Chaos (Warhammer)

The age of chaos

The age of chaos began on the ground with the fall from Old, a civilization of before the world, extraterrestrial origin and which worked by the means of the slanns, Masters of the men lizards, the world of Warhammer and its people. The old ones were at the same time experts in technology and magic and used to move " portails" magic, which on ground was located at the level of the poles, giving on another dimension, intermediate space (the Warp of Warhammer 40.000 the " toile" eldars or immaterium for the human spirits). Intermediate spaces are not empty, they contain the Kingdoms of chaos, the universes where the laws of physics do not have an influence, and where the gods and the demons live, of the entities resulting from the pure energy of their world. The Old ones knew these dangers and how to secure itself some.

7000 years ago according to the human calendars, something occurred in the machinery of the gates, and the barriers which prevented the entities of intermediate spaces from entering the real-world jumped. One does not know very well what is at the origin of this cataclysm: breakdown, intrusion etc But with the collapse of the gates, of the passages opened, making it possible the demons to arrive in the material universe what brought the advent of chaos on ground and precipitated the end of the old anciens.les which had learned has their servants slanns to use the wind of magics had to leave and no one did not know what it occurred of them; some think that they were destroyed by the power devastator of chaos, others which they arrived has a new plan of existence, but nobody could prove this information.

As from this moment, the gods and the demons could appear partly on ground and gain the faithful ones. All far from there, were not bad or malevolent and all were not powerful. But without the barriers which retained them formerly on other side of reality, the gods and the demons of chaos could start to work for the destruction of the Vieux World. As for Slanns, they were only one handle organized in generations created by the old ones; once parties, no new generations was created, and young people Slanns can still remember the time preceding the elves and the dwarves. still now, they continue to be plunged in increasingly long fright in order to bore the will of old for this world, and has to continue to modify it according to their old wills.

Officially, there exists a gate of chaos to the north pole of planet of Warhammer, because the old ones had installed with the poles their larger gates. But the details of the universe of the Warhammer roleplay let think that there is another with the south pole. Northern gate leave the demons and other horrors, the corrupting influence of this gate is such as it entirely refashioned desolations of north (or country of the Trolls) in a hostile ground where the laws of physics and nature themselves are called in question. This cursed place all kinds of ready demons leave has to devour this world…

The Order and Chaos in Warhammer

The principle of Chaos is opposed to that of the Order, and the gods of the two edges are sworn enemies. At the beginning of the age of Chaos, the divinities of the Order and Chaos clashed in engagements without mercy, and with the liking of the victories of the ones and others, the gates of chaos narrowed or widened. The Order is in fact only one of the infinite possibilities that chaos offers, but it is also the negation of the principle of chaos: life, perenniality, organization, eternity, where chaos is only change, disorder, died and destruction. With the eyes of the divinities of the Order, any change or deterioration is only the fruit of the action of chaos, including the ageing and the death of the living beings.

Today, the gods of the order have only few admirers in the Old World because the dogmas of these worships are particularly extreme and because the principles of worship of the order exceed, and by far, human comprehension. The principal gods of the Order (little described in addition) are Illuminas, Master of the eternal light, Arrianka, goddess of the discipline (overcome by a god of the chaos which one forgot the name and buried some share on the ground in a tomb with the magic keys), and especially Solkan, the lord of revenge. This last has a little more followers than the others in the person of the Répurgateur S, a particular class of character dedicated to the eradication of any influence of chaos. The populations of the Old World are generally wary of the followers of the Order, whom they regard as the dangerous one exaltés, or disturbed mentally. Others approve their actions secretly.

Gods of Chaos

The entities of chaos are very numerous, but good number are only of small things without much capacity. It is not rare that a simple demon is made adore like a divinity and is claimed as such if it is sure that no more powerful entity can hear it. The major gods of chaos are four, and are rival and jealous from/to each other. Their power is enormous, but they spend fortunately much more time entretuer than to cooperate. The main part of the forces of chaos is affiliated with one or the other of these gods, just as the worships prohibited in the Old World. These major gods are Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch and Slaanesh.

Khorne

Khorne is the god of blood, the lord of the battles who lives only for the war and the massacres. One represents it like a covered giant of a loudre stylized armor and having the face of a wild dog. He sat on an immense bronze throne resting on a cranium monticule: those of its admirers and of overcome died on its behalf during the ages. Its symbol is an extremely stylized cranium. Khorne has only few admirers in the Old World, because no clandestine worship of Khorne can remain a long time hidden and discrete: its followers are invariably taken of sanguinary madness and take pleasure in violence and the combat. On the other hand, many armies of the chaos of Desolations of north and of bands of warriors of chaos and Man-animals living with deepest forests of the Old World lend allegiance to this god. Khorne hates the magicians as much as the trick and subtlety and does not offer any magic spell like gift of chaos to its faithful (but on the other hand, of many means of countering the magic). Khorne is thus rival of Tzeentch, god of the wizards and the sworn enemy of Slaanesh, the Prince of the chaos, of which it cannot support indolence and frivolity.

