ID: Thoughtstealer Plague

[Teetengee]

So I am working on the Liber Challenge for Daemon Warbands, and this is what I have so far.

Notable Members of Warband

True name:Ea’Kirffu’Uagz
Other names:Alst’Amhirz, The Tip Tongue Daemon, The Misplaced Name, Thoughtcanker
Herald of Nurgle, and Leader of the Thoughtstealer Plague Warband
 
Thoughtcanker’s existence began with the fear of forgetfulness that is brought on during old age. In ancient times as Terran humans grew old and weak so did the fetid mushroom destined to become Thoughtcanker grow strong and filthy with the memories they lost. The final memories were often the sweetest, and those who lived despaired the most at their loss. So were Thoughtcanker and its eventual kin born.
 
Thoughtcanker was bound to the despairs which lead to its creation, seeking ever more to steal the memories of mortal souls, yet always leaving behind the memories pointing to that whole so that they may know what they are truly missing. Only when their last memory remained, whether a childhood joy, or a cruel twist of fate, or even just their name, did Thoughtcanker offer them release from their cruel fate. Those who took its deal soon found themselves turned to Nurgle’s servants in turn, cruel sprites and faeries who even after Thoughtcanker returned their memories were none the happier. For in their new forms the memories no longer were theirs, but just those of some dead mortal who had forgotten all and was to be forgotten in turn.
 
However, Thoughtcanker grew dissatisfied with merely taking those who fell to dementia and injury. So it soon began to offer bargains with mortals, the memory of a first kiss in return for the stamina to win a race, all the recognition of a best friend for a pile of gold, rule of a kingdom for a last name. With each deal mortals made, they had less to lose, but often no less to gain, as the gifts of daemons are fickle indeed. For with each part of their memory, these mortals gave up a bit of themselves, a portion of their very soul. Thoughtcanker was never gone for long, as the one memory it almost never took was the knowledge of how to summon it back. Mortals would bargain away their lives piece by piece, until nothing remained to them but a body without meaning or desires and their souls were forfeit to Thoughtcanker, destined to become servants of Nurgle when their emptied bodies finally expired.
 
 
Woetide Bloodplague the Enslaved: once Bloodthirster of Khorne
 
Woetide Bloodplague was once Woetide Bloodrend, one of Khorne’s Bloodthirsters. A being of rage and hate quite similar to Khorne’s other servants, Woetide did not fear any threat until dispatched from the mortal plane by a member of the Grey Knights on one particularly humiliating excursion into realspace. Unable to take out his rage on the mortal realm, Woetide grew bitter at his banishment. When Thoughtcanker offered to let Woetide lead his force against the mortal realms versus a servant of She Who Thirsts, Woetide leapt at the chance. When Thoughtcanker promised to prevent Woetide from any such debilitating harm as he had once received for a price, Woetide gladly paid it, one forgotten piece of name for each wound displaced.
 
For a time Woetide grew great in strength, his new allies supporting greater and longer forays into the material realm with each assault. And each time he would be dispatched, the wound was transferred from Woetide to one of Thoughtcanker’s minions through powers Woetide found distasteful, but which he also quickly forgot under the harvest of bloodshed he reaped. The Battles of Holuster Hive raged and fifty five times did Woetide return from wounds which should have easily banished him, and fifty five times did the deals of Thoughtcanker work their powers as promised till all that Woetide remembered of his true name was the Hl of his first syllable.
 
But when Woetide was struck well the fifty sixth time, he finally noticed what was wrong. Chains that had once bound his weapons to his arms now bound his will to that of Thoughtcanker. Where once bloodshed filled him with rage and glory, it now only served to lessen a bitter pain eating away at his insides. The battle over, returned to the Immaterium, Woetide found himself trapped in Nurgle’s garden, surrounded by cackling nurglings and craning up from the ground he was chained to at Thoughtcanker’s rare smile. Thoughtcanker spoke his name, but it was different than it once was, the pauses and breaks were all wrong, where it had been eight by seven it was now seven by eight. Where he had been Hle’Eshp’Pioppdeao he was now Hleeshp’Piop’Pde. Where he had been Bloodrend he was now Bloodplague.
 
Now Woetide serves the Thoughtstealers, bound to Thoughtcanker and remade as a servant of Nurgle. Although he still bears much of the power he once did, the joyful glory of hatred is denied to him, and as such his bitterness grows, only binding him ever tighter to Thoughtcanker’s will and his cruel slavery. However, it appears that Khorne has not forgiven this theft of his power, and the Thoughtstealers have more than once heard the braying of fleshhounds whilst nearby his armies and domains.

