vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Nuclear Weapon - Notable Nuclear Weapon Deployment Platforms: Deathstrike Missile Launcher - The Deathstrike Missile Launcher deployed by the Astra Militarum is capable of mounting tactical nuclear warheads on its intercontinental ballistic Deathstrike Missiles.Harbinger - The Harbinger super-heavy bomber deployed by the forces of Chaos possesses the capability to unleash atomic weapon payloads.Navis Imperialis and Adeptus Astartes warships - The warships of the Navis Imperialis and the Adeptus Astartes are outfitted with atomic weapons that can be deployed as part of an Exterminatus action or other orbital bombardment. They can also be deployed as the explosive ordnance used by Macrocannon batteries and torpedoes during ship-to-ship void combat.Chaos Warfleets - The warships of the Heretic Astartes and the forces of Chaos are outfitted with atomic weapons that can be deployed as part of an orbital bombardment or as the explosive ordnance used by Macrocannon batteries and torpedoes during ship-to-ship void combat.
Null Box - Null Box: A Null Box is a portable stasis field generator that is used for preserving or safely containing a vital sample or woeful artefact. Null Boxes usually take the shape of small armoured boxes, although some go right up to the size of a large chest or sarcophagus. Inside is a Stasis Field, in which all time and motion halts and whatever is trapped inside is effectively frozen and removed from any interaction with reality -- essentially contained in a psychic dead zone. True relics of the Dark Age of Technology, most Null Boxes are extraordinary resilient and tough (almost supernaturally so, which may be the result of the time-control field within) and once active require no further power unless deactivated and turned on again. For obvious reasons the control mechanisms of most Null Boxes are often hidden and heavily encrypted. Unless breached with enormous force or simply turned off by someone able to do so, a Null Box and its contents can out-sit eternity if needs be.
Null Breach - Null Breach: Null Breach is a watch fortress of the Deathwatch Chapter that is located in the Segmentum Solar.Its kill-teams have assaulted the Ork World of Calverna several times. During one of these incursions in the Era Indomitus, Watch Captain Daxis was killed when he was crushed by a rampaging Squiggoth. He was avenged when the Intercessor Lyone, seconded from the Novamarines, single-handily killed the massive creature with pinpoint fire.Lyone had made quite the reputation for himself while fighting the Orks, and avenging Daxis' death earned the Primaris Marine his predecessor's rank of watch captain. Even before his ascent, Lyone had become fearfully known to the Orks as "Da Black Butcha," while his own battle-brothers began to call him "Orksbane." Lyone has excelled in the role of watch captain since earning the rank as one of the first Primaris brethren to do so.
Null Field Matrix - Null Field Matrix: A Null Field Matrix is a form of advanced Necron technology used to project a large anti-psychic field around itself, similar to that employed on a smaller scale by Gloom Prisms and the Nightshroud barriers created by Monolith phalanxes and Gauss Pylon networks.Most commonly used to shield Necron Tomb Worlds from psychic disturbance, they display the Necron's mastery over technology and their ability to create a technological defence for nearly any threat they encounter.
Null Field Matrix - Operation: As creatures long without any kind of spiritual essence, the Necrons cannot project their minds into the Warp or harness its power to any degree. They are unable to use the Warp to journey across the galaxy and are thoroughly bereft of any native psykers. In many ways, this is a boon, for the Empyrean is always a fickle servant, given to wreaking havoc on those who seek to claim its power.Yet this absence of psychic ability enforces its own limitations, particularly when combating creatures to whom sorcery is as much a part of war as conventional munitions, as there is no surer defence against a psyker than another, more powerful, psyker.To compensate, many Necron Tomb Worlds are shielded from psychic disturbance by vast Null Field Matrices. Developed during the War in Heaven, these networks of anti-psychic field emitters generate an unknown energy field that destabilises a psyker's connection to the Warp, rendering him unable to utilise his full power. Similarly, daemons in the presence of Null Field Matrices have a tendency to flicker in and out of existence, as if unable to maintain a solid foothold in reality.In the later years of the 41st Millennium, the Null Field Matrix has also proven to have a deleterious effect upon the Tyranids. The vassals of the Hive Mind are not immune to the unsettling soulessness of the Necrons, and the Null Field Matrix only serves to exacerbate this effect on the normally inviolate Hive Mind. Alas for the Necrons, such defences are far from complete.A Null Field Matrix requires incredible amounts of power to function properly and is a fragile device that must be hidden away at a Tomb World's very heart to prevent its destruction. Nonetheless, they stand as testaments to the Necrons' ability to create a technological defence against any form of attack, no matter its genesis.Additionally, it was a further extension of this same technology that led to the Necrons' uncompleted Great Work, the creation of the network of anti-psychic pylons erected on Cadia and many other worlds across the galaxy that were intended to cut off access to the Warp by all inhabitants of realspace forever.Luckily for the psykers of the galaxy, the Necrons entered the Great Sleep before this project could be completed, though it is possible that the Phaerons of the more active dynasties might like to see it completed...
