Chaos is the implacable enemy of everything in the material world.  The natives of the Warp are made up of the nightmares of man and alien alike.  They seek to dominate and everything they touch is corrupted.  Their are many powers within the chaos that is the Warp, but four stand out above all others.  Extra detail for each is listed below.  I have also included a Chaos Champion Prestige Class.

Gameplay Notes:  Any evil outsider (planar) can be a warp entity.  Each of the following powers will have Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic servants.  I suggest that you are consistent with the servants.  If the Slaadi serve Khorne then no Slaadi should be serving any of the other Chaos Powers.  The Power of the Dark Eldar is Lolth as per standard dnd game.

Khorne, The Power of Blood                                                                                                     Khorne is the god of anger and destruction, the warrior god of Chaos whose bellows of rage echo throughout time and space. He sits upon a great throne of brass atop a mountainous pile of bleached skulls. Whenever a Campion of Khorne is slain in battle his skull is added to the pile, which slowly grows higher and higher. Khorne is a fighting god and his daemons and mortal Champions are amongst the most potent warriors of all. Khorne is a noble warrior who respects strength and bravery, who takes no joy in destroying the weak and considers the helpless unworthy of his wrath. It is said that fate will spare any brave warrior who calls upon Khorne's name and pledges his soul to the blood god. It is also said that Khorne's daemons will hunt down and destroy any warrior who betrays his honour by killing a helpless innocent or murdering in cold blood. Khorne's great delight is battle and the spilling of blood.  Khorne is the Power of Chaos in its aspect of mindless and absolute violence, destroying everything and everyone within its reach, slaying both friend and foe alike. He is the Huntsman of Souls who drives the great armies of Chaos before him. His horn sounds in the depths of the Eye of Terror, urging his followers ever onwards in search of fresh prey. Khorne watches the wild destruction wrought in his name, and his bellows of rage and delight can be heard echoing across the Warp.

Khorne is commonly depicted as a muscular humanoid figure hundreds of feet tall, sitting on a vast and weirdly-carved throne of brass, which in turn rests on a mountain of blood-stained bones. He is dressed in plate armour of a strange and alien design, elaborately carved and worked with a repeating skull motif. His head is covered by his huge winged helmet, with only a portion of his bestial, snarling face showing beneath it.

The symbol of Khorne is a skull, the symbol of death. This is often rendered as an X-shaped rune with a bar across the bottom. His followers favour red, black and brass in their dress and armour, the hues of blood, death and Khorne's own armour respectively. The number eight is also associated with Khorne and this is reflected in the organization of his daemonic armies and followers.

Khorne is worshipped by both Chaos Marines and foul Beastmen alike. He has no temples as such, but is worshipped upon the battlefield. Furthermore, his followers believe that they would displease him by wasting valuble time building temples and worshipping in them when they could be slaying in Khorne's name. Every life taken by a follower of Khorne increases the Blood God's power. He looks with particular favour upon those who take the lives of their friends and allies, and the more death and destruction a creature has caused, the more welcome it is as a sacrifice to Khorne.

Followers of Khorne have no friends and few long-term acquaintances - all are soon-to-be sacrifices to Khorne. Even another follower of Khorne may try at any time to offer their lives to the Blood God! Followers of Khorne may have allies for a short time, but they are always aware that all other intelligent beings fear and hate them, and will seek to destroy them at any opportunity."

Khorne titles: Bloodthirsters: Fists of Khorne, Deathbringers of Khorne, Drinkers of Blood, Blooded Ones, Lords of Skulls, Guardians of the Throne, Eaters of Gore and Flesh, High-handed Slayers; Bloodletters: Khorne's Chosen, Takers of Skulls, Teeth of Death, Horned Ones, Naked Slayers; Fleshhounds: Beasts of Khorne, Hunters of Blood, Flesh-Renders, Inevitable Ones; Juggernauts: Blood Crushers, Soul Crushers, Juggers, Feet of Khorne, Blights of Khorne.

