1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,399 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,360 Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is The 3 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 2: Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow 4 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 2: Your Mind, focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 2: in time. On today's special omnibus episode of Stuff to 6 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 2: Blow Your minds The Monster Fact, We're going to dive 7 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 2: into a little Chaos undivided if you will. We have 8 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 2: all four previously published episodes of The Monster Fact concerning 9 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 2: the chaos demons of Games Workshops Warhammer forty thousand Universe 10 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 2: rank and file beside each other. So upburst, let's get 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 2: to know the blood God Corn. In this episode, I'm 12 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 2: beginning a four part Monster Fact series on the four 13 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 2: main demonic factions in Games Workshops Warhammer for fourty thousand 14 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 2: univers So first, a little background. The fictional far future 15 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,479 Speaker 2: forty KSE setting depicts an interstellar human imperium with various dark, 16 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 2: fantasy and medieval elements. This aggressive imperium is challenged on 17 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 2: all sides by equally warlike alien societies, but they also 18 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 2: face the threat of chaos. In the forty KSE setting, 19 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,279 Speaker 2: the demons of chaos exist in a psychic dimension called 20 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 2: the warp, but they can spill over into what is 21 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 2: called real space through various methods and exploits, so in 22 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 2: this setting, demons are not the mere creation of religion 23 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 2: or occultism, but an actual spiritual and physical threat to humanity. 24 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 2: Heretical drift on a far flung planet can mean far 25 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 2: more than just mere rebellion. It can lead to a 26 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 2: demonic incursion that consumes billions of souls. There are various 27 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 2: ways to divide up de factions in a created world 28 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 2: like this, but forty K largely splits the forces of 29 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 2: chaos into four distinct flavors, red, blue, green, and purple, 30 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 2: representing bloodthirst, chaotic change, pestilence, and hedonism, each a major 31 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 2: conduit of mortal emotions and mortal souls in the fictional 32 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 2: forty first millennium, with each conduit accreting into a powerful 33 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 2: entity known as a chaos god. They are corn Zinch, Nurgle, 34 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 2: and Slannesh. There are other lesser chaos gods as well, 35 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 2: but these are the four main factions, and while they 36 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 2: sometimes come to a working agreement with each other, they're 37 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 2: mostly at war amongst themselves. In what is referred to 38 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 2: as the Great Game. In this episode, we'll start with 39 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 2: Corn as the so called Blood God is a lot 40 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 2: more direct. He's powered by mortal violence and war. He's 41 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 2: all about rivers of blood and pyramids of bone. His 42 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 2: favorite color is obviously red, and he's not big on subtlety. 43 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 2: His demonic Hords and mortal followers dig horns and blades. 44 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 2: They spill blood for the Blood God. So really there's 45 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 2: not much to elaborate on here. However, in browsing through 46 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 2: the ninth edition Chaos Demons Codex from Games Workshop, I 47 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 2: simply couldn't let the unit known as a skull cannon 48 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 2: pass without comment. There's a lot of talk of skull 49 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 2: harvesting with some of the other Corn units, and this 50 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 2: one amounts to a big honking heavy metal cannon. A 51 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 2: couple of red demons called blood Letters crew the weapon, 52 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 2: loading it up with the fresh remains of slain enemy soldiers. 53 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 2: The cannon breaks everything down and then fires flaming skulls 54 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 2: across the battlefield, again fittingly direct. Thus far, in actual 55 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 2: human warfare, skulls and heads have proven poor missiles, but 56 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 2: the presentation of decapitated heads to the enemy has a 57 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 2: long history with plentiful examples to be found in the 58 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 2: classical and ancient world. The heads of enemy dead might 59 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 2: be delivered directly to enemy lines. They might be placed 60 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 2: on spikes or what have you. Ruth Schuster, writing for 61 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 2: Hauritz in twenty eighteen, points out that Iron Age gauls 62 