Chaos Gods - Dark Gods: The Chaos Gods are the supernatural rulers of the Immaterium (the Warp) and have a great impact upon the events occurring in the physical universe. Numbered amongst the most powerful of the Chaos Gods are Khorne, the god of warfare, rage and murder, Nurgle, the god of disease, despair and decay, Tzeentch, the god of change and sorcery and Slaanesh, the god of pleasure and excess.There is a fifth major Chaos God named Malice who embodies Chaos' tendency to turn in upon itself and who acts against the interests of the other Chaos Gods whenever he can, though he is certainly no ally of the Imperium either.Occasionally, the Chaos Gods can set aside their innate rivalry and unite in the pursuit of a larger goal, such as the overthrow of the Imperium of Man and its Emperor, who represent the strongest current force for order in the Milky Way Galaxy. During this time, the forces of the Ruinous Powers can be considered to serve a concept known as Chaos Undivided.The Ruinous Powers generally draw their strength from the sentient minds of the galaxy's inhabitants, whose collective unconsciousness shapes the psychically-reactive substance of the Immaterium and actually gives birth and sustenance to the Chaos Gods and any other spiritual entities who are empowered by a sufficient level of belief, like the Aeldari's lost gods or the Emperor of Mankind Himself.The Ruinous Powers possess the ability to interact with the material universe in a limited way as the entities of the Warp can at times enter the material universe through the minds of those individuals gifted (or cursed) with psychic powers.The Ruinous Powers can also shape lesser supernatural entities from the psychic substance of the Warp who are extensions of their own wills and are generally referred to in the Imperium of Man and among the Aeldari as Daemons.The T'au are excluded from worrying about possession by Warp entities like Daemons because of their limited psychic abilities and thus their limited presence in the Warp.The Necrons, as intelligent yet soulless creatures composed of living metal, no longer project any psychic presence in the Warp, while their former C'tan masters are beings purely of the material realm who are unusually vulnerable to psychic attacks because of their lack of a presence in the Immaterium.There exists a hierarchy of sorts within the ranks of the Ruinous Powers, though it ebbs and flows according to the vagaries of the Great Game for supremacy fought constantly between the Dark Gods and their servants.Currently, in the 41st Millennium, Khorne is held as the mightiest of all, for the practice of murder and blood sacrifice stretches to the dark beginnings of the universe.Though Khorne sees the use of psychic sorcery as the refuge of cowards, his closest rival, Tzeentch, thrives on the raw stuff of Chaos and uses it to influence a million times a million plots, his devious mind always a step ahead of his opponents.Where Tzeentch would see hopes thrive and fortunes change, Nurgle, the Father of Plagues, revels in despair and hopelessness. In times of galactic pandemic, Nurgle's power can eclipse even that of his brothers in darkness.Last in the pantheon is Slaanesh, who knows well how to play on the obsessions of his rivals. Khorne's single-minded bloodlust, Nurgle's quest to infect every living thing, and Tzeentch's compulsion to dabble in the fates of mortals -- all are obsessions which the Lord of Excess can turn to his will with a whispered promise.While the Chaos Gods are all enemies in the Great Game, each bears a special enmity for one of their brothers in particular. Khorne most despises Slaanesh, whose earthly decadence and sensual lusts are at odds with the Blood God's martial pride and desire for indiscriminate slaughter; the Dark Prince finds Khorne's artless brutality dull, and takes a perverse delight in agitating him.Similarly, Tzeentch's desire to foster the corrupt ambitions of mortals is at odds with Nurgle's spreading of despair and death, and so a special rivalry exists between the two.The four primary Chaos Gods are:Khorne, The Blood God -- God of War, Murder, Rage and Battle -- Khorne is the Blood God, an angry and murderous God of Chaos whose bellows of limitless rage echo throughout the corridors of time and space. His great brass throne sits upon a mountain of skulls in the midst of a plain of splintered bone and lakes of mortal blood formed from the remains of his followers slain in battle and those who his minions have killed in his name. Khorne embodies mindless and absolute violence, destroying everyone and everything within reach, shedding the blood of friend and foe alike. The followers of Khorne are always ferocious warriors and never make use of psychic powers, for the Blood God abhors the trickery of magic and cowardly sorcerers, particularly the servants of Tzeentch. Men turn to Khorne