vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Chaos Cult - Sons of Sek: The Sons of Sek are an unusually regimented and disciplined Chaos warband located in the "Sanguinary Worlds" under the command of the Magister Anakwanar Sek, one of the Archon Urlock Gaur's closest subordinates in the defence of the Sabbat Worlds Sector from the assault of the Imperial Sabbat Worlds Crusade.While still relatively new to the war for the Sabbat Worlds, initial reports indicate that the Sons of Sek may, in fact, be superior in combat to their cousins in Urlock Gaur's own Blood Pact. In addition to being of larger, stockier build, the Sons are also equipped with higher-quality gear and weapons. The Sons are also better motivated and led, and even include an officer similar to an Imperial Commissar, known as a "Scourger," to maintain discipline and morale.This is something that even the unusually-disciplined Blood Pact lacks. The Sons of Sek were created not only to fight against the Imperium, but also to serve as Magister Sek's vanguard for when he eventually attempts to overthrow the Gaur and assume the position of Archon over all the forces of Chaos in the Sabbat Worlds Sector.The Sons of Sek's adherents, like their allies among the Blood Pact, possess an unusual view of Chaos theology. They do not hate the Emperor as an enemy of Chaos, but venerate him as another embodiment of the Warp.They believe the Emperor to be simply another Warp entity like a Daemon or the Chaos Gods themselves. They see Him as a misguided prophet for Humanity who has seen the power of the Warp but who mislead His followers into believing that it should be opposed.The Blood Pact and their allies believe that it is the holy task of their cults to spread the truth about the God-Emperor and the Warp and to bring the people of the Imperium back into the fold of worship of the powers of Chaos, because in truth they are already venerating a creature of the Warp.For these cultists, the Emperor is already akin to the entities they worship, for He, too, is powered by the Warp and has been changed by his contact with the Immaterium. For these cultists, the Emperor is actually a symbol of what they aspire to, as they wish to become one with the Warp and be forever changed by this communion.Thus, in their belief system, the "schism" of mistaken faith embraced by the Imperium must be healed and Humanity brought back into the embrace of Chaos. They hold that the Imperium does not need to be destroyed, but only reformed so that it understands the true nature of the Warp and its inhabitants.In this view, the Imperial Creed has led the people of the Imperium down the wrong path for millennia, and the Blood Pact and their allies believe that they are engaged in a war to defeat its gatekeepers so they can teach Humanity the truth of the enlightenment that Chaos offers -- and that they have already been worshipping without realising it.
Chaos Cult - Sons of Slaughter: The Sons of Slaughter are are a Khornate Chaos Cult that served their Khorne Daemonkin masters with fanatical fervour. They fell in battle while fighting against the vile Death Guard Traitor Legion.Their lives were not wasted however, as enough of their blood and the blood of their enemies had been spilled, to allow the Daemons of Khorne to materialize on the battlefield and fall upon the surviving Death Guard.
Chaos Cult - Stigmartus: The Stigmartus are a Chaos Cult and warband operating in the Jericho Reach. They were key components of those forces of Chaos who stood against the Imperium's assault upon the region in the Achilus Crusade.Consisting of Renegades, madmen, Imperial criminals, cultists, mutants, and rogue psykers, the Stigmartus was named for the ritual branding of its members' flesh with the sigil of their Chaos masters.Although they are brutal and frenzied to the extreme, like the Blood Pact of the Sabbat Worlds they maintain harsh discipline and military-style professionalism, and are organised along the lines of an Astra Militarum regiment.The commanders of the cult are believed to be the remainder of the previous Heretic rulers of the world of Khazant, which fell to the Imperium during the early years of the Achilus Crusade.Now the Stigmartus are bound to the charismatic leadership of a cult-general known as Elak Sarda, who is said to be sworn to the service of a daemonic entity within the Charon Stars.
Chaos Cult - The Unbound: The Unbound was a Chaos Cult devoted to Nurgle that inhabits the hellish realm known as the Eye of Terror. Originally, they were troopers of the Cadian 969th Regiment. Deployed to Certus Tertia during the Gothic War, they contracted a plague borne in the planet's water.Quarantined and refused permission to return to their homeworld of Cadia, the troopers of the 969th turned their allegiance to the Lord of Decay. The cult is led by the regiment's former Colonel Abner Varicuss, who styles himself, "the False Castellan," as he was once a favoured candidate for the esteemed post of Lord Castellan of Cadia.One of the worlds inside the Unbound are known to garrison is the corrupted Hive World of Ablutraphur, whose vital manufactorum makes wargear for several armies of Chaos, including the armour plating worn by members of the Unbound. The cult's symbol mimics the symbol of Nurgle -- three skulls, inside an inverted pyramid.
Chaos Cult - Vashaan: The Vshaan was a Chaos Cult that took part in the conflict that engulfed the Pyrus Reach Sector sometime in the 41st Millennium.