Tzeentch

Tzeentch is the lord of the change, the god of the wizards and the architect of the destinies. It is described like a grotesque demon with the recroquevillées legs, the long knotty arms and griffus and the body in perpetual change. Its face is extremely wrinkled and raises a scornful attitude, it is embedded in the chest of the creature and is surmounted by two long horns. Deformed faces leave and enter its flesh permanently, making fun of the interlocutors of the god and repeating each one of his words with a difference of your subtle, but revealing. Its symbol is the moon while growing surmounted by a flame. Where Khorne is interested at the height and in the warrior, Tzeentch prefers the subtle one, the crafty one, the conspirator. This entity establishes labyrinthian plots over centuries in order to work with the perversion and the destruction of the Old World. He is certainly the god of the chaos which counts, and by far, the most admirers: indeed, the sects of Tzeentch are much more discrete than the other worships and generally hide behind beneficial works, circles scholars and all kinds of alleviating organizations seemingly. Moreover, Tzeentch stimulates very widespread defects at the men: pride, the desire of richnesses, being able and magic power (because he is large prodigator of secrecies and prohibited fates). The cultists of Tzeentch find themselves in all the mediums, of the brotherhoods coeds protestors to the highest political arenas, without of course forgetting the avid enchanters of quickly acquired power. These worships are organized in an extremely complex way and are extremely paranoiac, not hesitating to eliminate from the fellow-members if they think that they are traitors or of agents of the Répurgateur S. They use many secret languages, of codes and signs of recognition, without hoping the magic means to communicate. Often, the followers of Tzeentch handle agents which handle themselves of other agents and thus manage to make make their most various tasks. Tzeentch is the large changer and grants many favors in the form of changes chaotic. Its followers help and hide the mutants which embrace their cause because it acts for them of favors of chaos. The wizards of Tzeentch who progress count among most powerful of the Old World; its warriors of chaos are often equipped with magic armours and single capacities. Tzeentch scorns Khorne without hating it but hates Nurgle and its servants, the lord of the flies involving towards the same putrid forfeiture. But instead of as well bringing the change carrying life as of death, Nurgle brings disease and stagnation. Savage enemies of the worship of Nurgle, often taken wrongly for répurgateurs, are not in fact other than followers of Tzeentch!

Nurgle

Nurgle is the lord of the forfeiture, corruption and the diseases. A feeling reluctant god who spreads the epidemics on ground and takes pleasure in the rot. He appears in the shape of an enormous corpulent and risen demon whose flesh, in putrefaction, tears in certain places to let pass from the bodies, the pus and other substances immondes. Of all small imps, the nurglings, spout out body of the god and traverse surface of it. Its symbol is an extremely stylized fly drawn by three arrows on the basis of the same point and three small circles between each. Nurgle is the third large god of chaos by his power, but when spread its epidemics, the contamination can make assemble its capacities until equalizing or exceeding that of the three other gods, very temporarily. It inoculates in particular an incurable evil called the " plague of Nurgle" , which gradually transforms the patient into a demon portepeste of Nurgle. Nurgle counts many armies among the hordes of desolations of north, but relatively few admirers in the Old World though they are distributed a little everywhere in the cities and campaigns. A typical worship generally counts about fifty members, all reached with various degrees by diseases or marks of chaos. Nurgle attracts with him the desperate ones, contaminated which thus hopes to relieve their pains and some followers of the rot and death. The god their sign the way of spreading the epidemics and of powerful fates of stench.

Nurgle is enemy of the Tzeentch god and their admirers deliver a secret war without mercy, conspiring the ones against the others. He is also the large enemy of Shallya, the good goddess of the cure and the compassion, venerated in Empire and in the Old World.

Slaanesh

Slaanesh is the Prince of chaos, the god of the pleasure and all excesses. Contrary to the three other gods, it raises a relatively human appearance, that of a demon hermaphrodite of a very great beauty and presenting physical attributes of the one and the other sex mixed. It can sometimes take the form of a man or a woman of a supernatural beauty. Its symbol is that of the two learnedly mixed sexes one with the other. Slaanesh is a young god, less powerful than his congeneric but holder of an enormous capacity of corruption, because it uses of quite easy temptations on the human spirit. Many hordes of chaos lend to him allegiance in desolations of North. The worships of Slaanesh are very widespread inside the kingdoms of the Vieux World, like in Naggaroth and Ulthuan, but count relatively few members, generally a score. This prohibited worship more particularly touches the easy nobility and classes, which tends to reinforce antagonism between the rich person and the poor. The followers of Slaanesh seek before all the pleasure and the concupiscence, and are certainly less inclined to work out plans machiavelic than those of Tzeentch. Where Tzeentch stimulates the desires of size and the dreams utopian, Slaanesh is interested in the easy and immediate pleasures and satisfaction of the least whim. Slaaneshis practice the worst orgies of vice and are often dependant with euphoriant drugs, with various degrees. They are hedonists constantly in the search of feelings increasingly stronger. Slaanesh gently mistakes Nurgle and its followers because of their disgusting aspect, but its enemy is before any Khorne, the god of the blood, which it finds brutal and without least subtlety.

