Religion

Collection of research on the warp, religion, faith and Gods, made by the Saint Seamus Lin and High Grandmaster Munstrum Ridcully.

## What is The Nature of Divinity

Saint Lin has recently finished his meditations on the nature of divinity. He begins by telling you that Gods draw their power from a combination of two things, the first is worship and the second is their domain. He also mentions that there are three main types of gods, which are mostly determined by their birth. These types are Primal Gods which are born of the Warp, Religious Gods who arise from worship, and Ascended Gods, who are created by their own actions, though the line between the three is often blurry. There is possibly a fourth type, the Created God which is made by the actions of others but Saint Lin is unsure of this.

Gods gain power from worship in two ways, the first is a small amount of power for every worshipper, the amount depended on the piety of the worshipper in question and the power of their soul. The second form is from actions done in their name. This a is board category and exactly what actions one in a gods name can give it power varies but in general the more an action fits into the gods sphere of interest and the greater the action the more power the god will gain from it. According to Saint Lin power gained from worship is easier for gods to store, and is the reserves that they draw on when pressed.

Gods gain power from their domain in a rather simple way, the more actions there are in their domain and the bigger the actions are the more power they gain. The domains of gods can vary greatly, from the massive domains of the Gods of Chaos, who draw power from every action in the galaxy that fall under them to the more limited domains of many lessor gods. In particular many racial gods such as the Eldar Pantheon only draw power from actions involving their race, and possibly within a very small domain on a galactic level. For example where the Blood Gods draws power from every fight in the galaxy Gork will only gain power from fight involving Orks. The power gained though a Gods Domain is far more temporary then the power gained though worship, not being easy to store for long but regenerating quickly.

A Primal God in one formed out of the Warp when a aspect of the Warp unclaimed by another god gains enough power, and a God arises to claim that aspect as a domain. Primal Gods generally gain the majority of their power though their domain, which are almost always galactic in scope. It is near impossible to truly kill a Primal God while its core domain still exists, but a Primal God has its actions limited by its nature and domains to a far greater extent then any other form of god. The most well know examples of Primal Gods are the Chaos Gods, though their may be others of lessor power.

A Religious God is one formed by the worship of mortals, which comes into being after enough believe in it for long enough. Religious Gods generally gain the majority of their power though worship, though many do have domains which are often limited to a single species. A Religious God is tied in a very real way to its followers, and its existence often relies on their survival and its nature is affected by their beliefs. Mork and Gork are the greatest of the Religious Gods, though the gods of most races Pantheons also fall into this category.

The third form of God is the Ascended God, a mortal who has in some manner ascended into true godhood. These are the rarest gods and in most cases the weakest, relying entirely on the worship of a small group or on a tiny domain. An Ascended God is the only form of God that cans survive the destitution of its domain and death of its worshippers, though on the flip side they are far more vulnerable to death in other ways. Ascended Gods have far more freedom of action then even Religious Gods, and can at without many of the limits that other gods have on their actions. The most common form of Ascended God is the most powerful of the Daemon Princes of Chaos, who have Ascended into minor Gods in their own right.

It is possible that there is a final form of God, the created God which is made by the actions of others but Saint Lin is unsure of this. His only evidence of their existence is the older Gods of the Eldar Pantheon, which were possibly created by the Old Ones. If this form of god does exist Saint Lin doubts that any bar the Old Ones have ever been able to create them.

## The Power of Faith

Saint Lin has recently finished his investigation into the power that gods gain from worship. This power, which he calls the power of faith, can be gained in three main ways. The most simple method is that every time a mortal soul preys to a god the god gets a small amount of power, with the amount depending on the level of faith of the worshipper and the strength of the worshippers soul. The next method is that all acts done in the name of a deity empower it, with the amount of power varying both on the significance of the act and how closely the act suits the deity, many rituals fall under this category. The final method is both the most complicated and the most simple, being sacrifice. Almost every god can be empowered by sacrifice in some manner, whether it is the blood sacrifice of others that the chaos gods prefer, the deaths in battle of many war gods or even monetary sacrifice that some merchant gods accept. The amount of power granted by sacrifice depends on a range of factors, including how well the sacrifice fits the god, the difficulty and significance of the sacrifice and the power of any souls sacrificed. The simplest ways to majorly empower any god that accepts them is massed human sacrifice, which is one of the many reasons behind the sheer power of the major gods of chaos.

