Withered Hands

"Nurgle knows the truth about the universe, while other gods concern themselves on their own petty squabbles or indulge in their fleeting desires, the Grandfather sees the truth. In the end even the mightiest of realms crumble, allowing new strength rise. It is happening to your empire as well brother, the corpse of the emperor holds humanity down, keeping it in stagnation and preventing it from flourishing under a new banner. Only the path of Nurgle will allow humanity to achieve its new golden age, and as his agent I will see to that, even if I have to use your corpse for its foundation."

- Sclerios Urman

The Withered Hands are a Chaos Space Marine warband that splintered off from the traitorous Death Guard over ideological differences on the will of Nurgle. This would eventually lead to the conquering of their home world of Carcino by the Chaos champion Typhus. Despite their exile, the Withered Hands still remain loyal to Nurgle and their Primarch Mortarion, but they believe Typhus has become selfish only intent to overthrowing Mortarion and achieving apotheosis into a Greater Daemon Prince instead of truly fulfilling the desires of their god.

For a time, the warband wandered the galaxy spreading diseases that weaken the minds and bodies of their foes so they either be brought into the fold of their warband or eliminated so their forces can thrive. Eventually the warband caught the ire of the White Scars after attempting to steal their precious gene seed and were hunted down and eliminated. This loss festered in the Warband for centuries leading them to assault the location where this insult occurred. The Withered Hands are now interlocked in combat the resident Iron Bison chapter in a series of conflicts known as the Pox Wars.

Warband History
For millennia, the original members of the Withered Hands served as Death Guard toiling faithfully under Mortarion’s rule. Though they looked like a standard Chaos Marine of Nurgle, under their armor there were major differences. The plagues of Grandfather did not grant them a bloated form filled with weeping pustules or open wounds filled with rotting organs, instead they took on a more desiccated appearance. Their skin was drawn taught over their muscles as if it were mummified, constantly cracking and flaking off, blemishes and bruises of varying colors covered their body and their eyes had a sunken and tired expression. If it were not for their apparent ability to function, many would claim their bodies had atrophied. While this form was limited to only a few individuals, they discovered that when they were the ones to administer the gene seed to new recruits, these aspirants would get the same appearance as themselves. Since their numbers were few amongst the Death Guard it was merely assumed it was just one of the many forms that Nurgle’s gifts had manifest itself, so no real notice was given to them.

"The Revelation"
It was not until visions started plaguing the mind of one Sclerios Urman, that the Withered Hands began to break off from their brethren. Sclerios was one of the first Death Guard to exhibit the peculiar physical form that all Withered Hands express today, and in the beginning Sclerios served Mortarion loyally on the Plague Planet in the warp, but eventually the traitor began to experience strange dreams as more marines with similar physical deformities began to appear. The visions were always the same, Sclerios saw the Emperor of Mankind in his full glory standing before him on Holy Terra. As the dream progressed the Emperors form withered away to his skeletal form and collapsed, all the while the buildings of Terra rusted and crumbled into ruin. For what seemed like eternity, the corpse emperor’s body remained in the stagnating remains of the once great Empire, until a green bolt of lightning struck the Emperor’s body destroying them completely. With the corpse of the emperor gone, a lush garden of mutated plants suddenly sprung forth spreading as a far as the eye could see. For several years this dream would occur at random intervals becoming more intense and vivid as more chaos space marines with became afflicted with the withered form, now dubbed by their kin as The Mark of Desiccation. At first Sclerios ignored these as fever dreams, but as he noticed the correlation between the marines with the Mark of Desiccation and the intensity of these hallucinations, he began to see them as a sign from Nurgle. Sclerios approached his Primarch with his visions, stating that this was a sign that Nurgle wanted the Death Guard to spread out from the Eye of Terror erode and eliminate the current structure of the Imperium of Man which had stagnated into a state of ruin both physically and theologically. Only when humanity was removed from the burdens imposed by the Emperor of Man and his ideals would they flourish as a species under the will of Nurgle. While Mortarion mused at the though of tearing down his Father’s Empire, he ultimately refused Sclerios’s request to leave the warp, saying he no longer cared for Terra or revenge only wanting to rule Plague Planet.

"To Challenge a Primarch"
After his first attempt at convincing his Primarch to leave the warp was rebuked, Sclerios returned to his services enduring the bombardment of visions that only seemed to increase in frequency as time passed. Eventually the marine could take it no more and sent himself into a self-imposed exile on the most remote swamp of the planet to contemplate his situation. Resting amongst slime covered trees of the marsh, Sclerios began to weigh his options he did not wish to betray his Primarch but he fully believed the visions he experienced were indeed a message from Nurgle. It was then that the marine was set upon by beastmen looking to kill the distracted Death Guard in an attempt to please the god of plagues. Sclerios was severely outnumbered and while he was quick to dispatch several beastmen it became apparent he would not survive the outcome. Accepting his fate, the marine called out Nurgles name as he dove into the horde only to release a great burst of green miasma that spread out several meters. When Sclerios came too most of his assailants were dead their bodies shriveled and dried out as if they had spent a century under a scorching sun in a barren desert. The surrounding plant life also received the same treatment plants were withered and the viscous fluids covering them had dried and were cracking. Those beastmen who survived were cowering before the marine mumbling and praying in their incomprehensible tongue and pointing at the marine’s right hand which now glowed with the Holy Symbol of Nurgle. Sclerios made his decision, telling the beastmen that they were to follow him now and that they should gather their tribes as he would show them the true path of Nurgle.

