Instead, their immortal energy is swallowed into the greatness of their gods, their souls sustained forever, bound to the eternal power of Chaos. Eventually, the gods grew to such a point where they could act independently of the general flow of emotions and thus became the Gods of Chaos. Warhammer 40,000 Grim Dark Lore Part 10 – Gods and Daemons, Warhammer 40,000 Grim Dark Lore Part 32 – The Rise of Abaddon. When a follower of a Chaos God dies, their soul is absorbed into the greater psychic mass of that God within the Warp, adding its energy to the already formidable power of that deity. From time to time there arises a being, place, object or event in the material universe that attracts the attention of all the Gods of Chaos. When devotees of Chaos die, their souls do not fade in the Warp and disappear like the spirits of others to some unknown and unknowable fate. A Chaos God can only grow in power through the actions and thoughts of mortals. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. The least of the minor Chaos Gods may be so limited in their power that expending that power to create a daemon means their entire power is expended; in effect, the god becomes a daemon. There is always a plan to his attacks, although it is often beyond the understanding of mortals, and may take untold millennia to unfold. The barbaric Orks are only incited by the surging conflicts around them, and greet the prospect of battle against the daemonic legions with the same reckless enthusiasm they always have. As extensions of the gods, the appearances of these domains are formed upon the same emotions that created their masters: Khorne's realm is founded on anger and bloodletting; Tzeentch's lands are scintillating constructs of pure magic; Nurgle's territory is a haven of death and regeneration, and Slaanesh's dominion is a paradise of damning temptations. Yet true to their nature, the dark brothers saw the anarchy as an opportunity to fulfil their own agendas: to kill, to change, to pollute, to bathe in excess. In times of galactic pandemic, Nurgle's power can eclipse even that of his brothers in darkness. To many humans such an exchange may seem the only way to escape from the pain of life, or to achieve their heart's desire, and in the superstitions and beliefs of the past, the Chaos Gods wait for the vain, the suffering, the wrathful and the desperate. The various kindreds of Elves place a different emphasis on the worship of different deities. There is a fifth major Chaos God who appeared in earlier editions of Warhammer 40,000 who is almost never mentioned save by the most arcane of texts: The Chaos Gods' most devoted and powerful mortal followers are known as Champions of Chaos, and are spiritually bound to their patrons. There is a fifth major Chaos God named Malice who embodies Chaos' tendency to turn in upon itself and who acts against the interests of the other Chaos Gods whenever he can, though he is certainly no ally of the Imperium either. By the time his lithe and sensuous legions arrive, the foe is utterly beguiled, and his minions will sweep forward with unmatched speed to slice through opposition in an orgy of mayhem and debauchery. The Ruinous Powers possess the ability to interact with the material universe in a limited way as the entities of the Warp can at times enter the material universe through the minds of those individuals gifted (or cursed) with psychic powers. There exists a hierarchy of sorts within the ranks of the Ruinous Powers, though it ebbs and flows according to the vagaries of the Great Game for supremacy fought constantly between the Dark Gods and their servants. and also by their actions Powerful beyond mortal comprehension, parasitic and malign they are the Ruinous Powers, the pantheon of lies, the Primordial Annihilator. Dark omens, Chaos Cultist activity and mutation frequently herald and accompany their arrival in realspace, and when the armies of the gods blaze into being, reality itself bows before them. Occasionally, the Chaos Gods can set aside their innate rivalry and unite in the pursuit of a larger goal, such as the overthrow of the Imperium of Man and its Emperor, who represent the strongest current force for Order in the Milky Way Galaxy. Currently, in the late 41st Millennium, Khorne is held as the mightiest of all, for the practice of murder and blood sacrifice stretches to the dark beginnings of the universe. Last in the pantheon is Slaanesh, who knows well how to play on the obsessions of his rivals. It seems unlikely that any Chaos God could ever truly be victorious, and it is unthinkable what might happen should such an event ever occur, but it certainly is not for lack of trying. In 8th edition lore, Doomfire Warlocks offer souls to Slaanesh to save their own. So were the first mortals bound to the will of the Ruinous Powers, and seeing the fruits of their labours, the gods began their eternal work to influence the physical realm and its myriad sentient races. As a Chaos God gathers such energy, it expands in power, and its influence and territory within the Warp's Realm of Chaos grows.