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"Cher-holera, tie-eye-phoid, cern-sum’shun, hally-toze-iss! Black plague, white plague, bloody red ’n’ brarn plague! Can-ker, way-ster, foot-an’-marf, fester!
New-moniaaa, bu-bonicaaa, neeeew-mo-niaaa, beeewboney-caaa!
Runnin’ sores, seepin’ sores, rottin’ sores, weepin’ sores! Eh-emfer-seemer, die-eye-a-rear, nasty caser wax in yer ear! Lerr-ustrian runs, Cathay tum, Tilean sick-nerrse of ther thumb!
New-moniaaa, bu-bonicaaa, neeeew-mo-niaaa, beeewboney-caaa!
Small pox, big pox, chicken pox, pig pox! Diseases of the eller-ment’ry kind, unease of the alleyment’ry kind! Common cold, infler-wenzer, nasty rash, dis-temper!
New-moniaaa, bu-bonicaaa, neeeew-mo-niaaa, beeewboney-caaa!
"

—Wormfingers, Plaguebearer

[3a]

Warhammer Daemons of Chaos Plaguebearer

A Deamonic Plaguebearer of Nurgle

Plaguebearers, known also as the Tainted Ones, the One-Eyed Rotters, Horned Rotbags, Maggotkin, Rotbearers and the Tallymen of Plagues, are the rank and file of Nurgle’s legions, crafted from the soul-stuff of mortals who have been slain by Nurgle's Rot.[2a] What little of the Plaguebearer’s skin that can be seen beneath the discharge of innumerable sores is tinged with suppuration greens and vile browns. Pus weeps continuously from its single bloodshot eye and from the Daemon’s forehead protrudes a single horn - the mark of Nurgle’s Rot. Bands of Plaguebearers are the most organised and efficient of Daemons upon the battlefield. It is the Plaguebearer’s eternal role to herd Nurgle’s daemonic forces in battle, as well as keep stock of the diseases, allocate appropriate fates to each new victim and attempt to maintain order amongst a naturally chaotic horde.[1a]

Regiments of Plaguebearers are surrounded by a constant drone. This thrumming sound is created by the attendant hosts of plump black flies, and by the endless counting as the Daemons attempt to calculate their master’s ever-changing requirements. A multitude of Plaguebearers counting all at once produces a sound so sonorous and penetrating that it is enough itself to make a mortal feel distincdy unwell. It is all but impossible to tally anything amid the chaos of batde, though this in no way discourages the Plaguebearers from their efforts. They are the embodiment of the need of mortal creatures to impose meaning upon an uncaring void.[1a]

The Maggotkin are especially foul, humanoid in shape but savaged by sickness and hunger. At the centre of their being is a grossly distended abdomen, split in places to reveal the gushing organs within and the wriggling maggots that feast on the rot. Resting above this prodigious bulk is a gaunt rib cage covered by thin green or ochre flesh that testifies to their master’s nature. Two spindly limbs just barely bear their sack-like bodies, bent by pestilence so virulent it warps the bones. Of all of their features, it is the egg-shaped head perched on a thin neck that’s the most disturbing. Its single, large eye situated in the center of its face weeps thick sludge, shadowed by the horn that pierces the cankerous flesh on its brow. Beneath the eye is a wormy mouth, slick with the filth dripping from is rolling eye. It is a thing to be detested, but it is a thing of power. Venerated by the Chaos cults of the Lord of Despair, the Tainted Ones are living symbols of Nurgle’s blessings, personifying all that the Dark God is. By embracing the nature of these fiends, the cultists learn to accept their own corruptions and grow beyond them. Those few who foolishly stand against the Plaguebearers, they learn a terrible lesson about slow, leprous death.[2a]

Sources

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (8th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 45
  • 2: Tome of Corruption (2nd Edition Fantasy Roleplay)
    • 2a: pg. 228
  • 3: Old World Beastiary (2nd Edition Fantasy Roleplay)
    • 3a: pg. 20
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