Who can say when Chaos first cast its darkness upon the world? only the most ancient scrolls of the High Elves in the great Tower of Hoeth dimly recall the beginning of the rule of Chaos. Most of this knowledge is now lost; wars, natural disasters, and the passing of time has destroyed most of what was left of such scrolls. The High Elf Loremasters believe that there was once a time when all things were pure, orderly and serene. The creatures that inhabited the world lived in harmony, governed by the rules of nature. But this golden age of order was destined to end in tragedy.

The origins of Chaos lie in the distant past of the Warhammer world, when it was visited by a starfaring race of unknown origin. In their marvelous silver ships came the Old Ones who changed the Warhammer world for their own, mysterious reasons.

Although the knowledge of their presence is all but lost in the present day, many of the races which now inhabit the world can trace their origins back to this time.

The Old Ones traveled by means of inter- dimensional gateways, spanning the vast distances between stars in a matter of moments. On the other side of their gateways was another world, an unimaginably vast alternate realm that connected all points in the material universe. It was and still is a world consisting purely of psychic energy, generated by the emotions and thoughts of the creatures of the real universe. This parallel dimension is not an empty void but is inhabited by entities of cosmic power. These are the Daemons and gods of Chaos, and they would prove to be the undoing of the Old Ones.

The inter-dimensional gateways of the Old Ones enabled them to travel to distant stars, and draw upon the inexhaustible energy of the warp to power their magic. It was the collapse of the northern gateway that led to the creation of the world as it is today. The gate is a tear in the fabric of reality, a great ring of darkness edged by arcane machinery covered with runes of unimaginable potency.

Once, it floated above the north pole of the world, but at some terrible point in the distant past a catastrophe caused the gateway to crash down to earth. The natural flow of power was disrupted and the world was covered in a descending cloud of mutating warpstone dust, bringing about the birth of many monstrous and terrible creatures, twisted by the corrupting touch of Chaos.

When the gateway to the stars collapsed it created a portal to another dimension where the unspeakable creatures of Chaos dwell. They emerged through the gateway and challenged the order of the Old Ones. It is believed that the Old Ones perished in the conflict, fighting a hopeless battle against the might of Chaos.

The disaster damaged the world irrevocably. The inheritance of the Old Ones and all their works fell into ruin. All things were changed forever, and a multitude of monstrous creatures came into existence. But worse was the spiritual corruption wrought upon the survivors.

The nature of Chaos is neither good nor evil, it simply mirrors the survivalist emotions of the intelligent beings in the real universe. Thus, the predatory entities of Chaos, be they gods or Daemons, exist because living things generate these emotions. So when the human mind turns to petty and evil thoughts the powers of the Chaos gods grow and coalesce into hideous forms shaped by human lust, greed, anger and fear.

Of all the intelligent races, humans prove to be the most eager to pursue the path of damnation. Man brings all his vigour and fanaticism to the service of Chaos. That service brings power to the gods of Chaos, and in return they corrupt and twist their followers.

Humans lust for change and this has led to the present human dominance over many parts of the world. Although few men are aware of this, it is their drive and ambition that feeds and makes the gods of Chaos grow bloated with power.