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Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Chaos Space Marines

2026-05-20T14:34:18Z

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This is the [[Warhammer_40,000/7th Edition Tactics|previous Edition's]] Chaos Space Marine tactics. The [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Chaos_Space_Marines(8E)|8th Edition Tactics are here]] while [[Warhammer_40,000/6th_Edition_Tactics/Chaos_Space_Marines|the 6th Edition Tactics are here.]]

==Why Play Chaos Space Marines==
[[File:Chaos Space Marines Cover 6e.jpg|300px|right|thumb|]]
Chaos Space Marines are '''the''' main antagonist of the Warhammer 40,000 setting; with the Horus Heresy arguably being the most pivotal moment of 40k's timeline. From a fluff-perspective, a Chaos Space Marine army can be a Warband derived from one of the nine original Traitor Legions, or a more recent group of Marines (or even an entire Chapter) that has gone Renegade, and the fluff for your army is [[Your Dudes|yours to write]]; besides the normal question of "what god(s) do your Chaos Marines follow?", the backstory of how your former defenders of Humanity fell to Chaos can be every bit as compelling, as well as any driving motivations. After all, while some Chaos Space Marines may be occasional pawns in the grand scheme of the Gods, most of their own motives remain entirely human, whether it's the quest for vengeance in The Long War, carving out pocket empires, or researching forbidden secrets. In many ways, Chaos Space Marines are the [[Your Dudes]] army.

For those that enjoy kitbashing and converting, you can do so with the help from pretty much any kit from any other race and not give a single fuck about what people say. You can legitimately say: "Dude, I play Chaos, and Chaos can take any form". So long as you don't make a fool out of yourself and pretend that a Lizardman with wheels and spikes instead of legs would make a good Chaos Bike. Chaos Space Marines arguably exceed Orks in the sheer amount of room they allow for custom projects, as they can either be ramshackle mess of diseased maniacs, fervent technosorcerers with baroque war engines, a disciplined force of elite Infiltrators or otherwise.

From a gameplay perspective, Chaos Space Marines can best be described as "Space Marauders", compensating for a lack of uniform quality with a mix of psychic prowess, close combat saturation, and "troubleshooters" to plug gaps in your battleplan. Unlike [[Eldar|some]] [[Necrons|other]] [[Orks|armies]], Chaos Space Marines don't have too many "over-specialized" units, but they have "exotic generalists" that can be adapted to multiple roles in one go. That said, many of their advantages come with corresponding disadvantages. You lack '''And They Shall Know No Fear''', which means you need to keep pressure on your opponent or else when you do falter, you may not properly recover from it. In exchange, you get the option to improve your Leadership beyond Loyalist standards (while most Loyalist Marine squads will be Leadership 8, you can easily have Leadership 10 throughout your army), while Fearless is easily available to units that pay a premium for them. Likewise, you lack a lot of the shiny toys Loyalists get, and notably lack access to [[Dude, Where's my Land Speeder?| Grav Weaponry, Razorbacks, Landspeeders or Vanilla Drop Pods]]. In exchange, you get a lot of "daemontech" tools, as well as the ability to jury-rig those vehicles you do get with a wide array of options. While the Loyalists can easily get units that will murder your melee units in a straight-up slugfest (if they pay top points for them), your rank-and-file will beat up their rank-and-file most of the time; add in a system where your heroes or unit leaders can receive herohammer buffs (or the chance to transform into Daemon Princes or those-that-must-not-be-named) for beating up your opponents, and Chaos Marines favor a very gung-ho playstyle.

===Pros===
*'''Herohammer Toybox:''' Although you don't have a character that has the sheer destructive crunch as Commander Smashfucker, you have a lot of cool relics on hand. Between all the codex options and legion-specific toys, you can make heroes that are really good at bringing the fight to your foe, and then tearing said foe a new one. Add in a system that randomly buffs (though with its risks; this will be covered) your heroes when they RIP AND TEAR, and your characters have a playstyle that can be incredibly fun.
*'''Rocking the Psychic Phase''' - Although you don't have the sheer ability to run Psychic shenanigans as an Eldar or Daemon faction, Chaos Space Marines have a fairly extensive psychic toolbox to work with. Other than Telekinesis (which is generally not considered a power discipline) and Divination (though one artifact does allow you to take it), you have access to most of the base rulebook disciplines, including Telepathy and Malefic Daemonology. Traitor's Hate helped out further by giving Chaos "copypastes" of the Astartes powers from Angel of Death. Unlike the Loyalists, your casters have the option to go up to Mastery Level 3 (or even Mastery Level 4 for one of them), and you have the single most powerful psyker in 40k available to you in Magnus the Red. Instead of the Psychic Hood, the Spell Familiar is a fairly cheap upgrade that lets you re-roll failed Psychic Tests. So not only can you throw down more Warp Charge than a loyalist army, but you can make each one count for more.
*'''Exotic Generalists:''' Chaos Marines have trouble-shooter units that can plug into multiple different roles at once. The Heldrake blends the line between an aerial interceptor and ground-attack aircraft, potentially doing both at once, while the Obliterator is always guaranteed to have the right gun for the right job, while being able to smash things in a pinch. Even the humble Rhino gets a few tricks up its sleeve in a Chaos army, with additional equipment options letting it deny Overwatch or serve as fire support.
*'''Marks and Icons Chaos Gods''' - Chaos Space Marines can be marked to be stronger, faster, tougher, or trickier than their Loyalist brethren at a cost. Some of these bonuses are costly for what they are, and in several cases Loyalists can arguably do it better, but some of them let you do things other armies can't quite do.
*'''Unconventional Alliance opportunities''': Chaos Space Marines are one of the only armies (besides Renegades and Heretics or Daemonkin) that is Battle Brothers with Chaos Daemons and Renegade Knights, and this does allow for some unique power combinations between the two. They're also Allies of Convenience with Necrons, and are the only faction that is Allies of Convenience with Orks.
*'''Apocalypse''' - You're better than the loyalists in Apocalypse games because you get fucking Titans and lots of sweet Forgeworld loving in the form of flyers and Daemon Engines. You're part of the Apocalypse Quintet along with the Imperial Guard, Eldar, Orks, and Tyranids, to which all other apocalypse armies are measured against. Be warned, you are comparatively lacking in long ranged heavy artillery, so even in Apocalypse, your dish is best served by getting close to [[RIP AND TEAR]].

===Cons===
The current Chaos Space Marine codex book is the oldest in current use, and it shows. The fluff and art are top tier, but the rules in it are clearly written for another age - one without grav and knights all over the place. Make no mistake - you'll be fighting an uphill battle all the way in every game if you try to run a CSM army as just a CAD with just the rules in that book - and that's just in CASUAL games. There is a good reason why an Ork, Tyranid, and CSM players arguing who has the worst codex is a popular online cliche. Luckily, as of the end of 2016, CSMs have finally gotten a boost in the form of powerful and varied (if spammy and often overcosted and/or tactically infexible) formations that can be found in the Traitor Legions supplement.

Most of the issues have generally come from Chaos being compared to loyalist Space Marines (and their many variants). Among them are:
*'''They Shall Know Fear:''' Unlike vanilla Space Marines, you don't get "And They Shall Know No Fear." Considering the advantages of ATSKNF are four-fold (Auto-pass Fear checks, immune to being destroyed by sweeping advance, auto-regroup regardless of how many models you have left, and suffer no move/shoot penalties after regrouping), the regular Chaos Marines are in an unenviable position point-for-point. However, it's not all doom and gloom: Unlike the loyalists, you get a fair few options for making your guys Fearless or superior Leadership so you're less likely to fail Morale checks in the first place. Inversely, if you're running MSU units, you don't care too much about trying to rally "that one last" model for any given unit when you can have two more small units in backup.
**'''Note:''' If you're running a cult legion from the Traitor Legions supplement, Veterans of the Long War is fearless across the board. Thus this one issue can be discounted, if you wish to theme your army based on a named legion rather than Crimson Slaughter or your homebrewed warband.
*'''Beggars of the Long War:''' As a price for Chaos getting access to more consistently powerful Psykers, herohammer blessings, and general "unconventional" power options, they're missing a lot of powerful tools the Loyalists get access to. Most notably, your army lacks Grav Weapons which are considered "the one special weapon to rule them all" for normal Space Marines. You can find "analogues" for some of the other tools Marines get that you don't, though you also lack good equivalents for Drop Pods, Razorbacks, Attack Bikes, or flying transports. Forgeworld can potentially mitigate this to some degree if you wish. You'll see other small examples of Chaos technology being more "dated" or second-hand than their Loyalist counterparts, discussed in their individual unit entries.
*'''Tactically Inflexible:''' Chaos Space Marines have no units with the innate ability to Infiltrate or Scout. They don't have any special rules or wargear to get better deployment options, to have better chances of selecting a table edge or to Seize the Initiative, to improve their Reserves rolls or to mitigate scattering from Deep Strike (the Dimensional Key doesn't particularly count). Unlike many armies, they don't get many non-psychic "toolbox" abilities; there is no Combat Tactics/Doctrina/Canticles equivalent, nor do you get stuff like Guard Orders/Acts of Faith.
*'''One Codex In (At Least) Two Books:''' The CSM codex is OLD AS FUCK. The rules in it are dated, and power creep means that it hasn't aged well. To GW's credit, as of the end of 2016, steps have been taken to bring CSMs up to speed. That's all well and good, but unfortunately the 'update' was done through the issuance of supplements rather than an updated dex. This means that you have to own the dex + one or more of the supplements in order to build a passable army, and if you want a really decent one that supplement has to be the Traitor Legions or The Traitor's Hate. Woe betide anyone wishing to actually collect all the books in order to have access to all the current rules - there are, like, 6 of them, before you even dip your toe into Frogeworld and Apocalypse.

===Countering these cons===

*Don't try to play CSM like loyalists. Chaos Space Marines lack a lot of the same bonuses that Loyalists get, point-for-point, and they lack the same degree of fire support, transports, or speed. If you try to just emulate them, you're going to have a hard time doing so. Luckily, you don't have to - you have the option to take hordes of cultists, monstrous daemon princes and FUCKING DRAGONS to go with your bolter-lugging meatheads.
*The rules that you can find in supplements (like Traitor Legions and Traitor's Hate) are nearly mandatory if you want to level the playing field somewhat. They give CSM armies an opportunity to employ some ''really'' game-changing playlists, that have potential to make a regular CSM army competitive while at the same time keeping true to the fluff. In most cases, said formations go a long way towards fixing the fundamental flaws of the Codex, even if it's arguable whether or not they always succeed. DEFINITELY check them out in the tactics section below!
*Cult units have Fearless and give you better mileage, if you have the points. You can also make them Troops (Plague and Noise Marines, for example, are awesome, if a bit situational).
*While nowhere near as good as ATSKNF, VotLW is decent. Don't forget that it gives you hatred against all the other non-spiky marines. Traitor Legions should be mentioned here, as it almost universally allows AND forces CSMs to take VOTLW for free if they meet the criteria to be part of that legion - which is a nice bonus.
**FW threw you a bone in the form of an updated Renegades and Heretics list that are Battle Brothers with you. They have good artillery and meatshields for said artillery, but fall short in most other areas.
*Allies give you some breathing room when building an army. You are the only army that is Blood Brothers with Daemons, Renegade Knights and KDK, AND has access to Necrons and Orks as allies of convenience (in fact, you are the *only* army that treats Orks as anything better than Desperate) is pretty cool. KDK
*The spell familiar, which in 6th edition was practically useless, got a huge boost with 7th edition psychic rules. As a piece of wargear that can be taken by any psyker that isn't Ahriman, Typhus or a T-Sons Aspiring Sorcerer and allows you to re-roll failed psychic tests, it makes CSM psykers some of the most reliable in the game.

==Special Rules==
* '''Legions of Chaos''' - As of Traitor Legions, you now have the option to run your Spikey Marines as veterans from one of the original 9 Traitor Legions! Whether you want your army to evoke battlecries of [[World_Eaters|"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"]], [[Iron_Warriors|"IRON WITHIN! IRON WITHOUT!"]], or any of the other ones, this is now an option for you, the aspiring Chaos Warmaster! The individual Legion entries are detailed near the end, with each Legion having certain restrictions in exchange for certain bonuses. Note that any '''detachment''' may be a Legion detachment if it adheres to the restrictions of said Legion and detachment in question. For example, you could run a Chaos Warband as a Black Legion Detachment despite the Black Legion Speartip not having the Chaos Warband as a core, as long as you didn't have any Special Characters besides Abaddon. However, you could not run a Black Legion Warband as a Death Guard Detachment, for that formation has the restriction "This is a Black Legion Detachment."
**'''Note''' - Unlike Codex: Space Marines, the Legion rules are strictly optional. You don't '''have''' to field a Chaos Space Marine Detachment as a Legion, and in fact, you cannot field it as one should you wish to take certain Special Characters including Bela'kor, Cypher, Fabius Bile or Huron. That said, the bonuses offered by adhering to a Legion generally outweigh the restrictions by a considerable margin, while free Veterans of the Long War adds up!

* '''Champion of Chaos''' - Barring the Daemon Prince or any "vehicle characters" (which only show up in certain formations), all your Characters have this rule. The downside is that in any assault where at least one character with this rule is <u>engaged</u>, at least one of your Champion of Chaos characters must issue a challenge, while if your opponent can issue a challenge and at least one of your characters with this rule is eligible to accept, one of those characters <u>must</u> accept. 7th Edition helped in that wounds from a challenge may now "spill over" to the rest of an enemy unit, but this effectively means that if you want to tool out a squad for close combat, you better give at least one of your characters some decent protection, for you won't have access to Look Out Sir. In exchange, should your character kill an enemy character for ANY reason except Sweeping Advance, that character can roll for a Chaos Boon.
**Champion of Chaos is a double-edged sword like many aspects of Chaos. The good news is that Chaos Boons give you the option to buff your Sergeants into mini-captains while they can buff your HQs into budget Smashfuckers. Remember that shooting or Witchfires can trigger rolls, which can be awkward when you accidentally replace your Baleflamer Sorcerer with that-which-must-not-be-named.

* '''Chaos Boons''' - Listed as part of the Champion of Chaos rule, Chaos Boons are a power lottery with the potential to buff your heroes to epic proportions or to backfire horribly and turn them into things which must not be named. The most common way to trigger rolls on this table is through the Champion of Chaos special rule (covered above), but it can also be triggered through the Boon of Mutation psyker power, the Gift of Mutation upgrade, or through the Path to Glory effect from the Black Crusade detachment. Note that you cannot gain the same Boon multiple times; treat all such subsequent rolls as "Nothing." Unfortunately you can't choose any of these, but dark apostles let you re-roll and warlord traits let you re-roll or shift the result if you're not happy with the first roll.

{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4 align=left style="text-align:center;" class="wikitable sortable"
|+Chaos Boon Chart'''
|-
! || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6
|-
! 10 || colspan=6 | Nothing
|-
! 20 || colspan=2 | Spawndom || +1 Attack || Eternal Warrior || +1 Strength || +1 BS
|-
! 30 || +1 Initiative || Recover Wounds or +1 Wound || +1 Toughness || Shrouded || +1 Armor Save || Fleshbane for a Melee Weapon
|-
! 40 || Witch Eater || Reroll Failed Armor Saves || Poison(4+) || Crusader || Hammer of Wrath || Icy Aura
|-
! 50 || Adamantium Will || +1 Strength for a weapon || Hatred || Shred || Instant Death || +1 WS
|-
! 60 || Stubborn || Fleet || Feel No Pain || D3+1 more blessings (ignore Spawndom/Apotheosis) || colspan=2 | Dark Apotheosis
|}

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:*11-16 - Nothing.
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::The anticlimax is real.
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:*21-22 - Replace model with Chaos Spa-'''ARRGHNNNGNHWNHBLENNLNHELH.'''
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::You don't want this to happen to any tooled-up HQ you have, though it's not necessarily the end of the world if it happens to a rank-and-file Champion for some reason. Note that a Champion that becomes one of...those things retains its Mark, despite losing everything else.
::*'''Important Note''' - On Pg. 29, going by RAW: a Champion that turns into a Chaos Spa-'''SKRAAFSDHFKBLEGH''' or Daemon Prince is considered a separate, ''non-scoring'' unit. Let me repeat that. Non. Scoring. Now that 7th edition allows any units to score objectives, this can be a detrimental flaw.
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:*23 - +1 Attack.
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::Pretty straight forward and never a bad choice. You could risk a re-roll for a more immediate benefit on something like say a poop bucket prince, but you will probably end up in melee eventually with CSM regardless of what rolls this and there's a good chance you'll end up with something worse. For any CC oriented characters this is a keeper.
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:*24 - Eternal Warrior.
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::Nice on an HQ, pointless on single-wound models. Even then you might already have EW from a warlord trait or relic, plus most of our HQs only have 2 where having EW is only a marginal improvement. So consider re-rolling this unless whatever rolled this has 3+ wounds.
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:*25 - +1 Strength.
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::Enjoy your S10 powerfist. This is pretty universally good too. Some khorne characters might not get much out of this on the charge due to already wounding on 2s on the charge, but even they benefit from this after the first round of combat. So if it helps you wound better just roll with it. Bonus points for nurgle/Blades of Putrifaction as this helps you gain re-rolls to wound from poisoned attacks.
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:*26 - +1 BS.
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::More often than not you will want to re-roll this if you can. However there are some less obvious characters that benefit from this, psykers still need to hit with some witchfires and our sorcerer is only BS 4. Then there is also the chosen champion which can make use of this. On the other hand, BS 6 doesn't unlock re-rolls for blast weapons. Also, while this looks interesting for a forgefiend or defiler, possession actually is a fixed modifier to 3 BS, so this won't actually help them shoot better.
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:*31 - +1 Initiative.
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::Can be nice on HQs to hit before the enemy head honcho, but generally more useful for our grunts who can now kill other sergeants before they can retaliate. Or for Death Guard to counter the initiative hit. Luckily you get to check what your opponent brought to decide on whether or not you think this could be useful for you.
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:*32 - Return to full wounds, or gain +1 Wound if unwounded.
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::Unless the character happens to be a walker, you're going to want to keep this. It's amazing.
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:*33 - +1 Toughness.
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::Almost as good as 32(+1W/refill). You really can't go wrong with this, although it's pretty much only for CC as majority toughness will cancel this out. Also, do check what this character is likely to face in CC. If you're going up against thunderhammers or fists, you're probably not going to get any use out of this.
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:*34 - Shrouded.
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::One of the few boons that spreads to the unit. Roll this up on a biker champion and watch Dark Angels players eat their hearts out. Especially good on DG (decurion) and NL as this can give entire units a 4+ cover save in the open.
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:*35 - Armour Save improves by 1 to a maximum of 2+.
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::YES! Especially as Chaos doesn't get non-relic artificer armor. Big boon for a prince, but still good for anything really. And unlike +1T, this works despite being part of a unit so this can be used to tank hits for the rest of the unit.
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:*36 - Melee weapon has Fleshbane.
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::Pretty good, especially if you put it on a lightning claw. But don't forget that this is part of a weapon as opposed to a rule the character gains. It won't affect stuff like infernal claws or the talons of the night terror.
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:*41 - Passing a Deny the Witch roll makes enemy Psyker take a Str 6 AP 2 hit.
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::VERY situational, but not bad. The champ/unit has to pass the deny test, so it doesn't work against blessings. However, it's a nice deterrent vs shrieks for a prince. Anybody else should probably opt for a re-roll when possible.
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:*42 - Re-roll failed armor saves.
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::Roll this on a DG TAF lord and ask your opponent again how that mass fire is working for them. Anything with a 2+ save will want this. It's still good with a 3+ save but not a must have unless the character is running solo.
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:*43 - Melee attacks are Poisoned (4+).
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::Good when fighting low toughness armies or for khorny stuff since it's effectively shred on high strength models. Pretty nice vs non non marine armies, especially nids. Against marines you're probably wounding on 4s anyway so try for something else.
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:*44 - Crusader.
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::The other boon that spreads to the unit. Since this is random, you'll probably not care too much about the run bonus, but it's a pretty decent bonus to sweeping attacks. Of course that means you're more likely to overrun a unit, which you might not want, but it works when being charged too. Even if you loose combat, it will make beating that unit in a sweeping advance pretty hard, making this quite nice for non fearless tarpits. It also combos very nicely with a spawn escort if you already have fleet.
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:*45 - Hammer of Wrath.
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::You more than likely don't want this. It's almost always one measly S4 wound and even on a prince or walker, it's still AP-. The only time you might want to hold on to this is when the character has infernal claws. In that case you gain 3 additional hits at the initiative 10 step. And unlike the HoW hit, those additional hits can benefit from smash
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:*46 - Icy Aura (enemy models in base contact take a Str 4 AP 5 hit at Initiative Step 1)
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::This isn't as good as you might think at the first glance. The character needs to be in base contact and typically you don't have that character at the front. If the opponent doesn't accept the challenge, you end up being able to fight but not in base contact with anybody. Even when you do though, you're not likely to be in contact with more than 2, if that. It's ok for something with a large base like a juggerlord, but you could probably do better than this. Infernal claws on the other hand, can make this a crowd clearer. You'll still want a large base/go solo but when you do, this thing will easily generate 3 hits, which add another 6 for 9 total. Good luck tarpitting a prince with this and infernal claws. It ends up being like rampage on steroids.
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:*51 - Adamantium Will.
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::Same advice as for 41. Only really useful on a prince to not get shredded by shrieks as much.
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:*52 - A ranged weapon has +1 Strength.
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::Nice if your Warlord has a Burning Brand or another cool ranged weapon, but pointless otherwise. A chosen champion with plasma gun can also make good use of this.
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:*53 - Hatred ([[Angry Marines|EVERYTHING! ALL THE TIME!]]).
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::Like +1 attack this is never a bad choice. Unless you already have hatred of course.
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:*54 - Shred.
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::This is gained on the character level, which means that this allows you to re-roll ALL to wound rolls in CC, not just those of you're weapon. Infernal claws raises it's head again. So unless you only brought a lightning claw, you probably want to hold onto this.
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:*55 - Melee attacks have instant death.
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::I don't care if you roll this on a cultist champion, you're keeping this. Hell, keep this even when you already ID on 6s. Debatable whether or not this applies to infernal claws or icy aura.
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:*56 - +1 WS.
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::If you're using the axe of blind fury, keep it. Everybody else wants to re-roll this, with the exception of non HQ's as those go from a to hit roll of 4+ to 3+ as opposed to remaining on a 3+.
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:*61 - Stubborn.
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::This also spreads, but you don't care seeing as how most of your dueling HQs have FEARLESS, half of legions from supplements are Fearless by default and cultists are usually joined by Dark Apostles.
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:*62 - Fleet.
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::Won't benefit anyone in the champion's squad, re-roll whenever possible. Tiny bit better in BL and WB armies with crusader, but fuck it. Try to re-roll to something better.
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:*63 - Feel No Pain
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::It's feel no pain. You want it. Same constraints as 33(+1T) though in that it only really helps in CC. Also doesn't work with walkers as it only triggers on unsaved wounds.
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:*64 - Roll another d3+1 on this table (re-rolling Spawnhood and Dark Apotheosis results)
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::Yay!
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:*65-66 - Replace this model with a Daemon Prince with Power Armor. If the model was Marked, it becomes the Daemon Prince of the same Chaos God. If not, choose which one of Big Four is its new patron.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
::Avoid this like the plague on your tooled HQ's, but other stuff tends to be improved.
::*'''Important Note''' - On Pg. 29, going by RAW: a Champion that turns into a Chaos Spa-'''SKRAAFSDHFKBLEGH''' or Daemon Prince is considered a separate, ''non-scoring'' unit. Let me repeat that. Non. Scoring. Now that 7th edition allows any units to score objectives, this can be a detrimental flaw.
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*'''Veterans of the Long War''' - Units with this rule gain +1Ld and Hatred (Space Marines) - this includes ALL units from ALL the different Space Marines codices, including the Grey Knights & Deathwatch. This upgrade is pricey however, and when you do take it, you end up costing the same as your Loyalist brethren, while lacking a lot of the benefits they get for the cost. However, taken on critical units (these will be noted accordingly), this is a lifesaver. Note too, that even though at the end of the day nothing can have a leadership of more than 10, all modifiers are still cumulative. This means that the leadership bonus can cancel out penalties imposed on your Ld10 HQs. [[Cypher]] is the most obvious mention here, but there are any number of attacks on leadership that having an effective leadership 11 will protect you from.
*'''Traitor Legions:''' As of the Traitor Legions supplement, declaring your force a Legion detachment provides you with the above rule for free. WO HOOO - Ld10 Aspiring Champions!

*'''Daemonforge''' - Once per game, a vehicle with this rule may re-roll armor penetration and to-wound results. However, the owner must in the end of that phase roll a D6 and on a 1, the vehicle loses a hull point with no saves. Defilers, Forgefiends, Heldrakes and Maulerfiends have this. Oh, and the Lord of Skulls but you aren't using it except for shits and giggles.

*'''Infernal Relic (Forge World)''' - You cannot have more than one of vehicles with this rule in your primary detachment (or any in allied), unless you have a Technomancer in that detachment. Any Warpsmith, Sorcerer with a Malefic power or Abaddon himself can be made a Technomancer for free, and as a nice bonus gain control over the Possession rule, choosing whom your transport eats (if anybody at all) if the Technomancer embarks with the unit. The rules aren't exactly clear if you can nominate a Technomancer for a single vehicle in a primary detachment or not though...

==Warlord Traits==
#'''[[Black Crusade|Black Crusader]]''' - All units within 12" gain Preferred Enemy (Space Marines). Since this applies to shooting as well as melee, this is worth keeping if you're facing Marines. It's useless otherwise. Abaddon starts with this one.
#'''Flames of Spite''' - Melee weapons get Soulblaze. Terrible even for a mob-killer HQ, and far worse on a challenge-oriented HQ.
#'''Master of Deception''' - D3 infantry units can Infiltrate. Excellent trait, but still not much compared to [[Creed|TACTICAL GENIUS]]. Huron and Ahriman have this by default.
#'''Hatred Incarnate''' - Hatred for the warlord and his unit. Kharn, appropriately, comes with this.
#'''Lord of Terror''' - Fear is shit, feel sorry for rolling this. Typhus has this by default, poor sod.
#'''Exalted Champion''' - A re-roll on the Rewards Table is something you absolutely need to take. Seriously, this can be the difference between living with a mediocre boost and becoming... gribbly.

Two of the Warlord Traits are effectively useless, while another one will be useless depending on what army you face, and whether you're running a Black Crusade or not. If you're running a Black Crusade, and come up against an Imperial army, Hatred Incarnate will do nothing as you already Hate them. If you're not up against a Space Marine army, Black Crusader will be useless. And if you're not running a Black Crusade, Exalted Champion will be mostly useless since you won't get the free rolls with Path to Glory. If you do face a Marine army, you have a fair chance of getting something usable though Strategic is going to be a safe option too.

==Wing Leader Traits==
In Skies of Death, one Heldrake in a Flyerwing is automatically upgraded to a Wing Leader and gets to make a pre-game roll for one of three bonuses.
#'''Warp Fury''' - The Heldrake gets infinite-use Daemonforge. This is nice.
#'''Fueled By Murder''' - If the Heldrake's attack causes an enemy model to be removed as a casualty, its ranged weapon is twin-linked in the next Shooting Phase. All it takes is one Vector Strike and you're basically twin-linked for most of the game after.
#'''Icon of Slaughter''' - Add 1 to the Pursuit value for the Wing Leader and all models from this Flyer Wing during the Dogfight Phase. Ehhhh.

==Fighter Ace Traits==
This preceded Skies of Death. In Death From The Skies, you now have a bonus rule allowing you to pay 35 points for one of 3 special traits for any Flyer or FMC (FGC is still debatable).
#'''Arcane Targeting System''' - +1 BS. Useless if your Heldrake is packing a Baleflamer, and usually useless on a Daemon Prince. Handy if you take a Hades Autocannon Heldrake.
#'''Terror of the Skies''' - Re-rolls To Wound and penetrate when Vector Striking. Not a bad one, by far.
#'''Lord of Chaos''' - Fellow Chaos Marines within 12" gain Relentless. Enjoy toting along fucking rockets and super-dakka cultists like nobody's business.

==Tactical Objectives==
Added in the new Traitor's Hate book, you get a full deck of tactical objectives with the first 6 being CSM-oriented.
; 11. Glorious Carnage
: 1 VP if you completely destroy an enemy unit in your turn.
; 12. The Warp is Your ally
: 1 VP if you successfully manifested a psychic power.
; 13. The Will of Chaos
: Roll a dice upon generating this card. Score 1 VP if you control the objective corresponding to that roll at the end of your turn.
; 14. The Gaze of the Gods
: 1 VP if a character rolls on the Chaos boon table. D3 VP if 3 or more characters roll on the boon table.
; 15. Claim and Despoil
: D3 VP if you steal an objective an enemy unit was holding.
; 16. Rise to Glory
: 1 VP if your warlord rolled Unworthy Offering or Spawnhood on the boon table. D3+3 VP if your Warlord looses the Chaos lottery and becomes a Daemon Prince. D3 VP if you roll any other result on the Boon table for your warlord.

==Armory of Chaos==
Remember a time when you had to flip back and forth between a wargear page and your unit entries? /tg/ remembers, and 3.5 was awesome because of it. Well guess what's back? Yeah, that's right - one BIG inventory section to pick your wargear from. Here are all the goodies the Dark gods are willing to let you work with. Sadly, there's some dead weight intermixed with otherwise generic items, and the retarded awesomeness of the Kai Gun is missing. What can we say? This isn't 3E and it's not like those days will be coming back any time soon. Just enjoy the fact it's better than what the last codex was...

===Melee Weapons===
Nothing too unique here. These are for Aspiring Champion models in pretty much any of the squads that have champs and any models who say they can take wargear from this list. Take note: Terminator Champions have to take wargear from the Terminator weapons list (which ends up costing a lot more.)

You can replace either the model's bolt pistol or CCW with one of theses, or replace BOTH the pistol and the CCW with two. So you can have two fists or two chain axes for that awesome factor you were aiming for. Knock yourself out.

* '''Power Weapons''': There are four flavors to enjoy: sword, maul, axe, and lance.
**The sword is AP3, but is otherwise a standard melee weapon (importantly, it doesn't mess with your initiative). However, since it's the same price as the lightning claws, you probably want to take that instead, as those bad boys come with Shred (allowing you to reroll To Wound), but unlike the claw it isn't a specialist weapon.
**The maul adds +2S and AP4, meaning it's a fair bit nicer than the chainaxe, albeit at a slightly higher price. It also comes with Concussive; enemies that take a wound from it are knocked down to I1 for the next turn. These are good for monstrous creature hunting and killing Necrons and Tau.
**The axe adds +1S and AP2, but it's Unwieldy (which brings you down to I1); in other words, it's a weaker power fist. Only take one if you can't afford a fist, or want the extra attack.
**Lastly, the children of the Dark Gods get their hands on the (all-new this edition) power lance, which is AP3 and +1S on the charge, and AP4/model's strength otherwise. It's fairly decent (especially combined with a Dirge Caster-carrying Rhino), but good luck finding one. It literally can't be found on any Chaos sprues, so if you want to use it you'll have to improvise.
* '''Lightning Claws''': You get AP3 and Shred (which lets you reroll To Wound). If you're taking one claw, you should take a second one or a power fist, since both claw and fist are now Specialist Weapons and thus you [[Awesome|get +1A when taken together]]. The lightning claw is almost always superior to the power sword, especially so if the bearer has 3+ attacks. The only potential downside is that you won't get the extra attack from having a melee weapon and a pistol, but seeing as how lightning claws are particularly good against tougher opponents (and you should be slaughtering low-Toughness models anyway), you should probably just take these.
* '''Chain Axe''': It's a basic melee weapon, except it has AP 4. Berzerker squads get these for only 3 points per model, instead of 8. Note that they aren't good enough to chop up Marines; you need ''real'' power weapons for that, so don't rely too heavily on these, especially given that power weapons are only a few points more.
* '''Plague Knife''': The other cult weapon. Poisoned CCWs that Plague Marines get as stock wargear.
* '''Power Fist''': Just the same as any other codex: double the strength, but I1. If you're stuck but you want to spend <i>some</i> points on melee weapons, this is a good choice. Also, as stated above, both these and the Lightning Claws are Specialist Weapons, so you get +1A if you have one of each.

===Ranged Weapons===
Like the melee list, these are for all the Champions who aren't wearing terminator armor (see list below for their options) and any of the units who specifically say they can take items from this list:

* '''Combi-Bolter''': A Twin-Linked Bolter. Simple enough. Rapid fire at 12 inches makes this a twin linked storm bolter. Have fun.
* '''Combi-Flamer/-Melta/-Plasma''': A Boltgun with a built in Meltagun, Plasma Gun, or Flamer. The secondary weapon gets a single shot per game. Useful, but use it wisely.
* '''Plasma Pistol''': Self explanatory. Too bad GW still hasn't realized that it isn't worth 15 points for a weapon that has a chance to explode and kill you.

===Terminator Weapons===
This is for Terminator Champions and Lords and Sorcerers wearing Terminator armor.

You can replace the Combi-Bolter and/or your standard power weapon with any of these, the only exception being you can't swap out your standard power weapon for a Combi-Weapon.

* '''Combi-Weapon''': Relatively cheap and overall solid choice. Deep Striking 3 man Termicide squads with 3 Combi-Plasmas/Meltas can be a great diversionary tactic.

* '''Power Weapon''': Because dual-wielding Power weapons makes you look cool. Not much else besides unless you really care about being able to shoot things and ''Overwatch''.

* '''Lightning Claw''': You want a lightning claw? If you do, take either another one or a power fist for your other hand. That way you don't have to strike at I1 with the fist if it is too risky, plus you pair Specialist weapons for an extra attack.

* '''Power Fist''': It's a power fist. If you want to, take a second fist for your other hand so you can live out your boxing match fantasies with [[Marneus Calgar|Marneus Calgar]]. If not, make sure to take a claw with your fist.

* '''Chain Fist''' It's a power fist that wrecks vehicles even harder. Take it if you like [[Khorne|chainsaws]] and [[Slaanesh|fisting things]]. Also a Specialist weapon so grab a lighting claw for your other hand.

===Special Issue Wargear===
These are for any of the units who say they can take wargear from this list. Usually just Chaos Lords and Sorcerers.

* '''Jump Packs''': Makes you jump Infantry. Group your Chaos Lord or Sorcerer with some Raptors and let him follow his dreams.

* '''Blight Grenades''': Diseased heads that counts as both assault and defensive grenades, they have lost the 8" Stealth rule but now they can cause Blind if the Roll to Hit succeeds! Between these and Fearless, Nurglite Chaos Lords are excellent for leading units of lesser troops. Plague Marines get these by default!

* '''Melta Bombs''': Melta Bombs, good for exploding things made of metal or flesh.

* '''Sigil of Corruption''': A 4++ save. This can be further improved with Mark Of Tzeentch to give a model a 3++ save, since we don't get Storm Shields. Dark Apostles get these as part of their starting wargear.

* '''Chaos Bike''': It's a bike. It comes with a twin-linked bolter. It gives you all those bike special rules like Jink. Make your Chaos Lord [[Doomrider]] or something. Arguably, the TL bolter you get with the bike counts as a weapon, so you can exchange it for something flashier (such as the Burning Brand). Just remember that you need to WYSIWYG it so you don't get punched in the face.

===Marks of Chaos===
Marks of Chaos have changed in the new codex and give everyone the same bonuses, with the added change of giving access to the corresponding god's psychic powers; their cost will also vary depending on said model/unit. Marks will also color a unit's access to some wargear.

* '''[[Khorne]]:''' Bestows Rage and Counter-Attack. Daemon Princes of Khorne gain Furious Charge and Hatred (Slaanesh). Being the cheapest Mark (at least for most units), it's probably one of the least useful, because it only lasts on the charge and then you lose the bonuses in all subsequent rounds. It's somewhat powerful for the first round if you get the charge, and can help if you fuck up your positioning and get charged yourself. This is especially true of a mob of Cultists, who can get an absolutely rapetastic amount of attacks with this baby even if they get charged, instead of drowning some unlucky sod under piles of dead chaos-worshiping corpses come the assault phase. Not as good on actual space marines. Decent for units with power weapons such as Terminators, as an extra attack at S4 AP3 is vastly superior to one at S4 Ap-.

* '''[[Nurgle]]:''' Bestows +1T and forces psykers to roll on Nurgle powers. Daemon Princes of Nurgle gain Shrouded, Slow and Purposeful and Hatred (Tzeentch). This is quite nice for most units, giving you a bit more protection from small-arms fire and largely eliminates the chance of Instant Death for multi-wound models (oblits & mutilators), and while it doesn't directly make your dudes as killy as the Mark of Khorne, it often negates some of the casualties they may have taken while footslogging accross the field and catching overwatch bolter fire.

* '''[[Slaanesh]]:''' Bestows +1I and forces psykers to roll on Slaanesh powers. Daemon Princes of Slaneesh gain Fleet, Rending (only useful against vehicles, since they're already AP2 thanks to Smash), +3 inches to every run move, and Hatred (Khorne). Although +1I doesn't seem that great, it means that you'll be hitting before the Loyalist scum and thus won't take as many wounds back. Units Marked with Slaanesh now also grant Eldar the USR Hatred (Slaanesh), while at the same time forcing them to suffer a -1Ld penalty against Fear. Now, I know what you're saying, "But unless your Slaaneshi unit is composed of Daemons OR Raptors, they don't have Fear so Eldar wouldn't suffer from -1Ld fear penalty". That's why Telepathy exists. Both Chaos Marine Sorcs AND Slaanesh Daemons with access to psychic powers can roll on Telepathy. Get a 3 and all of a sudden your ENTIRE ARMY scares the panzy little space elfs. The nerf to Runes of Warding means that they can stall you for a turn, but in the end they'll just have to sit back and [[Rape|let it happen]].

*'''[[Tzeentch]]:''' This Mark is largely inadequate, for a few reasons. Firstly, it's usually at the upper end of price of all Marks. The only benefit is +1 to invulnerable save (which means a 6++ if the model doesn't already have one). Oh, and ''forced'' access to Tzeentch's Discipline, which is a mixed blessing at best. Importantly, giving this Mark to a Sorcerer does not upgrade his mastery level or let him take more psychic powers, so Mastery Level 1 Sorcerers are gonna be stuck with whatever power they rolled on Tzeentch's discipline - and the fact that the Tzeentch primaris is utter shyte does not aleviate matters. Now, the bonus to invulnerable save CAN certainly be nice IF you already have Terminator armour or a Sigil of Corruption, because it DOES stack with both of them, making Terminators, Obliterators and certain Lords more likely to not die when they are inevitably hit with plasma/grav/D weapons. Daemon Princes of Tzeentch have it slightly better, as they re-roll saves of 1 and gain Hatred (Nurgle), which is a fairly nice benefit (especially with the Traitor Legions artifacts they can now gain access to, for more information see Night Lords), but again, if he's gonna be a psyker, you're gonna have to take at least one Tzeentch power.

===Icons of Chaos===
Icons are now issued to an individual model in a unit, and provide the whole squad with specific benefits. As it's a flat cost per unit, icons are more points-efficient the more models there are in said unit. Note that squads with a specific mark are limited to taking icons respective to their mark. Also note that ALL icons also add an additional 1 to assault results.

*'''Icon of Wrath:''' Limited to units with the Mark of Khorne, this Icon grants Furious Charge and allows the unit to re-roll charge distances. This makes the unit, essentially, a squad of mini-'Zerkers. If you're going to spend the points to give them the Mark of Khorne, you might as well go all the way and give them the Icon as well, especially since re-rolling charge distances is such great utility.

*'''Icon of Flame:''' This Icon is limited to units with the Mark of Tzeentch, not that it matters, because you won't take it, because it gives Soulblaze to bolt weapons (and ''only'' bolt weapons) in the unit, and Soulblaze almost always sucks.

*'''Icon of Despair:''' This Icon is only for units with the Mark of Nurgle, but again, it doesn't really matter, since it bestows Fear, which, in a game dominated by Space Marines who ''Know No Fear'', isn't useful. If you ''know'' you're going up against an army like Imperial Guard that has low Leadership across the board, it ''might'' be worth it, but even then, Fear is still less than useful especially when you can run your guys as Crimson Slaughter and use the points on more useful upgrades.

*''' Icon of Excess:''' Finally, an Icon that's unequivocally good! The Icon of Excess is only for units with the Mark of Slaanesh, which is a shame, since it grants Feel No Pain, thereby making units with the Icon nearly impossible to crack without a sustained effort. It's especially nice with Havocs and Noise Marines. However, beware of going ''too'' crazy with them (although that ''is'' the Slaaneshi way...), as it's by far the most expensive of the Icons.
** Emperor's Children are going to want to pile on as many of these as you can stomach paying for. The FNP becomes a 4+ instead of a 5+, even outside of a Rapture Battalion, and a unit-wide coin flip is always a nice buffer for the wounds that get past your normal saves.

*'''Icon of Vengeance:''' This last Icon doesn't have a Mark requirement, as it's generically Long War-themed. It grants Fearless, and that is a very, very good thing, as it compensates for the Chaos Marine lack of And They Shall Know No Fear, and it's economical on squads with more than 10 models (which is what Chaos excels at, after all).

===Chaos Rewards===
Chaos rewards are god-specific steeds, buffs and gimmicks. Reserved for certain models such as Chaos Lords and Sorcerers, whose entries specifically state what they can take from this list:

* '''Ichor Blood''': Any time the model with this fails to save a wound, the unit who inflicted the wound takes a S3 AP4 hit. Marginally useful against anything with T3 and shitty armour saves (if you remember that you bought this unuseful upgrade), but ultimately stupid. Phil Kelly apparently forgot he wasn't writing the Tyranid codex.
**Alternate Take: If using a Slaaneshi character, if successful in rolling for FNP, you still get the hits from the blood; RAW the wound is unsaved, but discounted by FNP. If you have the 5 points to spare, and are running the Emperor's Children (see below), this might be worth it for a fluffy character.

* '''Gift of Mutation''': A free roll on the Boon Table before the game starts for 10 points. Ignore Prince and Spawn rolls. Not too bad, but can end up being a point sink that gives nothing in return. Would have been marginally better in a Chaos Warband, due to "buy one get one free" - except the Favored Sons rule quite explicitly only applies when killing enemy characters.

* '''Aura of Dark Glory''': A cheap 5++ save. Although nice, it's overshadowed by the Sigil of Corruption in Special Issue Wargear, which is slightly more expensive but gives you a 4++ save. However, it is recommended for the Warpsmith, who can't take Special Issue Wargear.
**<b>Note:</b> Thousand Sons come with this standard, combined with the Mark of Tzeentch to give them a crunch-explained 4++ save.
** In a Thousand Sons army where you're going for Blessing of Tzeentch every round this lets you save 10 points per character (as your MoT caps at 3++ anyway). Given that it's rare for your characters (including unit sergeants) to not be Psykers in the first place, rely on Blessing and save the points.

* '''Combat Familiar''': A little Daemon munchkin who fights with his master. Counts as being on the same base as the model it was bought for. Adds two S4 AP- attacks in Assault. Whoop-de-doo - looks like Phillipus forgot he was writing CSM and not Orks. Pass.

* '''Spell Familiar''': Lets you flat-out reroll failed Psychic tests. At 15 points, this is an auto-take for your Sorcerers. Curiously enough, any HQ can take this, though it would only matter if you're fooling around with Daemon Princes or the Scrolls of Magnus.

Then we have our Steeds. As before, the only models who can take a steed are Lords or Sorcerers without Terminator Armor. These really should have had their own separate section in the armoury...

* '''Juggernaut of Khorne''': Excellent choice if you don't want your head honcho to be a Terminator Lord. The Juggernaut gives +1T, +1 Wound, and +1 Attack AND the model becomes cavalry. Give the Lord any of those new crazy new daemon weapons and bring glorious slaughter to your enemies in the name of Khorne.

* '''Disc of Tzeentch''': Basically a Jetbike that grants your HQ an extra melee attack. At 10 points more than a regular Bike, and lacking the twin-linked Bolters they normally get, you better have a good reason to use this. The real issue with the Disc of Tzeentch is there really isn't a good unit to join a character to, that it can fully take advantage of the extra Jetbike rules. You "could" make the case for using the Disc for a "Gunship" Sorcerer but Daemon Allies do that better.

* '''Palanquin of Nurgle''': +2 Wounds, +1 attack and you become Very Bulky. The problem with this upgrade is that your character does not gain any movement bonuses from it, and it requires the Mark of Nurgle, effectively making this combo a 60-point investment base. There are a few edge-cases to argue for taking this mount though; the first one is if you're trying to build a deathstar (why?) with Chaos, as a Lord with this and some source of Eternal Warrior would be admittedly tough to kill. The second case would be if you want to experiment with Daemonology; since Perils of the Warp has a 66% chance of outright wounding a Psyker with no defense whatsoever, and so doubling the wounds of your Sorcerer is one potential workaround.

* '''Steed of Slaanesh''': More special rules than the rest of the steeds. This one gives you +1 attack & Acute Senses, lets you move an extra 3", you become Cavalry and you and the unit you join gain Outflank. If you're running an infantry-heavy Chaos build, and were planning to take a Sorcerer anyway, this may be useful for a late-game Objective grab.

===Artefacts of Chaos===
This is where you find your Daemon weapons and other cool Chaos-y stuff. You're only allowed one of each per army. The Axe of Blind Fury and Black Mace are Daemon weapons, which just like before, add +D6 attacks, but a roll of 1 automatically wounds the model with no armor or cover saves (although you can still take Invulnerable saves) and reduces him to WS1 for one fighting sub-phase. Note that these weapons are not restricted to just Chaos Lords - any model that can take wargear from the Artefacts of Chaos list has access. Also keep in mind that a model who ascends to Daemonhood loses all wargear and rules, so if you take one of these and ascend during the game you don't get to keep your toy.

Among your chief weapons are:

* '''The Murder Sword''': Take a Power Sword. Make it cost twice as much, and make it cost an extra 5 on top of that. In exchange, you get to nominate **one** enemy character, and while you're in base-to-base contact with that character (presumably due to a Challenge), it becomes double-strength, AP 1, and causes Instant Death. The problem with this one is simple: It requires too many variables to go off for it to work as planned, the really powerful characters out there tend to have some form of Eternal Warrior, and for 5 points more, you can run the "Power Fist/Lightning Claw" combo, granting your Champion far more versatility and more deadliness against a far wider variety of targets.
* '''The Black Mace''': The Black Mace is a Daemon Weapon with Fleshbane, AP4, and a nifty special rule: '''Cursed:''' When it causes an unsaved wound, the model who took it must immediately make a Toughness test (6s automatically fail) or be Removed From Play. No ifs, ands, or buts. Not only that, at the end of any phase where the weapon has caused at least one wound, all non-vehicle enemy models nearby the Mace must also take a Toughness Test or take a wound with no saves of any kind allowed. If you're looking for a monster-killer, or a way to mulch through tarpits, this is up there, and if you can get Enfeeble (or run a Prince with Grotti The Nurgling) nearby, this thing goes from "scary" to having the effect of a localized black hole...assuming the Prince survives any retaliatory attacks that is. Alas, it does not benefit from Vector Strike.
* '''Axe of Blind Fury''': Reserved for those with Mark of Khorne. Adds +2 Strength at AP2 and gives the Rage USR (even though Mark of Khorne already gave you Rage, Daemon Princes of Khorne will benefit from it). Really nice, but it lowers your WS and BS by 1 which is a bit of a bummer. Still, A Chaos Lord or Apostle with this can go nuts. Thanks to the latest FAQ, Daemon Princes of Khorne can take the Axe of Blind Fury.
* '''Burning Brand of Skalathrax''': This is the very Flamer that Kharn himself used to fragment the World Eaters from a unified force to numerous fragmented warbands in the Skalathrax Incident. It's basically an AP 3 Torrent flamer with Soul Blaze. The Soul Blaze is mediocre, but Torrent and AP 3 take this artifact over the top. A really nice artifact. Whether you use it for a Daemon Prince to act as a pseudo-Heldrake (Vector Strike an enemy, burn another enemy), you use it to make a "tax HQ" more dangerous (if you just want to pop a Lord in a Rhino, this is a good way to make him a contributing fighter), or you want to toss it in a Terminator Annihilation Force so you can "double-tap" it on the way down, this is a really nice artifact for its cost. {{40k-Ranged-Weapon-Profile|range=Torrent|strength=4|ap=3|type=Assault|rof=1|rules=Soul Blaze, Template, Torrent|align=center}}
* '''Scrolls of Magnus''': Big scroll of spells reserved for the mortal followers of Tzeentch (alas, a Prince cannot take it), so [[Meme|put on your robe and wizard hat]]. At the start of every turn, your character may elect to take a S3 AP 1 hit to roll for a random power; you roll one die to see which discipline you roll on (Pyromancy, Biomancy, Telepathy, Tzeentch, Telekinesis, or Divination), and you roll another die to see what power you actually get. If the bearer of the Scrolls of Magnus was not already a Psyker when generating a power, the character becomes an ML 1 Psyker, so you can have a [[Awesome|spell-slinging fighting Lord]]. If you roll a power you already have, reroll.
**'''The Bad:''' Cool though it may seem, this actually has some pretty big downsides. The first is the point cost. For the cost of taking the Mark of Tzeentch and the Scroll of Magnus on a model, you could buy another Sorcerer altogether! You can't take Primaris powers, though if you roll for only one non-Tzeentchian Power, then you'll have it from Psychic Focus (''sigh'', and the Chaos Psychic Focus for Tzeentch, not that anyone cares for it); admittedly, Biomancy's Smite can be nice when your Lord is BS 5, and Psychic Shriek/Prescience never go unwelcome. The whole process is totally random: you won't necessarily get a spell that's useful to you, but you won't know until after you take the hit. Which brings us to the really big downside: every time you roll on the table, '''including re-rolls''', the model takes a S3 AP1 hit. Plus even if you know a lot of different powers, you'll only be able to cast one per turn anyway due to your limited Mastery Level.
**'''So Why Take This''' - If you want to add "another Psyker" to any formation with a mandatory Chaos HQ, this gives you another option. While you can run a Cabal if you want multiple Sorcerers or use Daemon allies, this lets a formation's Dark Apostle "do something" besides provide passive auras, while a Disc Lord of Tzeentch is pricey but effectively a mini-monster in his own right. If you're running the Mark of Tzeentch anyway (to turn a Sigil of Corruption into a "Hands-free" Stormshield, or for tougher Terminator armor), you can justify 25 of the points for the Scroll as "an extra Warp Charge", with 20 points accounting for the luxury of an unorthodox Psyker vector, and the ability to learn multiple powers throughout the game. Note that if you give this to a Disc Lord, his T5 and (likely) 3++ make taking a wound from the power generation quite unlikely.
* '''Dimensional Key''': The Dimensional Key activates after its holder kills a model in close combat. From that point onward, any enemy model that starts any phase within 12" of the holder treats all Terrain as both Difficult and Dangerous terrain for the duration of that phase. On top of that, all friendly Codex: Chaos Space Marine units that Deep Strike (anywhere, not just within 12" of the bearer) don't scatter for the rest of the game.
**''Analysis:'' A cute item with a flawed implementation. The problem with it is that unless you're fighting an army that wants to assault you, or one is extremely lucky, you can expect to reach Assault by turn 2 at the earliest. This wouldn't seem too bad, until one remembers that reserves start to arrive at the beginning of turn 2 on a 3+. This means that generally, 2/3rds of your reserves will have already arrived by the time you activate it. Those remaining units will certainly arrive safely, but it's difficult to justify 25 points on a wargear option that affects, in the vast majority of cases, two units at best, chosen randomly.
***'''NOTE:''' With traitor Legions, turn 1 assaults are now quite viable between the World Eaters bonus move/talisman and/or a Black Legion Raptor talon assaulting from deepstrike turn 1.
**''Making the Key Work:'' Let's suppose you do have your heart set on trying this toy out and aren't playing the Black Legion. How do you make the most out of it despite its flawed design? One possibility is to consider the Deep Strike a "nice-to-have" bonus rather than integral to your battleplans. To a certain extent, the Key lets your unit march into the open, and delay "countercharges" to some degree. A -2 to charge distance can make the difference between your opponent getting the charge or just standing there in the open waiting to be charged. If you really want to get that Deep Strike Bonus, Soulswitch or Worldwrithe both give you the option for Turn 1 assaults, should you roll it; the problem remains relying on excessive luck on generating Psychic Powers. Should you be running fortifications anyway, the Comms Relay lets you reroll reserves, both failed and successful, should you '''really''' wish to play with your guys off-table for more turns than normal. One final edge-case is that the rules as written state "units that arrive from Deep Strike" and Gate of Infinity also states you "arrive by Deep Strike." Chaos lacks Hit and Run or other ways to truly disengage, but this "could" give you the edge if you were trying to create an Obliterator analogue of the more infamous Centstar...one without Grav, mind you.
**''In apocalypse:'' When you have the ability to choose when your reserves come in, this really gains some traction.

'''Overall:''' The core Chaos Relics are generally focused on hitting your opponent harder. You'll notice no defensive wargear in here. Of them, the Axe of Blind Fury and the Black Mace are both dangerously powerful (the latter more so on a Daemon Prince or a Sorcerer that rolls Iron Arm), and the Burning Brand is "boring-yet-practical" at what it does. The Murdersword is too situational and expensive to take advantage of, and the Dimensional Key would be awesome if it was easier to trigger, but is relegated to the realm of "gimmick" otherwise. The Scrolls of Magnus are an expensive gimmick but "can" be used if you want to turn a mandatory HQ into a "backup caster".

===Vehicle Equipment===
Huh. Looks like everybody else forgot these existed. In any case, there's some pretty interesting stuff in here worth a look.

* '''Combi-Bolter''': No, seriously, I promise, there's interesting stuff in here. The vehicle combi-bolter is the same as the one in the Ranged Weapons section, giving you a little bit more fire. Not super-useful, but it's only five points. It also protects your actual guns from "weapon destroyed" results since now it is randomly rolled instead of chosen by the opponent - so if your big spiky Vindicator gets [[anal circumference|penetrated]] you have a 4+ save against Demolisher cannon removal for only 5 pts.
* '''Dirge Caster''': Funny, if nothing else. Enemy units within 6" can't Overwatch. This can be usable in some cases (Land Raiders, Helbrutes, and Maulerfiends), but you can mitigate Overwatch without having to explicitly shut down your opponent's movement. There are some fringe cases where it can be useful (shutting down Supporting Fire or "Wall of Death", or "Reckless Abandon" if you're fighting a Corsair player), but you *are* driving your vehicles point-blank so be prepared!
* '''Dozer Blade''': The Dozer Blade lets you reroll failed Dangerous Terrain tests, changing the odds of your vehicle becoming immobile battlefield terrain from 1/6 to 1/36, and makes your Rhinos deadlier when ramming stuff. For such a cheap price, it's worth taking if you find yourself driving through terrain on a regular basis. Since you don't get Drop Pods, and want your Marines to get from Point A to Point B, consider this a near auto-take for your Rhinos.
* '''Warpflame Gargoyles''': Soul Blaze. Pass.
* '''Combi-weapons''': You can take a combi-flamer, -melta, or -plasma. Well, you <i>can</i>, but it probably won't be all that useful.
** '''Second Opinion:''' Actually, one of the things that keeps Sisters competitive is Melta weapons on cheap, plentiful transports, so combi-meltas on Rhinos might be worth it. Sure, we don't get multi-meltas, but we also get more than 15 options and plastic models, so it's a trade off.
* '''Extra Armour''': Vehicles with this count Crew Stunned as Crew Shaken when rolling on the Vehicle Damage table. Useful for a Land Raider (which itself is arguably not that useful), but for most other units, they'll die from HP depletion before this effect takes place, or they're effectively useless if Shaken anyway.
* '''Havoc Launcher''': One of our more unique pieces of equipment, this is basically a frag missile launcher with 1 better S and AP. It's also twin-linked and only 12 points. It's very nice to stick on your Rhinos to add to fire power against GEQs. Putting it on other tanks can also help protect their more relevant guns. You too can rain fiery hell down upon your opponents!
* '''Destroyer Blades''': Tank Shocking troops is nice right? Why not add some blades that do d6 s5 hits? Oh, they're gonna Death or Glory? Well take 2d6 S5 hits fools. The only problem is the price; on regular Rhinos, it almost increases their cost by 50%, while not making them any harder to kill, while your heavier vehicles generally want to be sitting back and shooting stuff.
* '''Daemonic Possession''': Handy if your vehicle relies on blasts or templates to kill stuff. This means a Vindicator. Otherwise, it's mostly a pass: first off, it lowers your BS to 3, which is still okay, but not great. Secondly, on any transport vehicles, it has a chance of nomming a random member of a transported squad '''without any saves of any kind possible'''. On the other hand, it regains a Hull Point, which is nice. It can also ignore Shaken and Stunned results (although the riders don't). It might work, but there's always a chance it will up and kill a member of your expensive Terminator squad. On the other hand, Cultists becoming hull point sacrifices is somewhat of a possibility.
* '''Malefic Ammo''' (Forge World): Only available to Infernal Relic vehicles, it grants Rending for Heavy Bolters, unless otherwise specified. It is, however, ludicrously expensive on the vast majority of models (30 pts on a relic pred, 40 on a sicaran!). Generally not worth your time, unfortunately.

====Legacies of Ruin (Forge World)====
A special purchase, this gives one vehicle per thousand points some special properties to indicate that it took part in either a special battle or has some one-of-a-kind customization done to it. Daemon Engines and Vehicles with Daemonic Possession/Daemonic Resilience can't grab it, which is a bloody shame, cause most of those would have been hilarious on a mauler or defiler. As it is, most of them are situational at best, and the others are downright unusable. Each legacy can only be purchased once per army, and several of them come with certain different prices based on whether or not it's a tank or a walker or if it's superheavy.

*'''Veteran of the Scouring''': Tanks grab IWND and Preferred Enemy (Marines). Walkers grab IWND and Hatred (Marines). Both are pretty neat, though tanks grab the better bit. Quite good on Titans, as it basically give your Titan the Titan of Nurgle bonus, for cheaper, and leaves you free to snag one of the other upgrades.
*'''War Within the Eye''': They all get AW and Preferred Enemy (Chaos Marines). Pretty cheap and a decent way to deny some targeted witchfires.
*'''Maelstrom Raider''': All vehicles gain Outflank and Fear. It does sound pretty cool to outflank that Predator and make some surprising smashes or give some Land Raider a safer way to deliver its murderous payload.
*'''Death of Kasyr Lutien''': Gives vehicles Fear. In addition, if a is within 12" and using casting a Malefic power, they can re-roll one d6 per hull left on the vehicle. However, if the test still fails, the vehicle has to take a pen. For the point-cost, this is an incredible benefit if you're taking Daemon allies.
*'''Blood of Mackan''': Tanks gain Preferred Enemy (Blood Angels) and ignores all defense lines and barricades. In addition, if the tank gains Destroyer Blades, the damage it deals after tank shock and death-or-glory will have an AP equal to its current HP. Makes them a very vicious suicide unit.
*'''Siege of Vraks''': Enables a vehicle to ignore damage from Dangerous Terrain on a 4+ and can re-roll to-hit on targets in defense lines. Pretty cheap, so it's worth a grab against some Aegis-exploiting Tau or Guardsmen.
*'''Fourth Quadrant Rebellion''': Supports Cultists within 12" by giving them Fearless and gains a 4++ invul when it has 1 HP left. Fearless Cultists sounds nice, but you can just use the Helcult formation for cheaper.
*'''Badab Uprising''': Tanks and superheavies gain Fear and Preferred Enemy (Marines) while non-SH Walkers gain Rage and Hatred (Chaos Marines). Walkers tend to benefit off it more.
*'''Scourge of the Greenskin''': Tanks get +d6" movement for Tank Shocks and get Preferred Enemy (Orks). It's definitely going to need some scrapers to clean off the copious amounts of Ork stuck in the treads.
*'''Last of the Forge''': The transport gains Preferred Enemy (Nids) and can ignore Stunned/Shaken on a 4+ while the troops inside get Hatred (Nids). It's a pretty decent way to keep it moving even without Nids as an enemy, but that's it.
*'''Screams of [[Craftworld|Lugganath]]''': Grants vehicles Fear against Eldar (Very flimsy), but the awesome part is the boosting of Dirge Casters to 12" range. That's a save for anything that's gotta get in deep.
*'''Perdus Rift Anomaly''': Gives the vehicle Preferred Enemy (Tau), but also gives you a re-roll for the seize/forces the other guy to re-roll the seize. The PE bonus versus Tau is cute, but the extra shot at Seize the Initiative or the insurance against it can help win a game by itself. If you're using Legacies, this is a really good one.
*'''First War of Armageddon''': Gives Fear against IG and improves Daemon Saves for Khorne Daemons by +1, which makes them a whole lot more survivable.
*'''All of the following legacies also give Daemonic Possession and Fear:'''
**'''[[Khorne|Vessel of Akashneth of the Boiling brass:]]''' Every unit with an Icon of Wrath within 12" gets +d3 to combat resolution.
**'''[[Slaanesh|Vessel of Shyak the seeker:]]''' Every unit with an Icon of Excess within 12" rolls an additional d6 for LD and takes the lowest 2.
**'''[[Just_as_planned|Vessel of Tzenahk the Occluder:]]''' Roll a d6 at the start of the game; on a 1 the enemy gains +1 VP if it's destroyed, 2+ grants +d3 VP to you if it survives.
**'''[[Nurgle|Vessel of Dhornurgh the reborn:]]''' Every unit with an Icon of Despair within 12" gains Gets Hot! and Rending in Close Combat only. Best suited for Plague Marines who already have Plague Knives, and their armor and Feel No Pain can compensate for Gets Hot!
**'''[[Chaos_Undivided|Vessel of Auloth the Primordial Iterator:]]''' Every unit with an Icon of Wrath (read below) within 12" gains Fear and Feel no Pain. It's hella pricy, but these are some pretty nice upgrades. This one also happens to give the vehicle pinning on all of it's weapons. Slap it on a fire raptor and pin the world.
***IMPORTANT NOTE: Though it is officially written as applying to Icons of Wrath, it is actually Icon of Vengeance. Forge World has confirmed via email that it was a typo.

==Psychic Powers==
Marked sorcerers and DP's can and actually MUST take some god-specific powers. Do note, that unless your Psyker is in a Legion Detachment, you cannot roll more than half of the powers from god's chart, so no all-Tzeentch dakka chart for your Arhiman or all-Slaanesh rape chart for level 3 [[Snowflame|cocaine sorcerer]]. On the bright side you get a free Primaris from your god discipline, despite generating some powers from other disciplines. You still have to generate a power or two from your god's table though, so you lose access to the Focus of another discipline. Traitor Legions updates these god-specific Lores to have 6 powers plus primaris instead of 3 plus primaris, and adds rules for Ectomancy, Geomortis, Heretech and Sinistrum; you can find the rules for these latter 4 in Traitor's Hate, but as usual, Legions gives so much more for your buck.

===Tzeentch===
*'''Primaris: Tzeentch's Firestorm:''' The problem with this Primaris is that it's too random for its own good. As a small blast, it remains an inaccurate weapon, while its randomized strength means it only takes one bad roll for this bad-boy to end up [[Fail|wounding Guardsmen on 5+]]. There's some cutesy special rule where each model killed by this attack inflicts D3 lasgun hits on the unit...but the odds of that mattering are near-nil. That said, it is somewhat decent for spending your last warp charge or two. Bit of luck, this might burn a big swathe through a blob unit.
*'''1: Boon of Mutation:''' This power is also pretty bad. A character within 2" of the caster (read: most likely in the same unit, or the Psyker himself) takes a S4, AP- hit, and, if he survives, he gets a roll on the Chaos Boon table. When doing so, he re-rolls Dark Apotheosis, but ''not'' Spaw-- er, gribbly-tentacle-thing-dom. Granted, sometimes it's worth getting a fleshy thing-that-must-not-be-named; a Combi-Melta Champion that has already fired would be a notable example. If you're running the Chaos Warband with Favored Scions, this "could" be a usable power if cast early-on because you now have the potential to "double-buff" target characters or negate unintentional transformations, but you generally want to focus more on higher-priority powers. Even moreso than with normal powers, you will want your Psyker to be able to have a good "move instead of fire" ability, be it Turbo or Swooping.
**'''Silly Observation:''' Boon of Mutation can target *any* friendly character. Even those without Champion of Chaos. Although you are Battle Brothers only with Daemons (and Renegades & Heretics if playing Forgeworld), this does allow for silly rules-breaking quandaries like Bloodthirsters with 2+ rerollable armor. Are you feeling lucky, punk? Be careful with this though. You could potentially have a lot of psykers pouring all their warp-charges into buffing a Daemon into some nigh-unkillable fuck, but one unlucky roll and you can have all your luck reversed if he's turned into that which shall not be named.
**'''Silly Observation part 2:''' In the last Black Crusade Campaign Book, the Helforged Warpack allows one of your warmachines to become a character-type unit with a 4++, thus allowing you to stab him in the back for a sweet upgrade. Why would you want to make a Maulerfiend/Forgefiend/Helbrute/Defiler more killy than they already are ? I don't know ! But who knows, you might end up with an 3++ invul on your Helbrute or Instant Death on your Forgefiend. Again, "Are you feeling lucky" ?
**'''MathHammer:''' One Str 4, AP nothing hit will wound (and be unsaved by) a lowly chaos Champion 1/6th of the time. 1/12th if a Terminator, Biker, or rocking the Mark of Nurgle, 1/18th if you've got T5, 2+ (Nurgle-termie) or T 6 3+ (Nurgle Bike). How useful are the boons? Well, you have a 1/6 chance of getting nothing. However, a solid 2/3rds (minimum) of the table are helpful. Absolute worst case, 1/6 chance to die, 2/3 chance to improve? Sounds like the odds aren't that bad. I'm just saying this isn't NEARLY as bad as some people want to make it out to be.
*'''2: DOOMBOLT:''' DOOMBOLT. If you are rolling for Tzeentchian Powers, Doombolt is the power you want. Simply put, it's an 18" S8, AP1, Beam that makes vehicle explosions even explodier. It has good range, and unlike comparable powers, you only need one Warp Charge for it to succeed. Yes, DOOMBOLT is awesome, and yes, you do most definitely want it.
*'''3: Siphon Magic:''' WC1 Blessing on the Psyker. Finally a Tzeentch power rewarding psyker lists! For the remainder of that Psychic Phase, every time a friendly Psyker manifests a psychic power within 18", the caster of Siphon Magic gets an extra die; the Psyker in question may spend those dice as bonus Warp Charge. Bring horrors and laugh. This power's utility basically depends on the caster's mastery level. For a sorcerer with a high mastery level, it is a huge benefit, being able to cast multiple other pricier powers while letting the other psykers in the army also use theirs. However, for a sorcerer with only ML1, [[Derp|it is completely and utterly useless, as they only get to cast one power per psychic phase anyway, including this one]]: the Grand Coven army list prevents this, but even then, the only powers left to a ML1 Tzeentch sorcerer who rolled this are the primaris power and Force; the Primaris is not particularly good, and if you really want your Sorcerer to cast Force to trigger '''Blessing of Tzeentch''', chances are you will do that first rather than burning Warp Charge on this power instead!
**'''Jury is Out:''' Due to amusing RAW, it ''may'' be possible to use this power to store dice over multiple turns. This is based on the fact that while the Psyker can spend the dice as "bonus Warp Charge" they're not technically Warp Charge, and the blessing's only effect is to allow you to accrue such dice in the first place. Discuss this with your opponents beforehand, but in practice this shouldn't be a gamebreaker, especially if you end up rolling this power for a ML 1 Aspiring Sorcerer who would otherwise have no reason to ever attempt to manifest this power.
*** It is very unlikely that extra charges can be "saved for later", since most blessings last until your next Psychic phase and there is no reason why this one is different.
**** You would be able to use them to Deny stuff in the opponent's turn, though...
****The above argument about durations is incorrect; there are ''many'' blessings and maledictions with effects that linger past the caster's next Psychic phase; to pick an obvious example, Gate of Infinity does not demand that you move the unit back when the power ends, and Hallucination can cause Wounds, which of course do not heal when the power ends. The power is definitely necessary to collect the dice, so when your next Psychic Phase begins it wears off and you can't collect more until you get the power back, but the original argument stands: that the collected dice are permanent, like inflicted wounds are, and neither storing the dice nor spending the dice depends on the power being "up", since neither relevant rules sentence mentions it.
*'''4: Breath of Chaos:''' This power costs 2 Warp Charges, and is a 4+ Poisoned AP2 flamethrower that glances vehicles on a 4+. This is a nice one to have, but it's not DOOMBOLT. What kills this one is the cost. It is actually very powerful, able to turn a unit of TEQs into sludge, but since Doombolt only costs half as much...
*'''5: Baleful Devolution:''' WC2, S6 AP2 Assault D6 focused witchfire. On a 6 it causes Instant Death and turns removed models into a Chaos SpaBLAGRHBASDFAHhh. Despite it being a Focused Witchfire, this power is probably better for sniping Monstrous Creatures, especially those without Invulnerable Saves. Every 6 shaves off an extra D3 wounds from a Wraithknight while denying Feel No Pain, or outright turns a Tyranid MC into...one of those things. To a lesser degree, S6 is S6 and you "could" use this power to strip some HP off, though rolling on Heretech will be a better deal if you want to do that. The high base WC cost means using it to intentionally snipe enemy models from squads suffers from the same issues the Maleceptor has! Normally, Psychic Shriek is a better "all-around" power to have, though this power does at least have some other uses.
**The word "models" is used instead of "model" in the power description, which means yes, if you manage to roll a bunch of 6's while hitting an infantry squad you will end up with a LOT of...those things.
*'''6: Treason of Tzeentch:''' WC3 24" Malediction. Immediately make a shooting attack with the unit as if it's a friendly unit. They don't count as having moved, and must test Pinning afterward. Time for mind control battles with GSC, HELL YEAH! Note, while this power costs one more WC than the equivalent GSC power Mind Control, this one can affect an entire unit rather than just a single model; see that unit of Grav-Cannon Devastators? You know you want to shoot with them...
*'''Gaze of Magnus:''' No model can generate it but it's in this discipline for some reason anyway and only Magnus knows it. 18" Destroyer beam with AP1 and Soul Blaze. You can pop TEQ formations, whole squadrons and Tyranid MC herds. The downside? It is Warp Charge 5 power... but this is discounted since Magnus harnesses WC on 2+. You will want to spend about 10 dice or more but only if you are very, very, VERY afraid that someone will deny it (GK Librarian with Nemesis ward stave says [[Meme|"Hey, what's going on?"]]) or if you couldn't deny Psychic Scourge (but this won't happen since MagiMagnus denies on 3+). The Destroyer table is still random yet, and you may take 1 or 2 HP off from half of hit Land Raiders and the rest will be still unharmed but Magnus has a set of cheaper anti-tank powers to fix this or use instead, and you may ally with Kairos to turn miserable 1s to unstoppable 6s.

'''Summary''': Originally the worst god-specific discipline, it still remains debatable if it was upgraded. On one hand, the lore has two awesome powers in Doombolt and Treason of Tzeentch, and Baleful Devolution can be <s>funny if nothing else</s> a wonderful MC killer. On the other hand, there's the rest of the Discipline. Tzeentch's Firestorm remains <s>one of the</s> THE worst Primaris Powers in the game, Gift of Mutation is generally not worth casting, and Siphon Magic is never worth casting on an ML1 Sorcerer without some debatable reading into the RAW. This leaves a ML1 sorcerer with a 1 in 3 chance of rolling a useless power, a 1 in 3 chance of rolling a situationally usable power, and a 1 in 3 chance of rolling a good one. For a higher-level sorcerer, this becomes a 1 in 2 chance for a good power since Siphon Magic would actually work then, or a 2 in 3 with the movement to use Breath of Chaos. More than anything, this Lore is for those that wish to field Magnus or Ahriman, where their higher Mastery Levels (or auto-knowing powers in the case of Magnus) and improved mobility make them a lot scarier. A Daemon Prince can also make good use of this discipline, especially in any of the 3 Legions with access to a 2+ Armor Save relic...

===Nurgle===
*'''Primaris: Nurgle's Rot:''' Like with Tzeentch Primaris, it's full of random and FUN. Every enemy unit within 6", except Nurgle-aligned units, take D6+1 number of hits with 4+ poisoned and AP5. Depending on your rolls and number of nearby squads it could kill dozens of Guardsmen or Orks, or deal a single wound on space marine, which would be armor saved. Remember that if you're within range of just one enemy model from, say, 2 different squads, both of them are hit with that D6+1!
*'''1: Weapon Virus:''' Curse that adds "Gets Hot" to all weapons in targeted unit. Awesome on vehicles and flyers that have weapons that pour out a lot of shots. Guardsmen, Shoota Boyz, Cultist and Kroot blobs would hate your guts. MEQ's and TEQ's wouldn't even be bothered by this, however the one time they roll that 1 for their armour save...
**Consider casting this on enemy vehicles with blast weapons. Rolling a 1 stops blast/template weapons from firing. Also, knights armed with gatling guns will shit their oversized metallic pants.
*'''2: Fleshy Abundance:''' WC1 Blessing targeting a friendly model within 14". They immediately regain D3 wounds. Useful for regaining wounds lost to Perils. Also wonderful on a Daemon Prince leading a '''Favoured of Chaos''' formation, since he has a huge flashing neon arrow pointing at him. With a steady stream of this power, he can tank untold amounts of hurt.
*'''3: Blades of Putrifaction:''' WC1 Blessing. Close combat weapons gain Poisoned, and if they already have the poison rule they become Poisoned (2+).
**This power is amazing on a wide variety of units. Even Cultists with this power up can become a threat to enemy units, simply by drowning their opponent in weight of armor save, while higher-strength units can benefit from re-rolling to wound. You know what also increases strength? Curse of the leper. Sadly it does little versus Gargantuan Creatures and nothing versus vehicles.
***Not so fast! The aforementioned blob of Cultists with this power on can still wound GCs on 6+, which with their massive amount of bodies and thus attacks, could well be enough.
*'''4: Gift of Contagion:''' The longest range curse in the game with a whopping 48" range. Roll a d3; on a 1 the target gets -1 A and Shrouded, on a 2 -1 S and cannot run, on a 3 -1 S and T. Note that this power explicitly states that it can stack on itself, despite the normal rules for multiple Witchfires/Maledictions not stacking. Basically, all of these make the enemy unit worse in melee, so cast, then charge.
*'''5: Plague Wind:''' Double warp-charge poisoned AP2 spell, now in form of large blast, rather than flamer template. It could kill more things than Breath, but it can harmlessly scatter away, and even on one of your own squads (if not with the same Mark). The only real problem with it is that Daemons get it for one warp charge.
*'''6: Curse of the Leper:''' Unlike the other powers, Curse can either be cast as a Blessing or Malediction. If cast on a Friendly unit, they gain +1S and +1T; on an enemy, -1S and -1 T. Whether it's S5 T6 Obliterators, or lowering the Strength of a unit of Genestealer Hybrids before you charge them with a Walker, this is an incredibly flexible power. What makes it even scarier is that it can stack with Enfeeble or other Toughness-lowering effects. Ally in a Daemon Prince with Grotti the Nurgling for added hilarity, and you could conceivably one-shot said Riptide with a Lascannon!
'''Summary''': Originally merely "passable", Traitor Legions has arguably made this one of the best support disciplines in the game. With 2 Blessings, 2 Maledictions, and a power that function as either a Blessing or Malediction, you don't take Nurgle to blast your opponent to smithereens (though Plague Wind can do a respectable job softening up the opposition) so much as to selectively influence positional advantages in-game. Combined with the fact that the Mark of Nurgle also lets a Sorcerer take a Palanquin, and you can get a potent all-around caster for a surprisingly reasonable cost.

===Slaanesh===
*'''Primaris: Sensory Overload:''' This is a fairly non-random primaris with the ability to annoy if not outright cripple an enemy unit of choice each turn. By itself, it's a 24" S4, AP 4, Assault 4 shot, but with Blind, Concussive, and Pinning. At worst, you force a Blind Check on a single enemy unit of choice, since you only have to hit in order for it to go off. Against armies known for low Initiative (Orks and Necrons most notably), this can outright cripple a unit of choice, while the other effects require actually landing wounds for it to matter. Concussive would stack with the Blind Check if you somehow managed to wound a solo multi-wound model, while Pinning can annoy weaker squads. Really though, this is for the Blind Check.
*'''1: Hysterical Frenzy:''' This is a fairly random buff, with the potential to be either mediocre or outright scary. You select a friendly non-vehicle unit within 12", and roll a D3 to see what buff they receive. On a 1, the unit receives an extra point of Initiative. On a 2, an extra point of Strength and on a 3, an extra attack. Could be hilarious on a prince with the drug relic.
*'''2: Delightful Agonies:''' WC1 Blessing that targets a friendly unit within 12". Gives squad Feel No Pain (4+). Somewhat redundant in the Emperor's Children detachment, but great for any unit that can't take an Icon of Excess. Endurance on the Biomancy table is better, but you're more likely to roll this if you go all in on Slaanesh powers.
*'''3: Symphony of Pain:''' This is another fairly useful spell. it curses an enemy squad with -1 BS an WS, but ''also'' increases the strength of all sonic weapon hits against them by 1. The power is explicitly stated to be cumulative, so you could hypothetically further debuff the enemy and buff Noise Marines.
*'''4: Sonic Shockwave:''' WC1. S5 AP4 9" Nova Assault D6, pinning, ignores cover.
*'''5: Aural Onslaught:''' WC2 beam at S8 AP2 Assault 1, and before you roll to wound any enemy unit targeted must pass a Leadership test or if they fail you re-roll to wound.
*'''6: Apoplectic Glee:''' AKA "Ecstatic Seizures" or "Long range [[Trazyn]]". Point at non-vehicle squad, cast, and watch as every model takes a hit at their base strength. Two warp charges, but certainly worth it watching Orks, Guardsmen, Tau, and Nids delete themselves for you. Ignores Cover as well, so kill some cover camping gribblies!

'''Summary''': Originally the best of a bad bunch, Slaanesh still remains fairly unfocused, with a mix of powers for different occasions. One witchfire punishes MSU, another punishes blobs, another hurts hard targets, and another hits a unit with an array of debuffs. This leaves a blessing that randomly ups offensive output, one that adds defense, and a minor Malediction. The problem is that you can't really bank on getting that one power you want, so you're going to need mobility to make the most of this Lore. A Bike Sorcerer remains useful as ever, especially if you want to run more Bikes (and hopefully an Icon of Excess for extra protection). A Prince is an option, though you should ideally take the Intoxicating Elixir and hope for extra Toughness. Either way, this discipline is a bit of a crapshoot but has the tools to handle most threats.

===Ectomancy===
*'''Primaris - Warp Shock:''' WC1 Witchfire with Range 18", S5 AP 4, Assault 6. This is an alright "1 Warp Charge leftover" primaris to have. Although it's not Psychic Shriek, it's still usable.
*'''1 - Empyric Shield:''' WC1 Blessing that gives the Psyker a 3+ Invulnerable save. A Daemon Prince in a Thousand Sons detachment that gets this power can engage trollface, as this would stack with Blessing of Tzeentch for a 2+ rerollable Invulnerable Save. Yeah, you wish you can roll this power.
*'''2 - Daemon Shriek:''' WC1 Witchfire Nova. All units within 9" suffer 1 S1 AP- Haywire hit.
*'''3 - Coruscating Blaze:''' - WC2 Witchfire at S5 AP4 Assault D6, and if you roll a 4 for each enemy unit in 6" of the targeted unit, they also suffer D6 S5 AP4 hits. It's literally the same as Lightning arc from the Loyalist Fulmination discipline.
*'''4 - Infernal Claws:''' WC1 Blessing that targets the Psyker. Gains +1 Attacks and Strength, and for every hit he lands, he gains 2 extra hits at S5 AP-. Any hits count, be it Hammer of Wrath, attacks from Combat Familiars, or even those from Icy Aura. It's worth considering to gear up for this on psykers that plan to roll all their powers in ectomancy. Especially if it's a prince, since smash applies to make all these additional attacks AP2. The real edge-case combo (if you luck out, that is) goes to Crimson Slaughter that manage to roll the "Spectral Assailants." Basically, since every '''model''' in base-to-base of your Warlord takes d6 automatic Strength 3 hits, those would trigger the extra hits from Infernal Claws. Let us suppose that your Lord gets in a fight, mulches a few guys, and they proceed to pile in. Let us suppose you're facing a small Guard blob or Ork mob (they wound you on 6s), maybe 5 or so models in base-to-base. At the start of the next close combat phase you're in, that blob would take 5d6 Strength 3 hits (so an average of 17.5 hits), which would result in an average of 35 additional Strength 5 hits on the enemy unit! An Alpha Legion Daemon Prince with the Blade of the Hydra is also an excellent dice-bucket generator.
*'''5 - Ghost Storm:''' WC2 Blessing which targets an unengaged non-flying vehicle or unit in 18". That unit may immediately make an additional 18" move, ignoring all intervening terrain and models, effectively making the unit do a free "Interceptor Shunt". The unit "counts as moving" for that turn and cannot charge.
*'''6 - Soulswitch:''' WC2 Blessing that targets a non-vehicle unit within 24", even ones locked in combat. The Psyker's unit and the affected unit swap places. If either unit was Zooming (meaning either that you cast the power on a Daemon Prince, or the Daemon Prince did the casting), said units switch to Gliding, and if either unit was engaged in a close combat, the newly-swapped units end up engaged in old close combats instead. Uses for this power include:
**Strategic repositioning: Whether it's setting up a proper Melta strike or pulling Obliterator Teams into better firing positions, a Bike-mounted Sorcerer has the option to give your army critical boosts to speed as needed before Turboing to better positions for subsequent repositions. It also lets your army spread a wider net.
**Escaping bad combats/setting up traps: Put your Sorcerer in a unit that's unlikely to break. Be it Plague Zombies, Helcult Cultists, a unit of Daemonkin Bloodletters if you're feeling cheeky...you have options. There's nothing preventing you from Summoning a unit of Plaguebearers or another "tarpit" unit (or a proper beatstick unit if that's your preference) then using Soulswitch to pull them into your close combat.
**Yo-yo-ing: A Daemon Prince has the option to Vector Strike a foe, then use Soulswitch on one of your backfield units to pull himself back to safety. Depending on your plans, you can either use this ability defensively (Soulswitch a unit of Summoned Screamers, then have the Screamers turbo back to their battleline), or offensively (Vector Strike an opponent's transport, Soulswitch an Obliterator team to finish the passengers off).
**'''Jury Is Out:''' Both Ghost Storm and Soulswitch state they target a '''unit'''. The BRB states that Allies of Convenience are counted as enemies, and thus cannot receive Blessings, but other Traitor's Hate blessings explicitly state that they target a '''friendly unit.''' Whether this is an editing mistake on GW's part, or an explicit exception is to be determined; as a rule, assume that the rulebook takes precedence, because the rules do not explicitly state you may target non-friendly units, though discuss with your opponent (or TO if applicable) beforehand. Common sense is to talk with your opponent about this, but these are not rules as intended.
'''Summary:''' Ectomancy is a really good Discipline for Chaos Space Marines. One of the traditional shortcomings of the army is that it is slow, and two of the major powers help you get your army around the map. Ghost Storm is useful for strategic redeployment while Soul Switch can let your Psyker serve as a "slingshot" for melee units, or let you "withdraw" some units to safety. Beyond that, Empyric Shield gives you a de-facto "Storm Shield" for a Sorcerer or Daemon Prince while Infernal Claws lets you mulch through your opponent in melee. Daemon Shriek can give an anti-flyer tool, and when all else fails, you have two additional Witchfires.

===Geomortis===
*'''Primaris - Rockmaw:''' - WC2 Power which targets a unit 18" from the Sorcerer. All models must make a Dangerous Terrain test with no armor saves allowed.
*'''1 - Ley Leech:''' WC1 Blessing which targets a friendly non-vehicle character within 18". The character heals D3 wounds, and gives the entire unit IWND. The ability to heal wounds lost to Perils is great. Even better when used on that Nurgle Chaos Lord on Bike to truly make your opponent rage. The latter unit-wide IWND is only decent if you're hanging out with [[Chaos Spawn|The Nameless Beasts]], or if you've taken a Helfist Murderpack; it might not restore HP, but IWND on Helbrutes that can play Look Out, Sir shenanigans can pay off.
*'''2 - Rupture:''' WC1. Pick a point 24" from the Psyker. All units within 6" take a single S5 AP4 ignores cover hit, and the area becomes Dangerous Terrain.
*'''3 - Torturer of Worlds:''' WC1 Malediction targeting all enemies within 18". They all treat movement as difficult terrain, and cannot run, flat out, or turbo-boost.
*'''4 - Earthly Anathema:''' WC1 blessing which gives a friendly unit within 24" Move Through Cover and Ignores Cover on all its ranged weapons. Furthermore, the unit does not need line of sight to attack a unit, only range matters. Holy shit, that's awesome. Give this to your Obliterators or Vindicator Squadron and laugh at your opponents.(Obliterators? Vindicators? My friend, put this on a dakkafiend with hades autocannons and watch your enemy elites who were hiding in 2+ cover get wiped from the board.
*'''5 - Profane Ruination:''' WC1 witchfire that targets a single Building or terrain piece within 24". If it targets a building, on a 1-3 it takes a glancing hit, and on a 4+ it takes a penetrating hit. If on a piece of terrain on a 4+ an enemy unit inside takes D6 S6 AP- hits, randomly allocated.
*'''6 - Worldwrithe''' WC3 power that target a piece of terrain in 24". You can then lift it 24" from its starting point, so long as you drop it over 1" away from a unit or other terrain piece. All units inside the terrain piece must take Dangerous Terrain tests, or if they're not fully in the terrain they must disembark, taking DT tests as they go. This is a neat power for it allows you to either levitate a cover-camping unit closer, reestablish line of site, the list goes on.
'''Summary:''' While generally viewed as a weak or hard to use group of powers for loyalists, the powers of Geomortis open up some interesting doors for CSM players particularly when artefacts like the Dimensional Key require getting your lord into close combat as soon as possible. Can also be utilized with a flying Daemon Prince of Nurgle, since jinking doesn't affect your ability to manifest powers, and the high mobility allows you to make more effective use of powers like Torturer of Worlds, Earthly Anathema and Rupture. An expensive, but effective hassling tactic/distraction Carnifex if successful, and very hard to shoot down. Iron Warriors can run riot by taking a Fortification with a couple of Geomancers and a beefy Cult of Destruction boasting a Cranium Malevolus. It's like having a flying Land Raider with three times as many guns, a minefield, moat, EMP generator, and Tank Hunters. Do it with a Fortress of Redemption (Damnation?) and make damned sure you take out the Melta, Chainfists, Wraithguard and Carnifexes. Stay close enough to your Rapier Conversion Beam squad to give them x-ray vision - because who doesn't want a Whirlwind squadron loaded with Demolisher rounds?

===Heretech===
*'''Primaris - Corrupt Machine:''' WC1 18" Malediction. Randomly select a weapon on an enemy vehicle then both you and your opponent roll a die. If he rolls higher, nothing happens. If you draw, he can only fire snap shots with that weapon. If you roll higher, [[Awesome|You take control of said vehicle's weapon for a turn.]] This power has several inherent limitations: The most immediate one is that hull-mounted weapons are still restricted by normal fire arcs, and those Soulgrinder cannons you're facing down will be looking at you. The second is that just because you get to shoot doesn't mean your opponent is forced to snap-shoot next turn; if your plan was to stop a Knight from double-tapping with a Rapid-Fire battle-cannon, this could be a problem. One thing this power lets you do is mess up units with "One-Use Weapons." Hit your opponent's Manticore with this power, and not only are you inflicting a good deal of damage, but that's one less missile that's landing in your own ranks.
*'''1 - Boon of the Iron Beast:''' - WC1. Blessing you give to 1 vehicle in 24". It now ignores Crew Shaken, Crew Stunned, and either gives Power of the Machine Spirit, or +1 BS if the target vehicle already has PotMS. Note that unless explicitly stated, the same Blessing cannot stack, and currently Chaos has no vehicles with POtMS, so that part of the copypaste is currently useless. You "can" use this power as a gimmick to let a Defiler split-fire its Battle Cannon at one unit while double-tapping another with Havoc Launchers, but gimmicks are cute when they don't rely on "and then I get lucky and roll this power." A more practical use for this power will be if you're running a Predator or two as a backfield firebase, as it would protect them from an unlucky Penetrating hit, or let them threaten two vehicles at once (Autocannon to one vehicle, Lascannons to another), or even if you simply want to let your Vindicator move 12" then fire. In a pinch, this lets your Chaos Land Raider work like a Loyalist one, though Land Raiders are still inefficient even with a tiny point discount. Also fantastic with Purge, allowing you to reposition and fire your Basilisks, Wyverns, and other Artillery Carriage units.
*'''2 - Scrapcode Curse:''' WC1. 18" Focused Witchfire. Smacks a vehicle with D3 S1 AP- Haywire hits. Your first "HP stripping" power.
*'''3 - Dark Invigoration:''' - WC1. Blessing that either restores 1 hull point, or repairs either an immobilized or destroyed weapon result, as well as giving the vehicle IWND. While the repairs are nice, your Daemonic vehicles already get IWND so that bonus is partially wasted; this is nice to cast on a Soulgrinder however.
*'''4 - Fleshmetal Hide:''' WC2. Blessing that grants plus 1 AV to all sides for a turn. Or, if put at a non-vehicle unit, gives +1T. This is the only "general-purpose" power in this entire Discipline,
*'''5 - Electromortis:''' WC1. A S1 Haywire Beam.
*'''6 - Flayerstorm:''' WC2. Focused Witchfire, 18". Target loses D3 HP, no saves, no ifs ands or buts. For each HP lost, inflicts D6 S4AP6 rending hits to an enemy unit within 12" of the target vehicle. Your second HP stripping power, you will want to throw extra Warp Charge down anyway. "Focused Witchfire" is fairly silly for powers like this, as squadroned vehicles aren't the most common thing.
'''Summary:'''Heretech is Technomancy under a different name. Like that discipline, this discipline is very specialized towards vehicles, with only one out of the seven powers being "general purpose"... It has two defensive buffs for your vehicles, and one offensive buff, but the real reason you take this discipline is because two of the three powers let you rapidly strip Hull Points from an enemy vehicle regardless of Armor, one power lets you strip a HP from multiple vehicles in a line, and another lets you use your opponent's guns against them. If you're up against an enemy with next-to-no vehicles (Battlesuit Tau, Scatterbike Eldar, etc), this discipline is going to be useless for you, but if you're up against someone wanting to run an Armored Company, this may give you that extra edge.

===Sinistrum===
* Primaris - Fury of the Gods - WC1. S5 AP3 Assault 1 Blast.
*'''1 - Warp Fate:''' A WC 2 Blessing that lets the Psyker and his unit re-roll all failed saving throws. I don't think I need to tell you how awesome this is.
*'''2 - Empyragheist:''' A WC 1 Beam with 20" S6 AP4 and Pinning.
*'''3 - Armour of Hatred:''' A WC 1 Blessing that gives the Psyker and all friendly units within 12" Fearless, Adamantium Will, and a 4++ against against Witchfires only. The 4++ can be handy against enemies that rely on Witchfires to kill you (notably, the Tzeentchian Warpflame Host, the Wyrdstorm Brotherhood, and others), as you'll have that defense on top of ability to Deny.
*'''4 - Diabolic Strength:''' A WC 1 Blessing that gives the Psyker +2 Strength, Toughness, Initiative, and Attacks. It essentially wraps up the attribute increases from Iron Arm and Warp Speed into a nice Warp Charge 1 package, though it doesn't give the other benefits (notably, Smash or Fleet). A Daemon Prince that lucks out and rolls this power goes from a glass sledgehammer to a concrete wrecking ball.
*'''5 - Warp Lure:''' A WC1 Malediction that targets an enemy Psyker within 24". You roll roll 2D6 and add the Mastery Level of your Psyker, while your opponent rolls 1d6 and adds the Mastery Level of the targeted Psyker. If you roll higher, that Psyker takes a single wound with no saves of any kind allowed, and that enemy Psyker only manifests Warp Charge dice on rolls of 6. On top of all of this, if you beat your opponent's roll by 3 or more, that Psyker forgets a randomly-determined power. Because of the extreme potential this power has to shut down your opponent's Psychic Phase altogether, this power will draw a lot of Deny the Witch dice, making it a good opener power. The fact that it is a malediction and not a Witchfire means that you can use this power against Flyers (usually meaning Flyrants, though you "could" chip a wound off Fateweaver if your opponent blows dice elsewhere)/Invisible units without any issue, and may circumvent "Look Out Sir" mechanics, and the fact it ignores any and all saves can be scary when one considers that many Psykers have 2 wounds at best. All it takes is for your opponent to Perils of the Warp once, and this power can snipe out a Psyker...assuming you get Line of Sight that is.
*'''6 - Death Hex:''' WC 2 Malediction that targets an enemy unit, drops its invulnerable save by 2 (to a minimum of 6+). This thing is essentially Banishment, but it's much more versatile. This is what you use to counter fucks with Storm Shields, Smash Fucker's 2++ bullshit, Riptide's Shield Generator buff, as well as stuff like Draigo with his 3++ (even if Draigo specifically probably has better DtW than you).
'''Summary:''' Sinistrum is the copy-paste of Librarius. It has a grab-bag of assorted powers, related to making the Sorcerer fight harder, passively or actively defending against enemy Psychic powers, or making or breaking Deathstars.

==Unit Analysis==

===HQ===
*'''Chaos Lord''' - A nasty, inexpensive close-combat character with tons of options. Even fully-kitted out: Lightning Claw, Power Fist (or Chainfist in Terminator armor), 2+/3++; will usually run you under 175 points - quite impressive in and of itself. Chaos Lords in general love to accompany CSM units. The Lord can take the appropriate mark to unlock cult marines (except the Sons) as troops. You can even take two Lords with two different Marks to unlock two different sets of cult troops! Lords get access to essentially the entire CSM armory and they are only 65 points base. Making him a Nurgle Biker Lord rewards you with a piece of [[cheese]] and a few angry glares for your T6 leader. Also cheap and Fearless - he only costs about 20 points more than a chaos marine holding an Icon of Vengeance, but has the same effect and is a lot tougher and nastier in a fight. Remember to equip the Lord with Sigil of Corruption no matter the rest of options, a 4++ save is always a good idea.
**'''Mark of Khorne:''' Rage + Counterattack. Unlocks Khorne Berzerkers as Troops choices. Stick this guy on a Juggernaut of Khorne and give him the Axe of Blind Fury Artefact. You end up with a T5 W4 CC monstrosity which has the Cavalry unit type and thanks to the assorted USRs and the Artefact gets 7+D6 S6 AP2 attacks struck at full Initiative. Add a retinue of MoK Bikers with the Icon of Wrath. The entire unit gains Furious Charge (so the Lord's Strength on the Charge is actually '''7''') and might re-roll the Charge distance. Outfit the Champion with an LC or PF to support the Lord and remove enemy units from the table in each Assault Phase. Many skulls shall be collected for the Blood God when the Lord and his warriors reach the foe...
**'''Mark of Nurgle:''' +1 Toughness. Yes, that's right. Put the Chaos Lord on a Bike and get the dreaded T6 HQ. This means he is immune to Instant Death inflicted by S10 weapons and most small arms fire wounds him only on 6s. It might be a good idea to accompany him with a unit of MoN Spawn to get loads of T6 ablative wounds that can keep up with his 12" move. MoN Chaos Bikers work well too. Take the Blight Grenades as well, for just 5 pts. you get assault + defensive grenades to deny the charging enemy his bonus attacks. Also, this makes Plague Marines Troops, so you get Objective Secured units that are really difficult to remove from their posts.
**'''Mark of Slaanesh:''' +1 Initiative. Unlocks Noise Marines as Troops choices, which is very good. With the enhanced reflexes you usually strike before everyone else. Take a Lightning Claw or two to shred the corpsefuckers before they know what hit them. Or even better, take the reliable LC+PF combo and put this guy on a Bike. Additionally, take a MoS Biker retinue with the Icon of Excess. They are fast, durable with T5 and 3+, can use FnP to protect them more often that not and they strike at Initiative 5. All in all the unit is quite versatile and might be more survivable than the MoN equivalent due to the FnP. Just stay away from S10.
**'''Mark of Tzeentch:''' +1 Invulnerable save. Unlike the previous examples this guy is probably best used alone. He doesn't unlock any Troops choices and the viable candidates for retinue don't benefit much from the Mark. However, MoT is the only means of reliably getting a 3++ save on the HQ (SoC + MoT). You might give him a Disc of Tzeentch for shits and giggles: zoom around the table thanks to your Jetbike status and shred enemies in CC. Or perhaps take the Burning Brand of Skalathrax. Tzeentch loves fire, after all. Then again, he's the 'best' terminator-lord, what with the 2+/3++, and works really well with MoT terminators.

*'''Chaos Sorcerer''' - The Sorcerer has a weaker statline than a Chaos Lord, with one less WS, BS, Wound, Initiative and Attack. However, he's 5 points cheaper and comes with a free Force Weapon of choice and Mastery Level 1. Unlike vanilla Librarians, you don't get access to a Psychic Hood, but you're 5 points cheaper compared to them in exchange, and you can upgrade to Mastery Level 3 (while they're capped at ML 2 outside of certain special characters). There are usually three main ways to run a Sorcerer:
**'''Mandatory HQ''' - 60 points and you have your cheapest HQ option for when you really want to cram more models in; if you do this, you'll probably stick him in a Rhino where he can annoy stuff with Psychic Shriek. However, this is usually inferior to the other two options.
**'''On A Bike:''' A Sorcerer on a Bike can take advantage of being able to move, cast powers, then Turbo. He can either join a unit of Chaos Bikers, run solo, or even hide out in a unit of Spawn...wait, what NOOOARGRBRBLRBRBLB! Ahem, either way, if you're buying a Bike for your Sorcerer, it also pays to upgrade him. You '''will''' take a Spell Familiar, and at least one additional Mastery Level to play with. Taking a 3rd Mastery Level is usually a good idea as it's one of the few tricks you get over the Loyalists, and it helps ensure you get that one power you really want.
**'''Palanquin of Nurgle:''' For 5 points more than the cost of a basic Forgefiend, you get a Sorcerer with the Mark of Nurgle, Mastery Level 3, and a Spell Familiar. Historically, the Palanquin was overlooked because it does not actually make your Sorcerer any faster, and prevents riding in a transport; add having to use a up a psychic roll on the Nurgle discipline. The main reason to take a Palanquin is if you want your Sorcerer to use Malefic Daemonology and summon Daemons, as getting the additional wounds means a few additional turns of casting; you '''will''' Perils, but you have enough wounds that you don't care! Traitor Legions made this build even more viable as the Lore of Nurgle has been updated, including a power that lets you heal a character, so with some luck you can [[Awesome|just summon a unit of Daemons, take a wound, and heal it right after!]]. Hide in a unit of Cultists and go to town! Word Bearers benefit quite a bit from this, as a cheaper alternative to using a Daemon Prince for summoning, but Crimson Slaughter can also benefit too, especially if you also give the Sorcerer Prophet of the Voices to become a Daemon and Perils only on 6s...though you end up only being able to join units of Possessed.
Note that a Sorcerer with the Mark of Tzeentch will unlock Rubric Marines as troops. However, this seldom matters as Rubric Marines are pretty bad, especially compared to other options, and Thousand Sons already get Rubric Marines. :)

*'''Exalted Sorcerer of Tzeentch (Wrath of Magnus):''' The Exalted Sorcerer is if you want the "best of" a Chaos Lord or Sorcerer in one slot and don't mind paying a premium on points. Has Mark of Tzeentch, is ML2 base, and can upgrade to ML3. He's BS5, I5, and W3 compared to a standard sorcerer, which is awesome! Also has access to a S9 AP2 Heavy 1, Lance Blast once per game thanks to his '''Lord of the Silver Tower''' special rule. Also, he's Fearless! He gets access to Divination too, which the Sorcerer doesn't know unless you give a Crimson Slaughter Sorcerer the Balestar.
**'''Analysis:'''The Exalted Sorcerer is cool but ultimately overcosted for most builds. Like the Warpsmith and Dark Apostle, does not have access to Special Issue Wargear or Terminator Armour, and unlike either, he's even more restricted in his loadout; he has his Bolt Pistol and a Force Stave (no Force Sword or Force Axe for you, since GW doesn't [[Chapterhouse_Studios|write rules for stuff without models]]), and that's it unless you choose to buy a Relic for him; taking a Disc is mandatory and '''not''' an option; seriously, quit bitching and take the fucking Disc already! You'll be glad later when he can move 12", cast, then turbo 24"! His Lord of the Silver Tower, despite being fluffed as similar to an Orbital Bombardment, is worse in every way that matters, with less Strength and AP, a smaller blast, and [[Fail|not actually being a Barrage weapon]]. Telekinesis is a bad discipline, so the main reason you're taking him is if you want a fearless Cultist Bunker yet don't want a Helcult, or if you want to give him Seer's Bane so he can go beat stuff up. He gets Divination, but if you want it that bad, you either take a Crimson Slaughter detachment, or Daemon allies anyway, and you can use a cheaper character to carry the Astral Grimoire.
**'''alternate opinion''': wait, wait!! '''WAIIT'''!! Yes, they are expensive but they can bring the hurt and fuck up any old seargent or any IC that isnt [[Tau|CC orientated]], and he gets divination, you know for the thousand sons, scarab occults, to get those lovely AP3 weapons twin-linked, or get massed autopistols(not really a good idea). While yes they are expensive, if used right they can be amazing and can create some the deadliest deathstars out there(Hello Forgefiend-Star), so [[Tzeentch|Engage troll-face]], scream JUST AS PLANNED as loud as possible, and just bring 'em.
**'''Note:''' If you're using the rules for Legions, these can only be taken in a Thousand Sons OR Black Legion detachment. The latter means they lose access to all the Thousand Sons artefacts and the Blessing of Tzeentch rule.

*'''Daemon Prince''': Your personal, customizable close quarters monster. Seriously, this guy is shit-your-pants frightening, being able to wreck the face of any infantry short of assault terminators before they can so much as lift a finger, as well as most monstrous creatures and light vehicles. He sports WS 9, I8, 4 wounds, 5 attacks, and is a Monstrous Creature so he gets Smash. He also has access to Chaos Rewards and Chaos Artefacts (notably the Axe of Blind Fury and Black Mace) and can take wings, turning him into a Flying Monstrous Creature. He does have some steep downsides, though. His biggest weakness is his newfound lack of Eternal Warrior, so S10 blows and Instant Death weapons/rules are the bane of his existence (which basically means that you should keep him the fuck away from dreadnoughts). Also, with a sharp rise in base cost (plus the fact that he must be devoted to one of the Chaos Gods) the price tag once you've added wings, Mastery levels, power armour, and so on, he can become very costly, very quick. So that means you have to actually get off your ass and think about how best to use him. Often run with the Black Mace, which, although costly, is quite terrifying for pretty much anything that he runs into.
**'''Side Note:''' Since you MUST be devoted to a Chaos God, if you make your Daemon Prince a psyker he must roll at least 1 power on the chart of his dedicated god. This makes fishing for Endurance or Iron Arm slightly more difficult, but on the bright side, chaos powers aren't nearly so crap now as they were before Traitor legions dropped, so you have that much going for you.
**Marks - Due note that Daemon Princes don't get Marks of the Gods, but they are required to be dedicated to one God. Daemon of Khorne gives you Furious Charge, giving you Plasma strength hits on the charge. Slaanesh gets Rending, which makes it decent at popping tanks without relying on one Smash attack per turn(especially when coupled with a Daemon Weapon or the Talons of the Night Terror) and an additional 3" of run. Tzeentch allows you to re-roll ANY saves of 1, which is amazing if you take any of the 2+ relic armours from Traitor Legions. Nurgle gets you Shrouded, for a 2+ jink save if you take wings. All pretty decent choices.

*'''Warpsmith:''' Doc Oc up in this bitches! The Warpsmith is an evil Techmarine, with many assorted goodies. He's expensive, but already comes with most of his wargear so you don't have to go crazy and try to trick him out further...in fact, you probably can't trick him out further, mostly because he can't take a Bike! Maybe the tentacles kept causing him to fall off? He comes with a 2+ armor save, Power Axe & Bolt Pistol, and Mechatendrils. These nasty tentacles give him an extra 2 attacks, so he can make 6(!) attacks on the charge. Really though, you care more about his shooting as his Mechatendrils have an in-built Flamer and a Meltagun, making him one of the few characters in the game with the <s>sanity</s> <s>SANITY IS FOR THE WEAK!</s> to take a meaningful gun. You have the option to fire both these weapons at the same time, or to fire one of them alongside another weapon; swap out his Bolt Pistol for a Combi-Melta and he can double-tap something and make it go BOOM! Rounding it off, he can forfeit shooting to attempt to repair an adjacent friendly vehicle on a 4+, or curse a nearby enemy vehicle within 18" so all its guns Get Hot! See that Leman Russ Punisher? Curse it and dare it to fire at you! Finally, at the start of the game, he can select one piece of terrain in the opponent's deployment zone, which from then on provides one less Cover than normal.
**''Analysis:'' The problem with the Warpsmith is that he's an expensive HQ without having "general-purpose" flexibility. For the price of one Warpsmith, you can buy a Sorcerer of Chaos with a Bike, Spell Familiar, and still have 15 points leftover! He can repair vehicles, but most vehicles Chaos has access to cost less than he does, and it's common for vehicles to be destroyed outright in a turn before they can be repaired. His guns are mis-matched, making the "fire two weapons" option fairly pointless at first, and a 2+ save only means so much. That being said, three different formations that appear both in Traitor's Hate and Traitor Legions have a mandatory Warpsmith, so you'll want to find a way to use him regardless. The Combi-Melta is the best option as for just a few points more, it lets him "run solo" like a 3rd Space Marine unit. Compared to a 5-man team of Chaos Space Marines with one Meltagun and one Champion with a Combi-Melta, he costs 25 points more, in exchange for better Ballistic Skill, and a grab-bag of abilities here-and-there; the only issue remains getting him to his target. Ectomancy Psychic Powers are one option, but another option is finding a "spare" Rhino for him; a team of Autocannon Havocs can take a Rhino without actually needing it.
**Note that while the warpsmith isn't necessarily "great" at anything, Master of Mechanisms is hilarious against shooty LoW choices. Watching an overeager Stompa or Gatling Knight strip 3-5 HP due to gets hot in a single round of shooting will cause tears and/or RAGE. Or just deter them from firing in the first place!

