Nurgle

"Buboes, phlegm, blood and guts! Boils, bogeys, rot and pus! Blisters, fevers, weeping sores! From your wounds the fester pours."

- Chant sung by Plaguebearer Daemons during battle

Nurgle, also known as the Plague Lord, is the Chaos God of Disease, Decay, and Destruction. In particular, the emotion of despair in mortals empowers him. He is known also as Grandfather Nurgle, the Lord of Pestilence and the Lord of Decay. He is the oldest of the four Chaos Gods and is the most directly involved with the plights of mortals, particularly humans who suffer so acutely from a fear of death, perhaps the oldest fear of that species. While Nurgle is the God of death and decay, to be certain, he is also the God of rebirth. After all, decay is simply one part of the cycle of life, without which no new life could grow. In the same way, Nurgle is also the God of perseverance and survival. While those who wish to spread decay and corruption are certainly amongst his followers, there are also those who wish to endure, to become tough enough to handle the difficulties and opportunities presented by an uncaring universe. Many of those affected by Nurgle's poxes usually turn to him in order to escape the pain caused by sickness and disease. Nurgle is depicted as a large hulking figure covered in oozing sores and vivid marks of decay. Nurgle's sacred number is seven, his colours are those of rot and ruin, waste and vomit, mucus and pus. Nurgle also embodies the will of Mankind to struggle on no matter what opposes it, albeit perversely. Suffering, death, pain: human beings push these things from their minds and try to forget them by living in the moment in the hope that the future will be a better one. For this reason Nurgle, his daemons and mortal followers usually demonstrate a disturbing joy at the pestilence that he inflicts, seeing the plagues as gifts and the cries of their victims as gratitude for the strength to overcome the obstacles of a mortal life rather than agony. The Plague Lord is often referred to as "Grandfather Nurgle," "Father Nurgle" or "Papa Nurgle" by his followers because of this hideous paternal stance. Nurgle's sacred number is seven. He is represented by the colors of green and brown, generally the most putrid variations of each.

It has recently been uncovered by the Eldar Harlequins that Nurgle is in possession of the Eldar Goddess Isha (who he rescued from Slaanesh's imprisonment), who is imprisoned within his realm in the Warp. Nurgle utilises her for his experiments, creating new contagions and diseases to spread into the material universe. With her divine powers of healing, Isha quickly regenerates from these tests, although Nurgle gleans what information is desired from the temporary effect. Secretly, she whispers the cures to these diseases to the mortals of the universe.

The Cult of Nurgle


Nurgle is the mighty Lord of Decay who presides over all physical corruption and morbidity. Disease and putrefaction, the inevitable entropic decline of all things, are the favours he bestows upon the universe. The God's immense body is bloated with corruption and exudes a sickly, diseased stench. His skin is greenish, leathery and necrotic, its surface pock-marked with all of his various boils, running sores and favorite infestations. From his exposed guts spill tiny Lesser Daemons, his Nurglings, who dine upon the filthy fluids that ooze from Grandfather Nurgle's many festering wounds. It is to free themselves from despair -- the eternal mortal dread of disease, starvation and death -- that men turn to the Plague Lord. Despite his appearance, he is a warm, welcoming God who prides himself on the achievements of his followers, gifting them with his most hideous diseases even as he protects them from all pain and the cold sleep of death. The fear of death can be found in the hearts of all the sentient beings of the universe, and so there is no shortage of mortals willing to sacrifice their immortal souls in return for the corrupted preservation of their physical bodies for all time.

Compared to the other Chaos Gods, many of Nurgle's followers worship him by no choice of their own. The taint of Nurgle spreads readily among beasts and humanoids alike, and the awful arcane illness known as Nurgle's Rot may strike even the strongest person and cause him or her to be outcast as a leper. Despite the nature of his influence, Nurgle takes an interest in the victims of the diseases he unleashes (which he considers to be "gifts"), jovially caring for them in a manner similar to a loving grandfather; for this reason he is frequently referred to as Grandfather Nurgle. This also causes some that would have otherwise never been infected to seek out disease and even poison themselves to earn his favour. As the Chaos God of disease and decay, Nurgle's followers are often equally interested in the spread of disease. His followers become infected with horrific diseases which cause them to appear bloated and rotting, or wizened, sickly and pale. His Champions often become so mutated and putrid that they are impervious to pain and almost impossible to injure. While equally as powerful as Khorne or Tzeentch when his plagues are at their peak, perhaps even more so, Nurgle's strength tends to wax and wane much more than that of the other Ruinous Powers, leaving him with little or no army one day and unstoppable hordes of rotting followers the next. The foul Death Guard Traitor Legion, whose Chaos Space Marines are better known as the Plague Marines, serves only Nurgle and its corrupted Astartes are his greatest champions.

Manifestation
The Plague Lord manifests himself as a huge, bloated humanoid, his body completely rotten. Nurgle is the perfect embodiment of disease and decay. His green, leathery skin is pock-marked with oozing sores, boils, and many other signs of the diseases that he has created. His organs are barely contained within his body, spilling out through tears everywhere in his rotting flesh and hanging down around his waist and legs. From these organs sprout smaller daemons, ripe with disease, which he sends out to work towards his goals. His sickening, pus-covered form is accompanied by an enveloping cloud of buzzing flies.

