A primer to Chaos

Dairkk Wailblade cleaved through another weak southerner, the fifth in as many seconds. The southerner's blood was immediately absorbed by his Daemon-sword. This weapon had slain untold thousands of foes and had yet to loose its thirst for mortal blood. Dairkk remembered when Tzeentch had sent him a Greater Daemon to give him the true name of the lesser daemon N'nyfleedhirq'ar. Once he had that information, the lesser daemon became his to command. Ever since that day, at Dairkk's bidding, N'nyfleedhirq'ar had possessed Dairkk's sword which turned it into a weapon of prodigious potency. There was no longer any challenge in this, the sword made short work of any foe. It was the will of Tzeentch, however, that the southerners be overthrown and slain. There was nothing more crucial than the will of the Changer of Ways. Dairkk had been chosen by the god and would not fail him, for he knew the consequences of those who disappointed the Chaos Gods.

Warhammer, to newcomers, may seem on the surface to be just another generic fantasy setting. Oh how they are wrong! This series of articles will have two goals: The first, is to give role-players tips on really playing their characters as they should be in the Warhammer world. The second goal is to showcase how different all the Warhammer races are from their other fantasy counterparts.

Names
The names of the followers of Chaos vary since they can be found in almost every region of the world. Norscans, for example, are based on Scandinavians while the Hung are obviously Oriental. There is no general rule for naming Chaos characters; the sky is the limit. Names should be at least intimidating or enigmatic. There is a tool provided by Games Workshop that is an outright blast of fun which generates the names of Daemons. The "Use-name" generator would also work amazingly well for naming followers of the Chaos Gods. Some examples found using the generator were:

Droolclaw Pusslice
Lickspoor Chaoswither
Clawglut Reappierce
Wartfiend Grosshowl
Cankerface Slicesuck

As you can see, these names are rather horrifying. Thanks to Games Workshop for creating this DAEMON NAME GENERATOR for their loyal fans!

Values
Some say that the followers of Chaos have no values. I would argue that they do, but that they are entirely dependant on the characteristics of their respective Chaos deity. One thing is for certain; all the followers of Chaos value power. Power is what most often draws mortals to the path of Chaos. If successful in serving and pleasing the Chaos Gods, the amount power that can be obtained is limitless. This is especially true with the followers of Tzeentch. While the followers of Khorne are given inhuman strength and the followers of Nurgle great resilience, the followers of Tzeentch are given knowledge. As the old saying goes "knowledge is power" and this could not be more true with Tzeentch. Tzeentch knows the past, present and future. Even the slightest glimpse into the knowledge of Tzeentch can give one of his followers vast amounts of arcane power as well as the knowledge of things to come.

Likes
Violence: The forces of Chaos are primarily composed from the humans of the northern tribes. These fierce men enjoy battle, raiding, pillaging and any other sort of violent activity. The life of northern men is often straightforward: kill or be killed until you are noticed by the gods and made on of their champions. From then on, they are a slave to the will of the Dark Gods in return for potentially great power and immortality.

Dislikes
Men of Empire: The northern tribes hold men of the south, and especially the Empire, in utter disdain. To the followers of Chaos the men of the Empire are small, weak and misguided. In the Chaos Wastes where privation is commonplace and the rules of life are draconian in nature, the Empire appears to be fat, rich and ripe for the taking. Many consider the Chaos Gods to be the true gods of mankind and the source of ultimate power. With the Chaos Gods ruling humanity, no one could stand before them, and anyone who resists this destiny deserves death. The Empire has always stood against Chaos, worshipping the false gods of Sigmar and Ulric. This ultimate insult to the Chaos Gods will not go unpunished by the followers of Chaos and the men of the Empire will be shown who their true masters are...the hard way.

Religion
Understandably, the religions of Chaos revolve around the Chaos Gods themselves. Since the tribes of the north are varied in language and are many in number, the Chaos Gods are often known by different names (Tchar instead of Tzeentch, for example.) Still, the gifts of the Chaos Gods bestowed on their followers are unmistakable. No matter the language they speak or colour of their skin, the followers of Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh and Tzeentch are unmistakable.

The followers of Tzeentch, which are the northmen that will be featured in W.A.R, are often gifted with avian mutations such as feathers, beaks, talons and even wings.

Battle Cries
Chaos comes for you!
Lord Tzeentch knows your past, present and future, none of which are pleasant!
Foolish mortals! Feel the power of Chaos!
The End Times are near!
The colours of Tzeentch are many, as are the deaths they bring!