Functional Chaos Societies

[Shadowmancer]

I think that a functional Chaos Society would work along similar lines to that of a pure anarchist society but with more blood, disease, excesses and mutations.

[Cereal n' Milk]

it could just be like older societes, where there was not order at all or more feudal, with lords ruling areas, getting tributes, like sacrifices and rescources needed

[JamesP]

Although in the GW mythos Chaos is not a social thing, it's a physical/spiritual corruption. So you couldn't for example be a "normal" person and be native to a Chaos world. You're either corrupted or not, it has nothing to do with your society. I imagine living on a Chaos world would be like living in a dream/nightmare. Things would change constantly with no regard to cause and effect. You would quickly go insane by normal standards.

I agree. If you are living in an environment where Chaos is so powerful that the warp has bled into/overlain the material world and reality is in flux, you'd go mad if you weren't already.

Daemon World shows Chaos societies, mostly at the feudal level, on a world that changes pretty regularly and the entire population seems to recognise that a) everyone's a bit mad; b) everyone's at the mercy of the gods; and c) the world keeps changing so nothing lasts forever - empires rise and fall fairly quickly. The societies that are there mainly seem like the Chaos Marauders in WFB, though there's one major Slanneshi group that dwell in a massive city.

And that's on a daemon world that is relatively stable. If you live on one deep in the Eye of Terror, where the ruling daemon reshapes it every day - assuming it even has days anymore - it would be very difficult to have any sort of society. You'd end up with something similar to the warbands deep in the heart of the WFB Chaos wastes.

I reckon it's only on the more stable Chaos worlds, like in Traitor General, that you can have a properly functioning society. Pure Chaos, as on 'proper' daemon worlds, makes everything - the terrain, the atmosphere, everything living, time and space itself - too unstable to have a society.

This is pretty much stated in Ravenor Rogue. The fixer, Culezan (sp?), states to Ravenor that he can only do his work and live his life if everything doesn't dissolve into pure Chaos. The smart/ still vaguely sane followers of Chaos would recognise this. The easily-led/ dumb/ mad ones won't, and end up as gibbering mutated wrecks.

[John Connah]

If you think about it, according to the Emperor, the world we live in today would be considered a Chaos world :P

I like to think of a lot of chaos worlds as the way a couple people posted, usually a relatively normal world except they worship a Chaos god instead of the Emperor.
Usually there's still a central figure (governor, priest, etc) that guides the day to day workings of the planet. Not everybody is a mindless cultist. There are even things like the PDF or whole Guard regiments that stay intact but turn to Chaos. I like to think they maintain some of their discipline :P

[Unclehomefries]

In one of the Ultramarine books (the one where they go to the 'homeworld' of the Iron Warriors in the Eye of Terror) the 'society' is just competing warsmiths in their fortresses trying to one-up each other technologically and then try to blow each other up. They essentially have slave labor and are ruled by the CSMs.

Compare this to the novel Mechanicum in the Horus Heresy series and you see a very similar society.

Makes you question the Imperium

[Sitnam]

I would say that all Chaos societies can be 'functional'- it just depends on the function. Being dedicated to the likes of Slaanesh, Nurgle, Tzenntch, and Khorne, their function it to give their societies members comfortable lives. Their function is to serve their gods. That is their purpose, their drive. The CSM (True Chaos, not Renegade SM) attempt to serve their gods due to extreme dedication, with the most efficient and glorious champions being gifted by their gods. The gods dont gift them for their dedication. They gift them because the more powerful their servants, the more likely it is they will go oin to further benefit that gods fancy (Be it lust, battle, or disease.). So i would say Chaos societies are fairly well functioned.

[Magos]

Indeed, I just rather like the idea of chaos societies with discipline. Or perhaps something out of the Edward Lee Infernal Triology...

[Sitnam]

Indeed, I just rather like the idea of chaos societies with discipline.

Hmm. Would the Blood Pact from the Gaunt's Ghost series fit that idea? They are comparatively well ordered and organized in comparison to other Chaos warbands. Of course their just a military organization, not a society.

[RocketRollRebel]

I would imagine Chaos cultists to act very much like early christians, attending mass (in this case rituals) in secret and hiding from Romans (imperials)

hahaha

Anyway I did read an interesting fan story involving how cultists act outside of combat. Granted it was a WHFB related story about a Khorne worshiper but it provided some very interesting insight.

[Magos]

Any link, I'd appreacite that.

Actually, yes, I rather do like the Bloodpact, they seem to embody a more functional sort of Khornate Worship/