Chaos Cult - Vraksian Traitor Militia: The Vraksian Traitor Militia were a motley assortment of Planetary Defence Force troopers, garrisoned Imperial Guard auxilia from the planet Vraks, indentured Departmento Munitorum Labour Corpsmen, the Ecclesiarchy's Frateris Militia, and local volunteer soldiers, who rebelled against the Imperium whilst under the sway of the heretic Apostate Cardinal Xaphan.After the previous Cardinal of the Scarus Sector in Segmentum Obscurus died, his successor, Cardinal Xaphan, took his place as the Cardinal of the Scarus Sector. Over the course of many years, Xaphan undertook a pilgrimage across the Scarus Sector, his new domain. He wished to see the places he would preside over, and he wished to bring a spiritual revival to the people. Where he and his entourage passed, he amassed ever more followers in a series of religious uprisings. Criminal governments and oppressive tyrannies were shattered with each world he traveled to.Whispering into his ear was the Cardinal's favored advisor, Deacon Mamon, a secret devotee of Chaos. After years of pilgrimage, Xaphan went into seclusion on the Imperial Armoury World of Vraks Prime, also the site of a popular Imperial Cult shrine. Here, Xaphan chose his battlefield. Believing that corruption was eating away at the Imperium, he thought himself a messianic figure destined to ignite a holy war and give the faithful a chance to purge the galaxy of darkness.Believing the Cardinal to be amassing far too much popularity and power, an agent of the Officio Assassinorum was sent by the Ordo Hereticus of the Inquisition to assassinate Xaphan during one of his sermons. After the failed attempt on his life by this operative, the Armoury World of Vraks erupted in full-scale rebellion against the Imperium.It wasn't long until the Citadel and the industry of the Armoury World were under Xaphan's control. By seceding Vraks from the Imperium, Imperial forces in the sector and, in some cases, the entire Segmentum, would be left without adequate resupply of arms and armour. By breaking the Imperial supply chain of which Vraks was a part, forces as far removed and important as the Cadian Imperial Guard regiments guarding the Eye of Terror would be sparsely armed, allowing a potentially major Chaos incursion to occur in or around the Cadian Gate.The Administratum deemed that Vraks must be returned to the Imperium's fold. By the time word reached the Imperium of the rebellion on Vraks, it was already too late. Millions of Traitors and Heretics were now dug into meticulously-planned, constructed, and reinforced defences, with massive orbital lasers protecting the world's Citadel from orbital bombardment and assault. It fell on the Imperial Guardsmen of the Death Korps of Krieg, united under the umbrella of the Imperium's 88th Siege Army, to dislodge the traitorous forces of Cardinal Xaphan in what would become a grinding war of attrition that would consume millions of lives across 17 standard years of battle and would enter Imperial records as the Siege of Vraks.
Chaos Cult - Villiad Collective: The Villiad Collective is a daemon worshipping Chaos Cult that were embroiled in a long-standing war against the Eldar Craftworld of Il'sariadh in the 38th Millennium.
Chaos Cult - Witch-Brothers of Night: The Witch-Brothers of Night was one of the many Chaos Cults destroyed during the Redemption of Hazeroth -- an Inquisition-led operation that put ten thousand heretics to the torch.
Chaos Cult - Writhing World Sorcerer Kings: The Writhing World Sorcerer-Kings are biomancer psykers of the plague planet known as the Writhing World located in the Warp rift of the Screaming Vortex. This world's primitive Human inhabitants wander amidst continent-sized tendrils of undulating flesh beneath the merciless rule of the great Biomancer Lords.The most powerful such denizens are the Sorcerer-Kings, potent psykers whose massive organic citadels scurry endlessly across the planet's surface at their master's bidding. Occasionally one of these powerful individuals will depart this decaying world, bartering passage among the various vessels that traverse the endless void.Though their reasons for these journeys are their own, their considerable power and arcane lore make them powerful allies despite the apparent danger of harboring such vile wretches.
Chaos Cult - Xurunt Frost Fathers: Xurunt Frost Fathers are experienced fighters who have mastered the warlike way of life on the Feral World of Xurunt.The nomads of Xurunt, known as the Xur, continually migrate across the vast prairies of the planet's surface, seeking only to enslave and conquer any other tribes they encounter.It is a brutal existence, beginning when each is taught to ride a Xurunsh from the earliest possible age. This planetwide struggle for dominance continues until winter, when the Xur focus instead on surviving the harsh conditions or ritually honouring their bloody god Baphtar at one of his towering idols (who is reality is actually the Blood God Khorne).Through skill, determination, and daring a Frost Father has risen to a position of leadership among his tribe, and earned the right to lead his warriors into battle during the winter season.They are stubborn, wilful, and belligerent warriors, difficult to command but fearless in battle. A Frost Father may also be a woman for, though the title is masculine, the Xur respect ability regardless of gender.
Chaos Daemons - Chaos Rising: Over the aeons, the galaxy has witnessed Warp-based catastrophes and Daemonic incursions beyond counting. Since the inception of the Imperial Inquisition, even the fact that such a thing is possible is deemed too dangerous for the common citizens of the Imperium of Man to know, for knowledge breeds heresy as surely as a flyblown corpse breeds maggots.Because of this, the vast majority of knowledge concerning Daemonic incursion has been eradicated from extant Imperial records.The events that follow are recorded only in proscribed Imperial texts and heretical xenos scripts that the Inquisition has yet to destroy. They represent a mere fraction of the ever-increasing instances of Warp anomalies that have infested the Imperium.