Null Rod - Null Rod: A Null Rod is an anti-psyker Power Weapon employed by the Grey Knights and the agents of the Inquisition. This obsidian rod perpetually crackles with anti-psychic energy, nullifying the Warp-spawned powers of psykers.Even a glancing blow from such a weapon can provoke a cataclysmic neuron failure in a sorcerer or mystic, leading to instant death. At the end of each battle, the Null Rod must be drained of the energy it has absorbed, lest its captured power open a Warp rift.Additionally, the wielder of a Null Rod and their nearby allies cannot be affected by psychic powers or the emanations of the Warp in any way.
Numinal - Numinal: Numinal is one of the few Imperial Agri-worlds located in the Coronid Deeps Sector, in the Coronid Reach region, within the Segmentum Obscurus at the very edge of the dark frontier of galactic space.Colonised in the late 890s.M30 as part of the nascent Imperium of Man's expansion efforts to further secure the region's food supply and navigational channels, Numinal formed an important link in the chain of Human civilisation in the northern Imperium, as it had access to several recently discovered stable Warp routes through the region.These routes linked it to the Manachean Commonwealth, the Agathean Domain on the frontier to the galactic north, and the Cerada Trinity and the minor independent Imperial colony systems of Vespasia Infernus and Garella which made up the rest of the Coronid Reach.This network of Warp routes at its most extreme offered potential further access to several important worlds far out on the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium which could not normally be journeyed to without potentially many sidereal months of continuous travel via the illusive Hadexus Warp Channel, which reaches out as far as the Angelis and Honourum Systems.These vital routes made Numinal a prime target in the civil wars which wracked the Coronid Reach in the aftermath of the main Traitor attack during the Horus Heresy.As such, Numinal forms the proverbial gateway to the Coronid Reach. Its exports almost exclusively flow to the densely populated world of the Manachean Commonwealth where they feed billions of inhabitants.The world suffered greatly during the dire events of the Horus Heresy as it was occupied early on in the conflict by forces of the Cyclothrathine Mechanicum.The Imperial counter-invasion led by the Agathean Cohorts under the esteemed Lord Marshal Ireton MaSade has since entered history as the lauded Liberation of Numinal.
Nunc - Nunc: Nunc is a Dead World located in the Jericho Reach, far from the salients of the Achilus Crusade. Unbeknownst to the Imperium of Man, it is also a Necron Tomb World.Until the final Terran years of the 41st Millennium, Nunc was a world that offered no interest to Human forces within the Jericho Reach. Its climate is unappealing, its resources are limited, and its location is far from the major Warp passages.The world bears signs that it might once have been abandoned by some xenos species, but the evidence of that habitation is ancient and easily ignored. Without any technology to recover or significant resources to exploit, there was little reason to fully study or even attempt to colonise the world.In light of more recent discoveries, that decision has been called into question. Clearly, there are ample reasons for Imperial assets to be interested by the activities that have taken place on Nunc.
Nunc - History: During the height of the ancient Jericho Sector, almost all of the region's habitable worlds received at least a preliminary survey. A few surviving references within limited surviving texts suggest that Nunc was of only academic interest.Even these initial studies indicated that it was inhospitable to life and offered few resources to make it an ideal candidate for colonisation. However, those second-hand references survived because of the anomalies present on the Dead World.In spite of the absence of active life forms, there were clear indications that at some time in the ancient past, another intelligent species dwelt upon Nunc's surface.Those anomalies included a number of geographical elements that were organised in a way suggestive of the ruins of ancient structures. Additional evidence -- which is still visible from space -- suggested that there were substantial roads connecting these structures.Notably, these structures are more readily recognisable from space than from the surface. At ground level, they appear to be little more than heavily corroded hills, piled high with the debris from the world's frequent sandstorms.Standard protocols believed to be in place within the Jericho Sector should have led to a thorough study of the world, so that any surviving xenos contamination could be cleansed. However, there is no indication that any such surveys or cleansings took place.A few anecdotes do survive, which indicate that at least one Adeptus Mechanicus expedition ventured to the surface as part of a study to search for any xenos artefacts or technology.However, neither the few surviving sector records nor any known Adeptus Mechanicus records exist of this survey. That could either be an indicator that the individuals involved chose to remain secretive about their findings or that there were no findings of note.
Nunc - Collapse: Prior to the Age of Shadow, there were no known permanent Human settlements within the system. Since the Jericho Sector's collapse, there have been at least six different groups of refugees who attempted to establish colonies on the world.All came out of desperation, as they watched their home worlds collapse into anarchy. None of these groups had all of the supplies necessary to found a permanent colony, and few of the expedition's members had any of the training necessary to survive upon such an unforgiving world.Not surprisingly, none of these colonies were able to survive on their own. The world's infertile land made agricultural efforts extremely challenging. The lack of significant wildlife meant that there was little game to hunt.The different groups of colonists chose the world because they hoped that they could escape from the teeming masses of Humanity that had doomed the Jericho Sector.While they succeeded at escaping Humanity, few found anything resembling salvation. Tens of thousands died as they tried to establish some sort of foothold on the arid world.Fortunately, Humans are a persistent lot. Out of those who travelled to Nunc, a few from each colony did manage to learn enough to survive before the planet could defeat them.These staunch survivalists took up residence within caves that dotted cliffs of many of the world's ancient mountains. Within these tunnels, they were able to find adequate shelter, harvestable fungus, and a limited supply of water.Limitations on the available resources consistently kept the Human populations quite small, but a number of these groups were able to persevere. Because of their struggles, the world's societies soon lost much of Humanity's knowledge and culture. In spite of this, they were able to maintain a limited language closely related to Low Gothic.