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,600 Speaker 2: even developed a resin based embalming method to ensure the 63 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 2: captured heads of their enemies didn't rot too fast. As 64 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 2: Peter Francopin points out in his book The First Crusade 65 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,679 Speaker 2: The Call from the East, the Crusades saw a lot 66 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 2: of head taking on both sides, and there are Western 67 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 2: accounts of crusader heads being catapulted back into their siege 68 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 2: camps in order to hurt morale. The same terror tactics 69 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 2: were said to have been used by French crusader hosts 70 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 2: as well. This according to the French themselves in the 71 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 2: Old French Crusader Cycle. According to Sarah Grace Heller in 72 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 2: twenty eleven's Terror in the Old French Crusade Cycle, Various 73 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 2: other catapult Age accounts described the launching of dead bodies 74 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 2: into camps and besieged cities as a means of terror 75 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 2: and or biological attack. The age of the cannon presented 76 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 2: various new ideas of how cannons might be used in 77 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 2: one way or another to spread human remains. None of 78 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 2: these methods use the remains as ammo against other combatants, 79 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 2: but are worth noting. Nonetheless, the execution method known as 80 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 2: blowing from a gun often entailed the strapping of a 81 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 2: live victim to the mouth of a cannon, resulting in 82 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 2: partial or complete scattering of the remains. On the other 83 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 2: end of the spectrum, cremated ashes are on occasions spread 84 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 2: by cannon fire as a desired dramatic, funerary rite in 85 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 2: modern times. In a broader sense, however, the use of 86 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 2: human remains as weapons dates back to prehistory. Europeans were 87 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 2: crafting human bones into weapons at least ten thousand years ago, 88 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 2: a practice that continued into recent centuries for other far 89 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 2: flung cultures, at least for symbolic and spiritual reasons. Now, 90 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 2: as far as the creation and veneration of artifacts made 91 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 2: from human bones goes, this is the kind of thing 92 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 2: that's probably lost on the chaos god Corn. All he 93 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 2: cares about is the hacking, of the stabbing, and of 94 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 2: course the occasional explosively propelled pyrotechnic human skull. And now 95 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 2: for something completely different, Zinch, the Changer of Ways. It's 96 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 2: time to turn our attention to the next chaos god, Zinch. 97 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 2: Now that's traditionally spelled with a silent tea, but you 98 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,479 Speaker 2: can really spell the entity's name anyway you want to. 99 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 2: I think Zench would appreciate that, especially if you put 100 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 2: a great deal of thought into the exercise and mix 101 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 2: things up a lot. After all, he is the changer 102 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 2: of ways and the demonic master of mutation, trickery and prophees. 103 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 2: Zinch's focus on change is sometimes perplexing because, of course, 104 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 2: change is not inherently evil or ruinous. As described in 105 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 2: the ninth edition Chaos Demon Codex from Game's Workshop, change 106 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 2: is largely the bait by which the dark God draws 107 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 2: in his followers. He promises change, he promises wisdom or 108 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 2: insight into the future, but what he actually delivers is manipulation, confusion, 109 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 2: plots within plots, and ultimately more out of control transformation 110 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 2: than anyone saying or mortal can comprehend. The vice he 111 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 2: feeds upon is unchecked mortal ambition and deception. As such, 112 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 2: Zinch is one of two Chaos gods, along with Slenesh, 113 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 2: who exhibits strong fostian elements. He offers tempting immediate rewards 114 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 2: in exchange for a great cost of unimaginable nature. The 115 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 2: battle forces of Zench are, of course, bonkers, imp like 116 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 2: pink horrors swarm across an ever changing, ever recreated battlefield, 117 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 2: splitting into blue horrors upon defeat, which in turn fall 118 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 2: to become flaming brimstone horrors. Now these are the lowest 119 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 2: of Zinch's forces, but his generals are the great blue 120 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 2: Avian monstrosities known as the Lords of Change, and the 121 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,239 Speaker 2: most dangerous