*'''Dark Apostle:''' The Chaos equivalent of a Chaplain, the Dark Apostle is a "passive" support character. He comes stock with a Power Maul, Bolt Pistol and Sigil of Corruption, grants his unit Zealot, characters in his unit may reroll results from Chaos Boons, and friendly Chaos Space Marine units within 6" of him use his Leadership (Leadership 10) instead of their own.
**''Analysis:'' The Dark Apostle's shares similar problems to the Warpsmith, in being more expensive than a Sorcerer for less flexibility. He costs 45 points more than a Sorcerer while maintaining the exact same statline. Even accounting for his free Sigil of Corruption, this still leaves him 20 points more expensive than a similarly-equipped Sorcerer. To add insult to injury, the Apostle cannot take any wargear to enhance his own mobility; no Bikes, Jump Packs, or Mounts for him. Also, do note that he does not get access to regular melee gear that even aspiring champions can use, unless you're willing to spend even more points on the Axe of Blind Fury or some other cool legion artifact. So what do those extra 20 points do for you? You get gain a Leadership 10 bubble, you grant Zealot to a unit he joins, and you get some insurance to control whether or not characters in his unit will be transformed (though it usually matters mostly for himself!). The zealot is excellent for running large mobs of cultists as more than just "mandatory troops", especially if they are marked Khorne. 4 attacks a piece on the charge, with hatred, even at WS and S 3 are nothing to sneer at, especially coming from a unit that can potentially bring 35 bodies to bear. Oh, and the one artifact in the codex that makes the guy's atacks AP2 is the aforementioned Axe of Blind Fury, which is also a Khornate toy. Take a hint. Still, even more so than the other HQs, his bonuses are very niche, and it's hard to justify the extra points you pay for him over a Sorcerer if you're running a CAD.

====Special Characters====

*'''[[Typhus]] the Traveler''' - Typhus is a walking tank. With Terminator Armor, Toughness 5 from the Mark of Nurgle, 4 wounds base, and Feel No Pain, Typhus will not die outright unless he's hit by a Force Weapon, or Strength 10 attacks. Otherwise, most (non-powerfist/TH) attacks will bounce off of him, plain and simple. Not only can he take a punch, but he delivers one too; his signature weapon is the Manreaper, a giant force-Scythe with +2 Strength, AP 2, Force, Unwieldy, and the Daemon Weapon special rule. As long as he avoids Wraithknights or Walkers, he can hurt it. Should he be tied up by a mob of chaff, he can also use his Destroyer Hive to center a large blast over him, and every model nearby takes an automatic S4 AP 2 hit. Top this off with being a Mastery Level 2 Psyker, who rolls all of his powers on the Lore of Nurgle. He also allows you to take Plague Marines as troops. As if that's not enough, he allows your army to sidegrade any units of Chaos Cultists into Plague Zombies; the Plague Zombies become Fearless and gain Feel No Pain, but they're also Slow and Purposeful, and they cannot take any options beyond adding more bodies. However, this all comes with the drawback that he's "locked" into Lord of Terror, granting him Fear. Needless to say, you don't want him as your Warlord, not for his trait anyway. Seeing as he's one of the most survivable characters in the entire codex, and Slay The Warlord is a thing in most games, taking him as a warlord might not be a bad idea in some cases.
**Summary: You take Typhus if you want Plague Zombies, while getting a beatstick in the bargain. Zombies give you an unrelenting screen of angry meatshields that will take dedicated firepower to shift from objectives or serve as semi-passable tarpits. However, Typhus himself is expensive and the actual Zombies suffer from Slow and Purposeful and the inability to take any of the normal Chaos Cultist upgrades. If "fearless Cultists" is what you're looking for, there are cheaper ways to get it; from using the Cultists as a "delivery system" for an appropriately punchy Chaos Lord you planned to take anyway, to running the Helcult formation.

*'''[[Lucius]] the Eternal''' - Lucius is a bit of an odd duck out, as well as the obligatory Slaaneshi Special Character. As a Chaos Lord, he's largely typical, but his abilities and weapons load make him a much nastier close-combat unit than he appears to be at a glance. For starters, he's WS 7, as opposed to the typical Chaos Lord WS 6, and he boasts Initiative 6 due to his Mark of Slaanesh. He lacks a traditional Daemon Weapon - but what he has in return makes this almost not matter. Lucius boasts a Doom Siren (AP3 Heavy Flamer), a Power Sword, and a unique weapon in the Lash of Torment, which reduces the number of attacks enemy models get by 1. The FAQ confirmed the Lash to be an artefact, not a weapon, barring him from taking an extra attack for two weapons. In challenges his attack always equals to his opponents' WS! That's 6 attack against a Space Marine Captain! He also has Krak Grenades and Frag Grenades. What truly makes Lucius useful though, on top of all the above, is his unique ability stemming from his Armour of Shrieking Souls - any close combat attack Lucius saves against (Armor Save OR Invulnerable Save) causes an automatic S4 hit on the unit that attacked him, with no armour saves allowed. It's not all good news, however: Lucius positively sucks against vehicles and his 5+ Invulnerable save, whilst useful, isn't exactly a stellar defensive feature. He is a character designed for challenges but most HQ's have AP2 weapons or 2+ armour saves which Lucius has no counter for. He also lacks Eternal Warrior, which means he's actually quite vulnerable against things like Force Weapons and heavy weapon sniping attempts.
**Lucy's Lash of Torment now makes ALL of his close combat attacks have the "Shred" rule, effectively giving him Lightning Claws and granting his Armour of Shrieking Souls a better chance to wound. Stick him in a squad of Noise Marines with the re-tooled Icon of Slaanesh to give him drug-fueled Feel No Pain. Also, dual [[FATAL|Doom Sirens]]. You can never have enough [[FATAL|Doom Sirens]].
**Traitor Legions gives him a load of buffs, especially if you have him lead a Kakophoni, netting him Feel No Pain(+6), Split Fire, Shred on his Doom Siren, and Strength 6 on his Doom Siren if you bring a full 6 Noise Marine Squads.

*'''[[Khârn]] The Betrayer''' - [[Kharn|A real fun guy to be around]]. Kharn boasts a suite of useful traits and equipment, including the Gorechild (A power axe with Armorbane and no Unwieldy, which always hits on 2+, but to hit rolls of 1 hit your own unit), Frag and Krak grenades (the latter of which will never see use), a Plasma Pistol, Furious Charge, Mark of Khorne, and perhaps most importantly, gets a 2+ Deny the Witch and immunity to Instant Death from Force Weapons. Khârn can demolish damned-near-anything in close-combat, from enemy vehicles to enemy infantry when on the charge - an advantage primarily offset by the fact that he's completely fucking useless if he can't get close, and rather easy to isolate and tear down due to a relatively weak (5+) Invulnerable save. He is best-used either with a massive mob of Cultists to absorb ranged attacks and take wounds (Terminators are too expensive to risk losing to his attacks) - the latter loaded up to the fucking gills with Flamers, the squads shoved in a [[Rhino Transport|Metal Box]] or [[Land Raider|BIG METAL BOX]], and thrown directly at the enemy's face. Like Fabius Bile, Ahriman, and Abaddon, Khârn has one more attack than is listed in his profile due to his weapon loadout - for a total of five. He also has a base strength of 6, with 7 on the charge. Khârn counts as a Chaos Lord for the purpose of 'zerkers being troops.
** Kharn's Hatred Incarnate ability lets him re-roll misses during the first round of close combat, making his entourage last that much longer without feeling his axe.
**'''Fun Fact:''' Due to the wording of his 'Blessing of the Blood God' special rule, he cannot be Instant Killed by a Nemesis Daemon Hammer hit.
** Kharn will kill you so hard that you will die to death.
** Note that due to Gorechild and a decent number of attacks, Kharn can feasibly take on everything from Guardsmen blobs to Land Raiders in close combat and totally wreck their shit. The only things he will ever have problems in melee are Wraithlords and Wraithknights, due to their T8 making it hard to actually kill them before they instant-death Kharn with a punch to the nads. He also, understandably, has a problem with ranged combat of any sort, so a transport for him is near-mandatory (although his low cost offsets this, making even buying a personal land raider for him feasible).
** The Land Raider argument is enhanced by the fact that Chaos Land Raiders are still Assault Vehicles, unlike Chaos Rhinos, and have the same transport capacity. Also consider fitting Dirge Casters, despite the fact that they are of pansy Slaaneshi origin to help negate overwatch.
** The only rules change for Kharn's new Traitor's Hate entry is the Unstoppable rule is now on Kharn's model rather than on Gorechild. This means he can fist-fight Jain Zar on a 2+ after he gets disarmed!

*'''[[Huron Blackheart]]''' - Huron is the leader of the Red Corsairs, and a fairly passable HQ. Of all the Special Characters in the Chaos Codex, Huron is the best "jack of all trades" character. His signature item is the Tyrant's Claw, a Lightning Claw with +2 Strength, Armorbane, and built-in Heavy Flamer, and he has a Sigil of Corruption and Power Axe. Unfortunately, he only gets his base 3 attacks base in melee so he lacks the pure melee potential of other characters. In exchange, however, he has another special item: The Hamadrya is a Combat Familiar (so he gets an extra two attacks) that also makes Huron a Mastery Level 1 Psyker, with a twist. Each and every turn, he rolls to see what powers he actually knows; he rolls a D3 to see what Discipline he knows, with a 1 being Biomancy, a 2 being Telepathy, and a 3 being Divination, and then he rolls to see what power he actually knows from that discipline.
**''Summary:'' The main reason you take Huron is you want to "lock in" your Warlord Trait to guarantee at least one of your units has Infiltrate, and you would would rather not spend the extra 80 points on Ahriman. His close combat loadout is acceptable against rank-and-file and he can finish off damaged Dreadnoughts/Knights a pinch, though he'll bounce off any proper melee beatsticks without proper buffs (and don't even think of pitting him against a Wraithknight!). Although his powers are random, he can always count on at least having the Primaris to fall back on. Smite and Psychic Shriek let him plink off wounds from armored units, with the former being better than normal due to Huron's improved BS, while Huron remains only one of three ways for a Chaos Marine army to get Divination powers (meaning Prescience) without resorting to Daemon allies. However, he lacks a Spell Familiar and he is still Mastery Level 1 so he won't have the same melee oomph as a proper Sorcerer. Huron is the Swiss Army knife of HQs, where you will always have an option with him, though you don't always get to control what those options are.

*'''[[Fabius Bile|Fabulous Bile]]''' - The king of mixed bags and fabulous. On one hand, Bile has good stats and wargear: Feel No Pain through his Chirurgeon, Strength 5, a weapon that causes instant death (Rod of Torment), five attacks, and a particularly nasty poisoned weapon in the Xyclos Needler. On the other hand, his Rod of Torment does ''not'' ignore armor saves (unlike, say, the '''MURDER SWORD'''), his Xyclos Needler has really bad AP and sub-par range, and perhaps most damning of all, no Invulnerable save, unlike literally every other Chaos Character in the codex. So... Sucks, Right? Not quite. The reason Fabius Bile is taken, ironically, isn't for Bile himself; it's for his Enhanced Warriors trait, which gives a unit of Chaos Space Marines +1 Strength and Fearless. An enhanced Khornate CSM unit (Mark + Icon) rolls out 4 S6 attacks per Marine on the charge while being scoring and Fearless. While he isn't stellar in a normal CSM army (he's not a fighter nor does he enhance more than one unit of CSM), he really shines as an allied HQ — if you want a reasonably cheap CC threat for your [[Eldar|pansy]] [[Tau|blueberries]], take him and a 10-strong unit of Khornate CSM with meltaguns that can threaten [[Orks|massed infantry]] with the number of attacks, [[Imperial Guard|massed tanks]] with meltaguns/carnage combo and [[Tyranids|monstrous creatures]] with that Instant Death stick. Know that a Disordered Charge (aka multi-charge) denies you your Rage, so plan accordingly.
**Note that he can enhance one CSM unit in your entire ARMY, so take him in an Auxiliary Detachment for your Traitor Legion, and buff one of their Legion CSM units. 20 Infiltratring S5 Fearless Alpha Legion CSM anyone?

*'''[[Ahriman]] the Exile''' - A Sorcerer that costs as much as a [[Land Raider]] is seldom a good sign. On the other hand there are only ''three'' other psykers in the game with Mastery Level 4 (Fateweaver, Aetaos'Rau'Keres and [[Eldrad|that dick]]) and Ahriman has access to several psychic disciplines, plus boasting a unique piece of gear in the Black Staff, which is a Force Staff that lets him fire off the same Witchfire psychic power THREE times a turn. This can mean three DOOMBOLTS per turn. Or three psychic screams, which is by far the most brutally effective option since it now hits automatically. His [[dakka|firepower]] can be absolutely insane, but it requires good rolling for psychic powers or just choosing the Primaris for either Biomancy or Telepathy, unlike the previous codex. He has a bolt pistol with Inferno Bolts and the standard Tzeentch Marine 4+ invulnerable save, [[fail|but he's only T4]]. Sadly, he WILL take 1 wound from perils. Devastating if used right, but makes for a huge and high-priority target. Unlike a lot of other units with this price-tag, such as Old One-Eye, he tends to actually be worth it if carefully managed, mostly due to the fact that he drops a [[Touhou]]-esque barrage of firepower out in short order. Just remember that he's a gigantic fire magnet, and his force weapon is only AP4 (but S6). Has an extra attack not shown on the profile, due to his pistol and staff, for a total of 4. Still, he costs a bomb in points.
** Wrath of Magnus updates his pool of disciplines, now he is able to roll from all powers from the main book (except Sanctic Daemonology), Tzeentch, and all new CSM disciplines.
** A fun option with this one is to ally yourself with Tzeentch daemons. Horrors will serve as batteries for Ahriman to drain. Mount him in a rhino, go full throttle and let the onslaught begin. Only being able to cast witchfires from a transport isn't much of a handicap when he can cast 12 witchfires a turn.
** Wrath of Magnus update: put him on the Disc and join him with Chaos Bikers.
** He can now buy a Disc so enjoy that +1T and turbo boosting around.
*'''[[Abaddon]] the Despoiler''' - Don't be fooled by jokes regarding his lack of arms - Abaddon is BAD news. He is a very dangerous independent character in melee. 6th ed has changed how his attacks roll - he can use either Drach'nyen (+1 Strength, AP2, Daemon Weapon) or the Talon of Horus (Strength 8, AP3 and Shred, though Blood Angels gain Hatred against him). With WS7, I6, +1 attack for having 2 Specialist Weapons (so 5 base), Rage from the Mark of Khorne and the potential extra attacks from Drach'nyen if you use that, Abaddon will hammer just about anything on the charge through sheer volume of attacks. Just take care who you send him against, for there are a few characters that will remove his arms readily. Suffice to say, not many units can reliably go toe-to-toe with the Despoiler and survive for more than a round or two - most will be dead before they can attack, and many armies lack squads that can offer more than a token resistance. He has every single Chaos Mark (For Rage/Counter Attack, +1 Initiative, a 4+ Invulnerable Save, and +1 Toughness), Hatred AND Preferred Enemy against Space Marines of all kinds and Eternal Warrior. On the other hand, the drawbacks are obvious - he costs a fuckton of points, he's a huge fire-magnet, 2+ armour save not being ignored by power weapons doesn't matter much since you opponent is going to try and keep anything valuable away from him (fortunately he can Deep Strike), he sucks at shooting (he only has a Twin-Linked Bolter, so his high ballistic skill is pretty irrelevant), and his Daemon Weapon runs the risk of reducing him to WS1. Do anything you fucking can to get him into close combat, and try to not let him lose his arms. He will maintain his title of unbeatable killing machine right until he fights anything such anything with a D Weapon, then its game over so be careful!
**Math is for math books.
**'''Don't fight Jain Zar if you're up against Eldar. You will not win.'''
**Since Abaddon technically has all the Marks , he can benefit from the Slaaneshi Icon of Drugs (FNP) and Khornate Icon of FUCK YOU (Furious Charge and re-roll charge distance).
**His firepower is a lot better than it sounds against Space Marines. Because he gives every squad within 12" Preferred Enemy (Space Marines), in theory he adds a block of firepower equal to roughly 36% of every squad within that bubble - and since Chosen squads can pack five plasma guns apiece, and get re-roll Gets Hot...
** Be careful of pitting him against AV13 or higher walkers (as S8 will have trouble punching through their armor) and keep him the fuck AWAY from any that have D Strength close combat weapons (such as Imperial Knights). One 6 rolled in the to wound roll and down goes Abbadon.
**<s>Abaddon can now become a Daemon Prince or a Spawn '''SKSAAOUROOAEBLEHGH'''</s>. The most recent FAQ has brought back his old rule about re-rolling everytime he gets Dark Apotheosis and Spawnhood. Yay!
**Don´t forget the Bringers of Despair: Terminators with WS/BS 5 who can reroll a single "Look Out, Sir" on Abaddon in a phase.

====Supplements & Forgeworld====
*'''Vrosh Tattersoul (Dark Vengeance)'''- A dirt-cheap HQ for an assaulty squad. 65 points nets you an Aspiring Champion with an extra wound, Rage, combi-melta, power axe (plus another CCW for +1 attack), and not much else. When he kills an enemy character he always gains +1 Attack instead of rolling on the boon table. That's... really all there is to say about this guy; if you've only got 500 to 750 points of stuff then he's good at just rounding out a squad.

*'''[[Be'lakor]] the Dark Master (Dataslate)'''- A returning character from Fantasy, Be'lakor gets the EW rule that regular Daemon Princes lack and is a Level 3 Psyker with all Telepathy Discipline by default, and if you don't think up at least five ways to abuse the Invisibility psy power the moment you read this, punch yourself in the face. He comes with the unique rules Shadow Form (4+ invulnerable save and Shrouded and automatically passes Dangerous Terrain tests) and Lord of Torment (gains a bonus D3 Warp Charge points by making enemy units fail morale checks). He also has wings and possesses a unique weapon called the Blade of Shadows (S+1, AP2, Fleshbane, Armourbane, and Master-Crafted). He also doesn't need to be devoted to a chaos god, as he serves all of them (making him a fluffy and effective choice for a Chaos Undivided army). At 350 points, he's a flat upgrade to the basic Daemon Prince and cost-effective to boot. His only weakness was that you had to terrain-hop him or Invis himself to keep him from dying to crazy fire. But now, with 7e, you can jink while gliding. Enjoy your constant 2+ cover save, mate. In short: JUST TAKE HIM FOR MALICE'S SAKE!!!
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' Be VERY FUCKING CAREFUL around anything with Cleansing Flame (IE: Grey Knight Purifiers). They'll get 2D6 hits on you, 50% of which will mathematically wound (not including the fact that they'll be re-rolling 1s, due to Preferred Enemy), that will not only auto-hit (and therefore ignore your invisibility) Template weapons don't work on invisible units, but also ignore your precious 2+ Jink. I can tell you from personal experience that a combat squaded unit of 10 Purifiers will result in Be'Lakor's firey demise. It makes matters even worse if Be'Lakor is currently not invisible and said Purifiers are carrying Incinerators.

*'''[[Cypher]], Lord of the Fallen (Dataslate)'''- All in all an okay character. Just beware that he can never be the Warlord and that fielding him will take -1Ld from your actual Warlord, which wouldn't be a big problem since almost all of your HQ's are Fearless (not recommended if you have a Sorcerer as your warlord.) He gets to shoot his 16" range bolt pistol and never-hot plasma pistol twice in each shooting phase/once before or after running and overwatches at full BS (which is TEN by the way). Also uses his pistols in combat, half of his attacks with each pistol (an odd number of attacks give the bolt pistol an extra attack, never the plasma) at I8. Use him for Hit and Run trolling and granting ATSKNF and Shrouded to any unit he's attached to. Just remember Independent Characters with Infiltrate cannot give Infiltrate to non-infiltrating units, nor can they join units that lack Infiltrate before deployment. He's survived for 10,000 years with just power armour, so has no invulnerable save, but his sword gives him Eternal Warrior and the aforementioned Shrouded USR. He gives 3 VP to [[Dark Angels]] players if he's killed within 6 inches of them (1 VP for anyone else who's within 6" of him when he goes down) so don't ever be within 6 inches of a DA, duh. He will give you d3 VP if he survives the match by flipping the bird against the enemy.He can bring up to 3 units of Chosen which come separate from the FOC but can't take marks, icons or transports but have ATSKNF, Infiltrate and can apparently take power fists for 5 points! You could put him and some Havocs behind an ADL with a quad gun for a 2+ covered gunline that will never ever die, you'll just have to deploy them separately at the beginning of the game.

*'''Arkos the Faithless (Forge World)''' - An Alpha Legion Character from the Siege of Vraks books. This guy wields the '''Black''' Blade (+2S, Rending, Power Sword), has a built-in +1 T and he also gives Counter Attack to his squad. Counter Attack is easily gained with MoK, but Arkos seems to have the benefits of a few various things, plus the rending rule can mean he may get lucky while fighting 2+ save opponents. His warlord trait is the ability to just choose to determine which is your board edge pre-game; if you do this you lose the decision of who takes first turn, but you may re-roll for Seize the Initiative... not fantastic. You may take him for fluff, but unless you have little imagination and fluff expertise you can create [[Your dudes|your own dude]] to represent Alpha Legion lord - he's from the times when Alphas were little more than space Taliban with lots of trained cultists, rather than modern closet loyalist [[anonymous|anon]]s with mind-blowingly over-complicated schemes and tons of just as planned.
** Keep in mind that he can not be run in [[fail|his own legion]] anymore thanks to the latest Traitor Legions Release which forbids unique characters for Alpha Legion. However TL does make him giving Counter Attack useful at least if your opponent lets you use him, thanks to Alpha Legion restricting you from marks.

*'''Zhufor the Impaler (Forge World)''' - Zhufor is a pretty strong, well costed Khorne named HQ. He is likely better than any Terminator Lord you would be able to create with the codex with Furious Charge, 4 attacks and S5 base meaning his power fist strikes at S10 AP2, Warboss style, with a total of 6 attacks on the charge. He also has a two handed chain axe, which can be used for mulching hordes, giving him +2 attacks when using the weapon for a total of 8 S6 AP4 attacks on the charge. He packs Eternal Warrior and Terminator armour and so is much more durable than Kharn, and most other chaos HQ's for that matter. That said, he lacks AP2 at initiative that the other killy Chaos Lords can bring and cannot make sweeping advances. If you take Kharn and find that he's dying too much to AP3 at higher initiative (Space elves and Slaanesh) or S8 instant death (half the shit in the game) take this dude instead, he's likely to survive a lot longer and S10 attacks can be a lot more deadly depending on who you're facing (insta-kill those pesky wolves!). His warlord trait also gives you +1VP for each enemy character you slay in a challenge, which considering this guys stats will likely be every character without EW. He also lets you take a squad of MoK Termies as his bodyguard without filling a slot, useful if you wanted to take them anyway, they have similar attacks but bare in mind that this unit will attract a metric fuckton of attention.

*'''Necrosius (Forge World)''' - A fearless Nurgle Sorcerer with'' Feel No Pain'', a ''Poisoned (4+)'' bolt pistol, and a force sword. His psychic powers are pre-designated: Nurgle's Rot, Gift of Contagion, and Wasting Disease, which is a 24" range focused witchfire that <u>automatically</u> hits any chosen model in a squad, resolved at S3 AP2 assault 1 '''Fleshbane'''. Use it to purge those pesky GK incinerators that deny your zombies their precious 4+ FnP. He also has +1 initiative, wounds, and Ballistic Skill compared to a normal sorcerer. Sadly he can not acquire a invulnerable save thus, rarely makes use of his Champion of Chaos rule, though his I5, FNP and force sword mean he's not totally helpless.
**The ability to take zombies as non-compulsory troops became his warlord trait, though he still grants them all Furious Charge via his "Master of the Dead" special rule. He can only take zombies from the same book he's found in (Siege of Vraks 2nd edition), but his zombies are immensely better with 4+ FnP and the "Warp Plague" rule, which allows you to add d3 zombies to a unit if it kills an enemy unit in close combat.
***Compared to Typhus, Necrosius is better if you want to actively take zombies rather than merely using them as a preferable alternative to cultists for compulsory troops. Necrosius' zombies are far better being 90 points for 30 with FnP 4+, furious charge and the ability to generate more, compared to Typhus 130 points for 30 with only FnP 5+. If you're taking the Purge detachment found in the book you don't need compulsory troops anyway.

===Troops===
*'''Chaos Space Marines''' - These are your "Line Infantry" so to speak: A 'jack of all trades' unit like their Loyalist counterparts, Chaos Space Marines tend to be sidelined in favor of other options; however, while the loyalists have the option for Bikers or Scouts to grant innate mobility or improved deployment, the only other option Chaos gets is Cultists. They're considered a "tax" unit but unlike some other tax units, they have the potential to sway a battle if used well.
**''Loadout:'' Chaos Space Marines start off with a Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak Grenades, and Power Armor, and the Aspiring Champion gets a "free" Close Combat Weapon added to his Wargear in the process. In the basic squad of 5 models, one model may swap out their Bolter for a Special Weapon, and in a squad of 10 or more models, another model may swap a Bolter out for Heavy Weapon or a second Special. In practice, you won't ever take the Heavy Weapon because unlike Loyalists, your guys cannot split up into Combat Squads, and you don't get Grav Cannons. Unique to Chaos Marines, any model can swap out their Bolter for a Bolt Pistol and Close Combat Weapon for free, or take the Close Combat Weapon while retaining the Bolter for 2 points. One additional note is that you can run Chaos Marines in a unit of up to 20 models if you really wish. You don't get any additional Specials/Heavies for running squads larger than 10, but Icons become more cost-effective the more models they affect.
***'''MSU Configuration:''' A basic squad of 5 models, one with a Meltagun, the Champion has a Combi-Meltagun, and the unit has a Rhino. Optionally, you can equip the Rhino with a Dozer Blade or Dirge Casters, depending on your points budget. This configuration is alright if you're treating your CSM as a "tax unit".
***'''Infantry Configuration:''' 10 models, and either 2 plasma guns or melta guns. Optionally, you can run the unit with an Mark/Icon of choice. This is alright for "disruption" if you're running Hounds of Abaddon or some other formation that buffs your rank-and-file Chaos Space Marines, though it amplifies the traditional weakness of Chaos being slow.

*'''Cultists:''' These are your "cheap" troop choice, with the option to get a unit of 10 guys for 50 points, plus another 4 for each new guy. The actual options they get are fairly weak, but they're dirt-cheap and a good "hiding spot" for characters. You can also spend the fortification slot to buy an Aegis defense line and crap the cultists in there, for an inexpensive 2+ cover save bulwark. Don't underestimate them though, point for point they almost always hit harder than Marines, with autoguns they can gun down T 4 or less pretty effectively, and they don't have to worry quite as much about hard counters as Space Marines,
** Don't bother with a mark. Cultists are a mass of expendable bodies, and don't need the points wasted on them only to die as expected. If you're really intent on making them tougher, take Typhus and make them Plague Zombies. In fact, if you make certain calculations, you'll figure out that an amount of points dumped into marks add roughly the same survivability or offensive capability as the equal amount of points dumped into extra bodies, and extra bodies are always better because they give you both. So forget about the marks; Autoguns, Flamers and Heavy Stubbers are the only meaningful options that Cultists have.
** Here's a more detailed explanation why Marks are bad for your Cultists. Starting from the "best" to the worst:
*** ''Nurgle:'' Makes your lowly Cultists as tough as Space Marines. Don't get too excited because they still wear t-shirt armor. The only use it has is to make a maxed out blob harder to budge or force morale checks on. But really it's not worth the points; there are better ways to buff them.
*** ''Slaanesh:'' Your Cultists are now I4, which means that they hit before Guardsmen and at the same time as Space Marines. Nothing special.
*** ''Tzeentch:'' 6++. Needless to say, it's pretty pathetic. You "could" make the case for this if you have some other way to buff their Invulnerable Save, but most of those options can't be banked on: You don't get Divination unless you're allying in Daemons or are running Crimson Slaughter, while you can't rely on the Munitorium Crate giving you a forcefield save. If you wanted to be cute with allies, you "could" do something like running this with a Kustom Forcefield to give them an effective 4++ save, but at the end of the day they're cultists.
*** ''Khorne:'' It gives your cultists Rage and Counter Attack. And costs 2 points. This means that a 30 strong cultist squad with the mark costs just under 200 points, and chucks out 90-120 WS3, S3, I3 attacks in the first round of close combat - if it manages to get into CC completely unscathed. Realistically speaking, it's going to take at least 50% casualties on its way in - but even after you factor that in your calculations, that an avalanche of 45-60 attacks. Introduce some sort of buff into the mix - like the Zealot granted by a dark apostle with AOBF, or some psychic shenanigans or SOMETHING, and all of a sudden the situation turns into - "oh, cool, your storm shield terminators have a 2+ save. Make 20 of them, please". Naturally you will not revolutionize the tournament scene with your new amazing cultist-star, but this seems to be the way to make the buggers semi-viable.
** While cultists certainly seem to be adequate objective-humpers, they are far outclassed by the sheer versatility presented by the updated rules for Renegades and Heretics, presented in Imperial Armour 13. Instead of a wimpy troop choice you now can take Battle-Brother rank allies that essentially function the same as Imperial Guard, with platoons and blobs on the cheap. Instead of generic CHOPPA or DAKKA Cultists, you have the choice of better weaponry and more flavorful fun.
** As should be expected, the Cultist Champion isn’t going to be winning very many challenges, but on the off chance he does, and gets to roll on the Chaos Boon table, be sure to have a camera handy. If he wins the Chaos lottery, you want to be sure and record the look on your opponent’s face when a Daemon Prince erupts from your mob of cultist lasbolt-catchers like a stripper from a birthday cake. Especially since it’ll probably never happen again.
** If you're dakka-ing your cultists up with autoguns, you might as well give the Cultist Champion a shotgun to give him an extra mid-range shot. Unlike Guard officers and vets, he doesn't have anything better to choose from, and since it's taken rather than replacing something, you're not sacrificing an attack for it.
*'''Tzaangors (Wrath of Magnus):''' Tzaangors are similar to Cultists, but with +1 Weapon Skill, Toughness and the Mark of Tzeentch. They're in an odd place price-wise, costing 20 points more than a base Cultist unit, but not getting a champion unless they pay for one. They also start dual wielding close combat weapons, and must pay extra if they want pistols. They have zero special, heavy or melee weapons options, even for the Twistbray. Their Auxiliary formation makes them a respectable skirmish unit, but otherwise they're in an awkward space where they're too pricey to be cheap, and too cheap/fragile to be elite.
**Their "Relic Hunters" special rule gives them a bonus in assaults against anyone wielding a unique artifact: they want to steal it for their daemonic masters! This ability is marginal at best, for while it makes them to be a more effective tarpit against expensive HQs and special characters, it does nothing against lists that don't do herohammer.
**An important thing to note about Tzaangor's in comparison to regular cultists is that essentially you are paying 2 extra points per model for +1 weapon skill, +1 toughness and a 6++ invuln save <del>that can be buffed further by the Thousand Sons "blessing of Tzeentch" special rule</del> (that rule only affects units with VotLW). effectively making them cultists with both MoT & MoN, the one thing they lack is range, having to pay a point per model for an auto pistol & chainsword, as well as no access to the flamer and heavy stubber. Effectively they are better at being exactly what they need to be for a T Sons army, CQC blobs that can soak up wounds, tangle with SPESS MARINES, and keep your opponents infantry at bay while your Psykers prepare their mind bullets.
**These bird-headed mutants are close to Ork Boyz in their stats and abilities, but not necessarily in role. Boyz are cheaper with an extra attack, Furious Charge, and the WAAAAGH! Their guns hit harder as well, albeit less accurately, and they have access to Shootas and Big Shootas to put out a good number of shots at medium range. Tzaangors have their (weak) invulnerable save and more initiative, and don't fight each other when they fail a morale test. Tzaangors also have their formation(see below) which gives them an equivalent to the WAAAAGH! that they lack when taken in a CAD.

===Dedicated Transport===

*'''[[Rhino]]:''' Chaos gets the Rhino, and many of the normal guidelines to using it apply here as well. However, the Chaos Vehicle armory has more options than its loyalist counterpart; remember that the main advantage of the Rhino is it is "tough for its cost", so the moment you saddle it with upgrades, it loses that advantage. Besides Dozer Blades, the options worth considering are Dirge Casters (as shutting down enemy overwatch is nice), Havoc Launchers (Chaos does not get Razorbacks, and it's a fairly decent weapon), and ''maybe'' the occasional Combi-Weapon if you're running a Rhino Rush list.
**It is completely legal to load up a SINGLE RHINO with an extra combi-bolter, combi-weapon of your choice, AND a havoc launcher. Sure, it's not cost effective or a good idea, but it sure looks cool and is decently killy!

===Elites===

Cult Marines are now elites! If you want them as troops, you need a Lord with an appropriate mark (Sorceror for Thousand Sons).

*'''Chosen''' - Be very, ''very'' careful with fielding chosen now as they will get very '''VERY''' expensive. That said, Chosen got one weird ass buff in the new Codex; no longer can they infiltrate, but they get 2 attacks base(3 EACH total, 2 base, 1 for CC weapon/pistol) and get access to a metric fuck ton of war gear. Like I said, be very careful as you will spend a small fortune on the FOC slot here. If you're not running Plague Marines, Chosen are handy as a special weapon squad, with their ability to tote around a whole pile of special weapons regardless of squad size. Don't equip them all with power weapons and claws like the Dark Vengeance kit suggests, unless you have some bizarre attraction to paying Terminator prices for non-Terminator models. Give them four to five Plasma Guns, ruining Terminator armies as they try to dislodge your heavy weapons, you can do this with Havocs but then you lose a precious heavy support choice. Give them five Melta Guns, hide in dense terrain and ruin a mech players day. Also fun with five flamers and Huron giving them Infiltrate. They are good when you need a squad with a specialised role. Flamers could be good charge deterrents and Meltas are just mean combined with a KHARIBDYSS! On the other hand, in small games, especially if using the black legion supplement, where their extra attack and leadership can prove invaluable. These guys *hate* Space Marines, and with MoS and Claws or MoK and Axes WILL fuck their day up hard if they can into close combat. That's probably why VotLW is slightly pricey for em. Hail the gods: If playing Alpha legion JUST TAKE THEM. Infiltrating, free VOTLW plasma chosen are just as stupid as infiltrating Tactical Support Squad from the heresy, have better combat power after firing to, and can be taken as a small outflanking suicide unit or a larger plasma distraction unit. AL also make them far more useful as the shock-assault troops they always wanted to be, where you can mix and match meltas flamers and a power weapon or two, depending on what you expect to face. Even better if you take a few squads. One idea is to Infiltrate larger squads with meltas and maybe a power fist, then outflank smaller special weapon suicide strike squads. They become a very aggressive dangerous Troop choice, so pair them with similarly aggressive support units like Havocs, Heldrakes, Maulerfiends, Bikers (with Bike Lord) and such. Hit them hard and make them suffer. FOR CHAOS!
**'''Mark of Khorne:''' They can be very useful only costing 1 more point than Berzerkers but they have an additional attack -1 WS, lack of fearless, and can gain furious charge from the icon. Giving them a variety of power weapons - read:lightning claws and fists - will enable them to take on just about anything short of terminators, monstrous creatures and super-mechs like Knight Titans. A squad like this can rip through an Imperial Guard army if you deploy right and keep hugging assault.
**'''Mark of Nurgle:''' While expensive, this means your Chosen squad will not get bogged down in combat when in combat with Assault Marines or deep striking assault units. This also allows you to survive heavier amounts of fire power piled onto your squad in the shooting phase, otherwise fear is pointless.
**'''Mark of Slaanesh:''' Allows you to take the Icon of Excess, but that's 35 points more(A steal if you have 10+ models in the squad, Lord and other ICs included). Give these guys MoS and an IoE and plasma guns for FnP, AP2 and I5 goodness. 10 of these guys and a rhino is cheaper than 10 Plague Marines with a rhino. You trade T5, I3 and Plague Knives for 3 attacks(base 2 and they have pistols/ccw) at I5 with access to more special weapons. Once you throw in plasma guns they will be more expensive, but hey, you have more plasma guns. Maybe give one or two a meltagun just in case. They will be hitting first a lot in CC and gunning down anything short of a land raider with ease. Such sweet cacophony.
*** '''Side-note:''' Re-gear five of them plus the champion for CC with power weapons, being I5 with FnP and stick them in a Land Raider and watch them outshine Terminators. Oh hey you can also stick 4 more with 4 attacks(per model) on the charge in for added killing power. So. Many. Attacks. Pre-Power Weapons, but still having the IoE, they are the same points cost as 10 'Zerkers with an Icon of Wrath, while having more standard attacks, the same number on the charge, higher initiative(but one less WS, but at this point who cares) AND FnP. Devastating when used properly. Throw in a Dark Apostle and/or Slaanesh Lord and dare anything in the history of ever that isn't Deathwing Knights to fight these in CC without thinking twice.
**'''Mark of Tzeentch:''' 6+ Invulnerable and access to Soul Blaze, but that's for Havoc Heavy Bolter squads, and the 6+ is shitty. Skip. WAIT DON'T SKIP, instead chuck a sorcerer with crimson slaughter supplement with the balestar (ML3 of course) manage to give them a 4++ then a 3++ due to THIS! Also if you get preferred enemy EVERYTHING! Re roll those gets hots and pretty much auto melt terminators with pretty much negating cover saves.... Keep these not so gentlemen around a forgefiend for lulz.
*** ''Um, actually'': Re-rolls are nice and all, but the off chance of rolling forewarning isn't worth the risk of paying for a 6++ the majority of the time. The other marks can get the same re-rolls while benefiting from their mark all the time. You'd be better off with a landing pad and even then you pay for close combat attacks you're not using. Even TSons can only expect a 5++. So yea, do skip.
*'''Possessed Marines''' - Ah, the Possessed. The ever so random knife you can bring to the gunfight that is 7e. While it is true that they got a much-needed upgrade and significantly more options, they still leave a lot to be desired. Last edition, they were 26 points apiece and had to roll their daemonkin power off a D6 once after deployment, and whatever you rolled they were stuck with for the rest of the game. But now they're back, wearing a nice suit and trying to make up for their past negligence. Fleet used to be one of the aforementioned D6 options, but now it's part of their profile by default. Also, as officially part of the daemon club, they get a 5++, also by default, and also with no point increase. Their possible power-rolls each turn (now made on a D3) give them either ''+1 attack'' and ''+1 initiative'', ''power weapon attacks'' at AP3, or the ability to ''re-roll all failed to-wound rolls''. Still, their most critical flaw is not even the fact that they're a horrible point sink, or that they're fragile as fuck for their cost. No, it's the lack of a proper delivery system that hurts them the most. As it is, they just get shredded before they can even make it into CC. If they do manage to charge while there's some of them around, a ten man squad with a Mark of Slaanesh and an Icon of Excess, which is worth about 325, nets you 30 attacks at S5, I5, with a defense of 3+, 5++ and FNP, which should mop up any MEQ and GEW opposition in no time. Khorne-marked possessed get even more ridiculous, being able to overwhelm even terminator squads through sheer number of incoming S5 attacks... If they manage to make it into close combat.
**Traitor's Hate Note: There is now a formation that includes a daemon prince and 3 units of possessed, and get this - as long as the prince is alive and nearby, the possessed get all three buffs. That's ridiculously powerful if you can pull it off. Not exactly compettitive material here, but not horrible either.
**Here are some examples for a 10-model squad (that you want charging from that Land Raider):
***'''With a Mark:'''
****Khorne (290p): They get 4 attacks each on the charge, 3 if they get charged. Can grind most things to a pulp on volume of high power hits alone.
****Slaanesh (290p): They are now at I5, which is good against MEQ's - adds survivability.
****Nurgle (300p): They have now T5, which is always nice, but if you think about it, you want your Possessed to butcher everything on the charge or better yet - in your opponent's next assault phase (so that they can't be shot at during that turn), not to tarpit. The resistance to small arms fire T5 affords is nice, but it won't help against most guns that ignore the possessed's 3+ - ant that's probably what these guys will start eating as soon as they are in line of sight.
****Tzeentch (310p): 4++ save is great, but compared to other marks, this option lacks the killy-power they should be used for. Then again, if you're getting shot by things that ignore your 3+ armour and flatten you otright, such as battlecannons, it could be good. Only problem is, it is horrendously expensive, so you should think very carefyully about whether you want to mark your guys or just add more bodies..
***'''With a corresponding Icon:'''
****Khorne (15p): Strength 6 on the charge (Furious Charge doesn't work when you get charged), but they re-roll charge distance already because of Fleet.
****Slaanesh (35p): Feel no Pain 5+ is sweet as hell, if you plan on getting shot at and surviving for another charge.
****The other two icons are completely useless, because Possessed already have Fear and have no bolt weapons to receive Soul Blaze. They do still grant +1 to combat resolution, which helps any build of Possessed do their job better.
***Expensive? Yes, as always. But every one of their daemonkin rolls is ''good''. Treat them as you would a squad of Berserkers: load ten of them into a Land Raider, and then ram them into whatever enemy squad you want dead.
** Note: IF using the Crimson Slaughter Supplement, they gain a completely different table of results that are, for the most part, better, as well as becoming troops. The results turn to either Shrouded (for both them and their transport), Beasts, or a 3++ with Rending.
**Note: If you don't buy the comparison to Terminators, ask yourself what'll happen to 10 Terminators if they get hit by a Demolisher cannon, or a Tau Ion Riptide, or an Imperial Knight's Melta Cannon. Just as dead as the Possessed you say? No shit. There is a hard counter to nearly every unit in this game.
**FYI, if you want to run Khorne possessed, take Daemonkin Allies. They are better (By having the Icon of wrath built in by default as Daemons of Khorne), can be affected by allied Khorne Daemon Loci, and have the same killing power as before.
**Remember this guys have no grenades, so IC is badly needed if you don't want your super-expensive squad torn to pieces after charging Guardsmen behind the Aegis without even a chance to lift a claw.

*'''Noise Marines''' - These guys are 17 pts. and ideally taken as squads of 8-12. Take some fucking sonic blasters - they're 2/3 salvo bolters that '''ignore cover''', and they're only 3 pts.! Throw in some Blastmasters, which still fire at either S5 AP4 Assault 2/Pinning or S8 AP3 Heavy 1/Blast/Pinning... but now ignore cover, too! Besides gun choices, they also have I5 to a regular Marine's I4. Their higher Initiative means they can be used for assault quite well, but blasters are now salvo, so you ''cannot charge'' after volley of sonic death, and you're taking these guys to chase camping units out of cover. Still their CCW costs only 1 pt per model. The champ has access to Slaaneshi goodies in the armoury, too! Go the extra mile, spend 30 points and give these guys Feel No Pain, [[Meme|because drugs]]. With the new FAQ, you can take a Blastmaster at under 10 men and a second AT 10 men, making them even more awesome! The Noise Champ even gets a CCW for free!
**For a fun time, join a Sorcerer to a group of Noise Marines and have him roll on the Biomancy table. If you luck out and roll a 5, you can give the squad FnP, Eternal Warrior and, most importantly, Relentless! What's that? Did someone say 24" Assault 3, Ignores Cover Dakkasplooge? Or give the sorcerer Slaanesh powers and go for Symphony of PAIN, a stack-able WS/BS debuff that increases the strength of Sonic weapons. If you can get multiple Sorcerers to roll this ability, you can annihilate anything through shear volleys of NOISE! Two casts on a unit of Plague Marines and Blastmasters instant kill them right through their [[FATAL|Feel No Pain]]!
**Noise Marines can also be fun if you took Huron Blackheart and a Slaanesh Sorceror. Take a squad of 20, give them all Sonic blasters, AND WATCH WHILE THINGS GET LOUD!!! Use the Sorceror to make all of the Sonic weapons gain +1 strength, and have fun rolling 60 strength 5 ignores cover shots at the enemy with infiltrate from Huron. Extra cookie for you if they have to charge you afterwards.
**'''Special Note:'''Noise Marine could now be the best MEQ in the game. For only <strike>one</strike> three points more than a standard tactical marine you get Fearless and I5 over ATSKNF and I4. The Blastmaster is downright dirty. FNP is a steal if you take 10+ in a single unit. Sonic weapons add dakka if you need it. For an extra point you an get an extra CCW for an additional attack, essentially making them better than a vanilla marine veteran for two less points. The Champion is great in challenges. '
**'''Mathhammer:''' Sonic Blasters are amazing. GEQ units almost always have cover, generally 4+ or 5+. Removing that AND their armor would be nice enough, but being salvo, stationary Noise Marines put out 3x the firepower of regular marines in the 12-24 inch range. 3x the shots, with +50% or +100% effectiveness (5+ or 4+ cover) against light infantry makes Guard, non-aspect Eldar, Dark Eldar, Nids, and of course Orks cry. Even against 4+, the increased volume of fire is immense. At less than 1.5x the cost of a marine, you get x1.5 to x3 (based on range) the volume of fire, Ignores Cover, and THEN you get higher initiative, easy access to FNP, and fearless, and THEN you get the insane Blast Master and Doom Siren.

*'''Khorne Berserkers''' - Despite coming with a shopping list of weapons and special rules that'd make most Loyalists weep with envy (Fearless, Furious Charge, Rage, Counter Attack, WS5 and two attacks with weapons) Berserkers have taken a bit of a hit compared to the 4th ed book. The extra attack from the Mark of Khorne has been lost, being replaced with Rage and Counter-Attack. This doesn't make an appreciable difference on the charge, as you'll still be getting off a whopping 4 attacks, but becomes more noticeable in protracted combats, as 2 attacks vs. the old book's 3 will make a big difference. And while Counter-Attack is suitably fluffy, any decent general will tell you if your Berserkers get charged, you've used them wrong. You can now takes Chainaxes, which grant AP4, making these guys the utter bane of any horde in the game, but this will push up the cost of an already highly expensive unit. Placement is key - on the charge they'll crush hordes, overwhelm MEQs with sheer volume of attacks and wipe the floor with non-melee units. If they're not charging, they're just Marines with Counter-Attack. Use them wisely.
**Honestly thought, these guys play second fiddle to regular chaos marines with the MoK, being a ton more expensive (6PPM!), and lacking the ability to take any special weapon out side the crappy plasma pistol. They also require a lord to make then troops.
**A word for the wise - a Land Raider actually makes a good transport for these guys. AV14 is a wonderful thing. Plunge it into the centre of a soft formation, unload Berserkers. Laugh maniacally. Add dirge casters for even more fun and games - or hell, have Kharn accompany them for giggles. If you've got a unit of Terminators who are Deep Striking, buy them the Land Raider and then stuff the Berserkers in there on turn 1.
**Just because it keeps getting brought up, if you think Infiltrating these guys with Huron/Ahriman/a lucky roll on the Warlord Traits table is a good idea, remember that YOU CAN NOT ASSAULT THE TURN YOU INFILTRATE.
***Alternate take: Wanna know what Infiltrate also lets you do? Outflank. Set those guys up for a side charge. Of course, you can't assault the turn you come on, but makes a fine threat that cannot be ignored.
***Alternate alternate take: Get these guys a dreadclaw. Bitches love dreadclaws.

*'''Plague Marines''' - These guys are the favourites of many a player, and it's not hard to see why. Got a price bump in the last codex to 24 points each - pricey, but they get: Feel No Pain, T5, frag, krak, AND defensive grenades - oh, and now they have poisoned close combat attacks! They are terrifyingly hard to kill without resorting to a vubdicator, or aggressive close-combat squads, thanks in part to the T5/FNP combo - only S10 (dreads, smashing monsters, demolishers) hits ignore ungodly 6-th edition T5-FNP(5+) of plags. In short: these guys can take huge abuse from just about anything, and will require very strong weapons or very specific units to remove. They double on offence, too - with no minimum unit size for weapons and the ability to take a transport, they can be thrown in a [[Firaeveus Carron|METAL BOX]] and hurled directly at enemy formations with twin meltaguns. Toughness 5 and the weakened Feel No Pain means you're going to get those off and possibly more whilst drawing lots of enemy fire away from other units. With the sheer volume of grenades they get, Plague Marines can counter several types of enemies, too. Beware the unit's low initiative count; most enemies ''will'' strike first, and a Power Weapon or two on a fast unit is one of the few things that can fuck up this unit's shit (though a bit less so, now).
** Plague Marine squads, probably owing to their high base price, are the only cult marines to get their champion ''for free''(and still get the obligatory boost to Leadership and Attack). This combined with less of a limit on special weapons than other squads, means that small squads are much more cost-effective and deadlier than running larger squads.
**'''Mathhammer:''' Vs small arms fire (str 4, BS 4), they are ungodly. 2/3 chance to hit, 1/3 chance to wound, 1/3 chance to get through armor, 2/3 chance to get through FNP. It takes 20 shots to kill ONE Plague Marine. Even if it's AP 3 (insanely lucky rending, Thousand Sons, Vengence Bolts), in light (5+) cover it's still 10 shots. In said cover they have a 55% chance to ignore Battle Cannons and Plasma, better than a Thousand Sons Marine.

*'''Thousand Sons:''' Oh boy, you've just stumbled one of the the most [[skub]] units in the entire game. So, you see, Thousand Sons are pretty cool; they were doing that whole Egyptian robot thing before the [[Necron]]s boarded the hype train ''and'' they have one of the best [[Horus Heresy]] stories ever (and two of the best Horus Heresy books, for that matter). And their rules look pretty cool too: AP3 bolters, 4++ invulnerable save standard, Fearless, a Mastery Level 1 Sorcerer (with force weapon!) as the Champion...and then the issues come up. They're Slow and Purposeful, meaning they cannot Overwatch, Run, or pursue fleeing opponents. It lets them assault enemies after rapid-firing their Bolters...but chances are that a good round of shooting will leave your opponent well out of assault range. The unit is also incredibly expensive at 23 points per model, and the mandatory aspiring Sorcerer is 35 points extra. The Sorcerer also comes with a Mark of Tzeentch, meaning he ''must'' generate his one and only power from the Discipline of Tzeentch. This means you either have a Doombolt vector, or the unit is serving as a Warp Charge battery. Those AP3 bolters, by the way? Yes, they're nice (especially if you catch some fellow Marines out in the open), but there's either so much cover out there, or armies can easily bring their own cover (or Jink, or use Invisibility, or whatever...) that it usually doesn't matter...at least until you start tossing out buffs or debuffs of your own; be it a Daemon Prince of Nurgle with Grotti the Nurgling, or casting Enfeeble, dropping an enemy unit from T4-T3 ups the kill factor of Thousand Sons versus Power Armor that they become akin to a small Krak Missile squad, Ghoststorm from Ectomancy lets them shunt into better firing positions to negate enemy cover, while Geomortis has one power to let them ignore cover and line of sight. Don't forget they go down just as easily as a normal Marine to light arms fire...easier in fact, because your enemy won't feel as bad firing a LOT of dakka at them. Also, if you wind up against a lightly armored enemy (Dark Eldar and Orks come to mind), you've wasted your AP3.
**They now have the ability for every guy to take warpflamers (normal flamers with -1 AP and Soul Blaze) and one in 10 guys can get a soulreaper cannon, 24" s5 ap3 heavy 4 Rending! Overall considered to be not worth it, but now the Tzeentch table got updated so the sorcerer isn't completely shit. And they now get +1 invuln in a Thousand Sons detachment if they get a blessing cast on them.
**Now have models :D
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' However, as usual, it's best not just to listen to Internet Advice. Many people do prefer to run them, just because, as mentioned above, they have ''really, really'' [[Awesome]] [[fluff]] (and they can do really well in friendly games). Still, it's best to avoid them in anything approaching a competitive environment. If you do decide to take them, it's best to take them in a Rhino, to provide them with some mobility to get around.
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' While it is true that a primarily Thousand Sons-based army is noncompetitive,this isn't because they are a bad unit, but because they fill a very specific niche of bringing enormous pain to MEQs, and they're somewhat overpriced even for that. Honestly, if you want to have a fluffy and semi-competitive army, the best strategy would probably be to lean heavily on Daemon allies and dedicated transports in order to support and mutually complement your Thousand Sons squads.To sum it up, Thousand Sons can kick all kinds of ass, you just need to really know how to use them, and who to use them with.
**Although seemingly a shooty unit, don't forget that Slow & Purposeful prevents them from overwatching. So if an enemy squad threatens to charge them, use slow and purposeful to rapid fire and charge instead, denying the charge bonuses from the enemy.
**'''Mathhammer:''' I do not want to fill this page with overly long proofs, so consider this: Plague Marines and Noise Marines (With banner) better resist small arms fire, and with 5+ cover, better resist ap3+ fire. While stationary, Noise Marines (with sonic guns) at 12-24 inches fire three times as many shots, tying them for marine destruction, and beating them vs light infantry. Their main advantage is when there is no cover (4++ doesn't care about, and their high AP benefits from enemies having no other save), so load a group in a rhino and plop them on an exposed objective. In the open they tank Plasma, Battle Cannons, and Krak missiles better than the other two, can shoot most infantry to death, and force bikes to jink or die. If only they were a point or two cheaper... Not Mentioned: Khorne marines, as they are melee and thus completely different.

*'''Chaos Terminators:''' The good part: they get crazy cheap Combi-Weapons which are purchasable for each guy in the squad, cost less than the Loyalist scum counterparts and get Combi-Bolters which are better than Storm bolters on the charge. The bad part: they lack the cool Loyalist special rule ATSKNF, they have worse starting gear (power weapons as opposed to power fists), are missing out on the long range dakka with Combi-Bolters, and have fewer wargear options than loyalists do (sorry no Assault Cannons, CMLs, Storm Shields, or Thunder Hammers). On the other hand, they ''do'' have access to Icons and Marks like most generic squads. These make Terminators pretty goddamn scary, but it costs quite a lot to load a squad up with them. You can also still take actual combi-weapons and a special melee weapon (thanks to the new FAQ). Especially at higher points levels, make sure to take a Land Raider as a dedicated transport to save a Heavy Support slot. Here are a few popular loadout ideas:
**'''Termicide:''' Give every single member of the squad a Combi-Weapon (usually Combi-Meltas, possibly a Combi-Flamer or two). This allows you to take small "suicide" squads of Termies that Deep Strike in, eat a tank or two with Combi-Meltas, then threaten a squad for Combi-Flamers and their power fists should they survive. This is only advised for higher points limits, as it can be quite expensive.
***A three man squad with just power weapons and Combi-Weapons will only cost 112pts. Take Power Mauls/Axes with Combi-Flamers and you got the Loyalist's equivilent to Drop Pod Assault Marines with Flamers, but a little more expensive and better.
**'''Close-Combat Anvil:''' Put 'em in a Land Raider (or Deep Strike them, or do a THIS IS SPARTAN ASSAULT TANK!) supported by a nasty Terminator Lord; Lightning Claws and Chainfists are, of course, advised for melee weapons. The Heavy Flamer is cheap and drops a nice S5 AP4 template. The Reaper Autocannon, while expensive, does offer accurate, long-range S7 AP4 fire support on the move, something that Havocs can't really do (unless you play Death Guard or give your DP the 35 pt. Fighter Aces upgrade). Forget Khorne (do you really need that extra bit of initial close-combat punch that only helps rout an enemy squad and leave you sitting ducks for the enemy to shoot at your terminators next turn?); take Nurgle in a small-arms heavy meta that focuses on dealing with terminators by forcing saves, or Tzeentch if you're in a plasma heavy meta, are probably the best Marks to give these guys (heavy guns don't give a damn about the difference between T4 and T5, and the Chainfists ignore I5 anyway). If cost is not a factor and you're willing to get the best of both worlds (offence and defence), give em the Mark of Slaanesh, take an Icon of Excess and equip them all with lightning claws and veterans of the long war to make Space Marines cry.

*'''Scarab Occult Terminators (Wrath of Magnus)''': Thousand Sons Chaos Terminators in blue Egyptian-themed Tartaros Terminator Armor(similarly priced to standard Terminators but with a pricier yet more powerful squad leader). They are Fearless and come with the standard Tzeentch Terminator 2+/4++, khopeshes(power swords) and AP3 combi-bolters. Their sergeant is a Mastery Level 2 psyker with a Force Staff who can roll his second power from any discipline, and has [[Awesome|TWO WOUNDS]]. The squad can take two heavy weapons per five, both a Hellfyre Missile Launcher(a Cyclone that has half the range and only fires kraks despite costing the same) and either an AP3 Heavy Flamer(if somehow you are still having doubts about being able to beat 3+ power armor) or a Soulreaper Cannon. These guys are NOT Slow and Purposeful, rather following standard Terminator Armor rules, presumably because their rubric nature and their agile Tartaros armor cancel each other out. Note that unlike regular Terminators, these guys can't take any combi-weapons or AP2 melee weapons, and have minimum squad size five, so be warned: you can't do a cheap termicide with these guys, despite their other strengths. This overspecialization also means they will have serious trouble dealing with other TEQ and with walkers, so don't rely on them as the only unit in your list.
** note: They are expensive, but their seargent is a FUCKING SORCERER that not only is in termie armor, but has the same stats as a FUCKING Sorcerer, like WS5, and two wounds, seriously these guys are a steal, but don't put them up against powerfists or Ap1/2 or they will be [[Anal_Circumference|very unhappy]].
** note: Chaos Lords of the thousand sons get one of the most brutal melee weapons in the game in the form of Seers Bane. Take a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour, have the sorcerer cast force, and watch as he eats TEQ units solo

*'''Mutilators''': Unlike most other units, Mutilators are taken in squads of 1 to 3 models, meaning you can run them "solo" should you wish. Effectively two-wound "melee" Terminators, with the Slow and Purposeful and Daemon rules, Mutilators are figuratively (if not literally) Swiss-Army Sword. Whenever they're in close combat, in every fight sub-phase they choose a pair of weapons to use for that fight subphase, with the restriction they cannot use the same weapon in two consecutive Player Turns: Chainfists, Lightning claws, Power Swords, Power Axes, Axes or Power Mauls. While relatively cheap for a two-wound Terminator, they have their problems: They're "Slow And Purposeful" meaning you have to go out of their way to use them aggressively, they have no ranged options whatsoever, and bad scatters can easily ruin your plans. They have a very low number of attacks meaning they're not actually that good at carving through large units, though they can "solo" vehicles or small squads of Bikers...assuming they're not shot, and the opponent doesn't just Turbo away. Rather, think of solo Mutilators as a [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|distraction]] in conjunction with an army built around them, or use them to "spread a net" and lock down your opponent's movement options. Worst comes to worst, a single Mutilator with the Mark of Nurgle can be a cheapish Objective Holder that isn't worth shooting at. Their slowness means you need to plan accordingly. If you're running Daemon allies or don't mind burning wounds off your Sorcerer from the getgo, Cursed Earth helps Mutilators by providing a "no-Scatter" Deep Strike zone, as well as improving their Invulnerable for the time being. Ectomancy lets you Soulswitch with them and improve their threat range, while Geomortis can give them terrain to surf on.
**''Marks:'' For most builds, you want the Mark of Nurgle. Toughness 5 saves you from being doubled-down by Strength 8 weapons, and makes you slightly more resilient to small arms fire. You "can" run them with Tzeentch if you're running Daemonology, since it would give them a 3++, but this isn't an efficient deathstar compared to other options. Khorne "does" give you an extra attack on the first round of close combat, but doesn't help you survive to get there. Slaanesh is arguably the worst because two of your three main weapons are Unwieldy, thus making the Initiative bonus pointless, plus you cannot pursue enemies due to Slow and Purposeful. Overall, they are not great - unless you count the Cult of Destruction. Go read on it in its own section - it's hilarious.

*'''Helbrute''' - The Chaos Dreadnought, the Helbrute's claim to fame (or infamy) is the "Crazed" rule: Whenever the Helbrute takes a glancing or penetrating hit, then you roll a D3 on the following turn to see what happens: 1 forces him to "Fire Frenzy" (he counts as Immobilized for the turn, and fires twice, preferably targeting an enemy that took a Hull Point from him), 2 makes him ignore shaken/stunned results and give him rage, and a roll of 3 is the same as a roll of 2 but the Helbrute also gets fleet but must run if not within 12" of an enemy unit.
**Compared to Loyalist Dreadnoughts, you don't get a "free" Storm Bolter, nor do you get Assault Cannons, the ability to double-up on twin-linked Autocannons (you make do with a single piddly Reaper Autocannon), or to be run in a squadron (eh). You do get the option for a Thunder Hammer or Power Scourge, as well as the option to double-down on fists (though you will want a gun, since every bit helps). The Helbrute is the only unit besides the Obliterator with access to Multimeltas or Plasma Cannons; the Multimelta can find use in the Mayhem Pack formation, but otherwise its range leaves something to be desired. This anon personally prefers Plasma, simply because it only takes one well-placed blast to blast a hole in a unit of bikes, and that's enough to threaten your opponent to Jink.
**'''Working around Crazed:''' If you take a Sorcerer with Ectomancy or Geomortis, you have powers which allow the Helbrute to move despite being immobilized, so Fire Frenzy does not become as much of a hassle. Though it will probably be FAQ'd otherwise, Power Of the Machine Spirit does not have any restrictions against being used when a model runs, so you could use it to keep your Helbrute firing whenever it gets Blood Rage. Alternately, take clear note of the fact that the Helbrute must run only if there is no enemy within 12" of him, and consider that Allies of Convenience are considered enemies. That Ork Big Mek providing a Kustom Forcefield save to your Helbrute would also prevent him from being forced to run off and jeopardize your battle plans.
**'''Knight Hunting''' - Thanks to the GW Errata giving them 4 attacks base combined with the option for free Hatred(Imperials) from Black Crusade, a Helbrute has the attacks/means to seriously damage if not destroy a Knight for a fraction of the cost...provided it can survive to get close. Terrain remains your friend of course. The problem is they both have the same Initiative, so by default you're engaging in piece-trading, the idea being losing a Helbrute is worth finishing off a Knight. That said, it doesn't have to remain a MAD scenario, especially if you have Summoning/Incursion. Fiends of Slaanesh are a notable unit worth summoning, because when they charge, any enemy unit engaged with them suffers a -5 Initiative Penalty. This would notably let your Dreads get the drop on most anything in the game (except the odd Bloodthirster or Solitaire, but those are extreme edgecases), as you'd even be able to get to swing first versus Wraithknights and stuff; while this won't matter as much against the Wraithcannon/Suncannon variants that like to "hang back" and bombard you, the Skatach remains the most popular variant nowadays and it's a notoriously short-ranged combatant.
*'''Chaos Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought (Forge World):''' Similar to the loyalist version, in that it has a WS5, S7, FA13 and Fleet all in one death-slinging package. Compared to a loyalist Contemptor, they replace Atomantic Shielding with a Hellfire Reactor, which bestows a 4+ save against glancing hits and a 6+ save against pens. Oh, and he deals a S2 AP2 I10 automatic hit to any enemy psyker in base contact, in case you face Grey Knights. The Contemptor gets access to ranged weapons like Heavy Conversion Beamers and Butcher Cannons along with the standard dreadnought weapons, but you really shouldn't; these guys need to be in close combat. Chainfists and power fists are the go-to here; there may be an exception for the Havoc Launcher as it's cheap and doesn't take out a close-combat arm not to mention the in-built heavy flamer and twin-linked bolter. Plasma Blasters (an assault 2, 18" [[Plasma Gun]]) and Soul Burners (changed: S and AP 4 rending blast at 24") can however push it over the threshold of pricey. Regardless, remember when Grey Knights do their 'Psyfleman Dreadnought' thing? You now have an even better, choppier version albeit much more costly. Get your cup out to collect your opponents tears as you ruthlessly obliterate his Devilfishes with Pulse Carbine bearing Fire Warriors inside. BA rhino with Sternguard Combi-Melta spam? No problem, (swiftly followed by a very ironic) KA-BOOM! Speaking of things going boom, keep in mind that it also has the Loyalist version's larger explosion range if it gets a Vehicle Explodes result on the vehicle damage roll and that the ensuing explosion will possess the Soulblaze rule as well. On top of that, they can be dedicated to the Gods as follows:
**'''Khorne:''' Your Contemptor gets Rage and Rampage. This is arguably the best one because of its price plus extra armour running you 225 points. 7 attacks on the charge that needs to be destroyed or immobilised to stop it reaching CC - eep!
**'''Tzeentch:''' Your Contemptor gets to re-roll 1s on Invulnerable saves, and all its Heavy Flamers get Soul Blaze. It's... underwhelming. The price paid is a bit much for the re-rolls and Soul Blaze just sucks.
**'''Nurgle:''' Your Contemptor gets It Will Not Die. Pricey, but it can help your survival; won't do much if you're immobilised or lose an arm, though. If you want a thing that just won't die and keeps regenerating itself, consider the Decimator instead.
**'''Slaanesh:''' No, you don't get your [[Sonic Weaponry|sonic weapons]] back, but you do assault and defensive grenades. Do note that nothing says you cannot throw these grenades despite them being "count as", so enjoy an additional blast or blinding attack. Still, not super great considering...

*'''Slaaneshi Sonic Dreadnought (Forge World):''' '''Guess who's back Bitches!''' The Sonic Dreadnought is back in IA:13 is a really awesome addition. It starts naked with a TL Sonic Blaster, Doom-Siren and [[Rape|CHAINFIST]] [[What|w/ Storm bolter]] ''(no mistake... even references it later)'' as well as the WS/BS5 statline of a venerable. It also counts as having grenades. It doesn't have the same upgrade options, so there is no Scourge or Thunder Hammer, whilst the Sonic Blasters may be upgraded to the usual guns or second arm [[Derp|with TL bolter... not Storm Bolter]]. But you'll replace it with a Blastmaster because all of the other rules on the Dreadnought benefit your sonic weapons greatly. First you may '''choose''' to overcharge your sonic weapons and give them ''Rending / Gets-Hot''.(It should be noted for 20 points more you can always having Rending without Gets Hot, but you'll also have to spend 5 points on a TL-Heavy Bolter or TL-Autocannon, neither of which ignores cover) Also if you remain still in the movement phase you may double your rate of fire for the turn with all your sonic weapons. Meaning twice the pain. There's no reason to NOT get this dreadnought over a Helbrute unless you are trying to save points or are adamantly adhering to a mono-god list.
** The Sonic Dreadnought fulfills chaos's need for a rifleman, while maintaining its ability to kick ass in close combat. They work very well alongside static emplacements like artillery pieces and tanks where they can baby sit the heavy support and still make themselves useful with a blastmaster. Even Knight Titans will think twice before assaulting anything near this stunted box, or else risk getting chain fisted in the next assault phase.

*'''Ferrus Infernum Dreadnought (Forgeworld):''' The other replacement to your Helbrute, more generic and customisable than the Sonic Dread, but no less potent. Starts off with the WS/BS 5 combo making it better and all of the standard weapon options. After that, you may dedicate it to your chosen God for either Rage/Rampage (Khorne), IWND (Nurgle), Assault/Defensive Grenades (Slaanesh) or 6+ Invulnerable Save and Soul Blaze flamers (Tzeentch). Finally, you may further customise it by adding ONE extra special rule.
**'''Veteran of the Long War''' - if it ever EXPLODES! you roll on a table that can either turn the model into a [[Chaos Spawn|gibbering flesh monster]] which at least mitigates some of your loss / re-rolls the explodes result so you might get something else / [[Daemon Prince|Dark Apotheosis]] either way this upgrade depends on you exploding... not simply being wrecked. It can also issue Challenges, as if it were a Character.
**'''Host of the Daemonic Icon''' - for starters he ignores Shaken/Stunned on 2+, next anyone who hurts him in the Fight Sub-phase immediately takes a S4 AP3 hit per hull point lost. Therefore charge this guy directly into MEQ and your enemy will hate you. Good for Dreads with blast weapons where either of these results on the damage table would usually mean you can't fire at all.
**'''Destroyer of Cities''' - you turn your dreadnought into the loyalist siege dreadnought and must replace your arms with the Assault Drill w/ heavy flamer and get a Flamestorm Cannon. You also increase front AV by +1 and get move-through-cover like an Ironclad Dreadnought. Not a bad choice for both vehicle hunting and close range infantry purging. In the event you're playing Cities of Death, it also gets a free Wrecker stratagem.

*'''Decimator Daemon Engine (Forge World):''' It's the Chaos Contemptor's retarded brother piled into Imperial Armour 13. They're pricey at 205 pts., its armor is now better than a Contemptor's (by one ''freaking'' point on the rear), and not as fighty (WS/BS/I 3) at first, although it does have more attacks and a higher strength. But after reading its rules, you'll notice that it can bounce shaken/stunned results on a 2+ because of Daemonic Resilience, gets a 5+ invulnerable save for being a daemon and can deepstrike. The big deal with this guy is the "[[Awesome|Unholy Vigour]]" rule: it can regrow destroyed weapons and un-immobilise on 5+ AND can revive itself from a Wrecked result on a 6+ ON ANY TURN, regaining D3 HP in the process! The only downside is that rolling a 1 once it's wrecked means it stays dead for good, but why look a gift horse in the mouth? The Decimator can give up one or both of its claws to mount the following weapons:
**Decimator Siege Claws: your Decimator comes stock with two of these, providing a total of 4 S8 '''AP 2''' Lightning Claw attacks plus built in heavy flamers. They also confer smash with some extra fun: a smash attack against a building or transport that successfully penetrates will do an additional D6 heavy flamer attacks against the occupants per heavy flamer, meaning two siege claws and a charge gives you a potential 6D6 heavy flamer hits against anyone inside - Falcon PUNCH! This is the seven billionth thing Forge World has given us with the word "siege" in it.
**Butcher Cannon: Not much of point taking these anymore, seeing how a Forgefiend already has two guns with an identical profile plus pinning. For added redundancy, there's now heavy weapon platforms that mount the Hades Autocannon, at a fraction of the Fiend's cost. I guess if you really, REALLY wanna cover the board in S8 AP4 fire, then by all means take a decimator with butcher cannons.
**Storm Laser: 36" S6 AP3 Heavy D3+2. Purchased as a pair, lasers are hilariously effective against anything with a 3+ save, especially things that might be a bit too scary up close. Death Company, Lychguard, Crisis Suits, Tyranid Monstrous Creatures: Deep Strike a Decimator in and laser those pesky trouble spots.
**Soul Burner Petard: One higher strength and worse AP compared to the Contemptor's Soul Burner and it uses the large blast marker as opposed to the small. This weapon will squish Orks/Bugs/Guard and all other manner of [[tarpit]]s to dust. You only need to buy one of these (Ordnance weapon), retaining a Siege Claw for the fighty bastards that get too close.
**Heavy Conversion Beamer: Very expensive and radically alters the way you play this guy. There isn't much this gun can do that butcher cannons (which are now pointless) or siege claws will. On the one hand, you can hide this thing in some ruins and if you're lucky, you ''might'' be able to tag one or two vehicles/squads before they get out of its useful range. Best give it a pass - the Defiler does this better.
*The Decimator can be dedicated to one of the Gods (Note: you require an independent character with that same mark/daemon of same god in order to do so) as follows:
**'''Khorne:''' Gains the Rampage USR for +15 pts. Against hordes you're guaranteed an additional D3 attacks, not to mention the damage a double siege claw or claw/soul-burner and Khorne dedication can do to MEQs and TEQs.
**'''Nurgle:''' Gains the It Will Not Die USR for +25 pts! Arguably the best, no matter what the load-out. Think of it as a possessed vindicator, only better. Send this badass barrelling against the enemy lines as it just flat out ignores being shot at by most weapons. Seriously, any army that [[Railgun|isn't equipped for the job]] will have an outright bitch of a time putting down a Nurgle Decimator!
**'''Slaanesh:''' Counts as armed with assault and defensive grenades. Now that you can Deep Strike this one is... still iffy. You are probably going to go last against space marines and if you're fighting guardsmen or Tau, you have heavy flamers that can do the job better. You could alternatively use the defensive grenades and take a conversion beamer, which is still kinda puzzling because the defiler does that mobile artillery thing way better.
**'''Tzeentch:''' Re-roll to-hits of 1's for shooting attacks and counts Heavy Flamers (if any) gain the Soul Blaze special rule for +25 pts. It's expensive and Soul Blaze sucks, but re-rolling 1's for shooting makes this the double-gun Dakka dedication. If you were planning on taking storm lasers, you're taking this.

*'''Plague Ogryns (Forge World):''' 50 pts./model ogryns with S6, FnP and D6 poisoned 2+ attacks. Just like everything Nurgle here, they require you to take a squad of plague marines to field these. Unfortunately, they have Slow and Purposeful and really shitty armour meaning that they actually manage to be more useless than Mutilators. Take them if you want to see them go down to bolters before they get anywhere near an enemy that will likely hold out against them!

*'''Spined Chaos Beast (Forge World:''' 140pts for WS5,S7, T6, 4 wounds, I4 and 3 attack MC. Not at all bad. Comes stock with Fearless, IWND, Daemonic Instability (what? but it's Fearless?) and Deep Strike. The two major downsides of this unit is that it's unit composition is 1 and cannot be taken in groups which takes up our precious Elite Slots and it '''MUST''' be a Daemon of a specific god:
**'''Daemon of Khorne:''' FREE. Furious. Charge. S8 on the charge is a fucking steal for 0 points!
**'''Daemon of Tzeentch:''' it's only 5pts. It gives you dick in terms of psychic powers, but 5 points to re-roll invulnerable save 1's is ''slick.'' Pairs nicely with Divination 4++ re-rolling 1's; adding Cursed Earth will give it a 3++ save! T6 with 3++, oh please do throw your anti vehicle shots at me!
**'''Daemon of Nurgle:''' Garbage at 15 points. Giving a close combat unit Slow and Purposeful should be against the rules or something. Oh sure, it has shrouded, but it already has a 5++ and if you're gonna walk this guy through cover, you're gonna waste the game not getting it into combat.
**'''Daemon of Slaanesh:''' The other 15 point upgrade, but this one's worth taking. Fleet, Rending and +3" to your runs makes this the speed demon dedication. It's actually better in a Daemons army, where it serves as a cheap replacement for a Slaanesh-Grinder.

===Fast Attack===

*'''Chaos Bikers''' - If Loyalist Bikers can best be thought of as a "horse archer" unit, engaging at close range before withdrawing to a more tactically advantageous position, Chaos Bikers are better thought of as a "pursuit cavalry" option. They're one point cheaper than their Loyalist counterparts, with the usual lack of Grav/ATSKNF/Chapter Tactics that this entails, but unlike Loyalist Bikers, they get the Bolt Pistol/CCW bonus for an extra attack each. While White Scars and Ravenwing will use "Hit and Run" to avoid getting bogged down by tarpits, Chaos uses extra attacks to hope to break through.
**''Loadout:'' The first thing you'll notice is you have the option to give two models Special Weapons (Flamers/Meltas/Plasmas), by trading in either the secondary Close Combat Weapon your Bikers get, or trading in your Bike's Twin-Linked Bolters. Both options have their pros and cons, but this anon's personal opinion is to swap out the Twin-Linked Bolters. You only get to fire one gun anyway, and you want every attack you can get when it comes time to assault. When it comes to Bike Squads, it may be ok to go against conventional wisdom and actually buy a Power Weapon for your Champion; unlike vanilla Marines, you have the mobility to dictate your own fights, and a few lucky rolls on the Chaos Boon table could have your squad turn into a surprisingly frightening DISTRACTION CARNIFEX!
**''Marks:'' When it comes to Marks, you can take them or leave them. Khorne gives extra weight on the charge, while Slaanesh grants access to the Icon of Excess, which does better in this formation due to the improved toughness. The Mark of Nurgle costs more on these guys than normal, simply because it ups your Toughness. While this can give you near-immunity to small-arms fire, it provides no defense against attacks which don't work against toughness. The Mark of Tzeentch is even more pointless on these guys than on other units; while it's cheap, a 6+ Invulnerable won't mean much when you have the option to Jink.
**''Retinue'': Bikers are an excellent retinue for a Slaaneshi Biker or a Khorne Juggernaut Lord. They provide ablative wounds and clear out the chaff while the Lord takes care of priority targets. Don't be afraid to put a Lightning Claw on the Champion, this way he can challenge and eliminate the enemy squad leader and allow the Lord to slaughter the rank-and-file. Remember, the Lords benefit from the Icons as well!
**''One of the greatest units in the Chaos Codex'': With the addition of Traitor Legions these guys have become something amazing! Death Guard? T6, Fearless and FNP with ReRolls of 1 to FNP PLUS SHROUDED IF 18" AWAY albeit I3. Emperors Children? COMBAT DRUGS ON THESE GUYS! T6? 3A BASE? WS5/BS5? I6?. Black Legion? Crusader, Hatred EVERYTHING! World Eaters? 2D6 movement which they can move 12" during movement AND Charge with Re-Rolling charge ranges + Rage + Furious Charge?! Seriously. If you're playing Traitor Legions and the retrospecting Legions Formation Detatchment pick up like 3 units of these guys plus they have Objective Secured AND Double Boons so kit out those Sarges! Dakka plus Choppy and in many armies Fearless. Underated is an understatement. Only the Thousand Sons players should skip them, really...because they're probably playing the Grand Coven anyways.

*'''Chaos Raptors''' - Chaos' Assault Marines with Fear. Reasonably priced and can get shit done. Icons and double-special weapons make them respectable. Can have up to 15 models in a unit. Slaanesh and Khorne are easily the best (and cheapest) mark options for them. A solid unit, through and through; you can't really go wrong with Raptors.
**''Loadouts:'' Meltaguns tend to be the weapon of choice. They let you light up transports or heavier vehicles, while your Bolt Pistols/CCWs let you shred through lighter infantry. Flamers are alright except for overlapping roles, while Plasma Guns are not particularly worth taking, as you do NOT have Relentless and won't be able to charge after firing them. Unless you're deathguard, in which case go ham. Plasma pistols are a useless choice since Melta guns are 5 points less, don't Get Hot and don't take away either close combat weapon.
**''Marks:'' Mark of Slaanesh makes for three I5 attacks each (on the charge), Icon of Khorne gives 4 I4, Icon of Nurgle makes them T5 (and thus harder to kill), and Tzeentch gives them Invulnerable saves which you'll almost never make :)

*'''Warp Talons:''' Oh, boy, here comes the proverbial [[shit twinkie]] in the CSM codex. Here it goes. Take everything you may like about Raptors (but strip them of ALL THE FUCKING GRENADES! I mean what the hell Phil?!) and turn the diarrhea up a few notches and TA-DA! 30 pts. a you power armoured dude with a pair of lightning claws, the daemon USR and when he deep strikes with the rest of his crew, their pimping bling has a chance of blind everyone within 6". Usually a 33% chance (against marines, if they don't have a character in that squad). Should you actually manage to blind the enemy, most things will hit you on a 6 at range or a 5 in close combat making them [[Rape|easy, defenseless pickings]]. Too bad it almost never works. These guys should have been your first wave, coupled with Oblits for fire support and Maulers for hard targets. What makes them extremely shit is the fact that they can't assault after deepstriking, which means that even if they did manage to get in turn 2, they will get shot at by everything they didn't blind (read everything) and then do some more dying when it gets time to eat that overwatch. Theoretically they can be good with an icon of Slaanesh (Lol nope) and a Jump Pack Lord for extra punch. However, the cost is so prohibitive and the potential so limited that... No. Just no. Also work exceedingly well in Planetstrike missions; the 7th ed update in Sanctus Reach means that Deep Striking attackers can still assault after arriving on the table, meaning your Warp Talons can truly benefit from inflicting blindness on nearby units and don't have to stand around for a turn while they get blasted away. Bottom line is - they're just too fragile to survive and too expensive to take in large enough numbers to make a dent in the enemy lines after getting shot at for a turn. It really is a shame, cause they have one of the most dynamic, detailed kits out there (same one as the Raptors).
**'''STOP THE PRESSES:''': The Raptor Talon formation introduced in Traitor's hate finally gave Warp Talons some love. See, now they can not only assault on the turn they came in - their fear ability might actually turn out to be useful with that -1 to LD AND fear, if two or more units manage to charge. Now, scatters will be scatters, so it's not guaranteed that you will always be able to get two units in CC - but if you manage to do so on anything less than a TEQ chances are you're going to tear it a new asshole. Now - as counter-intuitive as that may seem, almost any mark EXCEPT khorne is a good fit on these guys. Slaanesh & banner (warp talons can't take any banners, just marks) makes them more survivable as they will hit first, ignore armour saves and if they get hit back FNP. Nurgle helps you not get thinned down by overwatch and not lose dudes to regular CCW's. Tzeentch could help you if you've just charged someone who can ignore your 3+, as a 4++ can be decent. Overall, using this formation is a gamble, but unlike anything else you could do with these guys, it has the potential to actually pay off.
**'''Alternative opinion:''': Blinding a 3-dudes [[Tau|XV-88 Apocalypse squad]] (can't be done anymore since all Tau suits get immunity to Blind from their Wargear) and giving a turn to your machines (especially Fiends, Helbrutes and Defilers) to shoot and [[RIP AND TEAR|get to CqC]] could be worth the risk, you can shred the armoured weeaboo next turn. Unless you took the Dimensional Key and manage to activate it, you have a reasonable risk for a bad scatter dice roll, and kissing your nasty melee unit goodbye. Vanguard Veterans suck, people (save in the case of Blood Angels, for whom they are just on the edge of hilariously awesome). You can also hop-scotch them over terrain for a turn-2 assault with your Initiative 5 (Mark of Slaneesh) or [[RAGE]]-fueled (Mark of Khorne) lightning claws. Beware that this will make them a huge fire magnet for a relatively fragile unit with only 3+/5++, so keep them screened by cover or friendly vehicles on their first turn. Or you can crap them the Mark of Tzeentch to have a 4+ inv. to be more confident about anti-MEQ weaponry. Not definitive, but nice.
**'''Alternative opinion #2:''': Deep Striking these guys is a bad option. Like, Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial bad. Yeah, the warpflame can be nice--IF IT WORKS. Remember, most boards are going to have you against I 4 (dem Marine), so it's a 1-4 shot of them passing the test. It's too risky to rely on the Blind to take care of getting shot the fuck to bits. Also, these things Deep Striking at vulnerable bits makes people shift fire to end your panty raid nice and quick. Unless you're diverting fire (and who wants to pay so much for a diversion--just use a distraction Mutilator instead). What I've found works to lulz-worthiness is giving them to Slaanesh with a Sorcerer with a Jet pack. Take at least one power from Slaanesh (all are great), and then Biomancy it up with what is left. These guys will tear up damn near anything they run into. OR...
**'''Alternative opinion #3:''': Ally with daemons. You know how any mass-deepstriking daemon army abuses the fuck out of icons and instruments? Yeah, you can do that too. Ta-daa! Enjoy precision deepstriking these guys to blind enemies so that your daemons can survive that 1 turn of shooting before they can [[RIP AND TEAR|get into melee!]].
**'''Faction Thoughts:''': The best legion tactics for these are probably Black Legion or World Eaters. Black legion because of their awesome bonuses from Raptor Talon on the Speartip, while the World Eaters basically are the same as Khorne Daemonkin, only cheaper per model in exchange for a slight reduction in damage vs slaanesh daemons. To be honest, though, they actually mesh quite well with any of the marked legions. Night Lords is still good, but Stealth is not very useful with a 5+ invulnerable save base. Iron Warriors really shouldn't be using them, but may work as a sort of Death Guard lite or cheaper, slower Emperors Children. Word Bearers and Alpha Legion grant basically no benefits (though, with the prevalence of ultramarines units hanging about, it may be worth it for WB). Just ignore Crimson Slaughter. Black Legion does exactly the same but infinitely better (CS require the full Black Crusade detachment to get a weaker version of the same effect)

*'''[[Chaos Spawn|The Unnameable Beasts]]''' : According to legend, during a dark, terrifying time not so long ago, these were but a sick joke; no one took [[Chaos Spawn|that which must never be named]], not even in funny lists, not even for flavor nor fluff. No sane person took them; they were easily the worst unit in all of 40k, which is a hell of an accomplishment, considering [[Pyrovore]]s existed back then too.. '''Not anymore!''' Chaos Spawn are now the workhorse of any assault based Chaos Space Marine army- OH MY GODS NO PL- BJADKJFOASIHDOLADMFNCAOSJ. Anyways, Run them forward ahead of your Rhinos and tag team them with your Maulerfiends. If even a single Spawn makes it into combat then they've served a very important purpose: tying up the enemy while your assaulting units hop out of their rhinos. They will also divert fire away from your Rhinos because the opponent is left with selecting 1 of 2 bad choices: either shoot the spawn to prevent his units from being tied up in combat or shoot the rhinos and hope they get disabled while still getting assaulted by the Spawn. Spawn now get access to a similar mutation ability to Possessed. Spawn also lost slow & purposeful but they eat up a slot now. Unless, that is, one of your dudes gets mutated into one. This isn't as bad as it sounds, as long as it's not a major loss and the resulting Spawn is within combat range. Their new stats make them excellent suicide melee units if one is to suddenly pop into existence, and can hopefully make back a few of the points lost by whatever 'spawned them. But being a Daemon Prince is like, 40,000x better.
**'''Alternative opinion:''' The new buffs of rage, a ten point price drop, the minor but useful random ability at the start of each fight sub-phase, the ability to take marks (36 points for a t6 w3 unit) and the fact that you can now control the damn things mean they can actually be useful when used to escort ICs across the board, such as a bloodcrusher mounted lord with the axe of blind rape, bike sorcerer (giving him much needed protection), or if you don't mind wasting their movement, Typhus (who becomes t6 and can use the destroyer hive without wiping out his own unit). If you enjoy cheese, take 5 with MoN, stick a Nurgle Biker Lord in there with plenty of bells and whistles, and you have a ridiculously durable unit that is almost guaranteed to get your Lord across the board, whilst drawing tons of firepower away from your other units. Less than 200 points for 15 T6 wounds that can close the gap between you and your opponent ridiculously fast is a steal, and so durable that they'll most likely stick around for use as late game objective clearers. And if they don't, your oppponent has probably been diverting enough firepower towards them that the rest of your units can move up the board practically unassailed.
**'''Alternative Option 2''': Run 5 of these all with MoN, then use Be'lakor to cast [[Cheese|invisibility]] on them. 5 T6 3W beasts which can only be targeted by snap-shots running up the battlefield and getting anywhere from 5-30 attacks per combat sounds pretty damn good.
**'''Pro modeling tip if you already didn't figured it out:''' Their box contains 2 square and 2 rounded bases. Make 2 legitimately, then use some green stuff/playdough/hot glue to make an additional two (just model up some [[Fulgrim|snake bodies]], slap some spare heads and tentacles. Alternatively, pour some hot glue on top of another model/random cluster of bitz and push some appendages in while the thing is still warm). Profit!
**'''Detachment Bonus!''' They are the cheapest auxiliary unit in most Traitor Legions, so get a mascot if you want the detachment bonus but are mainly running Core. Although none of legion armies buffs them directly except Night Lords, legion-specific detachments can help the Unnamable Things to get closer to close combat (WE Butcherhorde or BL Speartip) or hide them from enemy fire before they can charge (Alpha Legion Insurgency Force).

*'''[[Heldrake|Hellturkey]]:''' (Attack Flyer) Here be dragons(Swoop)(no swooping, swooping is bad(at least for your enemies))! This is that it's a flyer, which you need now, unless you want to invest in a Sicaran. What it can do is Strafing Run with a Hades Autocannon (R36" S8 AP4 Heavy 4 pinning) or drop a S6 AP3 torrent. However, it's prized ability is the vector striking at S7 against land or air targets - yowza! A good move will have you wiping your opponent's aircraft and a unit of troops off the field. For even more fun, you can use its Daemon Forge ability once per battle to reroll your wounds/pens! Careful though - although more resilient than most with 12/12/10, the bird is still thin skinned. Even though it has a 5++ and can jink in addition to being a flyer that Will Not Die, a good penetrating hit will drop it right out of the fucking sky. Still, arguably one of the best units of the entire book - sailing carelessly through air, your opponent's army it shall RIP AND TEAR... ahem, <s>take two and take Baleflamers.</s> With the advent of 7th edition and the FAQ (see below), Heldrakes are no longer the unbelievable, unlimited rape machines they were in the past. The 7th edition nerf to Vector Strike hits the Heldrake just as hard as the nerf to his weaponry. Since the Heldrake can no longer feasibly flame/gun the unit it Vector Strike-d (but note that you can still burn something else), you're often going to have to make a choice between getting a vector strike in, or positioning yourself for effective shooting. This dramatically reduces the Heldrake's usefulness, unless you're using the Death From The Skies maneuverability rules. This isn't to say Heldrakes aren't usable, but no longer are they an auto include in any CSM army.
** The latest FAQ put a stop to the turret fun as the heldrake's weapons are treated as hull-mounted now, so no more Asses of Fire. Guess GW got tired watching the Corpse Emperor's lackeys burn in the fires of the warp and decided to nerf this Chaos flyer <s>back to the Eye of Terror</s> from "everyone bitches about how cheese it is" to merely "good". Tragically, this is not a surprise.

*'''Chaos Storm Eagle (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 3, Agility 2, Forge World):''' 20 pts. cheaper than a loyalist Storm Eagle, still a fast attack, can't take a Typhoon Missile Launcher instead of its Heavy Bolter, but ''can'' upgrade to a Reaper Autocannon for free. It also loses the Power of the Machine Spirit rule, like every other Chaos unit, but everything else is otherwise the same. You can buy Possession for this thing, which is recommended. Take a full squad of marines, cult marines or termies and away you go! Alternatively, put Kharn and some 'zerkers in this, watch your opponent cry.

*'''Hellblade (Interceptor, Pursuit 5, Agility 3, Forge World):''' Was Chaos' own Supersonic Flyer long before the Helldrake was on the scene, comes with two AND ONLY TWO EVER reaper autocannons, which is nice because it's only BS3. Can be possessed, though with only 2 HP there's no point in doing so. If you can't fit raptors, havocs or drakes into your list, you could always settle for one of these in your fast attack slots, but don't expect it to survive: AV10 all around and only 2 hull points makes it thin skinned, although it gets 4+ evade. With 6th ed, it's a full-fledged flyer, allowing it to hate on heavy infantry and light vehicles with impunity, while its high volume of decent strength shots make it deadly against other flyers. Be warned, even a Fighta-Bommer's defensive big shootas or a fucking Pintle-mounted Stormbolter can blow this thing out of the sky due to it's shitty armour. The updated rules give it a price break, though once you upgrade its reapers to Helstorm autocannons (And really, why the fuck would you NOT?) it sits once again at 115pts. It now comes with a straight-up 5++ save and a fun little ability to allows it to be repositioned D6+2" before it takes a move, and the "Unnatural Predator" rule lets you pick out an enemy flyer before the start of the game and re-roll all To Wound or AP rolls of 1 against it, which is rather nifty.

*'''Hell Talon (Strike Fighter, Pursuit 4, Agility 4, Forge World):''' Oh, you thought 'Blood Slaughterer' was a stupid name? A fighter bomber with Supersonic, 4 hull points and Strafing Run - which makes it having sex awesome! With its single Reaper autocannon it can put holes in heavy infantry, light vehicles, and aircraft, with its bombs it can blow apart blobs in a glorious inferno, and with its twin linked lascannon it can put holes in enemy tanks, making Mech Guard and Nidzilla cry. Another nice feature is that if the enemy army is light in MEQ units, you can swap out the autocannon for a havoc launcher instead to really get some pie plate hate on things. Just like the Blade, it gain the point break, autocannon upgrade, free invuln and teleport ability. It also gets to pick between a whole load of bombs, each of which if more [[Rape|fun]] than the others against a specific target, giving your bomber some versatility. These are bananas. Not only do they have great Flyer stats, but they suffer no penalties for shooting at ground targets the way generic fighters do. If you're expecting enemy Flyers, take <s>these</s> a pair of Hellblades above and continue shredding stuff on the ground.

*'''Dreadclaw Assault Pod (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 1, Agility 1, Forge World):''' The Chaos Space Marine version of the loyalist drop pod, the Dreadclaw has the nifty advantage of NOT being immobile (it's a deep-striking flyer with hover) and it's an assault vehicle with better armour than a rhino. Unfortunately, it eats a fast attack slot but it can deep strike 10 marines, 5 termies (though they can already do it just fine without) or a dreadnought. It counts as a Fast Skimmer once it Deep Strikes onto the table, not Zooming, therefore, you don't need sixes to hit but you can Jink to get 4+ cover (3+ if nightfight). It can Deep Strike onto the table Turn 1 and unload a shooty alpha strike unit, or move Flat Out 18" to set up a perfect Turn 2 charge. 100 points, but it gives us some fun new options and mobility. Also note that since it's a Dedicated Transport for CSM you have an Objective Secured fast skimmer (or Chosen in an Abaddabadon or BL list) to snag or contest objectives.
**Edit: all is good and beautiful, but [[Derp|it has no "transport" rule]]. So beware rules lawyers. Mind, it also has the Daemonic Possession thingy, so shoving expensive units inside is highly undesirable (ahem, Dreadnoughts). Remember, it is rolled even if the unit starts the game already embarked upon such vehicle! Yet despite this you gain a deepstriking assault transport you can land somewhere safe <i>(there's no Inertial Guiding System on that thing, don't treat it like a normal Pod)</i> then flat-out towards the target. Jink to avoid the inevitable storm of hate that will head your way, move again, deploy, and assault. For the mathematically inclined that's 6+6+2d6 = 18" - 24" charge range. Take these if you have want a glorious chaos drop pod assault. ''Feel like a legionnaire.''
**Forgeworld has finally released an update that brings all of its Flyers up to date with Death from the Skies. What's weird is that Dreadclaws and Kharybdis are included in this document, as a rare case of "technically a flyer but." While all but worthless in a Dogfight and as maneuverable as a rock, they can be taken in Wings now and gain Attack Pattern benefits.

*'''Blight Drone (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 3, Agility 4, Forge World):''' Possessed hovering flyer with a BS2, Daemon of Nurgle (i.e. Shrouded & 5+ Invulnerable save), reaper autocannon and a mawcannon (without tongue). It costs 150 pts, has pretty decent armour (12/11/10), but it will also explode when wrecked so be sure you get this thing as close to the enemy as possible! They can be taken in squads of 1-3 too. The mawcannon has a flamer mode (S6 AP4) and a large blast (S8 AP3).
**Forgeworld's DFtS expansion make these buggers fair to middling in a Dogfight, but BS 2 and only having 1 direct-fire weapon and no Skyfire makes these rather lackluster. You may be able to use your USRs to tank through a Dogfight, but you won't be grounding enemies this way. YMMV.

===Heavy Support===

*'''[[Defiler]]''' - So here's this giant enemy crab-Dreadnought. Your Swiss-army vehicle; can do anything to some degree or another - and do it (decently) well. Has Fleet, 4 hull points, is somewhat better at shooting than a Dreadnought (with access to more long-range weaponry, including a Battle Cannon) and all the other Daemon Engine flair (5++, fear, IWND and Daemon Forge). This unit is amazingly flexible; you can have it shoot off plenty of firepower when stationary (It has a Reaper Autocannon, Battle Cannon, and Heavy Flamer by default), can be upgraded to be even more shooty by replacing the Reaper Autocannon with a Twin-Linked Lascannon or Twin-Linked Heavy Bolter, and the Heavy Flamer with a Havoc Launcher. Unfortunately, the cannon is Ordnance and even bound Daemons can't handle firing Ordnance as well as a Heavy Flamer or Havok launcher, apparently. With 6th Edition ruining Havoc Launchers, the shooty option is a Reaper Autocannon or Heavy Bolter Snap Firing to your Battlecannon's tune. You can go the full Monty for the Assault route, and replace the Autocannon and Flamer for a power fist or scourge respectively. The fist will get you a +1 attack and is free which is nice, but it already has two (walkers get +1 attack for EACH weapon after the first, which means 5 attack, 6 on charge) and the scourge will reduce the WS of models in base contact, so you don't even have to use it, just be in contact. Also this will leave you with only battle cannon assuming you didn't take havoc, since battle cannon is ordnance you don't need any other shooting weapon). With its ability to fire off tons of firepower AND/OR rush forward and [[FATAL|rape]] things with its giant crab-claws, this thing is as versatile as units come. Its main drawbacks are that its melee and firing accuracy are average (BS/WS/I3) meaning that Power Fists smack you around and all the other Dreadnoughts except Orks go before you, and they can buy two Deff Dreads to your one Defiler. It's also an extremely large vehicle, and one that will attract a lot of enemy fire, causing enemies to put a lot of resources into [[Meme|attacking its weak point for massive damage]]. Which you can even capitalize on, using the weak side of the Defiler as a lure to bring in some of their anti-vehicle troops in right where you want them. The catch is its fairly high cost - a basic defiler is just under 200 points, and is essentially an AV 12/12/10 walker. This renders it less effective, for all its new toys, than its previous incarnation. For all it's versatility it's not very good at anything for it's cost. Sure you can make it decent at melee, but then it has to GET there. Compare it to a doomsday ark.
**'''Note''' DO NOT charge dreads with a defiler. Contrary to the fact that one of the most popular artworks of defilers is one in which a deffie pulls a dreadnought apart with its claws, now that dreadnoughts have FOUR power fist attacks at I4 that will be hitting you on 3... chances are the crab will be wrecked before it gets a chance to swing its manifold limbs. This reduces its usability by a fraction.
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' When you do compare it to a doomsday ark, you'll notice that it will fall apart pretty quick when something gets too close to it. Not quite so for a defiler - while a D-day ark might have to try and run off to avoid getting popped open, you can throw a defiler happily at almost anything in charge range. Giving it a power scourge over its heavy flamer has the hilarious advantage of reversing any close combat prey's fortune as they will now hit on 4's and YOU hit THEM on 3's! Warp flame gargoyles on your guns will also do well to soften up a target before a fleet-assisted charge.
** Havoc Launcher not doing it for you? How about TWO Havoc Launchers? Defilers have access to the chaos vehicle armory (page 102, Defiler entry, bullet point three) which is largely overlooked, meaning they can take an additional havoc launcher along with a combi bolter and a combi melta/flamer/plasma, so your defiler can always have a little bit more close (combi flamer/melta) mid (combi bolter) and long (havoc launcher) firepower, damn this crab is versatile! Warpflame Gargoyles make all your ranged weapons soul blaze, meaning the shooty Defiler can mulch infantry with even more effectiveness. And they can take Dirge Casters, meaning the assaulty Defiler can't be overwatched. Neat!
**'''Alternative Opinion 2:''' I have had plenty of success in casual games running a Defiler with a Scourge and Fist, relying solely on the battle cannon to handle ranged combat. While the additional attacks granted to Dreadnoughts makes this less clear cut, let's look at a possible situation. A Defiler fighting a two Dreadnought squad with twin lascannons. Being generous to the dreads, we'll give each side three rounds of shooting. Statistically, the Dreads will likely connect with all six shots, four will inflict damage, 2.66 will get through it's save. Most likely suffering stun/shaken results, which it will resist, and in three turns will likely recover one HP from IWND. Given three shots, and Demon Forged, we'll assume at least one is a direct hit, and that of the other two, one shot scores a single hit. As it averages 1 hit per round of firing, we'll assume Daemonforged effects one of the hits. 2 hits at a 50% chance of causing damage (We'll simply assume glances out of the kindness of our hearts), boosted to 75% (Ordnance), 1.5 wounds, with one shot being what, a 1/16 chance of failing to penetrate? So, ~2.5 hull damage, vs ~1.66 by the time they meet. If we give the Defiler the charge, and an average result on the scourge (2), the Defiler attacks 6 times, hits with four of them, and inflicts ~3.33 HP of damage. On Dreadnought dies, the other attacks four times, hits twice. Inflicts slightly more than one HP. The Defiler is down to 1 HP and some change, but the other dread isn't doing any better. It dies in the next round, and your crab-bot scuttles off to find new prey. Cover, Meltaguns, and even a little luck COULD swing that (I did skip overwatch, which would contribute a portion of a wound, not enough to swing this to an "average chance of a loss" but close), but saying "Don't charge dreads" is a little disingenuous, with the right set up. (Where are you getting this from? Defilers are I3, Dreadnoughts go before them, not after.)

*'''Havocs''' - Havocs are essentially "Chaos Devastators." You start with a squad of 5, that can take four Specials/Heavy Weapons at any squad size. There are two primary ways to run them: Either as long-range fire-support, or as part of a "Rhino-spam" army. In the former case, this is one of the notable units where you '''do''' want to give them Veterans of the Long War. The difference between Leadership 9 and Leadership 10 (or more realistically, Leadership 8 versus Leadership 9 due to the sergeant tending to be a glorified bullet-catcher) matters all the more when your fire support is camping by the table edge! In the second case, you'll want "two Specials and a Rhino". The Chaos Warband gave this option a new lease on life, as being able to run obsec Special Teams alongside small obsec Chosen Teams has its appeal.
** If you still fancy using heavy weapons Havocs, Forgeworld has you covered with pretty little SM autocannon sets of five for both Legion and Kalibrax pattern (that are compatible with default vanilla arms) for just over double the price! Consider using those since everybody and his dog knows how bullshit GW Havoc box sets are (a hundred pounds for a complete set of weapons, really? Devastators have this for, like, half the price, and that's with other toys like combis, hammers and shit.)
** Heavy Weapons Havocs become a lot more viable if you play Death Guard, giving them FNP and Relentless

*'''Chaos Rapier Weapons Battery (Forge World):''' For 40 pts. you get an Artillery unit armed with Quad Heavy Bolter and manned by 2 Chaos Space Marine crewmen. Might take up to 2 additional Carriers with crew for 40 pts. each. The weapons may be upgraded to a Laser Destroyer (TL Ordnance AP1 Lascannon), Ectoplasma Cannon or Hades Autocannon (the same as Forgefiend's), or a Heavy Conversion Beamer. The Chaos Rapier allows you to fill the Heavy Support with fairly cheap heavy weapons on miniature tank treads, and it is worth noting they have the usual CSM BS4. Lastly, the Hellish Demise special rule means you must roll a D6 when the Chaos Rapier is destroyed. On a roll of 1 it explodes in a S3 Large Blast, 2-5 do nothing, whilst 6 does the same as 1 but leaves a non-scatter DS marker for any units with the Daemon USR. Pretty much all Rapier configurations are superior to the Havoks and Forgefiends in BOTH firepower and survivability, while being cheaper (though Fiends have their mobility and once-per-game damage booster, and Havocs can bring special weapons for Rhino drive-by or missile launchers for versatility). It should be no surprise for anyone that Forge World prices for Rapier models are outrageous.
**Rapiers are great models for niche roles in your chaos army. Conversion Beamers are an excellent addition to any CSM ranged list, while Hades autocannons are impressive anti-infatry/MC/flyer units. There price and immobility also negate the 'better than havocs' argument. They are different, and expensive over time. But totally worth it when used appropriately.
**Alternative take: Probably the best heavy support option for CSM. You like Vindicators yes? How about 3 Vindicator blasts at double the range that don't get fucked by melta & Haywire. Yeah they get suckier the closer the enemy get to them but you are CSM! If the enemy is getting closer to them you can charge them with your superior fighty units. They can also be pretty cheap to make. Just buy some of the Conversion Beamer arm mounts from FW and scratch build your own bases for them (or just buy 3rd party tank tracks) you're chaos so anything works, nurglings carrying it, mount it on the back of a daemon, have loyalist slaves haul it around, get creative.

*'''Chaos Land Raider''' - It's the classic [[Land Raider]] pattern (aka, <s>schizophrenic</s> multiple personality disorder). The Chaos one is slightly less useful than the Loyalist version because despite being 20 points cheaper there's no Machine Spirit. It usually serves one of two major roles - as a heavy offensive vehicle (it's expensive but dear Tzeentch does it get the job done whilst being a giant fire magnet in the process) and to [[FATAL|insert your huge, nasty, pulsating close combat squad deep into the soft moist folds of your opposition]]. If you use it for the latter, load it up with Extra Armour, and keep it rolling forward. Daemonic Possession isn't really worth the points, or the dip in BS. Even with twin-linked weapons, turning a 3+ to-hit into a 4+ is a tough sell, and all you ''really'' want the damn thing to do is move. And besides, do you really want to take the risk that the tank will OMNOMNOM your Terminator Chaos Lord on turn one? Because that's a thing now (your models risk being omnomnomed when you embark, which is a great mental picture, but can ruin your shit if you're unlucky). Unlike loyalist, can take dozer, greatly reducing chance for your 230+ pts transport to become utterly useless in one dice throw.

*'''Chaos Land Raider Proteus (Forge World):''' Oldschool battle tank type Land Raider - it lacks transport capacity and assault ramp of regular Land Raider, but comes cheaper and has multimelta AND melta-immune options. While loyalists get some neat reserve-based abilities for their Proteuses, the Chaos one gets Fear and a troll-tastic upgrade that forces anyone trying to shoot it to pass a pinning test first. Overall a good choice if you want to use it as battle tank instead of a Terminator party-buss, or to deliver special weapon squads into rapid fire/melta/flamer range. Can take the "Ark of Unnameable Horror" upgrade, meaning all units that fire on the vehicle must make a pinning test or Go to Ground immediately, not firing. Doesn't work against Fearless units, units firing without line of sight (such as barrage), or units without a leadership value. Taking the Ark drops transport capacity from 10 to 8.

*'''Chaos Infernal Relic Achilles (Forge World):''' Not as unkillable as the Heresy-era Achilles or the one corpsefuckers use nowadays, as it lacks lance-immunity and -1 to damage (still melta-proof, though), but in a typical Chaos fashion it picks it up on the offensive, gaining +1S and -1 AP for its quad-mortar each time it loses an HP. Watch your opponent rage as 1HP Achilles drops 4 S8 AP2 blasts across the board. Unfortunately it costs an absurd amount of points, making it all but unusable in competitive games. Makes a good tar-baby to carry your Oblits/Mutilators/Typhus in.

*'''Chaos Spartan Assault Tank (Forge World):''' Land Raider on steroids. This thing is armed with 2-shot TL lascannons at each side, could fit up to '''25''' guys inside (or 10 termies, Abaddon and Typhus with room to spare) and has 5 HP. There is no reason to buy Land Raider, if you have enough souls of firstborn to afford this model. That moment when you realise just how difficult it is to fill this vehicle. You can only fit one squad + Independant characters so only cultists can fill it to the top. You could also ally in some spam from the Renegades and Heretics list to bulk this out. Also - don't forget - Dirge Casters for 5 points! Watch your opponent's face as the full capacity of your Spartan spills out and they can't even overwatch against it!
** The Forge World Land Raiders are comparably easy to convert from normal Land Raiders - you just need plastic card (or wood, or styrofoam) and enough guns.

