TOTAL WAR III: WARHAMMER - legendary lords idles.

Undivided Realms of Eigthpoint or Aempyrea, is the term of hellish continent shaped of eight-pointed star with circular center and its confederacy of eight demonic lords referred as ‘The Chaos Deities/Gods’, ‘Warp-Anchors’, or Lords of the Dark Ruin. The Eight Realms include:

Brazen Skulls Domain, ruled by Khorne 

Plagueborn Tribes, ruled by Nurgle

Council of Fates, ruled by Tzeentch

Euphoryum, ruled by Slaanesh

Razvak Blightendom, ruled by The Great Horned Rat-Kings

City-States of Firesmog, ruled by Hashut.

Metropolis Technocrat, ruled by Vashtorr

Shade Nation, ruled by Be’lakor/Mallus

As known by The Seven Rings (Abaddon), Shamayim, as well as most other nations of Heaven and Hell, Aempyrean has no absolute leader but an ever-conflicting council of Eight Realms infighting constantly for domination and clear the ever-layering feuds. However, when all its eight realms agree to cooperate in the form of temporary truce and partnership, they become a force to reckon with, rivaling even the Seven Sins themselves.

Unlike Abaddon and majority of Hell where they began history since the Genesis where the Lord declared creation of light, emerged from revolutions or granted, but Aempyrean has manifested in Hell around the creation of Eden. The mythical figure known as ‘The Dark King’ formed the fortress-council in its barely solidified center, before he vanished and was replaced by the eight chaos deities. Aempyrean seemed to grow along with, if not by, the civilizations of mortal races. With the realm upon each point and their archons, the continents shifted on their domains and preference. 

The locals include Hellborns who migrated to Aempyrean and became one of their servants, the ‘true natives’/daemons who emerged along the continent itself, and sinners who they deemed worthy and devoted to their domain to earn their place in the realms. The sinners’ are considered victors in their own rights, over the favors of their master who picked them from falling into ‘lesser realms’ and became nobles of their domains. However, only the most favored of each god would be picked to live in their land.

Migrated Hellborns

Imps/ ‘The True Imps’

Even being originated from Abaddon by Satan(whetever solely or assisted by other figures), migrations of Imps from Abaddon were mainly separated into 3 periods; Founding Era/Pre-War (Most realms of Eightpoint were under ‘emergence periods’ and imps population was wanted as labors and militias), Abaddon-Eightpoint War and Eightpoint Civil Wars (Demand of exterior forces, mercenaries, criminalized figures from Abaddon, and halfborn between imps and Implings), and Post-War Period (Limited, but usually be permanent residents, semi-autonomous regions, or mercenaries and business connections). 

Noteworthy traits of Imps in Aempyrea compared to Abaddon include:

Have branding-like scars on a specific place of their body. That branding usually being ‘eightpoint star of chaos’ or abstracted symbol of their domains.

Skin and hair mutations related to traits of their region. (Spiked horns/bones, Pussed skin, additional eyes or limbs, widened eyes or jaws, etc.)

In some cases, they may reflect traits of animals aligned to their lord. (Khorne- Hounds or Big Cats, Nurgle- Bugsor Slugs, Tzeentch- Avians or Draconic, Slaanesh- Equines or Seashell, Great Horned Rat-Kings-Vermin, Hashut- Bovine, Vashtorr- Cybernetic, and Be’lakor- Bats and ‘living shadow’)

Hellhounds

Mostly work in military, law keepers, and/or specific regions; Brazen Skulls Domain, Plagueborn Tribes, and City-States of Firesmog. However, unlike imps, Hellhounds who belong under service of one lord are usually ‘more accepted’ as full citizens. 

Some historians believed they were enslaved cases taken by Aempyrea as slave-warriors rather than laborers, while some volunteered to work for their new lords. Some who survived and served well later integrated into the society.

The most common group is ‘Fleshhounds’, serving Khorne with their own district given by the Blood God himself. They work as patrols as interior figures and makeshift scouts or light infantry during war. They may also be found as supervisors of factories, cadet academies, and prisons.

Other group of Hellhounds include ‘Rabieshound’ under Nurgle, as they move stiffly, hallucinating aggressive, and carried deadly diseases, ‘Helljackals’ of Be’lakor or Tzeentch, as they usually work as spies, diplomats, or academic places’ elite guards.

Succubi/Incubi

Usually being captives as ‘household servants’ or most indoor and personal slaves, Succubi are commonly found under all the realms except Brass Skull Domain. Nurgle-aligned sees them as perfect incubators for their ‘experiments’, Tzeentchian ones use them as ‘canvas of magic’ while some may become spies or librarians, Slaanesh embraced them so well that they became a major part of Emphoryumite culture.

