Tainted Psyker

Tainted Psykers are psykers who has given themselves over
to the raw power of the warp. These psykers are teetering on
the brink of complete damnation and being drawn into the
thrall of dark and thirsting gods. Though it is fraught with
risk and peril, the power that can be achieved by opening
oneself further to the possibility of the warp is immense. Like
opening a crack in the casing of a blast furnace to realize the
roaring inferno contained inside, the power of the Tainted
Psyker is as awful as it is terrifying. Storms of psychic force,
uncanny control of flesh, and terrible ways of using the power
of the warp are the weapons the Tainted Psyker has bought at
the cost of his mind, body, and soul.
The touch of the warp is corrosive and dangerous to even
a trained mind, filled as it is with echoes of vast and malign
intelligences and the rawness of warp power. By opening
themselves to the wider possibilities of psychic power and
the undiluted warp energy, their minds begin to crumble,
their bodies warped or crippled by the powers they are
mediating. Many psykers, once they begin down the tainted
path to power, find themselves consumed by emotions and
inclinations that they cannot control as the warp echoes and
amplifies their dreams, obsessions, and fears. This warping
process can end with monstrous madness on the part of the
individual psyker or one final fall to damnation and service
to the dark gods.
Despite the dangers of cultivating the rawness of warp
power, it is a risk taken by Radical Inquisitors who wish to
put the abilities of such an individual to work for the ultimate
good of the Imperium. Some Radicals even push the psykers
in the service towards tainted and forbidden paths of psychic
power. Some do this to create more potent walking weapons
against the manifold threats that they must confront; others,
such as those of the Horusian persuasion, use their own
Acolytes as test subjects to be pushed and observed as part of
their research into the creation of divine avatars.
== Becoming a Tainted Psyker ==
Becoming a Tainted Psyker simply requires a conscious choice
of the part of a character to embrace the darker, corruption-laden
possibilities of his abilities. There is no corruption or
insanity gained on entering this rank, though it will surely
follow as the psyker unlocks his darker potentials.
Required Career: Imperial Psyker, 15+ Corruption Points
Alternate Rank: Rank 5 or higher (3,000 XP)