Carnival of Nurgle

I saw that carnival, terrible it was, a thousand wagons pulled by a thousand skinny beasts. All covered in rancid hides they was, people in threadbare cloaks, making their way towards town. And then one of them, it was like he was made of dough so fat and pale he was, asked me to dance. And suddenly it was as if he was a real gent, a proper nob, with a nice jacket and all. And as he asked me I heard music like there was a band of minstrels right behind him. But I looked again and there was only his grotty wagon and his sick nag. Well, I don’t dance, see, so I took a bite of me onion and ran as fast as I could.

– Hilde Braun, Reiklander peasant

The Carnival of Nurgle is a daemonic carnival said to roam the mortal world on ill-fated nights. Creaking wheels and the clop of hooves at dusk announces its arrival. From the gloom emerges a procession of wagons drawn by emaciated horses. The once-colourful canvasses of these decrepit carts are torn aside, and gangrenous daemons jump out. Plaguebearers prepare for the performance while Nurglings bicker underfoot.

From the largest carriage shuffles a hulking Great Unclean One, the plagued ringleader of the show. The daemons begin their Dance of Death around the chosen settlement. Nurglings sing in falsetto, the plaguebearers in tenor, and the Great Unclean One provides a deep baritone. They sing of the delicious doom that awaits their victims. As the pageant progresses, the cacophony gets louder, and is joined by the howls of dogs and lowing of cattle from the nearby settlement. Pandemonium seeps into the dreams of the sleeping villagers, while those awake lie paralysed with fear.

Upon the seventh circuit, the hullabaloo rises to fever pitch. Butter curdles, and milk sours. As a pale sun dawns in a sallow sky, silence falls. Then the daemons begin the main entertainment, afflicting every known disease upon their screaming audience. By nightfall, only rotten bones tell of the carnival’s passing.

Source

 * Warhammer Fantasy RPG 3rd ED: The Book of Plague -- pg. 8, 12