The Emperor knows how dangerous Chaos is. It feeds off every emotion you have. This is the reason for the harsh propaganda you see thrown about amongst the Imperium. The ideal warrior to fight Chaos does not let rage consume him, nor does he seek forbidden knowledge, nor does he think about anything much other than how best to serve the Emperor. The glorification of death is a means of encouraging people to sacrifice themselves honourably for the Imperium because the fear of death and mankind's self-preservation instincts can often throw them straight into the arms of Chaos. And once you are branded a heretic, there is no turning back. The choices are either to join Chaos and seek some kind of power to fight back with, or give in to execution. Obviously there are a few exceptions, as some Traitor Legions only very loosely associate with Chaos worship, but in the main I would say the vast majority of non-marine Chaos worshippers turn to it when the Imperium fails them, and they see no other way to survive. It's very important to remember that not every Chaos worshipper is a mental bloodthirsting fiend who seeks only to mutilate himself in the name of increased power. There are still normal humans who have joined Chaos that don't sacrifice 20 babies a day and drink the blood of virgins who might live something approaching a normal life all things considered. Since Warhammer is all about war it's easy to forget that there are billions of worlds absolutely rammed full of people doing relatively mundane things. Apart from fear, there's always the other means of corruption. Tzeentch likes to corrupt free thinkers - scientists, philosophers, artists - who might delve a little too far into forbidden knowledge. The wiki page states they might come across a mysterious colleague who points their investigations in a new direction, or that they spend a little too long reading something classified that just appears on their desk. Should anyone catch you reading into information you're not supposed to you're generally in deep shit, and then who are you going to turn to for help..? I remember reading a lore unlock in WAR where a doctor's journal shows his slow corruption by Nurgle: why spend your whole life fighting disease and seeing patients die when you can embrace and live alongside those very same diseases? Khorne's corruption is a bit less subtle. He loves to possess prideful warriors who relish the chance to test themselves, or psychopaths who have some primal urge to kill. Maybe an Imperial Guardsman shoots a Commissar in a fit of rage after seeing his brother executed, and all of a sudden he realises... it felt kind of good. Slaanesh? Well, remember Space Marines live by an incredibly strict set of rules, and that every emotion they feel is amplified tenfold. Imagine breaking those rules and feeling sexual urges for the first time, or the rush from injecting a drug or engaging in whatever other pleasures they can imagine. It'd be mindblowing, and I bet addiction would hit them ten times as hard, too. Amongst the common folk it's again easier to imagine those who might turn to Slaanesh - corrupt officials with depraved tastes that they indulge behind closed doors, the poor and desperate who steal or even kill for their next fix. Chaos isn't just a big bad that wants to kill all the good guys. It's a complicated force that finds your worries, desires, flaws and insecurities and says I have the answer. By no means is it some terrifying alien force; it's disgustingly, terrifyingly human.
I will follow Chaos because it brings sacral knowledge and power that Empire does not have and does not truly understand.
