nine Space Marine Legions and had all but eliminated three of the Loyalist Legions. Thus, the Horus Heresy began in earnest.The fighting continued for seven more Terran years, and shook the nascent Imperium to its foundations. The Space Marine Legions, the Imperial Army, the Mechanicum, the entirety of Mankind's dominion turned against itself, and ripped itself asunder. The Loyalists eventually began to prevail over the Traitor forces, but Horus knew there was still time to make a decisive strike and win the war.Horus struck directly for his enemy's heart and attacked Terra with the full force of his Space Marine Traitor Legions. The Emperor was caught unawares by the Warmaster's audacious move, and was cut off and besieged inside the Imperial Palace with a bare handful of Loyalists to defend Him.However, the Palace defences proved formidable and the subject people of Old Earth rallied to protect their Emperor, so Horus was denied the quick victory he had hoped for. Bitter fighting marked every phase of the Siege of Terra as it dragged on for over a solar month. Eventually, the mighty Titan war engines of the Legio Mortis breached the towering outer walls and the hordes of Chaos poured through into the Inner Palace.The deeds recorded in the siege of the Imperial Palace would fill a library in their own right, and do so in some parts of the galaxy, but myth and legend has obliterated any hope of knowing the real truth of events. Loyalists hold that at the eleventh hour, the Emperor perceived a weakness in the Void Shields protecting Horus' orbiting battleship, the Vengeful Spirit.According to their holy books the Emperor, along with His two remaining loyal primarchs on Terra, Sanguinius and Rogal Dorn, teleported aboard the battleship to confront Horus. Other sources strongly imply that the Warmaster deliberately lowered his shields to permit the Emperor to come aboard, perhaps in an effort to bring an end to the bloodshed.A battle was certainly fought, and by all accounts Horus slew his brother primarch Sanguinius before himself falling prey to the Emperor. The Emperor was mortally wounded in the battle with Horus, and His physical body all but destroyed. Rogal Dorn is said to have retrieved the Emperor's body and returned it to Old Earth. There He was interred within the Golden Throne where He has remained, unspeaking and unmoving, for ten thousand standard years. Pious followers of the Imperial Creed believe that the spirit of the Emperor still resides within the corpse on the Golden Throne, but many doubtful souls have risked charges of heresy by questioning that supposition.The Warmaster's body was retrieved by his own Legionaries among the Sons of Horus and they fled Terra shortly afterwards. Without the key figure of Horus to hold his followers together the rebellion began to fall apart. Recent converts to the Warmaster's cause switched their loyalties back to the Emperor.The rebel Space Marine Legions turned against one another, servants now of fractious Ruinous Powers rather than any overall strategy. As the Loyalists rallied, Traitor forces were crushed on world after world and the corrupted Space Marine Legions, the "Traitor Legions" as they had become known, were eventually pushed out of Imperial space into the Eye of Terror during the campaign known as the Great Scouring.Across the Imperium, the cult of the God-Emperor was born. In the following centuries it would evolve into the Adeptus Ministorum and the puritanical cult of the Imperial Creed by the dawn of the 32nd Millennium. The Imperium itself evolved into an entity built on the foundations of fear and betrayal laid in the terrible civil war that became known as the "Horus Heresy".A hundred centuries later Horus' actions are painted in the blackest terms and his turning against the Emperor an unthinkable act of villainy. However, outside Imperial space some remember Horus differently, as a proud warrior who was unafraid to stand against the machinations of the Emperor and whose vision for Humanity extended beyond autocratic rulership of Earth.Chaos also won a victory in the Horus Heresy, for the Emperor was crippled by His battle with Horus and had to be interred within the Golden Throne's life support systems, no longer truly alive or dead. This sentenced the Imperium of Man to a long, slow period of decay over the next ten thousand standard years. |
Chaos - 41st Millennium: Across the stars, Warp storms rage and the galaxy stands on the precipice of a new age as the 41st Millennium comes to a close. Prophets and augurs proclaim the End Times for Mankind, and the number of instances of Daemonic possession across the Imperium of Man is rising.Each psyker so accursed is granted an epiphany; in their last grasping death, the victims glimpse the horrific doom that awaits them -- an abyss of Chaos, absolute in its finality, unending in its despair.Now, across the galaxy, that same vision of ultimate torment -- of an eternity beneath the lash of Daemons -- has spread. Across untold star systems, countless life forms read the portents and prepare for the dark days ahead. Premonitions of disaster are now rife amongst the Imperium, by far the largest of the galaxy's interstellar empires, but few understand the true nature of the Warp and the threat its denizens represent to all life.Yet even distant, technologically-backwards Imperial planets have marked the telltale signs of impending apocalypse -- the proliferation of mutants, the rise of Chaos Cults who worship the Dark Gods and the ever-increasing number of psykers in the Human population.The Inquisition sees the warning signs, but there are simply too many Imperial planets in peril for them to halt many of the deadly chain reactions caused by Daemonic possession. As psykers implode, small tears in the fabric of reality usher in bloody reigns of terror across thousands of planets, and in their attempts to suppress the truth and forestall mass panic, the Inquisitors adopt ever-more ruthless methods.For every Warp rift sealed though, more holes are opened, and the barrier between reality and the Realm of Chaos is left shattered and gaping in a dozen new locations. Should the weakness of Mankind prove too great, one only needs to look at the Fall of the Aeldari to see the consequences of failure. On their glittering craftworlds, the remnants of the Aeldari species do not need the rune-casting of their Farseers to tell them of the imminent threat.More psychically attuned than Humans, each Aeldari feels every new rent torn in realspace and cringes. Although utterly self-serving and cruel beyond Human measure, even the Drukhari shudder at the thought of realspace engulfed by raw Chaos, for if that happened, their hidden city of Commorragh within the Webway would not stay so for long.Even the horrifying alien Tyranids recognize the threat from the Warp -- several hive fleets have altered their invasion courses in order to avoid Warp storms gaping before them. There are scattered records of splinter fleets drifting into Warp rifts, most notably after the near-destruction of Hive Fleet Kraken at the Fall of Iyanden, though the results of such a galactic accident are mercifully hard to catalogue.The Dark Gods care not, for their unknowable plans move apace, and their final victory over the defenders of Creation seems assured. |
Chaos - End of Days: With the opening of the Great Rift at the end of the 41st Millennium and the dawn of what Imperial historitors later called the Era Indomitus, the Daemonic incursions that had plagued the galaxy since time immemorial escalated in both scale and frequency.A new era of terror and bloodshed was ushered in by that galaxy-spanning tear in the fabric of reality, and the armies of the Chaos Gods, mortal and Daemonic alike, began to conquer and consume the worlds of Humanity and the alien species with unprecedented impunity.Had the Chaos Gods worked in unison in the wake of that terrible event, it is doubtless that realspace would have been utterly consumed by the sprawling madness of the Warp. Yet true to their nature, the dark brothers saw the anarchy as an opportunity to fulfil their own agendas: to kill, to change, to pollute, to bathe in excess. So divided, they are unable to fully overcome the fierce resistance of the galaxy's mortal inhabitants.The Imperium of Man, the largest single empire in the galaxy, has been galvanised by the return of the legendary Primarch Roboute Guilliman, and with him fights a new breed of warrior in Humanity's defence, the Primaris Space Marines.The older starfaring species of the galaxy, such as the Aeldari and the Necrons, continue to exhibit a stubborn refusal to bow before the Chaos Gods and accept their extinction, while upstart new species like the T'au gain a greater understanding by the day of the Realm of Chaos and the ancient and malevolent beings within it.The barbaric Orks are only incited by the surging conflicts around them, and greet the prospect of battle against the Daemonic legions with the same reckless enthusiasm they always have. The intergalactic devourers known as the Tyranids regard the immaterial Daemons with a special distaste, seeing them only as undigestible threats to the biomass they wish to consume.So the ultimate battle for the galaxy continues, the Chaos Gods and their Daemonic legions threatening to annihilate everything, including each other, in their eternal quest for dominance. |
Chaos - Realm of Chaos: Insane scholars argue that the material universe experienced by mortals represents only the tip of the iceberg and unseen realms exist just beyond perception. They say that the limitless depths of the Realm of Chaos surround and infuse the tiny chips of physicality that are planets and suns to mortal eyes. They declare that what Humanity sees as "reality" is only a mask, a cloak of normality over the vast and swirling ocean known as the Immaterium, the Warp, or the Realm of Chaos.The raw, unfocused psychic energy of the Realm of Chaos forms a parallel dimension to the material universe, a place of infinite possibilities where raw emotion, belief and Jungian symbolism hold sway. The Realm changes constantly, ebbing and flowing in different locales as it does so. The flows, swirls, and eddies that it creates can form patterns and designs, drawing similar emotionally-inflected psychic energies into themselves until they achieve a level of consciousness and purpose. When they find the courage to acknowledge the existence of such powers Humanity calls them the "Chaos Gods".Many nameless gods have been cast up by the Warp only to be swept away again by the slow beat of aeons, but four great powers of Chaos seem eternal; Khorne the Blood God, Slaanesh the Prince of Pleasures, Nurgle the Lord of Decay, and Tzeentch the Changer of the Ways.In primitive cultures countless creation myths are told of the formless void before the coming of the gods. In some tales the gods are said to have shaped the world from parts of themselves, in others they slay a great beast and use its bones to lay the foundation of Creation, in others the mortal realm is formed from the debris left by their great battles with one another.Seers and magicians of more studious societies make complex arguments for the material universe having given birth to the Ruinous Powers rather than vice-versa. They hold that the ocean of primordial essence that we now see as the seething Realm of Chaos was calm and undisturbed until it began to be altered by mortal passions and desires.Materially it matters little what came first. The Ruinous Powers are real, tangible forces in both the Realm of Chaos and the material universe. They absorb the energies of countless souls in turmoil, waxing ever stronger on the hopes and fears of mortals until they have become truly god-like entities. If mortals truly gave birth to the entities that have become the Ruinous Powers no hint of mortal frailty remains. The Gods of Chaos represent absolutes completely unsullied by indecision or mercy.Even beyond the Realm of Chaos there are some that give their fealty to the Ruinous Powers. Those that proclaim themselves worshippers of the Chaos Gods must cleave their own path, and soon learn to fear the "blessings" of their deities. Countless gibbering madmen have declared that they have seen the true face of Chaos and received messages from the gods. Physical corruption, mutation and stigmata are apt to sprout from the followers of Chaos like unholy fruit. Even so, many mortals that lust for power disregard such risks, thinking they can evade the consequences of meddling with powers beyond comprehension.The gods care nothing for their followers or their machinations, granting them unimaginable power or withdrawing it from them just as quickly as their fickle whims decree. Mortals are mere playthings to them, to be used and cast aside at will, at best the objects of momentary fascination.Perhaps they know that once the process of a soul's corruption has begun it becomes inevitable, and that the taint of Chaos will bring living souls to the gods whether they declare themselves devout or not.It is more likely the Ruinous Powers are simply unaware of the mass of mortality in any conscious sense because their state of existence and motivations are too vast and alien to comprehend. The Chaos Gods are such remote and terrifying entities that most mortals who know of their existence hope only to escape their notice. |
Chaos - Khorne, the Blood God: Khorne is the Blood God, the god of war, murder and violent death. He draws his power from the blood and skulls collected for him by his followers. The sheer amount of bloodshed and death in the galaxy currently has made Khorne the most powerful Chaos God.He sits upon a brass throne, which rests on a massive mountain of skulls, each taken in his name by a devotee. In every direction, as far as he can see, the ground is covered with shattered bones and rotted corpses.As the god of battle, Khorne bestows his favour on those who demonstrate martial prowess. Great warriors are often subjects of Khorne's interest. The followers of Khorne are almost all uncontrollable fighters who excel at the art of killing.His warhosts count many savage Heretic Astartes and mutant warriors among their numbers. Khorne's followers share their god's straightforward philosophy on warfare, preferring to charge directly at their foes in order to defeat them in close, usually melee combat.As such, Khorne's followers are generally berserkers that pay little heed to tactics or defence in their frenzy for blood. Khorne frowns upon the use of sorcery, psychic powers and trickery, and those who use sorcery or are psykers should look elsewhere to find a patron for their studies.Khorne is the most powerful of the Chaos Gods; given that he is empowered by war and fighting, the ceaseless conflict in the Warhammer 40,000 universe ensures he gains power constantly. Khorne is a god of war who acts outwardly by seeking the death of others, preferring close combat over ranged weaponry; as such, he is completely opposed to the hedonistic Slaanesh, an inwardly acting god who seeks pleasure in every act and experience.He has a strong distrust of sorcerers and psykers, whom he sees as cowards; this means he is also highly suspicious of Tzeentch, although they are not archenemies.Khorne is the Blood God, the angry and murderous lord of battle. He is said to be the warrior god whose bellows of insatiable rage echo through time and space back to the first act of violence ever committed. Devotees of the Ruinous Powers have debated forcefully about the primogenesis of the Blood God for millennia.Some hold that it was the will of Khorne that first impelled a primitive to seize a rock and brain one of his fellows in a fit of murderous rage, thereby triggering the spiral of violence that fed the Chaos Power into the formidable force it has become.Others declare that it was the first mortal impulses of fury and rage that breathed life into Khorne, and that he represents the primitive lust for violence lurking in every mortal heart. However, the true disciples of Khorne care nothing for such debates as they are fully engaged with slaying all that come to hand.Khorne's followers are the most ferocious warriors in the