Nurgle



"Buboes, phlegm, blood and guts! Boils, bogeys, rot and pus! Blisters, fevers, weeping sores! From your wounds the fester pours"
 * - Chant sung by Plaguebearers during battle

Nurgle, the Plague Lord, is the Chaos God of Disease, Destruction and Decay. Within the Realm of Chaos his domain covers the forces of destruction, despair, entropy, and all things putrid and unclean. In particular, the emotion of despair in mortals empowers him. He is the oldest of the four Chaos Gods and is the most directly involved with the plights of mortals, particularly humans who suffer so acutely from a fear of death, perhaps the oldest fear of that race. Many of those affected by his poxes usually turn to him in order to escape the pain caused by sickness and disease. Nurgle also embodies the will of mankind to struggle on no matter what opposes it, albeit perversely. Suffering, death, pain: human beings push these things from their minds and try to forget them by living in the moment in the hope that the future will be a better one. For this reason Nurgle, his daemons and mortal followers usually demonstrate a disturbing joy at the pestilence that they inflict, seeing the plagues as gifts and the cries of their victims as gratitude for the strength to overcome the obstacles of a mortal life rather than agony. He is known also as Grandfather Nurgle, the Lord of Flies and the Lord of Decay. Nurgle's sacred number is seven. He is represented by the colours of green and brown, generally the putrid variations of each; the colours of rot and ruin, waste and vomit, mucus and pus. {| class="toc" id="toc" summary="Contents"

Contents
[hide]*1 Manifestation
 * 2 Cult of Nurgle
 * 2.1 Mortal followers of Nurgle
 * 2.2 Nurgleite Daemons
 * 3 Rivalries
 * 4 Nurgle in Warhammer Online
 * }

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

[edit] Mortal followers of Nurgle
A mortal Champion of NurgleAdded by RevoranAs opposed to the other Ruinous Powers of Chaos, many of Nurgle's followers do so by no choice of their own. The taint of Nurgle spreads readily among beast and humanoid alike, and the awful ailment known as Nurgle's Rot may strike even the strongest and cause him to be outcast as a leper.

Despite the nature of his influence, Nurgle does take an interest in the victims of the diseases he unleashes (which he considers to be "gifts"), jovially caring for them in a manner similar to that of a loving grandfather; for this reason he is frequently referred to by his cultists as Grandfather Nurgle. This also causes some individuals that would have otherwise never been infected to seek out infectious disease or even poison themselves to earn his favor.

As the Chaos God of disease and decay, Nurgle's followers are often equally interested in the spread of disease. His followers become infected with horrific diseases which cause them to appear bloated and rotting, or wizened, sickly and pale. His Champions often become so mutated and putrid that they are impervious to pain and almost impossible to injure.

While equally as powerful as Khorne or Tzeentch when his plagues are at their peak, perhaps even more so, Nurgle's strength tends to wax and wane much more than that of the other Ruinous Powers, leaving him with little or no army one day and unstoppable hordes of rotting followers the next.

[edit] Nurgleite Daemons
A Plaguebearer daemonAdded by GW-CarveThe diseases of Nurgle lend themselves well to the creation of chaos daemons, and his host is by no means insignificant.
 * Nurglings are tiny, mischievous daemons, resembling a miniaturized version of Nurgle himself. They normally appear in large numbers, forming swarms which accompany armies dedicated to Nurgle. Occasionally very dedicated champions of Nurgle will become infested with Nurglings, which will live in gaping wounds and orifices on the champion's body; when the champion comes under attack, these will help defend their "home".
 * Plaguebearers are rotting, wasted creatures of vaguely humanoid size and appearance, with a single burning eye. Flies continually buzz around them, therefore making them more difficult to fight. The many diseases carried by these daemons can be used to terrible effect during battle.
 * Beasts of Nurgle are truly horrendous aberations. They have soft, sticky and mottled body of a pallid slug, webbed feet that flap uselessly, a face of writhing green tentacles, and a whiptail growth that bursts from its back and which wags constantly from side to side..
 * Great Unclean Ones are massive, bloated disease carriers, whose decaying flesh bulges with corpulent cancers. They usually carry a massive, rusted blade known as a "Plague Sword" into battle, said to be dipped in the foul pus and contagion at the base of Nurgle's throne. They generally act as the leaders and father figures for the other daemons, epitomizing Nurgle's joyful, paternal nature.
 * Epidemius is Nurgle’s chosen Tallyman, one of the seven Proctors of Pestilence and the cataloguer of all the Plaguelord’s diseases. Epidemius’ task is an unending one, and it generates a great deal of paperwork, so he rides a palanquin to share the burden – and to more easily force a path through Nurgle’s hordes. Two dozen Nurglings attend the Tallyman’s every need, providing the parchment, operating the death’s head abacus, excreting the ink for the quill pens and even defending Epidemius from harm should foolish enemy venture too close.
 * Slime Hounds are foul creatures resembling a putrid, overgrown, mutated slug.

[edit] Rivalries
The Mark of NurgleAdded by KlovisIn the eternal struggle for power amongst the Chaos Gods, Nurgle's primary adversary is Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways. Nurgle represents the forces of destruction, and his worshippers follow him out of despair at being infected with his plagues; Tzeentch is a God representing evolution, change and the building of grand schemes, whose worshippers following him out of the hope of gaining power and other material rewards. This essentially antagonistic relationship has an effect upon the nature of the armies that are dedicated to either God.