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"Nurgle's children, our sweetest, our favourites...how much Nurgle loves his children, how much Nurgle loves his little darlings..."

—Insane scribblings written in the entrails of a still living man
Warhammer Daemons of Chaos Nurgling

A Nurgling of Nurgle

Nurglings are Lesser Daemons of Nurgle that are the very image of Father Nurgle himself, having friendly, mischievous faces and bloated, green bodies fitted with disproportionate limbs. The only difference is their size; a Nurgling is no taller than a foot high.[2a]

Even as disgusting as they are, nothing compares to how they are often created. A Nurgling grows in the rotting flesh of a Greater Daemon of the Plague Lord, a Great Unclean One. Like infants, they feed on the nutrients of the mother, though in this case, it is the rancid milk of pestilence. In time, a diet of filth enables the Nurgling to grow large enough to allow it to eat its way out of the Greater Daemon's wet innards, born to whatever horrid existence it faces. These foul things inhabit the bodies of larger Daemons, preferably the Great Unclean Ones who spawn them. They creep into the crevices, burying themselves beneath the diseased flab of the larger Daemons' bulky forms and suckle on the cancerous wounds that weep foul pus.[2a]

While covering their host, they jockey for the favour of their master, purring with pleasure when caressed or squealing with delight when offered a choice morsel of flesh. Queerly, Great Unclean Ones tend to see these vermin as their children. They coddle them, coo at them, and caress them, showering them with affection -- though such endearments are no obstacle to the Greater Daemon's tantrums and bottomless hunger. Many Nurglings rot away, get caught between the Greater Daemon's prodigious toes, or are dissolved in its gastric juices.[2a]

Reproduction[]

Warhammer Daemons of Chaos Nurglings

An assortment of Nurglings of various size and shapes

As well as a Great Unclean One's decaying flesh, Nurglings are also bred from the pus they shed. As the massive, bloated Nurglite fiends walk the land, they leave a swathe of oily filth in their wake. The fluid collects in sticky pockets, lying in wait for the hapless passer-by who has the misfortune to dip his foot in the morass. The foulness enters the victim's body, travelling through the blood to lodge inside of the abdomen where it grows, feeding on the body's excrement.[2a]

In time, when it is large enough, the growing Daemon distends its host's belly and cries out insults and profanities as much and as loudly as it can. It eventually grows tired of such behaviour and travels out through the mouth or anus, depending on its mood, to be free and seek its fortune in the mortal world. Such experiences, whilst terrifyingly unpleasant and maddening, are never lethal for the mortal host involved -- just very uncomfortable.[2a]

These Nurglings may look for others of their kind -- they are indeed sociable creatures, but many content themselves in the filth and squalor of Human cities, feasting on offal piles, sewers, and the like. But from time to time, the Nurgling will seek its original Human host out of some strange affection, to visit a plague upon them as a means of gratitude.[2a]

Warfare[]

When faced with an enemy, Nurglings advance in a furious swarm, clawing and gnawing at the foe's legs, biting their ankles and licking at any interesting sores or abrasions they discover. Their tiny teeth are as sharp as razors, leaving festering little bites upon their victims, but rarely killing them outright. Such an attack can prove to be the beginning of a long, disease-ridden demise however, as something nasty usually takes root in the wounds caused by Nurglings.[1a]

Notable Nurgling Regiments[]

  • The Frolickers Bubonic - The acrid discharge of these Nurglings' blisters inflicts wounds upon all those who strike them that may not outright kill, but painfully fester.[3]

Miniatures[]

Videos[]

Sources[]

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (8th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 47
  • 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Corruption (RPG)
    • 2a: pg. 226
  • 3: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)

Gallery[]

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