The Decrees of Dark Deities: By now the thunder quarrel had attracted the attention of all

the Dark Gods of Chaos, whether weak or great in power. They all enjoyed the ruckus, and agreed
to test the mettle of Bhaal and the foremost of the Dragon Ogre Shartaks, Rulek Strongscale. The
two centaur-spawns had no choice in the matter, and thus the contest began upon the summit of
Blizzardpeak. It was to be a competition of eight trials.

First, the Dark Gods agreed to let the two contestants stand upon the summit of Blizzardpeak in
the shower of lightning to see who was truly blessed by their thunder god. There, the storm
emptied itself in a torrent of lightning bolts that blinded anyone who looked upon it for too long.
Hundreds of times did it strike the two creatures. After one hour of bombardment, Bhaal
eventually sank to his knees, his whole form blackened and burned by the wrath of the
Thunderbull. Rulek Strongscale stood strong and unharmed amidst the lightning, and raised his axe
to the skies in victory.

Second, Hashut the Bull God spotted, in His wisdom, a forest of burning conifers just below
towering Blizzardpeak. It had been set ablaze by the lightning storm. He ordered the two centaur-
spawns to charge down into the valley and prove their worth by standing in the flames sparked by
the Thunderbull. The two warriors did so, yet after one hour Rulek Strongscale could not take it
any more. He cried out and threw himself out of the flames, rolling like a dog in the snow. Bhaal
was scorched badly by fire, yet calmly strode out of the forest fire while muttering praise to the
Father of Darkness.

Third, Khorne the Blood God demanded the two centaur-spawns to batter each other unto the
point of death. Amidst the ash and the snow, with thunder rolling overhead and strong winds
whistling, Bhaal and Rulek charged each other and wrestled for eight days without pause. Their
muscles bulged and their sinews strained as the two combatants rolled on the ground, clawing,
kicking, biting and throwing each other left and right. The power on display was immense in both
creatures of Chaos, yet in the end the greater strength of the Dragon Ogre won out, and Rulek
Strongscale won his second victory and roared as Bhaal admitted defeat.

Fourth, Tzeentch the Trickster challenged the two contestants to remember the most ancient of
times. The two centaur-spawns searched their memories, yet Bhaal stood no chance. He could
remember the first decades after the coming of Hashut whilst Rulek Strongscale's memory
stretched back to a distant age before the Old Ones had come to this world. Rulek won for a third
time and led by two victories, yet what value are the memories of ages even more distant than the
coming of the Father of Darkness? What was truly there before Him? Beware the trickery of
Tzeentch!

Fifth, Nurgle the Plague God told the two centaur-spawns to climb Blizzardpeak yet again and
reach the very summit. The exhausted rivals did so despite their weariness and wounds. This time,
the climb up to the top was long and harsh, and the fiercest of storm winds threatened to toss the
contestants out into thin air. Yet still they endured, and onward they climbed until finally Bhaal
almost reached the top. Suddenly his hooves found no footing, and he crashed down the whole
mountain into the same valley from which he had started his climb. When Rulek saw this, he
laughed with triumph and cruelty in his voice, and ascended to the very summit of Blizzardpeak.
There, Nurgle told him to tumble down into the bottom of the valley the same way as Bhaal had
done. The Dragon Ogre gaped and stood dumbfounded on the peak for a short time, and then he
threw himself down the sides of Blizzardpeak rather than face the wrath of the Dark Gods. At the
bottom of the valley the two centaur-spawns fell and rolled down the rocks and glaciers like
corpses. Their flesh was torn, gashed and raw, and broken bones made them unable to rise. Yet
they were not dead. The Bull Centaur still breathed if only barely, and his heart beat more
steadily than the Dragon Ogre's did. Rulek was in an ever-lasting coma, and only the eager will of
the Dark Gods to see the contest fulfilled saved him. Nurgle declared Bhaal to be the toughest and
the winner of this round, and the Dark Gods restored the health of both with malicious magic.

