-Gives a temporal protection against the psychic disciples, the daemons and the forces of the Warp. One of the greatest tools of the Imperium against the Chaos and it’s minions.
-Wards are legendary creations dating far back into the Dark Age of Technology. Wards are techno-arcane devices that project subtle energy fields capable of influencing warp emanations.
There are two types of wards; Hexagrammic and Pentagrammic. Dark Heresy: Purge The Unclean page 74
- Hexagrammic Wards are designed to protect against psychic attacks, as the wards “siphon” away the energy of the Immaterium, channelling it into harmless static discharges. Sanctioned psykers will be all too familiar with this type of ward, having been exposed to them during their “stay” onboard a Black Ship.
- Pentagrammic Wards exist to defend humanity against Daemons and the corrupt energies they wield. Since the knowledge of Daemons is proscribed, the existence of the Pentagrammic Wards is a secret known to few outside of the Inquisition, with the exception of those at the highest levels of the Adeptus Ministorum and the Tech-Priests of the Machine God.
- Note: During the Dark Age of Technology Terran civilization developed aethyric generators, which were able to produce warding fields of both kind. That mastery has now been lost but some components, relying on ancient wonders, are still produced among the Imperium. At the present state of the Imperium those fields are not generated through technology but through occult means and by practitioners of Theurgy. They are fervently sought for by the Inquisition and Ecclesiarchy for either a condemnation or a service of the Imperium.
- Note: As dabblers of occult, hereteks and rogue psykers have access to similar powers they are not based on Imperial technology but are talents and techniques that are able to project similar energy fields.
- Note: Gellar Field has roots in same STC field emitter solutions as the wards above.
-Crafting or manufacturing a Hexagrammic Ward requires either skill Forbidden lore: Warp or Numerology (!Hexamathic code Mechanicus only!) with -20 penalty to skill check.
-Crafting or manufacturing a Pentagrammic Ward requires either skill Forbidden lore: Daemonology or Scholastic Lore (Occult) with -20 penalty to skill check.
-The Hexagrammic Wards can also be used by heretics, warlocks and rogue psykers. The Pentagrammic Ward burns the flesh and minds both damned mortals and a daemons and can only be used by an individual that is not stained by an emanations of the ruinous powers. Servants of Ruinous Powers rely on symbols of the Chaos to produce similar effects of binding and protection.
-If a target protected by the Hexagrammic Warding is assaulted by a psychic force, a force weapon or a raw force of the Warp it can sustain protection against that power for a while. The prepared Heretics and Slaves of the Dark Gods can use Hexagrammic Ward to temporary evade an inconvenience and a damage caused by a crossing of the Pentagrammic Ward.
-If a target protected by a Pentagrammic Warding is assaulted by a daemonic power, a daemonic weapon, warp weapon or a raw force of the warp it can sustain the protection against that power for a while.
-When a Daemon is bound within the permanent Pentagrammic Warding it cannot be freed from it without a willing help from outside of the ward.
-When a Daemon is bound to a Daemonhost with the Pentagrammic Wards it cannot be free unless the host body is destroyed. Daemon is incapable on direct suicide but a careful conjurer must always be prepared to be able to bind vengeful daemon again in a case that the host body could not remain intact while the Daemon fulfills its commands.
-When a Daemon is bound to a Deamonhost with Pentagrammic Warding its powers and ability for independent action are restricted. More docile one binds the Daemon, less power it can manifest to the Materium. A daemonhost is not prone to instability checks like daemons usually are. DoS overbleed provides additional control in exchange to weakened Malefic Powers??
-The ward turns an empyrean force affecting it to a heat and when the ward is overwhelmed, by a force affecting it, combustion follows and chars the material that the ward had been inscribed on.
-It takes copious amounts of time and rare specialists to create something like Warpsbane Hull (Rogue Trader corebook page 199).
- To create permanent Pentagrammic Ward during your lifetime it’s better to acquiesce to a room size ward. But once permanent Pentagrammic Ward is created it’s aetheric resonance sustains itself and is immune to ravages of time??
- Those interested into a large scale psycho-resonating architecture should delve deeper into architectural plans of Theodor Cadizky (Ravenor Returned).
