Imagine you tried very hard and sacrificed thousands to finally enact a chaos ritual. Then had to spend most of your time there in the warp being absolutely spammed by dick enlargement ads, and get rich quick bait.
@@whythelongface64 Space Marines HATE him!!! Find out how these bog standard guardsmen became strong enough to overwhelm the Emperor's Chosen in three simple steps!
Actually even followers of Chaos still use their Gellar fields while in the Warp. Firstly because just because they worship a chaos god doesn't mean it will protect them, more likely they may become the target of it's rivals if anything, but most of the time, the deamons won't care if they worship chaos, the deamons will target them anyway. Also the creatures of the warp prey on everyone weaker than them regardless. But the biggest and primary issue with it is that the Warp corrupts absolutely, even a ship corrupted by Chaos turning off the field is the equiv of jumping out of boiling water into the fire itself, what followers want is power and immortality, not to have their souls sucked out and be turned into mindless mutants by the corruption.
You know, slannesh would get more followers if the daemonettes lacked crab claws. I'd also like to note, humanity is screwed the moment a norn queen gets the idea for a new caste of tyrannid known as the "lusty tyrannid maid".
With the intent and slowl corruption of Chaos I liked the example you gave during your Vraks series. At first the civilains wishes for their soldiers and lovedo nes to come back victorious. That got twisted in them not caring if their loved ones actually survived, but just that they slaughtered alot of eneemies. And eventually just wanting to see slaughter. Probably butchering the analagy but I found it a good explanation of how good and even mundane well wishes can be twisted into chaos worship.
Yeah it starts reasonable but since Chaos gods deal with extremes they corrupt and mind feck cultists into something more resembling their patrons morality.
One of the interesting Things of Chaos Corruption is, that each Part of Society of the Imperium reacts different to it. For Example the Influence of Slaneesh will be far stronger or at least easier to get a foothold in the Aristocratic Society of Hive Cities. While Nurgle or Khorne thrive at the lower Levels of the Hive because life there is just a continuate Misery, or a never ending Fight just to see another Dawn, and these are just examples, because Chaos Corruption can potentially taint everything it touches.
It's easier to do orgies while rich than poor. Though I can imagine Slaanesh gaining foothold in lower levels of Hive Cities too but not as a main Chaos God to worship. Nurgle and Khorne can provide something to aid in the survival of their cultists, Slaneesh can offer only an ecstatic bliss. Upper echelons of the Empire are a ripe fruit for Slaneesh to dig through. Khorne can also get some of that pie where it comes to more military oriented nobles. Nurgle? Not to much, unless it'd concern a beloved family member dying from incurable disease, only Nurgle could "save" such a person.
I think Tzeentch would feel most at home in places of learning. Places filled to the brim with bright eyed youths whose insatiable curiosity could, with a few whispers here and there, be turned towards the pursuit of forbidden knowledge.
@@Warrior-Of-Virtue Tzeentch is the Lord Of Change, and as such makes himself very comfortable at any level of the hierarchy, be it scheeming nobles or revolutionary peons and serfs, it really comes down to the instability of a planet
@@Warrior-Of-Virtue That's a favoured recruiting ground, but tzeentchians are good at forming masonic cliques within and across professional organizations, charities, underground rings and private clubs or associations. I say masonic, because the symbolism often involves birds, architectural imagery, codes and illumination. They are also more prone to coopting other chaos cults into being front groups or entry drugs.
This reminds me of a story how a commissar was elevated to deamonhood by slaanesh only because she took great pleasure in killing deamonets or a hive noble who suddenly turned into a chaos spawn because his great grandma did something to genetically taint her bloodline
Sometimes the dark gods take a wicked sense of humor. What could be more fun than watching someone realize that despite their attempts they made for a fine servant and now their accession ruins all of their hard work as every good deed they have done is now branded as heresy? That all of their allies shall be put to the torch by their own allies? That they shall be now left within an immortal body surrounded by those they had despised with seemingly no way out? The dark gods in Fantasy offered a whole host of gifts with no strings attached to tempt someone to kill Nagaish because that very driven mortal/undead jerk was about to do something really bad... So why shouldn't they do lesser actions or moments to deal with lesser if similar threats?
