Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness (1988) Slaanesh Lore

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COLOURS OF CHAOS

Whether you intend to field an army of Chaos followers, use individual miniatures for a roleplaying adventure or just collect Realm of Chaos figures, they will onlyNlook truly grotesque after they have been painted. Given the number of mutation permutations, the potential for converting miniatures is also great. But the Powers and their followers demand special attention in this respect, for who is to say what coir an eel should be? And how mutated can you make a mutant? Perhaps the master of all things miniature, John Blanche, can answer.

Realm of Chaos miniatures provide plenty of scope for the imaginative and adventurous miniature figure painter to experiment. Painting your miniatures normally yields the best results as gaudy colour schemes can drown a figure. But when you consider the subject matter here, bright green hair or sky blue skin for the followers of the mighty gods of Chaos sounds perfectly reasonable. Perhaps anything goes. Or does it? The choice is yours, obviously, but to be really convincing it pays to show some restraint and apply some sort of themes for your choice of Chaos colour schemes. The Powers - Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch - suggest themes by virtue of their different characteristics, which themselves cater for most tastes, from the gaudy to the militaristic. A livery mainly composed of the martial colours (red, black and brass) suits the followers of Khorne perfectly, whereas Slaanesh has pale skinned followers bedecked in pastel shades, offset by shiny black leather and studs.

By bearing this in mind, your figures, and in particular your units and armies, will have an overall coherence which proves to be more striking than the result of adopting a free for all approach with the palette. If your warbands of mutants and Champions don’t bear allegiance to one particular Power, or if they operate covertly, apply a naturalistic ) colour scheme (in a suitably horrible tone). Nature itself provides an endless reference source, covering every conceivable pattern and colour combination. So where flesh, hide, scale or fur appear, if you are stuck for a colour scheme, a quick glance through a natural history book should be enough to trigger your imagination. Of course, naturalistic should also mean authentic, so be selective and bear in mind the nature of Chaos. Cloth should be painted as cloth and metal as metal etc, but feature colours that are associated with fear, the unknown, corruption. Black, offset or picked out with red and brass, has been a favourite colour scheme for Chaos Champions employed by

Citadel figure painters for some time. A fair degree of dark green has also been used by artists when dealing with chaotic subject matter, probably because of its association with things slimy and tentacled. It’s also a very useful colour to use as an alternative to black, because black cannot be shaded, only highlighted. Green therefore is a little more versatile to the miniatures artist.

'It's nothing like me! You promised me that it would be an excellent likeness. Two hundred you've had for this and for this...odure.' Von Gottschalk was furious. He prodded the offending bronze statue with his walking stick.

The artist wiped the mark from the statues foot with a soft cloth. He sighed.

Two hundred barely covered my materials, my lord. The portrait is exact, taken from the cartoons I prepared last month. The posture is yours, the demenour military and noble, the size as specified, no more than two feet. You saw and approved the waxes.

'It is rubbish. And now I suppose you'll want your final three hundred eh? Well damn you, I won't pay.'

The artist said nothing as Von Gottschalk left. He stood by the window and watched the pompous fool stride down the street, 'Be careful who you damn, fool.'

By midnight all was finished. The chalk markings on the artists work table had been the hardest job , so precise and all to be drawn from memory but now Von Gottschalk's statue stood in the middle of the largest chalk circle. Even the girl he had chosen from the street below was ready to do her part. Gold had cured her reluctance. The artist picked up a mallet, testing its balance and weight. Perfect. He began to whisper softly, the room became warm.

The girl stepped forward, and ran a finger down the statue. She caressed it and stroked it, traced its contours and shapes. Her fingers left faint lines of sweat and greese on the bronze. The artist's whisper became a faint chant.

Von Gottschalk stirred from his dreams. A piece of cheese or too much of that Tilean wine no doubt, he rolled over.

The artist's eyeballs were rolled back, his breath was a hoarse rasp, a single word endlessly repeated. The mallet was raised above his head.

'Slaanesh! Slaanesh! Slaanesh!"

The girl turned and shrieked. The mallet came down with all the artist's strength. The statue toppled slowly as if held up by some unseen hand. It's head was cracked and as it landed the face fell off.

In his bed Von Gottschalk fell silent.

 

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Another unusual colour scheme for Chaos metal and armour can be achieved by simply adopting the standard cloth painting technique and apply it to armour. This means that fully armoured Champions can be painted pale green or bright red without actually looking metallic. This can provide very striking colour schemes and is very appropriate for units of Warriors fighting for particular Powers. For example, vermilion (bright red), crimson (deep red) and orange plate armour for Warriors of Khorne, and pink, pale green, or pastel blue and mauve for Champions of Slaanesh.