universe, and the Blood God abhors magic, sorcery and other unworthy tricks. The blood of magi is said to make a particularly welcome sacrifice to Khorne's unquenchable thirst. Some justify their slaughter through honour, bravery or pride but the most fanatical know that it is only the bloodshed for its own sake that matters.Khorne's disciples believe that his great throne of brass sits upon a mountain of skulls in the midst of a sea of blood, evidence the sacrifice of his countless followers slain in battle and the multitudes killed in his name. They hold that Khorne is the Chaos Power that embodies mindless and absolute violence, the wild blood lust that, once unleashed, yearns to destroy everyone within reach whether they be friend or foe.Such true believers are few in number and they grow fewer all the time as his devoted followers gleefully send one another into his embrace, knowing that Khorne cares not from where the blood flows.Depictions of Khorne often show him as a titanic, armoured figure covered from head to foot in armoured plates of strange and alien design. The figure's armour is usually elaborately carved and worked with a repeating skull motif while his head is covered by a great winged helm showing a bestial, snarling face beneath.In most images, Khorne bears a rune-covered sword or axe, though in more primitive cultures he is often shown only with fists or claw-like hands.In spite of his apparently self-destructive aspects Khorne is overtly the most potent and active of all the Ruinous Powers. Endless wars and bloodshed in the mortal realm fuel it with the skulls of the slain, constantly drawn into its raging depths.Khorne needs no honeyed promises or convoluted plots to draw mortals into his realm; the anger and fury lurking just below their civilised demeanour is often more than enough. The path to Khorne's domain can be just as slippery as any represented by the other, more subtle Ruinous Powers.The instinct to violence is a necessary one in a hostile universe, and is even lauded in protectors or liberators. Many societies must literally fight to survive and they celebrate their members for their ability to defend themselves and others.So it is that soldiers, commanders, and even law enforcers begin their slow slide into Khorne's embrace with the noblest of intentions. A desire to protect their loved ones warps gradually into a determination to fight back against those that threaten them.Martial pride and a sense of brotherhood are fostered to protect against hostile outsiders, and the authorities direct the urge to inflict harm against those designated as undesirable. Under the banners of protection wars are begun that consume whole populations, under the guise of efficiency bombs are dropped and death camps are built, under the proclamation of necessity billions of lives are destroyed.Outside the constraints of the Imperium, those that go into battle commonly beseech Khorne in one of his warrior-god aspects to grant them some measure of his boundless fury. Victories are dedicated to one of his many names and defeats are repaid with blood sacrifices to win back his favour.Leaders of opposing armies strive to show that the favour of the Blood God is with them, and his greatest Chaos Champions are capable of winning the support of entire planets with the very rumour of their presence. Many of Khorne's mortal followers strive for conquest on a vast scale by training armies and gathering fleets to hurl against the universe.Their success or failure is a matter of no import to him, as Khorne waxes strongest wherever mortal ambitions clash, regardless of the outcome. |
Chaos - Daemons of Khorne: Daemons of Khorne are fearsome entities of the kind most commonly associated with terrifying Human legends. Their horns, fangs, blood-red hides, and blazing eyes leave little doubt as to their murderous intent, and their ferocity is truly matchless.Only a fool treats with the daemons of Khorne without a ready source of blood sacrifices to trade for his own life. If a petitioner can evade death long enough a bargain is easy enough to strike -- the ravening entities desire only to be unleashed on a victim, any victim, and joyfully charge into battle at the first opportunity.Of course such daemonic cohorts make for dangerous allies, apt to turn upon any that come within their reach, but for many that serves their purposes admirably.The Greater Daemons of Khorne are known as Bloodthirsters and said to be the most favoured of his servants. Bloodthirsters exist purely for combat and combat alone. Their bloodlust extends far beyond mortal comprehension, and they attack everything within reach with terrible ferocity.They do not know fear, other than of Khorne, and act regardless of the cost or consequences, although the usual consequences are death for whatever they face. Their immense pride in their fighting abilities rarely permits them to call upon allies or servants and they usually rely purely upon their own strength and skill.The rank and file of Khorne's vast daemonic legions are called Bloodletters. These are said to be formed from the mightiest mortal souls that met their deaths drenched in blood. Reborn as Bloodletters they appear as horned, red-scaled, man-like fiends with elongated skulls and black tongues lolling from fang-filled jaws.They clutch razor-edged Hellblades in their taloned claws, weapons honed to perfection on the souls of all those that have fallen in battle with the armies of Khorne. Like all daemons of Khorne, the ferocity of Bloodletters is boundless, and they attack any foe without hesitation. A horde of Bloodletters in battle is an almost unstoppable force, their power exponentially increasing in magnitude as the frenzied slaughter continues.Great and terrible beasts also attend the ranks of the Blood God's legions, the so-called Juggernauts and Flesh Hounds of Khorne. Flesh Hounds are lean and deadly hunters that pursue their prey relentlessly across the trackless Realms of Chaos. Those with witch-sight babble about blood red hounds that hunt them through their dreams, whose rage-filled howls continue to echo in their waking minds.Juggernauts are hulking, bestial amalgams of machine and metal. Piston-like limbs drive the Juggernaut's brass-skinned body forward with the force of a battering ram, crushing its victims with appalling force. These monstrous beasts are ridden by daemons and Chaos Champions in battle.Khorne hates and despises the Chaos Power Slaanesh above all others. The self-indulgent sensuality of the Prince of Pleasure is an affront to the warrior instincts of Khorne.The sense of duty, honour, and self-sacrifice that fuels part of Khorne's existence is an anathema to the followers of Slaanesh, and the very antithesis of their own philosophy of self-indulgent pleasure-seeking. The daemonic servants of Khorne and Slaanesh often attack each other on sight, and their mortal followers are often no less eager to join battle.However, Khorne also has little respect for Tzeentch, the Arch Conspirator. Tzeentch's patronage of wizards and manipulators intensifies the antipathy between their respective followers and they are frequently in conflict. However, both Ruinous Powers make common cause when the prospect for bloodletting is great and Tzeentch's unguessable schemes can be advanced through their mutual efforts.At such times the Star of Chaos waxes strong in the mortal realm as the two most potent Dark Gods temporarily join forces and send their legions to war. Such mercurial pacts seldom endure for long before Khorne's disciples or Tzeentch's manipulators inevitably turn on their erstwhile allies. |
Chaos - Nurgle, the Plague Lord: Nurgle is one of the four great Chaos Gods and is the god of disease and decay, born out of every mortal's fear of death.He is the embodiment of the hungry earth, the carrion crow whose poxes and plagues are inflicted upon all. Nurgle's power waxes and wanes over time as his "gifts" to the myriad worlds are spread, are cured or simply kill off everything in sight.Many of Nurgle's victims will eventually turn to his worship in the hope that it will ward off or ameliorate the torment they suffer at his hands. For entertainment, Nurgle will orchestrate plagues and new diseases, such as the Plague of Unbelief (Zombie Plague) and watch bemusedly as the mortals struggle to fight the illness and develop a cure.Many of Nurgle's wars are indirectly won simply through the plagues that sweep that land before his armies. Of particular note is Nurgle's Rot, which gradually changes a victim into a Plaguebearer.Nurgle's followers tend to have a strong interest in the spread of disease. His worshippers become infected with horrific diseases which cause them to appear as disgusting, bloated and rotting masses of barely recognizable flesh, with many sores and open wounds in which infection and decay is rampant. Occasionally Nurgle's followers may become wizened, sickly thin and pale, while still having great power over disease.His Champions become so mutated and putrid that they are impervious to pain and almost impossible to injure. While equal in power with Khorne and Tzeentch, Nurgle's power is much less stable. At times, his forces are limitless and unbeatable, numberless rotting armies scouring the land of life.At others, his followers are scattered and weak, hiding in fetid corners of the universe. Nurgle's strength lies in stagnancy and decay, as well as the emotion of despair, which puts him in direct opposition to Tzeentch, who embodies hope, ambition and change.Nurgle is most commonly called the Lord of Decay but he is known by many names; the Fly Lord, the Great Corruptor, the Plague Lord, the Master of Pestilence. The power of Nurgle is embodied in entropy, morbidity, disease and physical corruption.Of the four great powers Nurgle is said to be the one most involved with the plight of mortals. Through the gifts of raging fevers and shaking chills Nurgle's hand is upon them from cradle to grave. Few escape the touch of Nurgle in their lives. He is sometimes called the Lord of All because all things, no matter how strong and secure, fall to physical corruption in the end.Every Chaos God embodies the hopes, fears and other strong emotions generated by mortal beings. In the case of Nurgle, their fear of death and disease is the source of his greatest power. The mortal's unconscious response to that fear -- the desperation to cling to life no matter what the cost -- gives Nurgle an opening into their souls. The whispered prayer of a parent over a fever-struck child, the anguished pleas of the dying man for one more day of life; these are meat and drink to Nurgle.Nurgle is typically depicted as an immense, bloated humanoid, his body swollen with putrefaction. His skin is shown as leathery and necrotic, his surface pocked with running sores, swelling buboes and oozing wounds.Internal organs bulging with decay spill through splits in the ruptured skin to hang like bunches of scrofulous grapes around his vast girth. Nurgle is often illustrated with hordes of tiny daemons bursting forth from its pustules and suckling upon foulness.The deranged worshippers of the Lord of Pestilence say that he concocts diverse contagions to inflict on the material universe for his amusement, and many of the most infectious and horrible diseases are Nurgle's proudest creations. It is their belief that those who die caught in the grip of one of Nurgle’s terrible poxes are swept directly to his realm.Those that sing the praises of Nurgle loud enough are sometimes spared so that they can spread his blessings further, for the church of the Fly Lord is always open to all. Nurgle has many supplicants but there are few with the fortitude to declare themselves as his champions. The few that can survive the Great Corruptor's manifold blessings exhibit a feverish, morbid energy and a preternatural resistance to physical damage.The power of Nurgle waxes and wanes as his pandemics sweep across the galaxy. When untold billions fall prey to the newest plagues his strength can overshadow that of any of the other Chaos Gods for a period. At other times the power of Nurgle withers away to lie quiescent until circumstances are ripe for it to erupt forth once more.Those that fashion themselves Champions of Nurgle represent a dire threat to densely populated worlds, where close-packed populations are vulnerable to a single contagion. Ships in the void are particularly vulnerable to disease and many dying crews have beseeched the Lord of Decay for his intercession.Such was the fate of the Death Guard Legion when it became marooned in the Warp on the long journey to Terra during the Horus Heresy. While they lay becalmed in the Immaterium, a mysterious contagion spread from one to another of the Death Guard's ships until the entire fleet was infected.Even the reinforced physiology of the Space Marines could not fight off the dire plague as it bloated the guts, distended the flesh and rotted its victims from the inside. It is said that when even the Legion's Primarch, Mortarion, fell victim to the plague he cried out to the Powers of Chaos in his delirium.His desperation to save himself and his Legion called forth Nurgle, and Mortarion became his greatest Champion. Thus, the Death Guard Legion has enjoyed the favour of Nurgle for the last ten thousand standard years. |
Chaos - Daemons of Nurgle: The daemons of Nurgle are truly putrid in their appearance and sickening to look upon. Their flesh pulses with the feverheat of corruption, their innards push through lesions in their putrid skin and their bodies ooze with sticky slime.In contrast to their hideous appearance, Nurgle's daemons are cheerful, energetic beings that show a disturbingly friendly demeanour. They are jovial in their work and show great pride in their accomplishments, interpreting the groans of the afflicted as expressions of gratitude justly won by their efforts.The most powerful daemons of Nurgle are called Great Unclean Ones. Great Unclean Ones are facsimiles of the god himself both physically and in spirit. Every Great Unclean One is also Nurgle himself in some sense, and their followers often refer to them as "Papa" or "Father Nurgle."Great Unclean Ones are seldom deathlike or morbid in character; in fact, they are usually motivated by the same trivial enthusiasms that drive the living. They are gregarious and even sentimental in their nature with a remarkable fondness for their followers. They often refer to their followers as their "Children" and take great pride in their appearance and oddly endearing behaviour.The common daemons of Nurgle are known as Plaguebearers. These have a more approximately humanoid shape and lurch along on stick-thin limbs. Plaguebearers have single eye and a single horn, and chant in continuous monotone. They are also called the "Tallymen of Nurgle," as it is said that they constantly strive to enumerate the endlessly changing number of plagues and poxes in the universe.Despite their decrepit appearance Plaguebearers are extremely dangerous in battle. A single scratch from their rusted swords is sufficient to bestow a plague that sends its host to Nurgle's realm without delay.The lowliest servants of Nurgle are the Nurglings, tiny daemons that look like miniature representations of Nurgle himself. They are mischievous, agile and constantly active slinking in the shadows of his champions or gathering in squealing hordes around Great Unclean Ones.Swarms of Nurglings overwhelm their enemies through sheer weight in numbers, using their scrabbling, diseased claws to pull down larger opponents so that they can gnaw at them with filth-caked fangs.Nurgle is the age-old enemy of the Chaos Power Tzeentch, the Lord of Change. Their energies come from diametrically opposing beliefs; Tzeentch's power derives from hope and changing fortune while Nurgle's comes from defiance born out of despair and hopelessness.The followers of Nurgle often pit themselves against those of Tzeentch in complex political intrigues in the mortal realm, forever attempting to mire his schemes for change in dull minded conservatism and parochial self-interest.Their corrupting influence is often successful in thwarting the Architect of Fate and they erode his accomplishments constantly, safe in the knowledge that whatever survives the collapse into entropy becomes their inheritance. |
