Nurgle
 | |
| Titles | Father of Plagues[1a] Fly Lord[5a] Grandfather King of Entropy[7a] Lord of All Things[4a] Lord of Decay Lord of Disease[1b] Lord of Pestilences Nuglitch[4a] Plaguefather Plague God[1c] Plague Lord[4c] Lord Leech[8a] |
| Domains | Contagions[1a] Diseases Morbidity Physical corruption |
| Type | Elemental deity Chaos God |
| Status | Active |
| Aspects | King of All Flies[6a] Mother Mort[6a] Nieglen[5a] Onogal[5a] Rusting Patriarch[6a] |
| Home | Manse of Nurgle |
| Relatives | Khorne (brother) Slaanesh (brother) Tzeentch (brother) 7 unknown siblings |
| Affiliation | Chaos |
| Followers | Daemons of Nurgle Nurgle Rotbringers Tamurkhan's Horde |
| Adjectives | Nurglite |
Nurgle is one of the Gods of Chaos and presides over physical corruption, morbidity, diseases and contagions. He concocts foul contagions that he inflicts upon the mortal world, and is deeply fascinated by its results. Nurgle's power is less stable than that of it's brothers and although he is no necessarily weaker he is ranked behind Khorne and Tzeentch. His strength is much like a plague, quickly growing in power like an epidemia, surpassing that of the other gods, before consuming itself again and waning.[1a]
Manifestation
His maw is ulcerated and has many lesser mouths that cover his bulk. When the mortal realms are tormented by plagues Nurgle swells like a blood-bloated tick. During these events his leathery skin stretches so wide that not even the smallest of Nurglings can nestle inside him. Yet when diseases weaken, the god shrinks into a ragged mass, covered in flaps of haggard skin, swinging and rippling with every step.[1c] He has blighted lungs that flap in a long-rotted chest everytime he breaths deeply. His brows are like mountain ranges, covered in hillock pimples that squirt pus whenever they furrow. His lips are ravaged and rubbery with a long black tongue he uses to taste his concoctions. He has vast flabby hands and a mountainous gut.[3]
Personality
His greed is such that he wanted all of the Mortal Realms for himself, attracted by the bountiful life that lives there. But he coveted the Realm of Ghyran above all others.[1c]
Power
Whenever Nurgle is extremely furious his booming words will ripple across the cosmos causing unsettled stomachs and troubling bowels.[3]
Religion
Aspects and Alternate names
There are many ways by which Nurgle is worshipped by the Slaves to Darkness, those tribes and nations that turned to worshipping Chaos. Just a few of these alternate names and aspects of the primordial plague god are:
- King of All Flies: A primordial god of the cycle of life and death, as well as a deity of decay.[6a]
- Mother Mort: The kindly Mother Mort is worshipped among the tribes that are spread out across the Ghyranite Kingdom of Erosia. As is common with most aspects of Nurgle, this goddess gifts come in the form of rot, decay, and an inevitable end. It is through her patronage that the Slaves to Darkness of Erosia have survived.((Fn|6a}}
- Neiglen: A primordial god of the cycle of life and death, as well as a deity of decay.[4a][6a]
- Onogal: A primordial god of the cycle of life and death, as well as a deity of decay.[4a][6a]
- Rusting Patriarch: A primordial god of the cycle of life and death, as well as a deity of decay.[6a]
History
Entering the Mortal Realms
Nurgle, like the other Dark Gods, was unable to send is agents to the Mortal Realms at first due to the purity of their magic and the ignorance of its natives about the Gods of Chaos. He first gained access when the Warlocks of the Seven Mulch in the Realm of Ghyran brewed a cauldron of pox and used it to poison the lands of their rivals, so they could boast having the biggest harvest. This made Nurgle chuckle fondly.[4b]
Age of Chaos
During the Age of Chaos, both Tzeentch and Nurgle claimed short periods of ascendancy and, while Tzeentch was worried that Khorne's dominion was lasting too long, Nurgle was unconcerned. He knew his time was coming and could already feel his might returning. Behind the mighty hordes of Khorne tendrils of contagion and contamination spread, creating rot within the defenders who still defied Chaos. These pockets of resistance of grew increasingly more desperate, diseased and decayed, while the minion lurked across the mortal realms, except for the Celestial Realm.[1c]
But it was the Realm of Life that attracted his attention and where his plague legions ravaged for centuries. Three different spearheads, each one led by a champion of Nurgle, attacked this realm at all times, competing for supremacy and contaminating all they touched in search of Alarielle. The nations of Mankind in Ghyran were destroyed, cities died of plague and it's people were slaughtered, enslaved or converted into their cause. The once beautiful landscape and the cycle of life of Ghyran was corrupted into it's most loathsome forms.[1c]