Nunc - The 41st Millennium: Near the end of the 41st Millennium, some of the world's ancient geographic anomalies have begun to shift. At the same time, the world's weather patterns have also begun to change. What little water had been present has become an even scarcer commodity.This has significantly impacted the few Human residents and could be a herald of even more severe conditions to come. Initially, as water dried up, many of the small communities began to battle over the limited resource.In a few short solar months, the world's small population had decreased by more than fifteen percent. As the shortages continued, there was little indication that this trend would change.At that point, however, a new threat emerged. Ancient obelisks erupted from the world's depths and protruded once more upon its surface. These black structures were inscribed with complex geometric patterns.As they appeared, their initial tenders also began to emerge from deep beneath the world's surface. The small, mechanical creatures resembled insect-like scarabs.Initially, the drones appeared in small numbers, which were unable to threaten any but the weakest of Humans. However, within solar weeks, massive swarms of the scarabs began to emerge. These hideous forces were capable of rending the flesh from a healthy adult Human before he could even attempt to flee.In the solar months and Terran years that have followed, additional xenos have continued to appear. Most of these mechanical soldiers have been of demonstrably humanoid form. In short order, they exterminated the Human population.One Deathwatch Dark Hunter passed through the system in 241.816.M41. Its report indicated that there were several vessels of xenos origin in orbit above the planet.The unknown vessels fired upon the Imperial craft, but it was able to escape to file a report with Watch Fortress Erioch. These xenos, now identified as Necrons, clearly represent a significant threat to the Imperium.
Nurgle's Rot - Nurgle's Rot: Nurgle's Rot, often known simply as The Rot, is one of the most potent and terrible contagious Daemonic diseases of the Chaos God Nurgle, and is considered one of the Lord of Decay's greatest works.The Plague Lord's most infamous accomplishment sets the benchmark for all his other creations. Despite millennia of effort, he has never bettered that disease which bears his name: Nurgle's Rot. It is the most contagious, most rapacious, and most heinous of all sicknesses, poxes, and fevers he has ever produced. This vile disease is not only the living manifestation of physical corruption but is also a spiritual, supernatural plague that slowly erodes a victim's soul as well as their body.This perfect illness does not kill its host quickly; rather, it slowly turns the victim into a bloated living corpse teeming with the stuff of nightmares. Their blood curdles in their veins and they begin to mutate due to the Warp energies which infuse this unnatural illness. Their eyes grow together into a single globulous orb, and a horn sprouts from their head.The illness does not merely affect the body, however -- it painfully corrupts the diseased mortal's soul to the point where the victim has to either end their own life or fully embrace the ways of Grandfather Nurgle. Only when death finally claims the victim will they realise the true blessing that has been visited upon them, as their soul is reborn in the Garden of Nurgle in the Realm of Chaos in the immortal shape of a new Plaguebearer.
Nurgle's Rot - History: The grandest and most infamous of the Chaos God Nurgle's contagions, Nurgle's Rot is known by many names and has appeared on countless worlds, leaving entire populations desolated by this terrible Daemonic pathogen. Nurgle's devoted Chaos Sorcerers take on all manner of diseases, serving as host to the creations of the Lord of Plagues.From this seething mass of decay and entropy, these devotees of pestilence summon forth the psychic echo of this paragon of plagues, inflicting it upon those nearby. The infectious gift of Nurgle is cast outward to embrace all who stray too near to the sorcerer. This vile disease can also be passed on by a Plague Knife, a corroded iron blade coated with rust and pestilence, to better spread Grandfather Nurgle's blessing across the galaxy.Only those pure in his sight such as his Plague Marines are granted such a weapon, and any lesser being suffering even the slightest wound is gifted with one of his innumerable creations such as Nurgle's Rot. Those devoted to Nurgle are unaffected by this power.Symptoms vary so wildly that no Imperial medicae, physician or even a Space Marine Apothecary can deduce a cure, but the supernatural disease incorporates all the worst elements of every plague that has ever afflicted the mortals of the galaxy, slowly rendering the sufferer into a bloated, rotting, living corpse before they succumb to an eventual, agonising demise.Worse, its effects do not stop with death, for the soul of a mortal who succumbs to the infection belongs to Nurgle, doomed to serve forever as a Plaguebearer Lesser Daemon. The Imperial Inquisition has destroyed entire worlds in the flame of Exterminatus at a single instance of Nurgle's Rot; such is the terror it provokes.Nurglite tradition has it that, for each person who contracts Nurgle's Rot, a seed like a rotten boil sprouts from the boughs of the mouldering willow trees which grow in the Garden of Nurgle within the Realm of Chaos in the Warp.As the disease takes hold of the sufferer, that seed is said to swell into a vile, bubonic fruit which feeds off the afflicted person's soul like a tick gorging itself on its host's blood. When the bloated victim expires in a mess of bloody phlegm, the final traces of their soul are sucked into the engorged fruit, and the ripe flesh bursts apart as a new Plaguebearer Daemon of the Plague Lord slips, slides and slithers into existence.The longer an infected soul resists Nurgle's Rot, the more likely it is that they will survive the disgusting changes wrought upon them, and the more powerful a Plaguebearer they will become once the transformation is complete. Such individuals are sometimes possessed of a sheepish embarrassment that it took them so long to appreciate the blessings of their new existence.To one who has truly converted to Nurgle's cause, life as a bandy-legged, Daemonic mound of putrescent, boil-covered flesh and disgusting bodily functions is seen as the most fulsome of blessings rather than a despicable curse that will never end.