I think the girl from the noble family was elevated to daemon hood by slaanesh n it was because she was purposely being possessed and then killing the daemons through sheer will power
I think my absolut favorite part of chaos corruption is the fact that you need to invite it in for it to take root. So much potential character building from that concept alone. How much torment or temptation would a character to fall prey to its lure? And why do they want to accept it? Such an awesome story telling device.
Isn't that what Commander Farsight is going through right now with Khorn? Gotta admit its pretty cool even if the tau fanbase isn't too keen on Chaos Farsight.
I think when you go whole hog on the radiation idea it makes sense even down to the “Random actions feeding chaos” idea. The first 3 Gods are all aspects that just sort of happen, which makes sense that they would arise naturally. Evolution. Death. Decay. Every time that happens, it’s their “wavelength” so to speak. Their “color.” It resonates (to use acoustics). But the little momentary flash of light is meaningless. Reaching for your bolt gun is like crushing sugar. It releases light (yes it does look it up) but it so small and brief it doesn’t register. But when the blood is flowing we have a candle. And if it’s FLOWING we have a blaze. Intent works as a lens that focuses the energy, increasing it’s intensity. The “Chaos per unit area” - the Chaos flux increases. Contempt acts as shielding, and Chaos can attempt to ware away the shield by weakening/tempting. When that shielding brakes down, your exposure goes up. In the case of the soul drinkers their intention worked as a diffusing lens rather than a focus. Despite high intensity chaos, the chaos flux was diffused by the intentional Lens of serving the emperor.
I think the reason why the first 3 came out "naturaly" is because death, disease and change are fundamental elements in allmost every culture and religion that has ever existed, while lust and hedonistic desires are usually surpressed by said religions and cultures. Hence it took an entire race of hedonistic murderfuckers to bring on slaanesh since they had alot of catching up to do. I mean take our own world for example: Lust and self indulgence are basically shunned by every single culture and religion still around. And those that succumbed to it quickly found their end like the roman empire. And yes,lust and self indulgence still happens all around.. but behind closed doors and in private while the other aspects are openly worshipped with everything that entails: temples, works of art, holydays... the works. The first 3 concepts where much more important in worship and action all across the galaxy and thus resonated way sooner in the warp wich in turn spawned khorne, tzeentch and nurgle. (The eldar for example have their own god of murder, death and life... but didnt initially had a god of murderfucking)
Another strong proof that intent is required is that the conscious beings can to a point decide which chaos god to strengthen with their actions. That the orks with their slaughter strengthen and grant influence over themselves to Gork and Mork instead of Korne comes to mind. Clan Pestilens seeing Plague as an aspect of the Great Horned Rat instead of Nurgle and the Warrior Priests with Sigmar are other examples. And maybe it works in a similar way with the Space Marines and the Emperor of Mankind.
I could see Pestilens getting past the nurgle thing through intent definitely. they don't spread disease out of a love of diseases but instead they do it purely for the destruction it causes, infecting themselves with diseases is a more selfish action to make themselves more deadly to those they hate (being skaven that is everyone including other skaven lol).
I think that idea of Pestilens was that they were worshiping Nurgle with fake tail and whiskers. Sort of "four armed God Emperor" of Genestealers. Leader of clan Pestilens is literally called Nurgle + Lich. I guess that was idea but they scrapped it.
I like to imagine their being a secret Inquisition Symposium where Arch gives this lecture and domino effects a dozen or so worlds being able to avoid exterminatus.
I recall Gauss weaponry once having a quote around it that its extreme precision on deatomization bored Khorne at best or even outright offended him. Theres many Xenos that should feed the gods but dont and intention or tech level ensures the actions dont benefit Chaos.