CHAMPIONS AND WARBANDS

THE SKULLRIPPERS
The Skullrippers have sent many victims to Khorne. Constant skirmishes with other warbands, especially those of the hated Slaaneshi, have raised their worth to the Blood God. Caramon, their leader, is more dangerous than all of his lowly cohorts combined. Bound inside his long-hafted Daemon Weapon is a Bloodthirster - almost every blow strikes home and fells another enemy. And as a sign of his great favour with the Blood God, when he was gifted with a Bloodletter’s face, his snake-headed tail received a similarly menacing visage with its poisonous bite. Caramon is a deadly foe indeed.

The Skullrippers are lesser followers of Khorne who vainly hope to emulate the deeds of their leader and become Champions of Chaos
themselves. The main body of the band comprises eight horned Dwarfs and a smaller group of Humans, desperadoes of the Chaos Wastes. The last member of the warband is Kharlthe Blunt, a Troll of some renown and little brain, who often stands perplexed, unable to choose between beating his opponents senseless with a gnarled club or roasting them with his fiery breath.



GILBERION, THE DENIED LORD, CHAMPION OF SLAANESH

Even the noblest heart can be corrupted and turned to Chaos. When a fall from grace is allied to wealth, influence and power, that fall can be dramatic indeed. Thus Gilberion worshipped Slaanesh, and used his power to procure himself pleasures and pains of the flesh. The Denied Lord was deposed and wiped from the memory of Elvenkind when his depravity became obvious. He had turned aside from all the restraints of mortality and morality. Subtle lewdness gave way to gross and violent depravity. Now barely recognizable as mortal there are few who follow him. Those who do are used in such a brutal and depraved fashion that death is the inevitable result. And as each new victim-lover dies from his attentions, the Denied Lord croons his devotion to Slaanesh.



YRLMAN THE LOOSE

Yrlman has risen rapidly from his lowly beginnings. He knew from an early age that he was destined to follow the path of Chaos, and in particular the debauched road that was trodden by the worshippers of Slaanesh. He studied the endless ways of Pleasure with great relish as a youth, and was soon noticed by his chosen master. Reward came quickly thereafter and Yrlman found his body changing, twisting to offer him new and unexpected opportunities to exercise his imaginative and depraved mind. He sprouted a third arm that developed a crab claw; his feet became cloven hooves, a reminder that his path was reserved for a priveleged few; and a single breast sprung out from his chest as a sign of Slaanesh’s special favour. With his growing deformity came notoriety and a retinue of lesser men and beasts. The first of his followers and the most faithful are Beastmen; time and many joyous conflicts has taken its toll, however, and only a handful of these warped creatures remain. Alongside the Beastmen stand a company of Humans, their skins marked with whorls and stripes, patterns as twisted and intricate as the secrets that drove these Men from civilization into the Chaos Wastes. Lastly among the retinue is Jarea, a sorceress whose strange tastes have led her to Yrlman’s side to learn the ways of pleasant perversity that he knows too well. But Jarea is far more powerful than Yrlman and is jealous of the favour he receives. For the moment she reveals her gnawing envy, biding her time - soon she too will take her first steps in the dangerous dance of Slaanesh’s chosen..
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DRUSIL SPITTLETONGUE

Drusil Spittletongue leads a mixed rabble of followers, joined only by their common purpose to enjoy every moment or die trying. Drusil himself exudes a luxurious scent that draws the unsuspecting within range of his long, pink tongue. This tongue combines the attacks of both a Fiend and a Mount of Slaanesh: even those who resist Drusil’s luscious odour are ensnared and reduced to gawping idiocy - few survive such a close encounter with the Champion. Among Spittletongue’s retinue are several Skaven and Dark Elves, plus three Ogres who, unusually for their race, have turned to the decadent joys of the Pleasure Lord. With these minions are Drusil’s two side-kicks, the warriors Adolph von Gruslowe and Mulgani the Sharp. The former rides atop a Mount of Slaanesh dressed in strangely sombre mail that matches Drusil’s own Chaos Armour. The festering Mulgani prefers a more outrageous costume, but leaves enough bare flesh to reveal oozing sores, proud relics of past depravities.


GILELLION THE LEWD, CHAMPION OF SLAANESH

Like many Champions of Chaos, Gilellion has chosen a solitary course. Greedy for the rewards of greatness, he spurns those followers that come to him, preserving his precious freedom to act as he pleases. Although bound to the service of Slaanesh, Gilellion also practises the dark arts of necromancy, revelling in the macabre dances of the dead and the terror they inspire amongst the living. In recognition of his faithful allegiance and his peculiar interests, the Pleasure Lord has rewarded Gilellion with a skull-like visage, 497 skeletal Chaos Armour to match and a Chaos Weapon that has the power to raise his fallen enemies and force them to fight on for Slaanesh’s cause - these undead companions are Gilellion’s only retinue
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ISKARD LUSTVIPER, CHAMPION OF SLAANESH