Nurgle - Philosophy and Methods: Though they strive to embrace each day of life left to them, to forestall the inevitable, those who serve Nurgle must accept their eventual death. They must also believe in the equal certainty of rebirth. This hope for something new and glorious is the great comfort that the Plaguefather has shared with them.It is a hope born from Nurgle's own understanding of the workings of the universe. Just as his followers have accepted the teachings of their lord, Nurgle himself long ago accepted that decay brings an end to all things, but that through such decay life begins anew. Decay is the victor in all battles, the opposition to which there is no resistance.This is why Nurgle embraces decay as a weapon, as a tool, and as a means of instructing and guiding his followers. Decay is at the core of Nurgle's philosophy and methods. Blessed with reshaped forms and renewed purpose, the minions of Nurgle become his instruments in his ultimate purpose, the "Great Corruption" and ultimate reshaping of the universe. As vessels and embodiments of decay, mortals and Daemons alike are effectively living fuel, powering the great cycle through their actions and, indeed, their simple rotting, infectious presence in the Realm of Chaos and on the mortal plane.
Nurgle - Decay is Glorious: Few who pledge themselves to Nurgle do so in the belief that he offers an easy path to power and glory. He does not promise increased influence, brutal strength, or hedonistic excess like his fellow gods. Those who turn to him for aid are not seeking to make their dreams become reality, to strike down those who stand in opposition, or to be adored by all who know them.No, most mortals who find their way into Nurgle's foetid embrace wish only for an end to some sort of suffering. They call to him to protect them from the ravages of disease, to save them from the slow, painful death of unchecked infection, or to otherwise spare them from whatever may ail them. There are even some who do not seek him out but are instead visited by one of his messengers and offered a bargain.No matter if they sought his gifts or if they themselves were found, the exchange is never quite what was expected. These mortals have their doubts and fears cast aside. They find that they are no longer caught in the paralysing grip of despair and misery. Their afflictions, however, linger, and are usually joined by other blights. New sores and pustules appear, the foul liquids they contain becoming home to small worms and maggots. Bellies swell and distend, the flesh straining to contain bleeding entrails that push the abdomen outward. Old wounds rip open again spontaneously and invite fresh infections. Whatever diseases or weakness these mortals once sought to leave behind take up permanent residence within their bodies and minds.All this must be accepted as the first lesson Nurgle teaches -- decay is inescapable, but also glorious. This knowledge is illuminating for those who follow Nurgle. If all things decay, each moment is a gift. Why not use these moments to shape what is to come and secure a place in it? Why sit idly by wallowing in pain and sorrow when there is so much to do and so little time in which to do it? As these thoughts race through the minds of the newly converted, it dawns on them -- their pain is deadened. Even with so many new afflictions, so much rancid corruption of the flesh, the suffering has abated. Hope arrives.For these newest of Nurgle's adopted children, it is as if the morning fog has lifted and they see the world clearly with fresh eyes. Why had they complained about their poxes and failing bodies? What selfish desires to change their fates had prevented them from realising their true purpose? Rot, glorious rot, becomes the constant companion for a servant of the Lord of All, instructing them, guiding their path, and reminding them that they are fortunate beyond measure to have been chosen by Nurgle to receive his gifts.Indeed, many discover that the initial malady from which they suffered, the one that drove them to seek salvation in the first place, was actually originally bestowed upon them by Nurgle. Rather than anger, it is joy that springs from this knowledge. These mortals believe themselves to have been chosen, destined for greatness as a true champion of Nurgle.
Nurgle - Nurglish Corruption: Nurgle the Plague Lord is the psychic manifestation of the most predominant collective fear of all sentient beings: the fear of death. Nurgle is the embodiment of disease, decay and the death these states ultimately bring to all living things.Most Nurglites rarely end up in the service of the Plague Lord willingly; for those who contract a deadly disease or are forced to face the reality of their own mortality, Nurgle offers a potential escape from the painful ravages of illness or an untimely death -- in return for an individual's soul and their eternal damnation.Among all the major intelligent species of the galaxy, Humanity fears death and the onset of nonexistence the most, and it is Humans who have always been the majority of the Plague Lord's servants. In return for their allegiance and service, Nurgle offers his worshippers complete immunity to all disease and pain -- by infecting them with every natural disease in existence and many that are unnatural extensions into realspace of the arcane power of Chaos.Champions of Nurgle can become among the most powerful Chaos servants in the galaxy, though they will also be afflicted with some of the most all-encompassing, and disgusting, physical mutations that Chaos can bestow. Nurglites become swollen, walking bags of pus and putrescence, their very skin swelling and rotting from their bones even as they continuously leak organic fluids infected with every loathsome bacteria, virus, fungus and infectious agent that can be conjured by the imagination.In return, Nurglites are completely immune to these diseases, or any disease, and their rotting bodies also become physically robust, capable of withstanding injuries and damage that would destroy even those enjoying the most robust health.At the same time, despite their seeming infirmity, those who have sworn their souls to Nurgle feel no pain; in fact, quite the opposite, for many Nurglites report feeling a sense of power and almost narcotic-like well-being that is far more pleasurable than they felt before the mutations began.