Chaos Influence in a nutshell: Khorne Influence: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! Nurgle Influence: My nose rotted off but ohh boy I am lovin everything and I do not know why... Slaanesh Influence: Whips for days! Tzeentch Influence: I now have two heads and the other head keeps speaking in cringe yet I guess I can kill with geometry so hooray...?
@@user-jh5dq9vc1vthen theres malice which is basically: I don't have any blessings I HAVE A CHAINAXE GIVE ME YOUR FACE or *complete dead silence as they just randomly kill themselves*
As far as Gaunt goes - let's all be honest: Gaunt is *the* main character of the Gaunt's Ghosts novels. He could survive orbital bombardment because of his character shield. He has the plot armor of Cato Sicarius, only more respectable because he's a Guardsman.
Mkoll. How many times has that guy dang near died? How many times has he gone off and done something that would get any other guardsman executed? How many times has he managed to, somehow, make it through a situation that should be literally impossible? He took out a Chaos Dreadnought, alone. Using plants. And isn't he in like his 60s or something? If he isn't an actual incarnation of the Emperor at this point, then his plot armor is so strong it makes Cato Sicarius look like he is wearing tin foil.
I really feel like a baby Interrogator having my first lesson with Big Poppa Inquisitor Arch on how to recognize chaos so I can meet it with disgust, contempt, and hatred before I take on my first cultists and purge the taint of the warm from our glorious Imperium.
Running with the guardsman that was corrupted almost immediately, I think there is additional context needed. There was a large scale chaos ritual going on. A ritual that ended up requiring additional intervention from something warp based to stop it. Disrupting the ritual rather than destroying it.
I liked the Inquisition's response to Gaunt concerning the Armour of Contempt. It amounted to "Well your men may have the toughest souls to ever dodge Astartes recruitment, allowing them to spend extended time amongst the filth of Chaos... But you'll forgive us for at least checking if the Moth Venom paste works too."
The virgin Dead Space Markers vs the chad Fulgrim's Sexy Frostmourne. But seriously, the moment inanimate objects start talking, the best bet is to back away and find some high explosives.
19:55 The Emperor Protects. Simple as that. That's why the Chaos Gods call the Emperor the Anathema, He is their Nemesis because he steals their lunch. Hate and war in the name of the Emperor doesn't feed Khorne. Despair and fatalism doesn't feed Nurgle. Deceit and cunningness doesn't feed Tzeentch. Desire and sadism doesn't feed Slaanesh. All because it is all being done in the name of the Emperor.
I would argue that the foundation of chaos corruption is memetic, but that's a copout. I expect the reason chaos corruption is often creeping and subtle is because brute force and rapid infection raises alarm and horror, not just because it looks WRONG at a glance and people don't have time to normalize the creeping changes over time. Even in societies NOT indoctrinated and schooled to hate aliens, mutation, and heresy such dramatic change raises alarm.
Hi Arch, have you considered doing a video on the society within a void ship? Especially the larger ones like the Rouge trader ships or battle barges. Cause I understand you can have entire generations on the ship without ever leaving it.
Having now listened to a bunch of 40K audiobooks it’s really weird to know what book Arch was referencing for when the trooper got a piece of chaos idol to the neck. That’s from Gaunts Ghosts book one: First and only. Colonel Corbek destroys the idol with his laspistol and a fragment ends up in trooper Drahels neck and he transforms into a giant skeleton demon and blown up. The artist trying to replicate a specific color seen an a slaaneshi temple is from the Horus Heresy series and is from Book 5: Fulgrim.
Very interesting video, I have actually thought about how one could subtlety become corrupted. Nothing as large and overt as horus or the word bearers, but an unwitting cultists. The radiation analogy is very interesting. I think intent and knowledge are very important. Hence, no Grey knight has ever been corrupted in spite of being Psychers and using a hell of a lot of warp power. I mean, OK, the Grey Knights are a pretty special case, but I see the point you're making! Contempt keeps the Grey Knights safe, but it's hardly easy for them, is it. Great video, Arch! Very interesting discussion.
