Tzeentch
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“Do not ask which creature screams in the night. Do not question who waits for you in the shadow. It is my cry that wakes you in the night, and my body that crouches in the shadow. I am Tzeentch and you are the puppet that dances to my tune...”
- - The Lord of Change.
Tzeentch, "The Lord of Change" (not to be confused with the Greater Daemon of the same name), is the god of sorcery and manipulation. Within the Realm of Chaos his domain covers the chaotic winds of magic, evolution and change, scheming and manipulation of all kinds, mundane as well as arcane. He is known under many other names, among them the Changer of Ways, the Grand Schemer and the Lord of Sorcery, and in the Chaos Wastes he is known as the Great Eagle. In the Age of Reckoning, the Northmen tribes that make up the army of Chaos worship him as the Raven God.
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[edit] Manifestation
As befitting the Changer of Ways, Tzeentch's appearance is constantly changing. Sometimes, however, he lets himself be seen as a daemonic figure; his face is puckered, and peaks out from his upper torso, such that his head is directly connected to his chest. Two great horns rise from his head, and he stands in a perpetual swirling mist. His skin constantly changes and is covered with always-morphing faces which mock those upon whom they look. When Tzeentch speaks, these faces repeat every word, but often with subtle and important differences in meaning. Other times, he may look completely different, or appear simply as a cloud of energy that constantly changes color and shape.
[edit] The Cult of Tzeentch
[edit] Mortal followers of Tzeentch
While not as numerous or as obvious as the followers of Khorne, Tzeentch nevertheless has a strong and firm hold on the hands and minds of mortals. In fact, many more mortals serve him than are aware of it, his scheming and many names often obscuring the true force behind events.
Mortal worshippers of Tzeentch tend to be sorcerers, wizards, scholars and other educated elites who desire greater knowledge and power. Some of these worshippers become very powerful sorcerers, but Tzeentch has a tendency to mutate his followers, and the highest levels of power are said to be difficult for his followers to reach, as they frequently find themselves mutated into mindless beasts. Those who do attain great power in service of Tzeentch, however, are extremely powerful foes who are often mighty sorcerers as well as great warriors.
Additionally, while Khorne frowns upon sorcery and subtlety in all its forms, Tzeentch has no such qualms about using and manipulating brutish might when it strikes his fancy. As such, while Khorne has no sorcerer followers, Tzeentch assembles armies from all walks of life; anyone who inflicts or incurs great change, in himself or his surroundings, is likely to fall under the gaze of the Lord of Change.
[edit] Tzeentch Daemons
As with any chaos lord, a host of daemons follow the Lord of Change. Tzeentch's daemons tend to be bird-like in nature, or mutated to the point of unrecognizability.
- Horrors are the most prolific daemon, an ever-shifting mass of flesh, limbs, and flame-spewing orifices. Horrors are capable of unleashing magical powers upon their foes.
- Flamers are slightly more powerful, with numerous gaping maws that produce the searing flames which give these daemons their unsubtle name. They frequently fight alongside Horrors; like Horrors, they are able to unleash magical blasts of energy upon their foes.
- Screamers are Ray-like creatures that swoop down on foes and cut them apart with their sharp tusks, but prefer to emit an unholy scream, that damages and terrifies most mortals.
- Lords of Change are the most powerful daemon of Tzeentch, typically a large bird-like winged daemon of vast intellect and massive sorcerous power. They are described as large winged bipedal creatures with snake-like necks and avian heads. The creatures often are multi-colored, especially their wings.
- Flying discs are disc-like melds of magic, metal, and daemon, and are often used as transports for mortal champions. They are capable of lashing out upon nearby foes utilizing short ranged lightning blasts or magically manifesting tentacles for attacking.
- The Blue Scribes of Tzeentch are two Horrors, named P'tarix and Xirat'p, who have been tasked by the Great Sorceror to learn every spell in existence, for in each spell lies a lost fragment of Tzeentch that he wishes to reclaim. The Scribes ride their Disc of Tzeentch through the realms of mortal and Daemon, binding the lost fragments of their God in parchment and ink. Tzeentch bestowed the extra intelligence of the Scribes with safeguards against betrayal; P'tarix can transcribe the syllables of magic spells into runes and glyphs, but cannot read his own writings. Xirat'p can read his brother's scrawls, but cannot understand them. Beause of this, Xirat'p is able to cast spells by reading from P'tarix's writings, but cannot predict which spell he is going to cast; thus, the Blue Scribes create havoc in combat as they unleash a barrage of random spell effects on any who threaten them.
- The Changeling personifies the part of Tzeentch's psyche that is the meddler, the deceiver, the trickster. He can take the form of other beings, from the tiniest of insects to the most massive of Greater Daemons. None, save perhaps Tzeentch himself, know the Changeling's true form, for he goes cowled and cloaked when in his own shape - perhaps even the Changeling himself has forgotten it. Not only can the Changeling mirror the form of another, he can adopt mannerisms and personalities in so flawless a fashion that even the Dark Gods can be deceived. In all of creation there is only one entity that the Changeling cannot duplicate: the Great God Tzeentch himself. The Grand Schemer will not suffer any being to steal his identity, even for a moment.
[edit] Miscellaneous
There exists a permanent state of rivalry among the Chaos Lords. Where Tzeentch represents change, evolution and longterm planning, his enemy Nurgle is a god of decay and destruction, opposing all that Tzeentch seeks to build. This relationship has an effect on the nature of the armies that follow Tzeentch. The Chaos God Khorne also has a deep distrust of Tzeentch, and will not allow his followers to become sorcerers. When the armies of Chaos march together for war, it is usually Tzeentch who instigates these brief alliances, for whatever unfathomable goal he happens to have planned. WAR is no exception.
Tzeentch's sacred number is nine; as such, his followers frequently take to the battlefield in squads made up of multiples of nine. The colors used to represent Tzeentch are generally blue, purple, yellow, and gold.
| The Gods of Chaos | |
|---|---|
| Khorne • Nurgle • Slaanesh • Tzeentch |