There need be no mention here of Iskard’s early days as a follower of Slaanesh in the cities of the Old World, before he could no longer disguise his insectoid appearance and was driven into the wilderness. In the Chaos Wastes he found new purpose. The old blandishments were unnecessary here: cruder measures found approbation among his fellows. Iskard soon learnt that there was much pleasure to be found in the simple joys of combat, and he quickly rose in Slaanesh’s favour, even being accorded a secret name of daemonic origin:Ksy’Gzild’how. He still feels the sweet sorrow of nostalgia for the subtler delights of his civilized days, but could not now forego the raging glory of battle for such soft pleasures.
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BANNERS AND SHIELDS OF SLAANESH

Pinks, greens, yellows and blues - soft shades on rich silks are used for the banners of Slaanesh. Alongside the Lord of Pleasure’s rune are other common Slaaneshi features: the hermaphrodite breast, the crab-like claws and the single, all-seeing eye.



EMPEROR'S CHILDREN- (banner top, shoulder pads bottom): bound forever to the Lord of Pleasure, the Emperor's Children know
that Slaanesh watches their actions with delight.

IRON WARRIORS- (banner bottom left, shoulder pads top left): few could doubt the intent of the Iron Warriors having seen their
banner - few live to tell the tale.

ALPHA LEGION- (banner bottom right, shoulder pads top right): the fearsome contortions in the Alpha Legion’s emblem is
matched by the twisted minds and bodies of the Legionnaires.

 

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“Lothar’s thoughts, so full of pleasure and pain, ravaged by plague and doubt, finally mastered him. He fell from his state of disgrace and plunged into the abyss of the used and discarded.

“Stronger men than he had dashed themselves to pieces in the service of Chaos and a weaker creature would have ended its own existence rather than face Lothar’s fate with the Chaos Spawn. Yet Lothar had a strength of his own: as he fell, his purpose in following Slaanesh was reborn, and in his changed nature loyalty flowered again like a rank weed. Even as he was changed into a monstrous creature, Lothar shrieked eternal allegiance to his dark lord. “Lothar’s frame was tormented and warped into an inhuman form by his new position in Slaanesh’s hierarchy. He had been a Champion, a Daemon awaiting birth, now he was condemned to a horrible, mindless existence. A wattled crest grew upon his head; his cyclopean eye became stalked; tentacles, tipped with cruel claws, sprang from his shoulders; his torso swelled to enormous size, pendulous and repulsive, and two extra legs grew from from his hips, as hairy and twisted as those of a goat.

“His fall from humanity was complete.

“As Lothar’s fall was ending so, too, was Johann’s climb.

“The other von Gottlieb had also been twisted further by Chaos, and a tail, tipped by a snapping, human face, waved at his back. Yet such a minor mark was of little consequence to Johann. The last handhold was taken, the last scramble made, the last victims were slaughtered by the mortal Johann. He had kept his bloody faith with Khorne and earned his final reward.

‘Johann had reached the summit of his bloody ambition. He was no longer Khorne’s Champion...’’

 

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LEGIONS OF KHORNE

Excellence in battle is the highest form of worship for all of Khorne’s followers. To fight in one of his Daemonic Legions is an honour to which all his servants
aspire. Those rewarded by this privilege treat the occasion with the utmost gravity. Death is a serious business, and death in a Legion doubly so, for are not the eyes of Khorne always upon his most trusted servants? That Slaaneshi followers should treat warfare, the most sincere form of Khorne-worship, as just another pleasurable experience is infuriating. Battle in all its forms is a sacred ritual to Khorne’s servants. Before each battle a ritual dedicates the blood of the slain, enemies and friends alike, to the Blood God.

LEGIONS OF SLAANESH

Slaanesh and his servants indulge in war; it is yet another pleasure to be sampled, not a serious business or a test of strength. War is simply a game, part of the greater ritual, and Slaanesh is always the first to insist upon elaborate conditions and rituals. The followers of Slaanesh seek gratification of the senses in all things. Battle is merely another method of finding a new warped pleasure. For Slaanesh’s servants the thrills of battle are there to be joyfully experienced and repeated. Slaaneshi Daemons and mortal warriors take a delight in causing pain and killing; their wanton slaughter is spurred on to greater heights by the pleasure they find in bloodshed.