of these is an individual Lord of Change 122 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 2: known as Carryos Fate Weaver. The oracle of Zinch. Carryos 123 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 2: manifests a great two headed lord of change, resplendent in 124 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:42,439 Speaker 2: blue feathers, kaleidoscopic wings, and countless gleaming eyes. Fittingly, there 125 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 2: are some enthralling elements to unwrap in this entity. Beginning 126 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 2: with its name, Fate Weaver speaks for itself, but the 127 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 2: demon's first name is the ancient Greek for the right, 128 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 2: critical or opportune moment, and in modern Greek time and weather, 129 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 2: it is written that the two heads of Carryos fate 130 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 2: we are all seeing one looks backwards into the past 131 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 2: and the other forward into the future. The symbolism brings 132 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,199 Speaker 2: to mind various concepts from real world religion and iconography, 133 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 2: such as the two faced Janus of Roman tradition, who 134 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 2: is god of beginnings and endings, of transitions and doorways. 135 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 2: The image also brings to mind Hecadi, the Greek goddess 136 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 2: who is often presented as triple faced or triple bodied. 137 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 2: She is a goddess of crossroads who presents a different 138 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 2: form to each direction, So we might easily think of 139 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 2: both Janus and Hecaday as gods of change, as well, 140 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 2: as Robert Mills points out in Jesus as Monster, published 141 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 2: in the two thousand and three book The Monstrous Middle Ages. 142 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 2: From the twelfth century onward, there is also a tradition 143 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,679 Speaker 2: in Christian iconography of depicting Christ with three human faces 144 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 2: or three human heads, as a way of visually depicting 145 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 2: the Holy Trinity or three in one god, Christ and 146 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 2: Holy Spirit. Mills points out that this is fairly remarkable 147 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:11,079 Speaker 2: because these divine images coexisted with monstrous depictions of three 148 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 2: faced creatures in medieval bestiaries, and of course we also 149 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:20,079 Speaker 2: have the three faced Satan in Dante's Inferno. The bird 150 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 2: heads of Carryos, Fate Weaver, and the other lords of 151 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 2: Change are also quite interesting. Certainly, there are plenty of 152 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 2: examples of real world gods and goddesses with Avian features 153 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 2: like this, But I also can't help but think of 154 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 2: a specific medieval depiction of Jesus Christ with the head 155 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 2: and long neck of a bird. Mills discusses this as well. 156 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,560 Speaker 2: The example he points to in the English Book of 157 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:49,080 Speaker 2: Hours in Psalter circa thirteen hundred, depicts a strange human 158 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 2: bird hybrid with a long neck and long vulture like beak. 159 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 2: The creature's loincloth, philosophic air, and body positioning strongly reflect 160 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 2: depictions of Christ. Mills wonders if this perplexing creature is 161 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,679 Speaker 2: a reference to the bird men described in the Guest 162 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,319 Speaker 2: of Roman Arum or Deeds of the Romans from roughly 163 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 2: the same time period. In this book, birdmen with long 164 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 2: necks and beaks are described as fitting judges because of 165 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 2: the distance between their heart and their voice. By virtue 166 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 2: of their long beaks and necks see words rise up 167 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 2: from the heart through the neck to the lips and 168 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 2: the longer they have to travel, the more time we 169 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,839 Speaker 2: have to consider them and craft them for public consumption. 170 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 2: In other words, the Avian Christ might be a commentary 171 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 2: on the holy value of contemplation and the need to 172 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 2: balance justice and mercy. So with the Lord of Change 173 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 2: and other agents of zinch, perhaps we see a similar 174 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 2: symbolic effect, only demonically perverted. The chaos God celebrates contemplation, 175 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 2: but only in the form of endless scheming and deception. 176 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 2: Words travel long between his heart and his voice, because 177 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 2: every whisper is finely tuned to ensnare, bewilder and manipulate 178 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 2: mortals to further his own labyrinthine schemes. Up next, let's 179 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 2: get uncomfortably close to the plague God Nurgle. Today we 180 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 2: turn our attention to the plague god Nurgle, the master 181 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 2: of contagion and general grossness. His demonic minions are foul 182 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,959 Speaker 2: oozing and bloated wrecks. His mortal followers also willingly give 183 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 2: their bodies and souls over to this sort of corruption. 