*'''Obliterators''' - A long time Chaos army favorite with plenty of [[Dakka]] fitted in a small, deadly package. They used to be absolute cheese, but even though every time they appear in a codex, they get weaker, they're still the best heavy support choice in the book. Formerly the Techmarines of their chapters, Obliterators have contracted a warp-contagion that sears their flesh to their armour and causes their weaponry, likewise, to be subsumed. In time they have become enormous [[Awesome|arcano-cyborgs]], not quite marine, not quite machine, not quite daemon (well actually they are considered daemon type units in this rulebook, so they cause fear now, nice bonus). They're tough as hell and can take phenomenal punishment, even though they lost their fearlessness from last edition (seriously, how did that happen? But they don't give a fuck in fluff but will retreat if fighting gets too hot). For 70 points, you get a model with 2 wounds, a 2+ armour save, 5+ invulnerable save, and the ability to Deep Strike. Suffice to say, they can find a role in damned near any army, since they can soak up damage and demolish squads in pretty short order. That said, you should nearly always be deepstriking them. Parking them in cover and using Lascannons and Plasmacannons each turn is a sure enough way to waste both their durability and their firepower, and if that's the tactic you want to use why aren't you just taking Havocs? Timing is everything with an Obliterator drop, and you need to know when to drop them to deal with a problem unit, be it a cover-camping squad of Fire Warriors or a big squad of [[Indrick Boreale|SPHESS MHUREENS]] tacticals. Getting them into heavy cover basically turns them into a strongpoint. They're also decent in assaults. Still, you'll want to avoid getting them [[Tarpit|tarpitted]], regardless of whether it's by Guardsmen or Bloodletters. With only one powerfist to work with in close combat, it takes them forever to kill anything that's not just a vehicle or small squad, and even with the buffs 2+ armour, they're still going to die if they get caught by any elite melee unit. With the new codex they can now take marks, making then T5 or improving their save to 4++, making them an even larger pain to get rid of (You CAN give them Rage or +1I...but that would be missing the whole point of the unit). Oblits can use the following weaponry (they all come on a single model, and because Phil dislikes the cheese in the previous rulebook, he's made them trickier to use because now you can't pick the same weapon two turns in a row): Lascannon, Assault Cannon, Plasma Cannon, Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, Twin-Linked Flamer, Twin-Linked Plasmagun, or a Twin-Linked Meltagun. He also packs a single Power Fist for use in CC.
** '''Tactics''': if you buy 3 Obliterators, you're looking at around 220 points. Ideally you'll want to drop them first next to a tank you want gone and fire up their multi-meltas, so that they can make a chunk of their points cost (around 150) back. Jackpot if the enemy is bringing a Land Raider. Slow and Purposeful allows you to fire the Multi-Meltas even after deep-striking, but if you happen to scatter within 6" of the tank it is a safer bet to use the twin-linked meltas instead as they have more accuracy. After that, you'll want to set your eyes on infantry, Monstrous Creatures or other light transports - 3 Assault Cannons do a great job of causing lots of damage for either enemy type. Alternately you can drop three Plasma Cannon blasts on any MEQ/TEQ unit you catch outside cover. Sadly Obliterators can't fire overwatch due to SNP, but they do have their powerfists and 2 attacks each for desperate measures. If you have given them MoT, they could charge an MC they have wounded and try to finish it off quickly.
** '''Alternative opinion''': Whilst Obliterators are unquestionably versatile, even with the mandatory switching of weapons every turn, they are no longer the sole Heavy Support unit you will see players fielding. Obliterators are tough: ridiculously so. However, they pay a lot of points for this durability, and it makes their firepower-to-cost ratio rather low. 2 lascannon shots a turn for 140 points before marks is a rather expensive way to deter vehicles. Compare to the other options, such as Havoks and Forgefiends, who are incredibly economical in their distribution of ammunition, and the Obliterators start to seem a bit pricey. Obliterators sit somewhere between Havoks and Foregefiends in terms of durability. They are vulnerable to anti-infantry guns being Toughness 4, but have a 2+ armour save to protect them and 2 wounds. Their higher armour and multiple wounds entice players to fire anti-tank guns at them, but they can grab cover more easily than vehicles, and a lucky shot will only kill half the squad, rather than the entire vehicle. The downside to this mid-range endurance is that every unit the enemy has can affect them. Any unit in range has a chance hurting them, so concentration of fire to eliminate them early is a very real danger. This is rather unfortunate, as the durability that they pay so many points for can end up their achilles' heel.
** Marks are very important, especially MoT or MoN. Some key things to remember: a 4+ invulnerable save is a godsend when the opponents will surely target you with AP2 weaponry (and this can be bumped up to a 3+ if you happen to, say, park them on a Skyshield Landing Pad) but most AP2 weaponry will Instant Death the crap out of them. This is where MoN is taken into consideration; there are far more strength 8 and 9 weapons in the game compared to Strength 10, which means that the opponent will be less likely to fire those weapons your way, as there's little point in doing so if they can only cause one wound anyways. It also means that they might just try the more time-honored tactic of drowning you in small arms fire - again, the MoN comes in handy here, as T5 is a hella lot more resilient than T4, and you still get your your 2+ armour save and your 2 wounds, so your total squad firepower wont be dropping anytime soon even if he directs 100 guardsmen to fire at your obliterator unit (you'll take about 3 wounds. Don't underestimate lasgun fire en masse). A lot of it depends on your meta really. If you generally play a lot of superheavies than MoT can be better than MoN due to more access to S10 and the D, but otherwise don't bother, as even if you're opponent brings a vindicator it's pretty easy to just deepstrike and pop it.
** With deepstrike accuracy being such an important issue here, an obvious choice in HQ department is someone with Dimensional Key, probably a Daemon Prince. With Ahriman or Huron as Warlord, one can then infiltrate said Prince for a turn 2 charge and bring these guys in turn 3. This also has good synergy with heavy melee deepstrike, our strength over the loyalists with Raptors or Warp Talons, both of which have gone up in the world since the Heldrake nerfing. Except you can't assault when you infiltrated; consider the Raptor Talon formation or the new Psychic Powers from Traitors Hate so you can get a guaranteed charge! EXCUSE ME?! Daemon Princes do not need help getting into charge range and also AREN'T INFANTRY meaning you can't infiltrate them with Master of Deception.

*'''Chaos [[Predator Tank|Predator]]''' - Pretty much the same as the loyalist version, in both performance and cost. As long as it doesn't come up across Haywire or D-weapons, parking one of these guys in a corner will give you a good source of Lascannon fire that will take a fair share of firepower to shift from the table. As an actual battle-tank, for moving-and-shooting, the Predator isn't particularly useful, not only because of snap-shooting only one weapon at a time, but because its relatively large-ish side-arc makes flanking it easy.
**''Loadouts:'' By default, the Predator gets one Autocannon, which can be upgraded to a twin-linked Lascannon. This simply won't do for damage, so you will want to upgrade it with sponsons, of the Heavy Bolter or Lascannon variety. The three main ways to run a Predator: Autocannon & Heavy Bolters for anti-infantry, three Lascannons for anti-tank, or the Autocannon with Lascannon Sponsons for versatility; the "Lascannon plus Heavy Bolter Sponsons" loadout in practice should never be used. Points permitting, toss a Havoc Launcher on top of one of these tanks as it gives you slightly more firepower than your Loyalist brethren. Traitor's Hate gave Predators the ability to be fielded as a Squadron; if a full squadron of three are alive, that squadron gets Monster Hunter and Tank Hunter. In practice, this isn't worth doing because your vehicles do not have easy access to Power of the Machine Spirit.
**''Dirty Trick vs Tau:'' This is the cheapest source of Lascannons your army gets. If you're going heavy on Psychic support and can get good cover (either from fortifications or using your own Rhinos as glorified wrecks), Say your opponent runs Broadsides or so. AV 13 makes the Predator immune to Smart Missiles, while S9 AP 2 instant-deaths their battlesuits. Run a Geomortis Sorcerer with one of these models, and this thing now ignores cover and can now shoot through walls/line-of-sight blocking terrain. You now have the opportunity to beat Tau at their own game. If you're feeling cheeky, you could take a Havoc Launcher and reroll "hits" to hope it scatters onto a nearby Pathfinder unit, but that's not particularly recommended.

*'''Chaos Infernal Relic Predator (Forge World):''' Your standard Predator, only with huge variety of weapons available. In addition to all toys of a standard Predator, it have an option to get a set of sponson heavy flamers (which you probably don't wont, but they're there anyways just in case), and one of the five new turret weapons:
**''Flamestorm Cannon'', the default weapon; it sucks socks, since you cannot come close enough fast enough to use it to its full potential.
*** Thanks to the new psychic powers it's now possible to fling this baby right into the heart of the enemy. And if you go the extra mile you can even use PotMS to burn two different units. [[Awesome|Let the galaxy burn!]]
**''Autocannon with Inferno Bolts'', which is an autocannon with AP3, and thus OK (especially with malefic ammo).
**''Magna-Melta'', which is OK on it's own, if a bit overpriced, but rises a question why didn't you just take a Vindicator instead.
**''Plasma Destroyer'', which is an awesome MEQ/TEQ killer gun.
**''Heavy Conversion Beamer'', which is more difficult to use, and certainly useless on BLoS-heavy tables, but massively powerful on the long range.

*'''Chaos Relic Sicaran Battle Tank (Forge World):''' Fast 13/12/12 Tank, armed with a monstrous Twin-Linked Heavy 6 Rending Jink-ignoring Autocannon and a hull Heavy Bolter, comes with Extra Armour stock. It is superior to Predator Destructor in every way imaginable, while being only slightly more expensive (point-wise anyway, the model itself is FW-priced). It really shines at dealing with enemy Skimmers, as it is the perfect counter to the Serpent-spam. Sicaran can even be made melta-immune or take sponson weapons like a Predator. It might upgrade all of its guns with Rending USR, but it's not really worth the 40 points cost.

*'''Chaos [[Vindicator]]''' - No more Dozer Blade included or Siege Shield. Daemonic Possession helps and mounting a Havoc Launcher gives it a backup weapon. It mounts a Demolisher Cannon, which will basically win back its points the second it fires. Heavy front armor and intense firepower means that this thing will draw huge amounts of abuse. If you throw Daemonic Possession on this thing, you will have a field day watching players [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|go to obscene lengths to kill/get away from it]]. Mounting a couple extra guns will help keep the odds of losing your demolisher cannon early on low.
** '''New Supplement!''' We can now take these in squadrons of three. While all three are alive and can fire their cannon, you can designate one to fire an apocalypse blast instead of the vindicators firing normally. It also ignores cover.

*'''Chaos Deimos Pattern Vindicator Tank Destroyer (Forge World)''' - While Guard invented their wannabe Vindicators by replacing Rapier destroyers on their tank hunters with Demolishers, marines did the exact opposite, and this what they got as a result. This is a walking twin-linked ordnance AP1 lascannon (meaning you can re-roll both to-hit and to-pen, and blow up things on 5+). More so, it fires THREE times per turn if stationary with a chance to overheat. This thing eats tanks and may even threaten super-heavies by it's own. You can be a pussy and downgrade it to only two safe shots, but you're playing Chaos, for [[Chaos Gods|Gods']] sake - be a man and take that risk, it's only one HP with 1/6 chance anyway. Oh, and it costs less than three artillery-type Rapiers while still capable to move and shoot (if only once). If there wasn't enough reasons to never take las-Predators in a Chaos army, here's another one, because it's flat 10 point's cheaper than tri-las Predator while being all-around better.

*'''Forgefiend:''' [[Phil Kelly|Whoever]] decided that CSM needed Daemon Dino-bots - well, thanks! Forge Fiends come with a pair of Hades Autocannons, which throw out an absurd amount of [[dakka]] (that's 8 S8 AP4 pinning shots a turn, making Psyflmen Dreadnoughts blush). Furthermore, they can trade their Hades Autocannons for 2 S8 plasma cannons for free, and take a third one for +25 pts [[Awesome|replacing the damn thing's face]]! (Most) Deepstriking terminators will piss themselves, especially Draigo's shiny dozen when faced with 3 instant-death plasma blasts a turn. On top of this, like all other daemon engines it has a 5++, fear, IWND and Daemon Forge, which comes in very handy with this guy.
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' Opponent fielding fliers? Pop a Forgefiend down with a pair of Hades Autocannons. Eight shots give it excellent odds of hitting - even if it's only on sixes - and it's Strength of 8 will cut though almost any flier (including the Stormraven) as if it were made of paper mache. This machine can be incredibly versatile over it's cousin with the right setup. Allying with Chaos Daemons for a cheap Tzeentch Divination psyker turns this bad boys into monsters. Rerolling to hit is HUGE at BS 3, and against enemy fliers. Pop Daemon forge that turn and watch the enemy cry as its fliers implode.

*'''Maulerfiend:''' The other Daemon Dino-bot. Comes with a pair of power fists and magma cutters, which deal a meltabomb auto-hit that can strike non-vehicle units, too! This big beastie can also move at 12", ignore difficult terrain and has Fleet on top of that! Lasher tendrils reduce Dreadknights/Terminators to A1 and dreads to A2. You use this monster to run down other vehicles, charge isolated infiltrator squads, bust open fortifications and close combat backup should things not go [[just as planned]]. Also has all the Daemon Engine tricks of 5++, Fear, IWND and Daemon Forge. Maulerfiends are not designed to hunt infantry. Lasher tendrils are awesome against charging terminators, but you can't really rely on them to keep the beast alive forever, and the magma cutters aren't great against anything other than vehicles. An interesting point worth mentioning is that a maulerfiend is surprisingly good at is mushing otherwise tough models that have multiple wounds, 5 toughness, but preferably - no invul save. Looking at you, centurions and cataphrons. What maulers lack in versatility and killyness against most units, they more than make up for with sheer speed. They happily dash across the board, smashing into units you don't want shooting at your other stuff - and can keep said units preoccupied for quite a while, and even do some damage. Additionally - two maulers - one with cutters, the other one with tendrils, on the charge, should be enough to dismember a knight (especially a ranged weapons one) - which is a big deal, since knights are becoming more and more popular. Another point worth noting is that this thing is actually a daemon - which means that Cursed Earth bumps its invulnerable save to 4++ - and that, in combination with its 12/12/10 AV is nothing to sneer at.
The prevalent opinion about maulers is that they're OK on their own, but in order to really shine they need to be taken in pairs. Although there are better options that could fill your heavy suppoert slots in a CAD, few are more menacing than two dinobots. Another (arguably better) way to field them is in a Helforged Warpack. See the formation's entry below for more information.

*'''Plague Hulk (Forge World):''' Essentially a budget Soul Grinder of Nurgle that you can take without paying the ally tax. Carries a poisoned 3+ S5 AP3 flamer and a rending, 36" range S6 battle cannon.. Like all Daemons of Nurgle it now has Shrouded. It is only 150 pts, and with the rules from IA13 no longer requires a squad of plague marines to field; that said, it's about as tough to bounce as a regular Soul Grinder of Nurgle.

*'''Blood Slaughterer (Forge World):''' Don't be fooled by the name, these are goddamn rape-blenders! Rage, Rampage, Daemon (of Khorne, granting furious charge should you lose your DCW), Daemonic Resilience, Deepstrike, Fleet, WS5, FA13, comes with a DCW, gain D3 attack on Charge (in addition to ANOTHER d3 from the Rampage) and can be taken in squads of 3: [[Emperor|good god]], things are gonna die! Each also gets the option to take a ranged weapon called an impaler which always hits on 4+ regardless of BS, CANNOT ever be snap fired and allows you to drag vehicles and monstrous creatures towards you, DRAGGING THEM INTO CLOSE COMBAT if they happen to move in BtB contact with the Slaughterer, which means it is the only model in the game that can (kind of) charge right from Deep Strike. They can be taken in vehicle squadrons of 3, cost a scant 130 points but do require a squad of Berserkers to field. The "downside" is that it has shitty 5E Rage (it must charge at/move towards the closest thing it sees); chances are you were probably going to do that anyway, and with the combination of fleet, an impaler and a shedload of S10 AP2 attacks there is damn near '''NOTHING''' that can survive a pack of Slaughterer.

*'''Fire Raptor Gunship (Attack Flyer, Pursuit 3, Agility 3, Forge World):''' Comes naked with TL Avenger Bolt Cannon, 4 Hellstrike Missiles and two Independent-Turret Quad Heavy Bolters; the latter which aside from firing at their own targets as rumoured, don't count towards the number of weapons fired! A Legion or CSM army can swap the quad bolters for a Reaper Battery for 10 pts each, 40K Marines get a TL Autocannon for free. With all the twin-linked goodness, Strafing Run and PotMS/Independent-turrets; this bastard can dump its entire payload in a single turn and hit almost every time and it's only 260 pts altogether for the ceramite armor and reaper battery upgrades.
** 20 pts cheaper due to the loss of PotMS but can buy Daemon Possession for the same price. Since there's no worries about passengers getting NOM'ed, TL/Strafing Run counteracts BS3 well enough and the way the turret works you don't need PotMS altogether make the Chaos Fire Raptor ''much'' nicer then it's Loyalist counterpart; which is rare. And to make it even better, it gain assess to malefic ammunition, because Rending on something with so much dakka is insane.
** There is something to be said for adding warpflame gargoyles on these. On a single platform, for a mere 5 points, you can potentially light up 3 units a turn (or more if you clip multiple units with Balefire missiles).

*'''Kharybdis Assault Claw (Air Leviathan, Pursuit 1, Agility 1, Forge World):''' Land Raider size Drop pod. At cost of Land Raider+ it gives you HP: 5, 20 cap/Drednought/Helbrute, special attack (with 2 versions, deep strike is S6 AP5 D3+3" ignore cover nova (at this size even 4" covers nice area), and fire sweep is flame trial with same strength and ap (ANY model under its path takes hit so be carefull), rule that allows you to ram (not when arrive from reserves, using its special attack or disembark troops) and pinning (like chaos have not enough pinnings attacks) TL stormbolter AND all drop pod rules that we love. Drop pod assault + guidance system + 20 cap + Berzerkers/muliators/helbrute with multi-melta = RAGE <i>(also enjoy a 1/6 chance of your Possessed Transport munching the dread it was deepstriking and arriving empty, making your enemy laugh himself silly, although, if you are transporting the Warpsmith/Sorcerer/Abbs necessary to take more than one, it's not an issue)</i>. Remember that you can't charge on turn 1 though so land somewhere safe then flat-out towards the target. Jink to avoid the inevitable storm of hate that will head your way, move again, deploy, and assault. For the mathematically inclined that's 6+6+2d6 = 18" - 24" charge range. Take these to support a glorious chaos drop pod assault and safely deploy your Mutilators/Terminators/Cult Marines/Chaos Marines/possessed right in the middle of the enemy deployment zone.
**Forgeworld has finally released an update that brings all of its Flyers up to date with Death from the Skies. What's weird is that Dreadclaws and Kharybdis are included in this document, as a rare case of "technically a flyer but." While all but worthless in a Dogfight and as maneuverable as a rock, Kharybdis pods have some new tricks. Arguably, wings are a nonstarter with the Kharybdis, due to being Infernal Relics, so no Air Superiority Detachment shenanigans to make your list outperform DA in combat drops. But on the plus side, '''ALL''' of your Kharybdis Storm Launchers can be fired with Skyfire while Zooming, without counting against your allowed weapons, as long as you don't suffer a Crew Stunned (HAHAHAHAHA). You also can shoot them all during a Dogfight as long as you aren't doing a Head-On Pass. Nothing says "FUCK OFF," like 10 Strength 6, AP 5, Twin-linked shots. Additionally, normal Crew Stunned does nothing but turn off this ability to Skyfire everything (again, if they ever manage to get it to stick).

===Fortifications===
Here are the general tactics for fortifications http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000/Tactics/Fortifications

*'''Aegis Defense Lines:''' These are popularly used for Cultists, and with good reason. They're 50 points, they can be upgraded with a Skyfire weapon (no longer do you have to rely on Heldrakes!), and you can add a cheap little comms relay to mess with Reserves (pretty much the only way to do so with the CSM). You can also park your Autocannon Havocs here — let the Champion man the Quad Gun while his squadmates spam S7 shots from cover/eat bullets for him.

*'''Skyshield Landing Pad:''' Pretty respectable in a small number of cases, almost worthless in most others. It has some strange special rules, but the provided advantages boil down to a decent defensive structure and an ability to deep-strike without fail. Potentially useful, but if you can't immediately see an opening for it in your army there probably isn't one.
**Note that MoT grants +1 to invulnerable saves. MoT Las-Havocs or Oblits with a 3++ sound particularly useful. If you play the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion and add a Blessing it becomes 2++. No it doesn't the limit on MoT still applies and stops sacking beyond 3++.
**This thing can now be used to create a flying daemon fortress, take one of the warpsmith formations, sit the smith and his daemon engines down on top, and have some Geomortis sorcerers fly them around the board blasting everything to bits while hiding under a decent invuln save. Fun to try at least once, and decently fluffy in an Iron Warriors list.

*'''Imperial Bastion:''' Surprisingly potent. An Imperial Bastion provides a useful anti-air, a place to hide a Cultist or 5-man Chaos Marine squad, and a good place to plonk a squad of Havocs to allow them to blow the shit out of everything while benefiting from 4+ cover and access to the quad-gun (which is good against flyers). The 4 free heavy bolters which can be legally placed all on one facing, gives your men the advantage of height and cover. This is especially good in a very defensively oriented army - and note that it unlocks all of those sweet extra things listed on the fortifications page, like a comms relay for reserves manipulation or tank traps to force people to disembark so you can shoot them for a turn befopre they reach your lines.

*'''Void Shield Generator:''' Big ol' AV12 bubble to hide behind and shoot with impunity. 50pts. Want two more layers? 100pts. Excellent in a defensive army, but Void Shields do not prevent Deep Strikes. You could fill that 12" bubble with cannon fodder, either in the form of cultists, or better still, allied in Plague Zombies, for the points, because they actually keep Deep-striking Meltas out of Melta range, which would have to deploy at least 13" away from whatever you were bubble-wrapping, which nixes (Combi-) Meltas and hampers Multimeltas. Or you could focus on Havocs and Obliterators - who needs tanks?

*'''Promethium Relay Pipes:''' Rubric Marines now have Flamethrowers, making this thing worth consideration. Take the big fortification with Void Shield Generators for a sorcerous fortress.

*'''Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker:''' Cheap, tough with 14 armour, you can get inside, on top and it has holes for up to 8 dudes to fire out. And pretty safe to fit a squad in. Put inside someone like Noise Marines, or Havocs, throw in an ammo pile inside for extra accuracy and you can bet no troops will wanna get close to your dakka box.

*'''Wall of Martyrs Firestorm Redoubt:''' For a few points less than a Land Raider you get an Imperial Bunker but bigger and with anti air guns. ''(though you may change either of the Icarus Quad Cannons for different weapons if you own them)'' with four 96" range interceptor/skyfire lascannon shots. While being forced to fire at BS2 seems like a pain, being twin linked means that you hit approximately 55% of the time, but you can upgrade it to BS3 if you want to pay more points on the machine spirit, but then any enemy aircraft on (or coming on to) the table has to worry about the incredible amount of dakka heading its way since massed S9 AP2 skyfire is extremely rare. Sadly, only six models can fire from the inside, so it's more suited for heavy weapon teams.

*'''Plasma Obliterator:''' Oh my...a simple building at AV14 all around you can get inside it has fire holes and has a Plasma Obliterator which fires a 7" Massive Blast at S7 AP2. Want to obliterate its point cost in heavy infantry? Look no further. However, it still gets hot (luckily since it's a fortification it gets a 4+ save against it), and it has a new rule called '''Plasma Overheat''' which means if it takes a glancing hit due to Gets Hot! a unit embarked takes D3 randomly allocated wounds (just as with classic gets hot! allow saves). You'd think a building the size of a Bastion would have an external cooling system to prevent this fucking rule...still, at land raider cost it's quite an expensive Fortification, but oh man will this thing melt hordes, regardless of how good their save is.

*'''Wall of Martyrs Vengeance weapon battery''' You can't get in or on top but it is cheap, you can fit two in a single slot and fires classic battle cannon or punisher cannon shots.

*'''[[Fortress of Redemption]]:''' Expensive both in points and actual cost, this huge model doesn't exactly bristle with guns as you would expect. But now, you are able to dominate everything on the table - tanks will be sniped with the '96 lasgun, fliers will be decimated by AA guns.

*'''Macro-Cannon Aquila Strongpoint:''' Str D large blast or apocalyptic mega blast a weapon on a large imperial Bunker with AV15. It is even more expensive then the fortress of redemption

*'''Vortex Missile Aquila Strongpoint:''' Its all in the name. It's the Aquila strongpoint except this version fires vortex missiles

*'''Haemothrope Reactor:''' Boosts Void Shield Generators and plasma weapons (Plasma Obliterator included). Given that you have almost no infantry plasma cannons, it's not really worth the investment.

===Lord of War===
*'''[[Magnus the Red]], Daemon Primarch of Tzeentch:''' The biggest Character model GW ever made for 40k. 650 points for the big cheese of the Thousand Sons himself. Rules wise, he's a beast. He's a Flying Monstrous Creature, Fearless, Eternal Warrior, Deep Strike, Fleet, It Will Not Die, VotLW, and is the highest Mastery Level in the game at ML5. His high Mastery level is somewhat hamstrung by the fact that all 15 of his powers are from the updated Tzeentch discipline, the Chaos Daemons Change discipline and force. Mind you this means he knows 2 Destroyer powers. What he lacks in variety he makes up for in sheer Psychic rape. He always harnesses warp charges on 2+, and thanks to his '''Omniscient Eye''' relic, Magnus has line of sight to every enemy model on the table during the Psychic phase. Nobody is safe from being smacked by D-weapons. His wargear is also amazing. His Crimson Crown gives him a 4++, which re-rolls 1s since Daemon of Tzeentch obviously, and he never suffers Perils of the Warp. His Blade of Magnus is a S:User (so S8) AP:2 Force weapon with Soul Blaze and Transmorgify (slain opponents become those [[Chaos Spawn|unnameable beasts]]). Comes with an expected beastly statline at WS/BS7 S8 T7 I7 W7 A6 Ld10 and a 4+ Armor save (not moot since it's there to determine grav-weaponry's effectiveness). In all, what else did you expect?
**'''Using Magnus:''' If you do take Magnus, chances are you're taking more Psykers alongside him. As a rule, he's going to want to stay in the middle to anchor the rest of your army, though beware of Poison as he's not a GMC. Ideally, you want to start your Psyker Phase with him casting Spell Syphon, your other casters breaking out a few Witchfires (Shriek versus MCs/infantry, Heretek powers versus vehicles), then using the extra Warp Charge for Magnus to finish things off with a bang. Do you like Burning Chariots? Boon of Flame makes it incredibly easy to conjure up 100 points each turn for popping tanks or finishing off Marines with a solid Torrent of Pink Fire.
**Another Take: He might be awesome though don't forget he's not a Gargantuan so that time when a D attack hits him and your opponent rolls that 6, that's 650 points gone in the blink of an eye. However if a D weapon rolls a 6 against anything, chances are high it will die regardless of what it is unless its a Warlord titan. What you should REALLY fear from this is Poison and Sniper weapons, which GMC's are immune to but Magnus is not!
** This editor has found another but very risky way to counter him, used by his very own Legion: Athenaean Scrolls. Pray Tzeentch to rolle Warp Lure on Sinistrum table and add a couple more dice to your Psychic test for higher chances of success and guaranteed roll of double. Laugh at your opponent's face (and watch for your own) as the most powerful servant of Architect of Fate struggles to cast the simplest spell. Just as planned, hehehe... Except Magnus is still likely to win the roll-off due to very high mastery level and you will mostly hope to roll the draw. Forcing him to forget a power is almost impossible and he has so many anyway that most can substitute each other for anti-tank or anti-infantry power while some are stil not very useful "cough" Tzeentch's Firestorm "cough". Bring the allied detachment/unbound Kairos for better rolls. But the biggest problem is: The Athenaean Scrolls wielder will become a huge fire magnet once the opponent guesses that you are planning to do. The Warp Lure also requires to approach Magnus within 24", and he would be surrounded by dozens of Rubricas and their angry masters. Even without his bodyguards and magicka, you still have to think about how to kill him and he is gonna be within a charge range to give you the ass-whooping then turn you into the Chaos Sp... well, you get it.
** <s>According to the faq, Magnus can generate powers from malefic daemonology tree.</s> Magnus cannot use daemonology with this FAQ update as he starts the game knowing all the Tzeentch and Change powers, but DOES NOT generate powers.

* '''Khorne Lord of Skulls:''' Khorne's big badass close combat death machine. It starts with only 4 attacks, but gets more (up to ten) for each hull point it loses - even if it recovers those lost hull points later! This is made better by it having It Will Not Die and a 5+ Invulnerable save and the fact that his CC weapon is Strength D! This thing also has two ranged weapons. His arm weapon is a 48" Heavy 12 gatling gun with Pinning but can be replaced with a 60" S9 AP3 Apocalyptic blast that forces successful saves to be re-rolled. His belly gun is an MEQ killing Hellstorm Template that can be replaced with either a 48" S7 AP2 Large blast gun or an even deadlier Hellstorm Template that has Gets Hot but also has Instant Death. Well worth considering, that is, if it wasn't for it's pants-on-head retarded point cost of 888. Really, the only use you'll get out of this is buying one to convert into a Kytan.

=====Forgeworld=====
* '''Chaos Typhon Heavy Siege Tank (Forge World):''' Courtesy of [[Perturabo]]'s fondness for [[Rape|superior firepower]], this tank is basically a super-Vindicator. Larger than a Land Raider it boasts an all around AV 14 and 6 HPs. Equipped with a Dreadhammer Siege Cannon this thing is the ultimate bane of anything that is T5 or below and/or has only one Wound. I mean, the cannon fires a S10 AP1 Primary Weapon 1 Massive Blast (7") which, wait for it, '''Ignores Cover'''. Wanna save your sorry asses with cover saves or Jink? Well, tough luck. The Typhon can also be armed with Predator-esque sponsons and a pintle-mounted weapon up to and including a Multi-Melta. It has the option to take Armoured Ceramite in order to become nigh indestructible. May take Chaos Vehicle upgrades from the CSM Codex too. Combined with its reasonable 350 pts. stock cost it might serve as a nifty Lord of War choice in a standard-sized game.

* '''Chaos Fellblade Super-Heavy Tank (Forge World):''' The Space Marine-grade equivalent to the [[Baneblade]], the Chaos Fellblade packs some serious firepower on a durable platform. With AV 14/13/12, 12 HPs and the ability to take Armoured Ceramite it's not going to blow up anytime soon. As such, it has plenty of time to bring all of its guns to bear. The default arsenal includes two Quad Lascannon sponsons (4 TL Lascannon shots total), Demolisher Siege Cannon, Heavy Bolter and finally the main weapon the size of which would make Slaanesh giggle: Fellblade Accelerator Cannon. This oversized double-barreled beauty has an astounding range of 100" and two profiles: S8 AP3 Ordnance 1 Massive Blast (7") or S9 AP2 Heavy 1 Armourbane Small Blast. All of this for 540 pts. stock. Like the Chaos Typhon, the Fellblade can rake a pintle-mounted weapon and Chaos Vehicle upgrades from the CSM Codex as well. Even though it lacks Destroyer weapons of the Titans this Super-Heavy Tank still boasts considerable firepower and is arguably better balanced as far as standard-sized games are concerned.

*'''Chaos Thunderhawk Gunship (Forge World):''' Good ol' Super-Heavy Flier which has grown some spikes. For 685 pts. it has mediocre AV 12/12/10, but at the same time it's got 9 HPs and in-built Armoured Ceramite that compensate for this. With a large transport capacity of 30 it is also explicitly permitted to transport Jump Infantry and Bikes, and boasts Assault Vehicle to go with this. Regarding the armament it has a MEQ-killing Thunderhawk cannon which might be upgraded to Everything-killing Turbo-laser destructor with Strength D, four TL Heavy Bolters (because ne'er enuff dakka), two Lascannons and 6 Hellstrike missiles. For 50 pts. it might become a Daemon with 5++ save, though the price for this is that you must roll a D6 each time a unit embarks or disembarks from the transport. If you happen to roll [[Tzeentch|1]], D3 models are nommed by the Daemon Thunderhawk and restore an equivalent amount of lost HPs.

* '''Renegade Knight (Renegade):''' Another use for an upcoming board game is to use the knight packaged as your LoW. Though it lacks any Marks like the FW Knight, it compensates by being far more customizable. It can be made to imitate any of the Loyalist Knights (With its stock build being a Gallant), but the bigger bonus is the ability to mount two of the same gun, meaning double gatlings for all the dakka goodness. It should also be noted that since this is technically CSM, Orks can finally ally with a Knight and not be uber-fucked. They...just can't repair it if it gets hurt.

*'''Kytan Daemon Engine of Khorne (Forge World):''' Wow. And those [[Imperium|poor bastards]] thought they had you cornered with their Knight bullshit. Right, so it's better armoured, has a better invulnerable save, better WS and an impressive gun. For 525 pts. [https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/Warhammer_40000/Kytan_Daemon_Engine_of_Khorne.pdf Rules here.] Not a perfect weapon but it can handily outclass most, if not ''all'' Knight variants and take on damn near anything on the battlefield up to Warhound titans. Also has a handy rule where if you wipe out something with its gun, you can charge something else in the assault phase so be sure to coordinate your fire to take down that squad of MEQs and then charge that superheavy or MC/GC and fuck its shit up!

*'''Chaos Knight (Forge World):''' [http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/Warhammer_40000/Chaos_Knight.pdf Rules here.] The Chaotic answer to the Imperial Knight. Comes in Paladin and Errant forms. Click and paste of the normal Knight rules and weapons, but with fun Daemon upgrades and the ability to take Dirge Casters. As well as getting the Daemon Special Rule (which is ungodly since it now has an invuln save in close combat) each Deity dedication grants the Knight a special ability as follows:
**Khorne: D3 extra attacks on the charge instead of 1, can re-roll the amount of stomp attacks it gets, and has Hatred (Slaanesh). A nice buy, to be sure.
**Slaanesh: Opponents must make a Leadership test at -2 or become I1 for the fight sub-phase. Has Hatred (Khorne). You're purely relying on luck, but if it swings your way, bye-bye that unit the Slaanesh Knight charged.
**Tzeentch: Heavy Stubbers gain the Soulblaze Special Rule, re-rolls 1 to-hit, and has Hatred (Nurgle). Stupid, the main weapons should have gotten Soulblaze for it to be even worthwhile, and the knight's best weapons are blasts. <s>Re-rolling 1s to hit is useless.</s> This works in close combat so it has potential with only 3 attacks. You're also allowed to reroll the scatter for blasts even if you can only reroll 1s.
**Nurgle: Gain IWND and Hatred (Tzeentch). Incredibly powerful, and incredibly expensive.

*'''Brass Scorpion of Khorne (Forge World):''' Hilarious amounts of super-heavy walker rape in a segmented can. For 700 points, you get a Baneblade-level armored big metal arachnid with a Demolisher Cannon for a face, Inferno Cannon-equivalents in both arms, a S6 AP3 <i>Heavy 10</i> splattergun on its tail, and close combat capability that will pretty much make anything that survives its ranged weaponry bombardment shit itself (though it's only WS3). Oh, and it makes enemy psykers explode and goes supernova when it finally gets taken down by the massive ordnance your enemy will inevitably deploy to kill the hell out of it before it does a berserk charge and tears his shiny [[Titan]] seven new assholes. What's not to like? Worth to say there is two models of Brass Scorpions - regular Defiler-like one you need to scratch-build yourself and buffed out Great Brass Scorpion, who's model is also one of the most bad-ass-looking thing Forge World ever made. Greater Brass Scorpions get +3 attacks, and +1 to SP and front armor for like 150 extra points (new Apocalypse book puts it at 300 more now. In exchange it's demolisher ignores cover, it gets more stomp attacks, gained It will not die and is a daemon.) - still totally worth it, considering awesomeness of FW model.

*'''Chaos Warhound Titan (Forge World):''' The desecrated Scout Titan is a force to be reckoned with. Costs 730 pts. AV 14/13/12, 9 HPs and 2 Void Shields mean it's quite tough. The Agile special rule allows it to shoot all weapons, fire a single weapon after a Run move or Run twice instead. Has the Dirge Caster by default. The Chaos Warhound possesses two weapon slots and may pick any combination from the list of: Double-barreled turbo-laser destructor, Plasma blastgun, Inferno gun or Vulcan Megabolter. All weapons are powerful but the turbo-laser erases entire chunks of the enemy army with its delicious Strength D Large Blasts (2 from one weapon!). On the other hand the Megabolter is one of the rare Titan-grade weapons that might actually fire at a Flyer or Swooping FMC, and with S6 AP3 Heavy 15 it has a reasonable chance of downing one with a single salvo. What sets it apart from the loyalist version is the ability to dedicate it to a Chaos God. This is advisable for the Daemon 5++ save, the rest are mostly bonuses:
**Khorne: The cheapest (along with Slaanesh) at 50 pts., gives Hatred (Slaanesh), lets you re-roll the number of Stomps you get, and gives +D3 attacks on the charge. Because you were going to charge instead of just shooting it with your guns anyways right? Meh upgrade really.
**Nurgle: The most expensive at 100 pts., it gives Hatred (Tzeentch) and It Will Not Die. Despite the high cost this seems to be the best option, granting increased survivability to something that is already a huge fire magnet.
**Tzeentch: 75 pts. granting Hatred (Nurgle), re-rolls for 1's To Hit, and gives the Inferno Cannon Soul Blaze. Despite Soul Blaze being kind of overkill and not really effective <s>the re-rolls make up for it. Another good option.</s> Tzeentch is probably the worst dedication. Re-rolling 1s doesn't mean shit if all weapons except for one are blast weapons
**Slaanesh: the other 50 pts. option, this one grants Hatred (Khorne) and in CC forces the enemy to take a LD test at a -2 or reduces their initiative to 1. If it wasn't for the fact that most CC threats are I1 anyways (other Walkers maybe?) this would be good.

*'''Chaos Reaver Titan (Forge World):''' In fact, at 1,460 pts. this Battle Titan costs almost as much as a regular army. Anyway, the Chaos Reaver is extremely tough with AV 14/14/13 and '''18 Hull Points''' protected by '''4 Void Shields'''. It is further equipped with a Dirge Caster and must select one carapace weapon and two arm weapons. The carapace weapons are Warhound-grade whilst the arm slots have even stronger BFGs. The Laser blaster in particular is an enhanced version of the turbo-laser with Strength D AP2 Primary Weapon 3 shots per gun. You can totally equip the Reaver with two of those and a carapace turbo-laser to fire '''8''' Strength D Large Blasts each turn. Why? Because '''MAIM! KILL! BURN!''', that's why. Like the Chaos Warhound it may be dedicated to a Chaos God for the Daemon USR and certain other bonuses:
**Khorne: The cheapest (along with Slaanesh) at 100 pts., gives Hatred (Slaanesh), lets you re-roll the number of Stomps you get, and gives +D3 attacks on the charge. Because you were going to charge instead of just shooting it with your guns anyways right? <s>Meh upgrade really.</s> People tend to forget how much this can save their bacon. A common tactic against Reavers is to tarpit them with blobs of cheap units so they can't shoot. Re-rolling stomps can really help you clear out tarpits.
**Nurgle: The most expensive at 200 pts., it gives Hatred (Tzeentch) and It Will Not Die. Seriously, a Daemon Reaver Titan of Nurgle '''will not die'''. Despite the high cost this seems to be the best option, granting increased survivability to something that is already a huge fire magnet.
**Tzeentch: 150 pts. granting Hatred (Nurgle), re-rolls for 1's To Hit, and gives the Inferno Cannon Soul Blaze. Despite Soul Blaze being kind of overkill and not really effective <s>the re-rolls make up for it. Another good option.</s> Tzeentch is probably the worst dedication. Re-rolling 1s doesn't mean shit if all weapons except for one are blast weapons (and why would you take the Vulcan Mega-Bolter over an Apocalypse Missile Launcher or a Laser Blaster?).
**Slaanesh: the other 100 pts option, this one grants Hatred (Khorne) and in CC forces the enemy to take a LD test at a -2 or reduces their initiative to 1. If it wasn't for the fact that most CC threats are I1 anyways (other Walkers maybe?) this would be good.
**'''Alternative Opinion:''' Dedicating your Reaver to Nurgle really isn't worth it. Dedicate it to Khorne and give it the "Veteran Of The Scouring" legacy of ruin. It's 20pts cheaper than Nurgle and still grants IWND and Daemon. Hatred (Space Marines) is also way better than Hatred (Tzeentch). If you want proof, compare the amount of Tzeentch players to the amount of Marine players... yeah. Not only this, but you also gain +D3 attacks on the charge (not that useful, to be fair) and re-rolls for the amount of stomps you get (excellent if your opponent is trying to tarpit you). If you really want to piss off your opponent, take the Reaver dedicated to Khorne with "Veteran Of The Scouring". Add in Daemon allies and take the Grimoire of true names and some Malefic Daemonology and pray to the dark gods for Cursed Earth. That gives you a 2++ Invuln, but wait, there's more!. Take Be'lakor as you're warlord and spam invisibility. You're left with a Reaver Titan with a 2++ Invuln that can only be hit on 6s. Watch the loyalists cry!

*'''[[Warlord Battle Titan]]''' - Hoo boy, just when [[Imperium of Man|you]] thought you were safe. Forgeworld has noted that this beast can be taken in a CSM army [https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/mars-pattern-warlord-titan-body]. This destroyer of wallets is also a destroyer of friendships, as it's rules are as ridiculous as you think. Making an appearance in HH:5, it brings the pain in oh-so many ways. Coming in at a whopping 2750 points it sports 6 void shields and '''30 RUINOUS-POWER-DAMNED HULL POINTS'''. Should you reach said hull points it has a 5++ save against hits to those hull points. It has a variety of go-fuck-yourself weapons (most of which are blasts) and rules, such as; the ability to fire Overwatch with some of its built-in weapons, immunity to being locked in combat as well as the Haywire rule and all non-Witchfire psychic attacks (and ceramite plating, fuck melta weapons), can only be hit in assault on a roll of 6 by infantry and MCs (or a 5+ by other superheavies and GCs), and all of its stomps use a Large Blast template. Oh, and should anyone actually manage to destroy it it explodes in a 12"/24"/36" blast with its own table, 1 is S D/8/4 AP 2/3/5, 2-3 is S D/10/6 AP 2/3/4, and 4-6 is S D all round and AP 1/2/2... Good luck finding someone who will play you with this, asshole.

==Supplements==

Chaos Space Marines core codex is lackluster, and many of the best rules are spread across the supplements! Anyone with a Chaos Space Marine army in mind should read this guide, to figure out what supplements they will need.

===Crimson Slaughter===
[[File:Crimson Slaughter 7e Cover.jpg|150px|right|]]

Yes, the Chaos warband from Dark Vengeance that nobody had heard of before got their own supplement for some reason, and before most of the 10,000-year-old veterans get their own, to boot. This is an undivided army that cannot take VotLW, and takes Possessed as troops... and is better at it than [[Word Bearers]], for some reason.

Unfortunately, the new revised version brought some serious nerf to this supplement. Gone is the ability to buy a cheap upgrade to your chosen to give them Preferred Enemy, and the Renegades of the Dark Millennium changed quite a bit, so that you can no longer take special characters or daemon princes.

Get this supplement if you want to play as the Crimson Slaughter, like their wargear or formations, want to play undivided CSM with access to Divination, or want any sort of Possessed-heavy or non-VotLW list.
*If you are playing a Legion, don't get this book, you have no use for it.

===Traitor's Hate===
[[File:Traitor's Hate Cover.jpg|150px|right|]]

This nifty little book includes some really nice formations in addition to the official dataslates for renegade knights AND Khorne lord of skulls. All in all, not a bad deal. While the formation dataslates and updated Lord of Skulls are compiled in Traitor Legions, the renegade knight rules are not, and nor is the Black Crusade detachment. The Black Crusade is the main gem of this supplement for many players. It is a generic formation-based detachment for any Chaos Space Marine army, regardless of warband or legion.

Get this supplement if you want to play a formation-based detachment or use the CSM-only psychic disciplines, and don't want to use Traitor Legions stuff.
*If you run Crimson Slaughter, Red Corsairs or Fabius Bile & Co., or a list containing special characters from multiple legions, you need this book if you want a formation based detachment.
*If you are playing a Legion, you will only need this book if you are including a Knight in your army list, or if you prefer Black Crusade to your legion-specific detachment. Otherwise skip it, there's greener pastures ahead.

===Wrath of Magnus===
[[File:Wrath of Magnus Cover.jpg|150px|right|]]

This supplement gives some love to Thousand Sons players as well as Tzeentchian Daemon players. For Chaos Marines, this updates the rules for Thousand Sons and Ahriman, updates the Lore of Tzeentch, and adds rules for Exalted Sorcerers, Tzaangors, SCARAB Occult Terminators and Magnus himself! In addition to the Thousand Sons Grand Coven, it also adds rules for any detachment to become a Thousand Sons detachment, thus granting it access to a new set of Relics and Warlord Traits, and it includes reprints of the powers from Traitor's Hate.

Where this gets amusing is the fact that '''any''' Detachment can be made a Thousand Sons detachment, and standalone formations are Detachments. This means if you really wanted to, you could run a Cult of Destruction, and give the mandatory Warpsmith the Astral Grimoire for a unit of Jump Obliterators, if you were so inclined. Alternately, a Daemon Prince casting Cursed Earth on itself would have a 3+ Invulnerable and reroll 1s. The jury is out as to whether a Detachment can belong to different Legions with mutually exclusive requirements (example: a Tzeentchian Cyclopia Cabal), but discuss this with your opponent beforehand and generally assume the answer will be no.

Get this supplement if you are a big Thousand Sons fan or want the updated Horrors rules for summoning.
*You don't need to get Traitor Legions or Traitor's Hate if you have this book and all you are planning on playing is Thousand Sons, unless you want the generic formations or the Knight.
*If you are playing Thousand Sons as part of your army but aren't mono-Tzeentch, get Traitor Legions instead, you won't miss any Thousand Sons rules by not buying this book.
*Don't get this book if you are Crimson Slaughter. There's nothing in it for you unless you want to use the splitting Horrors rules.

===Traitor Legions===
[[File:Traitor Legions Cover.jpg|150px|right|]]

Riding on the tide of the Wrath of Magnus supplement above, this one will grant special rules and detachments to all named traitor legions, including the ones from WoM. We haven't seen something like this since 3rd edition, folks!

Traitor Legions contains ALL the current(as of December 2016) rules for EVERY Traitor Legion. Each Traitor Legion has its Legion Tactics: every model that can take VotLW in your army gets it for free, and then every model that has VotLW benefits from the Legion's special rules. Traitor Legions contains all the CSM rules from Wrath of Magnus concurrently, you get the same from either one. It also replaces the older Black Legion rules, improving them tremendously. Most importantly, though, it takes all the neglected legions and makes it so you can finally play a fluffy list, and adds a truly enormous amount of unique wargear and special rules. Daemon weapons for every god are back too! Even if it doesn't necessarily make every legion a top tier army, this book finally makes CSM '''FUN''' like it used to be!

Of note is that this book makes boys over toys more important: For relic burdened characters, take the old supplements, and pretend this doesn't exist. For better rules for all models, use this supplement.

Also included are updated Lord of Skulls and psychic powers for both the undivided disciplines and the mono-god disciplines, so you'll definitely want to get this just for those if you run sorcerers.

Get this supplement no matter what. It's important.
*You don't need Traitor's Hate or Wrath of Magnus if you buy this book, even if you plan on running Thousand Sons. The only exception is if you specifically want the Black Crusade detachment(for instance if you aren't running a Legion), a <s>Chaos Knight</s> Renegade Knight (Chaos Knights are the Daemon-possessed versions, available from ForgeWorld) or the updated Horrors of Tzeentch rules for summoning.
*Even if your army isn't a Legion, you will likely want to get this book anyway just for the psychic powers.

===Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned (Forge World)===
[[File:Imperial Armour War Machines of the Lost and the Damned Cover.jpg|150px|right|]]

Forge World provides '''HUGE''' support for Chaos. Though it's spread between several books, IA13 is your primary go-to sources for goodies. Included in this huge book:
*Predator, Vindicator and Land Raider variants
*The SPARTAN ASSAULT TANK
*Dreadnought variants
*Drop Pods
*Flyers
*More Daemon Engines
*Super-Heavies
*Rapier Artillery
*Legacies of Ruin
...and more

Get this supplement if you want to take the really big/crazy/good stuff and have a hundred dollars to spare.
* Forgeworld has it as Out of stock, doubtful reprint as the Chaos Dreadnoughts have been removed from sale, find a PDf or fork out on Ebay..*

===Experimental Rules (Forge World)===

These Forge World rules are available [[Awesome|free of charge]]. Just download them and print them off if you want to use them. Be sure you have a suitable model first, however.

https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Downloads

The current free CSM rules include:
*Chaos Knight(Daemon Knight variant)
*Cor'Bax Utterblight, Daemon Prince of the Ruinstorm
*Deimos Pattern Vindicator Tank Destroyer
*Kytan Daemon Engine of Khorne

===Other Supplements===

Other books containing CSM rules:
*'''IA: Apocalypse(3rd Edition):''' Contains several special characters not found in IA13, as well as Apocalypse-only formations.
*'''IA: The Siege of Vraks:''' Contains several Nurgle-related datasheets as well as The Purge detachment rules.
*'''Warzone: Pandorax:''' Contains several super-heavies not found in IA13, as well as Apocalypse-only formations.
*'''Death from the Skies:''' Contains a datasheet for using the Heldrake with the advanced flyer rules.
*'''Starter Sets:''' The Start Collecting! box and the Dark Vengeance box + Chaos expansion have their own formations. Dark Vengeance has an Aspiring Champion special character.
*'''Renegade:''' The Renegade Imperial Knights set has a datasheet for the Chaos Knight.
*'''Dataslates:''' Include a Kharn formation, Cypher, a Cypher formation, Be'lakor, and three Helbrute formations. Back from when GW was having its micro-transaction phase.

Outdated Supplements:
*Black Legion formerly had its own supplement before being absorbed into Traitor Legions. Under this old supplement, Terminators were not troops, VotLW was not free, there was no Hatred(Everything!), and no big formation based detachment other than the generic one in Traitor's Hate. Suffice to say, Traitor Legions is a big boost to the Warmaster's forces! <s>Note that there was an older Daemon Prince + Possessed formation in the old Black Legion supplement which is not reprinted in Traitor Legions, however.</s> It is printed in Traitor Legions, but they seemingly forgot to add it to the speartip. So keep an eye out for a faq. Another interesting rule was is in the first edition of Black Legion, where Abaddon's Chosen Terminators were an upgrade to a unit in a CAD, not a formation. In addition, in the updated pure black legion supplement, you could take any number of relics from both black legion and the vanilla codex, unlike the bullshit only one from traitor legions. Thus, if you want to play a tzeentch force, take the wrath of magnus and an old black legion character as an unbound additional HQ: It is just better.
*The older version of the Crimson Slaughter has the Chosen with Preferred Enemy be something taken as a 10 point upgrade, not a formation, meaning you could take a squad of pref. enemy plasma chosen in a CAD without paying the Possessed tax. In addition, you could take models with VotLW(such as Daemon Princes and special characters) as long as they came with it stock and you weren't buying it.

===FAQs===

Both GW and Forge World have these. Don't ignore them, they are important because they also give errata.

==The Legions==
With the release of Traitor Legions, you can now run your Chaos Space Marines to represent one of the nine fallen Legions!
To do this, any '''detachment''' (be it a CAD, Ally Detachment, any standalone Formation [at least, those without restrictions like "This is a Thousand Sons Detachment", etc], or Detachment of Formations) can count as belonging to one specific Legion if it adheres to certain restrictions; in exchange, you get several benefits, as well as access to a Legion-specific warlord table and list of artifacts.

===Black Legion===
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">
Black Legion offer versatility with a wide variety of tactical options, while being a somewhat more elite army than your typical CSM army.
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

*'''Requirements:''' Abaddon is the only Unique Character you can include in a Black Legion detachment, and any unit that can take VotLW must do so for free.
*'''Benefits:''' You have '''Hatred (Everyone)''' and VotLW gets upgraded so you re-roll to hit against Loyalist shitheads (any Armies of the Imperium) every single combat phase. Terminators and Chosen are troops, and any Psyker with a Mark of a chaos god can choose to roll all of their powers on their god-specific table.
** Note: Traitor Legions updates the previous Black Legion rules, removing their infamous VotLW tax and instead letting them have it for free, and finally giving them their own detachment.
** A note on marks: Black Legion is one of two legions that has access to Thousand Sons units. Not terribly useful, but it does give them access to the Exalted Sorcerer and Scarab Occult Terminators for anti-MEQ, divination and one-use orbital strikes.

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1: Black Crusader''': Same as the original, Preferred Enemy (Space Marines) for your Warlord and friendlies within 12".
**'''2: Eye of the Gods''': Whenever the Warlord rolls on the Chaos Boon Table or Gift of Mutation Chaos Reward, they can re-roll the result once. For a good challenge-based Warlord, this is a big save and it stacks with the Warband benefits for extra insurance. Bonus points for rolling this in a Black Crusade.
**'''3: Gift of Balefire''': Warlord can shoot one single-use S4, AP5, Assault 1, Soulblaze template. Considering the goofiness of Soulblaze this isn't a really great gift. Still better than Black Crusader if you're facing a different army.
**'''4: Unholy Fortitude''': Warlord gets It Will Not Die. YES.
**'''5: Soul Stealer''': When in combat, any to-wound rolls of 6 become Instant Death. Grab your Claws and go murder some MCs and characters.
**'''6: Chosen of Abaddon''': Warlord and friendly units within 12" gain Stubborn. Excellent force multiplier that takes advantage of your high Ld and patches your lack of ATSKNF.

*'''Relics'''
**'''Spineshiver Blade''': AP3 Daemon Weapon. Gives +1I when in combat. Neato. Combine with a Slaanesh Chaos Lord for an Initiative 7 MEQ killer! Also note, for what it's worth, that the +1I bonus is always active, regardless of what weapon you're using. Moreover, until faqed, this does not replace a weapon, so a prince with this gains an extra attack!
**'''Crucible of Lies''': User has -1T, but can re-roll Invuln Save rolls of 1. Why would anyone ever take this? Maybe you have a Terminator Lord or Sorcerer of Tzeentch with a Sigil of Corruption hiding in the middle of Terminators squad bodyguards. That's a 2+ armor save with a 3+ invuln that only fails on a 2. Could also work with a Disc of Tzeentch or Bike(you'd still be reaping the benefit of a bike unit's majority toughness) to negate the loss of Toughness, but then disallows the use of Terminator Armor.
**'''Last Memory of the Yuranthos''': A Psyker with this Relic gains an additional Mastery Level, but instead of rolling for another power, you simply get the Sunburst power from Pyromancy. Additionally, you have the option to cast Sunburst with an increased radius for a higher Warp Charge cost (declare the "target" before rolling); a minimum of 2 successes to use Sunburst with a 12" radius, and a minimum of 3 for an 18" radius. Note that should you Perils for any reason, your Psyker is slain outright!
***''Analysis:'' If you're dead-set on rolling a Telepathy/Ectomancy/Sinistrum Psyker, you won't want this Relic because it will cost you your Psychic Focus and Psychic Shriek is a good Primaris. Likewise, if you like running non-Battle Brother Allies, you'll also want to avoid this power because any Orks or Necrons you bring along for the ride will be hit by this power too! Otherwise, if you don't care about the Primaris powers or like to "Mix and match" (or are playing a Marked Sorcerer/Daemon Prince), then it's worth consideration as it's only 5 points more than a hypothetical 4th Mastery Level. Having a Nova on-hand can actually help extricate smaller Marine units from nearby close combats with small units, and can effectively nullify certain "extreme MSU" threats to your army. However, be careful because the moment your Sorcerer gets entangled in a fight, you won't actually be able to cast this power. If you're dead-set on running a Daemon Prince, then this is a handy "Fly By" power to cast before Swooping away from retaliation. You don't '''have''' to overcharge the Last Memory, but against certain "extreme MSU" builds (mass Scatterpacks come to mind), sometimes it may be well worth sacrificing your Sorcerer to cover an 18" radius of the map in a de-facto neutron bomb.
**'''Eye of Night''': User can make one single-use Large Blast attack that is S5, AP4 and does 1d3 auto-pen hits to buildings and vehicles that ignore cover. Don't expect to ruin Land Raiders with this. It can, though, intimidate that transport full of enemies or mess up artillery. At least one auto penetrating hit is not to be sniffed at, and against vehicle less enemies, it is great for clearing out tarpits. But it is also obscenely expensive, so make it count, and put it on something with BS5. It really comes into its own in low points games- above 500pts or so, an enemy can survive one vehicle being put out of action. However, in small games, where the enemy has only one vehicle, it not being able to fire for a turn, or it losing the ability to ever move, is ridiculously good.
***''Alternate opinion:''Considering how hard it is to get a vehicle in a decurion, this might not be as expensive as it appears. Think of it as a cheaper, slightly worse triple-las pred. On average you will get 2 penetrating hits for 75 points as opposed to being forced to buy into a fist of the gods for some 400 ish points. With ignore cover no less. You might even get lucky and come up against a wall of armour.
**'''Skull of Ker'ngar''': User has Eternal Warrior and Adamantium Will. Nice. This is your only place to get EW outside of lucky warlord trait rolls.
**'''Hand of Darkness''': When in combat, the user can trade his attacks for one S*2, AP1, Armourbane, Fleshbane, Instant Death blow. Not really gonna do much unless in challenges (and being CSM, that will be often) or if you want to pop a tank. In a challenge this will mesh well with the Eye of the Gods trait. Falcon - PUNCH! This became slightly better with Traitor Legions, as anybody that can take this now has built in hatred, meaning you get to re-roll your one attack.
*** What you want to be using this against is monstrous creatures with multiple wounds that you can take down before they get the chance to strike. Thanks to traitor legions we now hate EVERYBODY and get to re-roll to punch a dreadknight in the nads every round. Make your Apostle punch some Carnifexes or Tervigons in the face or something.
*** '''STOP THE PRESSES:''' Flying MCs start the game gliding. If you can get first turn in a speartip with a raptor talon, you can falcon punch that dirty flyrant back to the future before he takes off. Or D-Thirster, or whatever. This thing got a new lease with Traitor Legions. This also applies to psychic buffs or things like the Riptide nova reactor. Falcon - PUNCH! indeed.

*'''Mission Objectives'''
**1: 1 VP for destroying a unit in turn.
**2: 1 VP if enemy failed Morale/Pin/Fear test.
**3: D3 VPs for killing every enemy Independent Character.
**4: Roll a D6 and get 1 VP when your Warlord controls the objective marker with the same number.
**5: 1 VP if you kill a unit or D3 VPs if killed by your VotLW unit.
**6: 1 VP if manifested a power, D3 if that was a conjuration, D3+3 if summoned a Greater Daemon.

*'''Black Legion Tactics'''
Black Legion are much more viable than before, thanks to Traitor Legions making VotLW free and making Terminators a Troops choice.

With Chosen as Troops, you can have a small unit with only a heavy weapon like a Lascannon or Autocannon, and have them sit on an objective. This gives them an advantage over Cultists. With Terminators as troops, you can have a durable, quality-over-quantity army with bare minimum T4 2+/5++ and ObSec, mass teleportation and the ability to counter a variety of lists through choices of combi-weapons and power weapons.

The Artifacts are mediocre at best, while Hatred (+better Hatred vs the Imperium) is good for a codex written to jump into enemies' faces. On the bright side, you have excellent leadership across the board with most units, plus having a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with Eternal Warrior is cheese, especially if you use them as allies in a Screamerstar list. And getting re-rolls to hit the first round of every single melee helps your units do their job and be quite reliable in close combat. Kitting units for close combat pays off better because of it.

The best way to play the Black Legion is by taking advantage of your scoring Chosen and Terminator squads. Kit the Chosen with special weapons of your choice, and load them in METHAL BAWKSES! Even flamers aren't bad if you want to keep them cheep, just add another Chosen with a Meltagun and you're set. Using a mix of Chaos Marines and Chosen units gives you more mileage. Since Chosen will carry a lot of special weapons, you don't have to worry about adding them into Marine squads, but do have them watch the Chosen's back. Brothers look out for each other after all!

Meanwhile Terminator squads make for a great vanguard. Deep strike them in, unleash your heavy and combi-weapons to destroy a target, and then start killing things in melee if your opponent fails to shoot them off the board in one turn. Alternatively, put an objective forward outside of your deployment zone and then parking an [[Troll|Objective Secured Land Raider full of Terminators on it]].

If you run lots of Chosen, consider which unit should take Marks, if any. Chosen are a vulnerable unit, not tougher than regular space marines but costing more due to their ability to put out more damage. Keep in mind that quantity over quality is better in this edition, so use Marks with caution if you plan on taking them. On the other hand, Marks on Terminators can be very useful, as they are already a tough unit designed to work in close combat: giving a squad a Mark can push it over the line and make it quite deadly.

It should be noted that with Chosen you are essentially paying +3 points per model for one extra attack. If you are looking to Rip and Tear, you may as well take them, as on the charge they will get 4 attacks per model.
*5 extra attacks with the mark of Khorne- Yes, they have more attacks than Khorne Berzerkers. Give them Icon of Wrath and you have Berzerkers who can take better wargear and have +1 attack, at the cost of chainaxes and fearless. And you are paying a whole 1 point less per model in turn.

The Black Legion is a mixed bag, some of their unique traits work, and others are left to be more desired. It can be wise to keep a few of your squads cheep, and only upgrade those that need it, to save points for your Chosen kill squads/Terminator deathstars.

''Raptor Talon and Terminator Annihilation Force are utterly lethal if they contain your warlord due to your detachment special rules.''

'''Note: '''An often overlooked combination in this supplement allows you to make one of the most durable nameless Lords in the game by equipping a Tzeentch marked Terminator lord with a Sigil of Corruption and the Skull of Eternal Warrior. This is the only way chaos can field a 2+/3++ EW lord so slap a lightning claw and chainfist on him for the additional attack, give him a retinue, and tank everything your opponent throws at you.

*'''Despoiler’s Contingent''': Take Abaddon the Despoiler along with his Terminator Squad in formation (only take 3-4 if you take a Land Raider). Throw in a 2nd HQ, either a Lord with Spineshiver blade or Hand of darkness trades out with Abaddon in challenges accordingly, OR a Sorceror, Biomancy rolls for certain, Mark of Nurgle may result in best support, Tzeentch adds “cheap” shots (powerful ones if lucky) Slaanesh may be best melee choice. As for the Terminators themselves, give them either Mark of Tzeentch, Mark of Nurgle or Mark of Slaanesh along with Icon of Excess. Stick them in a Land Raider or deepstrike them and drive deep in to the warm moist folds of flesh of your opponent's army.
**'''Traitor Legions Update:''' This strategy becomes much stronger in Traitor Legions. If you take the unique Black Legion detachment, you start rolling for Deep Strike reserves turn 1, and your Warlord's unit arrives automatically! This means you can build your list around dishing out a brutal alpha strike.
**'''Traitor Legions: Objective Secured Variant''': Don't take Abaddon's formation, instead just take Terminators as troops in a CAD. Place objectives all over the battlefield then drop Objective Secured deep striking Terminators and Land Raiders all over the place, seizing ground while at the same time performing a massive blitz. It may be advantageous to take Mark of Tzeentch or Nurgle for this strategy, to avoid getting shot off your objectives and losing them to the enemy.

*'''Melta Assault''': Simple, take those chosen as troop, fill them up with all the Melta, Give them Mark of Khorne or Slaanesh (along with the appropriate Icon) for a better-than-average general assault squad (Slaanesh arguably being better since Feel No Pain adds to your staying power) with the potential to hurt anything in the game with all those melta guns.

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===Thousand Sons===
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The thousand sons do two things really, ''really'' well. Eating MEQs and ruling the Psychic phase, with AP3 bolt weapons and power weapons all over the place, and psykers in nearly every unit. They're also pretty durable, having lots of invuln saves and plenty of ways to buff up. Their also the only CSM Legion that can take their Primarch. Expect the rest at the start of the next decade, or is it? Mortarion coming soon!
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*'''Requirements:''' Only special characters allowed are Ahriman and Magnus. Everyone must take VotLW (for free), and have/must buy Mark of Tzeentch. Daemon Princes must take Daemon of Tzeentch.
*'''Benefits:''' Rubric Marines are Troop Choices. Tzeentch Psykers can roll all of their powers on the Tzeentch Table. Any unit that gets a blessing cast on it gets +1 to their Invulnerable save, you reroll to-hit against Space Wolves in every round of close combat, but Space Wolves have Hatred(Thousand Sons).
*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1: Arrogance of Aeons:''' Warlord has Adamantium Will, and can re-roll 1 dice when trying to deny.
**'''2: Undying Form:''' Eternal Warrior.
**'''3: Aether Stride:''' Warlord and unit isn't affected by difficult terrain and do not suffer initiative penalty when charging through DT. Great on a Terminator Sorcerer bro-ing it up with Terminators.
**'''4: Lord of Forbidden Lore:''' Warlord knows an extra psychic power.
**'''5: Walker of the Webway:''' Warlord has Deep Strike. If he already does, he and his unit do not scatter upon deep strike.
**'''6: Lord of Flux:''' All enemies within 12" treat all terrain, even open ground, as difficult terrain. Any unit that runs, moves flat out, turbo-boosts, or charges within this bubble must take Dangerous Terrain.

*'''Artefacts of Tzeentch'''
**'''Astral Grimoire:''' A single friendly unit within 12" gets the Jump Infantry rule. Note, this means any friendly and not just 1k Sons. This can mean anything from Jump Obliterators to Plague Zombies with Hammer of Wrath. This is probably the best all-comers option from Wrath of Magnus.
**'''Athenaean Scrolls:''' If you roll any multiples of any number when casting a psychic power, it cannot be denied. Even a perils. This is if you want to sling lots of Witchfires and Maledictions around, as those are usually the easiest to Deny. That said, this artifact is near-useless against armies with no psyker presence, from Necrons to Gladius Razorspam to Tau and chances are you'll have a massive surplus of WC anyway. That said, the moment this helps you cripple a Wolfstar or Seer Council, it pays for itself then and there.
**'''Coruscator:''' Ranged weapon: 12: range, Strength 4, AP 3, Pistol, Blast, Soul Blaze. Can be situationally useful, but severely overcosted.
***'''However''', you might notice that it is just about the only Pistol in the game that a Terminator can take. Lets you shoot some shmucks without losing your bonus attack.
**'''Helm of the Third Eye:''' Gives the bearer and their unit Overwatch even if they have Slow and Purposeful, and gives them BS2 Overwatch if they do not have S&P. Again, trying to make up for the obvious shortcomings of the 1k sons. Consider using these on Mark of Tzeentch Obliterators, too! Stick in a mob of Tzaangors or Cultists for impractical yet hilarious overwatch. Alternatively, take a rubric marine squad armed entirely with warpflamers and attach a sorcerer with Helm of the Third Eye. Watch as no one charges you ''ever.''
**'''Seer's Bane:''' A Daemon Weapon with the following profile: Strength as user, AP 2, Force and Daemon Weapon with the Bane of Wisdom rule: the strength of the weapon is equal to the bearer’s Leadership characteristic (except against vehicles) as strength and the target’s Leadership characteristic as their Toughness. Use the targets normal Toughness for the purposes of Instant Death. Particularly nasty for monster-hunting if you can Leadership debuffs from other sources. Entertainingly, for the Sorcerer legion, this is by far the best on a Chaos Lord: Ld10 means it is brutally efficient, plus the higher weapon skill and generally more reliable durability JUST HURTS!!!
**'''Staff of Arcane Compulsion:''' Melee weapon, Strength +2, AP 4, Concussive, Force, Repelling Sweep: enemy units charging the bearer or his unit suffer a -2 penalty to their charge roll. Remember Force (the spell) counts as a blessing for Blessing of Tzeentch, and is automatically known.
'''Overall:''' Unlike the mostly offensive-based CSM relics, these are somewhat more defensive, since most of these are force multipliers rather than creating a close combat monster, which still can be done if you want to give a Daemon Prince the Staff or a Sorcerer the Seer's bane.

*'''Mission Objectives'''
**'''1:''' Kill 9 or more enemy models during your turn.
**'''2:''' Nullify a psychic power for a VP at the end of enemy's turn. Wording means you get this automatically if it was done at least once before generating that objective.
**'''3:''' Kill loyalist scum unit during your turn.
**'''4:''' D3 VP if your opponent controls no objective markers and you control at least one.
**'''5:''' Kill a unit during psychic phase to score D3 VP.
**'''6:''' Manifest 3 powers of different types for D3 VP, but you manifest 6 powers of different types (to be exact: "usual" witchfire, nova, beam, blesiing , malediction, conjuration), score D3+3 instead. Too dependent from your magic roster and more likely to be discarded in small games with a single HQ.

*'''Thousand Sons Tactics'''
The Thousand Sons are meant to be a very small, yet powerful fighting force, with lots of Psychic dakka. As such, getting a regular CAD would be good enough for relatively low-point games.

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===Iron Warriors===
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Iron Warriors get bonuses against Fortifications, Tanks, and Imperial Fists, like you'd expect, and they're also a little tougher than most marines.
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;'''Requirements'''
:No unique characters (which may change if [[Perturabo]] gets a model).
:No Chaos marks.
;'''Benefits'''
:All units which can take VotLW must do so for free.
:All units with VotLW gain 6+ FNP and re-roll failed to hit every combat round against [[Imperial Fists]], but the Fists gain Hatred (Iron Warriors).
:Obliterators and Mutilators are troops.
:Units gain Shred against buildings; if you pen, you get +1 to the building damage table.
:Havocs, Obliterators, and Mutilators get Tank Hunters.
:DP can roll all powers from their god's discipline.
;'''Warlord Traits'''
:'''1 - Iron Without'''
::4+ FNP, which can't be improved (not like you are able to).
:'''2 - Cold Calculations'''
::Fearless. [[Derp| A waste]] on everything but a fluffy Heretech Sorcerer or Warpsmith. You may want to roll it only for a Warlord-Champion in very low-budget games with no HQ unit and no way to use IW Grand Company benefits.
:'''3 - Master of Fortifications'''
::Gives a piece of terrain in your deployment zone +1 to cover.
:'''4 - Technovial Manipulator'''
::Friendly Obliterators within 12" of the Warlord can fire the same weapon in each shooting phase.
:'''5 - Steel Castellan'''
::Warlord and Unit have Split-fire and Counter-attack when in cover.
:'''6 - Master of Blasphemous Machines'''
::Friendly vehicles get IWND when within 6" of warlord.
:::All are highly situational; 2 is nearly always useless, 3 depends highly on the terrain (<s>or if you took fortifications which, believe me, you should</s> Specifically says it cannot be used on Fortifications that are part of your army list) and gets neglected [[Tau|quite]] [[Eldar|often]], 4 would be a [[That Guy]] mono-build (and even then, focusing all your soldiers on one point of the battlefield? [[Vindicator|SWEET]]! ), and 6 means your Warlord (who, just to [[Troll|remind you]], can't be a Warsmith) stays in a defensive position. 5 is... ok.
:::'''Alternate view''': A Lord with a huuuuge axe in a bubble of Dinobots and Helbrutes? Sounds like IW to me.
:::Shove him into a Helcult and enjoy a virtually unkillable Hellbrute. 3+ cover, IWND and the Warlord gets a unit to hide among. For extra cheddar make your Warlord a Warpsmith for repair rolls,
*'''Relics'''
**'''Warpbreacher''': You can possess a vehicle each turn as though it had Daemonic Possession vehicle equipment. Warpsmith only. Not worth it, as the wording of Daemonic Possession doesn´t help you after the damage was resolved.
**'''Nest of Mechserpents''': (Warp Smith only) In a challenge, resolve first 2 hits normally. If both hit the remainder of your attacks have Instant Death. Warpsmith in CC? Could work, but they are way too expensive for this.
**'''Axe of the Forge Master''' It's a power axe with Armourbane and Master-crafted. Only worth it on a DP, otherwise unwieldy neglates the nice boni against walkers.
**'''Fleshmetal Exoskeleton''': Fleshmetal armour with IWND. Start building your own budget [[Smashfucker]].
**'''Cranium Malevolous''' During the enemy shooting phase enemy vehicles within 2D6 of this relic suffer an automatic haywire hit, no cover allowed. Combine with Dreadclaw for extra lulz.
**'''Siege Breaker Mace''': Master-Crafted Power Maul that you can make a single S10, AP 1 attack with. Actually, consider... no. Don´t. Not for a chaos lord anyways. Put it on a daemon prince, and he's strength 8 in combat.
*'''Mission Objectives'''
**'''1:''' 1 VP if you kill a unit even partially within 18” your table edge.
**'''2:''' 1 VP if you kill a unit that was controlling an objective.
**'''3:''' 1 VP if your oblits/mutil destroyed a unit.
**'''4:''' Nominate an objective marker, get D3 VP if you control this at the end of the next turn or the end of the game.
**'''5:''' VP if enemy forts/buildings lost HP or Wound (wait, does any building or vehicle in this game has a Wounds stat?), D3 if at least one was destroyed.
**'''6:''' 1 VP if you destroy an enemy vehicle, D3 for at least 3, D3+3 if you managed to destroy five.
*'''Iron Warriors Tactics'''
**Units that actually benefit from the master of annihilation rule: Defilers with battle cannons, vindicators and vengeance weapon batteries. Nothing in the chaos arsenal has barrage. Future proofing? As for now, just stick with regular Traitor's Hate warband rules.
** Aegis Defense lines are a cheap way to get more out of your Havocs - they get cover, Fearless and their Sergeant can apply his Tank Hunter to air defense. And of course look to Planetary Onslaught for other fortifications: strongpoint or vortex missiles will be great addition for your army. Now IW is the only Decurion that includes fortifications at all!
** They work best as an Auxiliary Detachment for your main force - 2 units of Obliterators, 1 unit of Havocs and a Sorcerer fit in nearly anywhere.
** Remember, you have Obliterators in Troops. In combination with Mayhem Pack your army becomes Deep Strike spamming clutches of fuck. It may be quite annoying, because your enemy does not know which your unit is more dangerous: he may destroy one, but another will do his work!
** If you like Daemon Princes, you cane give the Exoskeleton and Deamon of Tzeentch special rule to your lovely horny guy. Black Mace also adds some deadliness.
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===Alpha Legion===
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Alpha Legion let you play sneaky cheeky chaos marines, with lots of infiltration and the tactical flexibility that offers. They've also got some fun relics and one of the most hilariously useful tricks of any army that effectively makes ''<u>every single Character</u> be your warlord'', so no Slay the Warlord VPs until every last Champion on the board is dead. Also, new Warlord trait every time one of your Sergeants get "promoted.".
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;'''Requirements'''
:Your army contains no unique characters (discuss with your opponent if you are using Arkos the Faithless) and no marks of Chaos. Daemon Princes both RAI and RAW are exempt from that restriction and can roll all powers on their god's table. Any unit that can take VotLW does so for free.
;'''Benefits'''
:'''Forward Operatives'''
::Chosen become troops and [[Awesome|Chosen, CSM and Cultists gain infiltrate.]]
:'''Many Heads of the Hydra'''
::If the Warlord is slain, pick a friendly Alpha Legion character. He generates a warlord trait immediately. [[Troll|You can do this as long as you have characters to do it with. Opponent won’t get Slay the Warlord if they haven’t killed your last remaining character. You can even do this with returned units of cultists, so with lucky return rolls, you can have infinite warlords.]]
;'''Warlord Traits'''
:'''1:''' '''Forward Agent'''
::Gain Infiltrate. Though slightly annoying Alpha Legion characters don't get this already, nice to have.
:'''2:''' '''Faceless Commander'''
::Once per game, your warlord can switch positions with another friendly character of the same unit type. Could be used for fun shenanigans. Take note that if you're swapping with a regular champion - not an IC - he and his squad would have to run towards each other trying to restore coherency. And it could be super easy to remove them from play with tank shocks later on. So, keep this in mind.
:'''3:''' '''Expert Timing'''
::From turn 2 on, one unit auto passes reserve rolls. Remember that having Infiltrate automatically confers Outflank, so if you roll this one consider leaving units in reserves for auto-Outflank.
:'''4:''' '''Hidden in Plain Sight'''
::Gain Stealth. Excellent; remember that one model having Stealth confers the cover save to his entire unit. Wondering what if you roll Shrouded on HQ or champ of the squad he has joined to? Stealth and Shrouded are cumulative (just like for Tau Stealth Suits).
:'''5:''' '''Cult Leader'''
::Cultist units within 12" get Furious Charge and Feel No Pain (6+). Get your warlord into the backfield and enjoy your endlessly respawning, outflanking, angry cultists.
:'''6:''' '''Alpha Strategist'''
::Acute Senses and Outflank. Unlike Infiltrate, a single model with Outflank can confer it to the entire unit, so use it to take units that don't get infiltrate (like Havocs and Terminators) into the enemy back line.
;'''Relics'''
:'''The Mindveil'''
::At the start of your movement, instead of moving normally, the bearer and his unit get to move 3D6 immediately. This can take you from combat and the enemy cannot consolidate. Makes a wonderful companion for the Soulswitch Psychic Power. Mindveil out of melee, switch places with something scarier, then gain charge bonuses to beat the stuff you struggled with. Might also stack with World Eater's Talisman Of Burning Blood for +3" to Mindveil move.
:'''Blade of the Hydra'''
::An AP5 Daemon Weapon with Rending and the the '''Multi-headed''' special rule: every roll of 6 to hit generates another attack and [[Blood Angels|extra attacks DO generate yet more attacks]]. On average, this will multiply your total attacks by 1.2.
:'''Viper’s Bite'''
::A bolter with S5 AP2. Cost of a Plasma Pistol, but infinitely more useful. Either give it to a Termie Lord or use it to make a Warpsmith scarier at range.
:'''The Drakescale Plate'''
::A 2+ armor save that gives a [[Salamanders|2++ vs. flamer weapons]]. Chaos Artificer Armor for the win! Also since it's a relic and has no restrictions at all, [[Cheese|it can be taken by Daemon Princes.]] Make your Prince a Daemon of Tzeentch to re-roll those pesky 1s. The invuln versus flamers is a rather niche rule due to the almost total lack of AP2 flamers in the game, but could be useful in a few cases.
:'''Hydra’s Teeth'''
::Special bolter ammo, which can be used in pistols, combi-bolters, combi-weapons, and boltguns. Gains Blast, Ignores Cover and Poison (2+). Cheap and nice for shooting up some light infantry. If you want a shooty Chaos Lord, toss either this or Viper's Bite on him and go to town. Also consider giving this to a Terminator or Biker Lord to take advantage of Relentless and the combi-bolter rules. Double-tap with twin-linked, poisonous explosives, then get stuck in.
:'''Icon of Insurrection'''
::Friendly Cultists within 12” gain Zealot. Give it to a Sorcerer, hide him in a blob of Cultists and have at least one other Cultist unit to take advantage of the bubble and you're good to go. Stack with the Cult Leader Warlord Trait for super-Cultists.
;Mission Objectives
:#Capture an Enemy or Unclaimed Building before or after generating this objective.
:#1VP if a Cultist unit gets Destroyed.
:#Destroy a unit with Deep Strike, Hit & Run, Outflank, or Scout during your own turn.
:#A unit with Infiltrate kills a unit. Roll D3 if you killed at least 3 units by Infiltrate units
:#Control any objective marker into the enemy deployment zone, roll D3 if you control more than one.
:#Kill a Character during your turn, get D3 VP if 3 Characters are killed, and D3+3 if you kill 5 characters.
;Alpha Legion Tactics
:Like their 30K incarnation, Alpha Legion are a primarily infantry-based army who specialize in unconventional tactics. Shrouded infiltrating infantry en masse are quite hard for anyone shy of Tau to shift. Tie up and block off enemy units with cultist chaff while your elites strike at the heart of the enemy force.
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===World Eaters===
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Good old Khorne Berzerkers, you know them and you love them. Or maybe you don't. Either way, World Eaters limit your tactical flexibility but make you much meaner in melee and most of your army is going to be straight up fearless.
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;'''Requirements'''
:Your only available special character is [[Kharn|that swell guy]] (agree with your opponent about Zhufor).
:No psyker scum.
:Only available mark is Khorne.
:Only Khornate Daemons can be taken in this army.

;'''Benefits'''
:Berzerkers are troops.
:Every unit that can take VotLW does so, for free.
:Units with VotLW have Adamantium Will, Fearless, and Furious Charge.

*'''Warlord Traits:'''
**'''1 - Arch-Slaughterer:''' Warlord has the Rampage special rule.
**'''2 - Slaughterborn:''' When rolling on the chaos boon table, you instead can swap the roll you made to gain +1 attack. This right here can get you pretty nasty pretty quickly, given that per Favored Scions rule you actually get two rolls instead of one, boon of mutation is just a 10 point +1 attack buy for you, and that you can never get either the [[chaos spawn|short]] or the [[daemon prince|long]] end of the stick that is Chaos Lottery up your arse. Challenge sergeants! Have more attacks that you know what to do with!
**'''3 - Unrivaled Battle Lust:''' At the end of your opponent's charge sub-phase, your warlord and his unit can declare a charge as long as they are not locked in combat themselves and the nemy unit IS locked in the combat. Now this here just screams [[distraction carnifex|kill me hard]], especially when on a Juggerlord.
**'''4 - Disciple of Khorne:''' Re-roll all failed to-hit and to-wound rolls in a challenge. Now this is nice.
**'''5 - True Berzerker:''' While in combat, you have Eternal Warrior and Feel No Pain. Well, if you aren't always locked in combat, you're doing it wrong.
**'''6 - Violent Urgency:''' Warlord and all friendly MoK units within 8" can roll 3d6 and pick the 2 highest when determining charge ranges. A Maelstrom of Gore unit with this and the talisman can reliably pull of 12 inch charges.
*All in all, you can use any of these traits to your advantage, with only 1 being a "nah".

*'''Artefacts of Khorne'''
**'''Talisman of Burning Blood''': Bearer's unit can move 3” extra when moving, running and charging. Combine with a Maelstrom of Gore formation for a [[Awesome|guaranteed 8" charge minimum.]]. Best suited for a lord on bike or juggernaut, as it enhances those already [[Doomrider|fast fuckers]]. use on a 20 man Berzerker squad, nothing screams BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD more than 80 S5 attacks on Turn 1.
**'''[[Angron|GOREFATHER]]''': S+2, AP2, Armourbane, Murderous strike (sixes to wound are Instant Death), 2-handed, Unwieldy. Use this on a DP to totally steamroll monstrous creatures and the particular [[Mary Sue|special snowflake]].
**'''Crimson Killer''': Plasma pistol with Soulblaze instead of Gets Hot. Never ever worth it. Alternate take, there is no restriction so an extra attack and a plasma shot without gets hot for terminator or a prince could be nice.
**'''Brass collar of Bhorghaster''': Bearer can Deny the Witch on a 4+, and if he succeeds, the psyker suffers perils. Nice to have when you really depend on it, but then you are playing against either a [[Eldar|fuckton]] of [[Grey Knights|witches]] or just one or none at all. Highly situational at best.
**'''Bloodfeeder''': Unwieldy specialist power axe replaces all bearer's Attacks stat with 2d6 but can be increased as usual through charges, having another Specialist weapon, etc. Each roll of 1 (when rolling for attacks, hit, wounds or all together??? Need email to GW or FAQ) is a wound to you with no armor saves. Axe of Blind Fury's retarded cousin. (Alternate take, this means rolls of 1 when rolling for the number of attacks. This is absolutely brutal. Take on a terminator lord with a Lightning Claw and watch as (with Furious Charge and Rage) you get an average of 10 strength 6 AP2 hits on the charge with only a 2/9 chance of losing a wound. Say good-bye to any vehicle short of a Land Raider and explode your foe's special snowflake in a challenge. (If you live long enough to do so.))
**'''Berzerker's Glaive''': S+2, AP3, Daemon Weapon, Specialist Weapon, 2-handed, Epitome of Rage (bearer gains FnP & IWND but loses Independent Character rule). Sweet on a DP or Juggerlord, depending on your play-style. Very fitting if you don't want your general to [[Rip and Tear]] through the whole squad and then face down all those [[Tau|pesky]] [[Imperial Guard|guns]] all on his own.
*'''Mission Objectives'''
**'''1:''' 1VP for denying the witch.
**'''2:''' 1VP when you kill an enemy controlling an objective marker.
**'''3:''' Khorne rewards you with a VP when 3+ of your units make charge.
**'''4:''' Kill a character in challenge during your turn, D3 VP if you kill the enemy Warlord that way.
**'''5:''' An interesting one. If one unit from any side dies, get a VP, but you earn D3 instead if units die on both sides. And thid all must happen on your turn.
**'''6:''' For each unit wiped in assault you get a VP (maximum 6).
*'''World Eaters Tactics'''
The World Eater rules are a Khorne-send for folks who want to play Mean, Red dudes. The Warband Core formation adds a good bit of tactical flexibility, allowing you to have maneuverability and shooting. Also, it doesn't take a particularly big stretch of the imagination to get some first turn charges, which is a relative rarity in this game as the overwhelming majority of the units that WOULD be able to get within a charge distance on turn one, are prohibited due to restrictions from Scout / Infiltrate.

The Detachment Command Benefit "Blood Mad" gives all non-vehicle units a free, optional 2D6" move. Note that this is OPTIONAL. Do you have a unit of havocs sitting on an objective? Good. Don't worry. Khorne loves blood and skulls, but he's not Chaotic Stupid. He knows that you have to have fire support to blow up the tanks that let all those other little skulls come pouring out of. Additionally, there's nothing that says that the movement needs to be directly towards an enemy, so it could effectively be used to redeploy, shift, or otherwise hop on an objective just outside of your deployment zone before the beginning of turn one. Considering relics like the Talisman of Burning Blood, this lets you fly across the battlefield at breakneck speed. For example in conventional deployment styles you are 24" away if you're toeing the line. You move up an additional 2d6 (average is 7), move up 9 on your movement phase and you're only 8 inches away from the closest whatever it is on the enemy line. That's assuming you're ''walking''. If you're on a bike or a juggernaut, you're given even more flexibility for your charge ranges. Move over, Nurgle Bikers, you're no longer the only game in town. Oh also you can re-roll charges. Congrats on your free Icons of Wrath all around, y'all.

There's a compelling argument to be made for not taking Khorne Berzerkers ever again as regular Chaos Marines can be made almost as good for a couple points fewer per model. With the World Eater upgrades they have Rage, Counter Attack, and Furious Charge, have a Bolter, Bolt Pistol and CCW, a MUCH greater selection of special weapons (with no loss in attacks in close combat). The only thing you lose out on is weapon skill five, but given the fact that the majority of players you're going to face are probably space marines, that's mitigated by VotLW's hatred.

Alternate Take: Let's not discard the Maelstrom of Gore formation as the Core choice though. It gives you +3" to charge and Fleet, plus the Red Rain rule [I know it's situational but the first abilities are worth it alone]. If your only tactic is to charge ahead with a swarm of berzerkers anyway then this option is for you. True, you don't have objective secured but sweeping objectives with assault is still viable and a 5" to 15" charge range with Fleet can get you there real quick. Add in the Talisman and that becomes 8" to 18", with Fleet. Fire support can be added with auxiliary choices or a CAD.

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===Emperor's Children===
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The new Emperor's Children rules play up their sensation seeker angle, giving them bonuses to durability and letting them attack even when slain, painting a picture of an army of masochists gladly throwing themselves onto the blades of their enemies just to kill and be killed.
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*'''Requirements''': Only special character allowed is Lucius. Must take Mark of Slaanesh, only take Mark of Slaanesh. VotLW is compulsory, and free. Daemon Princes must be Daemon of Slaanesh (Not a tax since Daemon of Slaanesh is awesome)
*'''Benefit''': VotLW units get Fearless and 6+FNP (which is upgraded to 4+ by the Icon of Excess). Noise Marines are troops. If you are killed in combat before you attack you still can make one attack (VotLW only). Slaaneshi psykers can roll every power from Slaanesh discipline.

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1 - Glutton for Punishment:''' Eternal Warrior. An excellent grab for a Daemon Prince in particular, but is great in almost all cases.
**'''2 - Quicksilver Reflexes:''' +2 Initiative. I8 Chaos Lord of rape and fury who beats Eldar to the punch, or I10 Daemon Prince that hits first against Bloodthirsters. Amazing against slower units that are not Fearless(Like Necrons and Tau), making a Sweeping Advance nigh impossible to defend against.
**'''3 - Nexus of Debauchery:''' Warlord and unit have +1 to their Feel No Pain. 5+ FnP with bare bones EC, and 3+ FnP if you took the Icon of Excess. Holy hell that's awesome.
**'''4 - Psychotropic Aura:''' Warlord has Fear, and all opponents must test fear on 3D6. Unremarkable, considering 5 armies in the game ignore it outright or have something to circumvent fear (Ethereal, Commissar, Fearless, Instability). This is gonna be an utter bane of the Eldar's existence, though.
**'''5 - Stimulated by Pain:''' Gain an extra Attack each time you lose a wound, but effects disappear if you heal it somehow (Life Leech, Lay Leech).
**'''6 - Idol of Mindless Devotion:''' You can choose to auto-pass "Look out, sir!" rolls. If rolled on DP, you may choose to re-roll this.

*'''Artefacts of Slaanesh'''
**'''[[Doomrider|Intoxicating Elixir]]''': 25 points. Bearer makes D3 rolls on combat drugs. These are cumulative if you roll the same one more than once and with the combat drugs from the detachment bonus. With the right rolls on a Bike-Lord, you can potentially (1 in 3888) end up with a [[Smashfucker|Toughness 9, cocaine addicted indestructible motherfucker]]. You have the same odds of getting I9, of course.
**'''Shriekwave''': (REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE) 20 points. Once per game, you can fire off this gun with 12” S8 AP2 Assault D6, Mental Trauma (before attack target makes an ld test, and if they fail you get Shred). It is a good buy especially since Emperor's Children tend to lack high strength ap2 shooting.
**'''Soul Snare Lash''': 20 pennies. If used as a ranged weapon: 6” S4 AP5 assault 2 ; if used as a melee weapon, S user AP5 melee. Either way, both attacks have the Soulsnare rule (rending, but rends also cause instant death).
**'''Endless Grin''': 10 points. You have fear, and enemies within 6” have -1 leadership. Add to a Sorcerer to get your own Teke, the Smiling One, aka "That Grinning Bastard." Very useful against Eldar since they already get a Leadership penalty against Mark of Slaanesh, stack and show up those cheese lords.
**'''Bolts of Ecstatic Vexation''': 15 points. The bearer's bolter, combi-bolter, bolter part of combi-weapon, and/or bolt pistol gain blast, ignores cover, and pinning.
**'''Blissgiver''': 30 points for a Power Sword with the Daemon Weapon rule, and Catatonic trance - target must pass Ld test/wound or be removed from play. Give to a Daemon Prince that hopefully rolls Terrify from Telepathy and have it tag team an enemy unit with a Raptor Talon Chaos Lord rocking the Endless Grin for maximum lulz.
'''Overall:''' In all, not too bad. The Blissgiver is a welcome return that combos well with various Leadership lowering shenanigans. Intoxicating Elixir will forge an amazing Chaos Lord or outright terrifying Biomancy wielding-Daemon Prince of rape and fury.

;'''Mission Objectives'''
:#Wipe a unit through Noise Marine sonic weapons. ''THINGS SHALL GET LOUD NOW!''
:#Win a challenge. Simple.
:#Kill a unit that is falling back.
:#1VP per enemy unit that fails Morale, Fear or Pinning, you can score maximum 3. Spess Mehreen meta makes really hard to get "Squad Broken!"
:#Your enemy must pick an objective marker and you get D3VP when you take it.
:#D3 VP if your enemy controls no objectives but if you control all objectives, roll D3+3.

'''Emperor's Children Tactics:'''
The Emperor's Children have one of the best tactics, only bested by Death Guard in terms of the ability to survive what ever most enemies can throw at it, aside from being outright brutal in assault since Power Fists and Melta Bombs will still get to make 1 attack even if you got smacked before you could strike. Don't forget, Noise Marines with free VotLW for 6+ FnP on top of ignores cover boltguns are the best MEQ in the game, as per the tactics discussion. On the other hand, they do not synergize well with Combat Drugs, unless you roll +1 Toughness or +1 BS. Your first choice should be a Chaos Warband, as it also provides you with anti-air and plasma weapons. I dare say that Emperor's Children, if you spam enough Icons of Excess, are surprisingly hardy for a rapidly moving force, given how they get 4+ Feel No Pain and can strike at I5 compared to I4/3, making it much easier to run down opponents when you win combat.
*Raptor Wing is a good Auxiliary choice for them as it benefits very much from MoS and Combat Drugs and synergizes well with Blissgiver and Endless Grin.
*The Warpsmith formations get even more expensive with the MoS tax. The Hellbrute formations are a good replacement, unless you really want those Maulerfiends.
*If you are taking a regular warband as core choice, it could be a good idea to stick to regular traitor's hate warband rules in smaller games. You'll get 2 boons per turn instead of army-wide combat drugs.
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===Death Guard===
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Death guard are about what you'd expect, being tougher across the board than standard CSM, but they also gain relentless, which could be useful, and they're fearless, which is ''huge''. They are, however, slower than your typical marines with -1 to initiative.
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*'''Requirements''': Only unique character available is Typhus (and probably Necrosius, but we need FAQ from FW). Mark of Nurgle Only. VotLW. Psykers must take one power from Nurgle.
*'''Benefits''': VotLW gain Fearless, Feel No Pain, and Relentless, but suffer -1 initiative unless they are Typhus or Plague Marines, which count as troops. (Combine with The Purge to get the most out of your Havocs and Oblits.) Fearless Terminators with T5 and FnP? Oh, HELL yeah! Also, psykers may roll all powers from Nurgle discipline.

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1 - Insensate to Pain:''' +1 to your Feel no Pain rolls. 4+ Feel No Pain. Or get a Biomancer and hope for Endurance for a 3+FnP-EW monster of a Chaos Lord.
**'''2 - Tainted Regeneration:''' IWND.
**'''3 - Lord of Contagion:''' Friendly units within 7" get ''Contagion'': All enemy units locked in combat with a unit with this rule take D6 Poisoned (4+) AP4 auto-hits at the Initiative 10 Step
**'''4 - Hulking Physique:''' +1 Wound. That Carnifex over there surely looks frail now.
**'''5 - Rotten Constitution:''' Eternal Warrior. Roll this on a Nurgle Biker Lord and drink your opponent's tears.
**'''6 - Arch-contaminator:''' Poisoned weapons get an extra +1 to their effectiveness, to a maximum of Poisoned (2+). For example, Plague Marine's Plague Knifes with the Poisoned rule become Poisoned (3+). Works only for Warlord and his unit.

*'''Artefacts of Nurgle'''
**'''Puscleaver''': Poison 2+ CCW. Turns your DP into an MC killer. Or just take the Black Mace instead.
**'''Plague Skull Glothia''': One use only. Range 8" S1 AP - Assault 1, Poison (2+), Large Blast. 15 points better spent elsewhere.
**'''Pandemic Staff''': Poison 2+ staff. As a ranged weapon, it's a template S1 AP5 Assault 2. As a melee weapon, it's a Power Maul. Take this on a Demon Prince. He becomes strength 8 in close combat and becomes very capable of popping tanks or walkers plus he wounds most things on 2's and rerolls 1's since the staff also has poison 2+.
**'''Dolorus Knell''': All friendly Death Guard units within 14" of the bearer have Fear during the Fight-subphase. Additionally, enemy units have to roll 3D6 while testing for Fear. Again, kinda "Meh" in the current meta.
**'''Poxwalker Hive''': [[Typhus|Turn your cultists into zombies]]. At start of each turn you grant FnP to a friendly Cultist unit within 7". They can't run or shoot for the rest of the game but gain Fearless and D3 cultists come back to life in every infected unit if they are still within 7".
**'''Plaguebringer''': Power sword with Poison 4+ and Daemon weapon. At 35 points, this could be a slightly cheaper and weaker Black Mace on your DP as you will be re-rolling 2+ (Poisoned states that it always wounds on a fixed number UNLESS a lower result would be required) to wound vs everything with T5 or lower.

*'''Mission Objectives'''
**'''1:''' A VP if 3+ of your units are on enemy table half.
**'''2:''' Make 7 FnP rolls in any single phase. Make them and laugh.
**'''3:''' Kill a unit with Poisoned weapon or Psychic power.
**'''4:''' Pick a character. If he is alive at the end of the game.
**'''5:''' Score D3 VPs if you control EXACTLY 3 objective markers.
**'''6:''' If you kill 7/14/21 models you get 1/D3/D3+3 VPs.

*'''Death Guard Tactics:'''
These tactics are something that people have been drooling over for, and with good reason. Death Guard are perhaps the tankiest Chaos Space Marine army out there, but that blow to initiative will really hurt if you have to chase someone down, or pass a Blind test. Regular squads of 10 CSM are the way to go, in their decurion they are able to go up against most mid-range shooty armies. Keep in mind that all the models with VOTLW get ''Relentless'', which not only makes Havocs and extra CCW Marines absolutely disgusting to use but also keeps with the fluffy Death Guard theme of footslogging through the heaviest fire without stopping. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF RELENTLESS. In addition, Spawn with a Sorcerer on a Bike will ruin most people's days. The Nurgle discipline is absolutely great with no real drawbacks, the Primaris is very much the unsung hero of the discipline, especially when up against those cheesy 'sit in the corner camping Tau lists' that are around the place.

The builds with the best synergy are Chaos Warband + Cult of Destruction and Plague Colony + Hellforged Warpack. Lost and Damned are only worth it if you take Typhus, otherwise a Hellcult benefits you more.
Terminator Annihilation Force is fun (and need I remind you these are Fearless, T5, FnP, 2+/5++ assholes that are not going anywhere any time soon?), Raptor Talon can be worth it if you combine it with Bikers <s>and Fear icons</s>. Also, uniquely you've got an interesting options to run MSU of Raptors with Relentless Plasmaguns, as ghetto Crisis Teams. Sure Chosen and Havocs get more guns, but you are much zippier and still decently survivable.

But the most important thing to do with DG is to keep moving towards the enemy. You don't want your units sitting in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere getting their asses handed to them by a shit tonne of forced saves. Oh, and keep out of the way of Rending and Poisoned. Not fun.

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===Night Lords===
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The Night Lords are about what you'd expect; fast, scary, and stealthy.
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*'''Requirements''': No unique characters. No Chaos marks. Must take VotLW for free.
*'''Benefits''': All units with VotLW gain Fear, Night Vision and Stealth. Raptors are Troops (Warp Talons are still in the same organization slot). Enemy locked in combat with you take Fear tests at -2 (-4 if you took the Raptor Talon formation, -5 if you took the Vox Daemonicus as well). DPs are allowed to roll all powers from their patron's table.

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1 - One Piece at a Time...:''' Warlord has ''Hit & Run''.
**'''2 - Murderous Reputation:''' Warlord and unit re-rolls 1's to wound in assault (applies for Icy Aura too). ''This trait is redundant for your Warlord if you're not using one of the weapon relics, but the ability to re-roll 1s can help his squad out in a pinch. Sp...those things end up hitting that much harder due to this for example.''
**'''3 - Fierce Hatred:''' Warlord has Hatred. ''You'll want to re-roll this versus Marines of course.''
**'''4 - One With The Shadows:''' Warlord has re-rollable cover saves. Pray you're not up against Tau. ''Alternatively, might be helpful against Marine shooting attacks, especially while Night Fighting is in effect.''
**'''5 - Dirty Fighters:''' Warlord and his units have HoW, which stacks with pre-existing HoW for re-rollable HoW wounds. This one is also rather nice, especially for a large Biker blob.
**'''6 - Killing Fury:''' Warlord has the ''Rampage'' USR. Does your opponent use "big" models rather than large armies? If yes, re-roll this.

Most of these traits are fairly solid, other than Fierce Hatred and occasionally Killing Fury, but they mostly affect the Warlord's unit in some way or another; two items are defensive (re-rollable cover, or Hit & Run), while re-rolling 1s to-wound or getting/buffing Hammer of Wrath means a meaner charge; you can't rely on getting H&R, but you can rely on this table working well if you want to run a larger escort for your Lord, be it a large Bike unit or of sp-OHGODNOBBLRBBBBBB!!!

*'''Artifacts of the Night Lords'''
**'''Scourging Chain''': You get Shred in melee. Very nice budget option if you didn't take Lightning Claws. Still, for just ten more points you could take the drastically better Curze's Orb.
**'''Claws of Black Hunt''': A pair of Master-crafted, Strength +1, Rending Lightning Claws. Make an evil [[MURDERWINGS|Murderwings]].
**'''Curze's Orb''': Re-roll 1s to Run, To Hit and To Wound. You want this mostly for the re-rolls to-hit and wound; the most immediate choice would be to give this to a melee lord and have an easier time chopping the enemy up, but note that you can use this to re-roll 1s to-hit for '''any''' attack. If you're feeling cheeky and like the idea of using an Ectomancy Sorcerer to mow down small squads of infantry, this little item will give you that extra zap. Or if you're feeling even cheekier, give this to a character manning a Plasma Obliterator...generally though, this item loses to the relic below.
**'''Stormbolt Plate''': Fleshmetal Hide that also grants the user +1 to Cover Saves; combine with the free Stealth from Veterans of the Long War, and this can give its user a 2+ Jink Save. A Daemon Prince of Tzeentch equipped with this effectively becomes immune to most shooting (though Hunter's Eye-boosted Grav squads still won't give a fuck, nor will Psychic Shriek), giving you one of the most prominent Distraction Carnifexes in the game.
**'''Vox Daemonicus''': Enemies within 6” get -1 Ld, and they get -1 to Reserve rolls so long as the bearer is on the field. Always take this!
**'''Talons of The Night Terror''': Each fight sub phase make additional D3 attacks (or D6 if it's a turn you charged) which are S user AP5, Shred. ''Although not necessarily the most optimal kit for a Daemon Prince, the Prince does have the highest base Strength and WS among generic HQ choices, as well as AP2. Hence he would be most likely to benefit. Consider using this with a Daemon Prince of Khorne, to gain the added bonus of Furious Charge for some shenanigans on the Charge.''

*'''Mission Objectives'''
**11: ''Hunter, Prey'' - Score 1 VP ''(DING!)'' for slaying an enemy character in a challenge on your own turn.
**12: ''Genocidal Tendencies'' - Did a unit made a successful charge during your turn? At the end of said turn, claim another VP. ''DING!''
**13: ''Strike As If From Nowhere'' - If your unit came on from Deep Strike Reserves or was in cover during your turn, and said unit killed an enemy unit, you get another 1 VP.
**14: ''Murder On The Mind'' - Did you completely destroy an enemy unit during the Assault Phase of your own turn? ''DING!'' Victory Point. Oh wait, you wiped at least three enemy units? Here, have D3 VP's instead!
**15: ''Excessive Force'' - You have two separate enemy units camping objectives. Take back what's yours! Destroy them both completely, and you get to claim D3 Victory Points at the end of that turn.
**16: ''Bringers of Terror'' - Here's a fun little challenge. You get 1 VP if you force your opponent to take a Fear, Morale, or Pinning Test during your turn, and they fail it. Land that accomplishment three times in a turn, and that Hat Trick gets rewarded with D3 VP's instead. Make them fail six or more!? How about (D3)+3 VP's as a Jackpot?

*'''Night Lords Tactics'''
The Night Lords have reasonably powerful legion tactics, and having the Raptor Talon as one of their core formation means that they can quickly overwhelm almost any non-fearless unit if they can get the charge off. Remember to include a mixture of Warp Talons and Raptors before you charge the enemy with both, forcing them to test for Fear at -4. Against shooty armies (excluding Tau, whose markerlights can negate your cover), tie their units up in combat with Raptors charging after deep striking using the Raptor Talon, while letting any footslogging units rely on their enhanced cover saves to survive until they can get into close combat. Speaking of cover saves, the ability to force Night Fighting keeps your shooty/jinky elements alive during the initial turn of the game, and is your shitty "Plan B" against any Imperials who thought you were a One Trick Pony and easily countered by "ATSKNF". Cover is also an effective tool when faced with the likes of Tempestus Scions, who might try to drown your Murder Talon detatchment with AP3 Hot-Shot Lasgun fire. Just stick your Lord with Stormbolt plate in front of the squad and let him eat up all those scary low AP shots with his 3+ (possibly re-rollable) Cover save. You may also consider ground assault elements with Chaos Bikers, putting their enhanced Jink save to good use; just don't pretend to be a Ravenwing, they are still better than you in every way. Keep said biker tactics in mind if you opt to build a Chaos Warband instead/alongside of a Raptor Talon.

As far as Auxiliary choices when fashioning your Murder Talon, the Heldrake Terror Pack is too good to pass up. Your Heldrakes become a nexus for panic, causing enemy units within range to suffer a Leadership penalty. Pretty useful when you factor in all the Fear your Marines cause. The other reason to take the Heldrakes? they offer airborne infantry removal via Baleflamers, or you can keep the Hades Autocannons to help pop light armor.

Although you may think that going up against Space Marines is an auto lose cause of the whole "ATSKNF" thingy, ''Veteran's of the Long War'' more than makes up for it with re-rolling 4's to hit on the first round which is statistically better than hitting on 3's (And being hit back on 5's? With powerfists?). In addition, a DP of Tzeentch wearing the Stormbolt Plate with wings is absolutely disgusting to use, and telling your opponent that you have an FMC with a 2+ re-rollable armour save and a 2+ re-rollable ''Jink'' will make him/her want to reach across the table and throttle you. Just keep in mind that you have to avoid dreadnoughts and S10 in combat if you do take him, and if he's your Warlord (and why wouldn't he be?) Pray to all four chaos gods that you get ''Hit & Run'' as the WL trait. Outside of this cheesemonster, however, your legion as a mostly melee CSM force has precious little else to back you up, compared to guys who [[Black_Legion|run a better Raptor Talon than you]], [[Emperor's_Children|have army-wide 4+ FNP]] or [[Death_Guard|just refuse to die outright]].

When selecting relics and other wargear, and what you want to aim for when rolling Warlord Traits, take heed of the redundancy in the kit afforded to you. There are lots of tools to make your characters overwhelmingly lethal in close combat. If that isn't a concern, however, consider bringing the Vox Daemonicus to disrupt/slow enemy reserves. The Stormbolt Plate is also a good survival tool to disrupt the success of enemy shooting.

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===Word Bearers===
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Word Bearers trade raw bonuses for versatility. They're the only other Legion besides Black Legion that can mix-and-match different Marks, they're potent at Daemon summoning, and their Warlord Table changes a lot of how they play.
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*'''Requirements:''' No unique characters (presumably this will be changed if Lorgar and Erebus ever get rules in 40k). No units with pre-bought marks (such as Noise Marines or Exalted Sorcerers). However, units that can purchase marks can still take them. Marked Psykers and DPs can choose to generate all their powers from their gods' discipline. Like all legions, you must take VotLW, which is free and grants you your "legion tactics".
*'''Benefits:'''
**'''Unholy Pact''': Word Bearers Psykers harness Warp Charges on 3+ when rolling Malefic Conjuration powers, and Possessed are Troops.
**'''Blood Feud''': Models with VotLW re-roll to hit against Ultramarines, but Ultramarines gain Hatred (Word Bearers).
**'''Profane Zeal''':Word Bearers units within 6" of Word Bearers Dark Apostles gain Zealot.