Warband Structure

 

The Thoughtstealer Plague is organized under seven powerful daemons of Nurgle and their attendants and servants. Each herald preferably draws power from the loss of a specific type of memory: sensory, working, episodic, semantic, procedural, prospective, and spatial memory. First amongst them is working memory, Thoughtcanker itself, because that is the first memory loss noticed and feared as a sign of what losses are to come; the repeated failure “at the tip of the tongue” only signals further forgetfulness.

 

The daemonic attendants of each herald take on forms suitable to the forms of the memories they steal, many often start as small creatures formed of but a single thought. These grow as more similar thoughts are stolen and added to them. Such beings often take on forms indicative of the memories they are created from, though onlookers will rarely be able to to describe or classify them.and instead will be overcome by a crippling feeling of presque vu.

 

Each being, though it may be made by any of the seven Nurgle lords who rule the Thoughtstealer Plague, will find itself attracted to the retinue of that specific lord who identifies with the form of memory from which it was made. This means that the Plague grows in a haphazard way, and any particular lord and its retinue may be stronger than another in pure daemonic might at any given point. However, in general, each lord is responsible for controlling their own minions and for leading when their field of expertise is at the fore, with Thoughtcanker responsible for making sure everyone works together as smoothly as possible.

 

 

Warband Origin

 

Thoughtcanker was the first daemon borne to the Thoughtstealer Plague, but its long untended incubation in the Garden of Nurgle feeding on the sorrow of lost memories was not quite the same as that which spawned the remainder of the warband. At first Thoughtcanker found that feasting on the sorrow of memories, its favorite the mix of rage and bitter stubbornness when a thought was lost just at the tip of the tongue, was quite enough to satisfy. Yet as the timeless ages stretched, Thoughtcanker grew bored in its lonesome duties.

 

Thoughtcanker wished to spread its influence, but had only limited reach as a single entity. It began to plant the memories it stole, organizing and codifying them in the process. In Thoughtcanker’s small plot in the vastness of Nurgle’s estate, six withered weeds took root, one for each form of memory save Thoughtcanker’s favorite, working memories.

 

These plants grew in proportion to the sorrows and related emotions which fed them. The loss of emotional memories and personal anecdotes is often the most jarring and bitter of all lost memories and therefore the weed associated with episodic memory grew fastest and fattest on the loss of mortals. Its baleful fruit was the second daemon amongst the Thoughtstealer plague.

 

Next came the loss of function found in procedural memory, each thought of “I used to know how to do this” feeding its greedy roots. Third came the aggravation of forgetting to remember, for it was so often in its occurrence and occasionally devastating, even if not quite so frequently as the first two. Now that they were four, the Thoughstealer Plague began to steal memory even more greedily and the remaining three members grew faster than ever before.

 

Fourth sprouted the loss of spatial memory from the sorrow of being lost in once familiar places. Fifth came the loss of semantic memory as forgetfulness of general information took its frustrating toll even without direct emotional links to such information. Last came sensory memory, for its loss was so fleeting only the devastation of failed senses was left to feed it.

 

When the seven lords of this host stood together, they understood, even through all their differences, the powers they might wield together, if only they had the numbers. Where once there was one daemon, now there were seven, where once there was one plot, now it was sevenfold grown. Memories became both harvest and seed, and the Thoughtstealer Plague continued to build.

 

 

Warband Goals

 

Primarily the Thoughtstealer Plague exists to feed upon the sorrow and despair of mortals, not unlike most of Nurgle’s servants. Generally, this is accomplished via the removal of various memories from mortals and in so doing reminding both that particular being and those around them of their own mortality. The more specific goals of the warband as a whole are usually decided by Thoughtcanker itself, although it often consults the lords of emotional memory and prospective memory in its plans so as to ensure collaboration from the former and gain insight from the latter. Each lord has its own preferences and peculiar desires which are a result of both its creation and its history not unlike many other daemons and as such these lords will direct their personal subsets of the Plague as they see fit.

 

In particular importance are the designs of the lords of emotional and prospective memory, as both seek to usurp Thoughtcanker’s control. So far the fierce loyalty of the procedural memory daemons to Thoughtcanker have made any military conquest impossible, but any plans laid by the far subtler actions of the lord of prospection are yet to reach fulfillment, and may yet spell out a far different chapter in the warband’s history.