184 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 2: From the top of his ranks, the monstrous, great unclean one, 185 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 2: to the lowly swarms of gurglings, we see a common likeness. 186 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 2: Say to resemble Nrgyl himself, rotund toad like humanoids with 187 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 2: rupturing guts and rot toothed grins. As such, it's easy 188 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 2: to Equatenrgyl with the Christian deadly sins of sloth and gluttony, 189 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 2: but the ninth edition Chaos Demon's Codex from game's workshop 190 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,920 Speaker 2: tells us that Nrgyl is actually empowered by mortal suffering 191 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 2: and despair. It is when famines and pestilence are at 192 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 2: their worst in the universe and vast interstellar populations lose 193 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 2: all hope that Nergyl advances on their souls and physical worlds. 194 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 2: He offers them a bit of twisted wisdom. It is 195 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 2: not courage to resist disease and corruption. It is courage 196 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 2: to give in to these forces and to embrace Nurgel's blessings. 197 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 2: Nirgele's name was of course inspired by the ancient Babylonian 198 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 2: god Nergal, a god of pestilence, famine, and war who 199 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 2: could be called upon to protect his worshippers from these 200 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 2: very forces. He also became associated with the samarro Akkadian underworld. 201 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 2: Forty K'snurgyl is in many ways a darker and more 202 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 2: twisted take on these elements on the battlefield, the demonic 203 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 2: forces of NEURGYL make for quite a grotesque horde, full 204 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 2: of humanoid plague bearers and great sluglike monstrosities. There is 205 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 2: also a dark whimsie to such units as the grand 206 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 2: cultivator Horticulus Slimus on his snail demon Mount Mulch, as 207 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 2: well as the capering blessed Nurglings. But of course we 208 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 2: have to focus in on the herald of NEURGYL, Sloppity 209 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 2: Bile Piper. Like other plague bearer demons, he's a green 210 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 2: skinned humanoid bursting with infection and decay, but he's also 211 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 2: a jolly soul full of song and twisted mirth. The 212 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 2: Kodex tells us that he prances on the battlefield infected 213 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 2: by a deadly and highly contagious laughing disease. In one hand, 214 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 2: suggesters merit, decorated with his own face, of course, as 215 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 2: well as a steaming mass of guts fashioned into a 216 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 2: set of bagpipes which he plays. His performance hastens the troops, 217 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,400 Speaker 2: but the Kodex tells us that it's uncertain if this 218 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 2: is accomplished via inspiration or annoyance. He spreads the dancing 219 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 2: plague as he cavorts, and when he eventually falls on 220 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 2: the battlefield, his own body will turn into the next 221 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 2: set of gut pipes for the next herald to take 222 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 2: up and play. Now, there's a lot of fun gallows 223 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,960 Speaker 2: humor to this unit, but it also may raise some 224 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 2: interesting questions about actual bagpipes. For starters, we should clarify 225 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 2: that while bagpipes are strongly associated with Scottish and Irish tradition, 226 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 2: some form of bagpipes have been played for centuries across 227 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 2: Europe and parts of Asia and Africa in different cultural traditions. 228 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 2: It does seem that animal stomachs were used in the 229 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 2: creation of bagpipes on occasion, such as the stomachs of 230 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 2: sheep or seals, but most bagpipes you encounter today are 231 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 2: going to be made out of synthetic materials or animal hides. 232 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 2: In some cases, the bagpipe may be made from a 233 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 2: largely intact skin, with the various stocks of the bagpipes 234 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 2: connecting to where the limbs and head of the animal 235 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 2: would have previously attached. So on one level, the notion 236 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 2: of bagpipes made from flesh is not that far removed 237 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 2: from their material origins. Additionally, there is something to the 238 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 2: way bagpipes inhale and exhale that encourages the animal comparison ohen. 239 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 2: Of course, the TV series Garth Morangi's Dark Place exploited 240 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 2: this quite humorously in the episode Scotch Missed, in which 241 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 2: an animate pair of bagpipes attacks the main character. As 242 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 2: for the comparison to be made between bagpipes and human entrails, 243 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 2: I actually found an interesting treatment of this in the 244 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 2: eighteen fifty humor book Memoirs of a Stomach by Sydney Whiting. 