Returning to the Death Guard Sclerios gathered all the marines bearing the Mark of Desiccation and marched to the Primarch’s fortress demanding an audience. When the Death Guard attempted to stop him Sclerios used his new power to sap the warriors of their strength and endurance allowing he and his marines and beastmen to rally at the front doors of Mortarion’s Fortress. The Primarch appeared bellowing that this coup would fail, he would suffer Tyhpus’s defiance but none from any other, and that any traitors that challenged him would meet their death at his scythe. Sclerios stepped forward kneeling before his father claiming he had no intention of ever usurping the Daemon Primarch, but he believed that Nurgle was calling him to fulfill a purpose for himself and his brothers showing the mark on his hand to Mortarion. While he could not force his master to leave the warp, he knew that he must, and was willing to challenge his Primarch for that right even though doing so would mean certain death. Mortarion once again paused and contemplated the situation, although this outright insubordination could potentially hurt his stature amongst the Death Guard, he admired the marine’s courage reminding him of how he challenged his adoptive father back on Barbarus for the sake of his people. Mortarion granted Sclerios request, allowing him to take marines bearing the Mark of Desiccation and those willing to follow out of the warp, but that if they were to challenge him again, they would all be eliminated. Thanking him, Sclerios claimed that all his victories would go to honor his Primarch and Nurgle in defiance of the Imperium and the Corpse Emperor and bring about humanities salvation under chaos.

"Conquering of Carcino"
Departing the Warp, the warband now dubbed the Withered Hands now set their sights on fulfilling their gods wishes and immediately began raiding systems held by Imperial Forces with mixed results. While they indeed experienced success marauding several planets including a Hive World, two forge worlds and several Agri worlds, the resistance provided by Imperium proved quite challenging. Part of this was due to the fact that outside of the Warp the power Sclerios displayed in the warp to wither opponents had greatly diminished in strength and range. Believing this to be a test of his resolve by Nurgle, Sclerios decided the most prudent action would be to conquer a world for himself and his warband where they could fortify themselves and plan for future engagements. They settled on the Hive World of Carcino in the Ultima Segmentum.

The hive cities of the world were heavily fortified, but the Sclerios believed that conquering the specific Hive city of the planet Erehem would lead to the planet’s entire downfall. Erehem was considered tactical priority for while it was not the largest of the hive cities, it was the center of distribution for the entire planet, supplies were shipped directly to this city then were transported to the rest of the planet. This would also pose the greatest challenge for such a site of vital importance to the planet’s infrastructure would be heavily defended. While a frontal assault was doable it would be costly and run the risk of an alert being sent out to nearby Imperial Forces. To overcome this obstacle Sclerios had a plan, the warband was blessed with a large number of Plague Sorcerers a “gift” from Mortarion, though it was more likely that the Primarch just wanted to get rid of the psykers that he despised so much. Stationing the sorcerers and various locations outside the city’s walls, they would begin to secretly cast plagues that infected the air and water supply of the hive. Over a period of three days the lower levels of the hive city were completely overrun with various diseases and ailments, filling the streets with bodies oozing various liquids and dampening the air with the stench of death and decay. Before the upper levels could react the warband attacked, the beastmen now renamed the Frail Steeds charged in first overrunning the occupied defense forces followed by Chaos Space Marines who quickly disabled the communication arrays the city had leaving the rest of the Hive Cities dark to their neighbors’ fate. After 7 days the entire city was under the Withered Hands control those who were not converted were wither killed or sacrificed to Nurgle, with control cemented Sclerios broadcasted to the rest of the city his demands, surrender to the Warband and embrace the joys of Chaos or starve and be overrun by the plagues of Nurgle. Several cities submitted but the capital of Joshol refused to bend. Unfortunately, their fate was already sealed as the Warlord had prepared for this, so during the information blackout crates filled with infected goods were sent out to the all the cities on the planet to spread plagues amongst the other hives incase they too needed to be conquered. Since the other cities were ignorant to the plight of Erehem they unknowingly accepted the diseases into the walls of their cities as well unknowingly weakening their populations. Chaos forces marched on the capital barraging it with corrosive bacteria and caustic concoctions that ate through the outer defenses and spreading diseases that inflicted psychosis and other ailments on the population. Sclerios slew the governor throwing his withered corpse from the top of the highest spire indicating the planet was theirs. Although there were still pockets of resistance within 3 months the planet was completely under the chapter’s control and became their new homeworld.