Chaos - Slaanesh, the Dark Prince of Chaos: Slaanesh is the Dark Prince of Chaos, the god of pleasure and pain. Slaanesh is the beguiling water, the Great Serpent who lives for pleasure and the experience of the sensations of life and death.All those who live in the pursuit of pleasure risk falling under this god's deceptive charms. Slaanesh is the youngest of the Chaos Gods, and referred to by the other Ruinous Powers as the Prince of Chaos.Seductive in the way that only an immortal being can be, Slaanesh is the Chaos God of pleasure, passion, luxury, art, and indulgence. Slaanesh is the manifestation of all hidden vices, cruel passions, and secret temptations that mortals hide fearfully in their hearts.While not interested in the dirty warfare of Khorne, (Khorne and Slaanesh are mortal enemies, as Slaanesh acts inwardly upon the mortal psyche by seeking selfish pleasure, while Khorne acts outward to kill others) Slaanesh does enjoy combat of the artistic sort, rewarding those whose fighting is transformed from a means to an end and thus into an art form all its own.Slaanesh's followers seek pleasure in every experience, and quickly become inured to more mundane things, including sounds and colours; thus they frequently wear garish, brightly colored armour, or clothing which is extravagantly decorated. Worshippers of Slaanesh are known for their complete lack of fear, as they see losing a battle as a new experience to be enjoyed.Slaanesh is the youngest and weakest of the major Chaos Gods. However, Slaanesh is constantly growing in power due to the corrupt and dark nature that all sentient beings, but particularly the Aeldari and Humanity, try to keep hidden within their hearts, for even the mere act of thinking about such dark acts of pleasure and vice are enough to give spiritual strength to Slaanesh.It won't be long before Slaanesh sits as an equal of power amongst the other three Ruinous Powers, and may even rise above Khorne, given time and the incessant quest across the galaxy for pleasure.It is said that Slaanesh was brought into being by the decadence of the galaxy-spanning ancient Aeldari civilisation. Slowly, over many centuries, the projected lusts and desires of the highly-psychic Aeldari coalesced in the Warp to create the new power.As the entity grew, the Aeldari themselves were increasingly affected by its influence, driven to new heights of depravity in pursuit of their jaded lusts. The spiral became tighter as the increasingly frenzied activities of the Aeldari spurred Slaanesh towards full wakefulness, even as its dreams stirred their darkest desires.The Aeldari race became trapped by its own dark nature, one that asserted itself more and more as Slaanesh's influence grew. The more it drove them into moral, social and artistic decadence the more the Aeldari fought against it, but it was a hopeless struggle.Slaanesh was like an expanding balloon, straining outwards as pressure built inside, and it was only a matter of time before it burst. In the moment of Slaanesh's birth the golden empire of the Aeldari was irrevocably shattered. The terrible psychic scream of the newborn god shattered heaven and earth, its shock-wave spreading outward through the Warp to deal a numbing blow to the soul of every living thing.It was too much for the psychically attuned Aeldari to endure. Their souls were drawn into the growing Power of Slaanesh and their bodies evaporated as Chaos boiled into their minds. The Warp energy unleashed by Slaanesh's birth tore out the heart of the old Aeldari Empire and transformed into it the vast region of Warp overlap with realspace now called the Eye of Terror by Mankind.Wherever Aeldari populations were densest, the Warp literally spilled through their minds and into realspace, creating new areas of Warp overlap all over the galaxy. The once-proud Aeldari were left a broken, hunted people scattered through space, bitter with the knowledge that if not for their foolishness, arrogance and hedonism, Slaanesh -- the Depraved One, the Great Serpent, She Who Thirsts -- would never have been born.Slaanesh represents the locus of the fallen Aeldari race's deepest desires; the yearning for luxury and hedonistic over-indulgence, the exercise of cruel and unnatural passions, the pursuit of forbidden vices and unspeakable carnality.The Pleasure Lord always holds open the thrilling promise of the forbidden and the exotic beyond the boundaries of moral and societal laws. The siren call of its illicit pleasures draws everything from jaded Planetary Governors to mass pleasure cults onto Slaanesh's paths.Of all the Chaos Powers the Prince of Pleasure can offer the greatest temptations to the common man, those without any desire to be conquering warriors or clever sorcerers. The first weavings of Slaanesh's subtle influence can be as humble as a desire for rest or as simple as an end to hunger and he is said to capture many souls both willing and unwilling in his nets.The followers of the Prince of Chaos pursue ever-greater heights of experience, seeking pleasure in increasingly extreme and outrageous fashion. Slaanesh's influence often reaches into the upper echelons of hierarchies where the greatest luxury and privilege resides, corrupting nobility and wealthy families.It can be seen at its most insidious among those that strive for rectitude, as if the Prince of Chaos takes particular joy in corrupting those that dare to proclaim themselves as upright souls. Even the most pious pontiff must rest sometime, and when he does the unconscious desires in his dreams betray him to the Master of Carnal Joys.The more civilised a society becomes, the more frequently seeds of corruption planted by Slaanesh sprout within it. As leisure becomes widespread the unconscious wants of the many are led down dark paths by the subtle influence of Slaanesh.Countless worlds have fallen into complete anarchy when Slaanesh pleasure cults became so widespread that all order was lost in an insane frenzy of self-gratification. On many, the Fall of the Aeldari is reenacted in microcosm as society collapses and the howling winds of Chaos ravage the world through the minds of its psykers.The handful of gibbering survivors that are sometimes left behind are so changed by the experience that they can no longer be called in any sense mortal or sane. Certain Inquisitors of the Imperium have cultivated a particular loathing of the followers of Slaanesh for the corruption they spread so readily through the Emperor's mortal realm. Their efforts to suppress the pursuit of pleasure inevitably bring an ever-widening wide circle of recidivists, smugglers, criminals, and black marketeers into contact with Slaanesh's mortal adherents.Depictions of Slaanesh show it as an androgynous or hermaphroditic being of unearthly, unnatural and disturbing beauty. Two pairs of slender horns rise from the god's flowing golden hair. Slaanesh is often depicted wearing luxuriantly lined, form-fitting armour and bearing a jade sceptre that is said to be his greatest treasure.His worshippers engage in great orgies involving every vice and perversity to praise the Lord of Pleasure, where the death of many through exhaustion and over-stimulation is taken to be a sign of the Prince's favour.His devotees say that any extremity of sensation or emotion can open communion with Slaanesh, for the echoes of his birth scream reside in every mortal soul. They pursue a rapturous, tortured, orgasmic drug-fuelled state of hyper-sensuality, their souls burning bright and hot like shooting stars as they plunge ever deeper into the psychic maelstrom that is Slaanesh. |
Chaos - Daemons of Slaanesh: The daemons of Slaanesh possess some elements of the perverse and unnatural beauty of their master, a beauty that provokes loathing and desire in equal measure. Their very presence evokes a tide of sensuality strong enough to drown a living soul, while their seductive promises can enslave even the stoutest heart.Their physical forms are both beguiling and monstrous, fairness and foulness intermingling to blast the soul of the viewer with their monstrous dichotomy.The Greater Daemons of Slaanesh are called Keepers of Secrets; gorgeous, terrible beings that are said to hear the secret whispers made in every soul. Few can describe the sensations of shameful lust and dark ecstasy that attends a Keeper of Secrets, a heady toxin of fear and fulfilment that can shiver a mortal mind into pieces.Making a pact with a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh is the most thrilling and dangerous thing to undertake in the universe. A Keeper of Secrets takes a gloating, sadistic pleasure in breaking down the last barriers to full ecstatic rapture, mercilessly shearing away the last dignities and presumptions of a snared soul until it is left naked and quivering before its bestial lusts.The Lesser Daemons of Slaanesh are known as Daemonettes. They are lithe-bodied, crab-clawed creatures with attractive, pale faces marred by fanged mouths and green, saucer-like eyes. Their hypnotic, blasphemous beauty is as much a weapon as their razor-sharp claws, blinding their enemies with a mixture of revulsion and lust.Daemonettes have been known to weave perverse sorceries with their lascivious dancing and singing, corrupting the senses and baffling the mind with altered realities. Their laughter charms the senses as the tinkling of delicate chimes, even as they precisely and painfully tear their victims limb from limb.Daemonettes often ride upon weird, bipedal beasts known as the Steeds of Slaanesh. These are spindle-limbed, fleet-footed beings that are faster than any mortal steed, with impossibly long whip-like tongues protruding from their vaguely equine heads. The questing tongue delivers a paralysing shiver of unholy ecstasy to whatever it touches, rendering its prey helpless before the attentions of its rider.Slaanesh is said to have little interest in the other Chaos Powers, being too caught up in his own pleasures to be interested in alliances or co-operation. However, the followers of Khorne with their boorish beliefs in bloodshed for its own sake are particular enemies. Cults dedicated to Khorne and Slaanesh clash frequently in the mortal realm just as their daemonic legions are believed to battle endlessly in the Realm of Chaos.Slaanesh's comparative weakness in direct confrontations is balanced by his endless capacity for corruption, often even leading Khorne's faithful astray through their own battle lust.A widespread and technologically advanced conflict is particularly vulnerable to Slaanesh's influence as a single well-placed convert can have the means to wreck a fleet or destroy an entire city.Wherever Khorne's followers become most strident those of Slaanesh can be found working subtly in the background to bring about their opponents' downfall. |
Chaos - Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways: Tzeentch is the Changer of Ways, the god of change and dark knowledge. Tzeentch is the inconstant air, the Great Eagle who pulls the strings of fate in whichever way he pleases.The minions and followers of Tzeentch manipulate the sorcery and psychic power of the Warp in their rawest form, and often know the thoughts and fates of their foes even before they do. Not interested in raw strength, Tzeentch bestows his favour upon those who use their intelligence to fight their enemies.Mortal worshipers of Tzeentch tend to be sorcerers, psykers, scholars and other educated elites who desire greater knowledge and power. Some of these worshipers become very powerful sorcerers, but Tzeentch has a tendency to mutate his followers, and the highest levels of power are said to be difficult for his followers to reach, as they frequently find themselves mutated into mindless beasts like Chaos Spawn.Those who do attain great power in the service of Tzeentch, however, are extremely powerful foes who are often mighty sorcerers as well as great warriors. Tzeentch is as powerful as Khorne, but with a different style of power, controlling sorcery and psychic strength instead of armies.The plots of Tzeentch are countless, and whenever there is an alliance of Chaos Undivided forged by the Gods of Chaos, Tzeentch is undoubtedly the cause, direct or indirect. Tzeentch also represents optimism, hope and the willingness to change, thus making Nurgle his nemesis.The enigmatic Chaos Power Tzeentch is known by many titles including the Changer of the Ways, the Master of Fortune, the Great Conspirator and the Architect of Fate. These titles reflect its masterly comprehension of the twisting paths of destiny, history, intrigue, and plots. The hopes and plans of every mortal and every nation whisper through its many-chambered mind. Its all-seeing eye watches as plots unfold and intrigues alter the course of history.Although far from the first to exhibit such traits, Mankind is a notably volatile and ambitious species. Tzeentch feeds upon the need and desire for change that is so much a part of Human nature.All people dream of wealth, freedom and a better tomorrow. The confluence of these desires creates a powerful impetus for change, just as the ambitions of leaders create a force that can change history. Tzeentch is the embodiment of that force.Tzeentch is not content to merely observe the fulfillment and disappointments brought by the passage of time. It works its own schemes, plans so complex and convoluted that they touch upon the lives of every mortal, whether they know it or not.Tzeentch's true intentions are hidden behind layer upon layer of interweaving plots so convoluted and so long-term that no mortal can hope to understand them. Perhaps Tzeentch plans to overthrow the other Chaos Powers, or to extend his dominion across mortal realms, or to achieve some unguessable apotheosis.Perhaps Tzeentch plots endlessly because that is its driving force, and its schemes can never achieve fruition as they twist constantly into new plans and conspiracies.Whatever Tzeentch's ultimate purpose, he pursues it by manipulating individual lives and thereby altering the course of history. The aura of magic and power around the god Tzeentch commonly draws influential people into its orbit; leaders, generals, and merchant princes looking for a way to pursue their ambitions or overcome their enemies.A glimpse of the future can be all that it takes to win a political conflict or close a deal, a simple spell might bury evidence of wrongdoing where no investigator would ever find it. All of these possibilities make irresistible temptations for those that dare to follow the path of Tzeentch.A subtle nudge here or there and these influential individuals can in turn enmesh millions of lives in Tzeentch's grand schemes, lending it a disproportionate amount of power in comparison to its number of followers.However, few of Tzeentch's plots are straightforward, and many at first appear contradictory or even seem to act against its own interests. Only the Changer of the Ways can see all the threads of potential futures weaving on the loom of fate.Of all the Chaos Powers, Tzeentch is said to be the most accomplished magician. Warp-magic is one of the most potent of all the agents of change and wielding it requires matchless ambition and hunger for power. Those who style themselves Champions of Tzeentch are often Sorcerers of the most powerful kind.Any individual that pursues the learning of Warp lore eventually discovers Tzeentch and feels the subtle tug of the rewards it can offer. Of all the Chaos Powers, Tzeentch can appear the most rational and safest to deal with, granting huge dividends in exchange for seemingly inconsequential demands. Of course, it quickly becomes clear that once they are caught up in Tzeentch's schemes, there is no escape.Images purported to depict Tzeentch are rare, and normally conflicting in their nature. Some show him as having the characteristics of birds or fish but most depict the Master of Magic as a long-armed, manlike figure with its face sunk low down between his shoulder blades.Huge, asymmetrically curving horns appear to spring from the figure's shoulders. Those that claim to have witnessed the Changer of the Ways in their dreams say that his skin crawls with constantly changing faces leering and mocking the onlooker. As Tzeentch speaks, these faces sometimes echo what he says with subtle but important differences, or provide a commentary that throws doubt on the words spoken.They say that the firmament about the Architect of Fate is heavy with brooding magic. Languid coils of essence weave like thick smoke around its head, forming subtle patterns. The vagrant forms of people and places appear in the vapours as Tzeentch’s mercurial mind contemplates their fate. |