245 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 2: The author, writing as a human stomach, compares itself to 246 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 2: the bagpipe and shares a supposed origin story of the 247 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 2: musical instrument. In it, a necromancer reanimates the stomach of 248 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 2: a fallen Scottish warrior as bagpipes. Allow me to read 249 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 2: a bit of it to you quote, there sat the 250 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 2: weird king wand in hand, and there lay the digestive 251 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 2: organs of the departed. At length he uttered a few 252 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,159 Speaker 2: strange words, and, tracing some hieroglyphics in the air with 253 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,679 Speaker 2: his royal finger, he exclaimed aloud, change thou thy form 254 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 2: a thing of mighty use When in the living clay, 255 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,640 Speaker 2: And on thy tube, let there be stops and keynotes. 256 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,639 Speaker 2: And in thy bag let there be wind. And let 257 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 2: the natives of this region have cunning to play upon thee. 258 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 2: And let thy tones be ever as the shrieks of 259 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 2: a tortured man, so that the ernus may be satisfied. 260 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:54,679 Speaker 2: And let thou be called now and hereafter bagpipe, so 261 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 2: that what I spoke may come to pass, even unto 262 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 2: the letter he said, and his astonished retainers raised from 263 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:06,639 Speaker 2: the earth the first instrument bearing that name born unto Scotland. 264 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 2: Now again, this is a work of humor and should 265 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 2: not be interpreted as Scottish lore. If anything, I detect 266 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 2: some possible anti Scottish sentiments to the work, But suffice 267 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 2: to say that grandfather Nrgul was not the first to 268 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 2: snicker at the idea of stomachs as bagpipes. It's also 269 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:27,000 Speaker 2: worth noting that laughing plagues have occurred in the real world, 270 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 2: likely cases of mass hysteria. But this is another story 271 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 2: and shall be told another time. Last, but certainly not least, 272 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 2: we have a date with Slannesh, the Lord of Excess. 273 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 2: In forty k Lore, we are told that Slanesh is 274 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,960 Speaker 2: the youngest of the chaos gods, having only truly accreted 275 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 2: out of mortal souls and emotions with the fall of 276 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 2: the decadent al Dari civilization, an event that all but 277 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 2: destroyed the Aldari and pour open a massive warp rift 278 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 2: known as the Eye of Terror. Slanesh's domain is that 279 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 2: of hedonistic excess, but also that of need, want, and obsession. 280 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 2: The demons that manifest in Slanesh's service are alluring contradictions 281 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 2: that blur the line between pleasure and pain, desire and revulsion. 282 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 2: The demonets of Slenesh make up most of the chaos 283 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 2: God's battle force, and they feature some favored characteristics of 284 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 2: Slanesh's servants. They are humanoid beings with pale flesh and 285 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 2: long purple hair, alluring yet also equally ghoulish. Their feet 286 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 2: and legs are reminiscent of reptiles or birds, bringing to 287 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 2: mind such real world mythic traditions as that of harpies 288 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 2: and succubi. Oh yes, and they also have crab claws, 289 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,159 Speaker 2: lots of crab claws, something that doesn't really connect to 290 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 2: any mythic or folkloric traditions that I'm aware of, but 291 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,199 Speaker 2: they absolutely make it work, and it has become a 292 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 2: signature aspect of their look. Demonets also appear bilaterally asymmetrical, 293 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 2: particularly in the chest region, where one side features a 294 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 2: female breast and the other a male breast. While titillation 295 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 2: is clearly part of this design, it also strongly echoes 296 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 2: the male female duality in the symbolism of Bathome from 297 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:31,360 Speaker 2: occult in Western esoteric traditions. This influence is especially prevalent 298 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:36,880 