- Temporary Pentagrammic Wards, duration may be anything between a scene to times of yonder. But the ward is not self-sustaining and is susceptible to ravages of the time.
- Maintained Pentagrammic wards have to be regularly renewed and are usually reinforced with yearly rituals of the Imperial Creed. Mostly they can be found from holy sites dedicated to Saints and Martyrs, on edifices of the Ecclesiarchy and Shrine Worlds.
Talents
Hexagrammic sign, talent, gesture, Half action, Duration: 1 round, Dan Abnett: Ravenor Returned
-A successful willpower check -20 check delays an one affecting force for a round. It can be re-used next turn to continue delaying affecting force. When sign wears off attacking force reaches it’s target. If an user of the attacking force is killed before it reaches it’s target the force dissipates.
-Use of the talent requires Scholastic lore: Occult +10 and Forbidden lore: Warp skills.
Rituals
Daemonhost, The Radical’s Handsbook page 184
“Once the pieces are in place, there are two steps to creating a daemonhost. First, the actual bindings detailed in the instruction tome must be applied to the victim’s body. This is done by inscribing the pentagrammic wards and phrases of containment directly onto the skin. The inscribing can be done in simple ink—although considering the terrible consequences should the wards have even the slightest flaw, most prefer a medium that cannot be carelessly smeared or altered, such as tattoos or scarification. Once this is done, additional bindings such as sanctified chains and locks, purity needles, and sigils of authority are added to the victim as well.”
True Names, Dark Heresy 2. edit, page 432
A Daemon might be known by hundreds of names and titles on thousands of worlds, but it can have only one True Name. These originate within the madness of the Warp, not from any human language. As such, they are extraordinarily difficult to speak, both for the odd sound and structure of the syllables, and for the otherworldly power contained therein.
Daemons jealously guard them, for to know a Daemon’s True Name is to have power over it. The discovery of even a minor Daemon’s True Name is a monumental feat for a practitioner of the dark arts, one that he may work many lifetimes to achieve. In the creation and control of a Daemonhost, knowing the Daemon’s True Name is a great advantage, and the knowledge of its True Name is often what marks a Daemon out for binding. Certain dark tomes, heavy with the evil they contain, record rituals and rites specific to a single Daemon, including its True Name. As these tainted manuals pass through the hands of different occultists through the centuries, a Daemonhost might be bound again
and again. Though it inhabits a different host body each time, it contains the same malefic intellect, and the same dark changes mark its appearance.
The Daemonhost Dark Heresy 2. edit, page 433
“Unutterably profane and terrible, a Daemonhost is created when a Daemon is bound into the body of a human being, resulting in an unholy and devastatingly powerful abomination. Daemonhosts can only be created through complex rites and ceremony. The host for the Daemon must be a living human, ritually prepared; this is distinct from possession, and exorcism is not possible. When the Daemonhost is created, the host body’s soul is consigned to eternal torment, and the Daemon is permanently bound within its flesh. The host body alters to reflect the unholy entity within, with these changes becoming more and more apparent the longer the Daemon inhabits this form. Though incredibly rare, there are numerous reasons for the creation of a Daemonhost. Malefic cults sometimes bind Daemonhosts, but despite providing a means to more permanently inhabit the material universe, for most Daemons to be bound in such a way is a hateful imprisonment from which they long to escape. The binding rituals, when performed correctly, ensure obedience to the Daemonhost’s creator, though this does not stop the Daemon from plotting its revenge. Radical Inquisitors sometimes create them, to allow for the interrogation of the Warp entity, or in the most extreme cases, to be used as a weapon against the Inquisitor’s enemies. In the eyes of Inquisitors of a puritan, or even moderate, bent, the creation of a Daemonhost crosses a line from which there is no return, irreversibly damning the creator.