Chaos - Daemons of Tzeentch: Daemons of Tzeentch are highly magical, with the lesser forms being entirely formed from constantly shifting patterns of unstable Warp-energy. Greater Daemons of Tzeentch are known as Lords of Change. These are described as massive, birdlike entities that are surrounded by a bright shifting aura of sorcery.Their bodies and wings shimmer with a thousand iridescent colours and their claws are said to be glittering diamonds. The gaze of a Lord of Change can penetrate the very depths of a mortal's soul, reading the thread of his fate and his ultimate destiny at a glance.Lords of Change are possessed of all the scintillating brilliance and deep wisdom of their master, but each is its own creature with its own agenda. It is not uncommon for the agents of different Lords of Change to clash in pursuit of their own schemes, no doubt by the design of Tzeentch himself.It is said that no being in the Realm of Chaos understands the flow of the Warp as naturally as they do, and that bargaining for their help brings success in the most desperate of schemes. However, a pact with a Lord of Change is as convoluted and inescapable as a web of steel, and the soul of the supplicant is the price for even the smallest morsel of wisdom.The Lesser Daemon of Tzeentch are living flames of Warp energy that cavort and twist in time to insane piping. They flicker along invisible patterns of change and fate in the Empyrean, briefly whirling into existence where the winds of magic blow strongly enough. Mortals know of two kinds of Tzeentch Lesser Daemons, Horrors and Flamers.Horrors of Tzeentch possess long, gangling limbs protruding from a thick, trunk-like torso with no head. The Horror's leering face normally appears in its chest but may shift from moment to moment, slithering away to another part of their anatomy at random.Glowing Warp energies wreath Horrors with pink and blue light as they bray and cackle blasphemously, their sucker-tipped fingers drooling with Warp stuff. In combat Horrors playfully pull apart their enemies and burn them with aetheric fires. Striking them only splits them into miniature versions of themselves which caper and gibber with undiminished vigour.The so-called Flamers of Tzeentch are even more strange and disturbing entities than the Horrors. They display no man-like characteristics at all, appearing only as thick trunk of living flame topped by waving tendrils spouting tongues of pink Warp-fire. An inhuman, beaked visage can sometimes be glimpsed on the torso of the being but its voice is only the roar and crackle of flames.Daemons of Tzeentch are capable of granting great powers to their followers. They may perform seemingly complex magical undertakings by instinct, making rites and summons with a level of energy that a mortal sorcerer could never dream of wielding.Thus, according to Tzeentch's unguessable whims, a mass of Horrors might open a Warp rift through their collective efforts, or just as likely close one, or disperse a dozen seemingly unrelated incantations, causing rifts to open or close in the future.Mention should also be made of the Discs of Tzeentch, shark-like predators of Warpspace that are sometimes used as mounts by Champions and Daemons of the Changer of the Ways. These beings take the shape of flattened, plate-like creatures rimmed with vicious teeth and spikes to slice through their prey. In the endless depths of the Realm of Chaos shoals of these creatures mercilessly hunt lost souls, but Tzeentch's followers know the secrets of capturing them and binding them to service as fast and agile mounts.The antithesis of the Chaos Power Tzeentch is that of Nurgle, the Lord of Decay. Tzeentch's energy is derived from the excitement and will to change, the desire to forge one's own destiny, refashion fortune and gain power.Nurgle's power comes from a defiant brand of hopelessness and despair, a moribund acceptance of the way things are born out and a determination to keep plodding forward regardless.In stark contrast, Tzeentch's followers are often drawn to spark change and revolution in civilised societies, endlessly challenging the established order and breaking open the body politic before it rots from within. |
Chaos - Malice, the Renegade God: Malice is the Renegade God of Chaos, the god of contention, vengeance and anarchy, the sworn enemy of the other four Chaos Gods and all they represent, though he is no friend of Mankind either.He represents the absolute anarchy of true Chaos and its tendency to turn even upon itself in its own randomness. He is, however, absent from the most recent editions of all the Warhammer games for prior copyright reasons dating back to when this entity was known as "Malal." |
Chaos - Chaos Undivided: Followers of Chaos Undivided venerate the force of Chaos itself, seeing the four major Chaos Gods as a single pantheon to be worshiped equally as different emanations of the same universal force. Of all the worshipers of Chaos they follow Chaos in its purest form.They can interpret the meaning of Chaos in a variety of ways, including as a single god, worship the four major Chaos Gods equally, or favour one slightly over the others. The Chaos Lords and Daemon Princes of Chaos Undivided are at an advantage in their ability to unite any of the Forces of Chaos under their leadership, even if they would normally worship opposing gods like Khorne and Slaanesh, so the warbands dedicated to Chaos Undivided are always the most diverse.Half of the Traitor Legions of Chaos Space Marines and most Renegade Space Marines serve Chaos Undivided, including the feared Black Legion of Abaddon the Despoiler, the greatest Champion of Chaos Undivided. |
Chaos - Servants of Chaos: The Imperium is mighty and its reach is long, but the infinite Realm of Chaos is greater still. Even in the material universe the Emperor's followers only control islands of light in a sea of darkness.There are many who do not want the protection of the Imperium, who defy its laws and seek to undermine its works. Even inside the Imperium itself rebels and secessionists struggle constantly to throw off the chains of oppression, particularly among the lowliest underclasses created by the Priesthood of Terra.These are the peoples that have not forgotten the taste of freedom, those who would rather give their fealty to the uncaring Ruinous Powers than grovel before the Corpse-God of distant Terra. Some are peoples who seek to escape from bondage and go to any lengths to secure their release.Others resist the power of the Imperium without truly knowing why they do so, motivated simply by a conviction that they must fight against the tyranny it represents. All of these peoples are the servants of Chaos and knowingly or unknowingly they continue to fight in the Long War begun by Horus ten millennia past. |
Chaos - Those Who Live Without: The first group of those the Imperium brand as "Heretics" are those who live beyond Imperial control by living outside the boundaries of the Imperium of Man itself. Though the Imperium is vast, its authority stretching from rim to rim of the galaxy, in reality there are vast swaths of space unknown to the Imperium of Man.These regions have many names, including but by no means restricted to, the "Outlands," "Wilderness Space," and the "Halo Stars." Within them, whole civilisations can rise, prosper, and fall, without once knowing of the wider Imperium that surrounds them.Just as the Imperium is vast beyond proper comprehension, so too are the Renegade warbands too many and diverse to ever properly catalogue or define. Some may be feral tribes existing on worlds deemed too insignificant to warrant an Imperial presence, their only contact limited to ambitious missionaries of the Imperial Creed and periodic orbital surveys by passing patrols.Others may be independent starships, mining operations, and whole colonies existing in regions too difficult for Imperial voidships to reach. On occasion entire star systems that have been isolated by Warp Storms for centuries re-establish contact with the outside universe and sensibly opt to keep themselves hidden from the Imperium.The Calixis Sector of the Segmentum Obscurus exists amongst the edges of the galaxy, an established bastion of Imperial control amongst the hazy borders. Thus, it is surrounded by regions of space not under Imperial control. The most prominent is the Koronus Expanse in the Halo Stars, linked to the Calixis Sector by a fluctuating Warp passage known as the Koronus Passage or "the Maw."Beyond this passage, Imperial rule ends, and all manner of Human civilisations exist unknown and undiscovered. However, there are other outlands around the Calixis Sector as well, including the Hazeroth Abyss, the fringes of the Drusus Marches Sub-sector, and the nomad space between the Calixis and bordering Ixaniad Sector.These Renegades are as varied as the regions of space they occupy. Some come from the savage worlds of the Koronus Expanse such as Naduesh and Vaporius. Others hail from nomad or heretical clans such as the Meritech Pirate Clans that waged war against the Calixis Sector and were exterminated for their pains many centuries ago.Many of the outlander clans that populate these regions hold that they have survived because they learned to honour the Ruinous Powers, firmly believing that their sacrifices to the Dark Gods bring bounty into their otherwise barren existence.Powerful psyker-dynasties dominate some of these groups, and others claim to be parties to daemonic pacts forged by their ancestors when the Emperor still walked among the living. Frequently these peoples take the form of extended clans that share their knowledge only through their blood relatives, maintaining a level of know-how about ancient technologies or local Warpspace conditions that astounds outsiders.The Adeptus Mechanicus is particularly sensitive to the existence of such Hereteks (of which those in the Meritech Clans are a particularly egregious example) and press other Imperial authorities to mobilise and capture or kill them as a matter of priority.Even though some of these groups can trace an unbroken chain of antecedents reaching all the way back to the Age of Strife, Imperial authorities view them all as smugglers, pirates, and Renegades. Battlefleet Calixis and other detachments of the Imperial Navy (such as Battlefleet Ixaniad) destroy unregistered voidships as a matter of course, and eliminate known "pirate haunts" whenever they can.In consequence many Renegade clans have learned to be extremely wary of taking actions that reveal their existence to the Imperium, and when they must do so they often use elaborate measures to disguise their activities.The ranks of the Renegades are constantly being swelled by those driven out by the Imperium's policies; deposed nobles, defeated warriors, disillusioned theocrats, failing merchants, mutants, and unsanctioned psykers all find refuge in Wilderness Space.It is a savage existence. Many seize anything its owner cannot protect as a matter of course, although they respect armed strength and they understand how to deal for mutual profit. A clever and well-armed Renegade can soon establish himself as a king on a Feral World with connections to local pirate clans, and from there his ambitions might take him back into Imperial space to burn and plunder.Renegades like these are particularly abhorrent individuals to Imperial eyes as they exploit their knowledge of the Imperium's defences to lead attacks against vulnerable trade routes and colonies.Certain Renegade communities co-operate with alien races for mutual profit, especially in common opposition to the Imperium. Ork mercenaries, Aeldari Corsairs or Stryxis traders (in the case of those settlements within the Koronus Expanse) may be frequent visitors at some Renegade settlements.Within some alien empires whole enclaves of Humans exist ruled by xenos overlords that grant them freedom for their loyalty. It is impossible to say what bargaining and gifts may have been necessary to convince aliens to work with Humans, although it may be that merely cursing the God-Emperor and his Imperium was sufficient for some.The dangerous taint of zealotry and xenophobia remains strong about all Humans, however, leading to some demand for their use as bodyguards among alien traders that enjoy intimidating their non-Human clients.Smuggling xenostech into the Imperium, along with other illicit goods, is a profitable activity, and the so-called Cold Trade into the Calixis and neighbouring sectors from the Halo Stars is dangerously profitable in the eyes of the Inquisition’s Ordo Calixis.Rogue Traders and Chartist Captains can turn vast profits by meeting up with Renegades in out-of-the-way star systems. There they can trade with them for goods that fetch vastly inflated prices in the Imperium. The risks are high and not only because the Imperial authorities may attempt to impound their ship and strip them of their license if they catch them.Reaver pirate clans sometimes simply cut out the middleman and seize a trader's cargo at the rendezvous. Dealing with Renegades is always a risky business as good relations with one group will not extend protection from all of them.Individual Renegades sometimes slip into Imperial space to pursue their trade, but they find it a dangerous place to live. If caught and identified, they are tortured and executed by the Inquisition with no hope of mercy.Memory blocks and synaptic tampering are used by some groups (particularly the heretic Vaol Clans of the Drusus Marches Periphery) to protect their operatives -- or, more accurately, the friends and loved ones they would put at risk if captured. |
Chaos - Those Who Live Within: For those with no love for the Emperor's laws, life inside the Imperium is a daily peril. Within a social system where the innocent are routinely persecuted, the guilty must stay especially on their guard if they hope to survive. For most citizens the Imperium is nothing but a source of oppression and fear, and not all of those that cry out against the yoke of its authority are the dedicated servants of Chaos.The religious intolerance of the Ecclesiarchy persecutes entire belief systems by branding them as heresy and daemon worship for the slightest deviation from the dogmatic and orthodox Imperial Creed. Psykers and mutants face a terrible fate at the hands of the Imperium, at best existing as a shunned underclass in those rare places where they are not executed on sight.Political parties, labour movements, guilds and even criminal organisations that were once vilified by the citizenry can sometimes become their outlet for anti-Imperial sentiment when the authorities tighten their grip.Fear of the Inquisition quickly drives these diverse groups underground to form a hidden network of cells and covens dedicated to the downfall of Imperial rule. Secret cults of worshippers tend shrines dedicated to their ancient gods in secret while presenting a face of bland devotion to the God-Emperor in public.Humble workers toil in the factories while they plan revolution and the overthrow of their hated bosses. Wherever there is sedition and dissent the conditions become ideal for the subtle spread of Chaos.The lure of arcane lore and unearthly power exercises a fatal attraction for the ambitious and the desperate. All over the galaxy, even on Mars and ancient Terra, there are people willing to dabble in matters beyond their understanding in the pursuit of power or forbidden knowledge that will set them apart or above their peers.Not all of these realise they are dealing with the Powers of Chaos, innocently becoming involved through warrior societies or intellectual communities that may appear outwardly quite benign in nature.Often a Chaos Power is venerated under a different guise with a seemingly unconnected name, and a host of Daemon Princes and Lesser Powers are worshipped by different cults with just as much fervour as those dedicated to the Great Powers of Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle, or Slaanesh.Some cultures devote themselves to Chaos in its unaligned glory and see the Powers of Chaos as a pantheon of gods, a polytheistic outlook common in many tribal religions.Ecclesiarchy missionaries usually try to insert the God-Emperor into such belief systems, claiming Him to be more powerful than the others, but change is slow to occur and the last vestiges of Daemon-worship are notoriously hard to stamp out.Even pious-seeming monks and holy men may transpire to be followers of "saints" who possess, upon closer inspection, decidedly daemonic aspects.Those who truly desire change sometimes go to the most extreme lengths to gain the power they need to affect it. Forbidden lore, suppressed knowledge, and ancient pacts may offer routes to victory for an ardent freedom fighter or revolutionary where weapons and bombs fail to make an impact.On some worlds, the spread of law and industry rouses anarchists and madmen to oppose it, on others gentrified nobility anxious to keep control of their lands might turn to the methods their forefathers used in earlier, darker ages.Even the most advanced and powerful Imperial worlds have their own secret cults that have hidden themselves from sight for centuries while their members work tirelessly to worm themselves into position of power and authority. Such cults are a source of great concern to the Inquisition, none more so than those that actually manage to communicate with daemons directly or -- worse still -- summon them from the Warp. |
