At the borders of the World lies a greater danger than any posed by mortal enemies. The products of another world, another universe. Released upon this World by misfortune and accident in the long-dead past, the creatures of Chaos pour in endless torrents through a rent in the void. They gibber along the edges of the World, held back from engulfing everything only at bitter cost.
Here are the Chaos Wastes. Here is the natural corrupted to become Unnatural. Here the very earth rebels against what it has become: trees moan in eldritch voices, and the rocks scream their hate at the uncaring sky. Here Chaos gods and Demons stalk the Earth, destroying and perverting all in their reach.
They work towards the day when the world will be on its knees before their foul and pestilent gods. Only then will the servants of Chaos find their true reward.
Only when the world is wholly a Realm of Chaos.
Although the gods of Chaos are indeed foul, there are those who willingly choose to serve and follow them. The promise of easy power and the seductive blandishments of Chaos can prove too strong for many minds. And so there are those willing to ally themselves with the Dark Powers of Chaos. The commitment is total: body and soul belong to Chaos. Followers of Chaos give up all vestige of their former Humanity and become Champions of Chaos - the warriors and sorcerers who ravage across the Chaos Wastes in the name of one Dark Power or another.
Eventually the ‘lucky’ few are rewarded by achieving the status of Demonhood in the service of their Chaos god. They can pass beyond mortal concerns, rising to even higher levels of power as immortal followers of Chaos.
For the rest, however, their flirtation with power can end as abruptly as it began. Chaos has its own reckoning, when those Champions of Chaos who are found lacking in the eyes of the gods are condemned. For those who fail, the final reward of Chaos is terrible. They become mindless, oblivious Chaos Spawn. It is their fate to run, gibbering and shrieking, with the countless other individuals that the Chaos gods have used and tossed aside.
The Champion of Chaos chooses an easy road to power, but it is only a short road. He cannot escape the day when his fate finds him out. To exist as a Demon Prince or Chaos Spawn is the final price of Chaos. The madness and mutation that are the hallmarks of Chaos are a small price indeed.
The patron god communicates with his Chaos Champions by means of dreams, visions, portents or divination. The link between the Champion and his patron is tenuous and irregular, so it is rare for patron gods to give direct orders. The Chaos Powers use the Champions to further their goals and ambitions. Sometimes Champions are sent to kill a certain enemy, destroy a place, steal some magic object, or defile the temple of a rival. On other occasions the Champions fight amongst themselves, competing for the favors of their patron god and expressing their devotion in battle. The Champion’s life becomes an endless series of battles, raids, and quests.
A successful Champion of Chaos will attract the attention of his Patron who will then reward him in a suitable way. Rewards can include fabulous weapons, demonic followers, or all kinds of uncanny superhuman abilities. These largely advantageous rewards are called Chaos Gifts. However, rewards are not always beneficial, as will become all too obvious, they can cause further mutations and malformity. These mutating rewards are called Marks of Chaos. Marks of Chaos represent the risk of consorting with the Chaos Powers - energy causes change and change is not always beneficial.
If a Champion is very successful and very lucky his Patron will favor him with rewards which are Chaos Gifts, and he will manage to avoid the worst excess of mutation caused by Chaos Rewards. Such a person receives the ultimate reward of all - immortality! The Champion becomes an immortal Demon Prince and enters the Realm of Chaos to sit alongside his master.
Few Champions are mighty or fortunate enough to attain demonhood. For most, the end comes all too soon and bloodily. The majority of Champions fall in battle and count themselves fortunate to have tasted the power of Chaos if only for a little time. For others the endless mutation caused by Marks of Chaos destroys their bodies and minds; they end their days insane and mindless, and the patron god desert them. These unfortunates are the Chaos Spawn.
Slaanesh is the Lord of Pleasure, the Power of Chaos dedicated to the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures and the overthrow of all codes of decent behavior. He reigns in a vast and luxuriously appointed palace in the void, where favored followers litter the floors, indulging themselves in all forms of perverse pleasures of the flesh.
Khorne is the Blood God, the angry and murderous god of Chaos, one of the great four Powers. His great brass throne sits upon a mountainous pile of bone - the remains of his followers who have died in battle, and of the many they have killed in his name. The growing bone pile reflects the success of his worshippers, feeding his glory but never quenching his thirst for blood and death. Khorne is the Power of Chaos in its aspect of mindless and absolute violence, destroying everything and everyone within its reach, slaying 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 Chaos Wastes, urging his followers ever onwards in search of fresh prey. The gore-maddened followers of Khorne harry beyond the edges of the Known World, delighting in the slaughter by the tainted light of a bloodstained moon. Khorne watches the wild destruction wrought in his name, and bellows of rage and delight can be heard echoing across the void between worlds.
Nurgle is the Great Lord of Decay and the Master of Plague and Pestilence, his carcass is riddled with disease and infection. Nurgle is also the Lord of All because all things, no matter how solid and permanent they seem, are liable to physical corruption. Indeed, the very process of construction and creation foreshadow destruction and decay. The palace of today is tomorrow’s ruin, the maiden of the morning is the crone of the night, and the hope of a moment is but the foundation stone of everlasting regret.
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 history. Tzeentch is not content to merely observe the fulfillment and disappointment 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 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 hungry for power. Most Champions of Tzeentch are wizards, while others are likely to be given magical powers or artifacts by their patron god.