Chaos Daemons - The Great Lull, M15-M25: The creation of Warp-Drive and Standard Template Construct (STC) technology, along with the emergence of the first Navigators, heralds the start of a golden age of discovery in which Humanity spreads outward from Terra and colonises the stars. Warpspace, although little understood, is seen as entirely essential to Mankind's ascendancy, and is a force associated with hope and salvation.Throughout this period Mankind sees an exponential increase in the number of psykers among its population. Aided by artificial intelligence, continued advancements regularly expand the boundaries of what is achievable, and so this period comes to be known as the Age of Technology.
Chaos Daemons - The Great Awakening, M25-M30: Mankind's galactic collapse comes with terrifying swiftness, and the Age of Strife begins. Warp Storms break, cutting off swathes of the galaxy and isolating Human colonies from one another. As holes emerge in realspace, Khorne's Bloodthirster generals lead the Blood Legions in Daemonic incursions that slaughter the populations of countless worlds. The inhabitants of entire star systems are enslaved, yoked to the whims of the Dark Gods. Across the galaxy, weaponised wonders of Mankind's technological peak are unleashed, turning many worlds into irradiated Desert Worlds. The populations of those planets that are not utterly annihilated, including Terra itself, are reduced to barbarism.Rise of the Emperor (ca. M30) - The mysterious figure known as the Emperor of Mankind rises upon Terra, and unites the techno-barbarian tribes. As the Unification Wars come to a close around 712.M30, He turns His mind to grander ambitions, and genetically engineers the primarchs of the Space Marine Legions. As the Emperor's creations near fruition, Tzeentch senses a chain of events that would one day cause the downfall of the Chaos Gods. Influenced by the master schemer, the Ruinous Powers seize the nascent primarchs from the Emperor's sanctum beneath the Himalazian (Himalayan) Mountains, casting them across the galaxy.Birth of Slaanesh (ca. M30) - The advanced civilisation of the Aeldari falls into decadence and depravity. Such is the scale of their hedonism that a new god is born from the depths of their excess -- Slaanesh, the Dark Prince. Upon manifestation, Slaanesh's primal psychic scream obliterates the majority of the Aeldari race in a single moment, and their species is pushed to the brink of extinction. The psychic violence of his apotheosis consumes the worlds at the heart of the Aeldari Empire. A vast section of realspace is plunged into the Warp, forming the rift that is most commonly known as the Eye of Terror.The Storms Abate (ca. M30) - Upon the birth of Slaanesh, the vast Warp Storms that swept across the galaxy for five thousand Terran years are becalmed, reduced in frequency, size, and ferocity.
Chaos Daemons - A Red Age Dawning, M38-M40: The incessant warring of this period sees the rise of Khorne in the Immaterium, and the Blood God is once more first amongst the Great Game's players. The chief victim of Khorne's rise is Nurgle, who falls below all his brothers in power.The Changeling and the Maiden (116.M38) - Harlequins visit the Aeldari of Craftworld Il'sariadh, pledging to assist the Craftworlders in their war against the Daemon-worshipping Humans of the Viliad Collective. Disaster strikes during the Harlequins' traditional pre-battle performance. The Solitaire -- who alone can play the role of Slaanesh -- begins to depart from the usual patterns. To the horror of the Aeldari present, the Solitaire catches the warrior playing the Great Harlequin just as he is supposed to escape from Slaanesh's clutches and breaks his neck. Cackling, the Solitaire reveals himself to be the Changeling, yet before the Aeldari can react, the Masque of Slaanesh is summoned, and the glamour-bedazzled Aeldari are easy prey. The Daemon Heralds vent their spite upon Harlequin and Craftworlder alike, opening a portal into a haunted spar of the Webway and allowing the Lesser Daemons of the cavalcades to pour through. Though the arrival of an Aspect Warrior warhost saves the Craftworld, Il'sariadh effectively has its heart torn out by the terrible losses it suffers.The Living Plagues of Thruscas Sine (330.M39) - The heretically progressive world of Thruscas Sine eradicates all natural illness from its populace. Nurgle is offended, and infests the world from pole to pole. The Plague Legions run amok, and there are no survivors save a new pestilence that will continue to grow in virulence.Guillotine of Khorne (407.M39) - The thousand-year War of Midian finally ends upon the Agri-world of Pax Veritas. That night, under a red moon, every celebrating soldier is suddenly decapitated by an invisible blade.