I would have thought the Primarchs would be good examples of Chaos Corruption without intent. Fulgrim who was corrupted over a long period of time by Chaos itself without knowing, his legion effected by the "Chaos Radiation" of the Xeno Temple. Lorgar actively corrupted Angron, while Magnus was tricked by a God of Chaos itself. Then there's through ignorance, such as the Eldar birthing a new God by their acts or Lorgar's homeworld unknowingly worshipping more "benevolent" interpretations of the Gods. I do like the analogy of "radiation" though, the more radiation you're exposed to the more corrupting influence Chaos can have over you. Much like exposing yourself to the Imperial Faith in prayer can counteract such corruption, if not misplaced...
Chaos tends to remind me of a story where in Brazil (I think) some thieves broke into a shut down nuclear plant and stole some "glowing powder" Not knowing what it was they found it intriguing and figured they might be able to sell it. Shared it around with families, even had a daughter playing with the "glowing powder" A few weeks later hundreds of people are dying due to radiation poisoning. Most of them not surviving and those who did lost fingers, hands and so on all because radioactive waste was just left to sit there in an abandoned facility with a single guard on duty.
I do question if the Eldar really didn't know. They have more knowledge of the Warp then anyone else still around. It seems more likely they just stopped caring.
@@spartanonxy The eldar actually knew what was comming, hence the exodites and the worldship Eldar we have today, they got the fuck out of there before the sky blew wide open... but as you said: the majority simply didnt give a fuck... wich incidantly ALSO contributed to slaaneshs birth: being so self centered and pleasure chasing while knowing that it will fuck everything up... but still doing it because its more important to you then any consequence.. including having your soul chewed on for all eternity in slaaneshs tummy... that is actually peak slaanesh behavior.
I always thought when chaos corruption spiked due to cult activity or whatever, that the civilians with low faith would get corrupted and being corrupted would start to mindlessly follow the cultists since they're confused with their new mutations/bloodust/lustlust.
@@johnj.spurgin7037 I'm thinking NPC types would easily fall to chaos cuz they believe in the Emperor and hate Chaos cuz they're told to, cuz they have to nothing more.
exactly@@Acesahn. NPCs follow the prevailing narrative. If the news reveals (falsely) that the emperor lied or that chaos is part of the imperial dogma, they'd go along no questions asked.
A loose guide to avoiding the bad endings in Rogue Trader pretty much - that is if you want to go down the humanist path. As for the Imperial Path - you pretty much already know what you must do, even if you don't have the strength to do it.
I would say all wars would fuel Khorne a little bit, like a natural plague would for Nurgle. But there would be a host of factors related to if it would be enough in a specific area for actual corruption to fester and grow. Cultists/artifacts/distance to the eye of terror, would all push on the scale to reach the point where the god could start manifesting its will on that area. So a guardsman killing a cultist would detract, as the violence of the guardsman, would likely be much less than the impact of the worshipping of an extra cultist. I would also say it is moments of weakness that lets corruption start to take hold of your soul, so a strong and extraordinary stedfast person could likely shield their soul in the face of extremely corrupted envioments. Also we should not forget Big E, if you pray with enough commitment without a moment of doubt, you may just get the focus of his fractured mind, and gain his blessing to shield you.
Perhaps Fulgrim can be considered an example of at least partially being corrupted through possession? I mean he was not normal when sword started influencing him, but there was that moment after Ferrus Mannus death when he took backseat in his own body. Afterwards Lucius considered him to be too fucked up to be real Fulgrim, but in the end it turned out that despite being rather normal, regretful even when giving his body to the demon, after being able to push that demon back from his body Fulgrim suddenly emerged as capricious and willing to hurt his other brother-Primarchs without any second thought, like a proper Slaanesh demon would be
Hey Arch I agree with all about the corruption, but I think the feeding of the chaos gods is every action be it - conscious or subconscious - feeds the gods, not as much as worship. But it still gives them power. Basiclly the TTS episode 19. Where as long as there are sentient creatures = chaos will exist.