The power of faith forms a reserve that the god can draw on at any time, though the reserve is finite and only recharges with more worship. Gods can use this power to do anything within the bounds of what their worshippers think that they would and could do, and the power of faith most often used for the more dramatic feats that gods can pull off, such as ripping open warp gates from within the warp and creating warpstorms. Given that the power of faith can be stored it is possible for an otherwise forgotten god who has lost its claim on any domains and is not worshipped to linger by husbanding the power of faith.

## On the Belief and Faith

Adeptus Ministorum

After five years of investigation Saint Lin and High Grandmaster Ridcully were able to come to a few conclusions about the connection between the Faith that powers some gods and the belief that influences the Warp overlap in many ways but are not the same. From what they can tell belief is the power that gods get from the prayer of their worshippers, but not the power that they get from sacrifice or acts done in their name. So in some ways the Power of Belief is a sub-category of the Power of Faith.

Adeptus Astra Telepathica

After spending a decade working with Saint Lin High Grandmaster Ridcully was able to gain an understanding of the similarities and differences between the powers of Belief and Faith. He tells you that while Belief overlaps with a single aspect of Faith within their area it is both stronger and less focused. By this he means that the totally effect on the Warp of a souls beliefs will be significantly stronger then the amount of power a god gains from said souls prayer, but that this power is spread over a massive area and number of themes so it has far less real effects then the focused power of faith.

## On The Power of Domains

Last year Saint Lin finished his investigation into the power granted by gods to by their dominions. He tells you that almost every god has some sort of domains, and that domains fall under two broad categories.

The first category is the Unrestricted Domain. A god with an Unrestricted Domain will draw power from all actions taken in the galaxy that fit within that domain, no matter who is involved. For example The Blood God is the god of war, and draws power from all wars within the galaxy. Unrestricted Domains are mostly the domain of Primal Gods, and all of the Great Gods of Chaos possess one or more powerful unrestricted domains. Each Primal God has one or more Unrestricted Domains as the core of its power. However it is possible for other types of gods to have Unrestricted Domains, and for Unrestricted Domains to be rather specific and therefore minor.

The second category is the Restricted Domain. A God with a Restricted Domain will only draw power from actions within its domain if a particular group is involved, most often its worshippers or species. For example Khaine is the Eldar God of War, and will draw power from all wars that Eldar are involved with, in an amount dependent on how involved the Eldar are with the war. Restricted Domains are most often the domain of Religious Gods, and most Religious Gods draw the core of their power either form a Restricted Domain or from the power of worship. Again it is possible for other forms of Gods to gain access to Restricted Domains, though this is often as a result of worship from their followers.

When an event that would feed multiple Gods occurs, such as a war between humans and Eldar, the power generated by the war is split between the relevant goods, though not necessarily evenly.

The power of a gods domain is heavily restricted, being only able to be used in a way fitting with that particular domain. As such power that the Plague God gains from a plague can only be used to create or modify disease of any form, or to create plague deamons.

The power of a Gods Domain is a constantly fluctuating thing, that is impossible for a god to store for all but the briefest of periods. As such it is often used as it is gained, either to bless to gods people or to hold territory within the Warp. The power of Dominions is far more alive then the other forms of Divine Power, and as such can be used to create daemons, independent Warp Entities which owe their allegiance to a god. Deamons are far less restricted in their actions then the gods that create them and are usually used as agents for the god to gain power. This work both by the daemon acting in ways to strengthen the gods domain and the daemon gaining power itself, whether it is from worship, actions or a range of other paths.

## On Primal Gods

Saint Lin has recently finished his investigation into the nature of Primal Gods, those gods who arise full fledged from the Warp. He tells you that Primal Gods are general the possessors of the largest and most powerful domains, and draw the majority of their power from them. This makes them far more able to act without followers of any sort but on the flip-side makes them vulnerable to any galactic trends that shrink their domain. According to Saint Lin Primal Gods are generally the most inhuman of the gods, and the hardest to understand the mentality of. Conversely they have the hardest time understanding the mentality of mortals, and as such can have huge mental blind spots. However he tells you that most Primal Gods act as their domain demands and do their best to expand their domain as a long term goal. Given their focus on the Power of Domains it is easiest for Primal Gods to make Daemons, and they often have the majority of their power invested into daemons which act as their agents.

