Sea of Souls

The Warp.

Also known as the Sea of Souls or the Empyrean.

It is the mirror of the material universe, the destination where the souls of cosmic beings return after death, a paradise of spiritual slumber and a place of rest.

It reflects intelligent lifeforms in the material universe that possess "emotions," an abstract concept of sentient sentiment. All emotions within the Warp are transparent, pure, and blazing.

Fierce emotions collide and compress in the vast and boundless Warp, twisting into vortices. Storms carrying fragments of thought run rampant, and ultimately, everything transforms into the power source of the Sea of Souls.

The emotions of biological entities in the material universe send out ripples within the Warp, eventually converging into its endless waves.

In the Sea of Souls, an energetic world formed from various extreme emotions, time and space lose all meaning.

Once upon a time, the Sea of Souls was entirely without a ripple, and the souls of intelligent beings could rest in peace, enjoying eternal tranquility.

Yet, a cataclysmic upheaval originating from the material universe changed it forever.

A terrifying war between two dominant races spanned the entire galaxy, causing the starry skies to shatter and leaving all living things withered.

The grievances and agony within the souls of the tens of billions of entities who died in that war polluted the Sea of Souls.

Any soul entering the Warp would be warped by those filthy emotions, breaking away from its original essence and falling into utter corruption.

Countless souls and intense emotions churned unceasingly within the unpredictable and bizarrely treacherous waves of the Warp, separating and aggregating, ultimately converging upon pure and extreme thoughts to become a single entity.

A god was born!

A true, immortal deity standing tall amidst the endless waves of the Warp!

Contrary to the holiness and purity possessed by gods of ordinary faith, the true gods of the Warp were born from various extreme emotions within the Warp;

Fallen thoughts, frantic emotions, twisted souls, and the utmost extremity of blasphemy.

A "god" born of extreme thought—a true Chaos God!

More blasphemous than blasphemy, more corrupt than corruption, its evil might exceeded the imagination of intelligent beings in the material realm.

And what they pursue are intense, blazing, pure, and extreme emotions from the material universe.

When extreme emotions manifest in the material universe, the Warp responds, and surging power rips a warp rift open within the material universe.

The minions of the Chaos Gods pour out, breaking through the barriers of reality, descending from the rifts into the material universe to seek out those souls plunging toward extremes.

The extreme emotions of biological entities in the material universe are the finest sustenance for the Chaos Gods. All mortal chaos and suffering, beauty and happiness, become delicacies for the Chaos Gods.

The Warp embraces all emotions and evil thoughts, and the Chaos Gods, formed from the convergence of several mainstream emotions, became the supreme rulers of the Sea of Souls.

Khorne, legend has it that he represents the god of war and slaughter.

Every war in the material universe, even disputes between two individuals, and every drop of blood shed by war ultimately flows to the Brass Throne.

He wears brass armor and sits enthroned upon the Brass Throne, relishing the beauty of war and slaughter, and bestowing blessings upon fierce warriors..

Rivers of boiling blood formed into magma flow through his divine domain, sulfur and gunpowder smoke never extinguish, and beneath a dusky sun, demons wage endless battles in his presence, hoping to please their master.

Before the throne, countless "demons" formed from the consciousness fragments of the Chaos God frolic and play within the divine domain, keeping a close eye on the unstable waves of the Warp for their master, ready at any moment to invade the material universe.

Khorne himself sits enthroned upon the Skull Throne, perceiving every war in the material universe, laughing heartily at battles between demons, and occasionally casting a vigilant glance into the distance.

In the endless chaos of the Warp, there is more than one deity.

Powerful Chaos Gods possessing their own divine domains within the realm of chaos—they are collectively known as the Chaos Four Gods!

Because of their differing jurisdictions and powers, they are mutually hostile. The gazes of the gods rarely linger within their own domains; instead, they are constantly wary of the other Chaos Gods.

The Four Gods are forever vigilant of one another, maintaining a delicate balance under various chains of suspicion. Yet among them is one particular Chaos God, forever guarded against by the other three.

Tzeentch, also known as the Master of Change.

He is the embodiment of all plots and wisdom, orchestrating a never-ending "Great Game" amidst the surging waves of the Warp.

Tzeentch was once the strongest Chaos God in the Empyrean. Due to being overly powerful, he was jointly assaulted by the other three Chaos Gods and forced to relinquish a portion of his own essence. Greatly diminished in strength, he fell behind Khorne, ranking second among the deities.

The longsword in Khorne's hand was snatched from Tzeentch, and Khorne once swore an oath never to let it leave his grasp. He constantly remains on guard against the movements within Tzeentch's domain, preventing Tzeentch from suddenly making a move to snatch back the weapon that originally belonged to him.

Unlike the thunderous sounds of combat echoing through Khorne's domain, Tzeentch's domain is as quiet as a mortal library.

Tzeentch's domain, the "Crystal Labyrinth," stands proudly within his realm. It is a constantly changing maze composed of countless corridors and rooms, along with books recording all truths of the universe.

Its outer perimeter has no defensive structures whatsoever; it welcomes scholars to visit.