Malal

In the first edition of Warhammer the fantastic roleplay Malal is a god of quite particular chaos. He is the god of the renegades, and fights against the other divinities of chaos.

Malal is represented as a monstrous demon whose head points out that of a dragon and covered with emerald scales. He is the god of the chaos which destroys chaos, a renegade in the proper rows of the disorder. Its admirers, very few, are called the " maudits" , wander through all the Vieux World with the research of the work of the other gods whom they will be able to destroy. Not very many, it generally acts of demented people, exaltés of the end of the world or desperate misused by the chaos which cannot find comfort between the arms of the other gods.

Zuvassin

Zuvassin the defaisor is a god of the chaos which attempts to destroy the work of chaos. It appears in There is quelquechose rotted in Kislev . Zuvassin appears in the shape of a monstrous and deformed being and with the scornful glance. It is a gaspillor who anything else makes only destroy all the plans in progress, and in particular the intentions of the other gods of the chaos, which it finds well too foreseeable. Thus, its clergy has a " miracle" allowing to cancel changes; even an man-animal regains a completely human shape following their intervention. However, it has good lucks die in the process. Following the example Malàl, Zuvassin symbolizes a certainte form of revolt of Chaos against itself. It has a clandestine temple in a village of Kislev, Bolgasgrad, but undoubtedly has of them others in moved back and forgotten places. It sometimes happens to him deliberately to be unaware of the attention of its faithful for repaître of consequent despair to their treason. The few followers of Zuvassin finish invariably insane and demented person and the god takes a heavy tribute on their spirits. Zuvassin is unforeseeable par excellence. Nothing draws more its destructice attention than a plan considered infallible.

Necoho

Necoho the skeptic is a god of the chaos which refuses the worship of the gods and the concept of divinity, a paradoxical approach completely in the style of Chaos. He does not profess any doctrines, thinking that the gods (that he considers just as very powerful demons) do not have to guide the men nor the other races. He rejects the temples, the offices, the priesthood, etc Naturellement, he does not have many followers, but that imports to him little! He only appears very seldom in the form of vision or under physical shape, but when he does it, he generally takes the shape of a small man to the scorning face. In Bolgasgrad (Kislev), there exists a clandestine temple of Necoho in partnership with that of Zuvassin the defaisor. The inhabitants of the village hope somewhat to control and limit the harmful influence of Zuvassin by associating it with a divinity preaching atheism…

Hashut

The Father of Darkness is the god of the dwarves of chaos. Exclusive guide of the Dwarves of chaos, it does not have, or few relations with the other gods of chaos. Hashut is appeared as a monstrous black bull to the belly filled with flames and has a large temple in the city of Zaàr-Naggrund. Its priests are the wizards and lords dwarf wizards of chaos.

The horned Rat

The horned Rat is the only god of the Skaven S. He mistakes the other gods of chaos and is exclusively adored by the people skaven. The horned Rat is presented in the form of a monstrous demon to head of rat, with the body large and deformed, and equipped with heavy horns. It appears sometimes under physical shape of Verminarque, a demon-misadventure of very a great power and handling a destroying magic skaven. The horned rat has human admirers a little everywhere in the cities of the Vieux World, operative by small groups with the progression of the race skaven. They are nihilists who became aware of the existence of the skavens and think, wrongly, that they will be saved at the time of their final victory.

Universal Chaos

Universal chaos is a concept which defines chaos as an indivisible whole, being declined in several aspects in the shape of the gods and entities of chaos. Many cruel tribes of desolations of North (marauders of chaos) venerate Universal Chaos, oneself like a force one and whole, oneself like the Pantheon including all the gods of chaos. In the same way, many bands of Man animals, warriors of chaos and other creatures are subjected to Universal Chaos and receive from them single gifts of which most widespread is the mark of universal chaos. Certain great champions supported by the gods cumulate at the same time the mark of universal Chaos and that of one or more gods.

The symbol of universal chaos is a figure with eight branches, generally unequal, finished by arrows pointing in all the directions.

Forces of Chaos

Hordes of Chaos ( Warhammer )
Animals of Chaos ( Warhammer )
Dwarf of chaos ( Warhammer )
Space Navy of Chaos ( Warhammer 40,000 )

Recent theories on chaos

the last supplements goes back to it for 5th and 6th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, let foresee the possibility that the chaos and the gods of chaos are generated by the hopes and the darkest desires of the human heart. The gods of chaos would have appeared with the first human wars. Khorne represents the rage, Tzeentch the hope, Nurgle despair and Slaanesh the desire and the pleasure.

In the same way, the demons would be human nightmares to which chaos gave form. This said, these theories more agree with the universe of Warhammer 40,000, since chaos preexisted to the men on the world of warhammer and that older races such as the High Elves fought in the past against chaos. In addition, the genesis of Slaanesh is clearly explained in the universe of Warhammer 40,000 by the decline of the Eldars.

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