Chaos - Those Who Live Beyond: A well-established Chaos Cult has the potential to tip an entire world into Chaos in a very literal sense. Their greatest works of sorcery can open the gates of hell itself and unleash the daemonic legions of the Ruinous Powers. As the mutating power of Chaos saturates the world it becomes a realm not entirely of the material universe and not entirely of the Warp: a Daemon World where the laws of nature and reason have been completely usurped by the whims of the major Chaos Powers.Here daemons roam freely and are constantly nourished by twisting winds of magic and mortals become their playthings with a value only as Chaos Champions or slaves. Daemon Worlds are a sanctuary for the worshippers of Chaos with the means and courage to flee to them. The Inquisition never rests in its efforts to eliminate the devotees of the Ruinous Powers, but a Daemon World defies even their shadowy reach.No one knows the exact number of Daemon Worlds in the galaxy, nor whether all of them could truly be said to even exist within the galaxy any more. Imperial Navigators have reported worlds in the deep tides of the Immaterium light years away from any star systems and severe Warp Storms are said to have shifted entire planets across time and space.Certainly the greatest concentration of Daemon Worlds appears to be in the region of the Segmentum Obscurus called the Eye of Terror, the birthing grounds of the Chaos Power Slaanesh, but many other Daemon Worlds are spoken of in myth and legend in different parts of the galaxy.Some hold that every major Warp Storm in the galaxy has one or more Daemon Worlds at its heart, the source of all the dangerous torrents of Warp energy that sustain it and its unholy inhabitants.Untold billions of mortals exist on Daemon Worlds, their lives utterly subject to the Ruinous Powers and their bodies marked by Chaos. Many are destined to form warbands battling for the amusement of their masters, hurling themselves against one another while screaming praises to their Dark Gods.Others are arranged into shuffling prayer gangs that trace the path of vast runes visible only from space; others might sift, weigh, and catalogue grains of sand in vast deserts or endlessly build and then destroy monuments that defy sanity and science. The activities pursued with such vitality and fervour on Daemon Worlds are often nonsensical and contradictory by nature -- and apt to change at a moment’s notice.A few Daemon Worlds are dominated by the remnants of the Chaos Space Marine Traitor Legions that once followed Horus. They have become training grounds, forges, and armouries for the Legions' continuing prosecution of the Long War against the Corpse-Emperor.Entire regiments are raised and destroyed under their brutal regimes, the veteran survivors reformed and hurled into battle again and again to forge them in the crucible of war. On these hellish worlds anyone is capable climbing up from slave cannon fodder through hardened veteran to valued elite with sufficient skill and élan.The hardiest and most dedicated may some day win a place in the Legion and have their body broken by dark chirurgeons to be remade as something greater than Human -- if a new source of uncorrupted Astartes gene-seed can be secured.The Traitor Legions teach their Human slaves to hate the Imperium and to despise the Emperor with an unholy passion. Time runs differently on Daemon Worlds and veteran Space Marines that stood beside Horus still live on a hundred centuries later in the Eye of Terror and other benighted places.They bitterly remember their defeat before the Imperial Palace during the climactic Battle of Terra and have sworn to have their vengeance against the False Emperor on the Golden Throne. Incalculable woe has been unleashed on the Imperium by the Traitor Legions over the millennia since the Horus Heresy. These so-called "Black Crusades" have ravaged the regions around the Eye of Terror and destabilised huge areas elsewhere in the Imperium.Even once the Imperium rallies its vast resources to reconquer territory lost to a Black Crusade, the indelible taint of Chaos is left behind. On recaptured worlds the incidence of psykers and mutations in the liberated populations leaps sharply and cultist cells are always particularly active.The Traitor Legions attempt to erode Imperial power whenever they can and some specialise in utilising Renegade and underground elements as parts of a larger conspiracy. Imperial Inquisitors are particularly alert for signs that cult or pirate activity may presage a larger invasion by the Traitor Legions, but with a million worlds to protect their task is a nigh impossible one. |
Chaos - Daemons: The Chaos Gods are not alone in Warpspace. They have created servants from their own essences -- the creatures that mortals have named "daemons" based on their ancient legends and religious mythologies -- who are not so closely bound to the Warp.Daemons are entities of a somewhat different nature to their masters, and are the most numerous of the creatures to be found in the Empyrean. A daemon is "born" when a Chaos God expends a portion of its own power to create a separate being.This psychic power binds a collection of senses, thoughts and purposes together, creating a personality and consciousness that can move within the Warp. The Chaos God can reclaim the independence it has given to its daemon children at any time, thus ensuring their loyalty. It is only through the loss of this power that a daemon can truly be destroyed, its mind dissolving into the whirls and currents of Warpspace.Daemons have no physical presence within the Warp. The Realm of Chaos is anathema to the laws of physics and the starships that navigate its depths do so by taking a skin or bubble of "reality" with them when they enter using their Warp-Drive.Instead of possessing a true physical form, daemons project a form conjured from raw psychic energy that is essentially a lesser interpretation of their master's fundamental nature. Hence, the bizarre and inhuman appearances projected by daemons indicate their presence, status and allegiance to a Chaos God.Though it may appear to be made of normal matter when it materialises in realspace, a daemon's form is no more physical than it is in the Realm of Chaos. In fact, they are beings of pure Warp energy given shape and depth.When manifested in the material universe, daemons have particular invulnerabilities and weaknesses, as well as many strange powers derived from their Warp-born nature as psychic beings. Slaying a daemon's physical projection does not kill it, but only severs its presence in reality; its true essence in the Warp remains unharmed.When a daemon is "killed" in the material universe, it is banished back to the Warp. If not simply re-absorbed by its creator, it must remain there to regain its strength that it eventually might manifest itself again. Legend has it that a daemon banished in this way cannot return for a thousand Terran years and a day, though it is of course impossible to prove such a belief through study, and the concept of time itself is meaningless within the Warp.The slight to a "slain" daemon's pride is considerable, however, and the daemon is forced to endure the mockery of its fellows until it can return to corporeal form and avenge itself. The most powerful daemons will call upon any servants and tributary Lesser Daemons to help them achieve their revenge.If it has many allies, it may also request their aid, though all daemons are cautious in doing so. Such favours must inevitably be returned, and no daemon welcomes the dominion of another creature, be it mortal or daemonic. |
Chaos - Daemonic Incursions: In order for a daemon to break through into the mortal universe, there must be a breach of the barriers between Warpspace and the material realm -- a Warp rift. These are breaches in the fabric of reality that can vary in nature and size, such as the massive Eye of Terror or the Maelstrom.Sometimes these occur randomly; at other times, either mortals or the Chaos Gods themselves bring about their creation by some supernatural act. The size of the breach can vary tremendously, from a slight thinning of the dimensional walls to immense wounds in reality that allow the daemonic legions to invade en masse.At times when certain conditions like the appearance of a Warp Storm or a sorcerous ritual have weakened the barrier between the Warp and realspace, a daemon can possess a mortal and turn him or her into a living portal through which whole daemonic hosts can pass for a time into the material universe.These daemonic incursions can taint realspace severely, often twisting and reshaping whole planets until they are lost into the Warp, becoming a part of the Immaterium and thus transformed into Daemon Worlds. It is not surprising that the Inquisition's Daemonhunters, the Ordo Malleus, are granted unlimited resources and political power by the High Lords of Terra to deal with such terrible threats to the continued existence of Mankind.Often, it is the tumultuous movements of the Warp itself that create a break into the material realm, allowing daemons to spill through the resulting breach. This might happen by chance; events such as the onset of Warp Storms, Warp-Drive implosions or a rogue psyker's mind suddenly exploding with raw power can cause a rift to appear into the Immaterium.At other times, the deliberate rituals and blood sacrifices of Chaos-worshipping mortals can allow the teeming hordes of the Chaos Gods to smash through into the material realm. Sometimes, simple mortal suffering, death and misery on a massive enough scale can form a Warp rift that a daemonic legion might use as a portal.Some Warp rifts last mere solar hours, or even moments, for the nature of Chaos is ever impermanent. A daemonic army that has passed through such a rift can become trapped in realspace and will swiftly succumb to the constant leeching of the Chaos energy required to maintain its presence.Of these, the greatest and most dangerous Warp rift is the Eye of Terror, which has lasted for more than ten thousand standard years. The Eye can be seen as a purple-red bruise upon the firmament from fully half the worlds claimed by the Imperium.It was created by the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh in the early 30th Millennium and is home to unnumbered Daemon Worlds fought over by daemons and mortals alike, the infamous Traitor Legions of the Chaos Space Marines amongst them.Another Warp rift of excessive magnitude is the Maelstrom, found near the galactic core and a haven for thousands of pirates and Renegade Space Marine Chapters.Other, less widely known Warp rifts exist, such as the Heart of Darkness near to the world of Atilla, the Storm of Judgement that engulfs almost all of the Caradryad Sector, Hell's Gullet, which threatens to swallow the Berillian System whole, and the infamous Screaming Vortex that marks the border between the Calixis Sector and the frontier of the Koronus Expanse in the Halo Stars.Random Warp rifts are often caused by Warp Storms -- roiling expanses of turbulence within the Realm of Chaos that are echosed in realspace, restricting Warp-dependent travel and communication. If they become focused or powerful enough, they can pull the fabric of reality taut or even tear it open. Completely unpredictable, Warp Storms can be isolated to single planets or expand to encompass whole sectors.One of the worst Warp Storms ever recorded in Human history cut Terra itself off from the rest of the galaxy for the entire 5,000-year-long epoch known as the Age of Strife. The unfortunate worlds in the vicinity of such a cataclysmic event can become the playgrounds of daemons until the storm finally expends itself.A few Warp Storms have endured for so long that they can be considered permanent, their self-sustaining energies trapping nearby planets and star systems in a quagmire of roiling Chaos.Without the Warp, there would be no psykers, no interstellar travel and no interplanetary communication. In fact, the Warp is essential to the survival of Humanity.Spacecraft travel through its shifting tides, capable of travelling thousands of light years in a fraction of the time a journey using conventional reaction drives at sub-light speeds would take. By such means, Humanity is bound in a single interstellar Imperium, led by the divine Emperor of Mankind.Through astrotelepathy and the guidance of the psychic mutants known as Navigators, the worlds of the Imperium are able to maintain their fragile bonds. The Emperor's will may be mighty, but His reach is long only because His fleets can travel through Warpspace, the fragile bubbles of reality that protect each warship held up by complex Geller Fields and raw faith.While Mankind would have a fraction of its current numbers and strength without the Warp, Chaos in its turn would be much diminished without the presence of Humanity in the galaxy. The Chaos Gods drink emotions and thoughts, growing bloated with psychic power in the process. Over the millennia, each has fed on an aspect of Human nature: rage, desire, corruption and inconstancy.Strengthened and moulded by the collective thoughts and emotions of the inhabitants of reality, the Dark Gods nurture in Mankind those same passions that sustain their very existence. As Humanity has spread across the stars, its numbers have grown immeasurably, fuelling the Chaos Gods. So the circle is established, with mortal follies and weaknesses feeding the Dark Gods and those same gods then encouraging Mankind in turn to further follies and weakness.Humanity has long been able to use the power of the Warp -- magicians, seers, witches, mediums, shamans and exorcists have all trapped into its power across the breadth of Human history, albeit often unwittingly. Psykers such as these manifest their powers by drawing upon the Warp, siphoning its unnatural energy to hurl blasts of energy, teleport objects, send their thoughts across space and time and perform countless other "miracles."Once, the gift of true psychic power was confined to only a few helpless individuals who usually fell victim to superstitious prejudice in Mankind's distant past. However, the number of psykers is rising in the galactic population of Humanity with every passing century.This constitutes a profound evolutionary change for Mankind. Every time a psyker draws upon the Warp, he disturbs its natural flow, creating an eddy that may simply die away or be fed by other movements until it becomes a raging tempest that feeds a Chaos God. Each psyker causes a pinprick of disturbance within the Warp; each can be the seed of a Warp Storm; each can rouse a Chaos Power to unthinkable conquest.The invasion of a daemonic army is analogous to hell being unleashed upon reality. Free from the physical limitations of a mortal force, a daemonic legion can appear and disappear at will. On occasion, it will mass for a great attack; at other times, individual packs of daemons will hunt across the affected globe, terrorising the populace, randomly enslaving and killing.Those mortals with even the least psychic potential suffer first as the influx of Warp energy releases the latent power of their mind, immolating them with magical fire, turning them into rocky statues, or causing their brains to simply explode. Poltergeist activity and random bursts of pyrokinesis can ruin buildings in an instant. People hear deranged screams and lurid whispering whilst unnatural stenches taint the air.A daemonic invasion is all but impossible to stop by conventional means, for the very act of warring against daemons feeds the psychic power keeping them in realspace with fear and hatred. Only the closing of the Warp rift can deprive the daemons of their power.Often, there is nothing that can be done but battle against the incursion until the Warp rift runs its course. Battles fought against a daemonic incursion are utterly different than those against mortal foes, for defensive structures and garrisons have little to no effect. To wage war against invading daemonic hosts, an army must be ready to respond to the most sudden appearances of its adversaries.To compound matters, the motivations behind daemonic incursions are unfathomable. Even the Tyranids, who are so alien as to be beyond the ken of man, war for sustenance and survival. Instead of these base drives, the objectives of a daemon commander will often be completely obscure -- they might be to slay a million mortals, to retrieve a single artefact, or to kill the grandchildren of those that once banished them back to the Warp.Other times, the daemons have no goal or plan at all, and the gibbering creatures of the Immaterium make decisions according to opportunity and their intrinsic nature. |