*'''Warlord Traits'''
**'''1:''' '''Unholy Firebrand''': Zealot. If Warlord already has Zealot, affected models re-roll hits every round, not just the first. A big improvement over the vanilla CSM 'Lord of Hatred."
**'''2:''' '''Latent Powers''': Become a Psyker. If already a Psyker, +1 Mastery Level. Note that unless you were a psyker already, you can only use Malefic Daemonology: there is a high risk of perils, and big summoning powers will be unreliable anyway on a non-dedicated psyker. However, Cursed Earth, the two witchfires and Sacrifice can all be quite useful if you happen to roll one.
***This trait, uniquely, allows [[Dawn of War|a Warlord with the Mark of Khorne to become a psyker]].
**'''3:''' '''Voice of Lorgar''': [[Imperial Guard|Lets you give orders to your Legionaries]]. Each turn you may grant a friendly unit within 12" Counterattack, Fearless, Furious Charge or Relentless.
**'''4:''' '''Unbreakable Devotion''': Adamantium Will and Fearless. Unfortunately, no additional bonus to characters who already have those abilities. Can be somewhat useful on Sorcerers if you face enemy Psykers which may target you with their focused witchfires. Otherwise, re-roll.
**'''5:''' '''Nexus of the Gods''': You and friendly Characters within 12", when rolling on the Chaos Boon table can either add or subtract 1 from the second die when rolling on the boon table. This prevents your warlord from accidentally turning himself into an [[Chaos Spawn|unnameable beast]], and makes the d3+1 boons, 2+ armor, Daemon Prince, etc. easier to fish for. No, it won't allow to turn Witch-eater to Fleshbane weapon or +1BS to +1I.
**'''6:''' '''Unexpected Boon''': Gain an extra roll on the Boon table. Re-roll if you get nothing or if it would turn you into a [[Chaos Spawn|you-know-what]]: however, keep the roll if it turns you into a Daemon Prince! But do you need the Warlord which is a squishy fire-magnet, loses all special rules and wargear and can't score objectives?

'''Summary:''' 2 of the three Warlord Traits grant Fearless and a second effect, 3 out of the 6 Warlord Traits are force-multiplier effects which are actually rather incredible to have, and the last one is...a 1 in 36 chance of being a Daemon Prince, so in those other 215 games it's just a random effect. That said, when you re-roll this, you have at least 3 in 4 chance of getting a good trait, and they let you do things you normally can't!

*'''Relics'''
**'''Malefic Tome:''' Bearer gets 1 extra power, which must be rolled on Malefic Daemonology. Very inexpensive, it can be taken like any more generic piece of wargear, rather than being a major investment like a daemon weapon: it's a very straightforward way of getting good use out of your legion tactics without over-committing to psykers. Take it on a Sorcerer with a Mark so you won't lose your psychic focus, and get summoning on top of whatever else you are using. Alternatively take it on a Daemon Prince, so that you can summon like crazy without the high risk of perils.
**'''Skull of Monarchia:''' Bearer and unit re-roll all failed to-hit rolls against Armies of the Imperium in close combat, and if against Ultramarines re-roll to wound. This is fluffy item is unfortunately limited in usefulness, with the same issue as VotLW has for non-legion armies: you are paying extra points for bonuses in close combat that are only against specific enemy factions. While getting ripped up in melee is certainly what the smurfs deserve for being the false Emperor's bitches, this artifact won't really do much in the other 95% of battles you fight. Give it a pass, except for narrative campaign play.
**'''Scripts of Erebus:''' Generate D6 Extra warp charges in a psychic phase, once per game. Another cheap psyker item! Similar to the Malefic Tome, this allows you to have a strong psychic phase without spending all your points on sorcerers. What is more, this works for all disciplines, not just Malefic Daemonology: other disciplines with lots of expensive powers, such as Tzeentch, become a lot easier to use with this item. Take it on a character who doesn't already have another artifact, such as your Dark Apostle, and pop it as required.
***On average this will give you 3-4 psychic dice, which when combined with a Spell Familiar is enough on its own to cast a WC3 Malefic power, or a WC2 power from any other discipline. Depending on your powers, that's enough to save, destroy, or summon a unit, on top of whatever else you would do that turn, meaning as long as you keep your sorcerer alive this item can easily make its points back.
**'''Baleful Icon:''' Enemy units must re-roll successful charges, and if they still succeed, the charge is disordered. This one is weird among the Word Bearers artifacts, a defensive item for a legion that wants to get into melee combat, and is only helpful if you're getting charged(expect it to do nothing against armies like Tau). The most obvious uses for it are to protect your dedicated summoner, or make a large shooty mob of cultists more resilient: it certainly has its place, and much like the psyker artifacts is extremely cheap for what it does.
**'''Crown of Blasphemer:''' 4+ Invulnerable Save, Adamantium Will, and Fear. For just five extra points, you get a better Sigil of Corruption. In addition, this item is a relic, NOT special issue wargear, so you can take it on a [[Awesome|Warpsmith or Daemon Prince]]!
**'''Cursed Crozius:''' AP3 Power Maul that grants Preferred Enemy: Armies of the Imperium. Jealous of those loyalist captains with their Relic Blades? This is like the Relic Blade, except better, because you can dual wield it. A good choice for a Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince. Ironically the points are somewhat wasted on a Dark Apostle, since they already start with a power weapon, and you're still paying full price for this item on top of it, but that's life. The Preferred Enemy(Imperium) is a bonus, that will do some gnarly things if witchfire or plasma weapons are involved(remember a Chaos Lord with this item grants Preferred Enemy to his entire squad). Much more worthwhile than the skull, because even though it is especially powerful against the loyalist unbelievers, it does good work against xenos too.

'''Mission Objectives'''

Word Bearers tactical objectives focus around summoning daemons and getting into close combat with the enemy.

*''Unholy Crusade'': 1 VP if a unit with Zealot model successfully charges. A dead draw the first turn, but worth keeping if you have it right as your forces get into charge range.
*''Feed the Daemon'': 1 VP if your daemons wipe something out in melee. Weaksauce.
*''Slay their False Prophets'': 1 VP for killing an enemy character. Easy enough to get, as it doesn't matter how you kill the character.
*''Allies Beyond the Veil'': d3 VPs for summoning daemons. Since you are Word Bearers, you were doing this anyway, right? Easiest d3 VPs ever.
*''Delight in Despoliation'': d3 VPs for seizing an objective from the enemy during a single turn of yours. Riskier than simply seizing an objective, but with a better payout.
*''For the Glory of Chaos'': 1 VP for getting a boon, d3 VPs for getting 3 boons, d3+3 VPs for getting 6 boons. This one is quite useful if you are running a Chaos Warband in a Grand Host, as you have access to a free boon each turn and whenever you trigger Champions of Chaos. Hilariously enough, the normally useless Tzeentch boon-giving power can actually net you lots of victory points if you draw this objective. If you aren't running a list with lots of boon-earning potential, however, this objective might as well read "1 VP for winning a challenge"- it's quite poor and often worth discarding. To note: Unworthy Offering results are not counted.

'''Word Bearers Tactics:'''

The List-Building section expands on this more, but more so than other Legions, you care more about using your Legion's special detachment rather than a vanilla CAD; you don't care about Possessed as Troops, and either having Respawning Cultists or a tide of universally Objective-Secured units both matter more than getting Possessed Troops (eww). Really, the only things you end up losing access to by not taking a CAD are some flexibility, access to Forgeworld units, and the ability to re-roll Warlord Traits on any table and not just the Word Bearers one.

If you make a Palanquin Sorcerer your Warlord (and this is highly recommended, due to the mix of extra wounds and useful blessings), positioning is going to matter more than in most armies due to your relative slowness, even with Crusader. Voice of Lorgar and the free boon from Eight-Fold Path take place at the start of your movement phase, meaning a Warlord with '''Voice of Lorgar''' should start within 12" of any units you wish to buff, while a Warlord '''Nexus of the Gods''' should be within 12" of any notable Characters(!) you wish to ensure with Eight-Fold Path. You have more leeway with the Psychic Powers due to your 6" move, but the traditional CSM trick of using a Bike Sorcerer to move 12", Psychic Shriek, then Turbo to safety is generally not going to be as much of an option for you. Remember your Sorcerer is not Smashfucker and your goal is not to rush into a good fight. Rather, you are an anchor, and a force multiplier.

Lore of Nurgle gives you options for Poisoned, or extra Strength, and Voice of Lorgar gives you access to several buffs. The most immediate use for Voice of Lorgar is to give Furious Charge to a unit that's already moving fast (say, a few throwaway units of...those things), or even Chaos Bike Champion, though even a mob of regular Marines can use the boost. Relentless mostly lets your unit charge-after-firing, though that's more of a situational bonus. Fearless is less relevant due to the ability to give Cultists a Zealot bubble (or you '''want''' them to die), but it can be used for pseudo-Stealth via the Go-to-Ground/Fearless maneuver, or if you want your Cultists to tar pit a unit without worrying about them Piling in away from the 6" Zealot Bubble.

Regarding Summoning, do not try to play a Daemon farm, and try for the old Recursion Trick of using Pink Horrors for more Warp Charge, for more Pink Horrors. Not only did Wrath of Magnus remove the ability for Horrors to use Malefic Daemonology, but you don't have the raw Warp Charge to do a factory, nor do you have the in-built resilience against Perils that Daemons do unless you fork over extra points for a Daemon Prince (and unlike 3 of the other undivided Legions, you can't get a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with a 2+ save). Rather, Summoning is about maintaining your positional advantage, and allowing the rest of your army to take the mid-field uninterrupted. Screamers remain a priority unit, as their ability to Turbo & Slash from Summon means they're immediately contributing to the fight, and they force your opponent to dedicate energy to killing them, but Flesh Hounds are also a good area denial unit too. If your opponent tries to rush the center of the board, you can take a few losses standing without much issue. If your opponent tries to hang back, you move to lock down objectives. With Word Bearers, get used to the fact you WILL lose troops, and get comfortable with sacrificing them to control the board. With the right list, innate perseverance, and thinking a few "parts" of your turn ahead, you can win with Word Bearers quite handily. Daemonology is still risky but you can mitigate peril wounds by taking a Mark Of Nurgle Palanquin Sorceror. 4 Wounds would be enough to last all game. Not cheap - he ends up in the 200-something region - but could be an option.
</div>
</div>

==Detachments and Formations==

With Traitor's Hate and Black Crusade, Chaos Space Marines have 10(!) different detachment of Formations to play with. However, unlike the Space Marines and their variant detachments in Codex: Angels of Death, most of the detachments are very similar to one another; other than the Thousand Sons Grand Coven and the Black Legion Speartip, '''every''' Chaos detachment follows the same general template, with one or two modifications on top. Rather than listing each and every detachment in full, this article will list out the "main" template for a Chaos detachment, and any major differences ("Iron Warriors: They're like any other Legion, except they can take Fortification Auxiliaries"). Also note that depending on your detachment, certain formations or choices will let you substitute your Lord or Sorcerer for an appropriate Special Character.

===Basic Chaos Detachment===
Other than the Black Legion and Thousand Sons detachments, '''every''' Chaos Detachment will have the below in common, unless stated otherwise:
(As a fun little aside, due to RAW, Crimson Slaughter and the old Black Legion supplement state that any formation may be declared as belonging to them, while traitor legions scales this up to detachments. Thus, it is, RAW at present, possible to have a Black Legion or Crimson Slaughter formation within a Traitor Legions Decurion. While taking a Black Legion formation within another detachment is only really viable with Thousand Sons (As BL traitor legions overrules the old supplement), this does open up interesting variations with Crimson Slaughter (e.g. Take a relic burdened Chaos Lord as a 'Lord of the Legion' while the rest of the detachment belongs to a formation with actually good Legion rules.)

UPDATE:- GW actually lists the internal formations of a Decurion as detachments now, rather than formations. And, rules as written, nothing says that all the sub-detachments have to have the same legion rules. Expect FAQ, or agree with tournament organisers beforehand, but if ok, this is very valuable, as some legion rules are excellent for certain detachments (Thousand Sons= Great for Terminator Annihilation Force, sucks for Chaos Warband/Lost and the Damned. Alpha legion rocks for Lost and the Damned, but is less great for basically any other formation, due to lack of beneficial rules.) General trend in this anons local area is this is fine for Black Crusade detachment, but iffy with Legion Specific detachments.
====Command(0-4)====
*'''Lords of the Black Crusade:''' A Chaos Lord, Sorcerer, Dark Apostle, or a Daemon Prince.

====Core (1+)====
*'''Chaos Warband:''' This is a core formation not only for Black Crusade, but also for all Legion-specific detachments except Black Legion Speartip and Thousand Sons Grand Coven. The Chaos Warband is fairly simple: You take 1 Chaos Lord, an optional Chaos Sorcerer, 2-6 Chaos Space Marine Squads, 1-3 squads of Chosen/Terminators/Possessed, 1-3 squads of Bikers/Raptors/Warp Talons, and 1-3 Helbrutes/Havoc Squads. You can also take any of the named characters from the main codex in those first two slots, which is a moot point for most Traitor Legion detachments since they disallow unique units. The entire formation gets ''Objective Secured'', and the ''Favored Scions'' rule, meaning that anytime a character from this formation rolls for a Chaos Boon as a result of Champion of Chaos ''(this explicitly includes the "free" bonus granted by Path to Glory but <u>does not include the rolls from</u> from Gifts of Mutation/Boon of Mutation)'', the character may roll twice and apply either or both results.
**'''Summary:''' This is the formation you take if you want to play Chaos Space Marines as actual Chaos Space Marines. Favored Scions lets you either sacrifice rank-and-file Champions hoping for Princes or those-that-must-not-be-named, or buff your Lord to truly frightening levels. However, this pales in comparison to the universal Objective Secured bonus. That Biker Lord of Nurgle? He has it. That "throwaway" Rhino w/ Havoc Launcher you bought for a unit of Autocannon Havocs, so you have a "budget" Typhoon Speeder equivalent? It has it. Those units of MSU Bikers or Terminators? They have it.
**'''Comparison with the Gladius:''' The Chaos Warband can be viewed as the traitorous version of the Battle Demi-Company. When Traitor's Hate first came out, the initial reaction was negative: The Battle Demi-Company also gets universal Objective Secured, but grants a turn of improved shooting; furthermore, the Gladius free transports overshadowed the bonuses gicen by said Gladius. However, what the Chaos Warband lacks in "free" points it makes up for in relative flexibility: Whereas the Demi-Company <u>must</u> take exactly three Tactical Squads, exactly 1 Fast Attack, and exactly one unit of Devastators (of Power Armor or Centurion flavor), the Warband lets you take a greater ratio of Fast Attack/Heavy Supports. While the Loyalists must take a mandatory Chaplain to fully benefit from the Battle Company, you get an optional Sorcerer who can provide far more utility throughout the game. The Chaos Warband also allows for Objective Secured Terminators(buying Objective Secured Land Raiders of course), which can be a game-changer if your opponent doesn't have enough anti-armor, and is something loyalists can't do at all.
**'''Drop Assault:''' If you're playing with Forgeworld Chaos Marines, Chosen and Helbrutes can take Dreadclaws ''(RAW deepstrike disables Daemonic-bullshit from eating the contents; furthermore, FW has sent multiple emails confirming this)'' as dedicated transports. Drop in, assault out of your delicious skimmers turn 2, then run around and cap objectives with your '''ObSec''' claws.
** This formation, while simple, can be used with the legion rules and legion detachments to create hilarious combos. Run this with the Death Guard Vectorium. On top of your basic marines (and just about everything else not being a vehicle) becoming non-poisonous plague marines for 2/3rds of the cost, you retain Objective Secured and gain rerolls to 1's on FnP. Just watch as your opponent tears his hair out as he just finishes dealing with your T6 FnP bikers only to realize that he has to now shift your T5 Terminators with FnP off of a point. Or run it with the Alpha Legion Insurgency Force and have everything but your Havocs/Helbrutes and Fast Attack infiltrate on top of objectives while having Shrouded for a whole turn (since Chosen do not occupy the same spot as Chaos Marines, you can have effectively up to 9 units that infiltrate all over the board. All of whom have Objective Secured).

====Auxiliary(1+)====
You will notice that several of these Formations have a mandatory Warpsmith tax. Some people like 'em, some people don't. Good luck trying to make them work.

*'''Cult of Destruction:''' The first of the "Warpsmith" formations. 1-3 Warp Smiths and 3-5 units of Obliterators or Mutilators in any combination. In exchange for this, the formation gets a rule called '''Empyrionic Guidance Rituals:''' At the start of this turn, each Warpsmith may "guide" a unit of Mutilators/Obliterators from this formation within 8": The Obliterators may shoot twice (using different shooting weapons) that turn, or the Mutilators may make two "immediate" sets of close combat attacks this turn with different weapons.
**'''Summary''': If you try running this formation to get MOAR DAKKA out of your already awesome obliterators, you're going to be disappointed. The Warpsmith (you really don't have practical reason to run more than one) is a pretty hefty tax for just 3 extra shots, and the actual rules for Empyrionic Guidance Rituals are very restrictive. Your Warpsmiths have to be within 8" of your Obliterator/Mutilator unit at the ''start'' of the turn to guide them, meaning not only can you not "move" your Warpsmith in range, but you also would not be able to use Empyrionic Guidance Rituals on any units that arrived from Reserves/Deep Strike. Unlike many "Fire Twice" Formation benefits, your Obliterators cannot split their fire against different units, while their weapon cooldown restrictions remain in full effect.
*'''Favoured of Chaos:''' A Daemon Prince leads 3-5 units of Possessed. While within 12" of the Prince, all Possessed automatically receive all 3 Mutation rewards at once. While you might be thinking "Run this as a Crimson Slaughter formation for Shrouded Beast Possessed with Storm Shields," 1)Crimson Slaughter doesn't get Daemon Princes RAW and 2) the Crimson Slaughter Vessels of Chaos rule doesn't actually work due to the mutations only applying in the Fight sub-phase.
**The Possessed in this formation, while the bonus is active, have 3 base attacks, S5 AP3 shred. They have I5 but no grenades. They are actually superior to Warp Talons and Vanguard Veterans, except for a major problem: their lack of jump packs. The question when using this formation should be "how do I protect these guys from shooting or increase their speed?" The Daemon Prince has access to many artifacts and psychic powers that answer this problem.
*'''Fist of the Gods:''' The second Warpsmith Formation, this time he leads 3-5 units of either Land Raiders, Predators, or Vindicators. All vehicles within 12" of the Smith have a 6++, and the Warp Smith has +1 to his repair attempts. Unfortunately thanks to the draft FAQ, AoE abilities do not extend beyond the hull of a transport vehicle unless it explicitly says they do, so keep that Warpsmith following the tanks around on foot. And it's that last sentence that summarizes the main issue with the Formation; unlike Loyalist Techmarines / Iron Priests, Warpsmiths cannot take Bikes, and are stuck footslogging it, meaning their own effective threat range remains...questionable to say the least. More than anything, this formation is for Iron Warriors players that want to mass Vindicators, as their detachment's ability to grant re-roll scatters to all Ordnance weapons makes them deadlier as a result! Otherwise, you're probably best skipping this formation.
**Note: RAW, the formation needs a minimum of a Warpsmith and three UNITS of tanks. This means, if you really felt like blowing a ton of points, you could field squadrons of Vindicators or Predators as individual units. With the new Squadron bonuses provided by Traitor's Hate, this could be interesting. Just don't expect it to be competitive whatsoever.
*'''Heldrake Terror Pack:''' 2-4 Heldrakes. All enemy units within 12" of 2 Heldrakes suffer -1Ld, 3 Heldrakes take -2Ld, and 4 Heldrakes -3Ld. Also all Turkeys deal D6 Vector Strike hits on all units which are Pinned, Falling Back, or gone to ground. This is extremely situational, as the only way to pin troops in your Movement Phase is either to destroy their transports in said Movement Phase (meaning Vector Strikes, Ramming, or the Terminator Annihilation Force), or use an Emperor's Children Terminator Annihilation Force Lord/Sorcerer with the Bolts of Estatic Vexation...can you say extreme edge-case?. That being said, if you were already going to bring 2 Heldrakes, you might as well take this. Good way to keep your fast attack slots free (if you're running a CAD) while gaining bonuses (though admittedly useless ones).
**One decent combo to consider is to fly these guys close to a Raptor Talon formation. If two units from the Talon charge a enemy unit they get -2LD. Coupled with the LD debuffs from the drakes circling overhead, you can really go a long way to guarantee the enemy breaks. Combos well with the Night Lords legion bonuses.
*'''Helforged Warpack:''' The last of the Warpsmith formations, this one might actually be the best one. This time the Warpsmith tags along with 3-5 Helbrutes, Maulerfiends, Forgefiends, or Defilers in any combination. The Warpsmith lets vehicles re-use Daemonforge multiple times as long as he's alive (Maulerfiends with infinite Daemonforges are potentially quite scary), while you get to nominate one vehicle in the formation to be the Warpack Alpha. The Alpha becomes a Character and gains a 4+ Invulnerable Save, and should that model be destroyed, all other nearby models gain Rage.
**'''Summary:''' This formation is great. The Warpsmith tax is almost nonexistent with how you field this formation. but unlike the other formations the warpsmith puts in serious work here. Tired of your maulers and brutes being turned into paperweights after one lucky pen roll? Warpsmith has got you covered and he's not limited by range, so you can pop the smith in a unit of Cultists and call it a day while your walkers parade onward. The ability to give one Maulerfiend/Helbrute the Character Status has some amusing implications too; it's fairly common for Bike armies or similar armies to give Meltabombs to their sergeants in case they need to help finish off a Knight or other similar target, and you gain the ability to challenge those characters out of their unit as a result. The Helbrute also benefits the most from gaining a 4+ invuln save, since it doesn't have a 5+ already like the Maulerfiend or Forgefiend. Take a Helbrute for an alpha and pair him with two Maulerfiends. If they ignore the brute it walks over to their transports and punches them to death. If they focus the brute then the maulers get rage, and there are few things scarier than maulers with +2 attacks running you down and shredding all of your shiny toys.
**'''Warlord Mech Shenanigans''': You can make the Warpack Alpha your Warlord if you really want to. While this is potentially risky due to the numerous ways to punk AV 12, it has the potential for all sorts of shenanigans, depending on your Legion and the detachment in question. The "safe" option would be an Alpha Legion Warpack, due to the resilience versus Slay the Warlord, but the '''funniest''' option is a Word Bearers Defiler. Whether your Defiler gets a free Boon from 8-fold Path, or it becomes a support-piece with Voice of Lorgar, a Defiler gains utility beyond being an overcosted Battle Cannon. The funniest option though is if it rolls Latent Psyker: think about it for a second. The Defiler has a Daemon so only suffers Perils on a double 6 when using Malefic, and it manifests Summoning on a 3+ due to being part of the Word Bearers. Add in 4 HP and It Will Not Die, alongside the Warpsmith potentially repairing it, and Daemon Summoner Defiler is one of the more comedic options to lead your army, provided you screen against Haywire of course.
*'''The Lost and the Damned:''' 1 Dark Apostle leads 4-9 units of Chaos Cultists. The Dark Apostle gains a 6" bubble of Zealot to all LatD units. Every time a unit of cultists dies, you roll a die and on a 4+ they instead go into ongoing reserve and gain Outflank. Commander Chenkov called, he wants his Send in the next wave! rule back in. The Zealot bubble is of limited use, unless you take the Cultists in large blobs, which will be unwieldy. Their enhanced charge will still only be a load of Guardsmen attacks, and depend upon the survival of a mediocre character who has to take a forward position. They don't get Objective Secured, either, so unless you're getting mileage from their gimmicks they're worse than an Allied Detachment - which is the only way a Black Crusade will get a single Hell Blade to troll bombers & escort Dreadclaws. You could also turn them into zombies if you brought Typhus, which will free them from the Apostle, give them feel no pain, and, most importantly, allow you and your opponent to reenact the night of the living dead. You can recreate this effect for cheap in a Death Guard army by giving the Apostle the Poxwalker Hive. This will save you 90 points, but you'll only be able to turn a unit of Cultists into zombies one at a time, at the beginning of every turn. On the plus side, these units will regenerate D3 zombies a turn. Take Huron, infiltrate them, and create the ultimate regenerating tarpit, laughing at the fact that your opponent's lines are going to be stuck cutting their way through zombies for a really long time, while your army gets grabs all the objectives and gets into a better position.
*'''Raptor Talon:''' A Chaos Lord with a free Jump Pack takes 3-5 units of either Warp Talons or Raptors. They can charge the turn they deep strike, but always make disordered charges if they do, and enemy units suffer -2 to their Leadership if charged by 2 units from this formation. Think twice about taking the Mark of Khorne in this formation, since you won't get to apply the extra attack for Rage on the turn you make a Disordered Charge, though it may still be valuable to get a Relic on the Chaos Lord or access an Icon of Wrath. This may be the best formation in Traitor's Hate and it makes an already decent unit (the Raptors) much better. The key is to mix Warp Talons and Raptors - the Raptors bring flamers, meltas, and grenades, while the Warp Talons can blender most units in a fight. Even MSU Melta Deathsquads are better in this formation, since you can immediately reroll-charge in to shove a melta bomb up the exhaust of the tank your morons somehow failed to shoot up (with extreme HATRED too). They don't even take up valuable FA slots anymore.
**''Note:'' This formation is particularly interesting in a Black Legion Speartip. Declare the Lord as your Warlord and you can charge anything you want from Deepstrike turn 1, bonus points if you brought the Dimensional key. Seriously now, Night Lords Raptors play second fiddle to your black dudes. You trade Stealth (whoop-dee-doo), Night Fighting (yeah) and rerolling charges (which you already do for jump packs since you've just deepstruck anyway) for Hatred, Marks&Toys, and FREAKING ALPHASTRIKE. And remember that leadership debuff? Yea, they also get +d3 to sweep if they fail that. Seriously, if playing Black Legion speartip, take Raptor Talons as Auxiliaries, while keeping all terminators in your Warband and the Chosen of Abaddon
*'''Terminator Annihilation Force:''' A Chaos Lord or Sorcerer takes 3-5 units of Terminators, getting free Terminator Armor for his trouble. Other than the free armor, the formation's main draw is the '''Targeted For Annihilation''' special rule: Pick an enemy unit (hereby referred to as The Target). The formation gains Hatred against The Target, but the main draw is that whenever a unit from this formation arrives from Deep Strike Reserve, that unit may immediately get a free shooting attack against The Target. Because this shooting attack is in the Movement Phase, it does not prevent the unit from making another action in the Shooting Phase, which opens up additional shenanigans, but you can thankfully nominate a new enemy unit to be The Target once the original Target is appropriately annhilated.
**'''Summary:''' You take this formation if you want to run a non-Black Legion/Iron Warriors "Chaos Deathwing" army for fluffy games, or you want a more efficient Termicide game. The main drawbacks of this formation are that it doesn't do anything to mitigate scatter issues, the "Hatred" bonus is window dressing, and a "free round" of shooting doesn't do too much since Chaos Terminators usually only wield Combi-Weapons anyway! That said, the ability to shoot your opponent in the Movement Phase opens up the door to assorted shenanigans. You can guarantee that your Terminators get a round of shooting off without being shot by Interceptor weapons. You can shoot a Knight in an exposed arc before it gets the chance to reposition its Ion Shield. You can run a unit of 4, firing 2 Combi-Plasmas at one unit and 2 at another unit, or you could play it safe and Run after firing at The Target (Word Bearers and Black Legion can do this better due to Crusader). And of course, you can give your Lord/Sorcerer a Burning Brand (or one of the other shooty relics) to get two rounds off of shooty goodness. Running this formation as part of a Black Legion Speartip can lead to one of the more entertaining alpha-strike builds out there, though board presence will be an issue.
*'''Spawn:''' 1-3 units of Chaos Gribblies. 30 points bottom nets you the cheapest auxiliary choice there is. You are playing Champions of Chaos, so you've already got one, right?

===Iron Warriors Grand Company===
Like the basic Chaos Detachment, except they also have '''Strongholds of Chaos''' as an Auxiliary: 1-3 Fortifications, done and done. Not an actual formation, this still makes Iron Warriors currently the only Detachment of Formations in the game that can actually take Fortifications. The Grand Company has the following bonuses:
*'''Warsmith''': Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Iron Warriors table and this is your primary detachment.
*'''Masters of Annihilation''': Models from this detachment may re-roll scatter for Ordnance and Barrage weapons. Other than Defilers and Vindicators, the only sources of Barrage and Ordnance available to this detachment are through fortifications. Whether an Independent Character attached to an Artillery unit from Renegades and Heretics can reroll scatter is debatable.
*'''Intractable Brotherhood''': Non-Vehicles are Stubborn and get Fearless in Fortifications.

===Alpha Legion Insurgency Force===
The Insurgency Force has the exact same organization as a Basic Chaos Detachment, with no modifications otherwise. The Insurgency Force has the following bonuses:
*'''[[Alpharius|I Am Alpharius]]:''' Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Alpha Legion table and this is your primary detachment.You can do this multiple times when you get a new warlord.
*'''Hidden Deployment:''' All non-vehicle units get Shrouded during turn 1.
*'''Cult Uprising:''' While the book says that "Cultist units that are completely destroyed enter ongoing reserves on a 4+.", to use Cultists with this rule, you have to include the Lost and Damned Formation, as it is the only source of Cultists available to this Detachment, which RAW created a loophole that allowed for possible duplication of cultist units.
**The current errata at https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Traitor_Legions_v1.1-1.pdf is a moderate nerf, where the Alpha Legion rule improves the base Cultist rule, just not at much: when you make the roll to respawn, you pass on a 3+ instead of a 4+.

===World Eaters Butcherhorde===
Like a basic Chaos detachment, except can take the '''Maelstrom of Gore''' as a core choice. You "could" take a '''Trinity of Blood''' as an Auxiliary choice, but then you're playing Apocalypse where almost anything goes.
*'''Maelstrom of Gore:''' You can summarize this formation in two words: Fast Berserkers. One Chaos Lord (or Khârn) with the Mark of Khorne (that gets his mark for free) joins 4-8 Squads of Khorne Berzerkers. They all gain Fleet and +3" to charge rolls, and once per game they can fight in the movement phase as if it were an assault phase if locked in combat, and enemy units cannot fight back. This formation first came out in Traitor's Hate where it ''could'' (and even then, that was a stretch) occasionally be argued for if you wanted Fearless Fleet troops. The problem is that while this is a Core formation for World Eaters, the Butcherhorde already allows all units to re-roll charge distances, making the Fleet bonus mostly redundant, and the World Eaters Legion grants Furious Charge and Fearless, removing most of the remaining reason to take Berzerkers, besides WS 5 or mass chainaxes (you don't want these). The Warband benefits far more, as Raptors/Bikes with the Mark of Khorne move faster all the time rather than just on the charge, while 5 Chosen of Khorne cost '''less''' than 5 Berzerkers while having '''more''' attacks. Amusingly enough, this formation you can take this as a Black Legion detachment as there is no "this is a World Eaters formation" restriction; you don't want to do this, however.
*'''Trinity of Blood:''' 3 Lords of Skulls or 3 Kytans (per the [https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/Warhammer_40000/Kytan_Daemon_Engine_of_Khorne.pdf Kytan rules]). That's right. They all have Rampage, all enemy units locked in combat with them suffer a number of S6 AP4 hits equal to the amount of models in the unit with ignores cover and soul blaze, and all shooting weapons have the twin-linked special rule if another Lord of Skulls from this formation shot at the same unit beforehand. This formation is so crazy expensive you'll probably never play it nor see it played, so go ahead and skip this one. Even the Kytan version.

In exchange, you get the following bonuses:
*'''Berzerker Lord:''' Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the World Eaters table and this is your primary detachment.
*'''Blood-Mad:''' After seize the initiative, non-vehicle units entirely from the detachment may move 2d6, and non-vehicles and walkers re-roll failed charges.

Ever wanted to field khornate marines on foot with a charge threat of 36" or 39" with bezerkers? Well, now you can!
First you get the pre turn move of 2D6 due to the detachment. Then you'll have your normal movement of 6 for infantry increased to 9 if having a character with the talisman of burning blood in it. Then you charge with the normal 2D6" (which is rerollable) + another 3" due to the talisman of burning blood(if using the maelstrom of gore you get another +3" to charge). So turn 1 assault for infantry is minimum of 16", average of 26" and maximum of 36". For zerkers it's +3 to afore mentioned ranges. In addition if you're really set to have a first turn charge, you can always add in 1k sons allies with the Astral Grimoire to become jump infantry so increases the charge threat with another 6". Bezerkers charging possibly 45" is hilarious. Also note that the minimum charge range for infantry will be 22 making it an easy charge if both players deployed as close to each other as possible.

Of course you can do this with lord on jug and bikes or that Sp.... But this actually makes Kharn and termie lord on foot not that bad for being slow. So no land raider needed to transport Kharn to be able to see combat. Also funny for khornate prince with wings, give him an artifact worth of him to wreck shit turn 1 if opponent is stupid enough to deploy on his deployment edge.

===Emperor's Children Rapture Battalion===
The Rapture Battalion is like the Basic Chaos Detachment, except you also get access to the Kakophoni as a Core:
*'''Kakophoni:''' Lucius or a Chaos Lord (with MoS and VotLW since EC detachment) joins 3-6 units of Noise Marines. They gain the Split fire rule, and all Sonic weapons gain Shred. If you take all 6 Noise Marine squads, all Sonic weapons get +1S.

The Rapture Battalion has the following bonuses:
*'''Lord of Hedonism''': Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Emperor's Children table and this is your primary detachment.
*'''[[Dark Eldar|Combat Drugs]]''': Used by any detachment that is an Emperor's Children Army. After deployment roll one d6 to see the bonus the entire detachment has (non-vehicle, sorry no coke-fueled Helbrutes).
*#+1WS. Army-wide WS5 ensures you are never hitting on less than a 4+, even against WS10.
*#+1BS. BS5 Noise Marines with Shred and Split-fire can bring the pain.
*#+1I. You're already I5/6 due to Mark of Slaanesh, but could help when going up against Eldar/Dark Eldar/Harlequins/any unit that can be Sweeping Advanced. Or if you go against Death Guard since they have ways to easily reduce initiative as well now.
*#+1S. Great all around, but don't think this gives you S10 powerfists (it gives you S9).
*#+1T. Pretty damn good. Best result you could hope for. If you roll this while your warlord is on a bike, laugh as you now best the Nurgle Bike Lord with FnP 4+ ''and'' T6. Even T5 and FnP 4+ is ridiculously tough to shift.
*#+1A. Extra attacks on squads of Termies and melee-built Noise Marines are always welcome.
Ultimately, what limits CD's usefulness is that it is one roll for the army, and 4/6 of the options are melee specific, while only 1 is ranged specific for synergy with Sonic weapons, and the last improves any army. Make 1 bad roll and the entire army will suffer, but this is only a real problem if you overspecialize your army for one task - have both shooting and melee to guarantee you can't be screwed, or commit to close combat and count on the 5/6 chance to get something nice.

===Death Guard Vectorium===
The Death Guard is like the Basic Chaos Detachment, except you can also take the Plague Colony as a core:
*'''Plague Colony:''' 1 Chaos Lord with Mark of Nurgle and VotLW (as per Death Guard Detachment) or Typhus leads 3-7 units of Plague Marines. When enemy models come within 7" of a unit from this formation, they take -1 WS and Initiative, and if you took all 7 Plague Marine units they reduce their Toughness by 1 as well. The most immediate use for this formation is to run your Plague Marines as a "forlorn hope" as the Vectorium's FNP bonuses combined with the debuff auras hint at wanting to get stuck in. Sadly the bonuses only last in Assault in the fight sub-phase, making the formation that much weaker overall.

The Vectorium has the following bonuses:
*'''Plague Lord''' Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Death Guard table and this is your primary detachment.
*'''Disgustingly Resillient''' Re-roll 1s on FNP.
*'''Cloud of Flies''' If targeted from more than 18" away, units have Stealth.

===Night Lords Murder Talon===
The Murder Talon is like the Basic Chaos Detachment, except the Raptor Talon is available as a Core choice instead of an Auxiliary. The Murder Talon has the following bonuses.
*'''Talon Master''': Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling from the Night Lords table.
*'''Strike Fast, Strike Hard''': Re-roll failed charges
*'''Nocturnal Warfare''': You may choose to force Night Fighting rules (no roll required); if you do, your non-vehicles get +1 to cover saves in addition to the Stealth that either Night Fighting or their Legion bonus ''"In Midnight Clad"'' normally confers. (Note, again, that this bonus is separate from Stealth or Shrouded, so stack em' high lads.)

===Word Bearers Grand Host Detachment (Traitor Legions)===
The Grand Host is like the Basic Chaos Detachment, except the Lost and the Damned is a Core Choice instead of an Auxiliary. The Grand Host has the following bonuses:
*'''The Coryphaus''': Reroll your Warlord trait if rolling from the Word Bearers table.
*'''Dark Crusaders''': Non-vehicles have (Gasp) Crusader. This helps your melee units reach the enemy quicker, or it helps Cultists space out to lock objectives faster. Units that already have fleet will consistently be running 5-6" a turn.
*'''The Eight-Fold Path''': Each turn one character gets a free Chaos Boon. However, you must choose a different character each turn. Note that this applies to any Friendly Character in the detachment, and not just those with Champions of Chaos, so you can risk your Warpack Alpha or Prince getting a roll if you really wanted to. Note that unlike '''Path to Glory''' in the Black Crusade Detachment, this benefit does NOT stack with Favored Scions, so be ready to accept some risk.

===Black Crusade Detachment (Traitor's Hate)===
'''Note:''' This Detachment is NOT included in Traitor Legions. If you want to run a Legion, its main benefit (Free Veterans of the Long War) is superfluous due to said Legions getting VOTLW for free anyway. You take this formation if you want to bring a Black Legion detachment but you want to maintain Objective Secured. This allows Black Legion to be run either hyper-aggressively, or relatively defensively. If you want to run Fabius or Huron, play hero-hammer with Path to Glory, run Special Characters from multiple Legions in the same detachment, or give Hatred (Imperium) to a Crimson Slaughter army, play this. It acts like a Basic Chaos Detachment with the following modifications:
* Lost and the Damned is a Core choice instead of an Auxiliary choice, and Maelstrom of Gore is a Core Choice.
* Lords of the Legion is a 0-5 Command Choice, with Dark Apostles as an option. You can take any Special Character in this Command Choice except Magnus, Cypher, or Bela'Kor.
* The Trinity of Blood is an Auxiliary choice, as is '''Veterans of the Legion:''' 1-4 units chosen from Khorne Berserkers, Plague Marines, Noise Marines or Thousand Sons, but no bonuses since it's not actually a formation.

The Black Crusade Detachment gains the following bonuses:
*Reroll your Warlord Trait if rolling on the Chaos Space Marines table and this is your primary detachment.
*All models in the detachment gain Hatred: Armies of the Imperium; anything from Space Marines to a lone Inquisitor to that Adamantine Lance.
*One model with the Champions of Chaos Rule gets a free roll on the Chaos boon table each turn, and unlike the similar ability the Word Bearers Grand Host gets, this works alongside Favored Scions.
**'''Note:'''Combined with a World eaters lord in a warband that rolls Slaughterborn as his WL trait, this could make for VERY killy lord. Essentially you're getting +2A per turn, such that by turn 2 you have 8!? attacks BEFORE modifiers with gift of mutation.
*Everyone who can take VotLW can do so for free, which means you get +1 LD for free on all your marines. This is superfluous if you're running a Legion, and Crimson Slaughter can't benefit from this except on Cult Marines, but everyone else benefits from this quite nicely.

===Black Legion Speartip Detachment (Traitor Legions)===
The Black Legion Speartip rewards alpha strikes, but does not grant objective secured to anything at all. On the flip side, running a CAD will work wonders because both Chosen, Terminators and by extension Land Raiders will have it! Keeping this in mind, there are tradeoffs to either army list, very much like the Horus Heresy Rites of War. The veterans of your Legion are mostly Luna Wolves, after all, and that carries over into their battle doctrine.
;'''Special Rules'''
*'''The Tip of the Spear:''' Warlord may re-roll on Black Legion Warlord Trait table.
*'''Heralds of the Black Crusade:''' Non-vehicle units have Fear and Crusader. Fear is mostly pointless, but Crusader can be useful for getting in position faster, and it synergizes with the Hounds of Abaddon's main trick.
*'''Speartip Strike:''' Deep Strike Units can start rolling to arrive from reserves on Turn 1. Warlord and his unit can auto-pass this roll in 1st turn if they are in DS reserve.

====Command (0-5)====
*'''The Bringers of Despair -''' One unit of Terminators plus Abaddon. The Terminators have WS and BS 5 and can re-roll one "Look Out, Sir" roll for Abaddon each phase. This replaces the old ability to upgrade a unit, and now the terminators get the stat upgrades for free, which is a welcome change.
**Note: Remember that Abbadon hands out a 12" bubble of Preferred Enemy (Space Marines.) If fighting loyalist scum of any flavor, give your Bringers of Despair combi-plasmas. Hitting on rerollable 2s will cut through those corpse-worshippers like a plasma knife through butter.
*'''The Chosen of Abaddon -''' 1-4 Chaos Lords or Sorcerers, plus a unit of Chosen or Terminators for each one. Each Sorcerer or Chaos Lord has to join one of the corresponding units of Chosen/Terminators (and can't leave). While the character remains attached to his unit, they get Fearless. Each Chaos Lord/Sorcerer in the formation gets to roll on the Boon table prior to deployment, re-rolling Spawnhood and Dark Apotheosis results. Not particularly useful, given that you give up flexibility for a crack at a bad chart of upgrades. This is where you get your extra terminators when playing Black Legion, BTW.
*'''Cyclopia Cabal -''' THIS IS A GOOD ONE, and nasty with the new powers from Traitor's Hate. 3-5 Sorcerers. At the start of each psychic phase, you can have one sorcerer in the formation use a special psychic power called Shroud of Deceit. You get an additional warp charge die for each Sorcerer within 12" of the main caster (you can still allocate warp charges to it as normal, though you do not have to) and it's a warp charge 3 power. Shroud of Deceit targets a non-vehicle ''enemy'' unit that isn't locked in combat within 30". You can immediately make a shooting attack with that unit as though it were a part of your army. It's a pretty neat power, and super-useful against the Tau and their Riptides (good luck trying to get it off against Eldar though, lol). One recent tournament strategy is to add a Cabal to a Daemon army. Five ML3 psykers, on top of Fateweaver and Pink Horrors, to generate 24 dice per turn. Nuts.
*'''Lord of the Legion -''' A Chaos Lord(can be Abaddon), Sorcerer, Daemon Prince or Dark Apostle. Take this option if you just want the HQ with no added formation tax.

====Core (1+)====
*'''Black Legion Warband -''' One Chaos Lord, 0-1 Sorcerer, 2-5 units of Chosen or Chaos Space Marines in any combination, 1-3 units of Terminators or Possessed in any combination, 1-3 units of Raptors, Bikes, or Warp Talons in any combination, 1-3 units of Havocs or Helbrutes in any combination. This is the core formation for the Speartip. Units in this formation roll twice when rolling for boons and can take either one or both of the results. Additionally, any time an enemy unit is completely destroyed by a unit in this formation in a phase, all of the other units in the formation can re-roll to hit and to wound rolls of 1 for the rest of the phase (note that this just means when a unit is finally completely removed from the table, per the rulebook definition of "completely destroyed"). The bonus roll on the boon table will often be irrelevant, but the other bonus is kind of cool.
**'''NOTE:''' Unlike the other legions this uses the Black Legion Warband and not the "normal" one. That means that a Black Legion Speartip doesn't have a single Objective Secured unit since it can't take a Chaos Warband as an auxiliary either. This is a big disadvantage over other demi-company type formations. However given that this is meant to be a speartip formation, ergo you want to be the aggressor, losing objective secured isn't as big of a hindrance as you may think.
**'''Alternate Opinion''': This formation is actually pretty good. The key is to activate units in the right order to get the sweet Preferred Enemy for all the army; simply destroying a transport with some Autocannon Havocs can make your Plasma Chosen so much better. Or your suicide terminators popping a tank making your Chaos Lord on Steed outflanking with plasma Raptors ready to ruin the day. Or both! In general if you like to play with special weapons, this formation can help you a lot. Also, remember that without objective secured, Havocs are just CSM with more weapons. Use them if you feel the need for ablative wounds and feel free to go heavy on special weapons.
*'''The Hounds of Abaddon -''' This is a pretty solid formation. You take 1 Chaos Lord, 1-3 units of Berzerkers, 1-3 units of Chaos Space Marines, and 1-3 units of Bikes/Raptors/Warp Talons. The entire formation gets the Mark of Khorne for free; this means you can have 13-point Marines with Leadership 10, Hatred(Everything), and Rage...not bad at all! Once per game, you can declare a massed assault with this formation to run and charge in the same turn. As if that's not enough, any time you roll an 8 or more for charge distance with a unit in this formation, that unit gets +1 Strength until the end of the Assault phase, and this is where the formation can snow-ball into something truly frightening; the Icon of Wrath is highly recommended for units in this formation, as not only would the re-rolls help you maximize the chances of getting 8, but the Furious Charge would stack on top; a unit of 5 regular Marines from this formation would cost 100 points in exchange for making 20 S5 attacks on the charge, with a good chance of those attacks being S6 instead. Note that this can give a Lord with AoBF strength 8 on the charge, allowing him to ID.
**''Interesting obeservation:'' This formation has a few interesting quirks. Both lords and champions can have S10 powerfists, and considering they have rage means that a champion with LC/PF has 5 attacks of either strength 10 AP2 or S6 AP3, shred. And since they have hatred, they have the equivalent of WS5, meaning these champions are essentially budget chaos lords. A termielord with Lc/chainfist has 6 S10 AP2 armourbane attacks. So for only 2 points more you can give your lord a better Gorefather that doesn't take up a relic slot.And technically, these csm can be better chosen. With the savings you could buy them CCW weapons. What you get is 17 point chosen that trade 3 special weapons for +1-2 strength and re-rollable charges. And run & charge once per game.

====Auxiliary (1+)====
*'''The Lost and the Damned, Helforged Warpack, Cult of Destruction, Fist of the Gods, Raptor Talon, Terminator Annihilation Force, Chaos Sp-GRUGHGLGL!!!-''': See their entries in the Basic Chaos Detachment
*'''Daemon Engine Pack -''' One Warpsmith and 2 Forgefiends/Maulerfiends, in any combination. At the start of each shooting and assault phase you can have one of the fiends within 12" of the Warpsmith use his WS or BS for that phase instead of its own. In practice, this bonus works better for running dual Forgefiends, since being able to get 5 BS is a much bigger deal than 4 WS; this makes the Hades Autocannons that the Forgefiends can have much more useful, since now they'll hit with most of their shots. You can either "cycle through" the Fiends, to combo Daemonforge with improved BS, or use it alongside moving on separate flanks to force enemy Knights into a "no-win" situation regarding where to use their Ion Shields. Also at the start of the game, you nominate a single enemy character and the Forge/Maulerfiends get Preferred Enemy against that character, plus if they kill him, the the model that did so regains a hull point.

====Standalone formations====
*'''The Tormented -''' 1 Prince and 2-5 units of possessed. The possessed get +1 WS and initiative as well as rending, and hatred since they have to be Black Legion. If they stray too far from their prince, they have to take a leadership test at the start of turn (unless in combat) and if failed, move D6 instead of 6. Unlike the favoured, their buffs are *always* up and prince thing is really a non-issue as it is 18 inch and even then they have Ld10 so it has a low risk of failure and the penalty isn't even that big. This formation makes possessed pretty freaking brutal. No, seriously. Forget the favoured. A unit of khorne possessed can generate enough wounds to kill even a wraith knight on the charge. Or a knight before it can do diddly squat. Never mind buffing them with assorted powers. All marks have something to offer, but MoK plays nicest with rending and anti-tank due to every 6 being an auto glance even on AV13 (with icon of wrath). MoK(+Icon) on a 10-man unit gives you 40 S6 rending attacks on the charge at initiative 5, while hitting on 3's, re-rollable. The rest of the table is pure icing on the cake at that point. And you need one less unit compared to the favoured formation, making it cheaper to boot. They also get better yet vs IoM armies thanks to endless hatred.
**''Important-'' While that offensive is cool and all, they have a huge problem, several actually. They're still slow, have no grenades and are still pretty frail outside of combat. So like the favoured formation it doesn't really fix possessed in any meaningful way, but if you do want to take possessed, this is the way to go.

===Thousand Sons Grand Coven Detachment (Wrath of Magnus/Traitor Legions)===
The Thousand Sons Grand Coven is is meant to buff Rubric units/Psykers to be more viable, though the actual results are...questionable. The formation bonuses are:
*'''Lord of Fallen Prospero:''' ::Your Warlord gets to re-roll his Warlord Trait if he rolls on the Tzeentch Warlord Table. This table is arguably a lot better than the vanilla Chaos one, so may be worth considering.
*'''Masters of Arcane Knowledge:''' All Psykers in the detachment may cast an additional power beyond their Mastery Level. The most immediate ways to use this are lucking out and getting the Warlord Trait that lets you know an additional Psyker Power, or using Ahriman or Magnus, the former due to knowing more powers than his Mastery Level and the latter due to the Black Staff. Worst comes to worst, this also lets your Aspiring Sorcerers pop Force to improve their unit's invulnerable save while still being able to cast their one Tzeentch power they rolled or the Primaris. Additionally, all Psykers in the detachment may re-roll their result on Perils of the Warp. This one matters more, as extra insurance against accidentally frying your expensive Sorcerers is always nice.
**'''Favoured of Tzeentch:''' If you take the maximum number of units allowed for a formation (usually a commander + 9 units, because Tzeentch), every model in that formation may reroll all saving throws of 1. While for many formations this is excessively expensive, for others it allows for incredible durability.

====Command (0-4)====
*'''Rehati War Sect:''' Magnus the Red plus 3-9 ML3 units of either Tzeentch Daemon Princes or Exalted Sorcerers. The models in this formation ignore Line of Sight for casting powers. In addition, all models within 18" of Magnus manifest on a 3+. This formation tends to find more use in Chaos Daemon armies as a way to get Magnus into their army without actually having to include Thousand Sons.
**One of Traitor Legions' only Bikestar Formations.
*'''Ahriman's Exiles:''' Ahriman plus 3-9 Exalted Sorcerers. All models within 18" of Ahriman manifest on 3+.
**Another of Traitor Legions' only Bikestar Formations.
*'''Lord of the Legion:''' Magnus the Red, Ahriman, or a Sorcerer, Exalted Sorcerer, or Daemon Prince of Tzeentch.

====Core (1+)====
*'''War Cabal:''' Ahriman, a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, a Sorcerer, or an Exalted Sorcerer with 1-3 more Sorcerers/Exalted ones lead 1-3 units of Rubric Marines and 1-3 units of Scarab Occult Terminators. Whenever a Psyker from this formation manifests a power, that Psyker (and the unit it's part of, should it be from this Formation) may reroll all 1s to-hit for the remainder of the turn. This formation is the "cheap" core of the two, and is probably what players will take just so they can run 3 units of Terminators with rerollable 2+ armor saves...
** '''Summary:''' This formation is probably the best core T-sons could ask for. rerolling 1s to hit is extremely useful for such a shooty army, and because literally every unit in this formation has a sorcerer leading it, you can consistently get rerollable 1's to hit every turn just by activating the sorcerers force weapons. Combine that with the bonus spell every sorcerer can cast from the detachment buffs, and you will be unleashing a LOT of DAKKA in the psychic & shooting phases to cover any shortcomings that may occur in close combat.
*'''Sekhmet Conclave:''' A sorcerer(can be exalted or Ahriman) or a Daemon Prince(can be Magnus), plus 3-9 units of SO Terminators. Any unit from this formation within 6" of 2+ of other units from this formation gains +1 Toughness (Mortarion is Jealous). This is what you want if you like Terminators, like being nearly impossible to kill, are sick of regular Rubrics being overcosted crap, or just don't want to paint very many models. You won't get the rerollable 2+ armor saves with this unless you take nine units of 5 terminators each plus an HQ, though, which is not going to happen in games under 2500 points.
**'''Quick Note:''' While it's true that this formation is extremely expensive, especially when trying to get the blessing of Tzeentch, it's not always needed, thanks to +1 toughness. Also, the toughness buff is applied to Magnus when in range of the termie honor guard which makes him TOUGHNESS 8 meaning he is '''COMPLETELY IMMUNE TO BOLTER FIRE''' AND strength 6 weapons only wound him on 6s, so suck it space elfs. Splinter rifles still wound him on 4+.

====Auxiliary (1+)====
*'''War Coven:''' 1 Tzeentch Daemon Prince, ES, or Sorcerer leads 3-9 more Sorcerers/Exalted Sorcerers. Pick one BRB Discipline at the start of the game, and all Sorcerers from this formation manifest Warp Charge for that Discipline on a 3+. This is basically your Librarius Conclave formation.
**Are you a bad enough dude to run the Terminator Tzeentchstar? Take ten regular Sorcerers in Terminator armor and enjoy your ten man invisible 4+ FNP rerollable 2+/3++ teleporting witchfire spamming deathstar with two wounds apiece. Be sure to include the Seer's Bane and the Astral Grimoire to go fast and dominate in melee too. Warning: you won't have any points left over for actual units if you do this. (Amazingly unfriendly in 1750pts. You will utterly dominate the game, short of truly broken enemies, then lose because of objectives)
**One of Traitor Legions' only Bikestar Formations.

*'''Tzaangor Warherd:''' 1 Exalted Sorcerer/Sorcerer leads 3 units of Tzaangors plus an optional 6 more units of Tzaangors or the unnameable beasts. The entire formation gains Fleet, the Tzaangors may run and charge in the same turn, and should they roll a 9 or more for Charge distance, they gain +1 Strength and Initiative. Not bad at all.

*'''Daemon Engines:''' Defiler, Forgefiend, Heldrake, Helbrute, Maulerfiend. Pick one. Not actually a formation. this is the closest thing to a spawn formation that T Sons get so if you want to go all in on your core choice, take a bare bones helbrute, maulerfiend or predator tank.

*'''Legion Armory:''' Grab either a Chaos Land Raider, or a unit of Predators, or Vindicators. Remember you can squadron if you don't want to give up first blood, but a Land Raider may work to cart around the expensive asses of the Scarab Occult Terminators.

===Dataslates===
*'''Wrathborn (Start Collecting! Chaos Space Marines)''' - 1 Terminator Chaos Lord, 1 unit of Chaos Space Marines, and 1 Helbrute. The Lord and all units within 12" of him gain Hatred. That's it.

*'''Fallen Champions:''' Cypher grabs up to 3 Chosen Squads as Fallen goons. The Chosen aren't much more useful than normal, as they lose a lot of stuff to use. However, their use shouldn't be to much more than to guard Cypher himself as he fucks with people's shit.
** The Chosen cannot take Artefacts, Rewards, Marks, or Transports. He can take Icon of Vengeance though. And apparently the chosen can take power fists for 5 points.
** Chosen within 12" of Cypher uses his leadership. They also grab ATSKNF.
** Enemy Dark Angels with Deathwing get Zealot against your entire army.

*'''Mayhem Pack:''' This formation of 3 Helbrutes gives them all IWND (AWWWW YEAAAAA), Deep-Striking, and a shared roll on the Crazed table, even if they've never been hit (Giving them a 2/3 chance of being rather useful, though it's still a crapshoot). All-in-all, a rather decent way to boost their survivability <s>but not their usefulness.</s> FUCK THAT NOISE! Getting a dreadnought in close out of nowhere is one of the best uses of them in the loyalist army and this dataslate improves upon it tremendously by tripling the amount of dreadnought and making them harder to kill in the process! Then there's the crazed rule which makes shooting the brutes a dicey prospect. NOTE - although the brutes get to share a reserve roll AND a crazed roll every round, they are NOT a single vehicle squadron. This means that they won't deepstrike in the manner a terminator squad does, and you'll have to scatter each one of them separately - and you don't have to move them as one squadron either.
** Note - With the Errata boosting Helbrutes' attacks up to 4, this makes them even more effective as DISTRACTION CARNIFEXes. 4 attacks is enough to threaten most targets other than giant hordes (and in those cases, you have heavy flamethrowers) while being able to pack a ranged weapon allow the helbrutes to be effective 2/3rds of the time right after they drop and continue to threaten targets up until it dies. In addition, something few people realize is that this formation is essentially the Chaos Version of a Drop Pod Dread, but you do not need to pay the extra 35 points for a Drop Pod, which is a great boon for it's role as a Distraction (cheap, moderately hard to kill, and killy).
*** No deepstrike mitigation means they're still very unreliable. Add 1/3 chance of doing not what you want them to do each turn on top of that. Then again, you could take the risk and take two Mayhem Packs

*'''Helcult:''' A Helbrute joins 2 squads of cultists. This gives the brute some walking meatshields, though their use is...debatable. This formation is useless now because only Troops in Combined Arms and Allied Detachments get Objective Secured - your units in Formations don't get it. Who cares if you have 20 (Two units of 35 means 70!) fearless T3, 6+ models when everything else is also scoring and it's too easy make enough of a dent in the cultists to contest or outright take whatever objective they were sitting on. But makes a great wall of tar-pitters and fire magnets regardless.
** The whole group gets Rage (When the Helbrute dies). However, any rolls of 1 from the brute get transferred to anyone else within 6" of him.
** The cultists get the Fearless USR regardless of how far they're from giant hulk of Warp-machinery. The moment he goes down, however, they exchange Fearless for Zealot.
** If the cultists block any incoming fire for the Helbrute, the giant thing gains a 3+ Cover save. Each successful save kills one of the cultists, no saves allowed. So totally worth it since you have 35 of the shlebs in front of him. Right?
** For added lulz, hide a warpsmith in with the cultists. There, you got yourself a reliable meat shield for both the Helbrute and a unit in which the smith can hide so he can repair any of the hits that actually make it to the Helbrute (assuming it doesn't kill it, that is).
** Give them the Mark of Nurgle for an extra slurpy tarpit. Also consider that Sonic Weapons ignore cover so they are a great walking buffer for your Noise Marines.

*'''Helfist(er) Murderpack:''' Out of the 5 Helbrutes in this formation, one of them must be designated a Champion, thus making them like a squad with a sergeant. The Champion becomes a Character and gets the Aura of Dark Glory and the brutes within 6" can LOS! for the big guy. The Champion also makes the entire squad choose what Crazed result they want instead of rolling it. However, once he dies, not only does this Crazed selection end, but the others also get Rage. While this sounds nice on paper, the issue is that they're still forced to footslog it all the way to the enemy, and a 5+ Invul and the ability to choose Fleet and Rage when they get hit is not going to help them out much with that. Can't really use this for insane helbrute dakka to double your shots every single turn, since only the 'brutes that have taken damage will be able to make use of the Crazed table. Bare in mind that you can technically abandon any Helbrutes affected by Fire Frenzy as they count as immobilized and according to the rules of the formation you can still pick their crazed result even when they are no longer part of the squad. This is a good way to bypass the sqaud having to all fire at the same unit.
*This formation is surprisingly good when you add in some protective wizardry. Or fly them across the table on top of a magic ruin.

*'''Kranon's Helguard:''' Chaos Lord, Chosen squad , Pack of Termies, Two mobs of Cultists, a pack of Raptors, a 'Brute, and a Land Raider. Just from the DV starter kit and Crimson Slaughter Expansion. It's decent, as it forces all units within 12" of one unit here to take -1 Ld, while anyone within 12" of two or more units take -1 BS, as well as giving Fear and Stubborn, but...just like the Unrelenting Hunt, it's absolutely not worth forking over all that cash for both kits. Or even just the expansion.

*'''Kharn's Butcherhorde:''' Formation with Kharn (Shocking, right?), 4 CSM squads with the Mark of Khorne and 4 Khorne Berseker squads. They all get Adamantium Will and for every 6 to hit they get another attack (and yes, with another 6 you get another attack and so on). Then, if you get an 8 on the charge (beign the number of Khorne and all) you double the attack value on your models. It looks nice, but that's a lot of models. That's why it's called Butcherhorde and not Butchergroup.

*'''Cult of Destruction (Apocalypse)''' This packs in at least a 3-man pack of both Obliterators and Mutilators. If you get more Obliterators, you can gain a combined fire bonus ability. Lascannons get 48", Strength D and AP1, Flamers become Hellstorm templates with AP3, and the Artillery gets 48", Strength D AP 4 apocalyptic blast. Mutilators meanwhile get Furious Charge and get another attack per unsaved wound.

*'''Heldrake Fear Squadron (Apocalypse)''' 3-5 of the Drakes get grouped up, and they get effectively infinite Daemonforge, though they have to take another roll per turn for damage. They can also make an extra 60" pre-deployment move. They can then make an out-of-sequence Vector Strike that can't force morale tests if they cause casualties and forfeit the ability to Vector Strike for the first turn, though they can still shoot. USeful? Well, it'll at least let them live a little longer.

*'''Legionnaire Warband (Apocalypse)''' - A Chaos Lord grabs a 3+ Troops, 2+ Elites, and any number of HQ, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support choices. Everyone must take Veterans of the Long War and the same Mark of Chaos. They can also re-roll failed to-hit melee attacks against Space Marines and Fearless within 12" of the Marines.

*'''Lords of the [[Black Crusade]] (Apocalypse)''' - Abaddon gets to lead Kharn, Lucius, Ahriman, and Typhus (or their equally marked Chaos Lords). For this, they get to use all their Finest Hour/Sons of their Primarch abilities at once. Also, Abaddon can make a Magma Storm Unnatural Disaster and become the Master of Disaster.

*'''Lost and the Damned (Apocalypse)''' - 1+ Dark Apostles can use 3+ Cultists, giving them Infiltrate, FNP and Furious Charge (for Cultists), and can resurrect a single cultist during each break for free.

*'''Thousand Sons War Coven (Apocalypse)''' - Ahriman (Or a ML3 Tzeentch Sorcerer) with 3+ additional Sorcerers get to use a new Warp Charge power called ''Storm of Change''. It's a 48" Witchfire with S:D and AP1, Assault X, Blast, and Vortex. It also sacrifices Sorcerers for pieplates, making it very risky to use. Alternatively, just activate all of their force weapons with one power, then throw a huge unit of them at anything. That thing will die, no ifs, no buts. Or, it's a fucking Titan, in which case you're fucked anyway.

*'''Tide of Spawn (Apocalypse)''' - 5+ Chaos thingies get to swarm up. They can't be used as normal, instead replacing an equal number of normal, unengaged infantry models. Other than that, they're no different from any normal ones. If you have the money and time and are a massive troll, take a squad of 35 cultists.... replace with these and watch as a literal tide of flesh smashes into that greentide or tyranid swarm of gaunts. Your opponents face will drop when they see that a measly cultist squad manages to wipe their way through their entire formation.

===Warzone Pandorax===
*'''The Chosen of Abaddon (Apocalypse)''' - 3-5 Chaos Lords or Sorcerers all get to take permanent retinues of Chosen or Termies, all without champions. The Lords all get a bonus boon by just forming up, and when within 12" of Lord Topknot, they get Fearless, making them a bigger shield for big A. Combo with Bringers of Despair, and get your Black Legion first company rolling.

*'''Daemon Engine Pack (Apocalypse)''' - 3-5 Forgefiends or Maulerfiends. They get Preferred Enemy against one chosen enemy and when they kill it, they get a 1 VP. They can also choose a Warpsmith to be their owner and any engines within 12" of the smith get to use his WS and BS(BS5 Forgefiends? Yes, please!), making the Daemon Engine army more useful. They also get to charge after running, which is very awesome.

*'''The Hounds of Huron (Apocalypse)''' - A Biker Lord gets to lead 5+ Biker packs. In a move that could make Marine biker armies take note, the formation gets Acute Senses and Outflank, and bikers within 12" of the Lord get to charge after Turbo-Boosting, which is definitely some good speed.

*'''Maelstrom of Gore (Apocalypse)''' - Kharn (or a Khornate Lord) has to take 8 8-man Berzerker packs for blood and skulls. Anyone within 18" of the Lord/Kharn get Fleet, Move Through Cover, and +3" Charge Range, making this a better way to deliver the forces of blood. However, they're still not gonna be able to hit any better.

*'''Trinity of Blood (Apocalypse)''' - A squad made of 3 Lords of Skulls. The first kinda meh rule is the ability to grant Rage to absolutely everything that is not a vehicle within 12" of a member here, which would only be useful in certain situations (Orks, Nids, Guardsmen) and otherwise useless unless you took Cultist Blobs, which then give you a problem. The other less problematic rule is the ability to force all enemies within 24" of them to take Dangerous Terrain tests before moving unless they can fly.

===Crimson Slaughter===
*'''Requirements:''' No Veterans of the Long War. Previously, this rule simply said that you could not ''buy'' the VotLW upgrade -- anything that had it stick (like Kharn) got to keep it. Now it says that no unit in the CS army can HAVE VotLW. The wording isn't clear; it can either mean that your units lose that rule if they happen to have it, or, more likely, that you can't buy those units to begin with. This means no Special Characters, no Rubricae, and, worst of all, no Daemon Princes - and [[Derp|no Vrosh Tattersoul]]. Anyway, Noise Marines, Berzerkers, and Plague Marines are excluded from this rule.
**'''Alternate View''': The Daemonheart still says it can't be taken on Daemon Princes, which would only be possible if they could be taken as units in the first place. An FAQ is needed, but RAI would seem to indicate that it was meant to use the old rules.

*'''Benefits:'''
**'''Harbingers of the Tormented''': ''All models'' in the detachment have Fear. Yes, that includes vehicles. And cultists.
**'''Slaves to the Voices''': Possessed are troops instead of elites, and they roll on a different mutations table from the one in the Codex, gaining either Shrouded (includes their vehicle if they're in one), Beasts, or a 3+ invul save and Rending. The new mutations table is flat out better than the old one, and having Objective Secured makes them seriously worth considering. (This makes the Favoured of Chaos formation very interesting; on the one hand, if Daemon Princes are allowed, it becomes akin to god mode, while if not, it is a toy they never get to use

====Warlord Traits====

*'''1: Murderous Hate''': Warlord and his unit have Hatred, and get to re-roll misses in CC against Dark Angels units (because Dark Angels needed more help dying).
*'''2: Maelstrom of Torment''': All enemy units within 12" of the Warlord suffer a -1 Ld penalty, and a -2 Ld penalty to any Fear tests they take. Anything vulnerable to Fear left in this game is going to fail those tests anyway, but whatever. MoS will destroy those cheesy Eldar.
*'''3: Maddened Rage''': Rage and Furious Charge. If there's an enemy unit within 12" in the beginning of a shooting phase, you don't get to shoot and must charge them the following Assault phase, if possible. Unfortunate if your Warlord is shooty, pretty sweet otherwise.
*'''4: Merciless Slaughterer''': Warlord and his unit have Crusader.
*'''5: Spectral Assailants''': Enemy models in base contact take D6 S3 AP hits at Initiative step 10 of each Assault phase. (note that EACH enemy model will take D6 hits, which can be quite a few additional dice.)
*'''6: Pall of Mists''': Warlord gets Shrouded. Pretty good if you're not already getting it from a Mutation roll (see below)
====Relics====

*'''Crozius of the Dark Covenant''': A replacement power maul for the Dark Apostles. All friendly Crimson Slaughter units within 6" of the bearer get the Zealot rule. Cute if you want your Zealot to hang in the back and ensure your Havocs stay put, or you could use it for "Go to Ground/Get Back Into The Fight" shenanigans.
*'''Blade of the Relentless''': Basically a power sword that makes its bearer stronger as he kills shit. 1 kill grants +1 Str, 3 kills grants AP2, 5 kills grants another +1 Str, and 10 kills grants Instant Death. Have a Sergeant take the challenge for at turn so you can kill off some grunts then take over when he dies or 'glorious intervention' into his place with a AP2 +1 strength sword. The wording of the relic says that models removed as a direct result of the bearer's close combat attacks. This means that attacks with other weapons or other sources belonging to the model that count as close combat will also count towards charging the sword. Powerfist/claw combo, icy aura boon, Spectral Assailants warlord trait, hammer of wrath, and combat familiars all count towards the total. And with the way wound allocation works with challenges now in 7th, you no longer have to worry about only getting a single "kill charge" from winning a challenge.
*'''The Slaughterer's Horns''': Furious Charge, Rage and Hammer of Wrath for 15 points. Very good for non-khorne HQs, but largely wasted on anything with MoK and icon of wrath. However, in a dual god themed army this presents a great way to have multiple gods/marks represented on a single character.
*'''The Balestar of Mannon''': Sorcerers only. Allows the bearer to roll on Divination and re-rolls on failed Psych tests. However, he doesn't get any modifiers to Deny the Witch rolls for being a Psyker. in the current edition this becomes a really interesting tool and effectively replaces the spell familiar since you can only re-roll dice once.
** RAW: He does not get the modifier for ''being a psyker'', but does he get the modifier for being at a higher Mastery Level than the other Psyker?
*'''Daemonheart''': 2+ Armor Save and It Will Not Die. Can't be taken by a Daemon Prince, which limits its usefulness somewhat. Terminator armour comes with a 5++ invulnerable save, a power weapon and combi bolter for only 10 more points, but remember it strips you from grenades and the ability to perform Sweeping Advances. Take this with a Nurgle Lord on a Palanquin or bike and watch the fat fuck soak up rounds like nobody's business, and then just regain a wound next turn.
**'''Final Consensus''': Any self respecting chaos lord will have at least a 4++, and a Chaos Lord's one advantage over a Space Marine captain is that you can load up on weapons and relics. Thus, the Daemonheart IS BETTER THAN TERMINATOR ARMOUR in every way that matters, unless you really, really want that relentless (get a bike) or a chainfist. Everything else can be replaced with equal or better equivalents anyway. Just, TAKE IT!!!
*'''Prophet of the Voices''': Makes your IC a Possessed, basically. He gets Daemon, Fearless and Fleet, plus rolls on the new mutations table mentioned previously. Can only join units of Possessed of the Crimson Slaughter. Allows for some really rapetastic combos, especially if you roll lucky on the Warlord Traits and Mutations tables, though the choice between going solo and having a posse of Possessed is pretty limiting.
**Note: Having the Daemon rule means you can benefit from Cursed Earth, giving your sorcerer/lord a 3++ with a sigil.

====Crimson Slaughter Formations====

*'''The Ravagers -''' One unit of Possessed plus one unit of Chosen makes the Ravagers, granting them Sight of the Third Eye. So long as the Chosen Champion is alive, one of these units gets re-rolls to hit for the duration of your turn. Sadly, this means no re-rolls in the enemy combat phase.
*'''Disciples of Mannon -''' One Sorcerer and a unit of Possessed that hope the Stars are Right! Roll a pair of dice at the start of the game; they are your portents of DOOOOM. Anytime your opponent rolls EXACTLY two dice (example: a Leadership check, for example) check to see if it matches your portents. If there's a match, FUN happens! You roll a further d6, and on a 1-3 you get 10 Horrors, 4-5 3 Screamers or Flamers, and a 6 gets you a Herald (BAD) or a Lord of Change (GOOD). They immediately pop up within 18 of the Sorcerer. If he bites a bullet, no Tzeentchian fun for you.
*'''Brethren of the Dark Covenant -''' A Dark Apostle, a unit of Possessed (notice a theme here?) and 1-3 units of marines make up this mean bunch. The Dark Apostle can elect not to shoot in the shooting phase, and can instead RAEG. This inspires the formation within 12 of him, granting those within the bubble Zealot and Feel no Pain. Add this to Nurgle Chaos marines and congratulations you have Plague marines on the cheap.
*'''Cult of Slaughter -''' Another formation lead by a Dark Apostle. This time he drags along 2-8 mobs of Cultists to be glorious meatshields. If the cultists are within 9 of the Apostle, they get leadership 10. The real treat is that in your movement phase, d6 cultists are restored to each mob within 18 of the Apostle, up to their original starting number. They bring back any marks or heavy weapons lost as well. Not too shabby.
*'''Lords of Slaughter -''' A Chaos Lord, a unit of Termies, yet another unit of Possessed, and 1-3 Marine squads make up this formation. A simple but powerful formation, the Lord becomes a Mastery 1 Psyker with the Prescience divination power. Additionally, when targeting members of this formation, the power has infinite range.
*'''Kranon's Helguard -''' Basically the Dark Vengeance and Expansion army. A Lord, 1 unit of Chosen, 1 unit of Termies, 2 units of Cultists, 1 unit of Raptors, a Helbrute and a Land Raider. Everyone gets Stubborn, and any enemy within 12 of a unit from the formation gets -1 Leadership. If they are within 12 of two or more units, they suffer -1 Ballistic Skill as well!
*'''The Red Onslaught -''' A formation of formations. Bring all of the above! Each formation keeps its own rules, but two universal rules come into play. The Maddening Horde gives a -1 Leadership to all enemies on the battlefield, so long as 1 model is still standing. Easier said than done; remember all those possessed? At the start of each of your turns, roll a d6. On a 4+, any and every unit of Possessed that was destroyed from this formation Deep Strikes back onto the field. If they are destroyed again, they can come back again, and again! The train has no brakes!

===The Purge (Forgeworld)===
An FOC from the IA:Vraks book, that also can be filled by Chaos Space Marines as well as the Vraksian Renegades. This detachment requires 1 HQ and 2 Elites, with the option for an additional HQ up to 4 additional Elites, 8 Troops, 4 Heavy Support and a Fortification. You don't get any Fast Attacks, and the formation cannot take '''any''' Marks other than Nurgle. In exchange, any Missile Launchers in the detachment can take Chemical Rockets, and any flamer weapons can be swapped for Chemical Flamers for free. Chemical Rockets are AP 5 Frag Missiles with Shred and Gets Hot, and Chemical Flamers are regular Flamers with Shred & Gets Hot. Not bad! There's a second bonus that any Barrage weapons from this Formation leave Dangerous terrain markers, but Chaos Marines don't get any barrage weapons anyway outside of Forgeworld, and the FW options they do get are expensive!
*Although this is nominally a Nurgle formation, there is no requirement to actually take any models with Marks in it. The big thing this formation allows you to do is bypass a Troop tax altogether and just cram in Elites/Heavy Supports in a way normal Chaos armies can't do. Whether you want to run mass Chosen without paying for Abaddon/the Veterans tax from Black Legion, whether you want to do solo Obliterator/Mutilator MSU builds, or whether you just want to add a bunch of Walkers to another army/play Chaos Mechwarrior, this formation allows surprising amount of flexibility.
*Though it probably was '''not''' intended and was probably a rules oversight, there is nothing preventing you from taking Daemons or vehicle Dedications of another Chaos God. For example, you could use this formation to run Blood Slaughterers if you were so inclined.
*The detachment is decent and fluffy, yes, but losing out on all those hard-hitting and cool Nurgle Fast Attack options (Heldrakes, Spawn, Bikers, and ''Blight Drones'', ironically) really does hurt - especially in maelstrom missions where zipping around the board to capture an objective helps a lot. Depending on what you want to do with the list, you can either go "all in" with the army theme, or supplement it with additional formations; the Heldrake Terror Pack from Traitor's Hate gives your Drakes back, while the Daemonkin Gorepack gives durable speed to round you out nicely. You could always just use Termicide for your mandatory Elites, and use the Heavy Support to spam Maulerfiends...
**You could still grab your cheaper, zippier Assault Vehicle DTs (Dreadclaws), maybe even a couple Kharybdis, and just burninate your Chosen and Dreads into position. Or, if you have loads of cash and don't mind being [[That Guy|that guy]], buy an Air Superiority Detachment full of Assault Pods and cackle as your Wings of pods descend and burn in perfect formation right when you need them to (and now you have some ObSec to boot, just remember that the hull should be no more than 3 inches off of the tabletop.).
**If you really do need some fast infantry and were using this detachment without marks consider making your guys Night Lords. They can take Raptors as troops, giving you a (very) little something of your fast attack back.
*The wording is such that you can take '''both''' renegades, AND Chaos Marines! Have fun with hoards of zombies marching in front of your Plague Marines as artillery obliterates anything strong enough to inconvenience those fat asses. Actually, the consensus on the matter is that mixing and matching units from the two codices is not allowed. There seems to be no official errata on the matter, but a couple of e-mail replies from FW state that it shouldn't be done - which means that you can probably get away with it, if your opponent looks the other way, but don't count on doing so in a more strict setting. Take Typhus - you get no uberzombies, but his regular ones are good enough. Or take a Helcult with MoN.

==Allies==

===Battle Brothers===

*'''Other Chaos Space Marines: '''With Traitor Legions finally getting their own rules, there will be many new strategies arising involving allying different Chaos subfactions. Chaos warbands are battle brothers with each other: if you want to benefit from another subfaction's rules, ally them in as an Allied Detachment or a single formation. This way you can take armies consisting of multiple legions and warbands if you want to combine their different strengths.
**Want Divination? Take a Thousand Sons War Cabal or Ahriman's Exiles. Exalted Sorcerers of Tzeentch(including Ahriman) have access to Divination and can cast its powers on 3+ easily with either of these formations. Divination and tack-on psyker spam formations are no longer just for loyalists and Eldar. Thousand Sons are so eminently valuable as allies, as their relics are awesome for helping other detachment forces (i.e. Jump Infantry Terminators)
*** Oddly enough Black Legion can do this too. You loose access to TSons artefacts, but you aren't forced to slap mark of tzeentch onto cultists/marines and as an allied detachment actually allow you to bring an exalted sorc + ObSec termicide unit or chosen.
**Does your melee army need a powerful heavy weapons team, for fire support? Ally in Iron Warriors or Death Guard for autocannon or lascannon havocs, with free Feel No Pain and either Tank Hunters or Relentless. Loyalist Devastators may have the grav, but they have nothing like this.
**Want your Possessed to not suck as bad? Ally a Crimson Slaughter formation to get a squad of Possessed that can roll Shrouded, 3++ and Beasts type among their mutations.
**Saw the loyalist veteran meltas in drop pods strategy, and want to try it out? You can do it for cheaper by taking an Alpha Legion allied detachment and infiltrating Chosen!

*Renegade Knights allow for more specialized loadouts but do not have the formations of Imperial Knights. And your Warpsmith has no servitors. Good support but not enough synergy to be the main focus. [[dwarf fortress|FUN]] in small games.

*'''Chaos Daemons:''' Daemons provide fast-moving assault elements to supplement more assault-heavy forces. Soulgrinders are awesome due to having an in-built 5+ Invulnerable Save, and can either be viewed as a "better Defiler" in many ways, due to their AV 13! Fantastic mobile cover, and they pack a punch, too! Troops are no longer obscene amounts of points in this codex, either, and heralds are fuckcheap HQ units; the mandatory units in an allied detachment can cost as little as 135 points, meaning you could take Soul Grinder support in lists as small as 1000 points and still be none the worse for wear. Meanwhile, bloodthirsters follow the flying monstrous creature rules and have WS 10 (10!). Lords of change are mastery level 2 psykers by default, level 3 with the upgrade (which you will always take) and can take either Tzeenchy witchfire powers to give your enemy feel no pain or Divination powers to be useful (Divination is probably better in a shooty CSM army because of Prescience). Daemons are by far the best allies you can take simply because they bring Divination.
**Protip: Wanna make your Bloodletters or Daemonettes actually survive so they can reach combat? Run them straight towards the enemy every turn, then park a rhino in front of them and block all incoming fire! Then deliver your delicious, demonic payload right into those helpless loyalist corpse-fuckers' sphincter!
**'''Icons''' Also, friendly 'daemons' can get more accurate deepstrikes off daemonic icons. This does still work for warp talons ('blind' bursts near the enemy, you say?) and obliterators. You still scatter D6", but that's not ''that'' bad.

*'''Khorne Daemonkin:''' - A combo of Daemons with things you can already do, the Space Marine aspects of the detachment don't have the random mutation table, and the champions can get access to AP2 initiative weaponry through the Axe of Khorne. The Daemons are more stable, and can actually join your squads and you can join theirs, though adding a Herald won't benefit you since it only applies the Locus to "Daemonkin" units. Having BftBG also only applies its effects to Daemonkin, so if you only use a small allied detachment you might as well save those Blood Tithe points for summoning more free units of daemons, which can be done more reliably than having Sorcerers with Malefic Daemonology. They have fantastic formations, so you can easily add them to your main force without being forced to pay a HQ+Troops tax. But even if you use the "Combined Arms Allies" FOC at least you've got Berserkers as the Troops choice, leaving your primary detachment free to build towards another god(s) of your choice.

*'''Renegades & Heretics (Forgeworld)''' - probably the most obvious one for both fluff and functionality. You get to combine the Helldrake AND Hydra flak tanks and DOMINATE the skies. As battle brothers your characters can join each others squads and/or benefit from each others abilities, so you can have an impressive number of psykers buffing each other up. Dark Apostles can make your massively combined renegade squads fearless & zealots and Warp Smiths can fix up your multitude of tanks that you'll probably have. Your big platoons/troops choices don't need to take up several FOC slots so can generate a considerable amount of cheap bodies.
**Now with that said, taking Renegade as allies causes a few problems. First you are "required" to take the Arch-Demagogue w/ command squad as a compulsory HQ choice. But if he's not your warlord it's a wasted slot, because you aren't allowed to buy a Demagogue Devotion ''(and therefore can't get any of the interesting army upgrades)'' and you won't have the Master of Renegades rule either, so no unlocking God-specific units using a Covenant to gain things like contagious Plague Zombies. You still get access to all of the generic list and all of their upgrade options however. So if all you wanted was access to cheap bodies or Imperial Guard tanks then it's still a perfectly good option.

*'''Renegade Knights:''' Unlike Imperial Knights they have no relics or formations (yet), but as BB you can repair them, pack them closer with your units (e.g. Nurgle bikers), and they can dual wield identical weapons, allowing you to gear them up for specific roles.

===Allies of Convenience===

*'''Necrons:''' From a hobby/fluff perspective, Necrons can make for a fun "Chaos Androids" or Dark Mechanicus project. Beyond that, Necrons provide you with a wide toolbox. Use to easily fill in the gaps your army might be lacking in the anti-vehicle department. A Command Barge and two full squads of warriors are durable and take down vehicles as well as Infantry. Use them as Living Metal shields. Can also contribute a few fantastic fliers: a night scythe can put a squad of warriors and a <s>volt-tek</s> haha, no lethally close to an important vehicle while simultaneously burning their fliers, though not as good as before. The Doom Scythe is more of a mixed bag. While its death ray can blow holes the size of a Land Raider into a Land Raider, your Heldrake outclasses it for anti-medium infantry work and arguably for anti-flyer work (depending on if you're using Death From The Skies). Select a flyer based on your army's needs. Notable Necron formations include the following:
**The '''Deathbringer Flight''' is a sidegrade to the old combo of taking Nightscythes carrying Warriors w/ Storm Harbingers. You trade the rapid hull-point stripping ability of multiple Voltaic Staves in exchange for a pair of super-powered small blasts; if firing both blasts at the same target, the second one gets +2 BS for its Death Ray; this will give it a high enough BS to minimize concerns about a bad scatter. Generally speaking, two fliers is enough to have an answer enemy aircraft, as well as for providing spot elimination versus key hard targets, plus the formation is really easy to include in an army. With many tournament formats moving towards "three detachments," it's easier to plug this formation in an army.
**The '''Triarch Judicator Battalion''' is on-and-off a mixed bag, but for the most part handles well with a Chaos army. Praetorians got buffed to the point they make a solid assault unit, and they provide their own movement to boot. Running them alongside fleshy-masses-that-were-once-human gives you a wave of fast-moving hard targets your opponent has to deal with, that can move through cover with no issue. If you're feeling sneaky, note that the Praetorians can also take Night Scythes as dedicated transports too, though you're not using them as transports. Instead, you're using the Nightscythes either as air defense, or as ground-attack craft; note that they would reroll to-penetrate vehicles marked by the formation's Stalker, so if an otherwise tough-to-remove Knight is bearing down on you, some mass Tesla just might be what the Warlord ordered.

*'''Orks:''' From a hobby/fluff perspective, there are numerous cases of Chaos Lords trying to hire Orks as mooks, or they make an amusing "counts as" for 40k Beastmen. Orks can provide several things to an aspiring Chaos Lord. Why take a few expensive Havocs or Forgefiend, while Lootas or Mek Guns are available, or why swarm Zerkers when Slugga Boys will bury the enemy in attacks just as well? Either with Lootas or Mek Gunz, they add an additional layer of fire support that is otherwise missing in a Chaos army, and they provide extra weight of fire. With Warbuggies or Deffkoptas, they can provide a cheapish substitute to having attack bikes, though both have their own share of dirty tricks they can do in turn. Just remember that Ork armor is worthless, so don't be surprised when your Chaos boys are still standing after your big green friends are shot up. Notable Ork formations include the following:
**'''Bullyboyz:''' Simply put, Bullyboyz turn Meganobz from a decent suicide missile into an unholy train of destruction. With Fearless and improved Weapon Skill, they hit harder, and give a commander absolute reliability that they will stand their ground. They still lack invulnerable saves and so cannot weather the attacks of mass Grav weapons, or enemies bringing their own Riptides/Fire Dragons/Thundershield Terminators/etc, but both Orks and Chaos have access to cheap chaff units that provide an extra layer of screening. Cultists are for most intents and purposes glorified Grots anyway. With Bullyboyz, you don't particularly fear Knights as much, as you have the weight of Klaw attacks to simply out-attrition them in a direct slugfest.

===Desperate Allies===

*'''Dark Eldar:''' This could be a good (or at least interesting) pairing, with Plague Marines and massive Cultist blobs holding down the objectives while the Dark Eldar range ahead and blow things to pieces. As a rule of thumb, CSM are the anvil and DE are the hammer. Don't worry too much about the whole Desperate Allies thing; Chaos Marines don't have that many abilities that would benefit the DEldar, and the DEldar are usually so much faster than the rest of CSM (with the exception of the Heldrake and maybe the Maulerfiend) that you don't need to worry about the whole One Eye Open, "we won't work within 6" of you" thing.

*'''Tau:''' NEW CODEX!!!!!! Pretty good choice. First take a Cadre Fireblade and a minimum squad of Firewarriors. Followed by a MOTHERFUCKING RIPTIDE, THIS BABY WILL SHIT DOWN THE NECK OF ANY IMPERIAL DOG!!! For extra brownie points align your MOTHERFUCKING RIPTIDE to your preferred Chaos God. For extra, extra brownie points replace the giant burst cannon on your Slaanesh Riptide with a huge dildo. If you want to be a dick, take sensor towers and make any three of your squad's weapon twinlinked. Yes, it would work on any allies, not only battle brothers. Heck, you even can twinlink enemy squad just for S&G. Worth mentioning, that Broadsides with velocity trackers are near the best anti-air in the game, and one of the few capable of penetrating damn Caestus ram.

===Come the Apocalypse===
*'''The Imperium:''' Yes, that's right, you can now ally with any Imperial faction as long as they deploy 12 inches away and if they come 6 inches close to you, you need to test to see if they just stare at each other for a turn. They come in many flavors:
**'''Space Marines:''' Since they have too many Chapter Tactics to cover, the best ones will be covered instead. Iron Hands (The supplement too) gives you more durable flyers and tanks, tougher marines, and [[Chapter Master Smashfucker|an unkillable Chapter Master]] if you take the Supplement. Salamanders with their bonuses to Meltaguns and Flamers, and Imperial Fists for Tank Hunting Devastator/Centurions with Bolter Drill as a bonus.
**'''Dark Angels:''' Pretty hilarious, but not particularly useful.
**'''Grey Knights:''' Extra warp charges and Force Weapon goodness. Would you like a Storm Raven and a [[Dreadknight|Baby Carriage]] with your order of lore-breaking?
**'''Blood Angels:''' Cheap Razorbacks and easy access to Stormravens. Death Company Dreadnoughts aren't bad either.
**'''Space Wolves:''' Wolf here, wolf there, wolf everywhere. Nifty flyers and Marines right here.
**'''Astra Militarum:''' Run your meatshields as Renegades and Heretics instead.
**'''Adepta Sororitas:''' Infiltrating Meltaguns with Immolators and a Exorcist? Oh my.
**'''Legion of the Damned:''' Yet another army that can bring more Meltaguns in case you didn't have enough, although some Multi-Meltas are useful in this case.
**'''Inquisition:''' Outside-the-box Xanthite fluff? Offers very little to Chaos due to most of their tricks being designed for Battle Brothers.
**'''Militarum Tempestus:''' They're okay as well. Drop them in the backfield away from your advancing troops.
**'''Imperial Knights:''' Renegade Knights offer exactly the same platform with more customization, and Chaos Knights offer Daemon options and various neat tricks. Skip.
**'''Skitarii:''' Here comes the Dark Mechanicus! They provide you with just about everything you don't get: AP2 at initiative, anti-MC, anti-infantry, anti-tank and cheap and very reliable and cheap anti air and a long ranged mini Vindicator
*'''Tyranids:''' They help with anti-air and providing more warp charges (that they cannot share with you). Hive Tyrants and Crones are a must, while Zoanthropes are nice to have.
*'''Eldar:''' Provide fast units in the form of skimmers and jet bikes or durable units in the form of wraiths. They provide S6 en masse so that could plug the anti-tank gap as well as readily available strength D in the Wraithguard (which can be made fast by slotting them in a serpent).

==Building your Army==

CSM have a very old codex and tend to be overpriced - the best way to compensate for this are Traitor Legion special rules and formations/detachments. Building a basic Chaos Warband formation is a good start, as they also work well as a regular CAD.

Notable Kits worth include:
*'''The Start Collecting CSM Box:''' This comes with a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armor, 10 regular Chaos Space Marines, and a Helbrute, as well as a dataslate letting them all be run as a standalone formation. Considering the Chaos Warband requires 10 Power Armored Marines minimum, this actually isn't that bad of an investment.
*'''Dark Vengeance:''' Dark Vengeance is a "starter set" for people wanting to play Chaos Space Marines and/or Dark Angels; if you have a friend to split this up with, you're potentially in business, or you can try "filing off the Aquilas" on the Loyalists. Note that since they're snap-fit single-pose plastics, conversion work will be easier said than done. The kit comes with a Chaos Lord (not a bad start, though you want your Lord mounted up), 20 Cultists (good, because Cultists tend to be a valuable objective camper), 6 Chosen which unfortunately are geared for melee though you can convert some Champions from them, and a Helbrute. Overall, this is actually pretty decent for a starter set; the Dark Angels get a Company Master (meh), a Librarian (hello Sorcerer) 10 Tactical Marines (aka closet traitors), 5 Terminators (which you want), and 3 Bikes (which you also want). If you opt to use the entire box in one go, that's an entire Chaos Warband and a secondary CAD in one go.
**Unfortunately, the Crimson Slaughter Dark Vengeance Expansion isn't as focused, even though you get a good discount price out of the whole thing. You get another 5 Cultists, a unit 5 Chaos Terminators, 5 Warp Talons and a Land Raider. The problem is Cultist units are generally best run as 10-man or 20-man units, leaving 5 Cultists in an awkward position, Land Raiders are overcosted and generally not worth fielding outside of certain fringe builds (Blood Angels have a sexy Land Raider formation, and you don't), and Warp Talons are pretty terrible as a rule, especially as a "single unit". If you want Talons, you should skip this box and go for the Raptor Talon (listed below). If you want Terminators, get the regular Terminator box and some multi-part plastics.
***Maelstrom of Gore** - This is cute if you're running a World Eaters army. The problem is that Berserkers themselves are overcosted, so you'll probably have them "counts as" regular Marines with the Mark of Khorne.

Once you select one of these "core" kits, adding a good secondary bundle will help round off your army, and help it fit into a Legion detachment more easily.
*'''Helforged Warpack''': You get two dinobots, a brute and a warpsmith. Not great, but neat - and if that's the way you want to go anyway, you might as well check it out. Ideally, this bundle would have been better with a 3rd Dinobot, especially since you'll already have another Brute from either the Start Collecting or Dark Vengeance kits.
*'''Terror Pack''': two drakes. 'nuff said.
*'''Raptor Talon''': This bundle gives you 10 Raptors, 5 Warp Talons and a Chaos Space Marines Lord with Jump Pack, ready to deepstrike AND charge immediately after that. Night Lords can use this as a "core" bundle if they desire, but this bundle is fun for Black Legion too thanks to their Speartip Strike. Although unfluffy, the toughness bonuses afforded by Death Guard make them deadlier than normal.
*'''Favored of Chaos''': This bundle comes with 15 Possessed and a Prince. GW has been pushing these so hard ever since the revised Crimson Slaughter came out, but there's the thing - possessed suck. If you're a diehard Word Bearers fan, this might be worth your time. Otherwise, don't bother.

*'''A note about Iron Warriors''' - Like IW? Well, starting an IW army has never been easier than now - get your hands on the Betrayal at Calth box set. That one provides you with 30 plastic HERESY-era Marines (whose sculpts suit the IW better than the new ones), a small squad of Cataphractii Terminators, a Contemptor Dread, and two HQ choices. Said HQ choices are a Cataphractii Terminator Captain (which you could choose to field as a Terminator Champion or as a Terminator Lord) and a Legion Chaplain (which you can also convert into/field as your choice of power armored Sorcerer, Dark Apostle, or Chaos Lord). The set is available for less than what Games Workshop usually sells it at, should you search eBay, and lets you decide how much obvious/rampant mutation your Traitors display by adding green stuff or painting evidence of corruption onto their armor - WITHOUT having to spend time filing off Imperial icons like Aquilas. The only thing left, really, would be some [[METAL BOXES|Rhinos]]. Still not good enough for you? The "Burning of Prospero" box has 30 plastic Mk.III Iron Armor Marines, in case those Mk.IV Maximus suits from the Calth box weren't doing it for you, so you could always find someone willing to trade.

The '''NOW OUT OF STOCK''' Chaos Marine Battleforce Box is a good start, giving you a Rhino, Chaos Space Marine Squad, 5 Possessed and 3 Bikes. The old Battleforce (even more elusive) had a Rhino, Khorne Berserker Squad, enough bitz for 2 Chaos Marine Squads, and a 5-strong Possessed Squad which you can ''easily'' use to make a Chaos lord with any of the new options, give Chaos Champions Lightning Claws, all the stuff you only have one of in the Chaos accessory sprue. The four remaining Possessed you can use to make the five man Chaos marine squad into a nine man one.

The Chaos Marine Attackforce box is a even better start '''IF YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON IT, FOR IT IS ALSO A VERY OLD PRODUCT, AND OUT OF STOCK AS WELL'''. It gives you A Rhino, a Chaos Space Marine Squad, 5 Raptors/Warp Talons, 1 Forge Fiend/Mauler Fiend, 1 Lord/Sorcerer in Terminator Armor and 5 Terminators. This allows you to field a complete army at about 800-900 points if you split the Marines in two five man squads. If you want a quick start, get a second Marine box or a couple of Cultists from Ebay and you will have a complete playable (Although not the most competitive) army. If you really like Dinobots, Terminators and Raptors, get a second box and you will be able to fill 2/3 of the Force Organization Chart and land at about 1800 points for only about £300 ($490).

From there, it takes a bit of planning and experimentation. Chaos Space Marines differ greatly from their loyalist counterparts in that they are less forgiving of fuck ups. That is to say what works against one opponent will not likely work against another. Units like Plague marines, havocs and obliterators are generally all around useful against any opponent, so you can almost never go wrong with buying a box. Some players swear by some units while others think they are shit.

One thing to keep in mind is even your basic troops can start getting VERY expensive once the upgrades start piling up. A basic Marine can go from 13 to 19 or higher per model once you start adding on a close combat weapon, mark, Veterans of the Long war, icons, etc. As players of full cult lists already know, this will lead to being outnumbered very frequently. Finding the balance between quantity and quality in a army full of options and strong expensive units is key. Keep in mind that 7e is focused on shooting - not exclusively, but predominantly. Many people get into CSMs for the marines. However, it is often a good idea to just take a minimal squad of cultists for your mandatory troop choice and use the remaining points on something that actually hits hard.

Consider using allies with cost effective troops to counter deficiencies in your lists. Chaos Daemons are the best ally to start with.

==Tactics==

===Psychic Primer===
Having at least one Psyker adds an extra layer of depth to your army, and Chaos Space Marines can bring the Psychic game. One of the main reason Psykers remain useful in 40k is they generate their powers after army creation but pre-game, meaning you're paying for a "wildcard" gun you can tailor.
*'''Know what Powers To Take''' - Most of the "BRB Psyker" rules from the [[Psychic_101|Psychic Tactica]] apply here. You don't get Divination or Telekinesis without the Balestar or Ahriman/Exalted Sorcerers. Of the Traitor's Hate disciplines, Ectomancy gives you a good grab-bag of abilities, with the "mobility powers" being a notable force multiplier for an army that's traditionally "slow" like Chaos; when you can "swap places" with your own units, or selectively give your units the "Interceptor Shunt", an Ecto-sorcerer plugs a lot of the traditional CSM weaknesses. Heretech is for if you're up against mass enemy vehicles (*cough*...Gladius...*cough*), while Sinistrum gives you some Deathstar/anti-Deathstar tech. Geomortis has a few duds, but selective Ignore Cover/LOS can have its uses, and you get a good "Healing" power which can be helpful if you want to run a Summon Sorcerer. Remember you can "mix-and-match" disciplines. While this costs you your Psychic Focus, Psychic Shriek is the "main" Primaris that gets attention anyway. If you've rolled your two powers on one Discipline and got at least one of the powers you wanted, it's probably worth taking Psychic Shriek as your third power rather than rolling for it.
*'''Summoner Psykers''' - Your Sorcerers are no better at avoiding Perils from attempting to Summon Daemons than any others, but this is deceiving. Princes can summon if you spend the 50 points on getting two Mastery Levels, but a more economical option may be to just spend 60 points to give your Sorcerer a Mark of Nurgle and Palanquin; the extra two wounds can give you an extra turn or two of tossing out summons. Finally, Crimson Slaughter gets Prophet of the Voices, which lets you turn one of your Sorcerers into a Daemon.
*'''Mobility is Key''' - Most Psyker powers max out at 24" effective range, with 18" being the average for Witchfires. Thus, unless you're running a Summoner Prophet (or the less efficient Summon-Prince), you want your Psyker to bring mobility. Your Sorcerers can take Bikes (or Jump Packs for fringe uses) while your Prince can use Wings. Remember that you can Turbo or Flat-Out after using Psychic powers.
*'''Protect your Psykers''' - You need to protect your Psykers from both your opponents and themselves. Besides incoming fire, your Psykers can Perils, and the Champion of Chaos rule can trigger from Witchfires; the last thing you want is your Sorcerer to transform into [[Chaos_Spawn|that-which-must-not-be-named]] because he fried a Sergeant with an errant Psychic Shriek! Protecting a Sorcerer is either a matter of joining a good "bunker" unit (whether it's a blob of Cultists, or a unit of Spawn-OHGODNOBLARGAHHHHH), or really good positioning ("Bike twelve, manifest a power, Turbo back to safety"), while Perils is something you just learn to live with (or you buy a Mark of Nurgle & Palanquin for an extra two Wounds). For protecting your Psykers against accidentally transforming themselves from their own spells however, you'll want to avoid targeting small units with characters among other similar targets that your army should otherwise be capable of taking on. That said, if you're running a Sorcerer in a Chaos Warband, Favored Scions gives you some insurance (and you might get a buff or two out of it).
*'''Include some "Batteries" for support''' - Your Spell Familiars give you some leeway in stretching your Warp Charge out further, but you will stretch thin. A good rule of thumb is one Psyker is a "battery" for every two casters. Thankfully, you're Battle Brothers with Daemons, and an allied Detachment of 11 Daemons and a Herald of Tzeentch will give 5 Warp Charges for less than 200 points, as well as a fearless bubblewrap/objective-holders while the rest of your army gets to fight. While an overcosted unit and generally not recommended for serious play, even the Thousand Sons Sorcerer can be thought of as a "free Warp Charge" if you're insistent on running a unit of them as a glorified breacher-team.
*'''Have A Plan''' - Psychic Powers are a tool among many. Summons let you "build momentum", set up traps, or deny/lock down the board, while other powers can make your army selectively tougher, your enemy selectively weaker, or serve as fancy analogues to guns, but if you don't plan out your powers, you will have a bad time. If you're up against an opponent that wants to do an assault alpha-strike, Summons can protect you either through bubblewrap (Daemonettes!) or with counter-charging Tarpits (Beasts of Nurgle!), while summoning "fast" move-through-cover Daemons can be used to prepare for a "push." It's when you have an underlying army providing fire support (be it of the Meltagun, Autocannon, or Termicide Combi-plasma variety) that Psykers truly shine, rather than relying on them to carry you through single-handedly.

===Handling Challenges===
For many games, Challenges are more a curiosity than an active part of the game: When you fight an army of Eldar Jetbikers or Tau Riptides, you'll find tough shooty units with nary a character a sight, and some armies (Necrons and Tyranids) may not have any characters whatsover except a single Lord or Flying Hive Tyrant! Even when up against an army with multiple sergeants, challenges are an annoyance for many of your characters; a Cultist Champion is just as dead in assault whether or not in a Challenge, while a Space Marine Sergeant and a vanilla Aspiring Champion fighting against each other is effectively a coin-flip. It's when you're up against other melee armies or ones with special bonuses in challenges (For example, Eldar, Space Marine Champions, etc) that you have to be extra-careful in combat. The first thing is to remember that Challenges are issued at the start of the Fight Sub-phase, and Challenges can only be issued or accepted by models that are Engaged. If you have a character you do not wish to engage in a challenge, keep him more than 2" away from the closest base-to-base model; he won't be Engaged at the start of the Fight Sub-Phase, so he won't have to issue a Challenge. You then wait for the character's Initiative Step to happen, then have him make his 3" step so he's now Engaged and free to beat stuff up. Alternately, if your opponent wants to issue a challenge, it pays to have several sacrificial schlubs on-hand to "take one for the team".

==Builds==
This section is divided into three main parts: There's the "fluffy" section for people that want to run armies that adhere closely to how the nine Traitor Legions work, the "min-max" section that does a more clinical analysis of what is/isn't competitive with Chaos, and the misc/FUN/shits & giggles section. As usual, YMMV and caveat emptor and all that funky jazz.

===Legion-Specific Guidelines===
For the first time since the legendary 3.5 codex, making a fluffy yet powerful Legion army is now an option thanks to the Traitor Legions Supplement! Just in case we failed to mention anything in previous or later sections of the tactica, here are some suggestions/tips/observations for compiling a Traitor Legion detachment.

====Alpha Legion====
Alpha Legion is about sneakiness, infiltration tactics, and highly-trained Cultist teams. Alliances of Convenience with Orks are not unknown (as one may recall from [[Dawn of War]]). Fortunately for you, the Alpha Legion tactics do just this, allowing cultists, Chosen, and Marines to infiltrate. In addition, they allow any character to generate a warlord trait after your warlord dies. Who's the real Alpharius? Oh, and they don't get Slay the Warlord unless they kill every character in your army.
*With so many infiltrating units, it is very easy to dominate the early game. Set up 5 plasma gun chosen to assassinate the enemy warlord; melta chosen for armored targets. 20 Man CSM squads plopped onto objectives or close to the enemy (circumventing the need for transports). Cultists infiltrated onto back/midfield objectives. Flamers to crisp some nasty CC units before they can get into combat. '''THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!'''

====Black Legion====
Choice is the name of the game here. With no restriction on marks, you are the only Legion that has access to the entirety of the CSM range, minus characters. Including the new TSons and (soon) Death Guard units. This makes a CAD rather interesting to play with. You also have two warbands to choose from. For killpoint games you have the Black Legion warband, for everything else you have the chaos warband, unless of course you feel like murderizing units off of objectives rather than competing with other ObSec units. So between the aptly named Black Crusade, our Speartip and CAD/formations and access to all units, you can be defensive, aggressive or anything in between. Hell, you can even give TSons a run for their money in the psychic phase. And being the largest Legion by far, it's all fluffy too.

The Black Legion supplement provides a few starting points for fluffy lists. Hounds of Abaddon are a khorne warband with their own formation and it's a core choice for the speartrike. Khorne in general works really well with army wide Hatred. Plays similar to WE. Another option is to go ham on elite choices. We get ObSec terminators and chosen in a CAD and it doesn't interfere with turning the cult units of your choice into troops as well. Spice with Forge World and formations as needed. Cultists are for peasants. Or go full glass cannon with the speartip and enjoy turn 1 assaults with possibly the best legion for the raptor talon and maybe a terminator annihilation force. If you somehow still have points, bring the psychic dakka with a cabal and let the galaxy burn.

====Night Lords====
The Raptor Talon was tailor-made for Night Lords players. Night Lord Raptor Talons inflict [[Rape|-4 LD]] on units the turn they charge. Plus, now it's a core choice for the Night Lords Decurion! To make your horde of Fear-inducing Marines even more absurdly successful, bring the Heldrake Terror Pack formation to force more penalties on your opponents during fear tests.Milage may vary against loyalist Marines, but you do have the cover saves to really make use of the re-rolled charge in the decurion. Still absurdly successful against most other armies in terms of failed fear tests.

====Iron Warriors====
Iron Warriors play differently from most Chaos armies in that they emphasize shooting rather than herohammer. Their Warlord table has a lot of stinkers or depend on your army composition: you will [[Rage]] when your Lord or Daemon Prince gets Fearless, gives all your nearby Daemon Engines It Will Not Die when they already have it, or lets your Obliterators fire the same gun when you didn't take Obliterators!

Thankfully, Obliterator troops mean you can take a minimum-sized CAD (or 2) and get Strategic. It's because of this that the Cult of Destruction is ironically usually not worth taking for Iron Warriors!

If you take the Grand Company, you're doing it either because you love pieplates, or you want to re-enact the Iron Cage and plop down lots of Fortifications. Or you can do both: You can take a pair of Vengeance Weapon Batteries with Battle Cannons, or a Firestorm Redoubt which you can then garrison with a unit of [[Awesome|Objective Secured Tank Hunter Havocs! And the Battle Cannons reroll scatter]]! Fist of the Gods becomes a fun formation if you want to throw down 3 Vindicators, and if you use Legacies of Ruin, you can grant one of them Outflank to really keep your opponent guessing where the next attack will come from!

That said, don't go overboard. You can do Fortification-spam, Vindicator-spam, or even (for more casual games) taking an odd Defiler in support of Maulerfiends, but you won't be able to do it all at once; taking more than one Warpsmith in games less than 2000 points will be a heavy tax for most of your armies, and you should almost never take more than two. If you're playing at lower points or just want to field more bodies, the humble Munitorium Armored Crate is only 10 points more than a Spawn Auxiliary and provides a good deal of support for your Warband, from additional cover, ammo crates to help your Havocs shoot better, and even the Fuel Tanks can let you turn a unit of Chaos Bikes or two into a jury-rigged Torrent flamer team.

====Word Bearers====
While Word Bearers have access to all Marks of Chaos, unlike most legions, they have some of the weakest legion rules, which revolve around a few particular HQ choices. Possessed as Troops in a CAD with no other improvements to their rules are still a bad unit, while the Dark Apostle 6" range is small and only gives Hatred and Fearless(which other legions can get for free). The harnessing of warp charges for Conjurations on a 3+ is the strongest benefit from playing Word Bearers: combining this with a Spell Familiar, and you summon daemons more efficiently than most daemons. You will have to keep this in mind when building the list: free VotLW is the only thing your basic Chaos Space Marines gain from(not counting formation and detachment rules), without the help of your supporting HQs.