But not to the same degree remember once upon a time the warp was stable the gods existed but were shadows of their now selves slaanash was born into existence
I think both matter. Intent matters but so does saturation. Choas tends to influence you to more Chaos. Thus if there is a lot of it around it takes far less temptation to get a tipping point in intent. Where on the opposite side a cultist whom is on an otherwise pure world would have to work damn hard to see any result. Also lets not play down the effect of minor chaos spirits in this process. Even if the spirit has the intelligence of a brick once you let it in it can work to turn your thoughts, and thus your intent, towards purely Chaos thinking much more quickly. Basically by virtue of there being a lot of Chaos the stakes go up.
When it comes to objects, I always had the idea that they can only be corrupted in connection with a person. A teapot alone is insignificant to chaos, unless it's used for chaotic purposes.
In either the eisenhorn or ravenor books, there is a guy who collected items that were used for murder Because killing someone with something imbues it with a fragment of either the soul or the warp or something Even an apple was in his collection because someone choked on it So a teacup used to deliver poison gains power/corruption, and if it is used repeatedly, it becomes far more powerful
Thank for the weekly video. I don't know if all writers of 40k stories agree on Chaos corruption ; probably not. You forgot the exposure to Chaos iconography, but you talked about it in other videos, like the Siege of Vraks, so ...
I still just want to know what the status of Chaos is in the Imperium. Initially it was considered so terrible to know of that doing so was a death sentence. Mind wiping for most marines even. Because just knowing you could think of it and thinking of it could invite it... Now it seems like everyone knows about it. It's just another enemy. Which is so much less than what it was.
At this point it's pretty clear Chaos is here, and it's bad. So with Mr. Rowboat, he'll just have to keep reminding the masses that this stuff ain't good, no real way to hide half the galaxy being immersed in Chaos.
Think of it this way: It's a lot harder to hide Chaos when there is a massive crack in reality that almost anyone can see by just looking up at the night sky.
@@omegawilliam95s36 that's kinda a no win situation though. The secret of chaos was something the inquisition fought like crazy to keep- it's why sufficient corruption resulted in exterminatus- because no trace can survive. If people can now know about it and it's common knowledge, either the fight is hopelessly lost or chaos is a weak, pale shadow of its former power. It is now just another thing you fight with arms when it used to be a war of knowledge, cosmic horror and inevitable corruption. Where ignorance was a truly blessed state for it alone prevented incidental corruption. Now that whole element- the secrecy of the grey Knights- is gone. Sad.
@@MKojiroI don’t disagree with the facts you presented, but I do think you and others overestimate how many people in the Imperium actually know about Chaos. For example, one of the earlier books (I can’t recall which it was) had a group of guardsmen get attacked by a daemon of Tzeentch. After it was finally banished, the guardsman are told by their Commissar that he’s never seen xenos like that before. The commissar believed it was just another xenos. The people of the Imperium are constantly focused on daily survival, and they are uneducated and ignorant as well. If they gave any thought to what exactly they were seeing, it would be in the context of what they’re told by authorities. Great Rift in the sky? Must be the result of some nefarious xenos plot. Horrible daemon is charging at your line? Kill the xenos before it kills you. In the Imperium, being curious and inquisitive is how to get yourself in an interrogator’s chair, so people just aren’t. A guardsman is dropped into a battle and told to fire at the xenos or emperor-haters, and that’s about it. That’s why so many Chaos cults are comprised of idiots that don’t even know what it is they’re worshipping. Sometimes they land on it by complete accident. Generally, some figure will began to agitate against the conditions of the Imperium and gain followers. Then they’re tricked by the figure (or by Chaos entities themselves) into worship. The cult advances the idea of The One Holy Truth, which they think is that every person should get food each day, but it gets slowly perverted into full-on cannibalism over time by Chaos. That’s why the Inquisition drops the hammer on any cult behavior, believing it to always end with Chaos corruption, but the individuals of the cult may not even realize what’s happening until their soul ends up in Warp Town.