Nurgle - Rivalry: Nurgle is the age-old enemy of the Chaos God Tzeentch, the Lord of Change. Their animating psychic energies come from diametrically opposing mortal emotions and beliefs; Tzeentch's power derives from hope and the capacity of mortals to change their fortunes while Nurgle's comes from defiance born out of despair and hopelessness at the inevitability of death. The followers of Nurgle often pit themselves against those of Tzeentch in complex political intrigues in the mortal realm, forever attempting to mire his schemes for change in dull-minded conservatism and parochial self-interest.The corrupting influence of Nurgle's servants is often successful in thwarting the Architect of Fate and they erode his accomplishments constantly, safe in the knowledge that whatever survives the collapse into entropy becomes their inheritance. Nurgle and Tzeentch are in many ways opposed, for at the heart of the matter the Changer of Ways seeks to build ever more complex and improbable webs of power, while Nurgle embodies continuous growth, destruction, and renewal.The war between the two powers is ceaseless and played out across countless realities. That which Tzeentch creates and evolves to undreamed of heights of complexity and insane perfection, Nurgle's servants gnaw away at, seeking to bring the entire edifice toppling down so that new growth can emerge from the fecund grave.
Nurgle - Mansion of the Plague Lord: There is a house of decay at the centre of Nurgle's Garden. Its wracked and twisted structure creaks and groans under the influence of baleful toxic winds. Shutters cling just barely to window frames only half filled with broken panes of filth covered glass. Sewage drains spill forth beetles, maggots, and twisted centipedes with only tongues for their bodies and human fingers for legs. Paint continually cracks and peels away from the wood beneath, yet the house never loses it grey-green hue. Along the roof, hundreds of chimneys bellow out dark clouds that, upon close inspection, are composed of millions of floating, buzzing flies.All around this house, trees made of bone bear fruit that rots even as it swells. The leafless boughs of these ancient trees provide shelter for Daemonic birds that sing the funeral dirges of any unwelcome visitor. It is a house of pestilence, rot, and death. This is Nurgle's Mansion, also called the Mansion of the Plague Lord, and that means that it is also a place of hope and renewal. There can be no explanation for the strength that keeps this structure from collapse save that it is the dwelling place of the Lord of All, whose boundless energy, sense of eternal purpose, and limitless joy for his work finds perfect peace with the inevitability of decay.Nurgle himself often sits in a massive chair just to the side of the mansion's front door. From there he entreats visitors, both summoned and unexpected, to approach, share tales and questionable libations, and explore the countless rooms within. Inside the vast structure, a guest could easily become lost. Rotten floorboards send many to a doom of slow consumption by the carrion feeders that dwell in the lower levels. Grand staircases decorated with moth-eaten rugs beckon to wandering souls, leading them to chambers where Daemons are glad to receive new, fresh flesh.Should the guest bypass these rooms and continue upward, they might find their way to the attic, where Nurgle keeps samples of his multitudinous works of decay, catalogued and counted over and over again by attendant Plaguebearers. In this attic are jars containing the viscera of plague victims from across time and space. Souls are trapped within apparently simple glass containers, left to slowly dim and fade as maladies of the spirit waste them to the bone.If the visitor walked past the stairs and pushed deeper into the mansion, they might stumble upon the kitchens and larders of the Plague Lord's home. Every foul ingredient, every pestilent component imaginable (and some that defy sanity) rests on shelves here, neatly labelled and ready to be combined in the great cauldron. A wise guest moves on quickly from here, knowing that to linger is to become flavouring for the noxious stew, for this cauldron is among Nurgle's prized possessions and he likes to keep it full. It is in this great black crucible that the Lord of All brews the many plagues he pours into the mortal realm. Nurgle is a creative being, and he will take inspiration for experimentation where he finds it. Seldom can he resist the temptation to add nearby visitors to his virulent concoctions.
