New to chaos. [Archive] - Warhammer Forums

MachiavelliDisciple

10-23-2006, 01:28 PM

Right then, a beginners course in chaos:

The Creation of Chaos
Chaos is split into four factions, each representing a human emotion or desire. This is because all chaos gods and daemons are creatures of the Aethyr that came into being by this thought/emotion/desire being impressed upon it. Essentially this occurs like so (I shall use Khorne as he is the easiest god to understand): some living beings (that is animate creatures, not trees, grass etc.) are naturally disposed towards anger and violence. This behaviour, if felt strongly enough, becomes part of the 'immaterium', given time this impression gains strength due to the prevelance of anger in the corporeal world. After awhile it gains sufficient strength to influence the people of an angry and violent disposition and make them more angry which feeds this bundle of emotions anew. This creates a cycle that increases in power and momentum until the bundle of emotion gains sentience of a sort. All gods are created in this manner, not just the chaos gods (all chaos gods however are created by malevolant emotion, therefore making them malevolent themselves).

Khorne
Khorne is a god of war, of violence and brutality. It is this mindless anger existing in humans that created him. Because of this all he craves is blood spilt in his name, he is commonly known as the blood god and sits atop a mountain of skulls (hence the warcry 'blood for the blood god! Skulls for the skull throne!'). Because his philosiphy is simple and his will easy to carry out (also his primal nature appeals to the tribes living in the rough north of the warhammer world) he has the largest gathering of followers and is generally considered the most powerful god. Khorne exists only for war and his followers (who all excel in matters martial) are always found in the thick of any foray, gleefully spilling blood in the name of their dark patron. Preferring strength and steel over tactics or cunning battles in his name are generally slaughters. His love of physical fighting is only matched by his abhorrence of magic, which he considers cowardly. He forbids the use of magic on the battlefield and has a deep mistrust of his sorcerous counterpart Tzeentch.

Tzeentch
Tzeentch is change, the ever shifting force of nature that is at the heart of chaos. He is a patron of decievers, manipulators and sorcerors. Because he is closest to the winds of magic his champions are all skilled sorcerors and any magic user that worships him are adept at their art. He has many guises and never appear in front of his followers in any conistent form (this ranges from a bird-like creature to dancing lights to words flowing in the air), in fact it is very hard to say whether a visitation is by Tzeentch himself or one of his daemons. He delights in plotting and knows all that might be and all that has been, his many machinations and artifices span centuries and even immortal creatures are at a loss to fully understand their end goal, let alone mortals who's lifespans are paltry in comparison. He is the result of several emotions: ambition for power, the pursuit of knowledge and the striving for change. Because of this his followers are often scholars and idealists rebelling against the stagnancy of order. It is impossible to comprehend Tzeentch's actions and his plots, infinitely complicated and subtle, involve even his brother gods. Many a cultist finds at his death the deity he offered praises too all this time was in fact Tzeentch. His deviousness is often relfected in his generals and champions who are all master tacticians, creating plans for seemingly every eventuality.

Nurgle
Nurgle is perhaps the hardest chaos god to understand, he is the lord of corruption, desiese and decay. The force that ensures change is always present and nothing last forever; be it a life or an idea. It is difficult to understand what would push someone to worship a creature so obviously foul and disgusting but it happens nonetheless. What desire or emotion could possibly create such a foul creature? The answer is simply absoloute despair, despair and lack of hope. For when one has given into that darkest of emotion there is a sort of peverse comfort, a self-deception ensuring them it is they who are right and all others who are wrong. It is this offer of false hope that has led to the moniker 'Grandfather Nurgle'. His followers are the lowest of the low: disease ridden wretches, pushed from their homes and human contact by their once freinds and neighbours. These creatures roam the land, seeking others like themselves and are forced into poverty as well as poor health. They have nowhere left to turn to but to Nurgle, who welcomes them all as children. He is often considered the weakest of the gods but this is not so: his power is merely not as stable as his brothers. Like a plague his power waxes and wanes with all the suffering and disease in the world and at times is more powerful than all of his brothers together. Due to the nature of this god his champions are all foul creatures, beset by all manners of pain that they are accustomed to anything that can be thrown at them in battle. This incredible stamina and resistance to pain makes them fearsome foes indeed.