Chaos - Forces of Chaos: The "forces of Chaos" is a term applied by Imperial scholars to all the myriad servants of the Ruinous Powers of Chaos who seek to destroy the Imperium of Man and replace it with the utterly anarchic predominance of Chaos.This is a state of affairs that would likely result in the eventual extinction of the Human race and indeed of all sentient life in the Milky Way Galaxy were it to come to fruition.For clarity's sake, most scholars divide up the forces of Chaos into three major components, including the inhuman daemonic entities that are native to the Warp and only rarely impinge upon the physical universe, the Lost and the Damned which includes among their numbers Chaos Cultists, Traitor Guardsmen, mutants and the other mortal devotees of Chaos and finally, Chaos' most potent mortal servants, the Traitor Legions of the Chaos Space Marines and their counterparts amongst the Hereteks and Traitor Titan Legions of the Dark Mechanicum.To further explore each of these components of the forces of Chaos, please see:DaemonsThe Lost and the DamnedChaos Space MarinesDark Mechanicum |
Chaos - Imperial Secrecy: To protect its citizens from the insidious temptations of Chaos, the Imperium of Man long did its best to hide the existence of the Chaos Gods, Daemons and the Chaos Space Marines from public knowledge. Only certain Space Marines, Sanctioned Psykers and the members of the Inquisition were permitted to know the Imperium's darkest secret.It was long Inquisitorial policy to mind-wipe even members of the Adeptus Astartes, including entire Chapters in some cases, after exposure to the daemonic.All others are either put to death after exposure to the reality of Chaos to protect the Imperium from their possible corruption, or if they have been a valuable servant to the Imperium, they are allowed to live but required to undergo memory modification or even, in extreme cases, a mind-wipe.This is a policy that has been in place since before the Emperor of Mankind was interred within the Golden Throne, when only He and His primarchs knew that the Warp contained intelligent entities capable of possessing individuals in realspace.But even the Emperor did not reveal to His primarchs during the Great Crusade the full truth that the Warp was not just a seething cauldron of psychic energies inhabited by entities similar to xenos, but was actually populated by malign intelligences akin to the supernatural beings of ancient Human myth and superstition.He chose not to explain that the Empyrean was dominated by the Ruinous Powers and their daemonic servants, for fear that this knowledge alone would lead too many of the primarchs to take actions that would lead to their corruption.To fight a Daemon army is to fight a twisting tornado of unreason and despair that forever changes those who must confront its horror. As such, the Imperium believes that it cannot allow the knowledge that such foes actually exist to spread, since even the simple knowledge of Chaos' existence may mark the start of an individual's fall to damnation.The Human survivors of conflicts with the daemonic were invariably confronted by the agents of the Inquisition and mind-wiped, quarantined for life in forced labour camps or even -- in extreme cases -- made the subjects of a worldwide Exterminatus event.Over the aeons, the galaxy has witnessed Warp-based catastrophes and daemonic incursions beyond counting. Since the inception of the Inquisition after the Horus Heresy, even the fact that such a thing is possible is deemed too dangerous for the citizens of the Imperium to know, for such knowledge breeds heresy as surely as a flyblown corpse breeds maggots.Because of this, the vast majority of knowledge concerning daemonic incursions has been eradicated from extant Imperial public records. What is known is recorded only in proscribed Imperial texts and heretical xenos scripts that the Inquisition has yet to destroy.However, in the wake of the opening of the Great Rift at the start of the Era Indomitus, this policy of secrecy has been somewhat relaxed, at least for the Adeptus Astartes, due to necessity. Before the opening of the Great Rift, the vast majority of Astartes were expected to be as ignorant about the existence of Daemons as any other citizen of the Imperium.In truth, it was hard to find an Astartes who had not fought Daemons by the end of the 41st Millennium. Yet the Inquisition in the Time of Ending was well-known to mind-wipe entire Chapters after certain incidents, though not every Chapter was willing to submit. Some like the Space Wolves resisted any intrusion on their traditional autonomy forcefully.But in the Era Indomitus, with the galaxy now riven in half by the birth of the Cicatrix Maledictum, daemonic incursions are so common, and Space Marine responses so necessary, that suppressing the knowledge of the existence of Daemons among the Astartes has simply become pointless. |
Chaos Beast - Chaos Beast: A Chaos Beast is a horrific, Daemon-possessed mutant monstrosity sometimes deployed by the forces of Chaos.Many horrors too foul to name are born on the Daemon Worlds of the Eye of Terror and within other Warp rifts. They are foul abominations of Chaos, creatures taken by the Dark Gods and corrupted and mutated for the god's entertainment or possessed by ravenous Daemons eager to experience the savage joys of spreading carnage through realspace.Tormented and driven insane by its new hideous form, its soul governed by the base desires of the Daemon within, the Chaos Beast seeks only to kill before being slain in its turn.Chaos Beasts come in many forms, but each is a creature of muscle, sinew, fangs and claws, with only one thought driving it, to charge headlong into the enemy, tearing and goring a bloody path across the battlefield. |
Chaos Child (Novel) - Chaos Child (Novel): Chaos Child is a novel by Ian Watson. It was released in 1995 and is collected in the Inquisition War Omnibus. |
Chaos Child (Novel) - Synopsis: In the strife-torn galaxy of the 41st Millennium can Inquisitor Jaq Draco, hunted by Imperial and alien enemies, learn to read the Eldar book of fate and discover the secret of the final apocalypse?Devastated by the death of his assassin-courtesan Meh'Lindi, might Jaq surrender his soul to a Daemon to discover the legendary place where time can reverse, so as to bring her back from the dead?If Jaq's faith in the faltering Imperium fails, might the Space Marine captain who accompanies him be forced to kill him?Amidst massacres on the holy world of Sabulorb, Jaq will not have long before Chaos raiders come, and vengeful aliens too, before the planet itself is faced with incineration... |
Chaos Cult - Chaos Cult: A Chaos Cult is the most dangerous of all those organisations that plot to overthrow the rule of the Imperium of Man from within. All planets and civilisations belonging to the Imperium can harbour Chaos-tainted organisations, which themselves are as diverse in practice and membership as is imaginable.From the blood-soaked sacrificial cults of Feral Worlds to the philosophical secret societies of more advanced planets, the temptations of Chaos can capture all. The objective of the Chaos Cult is to survive and eventually dominate the society in which it dwells. Mere survival is particularly important on Imperial worlds, where Chaos worship is the greatest of heresies and Inquisitors are always vigilant and ready to wipe out any taint of Chaos.Generally clandestine in nature, as discovery could bring with it attention from the local Adeptus Arbites contingent all the way up to the Inquisition, cults often hide behind the front of some form of legitimate Imperial organisation in their attempt to accumulate local or planetary power, such as trade unions, charitable organisations, accepted religious groups and even local variants of the Imperial Cult.Extreme political parties make good fronts for cults, as they naturally attract power-hungry and mentally unbalanced individuals, who make particularly good material for potential cult members. A very successful organisation can achieve real political power, even gaining enough strength to make it possible for the cult to become the governing body of the planet without having to resort to outright rebellion.After taking root, and as it expands in power and influence, eventually a Chaos Cult may end up effectively ruling anything from a township to the entire planet. Eventually, an uprising breaks out, either purposefully or because the cult has grown too large and/or unruly to remain secret any longer. At this point, the cult can be expected to summon aid from their Chaos masters, ranging from daemonic possessions of cult members to the outright summoning of members of the Traitor Legions through the Warp to the planet.Cults may also unleash an uprising in concert with a pre-planned invasion of Chaos Space Marines. The ultimate aim of the cult's uprising is to overthrow the Imperial planetary government and attain direct control over the world. After the conflict, cultists are often taken back into the Eye of Terror where they either join the damned population of a Daemon World or are recruited (sometimes forcibly) into a Chaos Champion's armed forces or as auxiliaries to his warband.The origins of new Chaos Cultists are legion. The teeming masses of the Imperium have colonised the galaxy from end to end. Trillions of souls labour night and day in an increasingly hostile universe. Kilometres-high hive cities boil with overpopulation, dense hab-complexes sprawl across continents, and Industrial Worlds grind and churn by the efforts of uncounted workers under the steely gaze of their high-handed overlords. But the Adepts of the established order cannot be everywhere at once.A regime as restrictive and oppressive as the Imperium provides fertile ground for insurrection, and there are those that would foster this discontent for their own black ends. Rebellion festers in the foetid underbelly of almost every civilised Imperial world, a fire just waiting for a spark. Where the flames of heresy are given fuel, Chaos is quick to follow, turning desperate men into worshippers of the Dark Gods -- and the easy path to power and wealth they promise.The cultists of Chaos can be found, in one form or another, almost anywhere the Imperium has spread. At first glance, they are indistinguishable from normal men and women, but under their clothes, their flesh is tattooed and branded with sigils that hurt the eyes of any faithful who look upon them. When the Heretic Astartes come to a planet, the true colours of the cultists are revealed. The powers of darkness are ever quick to promise glory, and even the lowliest initiate knows that to fight alongside such legendary transhuman warriors is to court the gaze of the gods.Improvised armour is donned and long-hidden weapons are broken out as the cultists prepare to overthrow the Imperium one hab-block at a time. Rag-tag companies band together under the demagogues that arrive in their midst, for the everyday life of an Imperial citizen is usually so hopeless that even the hint of a new order can be intoxicating.When open war breaks out, screaming gangs of cultists rush into battle armed with primitive solid-shot weapons, the largest of their number toting Heavy Stubbers and industrial Flamers. Despite their primitive wargear, Chaos Cultists are often able to drown a superior foe through sheer weight of numbers and a fierce desire to tear open the belly of the Imperium.As the witch-hunting Ordo Hereticus is always keen to point out, Chaos Cultists can come from almost any background. Psychotic soldiers, cut-throat hive gangers, decadent nobles, Astra Militarum deserters, persecuted Abhumans and sewer-dwelling mutants all turn to the service of Chaos in order to improve their lot.After all, even a man who has nothing left can still barter away his soul. The mutational "gifts" received by the most powerful cultists can be just as strange as those granted to their Chaos Space Marine masters; a favoured devotee might have muscles of living steel, flailing sucker-tentacles in place of a tongue, or the horned head of a mindless beast.Regardless of their station, each of these dangerous malcontents trains their mind and body for the day when the favoured of the gods will lead them to a darkly glorious future, when they can rise up against the hated order of the Imperium and set the galaxy aflame. |