Nurgle - Realm of a Million and One Plagues: In addition to the mainstay regions of the Land of the Plaguelord, there are many others that enjoy a less permanent existence, coming and going with the ascendancy and passing of one of Nurgle's many plagues. Some of these likely only exist in the nightmare visions and untrustworthy hallucinations of disease-ravaged minds. Still, the Garden of Nurgle is near-infinite, and it is not so unbelievable that a recipient of one of Nurgle's great gifts might be blessed with a fleeting glimpse of the Plague Lord's realm. With their last dying breaths, some mortals gasp and choke out words saying that they hear faint bells tolling. Perhaps they refer to the blossoms that grow in the Deathbell Lily Fields. When a mortal dies as the result of one of Nurgle's many diseases, one of these pallid flowers opens up and emits a tinny chime to mark the success of Nurgle's handiwork. The ringing is incessant.The Hanging Gardens of Thush'Bolg are a sight to be seen. This remote slice of Nurgle's realm was given to the Great Unclean One Thush'Bolg as acknowledgement of his use of a choking plague to wipe out an Ork infestation on Hurax, a planet that Nurgle coveted. To commemorate his victory and to demonstrate constant thanks to his lord for his reward, Thush'Bolg used his own intestines to hang every single Ork from the colony in the trees of his domain. There they dangle and rot, slowly dying but never quite finding release.Plaguebearers toss organs from the bodies of disease victims into sorting pools, making it easier for them to count the numbers that have died from each ailment. Beasts of Nurgle frolic in fields where planted spines yield crops of dementia-inducing foodstuffs. Nurglings cackle with glee as they roll down hillsides that form spontaneously when Great Unclean Ones vomit up regiments they consumed thousands of standard years ago. The Land of the Plaguelord is a wondrous place filled with vitality, mirth, and experiences beyond mortal comprehension. It is a playground for the minions of the Lord of Decay, a laboratory for his work, and a comforting home for a god that knows his realm is the shape of things to come.
Nurgle - Caged Maiden: The Aeldari believe that when Slaanesh, the Lord of Pleasure, awoke in the early 30th Millennium, their gods were destroyed outright. Yet there is one myth upon a single craftworld that tells of how the Maiden Goddess Isha was not slain by the Dark Prince and absorbed by Slaanesh like the rest of the Aeldari Pantheon after his birth during the Fall of the Aeldari.Slaanesh vanquished her as he had all of the other Aeldari gods within the Warp, but only took her prisoner rather than absorbing her energies outright. What foul purpose Slaanesh had in keeping Isha alive, none amongst the Aeldari now know, but the Prince of Pleasure was ultimately denied his spoils: for some reason Nurgle, the Plague Lord, waged war against Slaanesh to "rescue" the Aeldari goddess.Why Grandfather Nurgle intervened is unclear, although some Aeldari scholars believe that one of the oldest of the major Chaos Gods wanted to give the youngest amongst them a good lesson about his proper place in the order of things. What is known is that Nurgle's Daemonic forces proved victorious and he took the Aeldari goddess back to his domain in the Realm of Chaos. A goddess of fertility and rejuvenation and a god of decay seemed an odd pairing, but Nurgle came to adore his new companion like no other being in the universe.Yet the adoration of a Chaos God is a strange thing, for Nurgle shows his affection in cruel ways. Nurgle keeps Isha imprisoned in a rusted cage in the corner of his cauldron chamber within his personal manse. It is there that he keeps the cauldron where he mixes the elements that create all of his plagues and pestilences. When the Plague God creates a particularly pleasing brew, he forces Isha to imbibe the putrid mixture, watching with building excitement for the symptoms of his latest contagion.Though as the goddess of healing, Isha can cure herself of the disease's ravages, the speed with which she is free from its grip allows the Plague Lord to evaluate his creation's virulence. If Nurgle is pleased, he returns to his cauldron and empties its contents into a bottomless drain, the noxious liquid falling as rain upon one of the mortal worlds. If the concoction does not meet with Nurgle's approval, he gulps down the contents of the cauldron, vomits it back into the pot and starts afresh.While the Plague Lord is busy at his cauldron, Isha accepts her lot stoically, and fights back against the Lord of Decay's evil in the same way she once fought against Khaine, whispering the cures to these new diseases into the universe so that mortals might know them and resist the hideous designs of Grandfather Nurgle.
Nurgle - Nurglish Daemons: The Daemons of Nurgle are truly putrid in their appearance and sickening to look upon. Their flesh pulses with the feverheat of corruption, their innards push through lesions in their putrid skin and their bodies ooze with sticky slime.Yet in contrast to their hideous appearance, Nurgle's Daemons are cheerful, energetic beings that show a disturbingly friendly demeanour. They are jovial in their work and show great pride in their accomplishments, interpreting the groans of the afflicted as expressions of gratitude justly won by their efforts.
