Vaag’Inesh - the Fifth God of Chaos
Vaag’Inesh Unwashed
In the deepest, most forgotten settlements of Necromunda, the worst ideas are born. Sometimes it starts with a fight over the last drops of amasec, sometimes with a badly understood dream after a few days spent in the sump. And sometimes it starts with a drunk Beastmaster showing a handful of gullible fools some Ripperjacks and telling them they are looking at the daemons of a god. That is probably how the cult of Vaag’Inesh began. Nobody knows who first spoke the name. There are no ancient tablets, forbidden tomes, or priests who remember its origins. There are, however, rumors, filthy walls painted in blood, foul-smelling drinking holes, and small groups of people who are absolutely convinced they have discovered the fifth God of Chaos. To them, Vaag’Inesh is a goddess of fertility, bodily ruin, disease, blood, and every sight a decent hive dweller would rather not witness, even through a respirator filter. Her followers believe she births daemons, rewards the faithful with mutations, and tests their bodies to separate the truly devoted from the weak and unclean. Of course, anyone with even a basic understanding of Chaos would probably see it differently.
The God Who Probably Does Not Exist
The followers of Vaag’Inesh believe their deity stands above the four known Chaos Gods. She is neither Slaanesh, Khorne, Nurgle, nor Tzeentch. She is something separate, older, more physical, a god the others supposedly prefer to ignore. In truth, their prayers almost always reach Slaanesh. The cult attracts people consumed by pleasure, betrayal, obsession, humiliation, violence, and everything that begins as a bodily craving and ends with disease, shame, or a corpse in a sump drain. Many wear the marks of their choices on their skin. Sores, growths, infections, strange folds of flesh, swollen limbs, and mutations are not seen as punishment, but as blessings. The more a body comes apart, the more clearly Vaag’Inesh is said to be watching over her follower.
The cultists speak of the “syphilis of sin” carried within every human being. They see themselves as filthy, stained, and unworthy. They spend their whole lives trying to cleanse themselves, naturally in the worst possible way. Rather than seeking redemption, they sink deeper into filth, convinced that only Vaag’Inesh can truly wash them clean. To them, death for their goddess or her messengers is the only real form of hygiene. Only in the final breath can a faithful servant be cleansed of every stain, disease, betrayal, sin, and bodily weakness. Only then will Vaag’Inesh receive them, clean, washed, and ready to serve on the other side.
Ripperjacks, Holy Beasts and the God’s Messengers
The most important beings in the cult are the Ripperjacks. To an ordinary Necromundan, they are simply exotic flying beasts, fast, aggressive, and disgusting enough that no sensible person would want to meet one in a narrow corridor. To the cultists of Vaag’Inesh, they are something far greater. They are daemons, more precisely the god’s messengers, winged heralds, and living fragments of her sacred anatomy. The cultists believe that Ripperjacks resemble Vaag’Inesh herself, and that every wound they leave, every beat of their wings, and every snap of their jaws is a sign of divine will.
That is why the beasts rank above most members of the gang, often even above the Demagogue. Ripperjacks are fed first. They receive the best cuts of meat, the freshest offerings, and the most attention. They are tended, cleaned, anointed, fed, and protected with more devotion than the cultists themselves. A ganger may go two days without food, but a holy beast must never be hungry. After all, a well-kept daemon means a pleased goddess. A Beastmaster who can keep Ripperjacks alive and make them obey at least some of his commands gains almost instant authority. Not every Beastmaster decides to build a cult around himself, but many quickly realize that a few hungry flying horrors and a convincing story are enough to gather a crowd of fools willing to die for something they barely understand. Not every Beastmaster truly believes in Vaag’Inesh. Some simply see a useful way to gain loyal followers, food, weapons, and resources. In Necromunda, that is still more honesty than most leaders can offer.
God is a woman - the Bloody Cycle of Vaag’Inesh
There are times, however, when the cult becomes far more dangerous. Its followers believe that Vaag’Inesh goes through her own bloody cycle, tied to fertility, daemon births, and divine suffering. During these periods, ordinary prayers are no longer enough. They need blood, a great deal of blood. The cult performs rituals in which victims are cut open, reshaped, and offered in bloody ceremonies so that, for a brief moment, they resemble the cult’s image of their goddess. The cultists claim they are helping Vaag’Inesh through her sacred suffering. In reality, their rites become so bloody that they attract the attention of someone else entirely: Khorne.
That is why the gang can sometimes shift from the clammy, perverse atmosphere of Slaanesh into brutal, full-on slaughter. To the cultists, there is no contradiction in this. They believe Vaag’Inesh has simply changed her mood, becoming angrier, hungrier, and less patient during her bloody cycle.
How Does It Work on the Table?
Mechanically, the gang treats Vaag’Inesh as its own, deeply misunderstood form of Chaos worship.
Before each game, roll a D6.
On a result of 1 to 5- the gang follows the rules of Slaanesh.
On a result of 6, it follows the rules of Khorne.
It fits the cult perfectly. Most of the time, its members are driven by obsession, bodily desire, sick ambitions, and warped cravings. But sometimes their rituals become so bloody that, instead of Slaanesh, the Blood God himself answers. Naturally, they are still convinced it was their goddess speaking.
A Gang for Those Who Do Not Want to Be Clean
The cult of Vaag’Ineesh is not a band of elegant heretics from the palaces of the Spire. It is a gang for mutants, the diseased, those marked by venereal disease, degenerates, rapists, and desperate souls who have nowhere else to go. Some truly believe in the fifth God of Chaos, while others simply want protection, access to holy beasts, or a place where their worst urges are not condemned, but treated as a form of devotion.
They are united by one idea: filth is sacred, disease is a trial, mutation is a reward, and death is the only true cleansing, the final washing away of every sin.
And the cult will probably grow. Necromunda never runs short of infected with infected with venereal diseases, rapists looking for a place where they can call their sickness a blessing. As long as there are dark corners, frightened victims, and nobody willing to put an end to it, Vaag’Ineesh will keep finding new followers.