Times of Tribulations
While concocting a plague in his cauldron, he felt something strange with the broth. He tasted it and felt the bland taste of ashes and lifeless dust, as the cauldron's surface turned into a landscape of dunes with marching skeletons removed from the cycle of life and death that Nurgle favoured by a force of undeath and stasis. The cauldron's rim, fashioned from a snake eating its own tail vomited itself, spilling the concoction all over the floor of his mansion. Nurgle in a fit of panic tried to keep the brooth inside and shoved the tail back in the serpent's mouth. This portent left Nurgle indignant, anguish turning to fury as he saw that that vision predicted that his children would be taken away forever.[3]
Forces dedicated to Nurgle
Maggotkin of Nurgle
The Maggotkin of Nurgle are entropy and disease incarnate. At the command of the putrid god they spread diseases across the Mortal Realms, refusing to allow anything to get in the way of carrying out their holy mission.[10a]
Rotbringers of Nurgle
Nurgle's gaze is drawn to mortal followers bloated with disease and he unashamedly favours those who spread disease in his name, revelling in the results of their actions, as such the Rotbringers are pre-eminient among his mortal followers.[1a] Many of his mortal followers come from nations destroyed by his Plague Legions, either corrupted by the promises of powers or the chance of surviving the poxes that his influence spreads.[1c]
Noteworthy amongst the Rotbringers is the following cult:
- Rotmire Creed: A society of swamp-dwelling Chaos cultists who wield disease as a weapon, infecting their foes with all manner of flesh-rotting blights.[8]
Plague Legions
The daemon legions of the Plaguefather are appropriately known as the Plague Legions. These daemonic forces are at the forefront of Nurgle's wars in both the Mortal Realms and the wars with his brother gods in the Realm of Chaos.[9a]
Tamurkhan's Horde
Tamurkhan's Horde is an army of both mortals and daemons bound to will of Tamurkhan, an unrelenting conqueror from the World-That-Was and with Kazyk the Befouled as one of his most trusted lieutenants. This army includes Daemon Plague Toads and the knight that ride on their back, the Daemon Pox Riders, for the daemonic side and Bile Troggoths and Plague Ogors on the mortal side.[14]
Rotfrays
Amongst the Greatfrays of the Beasts of Chaos there are some who embrace the worship of Nurgle known as Rotfrays. They are Nurgle-worshipping beastmen that gather in feculent herds that bring disease and woe to the Mortal Realms. They see themselves as martyrs, beseeching the plague god to erode and decompose civilized lands so that the wilderness might grow in their place. Because they know their deaths are part of a cycle of rot and reformation, they fight without fear, often using the fact that when they are wounded, it will spray out pus and foetid blood to infect their foes.[13a]
Nurgle-Marked Warbands
The Slaves to Darkness are the mortal followers of the Chaos gods, and those who pledged their soul to Nurgle have the Mark of Nurgle upon their bodies. This mark improves their resistance in battle as well as the ability to spread the contagions of the Grandfather to their enemies.[12a]
Chaos Cults of Nurgle
Hidden within the bulwarks of Sigmar's civilizations are Chaos Cults dedicated to Nurgle. These cultists seek to bring ruin unto their own cities, hoping to spread the vile blessings of Nurgle to their fellow citizens and the very lands they call home.[11a][11b]
See Also
- For Nurgle in the World-that-was see: Nurgle.
Sources
- 1: Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
- 2: What's New Today: 2015/08/15
- 3: Malign Portents
- 4: Age of Sigmar: Core Book (2nd Edition)
- 5: Soulbound Core Rulebook
- 5a: Chapter Ten: Religion & Belief
- 6: Battletome: Slaves to Darkness (2019)
- 6a: Endless Pantheons 14-15
- 7: White Dwarf December 2021
- 7a: Realmscapes: The Jade Kingdoms
- 8: Warcry: Warband Tome - Rot and Ruin
- 9: Battletome: Maggotkin of Nurgle
- 9a: Avatars of Corruption, Pg. 10-11
- 10: Age of Sigmar: Core Book (3rd Edition)
- 10a: Maggotkin of Nurgle, pg. 186-187
- 11: Soulbound: Cities of Flame
- 12: Battletome: Slaves to Darkness (2023)
- 12a: Marks of Chaos, pg. 70
- 13: Battletome: Beasts of Chaos (2018)
- 13a: Legendary Desecrators, pg. 22-27
- 14: Warhammer Legends: Tamurkhan's Horde