Tzeentch, Changer of the Ways                                                                                            Tzeentch is known by many titles including the Changer of the Ways, the Master of Fortune, the Great Conspirator, and the Architect of Fate. These titles reflect his masterly comprehension of destiny, history, intrigue and plot. In his mind he listens to the plans and hopes of every man and every nation. With his all-seeing eye he watches these plans unfold into histroy. Tzeentch is not content to merely observe the fulfilment and isappointment brought by the passage of time. He has his own plans: schemes which are so complex and closely woven that they touch the lives of every living thing, whether they know it or not.

Tzeentch feeds upon the need and desire for change that is an essential part of human nature. It is also a part of dwarven and elven natures, but not to the same extent as mankind is a far more volatile and ambitious species. All men dream of wealth, freedom and a better tomorrow. Nor are these dreams the preserve of the impoverished or powerless as even rich men dream of further riches, or of an end to their responsibilities. All these dreams create a powerful impetus for change, and the ambitions of nations create a force which can change history. Tzeentch is the embodiment of that force.

Tzeentch is the greatest magician of the Chaos Powers. Magic is one of the most potent of all agents of change, and those who use it are amongst the most ambitious and the hungry for power. Many Champions of Tzeentch are also Wizards, while others are likely to be given magical powers or artifacts by their Patron.

Some Daemons of Tzeentch are creatures made from magical energy, and they often appear to be transparent or glowing with an inner light. The Lesser Daemons, or Horrors, cast spells around them as they move, while the Flamers of Tzeentch project multicoloured flames of raw magic. The Greater Daemons, the Lords of Change, are more substantial, and their very thoughts appear as magical multicoloured mist which swirls about their heads. All this magic gives the followers and Daemons of Tzeentch a very distinctive and colourful character.

Tzeentch is also the Great Conspirator, the master of plot and intrigue. Because he is aware of the dreams and plans of all mortals, he is able to predict the likely course, or courses, which the future might take. Tzeentch perceives every event and every intention, and from this information his mighty mind can work out how each will influence the future.

Tzeentch is not content to merely watch the drama of history as it unfolds. He has purposes of his own, although what they are is impossible to say for sure. His intentions are complicated, his schemes highly sophisticated and incredibly long-term. Perhaps he has plans to otherthrow the other Powers, or to extend his dominion over mortal realms. Whatever his ultimate purpose, he seeks to achieve it by manipulating the individual lives of men, thereby altering the course of history. By offering power and magic he can recruit influential people to his cause, and affect the lives of many more at a single stroke. However, few of Tzeentch's plots are simple, and many may appear at first contradictory to others, or against Tzeentch's own interests. Only Tzeentch can see the threads of potential futures weaving forward in time like tangled balls of multicoloured wool.

The skin of Tzeentch crawls with constantly changing faces, leering and mocking the onlooker. As he speaks, these faces sometimes repeat what he says with subtle but important differences, or provide a commentary which throws doubt upon his words. This makes it very hard to interpret what exactly Tzeentch is saying. These lesser faces appear and disappear quite quickly, but the actual head of Tzeentch does not change. His puckered face sits low down and has no neck, so that it is hard to distinguish his head from his chest. His curving horns appear to spring from his shoulders rather than from his head. The firmament surrounding Tzeentch is heavy with brooding magic. It weaves like liquid smoke about his head, forming subtle and interwoven patterns. Forms of places and people appear in the smoke as Tzeentch's mind contemplates their fate.

Every Power of Chaos has his opposite number, another Power whose nature is the antithesis of his own. Tzeentch is the eternal adversary of Nurgle. His energy comes from the excitement and will to change, to forge one's destiny, change fortune, and gain power. This is quite the opposite of Nurgle, whose power comes from defiance and hopelessness."

Tzeentch titles: Lords of Change: Watching Lords, Eyes of Tzeentch, Feathered Lords; Horrors: Whirling Destroyers, Grumblers, Screamers, Spinning Sourguts, Squealers, Whiners; Flamers: Burning Horrors, Fire Daemons of Tzeentch; Discs of Tzeentch: Sky-Sharks of Tzeentch.