Chaos Cult - Horus Heresy: When the Age of Darkness inaugurated by the Horus Heresy descended upon the Imperium of Man, the galaxy reeled in shock that the Emperor's greatest champions -- the primarchs and their Astartes sons -- would seek to tear down all they had built during the Great Crusade. The Legiones Astartes were created to be the very best of Mankind, the champions and protectors of an entire species, the stalwart defenders against the unnameable horrors that had brought humanity to the brink of destruction during the bleak millennia of Old Night.If near-demigods such as Horus, Fulgrim or Lorgar could be corrupted under the baleful influence of the powers of the Warp, then what hope remained that the teeming populations of mortal Humanity would do otherwise?As the Horus Heresy entered its second year and the fires of war swept across the Imperium, the true and horrific extent of the Traitors' sins were exposed. The earliest battles had revealed the Warmaster Horus to have turned numerous august bodies to his cause, including those within the Mechanicum Taghmata and the Legio Titanicus, as well as uncounted Excertus Imperialis Auxilia units.At Calth however, a new element of the Traitors' blasphemy was employed -- vast hosts of mortals sworn to serve the Traitor Legiones Astartes, devoted to them not only in body but in soul; these were deluded "Warp cultists" -- so-named because of their mindless veneration of the creatures that dwell in the Empyrean and of their fallen Legiones Astartes masters.Warp cults had of course been encountered, albeit infrequently, during the progress of the Great Crusade. Such debased examples of Humanity were usually found on worlds within proximity of existing Warp Storm activity or with a prevalence of psyker birth within the general population. Such cults were oft times tainted with interaction with xenos lore or contamination by alien species, or promulgated by some alpha-level rogue psyker with messianic or apocalyptic pretentions.Direct confrontations with such threats were however rare as they were either a relatively minor factor in a larger Imperial Compliance campaign or encountered in highly unusual circumstances, such as the lengthy persecution of the void-born Gethora Warp-Witches by the Night Lords Legion across the Vaomir Reaches in the late 970s.M30.The principal reason for this was that since the very beginning of the Great Crusade, any world encountered with substantial Warp breaches in evidence of the kind that such cults either promulgated or were often spawned from were simply destroyed via Exterminatus from orbit without direct confrontation.This order had been a direct and unwavering dictate issued directly by the Emperor and one that had been upheld almost without exception until the Word Bearers themselves began to covertly subvert and ignore it for their own ends.As to the "truth" of such veneration, it was considered no more than just another false religion, meaningless in the context of the Imperial Truth, and consigned to the darkness from which the Great Crusade was delivering the galaxy, or so it was believed.The truth, however, was that on many fringe and backwater worlds declared Compliant by Horus' supporters, entire populations had not just been allowed to shed the mask of civilisation and reason and surrender themselves to the Warp, but actively encouraged to do so by the work of the Word Bearers and other, far more hidden, forces.As the insanity of galactic civil war gripped the Imperium during the Horus Heresy, previously law-abiding peoples rose up against their masters, slaughtering those in authority in bloody displays of long-repressed hatred.Once-productive workers smashed the machines they had tended for generations and set manufactoria to the torch, whilst amongst the madness educated men and women cast off the secular reason they had been born into and resurrected the heathen idolatries of their ancestors. |
Chaos Cult - Roots of Insanity: Of the seeds of this galaxy-wide chaos, much has been surmised but very little proven. Indeed, it is likely the Warp cults that originally aligned themselves to the Warmaster Horus' cause did so for a wide range of different reasons, although the end result was essentially the same -- anarchy, bloodshed and treachery on a galactic scale.Regardless of the underlying source of the taint, it was the dark genius of the Warmaster's numerous envoys, in particular the Word Bearers' Dark Apostles and their disciples, that harnessed it to the Traitors' cause. No doubt most would have receded over the generations were it not for the far-reaching and horrific scheme of First Chaplain Erebus and his kin, while others would likely have burned themselves out in brief, if bloody, rebellions.One source of the Chaos corruption which led to the formation of many Warp cults was the religiosity of many ancestor populations, suggesting woeful failure in the Imperial Iterators whose task it was to dispel these beliefs and replace them with the Imperial Truth. Indeed, no world should have been declared fully Compliant until this had occurred, hinting at either conspiracy on a monumental scale or gross systemic incompetence.The latter might seem the more plausible theory, but the events of the Horus Heresy indicate the former is all too possible. Regardless, in the aftermath of the Isstvan V betrayal, countless thousands of formerly denounced religions reawakened in subtly altered form.Benevolent deities were supplanted by vengeful gods and offerings of crops replaced with demands for blood sacrifice. All led inexorably to the worship of those Ruinous Powers which came so close to laying the Imperium low.Another source lay in Mankind's own dark nature. Despite the trappings of civilisation and the appointment of Imperial Commanders to rule over them, the populations of a great many Human-settled worlds still existed in barbarous conditions little improved since the Age of Strife. A campaign to bring a primitive Feral World such as Oran or Forman C2 to Imperial Compliance might be won in solar weeks, but it might take solar decades or standard centuries before such a world could support a functional society able to take its place within the Imperium.The populations of these worlds were notoriously warlike and primitive, and it took many generations to educate them in the Imperial Truth, for native ancestral superstitions were never far from the surface of those recently illuminated by the Emperor's light.Similarly, large parts of the populations of many Hive Worlds were violently lawless and resentful of any form of authority. Even the most productive of Hive Worlds were host to countless thousands of wretches who existed in the lightless under-hive depths without ever learning of the Imperial Truth.On worlds such as Gamma-Horgan, Kado and Avellorn, hyper-violent underhive gangers were quick to join with the forces of disorder when the Horus Heresy came to their world, hailing Horus as a leader truly deserving of their loyalty.At the other end of the spectrum were highly-ranked individuals whose positions within the upper echelons of the Imperial expeditionary fleets granted them access to knowledge others were denied. Though many aberrant Human cultures were entirely obliterated, conservators attached to the Great Crusade's fleets strove to record tales of the defeated foes of Mankind, from ravening alien horrors to recalcitrant Human societies.Much of this knowledge was locked securely away and remained accessible only to the most senior of Human and transhuman leaders, for many accounts contradicted the atheistic doctrines of the Imperial Truth and could not be allowed to fall into the hands of the weak or the ignorant.Inevitably however, some did, and many senior conservators were compromised by the events they recounted or the accounts in their custody. Men and women who had dedicated their entire lives to proving primitive superstitions false discovered that their own beliefs in empiricism and rationality were in fact founded upon lies.When the Age of Darkness fell upon the galaxy, the knowledge watched over by many conservators escaped into the hands of madmen and Traitors who preached it to the Warp-slaved multitudes. |
Chaos Cult - Battle of Calth: The events that unfolded at the Battle of Calth would reveal a far more concerted effort to cultivate false religiosity in direct contradiction of the Imperial Truth in preparation for the galaxy-wide uprising that erupted in the aftermath of the events on Isstvan V.It would be many standard years until the horrifying extent was realised but it is now evident that the XVIIth Legion -- the Word Bearers -- deliberately seeded countless hidden Warp cults across the worlds they had brought to Compliance in the five solar decades prior to the outbreak of the Horus Heresy.These were referred to the "sons of Lorgar" and by many of the cults themselves as the "Holy Worlds" and beneath the mask of Imperial Compliance, they hid a myriad of aberrant doctrines. Worlds that on the surface appeared ordered and civilised in fact seethed with heresy just below the surface.Furthermore, they attracted the outcast and the dispossessed, those unable or unwilling to accept the Imperial Truth. Individually or in small groups, hidden Chaos pilgrims travelled from all over the Imperium to join these bodies, swelling their numbers to such an extent that when word was given, countless billions rose up as one and declared the Warmaster Horus as their lord, and in some cases, their god. |
Chaos Cult - The Primordial Annihilator: At the time of the Battle of Calth in the early 31st Millennium, few amongst the Imperium's rulers were conscious of what the numerous Warp cults actually believed. Later, they would become all too aware, and later still, all such knowledge would be suppressed and declared anathema by the High Lords of Terra and the Inquisition.At that early stage, it was guessed that the cults worshipped what they imagined to be deities within the otherworldly dimension of the Warp. Certainly, Navigators and astropaths, and perhaps the primarchs, were aware that the Empyrean was host to an order of life that had no analogue in the material universe, but which was able to interact in a limited fashion with it, in particular through those who had been born with psychic abilities, ranging from Enslavers to Psychneuein.Investigations, interrogations and signals intercepts revealed myriad occult terms in use amongst the Warp cults, much of it beyond classification, but there remained certain terms and precepts that appeared over and again.The "Primordial Annihilator" was one such term, a title determined to refer to the Warp itself, as if the Empyrean were some vast gestalt consciousness which the Warp cults appeared to venerate.Others referred to the "Octed" and the "Eightfold Path", ascribing an unfathomable formulae and a dark purpose to those entities they believed guided their actions. |
Chaos Cult - Ignorant Armies: The Traitor Legiones Astartes made increasingly extensive use of allied Human Warp cults as the wars of the Horus Heresy progressed.In many cases the cultists were found easier to raise and frankly more disposable than conventional Imperial military units, for while they were nowhere near as well-trained or equipped, they were often so utterly devoted to their corrupted transhuman masters they would obey any order and perform any deed, no matter how callous, inhumane or suicidal it was.The Sons of Horus Legion, for example, used Warp cults as occupation units during the Warmaster Horus' later phases of the so-called Dark Compliance, for they brought such oppression to captured worlds that few would dare rise up against them.Cultists made effective hunter-killer squads, adept at tracking down every last vestige of Loyalist activity on Traitor-held worlds and making grisly examples of those they captured.Cult forces also served as brutal overseers of enslaved populations, driving the output of industrialised worlds to many times previous levels to meet ever more strident demands for arms and equipment to fuel the Traitors' advance on Terra.Where the Sons of Horus used cult forces to control dominated worlds, the IIIrd Legion, as it slid into its own moral abyss, used such allied forces as disposable sycophants and slavish worshippers, debased beings who viewed the Emperor's Children as the very apex of creation and for whom no indignity, crime or sacrifice was too great to perform in the hope of favour.Mortal servants of the IIIrd Legion abased themselves before their masters and would offer their lives in return for the briefest acknowledgement of their very existence.With a single word, any Emperor's Children Legionary could order a hundred allied cultists to attempt the most lethal of tasks or suicidal of battlefield missions, orders the cultists would obey unquestioningly with rapturous fervour. The Heretic Astartes themselves regarded the cultists with contempt, barely noting their presence except where dictated by necessity.In several Traitor Legions, the ranks of Humanity that constituted their support echelons -- Legion serfs, void crews, menials and auxiliary troops -- were slowly transformed into cult-like bodies. As the Horus Heresy ground on and the Traitor Legions began to cast off the trappings of their Imperial founding, their servants too were transformed into something else entirely.Many of the Warp cultists came to idolise their transhuman masters as demigods, entire sects springing into being aboard the Traitor fleets. Many were a continuation of the warrior lodges seeded in the Traitor Legions before the Horus Heresy even began, while others were spontaneous expressions of recidivistic superstition entirely beneath the notice of the Traitor Marines themselves. Soon enough, all had called upon and were enthralled to Warp-born entities that cared only to feed upon their bodies and their souls.Not all Traitor Legions, it must be said, had much use or regard for allied Warp cults, seeing them as debased, dangerous and beneath them, at least before the Age of the Scouring when many were forced to turn at last to the dark forces themselves to survive.One noted example of this disregard was in the Iron Warriors Legion who, in a manner entirely in keeping with the nature of their primarch and temperament, used hordes of cultists under their control as expendable levies, utterly scorning their "faith" and viewing them of less use than even enslaved local defence militia, which could at least be counted upon to hold a weapon correctly.Notably, if such cult forces came under Perturabo's control, his standing orders provided for the culling of any potent psyker or Warp-crafter able to raise such Warp entities as might interfere with the Iron Warriors' authority, while thousands of the cult's members were driven across mine fields or on to the enemies' guns; those who reached the walls forming a ramp of the dead and dying over which the Iron Warriors would launch the final escalade assault.Sometimes, cult forces tens of thousands strong were herded towards an enemy city or fortress simply so that Iron Warriors Warsmiths could survey the foe's fortifications and map their fire plans without expending their own forces, both Legion and mortal military auxilia they deemed of greater value.To the Night Lords, it seems that such Warp cults were often no more than trivialities -- pawns in the Warmaster's game and the distrusted lickspittles of the Word Bearers, with whom they were nominally allied but scorned and distrusted. The Night Lords' mortal auxilia and servants had no master but them, even the whispers of the Warp failing to entice them, and no rule but for the fear the Night Lords engendered.This paranoia and obsessive control was even more evident in the machinations of the Alpha Legion, whose own web of agents and armies were labyrinthine and unknowable, and what use they made of Warp cults in this era, and at what remove, cannot now be determined.Of all the Traitor Legions, however, it was the Word Bearers that made the greatest use of allied Warp cult groups, and it was at Calth where they were first openly employed. |