Daemonhosts are not only terrifying for their profane nature—they are appallingly powerful. Most exhibit a number of devastating Warp-spawned powers, which they manifest with an ease no human psyker can match. “
The Dybuk, Disciples of the Dark Gods, page 129
“The binding of Daemonhosts is an arcane and dangerous practice far beyond the reach of all but the most malign and knowledgeable sorcerers, and a single error along the way will lead to disaster. So, rather than risk an untried or unperfected ritual, many summoners attempt to master their craft by binding far lesser and more easily controlled entities first, condemning
the soul and flesh of some unfortunate victim or even animal to become the corrupt vessel of the warp. This process creates a form of lesser daemonhost slaved to the summoner’s will, a being known in some proscribed texts as a Dybuk—literally “a vessel of the unclean.” The creation of a Dybuk is still extremely dangerous and usually a rare occurrence. However, many False Prophets and their inner circle of disciples seem to revel in making these horrific monsters, and the cult favours them as guardians and shock troops.
A Dybuk is a grotesque fusion of living flesh and daemon bound together in a bloody and depraved ritual summoning. This takes many hours of sustained observance by the sorcerer
and torment inflicted on the living victim. If the ritual fails or the victim dies through simple stress, the summoning misfires and the daemon may be loosed uncontrolled or the subject’s flesh devolved into a ravening and mindless Chaos Spawn. If it succeeds and the bindings carved into the flesh hold, the result is a living vessel for a daemon’s malignant hungers and a portion of its unnatural power.
As time passes the body will writhe and warp under the strain of the vile presence within, ultimately destroying itself.
Most of the Dybuk created by the Pilgrims of Hayte are human, victims of the False Prophets’ attempts to perfect their dark arts or to fulfil their desire for disposable and horrific shock troops. Many are cultists themselves, and some are even insane enough to have volunteered for such a dreadful union. Most do not. Indeed, the ritual is a favoured “blessing” for captured agents of the Golden Throne. This profile uses the Cult Fanatic from Dark Heresy as a base.”
-Pentagrammic prison created to contain an essence of daemon.
-Human sacrifice, ritual, duration: permanent.
-Pentagrammic ritual to create Daemonhost requires Scholastic lore: Occult and Forbiddem lore: Daemonology +10.
Items
Hexagrammic tattoo, Extremely rare, Dan Abnett: Ravenor Returned page ?
-Runical marking with a constant effect. Usually tattooed to a head under a hair to hide it.
-Delays affecting force for 1 round. Good quality 2 rounds, Best quality 2 rounds and +10 to willpower checks.
-When overpowered it will burst to flame. Stamina check versus gaining a wound.
-A talent for creating a hexagrammic ritual requires Scholastic lore: Occult +10 and Forbiddem lore: Warp +10.
-A quality of tattoo is based on DoS accumulated from skill check when creating it.??
-May be created by ritualistic scarring. Slightly better duration of protection than tattooed version but more wounds gained when ward is overpowered.??
-May be created with an invisible ink that makes recognizing the ward much harder. Increases rarity by two steps.
Hexagrammic symbol, Extremely rare
-Worn as a amulet or a headdress. Item has constant effect while worn.
-Delays affecting force for 1 round, +10 to an opposed WP tests vs psyker. Good quality 2 rounds. Best quality 2 rounds and +20 to an opposed WP tests vs psyker.
Hexagrammatic Wards, Extremely Rare, Enemy Within page 49
This upgrade uses powerful wards and a latticework of nullcircuitry to protect not just the wearer’s body, but also his soul.
Effect: The wearer gains a +20 bonus to tests made to resist any psychic attack or manipulation directed at him. The upgraded armour’s Armour points are doubled against hits inlicted by
psychic attacks. The Warp Weapon quality does not ignore the AP provided by this armour.
Used With: Carapace and power armour.”
Pentagrammaic Wards, Disciples of the Dark Gods, page 120
“By use of certain occult rituals, holy symbols, and even non-Euclidian mathematical formula, wards can be inscribed on physical objects or areas to bar or constrain the presence of warp entities. The secrets and knowledge needed to create such wards are considered proscribed and dangerous, and
aside from cultists and magi, they are the sole purview of the Ordo Malleus. The reason for this ban is simple—such wards can be easily altered to help a sorcerer or witch control and enslave rather than simply deny the daemon. This fact has led some in the Inquisition down the path of Radicalism and destruction in the past.
The Effects of a Ward
A ward creates a barrier that a daemon or warp entity finds difficult to breach. Areas, objects, and even people may be warded by inscribing the relevant occult formulae.