Slaanesh, Lord of Pleasure                                                                                                   Slaanesh is the Lord of Pleasure whose followers abandon all self-restraint and inhibition to embrace the countless possibilities of mind and flesh. Slaanesh is neither male nor female, but a disturbingly beautiful amalgam of the two. It is said that any mortal who gazes upon the image of Slaanesh will become enslaved by the god's beauty and willingly obey the Lord of Pleasure's slightest whim. The very touch of the god's breath overwhelms mortal senses with the scent of delight, melting the resolve of the toughest warrior and submerging his mind in waves of pure pleasure. The slightest purr of the god's voice is enough to stimulate the senses into eternal and blissful oblivion. To the followers of Slaanesh the mortal world is grey and insipid compared to the sensual paradise of their master's affection.

Slaanesh takes the form of a bisexual humanoid, male on the left side and female on the right, with an unearthly, unnatural and almost disturbing beauty. Two pairs of horns rise from his flowing golden hair, and he dresses in a mail shirt fringed with velvet. His right hand holds the magical jade sceptre which is his greatest treasure.

The symbol of Slaanesh combines the conventional symbols for male and female, although it is seldom worn openly by his followers. In its place they often wear items of jewellry bearing erotic motifs. Followers dress in robes which are often opened to leave the right side of the chest uncovered, a requirement of many of the rituals involved in his worship. Pastel and electric shades are the chief colours, although white is often used as well. These colours are also sometimes carried over into everyday wear, although they may be modified to fit in with current fashions. Regardless of any considerations, all Slaanesh followers wear garb of sensuously high quality.

Six is regarded as the number of Slaanesh, and this is reflected in many small and large things by his followers.

Slaanesh has a neutral attitude to many of the gods of Chaos, and is generally too caught up in his own pleasures to be interested in alliances and co-operation. Particular enemies are the followers of Khorne, whose belief in pain and death is completely opposed to Slaanesh's principle of a life of unrestricted pleasure. Followers of Nurgle and Tzeentch are subject to Slaanesh's usual neutral attitude.

Slaanesh titles: Keepers of Secrets: Slayers of Slaanesh, Despoilers of the Flesh, Feasters of Pain, Great Horned Ones, Base Ones; Daemonettes: Children of Slaanesh, Debauched Ones, Bringers of Joyous Degradation, Seekers of Decadence, Givers of Indescribable Delight; Fiends of Slaanesh: Beasts of Slaanesh, Rams of Slaanesh, Beastials, Unholy Ones; Steeds of Slaanesh: Flesh Lickers, Degraded Ones, Tongue Lashers of Slaanesh, Whips of Slaanesh.

Nurgle, Lord of Decay                                                                                                           Nurgle is the god of plague, pestilence, decay and physical corruption. His body is huge and bloated, his rotting flesh swollen with decay and pock-marked with sores and lesions. Tiny daemons called Nurglings crawl all over his putrid carcass plucking at torn flesh and sucking at the leprous sores and putrid boils. Nurgle is full of morbid energy and enthusiasm, and his daemons travel through time and space spreading plagues and corruption as they perform their Dance of Death round cities and towns they wish to infect. Mortals who die from Nurgle's plague are never free of their agonies, as their souls are claimed by the plague god and they become new daemon servants in turn. A mortal so much as touched by a daemon of Nurgle will catch some foul disease, and is doomed from that moment on to die. It is held that a mortal who is dying of sickness can forstall his death by calling upon Nurgle and pledging his soul to the Lord of Decay.

What is the response of living men to the undeniable and inevitable futility of life? Is it to lie down and accept death and the coming to naught of their every endeavour? No it is not! Faced with the inevitability of death what answer can there be but to run through life at a great and unstoppable pace, cramming each day with hope, laughter, noise and bustle. Thus, happiness and human endeavour are sired by a coming to terms with decay and futility. This realisation is the key to understanding the Great Lord of Decay and his worshippers.

Once we comprehend what it is that the Chaos Power Nurgle embodies, it becomes easier to understand what might otherwise seem a contradictory or even peverse nature. On the one hand he is the Lord of Decay, whose body is wracked with disease; on the other hand he is full of unexpected energy and a desire to organize and enlighten.

The living know that they will die, and many know that they will lie with disease or other torment, yet they drive this knowledge into a corner of their minds and keep it pinioned there with all manner of dreams and activity. Nurgle is the embodiment of that knowledge and of the unconscious response to it, of the hidden fear of disease and decay, and of the power of life which that fear generates.