The irony in that when it comes to fighting an enemy the more you know about them the easier it is to defeat them, take the German U-boats during ww2 when the British cracked the German communications network, and so on but with chaos it’s a paradox where the more you try to know or understand it the more you’ll end up falling into it, which makes dealing with not just the forces of chaos but it’s inevitable results can be catastrophic such as guard troopers being in close proximity to any chaos forces which in turn can spread amongst the rest of the entire regiment and until it’s too late and after the guard regiment has say Moved along a few worlds here and there and a few battles, anyone and everyone who’s come into contact with the infected regiments will inevitably tainted in which those who were near them suffer horrific nightmares, voices in the back of the mind, literal possessions be it say bashing the head of your neighbor because they were being annoying and so you flew into a rage and killed them, all the way to say shagging a grox, and not only that but chaos cults starts to pop up randomly, both in the under levels by the dispossessed and the abandoned, to the rich and opulent who believe that they’re a member of a highly secretive society like the stone masons or the Illuminati in which the innocent or even voluntarily become entangled in things like bribes, black mail, cult sacrifices ect ect or massive orges and so the rot of chaos keeps on growing and growing until eventually small sprout starts to pop out of the ground and start to cause problems, only when the flower is ready to bloom all literal hell breaks loose in which the dispossessed and the traitors shows their true colors
An answer to the question of “can chaos corruption happen immediately?” could possibly be during the Arks of Omen when Lion El Johnson defeated Angron. When he banished Angron back into the warp the backlash caused by this immediately turned guardsmen and Sisters of Battle to the worship of Khorne.
I think it works like a "Lazarus Wave" from Doom wherein it's a sudden burst of Warp/Chaos energy that posses or corrupts whomever was unfortunate enough to be within range of it.
@@PelinalDidNothingWrong that’s pretty much the gist. I think the only people who were able to resist were Custodes, Grey Knights, and maybe Dark Angels if they were present but I don’t remember
Not a WH, but the concepts and archs musings help to reinforce my own daydreams and stories involving my own universe as well as when i engage in heretical yet wholesome headcanoning
@@joshkarn1951 Start talking to a servo skull "You got that on voxrecording then? Yes? Good Cleansing by holy prometeum it is then. May the Emperror have mercy on your soul he knows I don't"
...he literally made a deal to get what he wants. His soul is corrupted, but they must still claim this prize when it becomes available, not whenever. His being in the presence of and utilizing a bewitched person's will is going to be incredibly corrupting. Chaos induced mind control is active. But what you would FIRST need to do is know WHY the potion worked. You can't just slip a custodian a micky and have yourself a slave. There was an unexplained reason why the target did in their mind submit to chaos for this potion to have worked on that target. Think back to EVERY story told from someone under chaos influence. Now... that potion had a full on chaos corruption story play out in unreality of her mind in the real time space of that potion taking effect. We're just skipping that and seeing it from the outside as "potion works".
In 2010 Slaneesh started to have a firm grip on our reality. In 2020, Tzeench took his quick turn, in 2021 Nurgle took his turn after a certain pandemic and now in 2023, Khorne is having a blast out there in 2 certain region of our planet. Im seriously thinking on starting to pray for real to our Golden Daddy 😂
Don't be dramatic, it was always like that, especially in western civilization, where we can clearly see cycles of Slaanesh and Khorne "influence" since the foken Roman Empire.
Some people call it chaos corruption, but in truth is that they are party favors. Its great that the humies use it to spice up a good WAAGH, all part of being a good host.
53:24 I agree with you can be corrupted by witnessing it perfect example, the animated series psycho pass the first episode shows that. A young lady was kidnapped by a man who was reaching the precipice of being a criminal and by doing horrific acts of cruelty to another individual in front of her, she began to go down that route too. Instead of becoming a criminal, she executed herself in order to save her sanity what she believe.
@@algorithmgeneratedanimegir1286 can you give more of a explanation of why? Other than just it's terrible you have a brain you are original can you elaborate on that please?
