/wh40k/ - Warhammer 40,000

In Warhammer Fantasy some speculate that Be'Lakor, the Dark Master, the Greater Daemon of Chaos Undivided, who was introduced in the Storm of Chaos campaign is Games Workshop's attempt to bring back the idea of Malal to the Fantasy game. Be'Lakor was first introduced in Games Workshop's Mordheim line (set some five hundred years before the more recent events in the Warhammer game) as the enigmatic Shadowlord, before his history was elaborated upon over the course of the Albion and Storm of Chaos worldwide campaigns.

Malal is not the only version of an additional Chaos power, at least in the fantasy world of Warhammer. In The Enemy Within campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Something Rotten in Kislev, Zuvassin the Great Undoer and Necoho the Doubter were introduced as two renegade Chaos deities - but not specifically as number five and six. Also, the Chaos Dwarf power, Hashut the Farther of Darkness, is said to be a creature that fled from the powers of Chaos. Games Workshop wrote more than once that there are more than four Chaos Powers and that a continuity of power existed from mundane daemons to greater ones up to the Power status. Numbering of Chaos Powers has yet to be agreed upon by scholars.

Necoho the Doubter is one of the renegade Chaos Gods. Necoho's warp-spawned existence owes itself to a paradox which should, by mortal logic, make his very subsistence impossible. He is a deity who represents the struggle against the entire notion of gods and religion. Needless to say, this means that his following is extremely small, even for an obscure renegade Chaos God. This is doubtlessly the way Necoho likes it. In the rare event he makes some sort of appearance to mortals, he often appears in the form of a short, slightly plump old human man, with a permanent expression of ironic amusement etched upon his face. Necoho has no known symbol, and has no temples or holy days, considering every day equally non-holy. He offers nothing to his followers, and asks nothing of them. Necoho is generally opposed to all other cults of all kinds. The only exception is when helping one cult or hindering another would undermine the cult's credibility among its followers.

Zuvassin the Undoer is one of the renegade Chaos Gods, along with Malal and Necoho. He is a meddler, constantly striving to undo the things which others have done and to soil the efforts of others. His brand of Chaos leads him to ensure that nothing turns out as expected, and that all plans will go awry. He does not confine his sabotage to Chaos, but will quite readily spoil anything for anyone; however, because he is a Chaos God who acts against the purest essence of Chaos, he has been classified by human scholars as a ‘renegade’ god. He appears frequently to his followers, donning in a variety of guises, often choosing to take the form of the thing which they fear most, or that of a member of their own race who is horribly disfigured or deformed. No matter what form he takes, he is always laughing.

The symbol of Zuvassin is a double ended Y-shape, which is normally depicted incomplete or otherwise incorrect in some way; some part may be missing, or something may have been added to it.

Zuvassin is the patron of those who desire to use his powers to sabotage or undo something. All those who follow him find their plans going wrong in the process. There are a handful of cults in the Old World devoted to him, and he has been known to usurp cults which think they are worshipping another of the Chaos Gods, in order to revel in the confusion and misery of letting them down. Zuvassin, living up to his title, can undo everything, even removing the taint of Chaos from an individual by removing their mutations.

Zuvassin is an enemy of all of Chaos, even including the other Renegade Gods, but it has been known for him to ally himself with another of the Gods of Chaos in order to thwart another's plans; for example, he might decide to aid the forces of Khorne in conflict with those of Slaanesh, (or vice-versa), if one of the Chaos Gods has a scheme which looks like it can't fail.

Zuvassin will never refuse anyone who is foolish enough to offer him their loyalty; even the most exhaustive of terms will not worry him, as he is confident of being able to make things go wrong if it suits him to do so. Zuvassin imposes no restrictions upon his followers, since any character who is truly imbued with his spirit would be able to make any instructions misfire.

Hashut, also known as the Father of Darkness, is their chief deity, rather than the Dwarf ancestor gods. Imprisoned by Khorne, the Dwarfs released him during the first Chaos Incursion. After this a great schism split them, some staying true to the Ancestor Gods, and many choosing to worship Hashut. Hashut granted the most powerful of his new worshipers magical powers to use against their kin, some would eventually become so mutated that they became a Lammassu or a Taurus - battle beasts still used by the Chaos Dwarfs to this day. After the two sides had battled, many of the traditionalists were sacrificed to Hashut.