## On Transcendent Gods

For the last four years Saint Lin has been continuing his research into the nature of Transcendent Gods, which seems to be far more complex then the nature of Religious or Primal Gods. He tells you that this added complexity is a result of how the core of a Transcendent was once a mortal soul, which operates far differently from traditional warp entities. Despite this difficulty he has been successful in his efforts to gather a good overview of what a Transcendent God is.

A Transcendent God is a mortal who has walked the Path of Ascension to its end and become a god in their own right. There are several ways to walk this path, the most common being with the assistance of an existing god, by carving a legend so strong that you can ascend into being a Religious God off its back or by coming to embody an archetype. The variant of the Path of Ascension that a would be Transcendent God treads greatly effects their powers and limitations as a god though there are a few similarities between all types. The biggest is that even after becoming a Transcendent God someone keeps their mortal power, allowing for Transcendent Gods to survive even after they have been stripped of all domains and worship.

The most common Transcendent Gods by far are those who are ascended to Godhood by existing Gods, such as the Daemon Princes of Chaos. These Gods often have little more power then they had as mortal to begin with, though they often claim minor domains as Lord of a Deamonworld and drawn on the power of worship granted by their followers. The greatest strength and weakness of this Path of Ascension is that you remain bound to the one who granted you your power. This gives you both an easy path to gaining more power, via favor of your god, and puts you in the power of another greater god.

A rarer Path of Ascension is those who are ascended to Godhood by creating the seed of a Religious God in their image and ascending to merge with it. This path of power most often leads to a god without any domains of note that instead relies entirely on the power of its worshipers. This gives the new god a great deal more freedom in its actions then most gods, but renders it vulnerable to having its nature slowly changed by its worshipers. The greatest weakness of someone who follows this Path of Ascension is their worshipers, on whom they rely on for all of their power.

The third and most difficult of the paths of Ascension that Saint Lin can find is those who are ascended to Godhood by claiming a domain. This is most often done by first embodying an Archetype and then ritually taking control over a Domain linked to said Archetype. This path of power is by far the hardest of the Paths of Ascension, but has the greatest freedom as it does not bind the newly ascended god to either a greater god or to its people. The strengths and weaknesses of those who travel this path vary with their Archetype, though it must be taken into account who they were before ascending when you consider this, as anyone able to tread this Path of Ascension to its end is already among the most dangerous mortals in the galaxy before taking into account any divine power.

### On Archetypes

After years of study and a large amount of help from Ridcully Saint Lin was able to discover much about what Archetypes actually are. He tells you that an Archetype forms when enough stories are told about people of particular characteristics, such Blind Seers. Archetypes have several effects, ranging from making more stories about them form to providing subtle boosts to those that most embody them. On the divine scale Archetypes are formed with ties to one or more divine domain, allowing gods that hold said domain to create powerful daemons about Archetypes. Just as interestingly one or more Archetypes often form the core of a Primal God, and one of the ways for a mortal to ascend to godhood includes taking on an Archetype as one of the first steps and from there reaching into an unclaimed domain and taking control of it. It seems that Ridcully may be on the Path of Ascension.

### On the Paths of Ascension

After five years of study Saint Lin has, with some major help from High Grandmaster Ridcully, learned much about the Paths of Ascension. To begin with he tells you that no matter which of the Paths of Ascension that is walked doing so is completing a vast ritual, one which is empowered by your deeds and the countless others who have walked it in the past. Saint Lin has suspicions that the some or all of the Rituals are artificial, created in ancient times by powerful gods or ambitious mortals.

The first of the Paths of Ascension, or Rituals of Ascension, is the Ritual of the Deamon-God. In this Ritual a mortal who has done great deeds in a Gods name is blessed with a fragment of the gods divinity, becoming a god themselves. This puts the newly Ascendant God in the power of their patron, making them in effect a variation of a daemon. Some manage to reduce the loss of freedom that comes with this path by seeking and gaining the support of two or more gods in their Ascension, though few can manage that feat. This path is powered by the existing gods, and may have been created by gods in the distant past.