I will look for you to comparison from 40K and D&D version. For example, devils and demons are two different classes. One wishes to commit other chaos and destruction without any rhyme or reason. While the other wishes to taint could individuals to become evil or do evil deeds and sense of a clear blue ocean bottom. Now someone shakes the sand in other words, dirty the water.
This video took me back to the book "Pawns of Chaos" when you mentioned chaos society and infrastructure. I recommend it if you haven't read it. It gives an interesting and often overlooked perspective.
Every act that a chaos god represents feeds that chaos god. The difference is the amount of power it gives them is based on the intent. Spilling blood will empower Khorneth no matter what but only so much as the intent would. A group of savages with no knowledge of khorne wont generate anywhere near as much warp energy as devoted followers would. The intention behind the act is invariably what gives it power. This is why demons for example can be compelled and commanded by just about anyone, if you’re intent is stronger then theirs you can exert it over them. This is why the Emperor burned Nurgle’s garden. His willpower and intent through Guilliman was so strong that it overpowered Nurgle’s own intent and burned the garden.
I think the fairly recent book about Huron Blackheart of the Red Corsairs did a good job of showing how the various powers can corrupt. On several occasions throughout the book, Huron would have a stray thought like "If I only had a bit more strength to crush these enemies" while in the midst of a battle for example. A thought that would seem natural in the situation yet he calls it out for what it is, a temptation by one of the dark gods to sway him to their path and he says as much. I think that's often how those first damnable steps work of the path to ruin.
Chaos is like fire, and intent/faith is like fuel. The more fuel something has, the easier it is to set on fire. If something has enough of the right kind of fuel, all it may take to set it ablaze is a single glowing ember. Some fuels are volatile enough to set themselves on fire even. Most things though will take a good amount of heat over a good amount of time to be set on fire. Some things are made of materials that can sit in a normal fire for days and come out much that same, if perhaps coated in suit and ash. However, many things that would not normally burn can do so if the temperature is hot enough. And if they do not burn, they may melt instead. So it is with chaos. Chaos nurtures faith and intent in men because that makes them easier to fall. But that does not make those with little or even none immune, mearly resistant.
With a nurgles rot being a lil demons there is one thing that always made me curious. How it can stay in the materium? Daemons can't stay in normal reality for too long without a host, artefacts or enough of chaos juju in the air. So why nurgles rot lil szits can stay? Unless it's a type of a possession of the diseased person I don't see them being able to stay long enough to do harm to a person.
Entirely material microbes are possessed by the daemonic pathogens... works for me! A Nurgle horde will be accompanied by mundane pathogens, warp-mutated ones, daemonically possessed ones and deliberatedly bio-engineered variants of all these categories, all mixed together in a hellish stew of unspeakable filth.
I agree with your take, its psychological and that makes alot of sense as the warp is connected to the mind, psykers aren't connected in the body to the warp its the mind that is connected. Often people are made to go crazy before they turn to chaos also backs this theory. Usually it starts with whispers or something like that....keep that up long enough and a person would lose their mental stability. Slaanesh is by far the most dangerous, if you ask me. Its extremely hard to make a case against Slaanesh if you don't know where it ends up and by then your already hooked.
All this makes me dream of a Darktide DLC that brings in other cults to the game, a Khorn cult that specializes in more melee specialists, a Slaanesh cult with faster moving harder to hit troops… a Tzeench cult that introduces enemy psykers as boss units… There’s possibilities with a large DLC for the game, but ultimately probably won’t happen. It would be fun though!
