Chaos Gods - The Great Game: The Chaos Gods are rivals of each other -- the constant war between them mirrors the struggle between their followers in the material universe, and vice-versa. This struggle for dominance over the Warp and the physical universe by the Chaos Gods is known as the "Great Game."The Warp is not merely the home of the Dark Gods; it is also their primary battlefield, the arena for this Great Game of Supremacy. Since time immemorial, the Chaos Gods have warred with one another, vying for power amid the immaterial planes.Despite their myriad differences, the great Gods of Chaos have the same goal: total domination of the universe. There is no realm that they do not wish to claim for their own, and each seeks absolute rule, the mere concept of sharing power with another anathema to them.With the ebb and flow of energy within the Warp, the power of a Chaos God expands and contracts, and his realm will shift accordingly. For long periods, one god may dominate the others, fed by its own success and leeching its foes' energy for its own growth. Eventually, the other gods will ally against the dominant force, and through combined efforts reduce him in power until another of their number rises to prominence.This pattern is played out again and again through eternity. It seems unlikely that any Chaos God could ever truly be victorious, and it is unthinkable what might happen should such an event ever occur, but it certainly is not for lack of trying.When the gods do battle, the Immaterium shakes and Warp Storms rage across the galaxy. Within the Realm of Chaos, hordes of Daemons are sent forth to do their creators' biddings, and the lands of the gods strain and heave at each other in physical assault. Possessed of personality and intelligence, the Daemons of a Chaos God aspire to draw favour from their master, and often launch their own attacks into the domains of rival Daemons.The armies of the gods pour from one territory to another in a ceaseless frenzy of invasion and defence. As intrigue, feints and lures lead forces into traps, elsewhere pacts are forged, and opposing sides join forces mid-battle as a common cause creates a temporary amnesty between rivals.It is never long, however, before the merest possibility of advantage arises, and the brief cessation of open warfare between two parties is readily abandoned so the Daemons might once more fall upon one another.Vast swathes of the Immaterium are in a constant state of flux, every moment a new territory won or lost. When an invading army emerges victorious, they immediately set to work on turning the ravaged battlefield into part of their god's realm, moulding the raw entropy of that section of the Immaterium into whatever form best pleases their master.From time to time there arises a being, place, object or event in the material universe that attracts the attention of all the Gods of Chaos. So important is this new element, so desired by the Ruinous Powers or so dangerous to their shared ambitions, that all rivalry is temporarily put aside in order to take advantage of this particular opportunity, or thwart the threat it presents. In such an instance, the gods will work together, and the galaxy trembles before their combined power as Chaos Undivided.For Mankind, the most significant occasion of this type was the rise of the Emperor. During this period, the Chaos Gods set out to bring about the Master of Mankind's downfall, beginning with the spiriting away of His infant primarchs from the laboratory on Terra where they were created, and culminating in the spiritual corruption of half their number and the civil wars of the Horus Heresy.Other events have led to briefer cessations of conflict in the Realm of Chaos: particularly promising Black Crusades, for example, or the extermination or birth of a new race.Such interest in mortal affairs is fleeting, and as soon as their objective is achieved, the gods resume their Great Game. Sometimes treaties will be broken even before their mutual goals are met, with one god or another, or all four, overstepping the bounds of their agreement and attempting to usurp their rivals. Once again the Realm of Chaos will thunder to the march of the Daemonic legions, and their age-old feuds will spill over into the domains of realspace.