The Slaaneshi attitude to battle and death is reflected in the Legion’s appearance. Its troops parade in frivolous colours and clashing patterns, fantastic jewels and flamboyant costumes. The whole impression is that of a costume ball or masque rather than a battle. The demeanour of a Slaaneshi Legion is equally perverse. Its Daemons and warriors shriek obscene jokes to each other, disport themselves with the dead and laugh with pleasure even as their own lives are taken. Any sensation is, after all, to be experienced and enjoyed. To express horror is regarded as a dreadful failing, one that is sure to be punished by the Lord of Pleasure. A Legion of Slaanesh is a strange and motley sight, its frivolity and gaiety disguising its deadly power. All members of Slaaneshi Legions, daemonic and mortal are limited to a maximum of six Chaos attributes. A full description of each Daemon or Daemonic Servant can be found in The Servants of
Slaanesh (p29). Units must be fielded as six models and may not be combined together or split into smaller sections. The number of Slaanesh, six, must be preserved even in such things as the number of models in a unit. This restriction does not apply to auxiliaries, which may be deployed as desired.

KEEPERS OF SECRETS
The Greater Daemons of Slaanesh are the closest companions and servants of the Lord of Pleasure. Pain and pleasure are blended for Keepers, making them terrible fighters who are unafraid of any injury or peril. Signs from their underlings of weakness, horror or anything other than blissful enjoyment of the battle arouse their anger. The followers of hated Khorne are even worse. They must Enjoy or be destroyed!

Names: The Daemon Names system (p22) produces suitable names for Keepers of Secrets. Suitable titles, such as Feasters of Pain, can be found in the Daemon’s description on p30.

UNITS OF DAEMONETTES
The Daemonettes whirl in a stately dance across the battlefield, dead bodies a carpet of other’s misery beneath their feet. Their voices raised in cheerful, even joyous songs of praise to Slaanesh, the Daemonettes slay and maim in the name of Pleasure. Even in the most gruesome of conflicts, they smile in secret ecstasy as they go about their bloody work.

Names: The Daemon Names system (p22) can produce suitable Daemonette names which can then be applied to the whole unit. Titles
such as The Children of Slaanesh are included in the description of Daemonettes (p31). The two can be combined to produce unit names such as Fiendlust’s Company or Whipleper’s Cohort of the Joyously Degraded. Feel free to add extra colour and individuality to your Slaaneshi Legion by inventing your own titles and names for Daemonette units.

UNITS OF FIENDS
Twisted mixtures of Man, reptile and insect, the Fiends attract and immobilize their prey. The narcotic pleasures they give are reserved only for Slaanesh’s enemies. The fates of enemies, their minds laced with a Fiend’s sweet perfume and pleasant dreams, are a source of joy to Slaanesh and his followers. A Slaaneshi Legion may have up to three units of Fiends, and each must be composed of six models.

Names: Titles for the Fiends are given in the description on p33. A unit is usually known by one of these (eg Rams of Slaanesh) or by a similar title such as The Seekers of Slaanesh. Feel free to invent similar names for your own units of Fiends.

UNITS OF SLAANESHI LEGIONNAIRES
The Chosen Legionnaires of Slaanesh vie with one another to create amusing and enjoyable deaths for their enemies. Their sensuous appearance belies their underlying brutality. Often Legionnaires will dress identically, or each will chose a different colour from his fellows. However, they are always clad in multi-coloured armour of the highest quality which is richly decked out in silver and gold,

Names: Legionnaire units have titles such as The Pleasured Killers, The Company of Depravity and The Lovers of Slaanesh. Feel free to invent your own colourful titles for Slaaneshi Legionnaires.

SLAANESHI CHAMPIONS OF CHAOS
Honoured above all other mortals by their inclusion in a Daemonic Legion, the Champions of Slaanesh repay the Lord of Pleasure by their insane enjoyment of battle. They revel in the drugged madness of combat, shrieking the praises of Slaanesh at every opportunity. They prolong the exquisite emotions of death, cavorting and joking with their victims while Slaanesh looks on.

Names: Champions of Slaanesh may add Favoured of Slaanesh to their names, for example Siegfried the Despoiler, Favoured of Slaanesh.

DAEMON PRINCES OF SLAANESH 1 UNIT OF CHARIOTS
The Daemon Princes are among the most debauched of Slaanesh’s many followers: mortal Champions who have proven themselves the potential equals of true Daemons.

Names: The Daemon Names system can be used to produce suitable names for Slaaneshi Daemon Princes.

UNIT OF CHARIOTS
Fiends, Chaos Steeds or any other Creatures of Chaos as draft animals. If the crew of a chariot is taken from a unit, the entire unit must be placed in chariots.

Slaanesh's servants were clad only in the finest silks and unblemished leathers of softest skins. Their shrieks of release at the kiss of the swords edge were hideous and foul. Their painted lips matched the wet-lipped, crimson grins the blade brought in its passing. When battling against such perversity even the savagery of daemons counts for little.

