Daemonology
ganonso
Compulsive Quest Starter
- Location
- PACA France
Daemonology
Once, not so long ago, the word among all Legions, among the Imperium was there were no daemons. This word just like god was forbidden, consigned to the dustbin of history. Yes it was admitted there were intelligences in the Warp. It was known eventually the Eldar wore attuned psychic stones for their consciousness to retreat to as the body was cut down. Sometimes the Immaterium seized a psyker and something horrible emerged from the portal of flesh and bones. But these were explained in rational terms, in equations and formulae. These were but unusual xenos. Would it have been better for the False Emperor to tell the truth? Would wounded Horus not pledge himself to the Ruinous Powers if he knew they were foes of his father's work? Would Lorgar who beheld their faces in his pilgrimage have hesitated more if he knew of their deeds and legions? Would Magnus in his almighty pride have considered the ramifications of making a deal with something so vast as to be called a god? Now everyone knows best. There are daemons and gods in the universe. And these gods are dark and hungry ones who laugh at the pain of humanity.
Not surprisingly, knowledge of the daemonic beyond the concrete use of summoning, is most sought of by the Thousand Sons and the Word Bearers. Although of different outlooks, the sons of Magnus and Lorgar generally share their Primarchs' former amity and they have made working theories. Although one must always remember the rules of reality such as causality and non-contradiction do not apply to the Sea of Souls.
Greatest and most controversial of the theories is that the Dark Gods in fact are illusions. Those most daring Sorcerers who had the dubious privilege of traveling directly in their lords' domains discovered that the four avatars haunting their dreams were unable to be communicated with. The Beast on the Throne roars hatred and wrath through the cosmos, the Heart of the Labyrinth cackles without being understood, the Serpent of Sin is seemingly unreachable on its throne, even the Mountain of Rot simply waves its supplicants by. Still the existence of at least four Empyreal Domains with clear themes is undeniable. Even then though, sobriquets like the Garden of Rot, the Circles of Ecstasy, the Plains of Blood or the Crystal Labyrinth are just images and simile, attempts for mortal minds to quench the fire of revelation.
Is the domain-body of Khorne a vast jungle where beasts tear each other apart, an ocean of blood crossed by sharks whose maws can devour worlds, or a blasted plain under a rain of fiery skulls where armies walk? Yes to all of them and none of them.
Under the Ruinous Powers, these blind idiot leviathans stand the choir of Eidolons, still unfathomably vast but just able to be understood by mortals minds. An Eidolon is an aspect of a given Dark God, part of their purview and terrible might and expressing the interest of the Dark God in a suitable manner. The Thousand Sons identified three Eidolons of Tzeentch: Secrets, Magic and Mutation and are sure there are others. Unlike their progenitor-selves, Eidolons have agency and will and work to bend and subvert the material universe. Every investigation of the Chaos Marks leads to the Eidolons, masters of the innumerable hosts of Chaos. To make matters all the more confusing, they are referred by titles rather by name because they all answer to the name-concept of their progenitor.
Forming their courts are the Greater Daemons. Each of them is a story of material acts resounding with their patron best, made of the souls who partook in such. Each is worthy to be called a god by deluded cultists and like their sires, they may even be hidden under the masks of the greater Powers. Each is able to undo armies on its own but not all are interested in the material. Fortunately for the galaxy the greater bulk of the unnumbered host is engaged in the Great Game, battling to expand their god's being through the Warp. Unfortunately such battles have repercussions in the world of matter, their echo traveling through the universe. Endless are the variations of their forms and endless their guises.
The difference between Greater Daemons and Heralds is complicated and there are sorcerers who posit it's a question of degree rather than nature. Heralds tend to be more identifiable than Greater Daemons in that the sins that gave birth to them are written clean for those who can decipher the symbology of their forms. They are collections of souls but generally there is one who provided the impetus for their birth. They are not to be taken for Princes however, their identity is a coalescence. For instance, the Slaaneshi herald known as the Prince of Ogres was born of a ancient Terran warlord who engaged in horrendous acts for his "pleasure and carnal delight.", it devoured many a killer of innocents before emerging as the sapphire-clad knight it is today.
Also remember that time doesn't exist in the Warp. Most neverborn children of Slaanesh precede the Fall, one of many paradoxes of the Chaos Gods.
Then are the ranks of the Lesser Daemons. They are individual stories, individual sins, individual hatreds and one can beget several in a normal life. They are emotions caged by te aegis of the Dark Gods. Many are mindless, many are unable to be anything but a sorcerer's playthings or form the squads who are thrown through the veil. Yet some manage to inspire the feelings that gave birth to them. According to sorcerous theory, the bestial cohorts of the Gods are formed more about phobias of phenomena associated with the Ruinous Powers. Screamers would be lies, Beasts of Slaanesh fear of decadence, Beasts of Nurgle fear of stagnation and Hounds of Khorne fear of vengeance.
Forever apart from the neverborn are the Daemon Princes. Each is host to a single story, the story of a mortal life brought enough power to blaze across the Warp. Daemon Princes are odd in several ways. First their first manifestation when their flesh became the stuff of nightmares is endless. They are not forced to maintain their existence through sacrifices and sorcery until they are cast into the Sea of Souls. Ascending to daemonhood is the goal of the Path to Glory which admits only three fates: Ascension, death or falling to the state of a mutated Chaos Spawn.