Speaker 2: in the towering Keeper of Secrets the deadly Slaneshy demon champions, 299 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 2: which often, especially in recent depictions, features strong goat like 300 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:47,960 Speaker 2: characteristics such as foot and head reminiscent of Bathamet. But 301 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,640 Speaker 2: there's another servant of Slanesh that I'd like to talk 302 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:55,360 Speaker 2: about here, and that's the Mask of Slannesh. This purple 303 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 2: hued herald once danced in the good graces of the 304 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 2: Lord of Excess. To the ninth edition Chaos Demons Codex 305 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 2: from Games Workshop, the Mask fell out of favor with 306 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 2: Slenesh and is now cursed to dance and cavort forever 307 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 2: across strange realms and battlefields. The dance of the Mask 308 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 2: emboldened surrounding Sleneschi forces, but also in sourcells enemy troops 309 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 2: to join into its spiraling dance, where it slices them 310 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 2: to exotic ribbons of flesh. This, of course, brings to 311 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 2: mind a famous mania from our own history, the dancing 312 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 2: plagues of the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries. It is pointed 313 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,919 Speaker 2: out by John Waller in a Forgotten Plague, Making Sense 314 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,679 Speaker 2: of Dancing Mania, published in two thousand and nine in 315 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,439 Speaker 2: The Lancet. A certain degree of embellishment stains some of 316 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,920 Speaker 2: these accounts, but cases in thirteen seventy four and fifteen 317 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 2: eighteen are pretty well documented. Most sources agree that dancing 318 00:21:55,720 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 2: plague incidents involved groups of individuals swept up in long 319 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 2: bouts of involuntary dancing. The dancers cried out in pain 320 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 2: or pleaded for mercy. In some accounts they danced until 321 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 2: they died. While enigmatic and certainly hard to believe from 322 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 2: a modern perspective, dancing plagues are not without skeptical explanation. 323 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,639 Speaker 2: Whiler explores a few leading ideas in the paper. First, 324 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:24,440 Speaker 2: there's the possibility of urgit poisoning, a topic we've discussed 325 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 2: in depth. Un stuff to blow your mind before. It's 326 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 2: caused by the consumption of fungus infected grains that can 327 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 2: lead to nightmarish altered states of consciousness. Wiler also discusses 328 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,120 Speaker 2: the possibility that the dancers could have been in an 329 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 2: involuntary trance state, something people are far more susceptible to 330 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 2: during states of intense psychological distress, and these centuries certainly 331 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 2: provided plenty of stressors. This explanation also required exposure to 332 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 2: a pre existing belief about dancing plagues, and in these 333 00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:00,119 Speaker 2: cases the cause would be believed to be some of 334 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 2: a spirit or a curse, and there is evidence for 335 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,400 Speaker 2: this in art, literature, and law from these time periods 336 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 2: in regions. So Whiler writes, quote, every so often, when 337 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 2: physical and mental distress rendered people more than usually suggestible, 338 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 2: the specter of the dancing plague could quickly return. All 339 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 2: it then took was for one or a few poor souls, 340 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 2: believing themselves to have been subject to the curse, to 341 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:31,639 Speaker 2: slip into a spontaneous trance. Then they would unconsciously act 342 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:36,640 Speaker 2: out the part of the accursed, dancing, leaping and hopping 343 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 2: for days on end. It's a different sort of compulsion 344 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 2: than that found among the followers of Slannesh, but there 345 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 2: are other examples of mass hysteria or mass psychogenic illness 346 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,840 Speaker 2: to consider, such as laughing epidemics and witchcraft panics, though 347 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 2: of course Slanesh doesn't have to work through such real 348 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 2: world means to control people. I hope you enjoyed this 349 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,480 Speaker 2: series and I'm always looking for new ideas to explore 350 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 2: on the monster fact, the Artifact, or some other spin 351 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 2: on the short form format. Tune in for additional episodes 352 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 2: each week. As always, you can email us at contact 353 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 2: at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 354 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 355 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 356 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.