Daemons and warp entities wishing to interact with a ward (crossing a warded space, picking up a warded object, attacking a warded character, etc.) must pass a Willpower Test to do so. If the daemon or entity fails this Test by three or more degrees, it suffers Malediction. If it passes this Test, then it may act freely (cross the ward, attack the character normally, etc.) If it passes this Test by more than three degrees of success, the ward is completely overcome and destroyed.
Note: Even if it passes the Test, if the ward remains intact the daemon or warp entity must take the Test again if it wishes to cross the ward subsequently (i.e. make attacks against a warded character the following Round, cross back over the warded area, etc.)
Creating a Pentagrammic Ward
Creating wards requires access to time and ritual materials (sacred inks, blood, silver dust, etc.), as well as the knowledge of how to do so—which in game terms means that a character must possess the skill Forbidden Lore (Daemonology) at +10 or better.
Creating a ward requires passing a Hard (–20) Forbidden Lore (Daemonology) Test. Success indicates that the character has created a ward with a modifier of +0. For each two additional levels of success gained, the ward’s modifier is increased by –10. A failure by five degrees or more when trying to create a ward can have disastrous effects, requiring a roll on Table 6-2: Psychic Phenomena (see page 162 of Dark Heresy).
Temporary Wards: A temporary ward takes 1d10 minutes to create, although attempting to ward a large area (such as a house) takes considerably longer. Temporary wards last for 1d5 hours plus a number of hours equal to the number of successes achieved during creation. Temporary wards are also vulnerable to being physically damaged, which may diminish or destroy their effects.
Permanent Wards: These wards must be made a part of the very fabric of the area or object to be warded and effectively double the amount of time taken to create that object, building, etc. These wards, as their name suggests, are permanent until overcome, desecrated, or physically destroyed.
Warded Weapons: Close combat weapons (other than Power, Daemon or Force types) may also have wards inscribed onto them. Such weapons deal Holy damage, and any daemon suffering a Critical Hit also suffers Malediction (see page 118).
However, temporary wards on weapons quickly become eroded in heavy combat, typically failing after a single Combat encounter (the GM has the final say-so on this).
The Left Hand Path
Pentagramatic wards have other, darker uses in the summoning and binding of Daemons. Used in this way, the conjured warp entity may be bound within the ward (protecting the sorcerer somewhat). Aside from its defensive benefits should things get out of hand, the ward itself provides the summoner with a +10 bonus to Daemonic Mastery Tests for summoned entities. A ward of this nature may even be of aid in negotiating Dark Pacts if properly used in this way.
Those who have strayed to a clutch of one of the four Ruinous powers are not able to use Pentagrammic Ward but instead use Mark of Chaos of their patron to produce similar effect. Followers of Undivided Chaos do not have Mark of Chaos.
Pentagrammic Wards, Extremely Rare, Enemies Beyond page 44
One of the Ordo Malleus’s most closely guarded secrets, these wards come about through a complex and arcane process of occult rituals, holy symbology, and the application of lost aerythmetical
formulae. When complete, pentagramatic wards block Warp entities, and are often so potent that even approaching one is enough to damage or banish a Daemon.
Effect: Whenever a character with the Daemonic or Warp Instability trait becomes engaged in melee with the warded armour’s wearer or begins his turn engaged with the wearer, that character must
make a Hard (–20) Willpower test. If the character fails, he suffers 1d5 Energy damage per degree of failure (ignoring armour and Toughness bonus). If the character scores 4 or more degrees of
success on the test, however, the pentagramatic ward shatters and the armour permanently loses this upgrade.
Used With: Any armour or garment.
Purity Wards Unique
–The new Grey Knight is implanted with silver hexagrammic and pentagrammic Purity Wards under his skin which cover his entire body and help to prevent daemonic entities from touching or contaminating him.
Vortex Pendant Tome of Fate page 42
Vortex Pendants come in many forms. Some are jewels worn about the neck, others are ornate silver wristbands, and can even take the form of golden crowns covered in microscopic
symbols of Tzeentch. The only common element to a Vortex Pendant is the way they shift in size, colour, and dimension—endlessly changing their form, sometimes imperceptibly like the hands on a clock. When used against an enemy psyker, however, a Vortex Pendant can rip into the target’s mind, tearing his psyche apart and leaving him powerless.