Hashut is a Chaos god depicted as a bull-shaped idol, who demands blood sacrifices from his followers. He is worshipped by Chaos Dwarf sorcerors on the summits of the mighty ziggurats erected in his name. At the temple of Hashut in Zharr Naggrund the Chaos Dwarfs have created a particularly gruesome way of sacrifice. They herd their victims into the hollow belly of large statue made of bronze which they then heat with great fires lit under the belly. As the victims burn to death, their cries are funneled up the throat of the statue. Here they are changed by the reverbarations of the metal until they sound like the braying of a bull, the louder the braying, the most pleased it is assumed the bull-god Hushut is with his offering.

According to unused materiel, Hashut was a Daemon exiled by the Chaos Gods after an incident where he challenged Khorne to single combat so as to overthrow him and to take his place. Hashut lost the battle and fled, pursued by entire legions of daemon princes. Hashut reportedly fled into a deep, obsidian-lined cavern to hide and was sealed inside by the daemons with a huge gate of black iron encrusted with runes. Long later this gate was discovered by the expedition of dwarfs who would become the Dawi'Zharr. The chief runesmith spending hours decoding the runes and was ripped to shreds by dark energy upon reading the runes aloud. Reading the runes released the trapped Hashut and he reportedly slaughtered many dwarfs before eventually making a pact with them and becoming their deity.

World of Warhammer Chaos entry suggests that Hashut may be nothing more than an alias for Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways. Nothing else substantial is mentioned of Hashut for years (the seventh edition of Warhammer rulebook describes Hashut as bull-headed) until the Black Library published the first book of the Liber Chaotica, the Liber Khorne by Richard Williams, which raises questions about Hashut’s resemblance to the Juggernauts of Khorne. The Rune of Hashut resembles Khorne's symbol, though altered and oriented differently.

The Gods of Law are as old as the Gods of Chaos - Law being but one possibility of the infinite possibilities of Chaos. At the collapse of the polar warp gates began the struggle between Law and Chaos for domination of the world. The balance of power shifted back and forth between Law and Chaos - the Chaos Wastes expanding with the success of Chaos, and retreating with the ascension of Law.

Although worship of the Gods of Law is not illegal, the gods and their followers are held in suspicious distrust by most Old Worlders. There is much to be praised about their anti-Chaos precepts, but their extreme philosophy and disdain for others does not accord well with the relatively moderate Old Worlders.

Alluminas is the master of light, an everlasting and unchanging source of pure light, which is said to render unmoving and changeless anything it illuminates. He is probably the least popular of the Gods of Law, as the bulk of the concepts involved in his worship are beyond human comprehension.

Arianka was defeated and imprisoned by an unnamed Chaos God in the distant past. It is said she lies in a crystal coffin somewhere in the Old World. The location is unknown, but the most recent rumour has placed it within the city of Praag. It is also said she can be freed from her coffin by means of crystal keys, about which nothing specific is known.

Solkan the Avenger is the master of vengeance, an angry god who inflicts retribution upon the enemies of the Gods of Law. Of all the Gods of Law, Solkan can be said to be the most well known and popular, although he and his followers are feared rather than respected. He is worshipped by many Witch Hunters.

Possible Artifacts of Malal/Anti-Warp:

Talisman of Arthas Moloch

A Talisman of Arthas Moloch is a form of rare artefact found on the Dead World of Arthas Moloch by the forces of Commander Farsight. These hexagrammatic talismans were found hanging upon great robed statues during the Tau forces combat against Chaos Daemons on that world. A Talisman of Arthas Moloch possesses strange properties that cause Warp-spawned creatures and psychic powers to falter before it. Whilst the Farsight Enclaves now possess several of these talismans and use them in battle, neither Commander Farsight nor his advisors have the faintest idea of how they work.

Books of Pain

The fabled Books of Pain contain every word that has ever been used to describe sensation from discomfort to screaming agony. In times of dire necessity, a few words from these blasphemous texts can cause all those within earshot to fall into paroxysms of suffering.

The Dawnblade

Commander Farsight recovered the weapon from the pre-Imperial xenos ruins of the Dead World of Arthas Moloch, wrenching it in desperation from a fallen alien statue to fend off the assault of a Bloodthirster daemon following the incursion of the Forces of Chaos upon that deserted planet. The Dawn Blade is older than even the Imperium of Man, and it was fashioned aeons ago by the strange xenos race that once inhabited the haunted world of its origin. Forged from materials that even the finest Earth Caste minds cannot fathom, its blade is sharp enough to cut through rock and all known forms of infantry and even vehicle armour; and its sculpted surface flickers with unknown energies which paint glittering arcs of destruction as it is swung. Since taking it up on Arthas Moloch, and modifying it for use in battle on his personal XV8 Crisis Battlesuit, it has been Commander Farsight's weapon of choice for close-combat engagements.

