Xaos

"He's got your back. That's what the Lord of Chaos is for!"

-Unnamed Chaos Priest, heard evangelizing in Baron, 6 WR

Chaos? Tell me more!

The Dark God known to the Web as Chaos was part of the alliance of evil deities who put their backing behind the Dark Wrath during the Great War. Chaos is an oddity among the gods of the Web in that none quite know where, when or how he originated, and he cannot be tied directly to any known culture or dimension in the Web of Worlds. His profile is associated with Chaos (hence the permutation of his true name), Entropy, and here and there a little bit of good old Insanity. There are many things that make Xaos the terror he is; he loves the four cardinal elements of magic (earth, air, fire and water) so much that he seeks their destruction -- crumbling stone, stale air, snuffed fires and contaminated water are most sacred things to him.

For as long as there have been men of magic (especially Black Mages) seeking power, there has been Xaos to offer it to them. In exchange for destruction and sacrifice, Xaos gives men the tools for the same. For with the greatest of magics come the most pure and complete destructive acts; every use, every casting destroys and speeds the cause of blessed Entropy. What more could a Dark God desire?

Any fellowships that have been devoted to Chaos over the years have been cult-like, which best befits the nature of the philosophy Chaos espouses. Traces of his influence and past cult worship activities of Chaos can be found in most of the Core dimensions, but the largest Chaos cults have been in Crystal (where Xaos was resurrected during the Great War), Esper and Dragon (where he was once known to have tricked a sect of Tyranids into becoming his fellowship, earning that Goddess' eternal enmity). In the Fringe, the only place where Chaos has had worshippers is on World I of the Merge Dimension. This, scholars believe, is the hidden bastion of Chaos, his strongest base of support and worship in all the Web of Worlds, although none can conclusively say whether or not this was, in fact, where Chaos originated from.

Xaos has had many incarnations through the millenia, visited many worlds and seduced many wizards into sowing destruction and death. The ritual to raise Chaos and bring him to the mortal world is simple, but requires powerful magics. Essential and pure quantities of the energies of the four cardinal elements are required, and a mortal of naive purity must be offered up and sacrificed that his flesh might become the Dark Lord's vessel on the physical plane.

In ages past, rituals to summon Chaos have variously involved collecting Elemental Crystals (as those in the Crystal and Merge Dimensions), but in Xaos' most recent incarnation, he was summoned by the Dark Gods Maitreya and Thanatos, who substituted the extracted elemental essences of the Toroian nature goddess Alena to fuel the resurrection.

After the Great War, Xaos went with his bretheren to the Place Which Is No More in banishment and shame. Like any Dark God who's worth the name, he vowed vengeance and swore he would find a way to return. He may or may not have been shaking his fist in the air as he said this.

Philosophy and Practices

The Merge cult is the oldest known group of Chaos worshippers, and unlike the cults that have sprung up in other dimensions (especially around the time of the Great War), the Merge Chaos cult is believed to have been continuous even into the post-Great War era (in which Chaos has been banished to the Place Which Is No More).

Cutls in the Web outside of Merge have developed along similar lines, practices and beliefs as the Merge cult. The signature emblem of the cult is a large black "X." The history behind this rather humble iconography is not known, although it is carried over into cult language (as all known Chaos cults have originated in Common-speaking communities) by the substitution of "ch" with "x" in both spelling and pronunciation. In the latter case, there seem to be no constants: cultists frequently interchange the "-cks" and "z" pronunciations of the letter "X" with more uncommon "sh" or "zh" sounds. In some cases, cultists use a hard "K" sound, or even retain the original pronunciation of the word. They may even change their own standard on how to pronounce the substituted "X" within the same word, in the same conversation.

A good example of this is the name of the deity himself, Chaos. Cultists spell his name "Xaos," and have varying accepted pronunciations. The two most common ways of saying it are to just pronounce it as the word "chaos," or with a "Z", in which case the "a" is often run-over and it comes out sounding like "Zoss." Some scholars have put forward the theory that this is closer to the sound of the being's original name in whatever tongue or culture he sprang from. They also point out that Chaos, true to his nature and name, more than likely revels in the simple confusion which surrounds something so simple as what to call the god, or even how to say his name.

Derivative of Xaos and the practice of X-for-CH substitution, cultists have a variety of names for themselves, their beliefs and their organizations. A few of these are: Xildren of Xaos, Xaosmen (alternate spelling: Xaosmin, Kaosmyn, Chaosmen, etc), Xaotics (alternate spellings: Xaotix, Xaotiks, Xaotiqs, Chaotics, Kaotix, etc), and Xaositects (alternate spellings: Xaositex, Xaositeks, Xaositeqs). During the Great War, they were collectively known as Anarchs, Anarchists or Entropists, derived from what was known of their belief structure; or simply they were also called Chaos Priests. They were often easily identified by very visible tattoos of black Xs, and by their habit of dressing in extravagant jester's motley. However, some cults were more subtle, and did their best to hide their devotion in public. These wore the motley when spreading destruction and entropy in the name of holy Xaos, but they then would meticulously maintain a double life as normal citizens. In the post-Great War era, devotees are much more subdued, wearing motley only when meeting with their fellows and sporting "X" brand tattoos that are more easily hidden under clothing.