Once, not so long ago, the word among all Legions, among the Imperium was there were no daemons. This word just like god was forbidden, consigned to the dustbin of history. Yes it was admitted there were intelligences in the Warp. It was known eventually the Eldar wore attuned psychic stones for their consciousness to retreat to as the body was cut down. Sometimes the Immaterium seized a psyker and something horrible emerged from the portal of flesh and bones. But these were explained in rational terms, in equations and formulae. These were but unusual xenos. Would it have been better for the False Emperor to tell the truth? Would wounded Horus not pledge himself to the Ruinous Powers if he knew they were foes of his father's work? Would Lorgar who beheld their faces in his pilgrimage have hesitated more if he knew of their deeds and legions? Would Magnus in his almighty pride have considered the ramifications of making a deal with something so vast as to be called a god? Now everyone knows best. There are daemons and gods in the universe. And these gods are dark and hungry ones who laugh at the pain of humanity.
Not surprisingly, knowledge of the daemonic beyond the concrete use of summoning, is most sought of by the Thousand Sons and the Word Bearers. Although of different outlooks, the sons of Magnus and Lorgar generally share their Primarchs' former amity and they have made working theories. Although one must always remember the rules of reality such as causality and non-contradiction do not apply to the Sea of Souls.
Greatest and most controversial of the theories is that the Dark Gods in fact are illusions. Those most daring Sorcerers who had the dubious privilege of traveling directly in their lords' domains discovered that the four avatars haunting their dreams were unable to be communicated with. The Beast on the Throne roars hatred and wrath through the cosmos, the Heart of the Labyrinth cackles without being understood, the Serpent of Sin is seemingly unreachable on its throne, even the Mountain of Rot simply waves its supplicants by. Still the existence of at least four Empyreal Domains with clear themes is undeniable. Even then though, sobriquets like the Garden of Rot, the Circles of Ecstasy, the Plains of Blood or the Crystal Labyrinth are just images and simile, attempts for mortal minds to quench the fire of revelation.
Is the domain-body of Khorne a vast jungle where beasts tear each other apart, an ocean of blood crossed by sharks whose maws can devour worlds, or a blasted plain under a rain of fiery skulls where armies walk? Yes to all of them and none of them.
Under the Ruinous Powers, these blind idiot leviathans stand the choir of Eidolons, still unfathomably vast but just able to be understood by mortals minds. An Eidolon is an aspect of a given Dark God, part of their purview and terrible might and expressing the interest of the Dark God in a suitable manner. The Thousand Sons identified three Eidolons of Tzeentch: Secrets, Magic and Mutation and are sure there are others. Unlike their progenitor-selves, Eidolons have agency and will and work to bend and subvert the material universe. Every investigation of the Chaos Marks leads to the Eidolons, masters of the innumerable hosts of Chaos. To make matters all the more confusing, they are referred by titles rather by name because they all answer to the name-concept of their progenitor.
Forming their courts are the Greater Daemons. Each of them is a story of material acts resounding with their patron best, made of the souls who partook in such. Each is worthy to be called a god by deluded cultists and like their sires, they may even be hidden under the masks of the greater Powers. Each is able to undo armies on its own but not all are interested in the material. Fortunately for the galaxy the greater bulk of the unnumbered host is engaged in the Great Game, battling to expand their god's being through the Warp. Unfortunately such battles have repercussions in the world of matter, their echo traveling through the universe. Endless are the variations of their forms and endless their guises.
The difference between Greater Daemons and Heralds is complicated and there are sorcerers who posit it's a question of degree rather than nature. Heralds tend to be more identifiable than Greater Daemons in that the sins that gave birth to them are written clean for those who can decipher the symbology of their forms. They are collections of souls but generally there is one who provided the impetus for their birth. They are not to be taken for Princes however, their identity is a coalescence. For instance, the Slaaneshi herald known as the Prince of Ogres was born of a ancient Terran warlord who engaged in horrendous acts for his "pleasure and carnal delight.", it devoured many a killer of innocents before emerging as the sapphire-clad knight it is today.
Also remember that time doesn't exist in the Warp. Most neverborn children of Slaanesh precede the Fall, one of many paradoxes of the Chaos Gods.
Then are the ranks of the Lesser Daemons. They are individual stories, individual sins, individual hatreds and one can beget several in a normal life. They are emotions caged by te aegis of the Dark Gods. Many are mindless, many are unable to be anything but a sorcerer's playthings or form the squads who are thrown through the veil. Yet some manage to inspire the feelings that gave birth to them. According to sorcerous theory, the bestial cohorts of the Gods are formed more about phobias of phenomena associated with the Ruinous Powers. Screamers would be lies, Beasts of Slaanesh fear of decadence, Beasts of Nurgle fear of stagnation and Hounds of Khorne fear of vengeance.
Forever apart from the neverborn are the Daemon Princes. Each is host to a single story, the story of a mortal life brought enough power to blaze across the Warp. Daemon Princes are odd in several ways. First their first manifestation when their flesh became the stuff of nightmares is endless. They are not forced to maintain their existence through sacrifices and sorcery until they are cast into the Sea of Souls. Ascending to daemonhood is the goal of the Path to Glory which admits only three fates: Ascension, death or falling to the state of a mutated Chaos Spawn.