Demons flap their wings, acting just like scholars, clutching books recording secrets as they traverse the Crystal Labyrinth, wandering back and forth through corridors of endless knowledge and secrets. Whispers echo, weaving one plot after another.

Demons resemble their master; the more powerful the entity, the closer its visible form approaches that of a Chaos God.

Tzeentchian demons resemble great birds, possessing two claws and slender upper limbs with an overall mysterious deep-blue hue, bearing wings on their backs. With the flicker of every colorful feather, the light of wisdom spills from the gaps.

The Crystal Labyrinth is a palace that changes unpredictably just like its master. In a single instant, the maze rearranges itself billions of times, giving birth to countless variations within. Even Tzeentchian demons will, upon the slightest carelessness, lose themselves in the endless corridors.

Deep within the labyrinth, the Master of Change sits cross-legged and suspended in the void.

Throughout endless ages, no intelligent being has ever traversed the Crystal Labyrinth to reach the presence of Tzeentch himself and receive his boundless knowledge as a reward. Even the Chaos God himself is occasionally caught in a slight trance by the constant shifts within the Crystal Labyrinth.

Today...

Perhaps this description based on linear time is not entirely accurate. There is no concept of time in the Warp; there is only "now."

The Master of Change was troubled.

Countless eyes symbolizing all-seeingness surfaced across his visage, only to twist and morph into mesmerizing, soul-sucking vortexes the next instant. His slender avian body shifted without a moment's pause, his skin decaying from smooth to wrinkled while several sharp-fanged mouths flickered in and out of existence across his form, babbling wildly as they recounted mad knowledge and truths.

His lowered arms were thin and long, his fingers withered like bamboo joints, resting casually upon his thighs.

Upon his desiccated palms, one, or two, or countless fingers twitched and stirred, weaving the most complex plots into shape to flow out into the material universe.

Change was eternal and unceasing; his trouble was not being seen or defined, but rather a genuine existence.

Tzeentch had once been the strongest Chaos God, mightier than any of his brothers.

It was precisely this overwhelming strength that looked down upon the gods, arousing the dread of the other deities who banded together to crusade against Tzeentch, forcing him to relinquish a portion of his power.

Faced with the relentless advance of the other gods, Tzeentch had no choice but to surrender a part of his own authority so he could plot his next vengeance.

Tzeentch shattered a part of himself along with the weapon he had never let go of from his grip—the Staff of Change, the source of all magic—destroying it in exchange for the departure of the gods.

The shattering of the Staff of Change meant its essence fractured into countless magical incantations scattered across the Warp, with countless fragments of magical knowledge spread throughout the universe.

Meanwhile, the potent power contained within the staff and the essence of the Dark God landed deep within the Crystal Labyrinth to become a spring.

Countless mysteries gushed forth from it, and the moment the spring touched the ground, its true name echoed across the Warp: the Well of Eternity.

When the Well of Eternity appeared within his domain, the Master of Change took notice of it early on.

Though it was formed from his own power, even Tzeentch himself found the mysteries within the Well of Eternity difficult to peer through and fully comprehend.

When he relinquished that portion of his authority, as the essence of the Staff of Change crashed down, an incredible transformation had occurred.

Tzeentch sat desolately before the Well of Eternity for countless ages, yet struggled to glimpse the profound mysteries of the changes within it, deeply distressing the Dark God who styled himself the Master of Change.

Leaning over to look into the well, there was no physical entity to be found; what met the eye was an endless starry sky, making the Well of Eternity seem more like a gateway connecting to another universe entirely.

If that truly were the case, it would be a matter of immense fortune for Tzeentch.

He could enter another reality, bring that universe into his grasp, and then exact vengeance upon the other three Dark Gods.

Throughout the endless past, the Master of Change had attempted countless times to restore his own strength and retake the position that rightfully belonged to him.

In times gone by, the Master of Change had dispatched powerful Lords of Change into the Well of Eternity, vainly attempting to pry into its secrets and changes, only to come away with nothing every single time.

Only a single Lord of Change had successfully returned, though its body had undergone a strange mutation.

Its neck split apart, growing a second head.

The daemon's immortal body grew hunchbacked and aged, its words and actions becoming raving and mad, its memory entirely scrambled as it failed to remember what had transpired within the well.

It had once been named Kairos, and now called itself Fateweaver Carlos, its two heads having gained the respective abilities to peer into the past and the future.

Though the changes that occurred upon Fateweaver were astonishing, they failed to satisfy the Master of Change, who dared not risk his own skin by entering the Well of Eternity in person.

For endless ages, he stared at the Well of Eternity and fell into deep thought, troubled by what secrets it might contain.

Within the Well of Eternity, amidst a void beyond the reach of the Dark God's gaze, a sliver of faint light drifted through the silent darkness.

If the Dark God had known, he would have recognized the essence of that faint light at a glance: the soul of an intelligent creature known as a human.

System, are you certain the place we're crossing over to has elves, dwarves, orcs, and magic? A fluctuation rippled from within the soul, echoing through the void where space and distance had no meaning.

Rest assured, Host, the target world has been locked onto and arrival is imminent. Another fluctuation followed, cold and mechanical.