"Typhus and the Fall of Carcino"
For over a millennium the Withered Hands reigned over Carcino, sculpting it to appear similar to the Plague Planet and all Nurgle owned planets in the warp. The air became a noxious breeding ground for various airborne plagues, the rivers and lakes became fetid and stagnant, the forests were filled with malnourished and withered trees supporting a variety of plague bearing vermin and monstrosities as well as becoming the new home of the Frail Steed beastmen. The Hive Cities also went through a similar transformation, taking on a more dilapidated appearance many buildings that warbands had no purpose for collapsed into ruin leaving several segments of the Hive to collapse into ruin housing those citizens who had degenerated into either disease carrying ghouls or small bands of heretics looking to attack anything weaker than themselves in order to appease their chaos masters. Everything deemed of worth was repurposed to fuel the growth of the Warband so they could launch campaigns against other systems in an effort to fulfill their gods wishes. Plague factories rose in every city, daemonic summoning pits pocketed each layer of the hives, and the Plague Sorcerers were given workshops in the high spires so they could experiment relatively undisturbed in order to help create new plagues and various abominations for their cause. Eventually the burgeoning Warband soon caught the eye of Typhus who visited the planet to speak with Sclerios and to potentially bring the warband into his fold. Sclerios remembered Typhus from his days as a Death Guard and considered it a great honor to host the champion of Nurgle. Soon after his arrival Sclerios began showing him around the planet highlighting the strides he and his brothers had made on pursuing their dark gods will. While relatively uninterested in the Withered Hands accomplishments, Typhus was greatly pleased with several of the new plagues that the sorcerers on the planet had concocted seeing great potential in them with his personal alterations. During a tour of the Capital, Typhus decided to release a small amount of his Destroyer Hive out of boredom to torture some of the local populace. One of the Rot Flies landed on Sclerios without him noticing but a small pulse of sickly green energy shot into the miniature daemon and it fell to the floor. Typhus gathered the insect which crumbled in his hands as if it had been decaying for centuries. Greatly disturbed by this, Typhus excused himself back to the Terminus Est to further study the Rot Fly. Upon further examination, the Champion came to the conclusion that the Warband had stumbled upon a plague that was capable to subjecting an organism to accelerated decay in minutes theoretically making it dangerous enough to rival the Destroyer Hive. Typhus decided to bring the warband into his fold and approached Sclerios with the proposition, initially the Warmaster approved seeing as both had similar goals but became concerned when Typhus began making demands including that he have total control and regulation over the sorcerers, plague factories, and all the diseases the warriors had produced up to this date. Soon Sclerios’s concern turned to irritation and anger as it seemed Typhus was attempting to take complete control of his warband instead of a mutual partnership. Having worked hard and sacrificed much to earn his position the Warmaster and the Champion argued, until Typhus divulged the true reason. Believing that the Withered Hands had unknowingly discovered the perfect plague capable to bringing systems to ruin in moments what Typhus had been searching for millennia. This could potentially put them in favor with Nurgle above Typhus and the Herald was not willing to forfeit his title, not after all he had been through, deceiving the chapter during the Horus Heresy so they would go into the warp where they were ultimately forced into Nurgle’s service ultimately shaping them into what they are today. Realizing that Typhus was responsible for the endless suffering he and his brothers endured in the war many millennia ago, Sclerios flew into a rage and attacked Tyhpus. Though he could not outright defeat him, he and his Chaos Marines were able to force him off the planet. Determined to conquer the planet for it’s deadly secrets Typhus ordered his forces to assault the planet. For several months, the Withered Hands endured the attack though they lost several hive cities to the Death Guard and many Withered Hands Marines were slain. After intercepting intel indicating that Typhus intended to bring more of his fleet into the conflict, Sclerios made the decision to abandon the planet. Gathering whatever resources, plagues and forces they could, the Withered Hands barely escaped the wrath of Nurgle’s Champion. Sclerios now pondered his situation, he could not return to Mortarion for fear that Typhus would be waiting for him so he decided that his fleet should get as far away from Typhus as possible and continue on the holy path that Nurgle had set for them.