Slaanesh
Slaanesh is simply the god of pleasure, he demands nothing of his worshippers but the pursuit of pleasure. It is this continual striving of comfort and physical joy that created him. He is the patron of all aristocrats who have little to do with their time but seek pleasure. He blesses his followers with heightend sensitivity to physical stimuli and to begin with even a simple kiss is a burst of pure delactation. However over time this feeling deadens until they feel nothing at all, this leads to a bid to find more avenues for self-gratification. These too are immensely pleasurable but over time subside. It is this that pushes Slaanesh worshippers into more and more extreme forms of enjoyment, until they delve into perversities unimaginable in their horror. Many artists, writers and other such manafacturers of culture are attracted to the worship of him. It is said to be utter contentment to look upon Slaanesh in his form, appearing however he chooses but always as the perfect ideal of it; most commonly his form is that of an androgynous human. His champions are lithe and deadly, often capturing their victims for horrid delight. He bestows upon his favoured with a portion of his own perfection, these incredibly charismatic individuals inspire their followers with their mere presence. He is the youngest of the gods and the most hated by Khorne who views his decadence in contempt, Slaanesh considers Khorne unsophisticated and brutish.

Chaos Undivided
Chaos undivided is a rare thing, only occuring when each one of the chaos gods bestows their favour upon one man. He is the Everchosen, the Lord of the End Times. He leads all followers of chaos under the same banner of chaos undivided. His armies are huge and amongst them can be found representatives of all the daemons. In his ranks are bloodletters, great unclean ones, daemonettes and lords of change, not to mention whole hordes of beastmen. Chaos Undivided is truly the greatest threat known to the Empire and order on the whole.

Chaos Worshippers
What drives those that worship such obviously baleful and destrucive gods? Gods that twist and mutate their followers, gods whose 'gifts' can be both harmful and useful, gods whose attentions are fickle and may reward an obscure soldier over a follower overtly attempting to get their attention. The prospect of Daemonhood, the greatest of all gifts. Being allevated to the rank of Daemon Prince is the ultimate goal of all followers of chaos, but it is also a futile attempt. Very few ever reach this; most all fall on the path. However those that do come from two different areas:

Northern Tribes
The warlike tribes that roam the northern reaches of the world are an eternal bane to all civilised folk. Their raiding parties plague the kislevite borders and the Norse (who are gifted with naval travel) pillage coastal settlements continually. These harsh and brutish humans are the product of their harsh and brutish environment. Only the fittest survive and they view their southern counterparts as slovenly and indolent. These people are split into several tribes: the hung, the norse, the kurgan and the tong.

Norse
The Norse lay closest to the southern lands and live in tribal settlements. They exist in perpetual strife and war: fighting each other and stopping only to raid defenceless vilages. They hold their tribes and families in high regard and it is from this zeal that 'blood feuds' are formed. These feuds can last many years between two tribes or settlements. They owe their highest fealty to their dark gods however.

Kurgan
The Kurgan are nomads, travelling around the Eastern Steppes on incredibly fast steeds. They raid in the manner they travel and refuse to engage in standard warfare, prefering lightening tactics to prolonged raids. These tactics frustrate any who fight them as they are gone before any meaningful defence can be raised. They travel with their entire families, often literally born in the saddle. They often attach themselves to larger raids as scouts and outriders, taking the easiest plunder and escaping any forces of retribution.

Tong
The Tong are the most fearsome and mutated of the tribes; living closest to the chaos wastes. They mainly keep to themselves, leaving their lands only when an incursion is led into the Empire. When this occurs they are at the forefront of battle, fighting recklessly but skillfully.

Hung
The Hung are nomads like the Kurgan, living on whatever they can catch and kill. Entire families travel all across the world, raiding and fighting and living in the most abominable conditions. They have no concept of hygiene and live utterly filthy lives.

Cults
Cults can be found throughout the entirety of the empire, often hiding their dark worhip behind fronts of respectable businesses or illegal activity. Witchhunters devote themselves to finding and destroying these cults. Slaanesh is understadably the most popular cult seity, his gifts of pleasure appeal more to humans than any of the others. Khorne has few cults in his name and Nurgle less so, both seem less appealing to rational minds. Tzeentch does not have as many cults as Slaanesh, but his are by far the most powerful. Many cults dedicated to other gods are in fact manipulated by Tzeentchian cults. The leader of a cult is called a magister and he sorrounds himself with acolytes and secrecy to protect his identity. Many cultists do not in fact know they what they are doing, only the highest circle of people knowing the dark purpose of their enterprise. This ignorance does not save them from the witchhunters however, who are merciless in their pursuit.

There we go, I think that is essentially all the basics. Feel free to add anything if I've missed something.