Nurgle is the eternal enemy of hte Chaos power Tzeentch, the Lord of Change. Nurgle and Tzeentch draw their energy from opposing beliefs. While the energy of Tzeentch comes from hope and changing fortune, that of Nurgle comes from defiance born of despair and hopelessness. The two Great Powers never lose an opportunity to pit their forces against each other, from mighty battles on the Chaos Wastes, to complex political intrigues among mortal men."

Once we comprehend what it is that the Chaos Power Nurgle embodies, it becomes easier to understand what might otherwise seem a contradictory or even perverse nature. On the one hand he is the Lord of Decay, his body wracked with disease; on the other, he is full of unexpected energy and a desire to organize and enlighten.

The living know they will die, and many know that they will live with disease or other torment, yet they drive this knowledge into a corner of their minds and keep it pinioned there with all manner of dreams and activity. Nurgle is the embodiment of that knowledge and of the unconcious response to it, of the hidden fear of disease and decay, and of the power of life which that fear generates.

Nurgle is the eternal enemy of the Chaos Power Tzeentch. Nurgle and Tzeentch draw their energy from opposing beliefs. Whereas the energy of Tzeentch comes from hope and changing fortune, that of Nurgle comes from defiance of born of despair and hopelessness. The two Great Powers never lose an opportunity to pit their forces against each other.

Nurgle titles: Great Unclean Ones: Fly Masters, Plague Lords, Stench Lords, Father Nurgles; Plaguebearers: Tainted Ones, Maggotkin, Rotbearers, Nurgle's Tallymen; Nurglings: Pus Spores, Mites of Nurgle; Beasts of Nurgle: Beasts, Slime Hounds, Nurgle's Lapdogs

The Carnival of Death: The space inside the wagon was cavernous out of all proportion to its tiny exterior size. The cacophonies that filled it were indescribable; the squealing, screaming, chattering and bickering of the Nurglings was beyond mere human imagining. A million unruly school children left to their own devices could not begin to rival the anarchy or intensity of that daemonic din. The grating drones of the Plaguebearers all counting at once produced a sound so bass and penetrating that it made the vital organs of every daemon vibrate and quiver in time with its beat.

Then there were the indescribable noises, the creaks and groans, the little pops of bursting pustules, the sloppering slicky noises of the frantically affectionate Beasts, and other sounds which were impossible to ascribe to any one source in particular. Amidst it all, waving his arms, the Great Unclean One was trying to make himself heard.

"Ahh… Gentlecreatures, children, pretties... lend your ears to your loving Father, cease thy aimless chatter, banish thy banal burblings..."

It was quite useless, the noise continued apace, the squeals and laughter reaching a new crescendo. The Great Unclean One appeared for a moment to be hurt by his fellow daemon's rudeness.

"SHUT UP," he bellowed.

The noise stopped instantly, not even the beat of little daemonic hearts or drip of tiny daemonic noses could be heard. The brown of every Plaguebearer furrowed in concentration as each tried desperately to remember the last number he thought of. The Great Unclean Once quickly regained his composure, for he was used to such things.

"Gentlecreatures our pretties... now is the time to sing the songs of fate, for the moment has come for the Dance of Death!"

Father Nurgle settled his great mass down among the supporting heap of his smallest minions. Those lucky enough to escape being crushed by their master's bulk squealed delightedly as they snuggled into the damp warmth of his flesh. Nurgle reclined comfortably and his corpulant face assumed an air of triumphant expectancy.

Nurgle gave a dignified nod to one of the Plaguebearers. Excitedly, the daemon began to beat its drum, slowly and rhythmically at first, and gradually faster and faster as it became carried away by the sense of occasion. All of his servants applauded, and Nurgle acknowledged them with a smile and regal wave of his festering paw.

It was the prelude to battle that excited the daemons, drawing squeals of anticipation from the tumbling little Nurglings. This time the cavalcade was to be joined by others: Champions of Nurgle and their mortal warbands, who were also going to take part in the great war. the Beasts bounded and fussed in their eagerness to welcome the mortals, causing considerable disarray and the odd casualty amongst the serried ranks of warriors.