The second Path is the Ritual of the Avatar, where a mortal becomes one with the seed of a religious god made in their image. This requires first creating a religion in your name strong enough to form a god, then protecting said seed for long enough for the god to be almost ready to awaken and finally drawing out the divine seed and merging with it as it is in the process of awakening. More then any of the other Paths of Ascension this Path requires understanding of the mechanics of the paths. This path is powered by faith, and may have been created by some brilliant mortal seeking divinity in ages past.

The final known Path is the Ritual of Metamorphose, where a mortal claims an Archetype that exists in the Warp by embodying it, and then uses said Archetype to claim ownership of a linked domain. This is the most challenging of the Paths to walk, with the mortal having to not only claim an Archetype but then achieve enough great feats, by divine standards, in a particular domain to have a valid claim on said domain and then to finally ritually take control of the domain, a ritual that's difficulty varies with exactly how strong the claimants claim on the domain is. In many ways this Path is the truest of the Paths of Ascension, requiring that its walker work with the fundamental nature of the Warp rather then find loopholes. As such Saint Lin believes that it is the original Path of Ascension, either existing as a fundamental rule of reality or created by the Old Ones long before the War in Heavens.

Interestingly enough Saint Lin has refused to record most of his insights, and will only speak of them in some of the most warded locations in the Imperial Trust with Ridcully there to watch for observers. This is because his insights into this process would be highly valuable for any mortal attempting to walk one of the Paths of Ascension, such as pretty much any Champion of Chaos of power.

## On Religious Gods

Two years ago Saint Lin finished his investigation into the nature of Religious God, those formed by the belief of mortals. He tells you that all that there are two things required for the creation of a Religious God, first a large number of mortal souls believing in it for an extended period, with the number required and the time required depending on both the strength of the souls and in the initial power of the god. Second the developing god needs to avoid Warp predators long enough to form, something that is near impossible to achieve in the wider galaxy. As a result of this most religious gods are either ancient beings that were born in a safer period, hail from an area that due to isolation or some other reason is protected from the eyes of demons and other gods or were protected by someone in their formative years, most often another god of the same pantheon.

A Religious God’s initial powers and personality is defined by an aggregate of the beliefs of those that created it, both living and dead. Once formed these can be changed by changes in how to god is viewed by its worshippers, though any beliefs to dissimilar to the current god are discarded. This process is also effected by the nature of any domains that the god manages to claim, with a domain having an anchoring effect on the personality of a god. In fact any god that manages to claim an unrestricted domain becomes far harder to change by merely changing the beliefs of its worshippers. These gods also become far less reliant on the support of their people, and can actually outlive the species that gave birth to them.

## On Created Gods

After a few more years of meditations Saint Lin was able to find out what he can about Created Gods, those Gods created whole by mortals. He tells you that Created Gods are closer to Transcendent Gods then other Gods, in that they can survive without any domain or worshippers, and in that they have their own independent power source. A Created God has a core personality and purpose that is it is made with, and is highly unlikely to ever change. This gives them a level of focus and direction that many gods lack, and a level of sanity that only Transcendent Gods can match. However they are often obsessive, even by god standard, about whatever their initial purpose was.

Like all gods Created Gods are able to gain power from their worshippers and from any domains that they lay claim to, though they will be born entirely without domains or worshippers. However they also have an additional source of power that they were made with, and that they can use in ways that the more divine power sources can not be used. This power is most likely what allowed the Eldar Gods to survive so long after being consumed by the Dark Prince, feeding them power even when cut off from their worshippers and domains.

## On The Pantheon of Chaos

### The Great Gods of Chaos

#### On The Dark Prince

After much meditation and investigation Saint Lin was able to gain a great deal of insight into the nature of The Dark Prince. Due to the nature of his subject Saint Lin has again refused to record his discoveries for the moment.

The Dark Prince, Slaanesh, is a Primal Great God whose domain centres around Excess. He has also claimed many other domains such as Sin, Sensation, Obsession and Freedom, but the true core of the Dark Prince is Excess.