"Wrath of the Khan"
Several centuries passed since their exodus from their homeworld of Carcino and their time as a fleet based warband had begun to take their toll. Much of their gene seed they had accrued had to be left behind on Carcino and losses during raiding parties began to greatly reduce their number making the Warband desperate. They had some limited success stealing gene seed from a variety of different chapters during their incursions into varying systems but to return to the numbers they had during their height they need to capture a huge prize. This opportunity came in the form of a lead that the White Scar chapter had suffered a great number of casualties during a recent campaign and their gene seed was being transported back to Chogoris. When this lead turned out to be true, a raiding party of veteran chaos marines was dispatched to raid the ship and steal as much of the precious genetic material as possible then return to their fleet. The raid occurred as three Withered Hands cruisers engaged the White Scar battleship was in planetary orbit, preparing to depart. Two of the cruisers provided a distraction as the third cruiser allowed the boarding party to raid the ship. The traitors were able to steal a large quantity of gene seed, but unfortunately for the Withered Hands they were not fast enough. As the Chaos Marines attempted to take their prize back to their ship, several White Scar vessels appeared. They were the escort for the battleship as it prepared to depart for Mundus Planus and quickly joined the fight destroying the two cruisers that were harassing the battleship. The boarding ship disengaged with their prize and attempted to flee with the White Scars in tow. While they got far, they were unable to shake their pursuers and were eventually overtaken and disabled. All of the crew was slaughtered cept for one Chaos Marine wo was able to escape with all the gene seed he could carry. The White Scars dispatched a Master of the Hunt to track down and kill the traitorous marine, which he did on the planet of Algonquin, but not before the Chaos Marine was able to get out a communication to the Withered Hands fleet. Sclerios received the communication and became furious at this loss demanding retribution upon the White Scars and their successors, but due to their situation they would have to rebuild their strength before they could strike.

"The Pox War"
The halls of every Withered Hands ship rung with the cries for vengeance against White Scars as they began to prepare for their campaign against the White Scars. Bolters were loaded, swords were sharpened, plagues and demons were conjured already to launch a full assault at the nearest White Scar location. It was then an announcement came over the vox systems by Sclerios saying they would not be assaulting the Chapter. When queried as to why, the Warmaster claimed that it was apparent that their constant hit and run tactics they had adopted during their time as a wandering fleet was not sufficient, to many were being and the rewards reaped from these raids were not recompensing their losses. If they were truly to succeed, they must go back to their tactics they used to conquer Carcino, slowly weakening the enemy and felling them in one blow. Several Marines questioned Sclerios’s plan saying that tactic would take to long and they could not let this slight go against them, one warrior even challenged Sclerios’s right to leadership saying he had become weak since his defeat by Typhus and that even Nurgle had left him. Sclerios responded by simply grabbing the challenger by the chestplate, the symbol of Nurgle glowed on his hand rotting the marine’s armor instantly and dissolving the chaos warrior to dust and shriveled remains. Sclerios asked if there any others who challenged his connection to the Grandfather of Plagues and was met with silence. Satisfied with his display of power the warband fell silent and the Warmaster unveiled his grand plan. While it would take a great deal of time, the warband needed to resupply its gene stock first and foremost, and since raiding wasn’t obviously working, they had to take different approaches. One of the more successful tactics included infecting a world with different strains of plagues, first they would implant diseases that would infect the populace but would lay dormant for years before the fleet’s arrival. The warband would then release more virulent strains of viruses afflicting the population with various malaises. When a space marine chapter went to investigate and cleanse, they would assume the invasion was only localized clearing it before it could spread. When they believed they had successfully purged the infection it would be then that the Chaos warband would attack, causing the dormant plagues would trigger, soon a company of marines who were exhausted clearing the superficial chaos would be overrun by countless numbers of infected and would be swiftly taken down by the arriving chaos warriors. As the years drew on the warband became more adept at this tactic even poaching in areas where other warbands to Nurgle were seen so their tactics could not be separately identified from any other warband associated with the Plague God.

Eventually, they were able to accrue enough strength that they were able to strike back at the White Scars. Learning that they had established the Iron Bison space marine chapter on the world where last member of the raiding party had been slain long ago, Sclerios determined what better way to strike a counterblow than by decimating the chapter and claiming the world and surrounding system as their new home world. As before, they stuck to the same tactic infecting several worlds with a particularly dangerous plague they had developed called Leech Pox. Over a period of several months’ cultist sleeper cells on each planet slowly spread the plague amongst the populace where it would lay dormant until a psychic trigger activated them. When they believed a sufficient amount of the population as infected, the cultists would then send a signal to the fleet. When enough signals were received, Sclerios monitored the activity of the chapter waiting for the moment when the Iron Bison forces were spread out to their thinnest. When he believed it was right, he brought a predominant amount of his fleet attacking several worlds at once. Sorcerers then triggered the plagues on the planet and the Leech Pox began to sap the local defense forces of their strength and will allow the Warband to easily overthrow several planets almost simultaneously. The forces dug in as best they as the Iron Bison chapter launched a counterattack to reclaim their worlds thus leading to the Pox War a conflict that still continues to this day.