for the power to conquer, to defeat their enemies in battle, to wreak bloody vengeance and to attain unmatched martial prowess against all comers. The most fanatical and dedicated of his followers, those whose souls are trapped fully within his bloody embrace, know that he truly desires only constant and wild slaughter for its own sake. Khorne cares not from where the blood flows, only that it flows without cease for all eternity.Tzeentch, The Changer of the Ways -- God of Change, Sorcery, Fate and Hope -- Tzeentch is known by many titles across the galaxy, including the Changer of the Ways, the Master of Fortune, the Great Conspirator and the Architect of Fate. He is the Great Sorcerer, the God of Sorcery and Change and master of the mutable stream of destiny and time. Tzeentch is, without question, the most disturbing and least comprehensible of all the Chaos Gods. His skin crawls with constantly changing faces that leer at and mock all who look upon him. When Tzeentch deigns to speak to other beings, these faces repeat his words, often with subtle but important differences of intonation and meaning. Plotters and schemers find themselves drawn to Tzeentch, especially those who crave psychic or sorcerous power to achieve their goals. Politicians and leaders, magisters and Chaos Cultists, all find themselves drawn along the convoluted paths of fate, using Tzeentch to achieve their dreams and aspirations, though ultimately all are led to play their part in Tzeentch's own eternal schemes. No man can fully comprehend the full nature of the intricately-woven, multi-layered plots of Tzeentch and to attempt to do so can only lead to insanity. Yet in reality Tzeentch has no grand plan, no ultimate goal to fulfill. For Tzeentch the mere act of plotting and entwining the brief fates of mortals is purpose enough. There is no end to his scheming for he desires no end to the creation of change. Tzeentch can never achieve any ultimate aim for to do so would be the end of ambition and thus the end of the Lord of Destiny.Nurgle, The Plague Lord -- God of Death, Disease, Despair and Decay -- Nurgle is the mighty Lord of Decay who presides over all physical corruption and morbidity. Disease and putrefaction, the inevitable entropic decline of all things, are the favours he bestows upon the universe. The God's immense body is bloated with corruption and exudes a sickly, diseased stench. His skin is greenish, leathery and necrotic, its surface pock-marked with all of his various boils, running sores and favorite infestations. From his exposed guts spill tiny Lesser Daemons, his Nurglings, who dine upon the filthy fluids that ooze from Grandfather Nurgle's many festering wounds. It is to free themselves from despair -- the eternal mortal dread of disease, starvation and death -- that men turn to the Plague Lord. Despite his appearance, he is a warm, welcoming God who prides himself on the achievements of his followers, gifting them with his most hideous diseases even as he protects them from all pain and the cold sleep of death. The fear of death can be found in the hearts of all the sentient beings of the universe, and so there is no shortage of mortals willing to sacrifice their immortal souls in return for the corrupted preservation of their physical bodies for all time.Slaanesh, The Dark Prince -- God of Pleasure, Pain, Sensation, Excess and Desire -- Slaanesh is the youngest of the Chaos Gods and alone of all the Ruinous Powers, the Prince of Chaos is divinely beautiful. He is as seductive as only an immortal can be, disarming in his innocence, utterly beguiling in his manner and irresistibly tempting with his words. Slaanesh can assume male, female or hermaphroditic form at will and it is impossible for a mortal to look upon him without losing his soul and becoming a slave to the Prince of Pleasure's slightest whim. Mortals that seek charisma and fellowship turn to Slaanesh, for his gifts can make one popular and inspiring. Poets and artists are drawn into his gaze by the promise of inspiration and fame, while even the hardiest warriors might seek the adulation of the masses and the ironclad loyalty of their followers. Yet as one continues in the service of Slaanesh, such pleasures soon grow stale and his servants are driven on to search for ever greater sensations and ever more self-fulfillment until only the most decadent and debased of acts can stir their emotions or provide the pleasure they have come to crave.The first three Chaos Gods became self-aware entities by the middle of the 2nd Millennium, but Slaanesh did not fully awaken until the Fall of the Aeldari in the 30th Millennium at the end of the Age of Strife.There is a fifth major Chaos God who appeared in earlier editions of Warhammer 40,000  who is almost never mentioned save by the most arcane of texts:Malice, The Renegade God - God of Anarchy, Vengeance and Nihilism