The warbands flocked to the sound of the drum. They came in carts and wagons like those of Nurgle's own cavalcade, marched into camp, or simply distilled from the surrounding woods like shadows at sunset. Some of the most severely mutated of them wore bright carnival masks and voluminous robes, completely failing to hide their unique disfigurements if that was in fact their purpose. The Plaguebearers carefully recorded the name of each Champion as he arrived, announcing his titles as loudly as they were able among the rising laughter and squeaking chatter. The show pleased Father Nurgle immensely: the busy carts with their tinkling bells, the gaily-coloured masks and carefully decorated palanquins bearing various daemons or Champions. He sighed with satisfaction and patted the little Nurgling that had crawled into the crook of his arm and puddled there.

CHAOS CULTISTS                                                                                                               Chaos Cultists are often hidden within what sppears to be loyal communities of Imperial citizens. They come from all classes and occupations, and can appear on any of the millions of planets with the Imperium. These cultists are as great a threat to the Imperium as the many raids by renegade Chaos Marines, as they strike at the Imperium from within, spreading terror and destruction. they corrupt the citizens and defenders of the Imperium and infect the Imperium with the taint of Chaos.

These followers of the Chaos Gods organize themselves into covens structured as religions, and they subvert and recruit new members with promises of divine notice and rewards, with promises of power and gifts granted by the Gods of Chaos. These Cults are especially attractive to ambitious individuals and those who are bored with living within the restraints of life within the Imperium. Those who seek thrills and adventure are easily swayed by the leaders of these cults and brought to the worship of Chaos. Some are seeking the power to warp reality through Sorcery and psychic abilities. Some are seeking wealth, while others seek power over their fellow man. The majority, though, are just misled ordinary people who are condemned by their misguided beliefs.

Many followers of Chaos comes from those of very low intelligence, and those of unstable mentality. Murderers and those who have commited other despicable crimes seek sanctuary within the Chaos Cults in an attempt to escape justice.

Some Cults worship Chaos Undivided, while others worship an individual Chaos God. Either way, they strive to further the cause of Chaos in its struggle to dominate the galaxy and destroy the Imperium.

The Cults that cause the most damage are those that worship one individual Chaos God and have gained the power to summon daemons from the Warp to aid them. The Inquisition is ever searching out these Cults, striving to rid the Imperium of the infection of Chaos.

The Eye of Terror                                                                                                                        The region of space known as the Eye of Terror lies on the edge of the galaxy to the north and west of Earth. It can be plainly seen as a swirl of stars in the form of a vast and unblinking eye spanning over ten thousand light years of space. The Eye of Terror is the largest known zone of warp/reality space overlap. There are many other such Zones scattered throughout the galaxy, but they are much smaller and much less significant. At the centre of the Eye of Terror is a hole in the fabric of space like a puncture in the skin of a balloon. The raw energy of Chaos pours through this hole and mixes with the material universe. As a result of this intermixture, the Eye of Terror is not wholly subject to the laws of time or space. Its boundaries effectively mark an end to normal and habitable space.

There are stars and worlds within the Eye of Terror, but they are unlike the familiar stars, solar systems, and planets that populate the rest of the galaxy. Each world is a self-contained manifestation of a unique nightmarish sub-reality, a vision of hell formed without regard for the logic of either astrophysics or nature. The energy of the warp saturates these places and sustains a cosmology based on the inhuman perceptions of the powers of Chaos. Thus there are worlds which are flat like dinner plates, worlds surrounded by circling fireballs which provide light and warmth, and tiered worlds like gigantic wedding cakes rising step-by-step on supporting pillars. No-one can say exactly how many of these realities exist inside of the Eye of Terror. There must be many thousands if not tens of thousands. Indeed, their number and even their very form are probably inconstant and unpredictable.

Because the Eye of Terror is so steeped in chaotic energy it is not as inhospitable to daemons of chaos as normal space. This is not to say that daemons can live or move completely freely within the Eye of Terror, but their conjuration is vastly easier and their power is correspondingly greater than it would be elsewhere in the galaxy. The centre of the Eye of Terror is more hospitable to daemons than the fringes as it is more highly saturated with chaos energy. The worlds which lie closest to the centre of the Eye are called the Daemon Worlds.