Chaos Daemons - Daemonic Possession: Daemons can possess mortals on the other side of the barrier between dimensions by transferring some of their psychic power into the mind of a psychically "gifted" mortal victim. The mind of a psyker is the most susceptible to this influence, which is why the Imperium so greatly fears and controls psychic individuals.The Daemons appear in dreams and visions, infusing their mortal host with a portion of Daemonic power. This eventually leads to the destruction of the possessed mortal, who is known as a Daemonhost, as their physical frame is warped by the Daemon to suit its own inhuman aesthetic.A few mortals willingly allow themselves to be possessed, glorying in the superhuman abilities they gain, even though the energies they crave will soon destroy them. Though the physical and psychic power of a Daemon is severely limited by the physical body it possesses, the scope for mayhem and carnage is still great.Possessed mortals, particularly those who already have power and influence, can start rebellions and wage wars, plunging whole worlds into centuries of bloodshed and anarchy. The history of the galaxy is littered with devastating conflicts caused by Imperial military commanders, belligerent army generals and political leaders who have been touched by a Daemon's fell influence.Some Heretics who serve Chaos Cults or the Ruinous Powers directly willingly offer themselves as Daemonhosts through Daemonic pacts such as those pursued by the foul Possessed Chaos Space Marines. Another way to allow a Daemon to manifest itself in the Materium is by preparing a suitable mechanical vessel for it to inhabit.Individual personal weapons and vehicles from Dreadnoughts to cruisers can be ritually anointed through painstaking rituals and large sacrifices of mortal lives to serve as a host "body" for a Daemon, essentially creating a Daemon Weapon or even a Daemon Engine. This process is far from easy, as Daemons dislike mechanical bodies for they are far more difficult to bend to their will and reshape than a biological one.The difference between a simple Daemonically-possessed vehicle and a Daemon Engine lies in the crafting -- a possessed vehicle was built prior to its possession for a different purpose; a Daemon Engine imprisons a Daemon within its physical structure as a deliberate part of the mechanism's original, custom creation.
Chaos Daemons - Daemonic Names: Daemons are chaos incarnate, unfathomable beings of a shifting nature, but there is one constant about each of them, from the lowliest imp to the most towering Greater Daemon: they each conceal a true name.Most such names are a rolling tide of nigh unpronounceable syllables beyond the wit and sanity of most to speak aloud, but to do so is the greatest defence against the unnatural creatures of the Warp; to know a Daemon's True Name is to hold ultimate power over it, and so their bearers keep them secret, even from each other.To this end, use-names and titles are utilised instead. These follow certain patterns, although they are recurring themes as opposed to rules. Khorne Daemon use-names are guttural and violent sounding, and those of the Bloodthirsters are often composed of eight syllables or letters, like Khazdrak. Their titles are bold and typically descriptive: the "High-handed Slayer," "Skullrender," the "Unstoppable Fury," and so on.Tzeentch Daemons are most likely to change names and titles, for it often suits their needs to do so; a single Lord of Change might go by many different names and titles at any given time.Nurgle's creations favour names with seven letters, and their epithets are either grandiose or descriptive, such as "Feculux the Master Mucanoid."Slaaneshi Daemon use-names utilise sibilant sounds, such as "Sslythri" or "Dryzla," while they have a preference for long, grandiloquent titles such as the "Exquisite Matriarch of Agonising Delights."
Chaos Daemons - True Names: A Daemon might be known by hundreds of names and titles on thousands of worlds, but it can have only one True Name. These originate within the madness of the Warp, not from any Human language. As such, they are extraordinarily difficult to speak, both for the odd sound and structure of the syllables, and for the otherworldly power contained therein.Daemons jealously guard them, for to know a Daemon's True Name is to have power over it. The discovery of even a minor Daemon's True Name is a monumental feat for a practitioner of the dark arts, one that they may work many lifetimes to achieve. In the creation and control of a Daemonhost, knowing the Daemon's True Name is a great advantage, and the knowledge of its True Name is often what marks a Daemon out for binding.Certain dark tomes, heavy with the evil they contain, record rituals and rites specific to a single Daemon, including its True Name. As these tainted manuals pass through the hands of different occultists through the centuries, the same Daemon might be bound into a new Daemonhost again and again.Though it inhabits a different host body each time, it contains the same malefic intellect, and the same dark changes mark its appearance.
Chaos Daemons - Melee Weapon Efficacy: Combat reports of early encounters between the original Space Marine Legions of the Great Crusade era and the entities of the Warp revealed a peculiar facet of the nature of Daemons. It has been noted that for some ill-known reason, Daemons appear to be all but immune to advanced projectile and directed energy-based weaponry in their freshly manifested state.Attacks of a more primitive and visceral nature on the other hand, such as the hacking of a blade or the setting of flame to such a creature, have been reported to have an exaggerated effect.It has been posited by Radical scholars of the Inquisition that those weapons wielded by ancient men are held most in dread by the Daemon itself, for as beings of scavenged sentience and emotion, they are not wounded on the physical plane but only a metaphysical level, by the primordial expectation or even psychic representation of pain.Furthermore, the Daemons' vulnerability in this regard might have informed the very weapons with which the armed forces of the Imperium continue to make war, for there is little other reason to imagine why the Emperor commanded His Legions so long ago to wield swords and other melee weapons as readily as their bolters and other firearms, a practice that has continued into the 41st Millennium.
Chaos Daemons - True Death: All Daemons are essentially immortal beings, who exist so long as their patron Chaos God continues to will it. When they are "slain" after manifesting in realspace, their psychic essence is simply banished back to the Warp for a time until they are able to manifest once more on the mortal plane after a suitable amount of time has passed or certain other ritual conditions are met.Yet a Daemon can suffer from ultimate destruction, a so-called "True Death," which is the act of eradicating a Daemon's psychic essence entirely rather than simply banishing it back to the Immaterium. The achievement of a True Death that has not been willed by the Daemon's patron god is an extremely difficult feat for mortals to achieve and almost always requires the use of a special, unusually potent psychic relic, ritual or a psyker who possesses extreme ability.Relics which have been invested with or become the focus of intense psychological belief or faith by many billions of thinking beings, such as the relics of the saints of the Imperial Cult, relics of the primarchs of the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, or even a unique item like the Sword of the Emperor wielded by Roboute Guilliman, are particularly potent weapons against the Daemonic.
