Champion of Chaos - Exalted Champions: For every Chaos Lord making their grisly mark upon the galaxy, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of common Chaos Champions vying for the favour of the Ruinous Powers. Each is an exceptional warrior; whether they are known for their martial prowess or sheer animalistic brutality, the most elite of the Chaos Champions, known as "Exalted Champions," inevitably leave a trail of corpses in their wake.In seeking out and slaying the most vaunted of enemies, Exalted Champions hope to draw the eye of the Dark Gods. They do so with good reason -- from the perspective of a power-hungry madman, at least. Unlike so many other deities given obeisance across the galaxy, who remain distant and unknowable, if they exist at all, the Ruinous Powers of Chaos are very real entities, and willing to reward or punish their supplicants on the whim of the moment.An Exalted Champion that proves a capable pawn in the Great Game will find themselves rewarded with abilities far beyond those of even the most accomplished mortal. Warp-given "rewards" usually appear first as blemishes or stigmata, then, as time passes, as strange protuberances or abilities that become ever more pronounced over the passage of time.Their nature is sometimes suited to the recipient's personal agenda -- a bloodthirsty butcher may become possessed of insane strength, whereas a leader of warriors might find their commands obeyed without question. Other times these "gifts" of the Dark Gods might be hideously disfiguring, or even physically crippling, for what the Ruinous Powers consider a blessing might be seen by mortals as the vilest curse.Those Exalted Champions who sprout extra limbs, razor-sharp horns or extra eyes soon find ways to turn their new gifts to slaughter -- many a Chaos warrior has found such growths to be effective tools in a fight. Because the blessings a Chaos Champion receives usually increase the carnage they are able to wreak, they increase the likelihood they will be rewarded by their gods once more, and so the cycle continues.Should a warrior find themselves with too many gifts, their much-altered body and genome will reach a breaking point, mutating into a fleshy abomination that is doomed to spend the rest of its short existence in agony and madness. Such is the razored edge walked by these Champions; on one side lies eternal servitude to the entities of the Warp, and on the other, hideous devolution into a mindless Chaos Spawn.An Exalted Champion fulfils a double role in the warband of their master among the Chaos Lords. They are an effective leader in those times when their lord's efforts must be focused elsewhere, and it is common for them to be accompanied by a band of Chaos Cultist retainers and hangers-on, or a Chaos Space Marine honour guard. More than that, however, an Exalted Champion is their master's executioner, seeking out the leaders of the enemy and matching themselves against them in single combat.The Exalted Champion's experience, hard-won over Terran centuries, sometimes millennia, of battle, is allied with a ferocious thirst for violence and the potent wargear of the Chaos Space Marines, further bolstered by the gifts of the Dark Gods.This makes them an inspiring warrior, a weaponmaster who can fight toe-to-toe with an Ork warboss or Drukhari aristocrat and emerge triumphant. Whilst gore still sizzles on their blade, the Exalted Champion offers the undiluted glory of victory to their patrons. Their warband raises victory cries around them, fighting on all the harder as the severed head of the enemy is held up for man and god to see.