Unbeknownst to Farsight, the ancient sword has a dark secret. Its blade is made from alien chronophagic alloys. This means that whenever its wielder cuts a life short with the blade, the natural lifespan that he stole from his victim is added to the wielder’s own. This has allowed Commander Farsight to live for almost three Terran centuries, far beyond the natural lifespan of the Tau race. Though he has his suspicions that it is the Dawn Blade that had prolonged his lifespan to such a degree, if Farsight ever found out the horrible truth, he would likely end his own life in ritual suicide then and there.

The Lash of Bitterness

The Lash of Bitterness is a long whip of bones and teeth taken from humans and the predatory creatures of Iocanthos. Within it is bound the tortured essence of a Warp creature whose being is consumed by fear and insanity. The Lash of Bitterness was said to have been created by a slave champion of the Crow Father and to have been wielded in combat against Drusus himself. It was recovered from the battlefield by servants of the Holy Ordos in the wake of the saint’s cleansing of Iocanthos, and it is now is sealed in the Lightless Vaults of the Tricorn palace – its twitching coils muttering vileness and wishing ill to all life.

Dreadaxe

Dreadaxe is a deadly chaotic weapon gifted to Kaleb Daark by Malal. It is a living axe, a weapon bearing a part of the soul of some great cosmic being, a hellish demonic servant of Malal. As the weapon strikes its jaw closes and its teeth bite deep into the soul-stuff of its victim. As the soul of the victim is sucked from his carcass, the body shrinks, rots and shrivels away to almost nothing. whfb

The Dreadaxe is a Daemon Weapon. It contains a vampiric being with a thirst for the souls of other Daemons. It is almost inevitable that anyone who opposes this weapon will die quickly. They usually take the form of a highly decorated double-bladed axe. wh40k

The Mace of Judgement

The Mace of Judgement is a symbol of Imperial might and purity that was violated by the Pilgrims of Hayte and turned into a mockery of its original purpose. The Mace has a haft and head of dark, wrought metal topped with winged fist clasping a skull of adamantine. Charred spills of parchment inscribed with tracts from the Book of Judgement coil the mace’s length, secured by seals of thick wax. It was a weapon made to demonstrate the might of Imperial law and punish those who deny its authority. The Mace of Judgement was possessed by Adeptus Arbites Judge Mielira, who was captured by the Pilgrims of Hayte while countering their activities on Vaxanide. Rather than kill their prisoner, the Pilgrims of Hayte took her weapon and bound into it a Warp thing of madness and endless hate. They then set Judge Mielira free and returned her mace of authority. The cultists watched while the Daemon in her weapon twisted the Judge’s own faith and conviction and made her a monster to whom all were guiltily and worthy only of death. Mielira the Bloody was finally killed by vassals of Inquisitor Skane. However, her black mace that had become the trademark of her atrocities was never recovered.

Anguish

Little is known of the Daemon Weapon known only as Anguish. Some amongst the arcane scholars of the Ordo Malleus doubt that it even exists. Anguish is reputed to take the form of a long basket-hilted sword – its hilt dotted with thorny spines, its mirror-like blade etched with images of bird feathers and lidless eyes. It has been said to radiate a chill like that of the void between stars and to have an edge so sharp that it can cleave the curtain of reality; opening a wound-like portal into the Warp through which the wielder of the blade may pass through to far and strange places.

Blade of Phaedron

A Chapter relic of the excommunicated Relictors Chapter, inside the Blade of Phaedron lies the seething soul of a Daemon possessed of a great enmity for all its kin. Although it is unremarkable when employed against a living thing, against a Daemon the blade will blaze white with the pure heat of the captive Daemon's rage.

Hesht, the Granter of Vengeance

Hesht is a dagger with two parallel blades of twisted metal like the teeth of a predatory beast. Thrust into the chest of an enemy, the Daemon bound within the blades gorges on the victim’s essence and soul. The victim is slain in the most complete and terrible manner possible, and the Daemon strains hungrily at its bonds seeking more life on which to feed. Hesht was forged by the foul enemies of the Imperium that were driven from the Calixis Sector during the Angevin Crusade. In desperation, they turned all their vile arts to make weapons both great and small to try and turn the tide against the forces of the Imperium. They failed and were annihilated, but their vile creations, of which Hesht is one, endured and were left to tempt and corrupt those who had vanquished their creators.