While it is possible, and even common, for one of the saves of the Dark Prince to focus on another part of his domain, the more ‘gifts’ he has granted them the more they are inclined towards Excess in all that they do. This means that many slaves of the Dark Prince can get lost in their own particular pursuits, often at their own expense but it also means that when a slave of the Dark Prince commits to doing something they often bend their whole being towards achieving this goal. This can lead to success granted by the utilisation of the full force of the resources that the slave can bring to bear but it can also lead to the slave of the Dark Prince overextending themselves. Very rarely a slave of the Dark Prince can commit so fully to some particular task that they twist themselves so much that they are unrecognisable from what they were even after their utter corruption.

The Dark Prince was created primarily though the actions and emotions of the Eldar Empire, and has always remained connected to the Eldar in some manner. For most of his existence this connection allowed him to pull on their souls, claiming them on death or if they let their guard down. However shortly after her birth Ynnead was able to sever this connection, freeing the Eldar. The Dark Prince has always believed that he/she/it has rightful domain over the souls and worship of the Eldar, and loathed those that opposed this, whether it is the Eldar themselves or their few remaining gods. This hatred has risen to new heights after the Birth of Ynnead and the wounds inflicted on the Dark Prince after the birth, making the Dark Prince and all of his/her/its forces a dedicated enemy of the Empire of Ashes and all that it attempts to achieve.

The forces of the Dark Prince are the least disciplined of the forces of Chaos, with each warrior and champion distracted by their own personal excesses. However despite this they can act with terrifying unity when under the influence of the supernatural charisma of one of their lords. As such the cults of pleasure in all of their forms are even more vulnerable to decapitation strikes than most Chaos forces.

#### On The Changer of Ways

After much meditation and investigation Saint Lin was able to gain a great deal of insight into the nature of The Changer of Ways. Due to the nature of his subject Saint Lin has again refused to record his discoveries for the moment.

The Changer of Ways, Tzeentch, is a Great God whose domain centres around the dominion of Ambition. He has also claimed many other domains such as Change, Intrigue, Fate, Sorcery, and Hope. Of his lesser domains Change is by far the most influential, almost matching Ambition.

Saint Lin had great difficulty determining how the Changer of Ways formed, until a comment by Areatha gave him a key bit of inspiration. Unlike every other god that Saint Lin knows of the true origin of the Changer of Ways lies not in the past but in the future. It is entirely possible that one of the main schemes of the Architect of Fate is currently to bring itself into existence. With this insight Saint Lin was able to determine that the Changer of Ways is most likely not a Primal God, though he could be either a Religious and a Transcendent God. Given that Gods seems to get a major power boost on their birth Saint Lin worries what the Changer of Ways will be able to accomplish in the years following its birth, if it ever gets born that it.

As with the slaves of the Dark Prince it is impossible for one of the pawns of the Changer of Ways to avoid being influenced by the core domain of their god. This makes it impossible for a pawn of the Changer of Ways to be content with what they have and what they are. There will always be a drive to be greater and have more. This ambition inevitably leads to a need to change both themselves and their situation, and is the reason that the Domains of the Changer of Ways are always shifting as every pawn seeks to better themselves and their positions. The unending ambition of the pawns of the Changer of Ways gives them the drive and courage to attempt schemes that no one else would dream of, often for good reason and means that no ones position is secure, as his subordinates always scheme to take his place.

The forces of the Changer of Ways are the least predictable of the forces of Chaos, with every warrior and champion having their own plots to better themselves, which can interact in unusual ways. While this unpredictability can be a problem when facing them on the battlefield it more often acts against them, as a Lord of Chaos finds his forces not acting in the manner he expected them to. The consent scheming of the forces of the Changer of Ways make them more prone to factionalism then any of the other forces of Chaos, and therefore the most willing to turn on their leaders at the merest hint of weakness.

#### On The Blood God

After much meditation and investigation Saint Lin was able to gain a great deal of insight into the nature of The Blood God. Due to the nature of his subject Saint Lin has again refused to record his discoveries for the moment.

The Blood God, Khorne, is a Great God whose domain centres around the domain of Combat. He has also claimed many other domains such as Rage, Blood-Spilt-in-Battle, Honour-in-War, Strength-of-Arms and War, though the final domain is not uncontested. Unlike the other chaos gods these domains are mostly limited due to the sheer number of contenders for them, but given their nature they are still just as powerful if not more so then the unified domains that the other Great Gods of Chaos lay claim to. While he has a less total claim over war then his primary domain it is still his strongest domain, due to the sheer number and scale of the wars being fought in the galaxy.