Chaos Daemons - The Great Rift: With the opening of the Great Rift at the end of the 41st Millennium in the Era Indomitus, the Daemonic incursions that had plagued the galaxy since time immemorial escalated in both scale and frequency.A new era of terror and bloodshed was ushered in by that galaxy-spanning tear in the fabric of reality, and the armies of the Chaos Gods, mortal and Daemonic alike, began to conquer and consume the worlds of Humanity and the alien races with unprecedented impunity.Had the Chaos Gods worked in unison in the wake of that terrible event, it is doubtless that realspace would have been utterly consumed by the sprawling madness of the Warp. Yet true to their nature, the dark brothers saw the anarchy as an opportunity to fulfil their own agendas: to kill, to change, to pollute, to bathe in excess. So divided, they are unable to fully overcome the fierce resistance of the galaxy's inhabitants.The Imperium of Man, the largest single empire in the galaxy, has been galvanised by the return of the legendary Primarch Roboute Guilliman, and with him fights a new breed of warrior in Humanity's defence, the Primaris Space Marines.The older peoples of the galaxy, such as the Aeldari and the Necrons, continue to exhibit a stubborn refusal to bow before the Chaos Gods and accept their extinction, while upstart new species like the T'au gain a greater understanding by the day of the Realm of Chaos and the ancient and malevolent beings within it.The barbaric Orks are only incited by the surging conflicts around them, and greet the prospect of battle against the Daemonic legions with the same reckless enthusiasm they always have.The intergalactic devourers known as the Tyranids regard the immaterial Daemons with a special distaste, seeing them only as undigestible threats to the biomass they wish to consume.So the ultimate battle for the galaxy continues, the Chaos Gods and their Daemonic legions threatening to annihilate everything, including each other, in their eternal quest for dominance.
Chaos Daemons - Greater Daemons: At the top of the Daemonic hierarchy are the Greater Daemons whose power can be variable, depending on the whims of their patron Chaos God upon their creation. Some, like Nurgle's Great Unclean Ones, are only slightly less powerful than their patron god and in some cases they serve as temporary avatars of that god.Others, though immensely powerful by mortal standards, are allowed to embody only a fragment of the true collective power of their patron. Greater Daemons act as the wardens of their patron's realm in the Immaterium and the Realm of Chaos and have authority over the Lesser Daemons of their respective god.It is often they who lead Daemonic incursions into the material universe. Such is their might that they cannot simply be summoned by mortal Chaos Cultists performing a sorcerous ritual like Lesser Daemons.A Greater Daemon needs to possess a mortal's living body in order to fully manifest itself in realspace unless a Warp rift or Warp Storm has come into being, essentially eliminating the barrier between the Immaterium and the mortal world.Great Unclean One, Greater Daemon of NurgleKeeper of Secrets, Greater Daemon of SlaaneshLord of Change, Greater Daemon of TzeentchBloodthirster, Greater Daemon of Khorne
Chaos Daemons - Daemon Princes: The most powerful mortal devotees of Chaos try to gain the attention of their Dark Gods in order to gain the terrible power and great rewards that the Ruinous Powers can bestow upon their most favoured servants. Those striving in the pursuit of their god's designs are known as Champions of Chaos, whose ultimate, driving goal is to transcend mortality itself by becoming a Daemon Prince.Those mortals who become Daemon Princes are counted among the most powerful of the servants of Chaos, second only to the Chaos Gods and their Greater Daemons themselves. However, this path can as easily lead to another extreme. Throughout the path to power the Champion undergoes constant change, until either his patron Chaos God judges him worthy of Daemonic ascension or his form finally is overcome by the accumulated mutations given through loyalty to Chaos and he devolves into a mindless Chaos Spawn.The goal for most mortal Chaos Champions is to be elevated to the rank of a Daemon Prince in the service of one of the Ruinous Powers or of Chaos Undivided. This was the reward granted to the surviving primarchs of the Traitor Space Marine Legions who fell to Chaos during the Horus Heresy.
Chaos Daemons - Daemonic Heralds: Certain Lesser Daemons of the Chaos Gods have proven to be so successful or emblematic of their divine patron's larger goals in the Great Game and realspace that they are accorded a special status as a "Daemonic Herald" of their Dark God.The Daemonic Heralds of the Dark Gods include the following beings:Herald of KhorneSkulltakerHerald of NurgleEpidemiusHerald of TzeentchThe ChangelingHerald of SlaaneshThe Masque of Slaanesh
Chaos Daemons - Lesser Daemons: Lesser Daemons are the foot soldiers of Chaos, providing the core of the Daemonic legions. They are usually anthropomorphic in appearance and possess a calculating, malevolent intellect.Among the Daemons of Chaos they are the ones most likely to answer the summoning calls of mortal Heretics who engage in blasphemous, sorcerous rituals to call forth these entities into realspace.BloodlettersPlaguebearersDaemonetteFlamers of TzeentchHorrorsNurglingsHerald of KhorneHerald of TzeentchHerald of NurgleHerald of Slaanesh
Chaos Daemons - Daemonic Creatures: These more primal Warp entities are the lowest type and least intelligent of the Daemons. They are often granted as servants to other Daemons and occasionally, one of the Chaos Gods' more powerful mortal followers or Champions.Daemonic creatures can be further divided in type between Daemonic Beasts and Daemonic Steeds.
