#Merry Maladies (Cauldron Concoctions);

[nurrgleth]

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 - 𝘋𝘢𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘩

It is rare that Nurgle and Slaanesh have genuine reason to come to blows. When they do it commonly due to meddling or entreaty by other powers-- Tzeentch has lured Slaanesh into wars against the Fly Lord and Khorne has dealt with Nurgle to present a joint force against the Dark Prince. However, these two powers have little reason to naturally come to blows.

Slaaneshi daemons thrive on sensation, and the Nurglish are all but dead when it comes to pain. The hedonites themselves can fall prey to Grandfather Nurgle's fetid touch and do so most easily among the daemons, but while this produces agony beyond description for them, it often renders the afflicted daemon unsightly. No few of Slaanesh's daemons have ended their own lives due to a persistent infection marring their flawless forms, choosing instead to reform in the warp with a (hopefully) unmarred body.

For their part, the Nurglish see no benefit to making war against the flitsome Slaaneshi. When it comes to speed, the pleasure-seekers far outclass them, meaning battles against them are difficult. Nurgle's legions are some of the few enemies Slaanesh's armies will find cause to use ranged weaponry against, preferring to keep them at a distance. But they are hardly the only ones who deploy projectiles and no few pompous Slaaneshi Champions have been splattered with the remains of a lobbed nurgling or stuck with the business end of some toxin-dipped arrow.

Barnacles

Inspired and named after the earth equivalent, Barnacles are were a not the result of malice, as Nurgle is at his core a caring and jovial being. The forces of the Plague Lord maintain that these parasitic sessile creatures that prefer to fasten themselves on the claws and chitin of Slaaneshi daemons were just a practical joke. The Slaaneshi daemons do not at all find it funny and any creature of the Dark Prince detouring through Nurgle's lands might pick up a juvenile cluster of these parasites if they tread through a swamp (or any other questionable liquid).

The effects are mostly aesthetic-- the Slaaneshi are known for their sleek smoothness and the barnacles throw this off by developing into clusters of unsightly, hard, raised mounds. Most Slaaneshi are fastidious enough to remove these before they become an issue. If allowed to spread, Barnacles can interfere with the speed and flexibility (and ego) of an afflicted Slaaneshi. They are not easy scrape off and many daemons opt for removed the afflicted body parts altogether.

Initially a harmless prank, the original Barnacles have evolved past their genesis into harmful organisms. Some force insensitivity into the body of the afflicted or even envenomate the host to the point of delirium, if not death. There is an internal version of this parasite, spread through sexual contact, that is far more aggressive and destructive to its host-daemon. This version high-jack the body of the host, turning the daemon into a locked-in zombie of itself. Slaaneshi suffering from an internal Nurglish Barnacle are immediately identifiable as shuffling, lurching creatures dispossessed of the usual grace inherent in the Darklings.

Nurgle insist that the evolutions were not at all his intention, but life finding a way, as it is known to do.

Shell-Rot

Shell Rot is a degenerative condition that affects the skin, scales, horns, and chitin of Slaaneshi daemons. It interferes with the regenerative abilities inherent in most daemons and instead, damns the Daemon to a slow and rotting death. Unlike Barnacles, Shell-Rot was concocted specifically as a weapon against the forces of Slaanesh. Cracking and reeking, the glossless chitin falls from the body of the daemon, revealing the ichor rich skin pulsing beneath. This disease was first introduced via Beasts of Nurgle, the Plaguelord sending his joyous slime hounds into battle the Prince's handmaidens and slayers. The Beasts were no match for the Slaaneshi, but few wins against Nurgle end with the final rotting soldier being cut down.

The only way to cure Shell Rot is complete removal of the dermis-- Daemons must flay themselves alive and they are denied the delicious agony of doing so. Some enterprising daemons who have suffered the rot and built immunity to it over several infections have turned the disease to their advantage, however, suffering the presence of a Beast of Nurgle carrying the disease in order to cow other Slaaneshi into submission.

[nurrgleth]

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 - 𝘋𝘢𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘒𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦

Though the effect of the Chaos Gods and their daemons is undeniable within the material world of Warhammer, the reality is that the vast majority of the endless Great Game takes place within the Warp, usually on the margins of a God's territory or within the Formless Wastes unclaimed by any but those few stalwart souls strong enough to maintain hellish fiefs and kingdoms in the spaces between the Godly Kingdoms.

And so it must follow that with his fellow gods and daemons as his primary enemies and his titles of Plaguelord and Master of Poxes being his foremost aliases, Nurgle's poxes must be concocted with the aim of weakening and killing his fellow daemons. Daemon-specific illnesses are unique in that, similar to Nurgle's rot, they target the soul itself rather than just the flesh. While daemons are said to be immune to mortal diseases, the mechanisms of the rot suggest that this does not encompass total immunity to all diseases.