The Great Horned-Rat Kings see them as valuable breeders for their frequency of breeding and short pregnant time under right conditions, ideally to make lower-tiered half-vermin offspring. Hashut, rarely recruit them, but let them serve as entertainers and counter-spies for upper-classes Aempyrean Dwarves. Vashtorr admitted their uses as spies and ‘medium’ between his domain and ’overemotional’ and/or ‘dim-intelligent’ groups. Be’lakor is indifferent upon their migration, either in or out.

Baphomets

Known in Eightpoint as Beastfolks, with their forms being anthropomorphic goats, sheep, bovine, equines, or in between. They usually gather as forest and steppe-dwelling nomadic tribes, not aligning to a single realm. Their way of life is mostly self-sustaining or rely on battle; raiding, mercenary contract, piracy, or offering their services to other realms in Hell. However, nine of known ‘herds’ offered ‘long-term’ contracts to a single realm, except one of them that served Aempyrea as a single entity with order from at least four of the realm’s commands.

Their origin or immigration explanation was unclear, as some suggested Abaddonite Baphomets and Beastfolks have a shared ancestor, or if Baphomets migrated from Eightpoint to the Seven Rings.

Chaos Spawns/Rewarped Ones

While considered creations unique to Aempyrea, they’re also considered migration of Hellborns, those physically and mentally twisted by Eightpoint’s aura and mutated into savage-like semi-sapient creatures. They’re infertile by sexual productivities, nor capable to fully integrate in the society but capable of working as slaves, autonomous outposts, and meat shields that deal decent damages. 

Chaos Spawns are usually not aligned to any specific aspect, but some of potential spawns may be picked under service of the realm. In addition, the more they mutated, the more monstrous they become; less sapient, more mutated, larger in size, and driven by animalistic instincts.

True Native of Aempyrea

Bloodletters/Bloodthristers

Contrary to their slim bodies and their elongated heads and horns, they’re agile and strong that rivalling Wrath Ring Hellhounds. Bloodletters hate magic, scheme, and comfort as they believe the way of hell’s honor is through bloodshred, lethal trophy-collecting, and living tall by the dead of enemies. However, not all Bloodletters reach the peak height; being Bloodthristers.

Bloodthristers are the elite of their kins, allowed to get access to the best weapons, armors, and food they get. They also get to keep some ‘comfort’ (slaves, permanent houses, imported goods, or advisors) to ‘kill more and better’. To be Bloodthristers, they must slay at least 66 Hellborns on their own; duel, outnumbered in conditions both sides can fight, or kill them in the front when they’re conscious and could react.

Plaguebearers/Nurglings

Bloated flesh, bug-like traits, pus, tumors, boils, asymmetric pairs of horns or limbs, and unhealed wounds, these are common traits of Nurglings. Beside visual traits, their odor causes imps and hellhounds nausea and mortal beings vomit and even infection. Some claimed they’re always coated in slime and accompanied by flies and maggots.

Despite how their appearance is, they tend to be welcoming, open (both their minds and wounds alike, except to something clean), and nurturing. However, they loathed fragrant, hygiene, and static beauty, treating them like taboo. If something’s decay, ferment, contaminated, and ‘smelly’, it is something pleasing to them. 

Horror Heralds

Such creatures’ physical appearance is vague and varies; that could be just saying they are ‘color-shifting humanoid with multiple limbs, organs, faces, and able to perform levitation, telekinesis, and even speaking through minds’. However, the most certain way to track them is through their names and observe their ‘aura’, which most lesser hellborns requires practice, experience, and/or advanced tools to tell that.

Scholar of Abaddon claimed they look like blue imps or succubi in their default form, Helhelm’s skald recorded they’re ‘bird-people with scales and horns’, Naraka’s said they’re shapeshifters without no default forms, and Seth’s servants claimed they’re ‘chimeric humanoid, or biped, that appearance alone causes mortal insanity.’

Daemonettes

Unlike succubus, they’re not only about carnal desire but also terror, agony, and greed. They’re born with tentacles in place of hair, pitch black wide eyes, long slug-like tongue, and crustacean-claws like hands. The mature ones are usually piercing their bodies, flaying part of their skin permanently, or sticking a hole or tube on their blood vessels to get drugs directly whenever they want.

