Nurgle

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A Great Unclean One, a major servant of Nurgle, overlooking an army or Nurgle, as depicted on the cover of Realm of Chaos:The Lost and the Damned

In the fictional universes of Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy, Nurgle is one of the four major Chaos gods. Like his brother gods, Nurgle grew from a single survivalist emotion: in his case, the emotion was despair. Nurgle is the Chaos god of disease, decay, despair and destruction. Despite the nature of his influence, he takes a keen interest in his victims, caring for them in a jovial manner similar to a loving grandfather; for this reason he is frequently referred to as Grandfather Nurgle or Papa Nurgle, as well as the Lord of Decay, Master of Plague and Pestilence and Lord of All. He is depicted as a huge, bloated humanoid, covered with boils and sores, his body completely rotten from disease. He is typically accompanied by an enveloping cloud of buzzing flies.

Like all of the four major Chaos gods, Nurgle is opposed by one of his fellows. In Nurgle's case, his antithesis is Tzeentch, the god of change and sorcery. Where Nurgle is the deified embodiment of mortal despair, Tzeentch is the deified embodiment of mortal ambition. This antagonistic relationship affects the armies dedicated to each god. The correct adjective to indicate individuals and events related to this God is "Nurglesque".

[edit] Cult of Nurgle

[edit] Mortals

As the lord of disease and decay, Nurgle's followers are vastly interested in spreading disease. His followers, in both game settings, become infected with horrific diseases and plagues. In the Warhammer 40,000 setting, Nurgle is served primarily by the Chaos Space Marines of the Death Guard legion, although other legions also occasionally serve him. Like their Fantasy counterparts, these "Plague Marines" take on the diseases of their patron, seeking to further spread them throughout the galaxy. This causes their bodies to rot, making them more difficult to incapacitate as they become immune to pain and injury, and in the case of more dedicated champions, the diseases, particularly the disease called "Nurgle's Rot" can actually spread during battles, quickly incapacitating opponents. Nurgle's sacred number in Warhammer 40,000 is seven, so Plague Marines are frequently formed in units consisting of a multiple of seven.

[edit] Daemons

Various daemons are available to followers of Nurgle. What follows is a list of these, and a brief in-universe description:

• Nurglings are tiny, mischievous daemons, resembling a miniaturized version of Nurgle himself. They normally appear in monstrous 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 host.
• Beasts of Nurgle The Beast of Nurgle is a truly horrendous aberration. It has the soft, sticky and mottled body of a pallid slug and a face of writhing green tentacles, they secrete a caustic slime of which they leave large trails in their wake and are often described as playful in almost a puppy-like manner, often poisoning and contaminating their would-be "friends" with their eager manifestations of affection. Note that Beasts of Nurgle have not appeared in the the last 2 versions of the Chaos Space Marine Codex but are now avalible in the new choas daemon codex.
• 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. Plaguebearers are said to be humans who were transfigured into daemons by the disease Nurgle's Rot, which they are cursed to carry throughout eternity. They are also referred to as 'Tallymen', for they constantly strive to number the poxes and represent the need of humanity to impose order on a chaotic and uncaring universe.
• Great Unclean Ones are massive, bloated disease carriers, whose decaying flesh bulges with corpulent cancers. They usually carry a titanic rusted blade into battle. They generally act as the leaders and father figures for the other daemons, epitomizing Nurgle's joyful, paternal nature, but fly into terrifying rages if their 'children' are threatened. Due to their bloated bodies Great Unclean Ones are extremely hard to kill. It is from their bloated bodies that the Nurglings are born.

[edit] Character Influences

• Nurgle shares his name with Nergal, an ancient Babylonian god of war, pestilence and destruction.

[edit] Influence

There is a Metal band on Swallow Death Records called "Nurgle's Rot", which is an ability of some Death Guard pieces and other Nurgle legion specific pieces. The band open up each set with a prayer to Nurgle and plays songs about different elements of the Warhammer Universe, among other things.

[edit] Nurgle's Nymphs

There is also an adult website called Nurgle's Nymphs. The relation other than the name is unclear.

[edit] References

• Thorpe, Gavin; Priestley, Rick; Reynolds, Anthony and Cavatore, Alessio (2002). Warhammer Armies: Hordes of Chaos. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-222-9. 
• Chambers, Andy; Haines, Pete; Hoare, Andy; Kelly, Phil, and McNeill, Graham (2002). Warhammer 40,000: Codex Chaos Space Marines, 2nd Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-322-5. 

[edit] External links

• [1] Papanurgle.com, Nurgle information and message boards