 

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AUXILLARIES

Units within a daemonic contingent are organized according to the unit sizes and options presented in their own Daemonic Legion list. They are, in effect, a ‘demi-Legion’ given to another god for use in a common struggle. The organization of the Daemonic Legions of Nurgle and Tzeentch are to be found in The Lost and the Damned. Khornate Legions may never have a Slaaneshi daemonic contingent as an auxiliary force. In a similar fashion Slaaneshi Legions may never have a Khornate daemonic contingent as auxiliaries. Slaanesh and Khorne are opposCehados Powers with nothing in common except their mutal hatred. Both Slaaneshi and Khornate Legions may include daemonic contingents of Tzeentchian or Nurgle Daemons, but not both in the same Legion. Nurgle and Tzeentch are also opposing Powers of Chaos and their Daemons may not be included in a single force at the same time. It is possible that both sides ina Daemonic Legion battle will include daemonic contingents loyal to the same Chaos Power. For example, in a Slaanesh-Khorne confrontation both sets of daemonic contigents could be Nurgle Daemons. In such a case the daemonic contingents fight loyally for their respective Legions, regardless of the fact that they are battling against their own kind.

 

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With an insatiable appetite for fresh blood, Minotaurs are naturally drawn to the scream praises to the Blood God. They service of Khorne. They are subject to are subject to all the rules for Berserkers hatred of mortal followers of Slaanesh and spellcasters, and to frenzy and blood-greed.

 

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ARMIES OF SLAANESH

Gibbering with glee the pack runs ahead, straining to reach the fray, hungry for the joy of combat. Their long-snouted handler, a sinuous tongue flicking the air before him, whips his charges into a frenzy of expectation. His ecstatic battle-hymn is sibilantly echoed by the jagged cleaver he wields, their deathly rapture ringing from the hillsides. Revelling in a sweet mixture of fear and brazen frenzy, he urges his vac to the kill. Soon the lustrous pastel shades of his silken garments will run with blood and the insane gratification of death will be his. A Slaaneshi army, to express its joy at representing the Lord of Pleasure in battle, always fields its rank and file units in multiples of six. Six, the number of Slaanesh, is the minimum size for a unit. Larger units must be multiples of this basic size (eg 12, 18, 24 and so forth). Champions of Chaos acting as leaders are additional to this number. Units that are not taken from the rank and file (eg allies and mercenaries) and warbands need not follow this requirement.

In what can pleasure be found? Why, Anything! Let your imagination run round with petty convention. Revel in the acts brought about by your knowledge of Slaanesh. Even in the sternest disapline of arms there is satisfaction. So are the Lord of Pleasure's brought to the field, willing and ready for the fray. - The Hidden Tome of Slaanesh

 

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Pausing only to disport themselves with the dead, the Chaos Warriors of Slaanesh urge their wicked mounts into the heart of battle.




Those who have entirely given themselves to the service of Slaanesh are granted the status of Chaos Warrior. For all their apparent sensuous of battle they are dangerous foes.



Chaos Marauders seek to prove themselves worthy of Slaanesh's rewards. In the ecstasy of battle lies their best hope of pleasing Slaanesh,



Less favoured than Chaos Warriors, Slaanesh's Marauders seek to outdo each other with their acts of sadistic barbarity. In battle they find true enjoyment, delighting in the pains of their enemies.



Joyously vindictive, Chaos Thugs seek battle wherever it is offered. Only if they excel will their status improve in the eyes of Slaanesh.



Chaos Thugs are the meanest of Slaanesh's Human servants. They commit acts of the grossest kind, hoping that their actions are debased and pleasurable enough to merit reward from Slaanesh.



These Dark Elves ride fearsome Cold One mounts into battle, their greatest joy seeing a fallen enemy trampled by their lizard steeds,



Wicked and heartless, possessed by a near-daemonic fury. Witch Elves are fiercely unforgiving opponents. Their warped lusts are only ever satisfied in the heat of battle. They are subject to frenzy.



The Dark Elf cavalry regard themselves as masters of terror, rapine and plunder. With Slaanesh's armies, they perfect their skills.



Dark Elves have a sensuous love of battle and delight in cruelty for its own sake. Their perversity is easily harnessed by Slaanesh, and they relish the chance to savour war in Slaanesh's armies.

 

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Reduced to a fallen state by their own desires, the behaviour of Slaaneshi Beastmen on the battlefield is completely depraved. They are subject to hatred of all mortal followers of Khorne.



Slaanesh’s Beastmasters hunt out innocence that can be corrupted and despoiled by the Lord of Pleasure’s servants. A pack has 2 Handlers, each with 6 Chaos Hounds or Chaos Spawn (only one type of creature per pack).



Slaaneshi Minotaurs find their pleasures in the destruction of others, delighting in the glory of victory. They are subject to hatred of all mortal followers of Khorne, and to frenzy and blood-greed.



Slaaneshi Centaurs indulge their bestial lusts upon the battlefield, revelling in the dark joys and depravities of combat. No act that brings new pleasure is too debased for these warped creatures.