Daemon Worlds

On the Daemon Worlds, Chaos reigns triumphant! A daemon can move unhindered from the warp to one of the Daemon Worlds. The Chaos Powers regard these worlds as provinces of Chaos in the galaxy of matter – material colonies of their immaterial empires. The four Great Powers continuously compete to possess the Daemon Worlds. Armies of daemons and their living allies fight huge bloody battles to determine which of the Chaos Powers will possess them. These battles often last for hundreds of years, so that the entire world becomes little more than a gigantic arena where the opposing forces are pitched against each other. The Chaos Powers do not, of course, appear in person to lead their armies – they are spectators to events and not participants. Their generals are Greater Daemons and favoured Daemon Princes who, because they were once alive, understand the nature of both the material universe and the immaterial Realm of Chaos. Once a Daemon Prince has conquered a world, his grateful Patron gives it to him as a gift to rule over as he wishes!

When a Daemon Prince takes control of his hard-won world he uses his mighty powers to reshape it to a form which pleases him. Because of this, every world is different and all are equally spectacular in their own way. The most powerful psykers in the Imperium have reported dreams or visions in which worlds of The Eye of Terror have been revealed to them. On one world a black sun stands in a white sky and smoky threads pour from it onto a tangled black city – this is said to be the homeworld of the Daemon Prince Perturabo, formerly the Space Marine Primarch of the Iron Warriors. Another world has boiling lakes of blood from which spheres of fire float into the sky and spread their light across the firmament – the ruler of this world is the Daemon Prince Bubonicus, formerly a mortal Champion of Nurgle on one of the myriad lost worlds in the galaxy. Visions of such places disturb the psychically sensitive throughout the entire galaxy.

To the living inhabitants of the rest of the galaxy, the prospect of entering the Eye of Terror is terrifying. Navigators will shun space for thousands of light years around it rather than risk a minor deviation in course which might take them into its boundaries. Most Navigators have personal experience of close encounters with Chaos near the Eye of Terror. Many can recall other Navigators who traveled too close to the Eye in a foolish attempt to cut days from their journey time only to vanish forever. On the Eldar Craftworlds there are sealed doorways which were once warp gates leading to living worlds, since swallowed up by the eye of Terror. Now those entrances are sealed with bonds of Wraithbone a thousand times stronger than steel, and cursed with runes so potent that just to look upon them would drive a mortal creature insane.

Within the Eye of Terror the Chaos Powers exert such an influence that normal mortal life can be snuffed out at a whim. Even psykers, whose psychic energy is greater than that of ordinary men, cannot resist the will of Chaos for long. Eventually, all mortal creatures who remain inside the Eye of Terror become either the slaves of Chaos or its Champions.

The Eye of Terror is home to countless millions of living creatures. Many of these are human, or were once human before Chaos perverted them into forms no longer recognisable as such. Every world in the Eye of Terror has its mortal population whose Champions and warbands form the mortal armies of Chaos in the galaxy. Even Daemon Worlds have mortals who live there and worship their chaos masters as gods.

The Eye of Terror offers a place of sanctuary to human worshippers of Chaos forced to flee from the Imperium. The Inquisition never rests in its bid to oust Chaos Cultists from Imperial worlds, and whole planets have been destroyed in order to eradicate thriving cults. However, despite the vigilance of the Inquisition, many worlds harbour secret Chaos Cultists. Even Imperial officials are sometimes drawn into these cults and led to betray their race and the Emperor. Cultists who have the means and courage to flee the Inquisition often make for the Eye of Terror and the welcoming arms of their chaos masters. These traitors are useful servants because they know a great deal about the Imperium and its defences.

Mortals who take refuge in the Eye of Terror can become very powerful Champions of Chaos – many will have dedicated themselves to Chaos and might already be well on the way to daemonhood. Many mortals took refuge in this way following Horus's defeat by the Emperor. Those Traitor Marines who survived the defeat were led in to the Eye of Terror by their Primarchs. They were joined by rebels from the Imperial Guards, the Fleet, and other former followers of Horus, including many Beastmen. Such is the natuer of the Eye of Terror that some of the very individuals who fled there in those far off days are still alive ten thousand years later, granted vastly extended mortal lives by their Chaos Patrons. Whether this reflects a reward for their loyalty or a punishment for their failure it is impossible to say.