Midnight

The weapon called Midnight has had many other names in the time since its forging beneath strange dying stars. The Daemon bound within Midnight is a thing that has been imprisoned for so long that all that remains is its hunger; hunger for light, for hope, for life. Light and warmth are drawn to Midnight. Its true shape is a mystery: it is glimpsed only as impressions of razor edges and barbs glimpsed in a pall of darkness.

Artekus Scourge

The Artekus Scourge is a daemonic weapon that appears as a flail tipped with balls of pure energy in the form of screaming daemonic faces. Originally wielded by the Chapter Master of the Relictors, Artekus Bardane, the flail snaps and gnashes at the souls of those it hits.

Drach'nyen

The origins of this daemonic blade are a mystery. Daemons speak of the blade in fear, calling it the Thorn in Reality or the Shard of Madness. It is a weapon that existed long before the rise of Mankind and doubtless will bear witness to its end. Alive with dark intelligence, Drach'nyen has the power to sunder the material universe with its edge, cutting through matter as a mundane blade moves through smoke. In battle, Drach'nyen has been witnessed to destroy a Space Marine Land Raider and flay the souls from those it struck with a single touch. Even the hardened skin of daemons or armour sealed with the power of the Warp is little proof against its assault, as it drinks in the energy of the Immaterium like water, consuming all in its path utterly. The dark spirit that inhabits this fell weapon can alter the blade's appearance, revealing the skulls and faces of the souls it has devoured.

During the 1st Black Crusade in 781.M31, Abaddon the Despoiler made many blood pacts with the Dark Gods in the wake of Horus' defeat over seven standard centuries earlier during the Horus Heresy. In the crypts below the Tower of Silence on the world of Uralan, Abaddon recovered the potent Daemon Sword after battling his way through a haunted labyrinth to the great inner chamber where the blade had languished in stasis for millennia. After the recovery of the malefic sword, Abaddon's power swelled to inhuman proportions and the new Warmaster of Chaos become nigh unstoppable. Whole cities were burned in sacrifice to the ever-hungry daemons of Chaos, and entire armies were torn apart by gibbering Warp entities. Abaddon's power swelled to inhuman proportions as the gods of Chaos rewarded him lavishly and he undertook acts of fiendish bravery which horrified those who stood against him.

On the world of El'Phanor he led the charge against the gates of the Citadel of Kromarch. The Kromarch had built his fortress well. It had only one gate and that was composed of solid adamantium, fully three metres thick. Only one in ten of those that followed Abaddon through the barrage of fire from the walls reached the fortress' gates, and there they were trapped by Heavy Bolters to left and right. But Abaddon held aloft his Daemon Sword, black fires burning along its edges, and swept it down with a deafening bellow of fury. The gates were harder than diamond and stronger than steel but they split like cordwood before that blow and daemons feasted on the Kromarch and his kin that night.

It is said Drach'nyen can take many forms, and it only appears as a great blade in the hands of Abaddon because that is how the Warmaster of Chaos chooses it to be. In truth, the sword has no real shape or size, at least nothing that could be understood by the mind of Man. Why it chose to let Abaddon take it from its resting place beneath the Tower of Silence is also a mystery, though since that day only Abaddon has been able to wield it. If another warrior were brave enough to try and lift Drach'nyen, it would fall from his hands as if made of air, though not before rending the thief apart with Warp energy. As to why Drach'nyen fights for Abaddon, none can say for sure, though such a pact can mean nothing but woe for the forces of the Emperor and all Mankind.

Pariah Gene

The Pariah Gene is an aberrant mutation of the human genetic code which results in the existence of beings colloquially known as Blanks and Pariahs, for those individuals in whom the mutant gene is dominant. These mutants have little to no psychic existence in the Warp, thus lacking what others would consider a soul. As a consequence, these individuals radiate a sense of unnaturalness and unease that is unnerving to other living creatures and can be painful or even lethal to psychically-sensitive beings. The Pariah Gene is usually passed on naturally through reproduction, but also occurs through random mutation, just like the gene or gene complex that produces psykers. The Pariah Gene is, however, much more rare than the psyker mutation and Blanks make up an infinitesimal proportion of the human population galaxy-wide. It is estimated that in the population of a medium-sized planet populated by billions of people, there may be only a half-dozen or so Blanks. Most of those affected by the gene die young as the palpable aura of revulsion that surrounds them makes them reviled by others, outcasts within their society, or leads to their outright murder long before they reach full maturity.