Perhaps it is time to speak of what the followers of Chaos actually believe. Simply put, as much as anything about them, this is hardest to pin down. Ultimately, it can be said that Chaos seeks to espouse in mortals a thirst for destruction, a love of entropy and the breakdown of order, and the death of ideas and institutions as much as beings. Chaos and his priests stirred the Chaos cults into a fervor of rebellious activity where ever they sprang up, and so most were systematically weeded out by the governments they threatened. Only in Merge did Chaos seem to espouse any hint of caution and pragmatism; perhaps because he knew he would need a reserve of entrenched worshippers in order to survive and continue sowing cults across the Web.

Powers of the Xaosmen

The cultists of the Dark God Chaos were feared where ever they were encountered. Only the diligent hunting of the Tahranists kept their numbers from becoming so large as to become a problem, but when the Dark Wrath took control of Baron the Xildren had a safe haven in the Web -- along with the priests of all the other Dark Gods, including (but not limited to) the Tyranids (with whom Xaosmen often quarreled), the Gingrim and the Graulemn.

The powers of the Xaosmen are difficult to outline effectively, for they varied widely from cult sect to cult sect, and even among individuals. Chaos did grant magic to his faithful -- typically destructive magic rather than any powers that might be curative or defensive in nature -- but he rarely granted the same suite of powers to any two individuals, and he showed enormous favoritism to some Xaosmen over others -- and often with little rhyme or reason.

The Xildren of Xaos were all charged with one sacred mission, which they viewed as the most holy undertaking of mortal existence: the furtherance of Entropy. Typical cult activity ranged from arson and demolitions of public structures -- an act that was doubly sacred to the Xaotix, for it not only brought speedy ruin to an artifice of man, but also to the institutions of man as chaos was sown in the community -- to the destruction of the faith of the pious, and the infliction of insanity and dimentia among those who held places of status and respect in well-ordered society. To the ultimate aim of bringing ruin and entropy to all things, all Xaosmen were known to have (at the very least) the following three powers in common -- although the strength of each power would vary wildly between individuals, again to suit some unknowable aim of the Dark God himself.

Laugh of Madness

Like the Tyranids and followers of k'Tyr, the Xildren of Xaos hold a special kind of reverence for madness, insanity and dimentia. According to most cult sects of Xaosmen, insanity was equivalent to a state of enlightenment. It was believed that only the mad could see the world not as it was, but rather as it should be. And this was why, according to Xaotic theory, the mad were mad: because they had severed their ties to all that was artificial and destined for entropy's embrace, and saw the world in a constant state of degradation -- or else believed it had all melted away into nothingness already. Other cult sects just liked to spread insanity because it was funny. But to whatever end, Xaos endowed his Xildren with the ability to "bless" those they minister to with induced states of "enlightenment," effected with a haunting (some might say menacing) peal of laughter. In reality, the Laugh is no blessing. It is a weapon by which a Xaositect may assault and damage the structures and order of the mental realm. The laughter is in fact a verbally-issued enchantment: a curse which induces a temporary state of insanity in an intended victim (who must be able to hear the laugh in order for it to be effective). Depending on the magnitude of this power, and the extend to which the Xaotic is "blessed" by Chaos, the madness induced by the Laugh can last anywhere from a few hours to a number of years.

Entropy Blades

Xaotix are able to summon forth weapons to use in their defense. These weapons are comprised of nothingness sharper than any sword, and are so dark and devoid of light that they glow. They weigh next to nothing, and yet are so dense they cannot be lifted by those who have not accepted Xaos and the sanctity of entropy. The Xaosmen preach that these implements are yet another blessing of the faith: proof that Xaos loves those who embrace the Truth of Decay and provides for their protection. These are not merely limited to being defensive weapons, however. They are weapons to be used by Xaos' pawns to tear down the order of the physical world. A touch or a cut from one of these blades can inflict any number of maladies to any real substance it strikes: be it stone, metal, wood, earth or flesh. The more favored Xaositects have Entropy Blades which can disintegrate or degrade matter on contact -- the less favored cultists, for whatever reason, simply wield weapons which are really really sharp, and occassionally have corrosive/venomous qualities.

Magnification of Doubt

This, in the eyes of the traditional foes of Xaositects (Tahranists, and in the modern age the Paladins Templar), is the most insidious power that Chaos gives his cultists. Xildren of Xaos have a mild form of empathy that enables them to sense the faith and beliefs of those they come into contact with. The Xildren say they use this power to feel the true spiritual needs of those they preach to, to better serve their cause and the lost souls they are meant to be helping. In actuality, this power (as much as any of Chaos' other gifts) is a weapon. A weapon designed to tear down the walls that faith builds within the human heart. It is a tool meant to be used to destroy the order of the spirit. By reading a victim's faith, a Xaositect can work to undermine that faith by employing limited charm and illusion effects to unearth and amplify deeply hidden doubts that even the most devout of men secretly harbor within them. The more favored the Xaosman, the more potent his ability to read and sap a victim's spirit.