 

The recent, as much as such a word has any meaning within the immaterium, acquisition of Woetide has prompted a whole new direction for the warband, as they turn their sights to the theft of memory from not just mortals but from rival hosts. Where such endeavors will lead, perhaps none can guess, and any who once knew have now likely forgotten.

 

 

Warband Tactics

 

Though Thoughtcanker prefers subtler actions, the Thoughtstealer Plague is not averse to war, often stealing memories from the foe as they fight. Enemies often find themselves forgetting how to load firearms or operate the heavy machines of war even as the fighting is thickest. The various functions of war of the Thoughtstealer Plague are roughly parceled out to those daemons whose nature are most suited to such tasks. Since the forms of the different subsets of daemons often vary wildly from each other, many enemies don’t realize the full unity of the Thoughtstealer Plague until it is far too late, a fact Thoughtcanker has often put to good use.

 

The daemons formed of stolen sensory memories form the first group and are tasked with reconnaissance and the discovery of new targets for the Plague’s more militant attentions. Many of them consist of not much more than bitterness and half formed representations of the senses, and as such are uniquely skilled in such endeavors.

 

The second group, daemons formed of semantic memories are walking catalogues. They keep track of the facts and figures of all the Thoughtstealer Plague’s enemies and allies and are responsible for integrating the data given to them by those daemons of the first group.

 

In the third group are those daemons formed of episodic memory, who form the heavy hitting arm of the warband’s military might. The bloated forms of these large daemons are due to the vast sorrow caused by the loss of such emotionally strong memories. Horrifying flashbulb memories are often weaponized in great psychoreactive explosions that tear the heart out of the foe’s willingness to fight. Additionally, since these daemons are the most in tune with human emotions of all the Thoughtstealer Plague, their ranks include several more diplomatic heralds who are in charge of solidifying alliances with other daemonic warbands and with corrupting and turning mortals to Thoughtcanker’s cause.

 

The fourth group of daemons is comprised of those who were formed of procedural memory, and contains some of the most efficient memory thieves from the ranks of the Thoughtstealer Plague. They form the main foot soldiers of the warband. They are also partially responsible for carrying out and helping to plan battlefield tactics, alongside those of the fifth group lead by Thoughtcanker. They are reliable troopers when circumstances are as planned, but have little initiative and will often fail if confronted with scenarios too far outside their experience.

 

This is why the fifth group, lead by Thoughtcanker itself and created from working memories is so important. They are masters of coordinating the seven groups and are primarily responsible for strategy, taking on command roles throughout the warhost. Though they often present with limited foresight, their comprehension of the here and now is of vital importance in a warband otherwise dominated by daemons who focus primarily on the past or the future.

 

The sixth group is formed of spatial memory daemons. These, often winged or long legged, creatures work tightly with the first and fifth groups and contain some of the warband’s strongest telepaths. They are responsible for intra-warhost communication and for keeping track of battlefield terrain developments. Swift and surefooted, they can often be found relaying messages between different heralds of the Thoughtstealer Plague when psychic communications are impossible or break down. They are also often employed alongside sensory daemons of the first group to track down and eliminate enemy scouts or act as scouts themselves.

 

The seventh group of daemons is formed of prospective memories. These are the memories of remembering to remember and as such, these are the most forward thinking of the daemons of the Thoughtstealer Plague. They have a large role in determining long term strategy and developing sets of contingency plans for the occasions when circumstances turn against the Plague. Additionally, they have the largest quantity of psychic and sorcerous might in the warband and are frequently employed before battle to strip the enemy of preparation, with ammunition often going unloaded and war materiel unmaintenanced before the warband’s arrival.

 

 

Notable Battles

The Battles of Holuster Hive: Slaanesh cultists led by a sisterhood of three Slaaneshi heralds overthrow the government of the hive planet Holuster over six nights of bright noises and loud colours. Over the next several weeks, the cults grow in strength as their debaucheries expand across the hive blocks. Seeing the strength these excess fueled memories, Thoughtcanker decides to feed off of the efforts made by the Sisters Kaleidoscope. Additionally, it makes a pact with the Khornate host of Woetide Bloodrend in order to minimize damage to the Thoughstealer Plague itself and to test the new binding methods devised by the prospective memory daemons.