And some of the most difficult daemons to infect and dispatch are the Children of Khorne. Khorne's tertiary aspect is a God of Fire, an element well known to scour even the most microscopic of life from the face of the world. Fire is particularly effective against Nurgle's forces, as it neutralizes their regenerative abilities and drastically lessens their infectivity. Add onto this that Khornate daemons are uniquely magic-immune as other daemons are not and a magic-based pox is particularly loathe to infect them.

However, determination is not just an aspect of the Blood Lord and to go along with it, Nurgle has diligence, patience, passion for his craft. With time, even the blood-hungry daemons of Khorne can fall to the poxes of the Plaguemaster.

Brass Rot

Brass Rot is one of the earliest successes to spring from the Plaguemaster's Cauldron of Maladies. Carried into war on the blades of Plaguebearers and Great Unclean Ones alike, it enters into the body through wounds made by such weapons. Eventually, the afflicted Khornate daemon notices their skin begin to rust and pit, turning brown like old blood or verdigris like oxidized metal. The active period and severity rate vary drastically; some cases are minor, with effects being largely cosmetic or limited to the lost of a few fingers or horns. Others are more serious loss of entire limbs, deep-tissue infections that interfere with organs, or a completely rusted state of paralysis. It bears some resemblance to gangrene or necrosis in humans.

Brass Rot's only flaw is it's very low infectivity rate from victim to victim. Afflicted individuals tend to not spread their disease, so while hailed as the first illness to afflict Daemons of Khorne broadly, it's sub-par infectivity makes it among one of Grandfather's least favorites. Still, some Plaguebearer Tallybands still carry this loathsome disease within their swords and rashes of it are known spring up every now and again in the Realm of Khorne.

Furor Cough

The Furor Cough was a "gift" from Nurgle to Khorne spawned after a perceived betrayal of the former by the latter. It was first discovered in the Blood God's beloved Flesh Hounds, a cruel disease that begins as a fairly innocuous cough, not dissimilar to kennel cough. This is where the disease gets it's name, but the prognosis is much more dire than a mere cough. This is followed by lethargy interrupted by increasingly frequent bouts of agitation and a loss of the Flesh Hound's normally impeccable balance as it descends into delirium. It finally becomes hydrophobic, salivating constantly and driven into violent hysterics when presented with water-- or blood. Spread through biting, Furor Cough is noted as being the first of the Khornate-viruses to to draw noticeable apprehension from the Daemons of Khorne.

Not at all restricted to Flesh Hounds, the disease can infect everything from Khornate Furies to mighty Bloodthirsters of Khorne and bears the most resemblance to the mortal Rabies disease. Unlike Rabies, however, it is not virtually fatal in all cases. The Khornate body undergoes a dramatic septic reaction in order to rid itself of the disease and while it might be successful, the damage to itself is also done. Cool blooded (hypothermia) and half-mad, very few Khornate Daemons who catch this disease recover to resume their old lives and none at all make a full recovery.

It was the Furor Cough that heralded the birth of the Slayers of Plague. While other denizens of the Ragelands fight mindlessly and for the sake of fighting, the Akhamshy'y'Nurgh specifically seek out and destroy Packs of Flesh Hounds thought to be infected by the virus.

Axeworms

Poxes are not the only things that the Plaguefather creates. He is also a connoisseur of Biological Weapons, though if asked he would claim this is a more of a dabble than a true trade. Axeworms are so named for their double-axe shaped heads and the amount of damage they can do when they enter the body. They are a Khornate specific parasite and contracted primarily during Khornate invasions within Nurgle's realm, namely his garden. Some Nurglish daemons act as intermediary hosts to these worms, resizing and multiplying within it's carrier's blood. When a Khornate kills the host and drenches itself in their life fluids, the worms are transferred to the Blood Daemon's skin, where they burrow into the body. Daemons of Khorne are their definitive host; these worms will remain in a dormant state if they find themselves within another type of daemon or even a mortal.

The Axeworms feed on blood, multiplying and enlarging itself as it feeds on the essence of it's Blood Daemon host whilst it violently rips its way through it's hosts flesh. Not only that, but it is a behavior-altering parasite, and one that causes the Blood Daemon to turn without warning on it's own kind. Since this behavior isn't abnormal among Khornates, detecting them is difficult, though chronic aches and pains are common. If the Infected Khornate is winning it's fight, it will continue to kill until there is nothing left but itself, then find more victims. However, if it is losing, it turns it's sword on itself, and sprays it's fellows in it's own infected blood as it lops off it's own head, spreading Nurgle's parasite and dishonoring the daemon it infected in one sweep of it's sword...