Warband Organization
Above all Sclerios Urman rules absolute in the warband, only appointing those he feels are truly embody the ideals of the Rotfather. Those he deems worthy are given a gift by the Warmaster as he imprints a small part of the power given to him by Nurgle into each of these warriors giving them different properties and abilities different from the rest of their ilk. Many of these are sorcerers who are given withering touch abilities similar to Sclerios himself though greatly reduced, though there are Chaos Marines ascending to higher ranks, their gift comes in the form of the Aura of Decay. Though the Frail Steeds and daemons of the chapter usually fall in line under these leaders, they all listen to the commands of one beastman named Rot Hoof an unusually large beastman with four arms and covered in black and green bruises and sores. When there are no marines to command them, Rot Hoof will take control and lead this herd accordingly to the Sclerios’s wishes.

Warband Beliefs
First and foremost, the warband believes that Nurgle wishes to rot the galaxy in all forms, physical, psychological and socially. When the worlds of the unbelievers have been broken, their societies crumbled, and their wills shattered, only then will the world be reborn in the putrid image of Nurgle and flourish into a new golden age. The Withered Hands believe that the Imperium is the closest to this rebirth, but the stagnating corpse of the Emperor blocks them from making this final transition. They realize that change cannot come quickly so it must spread slowly like a cancer till it consumes the entire galaxy. As such, they reflect this in their tactics letting their plagues turn their enemies slowly sometimes festering for years before they make their strike. The warband will place sleepers on each planet they tend to invade slowly seeding doubt as well as plagues on each planet. When the planets populace has fallen to its bleakest physically and emotionally, then do the marines strike bringing forth new life from decay.

"Gift of Decay"
For those deemed worthy of command by Sclerios, he grants the Gift of Decay as his god blessed him. Sorcerers who ascend to rank meet Sclerios before an altar to Nurgle, there they recite an oath pledging themselves to bring the galaxy to ruin so the Grandfather of Plagues can reshape it. After reciting a prayer, Sclerios then chops off the Sorcerer’s right hand with his sword the Malignant Shard and places his hand on the bloody stump dubbing them a Vile Sorcerer. After a day the hand of the new Vile Sorcerer regenerates as a demonic clawed hand infused with abilities similar to their leader. Chaos Marines follow a similar ritual but instead of amputation, Sclerios places his cursed hand on their chest and imprints the power of Nurgle into their essence leaving a charred imprint of his hand forever burned into their flesh. After receiving the moniker of Knight of Ruin the Marine begins to exert an aura that causes anything not touched by Nurgle whether it be organic or inorganic to decay slowly.

Notable Campaigns
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"Battle of Quorma"
The first successful campaign after their defeat by the White Scars, the warband began to test the tactics they would employ today. Due to the planets dense population the various plagues spread quickly, and they were able to lure an Iron Hands ship to the system. Though the Iron Hands were resilient against the plagues, the warband employed a bacterium that could corrode metal at an alarming rate and eventually the ship and its marines were overtaken by the forces of chaos providing much needed gene seed with minimal losses.

"Kylar’s Pyre"
For the Withered Hands this campaign was one of their greatest moments, achieved while Carcino was still in their possession, the warband was able to successfully infect an entire system of Kylar with a virus known as Gehrs Cancer in which massive growths would form on a host draining them of precious nutrients and rot off exploding into highly contagious airborne plague, and an unintended side effect would be that if the tumor hade enough mass or was near several other disgorged tumors it would transform into a Nurgling. The system had to eventually be purged in Exterminatus and the contagions in the atmosphere reacted with the explosion of the Cyclonic Torpedo’s causing the burning planets to give off a sickly green glow.

"Hand and Fist"
A drawn-out battle between the Imperial Fists and the Aeldari of craftworld Biel-Tan in the Shon’a system with neither side gaining any ground. The stalemate was broken Withered Hands joined the fray assaulting the Eldar ships from their unprotected rear allowing the Imperial Fists to break through and decimate the xenos forces. Though the Fists were prepared to engage the Chaos marines the warband fell back. Sclerios hailed the Marine Commander before he departed, claiming the Imperial Fist helped save him and his squad when they were members of the Death Guard before the Horus Heresy and that aiding him in this battle repaid the debt, he owed him. While this statement was true Sclerios was also interested in capturing Eldar specimens to develop new psionic plagues.

"Gene-Seed"
The Withered Hand gene seed is a mixture of Death Guard, Imperial Fist, Iron Hands and some Ultramarine. Vile Sorcerers and Sorcerers aid in the implantation to ensure that the gene seeds corruption gives the new marine the atrophied form of their brethren. If the aspirant does not initially take this form the warband has found that controlled exposure to wasting diseases soon after implantation usually achieves the desired result. If a marine ends up similar to standard Nurgle aligned warriors, he is still welcomed but is unable to ascend to ranks of power within the warband unless he is able to perform exceptional deeds in Nurgles name, at the most they are usually consigned to the role of Ichor Belchers.

Organization
Since their exile, Sclerios has ruled the warband with an iron fist appointing only those who not only achieve the goals set for them by Nurgle but also express an undying loyalty to him. Though the gifts he imbues into his Vile Sorcerers and Knights of Ruin also make it more difficult for the recipients to rebel against him, it would still be possible for a strong-willed warrior to overcome these restrictions and challenge the Warmaster though none have been able to do so as of yet.