Trolls fight only for their own, smallminded reasons: the pleasure of violence and the prey it brings. In the service of Slaanesh they eagerly satisfy their many hungers. They are subject to stupidity.




The servants of Slaanesh lose no opportunity to sacrifice to their perverse Lord. Even on the battlefield, the rituals of pleasure cannot be ignored, and act as an inspiration for a Slaaneshi army.

The bliss of a knife's edge, the crimson flash of triumph the relief of life, the hallowed scream of victory: all are the pain-that-is-pleasing, All speak loyalty to Slaanesh, the Lord and darkling master of our company.

 

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“Khorne’s faithful servant screamed the news of his victory to his master. Johann, once a man, was born anew in Daemon flesh.

“Vulnerable mortality, which had been his rightful inheritance, was cast aside. He was a servant of Khorne in all ways and truly an immortal creature of Chaos. He was. shige! with a Daemon’s cunning and thirst for blood, a craving that has no mortal equal.

“Johann had ascended the pinnacle of darkness, and all his wildest dreams were within his grasp. Deathless, an eternity of blood and death stretched before him...

‘And eternity had, in its turn, cast aside Lothar von Gottlieb, also once a man. Pains and pleasures of which he had never dreamed were now his for the taking. The pleasure of warm flesh, torn from its owner, and the pain of howling, filled with loss, at an indifferent sky.

“Lothar and Johann von Gottlieb. Regard them, in their fates. They craved power, glory, success and all that accompanies such - much as do other men. They were ambitious, and in this they matched their father. The way that they satisfied those ambitions is open for any who dare take it. You, perhaps...”

The old man looked at his audience. The young woman at the back shuffled her feet and stared at the floor.

“So my tale is complete.”

The old man swilled the last of his wine round his glass. It was a deep, dark red in the light from the fire. :

“And how, you may ask, do I know so much of Lothar and Johann von Gottlieb? Think of this: Lothar, the decadent and depraved fool, runs with the Spawn. And I? I tell tales to the unwary...”

 

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THE CHAOS POWERS

The raw warpstuff of Chaos is mindless and unthinking, but has a consciousness of its own. It is aware only in the crudest of ways, growing and evolving only through chance and random action. Within the fabric of Chaos ebbs and flows, forming. eddies and vortices of pressure and potential energy, concentrating power in relatively ‘small’ locales. These swirls and eddies, great warpstorms that can seal off huge tracts of warpspace (and real space - spacecraft are unable to navigate warp storms), are capable of unimaginable acts of creation and destruction. The storms are the Powers of Chaos, its lords and masters, formed of the endlessly fluid fabric of their universe. As their concentration within the warp changes, the Chaos Powers ebb and flow. At times a little of a Chaos Power’s substance dissipates into the warp, at others a Power increases its strength, drawing more of the warp into itself.

The movements of the warp are difficult to plot or understand. A disturbance spreads through the formless Chaos of the warp void, like the ripples caused by a pebble dropped into a pond. The ghostly echoes of events long-gone, eddies and swirls of objects moving within the warp and the shifting of the Chaos Powers cause endless perturbations, which in turn fuel more disturbances - and so on, ad infinitum. The warp is a universe with endless echoes and echoes of echoes, the whole a ceaseless noise of power and movement. These unstoppable waves of movement form and reform the Powers of Chaos. Their start may be a chance event: the passage of a spaceship through the warp, its wake spreading out into infinity; the comings and goings of creatures within the warp; or the doings of one of the Chaos Powers. There is undoubtedly another irritant which forms ripples in the warp: Mankind.

Humanity has long been able to use the power of the warp - magicians, seers, witches, mediums, shamans and exorcists have all used the warp, although they may have done so without true knowledge. Such abilities are a legacy of Man’s close relationship with Chaos, a link that is growing in strength. Once ‘the gift’ of psychic power, witchcraft and magic was rare, confined to only a few hapless individuals who usually fell victim to superstitious prejudice. Now many Humans - psykers - have psionic powers, and each causes a pinprick of disturbance within the warp; each is the seed for a warpstorm; each can rouse a Chaos Power. The blaring of the Astronomican, the Imperial psychic beacon, is a constant pressure within the warp. The homing signal enables the ships of Humanity to navigate safely within the warp, but its transmissions echo across the warp, causing untold ripples and unpredictable flows.

And, within the teeming hordes of Man, there are are those who nurture the warp. They gather together in secret covens and cults to worship the Chaos Powers, weakening the barriers between reality and warpspace and setting in motion events and forces with horrific potential. Some know Chaos in its true form, but they are uncaring of the consequences. Power in the present is all that matters, the future can care for itself. Many cultists believe that they can mould the warp to their will and in this they are partly correct.