Chaos Daemons - Daemonic Beasts: Daemonic Beasts are Daemons that possess less self-awareness than others of their kind, more akin to the animals and other beasts of realspace. Daemonic Beasts, like their mortal counterparts, are driven by a feral intellect and commonly used as hunting beasts by other Daemons and the forces of Chaos.Beast of Khorne: Flesh HoundBeast of NurgleBeast of Slaanesh: Fiend of SlaaneshBeast of Tzeentch: Screamer
Chaos Daemons - Daemonic Steeds: Daemonic Steeds are Daemonic Beasts that are used as prized mounts used by Lesser Daemons and the more experienced Champions of Chaos. Earning one of these creatures from the Ruinous Powers can be as dangerous as facing them in battle.Steed of Khorne: JuggernautSteed of SlaaneshSteed of Tzeentch: Disc of TzeentchSteed of Nurgle: Rot Fly
Chaos Daemons - Unaligned Daemons: Apart from the four major Ruinous Powers that form the pantheon of Chaos, there are numerous minor Daemonic entities in the Warp who are Chaotic in nature too. The Chaos Gods tend to have less direct control over them, though they still serve the overall universal force that is Chaos:Astral Spectre - Spectres are powerful entities composed of congealed psychic energy and Warp-stuff. When manifest in the physical world, they take the shape of incorporeal spectres: patches of moving darkness, unnatural mists boiling with flickering images, half-transparent figures that cast no shadow and a host of other forms.Dispayre - Famished and tattered figures with hollow eye-sockets and mouths frozen in endless silent screams, Dispayres serve no single great power; they desire only to bring sorrow and madness. Darkness clings about them, and they make formidable stalkers and assassins for malefic cults.Fury - A Fury is a Daemonic Beast of Chaos Undivided. Ancient lore suggests that Human servants of Chaos that display a tepid attitude towards Chaos as a whole, reject the patronage of any of the gods, and who's service to Chaos in their life as a whole was unremarkable, are reborn in the warp as these beings. Forever to soar the violent winds of the Warp without a place.Soul Grinder - Soul Grinders are former Daemons of Chaos that now, in general, serve Chaos Undivided. They are dedicated to the Forge of Souls, an organization of Daemonic smiths in the Realm of Chaos which is independent of the control of any of the major Chaos Gods and uses Soul Grinders to maintain that independence.Warp Predator - Warp Predators are near-mindless animalistic creatures whose hunger for life is boundless. They are drawn to the soul sparks of mortal life like sharks to bloody water. Once such predator is the Ebon Geist, a thing blacker than the emptiest void, a killing shadow, thin and writhing that can pass through dark spaces as insubstantial as a nightmare fading into forgetfulness. The Geist murders with its chill talons, leaving nothing but bodies consumed to desiccated husks, the screaming shadows of its victims cold-burned into the hull where they perished.
Chaos Daemons - Exalted Daemons: Certain Daemons can serve their patron Chaos God so well that they are granted special favour in their god's eyes. These Daemons, who can be of either Lesser Daemon or Greater Daemon status, are often more powerful and granted greater abilities than their counterparts of the same type.So, for instance, an Exalted Greater Daemon often commands authority over even other Greater Daemons when serving in their god's Daemonic legions and likewise for their lesser brethren.
Chaos Daemons - Blood Legions: Of all the Chaos Gods' Daemonic armies, it is the Blood Legions of Khorne that are the most martial. Though they are savage and unrestrained creatures, Daemons of the Blood God occupy a strict hierarchical structure based on sheer might.Khorne's belief that the strongest of his followers should dominate has proven to be a simple but highly efficient organisational methodology.The legions of the Blood God have carved out the largest of all domains in the Immaterium through incessant war. In the brutal press of melee on the battlefield, Khorne's forces are unmatched by those of any other god, and the strength and ferocity each of his Daemons exhibits there decides where they rank in his armies.Highest in order are the Bloodthirsters. Clad in baroque armour, wielding fearsome brass axes and whips, each is a demigod of war. Were they simply warriors and nothing more, Khorne's Greater Daemons would be terrifying enough.His foes are not so fortunate, however, for the Bloodthirsters are tasked with leading the Lord of Skull's Blood Legions on the battlefield; there they bark guttural orders to the ranks of Lesser Daemons around them, and assert their dominance and dedication to Khorne by defeating the mightiest of the enemies' combatants. Figures of awe amongst the servants of the Blood God, they often attract an entourage of Daemonic champions that follow them into glorious battle.Each Blood Legion is divided into eight cohorts, which are individually comprised of eight packs of Daemons led by a Herald of Khorne or a Daemon Prince. The exact composition of these cohorts, and the auxiliary formations and creatures that may fight alongside them, will often depend on the type of Blood Legion they belong to.For instance, the heart of Red Tide Legions is made of Bloodletter cohorts that overrun the foe with waves of infantry attacks; such is the scale of death around them that they will often be followed by packs of carrion-feeding Furies.In contrast, the Hellfire Legions are siege specialists that prefer to engage the foe at range, and go to war in the shadows of Skull Cannons, Soul Grinders and, in the greatest of conflicts, the massive Daemon Engines known as Lords of Skulls.The Brazen Thunder Legions are the most mobile of Khorne's armies; the ground shakes beneath their Blood Thrones and the Bloodcrushers they lead, while Flesh Hound packs chase down any that attempt to flee. Exactly how many types of Blood Legion exist is known only to Khorne himself.At full strength, each Blood Legion is typically formed of eight cohorts, and each cohort is composed of eight packs of Daemons. These formations can vary for many reasons, although most commonly it is through the addition of auxiliaries or an influx or decrease in Warp energies upon the battlefield.It is also not unusual amongst the minions of Khorne for a cohort to subjugate the Daemon packs of another such formation, bringing them to their side by force during savage, and sometimes ritualized, infighting.