Officer Ranks

 * Warmaster
 * Vile Sorcerer - Vile Sorcerers serve as the masterminds of warband, planning on where they should strike next and how the assaults should pan out. They will also monitor the regular plague sorcerers of the warband examining their experiments and adding their input on how to improve them and how they can be best utilized to service their cause. Any members the Vile Sorcerers observe that show particular promise will be recommended to Sclerios for promotion and an endorsement from a Vile Sorcerer is highly valued by those marines looking to rise in the ranks. Aside from their vast array of plagues the Vile Sorcerer weilds, he also has the gift Sclerios has gifted him during his ascension sometimes known as Nurgle’s Claw. This demonic hand allows a Vile Sorcerer to focus Nurgles divine power into his hand, decaying anything he touches at an advanced rate though not as fast as Sclerios can. A Vile Sorcerer can wither his way through fortifications as thick as the hull of an Imperial Cruiser given enough time.


 * Knight of Ruin - Knights of Ruin are those Chaos Marines ruthless enough to rise in prowess to where they have been noticed by Sclerios or the Vile Sorcerers. With the handprint of their Warmaster forever burned into their chest, Knights of Ruin carry out the orders passed down to them by Sclerios or command their units to in a way that would best honor Nurgle and the warband. While the Vile Sorcerers establish plans for assaults and raids, it is the Knights who ultimately carry them out, establishing formations and determining what units are to be deployed into battle. The Knights also act as enforcers maintaining a sense of order in the warband and helping to keep dissention to a minimum.

Specialist Ranks

 * Ichor Belchers - Similar to the Foul Blightspawn of the Death Guard, Ichor Belchers dispense varying chemicals against enemy units. They are especially adept creating concoctions that can rot through metal and stone and are used as anti-fortification or anti heavy unit troops. Unlike the Foul Blightspawn however, instead of having the weapon connected to an incubation tank on their back, their weapon is connected to a series of hoses to the marine’s body. The Ichor Belchers have been heavily modified so much so their gastrointestinal tracts and secretion glands process and create various bacterial plagues and acids. Their Betcher’s Gland is highly altered to this extent and will release chemicals into the marine’s blood stream to aid in the production of such substances. Usually a sorcerer will inject certain compounds into the marine before he is deployed so his body will produce the necessary components for his ammo, but marines are given several tinctures he can ingest during combat to change the nature of their excretions.


 * Fumigators - Anti-Infantry units, Fumigators are adept at poisoning frontline units or flushing out opponents who have hidden behind cover especially those who do not wearing proper respiratory gear. Whereas Ichor Belchers vomit forth various liquid projectiles, Fumigators expel clouds of toxic choking gas and airborne pathogens from vents attached to their gauntlets. Moving alongside their fellow chaos marines, Fumigators lay down clouds of miasma laying cover for their fellow marines and hoping to poison their opponents. While heavily armored opponents such as space marines tend to be protected from these noxious fumes, Fumigators will engage with bolter and blade hoping to crack their armors so the vapors can seep into the cracks and poison the marine that way.


 * Vile Syringe - Mutated mosquitos cultivated from Carcino’s rivers and streams, these creatures are popular among the warband as vectors for disease and as tactical units more so than flies. Due to their ability to sense the carbon dioxide produced by living organisms, these beasts are able to track units over long distances piercing their foes with their daemonic proboscises and either draining them of their vital fluids or inject dangerous pathogens into them. Usually Vile Syringes are the size a human hand, but larger individuals called Piercers are known to occur reaching the size of a human torso, thankfully these are rare. Vile Syringes are valued by the sorcerers since the fluids they retrieve from their victims can be brought back for study so deadlier plagues can be developed.


 * Bloat Ticks - Much like the vile syringes, bloat ticks were developed from stock native to Carcino. Reaching 3 feet in length, their daemonic evolution has caused a noticeable dimorphism in the species making them fill different roles. The guts of female bloat ticks serve as incubation chamber for plagues created by the sorcerers and they are usually fed various concoctions to ferment so they can be extracted for later use. A common use of female bloat ticks is to fill them to the brim with diseases and send them into the middle of enemy formations where they explode getting the greatest dispersal of disease without risking the life of a chaos marine. Male ticks have thick hardened carapaces and packs are sent to act as ambushers jumping on anything nearby and ripping into their flesh to feed on their organs. Both female ticks are capable of ripping into standard Imperial Armor and a common form of torture or punishment within the Withered Hands its to strap the victim down and let the creatures rip into their flesh.