Some warpstorms end quickly, having spent their fury in relentless turbulence that lasts moments or millennia. These are the lesser Powers of Chaos, eternal and everchanging. They coalesce from the warp for a brief time, and are capable of existence for only a flicker of time. They waste their substance upon the warp, and dissolve once more into formless Chaos. While they hold together, the Powers achieve intelligence, personality and purpose. They can perceive the warp and their companion warpstorms. They can also see dimly beyond the warp into the real universe. Many never reach beyond this perceptive state, adrift in the flow of the warp. They run the course of all warpstorms, and then dissolve once more.

Other warpstorm Powers, the more formidable of their kind, however, achieve coherence of a different order, and they are able to manipulate the warp around themselves, holding the fabric of the warp in a pattern of their own choosing. Such Chaos Powers still wax and wane with the flow of the warp, but their core of intelligence and personality remains, protected by its own power. The great Powers of Chaos - Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch - are beings of this magnitude.

 

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And, within the teeming hordes of Man, there are are those who nurture the warp. They gather together in secret covens and cults to worship the Chaos Powers, weakening the barriers between reality and warpspace and setting in motion events and forces with horrific potential. Some know Chaos in its true form, but they are uncaring of the consequences. Power in the present is all that matters, the future can care for itself. Many cultists believe that they can mould the warp to their will and in this they are partly correct.

The warp Powers drink the emotions and thoughts of Mankind, growing bloated with power in the process. Over the millennia each has fed on an aspect of Man: its rage, lust, corruption, and inconstancy. As they have absorbed this power the Chaos Powers have gain human aspects: Khorne has become a being of bloody rage; Slaanesh has grown to be the Lord of Pleasure; foul Nurgle welcomes all that is decay; and Tzeentch revels in change and metamorphosis. Corrupted and moulded by the thoughts and feelings of reality, the warp Powers nurture more hatred or depravity in the hearts of Mankind. And so a circle is established - Man’s follies feed the warp Powers, and the Powers encourage Man to further follies.

 

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THE FALL OF THE ELDAR

Long ago, before the rise of the Imperium or the emergence of Mankind into the galaxy, the Eldar had established a mighty civilisation that spanned many planetary systems. Their huge cityships and craftworlds, vast ornate palaces floating between star systems, traded new knowledge and goods. Learning, enlightenment and reason flourished, the Eldar enriched the galaxy and looked for new worlds to make their own and new challenges to meet.

One challenge they took up was the complete mastery of warpgate technology. The Eldar, adopted, refined and perfected the ancient Slann knowledge of the warp and its movements. They established a network of wormhole tunnels through warpspace, linking gates aboard their craftworlds, planets and smaller spaceships. It was possible for an Eldar to walk from one planet to another, across hundreds or thousands of light-years of real space. The warpgates bound the Eldar together as a single civilization, stretching across their space and, or so it was theorized, backwards and forwards in time. The Eldar, fearful of the consequences, never experimented with the temporal aspect of the warpgates.

Their studies did, however, bring them an understanding of the link between the warp and psychic power. In making this conceptual leap the Eldar also discovered the power of Chaos, in all its seductive glory. The Eldar, for all their apparent culture, had never encountered its like. Some turned from the warp with disgust when the corrupting nature of Chaos and its effects on reality became evident, but others responded with new vigour. The manifestations of Chaos - spread like wildfire through the Eldar, carried to further worlds by tainted individuals with access to the warpgates. In the space of a single generation, the Eldar paused in their quest for enlightenment and chose the darker path into the service of Chaos.

There were Eldar who were untouched by Chaos, and they retreated to the cityships and the larger craftworlds, where the more adventurous and vital members of the race had always lived. The insanity of Chaos had no foothold or appeal aboard the vast ships. The warpgates to the infected Eldar worlds were closed and locked. The cityships were absorbed into the larger craftworlds, and all drifted into the depths of space, lifeboats and seedpods for the Eldar race. The planetary Eldar that remained sank wholeheartedly into the dark worship of the Chaos Powers. A racial madness had taken hold throughout Eldar space, an insanity that had only one end. In a mindless psychic orgy every Eldar planet perished in a single night. The death screams of the Eldar echoed across the warp, and coalesced into a single, mighty shout. On every planet Eldar corpses twitched in the mindless dance of Chaos and crumbled to dust.

The dead Eldar, however, were not gone. Their spirits had merged with the warp and merged in a horrifying manner. Their death-shout became a howl of joy and release. Slaanesh, the Lord of Pleasure, master of unbridled depravity, was born from the dark side of the Eldar nature. The psychic pain of the Eldar’s racial death and Slaanesh’s birth convulsed the warp; the warpstorms around Earth were blown away, and the warp rippled into new patterns. The last of the Eldar drifted into the long night between the stars. The racial memory of their former glory and nobility sustained them, while the downfall of the race filled them with self-disgust and bitterness. The Eldar had come face-to-face with their darkest desires and had been found wanting.