Blanks, also called Untouchables, are those humans who possess the Pariah Gene in its recessive form in their genetic code. A Blank is often not aware of his powers and may not be able to control them even if he is, but the aura of negative psychic space he projects is highly disruptive to psychic powers. A psyker will find it difficult to impossible to affect the Blank and anyone in his general vicinity with his powers. Blanks have a better chance than true Pariahs to live a peaceful life, for since their aura of "otherness" is weak, baseline humans may simply pass it off as queerness and leave the Blank alone. Blanks are often recruited as Acolytes to serve as living shields against psychic attacks by Inquisitors and are forced to tag along wherever the Inquisitor goes. Generous or pragmatic Inquistors might even provide their Blank with combat training and some equipment to augment their living shield's survivability.

Pariahs, also known as Blacksouls, Psychic Nulls or the Soulless, are mutants in whom the Pariah Gene is dominant. They have no presence whatsoever in the Warp and thus no soul. Their aura of otherness is so powerful that a baseline human finds it impossible to remain in the Pariah's presence; and they are a living embodiment of the worst possible nightmare for any psychically gifted being. Unlike Blanks, Pariahs can siphon off and thrive on the psychic energy of Psykers, and their aura quickly proves fatal to them. Pariahs are quite often killed at birth as mutants, for their otherness is very palpable. Surprisingly, Pariahs have always been much sought after by the Imperium, first organised in the all-female Sisters of Silence order, and now trained to become the much feared Culexus Assassins.

Gromril

Gromril (also known as Meteoric Iron or Star-Metal) is a metal from the warp and is considered by most as the strongest and most valuable metal in the whole Warhammer World rivalled only by the most powerful of Chaos Armour. Gromril also falls to the Warhammer World through the Old Slann warpgates of the north and south poles. Dwarfs have discovered it in several places where meteors have struck the World. In fact, gromril is only found in the presence of warpstone. The reverse, however, is not true. Raw gromril is a silvery metal that is incredibly rare and valuable and only dwarves know how to work it. Gromril actually has more than one state. There are three methods of refining it and each method has different effects on the metal. The first method is widely known among the dwarves and turns raw gromril into the refined gromril that is used for coins, armor, shields, and weapons. This refined gromril is sometimes called Mithril by Old Worlders . The second method is not widely known among the dwarves and its secret is jealously guarded by the dwarven Master Smiths that do know it. This second method turns raw gromril into Adamant. The third method turns raw gromril into a crystalline metal known in legend as Laihtero.

Types of Gromril:

Gromril can be created into several types of metal, depending on the techniques that can make the metal even stronger or more potent then those of other metal.

Mithril

Mithril is the most common form of Gromril. It is refined by smelting to remove most impurities. It is twice as durable as Steel and weighs one-fifth as much. It also accepts runes and enchantments as readily as any other metal.

Adamant

Adamant is created using a refining technique which involves smelting and various other secret methods to purify it. Adamant is normally magic-inert so therefore any person wielding an adamant weapon, adamant shield, or wearing adamant armor is immune to magic. In most circumstances, they cannot use it either. There is a way to enchant adamant items so that their enchantments can be used like any other enchantments on weapons or armor made of other metals. These enchantments have historically been only of the kind that dwarven Runesmiths make and must have been placed on the item in question during the forging process.

After the item is finished, its runic properties are "set" and can never be changed or added on to in any way. Whether these items would take enchantments from human wizards during the time of refining is not known and any suggestions that they would is pure speculation. Adamant weapons, armor, and shields are as durable and weigh as little as Mithril ones.

Laihtero

Laihtero is the rarest form of Gromril ever known. In fact only one item is known to have been forged from it; Arianka's sword, Laihtendrung. Very little is known about this material save for what a few legends have to say on the subject. It is said that only one dwarf at any one time knows the secret of the refining process to create Laihtero from raw Gromril. It is also said that this dwarf may make one item of this metal in his lifetime because it takes his entire lifetime to make it.

Dwarven Loremasters have speculated that Laihtero is Law in its purest form and that it will not accept magic enchantments of any kind. It is a completely translucent metal and radiates Law to those beings who are sensitive to such things. It is also said that some essence of a god of Law is necessary in the refining process to create this metal. Laihtero is undoubtedly stronger than Mithril and Adamant and probably weighs even less. As it is pure Law, it is probably drains any magic completely and has great powers against Chaos.