The Thoughtstealer Plague, particularly the sensory memory daemons, feast upon the glut of vivid memories found in the Holuster cults and those who have been forced to witness such acts. As these cultists lost their memories the Sisters Kaleidoscope begin to lose control of their subjects, and with dwindling resources left to them, even war as a means of stimulation becomes more difficult. However, when Woetide’s host slams into the capital city of Holuster hive heading straight for the Sisters’ pleasure palace. War creating a brand new theatre for delicious experience the Sisters’ lead their forces in a meat grinder against Woetide’s blood spattered host.

Meanwhile, the Thoughtstealer daemons continue to feast upon the memories of the Slaanesh cultists, weakening the Kaleidoscope forces. This farming of emotions invested by the powers of the Sisters continues for several weeks before becoming unsustainable. In the fighting, Woetide iss struck down and enslaved to Thoughtcanker’s will, but not before shattering the defences of Holuster’s capital. When the Thoughtstealer plague finally descends, glutted upon the powerful memories of the fighting forces, it easily wipes aside the remnants of both other armies and proceeds to suck the rest of the planet dry.

The Fading of Nunivok: A fleet is sent to ascertain why Nunivok has stopped sending its imperial tithe abruptly, particularly since the civilized world had never even sent a reduced tithe at any point in recent records. Inquisitor Jarvis arrives to discover a planet filled with blank faced people milling about aimlessly. None of them can remember anything about what happened or about anything else for that matter; none even remember their own names. Jarvis removes from the planet in fear of a pox of some kind and has it biocleansed as a precaution while he and his retinue are examined for contamination. Jarvis reports that the planet had total population loss but that replacement colonists should be able to quickly bring the planet back to full functioning, as the infrastructure seems undamaged.

[Doctor Perils]

Interesting enough, though I'm not quite sure how canon-friendly a daemon switching allegiance is.

 

I'm sorry, I can't really help you any more than that, I've got enough trouble as it is for writing my own Daemon Warband ?

[Teetengee]

I figured that if the gods are the personification of their realm of the warp, and that since daemons are made of portions of the gods, and since the realms of the gods wax and wane with their power, if nurgle were to take over a portion of khorne's domain, he might gain daemons from the daemons that had come from the power khorne had originally had because of that region, and if that can occur, then one could take over a daemon to take over the area via a reverse process.

[Doctor Perils]

... ... Bless you !

 

Seems like a complicated enough and labyrinthine way of thinking of this... Which is of course perfect for chaos ! It might be worth rewording that whole thing a bit and including it in your original article though.

[Teetengee]

Of course, the labyrinthine way of presenting it was a bit of a joke right now to be honest, but yeah, the idea behind it I feel is sound.

Basically the idea is that the realms of the chaos gods are mentioned to basically be the chaos gods, and the daemons are made of portions of their gods power.
We know that the size of the realms grows and shrinks with the corresponding god's power, and that capturing areas captures power (hence some of the eternal war within the warp between the gods).

But since the daemons are also a representation of their god's power as the realms are, I felt that stealing a daemon would be analogous to stealing a bit of that god's realm and would have a similar minor transfer of power from the burgled god to the burgler. (Particularly since I imagine some daemons probably correspond with parts of the realms)

[Teetengee]

I have added a line about Khorne being upset about his stolen power, but I don't think I can really explain out the whole reasoning behind why I think daemons could potentially be repurposed for another god in the original article without rewriting it from a closer to omniscient perspective.

[Teetengee]

Anyone want to help me out in hashing out some battles and warband structure, I am still not entirely sure where to go from here.

[Arkangilos]

I think they can switch gods. When I get home I'll look at my Black Crusade Tome of Decay, which has information about daemon princes.

[Teetengee]

added warband structure.

 

is anyone interested in my expanding on that to dictate how each lord of nurgle is responsible for certain aspects of the warband's functioning, perhaps in that section, or in the tactics section?

[Doctor Perils]

Nice idea. I'd definitely be interested.

[Teetengee]

This is what I have so far, just a rudimentary breakdown for now:

Sensory memory: recon, discovery of new targets

Short-term memory (Thoughtcanker): management, facilitation of multiple pieces, coordination

Episodic Memory: foot soldiers, diplomacy

Semantic Memory: research and knowledge of enemies and allies, cataloguing

Procedural Memory: battlefield tactics and strategy, memory thief training (expert levels)

Prospective Memory: long term planning, contingency plans

Spatial Memory: communication, messages

[Teetengee]

I added a significant section on warband tactics

[Teetengee]

I added origins, any thoughts on them or any other aspect of the ID?

[Teetengee]

I added warband goals, but I don't think it is as strong as the other sections. I would love others' thoughts on it.

[Teetengee]

added notable battles, this is now done