From what he can tell the Blood God is the oldest of the Chaos Gods, born either in or just after War in Heaven. Saint Lin tells you that the exact period in which the Blood God was born is unclear due to confusion with the Eldar War God Khaine, who shares many traits with the Blood God. Saint Lin tells you that the Blood God is most likely a Primal/Religious God formed out of a mix of the War in Heaven and the worship of those that witnessed it.

Like the other Chaos Gods the Blood God’s worshippers can focus on one or more of his aspects but will not be able to avoid being influenced by his core domain of Combat. This makes it impossible for any of his worshippers to be able to deny the thrill of combat for long. As such the forces of the Blood God find it impossible to rest, and often move on to one battle as soon as the last has been completed. This can lead to their equipment being poorly maintained and their forces suffering incredible attrition, but does build up a solid core of some of the most experienced warriors in the galaxy. Given the near addiction for combat the followers of the Blood God feel they often have trouble with those positions that while necessary do not see much combat, whether it is general staff, artillery crews or quartermasters. While the smarter Lords ofthe Blood God will try and recruit followers of chaos undivided to fill those rolls that are unsuited for their own men and can’t be trusted to slaves even they often stumble on the less battle related tasks and positions.

The forces of the Blood God are the most predictable of the forces of Chaos, with most of their battle-plans being some variation of charge. While this can be taken advantage of an unfortunate number of the Champions of the Blood God are gifted with the more tactical aspects of his domain of war, allowing them to come up with masterful plans that take into account their forces preferences. In general the forces of the Blood God are able to avoid infighting when the battle has started, fighting as a whole even if their leaders are assassinated. Off the battlefield however they are if anything more inclined to turn on each other then other followers of chaos, though they are also known to unify the faster when faced with an external threat. In many ways the forces of the Blood God are remarkably similar to the Orks, and can be treated in similar ways.

#### On The Lord of Decay

After much meditation and investigation Saint Lin was able to gain a great deal of insight into the nature of The Lord of Decay. Due to the nature of his subject Saint Lin has again refused to record his discoveries for the moment.

The Lord of Decay, Nurgle, is a Great God whose domain centres around the domain of Decay. He has also claimed many other domains such as Death, Plague, Destruction, Despair, Perseverance and Rebirth though the final domain is not uncontested. Several of his domains such as Decay and Plague are uncontested with others such as Death and Destruction have several other claimants.

From what Saint Lin can tell the Lord of Decay is a Primal God born after as what was left of galactic civilisation decayed. It like the other origins of Chaos also has a connection to the Primordial Sea, from which reality was born. This connection greatly enhances the powers of the Lord of Decay and gives it the mematic contagion that Chaos is best known for, though at the cost of making it even more inhuman and other then even its nature as a Primal God would imply.

Like the other Chaos Gods the Lord of Decay’s children can focus on one or more of his aspects but will not be able to avoid being influenced by his core domain of Decay. This makes it impossible for any of his worshippers to avoid the decay of all that they posses, including their own body. However this can be alleviated by gaining more favour, which can grant gifts that replace what was lost to decay. As such followers of the Lord of Decay need a constant influx of favour to remain intact, favour that can be gained either from the sacrifice of those under them or by spreading decay to new regions. This means that domains ruled by children of the Lord of Decay need victories or they begin to decay. This requirement for success can lead to the children of the Lord of Decay attacking without sufficient preparations.

The forces of the Lord of Decay generally rely on toughness and the spread of plagues to achieve victory by turning battles into wars of attrition. While this is usually an effective tactic if you can bring to bear enough combat power to force a decisive conflict they can find themselves lacking. Where most forces of chaos are highly prone to infighting the forces of the Lord of Decay are more competitive, trying to out achieve their rivals rather then directly slay them. While this does remove a traditional chaotic weakness it also means that they are even less prone to working well with their peers then is normal for the forces of chaos, quite an achievement. When combined with their general slow mobility this makes divide and conquer tactics highly effective against the children of the Lord of Decay.

#### On the Abomination

After much meditation and investigation Saint Lin was able to gain a great deal of insight into the nature of Abomination. Due to the nature of his subject Saint Lin has again refused to record his discoveries for the moment.