Because Possessed themselves are bad, and Word Bearers do not get any other advantages to support running Forgeworld-heavy lists, most Word Bearers lists should start with a Grand Host rather than a CAD. Although Eight-Fold Path is mostly inferior to Path to Glory in the Black Crusade detachment (you can use it on Daemon Princes or Warpack characters, but it doesn't benefit from Favored Scions and you can't pile blessings), Crusader allows your grunts to get across the board faster while the Word Bearers Warlord Table is rather nice. The question is whether you want to do a Cultist-heavy build, or a Marine-focused build.

The Cultist build is pretty simple: Use a Lost and the Damned Core, but try to balance the ratio of Cultists to actual killing power; the main reason for this formation is how expendable it is. The Warpack actually makes sense as an Auxiliary for this army, as taking several Daemonology Psykers means you have respectable odds of getting Cursed Earth, plus Warlord Psyker Defiler remains the most memetic Crab Cathedral (Crabthedral) to emerge from rule interactions; take advantage of Crusader so your Cultists can run forth, jam movement, etc.

The Marine-focused build will go for a Warband, and try to take advantage of the ability to mix-and-match Marks. If you want some Cultists to support this build, one option is to use a Helbrute as your mandatory "Heavy" requirement for the formation, then take an allied Helcult so you have a second Brute and two units of super-unbreakable Cultists. If you're feeling cheeky, you can attach your Lord/Sorcerer to each Cultist unit so they also get Crusader, and move faster towards objectives (presumably the Grand Host characters are whipping them up into a religious frenzy). Bring Spawn or other..OHGODNOARRRGRMGH...as the other anon was saying, other fast-moving assault elements can put additional pressure on your opponent, so that MSU Bikes are not your only trick!

No matter whether you go for a Marine or Cultist-focused build, a Palanquin Summoner is a good pick for your army, as the blessings from Lore of Nurgle can buff your army to do nasty things, while the extra wounds give you additional breathing room for casting powers despite Perils. Though you can run Bike Sorcerers, you're not really taking advantage of the Word Bearers' main draw if you do this. On the other hand, a Daemon detachment (be it Allied Detachment, CAD, or Heralds Anarchic) can provide you a lot of extra Warp Charge to play with as well as Paradox. When you can reliably expect to get at least two free units of Flesh Hounds per turn, while you're running lots of small threats, you can maintain a momentum over your opponent that is more powerful than it appears at first glance!

====World Eaters====
The Butcherhorde is pretty amazing. <s>(Fill in the rest here, World Eaters players!)</s> Don't mind if I do!

* The Detachment is good for a noncompetitive setting because the 2d6 pre-movement will be negated because you don't want your Berserkers from the Maelstorm of Gore to sit out in the open and get shot to death. However, instead of bringing Kharn, bring a Juggerlord with the Talisman of Burning Blood and put them in a bike or spawn unit and now they have a pre-movement of 2d6, base movement of 15" and a charge of + 6" if the Lord is from the Maelstrom of Gore (note: the other model's in the unit he's in won't get that extra 3 inches, so you'll have to put your Lord in front Mad Max style). You can easily get first blood and if you bring the Raptor Talon which can charge when they come from reserves, you can disrupt the front lines turn 1 with the Lord and spawn then charge the back lines with the Raptors/Warp Talons turn 2. Then charge with the Bersekers turn 3. You can bring an additional JuggerLord with the Dimensional Key so your Deep Striking units do not scatter.

* As most opponents will be smart enough to not deploy on the edge of their deployment zone (or they're Tau), a Gorepack for scouting Flesh Hound escorts makes your turn two charges all the more devastating. Mixing in more Khorne Deamonkin like a JuggerLord with Blood Forged Armour and Axe of Khorne escorted by scouted Hounds can be great anti-charge/tarpit units as well. You wouldn't want your Axe of Blind Fury or Gorefather JuggerLords bogged down by Wraiths now, would you? Pretty sure those things don't even have skulls...

* Speaking of special weapon wielding warriors of wape: this army has a few very strong toys to play with. Where Death Guard can MSU and Alpha Legion can Cultists spam, HQ spam seems to be the name of the game with World Eaters. JuggerLords with AoBF or Gorefather are a must. A Deamon Prince with Berzerkers Glaive will make your opponent scream in terror as they fire volley after volley into him before the inevitable bladed insertion. Any Warpsmith (escorting Obliterators) or Dark Apostle (escorting Cultists) can be tricked out with a Burning Brand of What-Do-You-Mean-It's-AP3-Torrent. The trick to a good assault army is to give your opponent too many high priority targets to choose from. If they're too busy taking out your Deamon Prince they'll leave your Spawn wrapped JuggerLords alone, leaving them free to run wild in their deployment zone.

* One very important rule to remember is to not split your forces. World Eater units aren't tough, you will get shot a whole bunch and you will be removing models by the handful at times, but if anything gets close to your mass of swirling axes and flailing tentacles its going to get mulched. Nothing kills you faster than your own hubris, however, and thinking you can split off one unit of Chaos Space Marines to deal with something is a surefire way to get those Marines killed by shooting/PSYKIC NONSENSE. Be a red tide of death crashing into the enemy on mass and you will have success.

“monuments are dust, tales merely words soon forgotten, but blood, blood is forever”
Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters

====Death Guard====

Another approach is a Death Guard Vectorium with a Chaos Warband with plenty of Havocs and a Cult of Destruction for added versatility. Use Nurgle Bikers to intercept enemy melee specialists.

The Plague Colony Formation compensates your -1 Initiative by also inflicting it on the enemy, along with -1 WS - putting enemy MEQs on the same level as your walkers. So give your Plague Colony some Rhinos, combine with Maulerfiends from a Hellforged Warpack, don't forget the Dirge Casters and maybe add a bunch of Nurgle Bikers. Cue Advancing Wall of Death. Very expensive but can really put a dent in things (especially in Apocalypse games).

====Emperor's Children====
Turn up your sonic weapons to 11 with the Kakophoni formation. Noise Marines in the Decurion have S5 sonic blasters and S9 blastmasters with Shred. Judicious application of Slaanesh psychic powers allows for potential S6+ and S10! ''Yeah good luck with that. You only get the +1S if you field 6 Noise Marine units. That means with minimum Noise Marine units without Icons or Rhinos but with their weapons of course + a Lord without any upgrades would cost you already 980p. Good thing we all play 3k point games everytime, right?'' Things shall get loud now. A Helcult povides you with nice mobile cover, AP2 and is a good way to represent your pleasure slaves. Lost and Damned, while flakier, unlock -and take- Combat Drugs. Alternately take a Chaos Warband for Anti-Air and AP2.

The Raptor Talon really benefits from the Slaaneshi Decurion, especially when you combine it with a melee oriented Chaos Warband.

====Thousand Sons====
There are two ways to go about running Thousand Sons. The first way would be to run a Tzeentchian Sorcerer, unlock Thousand Sons troops, and...that's about it really. Add anthing with a 5++ save to benefit most from MoT and thus legion tactics, maybe a Skyshield Landing Pad as magical fortress for your Havocs. Or start with a War Cabal and expand from there. Thankfully, Traitor's Hate gives you more leeway in running a wizarding army, and without the need to lock your own Sorcerers into using the Mark of Tzeentch. Run "The Lost and the Damned" as your main core, for the gaggle of cultists/Spireguard that are kept as servants, and add at least two Thousand Sons units as your Auxiliary of choice. Run several Sorcerers with your Command Choices, Add some [[Chaos Spawn|Things Which Must Not Be Named]] or Heldrakes as additional auxiliaries, and max out points on getting . Why not consider adding a Daemon CAD for additional variety as well?

Ok so this has been playtested once and I will try it a few more times before my final verdict but after the first game this is my opinion.
The Ahriman's Exiles Formation. You cannot get any more elite than this. Ahriman and 3-9 Exalted Sorcerers to get a 3+ warp charge. Now, this is a veeeery pricey formation in points, I played a 1k game and it had only four models in it. All were on discs, familiared when possible and level 3. I also threw in some artefacts like the Murder Sword which really paid off. Now I lost on points (Crusade with three of five obj in the opponents board half made things tricky) but that was partly down to my only mistakes early on and some bad luck. The trick is that you rarely perils thanks to 3+ rerollable Warp Charge rolls and if you pick your disciplines right you end up with a very tough (Endurance and Warp Fate almost every turn) unit that can constantly keep out of combat until it wants to get stuck in. At 1500 you add some more Sorcerers and maybe a Malefic one to expand your presence and it could be quite nasty to handle.

===[[Dwarf fortress|Fun]], fluffy and Semi-old builds===
*'''STD squelch:''' (Nurgle oriented). Ever wanted to have a legit CSM army that numbers many models ''and'' is fluffy? Then, my dirty friend, this one's for you. Take 9 units of cultists (minimum size) an Apostle to make the Lost and the Damned formation, then add Typhus. The fun part is that Typhus makes these meat puppets Fearless zombies with Slow and Purposeful and FnP, while the Apostle makes every wiped unit come back on 4+ from ongoing reserves. With ''Outflank''. Let that sink in. Then add 3 Vindicators and a Warpsmith for some well-needed firepower. The grind is real when the enemy is guaranteed to be tarpitted ''or'' blasted back into the age of pre-industrial Russia by the Vindicators (they can combine their shots into 1 apoc-blast). All of this would be just under 1.300pts, with more than enough room for whatever bile-infused mayhem you may need to complete a Black Crusade detachment!

*'''Love Parade''' (Nurgle+Slaanesh). Take the Kakophoni Formation at full size, sorcerer included, add a Helcult at full size with MoN (representing drugs) and 6 flamers, and an [[Chaos Spawn|unnamable beast]] as mascot to get that sweet Combat Drugs detachment bonus. With the Kakophoni at minimum model count for 6 blastmasters, some 65 cultists and various upgrades it costs you 1500 pts, with the Kakophoni at minimum model count for 12 blastmasters and 6 icons of excess it costs 2500 pts. Give the helbrute a plasma cannon for some AP2, and all you miss is air defense.

*'''Poop Bucket Prince:''' ''Many times proven to work in practice''. Upgrade your DP with MoN, Burning Brand and lvl 3 Mastery Level. Fly around the map, dropping AP2 pie plates full of shit and AP3 torrents full of morning breath, while being hit on 6'es and having 2+ jink save. If you jink and have to give up that torrent, don't worry, as you still have those awesome Nurgle powers left to itch your opponent with. Throw in a [[Heldrake|Hellturkey]] for free beverage during your game consisting of your opponent's salty tears.

*'''Choo-Choo Chosen:''' Chosen can take 5 special weapons. That's possibly '''5 MELTA GUNS!''' Alternatively, you can give up to 4 of those special weapons for fists/claws/power weaps. You can either cram squads of 10 of them in Rhinos, or drop them in Dreadclaws and gear them how you want to function. There are three ways to run "mass Chosen."
**'''Take Abaddon:''' The most immediate one, Abaddon makes Chosen Troops. This is fun if you face lots of Marine players, since his Preferred Enemy Bubble will add up. However, if you're not facing Marines, his bonus won't matter as much...however, he is still ultimately a giant beatstick capable of bringing the pain. You have the option to Deep Strike him in, either with Terminator pals or in a Dreadclaw (since he would presumably be your Infernal Warpsmith, he would be effectively immune to being "nommed" on by his own transport), or run him in a Land Raider if you're bleeding points (how did you manage that?!)
**'''Run a Black Legion army:''' Black Legion get Chosen Troops, or the Black Legion Warband lets them take additional units. However, they '''must''' take Veterans of the Long War, which the Black Legion used to pay points for - paying an extra 10 points per 5 guys could add up fast! Fortunately, the updated rules from the Traitor Legions supplement lets them take VotLW for free, so this isn't such a drawback anymore. Meanwhile, you don't have to pay for csm or cultists regardless of your HQ - use that to your advantage.
**'''(Forgeworld) Run The Purge:''' A Purge Detachment switches things around so rather than making Chosen troops, you only need to run mandatory Elites instead. The only catch is you can't Mark your Chosen with anything besides the Mark of Nurgle, but if you weren't planning to Mark them anyway, it's no big loss.
**'''Alpha Legion:''' Not only are Chosen Troops, they also get Infiltrate! Add a few infiltrating regular marines and cultists for distraction and you are golden.

===The Min-Max Section===
*'''Cabalstar''' - The Cabalstar is one of the more common builds if you're trying to build Chaos with a degree of competitive viability. Simply put, you're taking the Cyclopia Cabal for multiple Sorcerers, and you're looking for a suitable unit to make a Deathstar out of; add supporting fire support and objective-grabbing units to flavor, be they Bikers, Cultists, or whatnot. While you "could" experiment with making a Cabalstar out of other units, deathstars work best when they bring their own mobility, and thus the two notable units used for stars are:
**'''[[Chaos Spawn|You-know-whats]]:''' You get 3 high-toughness wounds for a reasonable price, but lack any Invulnerable Save, and lack raw damage. That said, if you're giving one Sorcerer the Black Mace, chances are that Sorcerer is also rolling Biomancy in order to fish for Iron Arm; if you get Endurance, the things-that-must-not-be-named become that much tougher against many things.
**'''Flesh Hounds:''' The more popular option for running a Cabalstar, though if you're using Chaos Marines as your primary, this would effectively eat up three detachments, which would limit your options depending on if you're playing in certain tournament formats. Because Daemonkin Flesh Hounds do NOT have Daemonic Instability, there's nothing preventing you from joining Sorcerers to them. Ironically enough, Sanctic Daemonology is a good discipline to use on these guys; Hammerhand makes them that much deadlier and capable of grinding down more enemies due to weight of attacks, while Sanctuary improves their armor save while being stackable with Cursed Earth. The best thing though is that because the Flesh Hounds are Beasts, they're immune to the "Difficult and Dangerous Terrain" side effects of Sanctuary. Gate of Infinity gives them a "get out of jail free" card against certain problem units as well. Or you can just take an Alpha Legion Lord with the Mindveil and you will be able to move in and out of combat better than the White Scars!
* '''[[Dark Mechanicus]]''' - Other than the Maulerfiend and certain Forgeworld units, most Chaos Walkers are slow and don't have good alternate deployment options (most of your Dreadnought Chassis models can take Dreadclaws as DTs). They do provide unique fire support vectors and the potential for a lot of long-term damage over the course of a game, so if you do want to give them a go, you better go "All In." That said, there are several formations that cater to playing a Walker-heavy army in different ways; all three Helbrute Dataslate formations have their use,
**'''Fast Builds:''' If you're looking for something more aggressive and "In Your Face", then you're probably playing Daemonkin instead. That said, even for such an army it probably pays to have fire support or "more maulerfiends" so it still helps to bring either Warpsmith formation (the Black Legion one or the other one). If you're using Forgefiends as fire support, having extra turns of Daemonforge will generally carry you farther than said Forgefiends getting Blood For The Blood God.
**'''Attrition Builds:''' A "simple" build for 1850 points is: One Helcult with two units of 35 Cultists and a Helbrute, a Warpack with Warpsmith Tax, Helbrute, 3 Forgefiends and a Defiler (Alpha Beast), and a Forgehost with 3 Soulgrinders of Slaanesh (two with Torrent, and one with Bombardment). The Helcult gives you unconditionally fearless bodies to screen with or edge around for objectives with (it may help to keep the second unit in reserve), the Forgefiends give you "solid-strength" shooting for blowing through Knights/Void Shields/etc, and the rest of the Walkers provide a mix of fire support and speed to play the objectives game.
**'''Experiment''' - The Mayhem Pack can be cute for certain "beta-strike" lists. Forgeworld gives more options of course, with the Plague Hulk being a "discount Soulgrinder", and the Blood Slaughterer allowing you some board control shenanigans with moving enemy units around. Malefic Daemonology can help, as the difference between a 5++ and a 4++ adds up across multiple vehicles, while the Void Shield can provide some protection. Remember that nothing is so tough that it cannot be killed by a D-weapon, Haywire, or Assaults, and plan accordingly.

*'''Using Infiltration/Outflank''' - Both Ahriman and Huron have Master of Deception, so you're guaranteed to have at least one unit of Infiltrators in your army. Unlike Marines, you don't get Scouts or Scout Bikers, and the trait itself is strictly inferior to the Master Of Ambush Strategic Trait in the core rulebook, but you can at least guarantee that you'll get this power. If you don't take marks you can go Alpha Legion, making your Chosen troops and giving Chosen, CSM, and Cultists Infiltrate. And then there is Cypher and his infiltrating Chosen. For best utility, take two detachments, one for Chosen and one for infiltrating specialists. While Infiltration can be used both offensively (reposition your Havocs in a better firing position, place Obliterators in Multimelta range, outflank Chosen Rhinos, etc) and defensively (lay out a unit of Cultists to deny Scout Moves versus White Scars/Ravenwing Bikers, grant Outflank as partial defense against Skyhammers or other Alpha-strikes), you don't have the redundancy or reliability (since you could always end up only infiltrating one special unit anyway) to make a "pure" infiltration army, and any army that includes an Inquisitor with two Servo-Skulls can shut down Infiltration hard. Consider Infiltration more of a Bonus than something you build your army around.

*'''Mass Deep Strike''' - Technically, a build like this is possible, either with Purge, Formations or even through a CAD. The problem of course is that you don't get equipment that allows you to reduce Scatters, and the only reserve manipulations you have on-hand are through Fortifications. One thing you "could" do if you were feeling cheeky would be to run mass solo-Obliterators/Mutilators (either through Purge or the Cult of Destruction) with some optional form of aerial support, akin to a Chaos Lictorshame. However, you don't get the ignore cover shenanigans of that army as a whole, or the maneuverability needed for objectives play. The Terminator Annihilation Force and Raptor Talon both offer you ways to help your Strike go off more effectively however; the former letting you "beat" Interceptor, the latter letting you tie up trouble screening units from the first turn onward. Daemon allies are the most obvious pairing, as Icons can help mitigate scatter for your Obliterators while Cursed Earth prevents it entirely! However, Necrons also provide their own tools as well; a Necron CAD can provide aerial support/obsec troops at a critical location with Nightscythe Immortals, can back up your Obliterators by running solo Heavy Destroyers (in both Fast Attack **and** Heavy Support, mind you), and three of their Elite choices also have Deep Strike. Flayed Ones are your cheap ones, Praetorians are your "Special Weapon Team/melee anchor", but the real funky combo comes with Deathmarks. Since you're Allies of Convenience with Necrons, your units are enemy units to your Necrons, so anytime you manage to Deep Strike a Terminator or other unit in, you can use Ethereal Interception to have your Deathmarks immediately follow suit. They won't be able to shoot at the end of that movement phase, but they can still shoot in your Shooting phase, so if you '''really''' need that Wraithknight dead...

*'''Mechanized''' - The Loyalists have more and better mechanized formations; the Battle Company, Ironwolves, Lucifer Armored Task Force, and many others provide significant buffs or discounts that mean in a straight-up armored slugfest, you will be outnumbered and outgunned. The only "tank" formation that Chaos gets on the other hand is the Fist of the Gods which gives...6+ Invulnerable Saves. Moreso than the other ways to build a Chaos army, this one relies heavily on Formations, Forgeworld, and/or allies to pull its weight across.
**'''Mass AV 11''' - There are two ways to go about this. The non-Forgeworld way is to take a Chaos Warband, and the minimum number of Marines needed; Chosen are your Elites and Havocs are your Heavy Supports. Mount them up, and give each team either two Specials or a Special and matching Combi-weapon. Universal Obsec helps in this regard. The Forgeworld way is to run a Purge detachment and use Chosen as your mandatory Elites. You don't get Razorbacks but you can do Havoc Launchers in a pinch. Add an alternate source of AV 11 to your mix: Ork CADs give you mass Looted Wagons (even with reliability issues, 67 points for an AP 3 pieplate can add some crowd control), or Junkas if you're using Forgeworld. If you prefer a more "melee-MSU" approach and prefer the Rhinos to be support-pieces, the Seeker Calvacade lets you bring a lot of solo Seeker Chariots on the cheap.
**'''Heavy Armor''' - Fist of the Gods gives underwhelming bonuses and saddles you with a Warpsmith tax, but is one way to take "more armor" without having to pay the requirements for a second CAD. Purge does its thing of course. Another thing to note is that most Forgeworld vehicles of this class are just plain better than the codex options available; sure, you can squadron Predators or Vindicators, but you're putting too many points in single units when that happens, and make it easier to be focus-fired. The Deimos Predator makes a scary support-piece provided you can protect it, the Sicaran is an all-around brutal vehicle, and the Relic Predator Infernus can be a source of cheap Plasma blasts that don't Gets Hot. Orks "can" up your overall resilience since Kustom Forcefields do work on enemy units, but another option is running Necrons, either with CAD tax or even just taking the Annihilation Nexus (with Doomsday Ark tax); two Sicarans and two Annihilation Barges are capable of a surprisingly respectable amount of fast-moving twin-linked S7 firepower.

* '''Aerial Warfare''' - Other than the iconic Heldrake, Chaos does have other fliers. The Daemon Prince sacrifices durability and raw killing power for the ability to engage in close combats or combo with psychic utility (though remains very overcosted), and Forgeworld adds its share of fliers. The Hellblade is a dirt-cheap fighter for the firepower it brings, while the Chaos Fire Raptor is one of a small number of Forgeworld vehicles that is flat-out better than its Imperial equivalent.

[[Category:Warhammer 40000 Tactics(7E)]]
[[Category:Warhammer Tactics/Old]]

{{Warhammer_40k_Tactics}}

Gloria-Etalia

2026-05-20T14:32:52Z

82.153.138.184:

{{Cleanup}}
{{Autism}}

[[File:Political Map.png|thumb|Political Map]]
Gloria-Etalia is a setting which was brought into existence when Anon gave /tg/ an empty map and people doodled things onto it. Gloria-Etalia is a post-post-apocalypse world where the remnants of the once great civilizations remain, but they has decayed beyond recognition and the world is mostly in the medieval peroid.The continent is about 4200 km north to south and 6300 km west to east. For contex, the Westrasi Sea is about the size of Italy.

= Timeline =
The world of Gloria-Etalia is broken up into different eras. These eras while used by some nations are not universal.

The lore here needs a lot of work! If it dosn't make sense, then please make it make sense.

*Genesis: Unknown to -2450

*The Dawn: -2450 to 0

*The Collapse: 0 > 1200

*Antiquity: 1200 > 3500

*Era of Discovery: 3500 > 4250

*Era of Expansion: 4250 > 4750

*The Modern Day: 4750 > 5000 (Present)

=== Genesis ===
No one knows how Gloria-Etalia was created, at least no one who is still alive. Truth to be told, the first sentient creatures that evolved on the planet were not concerned by this fact, and unfortunately they had no time to ponder it, because from space came a new race called Humans, that brought technology and through technology changed the world. Nature itself was given a semblance of sentience so it could please their new masters, and in this way the Treants were created. Great projects were created. Some biological like the Molluscs, hivemind "janitors" that were tasked with enforcing a climate according to their masters wishes and more. Technical projects were also created to, like the great amusement parks of the what is now known as the world scar. The whole planet was united by race that achieved its utopia.

But no utopia lasts forever, and there can be no utopia for everyone. Evolved races that considered Gloria its home were bioengineered to be stunted in their evolution. Many of them were made such that it was impossible for them to enter the human societies. But this cruelty was ended by what could be considered divine punishment. A giant meteorite hit the largest nuclear powerplant on the planet, engulfing most of the planet in nuclear fireball. Radiation in atmosphere combined with nuclear ash blocking from the sun made most of the planet uninhabitable. The Era of man was over and now is lost and forgotten. Thus began The Dawn.

=== The Dawn ===
The Dawn is called so because beings that continued to live on Gloria-Etalia saw the meteorite hitting the ground combined with a nuclear explosion that engulfed the planet in flames, as the rising of a second sun. Destruction was so great that all the pain, death and souls lead to birth of new god Some of goverment offcials quickly evacuated, but most humans were left behind. They hid in bunkers, and used what remained of their technology to wage war on one another, culminating in threat of another nuclear anihilation, that pushed gods of the planet to direct action, and destruction of remnants of human modern military. With mayor city centers destroyed by apocalipse, strife, and wrath of gods, humans survived only in far off corners of the world, rest were mutated beyond human limits, while small minority just vanished from the annals of history.

It took a long time before the planet was stabilized again, but some beings used this instability to its advantage. Trolls, and Dragons, both resilient creatures were first to have an impact on the Age of Dawn, but it wasn't a positive impact. They began hunting each other in the plains and mountains of the north, and those hunts lasted centuries or even millenia. Only the youngest survived in the end, and were alive to see the creation of the first human hunter gatherer tribes that managed to cultivate agriculture and animal husbandry, but they were also witness to the last contact with that cosmos this planet had. Three ships flew from the sky, one hit the ground in the plains near the world scar, and was forgotten by most races, but not elves, who were its passengers. Two other ships were more curious. They were called Gloria and Etalia. Alien creatures that were on board brought seeds of civilization back to this world. Writing and reading, simple metallurgy and more. They also brought supplies, and everywhere they went they brought happiness and hope. Future generations remembered Gloria and Etalia as gods, or goddesses that depending on their mythology created the world, humans, or were just protectors of planet, so they named it after them. Gloria and Etailia created a paradise for man to live in harmony under their rule.

=== The Collapse ===
[[File:Ygur Mage.jpg|thumb|A Yugr Mage]]
No one knew why Gloria and Etalia left, and probably no one will ever know. Everyone however knew that they did leave, and that mortals need to finally forge their own destiny in this world. In this first period after their takeoff, civilizations grew like grass after a rain. Most of the sprouted nations rose and fell too quickly to be anything other than footnotes in historical books. Many cultures managed to establish countries and kingdoms that lasted many years, but as tides of history turned they too ultimately became just part of the mythological realm.

Two of most well known empires in the present day are the empire of Yugr, and empire of Drache. They were almost exact opposites of each other. The evil Yugr enslaved all of the north, and under its ruleship made earth itself bleed frozen tears. Drache peacefully united all of Midlands, and established rule of law and justice. Many myths and legends tell of tales of wars between the two empires, but all of them agree that destruction of both came from within. Yugrians mastered icecraft and frostcraft magic, but even they couldn’t stop the ice age that froze most of the north. Knowing this they retreated into their ancestral valley deep in the north, and in one night Yugr stopped existing in the eyes of the rest of the world. The region quickly fell into obscurity, with the former slaves fighting against each other for dominance. Dwarfs, Elves, Humans and most importantly Trolls all fought for power. Many war chiefs rose and fell, without any achievements of note.

Drachne on another hand was so focused on fighting external threats, that they ignored the growing darkness inside of their empire. One of the tribes from the forbidden crater created new and terrible art of magic – necromancy. They quickly mastered it, managed to breach the barrier of death, and achieved lichdom. With this corruptive power they quickly attacked the empire, and destroyed city after city. When they stopped by gates of the capital of Drachne, it was agreed that no matter what happens to the empire that the necromancers have to be stopped. With great power and ritual magick long forgotten the Drachne mages destroyed the undead armies of their enemy, but in the process cursed the land. No normal life could continue there. Earth turned into mud. In some places no matter the hour the sun seemed to never rise. In other places it seems to never fall. Everywhere humans fell to sicknesses, and in a matter of years the empire fragmented, and fragmented until it was no more. The last line of the Drache royalty tried to recreate its empire in the west near the mountains, but all records of their rule as been lost to time. It is worth noting that over the milenia the ancient curse grew weaker and no longer holds control over the coastal lands and borders of the once empire. It is no longer the fertile land it once was however, but a desolate and dangerous swamp.

Some civilizations not only survived a few centuries, but managed to become foundation stones for future kingdoms. Many of them were nomads, like the many ordas on the great steppe, or the Canne people that conquered northern Ram’s Head and assimilated native Kappara and Old Radmir civilizations. Different kind of nomads existed on black sand islands. There existed a sea faring people like no other in the whole world. They spend their lives almost only on their ships, traveling from island to island only to resupply. They finally were united by king, but even then they never accepted a sedentary lifestyle. They found cities, but still had an incredible connection to the sea. A different growth was seen in Westrasi. Following the departure one nation was created and unified the whole continent, or at least that is how westrasi like to remember this period. All nations unified under one banner. However there are little historical accounts of such creation, just an oral tradition reinforced and written down after the creation of the Church of Gloria Estalia in the middle of the Antique age. In fact the few historical writings from the period from this Celestial Empire describe this region as divided, and no less barbaric than the rest of the world.

Finally there are three civilizations that not only have their roots in the third era, but are well documented. The first of them is the Celestial Empire. The Souxi-Dan Dao people at first were just the nations of Souxi, Dan and Dao. Each nation with its own kingdom, and each unified in culture, technology and language by end of era. The other two empires copied the achievements of the Celestial empire. Qu-Fu in the north-east was the first empire to do so, and in fact was the only country recognized by isolationists Celestials for a long time. Inversely, the Treant Empire back then was just a jungle south of the Midland, but slowly growed forward. After their first contact with the human empires and the Celestial explorer, Treans understood the importance of politics when dealing with the fleshier races. It was the beginning of their use of vassal tribes to extend their influence.

=== Antiquity ===

=== Era of Expansion ===

=== The Modern Day ===

== Magic ==
Every culture developed their own interpretation of magic. Magic is, at its core, a meta-manipulation of physical rules. Existence itself is permeated by an energy that is referred to by many names, and it is the formation block of everything. From the tiniest speck of matter to life itself. It's the action of drawing from, molding, and releasing this energy that allow some to bend reality to their wills. Because of this, it can be used in an hypothetical infinite amount of ways. The more noticable magic systems used by nations are listed below. (Keep you're descriptions vague enough to be used in multiple systems)

While the setting of Gloria-Etalia has their own form of magic called ritual magic, this should not interfere with any system that has some form of magic. Hypothetically, ritual magic can be integrated into any system with a form of magic casting with ease. If you are playing a low or no magic system ritual magic can be safely ignored to use Gloria Etalia in your setting, but a few lore points will have to be re-explained or ignored. You have been warned.

=== Ritual Magic ===
To create and cast powerful spells, most nations have created a form of magic called ritual magic. This is complex and requires time, resources, and manpower, but has powerful results. The eternal jungles of the treants are maintained by ritual magic, for example. Ruskata’s powerful ice magic that halted the Khanate's advances was also ritual magic. Unlike the normal spells of your system, ritual magic has limitless potential, where the power of the spell is directly connected to how much time, resources, and manpower is put into it. As a GM, you have a choice to keep ritual magic out of the hands of the players and use it solely as a tool for the setting. You can also allow your players to access it in limited ways, or to use it freely. The choice is yours!

There is an optional rule for playing in Gloria-Etalia that the most powerful spells that your characters can access (like the 8th and 9th level spells in fifth edition of dungeons and dragons) are ritual spells. To cast a ritual spell, you will need to achieve four prerequisites. Time, Resources, and Manpower. For an example, let us take the 8th level spell clone and cast it using ritual magic. Please note that this is casting the spell clone using Gloria-Etalia ritual magic, and not as a 5e ritual. First let us look at the resources you need to cast a ritual spell. This can simply be the regular components to cast the spell, but at your GM’s discretion you can require more or less components or a special item to cast it. Next, the time to cast the spell is decided by the GM, but is usually no less than a day of constant casting. This however does not mean the same person or people have to cast the spell the entire time for it to work. This brings us to the final prerequisite: manpower. The amount of people needed to cast the spell will vary from spell to spell and system to system. The amount of people needed to cast the spell is decided by the GM, but less powerful spells usually require less people than more powerful spells. You can also decrease the amount of people needed to cast the spell at the cost of an increased amount of time and resources, and decrease the amount of time and resources needed to cast a spell with more manpower. How much is increased or decreased is decided by the GM. Taking our example of clone, we can declare that it would require 3 people 1 full day to cast it, using the normal components for clone. If you had 6 people to cast the spell, you can have 3 casters each cast for 12 hours, or have all six of them cast for 10 hours and use less components. If you had 12 casters, they could take 8 hour shifts three at a time or cast it all together for 6 hours and a reduction of components. This is only an example however, and should not be used to argue with your GM.

Ritual Magic is difficult and dangerous. If by one reason or another a ritual ends prematurely, the consequences could be catastrophic. A premature end to a ritual can happen over small actions, like if a person stops chanting or moves away from his position. When a ritual ends prematurely, potentially anything could happen, from everyone in the area going insane to everyone’s hair disappearing and being replaced by living flowers. The exact danger that befalls botching ritual magic is decided by the GM, but can easily be dire.

Any spellcaster can cast a ritual spell, and they do not have to know the spell to cast it. However any caster that does not know the spell must be taught to cast it as a ritual by someone who does know how to cast it. This is not the same as knowing how to cast the spell, but rather the movements and chanting required to cast it using ritual magic. This will take time and effort, the amount of which is decided by the GM. A spellcaster can be a level below the spell level to cast it as a ritual. Using our example ritual spell clone, a spellcaster of 7th level or higher can attempt to learn it as a ritual, but a spellcaster below that level will not be able to learn it. Again, this is up to the GM to decide and if you use this passage to argue with him you are a ninny and have to announce, loudly!, that you are a ninny to the table. And you still can't use the passage to argue, no matter how loudly you declare your ninnyness.

A GM is allowed to declare the casting of a ritual to be impossible when set up in certain ways. He can also declare that certain spells cannot be cast using ritual magic. This is to prevent the use of spells like 5e’s simulacrum to cheese the ritual magic system away from its intention

Another optional rule is that normal ritual spells can be cast by PC’s. These are powerful spells not found in your system’s spell lists, but in the world of Gloria-Etalia. These can be learned through NPC casters, exploration, or by other means. A player can also attempt to create their own ritual, but it must be decided by the GM if the spell is possible to create. Creating your own ritual will be a difficult, adroudious, and time consuming process that is completely up to GM to determine.

===Troll Magic===
Largely based on curses and mischief. Trolls utilize crude runes and some items related to the target or purpose of their magic (a fetch or voodoo doll, hair, blood, treasured items) and/or bloody rituals using livestock. Old trolls can burden others with a curse simply by declaring one but the spiritual, magical power required to maintain the curse remains lost to them until the curse is lifted or runs its course.

=== Ice Magic ===

= Languages =
The world of Gloria-Etalia has developed many languages. There are five major human proto-tounge language families. The Westrasian tounge, Qoktengel, Tribux, Diverux, and Souxi. These families break down further into indivusial languages. Almost each nation has their own dialect of the language, and these dialects in the same language group can be understood after some translation efforts and can be relatively easy to learn by a person who knows the language. Learning a language in the same language family is harder, but can be done. Learning a language in a different language group is very hard.

==The Westrasian Tounge==
These languages are spoken by The Westrasi, The Grendarrym, and The Izill. The tounge breakes down into five main languages, and further down to individual dialects.

===Nurweskri===
Spoken by Belara, Goldland, Windhell Valley, Morolux, Sarkation, and the Storm Island.

===Mukwesk===
Spoken by Lazari, Uoro, Tautoburg, Jorivakia, Lahaila, Vesterlands, and Wyrd.

===Lixwesktis===
Spoken by Terravia, Voroi, Suezi, Yoroslovan, Yoroi, Vashian, Veranese, and Uraka. Some Halfling and giant loanwords have made it into the language due to a small slave population.

===Sukwesktu===
Spoken by Araxian, Farisian, Sarcian, Leixi-Airoxian, Uroxian, Saramese, Bertnuio, and Euraxian.
===Grendarrym===
Is a mix of Nanauit and Westrasi. Is a lot closer to what the original proto-Westrasi would've sounded like.

===Deiwesk===
Is spoken in Izill and used to be spoken in The Cursed Wasteland. Is the closest surviving language to proto-westrasi.

==Qoktengel==
Qoktengel is spoken by most of the north. The three nations who speak these languages are the Uruzataar, Qi-fu, Ruskata. It is broken into five differnt languages, and further down into local dialects.

===Uruzari===
Is spoken by the Khanate in their homeland. It used to be a lot more diverse but the rise of the great khanate wiped out a lot of tribes and languages.

===Ururuski===
Is a mix of Uruzari and Destfurkuski. Spoken in parts of the northern Khanate.

===Uru-Fuu===
Is a mix of Ururuski and Fuufakaji. Is spoken in the eastern Khanate.

===Destfurkuski===
Is the native language of the Ruskatan region. Is spoken in Ruskata, Norvia, in conquered Ruskan terrority, and Yugr. Has been heavily influenced by Grendarrym, Nananuit, and Troll.

===Fuufakaji===
The native language of the Qi-Fu region. Is spoken in Qi-Fu, Ta-li hold, and conquered eastern lands.

==Souxi==
Souxi is spoken by The Souxi-Dan Dao, The Tnz'qran Raiders, and The Kingdom of Ivory. It has four languages, and can be broken further down into local dialects.

===Dio-Dao-Souxi===
Is spoken as the common language of the Celestial Empire. Can be broken down into the High and Low Dio-Dao-Souxi dialects, which act as almost completly different languages. Uses the 36 letters of the Celestial alphabet. These are each made by combining a symbol of one of the six elementals with that of itself or another.

==== High Dio-Dao-Souxi ====
Uses pictograms instead of the Celestial alphabet. Was the origional writing system in the Celestial Empire but a standard system was created for common use. This system is still used by the elite classes for official and holy texts.

==== Low Dio-Dao-Souxi ====
Is the common language and uses the 36 letters of the Celestial alphabet.

===Souxinakoa===
Is the language group spoken by the Ivory coast, Swe'yus, Nulamore, and The Jandi City-States. Is the closest to the Souxi-Dan language but has changed a lot due to an influx of forgien language groups.

===Nhiqusouxu===
Is the northern and eastern language group of the Tnz'Qran Raiders.

===Qistsouxu===
Is the southern language group of the Tnz'Qran Raiders.

==Tribux==
Is the languages of the various south eastern nations. It has 5 languages, and can be broken further down into local dialects.

===Mreek===
Is used by the Honorable Ecinevian League and the Supparian Alliance.

===Euiqoi===
Is used by the southern Treant vassal tribes. Is a mix of Mreek and treant.

===Mujian===
Is used by the Ranji, Punaji, Nanji, Gold coast, and Boro nations.

===Khoan===
Is used by the Mun, Maaga, and Canton Confederacy

===Kujian===
Is used by the Maag and Pash Kingdoms, and some of the canton confederacy

==Diverux==
Is the language groups of the midlands and parts of the Ram's head. Is broken down into four languages, and can be broken further down into local dialects.

===Asverux===
Is spoken in Duchy of Komjátina, Seem, and in the northern marshes of Drache.

===Triverux===
Is spoken by the necroswampers, the cannibal cults, and in the southern marshes of Drache.

===Vouverux===
Is spoken by the Treant vassal nations. Is a mix of Triverux and Treant.

===Radverux===
Is spoken by the theoracy of Radmir, Mai-xi, and the Heretics of Vin and Savat.

==Non-Human Tounges==

===Treant===
The Treant languages are truly ancient and have stayed relatively unchanged due to the Treants long lifespans and strong memory. It has seen a few changes recently due to the mixing with the many human vassal tribes to the dismay of the older generations, although these changes are comparatively small to the influence the Treants have had on the vassal languages.

===Giant===
Giant is a language which bases itself of the natural low sounds giants produce. The language itself is a simple syllabic language, but this constraint of low Giant vocal cords gave birth to the idea that "Giants are mentally impaired". After all, a non-Giant only hears every 3rd sound a giant even makes when speaking!

===Halfling===
While minor tribes still speak the true "halfling tongue", most speak a bastardized version of "Sukwestu". Halflings from many tribes were enslaved by Sukwestu speakers as such upon their escape or freeing and return to their tribes it developed as a language of inter-tribal communication.

===Troll===
The tongue of the trolls has a layer based structure. Akin to how trolls seem to grow more intelligent with age so does their language. Unlike the languages of other races Troll is not learned and is a language Trolls are born with and thus as universal among them as barks are for dogs. A troll's age can often be told easily by simply how they talk and how many layers of complexity of "Twerlrlow" they use.

===Nanauit===
The language of the northern Sankinuiq elves.
Also known as "snowtongue" is the hunter's tongue of the Snow Elves of Sankinuq. Nanauit unlike other elven tongues does not derive from Proto-Elvish. Instead if derives from the special tongues early snow elf hunters used. Using their sophisticated vocal cords hunters would imitate the wind, or sound of stepping on snow. That's how the language was born. Partly because of it's usefulness it became the trade language of the elves and slowly replaced their native tongues. Currently both hunter's Nanauit and common Nanauit are spoken, Common is simplified sound-wise and gentler on the ear.

==Cant and Creole Tounges==

--TODO, add the creole stronghold tounges--

===Swe'yusi===
A creole tounge created from a mix of Qistsouxu, Souxinakoa, and Mreek language groups. It is the result of multiple invasions into the lands of the Swe'yusi over hundreds of years. The resulting language is used by the common people of
Swe'yus and in local trading areas.

===Black Cant===
Black Cant is a mix of words from the native black sand island tounges, westrasian languages, and a few halfling words.
It's used for pirates to identify and communicate with each other outside of safe ports. It also is being used in the Westrasi criminal underground as a safe way to communicate.

= Fauna =
[[File:Climate Map.png|thumb|Climate Map]]
[[File:Biome Map.png|thumb|Biome map of Gloria-Etalia]]
==Westrasi==
===Boulderlug===
Giant turtles living only on the wastes of Windhell Valley. Growing up to 7 feet high and about 10 feet in diameter, their large sizes, heavy shells, and dense bones prevent them from being taken by the winds.

===Goldland Megafauna===

====King Knifetooth====
''Tyrannosaurus tlahtoani''

====Pyrosaur====
''Pyrosaurolophus sp.''

One of the more unique behemoths of Goldland, pyrosaurs have an odd defense mechanism. Their long, hollow crests are used to store a flammable substance which, when the beast is threatened, is sprayed out as it combusts. The Pyrosaur gives out a booming howl and a gush of flames from its mouth, scaring off most of daring predators.

====War-claw====
''Therizinosaurus teritzoklanii''

===Storm Island Fauna===

===Windhell Viper===
Small burrowing snakes from the wastes of Windhell Valley. They feast on any tiny creature that nears their burrows, striking prey with incredibly potent venom that could kill a human in minutes. The venom's potency makes it a very valuable and sought-after substance among the locals' hunters and Westrasian traders.

===Windjelly===
Human-sized aerial jellyfish that use the strong winds of Windhell Valley to move around and feed. These jellies are a primary source of food for the locals. Windjellies come in a variety of sizes and range from white to light blues, purples, or grays in coloration.

=== Wyvern ===
''Thalassadracidae''

Wyverns are smaller, piscivorous relatives to the larger, predatory, and far more intelligent dragons of the east. They are often seen soaring over the Westrasi sea and the ocean offshore of Belara and the Storm Islands. They grow up to have wingspans of about 30 feet and come in a variety of colors.

====Northedge Wyvern====
''Dracocryos borealis''
<gallery>
Northern_Wyvern4.jpg|A male northern wyvern
Northern_Wyvern3.jpg|A female northern wyvern
</gallery>
A distant relative to the wyverns of Westrasi's inner seas. Instead of vivid colorations and elaborate crests, northern wyverns have shale-colored thick scales, snow white fuzz, and antler-like horns. They have also adapted more to scavenging on the beached carcasses of whales and preying on terrestrial animals on the beaches and mountains of Northedge. Because of their armored integument and predatory nature, Grendarrym warriors praise these wyverns as the ultimate game. One would be seen as a paragon of strength if they were able to slay a northern wyvern.

====Belaran Wyvern====
''Thalassadraco belaranensis''
[[File:Wyverns.jpg|thumb|right|A mated pair of Belaran wyverns on the Sarkation coast]]
Inhabiting over the inner seas of North Westrasi on the Sarkation coast and some coastlines of Belara, the Belaran wyverns are the most common species. People of the Sarkation Empire have managed to successfully tame Belaran wyverns and even use them as aerial mounts. These creatures range across the whole Northedge region.

====Storm Wyvern====
''Thalassadraco maximus''

The largest and rarest of the four wyvern species, growing wingspans up to 35 to 40 feet. The large bounty of fish and the inhospitable conditions of the Storm Islands and its nearby waters have given them larger sizes and much more aggressive demeanors. Unlike other wyverns that are seen in at least pairs, storm wyverns are solitary and territorial. Their agression and sheer power can be a challenge to even the hardy natives; killed storm wyverns are a rare instance, tamed ones are even rarer.

====Farisian Emerald Wyvern====
''Pelargodraco smaragdus''

Known for their shiny, bright green coloration, the Farisian emerald wyvern is the smallest of the four species growing wingspans up to 15 feet. They are also the ones that come in the largest groups, at most five, and are the most skittish.

====Saramese Parrot Wyvern====
[[File:Ff.jpg|thumb||One of several breeds of parrot wyvern. This one had been bred and modified to have a feather coat]]
''Pelargodraco psittacochromos''

The most common wyvern around the Westrasi Sea. The Saramese parrot wyverns are known for their wide range of vivid colorations. Westrasi nations, especially the Saramese, have bred parrot wyverns for their colors and made them attractive assets in the menageries of nobles and kings.

==Central Plains==
=== Bloodox ===
A Type of Taurox which seems to overproduce blood. The creature is very tame and seems to have been "domesticated" by the Tkgerian Galoping Bat. It is the largest known bovine currently in existence at 3 meters in height. Humans also keep these animals, but have to keep in mind they attract bats and need to be subject to constant bloodletting or they will grow sick.

=== Giant Lion ===
''Titanoleo rex''

The height could varies a lot by range, averaging from 2m height to 4m, but they can grow bigger. They migrate in packs from North Celestia to the Thoughtcrafters Commute and back yearly. They are viewed as sacred beasts by the Raiders. Some North Celestial nobles keep miniature giant lions, and breed for unique fur colorations.

=== Greatbumble ===
''Megalobombus sp.''

Native around the southeast jungles, Greatbumbles are giant bees grow around to the size of cats. Although very large and a bit defensive when threatened, they are overall friendly towards humanoids. Due to this approachable disposition, peoples within the Treant Empire even keep them as house pets.

=== Oozestadon ===
''Acriloxodon maximus''

Oozestadons are giant near extinct elephant like creatures native to The Great Plains. They release a thick mucous from their trunks that dissolves grasses into a nutritious paste when they then slurp up. This paste when fermented was used to create the traditional drink Qoiag, though in modern times it is usually made from fruit juices.
Oozestadons have been rendered near extinct by massive human migration and population booms in the great plains. This is especially dangerous as they were a key food source for Dragons, who have become more and more dangerous as they become desperate for food over the generations.

===Scarcrawler===
Large, crab/spider-like creatures that live on the cliffs that descend into the World Scar. they reach out and eat any creature that flies near or falls down above their cave burrows.

=== Simileon ===
''Deinosimia leonops''

Simileons take the appearance of a large baboon with a lion-like face. Growing to up the size of gorillas, simileons are fearsome hypercarnivores of the south forests having both powerful bulk and incredible agility. They also hunt in coordinated packs making them an even more frightful encounter.

=== Stickygrass ===
Stickygrass is a type of meat-eating plant. Some parts of the plain a severely lacking in ammonia and that's where the sticky grass grows. If faced with a lack of ammonia the grass becomes extremely sticky and viscous. The "viscous liquid" instantly solidified when touching "salt" (sweat). Easily capturing small critters or even ones as big as a coarse. Once prey is caught the grass starts slowly producing acid which will dissolve the corpse and fertilise the ground.

It is suspected that stickygrass is very common, but just rarely faces conditions of low ammonia content.

=== Tkgerian Galoping Bat ===
Tkgerian Galoping Bats are a common species of vampiric bat which used to prey on megafauna. The Bat is about the size of a rabbit and can move by flight or by "galopping". It feeds on the blood of other species. These bats are considered very dangerous not just due to them sucking blood, but also due to the dangerous desiese they spread. The Bats are eusocial and raise children communally creating large underground cave-hives. Where they store blood in iron-rich waxes.

==Ram's Head==
=== Clay Monkey ===
''Homunculus maagi''

Once created to be familiars for a shaman in the Ram's Head, they are small monkeys with a skin and face that has a clay-like consistency. They often mold their faces to the ones of certain animals in the jungles they live with. Monkeys that are raised in captivity or lived in human settlements almost always choose the faces of humans.

=== Fire Eel ===
''Pyrophorus ignis''

Fire eels are native to the rivers and inner sea of the southeastern tropics. They have a unique predation strategy that involves producing a oily substance that produces great amounts of heat, cooking their prey alive. The eels are fished by the locals that harvest this hot substance to be used in alchemy for elixir brewing or turned into a flammable substance used in naval combat.

==Northedge==
===Akhlut===
''Cetolupis sp.''

[[File:Akhlut.jpg|thumb|A tamed akhlut with a saddle]]
Semiaquatic predators from the northernmost shores of Northedge. About the size of a bear, the Akhlut takes the appearance of an orca with wolf-like legs and head. The Nananuit elves tame these beasts as mounts to traverse and hunt in the tundras, cold seas, icebergs, and glaciers.

==Midland==
===Bramblebird===
''Polypodornithidae''

Bramblebirds are named so after their multiple spindly legs that allow them to traverse terrain.
=====Thornrail=====
''Spinoavis acanthus''

On the smaller end of bramblebirds, the thornrail is about a foot tall. Thornrails are scavengers inhabiting in the mountain circle in the middle of Midland and are known for their legs that are covered in spiny scales.

=====Wading Bramblebird=====
''Polypodornis palulania''

The Wading Bramblebird lives in the Drache marshes, growing up to heights of 6 feet. Due to their large size and ability to traverse on the swamp muck, some humans and goblins of the marshes have domesticated these birds.

===Drache Giant Turtle===
''Drachechelys sp.''

An extinct species of large turtle native to the Drache Marshes. Not much is known except that they could've grown to about 15 feet in length. A necromancer one time got his hands on a complete skeleton of a giant turtle and reanimated it as his personal vehicle.

=== The Glowing Mushroom Valleys ===
One of the most traitorous places within the Dutchy of Komjatina and Marsches of Drache are the Mushroom Valleys. Few know why, but in said valleys only Mushrooms grow and any creature which sets foot there slowly dies. Even if you enter and then leave you still will die. It is said that the mushrooms lure in animals with colorful displays of light or by mimicking plants or fruit.

In truth said places are remnants of nuclear impact sites where mushrooms feeding on high levels of radiation now grow. By now the radiation levels in most of these valleys while still lethal are to low to support these grand giant myconic growths as such the mushrooms evolved to lure in animals which then die of radiation to supplement their diet.

==Eastralia==
===Fear Roach===

= Religion =

==The Borosian Pantheon==
The Borosian Pantheon are made up of four gods. They are worshiped by the Boro people as folk heros who strived for the current ideals of the Boro nation.

== The Arn ==
The Arn are a fellowship of deities, worshiped by the northern peoples within the region of Skrug. Much of the faith involves acts of; singing, music, dance and many other acts of passion, skill, cunning and violence.

== Gloria-Etalia ==
Two aliens who arrived on the planet during The Dawn and gave a bunch of technology to barbarian tribes to uplift and civilise them. However the humans who used their gifts lived immorally and improperly in their eyes, and in disgust they distroyied the uplifted nations and left. They are mostly worshiped in Westrasi but can be found all over the world. They are viewed as a benevolent god with two faces who came down to the planet to give a paradise to humans, but when the some "savage" humans broke the rules of paradise they left with the proper humans and their paradise to live in the stars. While only one gods with great power, they also had angels (AI helpers) at their beck and call. The main rule of the church is to be the most civilised person you can be, and to civilise others in the world so that one day Gloria-Etalia might come back. All other gods are viewed as being barbaric gods, and must be killed if they don't submit to the civilized ways of Gloria-Etalia.

== The Cult of Miracle ==
Cult was founded by Arkan the I, the first grand Ressurectionist, and one of most favoured followers of First Prophet. Under his ruleship two major philars of cult belief were created - ten lessons, and saint worship.
Ten lessons are 10 rules to live by in peace with Miracle, that were based on life of First Prophet, and miracles he was part of. Those are:
1 Don't be afraid of worldy dangers, for Miracle is your protector
2 Dedicate your pain to the Miracle, for pain is road of life
3 Never doubt in Miracle, for everyone has place in its plans
4 Don't stop in spreading truth of Miracle, for paralysis of hearth is paralysis of soul
5 Never stop in fighting demon worshippers, for they reject Miracle
6 Be weary of pleasures of flesh, for they will pull you away from Miracle
7 Enforce your will on the earth, for its your gift from Miracle
8 Controll your passions, for they are winds that will split you from Miracle
9 Be fortress of truth on face of earth, for only best are Miracle chosen
10 When times come don't be afraid to sacrefice yourself. Your life was given by miracle, and one day you will give it back.
Those lessons are reason of pondering of generations of sholars, but official doctrine of church is that they go in rising order. First three are demanded from all worshippers, next three from wariors, nobles, and people of influence, next three from priests, and temple guards, and last one is demanded only from Ressurectionists.
Church hierarchy is simple. At the bottom there are acolites, people that still take their priestly lessons. After person stops being acolite, they can chose two paths. Path of scroll or path of shield.

First one leads to becoming priest, missionary, hight priest, Ressurectionist, and then Grand Ressurectionist. As person goes throught this hierarchy they are revealed more and more secrets, rituals, and even are teached blessings (priestly spells). Ressurectionists are called so because they are teachen blessing of life, only way to bring way the dead that is not belived to be consorting with demons (anything that is phisicaly dealing with souls of men is considered to be demonology). To cast bleesing of life whole conclave, all 21 ressurectionists including the Grand one, have to met, and confirm need to use power of Miracle this way.
Way of the sword is even simpler, you become, temple guardian, grave guardian, and and grave saint. As you rise in ranks and become grave guard you are expected to drink undead blood poision, and forced to suffer. Those that survive 10 hours of this totrute are healed by hight priests, who cast on them multiple blessings. To become Grave Saint you first have to be in Grave guard in for one houndred years, and then you are put in grave made of solid gold for a week. If miracle puts its gaze on them and transforms them they becoem grave saints, otherwise they turn into solid gold, and are put in baracks of grave guard.
Cult of saint is idea that all gods that people of Gloria worship are in fact aspects of Miracle, and because of this ther are ougt to be acknowleged as saints, and used as way to convert those of other religions. This religous syncretism works, and in fact more and more people across are starting to worship Miracle.
Cult is also used to give honors to great Heroes, and statesmen of Radmir nation.

== Ram's Head Religions ==
Though they very region to region, even having multiple variations within a single nation, most cultures within Ram's head believe in a similar group of gods, known collectively as the Burveda, meaning 'Lordly Ones'. However, there are exceptions like the Borose people. The basic template for the local myths usually follow a trend of two great celestial beings, usually one representing 'Daylight' and 'Good' and the other representing things such as the Moon or Night. These two beings, for one reason or another will enter conflict. The Maagan Amazon tribes believe that Sun and Moon battled over the 'Oneness' of the land and created man and woman in their respective beliefs on what the heir to the world they made should be like. Thus started a great war that was only stopped by the Monarch of plantlife, being both male and female, which brokered peace. Many influences from other cultures can be found in the religions of Ram's Head, even those that do not have two clans of gods. The Kingdom of Maag worships their immortal Pharoh, The Lord Horrendous, who was once a Techno-Barbarian long before his ascension to immortality.

= Gods/Godlike Entities =

== Mokla Ka-li: ==

A god of the native black sand islands, his most common form is a humanoid figure shaped out of thick vines or rope. He was worshipped as a master of the body and the soul, and his practitioners were able to borrow his knowledge to heal the human body from near death and to perform powerful voodoo. His power came at a price however, and that price was offering him mortal souls. He would take the humanoids and “eat” them by wrapping them in thick vines, covering them.

== The Borose Pantheon ==
There are four gods in the Borose pantheon.

Ghelut the Lightbringer, who was born from a secret spring on the highest peak of the Ram's Head. He has clairvoyance, but never uses it to alter the path of the world. He is the god of summer, fire, smiths, knowledge, and dogs. He is said to ride a chariot pulled by flaming dogs and patrols the horizon, when night comes when he descends into the abyss under the world to do battle.

Suht Duriannia, the Earth God. He is the child of a giant frog and the earth, and was born three times from a rocky egg. He has three heads and is the god of wealth, metal, stones, forts, and trickery. He guards the way to the dead lands. His priests oversee funerals.

Muvir Sahulahin, The Storm Witch. She is the goddess of the seas, rain, anger, and storms. She is a wrathful goddess that is equally feared as she is worshipped. Those that die at sea are sent to her domain instead of the dead lands, where they serve as her servants for eternity.

Conchobor Boro. Instead of starting out as a god, he earned it through his many exploits. He was the first king of Boro. He married a powerful wolf fey. Once did battle against the armies of the Amazons, The Kingdom of Maag, and The Gold tribes at once to defend his kingdom and his people. He fought alone for three days during a solar eclipse. Conchobor fought by himself with two swords and an axe against the might of his enemies until he fell due to his wounds. He spilled his intestines forth into the armies, and with his last act drowned the armies in his blood.

== Gloria-Etalia: ==
A humanoid with two faces. Their form was said to change, and so they can be depicted as having miltiple of one body part or none at all. They are viewed as the bringer of paradise and enlightenment. They also have many angels (read: robots) that can help humans with certian problems. While Gloria-Etalia is gone, many say that some angels remained to inform Gloria-Etalia when the mortals had learned their lesson and they were ready to experence paradise again. The angels also can give mortals blessings in leau of Gloria-Etalia to further the goal of civilizing the world.

== The Arn: ==

Creed, lord of the skies, is the chief deity of the north in Skrug. Rulership, honor, victory, duty, storms, sunlight, the moon, lions, eagles, freedom, dancing and paternity are attributed to Creed. Veles priests will play music while Creed priests dance, each tries to out-compete the other, to offer more beautiful performances. Warriors scream oaths to Creed into the wind and sky before battle. New fathers dance when their first child is born. Vassals swear oaths of fealty upon Creed. Impromptu rituals are held when storms arise. Great dances are had in the rain in thanks and in the hope of a great harvest to follow. Duels are held under full moons. Freed slaves that come to worship Creed brand themselves with the sun over top of their old slave brands. These people often become warrior-priests, devoting themselves to the dance of battle.

Veles is the deity primarily worshiped by the Trolls of Skrug. A god of the underworld, the earth, waters, trickery, cattle, snakes, bears, wolves, music, and magic. Trolls believe that Veles grew them from the soil of the underworld like mushrooms on the bodies of the dead and watered them with blood and mead. Trolls with a gift for magic is rare and crude but is always attributed to being favored by Veles. Music is considered sacred and any who can play beautiful music for a faithful troll must be allowed safe passage so long as they offer no violence in return. Cunning is considered a chief virtue and clever mischief is as much an offering to veles as it is an enjoyable pastime.

Skala, the ocean mother, is the mistress of the sea and origin of life. The ocean, sailing, singing, dolphins, sea turtles, whales, merfolk, travel, adventure, hope, motherhood, adversity (WIP)

Fryt, the muse, the lorekeeper, inspiration, story telling, lore, art, craft, games, cats, mourning doves, flowers, puzzles, etiquette, comfort and healing

== Miracle of the Creation: ==
Miracle of the Creation, sounds majestic, doesn't it? Truth is maybe even more majestic. Atleast MoC thinks so.
MoC was born moment Asteroid G04-T hit mega theromonuclear reactor and during following fireball that engulfed most of planet. He was formed from all the pain, screams and souls of men and women that died this day. And he was alone in darknes.
In darkness he found light, and this light were souls that were still alive, and stived forth to next day, even after world was in shreds. He watched them from afair for long, and only time he intervined was time when remnants of goverment that were left behind tried to fry rest of planet to take it all with themselves to graves. He disarmed all nuclear missles on planet, and massacred all people inolved in this as he saw it - greatest crime. After this, he let humans and other creatures to reign over planet undisturbed. He had no ill intentions to them, but as time grew he started to despise how weak they are, and how some of them allow themselves to be enslaved by beings similiar to him. He finaly had enought and selected one of the weakest men on earth, given him weapons to survive, guidance, and power, and in turn demanded him to bring stability. This man was First Prophet. He revealed him truth about himself, and even told him his True Name. But prophet while was great men, had all the sins of men in his heart, As he was started worshipped by his kinsmen he started to just use true name of miracle for his own gain. He did so until he died. After this Miracle tried to steer back radmirians to what he saw as just, but all the prophets had similiar stories to the first one. Miracle grew to despise humans, who are to weak to create something lasting, so he started to take most pure of them, and grand them knowlege and power how to create better world, at the price of human weekneses. All the grave saints and saints that walk the streets are part of this way of making better world.

== The Wild Lord: ==

A giant humanoid with a build resembling a heavily furred satyr with the head of a fanged buck and talons at the end of his claw like fingers. He goes by many names as he wanders from one forest to the next, encountering many of the people of the world for good or ill. He is attended to by maenads, once human women that have fallen under his influence and abandoned their humanity as well as his sons, the satyr and his daughters the faun. A clay pot filled with blood (of any kind) left in the woods is considered the most common means of paying respect to the Wild Lord. Those who pay their respects to him before travelling through the forests often find their passage less dangerous than it might have been. While those who greedily plunder the wilds will find themselves stalked day and night by an unseen foe until at last they pay for their crimes. Hunters leave the heart of their kill upon a flat rock and encircle it with the blood of the kill as thanks. Druids seek to emulate his savagery in defense of nature. His children can be seen on the outskirts of forests carrying bags of tree seeds, spreading the forest and their father’s domain.

= Races of the World =
[[File:1596492751899.png|thumb|Ethnic Map of Gloria-Etalia]]

== Humans ==
=== Westerasi Human ===
Westrasi are the dominant ethnic group on the western board of the continent. Stocky, tall, though less tall the Suoxi, they are often built stronger than their lanky tall counterparts in the east. Westrasi are hairy, often have rosy and fair complexion, and their hair colors varies regionally a lot. Blond and redhead in the north, deep shades of brown and black across the Westrasi sea. Green, e and hazel eyes are the most common colours.<br>
Westrasi culture is as fragmented as their nations, though most Westrasi countries seem to be somewhat contentios and turbulent in history. Westrasi tend to worship Gloria-Etalia, though the specific religion changes a lot from country to country. Many countries have their own local religion, called 'Chapels'. These are not connected to any higher authority or between each other. Auraxian GE chapel is completely a different beast than the Euraxian GE chapel, for example. But a few countries worship GE through the centralize, multinational Church of the Divine Duality.

=== Suoxi Human ===
Suoxi human vary in height between 170cm and 205cm as adults, with an average of 190cm for men and 180cm for women. They are the tallest human ethnicity. Suoxi have skin that ranges from caramel to ochre, soft features, with thin lips and aquiline noses. They have almond-shaped eyes, which are often called 'narrow' or 'slit-eyes' by the Westrasi men, and often they are gold, hazel or yellow in color, though blue and green are also common. Suoxi are almost universally ashen-haired, though they vary from pure white to varying shades of grey and silver blond. Although they are tall, they aren't the broader or stronger of built. Suoxi males have very little body hair and females almost none. The Suoxi hair color gene seems to be recessive and in multi-racial pairings, almost certain to disappear.

The Souxi are the human ethnic group with the largest current population and the ultimate origin of most writing systems.

Beginning in the pastoral valleys of the Celestial subcontinent they would take advantage of the climate to commit massive feats of agriculture . The large population booms caused fierce competition which would lead to several Souxi migrations. These would carry the Celestial religion and pictograms with them, the later becoming the basis of the Uruz Script and Vishga-Imuugan Star Runes.

The Kif tribe migrated into Qoktengal lands where they intermixed with several groups of the Great Plains. They would settle in Eastralia and supplant the native Qoktengal culture of the "Spring Penisula"

A secondary mass migration would split in two at the Kanna knot.

One branch sailed south along the river and colonized the Nanj peninsula.

The larger group would migrate through the Planar Gulf until settling in the Eci Peninsula, where they would take immigrants from ancient Dryad cultures and form The First Pharaonacy.

The tribes remaining in the Celestial Valley would eventually stabilize into several petty kingdoms that would form the seeds of the modern Celestial Empire.

Suoxi humans are the largest ethnicity of humans on GE. They have dark, caramel to ochre skin, white hair, almond-shaped eyes and are very tall. Their hair is almost always a shade of white, light grey or silver blond, however, that pale hair is a recessive gene and disappears whenever a Suoxi has children with someone from a different ethnicity. Since Celestia culture is the dominant Suoxi culture, and Celestia is very xenophobic, white has acquired a connotation of purity and white hair is seen as a mark of Suoxi racial superiority to foreigners. The Celestia royal family hair is always pure white, as most of the nobility does too. Suoxi often have yellow, hazel, golden or light green eyes.

White, along with gold, are the colors associate with the faith in Celestia culture.

=== Tnz'qran Human ===
The Tnz'qran humans are short and stout. Growing between 1,6 - 1,7 for men and 1,5 - 1,6 for women. In spite of their short stature they have unusually long Arms likely due to Hobgoblin admixture. Depending on region the skin colour ranges from light yellow (Suoxi Admixture), Green (Treant Admixture) or Orange (Treat Vassal Admixture). All of them have almond eyes which are even more slit-like than those of the Suoxi people.
=== Yugr Human ===
The people of Yugr are ancient and heavily altered by magic. Frost magic having flowed trough their bodies for millennia their skin has turned light blue and their body temperature is usually around 0 C. Their eyes are the color of bronze, the metal they still use for tool production.
=== Ruskata Human ===
The people of Ruskata are a rare breed, similar to Amazons in the fact that the women are taller and often stronger. Though in the Ruskata women that strength is magical not physical. The people of Ruskata are descendant from Grendarrym Humans, but possess less Elven admixture and are characterized with an unusually high Troll admixture. The Matriarchal lineages of many noble families are also descended of "Crones" which are a type of Fey.

=== Grendarrym Human ===
The Grendarrym nation is made up of the Jorden people, who have blonde hair, fair skin, blue eyes, and broad, strong bodies.

The Grendarrym people have usually black hair and green or blue eyes. They are slender and tall and some are born with pointy ears suggesting large Elven admixture.
=== Modern Uruzataar Human ===
In spite of no real ethnic ties the Uzataar look similar to the Tnz'qran people. Their eyes are less almond shaped and they are taller on average, but likely due to goblin admixture tend to have a crooked posture.
=== Qoktengal Human ===
The Qoktengal are an ancient race that first domesticated the horse, propagated tarrow-weed and colonized most of the Great Plains, Eastralia and Northedge.

Originally a small culture on the Qok River that hunted Oozestadons, horse domestication led to many tribes scattered across the ancient world.

When southern Qoktengal discovered Tarrow-Weed in the Sevalut river valley, the tribes quickly propagated its flying seeds. This led to stronger horses, fatter livestock, and a huge population increase.

With the numbers swelling the various Qoktengal cultures began to differentiate into various subgroups. The Modern Uruzatarr are the closest to the original group but Qoktengal ancestry is strong in the Tnz Ordes, Qifu and Ruskata as well as their descendant groups.
The last of the "Qok Purebreds" are found in the Temegal Tribes, which are currently under the domain of the Uruzataar Khanate under Teme Khan.

=== Highlander Human ===
=== Agrarian Radmir Human ===
=== Modern Radmir Human ===
=== Qi-Fu Human ===
=== Basal Vishga Imuuga Human ===
=== Storm Island Native ===

=== Komjátinan Human ===
Extremely pale skin, with brown, black, or white hair. Their eyes are bigger than normal for humans, and the pupils are enlarged to catch more light. They burn easily in the sun.

Optional Trait. Because they have grown up generation after generation in eternal darkness, Komjátinan Humans have 20 ft of darkvision and sunlight sensitivity.

=== Modern Storm Islander ===
=== Black Sand Islander Native ===

== Elves ==
Elves came to this world when their mothership crashed into the planet. For their own safety, they scattered far away from the crash site, and their origins soon became lost to living memory.

=== Elder Tribe Ravers ===

=== First Elves ===

=== Nananuit Elf ===
<gallery>
Nananuit Huntress.jpg|Nananuit huntress with bow
</gallery>

=== Clan Yssret ===
<gallery>
Snow_Elves.jpg|Yssret Elves
Northern_elf.jpg|A Yssret ranger
Snow_Elf_Star_Harp.jpg|A Yssret elf practicing druidic topiary
</gallery>

=== Drow ===
<gallery>
File:Drow Ranger.jpg|thumb|A Drow Ranger
</gallery>
Drow are elves that have lived in eternal darkness of the Duchy. They are not evil, but simply have adapted to living in perpetual darkness. Like all elves, they have a maternal cultural structure.

==Gargoyles==
Gargoyles supposedly came to be by mere accident. While a power craving, mad wizard was in the process of attempting to create life it is said he was come upon by a hero of great renown. In every nation where this tale is told, the locals insist it was one of their own. The wizard stood chanting outside a magic circle, within which was a dozen or more statues of various demonic and grotestque designs. As the evil wizard reached a crescendo in his chanting the hero launched himself at the villain, only to be struck in the back by a goblin's spear. The hero landed hard on the edge of the circle, his life blood issuing from him rapidly. The circle erupted with light and the villains shielded their eyes from what seemed like a sun blooming into existence. When the light faded the wicked arcanist cackled with delight. Each of his beautiful, beastial or hideous works of art now lived and breathed. With heinous delight he issued his creations first command, to finish off the would be hero. To his frustration and dismay the gargoyles leapt upon their creator and his minions instead. They say the component spells of protection weaved into their very being compelled them to protect others not destroy them. The wizard had ordered these creatures to go against their purpose and in their fury they denied him.

The wizard was left bloodied and beaten, his minions driven off and his lair in shambles. The newborn creatures flew the unconscious hero to his people and left him where he would be found before they hid from the eyes of men. They knew instinctively that their features were monsterous. When the hero regained consciousness he told all of his people of the living statues that saved him. Hearing this the gargoyles crept out of hiding. Upon seeing the hero's rescuers the people reacted with fright, despite the assurances of the barely living hero. He was powerless to stop his people from driving these creatures away. They flew into the mountains, never to return the people thought. As we now know that is not the case. A gargoyle is a guardian. That is its purpose, its destiny and fate. A gargoyles drive to defend is as strong as a lion's urge to kill.

Today small clans of these creatures can be bargained with for a defensive pact, if one is charismatic enough to convince them that one is trustworthy. A history of being regarded as demonic monsters has left them wary of trusting others with their safety. When the sun rises these creatures return to stone until the sun sinks beneath the horizon again. Gargoyles will burst out of a stone shell that forms about them during the day like a snake shedding its skin in an explosive fashion. Many grievous wounds will heal in time given enough cycles spent in daylight. A gargoyle is even said to be able to survive off of only daylight for some time before dying of thirst or starvation, such is the nurishment and power that the sun provides them. Still, they are utterly at the mercy of any who come upon them during the day. Whatever damage is done to them in this statuesque state of being is permanent. No amount of sunlight will heal such injuries. Likewise their eggs are rumored to turn to stone forever if exposed to direct sunlight and they must be placed under the light of a full moon if the eggs are to hatch. The eggs are said to be quite large in size and as heavy as stone, making them difficult to relocate. In return for the sanctuary of their clan, gargoyles are said to offer consumate protection at night. They are supposedly able to see through any darkness and fly as gracefully as birds of prey. Some gargoyles are as strong as trolls or possessed of a sense of smell as strong as any bloodhound. Would be assassins and creatures of the night are easily dispatched by these stoney guardians. Gargoyles also make for excellent scounts, provided they do not range far from safe roosting locations.

== Giants ==
The giants are on average 12-20' tall depending on their age and are proportioned like slender humans. They live for a very long time unless killed 400-600, their size increasing slowly as they age, they reproduce rarely and mature slowly. Although not otherwise intellgent, they have a highly analytical mind focused on resourse and tribe management. Most of their thought process during the day is geared torwards the best and most efficient way to run their tribes. It takes a lot of effort to make them think about something else however, and talking to giants can be frustrating if it is not relating to their tribes.

== Trolls ==
<gallery>
Forest_trolls.jpg|Trolls
Female_Troll6.jpg|A female troll in her illusory form.
Female_Troll4.jpg|The true form of a female troll
</gallery>
Twice the height of a man or more, trolls generally have large curling tusks and or horns that they adorn with trinkets and engrave crude runes upon. Their skin tones generally match the coloration of the stone most commonly found in the area of their birth. Most trolls have a hunch backed and wrinkled appearance resembling old humans but have corded muscle strong enough to shatter stone or heft fully grown cattle above their heads. Younger trolls generally have elongated, protruding faces and lack the tusks or horns of an adult. A troll’s tail is a point of pride and is often left unadorned and swayed in front of others as if to taunt them or dare them to attack. A troll without a tail is typically one that has faced utter defeat or folly. Trolls begin life as little more than feral beasts, however over the course of decades their intellect will develop and improve. Most trolls living today are still simple minded creatures compared to other sentient species. Female trolls are especially rare and competitions among male trolls for the attention of females is fierce. Female trolls grow much slower than male trolls but develop much faster mentally than their male counterparts. Trolls have a great love for mischief and even the dullest of them are capable of low cunning. A troll will only die by violence, starvation, poison or disease. Though they lack gills, trolls are capable of breathing underwater. Should a troll lose a limb it will regrow over time. Fire and acid put an end to their regeneration for roughly three days, though the older the troll the faster they recover their capacity to regenerate. If a troll is severely wounded and its wounds are burned it will die. Due to their sheer size most trolls die of starvation or violence in a desperate struggle to feed themselves.

== Dwarves ==

<gallery>
Dwarf.jpg|A dwarf
Dwarven_Dragon_Slayer.jpg|A dwarf carving into a dragon's head
</gallery>

Through oral tradition it is said that the first dwarves emerged from deep within the mountains, illiterate, mute and half blind. It was as if they emerged, half formed, from the ground itself in the wake of the great cataclysm that seared the surface and shook the world to its core. It is said that many had died in the first days of the dwarven people, great were their losses and terrible was their grief. Some terrible foe, its name no longer spoken of, its existence unrecorded in runic script, harried them, chasing them all out of their tunnels and into searing sunlight and the dangers of the surface. Hordes of dwarves stepped out into the world somewhere in the mountain range in the center of the great continent. The surface was no kinder than the deeps. Lessons were hard won and with the deaths of so many little of that wisdom could be passed on. Pure water was rare, food was scarce and competition for survival was ruthless even among their own kind.

It is said that in the darkest hour of their kind's very existence that a single spark of hope was found. Obok and Gunrym, friends forged in battle with irradiated mutants, feral machines, savage humans and wild beasts, took to organizing their people, using their numbers and physical strength to their advantage. One victory over their enemies led to another and their forces grew as they traveled the wastes. After a great battle with a mutant-fiend, Obok dragged a wounded Gunrym to an ancient ruin. There they and their companions rested at the foot of a cold and long abandoned forge of ancient design. By accident or fate as the cold of night set it and the dwarves threatened to freeze Obok tripped over rubble and accidentally activated the great forge. It was here that dwarven historians claim true dwarven history began. As the forge roared back to life a great spirit, Lomonos, the forge-father, greeted what would become his adopted children.

The companions of the forge, as Obok, Gunrym and their companions are called, spent an indeterminate amount of time with the great spirit of the forge. From the forge spirit Obok recieved assistance in deciphering ancient writings and developed the runic script dwarves still use in the modern era. Gunrym was granted a suit of armor using the last of the forge spirits arcane technological crafting components. This suit is rumored to be the fabled Forge-King battle suit, though it has been lost to time. Every dwarf learned some craft from the forge-father creating a mania born of hope within the dwarves. While enraptured in this manic state the dwarves created masterworks unmatched today. Finally when the dwarves were fully armed and armored Obok declared that the people would seize the wastes and together the companions of the forge did just that. All of their enemies were driven before them, wailing and gnashing their teeth as the might of the forge fell upon them. In the intervening years all the dwarves came to live within what was fast becoming a forge-fortress of such might and splendor as has ever been seen in this world. In that time the dwarves came into their own and felt complete for the first time in their harsh lives. This happiness would not last however.

The people forgot the lessons of practicality and cooperation the forge-father and the wastes had taught them. Infighting began the moment the suggestion of conquest was brought forward. Fully half of the people would not allow the forge father's work to be used against those who had done them no harm, the other half would see the world brought to heel under dwarven boots. Still half of each side had differing opinions on how things should be governed and how resources should be allocated. Each argument led to another. Finally, in a fit of rage Gunrym, wearing his great armor, declared himself high-king of his people and would brook no opposition. In response to this, it is said that Obok declared his old friend an arrogant fool. The resulting argument led to a brief duel. Though Obok was intelligent and wise he was said to be not even half the warrior his friend had been. With a single blow Gunrym punched his fist through Oboks chest and cast his heart into the forge. It was at this moment that devastation struck the dwarven people for a second time. This act sparked a civil war within the fortress that flooded its halls with blood and woke something terrible within their adopted father. In rage, denial and confusion the forge-father began to lash out at his adopted people. Great machines hell-bent on death and destruction flooded his forge and the ground shook with his fury. The dwarven peoples fled their father's rage, fled in every direction from the fortress, all save Gunrym. Gunrym knelt beside his fallen brother and wept bitterly crying out in blood chilling wails of despair. As the people fled an angry crimson glow enveloped the forge-fortress and it sank into the earth.

Today the dwarven people have spread across the world, building new homes for themselves with liked minded dwarves, bearing ancient grudges against barely remembered kin while begging forgiveness on their knees before lit forges for their crimes against their father. The dwarven people are long lived, ancient elders among them have marked the passing of roughly 500 years. They are short and stocky compared to other peoples of the world and built of heavily corded muscle and robust constitutions. They have lost much of their technological advancements and equipment. Many dwarves make a pilgrimage once in their lives to attempt to find their lost home and convince the Forge Father to forgive his wayward children.

== Halflings ==
Halflings are small and short sighted creatures, rarely looking past the short term and find that anything that cannot instantly benefit them is of little merit. They are terrible combatants but make excellent farmers and craftsmen, with a passion for making practical things. They are on average 3' tall and proportioned like humans and live to be about 70 at the oldest.

== Lizardman ==
Lizardmen are larger than humans, with an average height of around 6 feet and an average weight of 180 lbs. They generally have a dark green to black coloration, to better camouflage in their native biome of the Drache Swamps. Lizardmen are somewhat stronger than humans. However, lizardmen are generally less intelligent than most other sapient, having a difficult time grasping abstract concepts like mercy, altruism, and most emotions beyond basic hunger, fear, and pleasure. Despite this, some lizardmen learn how to mimic mammalian emotions to the point where they seem to have mammalian thought processes and are no longer limited by their more instinctul brains. Lizardmen have an average life span of around 50 years, though some have made it to 70 years of age.

== Dragons==

Dragons are a massive mutant lizard species native to the mountain ranges surrounding the Central plains. They are very long-lived and tend to be isolationist.

When in heat, a Dragon will become very aggressive until a mate is found, in times past dragon heats became the substance of many legends about dragonslayers and "tamers."

The traditional dragon diet was to feed on megafauna native to the Central Great Plains and Giant Clams found in the Gulf of Eastralia. The rise in humanoid civilization lead to theese food sources diminishing, causing the Dragon population to dwindle over the ages.

===Geoffrey===
Geoffrey, referred to as "Galuu Ataar" by people of the Khanate, is an old, wise dragon. He is seen by the Khanate as almost a god, but usually wants to be left alone. From time to time though, he will exchange a bit of his grand wisdom and advice for a nice game of checkers. Uruz Khan had visited Geoffrey often for his strategic advice and ancient wisdom. The frequent visits have helped make the Khan into the mighty, cunning conqueror he is... and a really good checkers player.

===Tharsa, Mother of Flames===

Tharsa Mother of Flames was the most feared natural disaster of the sixth age. When she went into heat, livestock and wild game of the entire Great Plains was depressed for generations.

Her scourge and burning rage led many would-be heroes to quest to slay her, but since a dragon that active hadn't been seen in decades, no one had the experience to handle her.

The growing human settlement had depopulated the megafauna Dragons usually fed on; the lost of Oozestadons around the World Scar and the death of the Eastern Grand Mollusc reef led to dragon populations trending ever lower.

As Tharsa couldn't find a mate, she stayed in heat far longer than usual and for 40 years she ravaged the Great Plains from her nest in the Zephyr Mountains.

The devastation ended eventually, many assumed she finally found a mate, but the widescale ecological and economic damage she caused would outlive her terror.

Limited resources of the Horselords would cause the political tension that Uru would ferment into his massive Khanate. Qi-Fu's economic depression from the failure of the western grain trade would lead them to be weak enough to lose to Belaria in the Cape Wars, causing the cessation of the Tai-Li hold.

The implied existence of a second Male Dragon would lead hunts for this "Ghostflame" for many years. It was on one of these hunts were Geoffrey, the Dragon God of the Khans, was first discovered by human society.

To this day Geoffrey expresses extreme discomfort whenever Uruz asks about Theresa, many assume Geoffrey was the product of the mating that calmed her great rage, but he isn't one to talk of family matters.

To this day people stand in fear over what happens the next time a Dragon Heat emerges.

== Mermaids ==

== Oni ==
<gallery>
Oni_Pureblood.jpg|A pure-blooded Oni
Oni_ThinBloodWarrior.jpg|A male Oni of the modern era
Oni_ThinBloodWoman.jpg|An Oni woman of the modern era
</gallery>
Oni are a multicolored race with a natural affinity for magic that are native to the Hellspont located in The Wall of the World. Oni are naturally blue or red or similar shades, twins tend to have the opposite color of their sibling. Oni have wings they can extend or retract as well as fangs and claws.

The tend to wear ornamental face masks as markers of status, the gaudier the mask, the richer you are.

Large amount of tectonic and magical energy in The Wall of the World opened up The Helspont in ancient times. From this Helspont, the Anicent Demons emerged. When ancient Souxi Humans first climbed the Stepped in The First Souxi Expansion, the humans interbred with the demons and shared with them the secrets of agriculture and city building in exchange for knowledge of demonic magic. This original community would eventually be enslaved, becoming a temporary bastion for the demonic creatures. They would interbreed with their slaves forming a hybrid race later known as Hobgoblins. Lacking demonic powers, but versed in Souxi culture and warfare. The Hobgoblins would enact a bloody revolt and flee the region after slaying many of their demonic forebears. What few Oni were left were mainly of mixed blood. Full of demonic power but lacking in the physical stature of their forebears and their immortality.

Those Oni that survived remained a minority in Souxi states for generations, often used for duties considered "too low" for purebred Souxi. This led to Oni subcultures becoming prominent in magic and finance.

When the Kif tribes first left the Celestial Subcontinent, a small group of Oni left with them. A conflict between these Oni and the Naga found at the Kanna knot led the Kif tribes to split into two. One would go with the Oni and eventually colonize Eastralia to found Qifu. The other took the river south to the Nanji Penisula and formed a culture with the Nagas that would become the Ivory Kingdom.

Oni of the modern era are long-lived and breed very slowly, but when they do reproduce, twins are common. Two sets of such Twins have set up Banking cities, Dou-Qian, near the Celestial Empire, and No-Rex and So-Xen, in Qifu. These cities are centers of commerce and mysticism. The cities near the Celestial Empire tend to be treated with cool distance by the Empire proper, while the Oni Twins in Qi-Fu have economically dominated the entire nation. Illusory magic is a common tool utilized by the Oni people for vanity as well as art, exhibitions of skill and intimidation. One might never know they are speaking to an Oni Magi while in their great cities.

Oni often have forced relationships with slaves and underlings, though the low Oni birth rates make hybrids rare. When hybrids with slaves are born, they are treated as full Oni and often are given their non-Oni parents as gifts . Oni slaves are not awarded names, property, identity or even genders. They are titled after their function (Sword for soldiers, Washer for domestic slaves etc.) Slaves of the Oni Banking Clans are given numeric titles to denote rank among their structure.

Oni that are born without a twin are seen as degenerate abominations, they are often sold as slaves or simply killed.

Slavery is formally outlawed in Qifu, so the Oni there tend to economically dominate others less so than legally. They still share the prejudice against non-Twins , though Qifu Oni fancy themselves "enlightened" for usually not killing them.

== Araknea ==
Araknea. It is shortened to Arak by most. “Arak” means “born from”, “youngling” or “weak” if applied alone. “Nea” means “web” or “home”. They called their species as a whole “Born from the Web”. They are native to the Marshes of Drache, but have begun to spread out due to enterprising humans wanting their silk.

===Physical description===
Arakneas typically look like spiders twisted in the shape of a man, and just as tall as one. They have short hair growing out of most of their body. Their diet dictates how their bodies and mind develop. They are omnivores, but they eat things other than meat when there is none to find as it is extremely less nutritive for them and is unlikely to help their growth during their infancy stage. Those who ate the most during their growth from newborn to adulthood naturally become the strongest of the tribe and are called Araknii (“Nii” means “strong, “superior” or “above”). Their 3 pairs of arms are powerful, the hair on their body is black or brown and their eyes shine like precious gems. Females can be distinguished from the males by red streaks in their hair on the top of the head and their back. They are also taller than most males. When born, all Araknea have grey hair and black eyes. It is when growing up that those who maintain those traits, those who haven’t been eating enough but still managed to survive, are called Arak. Their middle and lower pair of arms become atrophied, almost vestigial, and their mind are just above feral. The life expectancy of an Araknea is hard to judge since so few of them ever reach the end of their natural lifespan, but it is estimated at up to 30-40 years old. Araks barely use any weapon other than their natural claws, but under the supervision of an Araknii, they might learn to use primitive ones. Arakniis are those who have learned to use weapons, and might even trade with outsiders in exchange for goods such as these (or raid settlements and grab what's closest to a weapon).

===Society===
Arakneas typically live in nests made from their own webs. The strongest reside at the top, while the weakest are at the bottom, where other predators can attack them, if they do not eat among themselves first. There is one female who leads the whole colony. She is also the mother of all the Arakneas in the nest. Other females serve as replacement and figurehead for small raiding units.

===Religion===
There are many minor deities that vary among multiple colonies, but they all share faith in one, Orok’Nea. “Orok means “ not born” or “beyond”. They give an special importance to the word “Orok”, which is why it must always have a space when you pronounce it, as to not offend their deities. This also means that they venerate an entity that is not born from their home. It has also influenced their first contacts with civilisation, which went smoothly, since the first explorers were from beyond the nest. They believe that the spirit of each Araknea that dies fly into the heaven of Orok’Nea’s web. Those strong enough can break through it and reside among the stars until their goddess reincarnates back to earth. Those who are weak will be stuck into the webs, where they will serve as the next meal for Orok’Nea. They can however prove themselves worthy in life and be released from the web once their life ends.

===Interspecies relationships===
While they do not have prejudice towards other races, it is also difficult for them they associate with them. From their mindset, once they have learned that the outsiders are not divine, they become either food, or a source of food. From an outsider’s perspective, Arakneas have a monstrous appearance and can prove to be untrusty allies if the prospect of eating you outweighs the gains of an alliance. They do however offer their service as mercenaries, or sell their spider silk in exchange for great quantities of food.

Some humans have offered to give the Araknea enormous quantities of food if they leave their homeland to travel with them. Some have agreed to this, and Araknii populations have started to sprout up in mercantile and sea faring nations all along the southern coasts. Their spider silk is a prized commodity, as it is much stronger than regular rope, and can be used to make the finest silk clothing.

===Language===
Their dialect is a mix of words unique for them (which varies from colony to colony) and words taken from other languages. Most Arak are also barely able to talk, but they do mimic what they are trying to express... at least those who are smart enough. Some also click the mandibles to communicate simple messages.

== Treants ==
Ents and Dryads

== Hobgoblins ==
<gallery>
Hobgoblin_warrior.jpg|A hobgoblin ronin
</gallery>
A mortal offshoot of the demonic Oni. The hobgoblins came about generations after the Oni began to sire mortal offspring with human beings. Each generation of hybrids became weaker and possessed less of the magical talent and raw power of their forebears. Since each of these descendants were born of a union with a slave it mattered little to the Oni. They began to breed their descendants selectively, aiming for specific traits in order to create armies they viewed as worthy to serve their goals. The end result however was something much more violent and resentful than they had anticipated. Generations of physical, mental and magical abuse and experimentation engendered a deep hatred in their slave army. After an extremely bloody revolution, in which many of the pure blooded Oni were slain, the soon to be dubbed "Hobgoblins" fled before any could be punished by the remaining Oni lords. In the generations to follow, the hobgoblin people would largely stay together, a common belief among them, even after all this time, is that if they were to separate from others of their kind, their old masters might hunt them down.

== Goblins ==
<gallery>
Goblin2.jpg|A goblin swordsman

</gallery>
They are the 2nd most populous race of the Khanate and many are in the employment of the Great Khan. Goblins came about when troll females began seducing Hobgoblin males using illusory magics. The resulting children were creatures of malign mischief like their mothers and ingrained resentment like their fathers. Goblins reproduce, grow and gain muscle at prodigious rates but die quite young.

== Ogre ==

== Molemen ==
Deformed Humans which live in the ancient Vaults of the World Spine. They are an important part of most Technobarbarian Tribes.

== T'lc-Kha ==

<gallery>
T'lc-Kha_Warrior.jpg|Side view of a T'lc-Kha warrior
T'lc-Kha_Golden_One.jpg|A T'lc-Kha Golden One casting a spell.
</gallery>

These creatures are largely eusocial, there are very few males among the species and most are protected as precious resources. Hive members share a very simple telepathic link, without which separated members tend to fall into a catatonic state before dying of starvation, thirst or predation. Independent individuals, that do not suffer due to being separated from the hive, are occasionally spawned for important tasks to benefit their hive or to act as costly mercenaries. The queen provides much of the motivation for its hive. The species is incredibly cautious and very aware of the limited resources their world contains. As a result careful population control is practiced among the hives.

Rare T'lc-Kha spawn known as the "Sacrifice," T'lc-Kha that are made to assimilate lead in order to develop protective lining on their shell made of the metal. A sacrifice is a hulking brute compared to its kin in the hive, the added strength is required just to compensate for the added weight of the lead. The additional benefit is that these brutes are far more capable of surviving the wilds of the wasteland. After their shell has fully developed they are then sent into the wastes to look for Gold so that their hive may spawn the "Golden Children" their hive needs to combat arcane threats.

It may not be a surprise to many, but the T'lc-Kha have deep ties with the Cursed Wasteland. The truth is they are descended from the Teriads. Millennia of evolution have resulted in this evolutionary branch of the ancient bioweapons developing sentience. While having diverged greatly from their ancestors, the T'lc-Kha are still able absorb metals into their shell. Unlike their ancestors though it takes them weeks or months to process the metals into their carapace. No outsider is privy to this connection but the queens are beginning to suspect that one exists. Encounters with true Teriads often result in confusion as those with sufficient organic components give off pheromones that are eerily similar to their own. The T'lc-Kha species as a whole feel a spiritual pull to the Cursed Wastes and old T'lc-Kha drones will often wander into the wastes to die.

Strangely, horses are terrified of these creatures and must be rigorously trained to ignore the instinctive fear they impose on the animal. As a result neighboring nations will often take corpses of these creatures to train their horses not to react so fearfully at their sight or scent.

== Teriads ==

= Geopolitics =
[[File:Regions of the World.png|thumb|Regions of the world]]
[[File:Political Map.png|thumb|Political Map]]
[[File:Height map.png|thumb|Height map]]

== Westrasi ==
Everything west of the Mountain ranged on the edge of the irradiated desert and the Celestial Empire.
=== Goldland ===

====Geography====
Much of the region is heavily forested, hot and humid. Massive vents of super-heated water leak out from the mountain range and fill the air with dense mist. Mega fauna wander the ancient forests and jungles of mega flora within the region alongside a multitude of smaller fauna. The area is so heavily populated by a rich diversity of wildlife that it is seemingly impossible for explorers or locals to categorize them all.

====Culture====
The region is split between the world above, and the world below and is primarily inhabited by a race of giant sapient insects. The T'lc-Kha, as they are known by Goldlands human population, are an insectoid race that have created a massive underground network of tunnels in which to live. The name stems from the sounds their metal exoskeleton and soft under tissue makes. This same shell reveals their caste in the hive. As larva they feed on metal so that after pupation will that metal will be incorporated into the exoskeleton of their adult form.

"Flower wars" occur when a queen fails to moderate her hive's population. These wars result in the culling of her hive, the ceasing of many resources, land and the diminishing of her status among her fellow queens. Rumors abound of golden T'lc-Ka, that were fed gold and developed golden shells and a latent skill with magic and thus the entire society is obsessed with the acquisition and consumption of gold. Attendants of the golden one's carve strange glyphs into their carapace. The shells of deceased gold ones are locked away in guarded vaultombs to thwart the ever present risk of other hives' shelleaters and looters looking for wealth or arcane secrets.

Some of the hive's warriors may be hired as mercenaries for short excursions or an entire brood of more independent T'lc-Kha may be produced if a nation is willing to pay a kings (or queens) ransom that a queen might set for her brood. The "freeborn" T'lc-Kha, as they are colloquially known, are more individualistic but retain an in-bred loyalty to their hive. To them, it is their purpose to serve the "client" as they would serve the queen. The only order they would refuse, would be one that would result in harm to their hive of origin. Such mercenaries are highly prized for this very reason, though the cost of maintaining them in both food and metal is quite high.

The Coatlanhan people are made up of many petty kingdoms. Each of them preserve a small amount of ancient technology, the greatest of which, their god machines, are objects of worship and great weapons of war.

The Teritzoklan people, known as the godless by their countrymen, are those who occupy the lands nearest the eastern mountains, have suffered the most out of all the Coathlanhan peoples. Hordes of horsemen, regular techno barbarian raids and wandering abominations from the irradiated desert have left this tribe without even a single god-machine. As a result they rely heavily on massive flightless birds of prey as battle mounts. Most of their warriors no longer wear the armor of their ancestors as it has been lost to battlefield scavengers. Instead the eagle warriors wear the feathers of their mounts and simple leathers for increased speed and mobility. Occasionally the rare warrior will manage to tame the larger behemoths of the land, that warrior will be instantly recognized as a champion of the people. As hard as it is to tame the great birds, the behemoths are that much harder, that much more intractable. More often than not behemoth eggs are sold to merchants as exotic goods to be raised as arena fodder.

<gallery>
Coatlanhan_Warrior_Woman.jpg|A warrior of the Coatlanhan
God_Machine_Of_The_Wind.jpg|A God-Machine
God_Machine_Ruin.jpg|A destroyed God-Machine
Teritzoklan_Cavalry.jpg|Two Teritzoklan cavalry men riding a War-claw mount.
</gallery>

====Religion====
Once a decade a dance of blades is held. The dance is in fact a great battle, in which warriors attempt to capture one another to be used as sacrifices to their tribe's god machine. The people believe that the dead join their ancestors by fusing with the walking god. Great works of art have been fused to these "God machines" giving these once terrible weapons of war an ornate appearance. These additions were once simple attempts by their ancestors to repair the devices that held back the dangers that other races, peoples and predators posed. While impressive to look upon the towering weapons of a bygone era are now handicapped by the ignorance of the priesthood. As it stands the God Machines of today have long run out of ammunition for their weaponry and instead rely on melee combat utilizing absurd weaponry pieced together from the scraps of the fallen. Constant repairs are required to forestall the cascade of system failures that threaten to occur on a regular basis. For the time being God Machines suffice to keep the peoples faith and hope alive that they are protected and blessed by a higher power but when the last great machine falls, devastation is sure to follow.

In the current era, treasure hunters and raids from other kingdoms for the technology the Coatlanhan people have hoarded for generations, are common. The high priests of "Goldland" as it is known by outsiders, work endlessly to maintain their great defenders to keep the armies of other nations at bay. Small raid parties are often far more successful than any large scale invasion. Many of Goldlands outlying settlements have been plundered of its most valuable and arcane technologies. The most "successful" of these large raids was The Last Hunt of Kara Khan; in which 10,000 soulriders were led by the Khan to raid Goldland, and only 12 made it back alive.

====Organization====

====Origin====
Few suspect that the T'lc-Kha are descended from the Teriads. Separation from the bulk of the Teriad population and millennia of evolution imposed by Goldlands ecosystem, have resulted in this evolutionary branch of the ancient bioweapons developing sentience and a more organic physiology. While having diverged greatly from their ancestors, the T'lc-Kha are still able absorb metals into their shell. Unlike their ancestors though it takes them weeks or months to process the metals into their carapace. The T'lc-Kha began their time in Goldland as an extremely violent and expansionist species. After multiple encounters with the surrounding sapient races and the rapidly dwindling resources at their disposal a convention of queens was held during which the queens of that era decided upon a path of stewardship of their lands and peoples rather than expansion. A brief yet bloody civil war followed as dissenters and incompotents were destroyed and millennia of relative peace has followed.

The Coatlanhan people are said to be descendants of the great builders of old. After the cataclysm many of the builders greatest works were either broken or loosed upon the world at large. The people crept from the ancient stone buildings and vaults of their ancestors to discover a world utterly at odds with the depictions their ancestors had left them. Were it not for the great machinery left behind by their ancestors the Coatlanhan would never have survived the robust mega fauna and flora that had grown in the fallout of the ancients demise. Little is known about about the origins of the many kingdoms except by those of the priesthood who hoard any and all knowledge of their people with religious zeal and paranoid possessiveness. Those who attempt to break this strangle hold on such knowledge are put to a bloody end and the truth matters little to the Coatlanhan as life holds enough challenges without worrying about the past.

====Diplomacy====

====Economy====
T'lc-Kha commonly trade the following goods with surface dwellers; fine silk, chitin, resin, gems, metals and mercenaries. The Coatlanhan economy is as insular as its people and trade with outsiders is rare. The Teritzoklan are unique among the many tribes in that they frequently trade with outsiders in vast quantities of meat, hides and bones as well as novelty items like behemoth eggs both fertile and infertile. Behemoths often make for wondrous additions to the arenas and circuses found throughout the world.

=== Windhell Valley ===

[[File:Horde.jpg|thumb|A group of travelers, led by a boomerang-thrower, walking against the wind in the heart of the Windhell Valley]]

The Windhell Valley is a large area in the shape of a gigantic basin in which a powerful wind blows permanently, which can vary in intensity depending on the time of day.
At its weakest level, the wind is already strong enough to make it difficult to walk in its opposite direction. At its strongest point, the wind blows in incredibly powerful gusts capable of tearing anything off the ground and skinning a human being alive.

The Windhell Valley is a very depopulated area. The few communities that live there are small, scattered tribes that dig shelters under the ground to protect themselves from the wind, as no construction over one metre high can stand up to the wind in this area.

The most important member of a tribe is usually the Wind Singer, a scholar who is able to predict wind movements several hours in advance, especially its sudden rises in intensity.

The culture of the Windhell Valley natives leads them to be naturally inclined to be hospitable and to help travellers in difficulty by offering them refuge in their underground shelters.

[[File:Hordecontrevent.jpg|thumb|Tribesmen taking sheleter right before a storm]]

The only animals that live in the Windhell Valley are vipers that bury themselves in the ground to protect themselves from the wind, giant turtles with massive shells, so heavy that the wind is unable to tear them off the ground, and finally flocks of jellyfish that float in the air, being carried by the wind and feeding on dust.

The natives feed mainly on these flying jellyfish and hunt them with their boomerangs.

Boomerang throwers from the Windhell Valley are highly sought-after mercenaries throughout the continent. When they fight, they use special boomerangs with sharp blades.

Travellers and merchants who wish to go through the Windhell Valley often hire these boomerang hunters as escorts because they are not only very good fighters but they know the location of the various underground villages in which to take shelter in case of a surprise storm.

====Weather Patterns====

=====Winter=====
The westerlies are at their strongest and are coming in from south-west. Also because the passage for the outflow is narrower than the inflow, it creates a funnelling effect so the wind intensifies further. As the winds are pushing on the eastern side of the cyclone, the eye of the cyclone is moved west.

=====Summer=====
The westerlies are at their weakest and are coming in through the north, so they're further weakened by going from the narrow opening to the wider. The cyclone is at it's smallest and the winds are pushing on the west side so the eye is moved east.

=====Spring and Autumn=====
Somewhere in between summer and winter but with much more unpredictability as there's more turbulence from the north and south wind's friction as they blow past eachother. There's also a particular time where the winds shift from predominately southern to northern during spring and vice versa in autumn. During this switch the cyclone is disrupted and the chaotic flow of air creates utterly extreme windblasts, the world's biggest tornadoes and thunderstorms and even many areas of complete wind-still. This only lasts a couple of days at most.

This also affects the climate in the rest of Westrasi, particularly outside the two passages. At the north passage, warm humid air from the south is brought up during winter, leading to year round rainfall. At the south passage, cool dry air from the north is brought down, leading to more extreme summer droughts.The rich soil of the valley has been grounded up and blown out by the winds over millennia, making much of Westrasi soil nutrient rich.

=== Storm Islands ===
Races: 100% Modern Storm Islander Human, ?% Fish People
Government: Collectivist Theocracy

=====History=====

It is said that long ago, the ancient Westrasi ancestors discovered the Storm Islands when they were still learning to sail.
This was before the Great Storm surrounded the islands. A number of ancient Westrasi emigrated to the new lands, and were welcomed by the natives: an albino race of humans. They interbred with the Westrasi, creating Modern Storm Islanders. When the world became tumultuous, and the people began to war with each other over the riches of the earth, The Druids of The Storm Islands raised the mighty gale that surrounds the islands to this day.

=====Government=====

Although lacking an official government, there is a universally adhered to social order, based very much around the spiritual beliefs of the islands inhabitants. Islanders born with primarily albinid traits such as pale white skin, silver eyes, and white hair, are believed to be sacred by their peers. Known as the ''Cloud People'', they are trained as societies rulers and druids, and tasked with protecting the island through ''Storm Magic''. They hand down the teachings, rulings, and judgements, and lead their people forward in times of uncertainty. There are not many rules to stifle the lives of Storm Islanders, just basic social contracts. A Storm Islander may not kill another Storm Islander, unless it is in self-defense. A Storm Islander may not go out of their way to cause harm to nature, if they gain no resource from their actions. Storm Islanders are expected to actively participate in the well-being of their society. This includes taking some profession, whether it be whaling, or beer brewing. It also includes the duty to spar and train for combat on a regular basis with their peers, to act as a standing army and aid the men at arms in a time of need. It is said that a Storm Islander that violates these social contracts is sent to sea in a small boat.

=====Culture=====

Trade with Storm Islanders, as well as the conquering, and resource extraction by greater empires; has been staved off by impracticality, because of the constant fog and storms surrounding the island, making travel to and from the Island, treacherous at best. However, they are not outwardly hostile to any un-enterprising outsiders, and are quite welcoming, and even more fun. The plants, animals, and even mineral make up of Storm Island, have evolved in a unique way, because of the inhospitable climate. The Storm Island Sheep, and the Storm Island Seal, are bigger, fiercer, and hardier than elsewhere in the world. The sheep provide wool, hide, meat and dairy, and the ram's horns are fashioned into instruments and drinking horns. The seals provide meat, furs, and a large supply of rich fats; used for anything from candles to preservatives, soaps, and more. The only known birds on the Storm Islands are large scavenging corvids, and fish eating sea eagles. It is uncertain why so many fish and whales live in the extremely stormy waters around the Storm Islands, it is as if they are swept there. There are many trees in the Islands, but all subspecies evolved for the climate. Broadleaf trees harder than the hardest mainland oak, growing twisted and gnarled, and Conifers which can bend completely in half without breaking. These unique woods are the backbone of Islander culture. They form their spears and bows, their storm-weathering architecture, and the only boats that can withstand a fishing expedition on their stormy seas. The unique climate, and the volcano on Cloud Island, give the Islands a unique black iron, that looks almost, iridescent in certain lights. Storm Islanders are warriors, farmers, and fishermen. They live hard, and recreate hard. They have an insatiable appetite for their dark ales and whiskeys, made with wild tasting herbs that grow there. Some are brewed with rarer herbs, that cause much stranger effects. There are even stranger fungi. The Islanders are hard, but fun loving, and ever adaptable because of their environment. A Storm Islander can be thrown from a fishing boat, climb back aboard unshaken, and share a good laugh about it. Storm Islanders cover themselves in tattoos. They mark status and deed, as well as personal beliefs and virtues. A deed for a Storm Islander may also count a funny anecdote. There are three inks used. The most common is black, from charcoal, The indigo woad ink is reserved for those more well off, or those committing greater deeds, and the rarest, a crimson ink, is reserved only for the Albinid Druid family, who will often mix in blue and black ink purely for aesthetic reasons. Most Islanders have hair ranging from Brunette to Dark Blonde, as well as many shades of Red, especially Reddish Blondes and Browns. Grey and Hazel, are the most predominant eye colors, and many tend toward a paleness. They tend to be anywhere between 5'4" and 6'2". Although Albino Islanders are mainly born within their own group, when this phenotype manifests among the other islanders, they are married into the druidic family.

=====Religion=====

The Storm Islanders don't believe that Gloria-Etalia abandoned us. Rather, they believe she sent angels here to lead us. Storm Islanders believe that their people expressing the albino phenotype, are Gloria-Etalia's angels, repeatedly reincarnated. The albino druids are the emissary to god, and what they say is the word of god. If the way Storm Islanders live contradicts what people believe Gloria-Etalia stands for, it is because that is what she said before, and the Storm Islanders know what she says now. The sleeping volcano on Cloud Island is the site of ceremonial power for the druids, and it is rumored that the magic they do there protects the island with it's fogs and storms. Although not part of their religion, they believe the fish people from the west to be supernatural beings. They may bestow a boon upon you, for a price.

''The Lore behind the Lore: The Native Storm Islanders were inbred descendants of scientists from the ancient advanced civilization. The geo-thermal energy from the volcano was long ago utilized to power a HAARP like machine within the volcano. The inside of the volcano was sealed off to become a safe chamber, housing the HAARP, like how people seal nuclear reactors. This machine was used to utilize wind currents to keep the inhabitants of these islands safe from nuclear fallout, and to keep the dust from totally blotting out their sun. The Veil of Storms was lifted when Gloria-Etalia came to earth, and the initial Westrasi migration was welcomed as much needed diversity to their gene-pool. The veil was raised again when Gloria-Etalia left and the peoples of the world began to clash. The Druidic class pass down the knowledge of the HAARP to keep the Island safe, and upkeep the infrastructure as much as they can. Noone in the setting except the highest ranking members of the Druidic Family would know this.''

=== Kingdom of Belara ===
[[File:Belaran Merchant Vessel.png|thumb|Belaran Merchant Vessel]]
Races: 85% Westrasi human, 8% Imuuga human, 7% Other

Government: Absolute Monarchy.

Capitol: The city of Belwed

What was once by far the most powerful nation in Westrasi, the great Belaran empire which controlled almost all of the north-west, was split in twain by a bloody civil war. Today it’s an entire nation dedicated to recapturing the glory of a foregone empire, maintaining millenia old traditions together with modern innovations, a clash which has brought them both terrible grief and great heights, though far from the old behemoth they take their name from.

=====Culture=====
Much of the Belaran cultural identity is based on regaining the glory of the old empire. This manifests as a superiority complex and they often appear arrogant and vain to outsiders. They fashion themselves in elaborate clothes which resemble the garb of the old imperial royals and the architecture, even peasant homes, are made to evoke the old royal palace. This also manifests in an expansionist mindset, believing that all Belarans should seek to expand the land and Influence of the kingdom no matter the cost and this philosophy is the uniting principle of all Belarans. That’s not to say that they lack behind. With their new maritime empire, the changing political landscape in Westrasi and scientific, technological and magical advancements, many nobles have chosen to embrace these modern changes, going from tyrants, schemers, warriors and warlords to thinkers, tinkerers, traders and explorers with a few even looking to their rival cousins to the south. Despite this modernisation, Belara remains firmly rooted in their history and many other more traditionalist nobles reject all but the advancements in arms and warfare. While much rarer than in the past, feuds and skirmishes between the nobles is still not entirely uncommon though it's more prevalent among traditionalists.