Daemon Battles

The mortal population of a world in the Eye of Terror serves Chaos in two equally important ways. Mortals provide the manpower for the armies of Chaos, especially for armies which roam beyond the Eye of Terror in the material universe. Mortals also worship the Chaos Powers and thereby add their own psychic energies to the total energy available to their master.

On the Daemon Worlds life is war; war is the name of Chaos, war fought to amuse or serve the Chaos Powers. Mortal Champions, warbands, mortal and daemonic armies, all battle together in an endless celebration of strife. The Chaos Powers revel in the adoration of their favourite warriors, and savour the blood that is shed willingly in their honour. Should the pace of conflict slacken, a Chaos Power will invite a rival Power to send an invading army to one of his worlds so that they can enjoy the sport of battle. The limits and terms of the tournament are determined beforehand: the number of troops, daemons, and Champions to be committed for example. The wager is likely to be possession of the planet itself! The Chaos Powers love such contests and will often gamble whole worlds on the outcome of a single combat between two mortal Champions.

Although the Eye of Terror seethes with almost perpetual warfare, not every mortal creature is necessarily harnessed to battle. Chaos wants the best warriors after all! Only those who are brave enough to fight their way to freedom from the slave pits, prayer-gangs and black factories are good enough to fight for Chaos. The remainder serve through work and worship. Slaves are rewarded in the bitter way of Chaos; they learn to love the lash and become frenzied with pleasure as they approach extremes of self-sacrifice, trying to outdo their neighbours in their efforts to please their masters.

Just as the inudustrial slaves labour to produce the weapons and armour for battle, so vast prayer gangs are put to work worshipping their masters. On the Daemon World of Bubonicus, for example, the equator is surrounded by a dancing human chain which sings and dances the praise of Nurgle as it circles the world. The dancer develop Nurgle's Rot and gradually mutate into Plaguebearers. The Plaguebearers join their master and new mortals take their place so that the circle is never broken. This theatrical conceit pleases Nurgle tremendously, so that Bubonicus has commanded that it should never cease.

This is a typical example of the vast scale of worship which the Chaos Powers enjoy. Other examples include planets where millions of people chant the same mantra in a cry of perpetual worship so that the whole world vibrates to their voices. The entire energies of another are spent building and tolling bells as big as cities whose thunderous peals rebound around the globe while thousands of slaves labour to swing them. There is said to be a world belonging to Nurgle where the entire population is enslaved to keeping the accounts of disease and pestilence, recording every incidence of sickness in the entire galaxy.

The Forces of Chaos

The Eye of Terror is the focal point of Chaos in the galaxy. Its countless worlds provide the bases from which armies and raiders attack the rest of the galaxy. The Imperium lives in fear that the forces of Chaos will unite into a huge army of conquest and pour into human space, destroying and taking over human planets. This has never happened because the various Chaos worlds don't form a united empire but comprise countless independent realms ruled by rival Chaos Powers and Daemon Princes. The different Daemon Princes and other daemonic rulers regard their neighbours as rivals, even though they all share a common master.

When the rival forces of Chaos do decide to act in concert they pose a potentially dangerous threat to the Imperium, the Squat Homeworld, Orks, Eldar and all other intelligent lifeforms in the galaxy. Fortunately, alliances between different daemon rulers ten to be fragile arrangements which often fall apart even before their target is reached. Once they have captured the odd planet their natural tendencies to squabble over the spoils almost invariable dissipates the their forces and brings their reign of terror to a close. This disunity is particularly noticeable where the forces of several powers are involved in a common enterprise.

Only when Chaos raiders are led by a single extremely powerful leader are they really dangerous. Fortunately for the Imperium, it is rare that a leader of sufficient calibre emerges. Almost invariably the impetus of each fresh attack is quickly spend, so that human forces can take advantage of their enemy's disunity to make good their initial losses.

Chaos Renegades

The most common threat to the Imperium comes from relatively small groups of raiders, invaders and space pirates referred to as Chaos Renegades.