Genestealer cultist hunting 101. New Trainee corruption hunter: YOU THERE WHO DO YOU WORSHIP! Genestealer cultist: Why the Emperor of course! New Trainiee: No corruption found in this area! Teacher: Good now let me show you something. Teacher: Hi sir what does the Emperor look like? Genestealer: Why Purple with four arms of course! BAM! Trainiee: Ohh that's good to Know! *Note taking intensifies*
I'm an Arch fan not a warhammer fan so i may be missing the mark. seems to me that if contempt is an armor against Chaos then it stands to reason that reverence would be the sharp edge of Chaos. so in the example of an army fighing against Chaos and slowly turning. when they scavenge a weapon or tool from the enemy and don't destroy it as soon as it's immediate utility has passed they may grow found of their prize, that is the first tear in their armor and then they start having an interest in other trophies. just spit balling, but it seems a counter to that loot would be to provide better loot in exchange for the tainted prizes, they could then be destroyed in a ritualistic way to further bolster morale as that seems to be the true battlefield that Chaos fights on.
Rogue Trader has taught me that to be functionally immune to corruption, all you have to do is be a psyker and day dream about the Emperor all day. Theosomy is the best discipline and I will not be convinced otherwise.
When I first found 30k and 40k, I asked what was a good way to get into it. Someone on here said gaunts ghosts and Cain were great human perspectives. It made my first dip into the story’s and world. It always seems like dam nation starts with one small act. Not act of ignorance or self preservation but one clear willful disregard of there belief in the big E. Something that know is wrong but do it anyways. In order for anyone to be compromised, they have to willingly and knowingly do the action understanding what it violates.
This gives me a wonderful, terrible idea: A roguelike 40K game where you play as a regular human trapped on a hive planet that gets pulled into the warp. You fight through endless waves of cultists & demons trying to make it to the top of the hive to escape. However, you are just some guy, not a space marine or even an imperial guardsmen, and the best you can manage is whatever gear you can scrounge up to help you stay alive. All the while the chaos gods gradually take notice of your efforts, and start tempting you with various boons (and of course, being the chaos gods, sometimes said boons will hurt more then help). Every time you start a new playthrough, you start over as some new schmuck who has to fight his way to the top. The endings will differ depending upon your level of corruption, which god you fell for, or the small chance that you managed to deny all corruption and stay true to the God-Emperor.
Not at all, it took a long time. Unknowingly carrying that daemon weapon around allowed the Keeper of Secrets to speak to him, presenting itself as his own intrusive thoughts. It could see right to the bottom of any mortal soul and know exactly what 'thoughts' it needed to insert over the weeks, months and years to nurture the potential for raging narcissism which was always in him. As his 'Slaaneshi' personality traits grew stronger he became more receptive to its suggestions, which he still believed to be his own thoughts. It thus gained more and more power over him without Fulgrim ever realising, subtly warping his perceptions...
I think a distinction needs to be made between Chaos, the Immaterium, the Materium, and the relationships between the Gods and each. My personal opinion is that life feeds the Warp, which in turn empowers Chaos, which more generally strengthen's the Four. Doubly so when we remember that the Four aren't inherently malevolent, nor do they even truly have free will - no demon does. Rather, they are acting upon the aggregated emotions and willpower that forms them. Doing exactly what they are supposed to do. In a gentler setting, they might well be considered exemplars or avatars of certain things, which are to be imitated. But only to a reasonable degree. Like the Phoenix Lords and their Archons. It is my opinion that every little bit of rage and honor and nobility and savagery does feed Khorne, but they operate as a push and pull and are subject to strongly diminishing returns. So the righteous anger of a holy warrior might send 1% of that emotional strength to Khorne, with the rest being diffused, while a chaos cultist merely sharing an intimate moment could directly and fully empower Slaanesh because it is directed and dedicated to her. Of course, each of the Four also represent absolute and unreasonable extremes. And that to capture their attention one must embody those extremes. So losing your temper in a difficult situation is extraordinarily unlikely to corrupt you, but someone who constantly and chronically gets angry and indulges in extreme wrath is incredibly vulnerable to Khorne. Tl;dr Chaos is a derivative of all living beings and all humans carry it, or the potential for it, inside of themselves. But it is our choice to feed the beast or not.
God, I love Chaos. A heretical thing to say, maybe, but the subtle and inconsistent evil corruption emanating from seedy, but all too familiar parts of the world is just such a fun little plot tool to play with.