Chaos Daemons - Scintillating Legions: The air fills with kaleidoscopic bursts of magical energy as the convocations of the Great Conspirator materialise for battle. To mortal eyes, the different Daemonic legions of Tzeentch are impossible to distinguish, each one as bizarre as the next, yet there is method within the madness -- although none save the Architect of Fate himself could truly comprehend it.While Tzeentch prefers to further his ends through sorcery or schemes, there will often be no better alternative than force to achieve his goals. Thus are Tzeentch's Daemon legions deployed, armies unlike anything seen in realspace.These convocations go to war in a capering, bounding, spell-wielding carnival of violence, obliterating foes with hellfire and change-magics. Unlike the militant cohorts of Khorne or the cyclical forces that serve Nurgle, Tzeentch's legions are often in flux, shifting composition or altering tactics to better serve their master.Each Scintillating Legion is commanded by one of Tzeentch's Greater Daemons, a Lord of Change, each utterly dedicated to their master's cause. A Lord of Change is granted great independence to operate, and with the help of their advisers and champions, they will command a legion suited to their own proclivities.Those that love to bask in the glow of destruction might head a Conflagration Legion -- a force centred around formations of Flamers, capable of wielding the most powerful of Warp-flames.Others favour the Legions Anarchus, which are far less predictable in composition and specialise in sudden and wholly unexpected incursions.Those Greater Daemons who are masters of duplicity will lead one of the Veiled Legions; the most mysterious of Tzeentch's forces, these surface rarely and are almost never brought to battle, and slip off unseen after their plan's culmination.Each of Tzeentch's Daemonic legions is divided into nine hosts, and these are directed in battle by Daemon Princes and Heralds such as Changecasters, Fluxmasters and Fateskimmers. The leaders of the hosts compete to attract more praise from the Lord of Change that commands them, and even between the legions, there is no end to the machinations as rival Lords of Change plot against one another and sabotage each other's plans.It is another game within the Great Game, and one beloved most by the Great Schemer himself, who frequently weighs the tributes paid to him and proclaims his judgement. Thus do the sigils of each Daemon legion dance across the Pyramid of Yrch deep in the Crystal Labyrinth, blazing into a new order of countenance.It is a hierarchy that moves often, but the nine most favoured Daemonic legions are each granted control of one of the Fractal Fortresses that tower over the Crystal Labyrinth, an honour all Tzeentch's servants desire to attain.
Chaos Daemons - Daemonic Relationships with Mortals: Mortal worshippers of the Chaos Gods can interact with Daemons in ways other than simply fighting alongside them.
Chaos Daemons - Possessed Chaos Space Marines: Some Chaos Space Marines willingly allow Daemons to inhabit their bodies so that they can enter the physical universe. Rather than the Daemon completely taking control, as in the case of possession by a Greater Daemon, these Lesser Daemons form an amalgam of Chaos Space Marine and Daemon commonly referred to as a Possessed Chaos Space Marine, or simply the Possessed. The Possessed are potent warriors, combining the abilities of a Chaos Space Marine with the sorcerous psychic powers of a Daemon.Closely related to the Possessed are Obliterators, which are mysterious, Daemonically-warped Heretic Astartes. They have become an amalgam of a Chaos Space Marine, a Lesser Daemon and heavy armor, and bear the ability to transform their bodies into powerful weapons, making them walking gun platforms.Obliterators have their own cult, which is most closely connected to the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. It has since been learned by the Inquisition that the Obliterators were once the Techmarines of the Traitor Legions, horribly warped and transformed by their ten millennia of exposure to Chaos.
Chaos Daemons - Daemon Weapons: Some Daemons can be forced into servitude by being imprisoned within the physical structure of a personal weapon; these mighty artefacts of Chaos are called Daemon Weapons. Daemon Weapons are extremely rare, but also very powerful, often able to tear apart reality, shoot powerful sorcerous bolts of psychic energy, grant their wielder extraordinary physical attributes, or perform other such unnatural feats.A Chaos warrior must exercise great caution with these weapons, however, as the imprisoned Daemon will often try to rebel against its master and attempt to devour the wielder's soul.