 * Black Vermin - Various creatures such as arthropods, rodents, arachnids and annelids gathered by the warband throughout their travels throughout the various systems of the galaxy, used as vectors for disease and as warbeasts. Ranging in size from a few inches to a few feet these composite swarms of various organisms are usually unleashed onto unsuspecting hive worlds through their waste disposal systems allowing them to spread disease without fear of detection by Inquisitorial forces. It was this tactic that allowed the Withered Hands to spread the Leech Pox along the worlds of Algonquin to start the Pox War.


 * Frail Steeds - The beastmen that followed Sclerios from Plague Planet serving as quick attackers. The Frail Steeds are thin, giving them the general appearance that they have been starved for an untold amount of time. Unfortunately, this is merely Nurgle’s favor expressing itself in the beasts as no matter how much they consume they never gain weight and a Frail Steed who appears weak and feeble is easily able to rip a human to shreds. Daemonic mutations are also common and beastmen with claws, tentacles and extra limbs are often seen leading their lesser mutated kin into battle. Though they are capable of wielding firearms, Frail Steeds tend to brandish cruel blades into battle as they relish the feeling of cleaving flesh and hearing the screams of pain and terror up close.


 * The Ly-Kin - A semi successful experiment the Warband has had on trying to convert Orks to the will of Nurgle. Hybridizing several strains of virulent bacteria known as Ly’s Blood with chaos infused plants that were taken from Plague Planet when the warband initially left the warband was able to create a parasitic bacterium that could control ork minds. The plague is able to bind to their fungal biology, altering the single minded will of the greenskin to serve their god. Unfortunately, the pathogen only seems to work on Orks that are weak willed or small groups separated from a larger gang so only minor success has been achieved in this endeavor. Ultimately, they intend to infect a Warboss and puppet him into leading a Waaagh! to cause destruction across the galaxy but as of yet no attempts have been made. Part of this is due to the fact that the plague also mutates the Ork physically and most Orks would most likely reject a leader that looks like “one o’ dem spiky hummies”. For now, the Ly-Kin are repurposed for the Warbands needs as frontal assault and supplementary roles. The orks lust for destruction is kept under control due to the fact that the pathogen is temperature and light sensitive the warmer and brighter it is the more active the orks become. Thus, to prevent the Orks from accidentally destroying chaos ships they are stored in cold dark rooms until they are “thawed out” for service.

Warband Fleet

 * ''Famine Bringer (Despoiler Battleship)


 * ''Shadow of Ruin (Battle Barge)


 * ''The Rotting Corpse (Hades Class Heavy Cruiser)


 * ''The Pandemic (Retaliator Grand Cruiser)

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"Malignant Shard"
Sclerios’s powersword given to him during his time as a Death Guard. Primarily used in the initiation of Vile Sorcerers, the Warmaster rarely uses this sword saving it for powerful opponents or if it ever comes to fruition the decapitation of Typhus. Sclerios can also channel his power into the blade allowing him to use his desiccation powers on anything slashed by the blade or send out sweeping bursts of energy to decay multiple foes at once.

"Eye of Nurgle"
A sphere that allows Vile Sorcerers to scry through the eyes of those infected by specific plagues that the sorcerer had previously blessed before its infusion into the populace. The Eye requires great concentration and even some of the more skilled sorcerers have issue getting proper lucidity when viewing through the orb.

"Gore Ripper"
Rot Hoof’s personal cleaver caked in dried blood and necrotic flesh from numerous victories, this weapon is the oldest surviving weapon belonging to the Frail Steeds passed down from leader to leader. Aside from the ability to spread deadly infections to anything it cuts, the wielder of this blade is able to control the Frail Steeds with unflinching loyalty. Only a Frail Steed or Withered Hands marine have been seen wielding this blade so it is unknown if this enchantment applies only to members of the Warband or not, though due to the appearance and nature of the Frail Steeds most would be more inclined to destroy the blade outright aside from other chaos warbands or Drukhari.

Sclarios Urman
Warmaster of Withered Hands, Sclerios led the exodus of his brethren from the Death Guard founding the Withered Hands chapter. Sclerios is fully committed to making humanity rise from the ashes of the Imperium like a putrid phoenix and his millennia of experience has helped him realize that such a task cannot be accomplished quickly. While the Pox War currently holds his attention, he sees it as another steppingstone to dismantling the Emperor’s regime. If successful, he will establish a new homeworld for his brothers and from there they will infect the rest of Segmentum Temptestus and Pacificus making it a bastion for Nurgle’s forces ultimately leading to the destabilization of the entire galaxy. Ultimately, he intends to bring the heads of both the corpse Emperor and Typhus back to the warp as offerings to Mortarion and Nurgle though he expects to wait several more millennia before he can achieve such a task. While weakened from being out of the warp, the gift Nurgle bestowed upon him is still incredibly potent and the Warmaster has no problem wielding this power to reduce the bodies of his enemies into withered corpses, but extensive use of this power can weaken even him so he reserves it for powerful opponents or would be usurpers.

