Agents of Chaos
From nightmarish daemons to twisted mutants and hulking champions of ruin, many servants of the Dark Gods have journeyed to the Gnarlwood, determined to dominate and despoil this savage land in the name of their dreadful masters. Woe betide those who stand in their way.
Worshippers of the Ruinous Powers have been sighted within the sweltering depths of the Gnarlwood, carving a bloody path through the forest towards Talaxis itself. The majority of these agents are mortals who, having damned their souls for eternity by entering into dark pacts with the Chaos Gods, now seek to earn unnatural power by pleasing their merciless patrons with acts of unrestrained brutality. From savage beastmen to armour-clad Chaos warriors, depraved hedonists to devious skaven assassins, all manner of ambitious and ruthless killers can be found in the service of the Ruinous Powers. None have a shred of mercy left in their rotten souls. In their wake, they leave the butchered corpses of their foes and blasphemous totems erected in the honour of whatever dread deity they choose to worship.
The Bloodbound of Khorne exult in the violent surges of the Gnarlwood, where there are plenty of worthy skulls – of monsters and men alike – to be reaped. Worshippers of Tzeentch cast an avaricious eye upon the eldritch treasures and magical secrets contained within the vaults of Talaxis, while the putrid servants of Nurgle see the sweltering Gnarlwood as the perfect incubator for their holy plagues. The Maggotkin take a cultivator’s joy in seeding foulness into the rampant flora of the Gnarlwood, watching in delight as hideous, pus-dribbling forms emerge from glistening pods. Somewhat rarer are the Hedonites of Slaanesh, for many of these pleasure-seekers find this environment terribly base and ugly for their tastes. Yet there are always those Hedonites that seek to indulge their bestial side to excess.
The Beasts of Chaos have long thrived in the primordial wilderness of Thondia, erecting their towering herdstones and surging forth across the plains to raid and maraud. It is not uncommon to see them abroad in the Gnarlwood, nor to hear their demented braying in the depths of the great forest. All signs of civilised life are despised by the beastmen, though they reserve a particular hatred for the temples of the Seraphon, which radiate an aura of purity and order that is entirely anathema to these manifestations of anarchy.
Nowhere in the Mortal Realms is entirely free of the presence of skaven, for these malevolent and cunning ratmen can find a way into any bastion, no matter the quality of its defences. Swarming, scab-furred bodies pour through hidden tunnels into the Gnarlwood, led by warlords that have caught wind of the Legend of Talaxis and whose whiskers quiver at the prospect of plunder.
Savage tribes of Chaos worshippers can be found across the continent of Thondia, raiding and slaughtering any who deny the primacy of the Dark Gods. Many have ventured into the Gnarlwood, seeking either to deface the monuments of the Seraphon or else capture some of their hated coldblooded foes to torture and sacrifice. Stomping through the forest come armoured brutes, the wicked edges of their grandaxes gleaming in the darkness, marching alongside fur-clad barbarians and mutated monsters.
Worshippers of the Chaos Gods are diverse in appearance and culture. Within the Eightpoints – the heart of Archaon the Everchosen’s dominion of Chaos – there exist thousands of tribes, warbands and cults. Names such as the Iron Golem, the Tarantulos Brood and the Spire Tyrants are known and feared across this hellish land. Each of these warbands worships a different master, sometimes an aspect of one of the Dark Gods, other times a lesser daemonic entity offering power in exchange for servitude. Some have found their way to the Gnarlwood and seek to earn the favour of their dark patrons by ransacking the Ravening Ruin.
More terrible than even the most black-hearted mortal worshippers of the Ruinous Pantheon are the daemons. These infernal creatures are formed from the pure essence of a Chaos God, now loosed upon reality to kill and despoil. Though they cannot endure in the Mortal Realms indefinitely, slaughter and suffering empowers these beings, strengthening their connection to the physical world – and there is no shortage of torment and despair to be found in the Gnarlwood.