Its an honor to share this thread with you brother. My Word Bearer's soul is on fire after reading your post. Let me also add one thing you did not mention. The urge of religious faith is deeply imprinted on the human psyche. It is there as much as your urge for survival , your urge for violence , your urge for love. Some believe it is a primordial truth , a secret that lies within our souls , the knowledge of a spiritual pressence that we due respect and praise. Others believe it is the human weakness that seeks to cover its ignorance by making up false existances. Everyone can say whatever he wants to say but none can deny that ever since the begining , there were always faiths , religions and cults , some subtle and others world-changing. All over the world , cultures that never met each other held religious systems and honored symbols , on many occasions profoundly similar to each other. This has not changed no matter what progress humanity made , even when we realised shocking truths like the fact that the Earth is not flat or the vastness of the Universe. So now to warhammer. Till this point i was refering to humanity. From now on i am talking about warhammer only so dont be confused. On one hand you have the Emperor. The Emperor was indeed the most important human. He turned our race from a bounch of seperated colonies of barbarians(or not) to the galaxy's most powerful Political and military fanction. He created the astartes and the primarchs who , if we consider them as a race , are the most influential people on the galaxy. However the Emperor , in the end, is a human. He was a god TO men but nothing more than that. A hive queen is a godess to ants , but not for anything bigger than ants. After his death the Emperor is only a beacon to guide the imperial ships and co-ordinate the Imperium. Without him the Imperium will fall. However still , he is not a God. He does not hear prayer. He does not grant help to his followers. He merely exists as a beacon. The faith to the emperor is merely the fear of losing that beacon. It is the same spiritual faith i believe the cavemen had towards the fire. In a sum the Emperor is not a god because he is not a spiritual being. On the other hand , the Gods of Chaos are a pressence. They are spiritual dieties. They listen. When a person proves his worth and will , they gift him with powers beyond that of mortals'. When their followers march to war they grant us champions and daemons to fight with. The Dark gods can sate your need for glory , knowledge , pleasure , survival. Everything a mortal needs can be found in the embrace of the gods. Imperials accuse the Gods for their demanding character. Is the Emperor not demanding? Our sacrificies are only matched by theirs. How many guardsmen die every moment? How many heroes of the imperium are disposed of every hour? How many humans die in labour for the Imperial machine to move and how many sacrificies does the Emperor demand? Imperials also claim that our Gods are nothing without us , they need us like a drug to live. Not so. Our Gods were born by the collective reflection of emotions and souls in the warp over a process of untold milenia. They are already omnipotent and omnipresent. It is foolish to consider that the Gods need us to exist anymore. On the other hand , the Emperor needs his servant to feed him sacrificies and praise him. If all mortals die in an instant the Chaos Gods will remain. The Emperor will not. Chaos is life. Emotion. It changes , it has passion , it destroys and builds all over again. The Emperor is stagnacy , a corpse traped in a state of unlife , a deserving symbol of the Imperium.
I think both are good examples of turning to chaos not being something that people necessarily get up one morning and decide to do. It often happens over a much longer period until at one point they realise that's where they are - and it feels a lot better than they'd always been warned about. And the path itself can be incredibly tempting... Dawn of War handled this really well in Chaos Rising. Want to take a shortcut rather than the much harder path of what you 'should' do? Go ahead. Picked up a deliciously powerful weapon that has been marinating in the warp for several centuries? Ah, why not use it against the Chaos Marines - turning the weapons of chaos against itself is fitting, after all. Oh, hey. Not only are you becoming more powerful faster, but you seem to be gaining additional strengths and abilities you didn't know you had, after all of this bloodlust and rule-breaking behaviour. Must be the Emperor's blessing upon you, letting you know you're doing the right thing. What else could it be? How blind the Imperium is, insisting that Space Marines follow these pointless rules and serve penances that only hold you back. If only they could realise how much stronger, more powerful you've become, they'd change their minds and agree that you've done what is right. Next thing you know, you've spat on your oath of allegiance to the Emperor and joined other like-minded members of your chapter in the Black Legion when the Imperium declares you a heretic and traitor.
Once you head down the dark path... forever will it dominate your destiny! In our lives, we stumble upon many different roads during our journey. Some clearly bright, others inhospitably dark, but there will be times when everything set before us is difficult to make out for what they truly are. Inevitably, we´ll choose the wrong path... And one path.. leads to another! And we´ll be lost to the dark.
My example is Wh40k audiodramma Malediction if someone heard it you'll know what i am talking about. If you're in the imperium you have to sacrifice yourself for it. What you dont want to ? Np a bit of tuning and we have a fine servitour. The point is if your not an astartes the odds ending dead from your Imperium are as high as from anything else the difference is you will be asking what for ?
Plus look at the word bearer novels on a planet people are forced to work in salt plains that slowly makes them go blind. Not really a surprise they went chaos while the rich people sit there not doing anything. Remember its not simple like I am going chaos because I am EVIL. Everyone in 40k is bad and good in different ways.