Sixth, Slaanesh the Deity of Decadence filled the beastly mind of a nearby Stonehorn with
perverse lust, and the hulking monster charged at the two centaur-spawns. Bhaal was quicker, and
managed to throw himself out of the stampeding Stonehorn's way just in time. Rulek Strongscale,
however, was not agile enough to avoid the beast's horns. He was thrown into a rock and had to
butcher the stony creature to a pile of gravel bafore he was safe from its depravations. Bhaal won,
and the score was even.

Seventh, the Dark Gods of Chaos all agreed to have the contestants strike a blow on their brother
anti-god, Malal. Thus it was that they opened a portal into the Realm of Chaos and ordered the
two centaur-spawns to slay the Guardian of Contradiction, Xorox Without Name. They stalked this
Greater Daemon for unknown years and unknown leagues before they found it. Xorox Without
Name defended himself visciously, yet to no avail. In the end, it was the Dragon Ogre Shartak
Rulek Strongscale who proved his superior lethality in combat, and Bhaal shuffled back in shameful
defeat to the world of mortals. Rulek led by one victory.

Eighth, Malal the Doomed Renegade came to the two centaur-spawns just as they were about to
leave the abysmal Empyrean. The vengeful Dark God halted them, and decreed them to each
enslave one Daemon Prince from each of the Great Four gods' hosts. The two fighters were caught
up in the contest, and never thought once of defying Malal. Rulek Strongscale forged shackles of
iron and lightning, and went off hunting. He was victorious against each of his four Daemon Prince
foes, yet their power and essence always escaped through his shackles. Bhaal, on the other hand,
was more dominant. He forged shackles of bronze and obsidian. With these he broke the will of
four Daemon Princes and held them in contempt before the Lord of Paradoxes, who devoured them
on the spot. The contest was over, and the two centaur-spawns returned to the mortal world. The
final score was even, and Malal had his revenge.

Thus it was that neither Bull Centaur nor Dragon Ogre proved themself superior to the other when
the Eye of the Gods were upon them.

The Wheel of Chaos

...for Chaos is a wheel and as surely as a chariot grinds the mud so too are we ground by Chaos.
And as the Star has eight points, so too does the Wheel have eight spokes. The principal spokes are
that of Rage, Desire, Despair and Hubris just as the principal Gods are Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle
and Tzeentch. And as the lesser Gods are named Necoho, Zuvassin, The Horned Rat and Hashut, the
lesser spokes I name Nihilism, Anarchy, Ruin and Dominion. For where rage against order and
desire for freedom meet, mortals throw off the shackles of organised religion; where desire to
know what will happen meets the means to lead others to despair, mortals will throw the plans of
others into disarray; where the despair at a loss meets the hubris that another is more deserving,
mortals will seek to undo the fortunes of friend and foe alike; when the hubris that places one
above another meets the rage that follows the discovery that this is not so, mortals will seek to
set this right and subjugate all. And as surely as the wheel turns about the spoke, so to does Chaos
turn around Malal who I name Malignancy for it is the very nature of Chaos to turn upon itself and
be self destructive. And as the wheel turns about its axel, Chaos turns in a malignant cycle, each
spoke chasing the one next to it. Now one spoke is on top, now another, then another, forever
turning. And as no spoke may ever catch another, nor may it sit at the top of the turning wheel, so
to can none of the Gods cast down another forever and no God can ever remain supreme. Only by
breaking the wheel can the cycle end, but to do so is doom for if the wheel is broken it is no longer
a wheel."

- A heretical text by an unknown author which was scratched into a hull plate from a Thunderfire
Battlebarge. The hull plate was discovered washed up fifty miles north-east of Uzkulak port with
no sign of the ship it came from. It is now housed in the White Archives* in Mingol Zharr-Naggrund
along with numerous other heretical texts collected by the Dawi Zharr during their long history.