Angra Poliot
Vile Sorcerer and close companion of Sclerios, he too served under Mortarion as a member of the Death Guard. Seeing Sclerios’s warband as sanctuary from the ire of their Primarch for his psychic abilities, Angra immediately joined his brother so he could continue his studies into the powers of the warp. Poliot serves as the Warmaster’s advisor parsing all information from campaigns, research, and intel to his lord. The autonomy Sclerios allows Angra further cements his loyalty, Sclerios faith in him is so that he will even allow the Vile Sorcerer to act as Warmaster in Sclerios’s absence and surprisingly, Angra will always relinquish his control whenever he returns. This is also due to the fact that the sorcerer has no real interest in leading the warband only in furthering his dark arts. Angra is a powerful sorcerer wielding a wide variety of plagues and is one of the few who can wield the Eye of Nurgle with perfect clarity.

Lepre Cothin
Largest of the Knights of Ruin (partially due to daemonic possession) a juggernaut of death and decay who has had countless victories under his belt supposedly even taking a venerable dreadnought out by himself, though he remains silent about such victories for he rarely speaks. Aside from barking commands such as “attack” or “kill” Lepre is the only Knight who does not direct his troops in combat instead he charges into battle and his squads follow suit. The knight’s most notable feature is that his right hand has mutated into a mass of hardened tumors similar to a club which the marine uses to smash opponents to a pulp.

Rot Hoof
Current leader of the Frail Steed beastmen, Rot Hoof climbed his way to the top by killing his predecessor in combat for the right to lead. As part of his ascension to rank the beasman mutated growing larger and gaining an extra set of arms that drip putrid mucus and puss. While content to usually ram into opponents headfirst, Rot Hoof is capable of tactics and has on occasion led his fellow beastmen on flanking or ambush maneuvers when it has proven beneficial. Rot Hoof will voice his concerns to Sclerios especially in regard to gathering slaves and materials necessary for the propagation of further Frail Steeds, but aside from this he is willing to follow the Warmaster into the most suicidal of missions.

Gangrene
The leader of the Ly-Kin thoroughly deamonically mutated were it not for his orkish way of speaking and garments, he could be confused for plaguebearer. While Ly’s Blood has suppressed much of his nature, Gangrene still falls into old habits such as getting the Ly-Kin to obsess over shiny bits and teef and he always refers to Sclerios as Warboss. Gangrene loves the Bloat Ticks (as do all the Ly-Kin) and keeps a large female known as Bitey as a pet and will constantly bring back corpses to feed her and small trinkets to “make ‘er purty”. Though under daemonic control, he still possess the raw orkish strength and ferocity he had before his corruption and revels in combat like any ork would.

Warband Colours
The Withered Hands dawn armor that appears to be worn down and decrepit. There colors are that of a grey and sickly green, there are tinges of black on various parts of a warrior’s armor as well, but this is due to the armor slightly rotting due to Nurgle’s gift not for aesthetic purposes. Cracks will also appear on a marine’s armor, sometimes pulsing with green energy as if something were trying to emerge from underneath the marine’s carapace and while they seem like a potential weak point, they are no more structurally insecure than the rest of the marine.

Warband Badge
The symbol of the Withered Hands is a opened shriveled hand with the symbol of Nurgle emblazoned in the palm.

Warband Relations
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Chaos
The Withered Hands tend to be indifferent of their fellow chaos marines aside from those who are allied with Typhus. They will sometimes aid their fellow chaos marines when their goals align with them but are usually content to keep to themselves. Sclerios considered joining Abaddon on the 13th Black Crusade, but most of his forces were entangled in the Pox War and he also believed it would draw the attention of Typhus and so he did not engage in the conflict.

Druhkari
While not particularly allies the Dark Eldar and Withered Hands do deal in a great amount of trading of captives and various concoctions.

Enemies
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Imperium
To the Withered Hands, the Imperium halts the progression of mankind. The Emperor has failed them and clinging to his ideals prevents humanity from being reborn and ascending to become the most powerful race in the galaxy.

Death Gaurd
Unfortunately, the leadership of Typhus puts the Withered Hands at odds with there brothers most of the time. Due to their loyalty to Mortarion and not wanting to hurt their former chapter the Withered Hands usually disengage when in conflict with the Death Guard only engaging when there is no other option. Sclerios would like to tell his Death Guard brothers of Typhus’s betrayal of their chapter but believes they are to indoctrinated to be swayed at this point. Only with the elimination of Typhus could Sclerios have a chance of convincing them.

Notable Quotes
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By the Withered Hands
"It’s not just about the disease and rot, it’s about revealing the truth. Every empire that falls, every dead soldier, every fractured psyche or perception helps to remove the veil that order has imposed on the galaxy. Only when the facade is removed, and you bear witness to the primal chaos of reality, can you truly expand yourself to your full potential. Grandfather Nurgle can help see this truth all you have to do is embrace his gift."

- Angra Poliot

About the Withered Hands
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