Rivalry
Nurgle's primary antithesis is Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways, because, where Tzeentch seeks to build, and plot, and scheme, Nurgle only seeks to destroy and break down. Nurgle represents the forces of destruction, his worshippers following him out of despair at being infected with his plagues; Tzeentch is a God representing evolution, change and the construction of grand schemes, whose worshippers follow him out of the hope of gaining power and other material rewards. This antagonistic relationship has an effect upon the nature of the armies that are dedicated to either God.

Nurgleite Daemons
The diseases of Nurgle lend themselves well to the creation of Chaos daemons, and his host is by no means insignificant.
 * Nurglings - Nurglings are tiny, mischievous daemons, that are small facsimiles of Nurgle himself. These rotund imps normally appear in large numbers, forming swarms which accompany armies dedicated to Nurgle. Occasionally very dedicated Chaos Champions of Nurgle will become infested with Nurglings, which will live in gaping wounds and orifices on the Champion's body; when the Champion comes under attack, these will help defend their "home".
 * Plaguebearers - Plagubearers are rotting, wasted creatures of vaguely humanoid size and appearance, with a single burning eye. These vile Lesser Daemons form the rank and file of the Plague Father's pestilent legions. Flies continually buzz around them, therefore making them more difficult to fight. The many diseases carried by these daemons can be used to terrible effect during battle.
 * Plague Drones - High-ranking Plaguebearers are known amongst the Daemon legions as Plague Drones; a title that conveys commendable humility. These overseers of Nurgle's realm ride into realspace mounted upon Rot Flies. From their lofty positions, the Plague Drones can properly tally the diseases running rife across the battlefield, as well as swiftly intervene should Nurgle's divine plans meet with heavily-armed resistance.
 * Rot Flies - Rot Flies are colossal daemonic insects whose appearance is so repugnant it scars the mind. These vile creatures are the most loathsome of Nurgle's creations. Only the forbidden tomes of the Eldar Black Library speak of the vile process by which these creatures are birthed, for they hatch in the sticky depths of Nurgle's gardens, where the visionary and the loon wander in their dreams.
 * Beasts of Nurgle - Beasts of Nurgle are truly horrendous daemonic aberrations. They have the soft, sticky and mottled body of a pallid slug, webbed feet that flap uselessly, a face of writhing green tentacles, and a whiptail growth that bursts from its back and which wags constantly from side to side.
 * Slime Hounds - Slime Hounds are foul creatures resembling a putrid, overgrown, mutated slug.
 * Great Unclean Ones - Undoubtedly the foulest of the daemonic servants of the Ruinous Powers, each of these Greater Daemons are shaped in the fashion of Nurgle himself; massive, bloated disease carriers whose decaying flesh bulges with corpulent cancers. They usually carry a massive, rusted blade known as a Plague Sword into battle, said to be dipped in the foul pus and contagion that lies at the base of Nurgle's throne in the Warp. They are the most powerful of Nurgle's daemons and generally act as the leaders and father figures for the other daemons, epitomizing Nurgle's joyful, paternal nature.
 * Epidemius - Epidemius is Nurgle’s chosen Tallyman, one of the seven Proctors of Pestilence and the cataloguer of all the Plague Lord's diseases. Epidemius' task is an unending one, and it generates a great deal of paperwork, so he rides a palanquin to share the burden – and to more easily force a path through Nurgle's hordes. Two dozen Nurglings attend the Tallyman's every need, providing the parchment, operating the death's head abacus, excreting the ink for the quill pens and even defending Epidemius from harm should a foolish enemy venture too close.

Nurgleite Corruption
Nurgle the Plague Lord is the most ancient of the four major Chaos Gods, for he is the psychic manifestation of the most predominant collective fear of all sentient beings: the fear of death. Nurgle is the embodiment of disease, decay and the death these states ultimately bring to all living things. Most Nurgleites rarely end up in the service of the Plague Lord willingly; for those who contract a deadly disease or are forced to face the reality of their own mortality, Nurgle offers a potential escape from the painful ravages of illness or an untimely death--in return for an individual's soul and his eternal damnation. Among all the major intelligent species of the galaxy, Mankind fears death and the onset of nonexistence the most, and it is humans who have always been the majority of the Plague Lord's servants. In return for their allegiance and service, Nurgle offers his worshippers complete immunity to all disease and pain--by infecting them with every natural disease in existence and many that are unnatural extensions into realspace of the arcane power of Chaos. Champions of Nurgle can become among the most powerful Chaotic servants in the galaxy, though they will also be afflicted with some of the most all-encompassing, and disgusting, physical mutations that Chaos can bestow. Nurgleites become swollen, walking bags of pus and putrescence, their very skin swelling and rotting from their bones even as they continuously leak organic fluids infected with every loathsome bacteria, virus, fungus and infectious agent that can be conjured by the imagination. In return, Nurgleites are completely immune to these diseases, or any disease, and their rotting bodies also become physically robust, capable of withstanding injuries and damage that would destroy even those enjoying the most robust health. At the same time, despite their seeming infirmity, those who have sworn their souls to Nurgle feel no pain; in fact, quite the opposite, for many Nurgleites report feeling a sense of power and and almost drug-like well-being that is far more pleasurable than they felt before the mutations began

Inspiration
The inspiration for Nurgle comes from the ancient Babylonian god Nergal. Portrayed in hymns and myths as a god of war and pestilence, Nergal seems to represent the sun of noontime and of the summer solstice that brings destruction, high summer being the dead season in the Mesopotamian annual cycle.