Another aspect central to Belaran culture is the feudal ranks. These ranks are extremely strict and families tend to stay in their ranks for centuries. Gaining or losing ranks is extremely rare, despite great achievements or losses. This has led to strange situations where some people of lower ranks end up achieving more wealth and influence than some of higher ranks yet officially being lower than them, for example some individual knights have amassed greater lands and armies than many nobles and even some peasant merchants are wealthier than some of the poorer nobles. The ranks in descending order are king, nobles, clergy, knights, peasants, serfs and slaves (Although the last two are for all practical purposes the same and only exist to differentiate between native Belarans and foreign slaves). Someone of higher rank could murder someone lower and face few consequences while one of lower rank could face death penalty for addressing a higher rank improperly.

=====Religion=====
While most Belarans believe in Gloria-Etalia, the Church of the Divine Duality has been barred from entering the nation. Instead the Belaran chapel is deeply intertwined with politics and believes the only way to ensure the return of Gloria-Etalia is for Belara to conquer the world and enforce the Belaran way of life across the continent. It even portrays the king as an angel, directly descended from Gloria-Etalia. The Belaran inquisition ruthlessly pursues anyone of deviant beliefs, particularly anyone who follows the Sarkatian faith.

=====Organization=====
[[File:King Silandra II of Belara.png|thumb|King Silandra II]]
Claiming to be the oldest continuous state in the west (A claim that’s highly disputed among Westrasi schoolars, particularly the “continuous” part), it also maintains a rather old political tradition of feudalism. The various lords hold absolute power over their lands while the king holds absolute power over them, at least in theory. In practice, the lords hold much power and if they banded together could easily overthrow the king, a fact the king is keenly aware of. This same power dynamic extends one level down further to the clergy and knights and another level down to the peasants, who have a right to own private property. The only ones with absolutely no power are the serfs and slaves (Who make up about 65% of the population) who, outside a couple of revolts here and there, are practically owned by their lord.
The current regent, King Silandra (Only a king is allowed to rule, regardless of gender) has officially been king since the age of five when her father died and her brother was proven to be a bastard. Now she’s twenty-three and has proven a capable king, although a staunch traditionalist to the dismay of modernist nobles and peasants. Only time will tell if she can hold the kingdom together.

=====Origin=====
[[File:Prince Layron III, traitor to Belara, hero to Morloux.png|thumb|Prince Layron III]]
The Vestlarians who travelled across the southern mountains (See, Kingdom of Uoro, Origin) found a new bountiful land by the coast where they saw an opportunity to build a new city from which to expand their dominion. The city was called Balar, the name of the Westrasi in their tongue, and from there began their expansionist empire which in time would be called the Belaran Empire, marking the beginning of the fifth era in the west, fifteen hundred years ago. In time, the empire would control the entire north-west coast of Westrasi and even reach far enough inland to reach the Westrasi sea, reigning for a millennia as the most powerful nation in the west. What could break apart such a vast empire?

Five centuries ago, the first heir to the throne Prince Layrone the Third had landed in trouble. Only twenty years of age he was an incredibly charismatic young man gifted from birth with wisdom in all matters from strategy to politics, however he was also debaucherous
and impulsive, often acting and speaking with no regards for the consequences. In a single drunken night, he had killed three noblemen in an illegal duel, spoken heresy against the church, sodomized several nuns and kidnapped the daughter of the Celestial Empire’s envoy to marry her, among other charges. Being a royal he was exempt from execution so instead he was banished from Belara. But the stubborn Prince Layron was not content with his fate and gathered what friends he had in the aristocracy and appealing to the oppressed peoples of Belara, began a revolt against his own family. This led to a bloody civil war reaching across all of Westrasi and beyond for 70 years resulting in the complete dissolvement of the Belaran empire and the birth of the kingdom of Morloux, as well as the independence of many states. The Belaran royal family had fled to the northern islands, retaining what was left of the old empire.

=====Diplomacy=====
Belara has rather poor relations to the rest of Westrasi. Their closest neighbor, the Morloux, are considered the arch-enemy of Belara and they’ve been in a semi-perpetual war since the civil war. This hostility has worsened in the last two centuries after the Morloux revolution, now seeing these revolutionary ideals as a threat to the Belaran power structure. The rest of the Westrasi nations, particularly those who were subjects of the old empire, tend to hold negative connotations against the Belarans. Ironically, Belara has better diplomatic relations with the rest of the continent through its colonies.

Currently they're on a similar level power and influence as the Morloux republic, although where their power is concentrated in Westrasi and the southern continent, Belara can project their power anywhere in the world. The confusing manner in which they interact with the world can be attributed to this traditionalist/modernist divide, where on one hand a Belaran noble may greet you with exceptional kindness and politeness and on the other they may cut you down on the spot for not bowing in their presence. The greatest contrast is between the colonies of Ta-Li Hold and Norvia Stronghold, the former of which has been largely amiable, preferring to gain favour and trade deals by diplomatic conduct vs the latter which prefers to gain trade deals through violence and intimidation and takes resources and slaves as they see fit. New Belwed is an odd mix, giving them a reputation of unreliability in the region.

=====Geography=====
The Belaran Isles are a mix of flat lowlands and mountainous highlands, the former of which is the most populated and largely been converted to farmland, while the latter is still mostly forested and used more for grazing and hunting.

=====Economy=====
[[File:Kingdom of Belara Trade routes.jpg|thumb|Kingdom of Belara trade routes]]
The Belaran homeland produces quite a lot of resources, with many mines producing iron, gold and other metals, and has a strong agricultural base, although most of the food production is located on the continental lands it still holds onto. However, its true wealth comes from the overseas colonies. Arctic nibbler fish from Norvia, Silk from Ta-Li hold and xuxu beans from New Belwed are only some of their more extravagant exports which they sell primarily to the western kingdoms.

=== Morloux Republic ===
[[File:The Morloux Revolution.png|thumb|The Morloux Revolution]]
Population: 60% Westrasi human, 10% Vassal Tribesmen, 9% Halflings, 8% Swe’yus human, 7% Janedi human, 5% Wood elves and Dryads, 1% Other

Capitol: Larus

Government: Democratic Republic

Called the land of two revolutions, almost the direct antithesis to the old Belaran empire. A powerful nation, it’s an influential country both in Westrasi and the rest of the continent. Though whatever the fate of this nation, it’s true mark on history will be the radical new ideas on subjects from politics to science to philosophy, which will undoubtedly affect the world for centuries to come.

=====Culture=====
The fact that this country was born from revolution becomes immediately apparent when you talk to one of its citizens. The Morloux believe that everyone is ultimately free and equal and that no one should subject oneself to another person's will unless they’ve made themselves worthy or it’s beneficial to you. From this, they generally have little respect for people of authority, especially those who’ve inherited their position and nobility are treated with open hostility. This manifests as a characteristic bluntness and honesty, talking to anyone as if they were on first-name basis, regardless of social rank or actual closeness. This is interpreted by many foreigners as rudeness but in reality, being overly formal is what’s seen as rude in Morloux.
The overall culture is clearly Westrasi but it’s been influenced a lot by the people brought over as slaves during the nation's monarchic phase leading to a remarkably multicultural society.

'''Treant'''

The many Treant vassal tribesmen, elves and dryads who were brought here to work farms and plantations with their Treant magic, created an agricultural revolution, drastically increasing the food quality and quantity, leading to a population boom on the continent. This new larger and healthier population is probably one of the causes of the second revolution. Many of the treant natives returned home after they gained their independence but most stayed, having now lived here for generations. Most live in scattered communities in the countryside but many who abandoned their phobia of industrialisation choose to live in the cities where dryad and Westrasi wizards teach and incorporate each other's magic. Most Treant peoples speak a kind of “Treant Creole" formed by the many tribesmen who now lived and worked together. In truth, now it's mostly just a dialect of Morloux and almost all of them speak standard Morloux in addition, though it grants them some cultural unity.

'''Swe’yus and Janedi'''

Out of all the slaves brought to the homeland, these two groups were the ones who were treated the worst. While their living conditions have significantly improved after the second revolution, the scars of slavery are the most apparent among them, particularly the Swe’yus. They’re the ones who’ve assimilated the worst, often living in ghettos and suffer the worst from poverty and prejudice, even by the treant. The Janedi fare better but have many of the same problems as the Swe’yus.

'''Halflings'''

The Belaran empire had been enslaving halflings since its inception, forcing them to craft tools and weapons for them. When Prince Leyron staged his revolt, he promised all halflings of Belara they would be free under his rule. So many skilled craftsmen in his army who built him arms, armour, ships, siege engines, castles and much more, granted him a technological edge over the royalists who were deprived of their armourers. The halflings, now no longer slaves to other masters, gained vast amounts of wealth selling their craftsmanship and today they fill most upper echelons of Morloux society, even seeing some in the Commons Seat. The republic (then kingdom) also gained much, as the freer, wealthier and more educated halflings advanced technology drastically and paid huge sums in taxes. While they’re generally regarded well by the Westrasi humans, the Treant, Swe’yus and Janedi hold some animosity against them as they hold much power and wealth in Morloux while these new arrivals, some of whose ancestors were brought on Halfling merchant slave ships, still occupy the poorer quadrants of society.

=====Religion=====
Freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Morloux Constitution. While Gloria-Etalia is the majority religion, the Church of the Divine Duality only has some influence with the chapel of Morloux being the largest religious institution. Halflings primarily believe in Gloria-Etalia, though a larger percentage of halflings are non-religious than Westrasi humans. Most Treant natives still follow some form of Treant worship, although it’s been very influenced by the local religion and the urbanised treants have mostly converted to GE. Large portions of Swe’yus and Janedi people believe in the Celestial religion, although most of them have converted to GE and are in fact often more devout than the local Westrasi.

=====Organization=====
[[File:Prime Ministre Corinou D'afete of the Morloux Republic.png|thumb|Prime Ministre Corinou D'afete]]
After the formation of the first Morloux kingdom, three institutions were created. The Kings Seat, representing the royal house, the Barons Seat, representing the aristocratic elite, and the Commons Seat, representing the people. While this was certainly more fair than the previous system, it was still a minority that held most of the power. With the death of the royal family and most aristocrats during the second revolution, the Commons Seat for all practical purposes became the de facto state, whose members are elected in local elections in the various regions and cities across Morloux. The Barons Seat now only implements and enforces the laws that the Commons write. In theory the Barons could simply ignore their instructions and enforce their own laws, thereby taking all the power and instating a new rule, if it wasn't for the fact that the "Barons" are just members of the Commons who're voted in and out on a half year basis. The Kings Seat is reduced to a ceremonial institution with no power or influence who's only responsibility is to manage the king's old estates, whose profits are all paid to the Commons Seat.
Currently, around fifteen different parties have members in the Commons, the two largest of which are the Democratic-Republic party, the oldest party in the Commons having formed only twenty years after the birth of the republic, and the Radical Liberalists Party, the current leading party which gained prominence the last forty years, with Corinou D’afete as party leader. New serving his first term as prime minister, Corinou has been engaged in politics for fifty years. His platform runs on sweeping economic and social reforms and anti-traditionalist rhetoric. A highly capable man with decades of experience, he’s popular both in and outside Morloux, though many kings worry how this headstrong man will shake up the political landscape.

=====Origin=====
After the Belaran civil war, the new Leyron royal family possessed the strongest nation in Westrassi but since it came to be partially through a people's revolt they had to grant some concessions to the people leading to a constitutional monarchy. Furthermore the Belaran kingdom, now mostly banished from the Westrasi main land, still held on to some of their old colonies and sought to regain power through them, something the Leyron family couldn’t allow. While Belara managed to gain colonies around the continent, due to their better ship technology, Morloux only managed to hold onto one in the south of the continent, Nulamore, however this one colony proved to be hugely profitable. This profit was mostly spent on waging the countless wars against their old kin in the north and the luxury goods were still reserved for the wealthy aristocrats of the old empire, so the people rarely saw much of this treasure. Adding to this, the Morloux brought many of its colonial slaves back to the homeland which led to explosive population growth and ethnic tension on top of the already existing halfling minority, unlike the Belarans in the north which rarely allowed foreigners to enter their lands. All these factors lead to the second revolution about two centuries ago, this time wiping out the royal family entirely and most of the old aristocracy, finally eliminating the last remnants of the old Belaran empire. This led to one of the first true democracies on the continent and introduced a radical new constitution which included things like the complete abollition of slavery, freedom or religion, freespeech, right to assembly, etc. This inspired many more revolutions in Westrasi, some bloody, some peaceful, some successful, some failures but whatever the case, the political landscape of the region had changed forever and the monarchies that remain must tread lightly.

=====Diplomacy=====
Morloux tends to have good relations with the rest of Westrasi, the obvious exception being Belara who they’re continuously extremely hostile towards, often swapping lands through battles and skirmishes. Morloux likes to use Jorivakian mercenaries in these many wars. Outside of this, they’re deeply intertwined with Westrasi politics.
They're relations to the eastern continent are significantly less civil. Many nations hold a grudge for Morlouxs slaving past, although these tensions have somewhat eased with the founding of the republic. Their worst enemy here is the Ecinevian League, who they wage multiple proxy wars against and everyone knows it’s only a matter of time before a full scale war is declared.

=====Geography=====
Flanked by coast to the north and mountains to the south, the land is a very mild climate. Most of Morloux has been converted to farmland although forest is spreading again with help from the treant natives.

=====Economy=====
[[File:Murloux republic trade routes.jpg|thumb|Murloux Republic trade routes]]
Nulamore is an important part of the Morloux economy, bringing exotic goods to the rest of Westrasi, although it’s far from their only source of income. Their trade network extends all the way around the Westrasi sea where they buy and sell the vast majority of their products. Morloux itself sells large amounts of high quality craftsmanship from the halfling population, whether that’s tools, toys, arms or other knick knacks as well as many luxury foods brought over and cultivated by the treants. Like many others they’ve attempted to cultivate xuxu beans but even with treant magic and labour, it’s been to no avail.

=== Sarkation Empire ===
Population: 92% Westrasi human, 5% T'lc-Kha, 3% other
Capitol: Etaliana
Government: Theocratic Constitutional Monarchy

Home to the Church of the Divine Duality and the two holy cities of Gloriana and Etaliana, the Sarkation empire is central to the religious landscape of the west and anyone in the world who worships Gloria-Etalia. The country is powerful in of itself. Being the link between the Westrasi sea and the west sea, it has gained much wealth through trade and pilgrimages, and it possesses a strong army bolstered by the infamous Wyvern Knights.

====Culture====
Being influenced by the noble roots of Belara, the revolutionary ideals of Morloux, the devout nature of the church and the mercantilist mindset of the inland sea, the Sarkatians have developed an interesting, seemingly contradictory world-view. On one hand, they believe that unity is the greatest virtue and that true order and civilization can only be achieved through a strong, moral authority. On the other hand, they believe the individual is the ultimate master of destiny and that no one should pursue a cause that is not their own.
There's a common saying, "The best blessing is a Sarkatian friend, the worst curse is a Sarkatian enemy". Those they consider to be friends they'll do anything for, even sacrificing their own property and well-being to help someone in need and those who're enemies are treated with utmost scorn and hatred and rivalries can last for generations, even going out of their way to hurt their foes. Relationships between nobles and the common folk are generally good, as these attitudes incentivise the rich to donate much of their wealth to either the church or directly to the people. Visitors tell of the excellent service and courtesy they receive in Sarkatia by there are also many tales of strangers being harassed and even killed for perceived disrespect.

====Religion====
Being home to the Church of the Divine Duality, an organisation with branches in all of westrasi and even the rest of the continent, spirituality and worship is deeply ingrained in Sarkatia, easily being the most religious country on the western continent. Many people make pilgrimages to the cities of Gloriana and Etaliana, the former of which holds the headquarters of the church . The church itself is largely independent and is the official authority on all religious matters for most worshipers of Gloria-Etalia.

====Organisation====
While Gloriana is the home of the church, Etaliana is the home of the emperor and the parliament. Inspired by the Morloux model, the parliament members are elected in the various regions of Sarkatia, however unlike Morloux, the emperor and church still hold much power. The emperor must approve the laws parliament writes before they go into effect and has the right to veto many of their decisions, as well as being the sole authority in all matters of warfare and being absolute ruler of the Imperial province. While members of the church can't officially be members of parliament, many priests will resign their position while they run for election and sit in parliament to then resume as priests once their term is over. This is accepted since the Gloria-Etalia faith considers politics to be a worthy endeavor as it’s integral to all civilisation.
They possess an impressive military but their most iconic units are the Wyvern Knights. During the persecutions by the Belaran empire, monks fled into the mountains where they learned to tame Belaran wyverns and used them to fight against the Belarans. The revolution was the first time they were using wyverns as mounts and Emperor Sarkan used them to great effectiveness, gaining them their fearsome reputation. They’re still a religious order but have sworn total loyalty to the emperor and only act according to his command.

====Origin====
The Church of the Divine Duality has existed since the 4th era for over 2000 years, with the two holy cities being even older, possibly dating back to the 3rd era. The land surrounding the cities has been conquered many times and through the many kingdoms that’ve risen and fallen around them they’ve experienced both golden eras and hard oppression. Their worst oppression however began a thousand years ago in the 5th era when they were conquered by the Belaran empire. The empire sought to control Westrasi through the faith and therefore turned the church into a puppet and any priests and bishops who dissented were imprisoned or executed. During the Belaran revolution, lord Sarkan the 5th of Gloriana, who was skeptical of the Belaran royal family, was inspired by Prince Layron’s strategy of gaining power by promising the halflings freedom and Sarkan did the same by promising the church full independence if they recognised him as the sole ruler of the surrounding lands. Devout worshipers across the continent flocked to join his army to escape persecution. Once the revolution was over, the peace treaty recognised the Sarkatian empire as an independent nation. During the Morloux revolution only a few centuries later, the Sarkation empire was still an absolute monarchy and a similar revolt was brewing. It was however much less bloody as emperor Tianan had seen what happened to the nobles in Morloux and decided to concede much power by founding the parliament.

====Diplomacy====
While they have good relations with most Westrasi nations because of their religious importance, their relationship with both Belara and Morloux has been sour. Sarkatia is the second most hated country by Belara, right after Morloux, seeing them both as treacherous. The Morloux kingdom saw them as a threat, believing their church would try to influence Morloux in service of Sarkatia. In addition Sarkatia has a pass through the mountains, meaning they’re the only nation with a link between the Westrasi sea and the west sea and for this reason, both kingdoms have tried to invade multiple times. After the Morloux revolution, relations between the nations have somewhat mellowed although old grudges remain.

====Geography====
Sarkatia is a very mountainous land with much rocky terrain all the way down to the coast. Much of the lush forest has been converted into farmland. The mountain range is almost impassable except for certain passages. Gloriana is located down by the bay while Etaliana is located up in the mountains, which is why Emperor Sarkan made it his capital for its defensible position.

====Economy====
Sarkatia has quite a strong economy, both because of the many pilgrims who travel to and from the land as well as the many Westrasi merchants who have to travel through the mountain pass to trade with the rest of the continent. Both Belara and Morloux have attempted to set up tolls for any ships trying to leave the Sarkation bay but neither have been successful due to the others' presence, so getting out to the west sea is quite safe.

=== Kingdom of Vesterlanders ===

Population: 96% Westrasi Human, 4% Treant Vassal Tribesmen
Capital : Vesterland bay

=====Goverment=====

Constitutional Monarchy. A high king, chosen from an extended family claiming lineage back to Lahailain. A constitution protects the people's rights to personal autonomy and private property, as well as other basic rights, with some restrictions on how much new laws made by the kingship can actually contradict the constitution.

=====Culture=====

The modern Vesterlanders value, freedom and autonomy like the Lahailans, but value tradition much more than their Southern Cousins. Although their culture also embraces the rugged individualism that comes with being an outlander, there is no emphasis placed on business and entrepreneurship. In fact, The Vesterlanders feel that having a constitutional monarchy makes them freer than their southern kin. They do not feel the pressure to engage so actively in global trade, and don't feel a threat of being exploited by large business ventures, Most Vesterlanders are happy to have a small simple home in the countryside or wilderness, and farm, hunt, or fish for what they need. They come together with their neighbors to share food in times of strife, or brew alcohol together, or build boats and fish together for those living by the sea. However, those Vesterlanders that do live in the only large city, and the ceremonial capital: Vesternland Bay, often work loading and unloading freight for Morlouxian and Lahailan trade ships. Some even take a trip or two as merchant sailors. Mostly for the experience. There is a small population of Treant Vassal Tribesmen, who emigrated to Vesterland for it's undeveloped wilds after being freed from Morloux. They were decidedly welcomed for their proficiency with crop growth.

=====Organization=====

There is a High King who rules from the only major city, and ceremonial capital: Vesterland Bay. All citizens are protected with basic rights by their constitution. Other than some renter-tenant relationships in the capital, most Vesterlanders are communities and extended families occupying farms and woodlands. The operate as immediate family units for many matters, but also come together as extended family or community for many others.

=====Origin=====

The origins of the Kingdom of Vesterland and the Lahaila Merchant Republic, are intrinsically tied. During the expansion of Ancient Westrasi culture, there was a prominent zeitgeist of moving northward. Lahailain, a warlord of one of the more powerful Westrasi warbands, disgruntled that many of the new fiefs and lordships of the north were becoming so quickly occupied, and that the dishonesty and politics of courtliness were beginning to permeate Westrasi culture; decided to instead move westward, into largely unoccupied lands. Him, and his people, settled along the westernmost shores of the continent, the site of the modern day nations of The Kingdom of Vesterland, and The Lahaila Merchant Republic. They named it simply Vesterland or the Western Lands, in their toungue. Lahailain declared himself the king of these lands, and declared them sovereign from the greater Vestrassian Kingdom. After the Vestrassian Kingdom split into Voros, and Vestlaria; Vestlaria, invaded the Vesterlands. Having become significantly larger and more advanced, compared to the outlanders of Vesterland, Vestlaria easily defeated the Vesterlanders, despite their prowess and valor in battle. Vesterland became the Vesterland colonies of Vestlaria, which overtime became Belara. After the Split of Belara, Morloux controlled the former Vesterland colonies. These colonies were largely regarded as outlands, and were all but neglected by the rulers of Morloux. The inhabitants of these colonies saw an oppurtunity to restore the Vesterlands to glory and sovereignty. Morloux busy with it's Revolution, and subsequent aftermath, was powerless to expend the resources far southwest to stop this secession. The organizers of this secession were split amongst themselves. One half wished not to be under the thumb of any monarchy, but create a new and freer government based on the old Vesterland values; the other half wished to return completely to their old kingdom. The former took the southern shores, and named this new country Lahaila, in honor of their original founder, and hero Lahailain. The latter took the northern peninsula, and named their country The Kingdom of Vesterland, as it was in the glorious times of old.

=====Diplomacy=====

Although they split from their southern kin, they view The Lahaila Merchant Republic as their greatest allies, and have a fair arrangement with them over the use of their bay for trade purposes. They also have a cautious relationship with Morloux, on the good word of their Lahailan allies. There is a small Belaran occupation in the rocky coastal wastleands of Vesterlands northernmost tip. They Belarans use this occupation as point for sailing to the other side of the world, and have promised no further encroachment for the use of this otherwise uninhabited area. Because this area is otherwise uninhabited, and because the small and mostly unorganized nation of Vesterland can not afford to take military action over a small and to them useless part of their land.

=====Geography=====

The Vesterlands is a peninsula, with dense deciduous forest in it's center. There are steep ocean cliffs to the west, and some rocky shores to the east, tapering into a calm and pleasant beach in and around their Vesterland Bay. To the north, rocky hills roll into jagged and rocky, coastal scrub wastelands.

=====Economy=====

The Vesterlands do not have much of a centralized economy, however they do receive some national wealth through the use of their bay by Lahaila and Morloux. In the Vesterlands bay many Vesterlanders also take some part in working for these international trade businesses.

=== Sisilia Citystates ===

Population: 96% Westrasi Human, 4% Other

Capital: Sisilia

Government: Five Counties, each ruling over a small city.

====Culture:====

The Sisilia Citystates, also known as the Sisilian Counties, or simply Sisilia, is a region of contrasts. Within it's five moderate sized cities, wealth is tied to social status and therefore flaunted. Nobles dress in expensive but practical clothing that is inspired by fashions all around the world, with constantly changing trends. Deep in the forests however, the simple hunters and subsistence farmers stick to their superstitions and barbaric practices. Between the two extremes, the farmers who make up much of the population tend to have more in common with the city folk, but retain some wildness to them.

Social classes are seemingly straight forward in this nation. Nobility enjoy wealth and deeply entrenched legal privileges, while the common folk theoretically don't. However, unofficially, wealth, proximity in blood to clan leadership, clan membership, race, and bloodline are also very important. Despite the power of the nobility, the common folk are well organized into clans, allowing them to exercise far more rights than found in Belara, and in some cases become quite wealthy.

One of the most noteworthy social traits of the region is that everything is organized by clan rather than family. Both noble and common clans exist, and within both these groups there is an unofficial pecking order. The clan leader has final say on who is an isn't a member of their clan, and both men and women frequently marry into other clans.

Although slavery is outlawed in the Sisilian Counties, impoverished foreigners are often badly exploited and have none of the unofficial protections that natives have from their clans. Foreign merchants and mercenaries are generally treated with respect however.

====Religion:====

The Wild Lord is hugely popular in the more remote stretches of forest, while a watered down version of his worship is fairly common in the farmlands and cities.

Gloria-Etalia only enjoys moderate support in the region, mostly from newcomers.

Sailors and fishermen sometimes worship nautical gods of other religions on the basis that they are servants of The Wild One.

Several other minor religions exist, but they are poorly understood by outsiders. Many believe they are just subcults of The Wild One's worship.

====Organization:====

The Five Counts, representing the most powerful noble clan of each city are the theoretical leaders of the region, but many of the clans, both noble and common, pay only lip service to their supposed leaders. Violence between clans is surprisingly rare however, thanks to a mutual paranoia that one of the stronger neighboring nations will try to take advantage of any excessive infighting.

====Origin:====

Much like other nations in the region, what is now Sisilia was once part of the Belarian Empire prior to the Civil War. It was part of the Morloux Republic prior to the second commoner revolution, but democracy never appealed much to the clannish Sisilians, thus allowing the local Duke and his Counts to keep their positions. It was only a century later that the Counts forced the existing Duke at that time to abolish his position, leading to the current decentralized governments that exist today.

The peculiar worship of the Wild Lord and the oddities of the clan structure have been around as long as anyone can remember, despite many attempts to suppress it prior to Sisilia becoming its own nation.

====Diplomacy:====

Despite some similarities with Belara and Morloux, the Sisilians value their independence too much to enter full alliance with either group.

They are somewhat sour on the Sarkation Empire due to past attempts by the Church of Gloria-Etalia to suppress their culture.

The relationship with The Vesterlands, Lahaila, and Lazari is largely friendly, though rivalries between trading companies sometimes lead to localized violence.

Sisilians find the Jorivaki way of life strange, but that doesn't stop Sisilian nobles from sometimes hiring Jorivaki mercenaries.

Sisilians regard Tautoburg as a vassal kingdom of The Wild Lord, and generally avoid it, believing the strangeness of that nation to be a sign that the local vassal of The Wild Lord does not wish to be disturbed.

====Geography:====

The Sisilia Citystates region is generally flat and temperate, though foothills can be found in the northeastern portion of the nation. Thick forests cover most of the region, but pockets of farmland can be found near the coast, and along river valleys.

====Economy:====

The Sisilia Citystates are largely self-sufficient, but alchemist concoctions and enchanted goods produced in the cities fetch a high price in neighboring nations. Wealthy nobles sometimes enter trade partnerships with merchants and nobles from neighboring nations.

====Plot Hooks:====

Where the wild things are: The deep forests of Sisilia have a certain supernatural wildness to them. Many fey creatures, both friendly and otherwise, can be found in the deepest parts of the forest. Some creatures can be encountered randomly, while others can be deliberately summoned by desperate PCs or NPCs in order to take advantage of their peculiar magic. Among the many types of fey that have been encountered in the forests are: nymphs, hags, bad shadows, will-o-wisps, redcaps, dryads, treants, necro-treants, harpies, satyrs, dark satyrs, minotaur, fairies, sprites, mushroom men, tree spirits, river spirits, vine zombies, changelings, fey trolls, the stone men, soul snatchers, fish men, glow wolves, boggles, kelpie, not to mention various unique individuals, some of considerable power.

Snack time!: Occasionally PCs will simply get unlucky and run into one of the few monsters in the area who see a small group of humanoids as valid prey. Certain large species of wyvern, as well as both non-sentient and sentient fey creatures, fall into this category.

Tomb raiders: Countless barrows, ranging from one room chambers, to large necropoli, dot the Sisilian Counties. Most of them have been looted long ago, but some are home to undead, dark fey creatures, bandits and outlaws, or occasionally even law-abiding citizens (if the barrow is empty anyways, why let a good structure go to waste?)

You picked with the wrong clan: Rural common folk in the outlying areas tend to rely on their clan to protect them when law enforcement can't be bothered. Commoners tend to not be particularly well equipped or well trained, but most have access to sword and bow, militia training, and sometimes pacts with fey creatures of varying degrees of power. Killing or harming a clan member, whether for good reason or not, is bound to lead to some fights, particularly since the NPCs are probably outlanders.

Goon squad: Cities, towns, noble clans, and merchant companies/clans rely on hired muscle to look after their stuff, bully commercial rivals (particularly foreigners), and uphold the law/"law". They usually go for quantity over quality, but there is typically a few heavy hitters in a large group. Veteran melee fighters often augment their abilities with potions and enchantments, while arcane and druidic magic users are more common here than many other parts of Westrasi. Despite their modern, civilized appearance, even urban dwellers sometimes can call on ancient pacts with the fey. Most goons are local, but foreigners are occasionally used, particularly Jorivaki.

Dark Agendas: Although often just seen as a backwater wedged in between more powerful nations, Sisilia is bustling with intrigue. Dark fey frequently make pacts with humans here, and desperate souls are often looking for slaves, souls, victims, and odd items to meet their end of the bargain with their whimsically cruel fey patrons. More mundane intrigue is common as well. Noble, merchant, and even commoner clans sometimes engage in low key power struggles, while foreign agents occasionally enter the region looking to stir up trouble.

=== Lahaila Merchant Republic ===

Population: 70% Westrasi Human, 9% Other, 13% Halfling, 8% Giant
Capital : Freeport

=====Goverment=====

A Liberal Republic, with leaders elected by a voting class consisting solely of entrepreneurs.

=====Culture=====

Lahaila was founded on the principals of individualism and free-enterprise. Being your own business owner, and making money for yourself is the ideal in Lahailan life. This can mean the owner of a merchant fleet, a mercenary guardsman, a shop owner, a subsistence farmer, or even a career criminal. Most Lahailans work as independent contractors for larger business owners, hoping to invest their earnings in a business of their own. Many Lahailans are merchant sailors, working for shipping fleets.

=====Religion=====

Many Lahailans believe Gloria Etalia was just a myth perpetuated by the old-empires to keep the populace complacent. This does not mean they do not find their own ways to be spiritual.

=====Origin=====
The origins of the Kingdom of Vesterland and the Lahaila Merchant Republic, are intrinsically tied.
During the expansion of Ancient Westrasi culture, there was a prominent zeitgeist of moving northward. Lahailain, a warlord of one of the more powerful Westrasi warbands, disgruntled that many of the new fiefs and lordships of the north were becoming so quickly occupied, and that the dishonesty and politics of courtliness were beginning to permeate Westrasi culture; decided to instead move westward, into largely unoccupied lands. Him, and his people, settled along the westernmost shores of the continent, the site of the modern day nations of The Kingdom of Vesterland, and The Lahaila Merchant Republic.
They named it simply Vesterland or the Western Lands, in their toungue. Lahailain declared himself the king of these lands, and declared them sovereign from the greater Vestrassian Kingdom. After the Vestrassian Kingdom split into Voros, and Vestlaria; Vestlaria, invaded the Vesterlands. Having become significantly larger and more advanced, compared to the outlanders of Vesterland, Vestlaria easily defeated the Vesterlanders, despite their prowess and valor in battle. Vesterland became the Vesterland colonies of Vestlaria, which overtime became Belara. After the Split of Belara, Morloux controlled the former Vesterland colonies. These colonies were largely regarded as outlands, and were all but neglected by the rulers of Morloux. The inhabitants of these colonies saw an oppurtunity to restore the Vesterlands to glory and sovereignty. Morloux busy with it's Revolution, and subsequent aftermath, was powerless to expend the resources far southwest to stop this secession. The organizers of this secession were split amongst themselves. One half wished to return completely to their old kingdom., the other half wished not to be under the thumb of any monarchy, but create a new and freer government based on the old Vesterland values. The former took the northern peninsula, and named their country The Kingdom of Vesterland, as it was in the times of old. The latter took the southern shores, and named this new country Lahaila, in honor of their original founder, and hero Lahailain. They valued individual liberty and enterprising innovation, and developed a republic where leaders were elected by those members of society who had established businesses for themselves. Being some of the more industrious and entrepreneurial Westrasi, they began to establish themselves as vital pieces in major world trade routes, even being responsible for establishing previously non-existent trade routes. Their affinity for business earned them the modern name: The Lahaila Merchant Republic.

=====Diplomacy=====

The Lahailans are business people before all else. Although once they had to take their independence from Morloux, in modern times they are deeply involved in global trade with Morloux, a decision which grants them access to a greater market than they could reach on their own. They also have positive relations with The Kingdom of Vesterland, whose bay they use in conjunction with Morloux, in exchange for fair taxation. They retain good reltions with the Kingdom of Uoros, who they view as the other parent, in the birthing of the Lazari Confederation. Even though Lazari declared it's independance from both Lahaila and Uoros, both countries maintain positive relations out of trade necessity, but also admiration.

=====Geography=====

Lahaila is the southwestern most part of the former Vesterlands. It is a mostly comprised of flatlands and rolling hills, with temperate deciduous forests, tapering off into grasslands closer to the shore, with a river valley in it's northeast corner.

=====Economy=====

The Lahalia Merchant Republic is mostly liberal capitalist economy, which encourages entrepreneurship. Although there are many small-businesses, there are several large shipping corporations, whose vessels transport most of Morloux's international trade. To eastern Westrasi, to the Giant-Halfling Alliance, and to Morloux's colonies in the east.

=== Kingdom of Uoro ===

Population: 87% Westrasi Human, 8% Suoxi Human, 3% Other, 1% or less Halfling, 1% or less Giant
Capital : Vestrasia

=====Goverment=====

The Uorosian government is a Constitutional Monarchy, whereas most power is held by the Parliament, which is chosen on a basis of Meritocracy and Geniocracy. The Position of royalty is mostly ceremonial, although highly respected, because it is considered the oldest known Westrasi Throne.

=====Culture=====
The original home of the Westrasi is now home to a paticular breed, whom celebrate their rich history, but are always looking forward. The Uorosians hold great value in knowledge and accomplishment, second only to the inquisitiveness and adventurousness that precedes them. Their capital Vestrasia, is a regional center for knowledge, and an important port city for any trade ships taking goods along the river system from Vesterland's Bay to The Westrasi sea and eastward. Being the oldest known Westrasi civilization comes with great pride, but also regret. The Uorosians harbor great shame about their ancestor's history as slavers. This shame likely reinforces the hospitality Uorosians show outsiders, the continued predilection of intellectual and exploratory pursuits, and their aversion to senseless violence. Most Halflings and Giants still have no trust, and no love for Uorosians, but some of their prominent intellectuals have taken up residence there, in appreciation of their pursuit of and archiving of knowledge. Although they are not militaristic, they do indeed value the ability to defend themselves. They are intelligent enough to realize that passage along their river is crucial to all their neighbors, and are cunning enough to defend their nation solely through securing their river.

=====Wardens of the Wyrd Watch=====
[[File:Warden of the Wyrd Watch.jpg|thumb|A Warden of the Wyrd Watch]]
In the pursuit of exploration, the Uorosians became the first Westrasi to make continued expeditions into the Wyrdlands. These early explorers made peace with the natives, and participated in their ritual use of Phreissian Wyrd, allowing them to traverse the Wyrdlands with greater ease. These early expeditions resulted in many unexplainable events, the disappearances of countless Uorosians, and brief political instability about the risks involved. Eventually it was concluded that keeping close to the river would be general protocol for the explorer's. They were still permitted to explore on land, away from the river, but for no more than 72 hours at a time. Eventually these adventurous Uorosians encountered the Time Wraiths. These beings are aberrations in existence, often indescribable in appearance, and unfathomably destructive. little is known about them, but soon after the first encounters with them the Kingdom of Uoros decided it needed to take precautions against them. The Wyrd Watch was set up all along the border of the forest, populating treeline fortresses built to house them, and was made up of the most elite rangers leftover from those early explorers of Wyrd. The modern Wardens of the Wyrd Watch act as sentinels against the Time Wraiths for Uoros, and also all of Western Westrasi. They are said to be invaluable guides through the Wyrds, and a merchant ship passing between the Vestern Bay and the Westrasi Sea hasn't passed without a Warden or two since anyone can remember. They still act as rangers, exploring for new knowledge, and investigating any anomalies that occur. The Wardens use Pherissian Wyrd ritually, not only burning it, but also ingesting it in various ways. They hold many strange beliefs, some would say more similar to the Wyrd Tribesmen than their fellow Uorosians. It is rumored that some Wardens have met themselves out of time in the Wyrdlands and went mad, or never returned.

=====Religion=====

Valuing intellectualism, and adventurousness, most Uorosians have a pretty secular view on Gloria Etalia. They do however, amplify the importance of Gloria Etalia's message of striving for civilization, and believe that their intellectual pursuits are the best reflection of that. Most Wardens of the Wyrd Watch have their own spiritual beliefs, consisting of a mixture of Gloria Etalia, the beliefs of the Wyrd Tribesmen, and their own collections of superstitions and skewed views on the nature of reality, aquired through experience.

=====Origin=====

The Westrasi came into prominence under the shelter of their Northwestern Forest, in the southernmost tip, when the lands to the North where still frozen in their ever-winter. Vestrasia, the first and current capital, was built in the center-most point of their river, which provided all they needed in the early days. Growing stronger and more ambitious in the cradle of their green garden, they began to venture south, to avoid the "cursed" lands to their east. They found a way around the Wyrdlands, but they also found new people. Small, but useful people. Caught in the fervor of their ambition, they began enslaving the smaller, and relativley defenseless people. With a new and exceptionally crafty labor force, the Westrasi were able to grow in power and expand into previously unconquerable lands. Around this time the ever-winter of the North began to wain, and a second capital was built; called Vestlaria. Vestlaria became the port of exploration for the Westrasi world. There was a major divide between the global explorers. The Academics, and the Enterprising. The academics thought that the goal of mankind should be to explore, aquire all the knowledge that they could, and enlighten society as whole, to create a paradise on earth. The enterprising believed that exploring the world, and aquiring knowledge was useless, unless you had great power, and ever-expanding your own civilization was the end-goal of these former ventures. Unsurprisingly, the enterprising types had a majority control in both ruling class and military. A revolutionary academic named Voros led an uprising in Vestlaria, but the academic forces were much less militaristic. They were ultimately defeated, and fled back to the all but forsaken Vestrasia. Those in Vestlaria deemed their homeland no longer useful, and ceased pursuit before wasting the resources of crossing the southern mountains. Vestlaria became Belara over time, and continued a tradition of power-hungry expansionism for many years. Vestrasia made Voros a Sage-King, and the Kingdom of Voros became the Kingdom of Uoros. Although most former slaves were now in Vestlaria, they outlawed slavery upon the founding of the new kingdom, to prevent it's tpxic grasp from taking hold in their culture again. With a natural inclination for intellectualism, they developed systems of Meritocracy and Geniocracy, which grew into a governmental parliament naturally, as the succession of sage-kings realized their own position of absolute power was antithetical to their beliefs. Their society continued the tradition of exploration, but for the love of knowledge and adventure. Becoming a center for knowledge, and passage from Western Westrasi to Eastern Westrasi, and the rest of the world.

=====Diplomacy=====

The Uorosians are extremely diplomatic. They are ambassadors to all, and a lynchpin in a crucial trade route for much of Westrasi. They are still mistrusted by many Halflings and Giants. One of the only nations to actively maintain a friendship with Wyrd Tribesmen.

=====Geography=====

The Uorosians inhabit the southeastern most tip of the Northwestern Westrasi Forest, it is also the native homeland to all Westrasi people. They are the gateway to the rest of the world, a dense broadleaf forest, with a central river valley and patches of meadows leading into the Wyrdlands to the east, and more Mediterranean lands to the South. The initial expansion of the ancient Westrasi saw significant forest clearing, but there was been a concerted effort since the early days of the kingdom to replant native trees, leading to even their capital city having relatively abundant forest coverage.

=====Economy=====

The Uoros control the crucial river connecting trade ships from the Lazari canal, safely through the Wyrdlands to the Westrasi Sea. Merchants pay sizable taxes for the use of this river, as well as handsome fees for Wardens of the Wyrd Watch to be used as river guides. They get most of their money this way, and it is enough for most Uorosians to live comfortably. There is a general egalitarianism among it's people, leaving them free to pursue great accomplishments. There is also a decently lucrative hospitality industry servicing travelers who come seeking knowledge from Uorosian archives.

=== Lazari Confederation ===

Population: 94% Westrasi Human, 6% Other,
Capital : Port of Lazar

=====Goverment=====

A confederation of sovereign peoples, who contribute to the common infrastructure and economical well-being of Lazaria. They are bound by basic laws of non-violence towards their fellow countryman, as well as non-disclosure agreements about the proprietary methods of the confederation, and confidentiality agreements to their clients.

=====Culture=====

The Confederation of Lazar is made up of sovereign people, with an individualist attitude towards trade and personal freedoms. The population of this nation may not be many, but their Canal is the lifeline of trade between West and East Westrasi. Their mountain fortresses offer an opportunity for high-profile clients to hoard treasures and artifacts away from the inquisitive eyes of taxing governments, and self-important conservationists alike. Most inhabitants come from a Lahailan or Uorosian background, although there are some others. There are bustling port cities on either end on the mountain range, and many Research Rangers within the mountains themselves. Many Lazarians that aren't port city merchants, or research rangers, make a living working on the constantly needed repair of the canals infrastructure.

=====Rangers of the Strongholds=====

In the ancient steel caves, turned research centers and wealth strongholds, reside the Rangers of the Strongholds. With their hippogriffs acting as guard dogs, and occasional mounts, but mostly as companion animals, These rangers uphold the secrecy and integrity of their research, as well as the utmost discretion and confidentiality about their clients' hoards. It is said that unauthorized visitors may be rode down upon for coming within a mile of their great steel caves.

=====Religion=====

Comprising mostly of Lahailan and Uorosian descendants, most Lazarians tend to be quite secular about Gloria-Etalia, although they do believe that having some spiritual belief is important to personal growth and achievement, and more importantly that someone's spiritual beliefs be their own.

=====Origin=====

After the Uorosians separated from the Belarans, the explorers of Uoro began expedetion east into the Wyrdlands, and Northwest into the inhospitable Mountain range between them and the most concentrated part of the Belaran Kingdom. An initial outpost settlement was constructed on the northernmost point of the Uorosian River, where it's headwaters disappeared into the foothills of the mountains. The Uorosian Research Rangers encountered a native population of Hippogriffs, of which they domesticated a small portion. Although large enough to mount, the Hippogriffs could not carry excessive supplies in flight with a rider, and could only fly with a rider short distances. They still proved effective for exploration as they displayed agile footing in the mountains, and could at least fly the riders over patches of otherwise impassable terrain. On the western end of the mountain range, the explorer's found the headwaters of another river, the one they knew flowed into it's estuary in Vesterland Bay in the Vesterland colonies of Belara. They found something else just north of the headwaters as well. In the mountains nearby the rangers found a series of magnificent caverns, the likes of which they'd never seen. They were lined with thick metal, and inside were ancient relics. This was a mother load of ancient knowledge, if they could put together the pieces of such degraded material. They went to work building another major outpost here, both to accommodate their extensive research, and to keep a watch that Belara did not try to invade them through their Vesterland colonies. After the Split of Belara, and then later, the Revolution of Morloux, The westernmost parts of the Vesterland colonies became the Kingdom of Vesterland, and the Lahaila Merchant Republic. One day a ship from the Lahaila Merchant Republic docked at the western research outpost. The leader of this expedition was a scout named Lazar, who was searching for a trade route to Eastern Westrasi. The rangers informed him that there was another headwaters, and settlement on the eastern side of the range, but they were seperated by unfavorable terrain. Lazar had an idea. He proposed that they let Lahaila build a canal joining the rivers, to use as a trade route, They would invest in the infrastructure of the research settlements, and that this trade route would greatly benefit their home kingdom of Uoros, which high in honorable deed, and academic pursuit, was admittedly not economically flourishing. This was agreed upon between the two nations. After a brief time, Lazar learned of the ancienct metal caves, and coveted them as merchandise, which led to a brief conflict between The Uorosian Rangers and Lazar. Ultimately it was agreed upon that Lazar could make more money using parts of the less relic-filled caves as strongholds, which Lazar could charge high-profile clients to hoard secret treasures from their governments and enemies. Then, although he was one of the richest men in all Westrasi, Lazar grew discontent with paying taxes to his homeland of Lahaila. He knew that the Research Rangers of the mountains were sometimes criticized by their homeland for their inability to decipher meanings from the ancient caves and their relics. Lazar and the Researchers from Uoros agreed to declare themselves an independent confederation. They had wealth, and they had a stronghold on the main Westrasi continental trade route, as well as the accumulated hoards on undeclared treasures belonging to many of the most powerful people of Westrasi. Noone dared to stop them. It was decided that the expereinced Uorosian Rangers would actually wield most authority over this new nation, while Lazar was afforded the dominion over national profit, as well as the vanity of naming the nation and it's capital city after himself.

=====Diplomacy=====

The Lazarians are the up keepers of the infratructure of one of the most vital trade routes to all of Westrasi, and their strongholds house many powerful Westrasians' secrets. Nobody in Westrasi would every start a conflict with Lazari, and Lazari would never pick a side in any inter-Westrasi conflict.

=====Geography=====

Lazari's landscape is an inhospitable, mountainous, boreal forest, with most of it's civilization residing in it's two port cities, and along the canal in it's foothills.

=====Economy=====

The people of the Lazari Confederation makes their money by heavily taxing non-citizen's using their canal connecting the Vesterland River and Uorosian River, as well as many of it's citizens being involved in continental trade themselves. They also make substantial money acting as a private confidential treasure horde to wealthy clients.

'' Meta-Lore: The great metal lined caves of ancient relics, were actually a system of bunkers where elite members of the ancient bygone society and their extended families hid during the nuclear extinction event at the dawn of our current world. When they ran out of resources, they were forced to exist the bunkers. They found the mountain range inhospitable, and most of that area and northward and westward were still on the tail-end of a nuclear winter. They migrated southeastward to the site of modern Uoros, where they found a more temperate forest and settled. This is the true secret origin of Westrasi Hunter-Gatherers. ''

===Jorivakia===

Population: 66% Westrasi Human, 6% Imuuga Human, 17 % Suoxi Human, 3% Treant Vassal Tribesman, 8% Other
Capital : Jormsburg

=====Government=====

Military Junta, consisting of: an Infantry General, a Naval General, and a High Commander.

=====Culture=====

Jorivakia is a nation of Mercenaries. These elite soldiers operate out of the fortress city of Jormsburg in the middle of their territory. Here the High Council of Commanders, dictates the orders and assignments that will send their warriors around the world. People have seen Jorivaki fighting in many conflicts, waging proxy wars on behest of their clients. Some say they will even be fighting for different sides in the same war, but never cross each others paths, as if they were aware of each others positions. This is convenient, because the Jorivakian code prevents them from ever raising arms againts their countrymen, no matter what battles they be involved in. Their code states many other things. Among them that a Jorivakian may never have a family or rear children within the territory of Jorivakia. This does not restrict the Jorivaki from engaging in sexual intercourse, or even rearing families that live away from them, outside of Jorivakia, just that they may not bear and raise children within Jorivakia itself. It is no place for children. This also helps ensure that only individuals who meet their requirements become Jorivaki. A potential recruit must complete a series of feats, and training to be excepted as a Jorivaki. The training tackles a wide array of subjects, so that a Jorivaki can fulfill any role in active duty outside their borders, and any role of their military society within, even the mundane task of cooperative group cooking. The final feat is to be stripped naked, and sent into the strange forest in the eastern half of the country, with no weapon. This place is the home to the JormsBoar, a uniquely wild, large, and dangerous breed of wild boar, that hunt in intelligent packs, and have a taste for human flesh. The recruit must successfully survive for a month in this forest, only eating and clothing himself with this most dangerous game, only then will they be a true Jorivaki. The Jorivaki hold a great admiration for their native fauna, emblazoning the boar on their banners, armors, hilts, and shields. While the wild forests lie to the east, to the west are more docile forests. This land is home to the handsome estates of the Jorivaki, where they reside during their allotted downtime. When off-duty, a Jorivaki may recreate at their estate, or travel anywhere they please, as long as it would not cause them to be absent for their next assignment of duty. Although Jorivakia supplies any goods they need, it's up to the Jorivaki to prepare their own food, and entertain themselves when off-duty. Some Jorivaki have set up improvised taverns for the enjoyment of their comrades. Although the Jorivaki sell their services to anyone in the Mukwesk or Nurwesk regions, they will not act to significantly upset the balance of their homelands. For instance; They would not use their entire force to invade and conquer a Westrasi nation for another. Most people also believe, that if a foreign force ever invaded the Mukwesk or Nurwesk, that the Jorivaki would stand and fight, for free.

=====Religion=====

Jorivakia is composed of many different cultures, and has no over-arching religion, but it does have a universal code, this code states thats:
1. A Jorivaki must never raise arms against a comrade.
2. A Jorivaki must never show fear.
3. A Jorivaki must never flee from a battle in which they are matched equally in power and number.
4. A Jorivaki must never disobey direct orders from a superior, unless an inquiry, or blatant obviousness, finds their superior to be of unsound mind.
5. A Jorivaki must not horde the spoils of war, with exceptions for trinkets of sentimental significance, and in some cases, through approval, an exceptional trophy of unique achievement.
6. A Jorivaki must never plunder, pillage, torture, or otherwise brutalize, and most show their enemies as much respect as is possible.
7. A Jorivaki may not procreate, or rear children in the borders of Jorivakia.

=====Origin=====

Jorivakia is a rather young nation, if a nation you could call it. It came into being when some of the greatest soldiers of Belara and Morloux came together, and decided that for all that was built on their backs, they didn't get the share of wealth or power they felt they deserved. They resolved to establish their own nation-state, where they would all be equal, and all at arms. They took the greatest men loyal to them, and went south to a stretch of land that not even the Vesterlanders or the Lazari desired to inhabit, because of it's proximity to the Jormsboars, and the anomaly of Tautoburg.
There they first began selling their swords in battle, and in doing so recruited many great warriors they met in battle around the world. Word of the equality among warriors, and comfortable lifestyle stretched across Westrasi, and now ambitions sellswords from all over the continent travel to Jormsburg, for a chance to become a soldier-citizen of Jorivakia.

=====Diplomacy=====

The Jorivaki sell their services to any and all nations of the Mukwesk and Nurwesk regions, and have good relations with all of them.

=====Geography=====

The west of Jorivakia is rolling hills of deciduous forest, and the east of Jorivakia is a strange mixed forest.

=====Economy=====

The Jorivaki are elite mercenaries. Used not just for war, but also elite guards for important people, and security forces for trade shipments. They are paid handsomely for their services, whether it be in money, weapons, armor, common goods, or foods. This bounty is distributed evenly among all Jorivaki, whom live more than comfortably, when they are not on duty. Since the economy of Jorivakia is based on centralized distribution, many clients cut out the middle-man, and pay the Jorivaki with goods and services. Most of the buildings in Jorivakia have been built by tradesmen hired by the clients of Jorivakia. Most goods and food are not produced in Jorivakia, but rather shipped their on trade boats, which pass through Jorivakia, via the Vestriver.

===Tautoburg===

Population: 100% Westrasi Human (???)
Capital: Tautoburg

=====Goverment=====

Seemingly: A Monarchical City-State

=====What We Know about Tautoburg=====

A traveler who finds themselves in the strange patch on dense, thick, and abnormal mixed forest in the central Mukwesk region, may happen upon Tautoburg; A sudden and unexpected castle-town, among the thick wilds. The visitor will quickly notice something very unnerving: All the people of Tautoburg appear to be identical copies of the same small handful of people, repeating without end, but in different clothes, doing different things. These people are all friendly and welcoming. They have good food, and good alcohol. If one should inquire into the strangeness of their home, they will be blankly ignored. The Wardens of the Wyrd Watch, who have traveled here for research, have attested that this phenomenon is not a temporal anomaly, like that of the Wyrdlands, as they can see no evidence of aging in either direction on any version of the Tautoburgers. Further puzzling is that the inhabitants don't look the same to every traveler or group of travelers who venture to Tautoburg. Accounts of their appearance may differ from one encounter to the next, but in every encounter, the entire populace is made up of repetitive copies of no more than one hand's full of people. Most puzzling, and perhaps most disturbing of all is to seek an audience with the Lord of Tautoburg. This King or Queen will appear in the exact visage of the visitor seeking their audience. Some have reported that two or more separate individuals have seen this lord as themselves, while their companions saw the lord as their own self, simultaneously. A resemblance, never acknowledged.

=====Origin=====

Noone knows when Tautoburg came to be. There are references to it in the oldest known Westrasi folklore.

=====Diplomacy=====

No nations have a regular relationship with Tautoburg, and none desire to make aggression against it. Tautoburg itself is friendly to all visitors, and noone could say with certainty they'd ever seen a Tautoburger outside it's walls.

=====Geography=====

Tautoburg is a walled castle-town, in the center of a dense and abnormal patch of mixed forest in the central part of the Mukwesk region.

=====Economy=====

Tautoburg trades with noone, it is not even known if they use currency. Noone knows how they aquire resources, but they are always abundant with food and common goods.

=== Halfling-Giant Alliance ===
===== Nation =====
An integrated society of halflings and giants with halflings forming the bulk of the population mostly as farmers and the giants usually being the warrior and ruling classes. In the middle of the nation there is the most amount of mixing from the two races, with the homelands of the two skewed toward the native race, but with a portion of the other race living there.
There is a giant wall spanning the top of their border to keep out their ancestral enemies, but they are not isolationist. They have fleets of ships that go out into the world to trade and learn from the humans.

===== Government =====
The government is made up of two parts: the representatives and the crown. The crown is made up of a giant who takes on the role as tribemaster, and a halfling who takes on the role of king or queen. Once elected, they rule until death unless the representatives all agree to dispose of them. The representatives are made up of elected officials from each village, and are mostly giants due to a lack of interest and natural skill for nation working from the halflings. But there are some halfling councilmembers.
===== History =====

====== Pre Union ======
The halflings always lived in fear of slavers from the north coming to take them away as they are terrible combatants but make excellent farmers and craftsmen.The giants, while big and strong, could not support their constant need for food in big groups, and when to small they were hunted down and their children sold off as slaves as a giant broken as a child makes a wonderful slave laborer/status symbol.

====== The First Union ======
One day a cunning and enterprising halfling named Lifferkin who, in his campaign for mayor, approached a small and suffering giant tribe and offered them food, weapons, and shelter in exchange for guarding and protecting the halflings. The newly appointed giant elder, an old and half-blind female named Urte took stock of her remaining tribeskin’s chances, and agreed. In her mind, they had nothing left to lose. He then brought them back to his village to show the other halflings the “solution to all of our problems!” as his slogan went. While there were many halflings unconvinced that the plan was going to work, they decided to hear him out and went on to feed and arm the giants. When some slavers came for easy prey, they were met with well equipped giants, and were easily crushed. Lifferkin was quickly elected mayor, and continued to integrate the giants into halfling society, implementing them as construction workers and excavators. Soon other towns across the border started to hear about Lifferkin’s new policies that were making his town flourish, and invited giants to join their towns as well. Soon both giants and halflings were living together, and slavers became a smaller and smaller menace, even though people were sometimes still caught.
Urte was living now well past her expected lifespan due to her newly forged security, but she was not content. Being wise, she saw the village’s solution had only driven the slavers away to halflings that could not protect themselves and giants that were easily preyed on. Seeing this, she proposed to Lifferkin, who has kept his position as mayor almost as long as any halfling in remembered history due to his policies, that the independent villages along the border join up to become a greater threat to those that would wish to harm them. He was skeptical at first, but Urte wore him down, and they both proposed their plan to “unionise” to the other villages. With some convincing, they agreed, and the halfling-giant villages formed to create the first kingdom their land had seen. They called it the Halfling-giant alliance.

====== The Birth of the Halfling-Giant Alliance ======
Soon enough a government was formed. Each village sent a representative to start to create laws and policies. These representatives were mostly giants, who knew how to work together for the benefit of their tribe, but a small number of those sent were halflings. They met with Lifferkin and Urte, who they proposed that in order to govern efficiently, they should elect one giant and one halfling to run the kingdom with the titles of Tribesmaster and King, with the representatives acting as a counterbalance to their power with a council power of their own. After some debate, they agreed that someone has to run this new kingdom, and everyone having a direct voice was inefficient. So they agreed and elected Urte and Lifferkin as the first Tribesmaster and King.

Their first policy enacted was to get more villages to join up, and envoys were sent to both the giants and the halflings. One by one, villages were convinced, and halflings and giants were sent to integrate into the two societies. Soon enough they turned their eyes north, where slavers were still a big nuisance that they were fed up with. Their solution: build a giant wall stretching the border to keep them out. They hated the westrasi people, and wanted nothing to do with them after being preyed on for so long. It took many years, but soon enough with giant prowess and halfling ingenuity a wall started to go up. Litterkin and Urte died, but others rose to take their place. After many decades, the wall was complete and the two races were united. Urte and Lifferkin are still celebrated as national heroes to this day, for uniting the tribes and solving a near-impossible problem

=== Wyrd Tribelands ===
The Wyrd tribe lands have their name derived from one of two things from their "weirdness" or from a plant which grows there only known as the Pherissian Wyrd.

An oddity of the tribelands which makes them impossible to conquer or subdue is the non-linearity of time. Diplomats sent to the Wyrd Tribes report meeting people who claim to be ancestors of leaders they met centuries before or younger versions of Wyrd mercenaries which work for them. The Yoroslovan Kingdom even claims to have hired the same mercenary twice and the two which were one served alongside each other. The Tribe of Ywyrd claims though that, that was just a prank played by two twins.

Anthropologists describe the Tribesmen as using the Pherissian Wyrd or as they call it "Nostalgie plant" to navigate the land. When you burn it the smoke always shows towards the past. Supposedly one also sees the smoke facing different directions depending on date of birth and the further you wish to travel from the day you were born at the quicker the smoke changed directions and new fires need to be lit more and more often. Thus Wyrd tribes often are not derived from family units, but formed from people born on the same day to make traveling together easier.

The Tribesmen seem to not really ever mourn the dead or have any funeral rituals. I mean why would you do it if you can just go back and visit your mother when before she died?

The greatest myth of the Wyrd is the "City of Glass" they describe a city of glass where no one hungers. One resembling in description the mirages of the grand desert. One can only reach the City of glass once he follows the Smoke of the Wyrd all the way to the beginning of time where once it's lit on fire the smoke forms a spiral.

Due to it's odd layout and diplomatic visits it is suspected that the Land of the Wyrd Tribes might be folded like Origami and likely is as big as Suoxi-Dan Dio or even bigger.

==== The City of Glass ====
Before the great Calamity which struck ending the Age own Dawn a single city in the world knew it would come. The name of that City is long lost.

They were foretold a catastrophe would come which would doom the whole world, no the whole universe. As such they chose to leave. Their scientists worked on creating a bubble. A bubble of time and space. One where time would still run, just completely separately from the world around them.

The experiment succeeded, creating what we now know as the Wyrd, or rather an imperfection in the process gave birth to the Wyrd. The Wyrd is a place of transit a thin layer of time and space separating the City of Glass and the world of normal flowing time.

With enough patience and knowledge of navigation it is possible to travel between those two planes of existence.

The City of Glass exists as a myth among many of the Wyrd Tribes as their ancestors either laid their eyes on it themselves, or met researchers from the City sent out to explore the world.

It is not exactly clear what is inside the City of Glass and how it operates now, but whenever they send someone out they always ask about the "Wandering City of Mimics".

=== Yoroslovan Kingdom ===
Founded by the land's first king, the warlord Yoros. Yorosolovan's founders were raiders flung far afield from the icy north. They were chased from the halfling lands by giants even larger than the trolls of their homeland. Fleeing to the north, into the lands that would come to be their home, they found tribesmen ill equipped to defend against their dwarven steel and the cunning of Yoros. Yoros himself pitted rivals against one another only to set his outnumbered forces against the loser and absorb the prisoners of war into his army with promises of lands, gold and women. WIP

In modern day Yoroslovan the monarchy rules over a council of lords. Much of their sea raiding ancestry and infantry tactics has been cast aside in favor of massed heavy cavalry. Their sons organize "chivalric games" games of war where they organize into teams using small levy troops in brutally violent displays, often resulting in injury and damage to peasant dwellings. In early spring as the snow falls the lords gather their forces and practice raiding on the bordering tribal lands, attacking specific tribes that have offered insult whether that be real or perceived. Occasionally tribesmen are hired as mercenaries for skirmishes against Uoro or Araxia, though usually they are hired as fodder for "giant hunts" for when one of the southern giants cross their borders. The kingdom of Yoroslovan has few allies though the current king Yoros the eighth wishes to wed his three daughters off to remedy this before his neighbors grow weary enough of his war obsessed kingdom to band together and destroy it.

=== Yoroi Tribelands ===
90% Yorai Westrasi Human 10% Vashian Westrai Human

Capital: Freegate

The Yoroi Tribes were a loosely connected culture of hunter-gatherers that settled along the Westrasi Sea. They practied a form of agriculture in which the trees and orchards of the area were cultivated around their migratin routes and the Yoroi calendar is still used as the basis of almanacs around the sea.

The Yorai culture was conquers by a series of invasions across the sea from Saramese exiles. Over the years these raids would see the Saramese form a unique ethnic identity known as Vashian; they took control of the Yorai lands and declared an independent Vashain republic, based on the Morloux model but without rights given to the Yoroi or the poor. Recent economic pressures led to a campiagn for voting rights for all citizens and to avoud giving control of the government to Yoroi; the majority Yorai areas were spun off into an "independent" reservation known as the Yorori tribe lands. They are governed by a Consulate headquartered at the border, and Yoroi are forbidden from entering the republic without written docuements.

Lumber and fruit from the woods is harvested by underpaid Yoroi then sold to the republic to be shipped across the sea for mass profit.

=== Vashian Republic ===

Population: 45% Vashian Westrasi Human, 20% Elves/Half-Elves, 20% Yorai Westrasi Human, 15% Other (mostly other Westrasi Humans)

Capital: Helias

====Government:====

Oligarchy

====Culture:====

The inhabitants of the Vashian Republic are a notoriously arrogant and self-righteous people who see themselves as a beacon of civilization compared to the other Westrasi nations. The Republic is centered around the large metropolis of Helias, a city famous for its gorgeous marble buildings, clean streets, and strong law enforcement presence, though several other cities and towns exist. The Vashians takes great pride in their efficient and largely uncorrupt bureaucracy, skilled diplomats, high levels of education, sponsorship of scholarly endeavors and the arts, progressive attitudes to gender roles, good relations with the elvish peoples, orderly cities and landscapes, commitment to peace (in theory), piousness, and vast wealth. However, to the frustration of some in other nations, it is rare to see any Vashians acknowledge their exploitation of the Yoroi, class divide, authoritarian government, skill at realpolitik, and general hypocrisy.

Vashian society is organized around wealth and status. It has a large number of wealthy nobles, merchants, scholars, artists, and artisans in proportion to its population, who enjoy rights and privileges on par with the best of the Westrasi democracies. Meanwhile, servants and laborers live out of sight of the upper and middle classes. Many of them are foreigners (particularly Yoroi) from poorer nations, who take on indentured contracts in order to be able to live in the Republic without fear of arrest. Despite miserable wages, the expectation that they live in packed basements and barns, limited legal rights, and dark stories of abuse, there is no shortage of people willing to accept these conditions in return for being able to escape extreme poverty and/or instability in their home nations.

====Religion:====

Gloria-Etalia is the dominant faith within the Republic, with a heavy emphasis on their self belief that they are far closer to being an ideal civilization worthy of bringing about the return of Gloria-Etalia than most of their neighbors. Their subjection of the Yoroi People (when acknowledged at all) is rationalized on the basis that they are helping them achieve a more civilized state.

Despite the Vashian's fondness of claiming they are an open-minded society, other faiths are not tolerated in the Republic, and even other Chapels of the Gloria-Etalia religion are shunned.

====Organization:====

Although theoretically a democracy based heavily on the Morloux Model, in practice, power lies with the representatives of the dozen or so most powerful noble families in the Republic via seats on the Privy Council. In particular, the First Citizen, who is elected by the Commons Seat, wields enormous executive power. Since the founding of the Republic, the First Citizen has almost always come from the powerful Verrun family, leading some to refer to the Vashian Republic as a de facto monarchy.

Power is highly centralized around the First Citizen, who commands both the large Vashian Army, as well as the public purse to hire mercenaries. Smaller towns and cities are ruled by mayors elected by the wealthy, however every sizable community in the republic contains spies loyal to the First Citizen, as well as at least one unit of the Vashian Army in their distinct red and white uniforms with silver edged armor plates and soft brown padding.

====Origin:====

Like much of the Westrasi Sea region, the area where the Vashian Republic now stands was once part of the Verani Empire. Helias and the surrounding area were once one of the wealthiest regions of the old Empire, but the area was heavily looted by the ancestors of the Yoroi People following the Fall. The Vashian Republic was founded by Saramese exiles who mixed in with the descendants of the Verani Empire who were still living along the coast, who then together conquered much of the surrounding area in a series of wars. Recently the Vashian Republic has split the Yoroi Tribelands off into its own separate vassal state in order to prevent the emerging Yoroi middle class from influencing the Commons Seat.

====Diplomacy:====

The Yoroi Tribelands are a de facto vassal state of the Republic. Despite their theoretical independence, the Yoroi government is filled with Vashian "advisors", and Vashian Army units are common throughout Yoroi lands, either to guard Vashian financial interests, or to defend the borders. The Vashians know they can't hold the Tribelands forever, but plan on holding onto "their" territory for as long as possible via drawn out negotiations and economic dominance. A small separatist guerrilla movement exists, who some feel are just Vashian pawns that will provide an excuse for the Vashians to re-invade Yoroi.

The Yoroslovan, Euraxian, and Araxian Kingdoms, the Suezi, the Farisians, and the Commonwealth are seen as primitive barbarians who descended from those who destroyed the Verani Empire. In particular, the Farisians have made themselves a nuisance by either directly or indirectly funding Yoroi separatists. Although the Vashians claim open warfare is crude and uncivilized, they have in fact been involved in more wars than any other nation on the Westrasi Sea, typically involving themselves in other's disputes in return for trade concessions and military alliances against other nations.

The Vashians see the Veranese, Betranoxians, and Saramese as fellow descendants of the Verani Empire (or at least inheritors of said culture who didn't actively participate in bringing down the Empire). They all share a certain love for scholarship, art, intellectualism, and the arcane, and scholars, artists, poets, and arcanists from the republic frequently visit these nations. The Vashian Republic often chides the other three nations for fighting among themselves, but the Vashians have never been ones to let their own self-righteousness get in the way of self interest, and have either secretly or openly sabotaged the interests of the other nations when it was to their benefit.

Terravia and Uroxians are dismissed as nations of wackjobs, bordering on being seen as outright evil, and are poorly regarded by both nobles and commoners in the Republic, though, of course, faustian political and trade alliances are common.

Relations with Sarkatia are poor due to several long standing theological disputes.

Vashians generally ignore the giants and halflings who live south of their Yoroi vassals, seeing them as too barbaric to civilize.

====Geography:====

The Vashian Republic is a relatively small but densely populated region. Most of the land has been transformed for "civilized use", with large fields of grain, orchards, vineyards, and grazing pastures covering a large part of the territory. Sections of grassland and forest have been left alone for recreational horseback riding, hunting, and to provide privacy to the estates of the wealthy.

====Economy:====

Generally considered one of the wealthiest nations on the Westrasi Sea, the Vashians benefit greatly from their near monopoly on the Yoroi Tribeland's abundant natural resources. However, even without the Yoroi, the Vashians make good money thanks to the many skilled artisans, arcanists, and theurges living within their territory, not to mention their uncanny ability to come out on top in many conflicts and trade disputes.

=== Araxian Kingdom ===
The Araxian kingdom is one of the earliest Westrasi human kingdoms, formed along the river Tarkos, Araxians are called by other nations 'The Bulls', as the bull was the symbol of the first Dynasty of Arax, and the one with the longest reign. By the time the House of Brachen had fallen, the bull had become intertwined with Araxian identity and the new ruling family, the House of Gotley, kept the Bull Throne and horned crown as a symbol of their newfound power. Araxians have a long history of conflict with the Sarcian Mountain clans in the west and the Yoroi clans in the East. While large scale warfare is rare, the constant raids and skirmishes along these borders helped imbue into Araxian culture a heavy dose of militaristic thinking. Their kingdom political structure is a feudal monarchy, and the kingdom is broken down in three duchies and the Crownlands by the mouth of the Tarkos into the Westrasi sea. Arax mostly content ignoring the giants beyond the great wall, as the kingdom is often pulled into the may wars and disputes of the Westrasi Sea. Arax has a strong rivalry with the Farisian republic, due to the Farisians occasional usage of Yoroi mercenaries, which the Araxians see as sponsoring of the troublesome warlords past the border.

=== Veranese Citystates ===
Country name: Veranese City-States<br>

Population: 65% Westrasi Humans, 20% Elves, 15% Half-elves<br>

Capital: Dominating cities in the region are Ravena, Tiria, Iluria and Sforza<br>

Goverment: Varies by city, but all the cities are part of a League with a leader elected by each city casting a vote.<br>

==== Culture ====
Veranese are merchants, lovers and bon vivants at heart. While the city-states are not a big military threat to any neighbor, they are the home of many fable duelists, poets, fabled seductors and legendary gormands. Each city has their own habits and peculiarities but in general they are brave yet undiscipline, hot blooded people as quick to yell and curse as they are to fawn and flatter. Often in the span of minutes

==== Religion ====
The majority of cities follow the Church of Divine Duality. However Sforza is the founder and most burning adept of the Sforzian Chapel of Gloria and Etalia.

==== Organization ====
The cities of the Veranese coast formed a league to protect themselves and most important, their trade routes from raiders, Westrasi Sea pirates and foreign invaders. Most cities are 'republics', though they are de factor ruled by a plutocracy of the richest patrician families.

==== Origin ====
In the ancient age, the Verani Empire conquered the whole Westrasi Sea and held grasp of it for over seven hundred years. The Empire called it 'Our Pound', as they held all lands around the sea. The Verani empire fell mostly due to internal economic strife and sternal pressure from less civilized neighbours, but the core of the empire remained tightly knitted together by paved roads and a love for gold. While the cities fought each other frequently, recent conflict with the Saramese lead them to join forces to present a united from in naval warfare, and the benefits of the alliance caused the temporary pact to become a temporary arrangement with rotationary leadership.

==== Diplomacy ====
The Veranese cities have tense relations with the Saramese, but close ties to the Euraxian kingdom. They trade with most of the Westrasi sea, but their main rival is the Free city of Betranox. Depsite both fearing the Saramese fleet, Betranox is constantly disrupting Veranese trade with by being a corsair haven.

==== Geography ====
The land is mostly arid, rocky hillsides not good for growing much besides grapes and olives.

==== Economy ====
Trade is the backbone of Veranese economy. Trade and craftsmanship and refining. They by raw materials, from timber, stone, olives, grapes, wheat, wool from all over the Westrasi sea and beyond through land routes, and the high urban population provides sufficient journeyman guildsmen, tools and facilities to process these goods into their most expensive form: Sculptures, furniture, wine, olive oil, clothes, etc. These high quality goods are they sold either back to where the raw materials were bough, or elsewhere. As their main trade is 'knowledge and skill', Veranese city states have developed craft universities and a overarching guild system to both preserve the secrets of the trade but also expand the knowledge base. Veranese crossbows are legendary quality. The most expensive of them are fitting gifts for kings.

=== Leixi-Airoxian Commonwealth ===
Races: 95% Human, 5% Assorted Others
Government: Electoral Monarchy
Capital:Tharnux

Leixi and Airoxia were once separate nations, but they are now united under one crown. Leixi is centered around the river running through the Commonwealth, with a high population density due to the regular nature of the river's flooding. Airoxia, on the other hand, is largely rural, relying less on agriculture and more on pastoralism. The monarchy of the Commonwealth is a semi-electorate, with each heir to the throne having to be approved by an assembly of all the Airoxian nobles. The king largely relies upon Leixi for the tax revenue and military, leaving the Airoxian nobles free of large-scale taxation or manpower levies to ensure votes for his heir. As a result, Airoxia is a land of feuding nobles, where noble families have near limitless power within their own demesnes. However, true conflict beyond small skirmishes is highly uncommon, as the monarch has the potential to raise a huge military far and away beyond anything any single noble family could muster. Despite this, the noble families have the potential to raise a similar sized army, if they work together, which ensures that no monarch uses the Leixi power base to disrupt the electoral nature of the monarchy. The Commonwealth was formed hundreds of years ago when the kingdom of Leixi insulted the Airoxian nobles, who jointly banded together, deposed the Leixi monarch, and elected a king from amongst themselves to rule both kingdoms.

==== Culture ====
Though Leixi and Airoxia are united by a monarch, they are very culturally distinct, only sharing some basic similarities. The people of Leixi live their lives seeking order and regularity, believing that a perfect world is one ruled by schedules and conformity. Many believe that the ideal way to achieve the perfect world of unity and peace that they desire is to follow a strong leader who can impose order over chaos. Though they are not inherently warlike, they are willing to go to war if they can be convinced the war is just. The Airoxians, on the other hand, believe in strength gained through struggle, which lends them a more warlike stance in life. This divide comes primarily from the different souces of subsistance in the two kingdoms. Leixi depends on the regular flooding of the Rzeka river for its high population, while Airoxia relies upon pastoralism, which focuses on bending a herd of animals to an individual's will, much like how the Airoxian nobles feud with one another, hoping to gain dominance over the other nobles.

==== Religion ====
Leixi-Airoxia follow a modified version of the faith of Gloria-Etalia. The people of Leixi believe that Gloria-Etalia will return when the people of the world have created a perfect orderly society, while the people of Airoxia believe that they will return when an individual strong enough bends the world to his will and calls them back to the world.

==== Organization ====
In Leixi, the king is treated as an absolute monarch, but the Airoxian nobles are largely left alone within their own fiefs to guarantee their electoral votes for the king's heir. As such, Airoxia often has no larger ruling power than the counts of the land.

==== Origin ====
Airoxia has existed in some form since the late fourth age, with the many counts agreeing to come together to defend their lands in threatened. Leixi cut through the Airoxian lands on the Rzeka river, forming a unified kingdom to defend against the Airoxian nobles in the early fifth age. They existed as separate nations until the sixth age, when the ruler of Leixi, King Amhaten IV, insulted the Airoxian nobles, calling them savage raiders not fit to be known as counts. The nobles banded together, sacked Tharnux, publicly humiliated and executed Amhaten, and elected one of their own, King Thutszkoe I, to lead both nations. The Airoxians enjoyed supremacy over the Leixi during his reign, but his son, Thutszkoe II, rallied the Leixi people, defeated the Airoxian nobles on the field of battle, and the two people came to the agreement that rules now, with the Airoxians having the power to approve the heir, provided they submit to the current king.

==== Diplomacy ====
Leixi-Airoxia are seen as a fragmented people by many, but their closest neighbors know that though they seem disunited, the entire kingdom despises foreign influence and will unite to drive out any invaders. Many states have attempted to seize the holdings of some Airoxian noble, only to be quickly repelled by the full combined might of the Leixi people and the Airoxian nobility. The Airoxians are suspicious of foreigners, but are content to leave them be, provided that they are left alone in turn. The Leixi see most foreigners as chaotic people who need to be shown the light of order and stability, be it through peaceful relations or through conquest.

==== Geography ====
The land to the northeast of the River Rzeka is a grassland, gradually becoming less fertile the closer one gets to Windhell Valley. The land to the southwest of the River Rzeka is composed largely of rolling, grassy hills. The land surrounding the river itself is a highly fertile valley perfect for growing crops.

==== Economy ====
The Airoxian economy is built largely off pastoralism, though some counts with territory on the mountain range have focused their efforts more heavily on extracting iron and silver from the mountains, much of the former is sent to the industrial centers in Leixi. Most of Leixi is dedicated to wheat farming, though certain large cities such as Tharnux are more urban, focusing on industry and manufacturing goods for the rest of the kingdom and beyond.

=== Terravia ===
[[File:Owens Hue.jpg|thumb|Owens Hue]]
Population: 95% Westrasi Human, 5% Other

Capital: The City of Deru

Government: Anarcho-Communism

====Culture====
Terravians pride themselves on their sophistication as a people. However, instead of priding themselves on their wealth and social power, they instead focus on philosophy and spiritual enlightenment. The Terravians believe themselves to be the most enlightened and knowledgeable people in the world, and have declared all other humans to be uncultured barbarians. Their occult practice of Emotism and its teachings is practiced by every citizen. Everybody is very eager to meet new people, to the point that almost everyone in the region knows everyone else on a passing level. One of the most popular pastimes of Terravia is to meet new people, and adventures from Terravia can be found all over Westrasi and beyond. Because of the communist doctrine of their leader and their religious practices of deepening ties with their community, they share everything they can with everyone else, and because of this everyone is happy, which is shared around as well.

====Religion====
Emotism is an occult religion which focuses on the emotion of the human body. They believe that everyone is connected, and that emotions travel from person to person. They believe these ties to be the most important part of a mortal body, and practitioners spend their time deepening their ties to those around them through magic and deep connections with other people. The happier the community is, the happier the person is, and so people strive to make sure their neighbors are the happiest they can be.

====Organization====
The nation follows the social doctrine of their leader, Owens Hue, and his political advisors. Under his leadership, everybody in the nation shares what they own with everyone else.

====Origin====
Terravia was founded 37 years ago in 4963, when Owens and his followers fled the Saramese mainland after a failed revolution. Recognizing the deep rooted practices of Emotism already in place in what used to be the Kingdom of Terra, he won over the nation by preaching his policies of communal interconnection and the abolishment of the structures of society to achieve this. The people were all for this new doctrine of sharing and caring, and declared themselves a new, united nation. The royals and noble classes were assimilated into this new state or exiled. Owens lets his advisors lead the nation, and instead focus on philosophy and refinement of his political system for other nations to adapt.

====Diplomacy====
While their political and social practices are strange, most other nations are neutral to them. They are an agricultural powerhouse and happily bater food at generous prices to forgien powers in exchange for goods.

====Geography====
Terravia is a fertile and developed land, with most of it being used for agriculture.

====Economy====
There is no money in Terravia. Internally people share with each other, and everyone gives everyone else what they need. Externally they use a barter system with other nations to export food and raw materials.

=== Chiefdom of Voroi ===
Population: 58% Westrasi Human (Voroyan), 19% Westrasi Human (Morloux), 11% Westrasi Human (Suezian), 8% Westrasi Human (Other), 4% Other.

Capital: Ulkasy.

Government: Hereditary Chiefdom.

====Culture====
Out of all of the words that could be used to describe the people of Voroi, combative is the most accurate one. Almost everything that a Voroyan says can be taken as a challenge, and almost everything that is said to a Voroyan is taken as a challenge. Famous for their scathing wit, they're quick to lash out with both their tongues as well as their fists. For this reason, they are given a wide berth whenever they're encountered outside of their homeland.

The Voroyans are also renowned for their defiant nature, and their refusal to bow before any foreign power. Though their nation has been conquered innumerable times, the people of Voroi have never been broken. Every attempt at occupation has ended with the invaders being pushed out of the country, licking their wounds and cursing the natives. “Taming the Voroyan” has become a common idiom in the Westrasi subcontinent, synonymous with attempting an impossible task.

====Religion====
In the eyes of the Church of the Divine Duality, the Voroyans are considered a barbaric people that desperately need enlightenment. This is used as an excuse by the Westrasi powers to invade Voroi and occupy its lands, under the pretence of civilising it. Though most Voroyans believe in the legends of Gloria-Etalia, they have concluded that the world is beyond saving and that the Two-Faced God will never return.

Despite this, there are some adherents of Gloria-Etalia that can be found in Voroi. The Morloux Chapel has a significant presence in the Northernmost parts of the country, due to frequent occupation by the Morloux Republic. Similarly, the coastline and the Southeastern border have been partially civilised by the Suezians and the Church of the Divine Duality has a small presence there.

====Organization====
[[File:Zahariya Vazepa.png|thumb|Zahariya Vazepa, Voivode of the Voroyans]]
The hierarchy of Voroi is quite simple. The Voroyans divide themselves into clans, each of which is led by a ruling family that serves as that clan's warrior aristocracy. The leading figures of these families are known as headsmen, who fight each other in ritual combat for the title of voivode. In times of war, all of the Voroyan clans band together under the leadership of the voivode. In times of peace, the title means nothing. The current voivode of Voroi is Zahariya Vazepa, who has only recently claimed the position.

====Origin====
When the Verani Empire fell over a thousand years ago, the great Belaran Empire saw an opportunity to claim the Westrasi Sea for itself. Colonists poured into the region through the mountain passes, where they went about subjugating the Verani remnants. Rather than suffer at the hands of their Belaran oppressors, many of the Verani fled into the neighbouring Wyrdlands. The imperial colony of Alsonne was established in the land that they left behind.

For almost five hundred years, Alsonne remained loyal to the Belararn Empire, only to suddenly fall silent. No taxes came from the province, nor did any messenger sent to the colony return. In search of answers, the King of Belara sent an imperial legion to investigate. They found that Alsonne had been overrun, seized by a barbaric horde that had emerged from the Wyrdlands. The Verani had returned, although their exposure to the Wyrd had changed them. They had become the Voroyans.

The Belaran King demanded the reconquest of Alsonne, at any cost. Though his armies were successful, the Voroyans returned years later and reclaimed their homeland. This cycle repeated itself several times until eventually, the Empire of Belara was engulfed in the bloody civil war that would lead to its division. At long last, the Voroyans had the opportunity to entrench themselves and found the independent country of Voroi. Finally, they were free.

====Diplomacy====
Voroi has a lot of enemies. Denounced by the Church of the Divine Duality as an uncivilised nation, they are the subject of constant invasion by the other countries of the Westrasi Sea and beyond. One of the most frequent aggressors is the Principality of Suezi to the South, which sees itself as the rightful heir to the Verani Empire's throne. Another is the Republic of Morloux to the Northwest, which seeks to re-establish the colony of Alsonne under its own dominion.

However, the Voroyans are subject of fascination in the Uorosian lands, and they maintain a warm, reciprocal relationship with the Wardens of the Wyrd Watch. The clans of Voroi also have strong ties to the Wyrd tribes, and it is common for them to offer resources that are rare in the Wyrdlands in exchange for the treasured nostalgie plant. This friendship has led to the accusation that the Voroyans are little more than an upstart Wyrd tribe themselves.

====Economy====
There isn't much in the way of wealth in Voroi. There are fisheries along the Eastern coast, mines in the Northern hills and farmland found in both of those areas. However, the vast majority of the country consists of undeveloped woodland. If there is one thing that the Voroyans are famous for producing, it is a liquor known as stawka that's distilled from fermented buckwheat. It is so beloved by sailors of the Westrasi Sea that it's earned the moniker “seaman's bane.”

The people of Voroi are also known for their intimate connection to the Wyrdlands. Though most traders would rather work with the Wardens of the Wyrd Watch, miserly merchants who might turn to the Voroyan rovers instead. Their manners are coarse and their methods are unconventional, but they are able to navigate the Northern forests of the Wyrdlands without getting lost in time. They never venture further South than the River Uoro, however.

====Geography====
For the most part, Voroi can be considered a dense forest. Along the Northern border, colonists from Morloux have deforested the land to make room for their agriculture and mining operations. Along the Eastern coast, the Suezi and other invaders have torn down a great many trees to clear land for their farms and settlements. Beyond that however, Voroi remains wild and wooded, full of ancient trees that cast long shadows. This is where the Voroyans are most at home, where they live and die.

Each clan has its own grounds, a parcel of land within the great woods where they cut back the trees and build their homes as they please. However, they know that the forest serves as one of their greatest weapons against the invaders, so they fight to preserve it. Deforestation outside of these clan grounds is a crime that is severely punished, sometimes even with death if the culprit was responsible for chopping down one of the Jezik.

For the truth is that the influence of the Wyrdlands bleeds into Voroi. Scattered throughout the Western reaches of the country, there are Wyrd zones where time ceases to be linear and flows in whatever direction it pleases. The Voroyans identify these locations by carving elaborate runes into the trees that border them and are found within them. These trees are known as the Jezik, and the symbols are a code. A single rune contains the date as the carver reckons it, the time of day as the carver sees it, the identity of the carver, the last Jezik that the carver passed and the next Jezik that the carver is going to.

The Jezik are found throughout Western Voroi and the Northern forests of the Wyrdlands. Through their runes, the Voroyans are able to crudely navigate their way through the temporal anomaly of the Wyrd and sometimes even exploit it. This is why entire clans can vanish into thin air only to resurface months later, and why the size of a Voroyan army can miraculously double in the space of hours.

=== Principality of Suezi ===
Country name: Principality of Suezi

Population: Population: 87% Westrasi Humans, 3% giants, 10% Halflings (both nonhuman races are assimilated remnants of old empire slaves)

Capital : Suezi

Goverment: Absolute Monarchy, with fundaments on bureaucracy not nobility.

“Wear your words like long shining coat to blind your enemies, and be always ready to put long knife from underneath” – Astrator, self proclaimed tetratch-heir of old westrasian empire.

Culture:
While similar in culture to their southern neighbors, because of shared historical heritage, Suezians recently experienced remergence of their culture before collapse of old empire. Dignified, pious, and disciplined are words that can describe this both new and old kind of westrasi man.

Religion:
Principality has no official religion, to reflect empire it tries to recreate, even though most of population follows the Church of Divine Duality. It’s one of few nations on continent that permit not only different religions, but also atheism.

Organization:
Since old duke founded principality 100 years ago, it was always monarchy, based on military administration. As person joins legion, they become part of administration. As person grows in rank, they are assigned cities, provinces and more, along with divisions in legions, and legions itself. Capital city itself is where biggest army is always ready to curb any political opponents that could try to destabilize regime of Astrator.

Origin:
While city of Suezi exists since beginning of old empire, only in last century it grown in prominence. Old duke Commustus, then just doge of city, founded his own nation throught war. First civil war against his opposition that ended in 4900, and after that just war. He fought surrounding cities first, then confederations of cities, and destroyed tribe after tribe. When he died in 4958 at age of 90, he united only half of what is principality now, but he did so truly. He was father of new nation, and he left it to his sons. 4 Devils they were called because they plunged new state into civil war that lasted 32 years. In 4990 Astrator, son of one of devils united broken nation once again, but his ambition was ever growing. He declared himself tetrarch-heir (tetratch was emperor title during times of old empire), and thus declared his ambition to once again unite westrasi sea. Most think him a madman, but in just 10 years he destroyed all his enemies, and now looks south on city-states and their lucrative trade routes that need change in management.

Diplomacy:
Militaristic by design, people of Suezi have little time for diplomacy, and no friends, because as they see it, everyone around them is enemy, usurper, or both. Thats why, when they have to end up creating pacts, they are always willing to end them in blink of the eye. Their greatest enemies are city-states to the south.

Geography:
The land is in south mostly arid, rocky hillsides not good for growing much besides grapes and olives. In north thought, fertile farms and deep forests are very frequent, and create picturesque landscape.

Economy:
Mayority of country economy is geared towards war, and so large manufactures of weapon and armorsmiths are much more common than in neighboring countries, but that could be said also about industry in general. From agricultural standpoint, large amounts of wine, olives and grain are produced every year, and (even thought army confiscates its share of every harvest) brings large profits for landowners.

=== Farisian Republic ===
Population: 76% Westerasi Human (Farisian), 11% Westerasi Human (Yoroi), 6% Westerasi Human (Other), 4% Halfling, 3% Other.

Capital: Faris, the Striving City.

Government: Maritime Republic.

====Culture====
The Farisian people are defined by their ambition. Every citizen of the city-state, from the highest patrician to the lowliest peon, always hungers for more. Society in the city of Faris revolves around the acquisition of wealth and prestige, with little interest in matters of faith or philosophy. Yet at the same time, there is a certain respect for law and order in the city. Everyone must play the game according to the rules, and if anyone is foolish enough to get caught breaking them, they are subjected to draconian punishment. The brave and the stupid don't last very long in the city of Faris.

However, there is more to the Farisian Republic than the city that it is named after. The metropolis is surrounded by a great deal of satellite settlements that exist for the sole purpose supplying Faris with the resources that it requires to function. These days, that mostly involves food. In these sleepy rural communities, life isn't anywhere near as cut-throat and the citizenry are happy to get on with their lives without worrying about matters of wealth of prestige. The only cause of any discontent is the growing influx of Yoroi veterans, who have been granted citizenship for their long service as mercenaries.

====Religion====
Faith isn't an important part of Farisian life. In fact, over the course of the past three centuries, it hasn't established a chapel of its own. The primary religion of the city-state is the Araxian Chapel of Gloria-Etalia, but there is no discrimination between religious sects in Faris. Every chapel of the Church of Divine Duality is welcome in the Striving City, though there's little respect for anyone who devotes too much of their time and energy to religion.

====Organization====
[[File:Vitale Orvaro.png|thumb|Chancellor Vitale Orvaro]]
The class of patrician is an important aspect of life in the Farisian Republic. It is a title that is awarded by the Minor Assembly to citizens who have 'served the city of Faris with grace and dignity.' More often than not, this involves contributing a great deal of wealth to the republic's coffers. The title is hereditary, and is granted to the eldest male descendant of the patrician upon his demise. Patricians enjoy significant tax relief, though this typically doesn't outweigh the original cost of acquiring the title.

In addition to that privilege, patricians enjoy membership of the Great Assembly, the legislative body of the republic which handles day-to-day legislation. It is also responsible for the electing thirteen patricians from their own ranks who form the Minor Assembly, which oversees the Great Assembly and possesses the power of veto. In turn, they are led by the Chancellor of Faris, who is elected for life from the ranks of the Minor Assembly by the Great Assembly. Both the Minor Assembly and the Chancellor are elected for life.

The position of Chancellor comes with a number of powers. To list a couple, he has the authority to revoke the title of patrician, provided that the subject of revocation is not a member of the Minor Assembly. He also has the authority to declare war or sue for peace. However, the Minor Assembly's power of veto applies not only to the Great Assembly, but to the Chancellor as well. Every power that he seeks to enact must go through the council of thirteen before it can become a reality.

The current Chancellor of Faris is Vitale Orvaro, and his reign has been somewhat troubled. Though he was successfully able to sue for a white peace with the Euraxian Republic, defeat was only narrowly avoided through the mass employment of Yoroi mercenaries, many of whom were paid with the promise of Farisian citizenship.

====Origin====
The fall of the Verani Empire was a time of great opportunity. On the Northern coast of the Westrasi Sea, the Saramese built a great kingdom on top of the ruins left behind by the old regime. On the Western coast, the legendary adventurer Euron Pean razed a helpless Verani colony and founded the nation of Euraxia on its ashes. The Araxian Kingdom took advantage of the power vacuum as well, and seized a great swathe of woodland that had once belonged to the fallen empire. On the coast of their new territory, the Araxians built the city of Faris.

Taking advantage of their position and the great forests of the province, the people of Faris set about constructing a fleet of boats for the purpose of trade, plying the Westrasi Sea. With every century, the wealth, fleet and population of the merchant city continued to grow. By the end of the Era of Expansion, the Farisians were an unstoppable force. They had a hand in the majority of trade in the Westrasi Sea and they had brought great prosperity to the Araxian Kingdom, yet the people of Faris were hungry for far more.

In the midst of its golden age, the Araxians had grown complacent. They didn't expect the Farisians to demand independence, backed up by a horde of mercenaries from a dozen different nations. At that time, the armies of Arax were stationed on its South and Western borders, in an effort to ward off Yoroi and Sarcian savages. This meant that the mercenary legions of Faris were able to lay waste to the Araxian countryside without consequence. By the time that Arax would be able to muster its forces, there would be nothing left to fight for except for scorched earth.

So with a heavy heart, the Araxian king granted Faris its independence. The city-state has existed as a sovereign state for over three hundred years since that fateful day, free to decide its own fate. But one must always remember, in the Farisian tongue, there is no word for the concept of “enough.”

====Diplomacy====
There isn't a single nation that thinks of Faris as an ally or even a friend, yet every ruler accepts that you can't do business in the Westrasi Sea without working with the Farisians.

After a recent war, tensions between the Farisian Republic and the Euraxian Kingdom are gradually fading, and trade between the two nations has resumed Hopefully, the promise of mutual prosperity will be enough to prevent the conflict from reigniting.

Even though the Farisians claimed independence over three centuries ago, there is still some bitterness towards them in the Araxian Kingdom. Recently, tensions have begun to rise over the employment of Yoroi mercenaries in the armies of Faris.

Though many of the Yoroi Tribes eagerly join the armies of Faris and provide the Striving City with much-needed lumber, others are wary about this exploitation. They fear that they are witnessing a return to vassalage, just under the Farisians rather than the Vashians.

Speaking of the Vashians, they have grown increasingly frustrated with the Farisians contesting their dominion over the Yoroi Tribelands. As a result, the two republics are locked in a trade war that only seems to be growing more vicious by the year.

====Geography====
Long ago, most of the land surrounding the city of Faris was covered in dense, impenetrable forest. Centuries of heavy deforestation to provide lumber to Farisian shipyards has changed that. These days, Farisian territory is best described as warm, humid farmland, even in the less arable regions. As for the coastline, it's mostly steep and rocky cliffs, inhospitable to all but the emerald wyverns that consider them their natural habitat. The only exception to this rule is the site where Faris was founded, a sandy cove has been converted into a hectic port. A few small rivers flow down this inlet into the sea, though they are known to swell and flood the city during periods of heavy rain.

====Economy====
If the Farisian Republic is known for anything, it's its ships. Expertly crafted galleys are churned out by its shipyards at an alarming pace, which has led to a rumour that there are almost as many ships in Faris as there are men. In the past, the construction of seaworthy vessels was accomplished with Farisian lumber, harvested from the impenetrable forests that used to cover the countryside. These days however, most of the lumber used for shipbuilding has to be imported, typically from the Yoroi Tribelands.

The patriciate of Faris uses these vessels for the purpose of trade, faccilitating the exchange of goods all across the Westrasi sea with cut-throat efficiency. There's no one that's as eager to strike a bargain as a Farisian, nor is there anyone who drives a harder bargain. Driven by the unending desire for more, these patricians are responsible for the inconceivable growth of the Farisian. Every coin that these traders earn is funnelled straight back into their business, leaving them teetering on the brink between even greater prosperity and bankruptcy. They quite literally cannot afford to fail.

However, no economy can run entirely off of trafficking. Anyone with a boat who can't afford the big business of trading resorts to fishing instead, trawling for mullets and hake and mussels and clams. Truly enterprising Farisians dive into the warm waters of the Westrasi Sea in search of pearls or valuable salvage, scraping the seabed in search of anything of value. There are even rumours of Farisian “privateers,” who make a fortune for themselves by intercepting foreign traders and robbing them for all they're worth.

It is often claimed that the economic practises of Faris aren't sustainable, that a crash is inevitable and their foolhardy lust for ever greater wealth will end in their downfall. Whenever a Farisian hears these remarks, their only response is a wry grin.

=== Euraxian Kingdom ===

'''Country name:''' Kingdom of Euraxia<br>

'''Population:''' 95% Westrasi Human, 4% Elves, 1% mixed<br>

'''Capital:''' ''LaBaton''<br>

'''Goverment:''' Feudal Monarchy<br>

<br>
'''Culture'''<br>

They said you should never taunt a shark in the water, a dwarf in a tunnel and an Euraxian on Horseback. The Euraxian knights charging downhill are among the most terrifying and awe inspiring sights in the Westrasi continent. Euraxians nobles are proud, strict adherant to their code of honor and chivalry that makes war almost a 'game' of capture for the nobles, and a slaughter for the peasants trampled beneath their hooves.<br>

'''Religion'''<br>

Most Euraxians follow the Euraxian Chapel of Gloria-Etalia, and many knights join the prestigious order of the Etalian-Templars, sworn to defend the church and it's subjects, or the Glorian-Hospitallers, sworn to protect the commonfolk and keep the roads safe.<br>

'''Organization'''<br>

The Roy (king) of Euraxia sits on the Chateau Blanch overlooking the city of LaBaton from the high cliffs. He commands the loyalty of his subjects but his authority actually derives from keeping the noble lords of his kingdom happy. At least happy enough that if it came to warring, he'd have more loyal knights than whoever revolted against him.<br>

'''Origin'''<br>

The kingdom was founded in 3982, by Euron Pean, a legendary adventurer who had amssed a large company of followers. His captains became the first knights of Gloria-Etalia.<br>

'''Diplomacy'''<br>

Euraxians are currently in a stand-off position, ever fearing an invasion from the Commonwealth. After warring with the Farisian Republic and failed attempt to lay claim to the Saramese throne, Euraxians seem to have given up on expansionist prospects.<br>

'''Geography'''<br>

Hilly meadows and small pockets of forests where nobles hunt, with bright white sand beaches where they built their summer manors, Euraxia is rich in game, specially boar and deer, and grows a lot of wheat and barley. They also export very expensive warhorses, which are exported gelded so other countries can't raise them<br>

'''Economy'''<br>

Euraxian economy is feudal based, with the excedent of production paid in kind or coin to one's liege, all the way up to the king. The merchant class of the kingdom, mostly resident in LaBaton, trades in wine, beer, grain and wool across the whole Westrasi sea. As the kingdom has no particularly strong navy, merchant often hire Veranese boats to scort them, creating close ties between the merchant classes of the two nations.<br>

'''Trivia'''<br>

King Louis X of the house of Cheval-Noir, Duke of Proveaux and First Knight, also known as the Cleaver of LaBaton. Despite being king, Louis X frequently partakes in the melee in tournaments and participates in the frontlines. When fighting besides the Auraxians in the War against the Yoroi warlord Kukata, Louis gained his nickname by chopping the Warlord's Horse's Head with a swing of his greatsword, Matilda, Dame of Crimson. Louis was then known as Prince Rennard, but he took the dynastic name Louis when he ascended to the Throne. As king, he still fought and won three single combat duels against gruelling Euraxian Nobles.

=== Uroxian Federation ===
Population: 97% Westrasi Human (Uroxian), 3% Westrasi Human (Other).

Capital: Caedox.

Government: Federal Elective Monarchy.

====Culture====
Uroxians are famous for their severe and brusque behaviour, and for their almost fanatical adherence to the science of Euhaematics. It is the study of the human condition and how it can be improved, through a combination of selective breeding and rigorous training. What little free time they have is spent on self-improvement, on the excision of weakness through physical hardship. When it comes to marriage, Uroxians select their spouses for their physical health and their lineage above all else, and go on to produce a great deal of offspring.

Every child is inspected by a Euhaematician of the University of Caedox at the age of four. During the examination, the inspector must decide whether the child is an invalid or a postulant, based off of their physical health. Invalids are discarded, as they are of no interest to the University of Caedox. Postulants are taken in and raised in crèches, where they receive intensive training and education. At the age of sixteen, they are inspected for a second time, to determine whether they are an exemplar or a defect.

Exemplars are seen as the future of the Uroxian Federation. If an exemplar is the child of invalids or defects, they are swiftly married into one of the exemplary families, which serves as the aristocracy of Urox. If they were born into one of these families, then they may return to it.

Defects are assigned vocations based off of their examination results. They may learn the ways of the Euhaematician at the University of Caedox, serve as metalworkers in the foundries or join the ranks of the Steel Legions of Urox.

Invalids are damned to a lifetime of serfdom, toiling in the farms and mines of Urox. If the child of exemplary parents is declared invalid, they are quickly disposed of before their family's reputation is tarnished.

====Religion====
Euhaematics ultimately has religious roots, as it was founded on the belief that humanity were created as a perfect race by Gloria-Etalia. A combination of indolence and cross-breeding led to the degeneration of humanity and the departure of the Two-Faced God. Gloria-Etalia will only return if humanity is able to reclaim perfection, or so the scripture claims. For this reason, the Uroxian Chapel is closely tied to the University of Caedox, with Euhaematicians doubling as clergymen in the eyes of many.

====Organization====
[[File:Archduke Matthias Gotha.jpg|thumb|Archduke Matthias Gotha]]
The nation of Urox is divided into twelve duchies. Each of these provinces is led by a duke, who possesses a great deal of control over the internal affairs of his state. Each duchy is divided into estates, each of which is controlled by a count, the only truly hereditary title in the Uroxian Federation. The count's titles are inherited by his eldest male descendant, provided that he is legitimate.

As for the inheritance of a duke's titles, the counts that once served him must elect a male successor from his dynasty upon his demise. This even applies to the Duchy of Aegost, which belongs to the Archduke of Urox and is home to the city of Caedox. The fact that the provincial dukes have no say in the election of the Archduke is a common source of resentment and was the cause of a bloody civil war almost a century ago.

The current Archduke of Urox is Matthias Gotha, who has overseen two decades of relative prosperity and stability for the Uroxian Federation. However, he is past his prime and with tensions rising all around the Westrasi Sea, it is believed by many that the coming years will be fraught with chaos. The Archduke himself has succumbed to these fears and is singularly focused on preparing the Urox Federation for the coming storm.

====Origin====
As is the case with many countries that border the Westrasi Sea, Urox was once controlled by the Verani Empire. During its imperial occupation, it was known as the Uro Tribelands. Even back then, the natives sought to cultivate their strength through a combination of diligence and selective breeding, a lifestyle that they called the Way of Heaven. In the eyes of their Verani overlords, this made them ideal slaves. So they subjugated the Uro Tribes and put them to work in plantations and mines. Though the tribesmen suffered greatly under the dominion of the Verani Empire, they bade their time.

At the end of the Era of Discovery, the decline of the Verani began. It didn't take long for the empire to collapse in on itself, leaving its provinces vulnerable. As one, the Uro Tribes rebelled against their masters. However, driving their overlords out of their country wasn't enough. Instead, they declared a campaign of extermination and set about killing every last one of the Verani. Once the purge was complete, the Uro Tribes gave the land a name and set about partitioning it. This was the birth of the Chiefdoms of Urox.

Though there was occasional infighting, the Chiefdoms of Urox managed to coexist with each other and whenever they were faced with invasion, they banded together and fought as one. As the centuries passed, the Uroxians gradually adopted the feudal structure of their neighbours and the chiefs became dukes. It was during the Era of Expansion that the Way of Heaven transformed into the science of Euhaematics, with the establishment of the University of Caedox.

The Euhaematicians declared that the holy mission of the Uroxian people couldn't possibly be accomplished while Urox remained divided. Over the course of a decade, the disparate duchies were convinced to band together beneath a single Archduke. In 4542, the twelve dukes of Urox met at the University of Caedox and signed the Affirmation of Heaven's Will, forming the Uroxian Federation.

====Diplomacy====
Urox is viewed in a strange light by the other Westrasi nations. The Uroxian people are commonly viewed as culturally bankrupt boors, and every country seems to have its own joke about their humourless ways. However, Uroxian steel is highly sought after and the University of Caedox is renowned as the pre-eminent medical institution of the subcontinent. For these reasons, merchants and traders tolerate the dismal manners of the Uroxians, at least until their backs are turned.

The last time that Urox went to war with one of its neighbours was over fifty years ago. For this reason, the Uroxians currently enjoy a cordial relationship with the Saramese Kingdom, the Euraxian Kingdom and the Leixi-Airoxian Commonwealth. That is not to say that the Steel Legions do not see conflict, as the Uroxian Federation frequently sells their services to the highest bidder.

However, the Uroxian Federation is on poor terms with the Church of the Divine Duality. Two centuries ago, Archbishop Naran II declared the Uroxian Chapel to be a heretical sect. This was due to its strong ties to the science of Euhaematics, which he described as an “inhuman and immoral conceit.” Despite frequent petitioning from the Archduke of Urox, the Church of the Divine Duality is yet to rescind its declaration of heresy.

====Geography====
Urox possesses little in the way of flatland. It is a land full of rocky hills and verdant valleys, with plenty of steep slopes and sheer cliffs that make it difficult to traverse. The weather can best be described as subtropical, which leads to hot, humid summers and cool, mild winters. Unperturbed by the verticality of their country, the natives commonly build their settlements into hillsides and live in squat houses made of rusty red stone. One can rarely travel for more than a mile without seeing some sign of Uroxian industry, typically in the form of great quarries and iron mines that scar the land.

====Economy====
It is no secret that the majority of Urox's wealth comes from its foundries. These great halls of industry are found in almost every Uroxian town and serve as the destination of the ore that is gouged out the countryside. Through a rigorous and standardised process, the unrefined iron is transformed into good, strong steel. Though the majority of this goes towards arming the Steel Legions, the surplus is sold to the other nations of the Westrasi Sea at a premium. While some merchants recoil when they hear the price that the Uroxians ask for, many others are happy to pay out for steel of that quality.

Despite the condemnation of the Church of the Divine Duality, the services of the Euhaematicians are sought after throughout the Westrasi subcontinent. Centuries of dedication to improving the human condition has made them an authority when it comes to matters of medicine and anatomy. Many of the world's greatest surgeons and physicians hail from the University of Caedox and whenever a lord or lady seek to stave off death or save the life of a loved one, they will often pay an arm and a leg for a Euhaematician's expertise.

Over half a century of peace has meant that the Uroxian Federation has had no need to retain its professional military, the Steel Legions. Rather than disband them however, the Archduke sells them to the highest bidder. One third pikemen, one third swordsmen and one third arbalestiers, the Steel Legions are famous for their unshakeable discipline and lockstep marching style. Having participated in a number of wars and skirmishes, they have made quite a name for themselves as a mercenary army. They never stray far from Urox however, in case their homeland requires their services once more.