The Abomination, Tjapa, is a Great God whose domain centres around the domain of Tyranny. He has also claimed many other domains such as Obedience, Fanaticism, Tradition and Faith. While not his central domain Faith is still possibly the most powerful.

From what Saint Lin can tell the Abomination is a Religious/Primal God born from the Imperial Creed and the Imperium as a whole, and kept dormant by the efforts of the Emperor until his death. As such it has claim over most of the symbols of the Imperium, and all of the symbols of the Ecclesiarchy.

Like the other Chaos Gods the Abomination’s thralls can focus on one or more of his aspects but will not be able to avoid being influenced by his core domain of Tyranny. Thralls of the Abomination are influenced constantly push to achieve ever higher rank, and to control those below them to an ever greater level. This leads to leaders who demand that their orders be followed to the letter, and who attempt to micromanage to an extreme amount. This means that the Abominations domains cope poorly with changing conditions unless their supreme leader is present, and armies that have issues dealing with the more complex battles due to leaders have major issues with delegation.

The forces of the Abomination generally rely on discipline and numbers to overwhelm the enemy, fighting on in situations that would shatter conventional forces with a level of cooperation that no chaos forces can match. While this leaves them without many of the traditional Chaotic weaknesses they have their own vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are their communications, which if cut will often leave the majority of their forces following their last orders, decapitation which can shatter the cohesion that they rely on and harassment tactics which can overwhelm their commanders ability to multitask.

### The Nature of Chaos

A few years ago Saint Lin finished his first investigation into the fundamental nature of Chaos, the greatest evil known to mankind. He tells you that at their core the gods of chaos are all tied to the Primordial Sea, either directly or via an intermediary. From what he can tell the Primordial Sea is what existed before the creation of the universe, and what will exist when the universe comes to an end, and as such is near incomprehensible to even a divine mind. However Saint Lin has been able to infer a few aspects of the Primordial Sea from the effects on those connected to it, that being that it is fundamentally a force of change, mostly destructive. According to Saint Lin the stronger a beings connection to Chaos the stronger its links to the Primordial Sea, which will both empower them and twist its mind in a way very familiar to all who fight the forces of chaos. This twisting is most likely why the gods of chaos generally embody the utter worst aspects of their domains. However if the Great Gods of Chaos themselves are twisted by their corruption it begets the question, how did they come into contact with the Primordial Sea, which should be near impossible for even gods to touch?

## On Gork and Mork

Saint Lin’s meditations on the nature of Gork and Mork have recently reached their end, and he has come up with a good deal of information on them. To begin with he tells you that Grok and Mork are both Religious Gods created by the beliefs of the Orks, and that they share all of their domains, though to different levels. He tells you that to confuse matters even more which of them has a stronger claim on any given domain changes regularly, though the two are always even.

Between them Gork and Mork have restricted domains over Waaagh, fighting, war, technology, strength and cunning, which between them cover almost everything that Orks do. They also draw a great deal of power from the worship of nearly every living Ork, making them the most powerful forces within the Warp. Even more terrifyingly given that they have only recently woken and gain a large proportion of their power from faith, which can be stored they could have tens of millions of years worth of power stored, an unimaginable amount

Gork and Mork are a pair of Religious Gods born out of the belief of Orks in the aftermath of the War in Heaven, though he is not sure exactly how far back. He is sure however that they were born within a million years of the War in Heaven, making them some of the oldest gods still living, with only the Blood God, the Eldar Pantheon and perhaps the Plague God being older.

Gork and Mork are inextricably linked to the Waaagh field of the Orks, and it can be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. This makes it hard to determine exactly what the blessings that they give to their worshippers are, though it is believed that many of the effects of the Ork Waaagh can be better laid at their feet. It is known however that the recent massive surge in the power of the Ork Waaagh field is a result of their awakening, and is believed to be a result of them expanding some of their gathered power of faith to enhance the Waagh field.

The strengths and weaknesses of the Ork Gods can be gathered simply by looking into the Orks that worship them, who are made fully in their image, or more accurately who made the Ork Gods in their own image.