A typical force of Chaos Renegades is based around a core of one or more Champions of Chaos plus their attendant warbands. In most cases all the Chaos Renegades in a force come from a single world, and their troops comprise not only mortal Champions and their followers, but also a number of other followers of their Chaos Patron. Chaos Renegades are accustomed to war and death on their homeworld and regard the galaxy as little more than a giant battlefield. The logical extension of their existence is to find new battles to fight, fresh worlds to conquer, and new peoples to enslave on behalf of their chaotic master.

The Chaos Renegades are often aided by other forces of Chaos. Among these are the Chapters of Traitor Space Marines which turned to Chaos during the Horus Heresy, and which still exist in the Eye of Terror. These Traitor Marines roam the various worlds over which their Patron Powers have cominion, joining warbands, sometimes becoming Champions and even progressing to become Daemon princes. Once of the most active Chapters of Trator Marines is the Iron Warriors Chapter. This Chapter is dedicated to Chaos in its undivided Majesty and is based on the world of the Daemon Prince Perturabo. As they own allegiance to no Chaos Power in particular, they will often join with Chaos Renegades regardless of the Chaos Power they follow.

When the Chaos Renegades land on their target worlds they may be joined by allies from among the world's own population, or by other marauding forces such as Orks or pirates. These allies are all too willing to join with Chaos Renegades and fight with them in return for a share in the spoils of war.

As the Chaos Renegades move out of the Eye of Terror and towards their targets they are joined by other Chaos sympathisers and all manner of freebooters. renegade leaders use the contacts with the Chaos Cultists and treacherous humans to direct their attacks as effectively as possible – appearing from nowhere to attack a vulnerable space convoy or a defenseless planet. Renegades also lend their weight to the Chaos Cultist risings on human worlds, with the ultimate aim of overthrowing Imperial government and installing the cultists in power. Cultists who join up with Chaos Renegades are sometimes taken back to they Eye of Terror where they enter the service of their master.

Orks and human pirates, freebooters, and other nihilistic groups also join Renegades for a share of the loot – they don't really care which side they support and are quite happy to fight for Chaos against human or other forces. In this way many of the lawless and discontent elements of the galaxy are drawn to the service of Chaos – some make the mistake fo returning to the Eye of Terror where they are caught in the endless cycle of battle and damnation.

Warp Travel

Because the Eye of Terror exists both in real space and the warp it can be reached by spacecraft travelling in either the material universe or the immaterial warp. By moving into the Eye of Terror a spacecraft can move between the two alternative universes. Renegades have access to many kinds of spacecraft, including captured vessels as well as the remnants of the fleets assembled by Horus to attack Earth during the Heresy.

Because of the complex, non-linear progress of time within the warp, craft which are thousands of years old are still in service, many as gleaming and potent as the day on which they were launched. Other craft are built on worlds within the Eye of Terror, raised by the servants of Chaos as sacrifices to their daemonic masters. The outward appearance of such ships varies a great deal, but on all it is one of corruption and madness.

The flow of the warp can carry a spacecraft through time as well as space, so that what seems like a few days' travel may take a craft through thousands of years of time. Imperial ships are built to minimise these effects, and their crews are careful to navigate round the worse eddies and whirlpools of the warp. Chaos spacecraft are inconsiderate of such matters and they are content to drift through time and space until the winds of chance bring them upon a suitable target.

Ships sometimes get caught up in the warp and subjected to the disturbing effects of time distortion. Even some of Horus's original forces suddenly reappear after ten thousand years of travel, unaware that their cause is lost and determined to continue their attack upon the forces of the Imperium.

One of the most weird and extreme results of spacecraft being caught by temporal whirlpools in the warp is the creation of Champions fated to foresee their own Heroic Death. The lives and deaths of all living things have an existence in the warp. Caught up in such a cyclone of time a man might witness his own death, or that of another, the more heroic and spectacular his doom, the more likely it is to be revealed. Once a Champion's glorious fate has been seen, and it becomes known that he will achieve a Heroic Death, his fame spreades throughout the galaxy. The manner of his doom will be explained by countless followers of Chaos, and the brave deeds which he is yet to perform earn him a formidable reputation. Because his doom is certain, the Champion need have no worries about being slain at any other time, and can therefore disregard such petty fears for his own safety as might otherwise concern him, and spend his remaining life living up to the glorious image of his own death.