=== Free City of Betranox ===
'''Population:''' 99% Westrasi Human, 1% Others
'''Capital:''' Bertranox
'''Government:''' Plutocratic Republic

====Culture====
Betranoxians share the same values and cultures of the Saramese kingdom, being sophisticated lovers of knowledge, free-thinking, and esotericism. However, they are also fierce believers in republicanism and the rule of those who work and produce the wealth, rather than those born to power.
====Religion====
Those with religious ideas too radical to be tolerated even in the Saramese kingdom often find exile in Bertranox. The city is a haven of heretics, apostates, prophets, and doomsday cults. While most of the people in the city/island believe in Gloria and Etalia, the Church of Divine Duality has a hard time enforcing its dogmas on the islanders, and as such, most GE temples are run by the Bertranox Chapel of Gloria and Etalia.
====Organization====
The City is ruled by a council of composed by one member of each of it's thirty-two guilds, who elect a First Chairman for life. Upon death, they elect among themselves a new chairman. This council appoints a High Marshal of the Guard to command the small contigent of soldiers who keep the peace in the island. Aside from that, the council seeks to only deal with affairs that affect the island as a whole or foreign relations, and the guilds each address the issues inside their areas. Due to this 'hands-off' approach, the island of Bertranox is almost a 'legal' haven for pirates, who the City will not attempt to arrest or prosecute unless they break the law while landed on the island. So many pirates choose to make a home there while reaving the whole Westrasi sea.

====Origin====
After a failed revolt that sought to install either a liberal republic or a constitutional monarchy (depending who you ask), many Saramese rich citizens and nobles fled to the City of Bertranox, the last bastion of the Rebellion after their continental forces were crushed. The Saramese attempted a naval siege but were soundly defeated by a fleet of ships hired by the rebels from the Veranese. Subsequent attempts to retake the island failed twice more before the government simply decided to let the rebels be. The rebels named themselves an independent 'free city', and this has been the status quo for the last sixty years.
====Diplomacy====
Veranese quickly regretted their support for the island, as Bertranox became a haven for pirates who plague their Westrasi Sea trade routes. The Saramese Kingdom still claims the island is part of its domain and will often refuse trade with countries that openly deal with Bertranox as a free city. In the Saramese Kingdom there has been a 'count of Bertranox' and the last 60 years the titled was passed down from father to son twice and neither has set foot on the island. They instead reside at the king's court waiting for the faithful day their family holds will be restored.
====Geography====
A rocky island filled with cliffs and surrounded on one side by a barrier of reefs that limit a lot the naval approaches to a potential invasion, a reason for their independence to last this long.
====Economy====
The city trades mostly in goat and sheep byproducts and survives merely serving as a warehouse for foreign merchants and haven for pirates, as they have little to no arable land, and rely on outside trade to even feed themselves occasionally.

=== Chiefdom of Uraka ===
=== Sarcian Mountain Tribes ===
Population: TBD, mostly human, maybe also goblin?

Capital: None

Government:
Tribal. Each village-hold is usually a single tribe, with their own chieftain. However, when the neighboring empires and kingdoms try to invade or claim their territory, an Administrator is elected in a War-moot composed of all the Sarcian chieftains.

====Culture====
Each Sarcian tribe lives in a village-hold, which is a fortified, hidden village in the mountains built around ancient sanctuary caverns (actually doomsday prepper vaults). Strong hexing/curse-flinging culture, their practicioners are old women called Spitfires because many of the rituals involve rapid chants and mantras akin to singing. Grievances between village-holds are settled with champion-duels, and for the most grievous offenses and accusations, the losing champion gets sacrificed via hammering and their body thrown from the heights to please the spirits of law. Sarcians tend to use guerilla tactics when defending their homes, and many turn towards the mercenary life.

====Religion====
Abstract animism. As in, they believe in spirits, but only abstractions have spirits. For example there is no 'spirit of wind' but there are 'spirit of haste'. Spitfires often reference and call upon the spirits in their rituals.

====Organization====
There are around 13 Sarcian tribes, some of the most prominent are the craftsmens of Tighay, cliff-artists of Cheyo, Spitfire central Esk, and mercenary Kaish.

====Origin====
Sarcian oral history tells of the time where the sanctuary-caves sheltered the progenitors of the Sarcians; for fourty times fourty days they endured inside until the magical storm that ended the previous world abated. From the sanctuaries they emerge, and staunchly defended their land for generations.

====Diplomacy====
Staunchly isolationist and independent. Pain in the borders for neighbors, especially when a paranoid chieftain decides to pre-emptively strike a perceived threat. Celestial Empire keeps wanting to wipe them off the map but due to mountainous terrain, guerilla tactics, and Celestial armies getting spread thin keeps the Sarcians still existing. Only the few Sarcian mercenary companies and fewer traders ply their trade elsewhere than Sarcia.

====Geography====
Mountainous and hilly. Plenty of cliffs but also some flatter valleys and highlands, where most of the village-holds are.

====Economy====
Mostly mining and high-altitude tubers, normal croplands and grazing pastures are at premium. Livestock herding is third most profitable after mining and tubers.

=== Saramese Kingdom ===
'''Population:''' 98% Westrasi Human, 2% Others (mostly elves)<br>

'''Capital:''' Bapsburg<br>

'''Government:''' Highly centralized Feudal Monarchy<br>

====Culture====
Saramese are proud and sophisticated people, with a taste for the finer crafts. With a higher degree of literacy and a larger part of their population living in cities as craftsman and free workers, Saramese are among the greatest sources of literature and culture, philosophers, astronomers and other intelectual pursuits. They great value knowledge and domain of a craft, and often define themselves by their work and achievements. Also, Saramese have a leaning towards mysticism and esoteric doctrines, making for great arcane practicioners and theurges.
====Religion====
While most of the population follows the Church of Divine Duality, due to their proximity to the Sarkation Empire, the Saramese Kingdom is a cradle to many religions who count no more than a few hundred followers between themselves. Which ones are cults and which ones are legit faiths is a matter entirely subjective. Gurus and wisemen abound in this highly mystical land. Bapshire is known as the city of a thousand prophets; and the tone in which one calls it that often tells you how they feel about these smaller faiths.
====Organization====
Saramese follow a very common feudal structure present all across the Westrasi continent. Knights, Barons, Counts and Dukes. However, the kingdom has very fertile lands and this allowed for a large urban population. The Verani empire city of Baptium was the second most populous city in the Empire before it's fall. This is now the city of Bapsburg and the Saramese capital. With this large urban population, this means the mayors and guildsman have a much greater impact in Saramese politics, and while the feudal lords do serve as knights, a big part of Saramese forces is composed by freeman's militias armed by the cities' guilds.
====Origin====
Saramese were the tribe originally settled in this lands. The kingdom formed a few centuries after the fall of the Verani empire, with Saramese natives stepping up to fill the role of local governor when the Empire collapse, and eventually crowning themselves kings and lords.
====Diplomacy====
Saramese have a ongoing dispute with the free city of Bertranox. Once part of the Kingdom, a group of exiles from a civil war fled there and declared it independent. The saramese don't recognize it as such, but with Bertranox allied with some naval powers, the Saramese lack the maritime might to press their claim.
====Geography====
Semi arid and temperate areas abound both in the kingdom, who mainly exists as big cities along two rivers, the Sarans and the Yonax rivers.
====Economy====
Saramese mostly grow wheat, olives for oil production and lettuce. Oil is their main export, and the kingdom actually excels in the production of codexes, or books, but in no way this amount to more than a blip in it's trade. Saramese export the occasional luxury articles, and are famous for producing a blue dye out of a flower known as King's Crown. This leads to the expression 'Saramese blue' to describe deep, vivid blue color.

===The Wastrasian Trade Bureu===

The Westrasian Trade Bureau is a loose "Adcavocy Group" of various Westradi companies with interests in the transoceanic trade. Headquartered in East Hibon, in the Farisian Republic, their primary rivalry is with the Ecinev Merchant Empire and they are heavily entangled with the Belarian Government.

Originally an extension of the Belarian Crown meant to manage its holdings, the revolution saw it spin-off and take on investors and traders from other firms. Currently, most shares in the group are held by The Great-West Trading Federation but Urox Incorporated and Westsea hold major influence as well.

The current business model is based on taking imports from New Belaria and then shipping them for sale across the Westrassi Sea. Many in the trade bureau are interested in setting up plantations in the fertile tropics and fields of the "Wild East." However, finding a way to grow xuxu beans without buying them from the Cantons has been a particular holy grail for the Bureau, and several mercenary groups have been funded to destabilize Ram's Head for the purpose of acquiring land to do this.

A small mining company is part of the group and is based on selling salvaged materials from the Cursed Wasteland. They have yet to venture far inland and are mostly seen as curiosities at this point.

The Qifu Oni Banking Clan of No-Rex and So-Xen are currently petitioning to join the Bureau.

== Celestia Subcontinent ==

===The Wall of the World===
The Wall of the World is the mountian range deviding the Celestial Empire from the Westrasi nations. It is precipitous and nearly impassible to cross. However, there are in fact two passes of note.

The first is the route along the top of the cliffs where the mountains meet the sea. That route is narrow, but can be navigated by mule trains with care, and there is some trade between the Giants and the Empire, mostly of fine wine and brandy for silks. It is fortunate that both sides are peaceable. There are also several places where there are landslides hanging above the route, barely restrained by clever contrivances of rope ensorcelled to never rot, eternally ready to close this route permanently at the slightest threat of invasion.

The second is by the Pass of Yari. Also called Great Dragon Pass, this consists of a twisting route up a great col on the western side to a wall at the top of the pass, manned year round by the army of Leixi-Airoxia. There is then a narrow rope bridge from the gate in the wall across a sheer ravine over a mile deep to the other wall, guarded by Imperial forces. The walls are adorned by great designs of dragons in the style of the two sides (bearing in mind that neither side had an artist who had actually seen the overwhelming majesty of a real dragon). The route down on the other side to Yari is mostly along a long and narrow ridge. It is through the Pass of Yari that the Empire trades their tea for precious amber from the beaches of the Westrasi Sea and Saramese jade.

The exact manner by which the bridge over the great border ravine was made is uncertain, but it is surely the case that no invader could cross this way: a bit of fire, or some quick work with a knife, and the pass will be closed. By being so under threat, it can be viewed as *not* being a threat, and so safe to allow trade to happen that way.

=== Dou Qian - the Twin Mountain Cities ===
Races: 35% Oni, 47% Human, 9% Dwarf, 3% Elf, 6% Other
[[File:Duo Qian Dynasty.png|thumb|Duo Qian Dynasty]]
Government: Plutocracy

A city-state, Dou Qian is made up of twin cities dug into and out of, the northern mountains between the Celestial Empire to the south, the Windhell Valley to the west and the irradiated deserts to the north. Massive bridges of unmatched architecture connect the two mountain cities and the passes through these cities act as the only means of safe and practical travel through the mountains for trade and military purposes. The oni maintain their hold on the city through ruthless application of magic, strategic use of the terrain and their slave armies. Most of the population is made up of slaves and travelling merchants. The city’s banks are renowned for their security and discretion. Its slave markets are renowned for the variety of “goods” available.

Rule of the twin cities of Dou Qian is always held by a pair of Oni Twins. The elder twin is given Duo to rule while the younger is given Qian.

When reproductively compatible, tradition is they are to be wedded, with their firstborn set of twins to inherit the cities upon the death of one of their parents.

In cases where the twins are not reproductively contemptible (as is the case now) the first twin to have children will have their spawn inherit the two cities upon the death of either of the current rulers.

====Duo-Fan and Qian-Ru====
The two current rulers of the twin cities, twin niece-children of twins Duo-Xan and Qian-Zed, are in fierce competition to see who can spawn heirs first. As Oni spawn very little young, this competition has gone on for some time.

====Second-Sword====
Second Sword is the bastard child of Duo-Fan.

The child of a Half-Elf, Half-Human slave, their race isn't why they are illegitimate (many Oni Rulers have been spawned from slaves). They are considered unworthy of inheritance and a true name because they were born with no twin, a degenerate weakness in Oni culture.

Second Sword's true parentage has been kept secret by forces in Duo, who wouldn't want an excuse for a conflict with Qian. They were mixed in amongst other slaves and given a slave name, eventually rising through the ranks of the Oni slave armies to become Second Sword.

Second Sword is the soldier assigned to oversee the cities slave, and they have become famous for over compensatory brutality on Oni chattel.

== Suoxi-Dan Dio [Celestial Empire] ==
[[File:Celestial Empire.png|thumb|Celestial Empire]]
The Celestial Empire is one of the largest human nations and perhaps the most populous nation in Gloria-Etalia. This is due to their effectively urban-agrarian model of production, where people don’t own or live in the land they work, but rather in centralized towns and cities, and are assigned to different fields or infrastructure work by the local administrators. The Empire was the fruit of the attempts to maintain control over the large conquests of a warlord, and ended up divided in macro regions that were mostly autonomous and ruled by the local Lord Generals with an iron fist. The Celestial Emperor lives in Celestia and while formally he has full authority over the empire, the sheer travel time between the edges of his domain means he can’t enforce his wishes in far flung regions. Instead the Emperor is content to rule the central province and collect tributes on the rest but insists in maintaining a tight, crushing bureaucratic and public service in all his lands. A common joke is that the Emperor wears the crown, the generals wave the sword but Celestia is ruled by bureaucrats.

=== Culture ===
The empire is quite xenophobic and view any non Dan Dio’s as barbarians. The population is quite wary of any newcomers or foreigners and views them as inferior to their grand and powerful nation.
Overtime in the celestial empire the expression 'glass coin' emerged, coming from the ‘glass payment’ that the merchant empire makes to the emperor every year. It means something that's guaranteed to give you good returns over a long period of time. The citizens of the empire are intrigued by these forgien goods and trade deals, and because of this development and interest in economics has recently exploded across all levels of society. Ideas like ‘glass policies’ have gripped the government as it has become increasingly trendy to produce taxes and laws that will pay off in the long run. In the military, a new branch of thought has appeared called ‘glass warfare’. Even the peasants have become interested. The barter system is being rapidly pushed out of favor in exchange for paying for goods at a set price (usually with glass) and a new idea has formed called ‘glass deals’, where someone will pay cash upfront to a person, with the expectation that they will receive that money back and more in a few years. (The peasantry invented the idea of investments).
Their empire has a high percentage of literate people (for a pre-modern society standard) and three official languages. High-Celestia to be spoken by the Emperor, his court and high ranking nobility, Low-Celestia that is taught to everyone, and Holy-speech, which is closer to the original, now forgotten Celestian tongue, and is used by the priesthood since it's grammar allows them to understand the holy texts. Those languages really related of course, and sem from the same root language. High-Celestian was intentionally changed from Low-Celestian so nobility and high ranking could differentiate themselves from the rest.
Technologically, they have aqueducts, sewers and everything that involves massive human cost infrastructure because the empire use said projects as an excuse to move the slaves and military around the country so they are often in unfamiliar terrain and less likely to revolt (or to succeed if they do, vs local forces who know the place). This means roads are abundant and wide, forts and dams are present even more than needed.
Physically they are tall, caramel to ochre colored skin, white hair and asian eyes. Their material culture is really into intricate geometric patterns, and the colors red and black are associated with wealth and earthly power, white and gold are associated with religion and the heavens, and other colors, but especially blue and green, as 'poor' colors. They are traditional and a bit stagnant culturally since their massive empire is built upon culture.

=== Foreign Policy ===
Due to the mountainous borders that separate them from the westrasi and the northern wastes, they only deal with two other nations on a regular basis. The first is the raiders, a nation and people that only reinforces their xenophobic views. Warlords have small livies posted along the border to drive off any large incursion, but small raids are still a common occurrence. The second nation is the Merchant Empire. In the past, the Celestial Emperor got impressed with an exotic good: colored glass. The merchant empire offered to sell this to them, and the emperor agreed. To go around the bureaucratic process of adding an exception to their isolationist trade policies, the Emperor sold a small island of the coast of the mainland called Yisuxi to the merchant empire in exchange for a large fixed amount of colored glass goods to be paid directly to the empire every year. This tribute eventually became a bit clumsy to pay so they started to pay the agreed value in coins. The Merchant Empire always pays on time, because the island makes them so much money they easily make a profit. The two empires refer to that as the 'glass payment'.
=== History ===
=== Religion ===
Celestial religion sees the Emperor as a minor deity, or the living avatar of the All-Father or Heaven-King, the main deity of the Celestial Pantheon. Celestial Religion is a mix between Polytheism and Animism, where they believe there's a pantheon of nine deities (Two Major Deities and seven 'minor' ones), but also that the six essential elements have a minor shared conscience and many things have a 'spirit' inside them, who receive local worship.<br>
Heaven-King is represented as a sage with long white beard, clad in golden scaled armor and holding a shepherd scepter in one hand, and a pair of orbs in the other. He's the God of Rulers, family, order, and the Empire itself.<br>
The second major deity is his wife, the serpent-dragon. Mythos say the serpent-dragon had no gender, and the Heaven-King carved her female parts so that she could lay the egg that became the world. They believe that's why women bleed on their first time, that the male having sex with them is finishing to 'carve' her into a full fledge women, and that's why the bleed monthly too. A wound from the Sky-Father sword never heals. Even through generations.
The seven smaller deities are:
# . '''Kryzhan''': His long white hair is the snow of white and cover the mountains in ice. He is the first born of the Heaven-King, after the world was made.
# . '''Sha-Xuan''': The Night and Darkness. She's Kryzhan's twin, both after him. This is why nights are longer in winter, she takes longer to go away when she can stare at the twins he misses. This is also why snow accumulates in high mountains, Kryzhar wanna be closer to his sister.
# . '''Din-Zhu''': The First Human and patron of cities and craftsman. He molded clay into his wife, Taisha.
# . '''Taisha''': Wife of Din-Zhu. She's the goddess of fertility as from her womb spawned the race of men.
# . '''Krokotan''': Foreign deity adopted long ago, included as a major deity now. It's literally a huge humanoid crocodile. Celestians believe he will one day eat the Serpent Dragon and the Egg of the World.
# . '''Guan Jin''': First born of Taisha. Is the patron of soldiers and warriors.
# . '''Zin Wan''': The spirit of the wind and patron of sailors, Guan Jin younger brother, he gave his body do the race of men could eat. Without a body, he became the wind.
====Origin ====
The Celestian Empire grew along the Heaven's Tongue (Dan-Fo) River. the flood plains surrounding most of the river were home to many small settlements of shepherds, while nomad pasture roaming tribes existed around them. For thousands of years this cultures coexisted, raiding and fighting for territory. As tool craftsmanship evolved, the sedentary communities near the river diversified into agriculture and grew in numbers, forming several city-states and micro kingdoms, while the nomad's technological advancements came mostly from trading with these cities. Centuries of stability in the region led to the parallel development of these communities, until one of the nomad tribes introduced as the new breed of horse bred for war, and the long bamboo lance. Those two inventions together allowed them to defeat most other tribes in battle, and eventually built into a sufficiently strong army to threaten the River Kingdoms, as they were called. The conquest of the River Kingdoms by the nomad warlord Dan Su-Do led to the first unification of the Suoxi humans in the region. These kingdom would grow and splinter into two smaller kingdoms at Dan Su-Do's death. In the centuries following, the civilization in the area flourished in several large kingdoms. It would be six hundred years after Dan Su-Do's death that a second great King would united the region, this time his edge being not technological warfare, but the riches from Emerald trade allowing him to hire tribal mercenaries from the neighbouring regions to subdue his neighbours, and settle said mercenaries into the newly conquered lands, allowing them and their families to move in. These man's magnitude of conquest was unrivaled, and for many years, stories about him were deemed fable in far away kingdoms. But Tinq Kisari was very real. By the time of his death, after forty years of mostly successful campaigns, his domain occupied half of the current extent of the Celestial Empire.

In Tinq Kisari's death, his generals elected among themselves a 'High General' called Qung Lao to continue to command the growing army into further conquests, and this became a tradition. This era is known as the Commander's Tent (Xin-On) Era, as the 'Emperors' of that time (they did not use that title yet), were generals ruling from their campaign tents. Eventually the conquests were so fast, the generals had to splinter their armies to double back and crush rebellions as the main body of the army marched on. Years of this led to the division of the Empire in macro regions where each Lord-General would rule as governor, establishing forts and managing the local army. Once the Empire reach the natural limits of the mountains and plains, the Xin-On era ended, and the High General moved back to Tinq Kisari's home city by the Dan-Fo delta, naming it the City of the Celestial Heavens and Many Great Things, or Celestia as foreigners would translate it. The High General named himself Emperor and established the basis of the modern empire. A standing army fed and paid for by the work of the urban population. An agrarian system where the population lived in towns and cities, rather than the fields they worked in. They worked the fields who belonged to the local Lord General, effectively the governor, and were assigned different plots everyday, and even infrastructure projects in others. Fields hands were expected to know the basics of earth work and construction and were used as a massive labor force by the estate. City dwellers who knew a craft belonged to a higher caste, free from field work, but still would need to use their skills for the benefit of the empire if asked. To keep track of obligations, a extensive public service of bureaucrats slowly developed, and they became their own social class in time, almost as prestigious as the lower ranking officers of the standing army.

==== The Nine Golden Heads ====
The Nine Golden Heads are nine High generals of the Celestial Empire from the Xi-On era that each were defeated and killed in conflicts relating to the Magna Orde.

1. Xu-Fan Who first attempted conquest of the ethnic Tnz in the north. He believed in the "Pursuit of the Peak" a belief that the Celestial culture was destined to reach the Izil Mountains. Aetl's defeat and slaying of Xu-Fan was a major reason why he was able to amass the political power to form the Second Great Orde.

2. Me-Fong was a defensive general who decided to consolidate past conquests instead of pursuing Xu-Fan's foolishness. Aeetle led an army of raiders on Lionback down the Dan-Fo river and burned Ion-Dan to the ground. The ash run off from the river causes crops to wilt for a full two years. Me-Fong was assinated by her own guards and her head was presented to the great Han in tribute.

3. Xaan-Du lead the Celestial Empire at a time where it almost collapsed. They were fortunate in that the decentralized system of kingdoms and fifes prevented a total conquest by the Magna Orde unlike the Tnz who had a strong link of culture and identity to hew to, most Celestial petty kingdoms had no strong ties so the Great Han could basically conquer a village at a time. Xaan-Du claimed the title of High General but really only had the loyalty of the most prosperous cities in the south east. Aetl Han spent ten years hunting down the general until he met them in single combat and fed them to the Giant Lion Az-To.

4. Gan-Ru is widely held as the worst "emperor" in celestial history. In fear of the Great Orde they bought off the raids with massive amounts of gold and tribute. This bankrolled The Magna Orde's conquests across the great plains and let the Orde become the greatest empire of its era. The tribute demands caused massive economic depression in the celestial empire and Gan-Ru was killed by an uprising in his "Golden Tent"

5. Ton-Zu was a military genius who was born a peasant in the central Celestial subcontinent. He amassed loyal followers and was able to band several generals under his command. He led a counter strike deep into the heart of Orde territory and was considered by Aeetl to be "My fondest enemy." On the eve of an epic campaign to clash with the assembled might of three Orde batllaiins of Lion Chariots, Tom-Zu died of a heart attack.

6. La-Mi was the claimed daughter of Ton-Zu and led the brunt of the bloodiest battles between the Empire and the Great Orde . By this time Aetl has decided to focus on governing his massive advanced empire instead of dealing with further conquests. She signed a peace with Yne Great Orde and many belive they had a relationship.
7. Tanz -Han was the first leader of wider Celestial civilization with known foriegn blood. Called "the Bronze bastard" he led a civil war against his Mother La-Mi that raged at the same time the Magna Orde was being invaded by the Kara Khanate. The armies of Tanz-Han and La-Mi devasted themselves and both were proclaimed dead. (Traditionally held to be the same day Aetl Han died in battle against Kara Khan)

8. Qi-Chon was a peaceful and gentle minded general who saw the fall of the great Horde to the west as an opportunity for peace. Unfortunately every minor Han saw invading the east as a way to gain acclaim and be seen as the next Great Han. Qi-Chin survived 40 raids and assorted assassination attempts until they died from suicide from the stress.

9. Baal-Zchrun was a wizard in the employ to Qi-Chon that rose to power via dark magics learned from imported magic texts from the west. Their reign of blood fear and terror stabilized the Celestial Empire and lead to the first new conquests in most of living history . They were the first Celestial Leader to gain permanent land in Tnz Territory but this dark power came at a price and they went mad from mystic influence.

===Nation===
==== Dandio'Orda ====
Conquored Tnz'rans who are native to the northern Celestial Empire. They are the predominant ethnic group there, but are fiercely loyal and have little separatist ambitions currently. They pride themselves in the loyalty to the Siouxians and see themselves as equals to them. Other Ordes see them as just another Orde "allied" to the Celestials and treat them as such. The other Ordes represent them as a separate state on their maps and demand to discuss political issues with a Dandio'Orda representative instead of an imperial representative when dealing with their northern territory.

=== Kingdom of Ivory ===
The Ivory Kingdom occupies a peninsula covered in jungles and swamps, laid with a thousand rivers. In cities of stone surrounded by rice paddies, the Taj lords and ladies enrich themselves with the commerce of silk, jungle spices and a drug called the Fiend-Kiss, a powerful narcotic that causes relaxation and lethargy when burned and inhaled like incense.

====Culture====
Ivory Kingdom natives are called Nangi, out of the kingdom's native word for itself. Nangi is a highly patriarchal culture, a warrior like society that values cunning, the ability to acquire and maintain wealth and status, and honor. It's best to die a honorable Nangi than live as a dishonorable pariah. However, only the ruling caste is thought to have 'honor'. You are born with it and may lose it entirely, ceasing to be a noble. Though great deeds are understood to 'increase' one's one. It's not measurable but there's a social consensus of who has more and less. This unofficial count plays a big role in the corts.

====Religion====
Half of Nangi follow foreigner religions brought by traders from the west, and Celestian pantheon. The other half follow the ancestral worship of the Nagas, the race of serpent people, godlike and immortal, and their serpent gods.

====Organization====
The Taj-Mai rules the Ivory kingdom from the Ivory Throne. The Taj-Nang rule their own fortress cities (nangs), almost fully independently. Taj lords always ride into battle astride an elephant

====Origin====
Founded around the year 3400 as the local cities were united in conquest by the first Taj-Mai

====Diplomacy====
The jungles are the only thing protecting them from the Ordes. The Ivory kingdom enjoys trading relations with many kingdoms, including the Merchant Empire. They are, however, suspicious of outsiders when not trading.

====Geography====
Low land jungles covered in rivers, with swamps white sand beaches. The kingdom is almost flat, except for rocky low hills in the jungle.

=====The Gulf of Nang=====
The Gulf of Nang off the coast of the Kingdom of Ivory is usually a placid place. It's shallow warm and dotted with small islands. Most are little more than sand bars, uninhabitable due to the lack of freshwater, but near the port of Dan-Nang the islands are tall pillars of limestone, festooned with forests and fed by the yearly monsoons.
Once a year on a quiet summer evening when the moon is full the giant moon jellyfish of the southern ocean gather to spawn. These jellies are known to be both sentient and telepathic, but outside this short period when they breed they are hardly ever seen.
The psychic backwash from the spawning event is supposedly considerable but is rarely felt by anyone on the mainland. The local fishermen like to take their wives out with them fishing on these nights, but for some reason, the catch usually seems to be great down compared to normal.

== Northedge ==
Consisting of the continent’s northernmost lands.
=== Itzil - Technobarbarian Mountain Tribes ===
Basically they are techno-barbarian clans, degenerate leftovers from a far more advanced civilization, eking out a living on a blasted plain with mountains at their back and a deadly wasteland in front. They now brave the desert in hopes of scavenging spare parts, metal, artifacts and whatever technology they can find in the Irradiated Deserts to sustain their failing machinery and tech. Their trademark is their "gear armor" and automata, clockwork powersuits powered by windup mechanisms, used to safely traverse the blasted plain and do battle with the mimic menace as well as man the few remaining outposts at the wasteland's edge against various mutant horrors that try to breach through to the rest of the world. The weird technology they use has long since become obscure and revered as something magical rather than something exactly understood, it's workings preserved in the oral tradition and songs of their bards. Their main city is Izzil, a stronghold hidden somewhere deep in the mountains where their main "base" is located, with various caravans and nomadic camps constantly shifting across the plain. Few other settlements are more permanent, namely the underground cavern-city of Dhe, border town of Far Water, small harbor of Pirn, shining Giyasdo, city most reminiscent of their former glory and their "official" capital and hamlet of Terganon, a last refuge on the lonely island of Lyr. Their land is the purple colored area.

==== History ====
One thing which many could ask themselves, is "Why are there still Technobarbarians Millennia after the age of Dawn?". The answer comes in the fact, "where they are". The World Spine is the tallest mountain range in the world with Mount Setherest reaching 12 kilometers in height. This desolate location made the rich and powerful of the Age of Dawn create bunkers and safe-havens in the mountains. The modern Technobarbarians are also known as the Children of Itzil. The ancient Prophetess of the Wind. Trough use of wind magic, she managed to condense the air and lead many of the Mountain Tribes higher and higher up the mountains discovering those ancient vaults of technology. Said Vaults were inhabited by those they would only know as Molemen. Blind bald 1 meter tall human-like creatures revering some sort of Metallic Effigy. They would offer it gifts and would receive rewards in exchange.

This effigy, this ancient God was nothing more than an Universal Molecular Production Facility. It has bluprints for various things saved and if you provide it with raw materials it will make said things. Still for both the Molemen and Children of Itzil, this was a supernatural creature. Give it the right rocks and it will make magical weapons superior to anything they have ever seen.

As such for centuries the Technobarbarians have toiled in the service of these Moleman Effigies treating them as Divine creating an expansive religion no different to a Cargo Cult on modern earth copying the attire of the the people they see in framed pictures and holotapes. Memorizing component lists like prayers.

The biggest revolution in Technobarbarian society was when the 4th Prophetess Hetzla asked the Effigy an important question "Can you make another one which is you?" and the Divine being answered with a list of ingredients more expansive, esoteric and incomprehensible than anything ever seen before. These things listed there were not of this world! That's when the Technobarbarians first started launching raids on other parts of the world, making their tactics more aggressive, but only few places were promising. The World Scar and the Cursed Desert.

Due to it's curse no man can live in the desert, thus even after millennia it is still littered in ancient Artifacts. Thus Technobarbarians in clockwork power-suits made out of lead wander the Cursed Desert in their Divine quest for the components to have the Moleman Effigy make one more of itself. an Effigy for the Children of Itzil, an acknowledgement of their devotion.

The Technology the Divine Machines produce is far beyond the understanding of modern man as such they are treated as magic artifacts, with someone knowing as much as maintaining the devices being rare.

Many ancient bunkers were unveiled after. Tens or even hundreds, but the Moleman Effigy stands alone, a true remnant of Divinity on this cursed earth.

=== The Cursed Wasteland ===
There was a nuclear disaster here that leveled the civilization living here.
The remnants of a great sea wall can still be seen along the coast. The disaster fractured the great wall and erosion took care of the rest over many generations, leaving it as just many crumbling piles of sediment and brick, blocking access to the desert from the sea.

==== History ====
Many speculate that the curse laid on the wasteland (being bombed into a nuclear wasteland) happened during the Age of Dawn collapse, but in fact it happened many Centuries earlier near the peak of Human Civilization.

Records are missing, but a human Nation specializing in Biotechnology was seeking conquest of it's neighbors. For that purpose they created a weapon the likes of which the world has never seen. A weapon which while produced with standardized tools would be universal.

The "Teriad" an insectoid beast of war which would be able to instantly assimilate any technology it touches. If it came in contact with an enemy Tank it would absorb it and become one with it, same with infantry equipment.

The Teriad War, as it is now known was ended by the Union of World Nations trough a harsh decision. Complete Nuclear Holocaust. The once lush and mountainous region was turned into a sea of boiling radiation and mountains rose at the coast from the amount of nuclear warheads dropped. Still, repeated bombings were required for while all human life was eradicated the Teriads still remained. Albeit due to the radiation have heavily mutated and lost a lot of their original potency.

For the next centuries having thought the Teriad extinct the wasteland was used as a trash disposal as well as a place to drop defunct satellites onto. That mixed with it killing anyone who enters made it into the largest deposit of ancient Technology in the Modern World. Though now various forms of Extremophile life reside there, along with the mysterious Wandering City.

==== The Peoples of the Wasteland ====
Radiation fades over time and while still leathal in most parts of the wasteland small regions have become habitable in recent years. The Expeditions from Goldland and Technobarbarians have lead to small communities emerging in those pockets of low radiation. While they still need to watch out for Feral Teriads and other extremophiles. They manage to live there.

These people are known as "Lead Shells" because they are either T'lc-Kha with lead shells or Humans wearing Lead Power Armor.

==== The Great Pyramid ====
<gallery>
Pyramid Sign.jpg|thumb|One of the signs
Door sign.jpg|thumb|The second sign, carved into the door
</gallery>
Not much is known about this structure. The tech barbarian tribes that found it debate over its purpose. Some say that it is a tomb for an ancient evil. Others say that it was created from a contest between the gods. However, nobody knows for sure because entry into the structure has been found impossible. Any doors that have been found have been sealed with metal that has been proven to be impossible to cut. Also, the long and dangerous trip through the desert means that only the most determined of adventures can make it to the structure. There has been a recent breakthrough in its purpose though. Famed priestess and divine iconographer Qux Yozik recently made the journey to the pyramid, and spent several days excavating and studying the outside of the pyramid. Her work was difficult and took many days, but soon uncovered a massive metal door in the side of the pyramid. Her team was unsuccessful in opening it, but two signs were uncovered during the process.

No one knows for sure what they mean, but the talk of a great evil and death under the pyramid has increased amongst the tribes. Qux herself has now dedicated her life to figuring out these symbols, and has even sent for outsiders of many kinds to try to find anyone who would understand what they mean.

==== City of Wandering Mimics ====
Wandering city of mutant is called that because no one ever found there another human, or even an non human. Just hungry and mad mutated masses of tissue, some humanoidal, some just blobish.
The truth is however that in deepest corners of city there are still humans keept in a stasis, with their minds active and connected to a vitural world.
Those monsters that haunt the streets are those of pre-dawn humans that were exposed to radiation of meteorite and reactor, and were left behind. Those below were deemed to costly to evacuate. And now they sleep, forever.

=== Ruskata Queendom ===
Ruskata
Capital: Kzatch
Racial make up: 80% humans, 10% snow elves, 8% dwarves, 1% trolls, 1% others.
Government: Matriarchal Feudal-Chiefdom Monarchy.

The Queendom of Ruskata was founded originally by tribes pushed out of Grendarrym and Skrug territory, shunned by neighbouring tribes due to their practices of human sacrifice. Although a rare ritual, the yearly sacrifices and the culture of worship to the witch-crafting crones led this tribes to flee the northern lands and settle further south at the shores of the Kizek river. Originally mountain tribes, in exile they found more fertile lands and their population grew, causing cities to form. The largest and most important of them was the city of Kzatch, a port city at the mouth of the Kizek. While these cities' religion was based on the reverence of the witch-crones and the worship of the winter deity Zoraya, Kzatch received many foreigners visitors as a trading post of furs, whale-bone and timber, and their influence let to watering down of the least digestible aspect of their faith, as well consolidation of their government. The Ruskatan cities were culturally very close and often allied themselves to fight of foreign invasions. Eventually this alliance was formalized into a federation, and gradually Kzatch influence became such that the city was able to unite the others as vassals under its Queen, forming the Queendom of Ruskata.
The Queendom is matriarchal, meaning that the maternal bloodline is determinant for succession and inheritance matters. This is in part because the crones blood run through the female line and the Queen must always be able to use ‘Ice Magic’. Also known as Winter Magic, Ice Magic is what the name suggests. The ability to manipulate the weather in a small concentrate area, causing blizzards, flash freezes, fog, snowfall and that sort of thing. Although the Queendom has armies, the Ice Witches are the true walls of their cities. Their powers are exponentially stronger during the harsh winters of the land, and if they are naturally hard on any non-native, facing the cruel long winter nights when the witches want to freeze you out is near impossible.

=== Belara Norvia Stronghold ===
[[File:Belara Trade Routes.jpg|thumb|Belara Trade Routes]]

Country name: Colony of Norvia

Population (Novia): Belarian 10%, Native Human 40%, Native Elven 50%

Capital : Norvia Stronghold

Goverment: Colonial Administration

>Culture

Norvian colonists, are mostly families of garnisson military, and so come and go, so represent traditional Belarian culture. Different situation is represented by fishers, and miners. They work in proximity with natives, and while Belarians see themselves superior from them, cultural osmosis still takes place in little things like superstitions.

>Religion

Same as Belaria

>Organization

Board of Colonial Administration – Norvia, or just BCAN, right now has military majority between administrators. 3 of them are militarists, 2 are merchants and 1 is colonists representative. Right now biggest problem from administration perspective is continuation of slave trade, and its profits, considering more and more nations in westrasi are starting to be abolitionist. While Merchants and Colonist are seeing profits to be made here, Militarists would rather stop having to divert their forces from slave raiding, to already understaffed forts. Kings representantive right now supports status quo.

>Origin

Norvia was first colony created by Belarians, who defeated local tribes and fended of Ruskatians. Since then local skirmishes between natives and colonists are normality, but no huge war was fought yet.

>Diplomacy

BCAN diplomacy is based on one thing: technological superiority. In simple words, even though its army is understaffed, they carry big stick of advanced weapons, strategy and armors. Because of this no one thinks there is need to be subtle. Native tribes are strongarmed into pacts, and sometimes whole villages are enslaved, and send to metropolis, or to iron mines.
Only ecception being khanate, that is seen as great danger by Novian administration, because of how they know in case of attack they will be conquered before support arrives, if it arrives. And such, no hostile actions are taken against them.

>Geography

Its arctic and mountainous land. There is almost no fertile land, and its littered with mountain passes and chokepoints turned into fortresses.

>Economy

It's the main hub for the arctic fish trade, its also hub of forestry and mining industries. Its here where lies biggest mine of Iron in the entire north. Additonaly Norvia has great investment in slave trade, to a point of having biggest slave marked in whole Belara.

==Grendarrym==
The Grendarrym tribes are hunters and gatherers of the far north. They are not a aggressive people, and instead stick to the asterial waters to hunt, fish, and recall the history of ages long past.

=== Government ===
The nation is ruled by a council made up of any female who can claim to be related by blood or family ties to the last chief. This chief is decided by the ruling of the previous chief, or who is the eldest daughter of the chief's family. This council in turn rules over the nation, each having a section of land to administrate. The amount of power one has on the council is decided by how much land they administrate, and this is decided by the current chief. There is also a wise woman, who is usually the oldest woman alive, who acts as a sage and historian to the council.

=== Origin ===
The Jorden people of Grendarrym were hunter gatherers who migrated to the north and developed an early culture of reaving and pillaging. The nation was originally made up of several small tribes who were fighting for dominance. It was very unstable, as whenever a chief died there would be fights over who would rule in turn. This escalated into several small scale civil wars between the tribes. However, as time went on the Jorden people realised that they would all die to the harsh northern climate if they kept fighting amongst each other. Thus the remaining tribes decided to join together into one tribe to survive. They named this tribe Grendarrym, from the words Grendar which means "Grand Whole'' or "Grand One", and Jarrym, which means "People". Thus the Grendarrym tribe, meaning One United Jorden, was born.

===Culture===
The Jorden people have been heavily influenced by their eleven neighbors. Despite having little in the ways of writing, they have a strong oral tradition that retells the history of their people hundreds of years back. They are one of the most knowledgeable human nations regarding the past and history. However, they only know what has happened in the north and they know little of the outside world. Women are taught from a young age this history through ballads and sagas. Some of these women are also taught to have a nearly flawless memory, and study the current events of their lives so they can retell them to the next generation. Men do not learn these histories, as the superior intellect required to do such acts is found to be lacking in then. Instead the men are taught to fish, hunt, and gather.

There is a ritual that every boy must go through to become a man, called the Grendar Hunt. Each boy of 15 is sent as a group into wilderness alone in the height of winter. To the Grendarrym, great warriors are forged in battle against the elements themselves, as the wilds they live in have proven more to be deadly than any one man could be. They are to survive working together as a group, and to bring back a worthy trophy by the beginning of the spring. Those who return with a suitable trophy are marked with tattoos to represent their adulthood, and are given a new name in relation to the trophy they caught and the acts they had to perform to achieve it. The greatest of these feats are retold among the men during hunting trips, and usually contain more fiction than fact. The Great Mollusks are considered the greatest trophy that can be achieved. To build a sea faring vessel and sail it through the ice to kill a mollusk is a dangerous and deadly feat, requiring teamwork and skill. Those that manage to bring one back as a trophy are viewed as blessed by the gods, and are given to the bravest fishermen and hunters to work with. Those that fail to bring back a suitable trophy are looked down upon and are given menial tasks for the rest of their life. As hunting techniques and skills advanced with the Grendarrym population, over fishing led to the death of the Eastern Great Mollusk Reef.

When returning from a hunt Grendarrym, are blessed with tattoos that mark them as an adult. These tattoos usually relate to their hunt or achievements in some way and tap into ancient nature magic that enhances their natural abilities. Only female elders are trusted with the sacred writes of the tattoo ad their power is fiercely treasured.

That said, to venture out on the sea on your own in the depths of winter is still to take on a perilous task worthy of adulthood. To bring back a boat filled with the great fish that run during those times? A truly worthy trophy, and a mark of someone who will be wealthy in times to come, with a great longhouse of their own. Or they might bring back the pelt of a giant tusker or an ice bear. Those who choose this path often gain powers from the ritual to make them even finer fishermen, and more able to stand the rigors of the winter.
The womenfolk of Grendarrym have a different path. They are the ones who look after the home farm, the hearth and the kin, and their tattoos (often given after their first blood) make them far better at those tasks. They also take the scales of the great fish and magically weave them into the famed armor suits of Grendarrym. To outsiders, they claim it is the mithril of long lost legend, of course.

Anyone hardy enough to visit Grendarrym and Jordheim in the depths of winter had better be keen on fish, for it often seems like the whole population of each country is out catching the great arctic nibbler, which runs in vast numbers down the coasts of each country at that time. Since time immemorial, the fishing fleets of the two countries have caught fish by the millions every year and yet they still seem undiminished, due to the amazing bounty of the Gods!
Once caught, the fish are dried on great racks for several months in the winter air, before being traded to the Belarans at Norvia Stronghold for sale down across Westrasia. The dried fish is used in many ways, but is always a tremendous delicacy, even as far south as Lemba. A smaller amount is traded to Ruskata, and through them into the Khanate.It is said to be personal favorite of the Great Khan himself!

Because of their historical knowledge, they have realised that messing with the outside world will only bring trouble. Instead they tread their tribal homelands, and leave foreigners alone.

== Sanukinuiq ==
===Culture===
They are snow elves. One of the first races of the Northedge, living on the icy coasts as simple fishers and hunters. Practicing magical druidism to survive in the far north. Amber skin, short and slim bodies, black-irises, upturned eyes. Their culture is deeply rooted in animist and spiritualist beliefs. These mostly involve worshiping the land, the powerful northern winds, and the animals of the Northedge.
===Nation===
Sanukinuiq has been consistently stable. The native Nananuit tribes have had no interest in warring one another. These tribes have shared religious practices, and are too occupied with keeping themselves ahold in the harsh climes of the far north. The Nananuit elves have been long natives of Northedge, but their long cultural reign is currently threatened by Skrug and Ruskata pushing into their lands.
Trolls sometimes, but very rarely, emigrate west from Skrug’s kingdom into Sanukinuiq to find new hunting grounds. Trolls are often warded off and kept away from the Nananuit villages.
The Sanukinuiq have created a non-aggression pact with the Grendarrym in exchange for goods. Powerful as their drudism is, they are ill equipped and outmatched against Skrug and Ruskata. Further deals are being written, and there is talk among the two nations about an alliance...

== Frozen Kingdom of Troll King Skrug ==
Work in progress...
<gallery>
Raiders_Of_Skrug.jpg|A Kingdom of Skrug raiding party consisting of three humans and two trolls.
Dwarves_of_Skrug.jpg|A pair of dwarves from clan Jolgrith.
</gallery>

====Races====
25% Troll, 50% Human, 15% Dwarf, 10% Snow Elf.

====Capital====
Svärden, a coastal trade-city held by the largest human clan of the region.

====Government====
Monarchy ruled by a single ancient troll, with an advisory council that act as the government comprised of three humans, a dwarf and an elf.

====Culture====
The predominant culture within the troll kingdom is in fact, a human one. The Vargr are a complicated people who have suffered greatly at the hands of other nations, beasts and monsters. Their traditions are based upon both their Grendarrym and Ruskata ancestors but have taken on a more violent, practical and oddly passionate change. Raiding far and wide is a common practice and the primary use of military force. Music, singing, martial prowess, sexual prowess, cleverness and strength, all are extolled virtues. Personal glory is constantly sought after and the Vargr people seem to be well known for their boastful telling of tales. After the return of raiders, traders or explorers stories always abound of their adventures as they will tell any who will listen. Some manner of trollish customs have seeped into the ways of the Vargr as well. Cleverness and wit are highly prized attributes among the Vargr, even a frail man might find a place for himself provided he is clever enough. Pranks and jests are said to be common during times of revelery. On the summer and winter solstice games of chance and mental fortitude are played among the usual celebrations. "Trolling" an enemy by painting their face across a goats ass and presenting it too them as a gift is a grievous insult, an ultimatum and an opportunity to surrender. If the goat is left outside the targets home it is considered a sign of surrender for all to see. For those willing to fight it is considered traditional to respond with a malicious prank before hostilities truly begin.

====Religion====
The Arn are a fellowship of deities, worshiped by the northern peoples within the region of Skrug. Much of the faith involves acts of; singing, music, dance and many other acts of passion, skill, cunning and violence.

====Organization====
The Frozen Kingdom of Skrug is a region claimed as the territory of the largest and oldest known troll. There are 13 clans of Vargr humans, one dwarven and one elven clan as well as a multitude of trolls living under the protection and in service of Skrug. Skrug’s method of rulership is to mostly leave the day to day running of his kingdom to leaders chosen from among his subjects. Humans make up the bulk of the population of Skrug's kingdom, followed by dwarves and a few elven clans. Trolls, though a minority are treated with grudging respect for the obvious physical threat they pose and their dedication to maintaining the kingdoms borders. The human clans raid neighbors and coastal cities within range of their ships for glory and to gather enough food to sustain the growing troll population. The dwarven clan of Jolgrith provides the troll population with massive two handed swords, simple plate armor and the human raiders with fine dwarven arms and armor. The elves within Skrug’s territory largely avoid attention but offer mead and music when trolls corner them for Skrug’s tribute. Skrug himself spends his time eating, drinking, sleeping and planning his next “turn” in the great game against the great dragon to the south.

The thirteen Vargr clans; Bjørnung, Njaling, Bodilung, Arning, Åsung, Haralding, Runnung, Walling, Geirrung, Siffing, Pórderrung, Yngling, Vetlung

Dwarven Clan; Clan Jolgrith

Elven Clan; Yssret

====Origin====
Skrug is the largest, oldest troll within the region and has developed a degree of intelligence comparable to humanity over the years alongside the wisdom his experience has granted him. The local clansmen attempted to slay him for their own glory. In response he slew the attacking clansmen and gathered the younger trolls of the region into an army to conquer all of the peoples of the north so that he could go back to eating, sleeping and wargaming in peace. Skrug rarely leads his forces anymore and leaves much of the rulership of his kingdom to the smaller races. When he takes to the field he does so with great determination to end the enemy quickly and return to his cave-palace filled to the brim with treasures, food and massive tables covered with complex battlefields.

====Diplomacy====
Regular raids against neighboring lands keep the large population of trolls well fed and allow the men of the region a means of attaining greater glory for themselves.

====Geography====

====Economy====
Trade in metals, gemstones, hides, fish, dwarven manufactured weapons and armor.

====Disciples of Skrug====
We know that Skrug wrangled most of the troll, goblin, and hobgoblin population in his territory (most of them are possibly his own offspring). What if the ones that show promising above-average intelligence gets taken in by Skrug to become his disciple, just so that in case Geoffrey died somehow he'll still have someone to wargame against? This has the added benefit of having those smarter greenskins becoming capable governors or lieutenants, able to divert some of the burdens of nation-managing away from Skrug's true passion: wargames.

====Notable Characters====
<gallery>
Gunnvagr_Eventyr.jpg|Gunnvagr Eventyr the explorer and his mount Tǫnn.
</gallery>

== Lost Nation of Yugr ==
Yugr was a once powerful slaver empire of people that came from the northernmost point of northern glaciers. They enslaved both humans and trolls alike, and their borders went as far as Grendarrym and Ruskata Rivers, with vassal states that ranged towards Zephyr mountains. But as climat grew colder they had to give up their empire, and hid themselves in the heart of their empire - behind a valley of glaciers in one of the only fertile lands up north. They hid from the people they enslaved and the rest of the outside world through magic. The spell hiding them has grown weaker, and the government tries to prepare itself for reemergence to the outside world.
They are proud, reactionary people that value their isolationism. They live and abide by convoluted honor codes. Because they stopped advancing technologically they use late bronze age technology.In the minds of the outside world they exist only as a this almost mythical nation state up north.

== Central Plains ==
=== World Scar ===

The World Scar is an unfathomably large depression; deep enough to have weather patterns form inside it, and wide enough that you can see the other side in only a few places.
Such a grand geological feature has significance in many cultures and religions, and as such, pilgrimages into the Scar are not uncommon. Over time, a certain route into the Scar became quite popular due to its generally easy to traverse terrain. This route, known in the modern age as the Pilgrims' Path, has 4 small outposts along its length so that the pilgrims may restock on supplies, and enterprising merchants may separate them from their money.

Seen as a holy place by many, the divinity is only reinforced by what is inside the Scar. All religions in the world claim the Scar as their holy place and all people of great faith or love for knowlege long to go there. They set of on the Pilgrimage Path with 12 Dolas prepared. Or even more if they wish for deeper enlightenment. What is a Dola? It's a small green, piece of cloth with magical symbols in slightly lighter green engraved in it. If the symbols are even slightly wrong one will be chased off and bared entry by the Keepers of the Scar.

One is only permitted to enter the scar half a year. It is unknown why. The Keepers of the Scar have skin made out of metal and dress in odd ways. Mainly depending on the "Park" they chaperone.

'''The Parks'''

There is 7 Parks which are remnants of ancient amusement parks.

Park of the Mouse
This park teaches us ancient tales, of valour nobility and femininity. In plays and dogs. It is a great honour to meet
one of the Princesses of this Park. All such meetings are commemorated with paintings.

The Park of the Cow
It is a land reminiscent of the desert. Where the art of "pistols" dueling is paramount. These Izitzil relics are common here. The Keepers of the Cow are the warriors and soldiers of the Parks. Teaching us of honour, Valor and justice. The values of the Wild Vest, if one embodies such values they get to wear such a Vest themselves.

Park of the Bear
It is a fake Forrest with the flora and fauna of the ancients and divines. Here one can learn how to maintain forrests and manage fires. It is a holy place for druids and Treant worshippers.

Park of the Kraken
A holy place for the people of the Black and Storm island as well as many sailors. Here one can learn of the deeds of heroic pirates. Ancient beasts of the sea and various tips on ship building and sailing.

Path of the Divine Beasts
A park where one admires ancient divine beasts. Dragons, Dinosaurs, Giant Lions and more. One learns how they live, their anatomy and much more. It's a divine place for the people of the Khanate and Orde's.

Park of the Eagle
Seen as a holy place by the Techpriest of Goldland. This place teaches the history of Godmachines. The battles they fought in space against one another in ancient mythical times. This Place even includes a few Godmachines! One can learn basics of Godmachine repair here as well.

Park of the Star
A land which the Priests of Gloria and Etalia take as their own. Rokets displayed here reflect the ancient horses the two Gods visited the world on. In this place one learns astronomy and of the many races which live on other worlds. As well as of the land of the Gods.

'''The Keepers'''

The Keepers in spite of gaining sentience still follow the same goals they were programmed to follow:
1. Maintain the Park
2. Entertain the guests
3. Act as if it's all real.
On top of those directives new goals emerged. Combat Androids were created to keep the Fire elementals at bay. Mining outposts were created to provide materials to keep everything running. The Keepers themselves only ever leave the Scar to hunt down someone who stole something from the Park.

'''Outside the Parks'''

The World Scar is a large place, mostly full of plains and rivers. Being on an old Supervolcano it is full of geysers and all the water is building and full of sulphur. The Parks are climatised, but the outside temperature is usually 40-60C. In the 6 months the Scar is closed it goes above 100C. And that is when the heftiest wars with the elementals happen.

The cliffside of the Scar is riddled with Moleman outposts and villages. They often stage raids to steal technology as sacrifices to the Effigy. Thus are hunted down. The only other sentient inhabitant of the Scar are Dwarves. They can simply handle the heat. Various minor Dwarven tribes live there. Some allied to the Parks, others isolationist, some work together with the Molemen and the last ones have signed a pact with the Fire Elementals and are openly hostile with a small nation of their own existing in the scar.

'''Origin'''

The World Scar was formed by the eruption of a supervolcano in the distant past.

The world Scar used to be a mix of no man's land (like Antarctica,) and national Park (Yellowstone).

4 companies once managed to obtain the right to build theme parks there. The 7 theme parks, were a fad which passed soon, but being located in no man's land the companies kept them arround to do illegal robotics research there.

After the collapse of civilisation only the automatons survived in the Scar. Running the empty parks untill magic returned to the world. The scar is the most magically active area of the world. Thus on one hand the Keepers gained sentience on the other the will of the ancient Supervolcano became manifest in fire elementals which wish to spread death and destruction.

When entrances to the scar were rediscovered it was by primitive people. Who saw everything they saw as holy and divine. And skills taught to kids by play, were actually very useful to those primitives. As such the scar became a place of worship and knowlage.

=== Uruzataar Khanate ===
Races: 98% Qoktengel Human,
Government: Monarchy
Capital: none

The Uruzataar Khanate is a massive nomadic empire ruled by the fierce warlord Uruz Khan. The people are composed of nomadic warriors riding across the northern steppes on horseback, thirsty for bloodshed and conquest to favor the Khan.

==== Kara Khan ====

Kara Khan was a Great Khan that lived at the end of the Sixth Era. At the time, the Magna Orde was the greatest power in the known world. When they came of age, Kara made a pilgrimage to the great spire. No one knows what they saw there but when they emerged, they seemed to possess eerie powers of the mind that led them to great victories in battle.

Kara's army of "Soulriders" was made up of tribesmen from across the Great Plains and beyond. Goblins, Treant and Humans alike rode in "Great Hunts" that weakened the power of the Magna Orde until its leader, Aeetli Han, came to face Kara in single combat. Kara won the battle and took the pelt of Aetli's Giant Lion as a trophy.

With the Magna Orde falling apart, Kara's wife, Pellar, asked them to settle down and organize their horde into a proper empire. Kara was obsessed, however, and embarked on what would be their Final Hunt.

Kara assembled an army of Soulriders, Horselord and Tnz'qran both, and declared The Great Hunt. They would ride past the World Scar, trek through the cursed wasteland, and circle the Izill mountains until they could plunder the lost secrets of the ancients.

Many thought the Khan mad, but the victories on the battlefield gave the Khan a sense of near divinity. So ten thousand soul riders left from the Crystal Spire and began a long trek west.

Half would die by the time they passed through the Wasteland, many begging to be killed out of mercy from the pain and terror the sands brought. Yet that horror was a mere taste of what was to come.

The 3000 soulriders who made it into the land of gold were crushed by metal demons since thrown into myth. Blue flame seared meat from bones, ferocious sounds saw men and beast alike claw out their own eyes; their soldiers died like flies and yet Kara pressed ever forward.

At the final bend, in the heart of Goldland itself, the remaining 100 soulriders begged Kara to turn back, but a strange look in the eye of the Khan told them there was no answer that led to survival. With tears in their eyes (as they told it) the last hundred turned back, to watch the Kahn travel to their death.

Of that hundred, only 12 made it back through the wasteland. Found by scouts and taken back to the Crystal Spire, the report of the Khan's death crushed the people.

Pelar declared herself Khan and completed the raids against the Ordes but she was no Kara. Without their divine figurehead, any dream of any empire to match the Magna Orde was dashed.

The Final Hunt was the final major interaction between the eastern and western halves of the continent until Vayos the Belarian made their Great Voyage centuries later.

The double power gap of the fall of The Second Great Orde and the Kara Khanate lead to a massive vaccum in the East that enabled the Celestial Empire and Treant Empire to rise to the heights they see now.

And the legend of the Last Hunt cemented Goldland as a place of fear and terror for generations and religions to come.

To this day the name Kara is considered near sacrilegious to be granted in Orde and Khanate cultures, and their death has been cemented in the national myths of both peoples.

====The Tear of Kara Khan ====
When 12 soulriders returned from Kara Khan's ill-fate exposition from Goldland, they returned with a scrap of Mithril, the largest such source of the metal found west of the Cursed Wastelands.

It has exchanged hands across the centuries from Khan to Khan and the occasional foreign raider. It was originally used as a symbol of power to connect to the fallen great Khan, until Uruz mages learned how to magically smelt off shards of The Tear that couldn't otherwise be torn. Mithril arrowheads have become a prize product of the Tear, notable for being more durable than steel and being able to conduct magical energy better than gold. Due to the small size of the Tear, most mihtril weaponry is used for vanity weapons by various Khans.

Owing to his wariness of anything having to do with the Cursed Wasetlands or ancient power, the Great Khan doesn't use an Mithril weaponry, though he was wise enough to keep the Tear safe in the Kanakar Steppes away from ambitious wizards like Kana Khan.

==== Pre-Conquest States within the borders of the Khanate ====
[[File:Pre-Conquest States.png|thumb|Pre-Conquest States]]
Just gonna propose some lands conquered by the Khanate, their general former location, possible date they've been conquered, and some extra notes. I'll allow other people to add on to this, whether it be lore or more regions.

>Kanakar Steppes People (~25 years before present)

First to be taken by the Uruzataar, forming the Khanate.

Culture very similar to Uruzataar people.

>Temengel People (~24 years before present)

Culture similar to early Qoktengel humans and Uruzataar people.

>Kazai Tribes (~20 years before present)

Culture maybe similar to some human tribes occupied by Treant Empire.

>Daizhun Kingdom (~17 years before present)

Culture a combination of early Qoktengel and early Qi-fu humans.

>Ni-Jeong Dynasty (~13 years before present)

Culture very similar to modern Qi-Fu.

>Inengu (~12 years before present)

Elvish-inhabited region.

>Aizhaw (~10 years before present)

Elvish-inhabited region culturally closest to the First Elves.

>Oktaw (~8 years before present)

Elvish-inhabited region.

>West Qi-Fu (~5 years before present)

Land east of river remains disputed territory.

>Mokuit (~3 years before present)

Elvish-inhabited region culturally closest to the Nananuit snow elves.

>Vargen, Grendarrym (~2 years before present)

>South Ruskata (~1 year before present)

Currently disputed territory.

====Khans of the Uruzataar Khanate====

As Uruz Khan conquered various local tribes and smaller Khans, he imported the Uruz Khanate system to the underholdings. Each major section of the empire is under a Khan who has risen to the title with a mix of skill cunning and loyalty.

=====Kana Khan=====
Born as Jimu-Da, Kana Khan are the younger fraternal twin sisters of the Great Khan. Under Uruz culture, twins are legally seen as a single person and Jimu and Da were chosen by Uruz to take advantage of this. Pre-conquest, Uruzataar and the Kanakar Steppes were invoked in a tangled web of tribal politics and clan conflicts. Uruz eased this tension with massive violence but the remaining system is still rife for sedition. Kana Khan's mastery of intrigue, politics and fierce loyalty to their brother made them the ideal candidates to run the holdings closest to the homeland and well time assassinations and sold off marriages have glued the formerly wild Steppes into a hotbed of diplomatic culture.

=====Teme Khan=====
The Temengal people were the most respected of the Great Khans conquests. They held the ways of the ancient ancestors, hunting Oozestadon on horseback and worshipping ancient Dragon spirits. The mighty Qok RIver served as a natural barrier and Temegal horsemanship was matched nowhere else. They fell only by Treachery. On Dragonfall Day, peak of the ancient Qoktengal FEstival where bloodshed was forbidden, a bribed Temegal chieftain massacred all the priests and chiefs of the Temegal tribes while they were inebriated from the Qoiag ritual. The traitors name was stricken from record in shame and they are no known as Teme Khan. Seen as a savage even amongst the Khanate, Teme is the Great Khans axe-man for when the unspeakable needs to be done.

=====Kaza Khan=====
The Kazai tribes were the longest of the Great Khan's conquests. The countless polities were hard to take down and the influx of Treant magic made the usual illusion magic tactics of Uruz ineffective.

The tribes were finally delivered by an alliance with the spellcaster Mah-Leek. A master Druid, they trained a sorcery Corps within the Khanate soul riders that specialized in offensive magic. The Khanate burned down trees and fields alike, and as a reward, Mah-Leek became Kaza Khan, ruler of the ashes.

They now are the Khanate's chief sorcerer, to the irritation of Uruz illusion mages and their Kazai subjects both. Kaza Khan cares not, and is assembling spells and spellcasters from across the Khanate to collect the greatest compendium of arcane knowledge in the world.

=====Daizha Khan=====
Mesha Rhuk was seen by many as the fiercest warrior in Uruz forces. Serving on the frontlines since the Kanakar wars, she time and time again was frustrated by political issues rewarding allies over true warriors. She demanded a territory from Uruz and the Great Khan offered her the mighty Daizhun Kingdom, whose fortress had held off the Khan’s horseback armies for decades. … if she could take it in a month. Should she fail, her head would be forfeit. For 20 days Daizha and her soulriders laid siege to the Daizhun walls, the fields outside the barriers becoming a marsh of blood. On the 21st, she made a request to sue for peace, unheard of from the Khanate. The Daizhun KIng celebrated in generational victory and during the negotiation, demanded many concessions from the Khanate...until messengers told him the entire west coast of the Kingdom had fallen.

The 20-day siege had been a mere distraction. Mesha used the time to build enough ships to take an army of 6000 soldiers from the inner Khanate straight across the Daizhun sea and into the kingdom’s heartland. Half the souriders died on the journey, but the survivors took total control of the innards of a Kingdom that amassed all its forces to the frontlines. Mesha offered a trade, the Kingdom’s head, and throne, and she would only massacre HALF of his citizens.

Mesha arrived on the last day of the month with the king’s rotting head, waiting until the last minute on purpose in mockery of the challenge. She was named Daizha Khan and became the admiral of the first true Uruzatarr Navy.

=====Nizha Khan=====

The Ni-Jeong Dynasty was utterly destroyed by the combined forces of the Khanate’s various holdings. The ethnic Qi-Fu were almost exterminated and the land of the Dynasty was called "Spring's Graveyard."

Nizha Khan is a 15-year-old youth, a scholar assigned a near-barren territory as an appeasement to politics out west. Nizha Khan has a gentle heart and has tried to give some measure of dignity to the survivors of the genocide but is still hated by the Qifu populace as an invader.

=====Ahkta Khan=====

Despite traces of elven heritage, the Uruz Khan cared little about the differences among various cultures and so all Elvish claims in the Khanate were bundled into one.

Ahkta Khan, born Nanu-Nanalenin, was a Mokuit Elf enslaved by Uruz Khan's brother. As the elf of highest standing in the Khanate they were given rule of Inengu, Aizhaw, and Oktaw elves by default. Ahkta was raised a scholar of shamanic magic but their skills make it hard to control a territory of so many different peoples. Most of the time they are dealing with age-old tribal disputes and trying to keep Kaza Khan from taking elves for experiments.

=====Vargen Khan=====
Marza was the Councilor of the Grendarryn territory of Vargen at a time when Grendarryn was under internal strife brought on by the economic disaster of the Dragon Heat. As the Great Khan decimated three regions, she saw the writing on the wall. Realizing serving under the Khan could be a benefit, she willingly submitted to Uruz and was named Vargen Khan for her efforts. Vargen is now a unique blend of Westrasi and Uruz culture as the natives have been allowed to keep there culture and traditions under the Tarrow Yoke. Vargen Khan seeks to use the resources of the wider empire to take down the other Grendarryn Councilors and become Khan of all of Northedge.

=====Ukzi Khan=====

As the Khanate grew larger and more stable and Uruz Khan grew older, younger and more viscous upstarts often tried to take power, either through military might or political gains. Red Zhan was a beloved military hero who was amassing enough prestige to challenge the Great Khan himself. After an inspiring checkers match the Great Khan “rewarded” Red Zhan with the Ukzi Khanate, a mostly worthless strip of desert with no chance for fame or glory. Ukzi took this maneuver in stride and used the closeness of the region to the Tnz’qran Lands to secure an alliance with the breakaway Ete’Orde. Trading his daughter to the new Eta Han, Ukzi Khan now plans to become lord of the entire Central Plains
==== Crystal Spire ====
The lost elven mothership. This ship is the size of a small city on the inside and is powered almost entirely by magic. For a reason lost to time, it crashed into this backwards land, and the surviving elves scattered to the corners of this new land to avoid the magical fallout that came from the crash. Those that didn’t were changed. The magic warped them in many ways, and gave them powers. The sanest ones left used their new magic power to seal the ship in crystal, making the spire that now stands today. But nature always finds a way, and deep in the mountain the fey still live.

The Great Kara Khan made a pilgrimage to the spire in the late sixth age and was seemingly granted great wisdom in battle from it, as well as an obsession with venturing west to the cursed lands. Many horselords have tried to recreate this pilgrimage, but few survived and none have been blessed as Kara was.

=== Tnz'qran Raiders ===
[[File:Nnnn.png|thumb|The World according to the Tnz'qran]]

With the Death of the Khan more interplay between the Khanate and Ordes will likely happen. Both civilizations after all even if Ethnically far apart are culturally very close. The Ordes are afterall nomadic horserides which have begun to settle down.

The most dominant of the Ordes has for a long time been the K'elle'orda thanks to it's marital ties to the Celectial Empire. It has dominated most other Ordes with the Nhi'orde and Hte'orde being direct vassals to it. The Qssl'orde on the other hand is used as a buffer state by the Treant Empire and might soon become just another vassal. That's how low the once mighty Tnz'qran have fallen. Only Qwwl'orde remains as an old Independant Horse as Swe'yus has gone back under Suoxi Controll.

There is a new player among the Tnz'qran though. The Eta'Orde a new Orde. The Minor horselord Hun Eta has married his daughter to off to one of the Great Khans son's allowing them to rebell against the K'elle Orde and carving out their own land. They seek to unite The Orde's once more and trough marital ties to create a joint grand Empire of Horseriders as well as retake Tzn'qran Land in the Northern half of Suoxi-Dan Dio.

The Tnz'qran Raiders, previously known as the Magna Orda are a mix of the Huns and Tatars. The Great Han, Aettl once united all the Tnz'qran tribes and lead to their rapid expansion, even nearly accomplishing a conquest of the Celstial Empire. Since then the Orde's have splintered and lost a lot of land.

==== History ====
The various Ordes have existed in some loose fashion since The Collapse, but it wasn't until early Antiquity with the First Great Orde did they start to become prominent on the world stage.

===== The First Great Orde=====
The First Great Orde was formed in the Era of Antiquity around 1350 by the Semi Mythical Qral Lionson. "Qral" is said to be the origin of the terms Khan and Han. His twelve wives and thirteen husbands are said to be the origin of the 24 major clans of the Tnz'qran people.

Qral Lionson ...

To this day there is debate among the various Orde houses over just how much of the First Orde was fact and how much was fiction. What most people do agree on is that the Tnz'qran Valley of the Great Plains was the origin of the first chariots and the domestication of the Giant Lions. This military culture became a major aspect of their society.

===== The First Collapse =====
(how the first great orde kicked the bucket)

===== The Second Great Orde =====
After the collapse of the First Great Orde, the Tnz-qran people would not be reunited under one Khan until nearly 3100 years later in 4450. The Second Great Orde which was known at the time as the Magna Orda was created when Aettl the Han united the other Ordes into a massive nomadic empire that was able to lay waste to all that stood in their way. The Magna Orda became the dominant political power of the late sixth era until continuous raids by Kara Kahn, Pelar Khan and Bezel Khan from various western forces caused the Magna Orde to collapse.

Aettl the Han ...

===== The Second Collapse =====
The "Great Mixing of Cultures" (derogatorily referred to as "The Great Impregnation" by some Tnz) lead to a broader Uruzatarization of Tnz culture, as words, strategies and cultural forces from western groups broke into the region. To this day, the main written language of the entire Plains region is in Uruz script. This era also saw the importation of goblin foodstuffs such as Bezel Beetle and Red fungus which became staples of the Tnz diet as well as the creation of the first magic wands based on imported Treant Mysticism.

===== Religion =====

The Tnz’qran worship the giant lions that migrate through their borders as sacred beasts. Due to the lions traveling in packs and their size they are quite deadly and cannot be killed easily without dooming the hunter. A warrior who could manage to kill one of these beasts alone without dying and bring it back is regarded as a holy being that is one with nature.

===== Government =====

They used to be one united nomadic Empire, but splintered into multiple Ordes at the death of the Khan. Each Orde is ruled by a clan house which governs their land.

==== Nhi'Orde ====

===== The Seni Pass and Nhigei Steppe =====
The Seni pass is named after the great Tnz'qran explorer Khuwwl Qran Seni. He discovered the passage by following the Black Sevalut into the North. This lead to the discovery of the Nhigei Steppe and it's conquest by the 4th Nhi'Han Khran Nhigei. It was the conquest of the Nhigei Steppe which allowed the Nhi'Orde to become one of the major Orde's.

===== The Hena Pass =====
The Hena pass was discovered only about 60 years ago by Bartolomew Hena a Westerasi Explorer in the service of the K'elle'Han. The discovery of another major entrance into the Nhigei Steppe is what allowed the forces of the K'elle'Orde to defeat the Nhi'Orde, seze land and subjugate them.

===== The Nhi'Han and Goatman Mountain Tribes =====
After suffering a great defeat at the battle of Peak Kreht the then Prince of the Nhi'Orde went into self exile to travel the world and learn of the world and bring greatness to the Nhi Orde once more. He returned on the day of the death of his father as if by divine prophecy with 5000 Dwarven War Goats. Within a few months he trained his riders to use these mounts as mounts of war for the mountains. For the first time the People's of the steppe managed to take control of the Goatman Wall, subjugating the local Technobarbarian tribes.

===== The World Spine =====
Very tall mountains where the technobarbarians live, it is a bad omen to go there.

==== K'elle'Orde ====
The K'elle'Orda is the most powerful of all Orde's thanks to an alliance with the Celestial Empire. The Hte' and Nhi'Orda are it's Vassals. The Han of the K'elle'orde is trough matrianial ties one of the candidates for the next Emperor of the Celestial Empire and the two countries share a deep alliance.

===== Sewalut River =====
The Sewalut River is the largest river along which the Tnz'qran civilization resides. It's the only major landmark which cuts the endless steppe. It is there where villages and settlements exist. The riversides are full of farms and trading huts and the river is very important for transporting Timber from the Goatman Mountains to Swe'yus.

===== Ketl Swamp =====
A Small Area at the border of the K'elle and Hte'Orde which is mostly inhabited by people's related to the Natives of the Treantian Vassal tribes. The Swamps are relatively inaccessible as such little is known about the natives of the Swamp.

==== Hte'Orde ====

Population: 35% Suoxi Human, 30% Unclear/Other, 20% Tnz'qran Human, 5% Westerasi Human, 5% Vishga Human, 5% Imuuga Human (approximate percentages, much of the population is mixed race)

Capital: Engret

=====Government:=====

Clan House Hte (Vassal to the Han of the K'elle'orde)

=====Culture:=====

Often referred to as the "Sewage Gutter of the Central Plains" as well as many even less flattering titles, this often overlooked region consists mostly of poor rice farms supporting a handful of river towns, and three sprawling slum cities. Those of relatively pure Tnz'qran origin rule over the others, though their proud martial traditions have withered a bit, and they are sometimes considered the dregs of their race. The merchant class dominates the cities and towns, only partially held in check by the ruling Tnz'qran. All sorts of goods (more than a few illegal at their destinations) travel up and down the River. The common folk possess little of value, and are generally ignored by the other classes as long as they don't try to steal anything.

The Tnz'qran people in this region tend to treat the other races with disdain, since both the merchants and the commoners are seen as lazy, decadent, corrupt, jaded, cynical, and overly fond of narcotics imported from the Ivory Kingdom.

=====Organization:=====

The Han rules from a crumbling, yet massive fortress in the middle of the city of Engret, just north of Kanna's Knot. His kin and other vassals (all Tnz'qran) rule over the other two cities, and other communities of sufficient size. Small Tnz'qran armies are stationed at the cities of Engret, Vallum, and Tristabool to watch the borders with Swe'yus, Qwwl'Orde, and Qssl'Orde respectively.

=====Origin:=====

Despite strong beginnings, the Hte'Orde has long been regarded as cursed. A series of failed attempts to conquer the Kanna Knot caused many Tnz'qran warriors to lose faith in their leadership and join other nations. The remains of the Hte'Orde eventually became sedentary, ruling over the thin inhabited stretch of the Sewalut River they conquered on the way to the Kanna Knot. Aside from the Tnz'qran, the people here mostly come from a largely forgotten minor branch of the southeast Suoxi migration, with a scattering of refugees and fugitives from all over Celestia, the Central Plains, and the Ram's Head.

=====Diplomacy:=====

Hte'Orde is a vassal of the Han of the K'elle'Orde. Not that the K'elle'Orde benefits much from ruling this stretch of river. Hte'Orde pays tithes and occasionally supplies soldiers, but it has little to offer in terms of men or wealth.

Qssl'Orde is a cause for concern for the Han of the Hte'Orde. At the time, few though the Treants would bother conquering such a dry, treeless area, but the motives of the Treants are poorly understood by others.

Qwwl'Orde is largely ignored by Hte'Orde, and vis versa, since neither nation is in position to try to bully the other.

Official relations with the Kingdom of Ivory, Swe'yus, and Nulamore are poor since the Hte'Orde views all three of these nations as rivals in their half-forgotten quest to conquer the Kanna Knot. However, the Hte'Orde will not act without permission from the K'elle'Orde. Despite this tension, merchants and smugglers from Hte'Orde do lively business with these regions.

The Celestial Empire views the Hte'Orde as impoverished mongrels beneath their notice, though indirect relations are maintained via the K'elle'Orde and the Dandio'Orde.

=====Geography:=====

The desert region that makes up much of this nation is regarded as one of the most inhospitable places on the continent. Almost no one lives here except for a few fortified wells along the road from Nian Do to Qwwl'Orde.

Most of the population lives along the western bank of the Sewalut River, which forms the eastern edge of the province. The salty marshes of this region can support some rice farms, but otherwise this region offers little of value

=====Economy:=====

The Hte'Orde is generally considered the poorest region of the Tnz'qran Lands. It is barely self sufficient in terms of food production, and most legitimate wealth comes from taxing and supporting the trade route between Swe'yus and the northern Tnz'qran Lands. Of course, less than legal goods also change hands often here, particularly in Engret.

==== Qssl'Orde ====
The Qssl'Orda is a Treantian Subject. Not fully vassalised. The Qssl'Orda is probably the most powerful, yet least integrated of the Treantian subject states thus is often receive special treatment from the Tree-people their other subjects don't appreciate. The biggest example of that was the marriage of the current Qssl'Han to a lower Treantian Royal.

==== Eta'Orda ====
The Minor horselord Eta Han, recently declared independence with the help of the Ukzi Knan one of the Generals of the Great Khan, whom he married off his only daughter to. They seek to unite The Orde's once more and trough marital ties to create a joint grand Empire of Horseriders as well as retake Tzn'qran Land in the Northern half of Suoxi-Dan Dio.

==== Qwwl'Orde ====
The Qwwl'Orde is is the last remaining fully independent Orde. This independence came at a great cost . It's lands have been slowly chipped away at by it's neighbors and technological stagnation has plagued this Orde. The Qwwl'orde has developed pride in standing alone. They have adopted an isolationist attitude extending it to their culture where they emphasize individual greatness in combat, which means they are great mercenaries. Qwwl Mercenarries can be found in every corner of the world.

==== Swe'yus ====
By Suoxi control I meant the ethnic group. Swe'yus was a minor ethnically Suoxi state the Orde once took over as it gained it's independance it became a mix of both cultures, but the citydwelling Suoxi became the biurocratic Caste while the Tnz'qran became somewhat of a Warrior caste.

Formerly known as the Swe'Orda the nation has adopted the name "yus" which used to be a derogatory name for the settled people's the Orde's encountered. Swe'yus is a land where most of the horselord tribes have settled and adopted a feudal and mercantile style of trade centered around the ancient city of Kua'lang which was a citystate conquered by the Greathan centuries ago.

They have devolped a creole language.

===== The Kanna Knot =====
At the Kanna know two major rivers meet making it a major trading port which is constantly fought over. In fact it's contested location is the only reason why the Kanna knot did not grow into a major metropolis yet.

=== Nulamore ===
A Nation that used to be part of the Jandi city states, but has been taken over by to Morloux. This has been "precived" as a direct act of agression by the Ecinevoi Empire.

=== Janedi Citystates ===
[[File:Janedi Mercenary.jpg|thumb|Janedi Mercenary]]
Racial Make-Up: 97% Suoxi Human, 3% assorted others
Capital: N/A
Government: Varies depending on city, but usually some form of monarchy

====Culture====
Janedi culture is based first and foremost on loyalty. No matter how much you have been screwed over, you can never break a promise. While the Janedi are not inherently warlike, this loyalty makes them very popular mercenaries, leading to Janedi mercenaries being seen across much of the world.

====Religion====
The Janedi citystates follow the Celestial religion

====Organization====
The Janedi citystates universally follow their ruler, be it a monarch, or the uncommon elected ruler. Though there have been inter-Janedi wars, they have died down in recent history as the Janedi peninsula has become a playground for larger states.

====Origin====
The Janedi peninsula has been settled since the 3600s.

====Diplomacy====
As the Honorable Ecinevean League and Morloux Republic have expanded into the Janedi peninsula, the Janedi have become puppets of the larger powers. Many of the southern citystates are bound to the service of the Honorable Ecinevian League from treaties signed centuries ago, and the northern citystates have come into the service of the Morloux Republic. As the two large states have entered into an economic rivalry, proxy wars have been staged between alliances of citystates, but as true conflict grows nearer, the Janedi people prepare for their homes to become a battleground between great empires, and for a war the likes of which have never been seen on the peninsula.

====Geography====
Most of the peninsula is a tropical rainforest, with large swathes being cleared out for the construction of cities. As a result, it seems like there are huge holes in the dense jungle.

====Economy====
Many citystates hire out mercenary companies across the world, though the more stable, yet less profitable, source of income for most states is sugar production.

=== Supprian Alliance ===
[[File:Suprian Alliance.png|thumb|Suprian Alliance]]
The Supprian Alliance derives it's name from the Suprian River to it's North-West which they see as their natural border.

Originally the Alliance was an Alliance of a few dozen of Vassal Tribes to the Treant Empire. Not even 3 Centuries ago the Suprian Uprising has started where the 18 founding tribes have declared open rebellion against their Treant Overlords. Usually a futile endevour, but thanks to a large about of support from the Merchant Empire the 18 tribes managed to establish their independence.

This war of independence later lead to the 14 Wars of Wood and Steel which lead to the expansion of Treantian Vassal holdings and the loss of many continental holdings in possession of the Merchant Empire.

What started as 18 tribes in a dennse forrest slowly transformed into 11 Citystates and finally into the 4 Great Cities we know today. The 4 Grand Cities of the Suprian Alliance are known as: Hawafunekilluna, Kneleggujillaha, Hjektlonikakkana and Krelekjavvwokna. It is impressive that in spite of 14 wars their lands remain unchanged.

==== Hawafunekilluna (Light Blue) ====
Also sometimes refereed too as the City of Thorns is the most militaristic of all the citystates as it is the only one with an open border to the Treant Empire unaided by a river as a defense. This is likely why they have invested in great fortifications. A great (for local standards) complex of walls dots the border with star-shaped fortresses dotting the inside. The Nation consists of one grand city comprised of a grand fortress of 3 layers and 10 smaller 1-layer fortress towns. Farmers live both inside and outsidet he fortresses, but each fortress is to be self-sustaining when it comes to food which is made possible due to Treantian Druidic magic. Farming done outside the fortresses is done excursively for the same of exporting food. The name city of thorns comes from the Star-Fortresses looking like a bush with thorns.

==== Kneleggujillaha (Yellow) ====
It is known as the City of Pearls. Having both access to the Suprian River, the ocean and being in the middle of the alliance this citystate is known as a local center of trade. Therefor it's defenses are comprised of mercenaries, which is seen as foolish by the other 3 Citystates, in spite of them greatly profiting from learning of the tactics and equipment of the foreign forces.
Beyond trade what also makes this citystate rich is their farming of Kseklthrien Clam. An odd form of freshwater clam which can grow up to 2 meters and produce pearls as big as 0.5 meter in diameter. The pearls are a bland, stiff and green, thus not very expensive or desired, but are popular as a material to lign insides of manssions with for example.

==== Hjektlonikakkana (Dark Blue) ====
Is also known as the City of Craftsmen. In the 4th War of Wood and Steel the Hjektlonikakkanan Army raided a Treantian Camp of Prisoners of War freeing Tens f Thousands of Captive Dwarves. Thinking them to be humans who have grown short due to malnurishment they took them in as kin only to later find out what a Dwarf is. Thus the Dwarven Klan of Krutz has chosen to settle down in the City to repay an eternal debt of gratitude. The City is now famous from the great weapons it produces which are a mix of Dwarven Craftsmanship and Treant Magic.

==== Krelekjavvwokna (Orange) ====
Also known as the City of Demagogues is known as the political center of the Suprian Alliance. Being the first City founded it is also the one surrounded by most prestige thus is the one negotiating on behalf of the alliance with foreign powers like the Merchant Empire. A more insidious role of the Citystate is espionage. Many of the Wars of Steel and Wood would have ended, much worse for the Alliance if not for secret spies placed among Vassal tribes. The work of the Krelekjavvwoknans has lead many more minor tribes loyal to the Treant Empire to betray them and to join the Suprian alliance instead. To keep their fierce reputation going it is custom for all 1st born boys aged 7 to be given to the Monasteries where they are trained from birth to be Warrior Philosophers. The Krelekjavvwokna Monasteries carry so much renown in the world for producing some of the best Diplomats and Generals in the world that rulers of other nations have requested the forming of said Monasteries in their land. Currently there are 20 in the Citystate itself, 3 in the Merchant Republic, and 1 in Swe'yus.

[[File:Treant Empire trade routes.jpg|thumb|Treant Empire trade routes]]

=== Treant Empire ===
[[File:Treant Empire TR.jpg|thumb|Treant Empire TR]]
25% humans, 50% humans with treant ancestry, 25% treants (both Ents and dryads)
Capital: Kuhikugu
Government: Gerontocracy

==== Nation ====
The Empire’s territory and the world’s greatest jungle are one and the same. The Treants make sure it is so. And as wild as it seems, it is wholly designed for sentient plants. The heat and humidity is oppressive. The insects are as big as birds and the birds are big enough to carry off a child. The soil is a labyrinth of fallen branches, webs of vines so thick that they can make a whole tree disappear. Below the layer of rotten leaves there isn’t much soil, for it always seems as if the space between two roots is taken by a third one. The green canopy hides the sun and the moon, but the veins of luminescent brown fungus and orange lichens within the trunks’ grooves ensure that it’s never dark. Your nose will be assaulted by honey, garlic, rotten wood, pollen and a thousands other fragrances: all fresh, damp, sweet and nauseous at the same time. Your ears might never calm down due to all the shrieks, mating calls, rustling leaves, creaks that happen all day, every day. For those that do not submit to the Treant’s authority, it is a green hell: allies are marked by the pheromones that one emits due to eating certain fruits throughout his or her life. For the enemies, there are a thousand poisons, diseases, parasites and predators.

And the Treants plot millennia-long strategies so that, one day, all Gloria-Etalia becomes like this.

==== Origin ====
The treants have been around for a long, long time. They had no government until a high ranking explorer from the Celestial Empire went to far into their terrority and got captured. He told the treants about nations, writing, and the outside world. When pressed, he told them about the Empire's govermental system, and they deciced to create their own by copying them. Following the outline of the empire they started to expand their terrority, slowly. They also started to keep time using a system the explorer told them about. The first recorded date of their empire was 1426, and was drawn in the dirt. The treants remembered this, and the words can still be found.

=== Treant Vassal Nations ===

75% humans, 20% humans with treant ancestry, 5% treants (both Ents and dryads)
No capital (at least yet, or perhaps multiple ones)
Tribal Confederacy

The Vassals of the Treant Empire are all the non-Treants which were slowly pushed out of the most fertile lands. Most of them are tribal humans. Those with noticeable Ent or Dryad descendance are commonly elected as chieftains and shamans. The hundreds of tribes have their own customs, languages and religions, although Treant worship is present in most of them.

The trade language is nhagatupira, a sign language which uses movements of the whole body. For those which don’t know it, a fast speaker may seem like a very bad dancer. Besides commerce, nhagatupira is used to perform ceremonies, tell stories and make speeches.

The Treant Vassal tribes act as buffers among the Treants and neighbors. During peaceful times, they trade lumber, healing crystals made out of Treant amber, silver, messenger-parrots, capybara jerky and ceramics for metal tools and weapons, educated slaves and wine.

Next, we shall detail some of the more distinct tribes:

==== Chamanza ====

Among the various tribes that form the vassal nations, it is common practice to regard the Treants with religious idolization, often treating the massive treefolk as living manifestations of some natural divinity. Over time and due to the tribes' unification, a semi-organized form of this worship has even emerged, with a focal point being the ever-constant cycle of life, death, and rebirth that nature endures.

Enter the Chamanza, known as "Ash-Walkers" in the native tongue.

Physically, they're similar to the rest of the vassal tribes. A tad small compared to the average man, dark-skinned, and ferociously quick. Where they differ is in their eyes, which contain a wild, blazing intensity that threatens to consume all in sight. This is because their magic often does.

The Chamanza focus intensely on the "rebirth" aspect of the cycle of life, and accordingly, have turned to a near-fetishistic worship of the concept of fire and ash. Their magicians wield the most taboo of magics in the Treant Empire, burning the landscape and their enemies to a charred crisp, their warriors covering themselves in the ashes of the fallen.

To them, they are the spark that sets flame to the dead undergrowth of the forest, so as to make room for new life to grow and spread. To most others, they are a band of pyromaniacs.

Why, then, are they allowed to stay in the empire, albeit under a short leash? For a few main reasons:
1. While taken to an extreme degree, they're not entirely wrong in their sentiment. At times, a cleansing is needed, lest rot and decay choke the life from a once-pure grove.
2. They serve as excellent, if sparingly and carefully used, auxiliaries for the Treant army. Few would expect the treefolk to bring such firepower (pun semi-intended) to the fields of battle, and it makes the Chamanza all the more effective as a result.
3. They serve as brutal enforcers for any politicking that takes place. The destruction that can be wrought with only a handful of pyromancers in the lands of the eternal forest is a capable threat, enough to keep any rebellious Treant or Tribefolk in line.
4. Lastly, they make effective fire fighters. As it turns out, having someone skilled in manipulating fire is helpful in redirecting any errant flame from destroying anything too precious. Equally as useful during warfare too, with fire being a common tactic against the Treants and all.

==== Guaxós ====

A large and rich tribe, with tens of thousands of members. They gather gold dust from a river which passes through their territory, exchanging it for metal tools and scythe-like blades. This makes them superior warriors and better farmers, explaining their numbers.

They live together in great halls. For a person or family to live in a house separated from the others is seen as suspicious, at the very least. These halls are surrounded by unique defenses: groves of trees in whose hollows live a type of poisonous wasp. To cross such woods, without knowing the right path, is madness.

The rite of passage is the same for men and women: trepanation. They believe that the soul resides in the head, and opening a hole in the skull creates a way for it to escape when death occurs. Their fighters, emboldened with the belief that their souls won’t be taken by the enemy, gather in warbands in which the members are sworn to help and guard each other. Then these same bands go forth to acquire that which the Guaxós prize more than anything: heads. They take the heads of their enemies, shrunk them and use them as amulets which increase their strength and give them the power to resist great wounds.

==== Iacarés ====

The Iacaré tribe is formed by dozens of nomad clans which travel all over the Empire’s rivers and coasts on their vessels. The common boat is the Bumbaré, a big canoe which can house one family, a fire at the center, a sail and can be covered by a leather canvas. Bumbaré flotillas group together for safety, fishing, trading, whale hunting and gathering pearls. Each clan has a totem, usually an aquatic animal like a frog, shark, crocodile and such.

Among the Iacarés, being a pirate is an honorable profession. The Treants forbid them from attacking other Vassal tribes, but allow them to prey upon any foreign vessels which come too close to the Empire and don’t have a permit to do so. A pirate crew is usually made of several families which build or buy a bigger ship. They elect their captain and follow him during combat. But in every other matter, like deciding who to attack, follow the will of the majority.

Each clan buries their dead on a specific Sambaqui. These are earthen mounds filled with layers upon layers of bones. Some Sambaquis can be mistaken for hills. Many precious offerings to the ancestors are also buried on them, some taken as booty from far lands. Every ten years, the Iacarés gather around the Sambaquis and perform competitions to select guardians.

==== Íbaros ====

The Íbaros are a tribe marked by a curse, although they don’t know who cursed them or why. Due to this, they are suspicious and even aggressive towards all foreigners. They suffer intense pain when under the sunlight. As they live in deep jungles whose canopy blocks much of it, the curse isn’t as bad as it seems. When they need to go elsewhere, they dress in mud, leaves, feathers and great hats.

Despite the curse, the Íbaros remain lovers of freedom, indomitable and even arrogant. They organize expeditions to plunder other lands, specially targeting the Merchant Empire which they suspect to be the ones which cursed them. They don’t even value the precious metals taken from the merchants, storing them in certain places of the jungle.

An ìbaro can be recognized by the zig-zag tattoos all over the body, a sign that he or she passed through the rite of adulthood, which consists of spending at least a day under the sunlight.

Each village consists of ten to twenty families. Polygamy is common. When they go hunting or to war, they elect a commander. He must lead by example, and if the hunt or fighting ends badly, must be exiled. They’re seminomad, changing places every three years. Their region is full of rivers, making them skilled in the building of wooden bridges.

The Íbaros divide themselves into three groups:

==== Arushus ====

The shamans of this group know how to make potions through internal alchemy. They swallow, smell and chew certain plants, then uses his body as a laboratory. Their sweat then produces the desired substance. They know how to create healing unguents, love perfumes, poisons and many others.

==== Aguushus ====

They practice an art of body domain, through fasting, meditation and a drink made out of a vine which makes them enter the spiritual realm. As a result, they can sleep less, survive with little food and have greater resistance to pain. Some aguushus can even live under the sunlight, but this leads the other groups to believe that aguushus don’t suffer the curse, and might be the ones that created it in the first place.

==== Avushus ====

The shamans of this group know how to produce tsentak, a substance used in darts, arrow tips and javelins. It poisons their enemies, but heals their allies. But to achieve this effect, they divide all people in allies and enemies, and to establish the intents of newcomers is paramount.

==== Icamiabas ====

Not all amazon tribes migrated after the Treants took over the region. A few remained. The better known local tribe are the Icamiabas. They are led by a dryad queen called Conhõri and have dozens of fortified settlements spread out through the borders with the Necroswampers, acting as frontier guards. Each settlement is actually a stone keep directly linked to the smaller houses (like pic related). They communicate between each other through “manhuarés”, drums made out of two hollowed tree trunks which can be heard 10 miles away. Their temples, called Caranaís, are silver-plated pyramids dedicated to the moon or the Treants.

Contrary to other amazons, the Icamiabas allow men to live among them and even wage war, but they must also accept a lower social status: men herd common capybaras and fight as skirmishers, while the women are full-time warriors, priests and officers. Men which wish to mate with an amazon must beat them at a “jungle marathon”, a three-day race among the jungle which includes puzzle-solving, traps and hunting.

Icamiabas have a wide range of skin colors and body shapes, due to freely accepting warrior women from all over the continent into their ranks. Both men and women wear little more than clay thongs. To better deal with the heat and insects, they use intricate body paint which also denotes their social status, fighting club membership and other details. Deciphering one’s paint is the basis of Icamiaba etiquette. All adult women must dedicate themselves to training and warfare. Their rite of passage has them hunting Necroswampers, either coming back with one’s head or not at all. Those that succeed sharpen their teeth, the signal of a true warrior. Their common weapons are bows, two-handed clubs, bolas and a type of single-stone bolas which can both be thrown and used in melee.

==== Vegegós ====

This tribe has an exclusive duty: they are the shapers, entrusted by the Treants to make living tools and other items out of wood, sap and all the products of the jungle. This power is only possible due to deep ties with the Treants themselves. All families of the tribe have direct ancestry to one Treant or another. They are seen as witches by the other Vassal tribes, both respected and feared. They create bioluminescent candles, razorgrass blades, amber ceramics, petal plates, greentowers, bark pickaxes and spades. Vegegós were the ones to craft the underground rootways which the Treant Vassals may use to travel through the Empire, as well as the podships that form the imperial Treant fleet.

Their most prized and unique power is to cover themselves with vines, roots and wood in a sort of living armor. Some Vegegós spend so much time in this state that they fuse with their armor, becoming half-man, half-plant. The latter can be very hard to distinguish from Treants.

Unknown to the Vegegós themselves is that the Treants see them as a successful experiment of their objective of slowly making all the other races closer to plants, both mind and body. This is how they plan to, one day, remake all of Gloria-Etalia in their image.

==== Zangós ====

Zangós aren’t part of any particular tribe. Only the Treants know their origin. What all know is that they are a secret society of people possessed by night spirits which can smell thieves, witches and murderers. They wander from tribe to tribe, acting as a supernatural police force. The rumor of a coming zangó is often enough to make people confess. Thus they provide the law and order the Treant Empire needs. All zangós wear a mask, which is said to house the spirit, and a leather cape which hides their whole body.

Once the zangó reaches a village or wandering tribe, he will fall into a trance. This might take hours or days, and the natives must protect him or the Treants will punish them. After the zangó starts moving again, he will dance towards the evildoers, singing in an unknown language. Then it falls for the tribe to arrest, force a confession, judge and then apply the sentence.

== Midland ==
=== Ruk ===
Races: 60% Human, 30% Lizardfolk, 10% Assorted Others
Government: Dictatorship, with the successor being chosen by the current dictator
Capital: Ruk

While the war is raging between the vampires and necroswampers, entire villages are destroyed by the battling forces. From the rubble, a charismatic lizardfolk named Ssaal rises up, gathering refugees from destroyed villages and leading them North. They eventually stop at the lake in the Northern Drache Swamps, Lake Srrezi, and they form a settlement named Ruk. It is composed primarily of humans, with humans being about 60% of the population, but lizardfolk make up another 30% and act as the main element of the militia and so are a dominant minority. The remaining 10% come from a hodgepodge of races. The city is currently held together mainly by the charisma of Ssaal, though there is tension between lizardfolk and humans. The humans believe that they should hold more power because they make up a majority, and the lizardfolk believe that they deserve more power because they keep the city safe. The city is mostly a dictatorship, but a benevolent one. Ruk isn't known by most of the world due to it being so deep in the swamp and so young, but it has begun trying to send diplomatic envoys to Seem.

=== Zephyr Mountains ===
=== Thoughtcrafters Commune ===
The Zephyr Mountains were the original home of Hobgoblins, famed as Roc Riders.
Caught up in the original expansion of Qi-Fu, their discipline was quickly seen as a tool for conquest, and embodied as a slave soldier.
As a slave soldier, they were inherently considered of lower value than the Qi-Fu, and often thrown into desperate assaults or last stands.
as the hobgoblins began to grow wise with these tactics, rebellion and desertion began to ferment - their skill at arms and nature as veterans of a dozen combatants along with their determination meant that success was often as common as failure, and as a result, the Qi-Fu, realising the risk with resurgent uruzataar khans decided to shower the slave legions with potent gifts and even political power.
the hobgoblins are currently deciding their own internal divide - those who stay see all deserters as traitors to the people who giving them a life of luxury, while those who desert have a choice - join the khans, or flee further.
the "Thoughtcrafters Commune" is a hidden plateau in the Zephyr Mountains - shielded from basic attempts at scrying, the routes to the entrances guarded by both disguise, mind-manipulation, natural dangers and more conventional military watchtowers as a final line of defense. It is spoken about in terms of veneration among the deserter slaves, being seen as a perfect place where they can be free.
The leadership of the commune is a maternal druidic/shamanistic circle, who are said to be literally able to craft their dreams into physical objects, so that none can want, and none can need.
Few hobgoblins speak of this to the outsiders, as this was originally formed from the survivors of the original qi-fu expansion but it's thought that some among the qi-fu and khanate may have told of tales of this perfect land to their superiors in order to gain additional favour, and so preparations for war are being made…
The signature battle abilities of the thought crafters are riding beasts, carrying hobgoblins into battle in howdah and saddle, and calling upon the natural magics of the zephyr mountains to empower their huge storms, with winds capable of knocking a Roc out of the sky. Lightning is rarely used as it is seen as inefficient for the amount of effort that needs to be put in summoning it.

=== Grand Duchy of Komjátina ===
===== History =====
======The Beginning======

======The Rise of the Noble Vampires======

======The Dusken War======

======Komjátinan’s Pact======
This was the agreement that brought the dusken war to and end. To end the brutal and bloody conflict that had ravaged the nation for over a generation the mortal races bent the knee once again to the vampire nobles. The vampire houses would never again kill Komjátinan subjects, and would instead convert a portion of taxes owed to be not paid in food or coin, but in blood to feed. The Houses would also hunt any creature that threatened their subjects, be it the ever more common threat of werewolves, rogue vampires, forgien threats, or other creatures. They also swore to the other houses that the days of open infighting were over, and that they would instead all rule equally on a council. This day is called Verpacti, and is celebrated by both mortals and vampires.

======The Council======

======Population======
Because of the council’s nationwide population surveys, the racial mix of Komjátina is well documented. It is reported to be around 80% human, 10% drow, 5% Hobgoblin, and 5% Other. Komjátina is also home to a sizable amount of unholy monstrosities. Werewolves, ghouls, vampires, and many more creatures of the night can be found in Komjátina. Because there is no sunlight, most of the races that live here, including humans, have developed a limited range night vision. They can see a lot better in the dark, at the drawback of not being able to see well at all in the sunlight.

===== Culture =====
====== Mortal Culture ======
Because of the monstrous threats that are commonplace in Komjátina, the populace is extremely well armed and knowledgeable. Every man, woman, and child carries a silver weapon on them, and every house is reinforced and can be easily barricaded. By dealing with monstrous threats all of their lives they know exactly how to kill them.

When a mortal dies, they are buried in what is called a morugrădină (moru-grə-dinə). A small and fortified field where the body is then used to grow a special type saprophytic plant called gurau. This is then distilled into a tasty and slightly hallucinogenic beer that is drunk on days of celebration and tragedy.

Komjátina has many days of celebration that are practiced by both mortals and vampires. The first day of summer is called Luminăzi (lu-minəzi), and is practiced by catching fireflies during the day and releasing them into a giant globe made of cloth. Everybody then brings out the Gurau and enjoys the light show. The next big celebration is three months and 9 days after the summer solstice and is called Verpacti. Verpacti is the day Komjátinan’s Pact was agreed upon, and it is celebrated by every able bodied mortal and vampire going out into the woods and hunting monsters. Suspected weres are rounded up and are tested with silver, and if any are found they are killed, brought to the village square and are hung. Several watchguards are then posted who then ambush any carrion eaters that come for their meal. This has evolved into a competition between the vampires and the mortal races, and they compete to see who can find and kill the most weres. The last notable festival is hosted two months and 7 days after the winter solstice and is called Balul Mascat. It is hosted by the local baron and baroness, who disguise themselves as a mortal as best they can and invite every subject under their rule to enjoy an evening at their manor. They then mingle, and everybody tries to guess who the vampire is. Someone can accuse somebody of being the vampire, but if they are wrong they are pelted with rocks and are chased out of the manor. If they are right however they recieve a tidy sum of wealth and get to chase the vampire out into the woods and everybody gets to spend the night in the manor. At midnight, the vampire reveals themselves and can choose one mortal to enjoy themselves with. They cannot kill them, but the vampire can ask them the next day if they want to become their thrall. This only happens when the vampire is sure that they enjoy the persons company to the point of having them stick around for literally forever.

====== Vampire Culture ======
Because vampires have a natural affinity with wolves, houses breed them for sport and entertainment. Instead of turning wolves into dogs however they try to get them bigger and more nastier. It is a status symbol, as having a dire wolf would mean you were rich and powerful enough to feed your dog a lot of meat in a land with not a lot of excess game, and that your house has been around long enough to produce such a fine creature.

===== Government =====
Komjátina is a Dictatorial Republic run by a council of vampire counts and countesses. The council is jointly run by Duke Flaviu Komjátina and Duchess Anișoara Komjátina. In reality they are the queen and king and have been for hundreds of years but have not abdicated their titles due to an old law stating that the nation would be run by a council with no king or queen. Sessions are most of the time held in the nation’s capital Koborbirku. However sessions are held in other count’s castles and manors to keep everyone busy. They have full power over the council, and use it to keep a tight leash over the other members. The house of Komjátina keeps the other members busy scheming amongst themselves and showing off to their fellow Counts. Due to the Komjátina’s strict rule these conflicts never result in bloodshed or civil wars, and the Counts only moderately tax their subjects to show off, instead of bleeding them dry. Duke and Duchess Komjátina’s main goal as head of the council is to maintain the status quo and to keep busy for eternity.

===== The Houses =====
The nation is run by several noble vampiric houses. Each house has their own rich lineage and history, but none is as old or noble as the house of Komjátina.

===== The House of Komjátina =====
[[File:Duke Flaviu Komjátina.jpg|thumb|Duke Flaviu Komjátina]]
[[File:Duchess Anișoara Komjátina.jpg|thumb|Duchess Anișoara Komjátina]]
Due to their extremely long lived life, Duke Flaviu Komjátina and Duchess Anișoara Komjátina find mortals to be more a source of entertainment and less of food. Due to this and the rational fear of a bloody revolt, they see more value in keeping the human population alive then dead, and impose this will on the council.

===== Ecology =====
Due to the workings of a powerful and ancient spell, the Grand Duchy has been plunged into eternal darkness. The sun cannot ever shine on the land, and the moon and stars are the only source of natural light. The sky is normally the same light level as dusk, but can variate depending on the moon and the weather. Before the spell the nation was commonly overcast and cloudy, and traces of this can still be seen along the edges of the border. The day and night cycles are still followed by both mortals and vampires, with everyone getting up in the day and sleeping at night. This is because the moon and the sky is a little brighter in the daytime.

Because there is no sun, the ecosystem is rather unique. Plants that get nutrients to grow in three ways. The first is relying on nutrients in the soil. The second is the production of energy from the moon’s rays. The third way is growing on decomposing animal matter (aka. Saprophytic plants). Instead of leaves, plants bloom flowers to soak up the moon’s rays. They can be any color, but are mostly black or white. These flowers follow the lunar cycle. Going into a micro hibernation when the moon is empty and blooming when the moon is full. Regular trees can also grow, but use flowers to gather energy instead of leaves.

The full moon becomes very important in Komjátina. The days leading up to it are used for foraging and harvesting, as edible plants can be seen with their flowers in bloom and determined to be ready to harvest or not. The full moon itself brings out werewolves and other monsters, and the death of local fauna stemming from that would allow for a lot of fresh carcasses for saprophytic plants to use to grow. The days after the full moon would be used to plant new crops.
In the spring and summer, humans would harvest fruit and plants and store up for autumn and winter, where stores would be tapped into and game would be hunted as the soil replenishes its nutrients.
The local wildlife mostly consists of small burrowing animals because there is no grass for grazing animals and not enough food for big animals. There would be small birds that eat fruit and bugs, and fish that would eat moon plankton. Carrion eaters as well would also be present. Most of the carnivores are tiny, like foxes, small wolves, racoons, and other tiny creatures. These creatures are small because there is not a lot of big creatures to hunt.

=== Cannibal Cults ===
The cannibal cults first started eating people as a reaction to the growing power of the necromancers, after all an eaten body cannot be raised. They eat the undead to stop them from being re-raised and reused by the necroswampers even when defeated. They also eat the undead for nourishment, as they live where almost nothing can grow.

Their capitol is Dawns Gate, and is built inside a crater of a meteor that crashed there around the age of dawn. The Cannibal Cultists worship the rock as a part of Eiph's flesh that was much closer to his soul when it was still in the ground.

====Religion====
The Cannibal Cultists believe that everything used to be one god, named Eiph. There used to be no sun, or stars, or any life except for Eiph. Eiph was the world, and the world was his skin. There was nothing but his skin on the land, which was the rock. Everything that is in the land and the sky now was deep inside Eiph. Epih, after pondering his existence for countless ages, Eiph realised that his purporse in life was to kill himself. To do this, he first cut his skin with his many hands. From those cuts his blue blood came forth, and it flowed and becamse the ocean. While bleedin out, Eiph relaised that he would engulf his skin in blood if he did not do something. So he took his many hands and from his back gourged out a great chunk of his flesh. He pushed his flesh up into the sky, so that his blood would not engulf it. This became the land. The rivers are his blood that leaked out through his flesh, and the mountians are his fingers that elevated the land. After bleeding until all of his blood ran out of his body, he realised that he could not die until his soul was removed from its resting place, the khret. Through the flesh that he tore away from his body, he dug deeper into the center of his self, and all of the flesh from his body that he removed to reach his soul he flung from his being, and it became the moon. After clearing a path, Eiph reached inside to the deepest part of himself, and brought out his soul. In a final effort to die he grabbed his soul with his many hands and flung it from his body. His soul was flung far from his body, and became the sun. At long last Eiph did die.

However, when he flung his soul away, he pireced it with his many hands. Instead of lying dormant in the sky, the sun started to bleed. Fragments of Eiph soul flew away, and some went off into space to create stars. Others touched the earth that Eiph made. The ground, knowing the pieces of soul to belong to itself, tried to readsorb it. But it was not the complete soul of Eiph, and so the land could not fully intergrate it into itself. However the fragment of Eiph's soul did find a home in the dirt. It nestled into the ground, and from it came the first humans. These humans, who had no way to sustain themselves, quickly died, and the fragment of Eiph's soul that they housed borrowed deeper into the earth, and gave life to the first animals and plants. They have only the smallest fragment of Eiph's soul however, and because of that cannot live or think like a human or other mortal.

Soon enough however more fragments of his soul nestled into the earth, and from it sprouted not only humans, but the other races as well. Thus, the world as we know it was created.

The Cultists believe that the a mortal body is a Khret for Eiph's soul. By living, a person slowly burns out the soul fragment until they die. This process is stalled by eating food, which containts the tinyist bit of Eiph's soul. However, this only forstalls a persons inevitable death. Each body has a fragment of Eiph's soul, and by eating a body, you also consume the soul fragment that they carry.

