FILE REFERENCE: 666-OMEGA-DAEMON SUBJECT: The Daemon (The Neverborn / Entities of the Warp) CLASSIFICATION: Vermilion // Extremis Diabolus CLEARANCE: Inquisitorial Representative / Lord High Command Only DATE: 999.M41 (Standard Terran Cycle)
To speak of the Daemon is to invite the gaze of the Abyss. While the Xenos represents a physical threat to the boundaries of the Imperium, the Daemon represents a spiritual threat to the very soul of Mankind. They are not living creatures in any biological sense understood by the Magos Biologis. They possess no genetic structure, no true anatomy, and no natural ecology. They are the "Neverborn", sentient manifestations of raw psychic energy originating from the Immaterium, the alternate dimension known commonly as the Warp.
The Daemon is the ultimate Anathema. It is the antithesis of reality, a creature composed of the nightmares, vices, and dark emotions of sentient races, given form and malice by the Ruinous Powers. Where the Emperor represents Order and the sanctity of the human form, the Daemon represents Chaos and the dissolution of all logic. They do not seek mere territory; they seek to drag realspace into the Warp, transforming the galaxy into a screaming hellscape of eternal torment.
A Daemon cannot exist naturally within the physical universe. The laws of physics, however tenuous, are anathema to their being. To manifest in realspace, they require a breach in the veil between dimensions. This "Warp Rift" is often caused by the illicit overuse of psychic powers, the mass sacrifice of sentient beings, or the intersection of a Warp Storm with a planetary system.
Once the veil is thinned, the Daemon may manifest. Smaller entities often require a host, possessing the body of an unsanctioned psyker or a weak-willed heretic, warping the flesh into hideous new shapes to suit their needs. Greater entities, however, can punch through the veil physically if the saturation of warp energy is high enough. It is noted that Daemons suffer from "Instability" in realspace; without a constant supply of psychic energy or bloodshed to sustain them, their forms will destabilize and banish back to the Warp. Thus, their incursions are often characterized by frantic, industrial-scale slaughter to maintain their foothold.
While the myriad forms of the Neverborn are infinite, Imperial scholars (under pain of death) categorize them into four primary alignments, corresponding to the four Great Powers of Chaos. Knowledge of their specific names is a Class-A Moral Hazard; they are referred to here by their aspects:
The Blood-Letter: Minions of the God of Rage and War. These entities are red-skinned, horned horrors wielding jagged blades. They disdain sorcery, preferring to decapitate their foes in close quarters. They are mindless in their fury, existing only to collect skulls for their patron.
The Plague-Bearer: Servants of the God of Decay. These are bloated, rotting cyclopean hulks dripping with necrotic slime. They carry every disease known to man and new ones brewed in the Warp. To fight them is to fight viral death itself; even a scratch from their rusted blades results in fatal gangrene.
The Change-Bringer: Agents of the God of Sorcery and Ambition. These are avian, shifting horrors that bombard their enemies with mutative warp-fire. They are plotters and liars, often dismantling Imperial defences through trickery before the first shot is fired.
The Pleasure-Seeker: Slaves to the Prince of Excess. These entities possess a perverse, terrifying beauty, moving with impossible speed. They revel in the infliction of sensory overload, turning pain into pleasure, and are capable of mesmerizing disciplined troops before slaughtering them with surgical grace.
The physical danger of a Daemon is secondary to its spiritual danger. The mere sight of a Neverborn entity is a meme-virus; it shatters the sanity of the observer, planting seeds of doubt and corruption that can bloom into heresy years later. The architecture of a Daemonic incursion defies geometry; the sounds they make defy acoustics. A Guardsman who witnesses a Bloodthirster may find himself driven to murder his own kin weeks later, his mind broken by the "truth" he witnessed.
Because of this, the primary weapon of the Daemon is not the claw or the blade, but the soul. They offer power to the ambitious, life to the dying, and knowledge to the curious. It is a bargain that always ends in damnation. There is no negotiating with the Neverborn. Every word they speak is a lie, even the truths.
Standard military doctrine is insufficient against the Diabolus. Lasguns may sear their false-flesh, and bolters may disrupt their forms, but they cannot be "killed" in the material sense. When a Daemon's physical form is destroyed, its essence is merely banished back to the Warp, where it will reform, nursing a grudge for eternity.
The only effective countermeasures are faith and fire. Flame weaponry is preferred for its cleansing properties. Close combat is discouraged unless undertaken by the Adeptus Astartes, as physical contact accelerates corruption. The most potent weapon is the Grey Knights Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes (Reference: [REDACTED]), whose very existence is a secret.
In the aftermath of a Daemonic incursion, the standard protocol is containment followed by sterilization. If a planetary population has witnessed a large-scale manifestation, the prescribed solution is often the liquidation of the populace and the labour-camps, or a full Exterminatus of the world. It is a grim calculus: better a billion martyrs burn than a single heretic survive to spread the rot.
The Daemon is the Enemy Without and the Enemy Within. It is the shadow in the soul of man. It proves that the universe is not merely indifferent to our survival, but actively malevolent. There can be no peace, no truce, and no understanding. The order of the Emperor and the chaos of the Warp cannot coexist. One must destroy the other.
Thought for the Day: A mind without purpose will wander in dark places.
@Beast of Nurgle (Daemon)
@Bloodletter (Daemon)
@Bloodthirster (Greater Daemon of Khorne)
@Daemon Prince (Daemon)
@Daemonette (Daemon)
@Flamer of Tzeentch (Daemon)
@Flesh Hound (Daemon)