For the Eldar, Mankind is a reminder of what happened long ago. Humanity is treading the same path towards the darkness of Chaos, a crude mirror of the Eldar’s own disgrace. The Eldar have grown since, accepting and holding in check the Chaos that lurks within their hearts, a delicate balancing act that they have at last mastered. Mankind rushes towards the fate of the Eldar, but without the ability to preserve itself in any form. All the signs are there to be read: Humanity's moral leprosy of chaos worship, it's rising number of emergent psykers, its lust for universal power, and its fragile, failing Emperor.

 

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THE ILLUMINATI

The Emperor’s forebodings are shared. Others know of the end of the Emperor and Mankind, of the terrors that lurk in warpspace, waiting for the moment of Man’s weakness: these are the [!luminati. They have seen the nature of Chaos at first hand. The Illuminati are marked by a single common experience: they have been possessed by Daemons.

Daemons need physical bodies in real space, and these are provided by hosts - or more often victims. The host usually dies in mental and physical agony, but under certain circumstances escape has proven possible. By a fluke or sheer force of will, a victim manages to cast out the Daemon within and take control of his own body once more. The Illuminati know of Chaos - the seductive charms, the easy lure of power - and they have seen its dark underside: the suffering, mutation and madness that are its true gifts. They have had the most intimate of contact with Chaos: sharing a mind with one of its servants. To many, the Illuminati are mad, scarred and twisted by their experiences, brought to a level of bitter cynicism that has no equal. The Illuminati, however, see themselves in a different light. They have become the ultimate realists, aware of the terrible nature of the universe they inhabit. They have survived Chaos, and achieved a balance that eluded the Eldar. They have mastered the Chaos within themselves and now oppose Chaos in the broader universe.

As a result, the Illuminati are some of the few allowed access to the Black Library of the Eldar. The knowledge they gain from their researches is jealously guarded. The Illuminati have become the most secret of secret societies, standing above and beyond the Emperor. They manipulate and interpret the Imperial Will to bring about their objectives. They are close-mouthed to such degree that an Inquisitor- Illuminati would torture a brother Illuminati to death to preserve their shared secret - and that brother would go willing to his death in such circumstances. For the Illuminati, the ends - the preservation of Mankind - justify any means, up to and including the destruction of the Emperor and the Imperium.

The Illuminati know of the fall of the Eldar, and seek to prevent the same happening to Mankind. They know that if the rise of Chaos overtakes Humanity’s maturity as a psychic species the universe will be at an end. The fall of the Eldar rocked warpspace and reality; real space and the warp were momentarily bent out of shape by the Eldar-Slaanesh union. The fall of such a numerous, vigorous race as Man could bring about the complete merging of the two dimensions. In such a new, radically altered warp-reality, Chaos would be in the ascendancy. Mankind would perish, and a new warp Power would arise.

This is the future that the Illuminati seek to thwart, and in doing this they mean to rejuvenate the Emperor.

 

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SUMMONED DAEMONS

In Warhammer 40,000 Summoned Daemons are essentially the same creatures as their fantasy cousins. The individual descriptions, profiles and special rules given in The Powers of Chaos (p11) apply in full. However, the general Daemon rules from The Powers of Chaos are not used when fighting Warhammer 40,000 battles. The new rules given here for Summoned Daemons reflect the ‘technological’ explanation of Daemons and the daemonic in WH40K as well differences between game systems. It should also be noted that the rules presented here apply only to Summoned Daemons. The special rules for Possession by Daemons can be found on p226.

A Daemon has no existence in real space until it is given a body to occupy during a ritual. It is a creature of malign energy from the warp, insubstantial until given a mortal frame. Once it has a host body, a Daemon rapidly adapts it to a new shape. This is always a perverse echo of the Daemon’s warp form, and identical to the physical shape that a Daemon adopts in the Chaos Wastes. This form is also a mark of its status and allegiance to its patron Chaos Power - a Bloodthirster (Greater Daemon of Khorne) or a Keeper of Secrets (Greater Daemon of Slaanesh) always has the same form, regardless of its location in time and space. This warping is, however, always fatal for the original personality of the host. The host body twists and contorts out of all recognition, and its pain-wracked mind is destroyed by the unbearable mental and physical stress. The ‘dead’ body, now hideously deformed, is driven on by the implacable will of the Summoned Daemon.

 

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All the models in a unit are possessed by the same type of Daemon. A single roll is made for the unit and applied equally to each model. The nature of any associated character Possessees is determined separately. For example, a squad of Traitor Legion Marines loyal to Slaanesh could be Possessee Daemonettes rather than true mortals, while their officer (a character model) could be a Possessee Keeper of Secrets.

 

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