Chaos Cult - Slaves to the Void: Although the Word Bearers often employed the many Warp cult forces aligned to them as auxiliary soldiery, their greater worth was as a mass offering to the Warp entities to which they were dedicated.In the aftermath of the Isstvan V Drop Site Massacre, the Warmaster Horus had tasked Lorgar and his brother Primarch Angron with engaging the Ultramarines on the Eastern Fringe and ensuring that the XIIIth Legion was not able to interfere with the Traitors' march on Terra. Lorgar intended to achieve this by two means: one military, the other far more esoteric.The military objective was to unfold during and after the Battle of Calth, once the Ultramarines' strength had been shattered by the surprise assault of the Word Bearers forces. In this, the Warp cultists aligned to Lorgar played a support role, for the task of killing Legiones Astartes could only be performed with any true efficacy by other Astartes.The Warp cultists' role in the Battle of Calth was to engage the mortal forces mustered on and about Calth -- the native defence units, Imperial Army line regiments and the elite of the Solar Auxilia.They were used as cannon fodder by the Word Bearers, hurled against a thousand defensive positions in order to foul the defenders' guns while the Traitor Astartes closed to assault range to deliver the killing blow.They were then used to hunt down survivors of the initial betrayal and to harry any force that attempted to consolidate with other remnants and were given responsibility for scouring the cities of Calth of their populations, driving the populace from the shelter of the dense cities and into the killing fields directly under the guns of the Word Bearers' planetary bombardment fleet.As much as these tasks represented a military objective, they each served a still greater end which not even the genius of Roboute Guilliman could foresee. The deaths inflicted by and upon the numerous Warp cults aligned to the Word Bearers were all enacted as part of Lorgar's great ritual to bring about the Ruinstorm -- a vast Warp Storm similar to the later Great Rift that was to reave its way across the stars and slice the Imperium apart.Every drop of blood shed by the Warp cults, whether that blood was their own or their enemies', served to attract the attentions of the Ruinous Powers. Each scream resounded in the Empyrean and added yet another note in the great symphony of Chaos which only Lorgar could perceive and direct. That symphony was building to a crescendo that was to break many solar months later at Nuceria during the climax of the Shadow Crusade.Though it might appear that the Word Bearers' allied Warp cults were brutally exploited in the pursuit of Lorgar's grand scheme, the truth must be that they were entirely willing participants in their own demise. The cultists had been promised all manner of esoteric and visceral rewards in return for their lives.These religious fanatics willingly threw themselves onto the enemy's guns, in the process achieving the multiple goals of soaking enemy fire, blocking shots aimed at their Legiones Astartes masters and of proving themselves worthy of the rewards promised to them.They did so with evident fervour, shrieks of blasphemous ecstasy on their bloody lips even as they fell, a pattern of behaviour still seen in the present day among Chaos Cultists.A further, still more awful, use which the Word Bearers' cultic allies were put to was only suspected at the time and was uncovered in more detail during the long years of the Calth Underworld War. The cultists were used as sacrificial offerings to the Ruinous Powers, willingly setting their necks upon sacrificial blocks or shedding their guts upon stone altars as part of the most hideous and debased Chaos rituals imaginable.The objectives of these rituals varied, and while some were component parts of the larger ritual to bring the Ruinstorm into being, others were intended to summon Warp entities -- only later named "Daemons" in common Imperial parlance -- from the other-dimension of the Warp.The more ritual form the deaths took, the more powerful or more numerous the entities summoned, so that for a time at least, the raw stuff of reality became stretched and worn at Calth as the things brought forth by the Word Bearers fell upon their mortal prey in an orgy of blood.Oftentimes, those cultists not slain during the summoning of the Warp entities were butchered by them soon afterwards, serving as the sustenance the creatures required to remain in the material dimension and fuel the planet-wide slaughter to come. |
Chaos Cult - Unit Composition: 9-39 Chaos Cultists1 Chaos Cultist Champion |
Chaos Cult - Wargear: Flak Armour (Optional, most cultists wear no armour or improvised armour)AutogunAutopistol (Optional replacement for Autogun)Heavy Stubber (Optional replacement for Autogun, 1 for every 10 cultists)Flamer (Optional replacement for Autogun, 1 for every 10 cultists)Shotgun (Optional replacement for Cultist Champion's Autogun)Brutal Assault Weapon (Improvised melee weapon, optional replacement for Autogun, 1 for every 10 cultists, or replacement for Cultist Champion's Autogun in addition to an Autopistol) |
Chaos Cult - Nature of the Enemy: Heresy, false belief, political corruption, the danger of religious schism, treachery, apostasy, rebellion, and disorder are all utterly corrosive to the unflinching order that sustains Human interstellar civilisation.Unity of purpose is needed if the Imperium, indeed Humanity, is to survive in such a hostile universe. Since the dark days of the Age of Apostasy, it has been the sacred task of the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition to sustain that order by any means necessary.The foes of that order are diverse and widespread, from the false Adeptus Ministorum priest to the dissolute noblemen, demagogues and seditionists of every stripe, the mutant skulking in the shadows, and those who would sell out Humanity to the alien or worse.But of all its enemies, it is witches and rogue psykers that are the Ordo Hereticus' prime targets and their pursuit, suppression, and destruction its most fervent goal. For any psyker who escapes discovery or flees from his just fate as part of the Black Ship's tithe, the Witch Hunter's pyre awaits. |
Chaos Cult - Nature of Cults: The business of the Ordo Hereticus is largely centred on the discovery and destruction of heretical or otherwise illegal cults and groups. The usage of the term "cult" within the Inquisition, and the wider Imperium for that matter, is a general one used to encompass the bewildering variety of possible religious sects, secret societies, creeds, political parties, associations, guilds, and conspiracies that are commonplace in the Imperium's many cultures. Outside what might be termed the two great religious cults of the Imperium -- the Imperial Creed and the Adeptus Mechanicus -- many other cults exist.The most common take the form of sects of the Imperial state-sanctioned faith who devote themselves to a particular aspect of doctrine or the veneration of a particular Imperial Saint or miraculous event. Second to these are warrior societies of various forms, which are especially prevalent on Feral or Feudal Worlds, followed closely by the numerous cult-like groups, most often preferring the term "guild," who cater to a particular specialised craft or trade.Beyond these, most Imperial worlds often boast scores of other local cults whose exact nature often baffles outside scrutiny, tied to some idiosyncrasy of culture, planet, clan, or historical event. It is only when a group becomes considered heretical and is judged to espouse an ideology that is contrary to the Imperium's law or broad strictures of the Imperial Creed that a cult merits the Holy Ordos' attentions.Heresy can be a contagious thing in itself, and when it spreads, a cult is often formed from those that subscribe to it. In other cases, a powerful or charismatic leader will often draw a coterie of devoted disciples and followers into forming a heretical cult, and by the same token, deviants and like-minded individuals often join together for mutual support and protection.Cults exist in the main for very good reasons, the most obvious being secrecy -- the protection and greater resources of the larger group allows it to better organise and conceal itself from prying eyes, rivals, and outside threats.The second is power, as the strength of a cult's membership united is often far greater than what an individual would possess. This is a truth that remains constant on many levels, from pooled finances to sustaining and reinforcing the loyalty and adherence of its members.Isolation, after all, promotes cohesion in-and-of-itself, whilst division will destroy a cult as easily as any Witch Hunter's purge.Heretical cults often share several common attributes despite their many differences. Most seek to conceal themselves behind the disguise of a more benign (or at least accepted) front organisation, or remain completely hidden from the authorities in order to avoid discovery. Cults also often favour a particular milieu in which to operate and recruit fresh members, which is often determined by the cult's own nature.For example, a cult centred on fermenting rebellion amongst mutant labourers will confine itself to the shatters and barrens where the mutants dwell, recruiting from the disaffected and outcasts among their numbers.Meanwhile a malefic conspiracy of Daemon worship among the depraved Imperial planetary nobility will often limit itself to the salons and private estates of the elite for its haunts and recruiting grounds.Many cults also share similar organisational structures despite their differing goals and natures, the most common of which are detailed below. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and in many cases, the structure may involve many minor differences in practice and effect. While a particular cult may favour one structure over another, it will often include other structural elements as well. |
Chaos Cult - Apocalypts: It is no coincidence that many of the lowly followers of Chaos are mentally unstable, social misfits, or else desperate individuals whose only hope of sanctuary lies in the bosom of Chaos.Among these are people who believe that all Mankind is doomed, and that they live in the last days of Man's dominion before the universe is swallowed by Chaos.These people are called "Apocalypts," and their particular brand of insanity inspires them to fight against all government order to bring about the collapse of civilisation which they believe inevitable. |
Chaos Cult - Blood Cult: While warbands of Heretic Astartes and Traitoris Militarum practice their worship of the Lord of Skulls openly, mortal cultists gather in backrooms and secret slaughter tunnels beneath crowded streets, plotting murder and bloodshed in Khorne's name.Given the terrible nature of many Imperial worlds, however, locals often barely notice the increases in violent crimes, missing persons, and gory dismemberments, allowing Blood Cults of Khorne to flourish below the rot of Imperial society.The members of these cults have many different reasons for joining together. Some have seen a friend die in a bar fight. Others have lost their families in Adeptus Arbites raids or riot suppression actions. There are even those who fight for sport because they enjoy the feeling of fists shattering jawbones.All these reasons and more can set a man or woman on the path toward the veneration of Khorne. Vengeance and combat are intoxicating to those predisposed to revel in them. This feeling drives individuals to want more, to be strong enough to topple greater foes, and to seek the power necessary to do so.No matter the reason that brings them together, when these individuals find each other, they are united by a common desire. They wish to kill, offering blood and skulls in exchange for power and retribution, and Khorne has much to offer them in the bargain. |
Chaos Cult - Cellular Cults: Perhaps the most efficient structure for a cult carrying out activities that risk regular exposure and persecution is the "cellular structure." This kind of cult's structure breaks down its membership into a series of small sub-groups, the cult's cells.Cells, which range from a handful of individuals up to perhaps hundreds of members, are each devoted to carrying out a particular specialisation or a certain task or goal.Other than the select few, or an individual, who control the cell, none of the cell's other members has any direct contact with the wider cult or even other cultists outside of his immediate circle and cell. This structure has the profound advantage that if any of its rank-and-file are captured or compromised, they may betray nothing that does not concern their own immediate cell, keeping the wider cult safe and its dealings and purposes secret.Indeed, this shell game may be carried further, with a particular cell's leadership forming the rank-and-file of another, smaller cell senior in authority, and that cell's leadership part of another and so on.This can prove a phenomenally hard structure to successfully track and destroy and by its nature is highly adept at covert and independent operations. Many of the most dangerous cults and heretical groups who are sufficiently well-organised operate a cell structure or at least organise their field agents into cells for this reason, as does, ironically enough, the Inquisition. |
Chaos Cult - Charismatic Cults: Charismatic cults are the simplest in structure, as their organisation is based around the authority of a single figure -- the cult's leader. Personal authority is usually the norm in these cults and is maintained by the leader's force of character, natural charisma, oratory skills, or simple personal power.Cults led by a single powerful figure such as a witch or magus are often of this type, although any place where malcontent or religious schism breeds can throw up a charismatic leader.This individual will exploit the weakness of others for their own personal power or gratification, or the fulfilment of their own apocalyptic vision. |
Chaos Cult - Cults of Change: Individuals who exhibit great cunning, intelligence, and ambition -- particularly those who came into power through convoluted schemes -- have a part to play in the great drama of the Playwright of Destiny.As Tzeentch and its minions prefer to wage war through deception, guile, espionage, and trickery rather than open warfare, the Master of Fate places high value on mortals in positions of power who can influence organisations, gain access to classified information, direct the allocation of resources, and shape decisions and policy.The Great Conspirator does not discriminate, nor does it recruit only from the social and intellectual elite. Tzeentch also prizes those cunning and ruthless low-born individuals who must lie, cheat, steal, and deceive simply to survive. Anyone with the right combination of strengths and attributes might catch Tzeentch's attention. |
Chaos Cult - Death Cults of the Imperium: Death and blood underpin Human existence. It is a common truism that only through continued blood-sacrifice in the face of a hostile universe will Mankind prevail, a sacrifice likened in the Imperial Creed to the bodily sacrifice of the Emperor Himself.So it is in these beliefs that Death Cults flourish within the Imperium, a dark shadow of the more readily recognised sects of the Imperial faith, making them some of the most dangerous heretical cults that the Inquisition can encounter.Some are no doubt deluded, corrupted by the Ruinous Powers or swayed by far older and more terrible influences, but many are devout followers of the Throne. To these individuals, every death, every cut, every welling of blood is an act of worship to the Immortal Emperor of Mankind.Such death cults can vary widely in purpose, creed, makeup, and scope, but even the least suspect walks something of a tightrope between the sublime and the damned. Most so-called Death Cults, despite their differences, can be divided into three broad categories: |
Chaos Cult - Sanguinary Cults: Perhaps the most commonplace and famed sub-division of the Death Cults, sanguinary cults focus on the act of bloodshed itself -- the manifold art of killing and the moment of extinction. Often honing the skills of the assassin beyond the ken of normal men, such cults are tolerated or at least wilfully ignored by the Imperial authorities despite their heretical and even vampiric tendencies.This tolerance is because they are known to be implacable in their hatred of Mankind's enemies, supplying the Adeptus Ministorum and the Inquisition with invaluable adepts of murder and fanatical killers loyal to the cause.Some have even more shadowy connections to the mysterious Officio Assassinorum, the secret organisation that provides unparalleled adepts of murder for the High Lords of Terra. Many sanguinary cults spring into being in the fertile soil provided by the harsh conditions found on many Feral and Feudal Worlds.However, the shadows of the underhive, the viperous intrigues of the noble's court, and even the travails of deep space can equally create the conditions where ritual societies dedicated to the deadly arts of the blade, bullet, and poison can flourish.The Calixis Sector has numerous such sanguinary cults and sacrificial societies present scattered across many worlds, and indeed, the population of the outcast Feudal World of Fervious is largely governed by them.The most famous of the death cultists, without doubt, are the assassin-mystics of the Moritat, which has sub-cults and cells operating right across the sector and indeed beyond. |
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