When alive, the human inprints themself upon the soul fragment, and if they are eaten and the soul is transferred, bits and pieces of the dead mortals survive in the new body. They are no longer alive, but the eater can remember, very faintly, their life. The Cultists believe that the soul rests on in the body of those who ate them, and so it has become pratice to eat family members as a way of rememberance and connection. When a person who has eaten many people die however, only their soul and a little extra gets transferred when the body is eaten. The remaining soul fragments decompose with the body into the earth.

By eating a person you consume their soul fragment, and by doing so extend your own life. The heads of the cult do this to extend their own life far past normal human standards. These cult leaders are usually elders who get to eat the majority of a family member when they die. Due to their age and the knowledge of many lives that they carry, these elders are viewed as wise men and women who help lead the cult.

When one has many souls inside of them, they start to exibit traits of Eiph's power. This develops into magical abilities, from casting to superhuman powers.

If someone dies and is not eaten, the soul decomposes with the body and dissapates into the earth.

Because the process of gaining Eiph's blessed power usally involves killing good and holy mortals of his faith, there has been development keeping the soul whole when consumed. By eating the body whole while it is alive, the two bodies merge into one. The soul however stays intact, and the two people now have the power of someone that has eaten two whole soul fragments. This process is diffucult, as the person must be eaten whole and alive until they are fully broken down and consumed by the eater, which can take several days. Magic to transfrom the bodies help, but if something goes wrong it can prove to be fatal to both the consumer and the consume. This process is called god eating among the cultists. If the god eating goes well, then two whole minds inhabit one body with the power of two full soul fragments. This does also cause mental and physical issues. The most common side effect is that extra limbs develop and the person starts to talk and interact with themselves, but other things can happen as well. This process can be repeated with more bodies, but the side effects of god eating start to become bigger and bigger until you are left with a blob of limbs and heads, with many voices calling out with no rhyme or reason. This is being worked on and fine tuned.

The cultist believe that the undead have no soul. Zombies, ghasts, skeletons, and other such creatues have been simply reanimated using foul demon magic. They are eaten as a food source and to make sure they cannot be raised again. Creatues like vampires are unholy beings, which consume the Eiph's soul fragments through blood because they have no soul themselves. This is seen as a terrible fate to the cultists, who would rather have their soul be shared among their loved one then feasted on by a demonic beast.

People who commit terrible crimes are not eaten, and are usally fed to pigs or other lifestock to make the animals soul richer, but not carry the inprint of the person when the animal is killed and eaten.

=== Necroswampers ===

Country name: Necroswampers

Population: 90% Undead 10% Alive

Capital : Lacking

Goverment: Anarchy of Lich Warlords

'''Culture'''

It does not take too much thinking to realize that lands Occupied by Necroswampers have no culture of their own. Non-cultists were killed off and enslaved by magic, or forced to escape. Only centers of “culture” are Lich Lords castles and mockeries of towns. There Lich Lords experiment with their magic, create philosophical treaties, and sometimes even invite not undead scholars or artists.

'''Religion'''

Lich Lords are worshipped by cultists like gods, but they themselves over time, as they lose connection with reality start beliving this charade. On case by case basis they sometimes keep their religion from time being alive, or just loose all religious convictions all together. There is one unifying, almost religious like idea connecting all Lich Lords -they all follow three rules:
1 Rule of Hospitality, if another sentient being is given access to your lands by you, you are responsible for their safety.
2 Rule of Immortality, if another Lich Lords existence is endangered, you can’t sit back and allow it.
3 Rule of Greatness, if one of Lich Lords manages to convince another about their superiority, they have to follow them until their fall.
Those rules in fact are failsafe against betrayal created by ancient necromancers, and written into ritual of lich transformation. Lich is physically unable to break them, if he used this original ritual to transform, but no one know about this fact, so no one tried to create new ritual.

'''Organization'''

Lands of Necroswampers are considered dangerous not just because undead roam the swamps and ruins. Its land destroyed by warfare between Lich Lords – warlords occupying Necroswampers lands like their personal fiefdoms, even though they have no king to offer their loyalties to. Each of them is prideful, vengeful, and full of betrayal. Each Lich is content keeping to his land, with exception of raids into lands of the living, for more experiment fodder. Periodically Necroswampers are unified by Lich (King ™) Necrolord who tries to use unified power of Necroswampers to do his bidding. Lack of Necrolord for long times leads to decreasing of power of Necroswampers, and country right now is middle of such period of renewed anarchy.

'''Origin'''

Necroswampers were created in third era, by men influenced by rock lying in the valley of what are now cannibal cults. They were just small tribe, but as they heard rock speak, they gained power over the dead. Rending bone from flesh, souls from bones, creating monsters from it all. They quickly mastered power over death, but lost control over their lives. Tribe feel into war, and only 16 men stood at the end. Some of them left in peace, one to the west, two to the north, one into treant empire, and two into rams head. 10 remaining Necromancers were witness to vanishing of meteorite they worshipped, and realized that they have so much more to learn, because meteorite hid many secrets now it wont be able to tell. They all created ritual. It was horrific, most monstrous thing they created, but it worked. They stopped to age, stopped to breath and crave. All that remained was steel will, and crystal clear intellect. They ruled together, and to make sure crimes of the past won’t repeat, they made lich transformation ritual in a way that made it impossible for them to endanger each other. But as spell grew weaker with centuries, they started to forget, became separated, and one after another died in demented state, only to be replaced by cultists, necromancers from far away, and many more kinds of people. Each joined cycle of first great activity, of growing in power and subjugating each other, and then failures, to end in land of mental prison.

'''Diplomacy'''

War with anyone who is not lich lord, and can be reached since atleast 3000 years, but unless Lich Lords are united under Necrolord, most of their power goes into keeping their armies "alive".

'''Geography'''

Land of Necroswampers is most dangerous and wild region of Drache Marshes. Air rich in posionus gases makes it impossible for normal flora or fauna to exist. Because of this only foul necromanced creatures roam the land.

'''Economy'''
Necroswampers don’t trade, they don’t plow the land and they don’t mine the earth. Cultists gain what they wan’t from raids, Lich Lords know alchemical ways of creating gold, and use it each in their own ways.

Only one lich remains from the old tribe, called the Eldest, and while respected by his peers, he can’t be called Lord even by his cultists, who worship him nonetheless, beliving it will save them from death of old age. It wont.

=== The Marshes of Drache ===
The east wetlands consist of a hodgepodge of races, cultures, and ethnicities; from necroswampers and goblins to ogres and various beastfolk. It's often seen as a savage mess by outsiders. There is no official nation in the marshes, but there are small or barbaric groups that do call this place home.

====Nations====
=====Ruk=====
======Nation======
It is composed primarily of humans, with humans being about 60% of the population, but lizardfolk make up another 30% and act as the main element of the militia and so are a dominant minority. The remaining 10% come from a hodgepodge of races. The city is currently held together mainly by the charisma of Ssaal, though there is tension between lizardfolk and humans. The humans believe that they should hold more power because they make up a majority, and the lizardfolk believe that they deserve more power because they keep the city safe. The city is mostly a dictatorship, but a benevolent one. Ruk isn't known by most of the world due to it being so deep in the swamp and so young, but it has begun trying to send diplomatic envoys to Seem.

I'm imagining that Ssaal will name his successor, but no matter who he names, there is likely going to be a civil war to determine the social order. the humans and lizardfolk will fight it out without Ssaal to hold them together, and whichever side wins will dominate the city and choose the next ruler. Everyone knows that this is almost a definite fact, though Ssaal is trying his hardest to prevent it from happening when he dies.

======Origin======
The marshes are a deadly place, from the canibal cults to savage beastmen. People live constantly in fear, and villages can get whiped out in a second if they are unlucky. From this, a charismatic lizardfolk named Ssaal rised up. He gathered people that needed a new home and lead them North. They eventually stoped at the lake in the Northern Drache Swamps, Lake Srrezi, and there they formed a settlement named Ruk.

=====The Araknea=====
The Araknea are native to the Marshes. Living in differnet tribes, with their homes built as giant spider webs in the trees. Natives of the marshes know to steer clear of a Araknea settlement, as it would most likely mean that they would get caught and eaten.

=== Seem ===
Seem is an interesting place. A carved out riverbed out of the Drache Marches which are backed in eternal Darkness. Laying at their very edge Seem experiences a "sunny season" it lasts about 3-4 weeks. The existence of that sunny season is what marks the border of seem. Beyond that line the sun never shines and Vampires roam.

Thus is would seem that Seem should be a relatively peaceful human settlement or even trade power...

This is in fact where the name of foreigners for this place comes. Things here only ever Seem normal. The entirety of Seem is covered in huts and villages. It is not a super-city. Rather is is a super-village. Small homes with gardens big enough to just feed the family inside everywhere. There is no king or lord. There is no walls. There is no merchants, manufactorums, blacksmiths or cooks. Instead empty work stations are littered throughout it with tools no one seems to ever steel. All who need something go there and make it. Children are treated no different than adults from as young as 2 working in jobs better suited to those of small stature.

And of all things that seam, it always seams like they all are one. It feels like they hide it, but it is not rare for a Mai-Xi trader to visit the place and while talking to someone else a merchant starts a sentence, but a random passerby finishes it. And any rumor spreads instantly. Talk to one Seemian and all know you.

Seem also seams weak. No army no defenses no weapons. The Kingdom of Belara and it's colonial ambitions in Seem were quickly quashed because they trusted for things to be how they seam.

== Ram's Head ==

[[File:Merchant empire trade routes.jpg|thumb|Honorable Ecinevian League trade routes]]
=== Honorable Ecinevian League ===

Nation Name: Honourable Ecinevian League

Racial make up: 75% westrasi humans, 25% others

Capital: Ecinev

'''Culture'''

The states which compose the league are bound by treaties of mutual defense and trading, but they would never have been established in the first place without the common grounds due to the original típu tribes. These peoples already showed an aversion towards bloodshed, a skill for sailing and favoring the accumulation of wealth that could then be used to settle disputes.

These traits remain. The league faces challenges and settles things by using money. Although other nations might define their aristocracy by superior breeding, divine rights or physical power, here is a matter of how much wealth one has. The ruling families might change from one generation to the next, as people born wealthy rarely are that competent in keeping it.

Wealth is the means to all ends. It ensures one has slaves to grow the food, mercenaries to fight the wars and the dowry needed for marriages.

However, there is one field where wealth isn't paramount: the sea. Even if the captain won a bid for his position, the crew will value him for his actual skill at keeping law and order aboard the ship, his knowledge of the monsoons, his experience facing storms. The league might hire the generals that command its armies, but the role of admiral is only given, and never sold or bought, to the best naval commander available, no matter how poor he might be.

'''Religion'''

As a whole, the league worships the twin gods Gloria and Etalia. The first is worshiped as the ruler of the skies, giver of rain and lord of the sun. The second is reverenced as the queen of the oceans, provider of fire eels and lady of winds. They are seen as the ideal couple, each one complementing the other. Not out of love, but because both benefit. Each and every league settlement, even if far from the waters, has one lighthouse-temple which serves both deities.

Some regions adopt other minor gods, if only to appease the natives.

[[File:159684092470085812.jpg|thumb|Sereníssimo Alexandre Silveira, Grand-Admiral and First-Citizen]]

'''Organization'''

The Honorable Ecinevian League is a federation of two hundred cities, petty nations and even some chiefdoms grouped together through treaties of mutual aid during wars and disasters as well as a complex web of trading monopolies. Each member sens one ambassador-senator to the Great Council in Ecinev, where they must elect one of their own as the Sereníssimo, the title for the ruler of the whole league, the Grand-Admiral, responsible for its warships, and the First-Citizen, responsible for law and order. That Alexander Silveira currently has all three positions is a testament for his fortune and skill. That he survived two dozen assassination attempts means that his peers fear such accumulation of power.

'''Origin'''

The details differ according to whoever is telling it and whoever is paying the historyteller, but most agree that the members of the league came to be after the legendary overthrown of the Treants in the Fourth Era. While there are mentions of glorious battles and rebellions, the truth is closer to a gradual diaspora of coastal tribes creating canoe fleets to cross the sea and conquer the aboriginal clans of Vishga-Immunga and elsewhere. It was during this time that the tribes discovered how to process the oil of fire eels into the fuel used in flame-projectors against the Treants and, later, against enemy ships.

The Fifth Era is marked by the transition of tribes into city-states, which constantly sought to establish dominance over each other by any means available. There was little open conflict inland, but many naval battles, underhanded sabotage, bribery and assassination attempts.

The Honorable Ecivenian League came to be in the midst of the Sixth Era, as Ecinev managed to become the "shark in the reef" by assassinating, buying or bullying its opposers. Many of the other cities, tired of conflict, came to accept its suzerainty. The rest had no option but to follow suit.

'''Diplomacy'''

The members of the league are predictable. They can expected to make a profit in whatever it is they do, and they believe the profits justify the means. As they don't expect their own neighbors to be trustworthy, they make and enforce very elaborate contracts which are followed to the letter. They also don't see anything wrong with this, and will be the first to provide such advice. The fact that they gave said advice will be included in the contract as well. It's only fair.

They have a distinct relationship with the Boro nation. Members of the league don't trust locals to be their bodyguards and private militias. But the well-equipped buerse warriors are considered trustworthy and even a sign of social status, and so are employed by most of the merchant families.

Against Belara and Mourloux, the league maintains revolts, corsairs and proxy wars but it knows that it is ready to face and overcome only one of these powers in a proper war.

'''Geography'''

The league's homeland dominated by grasslands and rocky outcrops, except at the north and west, both influenced by the monsoons. The dry seasons bring fires and the wet seasons bring floods. The rivers are flanked by gallery forests, many of which provide good lumber and charcoal. Much of the interior is given to the herding of cabybaras.

'''Economy'''

The league's homeland has its fair share of resources, supplying foodstuffs and some metals, but what brings them wealth is trading. Metal crafts from Boro, silk from the Celestial Empire, amber and lumber from the Treants, gold from Radmir, opium from Mai-Xi. Thousands of ships ply the seas, buying from here to sell there.

That doesn't mean that the league doesn't have its unique items. In fact, there are two: the homeland's plantations produce half's the world's sugar. And the colored glass from the Muirano Island is unmatched in color, transparency and reflexion.

'''Ecinev, the Capital'''

'''Carcerary Fleet'''

[[File:Prison hulks.jpg|thumb|Prison Hulks]]

Hundreds of vessels pass by Ecinev every day. And every night, a couple more hulks are left to rot nearby. These ruined vessels quickly become part of the floating slums which threaten to choke water traffic. To avoid this, Ecinev's authorities established a prison ten kilometers downstream, the Carcerary Fleet. It is made out of the old hulls, modified to fit as many people as possible. And they're fuller than they should, filled with mendicants, thieves, murderers, pirates and all sort of scum, both men and women. The air is so damp and foul that lamps can't burn. The heat is so overpowering that anyone which still wears more than rags might prefer to go naked. The death rate is high, for there isn't enough food to go around. Guards must form groups to enter the cells and retrieve dead prisoners to prevent cannibalism, diseases or simply that shivs are made out of their bones. Now and then, a whole ship and its cargo is sold for slavers.

'''Chinampa Fields'''

Tens of thousands live in Ecinev, a city built in islets of a lagoon surrounded by swamps. Tons of foodstuffs are needed daily. To feed so many, engineers hired by the senate arrived at an ingenious solution. They built artificial islands fully dedicated to farming. Barley, lentils and other plants are harvested multiple times a year. The canals between the chinampas are fenced and used to raise giant salamanders, crayfishes, capybaras and fire eels. A network of dikes, sluice gates and aqueducts prevents that the farming areas aren't filled with salt water. Alchemical fertilizers, the swamp's mud and the city's night soil keep the fields very fertile. The chinampas are worked by multitudes of slaves and peasants. A whole tribe of canoe nomads and their tamed crocodiles was hired and brought from overseas to police the workers, keep the jaguars away and prevent bandit raids. Here and there, watermills grind maize. And every day, thousands of boats navigate towards the Ecinevian Floating Market to sell their produce.

'''Ilion, the Palace of Dancing Lights'''

[[File:Ilion, Palace of Dancing Lights.jpg|thumb|Ilion, Palace of Dancing Lights]]

Built over an artificial island in the middle of the harbor, lies the tower of the senate. Here, two hundred and two representatives discuss, argue, bicker, plot and sometimes fight each other. Their housing quarters also are inside the tower, together with their families. This is the epicenter of the League's political game.

The Tower is a hundred and twenty meters tall and tiered, resembling a wedding cake made out of ten layers. Its base circumference is of a thousand meters. It is called the Palace of Dancing Lights due to the hundreds of Muirano-made sculpture holding prisms which decorate the exterior walls. Besides being aesthetic pleasing, they channel sunlight inside the building. An intricate clockwork system, powered by watermills, moves the prisms in such a fashion that they reflect the sun towards the towers' thousand rooms at all hours. The rest of the tower's exterior is no less glamorous, being covered in mosaics of quartz, ceramics, brass and marble which depict maritime animals, ships and great moments of the League's history, such as the Treant Wars.

Besides housing the senate, Ilion's top tier also serves as the harbor's lighthouse. It has an assemblance of mirrors and lenses that can be readjusted in several ways: it can reflect sunlight, both to spare firewood during sunny days and to ignite sails; it can also serve as a powerful telescope which can gaze upon astronomical bodies as well as observing distant ships. The whole machinery is complex enough to allow for the astrologer-watchers to perform two or three of these tasks at the same time, although better results can be achieved if the whole system is employed towards one single task.

'''Mendan University'''

Although being called an "university", it is actually a community of teachers, scholars, alchemists and magicians occupying a whole cluster of islands, each researching and teaching their respective fields of study at their homes, halls or even in the open. Many teachers teach the same fields, so they compete for students, leading to rivalries, espionage and even sabotage. The district also has three libraries which together have about 350,000 manuscripts, codexes, lead and clay tablets, old scrolls and much more. There are laboratories, workshops, dorms, guild halls and schools for over 10,000 students, many which come from other cultures and far lands. Here one can learn rethoric, singing, swordsmanship, poetry, several living and dead languages, magic, literature, ethics, law, zoology, cartography, medicine, painting, writing and reading, astronomy, astrology, alchemy and metaphysics. The university also has a grand hall of curiosities, artifacts and relics from all over the world, and it always seeks to expand its collection. Finally, there is a small zoo with such beasts as parrot wyverns, a new litter of akhluts, shadow dolphins and even a scarcrawler.

'''Muirano Islands'''

[[File:Muirano alchemical furnace.jpg|thumb|Muirano alchemical furnace]]

A cluster of islets previously used as a resort, its villas were recently converted into workshops and housing for all the previously spread glassmakers of Ecinev. The idea is to concentrate the entire glassmaking industry into one place from which all imports and exports can be easily guarded. Despite this, smugglers still manage to move glass products out of the islets. How they manage to do this is unknown: some outlandish theories include trained clay monkeys or some sort of underwater breathing apparatus. To prevent further contraband, the senate has forbidden glassmakers and their families from leaving the area without official escorts. It produces mainly glass beads, mirrors and chandeliers, but its alchemical furnaces can produce wonders such as soft glass and cast obsidian blades of incredible sharpness.

'''Ecinevian Floating Market'''

Open land is scarce in Ecinev. Almost everything has been built over, and expansion is only possible by filling up the waterways. Which is against the law. Even the open plazas of old have been covered by six-store tall buildings. But this hasn't stopped the commerce. As the public spaces were occupied, the traders gradually started to have their shops on the very ships which brought the merchandise. Eventually, the city's authorities noticed this and decreed that the Caixas canal, easily a kilometer long, as well as both wide and deep enough for three caravels abreast, would become the new market.

From dawn to nightfall, it contains a mess of boats, canoes, dhows, barges, floating shops, gondolas and much more, many of which are connected by planks of wood. Money flows faster than water here. One can find countless merchants, clients, artists, adventurers, mercenaries, pickpockets, priests, homeless and a few city officers trying to oversee everything. They always fail. One can find glass coins, tons of amaranth grain, domesticated clay monkeys, soap made from wyvern fat, the fur of a giant lion, obsidian daggers, scribes for hire, Treant wood, giant pearls, quartz jewels, a breastplate made out of a turtle's shell, second-hand slaves, golden stools, even the ruined core of a Godmachine. And much more.

Come the night, come the vices. Most of the previous ships go away while new ones enter the canal. Floating brothels full of red lamps and bards aboard gondolas dispute space and customers with barge-casinos and leaky canoes full of barrels of cheap rum. People sing, dance, eat, drink and get warm in the arms of whores of several races and preferences. Fortunes in gambles and bribes are quickly spent and not all bodies found floating at the next morning drowned against their own will.

=== Confederacy of Highland Bean Farmer Cantons ===
Races: 99% Human, 1% Lizardfolk
Government: A dispersed general alliance of local cantons and villages, co-operating only for defense, negotiation and ritual. Outspokely clannish and democratic.
Capital: N/A

The men of the Cantons, or the Apurimac (Bean-Growers, in their tongue), are of a different stripe from the men of the West, having come out of the Eastern sea into their beloved highlands in the distant past. Living in the craggy mountain valleys and holding tightly to the high passes, their lives are defined by the growth and harvest of beans (and, less importantly, squashes, gourds and potatoes).

Their mountain valleys are well fed with nutrients from the mountain springs above, but require much work to be tamed and put to use. The work of carving sheer valleys and cliffs into even terraces suitable for farming is what brought together the Apurimac into their villages, towns and cantons, and the need to maintain them against storm, flood and mountain-spirits alike demands they stay together.

For the Bean Farmers, the mountains and their valleys are constant companions. The valleys are held to be sanctified by the spirits of the ancestors, who toil to defend it from the wild mountain spirits just as the living hold off treant, beastfolk, lizard-kin and all other comers. The passes into and out of the valleys are well washed in blood and paved with centuries of bones. The spirits of warriors, enemy and friend, are held to dwell beyond the valley-passes, and these wandering war-spirits are feared and courted by men at their peril.

Within the valleys, the Beanfarmers live in centuries-old fortified villages. Monumental stone walls surround their rock-cut houses and the entrances to deeply cut chamber tombs. To them, the village is the central organ of daily life. Though they are parsimonious and ruthless traders with all outsiders, with their village kin the Apurimac give with an open hand, since all must work together for the terraces to survive and the harvest to be taken in. There is a saying among them; “Do not spite your shieldbearer” - since all must serve in times of need to defend their valleys, the Apurimac prize good nature and honesty between themselves.

For outsiders, the same is seldom held. Other beanfarmers are trusted more or less depending on shared descent - all claim the same first ancestor, Huemac, with closer villages sharing more and more ancestors before diverging. A man is not counted an adult until he can recite his ancestors in this fashion. A man who shares all but two of your ancestors is to be taken into your home at need, fed and counted as a brother, but a man who only shares Huemac can expect a bowlful of beans and a place in the root cellar for three days and no longer.

This, of course, is broken in case of feuds - if a dishonour is done, a feud is the usual response, with the two family lines attempting to slay one another on sight more and more ferociously the more shared relatives they have had, since there is little graver than the insult of one who shared your father.

Villages maintain deep cellars full of dried beans, which are held up as the sacred source of life, from which sprouted the raft that carried Huemac’s fathers over the ocean to their blessed highlands. Most trade is conducted by the standard of sacks or pots full of dried beans. More pressingly, beans are held to be the food most fit for the dead, and a family will pour bowl after bowl into the rock-cut tomb of their forebears, only retrieving the preserved legumes at times of great need.

=== Nanji Citystate Alliance ===
=== Gold Coast Tribes ===

[[File:A_Family_Palace.jpg|thumb|A Family Palace from the Gold Coast]]

The Gold Coast Tribes are a people of dark-skinned humans, occupying a coastal strip stretching from the Kingdom of Boro to the Merchant Empire. The entire territory is covered by dense rainforest, dotted with rock formations that rise above the trees and on top of which the various tribes have built their fortified palaces.

Members of a tribe, in order to reproduce, employ breeding slaves, usually bought in neighbouring countries or captured from other tribes. Since it is a sin to shelter a member of a foreign family in a Family Palace longer than is strictly necessary, breeding slaves are killed when they are no longer needed.

The Gold Coast takes its name from the very numerous gold mines in the area, which the tribes of the region exploit in order to trade with neighbouring kingdoms. In fact, gold is so common in this province that it is not uncommon to see Family Palaces with roofs covered in gold, or tribesmen parading around with solid gold crowns and belts.

You shouldn't underestimate the dangerousness of the tribal warriors of the Gold Coast, though. They are considered the best archers in the world and know the jungle of their region like no one else, using, when fighting neighbouring nations or enemy tribes, fearsome guerilla tactics that allow them to eliminate armies far outnumbering them without suffering a single casualty. The fact that, despite the wealth of the region which attracts the greed of many kingdoms, the place has never been conquered and is still the territory of these tribes, testifies to their valour in battle.

=== Punaji Chiefdom ===
=== Ranji ===

=== New Belwed ===
Country Name: Dominion of New Belved

Population (New Belwed): Belarian 30% Native Human 69% Ogre 1%

Capital : New Belwed

Goverment: Colonial Administration

>Culture

Belwedian Culture is splin into two groups. The creole combination of islands native population and Belarian cultures that is prevalent in countryside, and classical Belarian culture in cities.

>Religion

Same as Belara.

>Organization

Board of Colonial Administration – New Belwed, or just BCAB, right now is in tie between administrators. 2 of them are militarists, 2 are merchants and 2 are colonists representatives. Right now biggest problem from administration perspective is ensuring continued supply of Xexe beans.

>Origin

New Belved was founded soon after technology allowed transoceanic voyages to be easier and safer to complete. with idea of it becoming second Belara. Fight with natives was quick, and new colonist flocked to this new land. Now few centuries after the fact its still most civilized out of its colonies, even if belarians still are still minority. Things changed only some time ago, with xexe discovery. Now colonization almost stopped, since war over xexe is on horizont.

>Diplomacy

If Ta-Li could be called velvet glove diplomat, and Norvia an giant stick vielding thug, when it comes to diplomacy New Belwed is combination of both. Slave raids are not uncommon when it comes to enemies of Belara, while lucrative pacts are offered to nations willing to sell its own land for xexe plantations. In fact almost half of Beanfarmer confederacy was sold out in this way, and now is used as plantations of beans, that no longer are used by natives.

>Geography

New Belved is peculiar land. On one hand land near coasts is almost same as on Belara, creating illusion of new homeland that was shattered long ago. Few miles into land temperate land becomes jungles, and jungles become wet hells. Rain falls there half a year, and then it falls another half, but more.

>Economy

They are main exporter of Xexe beans to Westrasia, beyond that they export tropical wood, fish, and precious stones and gems.

=== Mun ===
=== Maaga Amazon Tribes ===

The Maaga Amazons are not natives to the hills and plains of Ram's Head, once calling the southern jungles in the central plains home. However as the Treant Empire grew, more and more tribes were forced to migrate away from the tide of deadly flora. Some tribes tried migrating east, only to be lost to the Necroswampers and be raised up as undead. To the south however, they found hills, valleys, and fields along the Maaga River. However these lands were not unsettled, and the Amazons purchased their new home through blood. After several wars against the Cantons and the Gold Coast tribes, they had carved out a nation with their warrior priestesses and female equestrians.

Culture

Matriarchal in design, the Amazons are a culture ruled by strength and a series of ancient laws taken with them when they were forced from their homeland. They are organized into various tribes, each ruling over a geographic area and managing most of their day to day affairs. Two matriarchs are elected from each tribe, One veteran warrior and another of a priestly sisterhood. They are sent represent their tribe in the council of amazons, where the tribes would organize themselves and discuss internal politics and external dealings. If war is ever declared a symbolic spear is struck through a effigy representing the chosen foe within the temple of the Goddess of war.Upon discovering a new nation they will build a statue representing them within the temple of their Matron War Goddess, who also encompasses the domain of sovereignty and rule. They will hang an olive branch on the effigy, signifying that the Amazons recognise their nation. The branch is a symbol of peace through victory, and if war is declared to another nation their branch will be sent to whoever rules the enemy nation. The Amazons will then spear the statue, officially declaring war in the eyes of their goddess, and they will recover the branch through their Victory. Inability to reclaim a Olive Branch, and thus claim peace through victory, is a great stain on the honor of any matriarch. The only current unreclaimed Branch is that which was sent to the Treant Empire.

Men within the Amazon Tribes are treated as second class citizens, unable to choose mates and used mostly for physical labour and dishonorable tasks, such as farming or dealing with unclean creatures. If a male is particularly unique, he may be selected by a tribal matriarch to serve as her personal shield guard and often times breeding servant, such males are given the privilege of carrying weapons and shields for the purpose of defending their mistress, such roles are sought after by the male masses and rarely given by the ruling matriarchs.

=== Boro ===
Races: 93% Imuuga Human, 7% Other

Government: Feudalistic Monarchy

Capital: City of Borinn

==== Nation ====
Located in the southern region of Ram's head, Boro, which is called Buero in their own tongue, and the people of boro refer to themselves as 'Beurs' and 'Beurese'. It is a hilly nation with stony cliffs and rocky coasts along the Ram's sea. It borders parts of the Gold Coast clans, The Amazon Tribes, and The Maag Kingdom. Boro is famed for their great, dark forests and metalworking skills. Many foreign princes and traders travel to the foggy coasts of Boro to purchase fine weapons of steel, with the most sought after treasure being the Damasced Swords of Boro. These weapons are a smithworking miracle closely guarded by the most prestigious smith families. The nation of Boro was once much larger, a region known as Greater Boro, but much land has been lost in numerous wars against the Canton Bean Farmer Confederacy and The Kingdom of Maag.

==== Government ====
It is a mostly untamed nation ruled by local lords that answer to a high king, which historically is the man with the largest army. However the high king must always be able to claim heritage back to Conchobor. These claims are always dubious at best, and the main method of questioning the king is by questioning his lineage to Conchobor. The current king of Boro is called Dallik Boro. He rules by cleverness and not by blade. He is not a popular king, and many dispute his claim to Conchobor's blood. Though his rule started bloody, Dallik brokered peace between Boro and the Amazon tribes after a few arranged marriages and blood oaths. He has expanded the wealth of the nation and seems to walk the path of civilization, abandoning the warlike roots of his nation of smiths.

==== Culture ====
They are a hardworking people, with a culture strongly built around one's chosen trade and his ability to maintain cleanliness. To a Borose man, his hair is a symbol of his pride, a man with well groomed and decorated hair is a wealthy and strong man. It is tradition to send an enemy a bronze or bone comb when war is declared, as a sign of respect.

They worship four gods in their pantheon. Their most famed hero and famous god is Conchobor, who is said to have founded Boro. Priests within Boro hold a great deal of power and control most of the nation's educational Institutes. Many Buerse warriors, who have grown tired of the current peace in Boro, work for the Merchant kings as skilled bodyguards and warriors. Though they currently are at peace, many local Kings and tribes watch the Maagan border; their old grudges and hate of the Chariot Kings still runs deep within them.

====History====

Boro has only officially become a nation in recent history, only in the 6th Age. For the greater span of the Borose people's history, their region has been divided by many warlords and clans. In the earliest written texts of Boro, there were the 6 Great Clans or Fynes. These clans were; The Chalucya(The Shield Breakers), The Pallavasa(The Hill Dwellers), The Fiacharah( The Wolf Men), The Daurash(The Water Logged), The Una Harsha( The Fire Eaters) and the last clan, Una Falin(The Iron Skinned). These 6 clans warred just as eagerly against their own borose brethren as any foreigner, whenever one promising warlord tried expanding from his native region, he would be struck down by another and a vicious cycle continued. Clans were their own autonomous nations, even if they shared blood with one another the laws and practices of one clan could vary greatly from a bordering clan and visa-versa. These cultural divisions still remain in the small nation to this day, with three regional dialects spoken in Boro(Chalui, Fiannie, and Dun-Speak). Three centuries prior to the current age however, the clans were forced to put aside their bloody feuds and united under the banner of the cultural hero and savior; Conchobor. During this age much of northern Boro was lost in conflict to the Maag Kingdom, their wise Pharaoh and their well disciplined mounted Caste-Warriors defeated the Borose army in any open field battle and as such forced the clans into the hills where they rearmed during the harvest season. However, the local druids and shamans warned that any army that marched during the Harvest festivals would surely insult the gods, as such the Borose could not defend their own home. Conchobor instead left his kind to tend to the gods, taking with him the blessed spear Dál Karna and his trusty swords to do battle with the Maagan armies alone.
The Battle lasted for three days, some sources claim he battled them on a mountain pass near the modern Boro capital of Borinn, while other sources claimed he battled the army on a bridge that led over the Maaga River. All sources agree, even those of Maagan Sources claim that Conchobor used the local environment and geography to terrorize the invading force single handedly, on the second day even attempting to assassinate The Lord Horrendous himself, losing the Dál Karna in the process. The third day however he was wounded fatally by a group of war charioteers; and on the forth when the sun broke they found their foe standing before them at the crossroads, his body held against the tree marking the parting with his own intestines. The pharaoh's advance was slowed and by the time his army arrived at the Borose clans, they had prepared for battle and drove them back, helped by the wound that Conchobor gave the immortal Pharaoh before his death.

Some say their hero will return in the hour of Boro's greatest need with an army of Werewolves and warriors from the Other-Realm. In the modern day many Kings or aspiring lords claim ancestry to the clanless Conchobor, his clanless birth has not stopped the 6 Great Clans from claiming him as their own post the hero's death.

After the loose unity of the nation during the 1st Maagan War, the clans began to steadily lose influence as each elected king gained more and more power over the nation. The current King, Brasha II, has increasingly introduced reforms that further model the nation after 'Civilized' nations such as Celestia. Furthermore, though the nation currently is at peace, tensions with Maag, The Cantons, and even their long time ally the Merchant Empire have never been higher, even reaching the point of warriors adherent to the old ways that have spoken of open rebellion.

=== Maag Kingdom ===
Population: 70% Westari Human, 20% Vishga Human, 10% Beastfolk

Capital: Opug
Goverment: Absolute Monarchy, Caste Based Society

In the South of Ram's Head is the nation of Maag, a land of warm hills and flat fields of grass and sandy zones. This nation is mostly encompassed of the natives that migrated to Ram's Head in the age of hunter gatherers, an agrarian society composed of several social and legal castes, as was implemented when they were conquered by the Techno-Barbarian army of The Lord Horrendous.

The Techno-Barbarians came several hundred years ago, a singular wash and escaping the north and travelling to Ram's Head at the wish of their warleader who had gained strange visions of what he thought were gods, that urged him south. The southern lands of Ram's Head were not prepared for a hardened force of barbarians, experienced in years of battle, and the locals were quickly defeated and forced into submission. After a swathe of land was conquered the Lord Horrendous sought to claim more and scour the sands for his destiny, and to do that he needed more men. So he implemented the Opug Code; a legal text that would organized the conquered people's into a society that would willingly follow The Lord Horrendous. The Lord Horrendous himself stood at the top of the Maagan Caste system, and below him were the converted locals into a priesthood. Then came the other techno barbarians and future generations of warriors that would fight for Horrendous. The came the scholars and merchants, then the craftsmen and farmers, then the slaves. Horrendous then set out and found his prize, as well as conquering lands stretching up to the Highlander Cantons. His prize would be located under where the new city of Opug would later be located, an ancient underground bunker of the Old World. Here he would gain immortality, and find his destiny amongst the gods and drag the Maagani people with him
=== Pash Kingdom ===

[[File:Pash1.jpg|thumb|right|The city-state of Mashavaar]]

The small kingdom of Pash is an arid and dusty land dotted with rare oases around which huge city-states have been built.
These city-states, ruled by Merchant Princes, although officially forming a Commercial League supposed to act as a grand coalition headed by the King, from his city of Ran Dagaan, are in fact constantly at war.
In Pash, anything can act as a casus belli between two city-states. Even a simple insult can result in ten years of armed conflict. However, gold is supreme in these merchant lands and the trade routes are neutral and sacred grounds that cannot be disturbed for any reason.

In the city-states of Pash, fencing is considered as a science and studied as such in prestigious fighting schools. Each city-state has, over the centuries, developed its own style, quite distinct from its neighbours. For example, the style of the Floating Blade, elegant and slow, is typical of the city of Jyrash, while the Sleeping Gazelle, much more lively and based on feints, is the predominant style in Karash.

[[File:Pash2.jpg|thumb|right|A Pashi veteran duellist]]

The Pashi society is divided into four social classes: To the three usual social classes (nobility, clergy and plebeians) is added the class of duellists, noble families dedicated to the study and practice of fencing since centuries.

In these families, one is considered a man when one receives his karij, a typical Pash sword. Each duellist carries on his blade, in the form of tiny runes, the story of his life and accomplishments, and the experience and value of a fencer is measured by the number of runes on his sword.
Losing one's sword is, for a Pashi fencer, the supreme shame. Those who lose or break their sword are usually exiled and end their lives in utter misery because it is taboo for a Pashi duellist to change blades. Each blade is forged by adding a little of the blood of the child to whom it will be assigned and is thus considered to be linked to his soul.

The artists who carve runes into Pashi swords are called the Karijdyana and are incredibly respected. By tradition, they teach their art to only one disciple in their lifetime, often a former duelist who has decided to stop fighting.

Fencers are everywhere in Pashi society: as bodyguards for rich and noble merchants, guards in cities, escorts for caravans, soldiers in the mercenary troops hired by city-states to wage war on each other, or simply itinerant fencers who travel from city to city to accomplish their "shakash" (an initiatory journey that every duellist undertakes between the ages of 16 and 20 in order to meet and challenge other duellists from different schools), etc...

A popular legend in Pash is that of the Broken Blades master, a Pashi swordsman who lost the rest of his family went mad and took all the blades of his ancestors and smelted them down into one horrible-looking, jagged monstrosity of a blade.

=== Theocracy of Radmir ===
[[File:Radmir.jpg|thumb|Radmir]]
Population: Humans 90%, other (non human converts that emigrated to Radmir; they come from all the sentient races) 10% is official racial makeup that shows in censuses.

Capital:
Radmir

Government:
Strongly decentralized theocracy. State is being led by the Great Ressurectist who is also leader of the council of Resurrectionists, that consists of 20 high priests, that in times of peace lead one province each. They have despotic powers, but in times of war great conclave is summoned, and they have to give their power up to civil governors. Great Ressurectist is head of church, leader of the military, and decides on matters of external politics.

Culture:
Radmirians are patient, peacefull but vidicative people. They put huge emphasis on moderation, while trying to live in the moment, finding pleasuers in beauty of life, art and nature. Contrasting with this is their culture of alcohol drining and production, even the poorest Radmirains can aford to drink beer few times a week.

Religion:
State religion that is worshipped by almost everyone is Cult of Miracle, its church IS the goverment. Some time ago heresy started, and is mostly worshipped on island close to northern coast, and in hidden communes in mountains. It advocates greater emphasis on creating lasting, positive legacy, and justice.

Organization:
While Radmir state church is closely tied to country, it also is represented in other countries and regions. Some cantons, most of Mai-Xi native population, huge communities in largest cities of all of southern Rams Head and large portions of drache marshes all follow techings of First Prophet, and thus are represented in church.

Chronology of orgin:
around year 30 - first settlements in delta of radmir river.
around year 200 - first civilization of radmir rises up and creates its alphabet used with changes to this day.
around year 700 - canne clans split up
year 760 - kappara slaver kingdom created
year 841 - Niniwa kingdom created
year 1597 - Bloody mountain erruption, First Prophet rise to power
Year 1598 - End of erruption, destruction of Dar
Year 1601 - punitive strike agains northwester beanfarmers, creation of new mountain range
Year 1602 - Unification of Radmir
Year 1612 - Second Eruption, destruction of Bloody Mountain
Year 1613 - death of First Prophet, rise of Theocracy of Radmir

Diplomacy:
Radmir tries to sprad its religion far and wide, and thus maintains peacefull relations with most of their neighbors, exception being necroswampers, who Radmir constantly tries to eradicate, and Northern Beanfarmer Cantons that they have bloody vandetta against each other. Radmir is alied with Mai-Xi Dinasty, but if native population were to rebel they would intervine on their behaf. Radmir is also alied with Merchant Empire against westwards colonization, and to ensure stability in region.
Heretic don't have foreing policy.

Geography:
North of the country is made of deserts, south is mostly mountains rich in metals, west tip is made up of delta of poisonous Udar river that creates marshes, Southeast, and east is based in riverlands of Radu river. Most of population lives there.

Economy:
Radmir is rich in resources, especialy gold, but giant mines also mine out iron, coal, salt, copper, gems, and much more. Radmirian goldsmiths are one of the best in the world, and Radmiran coin is almost imposible to fabricate. Radmir is also trading nation, two main trade routes that enrich it are Empirean south route, and Treant western route.
Radmir hoever always needs to be prepared in case of famine, so one of more imported resources is simple grain.
Radmir in times of peace is also defender of Norther rams head from pirates, but heretics stop this anti pirate action at the moment.

<big>Radmir Ancient History: </big>

Radmir long ago was split into three civilizations.
Radu river nations (called by historians old Radmir), first to achieve agriculture in northern corners of Rams Head continent, and first to create functional alphabet on whole Rams Head.
Canna horsemen, nomadic people that lived in peace with nature, and used lush pastures of Canna steppe, before it became desert.
Dar-Kapparians, isolationist people that were content living in deep mountains, where they often came in contact with small creatures. Those creatures were probably dwarfs, but no one can be sure, because of tribal war that ended with total destruction of those small people.
This period is known as Silence by the church, because even though Old Radmirians knew the alphabet, no written record from those times was ever found.

After Silence came the Storm, named so because of chaos that happened during this period.
As time went on, climate grew ever hotter, and ever more arid in the north. This change, simple on the glance, caused starvation, and infighting between clans, and in the end there were three contenders to title of overlord, that could unite Canna for the first time.
None of their names was remembered by future generations, because none menaged to fulfil their desiny. Instead Canna people split, one leader led his clan north, where they created civilization separate from mainstream Radmir culture, but were subjugated by newcomers from far, far north.
Second commander led his people south, to the Radmir, where he conquered all that opposed him. His conquest wasn't finished in his lifetime, but by sons of his sons. First king of unified Radmir and Canna took the name Niniwa, and founded the city of the same name as his capital.
Third warchief went west, and entered war with the Kappara people. Even before he went on to conquer them his wish was to live forever, and so he entered into a pact with Death Mountain (then knew just as Bloody Mountain) spirit. He would grand him immortality, in exchange for endless reverence of his name. With his power Canna people enslaved Kappara people, and near the end of Dar river they founded a new capital, named the same way. Storm lasted a few centuries, and almost all the information of this period (and silence) comes from Epoh of Niniwa, a heroic poem describing the deeds of Niniwa ancestors, himself, and his sons.
Storm ended with the eruption of Death Mountain, and the Apocalypse of the First Prophet began.

<big>Rise and Life of First Prophet:</big>

Apocalipse, the grand reveal of reality, happed same day Bloody Mountian erupted. Prophet then was an lowly miner, returning from day in mine. When he was reaching his house he saw erution in the distance, and fell to the ground. When he woke up a week passed, and he was under a thick coat of ash.
During this time he took part in communion with God. His name was to holy to enter his ears, and so Prophet at first wanted to call him just that a God, but it displeased being that he was adressing, who called itself Miracle of the Creation. And so Prophet, and his followers used this name ever since. He was comanded by the God to go north, to the place where sea meets land, and he did so.
After he reached sea he saw horrible sight. Water turned red, anddead fish, animals and humans lied everywhere. And those corpses sang the song for the Miracle, and Prophet who was horribly afraid of whole situation demanded them to stop. And they did.
And he on the fundamental level understood why he was send there. He had to bring peace to disturbed souls of this land. This level of understanding was granted to him by Miracle, who was pleased with his obidience, and who wanted him to become its speaker to the world.
Prophet then turned his gaze to the sky, and beged Miracle to not leave him alone in his quest. And as he did from the sea rose giant fortress that flew to the sky. And it was first miracle, and everyone in the desert saw, or atleast felt what happened.
And they flocked to the floating fortess, and First Prophet. He said them what he saw, and was told, and he felt, and they followed him.
He did not know what to do, so after he and his people prepared for a month, he begged once again, this time to find his target.

And sand swallowed him, ripped his skin from his body, tore organs outside, and filled him to the brim. And miracle tied his soul and sentience to the ravaged body, healed his wounds, and prophet was reborn. And it was second miracle.
From his skin he created the map, and from his organs the ink. And invoking power of miracle he created map of whole world, not only on material, but also spiritual and many other levels. Following the map he, and his men came to the giant lava river coming from death mountain, and to be precise they came to place where it met the sea. He then entered the river of fire with iron in one hand and wood in another. And after a day he reemerged, He caried ironwood sword, an holy weapon fit for fighting evil, and after he left the river, it fully turned into obsidian, and it was third miracle.
He and his people traveled to the Bloody Mountain, and stood before army loyal to demon that was once Canna warlord. And once First Prophet drew Ironwood sword Canna army was hit by paralisys. Only Demon was spared. And it was fourth miracle.
Demon and Prophet fought for a week, and Demon was killed at the dusk of every day, only to be recreated by his overlord the next dawn. At the dusk of seventh day prophet killed his enemy, and asked his master for help. At this very moment sand sipped throught prophets pores, and surrounded Demons body. Everyone who was there heard monstrous scream, but only the prophet saw as his foe's soul is ripped to the shreds, and stored in grains of sand. Soon wind took the sand away And it was fifth miracle.
Quickly prophet went away, forgiven opposing army, and recruited them himself. He led his army to the vulcano, and before the dawn they were there. So no one saw as the body of warlord is surrounded by fog, destroyed and reformed by it, and how it rose, to forever serve as reminder to people of Gloria-Etalia that there is no rest for the demon worshippers.

At the vulcano rose the prophet, and fire spirit, and they talked, and in the end prophet menaged to convince him that it will be better for its well being if he stops the eruption.
After prophet left the vulcano he went to the dar, to tell people that live there that their saviour have come, and now they can rebuild and serve true god in peace. But those unvelivers had hard hearts and even harder necks, and didn't even opened hates for him. And his revange was monstrous, because he demanded from the miracle to punish them. And at the same time wind concentrated all over the city, pushing noxious air from both vulcano and marshes to the north to the houses of dar people. And they all perished, but their souls stayed behind, and beged prophet for forgivness, and he allowed them to leave for afterlife. But air forrever tainted the river, that now was called udar (the punishment in radmirian laungage). And it all was sixth miracle.

After uniting most of present Radmir, First Prophet stopped his war march. His mission was bringing peace to the souls of the land, but there was still much work do where he stood. He couldn't allow his followers to suffer from lack of security, plauges, starvation and dehydration. So he for two years, builded and reinforced town after town, village after village. He builded irigation canals, roads, bridges, water wells, shrines, surrounded every settlement with walls, and in cities he constructed hospitals and temples.
After all of this, he ventured south, to the lands of barbarians that lived in the valleys, and his forces sacked land in many miles from the border. He did so to ensure that no enemy force could arise there, and to ensure that no revenge could reach true belivers, he asked Miracle to make earth itself subservient to his will. And it did so, and he used it to create giant earthquake, that destroyed old and risen new mountains, until he created almost impassable wall mountains that were rich in minerals, mainly gold, because it was favoured metal of Miracle. And it was seventh miracle.
After he entered warpath once more he traveled to Niniwa kingdom, and demanded them to convert, and to take Miracle as their master. He gave king Niniwa XI an day, and in fact he wanted to comply, and surender, because he knew what First Prophet done in the past. But nobles didn't wanted to hear anything about it, and killed the king, introning his son. After a day with no reply, First risen his hands and with blast of wind cut city into half, 3 meters height from the land. Anything below it, was swalowed into the earth, the rest hit earth with such force that most people died on impact. And it was eight miracle.
After this happened rest of nation quickly converted, and Radmir was united for the first time.

<big>Radmir recent history</big>

For centuries Radmir was mostly peacefull nation, few times it went to war with Mai-Xi to end their brothers slavery under boot of northerners. Sometimes they succeeded, and in fact once for whole century they pushed invaders out of penisula.
But those wars were an distant memory now, last one ended more than 50 years ago. Radmiraians also sometimes faced against Bean Hightlanders, but it was problem only in and around death mountain region, and no teritorial changes were made by ether side. Radmir hoever is in constant state of war with Pirates and "Pirates" funded by surrounding empires. No formal declaration of war is needed to do so, and both southern and northern admirality go far and wide to fight pirate scum, and so in times of peace waters of Radmir are one of safest on planet. But recent times couldn't be called peacefull with stright face by anyone living in Holiest country on Gloria-Etalia.

Twenty years ago peace was violently ended by split in the church. Both Svyat and Viy were members of Ressurectionist council, and in fact they were one of most prestigious mebers of it, conroling two of the most rich provinces in the delta of Radmir.
As time went on thought, they started to teach populus and priests theological doctrine that was different from official stance of the church, and while it was toleraded for a time, in the end they were recalled to capital to explain their behaviour.
Once they got in Radmir, and in Black Citadel thought, they acted in a way no one could have imagined. They met Grand Ressurectionist in his throne room, only to assasinate him, and storm the golden city. Those two men had strenght to hold on temple guard, death guard, ghostly defenders and every other horror that was on path to Golden Piramid. They went there, and in their greatest transgression lied their eyes on the body of First Prophet.
And after they did greates blasphemy, they decided to also rob his Grave from precious relicts. The ironwood sword, the flayed skin map, and skulls of first and second ressurectionists. Everyone belives that they wear those skulls as masks, but no one who belives this theory can ecplain why those maska don't look human at all...
After they stormed out of the city, they escaped capital, ralied their forces and declared that they in fact represent true Radmir. and for five years they fought until they were forced to escape with rest of their forces to the island of Prossa.

=== Mai-Xi Dynasty ===
Population: 10% Qi Fu Human, 88% Canne Human, 2% ogres

Capital: Xei-xi

Goverment: Monarchy

First men to settle tip of penisula were Canne clansmen, who enslaved native ogre population. They created first Cannxi kingdom, but as time went on, it became more and more instable, and this instability was used by invaders from North. Qu-Fi establised there thier colony, and throught the millenia were forced out of it many times, but each time they came back, and reenslaved native population.

Change in those relations was independence war fought between colony and mainland that happened 40 years ago. After independence was secured, first nation to acknowlege this fact was Radmir, there was only one condition - end the enslavement of all that followed cult of mirracle. Then general, now monarch - Mai-Xi agreed to this, probably unknowingly that in fact most of native population, both man and ogre, already followed this religion. To not find itself on brink of war with more established nation in west, they followed with their promise.

Rich coffe and opium plantations now lied desolated, and to change this Mai-Xi dynasty quickly funded slaver fleet. Since then black ships of this kingdom are bane of all tribal nations in southern sea. Slavers are wise enought to not attack established nations, or atleast to do so in times of chaos.
On the mainland thought, second most worked job, beyond being slavers and slaves, was woodcuting. While not as prestigious as treant woodcraft. It had hight enought quality to become second largest importer of such craft in the region.

People of Mai-Xi are not happy with current regime. Qi Fu humans are acustomed to meritocratic administration known in their homeland, while Canne still crave independence even after emancipation. Only ogres feel like they finaly achieved succes, because they are one of most common enforces of will of King. Only time will tell how long will this entity survive, but one thing is sure, not for long.

=== Heretics of Viy and Svyat ===
Population : Radmirian Humans 99%, 1% Ogres

Capital : Prossa

Government : Disorganized, cult like remnants of rebelious Radmirian administration and clergy led by Viy and Svyat .

Culture: Radmirians are patient, peacefull but vidicative people. They put huge emphasis on moderation, while trying to live in the moment, finding pleasuers in beauty of life, art and nature. Contrasting with this is their culture of alcohol drining and production, even the poorest Radmirains can aford to drink beer few times a week.

Religion: Major religion on island is heresy of Cult of Saints. It advocates greater emphasis on creating lasting, positive legacy, and justice, than religion it comes from.

Orgin: Twenty years ago peace in Radmir was ended by split in the church. Viy and Svayat started to teach their own gospel of Miracle, and in proces antagonized church. After they had no other choice they ralied their forces and declared that they in fact represent true Radmir. For five years they fought until they were forced to escape with rest of their forces to the island of Prossa Magna.

Diplomacy: Heretics are cut off from larger world throught Radmir blocade of island. If they were to break throught naval blocade, supporters of Viy have plans to forge pact with one of colonial powers, but such action would be seen as dealing with the devil by most of continents population, and could bring consequences unforseen by island population.

Geography: Heretic nation is located on Island of Prossa Magna. Its rocky, hot and unpleasant place, but it offers great deffensive value, that current owners of island try to use in their advantage creating multiple fortresses on steep slopes, as gates to galleys, and on sea cliffs.

Economy: Prossa economy was always supported by fishing industry, but now that whole island is surrounded by naval blocade its almost dead. To fight food shortrages all farmable land on island is being turned into farms, but it could have great long lasting effect on its ecology.

== Eastralia ==
=== Qi-Fu ===
Qi-Fu's economy was heavily held up by trading of Tarrow Weed. A grass propagated through the Great Plains that increases muscle and fat in livestock hy large amounts.

The Horselords weren't considered with using it for industry, they instead covered the steppes with it to feed their mounts.

Qi-Fu's western territory was the breadbasket, they would harvest and dry the fodeer then ship it down the coast . Livestock was a major source of industry and so they profited as a major supplier of energy for horses, oxen, fearroaches and shadow dolphins.

The environmental disaster that was Trasha, Mother of Flames going into Heat caused famine and depression across the Great Plains region. With a major source of Tarrow Weed cut off, the Qi-Fu economy faltered.

This weekend state is what allowed Beladia to defeat them in the Cape Wars and led to the lost of the Tai-Li Hold.

a generation or so later western Qi-Fu would fall under contested status as the Uruzataar Khanate laid raids on it.

Qi-Fu is known as "the sick man of Easterasi" due to their weakness, especially in comparison to the strong Celestual Empire, which shares a common heritage.

With the government weak The Oni Twins of the two cities No-Rex and So-Xen have claimed more and more power in the area. With aims of exporting xuxu beans in order to start plantations in the Dou-Sai mountains.

=== Ta-Li Hold ===
Country Name: Colony of Ta-li

Population : Belarian 2%, Native Human 53%, Oni 20%, Goblin 20%, Hobgoblin 10%

Capital : Ta-Li Hold

Goverment: Colonial Administration

>Culture

Because they are minority, belarians keep to themselves in terms of culture.

Religion:

Same as belara

Organization:

Board of Colonial Administration – Ta-li, or just BCAT, right now is in controlled by outside force. All representatives were bought out in secret in Wastrasian Trade Bureu . If this corruption came to light it could begin chain of events ending in destruction of one of two Bureu’s.

Origin:

Belara was first nation to recognize weakness of Qi-Fu, and after long time of Cape Wars victorious Belara establied colony of Ta-Li. Sometime after initial colony was established, they also claimed uninhabited island north of Great Plain, as a trading station with tribes to the south.

Diplomacy:

Since initial war there was not a single use of warfare by Belarians on peninsula. In fact before rise of khanate, it was Belarian diplomats that ensured relative peace both on peninsula and on great plane, because as everyone knows money must flow.
Now hoever rise of khan stopped trade in east, and if conquest of peninsula is continued it might cut it off to the north. Ta-li merchants are not bothered by this hoewer because they underestimate power of khan, and more concerned with including twin cities to belarian economic sphere. There are also talks of establishing xexe plantations in Qi—Fu itself, but before such investment can be made, peace must be first restored to the continent.

Geography:

Ta-Li hold itself is located on sole mountain, that is surrouned by plains and steppes in all sides of the world around.

Economy:

They export all that Qu-Fi produces, while mainly imporing addicting xexe to peninsula.

== West Sea ==
=== Grand Mollusk Reef ===
They are giant clam like creatures that eat sand and minerals. The orifice on the top submerges occasionally to take in water. Their crust slowly sheds away due to erosion and currents, leaving a rather stiff mineral behind. They are around like 70 meters tall. They can't be gargantuan but the water supports the weight.
They were created by Gloria-Etalia to help clean up the radiation on the planet and keep the atmosphere clean.
They are sentient, but prefer to pretend the other races don’t exist by ignoring them.

=== Minor Mollusk Reef ===

====The Mollusc Stragglers====

=====Nation=====
A small group of people who have been stranded on the minor mollusks.

=====Culture=====
The stragglers are a mixture of every people who have set sail and sailed next to minor molluscoid reef. Although very little of their original culture remains. Their life is relatively easy, as sustenance is provided by their living island in some form or another. This leaves them with plenty of time for philosophical pondering or making war on other islanders or Black sand kingdom pirates who stray too close.

=====Religion=====
The farmed position of humans living upon their host-islands gives them the overabudance of free time to develope different sorts of belief systems to explain their current position. This, coupled with the complete indifference and silence of their island hosts means that none of these ideas actually represent the wishes of the molluscs accurately. These groups are called Straggler-cults.

======The singers======
The molluscs are a promised land of plenty, and it's a duty to invite others to live upon them as well. The singers try to attract passing ships upon the isles as well as they can, wether by playing the role of shipwrecked in need of help, or denizens of a paradiselike isle. They usually implode rather quickly if they are successiful, as the island gets too crowded.

======Deathlies======
In most cases, the mutated molluscs absorb the corpses of those who die on them in hopes of accumualting enough biomass to grow, and some denizens take it upon as a sign that the island can be fed, and that this feeding is their purpose there. In cases where they don't simply kill themselves, they raid other mollusc isles that stray too near to theirs, or try to lure new sacrifices in the same way as singers.

======Believers======
Simply put, some see molluscs as gods, and try to futilely discern their will. The believers try to interept the will of their island by interepting anything that happen as omen. They usually slowly shift to other types of cults as consensus upon the will of their island forms.

======Eaters======
Some stragglers see themselves as prisoners, and seek out to kill their island. This would normally be quite futile attempt, but most molluscs taht actively hunt for stragglers to repair them are usually mutated to the point where their shells may have weakpoints that can be taken advantage of by shipwrecked who have salvaged a sharp object or two. Only a few of them can transition to the point where they can skip islands after destroying their own.

======Shipwrecked======
Most often recent arrivals, who believe the loss of their ship to be an accident. They try to lure other ships near them as singers do, but in hopes of being spirited away from their unnerving new home. After all they know where the shoals that sunk them are and can surely guide other ships to land safely.

======Escapees======
Ones who try to accumulate enough woodstuff to build crude ships and escape away from the reef. Most often they manage to only change their islands.

======Players======
A small subset of people whose ship had a well-cartographied map of the continent. They believe that they can influence the happenings of the wide world by playing different sorts of games with the aid of this map.

======The Royalty======
It's not uncommon that recently shipwrecked decide to stay on island, and emulate the country they were originally from. There are multiple doges, kings and at least one celestial emperor within reef, although none of them command many subjects.

======Growers======
Are those who assume that they molluscs want to take over the continent. they usually try to decipher the workings of molluscoid life, in order to successifully replicate it so that the minor mollusc reef could cover the whole southern seabed. none know if they are actually successiful in their attempts. Some of them also try to escape the reef with pieces of mollusc shell or some other parts, with the intent of planting those "seeds" somewhere.

Of course this is all without mentioning of molluscs that simply automaticly consume all life that sets their foot upon them, or the ones that have remained relatively unmutated and try to function as normal despite the horde of stragglers crawling on them, or the islands that seem to be moving towards only one direction.

The life of stragglers is often short, and miserable: despite the edible overabudance provided, the molluscs are compeltly barren and leave their denizens vulbernable to harsh weather and sudden death in case the mollusc submerges.

=====Organization=====
The basic unit of straggler society is a single molluscoid. Usually one molluscoid is inhabited by uniform group of straggelrs who live off it as parasites, and in some rare cases, as symbiots. Geenrally, the molluscoid sustains the stragglers even when tehy don't provide anyhting for it in vain hope that their children will invent a way to improve their size. This coupled with molluscoids inability to communicate with short-lived beings due to not understanding actual language and living on different timescale, usually leaves the stragglers to live in permanent state of confusion.

=====Origin=====
Unlike their northern major cousins, the minor molluscoids were faced with struggling weather conditions that prevented their growth. At some point in time, unknowable to short-lived history, some molluscs started to lure passing short-lived ones onto them in hopes they could form symbiotic bond which would allow molluscs to grow into the height that was spesified onto them upon their creation. Initial attempts were simple noise-based lures, such as beautiful melodies. Later some molluscs tried to cover their shells with shiny materials that evoked the glow of gold. at some point, molluscs mutated enough so they could move very slowly. If any ships would divert their course towards the suddenly appeared unmapped islands, they would be breached by spiked mollusc shells below the water surface, leaving the seafarers stranded. In time, this population started to grow, as molluscs could provide them with edible material either by becoming their food, or creating habitats for fish and other maritime animals on the underwater parts of their shell.

=====Diplomacy=====
They do not offically exist, as all who come within the reach of minor molluscoid reef usually join stragglers when a stealthy molluscoid sinks their ship. There are of course exceptions, and they will be described in next post

=====Geography=====
The minor molluscoids do not appear as intimidating as their major cousins in north. Fro mfar away, they appear as slightly crooked or funny-looking islands. Islands that are conmpiciously unmapped. And if some ship were to observe them for weeks, they would see that they move, albeit very slowly.

=====Economy=====
The mollusc-island feeds all stragglers above it, and in some cases, the stragglers feed the mollusc. This leaves all trade to be made with items seized from sunk ships. And of couse, the sunk ships themselves - there is no wood or clothing to be found on molluscs. Making the husks of ships and their sails the most valuable commodity of all on the islands.

=== Counsil of Pirates ===
Once home to a terrible tribal kingdom that was wiped out from a plague, the black sand islands are now a den of pirates, mercenaries, adventurers, unscrupulous merchants and other opportunists from across the continent.
Their ships are made to sail in the shallow, rocky, and turbulent waters of the islands. They are fast, nimble yet are enduring and can reach every part of the continent and even sail up some rivers. They're protected from outside invasion because of shallow waters, dangerous coral reefs, and deadly storms. Only areas near the coast are inhabited since most of the islands are covered by dense jungle, with monstrous plants and strange beasts living in the forest. The ruins of the old Black Sand kingdom lie in this dense and dangerous land, and adventures sometimes brave the jungle to find the treasure of a lost nation and a twisted god.

===== Government =====
While lawless, the nation isn’t uncivilized with many unwritten codes borrowed from maritime nations. Gangs, communities, and merchant guilds that look out for one another and keep the peace. The Council of Pirates are made up of leaders and representatives of these groups. Infighting is uncommon, as everybody knows that greater rewards are to be had stealing from forgien ships and selling those goods back. You can walk around most settlements with little worry, although it's definitely a den of crime so carry a weapon anyway.

===== History =====
<big>The Black Sand Kingdom</big>
The black sand islands were originally made up of small tribes that lived in the jungle and on the beaches. However one day a tribe rose up in prominence, and told the other nations that they had been given a message by a local god called Mokla Ka-li, who said that the tribes must unite and bring him souls from across the sea in exchange for some of his powers. They then demonstrated these new powers to the tribes, and soon enough they joined up and formed the Kaleen tribe. They then created durable and powerful ships to reach this supposed mainland, and sailed off. The first expedition met strange people, with strange tongues and strange objects. The captains prayed to Mokla Ka-li for guidance, and he replied that they should take the foreigners back and offer their bodies to him. They did so using his magic, and when Mokla Ka-li took the bodies, strange stonework began the form out of the jungle. He said to bring him more, and they would be rewarded. They did so, and soon became a menace to all that they came across. From Westrasi to the tips of the merchant empire they sailed and stole treasure and lives. With each soul that Mokla Ka-li consumed, his practitioners became more powerful. None could stand in their way. Cities formed in the deep jungle, where festivals were held and treasure was stored. Every native on the island had the wealth of a king. Their ships were infused with power and blessed to go farther and faster. None were ever hungry. It was a paradise. This however, painfully ended. The raiders were going father and father out for human prey, and in doing so brought back humans from the tribe lands across the sea. These people carried a strange sickness with them however, and on the journey back the ship’s crew started to die. When they finally arrived in port, the ship was being run by a skeleton crew of half dead men. They were quickly rushed to the voodoo doctors to get healed up, and because no one ever stayed sick for very long under Mokla Ka-li’s power they were frequently visited by friends and family. However they did not get better, and more and more people started to get sick. Those people died, and soon there weren't enough people to go out and gather more souls for Mokla Ka-li. When he stopped receiving power, Mokla Ka-li stopped giving his protection. When this happened, no one was spared from the plague. When the dust settled there were only a tiny fraction of survivors left. The Black Sand Kingdom has fallen.
<big>The Council of Pirates</big>
Years after the fall of the black sand kingdom pirates started to come to the island. At first as a temporary safe haven to hide from the aggressive well armed merchant ships that now had a lot of free time to hunt pirates now that their ships were not being preyed upon by terrifying forgeners. However as word spread and more and more pirates came to the shores, its true potential was realised. The survivors of the epidemic were in no place to put up a fight as pirates took over the now empty homes and took the kingdoms' war vessels to sail the waters easier. The remaining leaders did however force the most powerful pirate captains to agree to rule the islands as a council with some laws, under the threat of taking the remaining natives into the jungle and becoming a massive thorn in their side until one side or the other was completely whipped out. They agreed, and the council was born. Soon others began to arrive on the shores as well. Political exiles, smuggling merchants, and others began to settle on the shores, and the council slowly grew and grew to accommodate more groups.

=== The Most Devout Followers of Quilio-Fil'zón ===

This could use some cleaning up!

Races: 85% Merfolk, 15% Merfolk Pureblood
Government: Theocracy
Capitol: His Blessed City

==== Nation ====
Deep under the wakes, their lies an undersea empire. Merfolk, living under the rule of their god Quilth-Fil'zón.
==== Culture ====
The merfolk follow the commandments from Quilth-Fil'zón to the letter. For example, one of them is THOU SHALT NOT HURT THY FELLOW BELIEVER and because of this no one hurts or kills any other merfolk, emotionally or physically. Ever. However most of his other commandments are along the lines of WORSHIP ME, GATHER POWER FOR ME, EXPAND MY DOMAIN, etc. So they are really not nice to anyone else. They truly believe themselves to be good however, and dress and act like the nicest nuns you'll ever meet. While they sink your ship when you get to close to their waters, that is.
==== History ====
===== Origin =====
As the meteor struck the world, volcanic activity rocked the planet. Islands formed in the north west from the violent tectonic activity while the ocean floor split open. The blast from the reactor explosion sent an immense amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere and launched massive boulders of irradiated rock across the world. The largest of them sank into the crevice, damaging reality as it sank deeper into the oceanic abyss.

Generations later colonists new to the islands would suffer great and terrible visions. After numerous unsolved murders and disappearances the people would flee back to the mainland. Years later yet another attempt at colonization would be made by people from lands unfamiliar with the islands. These people suffered from similar visions, building in intensity until one woman began to sing by the seashore. Merfolk rose from the ocean and joined her in singing. The visions became prophetic rather than horrific. The people organized choirs to sing to the ocean and the choirs became the basis of the island's religious worship. Visitors to the islands are ordered to remain on their ships at night or in areas relegated for visitors. The people themselves have taken on exotic yet beautiful features, almond shaped eyes with golden irises and tall slim builds. Elders who begin to hear singing at all hours swim out to sea never to be seen again. Piracy is extremely uncommon in the region and many who sail across these waters tell tales of sea serpents, sirens and strange lights under the waters at night, like the ocean reflects stars that don't match the skies. Storms that rise in the region are especially vicious and many ships are lost within them. The islands are an abundant source of many gemstones though so many brave the dangers of the voyage for the promise of great wealth. The few survivors of these wrecks tell tales of a great iridescent city beneath the waves and strange fish creatures that attack them on sight and drag them down into the waves.

= Writefaggotry =
Exrta lore from events in Gloria-Etalia.

== Mek-Shaman's Travel Journal ==

The following passages are excerpts from a traveling Coatlanhan Mek-Shaman's travel journal. Riding with a trade caravan, he journied through Morloux Republic.

It has been a couple months since I have entered the domain of the Morluc (sic.), as part of a trading caravan. I have heard rumors that the Morlucans have their own God-Machines, far bigger than any in Coatlanhan - and this is why they are more advanced than our civilization, or so they claim. We shall see.

We approach the mountains separating the Morluc and the Latzari, and from a distance it could be seen: dozens upon dozens of gigantic god-machines, scattered upon the range like dolls. The locals call them Stone Giants, because they look like they're part of the mountains. My heart fills with awe as we pass one such god-machine's head half buried near a road, some offerings of flowers and alcohol left near its mouth.

The sense of awe dissipates as questions begin to be assembled in my mind. Why do they not decorate and take good care of their god-machines? It is true that the Morluc revere and emulate them, as evidenced by the local guards' armor. Do they treat their gods like this? And why do none of the Stone Giants I've seen do not move at all?

== Belarian Explorer's Desert Journal ==

The following is what remains from the journal of a Belarian explorer, found in an empty desert. The rest of the book as been damaged beyond repair.

Scribes Note: *Canaries: something akin to Geiger counters.

The expedition continues, despite my Techno-Barbarian guide's grumblings. I had assured that she'll be compensated with whatever artefacts we will find at our destination. The raid by a hostile T-B bandit group was most unfortunate, but thankfully we only lost a crate of Xuxu beans. Broderick will have to contend with that.

Another underground settlement we encounter late at night. At least these ones are more amiable to foreigners. Jayana, my guide, claimed to know a relative of a relative here. Sadly, these people have never even seen the Mimic-City - although they point out to go deeper north. Deeper into the Wastes. Let's hope these ancient Canaries* still work.

We're all packed up and ready to go northwards. Broderick is jittery without his Xuxu, Jayana is constantly praying to her pagan digi-spirits, while Lucas is complaining about the sand again. As good an omen as we'll ever get.

Radstorm on the horizon. We take refuge in an ancient ruin, Lucas thinks this was once a fallen tower. Many signs of prior T-B habitation. Jayana seem spooked by a few of the pictograms. In other news, the Canaries are working. Silver lining.

Radstorm taking far too long. Broderick resorted to pacing about and occasionally tried to provoke Jayana. Lucas just tries to ignore while reading that thick book of his. Supplies still good for another week. After that, we have to resort to butchering the horses.

Something smashed into the ruins at night. Something like a building dropped on us. Broke the ruins even more, letting the radstorm in. Broderick dead, Lucas is missing, I am wounded. I owe my life to Jayana. Saw glimpses of something bigger than the ruins connected to this place Jayana stuffed us in.

It was no building. It was a leg. And Jayana took us on top of it.

The metal facades greet us as our Canaries sing furiously. We are in the court of the Mimics. I hope this journal is found. Last entry either way.

== The Chosen Child ==
A boy has been chosen by a village of techo barbarians to visit their gods in their sky fortress above the heavens.

Today marks my fifteenth summer, among the braves of my tribe, only I was Chosen for this task. Truth be told, it was not because of a feat of strength nor was it my lineage as son of the chief. I was Chosen since this year, only I among the children of my age manage to survive to this day. The rest are too young or too old. Sometimes I ponder… can I really succeed? What if it was I that would have died many seasons ago and one of my late friends who could have taken up the task?

''”The tribe is ready child.”''

This was the shaman; this man may as well have raised me like I was his own son. I used to sit every night at the front to listen about the glory of our people, how we came to be and what is our mission. Now, it all seems like a blur, I can barely remember any parts of his tales. If I am forgetting his teachings the night the grand ceremony is supposed to be held, am I really going to make it?

''”You have no need to speak; I know that responsibility weights on your shoulders. Yet despite all this, you chose not to abandon the tribe. Cowardice has never been one of your failings.”''

I want to scream. I want to tell him that he is wrong. I want to run. I know that all the Chosens before me has never come back since way before the grandfather of my grandfather was even born. Yet I stay still, whenever others are in need I stood my ground. Perhaps the gods will look on me favorably this day.

''”Only a few ever deserved the privilege to speak to our gods. Among the blessed few, those who brought back gifts of the heavens were declared heroes of the tribes!”'' He then stripped me of all but my loincloth, and then painted on my skin the symbols dear to our people. Also were the names of the previous Chosens who has brought the gods’ blessings, for calling their names may remind them to be generous again. ''“When you will stand before them, remember to ask for those rocks and materials for the Effigy”.''

On the leather of an animal I do not know the name of, were crude drawings representing what the Effigy asked of us so many generations ago.

The shaman grabbed me by the shoulder and we exit the ritual tent where I was resting and we went for a circle of stones, one of the many we build around the mountains. The bards were already singing and playing drums. I could hardly hear what was told, but I wager it was praises to the gods, prayers to the previous Chosens, and lastly encouragements to me and my enormous task.

''”Tonight! When tribes will celebrate the longest day in all four seasons, we will rejoice at the return of the long nights! Our creators reside among the stars, and it is with glee that we will be able to contemplate our glorious guides once more! Yes, it is only during this time of summer do they fly the heavens above our heads!”''

''“GLORY TO THE HEAVENS, MAY THE GODS RAIN UPON US THEIR GIFT, MAY THEY BLESS THE WINDS THAT PUSH OUR BACKS TO NEW HEIGHTS!”'' The bards chanted.

''“MAY THEY GIVE STRENGHT TO THE CHILDREN OF ITZIT!” The tribe followed.
''
The shaman circled around me, outside of the circle of stone. He sang, but his voices could barely be understood under the noises that the ritualistic drums made. He was wielding his staff. It was made from a metal that never rust and is as pale as the immortal snow upon the mountains. Lights of colors belonging to a rainbow ignited and disappeared, like fireflies in the night.

One last look. That’s all I had before leaving our lands for the heavens. I saw my tribesmen with joyous expression, I saw the shaman exulting to his prayer that has been answered… what I never saw was my own father, the chieftain. Did he never show up because he knew inside him I would fail? It is hard to say, as my last thoughts on this earth were swallowed by a celestial light. I went up so fast the land seemed like blur, my lungs were emptied of air.

And then I arrived. It was dark… so unlike the light from before.

There was silence. No cheering from my ancestors. No gods welcoming me. No Chosens here too. Then there were creaks, some like a giant animal, and others like sticks being stepped on.

It smelled of death… why?

I cannot move. I panicked. I struggled. More creaks. Something then came loose. I pushed. I climbed. I have trouble breathing. I am blind. I reach. My hand grasp handles. A shield perhaps? Could it protect me from this horror without name? I pull. It is stuck. I feel myself choking on the smell, and the lack of air. I try to push. It moves slightly. I twist. It opens.

I fell on the floor. On top of me were piles of what I cannot describe. What I do not describe. What if I thought it for a second would destroy my very being.

I left up my chin. At the ceiling there was a light. Not lighten up by flames, but like our shaman’s staff. Only this time brighter, and also colder as if snow could shine like the sun. Around me was a shell of metal.

I have never been curious by nature, but I did look behind me. Not because I wanted to know, but a compulsion I had.

Something has grabbed my hand. Something that is rotting. Something that is foul.

I yelled. It was an exploit by itself since I could barely breathe, but I screamed none the less. On top of myself were the remains of dozens of children. Behind them was a transparent tube with a door open, most of its previous contain dropped on the floor. When I looked at the corpses, I hazarded they were all around my age by estimating the less decomposed ones. I didn’t bring myself to look at their faces. I couldn’t fathom to try and recognize if those were the previous Chosens.

It is then that I heard it clearly. The high pitch yell of the metallic shell I was in. I barely had the time to try and breathe, I heard it again. There was also another voice; I couldn’t understand what it was saying.

It is dark now. Like if I was in a tunnel of a grotto. The noises, is becoming quieter. I cannot remember when was the last took I took air in.

I want to scream. I want to tell my people that they were wrong. I want to run. Yet, I know that I will never come back. I have no strength left. I am laying low on the floor. The last thing that comes to my mind before it ends were thoughts of my tribe.

== The Glutton ==
[[File:The Glutton.jpg|thumb]]
The Cannibal Cults while seen as odd, primitive or even barbaric are rarely seen as outright monsters. Among them there is one which can be seen as a true monster. His name long forgotten, but his story starts as a young boy who has eaten his newborn sister as she was being born. His mother powerless after realizing what just happened chased out the boy not able to slay him herself. Living as a half feral creature the boy would always eat. Swallowing rats whole, later even whole cats. Flavoring his dishes with Pink salt he slowly developed a small rat's tail and a cat's eyes. Normally one would only flavor human flesh not animal one in fear of such mutations, but the boy relished them. Wandering tribe to tribe he'd become an acolyte of death as if he knew when someone was about to die consuming their flesh before the family could arrive. It is a great crime to steal the last memories of a loved one from their family. As such the boy was locked in a cage and sold to slavers. For no one wanted to kill him, for what you kill you must eat and they feared the essence of this boy. The slavers were happy they got many slaves cheap and even a boatload of the rare pink salt.

The fate of the boy would change on that boat. It stranding on an odd island. That island being one of the rare Minor Mollusks. Being brought on land for months he would be kept in cage as the slavers were rebuilding the ship. Them eating true food, the slaves being thrown corpses of those who died among them. The boy didn't like that, he knew that one who eats slaves will remain a slave. He stuck his hand trough the bars of his cage, deep into the sand. As if being pulled in he felt something warm and soft. It was flesh. The flesh of the island, he bit into it and he started hearing voices. Thousands of them, and he spoke with them.It was the voices of the mollusks. Voices incomprehensible to man as man is to the mollusk.

For a few brief seconds the boy experienced contact with beings so alien that if fundamentally changed how his brain worked. For the next month he did not eat. Left as a dried up husk or of a corpse it was his time to be fed to the remaining slaves, but that is when he awoke. His jaw opening wide enough to swallow a man's head whole. Who consumes masters will become a master. So he consumed. As if having transcended humanity he ate grown men one after another, consuming them. The other slavers trying to attack the boy suddenly felt held in pace. Tentacles from the island itself holding them in place. Said same tentacles grabbed those wishing to flee. In a 100 days the boy consumed a 100 men and became as large as a 100 men. And the slaves were fed to the island. Finally ready the spilled all the pink salt in a cave which slowly turned to mollusk flesh and he ate and ate and ate until he had become one with the Island. Now the Glutton is known as the most dangerous pirate in the sea. His ship a mollusk larger than a city, his stature as large as a giant, and 10 times the weight. In the south sea he eternally raids for slaves and food with a massive crew of fat men who wish to be like him. They say that a raid of the gluttonous fleet feels more like a war than Pirate raid as that big how his army is. A quote which sums up the "Gluttonous Fleet": "Before a Kraken, an armada of ships shivers. Before the Glutton a herd of Krakens Shivers."

=== Account of Glutton's Fleet raiding the Giant-Halfling Alliance ===

The Gluttonous Fleet Usually operates near the Ram's head with frequent raids on the Cannibals (for Punk Salt). They raid as far North as Seem and as far West as the Celestial Empire. Striking at Random.

It was only once so far where the Fleet Traveled west into Westerasi waters launching a Raid on Midnat. Not only encroaching on waters of the Black Sand Pirate Council but also attacking one of the most Dangerous raiding targets one can imagine. The homeland of the giants.

From the Giant's Perspective, the raid was a truly apocalyptic event. On a hot summer day on the Horizon, an island appeared. It looked like a Grand mountains covered in a ram shack cityscape. With a port surrounding it on every side and a fleet following it.

Slowly the fleet filled the whole horizon and not much after the ships seemingly made out of shells started making landfall. Hordes of fat humans started flooding the Homeland of the giants raiding Halfling villages villagers and even ambushing some giants.

The response on the side of the Giants was swift. Armies of Giants soon arose from the great walled cities of the alliance. They are trained to deal with human invaders, who they easily send flying with one swing of a club. these humans were different though. While small in stature, they were great in weight flying only a meter or two before jumping up to charge again protected by a layer of blubber. The Rare giant with a sword, spear or halberds has proven himself more useful here. The Giant counteroffensive managed to spearhead the Gluttonous invaders splitting their force in two, arriving at the shore of their homeland only to see the Mothership herself make a landing. As the Mollusk came close to shore out of Mollusk shell a gateway grew and onto it the Gluttnous one himself descended. Neither covered in armor nor, wielding a weapon. All he had was a bag of salt in his left hand.

As he marched arrows were flung his way, but none seemed to hit. Likely because the Giants could not bear to look at him for even a split second. Their eyes averting themselves if they tried to look. Same for the archers. With bravery in their hearts, they rushed the Glutton a human dwarfing giants in size. Only for the first one of them to be caught by the neck and lifted up unusual inhuman fear would paralyze the giants as the mass of blubber moved its bag to cover their champion in pink dust only to then in one gulp bit off his head and as the Glutton enjoyed his meal his men broke out in a song a sea shanty so loud the entirety the Alliance could hear. No ordinary song, bardic spell sand by thousands in unison. Suddenly the once weak humans could hold their own in combat against the giants in fact overwhelming them with numbers as the Glutton himself marched along picking off and eating Giants one by one.

Before the end of the raid, tens of thousands of giants and halflings were abducted or eaten before the Gluttons forces retreated to avoid facing the proper army of the Alliance. Those unfortunate enough were either eaten by the crew or sacrificed to the Mollusk itself.

Metanote: The Glutton himself is a powerful psion with a mental connection to the Mollusk he uses as a ship. His fleet is mostly comprised of minor psyons and normal pirates. Though all are trained in basic bardic arts. Raids are also usually not this successful, this one is significant because it went so unusually well and because it was basically a declaration of war on the Black Sand Council.

=== Account of the Battle of Tsu-Xia, The Glutton Fleet vs The Celestial Empire: GE year 4997 ===

From the Commanding Tent of the High-Lord General Nion San, stationed at the Fort of the Majestic Southern Watchtower by her divine grace Empress Dan Ning, Long May the Skyfather Watch over her.

I, Nion San, of sound mind, dictate this missive following Her Most Divine Wishes to be updated in the situation regarding the defense of our coastal settlements against the threat of the Thrice cursed Great-Fat-One. For Imperial Records ends, it's the Seventh Day of the Third Month of the year 2 of Dan Ning's Blessed Reign.

I was sent to the coastal lands after the devastation of the village of Susu. The guard there, numbering five score strong detachment of Xia's Regional People's Militia, was slaughtered to the last, and of the three thousand people living in the village, two thousand remain unaccounted for and presumed dead, with the rest being found either in hiding in the caves by the foothills near the coast or dead on sight and near it. Evidence piling, my conclusions were inevitable. This was an act of most vile piracy or worst, by terrible Koi-Shi* and in my mission to secure Her Imperial Majesty's Peace in her Most Blessed Reign, I took to myself to convey with Koi-Shi from the Yusixi Island. This glass-man had stood witness, in the past, to similar massacres. He assured me, swearing by his facial hair, that this raid was the doing of a being whose foulness defies belief, known as the 'Big Eater' in the Merchant's tongue. After conveying with Imperial Sages, it was told that the 'Big Eater' was indeed the Great-Fat-One of our fishermen legends. It was known for his terrible deeds, but long believe he left our coasts alone for fear of our Celestial Might. It's clear that if this truce ever existed, it was now violated.

I explain this in the hope that her Divine Grace Empress Dan Ning and the Most Blessed Imperial Office of Requisition will judge my next actions with the proper understanding that they meant not to be wasteful, but necessary.

My investigation led me to believe this raid as a prodding raid feeling the defenses of our Imperial Shores and trusting my senses, I sent scouts to the villages near Susu to collect information from their fishermen about the weird sightings at sea. It was confirmed that there had been more than usual, particularly near the rather large coastal village of Tsu-Xia. Time was wasting and I used my authority to approve a black-seal edit, taking command of the province's workforce from the Agrarian Imperial Administration and Imperial Office of Roads and Bridges, and another to seize control of the Imperial Office of Munitions of the Xia Province. The scribes and officials were displeased, as I am sure Her Divine Grace will have heard. Much work needed to be done.

Three villages were raid after Susu, and Tsu-Xia was left alone. These villages are as listed: Din-Su, Nang-Su, and Ling-Su. Casualties numbered now near the eight thousand civilians and eight hundred soldiers. Her Majesty will have heard I refused to evacuate or reinforce villages, and that is true. I take responsibility for the loss of life, but defend my actions as strictly necessary. These prodding attack brought the gaping maw of the enemy towards Tsu-Xia, like a charging boar.

The size of the enemy would have shaken lesser men to their core, but being Celestial Bred Suoxi virile males, my men stood their ground as the Second Day of the Third Month of the Year 2 of Dan Ning's Blessed Reign, we saw the enemy fleet. Ships numbered over two thousand, and a small island seemed to move closer ashore in the middle of them. This hasn't been the case in other attacks, according to reports, only a couple dozen ships had attacked each village. With me I had the Sixth Crane Legion, the Fourth Crane Legion, and the Third Lion Legion, number fifteen thousand strong among them all. I also had the Xia Provincial Auxiliary Militia, numbered a thousand strong, so we knew, before seeing the enemy, we'd be deeply outnumbered. Tsu-Xia's walls opened fire with their trebuchets, and two ships were sunk by our flaming boulders, yet nothing could stop the tide descending upon it. When the longboats were deployed, perhaps a hundred thousand enemies rowed towards our shores, and from the island, the vilest form of the Great Fate One shambled towards us. I had the city garrison fire their rapid-fire crossbow and while thousand of bolts fled the air and many struck home to our enemies black hearts, the Koi-Shi were simply too many. From the moving island, even more, longboats came, the whole island covered in a dark pathetic Koi-Shi dwelling. We had not even dented their numbers when they made ashore.

Now if her Divine Grace is unfamiliar with Tsu-Xia, that is understandable. So vast is her domain, knowing it all would be beyond even the Great Divine Empress. Tsu-Xia is the heart of the Xia province and stands in the center of a very large bay. Rocks rise from either side of the bay, and Tsu-Xia sits in the only beach one can land or launch ships from. The valley is surrounded by tall, steep cliffs, and few routes lead down into the walled town from the heart of the mainland. I knew this target would be tempting to our enemy, for there would be nowhere for the fifty thousand men and woman of Tsu-Xia to flee once the raid started. At least not effectively, as they would clog the narrow trails and be slaughtered to a man. Tsu-Xia sea is also peculiar in its shallowness, almost a flatbed no deeper than a hundred feet stretches across the whole bay, and the sea won't become deeper until much further. The ground shook when the island ceases to move, for it had become embanked into the shallows, being over a hundred feet deep. So massive was this enemy vessel, it blocked a lot of the routes of the bay, and until it managed to free itself, it almost entirely corked their fleet inside the bay.

Our rapid crossbows were without ammunition as the first of the Vile Koi-Shi made landing and the enemy island-vessel run aground in the shallows. That's when I had the flag raised. Small skiffs around the bay cut the ropes of the large net I had constructed using the whole province's supply of hemp rope and even needed more commissioned in a hurry. These ropes attached to weighted hooks held our most glorious Turtle-Bombs***.

I used the entire supply of the province and explosions that issues were so vast and so close together, that the steam rose and blocked my view of the bay. Over a thousand Turtle Bombs went out in the space of half a minute, and the bay was covered in hot steam. Later reports said that fish emerged dead over five miles in either direction of the bay. As the enemy fleet disappeared from sight under steam, the great fat creates let out a bellowing roar, and the men on the skiffs kept coming and began singing an unhallowed shanty. That's when I raised my second flag.

Three Hundred and Seventy-Five Dragon-Doves were loosened into the enemy. I had them outfitted with whistling ammunition and as expected, the loud whistling of eighteen thousand fire-spears whistling down into the skiffs still between the fleet and the shore drowned out the shanty and some of the enemy numbers covered their ears as they began to bleed. Without their unhallowed magic, when the fire-spears touched the frail rowboats, they were upturned and sunk by impact, tossing the man into the now near-boiling water resulting from the turtle bombs. The enemy numbers greatly diminished yet thousands had made ashore already and were marching across the white sands between the sea and the walls of Tsu-Xia, walking between the warehouses of the harbors and cutting down a thousand militiamen I sent from the gates to fight them at the beach. The militia broke, retreating and I had the gates closed. The enemy rushed to finished the fleeing militiamen, piling themselves by the crowded docks. And that's when I raised the third flag. Archers with flaming arrows peppered the warehouses whose roofs were filled with tar, and the interior filled with dry straw. The great conflagration consumed the land forces of the enemy, and the few survivors fled back towards their boats at the beach. I sent the Crane Legion's cavalry cohorts to cut them off and caught between horse and flame, of the hundred thousand enemies, less than a thousand made it back to their boats. By them, the steam cloud had cleared and I could see the enemy fleet of ten thousand boats was now reduced to a mere three hundred, and those were heavily damaged and likely not well crewed. The Great Fat One did great effort to release his island back and retreat. So I raised the fourth flag.

A Hundred Thousand Imperial Gold I requested to pay the Glass-Men proved their worth. The Glass Koi-Shi**** brought us fifty fireships, and I hid them in inlets around the bay. They now swarmed from the sides and spilled their fire upon the island-vessel of the fat one. The shantytown was wet and took many bursts of flames to set it ablaze. But eventually, it did. By them, the Island Vessel stirs violently, shaking the foundations of the shantytown above it and tossing most of it's flaming debris into the ocean. The great fat one burned and even from a mile off in my watching post I could smell its fat burning. It was the vilest thing I ever smelled. The Fireships kept spilling flames and the Great Fat One Island-Vessel moves, trampling and destroying perhaps ten of the fireships in its path to flee. The surviving three hundred ships tried their best to follow the smoking wreckage as their leader bellows filled the bay, but the fireships did still manage to set perhaps twenty of them ablaze. All prisoners were executed and their limbs and heads cut and set on spikes, spaced a hundred paces in between, there was enough spikes to cover the whole shore of the Xia province with warnings for the next pirate who deems to attack Her Divine Grace's Subjects.

With this, I hope to justfiy the use of resources and loss of life by explaining to her Divine Grace that the actions were necessary to properly discourage further inclusions from the Great Fat One in our territory. The Imperial Council seeks to have me executed for the loss of life of civilians and soldiers deliberately sacrificed. if Her Divine Grace deems my actions unjust, I'll gladly take my own life upon her Blessed Command.

With no more to declare I sign

Your Forever Loyal, Nion Sang, High-Lord General of Xia Imperial Province of Her Divine Grace Dan Ning of the Celestial Empire.
Dictated and Read.

''*(translator note: Celestial world for foreigner and savage is the same; Koi-Shi.)

** (Translator note: Celestial often refer to foreign merchants from the Ecinev league as 'glass-man' even when they trade in other products.)

*** (Turtle-Bombs are a Celestial war device, a small clay pot filled with air, explosives and with triggering iron spikes. Submerged, the air causes them to float. When clay breaks from contact with a ship, water touches the alchemy Sinfan, causing the water to boil instantly from the heat released, and the expansion of steam forms a fireless, yet extremely strong explosion. Survivors of the kinetic blast are often boiled alive by the rising steam.)

**** (Glass Koi-Shi likely means Ecinevan League foreigners)''

=== Account of Black Sand Pirate Representative's interaction with the Heavy Eater ===
The news of the actions of the East's Heavy Man have been puzzling lately. Weeks after a disastrous Raid on the Celestial Empire, he launched a raid further west than he has ever gone, into waters which trough unspoken word fall under the jurisdiction of the Black Flag. Thus the Admirals of the Pirate Council have decided, to send me as a representative to demand and explanation from the Fat one and to understand his actions and to judge whether or not we should see this as an act of war. I have been assigned a 100 ships to my retinue as protection, I am vying for the sympathies of said crew for if said sympathies I obtain then they may chose to stay as my own fleet.

To find the Gluttonous Fleet is no easy task one has to travel to the Far East, beyond the nation of the Glass Merchants, or Bean Farmers, North Beyond the Radmathir Khaliphate and alongside the shores of the Damphir Swamplands. It is said that the Glutton Controls most of the Trade coming out of the Deep Swamp. If a ship does not work for him directly, it pays him to avoid his wrath. Trough some minor raids, we soon caught attention of his men, who while they approached us with hostility were soon swayed by gifts of gold, slaves and booze.

As such soon we were taken to the Glutton, the Captain of his fleet. The fat man of the East. The rituals of the east are odd, before being even permitted to set foot on the "Big Shelly" (Name of Mollusk, actually is in an asian tongue similar to vietnamese which just translates to "Big/Enormous Shell[pet name]") we had to bow and pay respects to the captain. While the Pirates on the boats look not very different to the Pirates of the Black Sands, the ones on the Flagship certainly do. All obese and grand in statue, in armor out of shell always eating something. The smell of odd things being fried in oil and slaves lamenting in cages filled the busy streets. It was hard to tell whether one was on a ship or in a city at times.

In the West Great Magnats wish for castles, while grand Pirates wish for grand ships. The East's Heavy Eater had both. Entering the Palace reminiscent of a cheap imitation of those found in the Celestial Empire we were asked to bow once more and remove our shoes and all present weapons. We complied, as surrounded by so many, no amount of weapons could protect one. Wandering the inside were servants eternally offering us food. It is considered a great insult to refuse food gifted to you, as such we ate. Finally we entered the grand ballroom taken up by the Glutton himself 1/3rd just him, 1/3rd the servants serving him. The rest was a grand dining table prepared for us. Once again, we bow. The high Glutton bows back.

"There is no need for that my lord, it is custom to bow to a lord while in his castle in our land, no need for him to bow." - I replied as politely as possible

"If an equal bows before you, you bow before them. This is the custom of this land. You showed the respect I deserve bowing to me the captain when you set foot on the ship and to me the lord when you entered my palace. You speak on Behalf of the Black-Flags, now let's talk as equals." - the voice of the Fat Man rang inside our head. As he continued to eat.

Me and my compatriots looked puzzled, magic which invades one's mind is rare and taxing. Why would one use it out of mere convenience? The Glutton sat there food being presented to him without break. That which he judged worthy he sprinkled with salt and ate, that which he did not judge worthy he either ate or had it thrown to the slaves.

"You my lord are a Captain I represent a 10 000 Captains. A 10 000 captains which you have insulted, by raiding waters they consider theirs. I wish to understand why, so it does not have to come to unneeded hostilities." - I uttered this prepared reply, with fear and angst.

"Among you Raiders of the West, no matter the fleet or ships all Captains are to be seen equal, but equal only in dignity, not responsibility." - a pile of black flags is brought out and thrown on the ground - "If I am no more than a mere captain of your ilk, then I have broken the unspoken agreement 67 times fewer than you pirates of the West. Now watch your words, for even if I am a kind man I am also one who does not wish their dignity insulted."

Indeed piles of black flags amassed over decades. It was then when fear struck me, but also a sense of opportunity.

"If their punishment was death, then shan't it too be yours?"

A hearty laughter filled the room, from the true mouth of the Glutton.
"We both know justice lies on the side of the strong. If you have the power to justly punish me then do so! Great sailors are valued, I don't put them to death. Willy nily. For the wished to raid in the east I let them, but that is under my flag and in my name. If you did not comply then you met your punishment. Here I would ask, if you truly wish for me to join the Council?"

His answer had, put me on the spot. If I was to be fair I should agree, but one captain as strong as this joining a council of thousands... what would stop him from putting us under his hegemony? I had to relent.

"No, my lord. No punishment or war is in order then. The Council has overstepped it's boundaries and we wish to return to the old Unspoken Agreement. May, I know though why you have staged 2 rare massive raids so recently? Rarely does the 'Big Shelly' herself participate in raids so why 2 so close by." - I accepted my defeat, and he accepted it graciously. At least my 2nd mission had to now be fulfilled accordingly.

"Tell be, Captain of the Black Flags. What is the difference between a pirate fleet and a state?"

"I do not follow."

"A nation gains soldiers from it's kin. From raising kids. From the men of the land. A nation bitten and wounded has the luxury of calm and and rest and rebuilding after a defeat. A fleet stands on the shoulders of it's myth. No more is needed than one grand defeat, for your men to loose hope. For them to leave. A fleet cannot sit idly by after a defeat. It has no luxury, so if you ask why? It's to keep up the myth. In most recent memory I am not Glutton the Looser of Dan-Dio. I am Glutton the devouter of Giants!"

Another healthy laugh followed from his mouth, as he took a second to neat eat. For one to attack not because he is strong, but because he is weak. An odd form of wisdom rarely found in the west.

I have chosen to return to the West, but only 70 of the protective vessels chose to follow me, the rest joining the Glutton's fleet willingly. On the way back we raided relentlessly so I may not return without a victory.

== Chill Anon's Midlands Oneshot ==

Be me, DM running experimental one shot in Gloria-Etalia setting

Be not me, 3rd level barbarian maid for Vampire Baroness and Old Farmer Warlock

Both are from the Grand Duchy, becuase that is the area that I know best

Cannibal cults have been stealing a few people here and there

Soldiers would just get lost and taken out if they cross as a group

Vampire Baroness tasks party to go across the border and kill some cultists

Would remind them not to mess with the Duchy

Also tasked to bring back any dead bodies if they can get away with it

Old Farmer Warlock to be paid by the tounge, the maid will get a special payment

Get sent across the border during the night becuase they have sunlight sensitivity

Crosses a very steep mountainous pass but with not a lot of width to it,so they cross easily enough

Land in marshland and are stunned by strange and alien world

They have never seen so much fauna in their life, due to the ecology of the Duchy

tfw trees have green things on them, and toad isn't pure black

Barbarian casts speak with animals to talk to the toad

Rolls a history check to remember what the cultists look like and some basic lore about them

Gets a nat 1

Can only remember rumors about cultists

"They are savage, inhuman creatues that are basically monsters"

Toad leads them to a scary looking tree, and then buggers off

They go into the marshes searching for cultists

Find a human footprint, and follow it back to a camp

Camp is five humans around an unlit campfire

1 man, 3 women, and 1 boy, who all have only a blanket on them

Party decides to stealth up to take them out one by one

Debate on who to take out first, and Old Farmer Warlock throws a knife as a distraction to wake them up

why.jpg

throws knife and wakes the boy up, who fails his spot check and lies back down

Fails to overhear the party debating what to do next

Party takes a look at the cultists, and notice a few things

Cultists have chunks of flesh missing

fingers, toes, flesh from the body

Party realises that cultists cannot be cultists, and must be native running from the cultists

nat 1 history check from earlier comes to bite them in the ass

Decide that they cannot kill such helpless savages

Will bring them back alive to live to become civilized in the Duchy

Barbarian talks about how the kid is should be the priority, as he can be convinced to be civilised the easiest

Decide what to do next

Old Farmer Warlock decides to eldrich blast their campfire pit, to wake them all up

WHY.jpg

"Are you sure"

"...Umm..."

"...Yes"

WHYYYYYY.jpg

Old Farmer Warlock's player did bike 12 miles in 92 degree weather today, so I don't blame his decision making on him

Old Farmer Warlock blows up the campfire with a flaming eldrich blast

Proceeds to give a simi-coherent speech about coming with them to live a better, move civilized life

Tries to convince them to come with the party

WHAT.jpg

PC's look like pale humans due to having never been exposed to the sun

Giant pupils to see in the dark

Just blew up their camp with an ELDRICH BLAST

I call a break to go to the bathroom, and burst out laughing when I must myself

I come back, and tell Old Man Farmer to roll persuasion with disatvantage

Doesn't make the two nat 20s somehow to not make them run away

They scream at the top of their lungs and run away

Maid Barbarian proceeds to ge a nat 20 on initative, Old Farmer Warlock a 21

All cultists get below a 15

Maid Barbarian then goes to grappel one of the women and a child who is grabing the women

15 DC to only get the woman, 20 DC to get both of them

rolls a 22

They cry out in fear

Old Farmer Warlock then casts hold person on the man

success.jpg

The other two women start to run as fast as their legs can carry them

Maid Barbarian then tries to tie the woman-child combo up

Gets a nat 20

I rule that he gets another action because of the nat 20

Proceeds to shoot one of the running women in the leg, trying to deal non lethal damage

Gets max damage on the short crossbow, 10 dmg

Is using commoner statblock

Checks hp

4 hp for the commoner

She falls, instantly dead

Other woman hesitates for a second, then continues running

The woman and child are still crying and screaming

Old Farmer Warlock ties up man, and then starts to go after the other woman

Maid Barbarian goes to pick up the "unconscious" woman

Try to tell him to make a survival check, but keeps interrupting me to tell me that picking up the
woman should be a free action

okthen.jpg

Old Farmer Warlock runs after the other woman

Maid Barbarian makes the survival check

Realises there is a LOT of blood around for an unconscious person

Sets her down and covers her with some sticks

Walks back to the captured cultists covered in blood

Child starts to scream and cry, saying Kanra, Kanra!

Woman with him, who is also sobbing, hugs him closly

Maid Barbarian OOC makes the connection that they are "surface raiding like the drow"

Old Farmer Warlock comes back and lets the woman cultist get away

The man finally makes his save on the hold person spell, and starts to scream and cry as well

The party tries to calm them down, and says that they are here to help them

Woman figures out that they are from across the barrier (the mountians) from the Duchy

Man fails to spit on Old Farmer Warlock, and tells them that he would never submit to unholy
monsters as his ruler.

Maid Barbarian takes this as a personal insult on his Dutchess, and proceeds to tell him that if he makes another comment like that again, she will kill him,

Man, thinks about this

"Vania, take care of the child."

Proceeds to insult the duchy, the vampires, and the PC

Vania screams out NOOOOO and starts to sob

The man has very good religious reasons why he wants to die rather than be brough back to the Duchy

I wrote some lore for them for this which I will post tomorrow

Basically he things that his soul will go to fuel the vampire

If he dies here, there is a chance they will leave his body where he could be found and eaten

His soul would then go into the people that ate him, instead of the unholy vampires

Maid Barbarian proceeds to pick him up by the neck and drag him away to get decapitated

Old Farmer Warlock convinces him not to kill the man

The man is screaming at her to kill him now

The woman and child are crying as they see their family member get hualed off to die

Is 11:15 and everyone wants to go to bed now except me

The session then ends with the PC's having no idea what to do

(Part 2)

Party has no idea what to do

Talks among themselves for 10irl minutes, debating options

Decide to head back to the mountain, and chain gang the captured cultists to bring them along with

Start to head back to the mountains and their exit

Halfway back they hear a noise and stop

Turning around, they see an old man crouching behind a tree watching them

They also see him motion his hand in a stop motion behind him

Roll initiative

Three old people dressed in robes and one shaggy beastman with bull horns step out of the woods

Mechanically, this is three acolytes and a reskinned lizardfolk attacking them

The captured cultists yell to him that they humans are dangerous

Old Farmer Warlock steps forward to attack, and gets half of his hp taken out by the beastman

Switches out with the Main Barbarian, who proceeds to fuck the cultists up

The cultists fall in short succession, and one even gets captured running away

The captures cultist is an old woman, who seems strangely fit and healthy for someone her age

She is unconscious, and is slung over the Maid Barbarians back

They continue to the mountains, and are unmolested along the way

They call up to the soldiers that they are back, who hear them and drop down two ropes

They call up that they have company with them

No response, as the soldiers don't hear them

During this, there have been small interactions between the cultists and the party

A lot of name calling on the cultists part, and one of them states that they would rather die than be
brought to the party’s unholy masters

This is taken lightly by the party

They decide this will do and go to tie the captured cultists to the rope so they can climb up

They turn to find the ropes binding them fall away, and a knife in the woman's hand

They never searched the cultists

The cultists turn to run, and get stomped by the party

Old Farmer Warlock rolls a three to tie up the kid, does a terrible job and knows it

Turn to talk to the man and woman some more, and tell them that they were foolish to try to escape

See a smirk on the man’s face and relief on the woman’s, and turn to see that the child is gone

”Oh well, we still have you three”

Go to search the man and woman to see what they find

Cultist man rolls a 13 to hide his knife, Maid Barbarian rolls a twelve

Being satisfied, they tie them to the mountain rope, and they all start to head up

Man, then woman, then Maid Barbarian with the old woman cultist on one rope

Old Farmer Warlock is on the other rope

Halfway up, they see a glint in the man’s hand, who starts to cut the rope to head back up the mountain

Maid Barbarian cannot get to him, and asked Old Farmer Warlock to do something

Old Farmer Warlock decides to simply blast him

The cultist are using the commoner stat block, instant death

His knife falls out of his hand, and the wife catches it

Maid Barbarian sees this and armlocks the hand behind her back

She drops the knife, and it is sent down the mountain to the earth

Maid Barbarian makes a comment on how the man must have been suicidal to the woman, to try to
send them to their doom like that

”Better death than oblivion”

Maid Barbarian does some acrobatics to untie the man

Debates whether to just cut him and half and have the blood and guts fall on his wife on the way down

Decides against this, and just tosses him off of the mountain

They continue up, and reach the top

Are met by the guards, who bring them up and gets them situated

The woman tries and fails to run off of the mountain top, is stopped by Maid Barbarian’s firm grip

They rapellel down the other side, back to the Grand Duchy and away from that unfamiliar land

Halfway down, the cultist woman goes into a freefall

Her rope gets caught by the Maid Barbarian, but falls enough to warrant a d4 of damage

With her shit luck, would most likely get a 1 and would only be lightly bruised

Gets a 4 and the woman falls unconscious

Maid Barbarian decided to rappel down with her

Gets a shit roll, and they both go into a freefall,

Maid Barbarian catches herself and the woman’s rope, but the woman falls enough to warrant another d4 of damage

Most likely going to just get a 1 or 2 and be fine, if still unconscious on a cliff

Gets a 4, and her head cracks against the rocks

Shit.png

Maid Barbarian retrieves the body and gets to the bottom safely

Goes back to the outpost to meet back up with the vampire lieutenant

After taking a bath to get all of the blood off of them, they head up

Finds the lieutenant waiting for them, and is out of uniform

Congratulates them on not only spreading fear among the cultists, but going above and beyond bringing one back alive

Says that the live one would make a good gift to the Duke and Duchess themselves

Askes to.. “experience” the dead woman, and her blood should still be warm

They agree, and leave the room for a few minutes

Come back, and the lieutenant looks a lot healthier, with a red flush fresh in his cheeks

Smiles, pays Old Farmer Warlock 100 gp for his work and the “excellent meal”

For the Maid Barbarian, writes a letter recommending 1 week off as her reward

Maid Barbarian is surprised at the generosity, and accepts this along with the praise from the admiral

Sessions ends with them heading back by carriage, looking out at their homeland, and thinking about what they just did

= Threads =
[https://bw.artemislena.eu/gloriaetalia/wiki/Gloria-Etalia_Wiki Wiki Link] (after 1d4 went down for a bit, they jumped over there by the time it came back, they were cemented over there.

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| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/73993406 Thread 01]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74079412 Thread 02]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74150461 Thread 03]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74211056 Thread 04]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74247212 Thread 05]
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| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74284894 Thread 06]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74321167 Thread 07]
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| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74406128 Thread 09]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74440536 Thread 10]
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| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74466108 Thread 11]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74494072 Thread 12]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74520302 Thread 13]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74545990 Thread 14]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74598279 Thread 15]
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| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74636875 Thread 16]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74680656 Thread 17]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74693160 Thread 18]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74753817 Thread 19]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74816419 Thread 20]
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| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74847949 Thread 21]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74889763 Thread 22]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/74927765 Thread 23]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/75014958 Thread 24]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/75134641 Thread 25]
|-
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/75253380 Thread 26]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/75294043 Thread 27]
| [https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/81129006 Thread Merchant Empire Lore]
|}

[https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/84910260 Revival/Nostalgia Thread]

[[Category:Homebrew Settings]]