Nurgle - Notable Daemons of Nurgle: Mortarion - Mortarion is the Daemon Primarch of the Death Guard Traitor Legion who fell to the service of the Plague Lord during the Horus Heresy. He has become very active during the Era Indomitus, leading the forces of Nurgle in an assault upon the Realm of Ultramar known as the Plague Wars and seeking to expand Nurgle's demesne into realspace in the wake of the birth of the Great Rift.Epidemius - The Herald of Nurgle named Epidemius is Nurgle's chosen Tallyman, one of the seven Proctors of Pestilence and the cataloguer of all the Plague Lord's diseases. Epidemius' task is an unending one, and it generates a great deal of paperwork, so he rides a palanquin to share the burden -- and to more easily force a path through Nurgle's hordes. Two dozen Nurglings attend the Tallyman's every need, providing the parchment, operating the death's head abacus, excreting the ink for the quill pens and even defending Epidemius from harm should a foolish enemy venture too close.Ku'gath - Ku'gath, also called "Ku'gath Plaguefather" or just the "Plaguefather," is a unique Great Unclean One. Ku'gath is driven by an eternal quest to discover the most perfect pestilence that has ever existed.Rotigus - As the Death Guard's siege of the Imperial Hive World of Nebbus reached its seventh standard year in the early Era Indomitus, Mortarion's Death Guard Sorcerers summoned an ancient evil to aid them. The strange Great Unclean One known as Rotigus joined the fight, bringing with him his appalling aura of infernal fecundity. Protein vats in the hive cities overflowed as the flesh-broth within them grew at an unstoppable pace, burying entire levels under flabby drifts of bloated meat. Vermin of every sort entered frenzied cycles of birth and death, the Imperial defenders finding themselves overwhelmed by tides of sump-rats, infestations of grizzleworms and million-strong swarms of ravenous ripper jacks. Worst of all was the Deluge of Nurgle, an endless storm of putrid filth-water that seethed with infectious, bacterial life. Soon enough Nebbus' arid plains became quagmires, then stinking oceans that rose higher and higher. The corpse-choked hive cities flooded from the roots upward, their last garrisons fleeing ever higher in search of a salvation that did not exist. Blessed beyond endurance by the plentiful generosity of Rotigus and his Daemons, methodically cut to pieces by the thundering guns of the Death Guard, it was almost a mercy when the last of Nebbus' defenders met their grisly deaths and the world was claimed for the Plague God.
Nurgle - Trivia: The inspiration for Nurgle comes from the ancient Babylonian god Nergal.Portrayed in hymns and myths as a god of war and pestilence, Nergal seems to represent the sun of noontime and of the summer solstice that brings destruction, as high summer was the dead season in the Mesopotamian annual cycle.
Nurglings - Nurglings: Nurglings, also known as "Mites of Nurgle," "Gleeful Castoffs", "Pus Spores," "Tiny Plagues", "Little Lords" or by their Daemonic name Khan'gurani'i in the Dark Tongue of Chaos, are tiny, mischievous Lesser Daemons of Nurgle.They are surely some of the most numerous and among the most favoured children of Grandfather Nurgle. Even their appearance is pleasing to the Plague God, for each Nurgling is like a minute copy of the dread master himself.These pernicious and capricious Daemons erupt from the boils and pustules that pock the fleshy hide of Great Unclean Ones. They caper and dance about the Greater Daemons, causing mischief whenever possible, constantly giggling as they play.Their enemies are another matter entirely, and would do well to avoid their sharp claws; those that survive the rake of a Nurgling's talons often find their wounds festering and incurable.The innards of a Great Unclean One are best not pondered, for such gastric caverns are not places that sane men wish to consider for too long. It is in these churning depths that the Nurglings are created.Starting as small blobs of indescribably foul matter, Nurglings are nourished by the pulsating juices of a Great Unclean One's inner organs, growing into small facsimiles of Nurgle himself until they plop into existence as spiteful, rotund imps.For most of their existence, Nurglings congregate around the Great Unclean One that created them. They clamber across his bulk seeking comfortable pools of liquids and warm spots under the folds of rotting flesh. Eager for attention, Nurglings chatter to their master incessantly, picking at his scabs and hoping for a fatherly belch of appreciation.Some of Nurgle's favoured Heralds are accompanied to battle by seething tides of these diminutive monsters; those most vaunted in his sight are carried in a palanquin which is borne aloft on a carpet of Nurglings.When not moving the palanquin, the grotesque imps will scurry around making gifts of small trinkets they find; dead animals, rotting bones, particularly splendid fungi and other such presents as they think will please their master.Since the opening of the Great Rift and the outpouring of Warp energies into the galaxy, Nurglings have become far more prevalent in realspace. Several new diseases, including the latest strains of the Zombie Plague such as the Walking Pox, are so virulent that they allow Nurglings to develop inside those afflicted. When the malevolent creatures slop forth -- eating their way out or perhaps bursting from a cyst -- they do their best to spread even more diseases.
Nurglings - Unit Composition: 3-9 Nurgling Swarms
Nurglings - Wargear: Diseased Claws and Teeth
Nurglings - Palanquin of Nurgle: Sometimes Nurglings are gifted to Daemonic Heralds or other powerful Chaos Champions to act as a living litter for him, or to hold him aloft atop a Palanquin of Nurgle -- a Daemonic Steed that takes the form of an ornate and mobile throne that allows the Great Unclean One or Champion of Nurgle to be carried aloft by a tide of surging Nurglings.The tiny creatures propel the Palanquin wherever the master wishes. From his elevated position their master is able to speak to his slaves, or strike at his foes. The Palanquin itself is decorated with mouldered finery, while the rider sits casually upon a mound of decaying cushions.In these cases, the Nurglings will treat their new master much as they had treated the Great Unclean One from which they came -- whether the new lord would prefer it or not. The Palanquin is surrounded by a cloud of flies which buzz and swarm around it. If the Palanquin is carried into hand-to-hand fighting the cloud of flies will buzz into the eyes and ears of all engaged enemies.The cloud of flies has another effect, for each insect embodies a tiny fraction of protective magic. The cloud thus represents a considerable protective spell. The Palanquin and its rider cannot be affected by a sorcerous spell or psychic assault of any kind. As the Nurgling bearers move across the battlefield, small pools of something unpleasant and sticky form behind the Palanquins.These pools of filth contain pus, various forms of bodily functions and other foul substances which are produced by the Nurglings. The sheer quantity of Nurgling bearers makes these pools very dangerous. Any person unfortunate enough to move over one of these sticky pools may contract the vile plague known as Nurgle's Rot.