Chaos Daemons - Daemonhost: Some especially Radical Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus believe that one of the best ways to defeat the Chaos Gods is to turn their own followers against them. To this end, they will force a Daemon into possessing a Human body and, using powerful psychic spells, rituals and charms, bind it to the Inquisitor's will.These enslaved Daemons are called Daemonhosts, and they are sometimes brought to the battlefield where they use powerful Daemonic abilities to destroy the Inquisitor's foes. However, such Inquisitors are seen as dangerous Heretics by their more conservative Puritan brethren, and sometimes find themselves being hunted as though they were traitorous heretics themselves; by the same token, other Imperial forces will usually hesitate at the prospect of fighting alongside a Daemon, as this is heretical in the extreme.The Grey Knights in particular despise the thought of these so-called Daemonhosts, and refuse to fight next to such abominations to the will of the Emperor under any circumstances.Chaos Cultists and Chaos Sorcerers will perform the exact same ritual, albeit for a different purpose, in order to have Daemons that are able to maintain a physical form, but still possess many of the strengths of a Daemon.Certain Chaos Space Marine leaders, notably Abaddon the Despoiler, will bind his Daemons in such a way that they possess little free will.
Chaos Daemons - Daemon Engines and Daemonically-Possessed Vehicles: Daemon Engines are similar in nature to Daemon Weapons; they are special tank-like machines which are forged in the realm of the Dark Gods and controlled by an imprisoned Daemon. They frequently carry powerful cannons which make them useful in sieges.The most common type of Daemon Engine is the Defiler created by the Traitor Legions since the end of the Horus Heresy, a large spider-like combat walker mounting the battle-cannon typical of Imperial Guard main battle tanks like the Leman Russ.In contrast to Daemon Engines, Daemonically-possessed vehicles are normal tanks and other Imperial armoured vehicles that have had a Daemon sealed within them through the use of Chaos sorcery, allowing it to control the vehicle in place of the normal Machine Spirit. This can be a strong advantage for the forces of Chaos because the Daemon, unlike a normal crew, cannot be killed or stunned by enemy attacks.The difference between a Daemonically-possessed vehicle and a Daemon Engine is in the crafting -- a possessed vehicle was built prior to its possession for a different purpose; a Daemon Engine has the Daemon imprisoned within its structure as a part of the vehicle's original creation.Possession also comes in two forms: a normal Daemon possession like that of a Possessed Chaos Space Marine, and a possession that is more akin to a parasite.Where the former Daemon receives direct control of the vehicle, the latter will actually become the vehicle. With a parasitic possession the vehicle becomes a living being like the Daemon, able to regenerate lost armaments or treads just as a living creature heals its wounds.
Chaos Daemons - Dark Pacts: Throughout the Imperium's history, Daemons have tempted Humanity with offers of knowledge, strength, power, and other desires. It was the whispered promises of the Ruinous Powers that seduced Horus and tore the Imperium apart in its earliest days.Though all Daemons are liars, the energies of the Warp can fulfil such promises -- yet the price is high. A Human who enters into a bargain with a creature of the Warp damns themselves and betrays Mankind.
Chaos Daemons - Forces of the Chaos Daemons: Chaos Daemon ForcesKhorneBloodthirster • Herald of Khorne (Bloodmaster • Rendmaster • Sacred Executioner • Skullmaster) • Bloodletter • Bloodcrusher • Blood Slaughterer • Brass Scorpion • Flesh Hound • Juggernaut • Blood Throne of Khorne • Skull Cannon • Skull AltarNurgleGreat Unclean One • Herald of Nurgle (Poxbringer • Spoilpox Scrivener • Sloppity Bilepiper) • Battle Fly • Beast of Nurgle • Nurgling • Plaguebearer • Daemon Prince of Nurgle • Rot Fly • Molluscoid • Blight Drone • Plague Hulk • Plague Drone • Foetid Bloat-drone • Feculent Gnarlmaw • Glitchling • Plague Toad • Pox RiderTzeentchLord of Change • Herald of Tzeentch (Changecaster • Fateskimmer • Fluxmaster) • Daemon Prince of Tzeentch • Disc of Tzeentch • Flamer • Horror • Screamer • Burning Chariot of TzeentchSlaaneshKeeper of Secrets • Herald of Slaanesh (Infernal Enrapturess) • Daemonette • Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh • Fiend • Steed of Slaanesh • Seekers • Hate-Angel • Contorted Epitome • Lady of the Voids • Ruination of Imperfect BeautyOther DaemonsDaemon Prince • Furies • Soul Grinder • Daemon Engine • Chaos Spawn • Chaos Beast • Mutalith Vortex Beast • Daemon Brutes • Daemon Shrike • Daemon BehemothNotable DaemonsAmnaich • An'ggrath • Be'lakor • Blue Scribes • Changeling • Doombreed • Epidemius • Horticulous Slimux • Kairos Fateweaver • Ka'Bandha • Karanak • Ku'gath • Masque of Slaanesh • M'kar • N'Kari • Rotigus • Shalaxi Helbane • Skarbrand • Skulltaker • Syll'Esske • Vashtorr • Zarakynel