They’re also wearing lots of accessories and wearing minimal ‘traditional’ clothes as cover, making the border between them thin. Ambassadors from other lands recorded that they speak through the holes of their tongues as most pretend to speak by throats like most others.

Skavens

Vermin-like demonic beings who are known for their cunning and cowardice are shadowed only by their traitorous nature. That makes them the underground criminals even in the dirtiest places of Aempyrea, Reed of Osiris, Naraka, Helheim, or even a few clans founded on the Seven Rings. However, they mostly dwell in the domain of Razvak Blightendom under one of the thirteen monarchs.

Their land is filled with mines, slave pens, farms of fungal, algae, or insects for food, and warehouses that also serve as workshop and trophy hall of forgotten treasures alike. Most of the Hell see these Vermin as the weaklings that are difficult to truly get rid of their presence off.

Aempyrean Imps/Warped Implings

Despite not being considered as ‘true imps’, Aempyrean ‘imps’ or Warped Implings shared similar traits and creations to Satan/Abaddon’s counterpart. The main differences of Warped Implings to ‘True Imps’ are how Implings are more a Genus and how they are made simultaneously as one siblinghood in some senses. In addition, each of Implings races have ‘stronger reflection’ of their creators/masters.

Blood-Implings of Khorne: Longer forehead, horns merged with forehead, hairless, and muscular.

Poxer-Implings of Nurgle: Having poxes and bulging veins over the body, having parasites moving under their skins, and usually have antler-like horns.

Tzimplings of Tzeentch: Having extra eyes and/or limbs, feathers instead of hair, growing scales or crystal-like shards over skin, pointy mouths like beaks, and having longer fingers. 

Aemponets/Aemponettes of Slaanesh: Having curved and longer horns, their horns and claws are silvery or golden, larger eyes, and being lankier.

Verminimps of The Great Horned Rat-Kings: Having smaller bodies, swift tails like the third arms, hairy, and glowing eyes.

Zharrborns of Hashut: Having highlighted fangs, darker skins with glowing red hair and eyes, brass-like fangs and claws, and being stocky, short, or muscular.

Imptelli of Vashtorr: Being built-in cybernetic, having wires and cogs as part of them, being unemotional, and usually being intellectual.

Shadespawns of Belakor: Made from solidified shadow, need no organs, water, or food, but lack of magic and presence of holy entities alone kill them.

Furies

The Grimoire of Paimon Goetia described appearance of Furies as ‘spawns combining elements of reptiles and loose hellhounds together’; maned and scaled, having scales and bone-based horns and claws, and sometimes, wings or extra spikes on their arms, legs, or backs. 

Unlike Implings, they are free to travel between the realms, yet some may put alignment to one or a few ruler(s) and earn traits of blessing from them.

The Immigrants/’Outsiders’

Dawi-Zharr/Aempyrean Dwarves

Migrated from Svartalfheim and Nidevheim to Helheim, the ‘Damned Dwarves’ or known among the ‘mainstream Dwarves’ as ‘Oathbreakers’ or ‘Unkinneds’. However, some of those forsaken Dwarves did not see Hell as a hostile prison of punishment, but the new field of opportunity the ‘Pro-Aesir/Vanir’ failed or was too afraid to take. Some of them offered the damned version of dwarven wisdom of runes, machinery, and blacksmithy to other realms of Hell. Aempyrea was one of the few realms that welcomed the guests from Yggdrasil, especially Khorne, Tzeentch, and Vastorr, but Hashut favored them the most.

Dawi-Zharr are offered their places of petty lordship and financial support by Hashut to settle and serve hit during the Civil War period. The fallen dwarves flooded once a barren volcanic land into machine fields of forgery, dark rune, and slavery lines. 

Daemonic Lieges/Ascended Sinners

Not any sinner earns such title, as most of the sinners who accidentally fell into the Eightpoint would become food or mutated mindless spawns in a matter of days or weeks. One must devote to one of the Lords’ causes and be worthy enough to be gazed upon and accepted. The souls must show their potential and devotion in life that they worth their intentional claim from falling into other hellish realms and earning such ascension.

Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Slaanesh are the main four lords who see potential in human souls and let them earn a damned rebirth. Even though they're technically sinners, they are also rival demigods toe-to-toe. The mighty daemon princes are believed capable to slay a seraphim or even a minor pagan deity. However, such souls are rare and yet likely to betray due to their deep free will.

Part 1: Alliance

Part 1.5: Order or Chaos

Part 2: Faction

Part 3: Race

The slave to the dark gods is a human, man. But which dark god(s) is the lv 1 human fighter a slave to?