Nykona Sharrowkyn - Nykona Sharrowkyn: Nykona Sharrowkyn was one of the deadliest members of the Raven Guard Legion to tread the battlefields of the early 31st Millennium.Deployed with the first attack wave of the Raven Guard during the infamous Drop Site Massacre of Isstvan V, Sharrowkyn was able to survive the desperate battles of those dark days, but was unfortunately separated from his Legion with no means to rejoin them.Determined to see the Warmaster Horus' treachery punished, Sharrowkyn would later join other survivors from the Shattered Legions aboard the Iron Hands' strike cruiser Sisypheum to continue the fight against the Traitors.As part of the Sisypheum's crew, Sharrowkyn's actions would prove instrumental in many battles, ensuring the continued survival of the almost legendary vessel and its valiant crew until the climax of the Horus Heresy at the Siege of Terra.
Nykona Sharrowkyn - Origins: Whilst it is unknown if Nykona Sharrowkyn was born on the Raven Guard's homeworld of Kiavahr or on the prison-moon Lycaeus, Sharrowkyn grew up within the confines of the prison-moon's cell-blocks.According to his own testimony, as soon as he was able to walk, he was used as a "salt boy," one of the countless children sent down the narrow tunnels leading to Lycaeus' tidal pools to harvest the precious salt for the tool-making factories' tempering waters. This was an inherently dangerous task, as many children died in these tunnels, surprised by the unannounced surge of water that filled a cave in solar minutes or killed by collapsing stone. The mortality rates amongst these children were so high that the saying went that the best salt was the one harvested from the bones of the dead.Through skill and luck, Sharrowkyn survived the salt mines until he grew too big for the narrow tunnels and was transferred to the mines proper. Sharrowkyn was merely thirteen standard years old when he left the deeper parts of the moon for its surface. He nevertheless kept a fond memory of this transfer as it was the first time he had ever seen the sun.While visibly involved in the rebellion led by the primarch Corvus Corax to rid Lycaeus of the rule of the Tech-Guilds of Kiavahr and the cruel overseers that had been oppressing Lycaeus' population for centuries, it is unknown which role Sharrowkyn held within the rebels' army. But his extensive knowledge on Corax's way of war seemed to indicate that Sharrowkyn must have been close to the primarch, or at least was utilised as one of several decoys that confused the prison's guards.However, it is also quite possible that Sharrowkyn was too young to actively participate in the slaves' uprising and that he gained all the knowledge he possessed on that matter from other accounts or the testimonies of first-hand participants.After the successful capture of the Black Tower, the same building that would become the famed Ravenspire, Nykona Sharrowkyn was selected after Kiavahr's inclusion within the Imperium of Man to become one of the Emperor's Legiones Astartes. He became a warrior of the XIXth Legion -- the Raven Guard.
Nykona Sharrowkyn - Sisypheum: The reasons behind Wayland's presence in the camp are still unknown, but to all evidence Wayland had been wounded at the hand of Fulgrim himself and somehow escaped with his life. Nevertheless, if it hadn't been for the Iron Father's presence, Sharrowkyn would likely have died that day on the black sands of Isstvan V.As it was, Wayland dragged Sharrowkyn to the nearest Thunderhawk available -- by pure coincidence an Iron Hands gunship -- positioned himself in the pilot seat and started the engines. Iron Hands and Salamanders Legionaries, most of whom were wounded, secured themselves in the Thunderhawk's troop compartment before take-off.Despite an impressive amount of ground fire, Wayland's piloting skills saw the Thunderhawk safely reach the stratosphere, where the deadly void-battle between Loyalist and Traitor was as fierce as the combat on the ground.Wayland headed straight to his own vessel, the Sisypheum, which had survived thus far, encouraging the weak, feverish and bleeding Sharrowkyn not to give up on life. Sharrowkyn would later say that Wayland's voice had carried so much authority that he hadn't dared go against his orders to survive.The Loyalists fared little better in the void than they did on the ground. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, any Loyalist captain knew that to stay was to invite a swift death by broadside or a messy death at the hands of Traitor boarding parties.Despite these risks, many a captain stayed in orbit above Istvaan V in order to allow those survivors from the ground attack to dock. The Sisypheum did so and used the timely arrival of the Iron Hands fleet to make good its escape. It proved a close call as they relied on the combination of daring escape vectors, periods of silent running, masquerading as one of the drifting wrecks and finally a mad dash to the minimum safe distance to enter the Warp.By that point, the Sisypheum had taken a severe beating -- whole decks having been sealed against the void or ravaged by fire. Its command structure and crew were ad hoc at best, but was still formed in the majority by serfs and Legionaries drawn from the Iron Hands.There were a few Salamanders Astartes, amongst them an Apothecary by the name of Atesh Tarsa, as well as Sharrowkyn, who proved to be the only Raven Guard Astartes aboard.Despite the severe casualties taken, those that would soon be called the "Shattered Legions" were resolute to stay in the fight and to avenge their fallen brothers.