## On the Eldar Pantheon

Saint Lin finished his investigations of the Eldar Pantheon, the largest and most powerful group of gods in the galaxy that can be called sane. From what Lin can see while in many ways the Eldar Pantheon is like every other pantheon formed by the worship of a single race, there are several major differences due to their early history. The biggest difference is that the Eldar Gods have stronger ties to the Materium then most gods, allowing for them to more easily act within it. From what Saint Lin can tell this is a result of several different factors, which are their nature as created gods and their link to the Webway, which acts in some ways as a portal between the Warp and the Materium.

Saint Lin tells you that while the Eldar Pantheon has over a dozen active members, there are only two intact gods within it, Ynnead the Goddess of the Dead and Cegorach, the Laughing God. The other Eldar God were consumed by the Dark Prince during The Fall, and released after Ynnead’s birth. These gods were shattered into shards in this time, said shards now being able to be awoken as Avatars by the Eldar. It may be possible for some of the Eldar Gods to be fully reborn out of their shards, such as Khaine, but others are irrecoverable.

## On the Primal Warp

Saint Lin’s meditations on the nature of the Primal Warp have recently been completed, and he has made many discoveries on this little known aspect of the Warp. He tells you that the Warp is shaped by the souls of all who live, from the merest plant to the greatest of heroes, and that the Primal Warp is the layer of the Warp created by plants and animals. While the souls of plants and animals are far weaker then those of people, they make up the vast majority of all living things and are pretty much everywhere there is life. While some of their energy ends up going to traditional gods the majority ends up draining into the Primal Warp, which has similarities both with a divine realm within the Warp and an entirely separate layer of the Warp.

The Primal Warp is a layer beneath the more well known layer of the Warp that rather then being controlled by gods is influenced by the primal Spirits of nature, such as the Hunt, Shelter, Fertility, the Prey and countless others, including World Spirits of most worlds. These Spirits are far further from what we would call an ordinary mind then even the Primal Gods, and whether they even have agency is unknown. While they seem to clash and compete with each other, that is only on the surface, and a closer look shows that the Primal Warp is a fully functioning ecosystem, created by all of its forces. It is possible for Psykers to draw on the Primal Warp, though this can only be done by those with a close connection to nature, and their own inner animal. Those who drawn on the Primal Warp gain far less brute power then conventional Psykers, and in many ways less ability to manipulate their power. On the other hand power drawn from the Primal Warp is far more easily controlled by those that know how, and can be used for feats that would be near impossible for regular Psykers due to both this and its unique nature. The most common people to draw on the Primal Warp are Shamans of primitive cultures, though they are not the only ones. Saint Lin believes that it is likely that some Eldar Exodites may also be in touch with the Primal Warp, and knows that the Rune Priests of the Space Wolves were. In fact he suspects that known how to draw on the Primal Warp is one of the reasons that the 13th​ Great Company was able to survive in the Eyeof Terror for thousands of years after their last ship was destroyed, and how they were able to teleport from world to world so easily.

According to Saint Lin the power of the Primal Warp seems to be incompatible with Chaos on a fundamental level, sliding off it where it can and being destroyed by it rather then being corrupted. Saint Lin wonders if this is a result of the nature of Chaos, and its connection to the Primordial Sea being incompatible with life, or if it is something about the Primal Warp itself.

## The Nature of Primarchs

Three years ago Saint Lin finished his investigation into the Spiritual nature of the Primarches. He tells you that as well as the already known enhancements to their bodies, minds and souls that the Emperor somehow tied them in some manner to the archetype of the hero, or more accurately so varies lesser archetypes tied to it. Exactly how he did this is unknown, but Saint Lin suspects that in some way he gave them some, or even all of his own ties to said archetype. This is an amazing feat that Saint Lin has no clue how the Emperor pulled off, or how he managed to pay the price that must have been demanded of him.

## The Nature of Self

Saint Lin spent the last few years looking into the nature of his own Sainthood. He tells you that it seems to be a combination of a reservoir of knowledge that was implanted into his soul, and the Emperor changing the very nature of his soul in some manner. These changes result in his soul produces the holy power that he is known from, which is responsible for all of the more supernatural aspects of his sainthood and for his approaching death. His ability to discover the nature of the Warp is due to a combination of the changes of his soul making him as much part of the Immaterium as he his part of the Materium and the large amounts of Warp lore that the Emperor implanted in his soul. From what Saint Lin can see he has no ties to the gestating God-Emperor, a fact that is certain to be intentional.