The psyker must have line of sight to his target in order to use a Vortex Pendant. It requires a Full Action with the Ranged and Concentration Subtypes, and is activated via an Opposed Hard (–20) Willpower Test. For every Degree of Success, the target will lose the ability to use one psychic
power he possesses for the remainder of the encounter.
Randomly determine what psychic powers are lost. A Vortex Pendant has no effect on those without the Psyker Trait, and when used by a character not dedicated to Tzeentch, the Opposed Willpower Test will be Very Hard (–30) instead.
Components
Hexagrammic suppression cells Power 2 Space 1 SP 2
A block of heavily warded chambers designed to contain all but the most potent psychic phenomena. The armored cells can function as either prison or shelter as needed.
Rumors of Warpcraft: Decrease a habitation or a vessel morale permanently by 3.
Warp Containment: When traveling through the Warp, roll on the Warp Travel Encounters chart only once every full 10 days (minimum of one roll per trip).
Dark Harvest: When working toward any objective, the players earn an additional 100 Achievement Points toward completing that objective if the Game Master decides the transport, confinement, or protection of psykers is directly involved in the task.
-Is able to contain raging powers of alpha level psyker. Contains six separate cells.
-Walls of the component are infused with warding inscribed to heat resistant materials and huge cryogenerator is included for providing necessary protection against overheating of the warding.
Null bay Pow: 3 Space: 2 Hostile Acquisition page 73
These forbidding chambers are lined with rare and exotic psychically neutral materials. The gleaming black walls of the cells in these holds are capable of containing all but the most powerful psykers in relative safety, though Rogue Traders should ask themselves why they would want a hold full of psykers in the first place. Certain organizations have uses for unsanctioned psykers, but the Ordo Hereticus takes an aggressive interest in those who dabble in such a trade.
The unscrupulous Rogue Trader Horak Ilganus was drawn, quartered, then placed in stasis at the moment of his death (so he may live forever in agony) by a cabal of Inquisitors on Fenksworld after he purchased just one of these bays.
Witch hold: This hold allows transport of up to 100 psykers in solitary containment cells. When secured in a cell, all Focus Power Tests made to activate psychic abilities (or any other tests involving warp powers such as a test to use a Navigator’s warp eye) suffer a –60 penalty. When working towards an appropriate Criminal Objective, the players earn an additional 50 Achievement Points towards completing that objective.
The Keening: Whenever this bay is in use, decrease Morale by 3 as a result of the psychic residue of misery from its prisoners.
Warpsbane hull Pow: 1 Space: 0, Very rare Rogue Trader page 199
The entire hull of the vessel is covered with silver, hand-inscribed hexagrammic wards. These reinforce a Geller Field projected from a 50 meter statue of an Imperial Saint, located just fore of the bridge.
-Component is capable to protect star vessel from raging storms of warp.
-Knowledge of their creation is becoming rare as gellar field has become imperial standard.
Other methods to counter psyker and daemonic powers
Aegis Barrier He’s more machine now than man… page 7
The Tech-Adept has mastered the ability to modulate his potentia coil to project an energy field capable of disrupting aetheric assault. Activating or deactivating the Aegis Barrier costs an full action; and while active, the adept counts as being protected by Hexagrammic Ward.
Armatus Necrotechnicas
They were a type of anti-Psyker device used by the Imperium during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.
These secret nano-technic devices were engineered by unknown origins and were kept in the vaults of Ferrus Manus. Outside of the Iron Hands, only the inner circle of the Emperor knew of their existence and were used in the construction of Psi-Titans.
This technology was capable of harnessing the stolen energy of sentient life to power engines of mechanical destruction and repair. How they were spread to the wider Imperium following the death of Ferrus is unknown, but the likely culprit was the defection of a Terran engineer or the tech-clades of Luna, for it is thought improbable that the Iron Fathers would have plundered their Primarch’s Vaults of Mimir. Whatever their origin, these foul technologies were seen on several battlefields of the Horus Heresy.
Black Collar, Extremely rare
Used to contain powers of non-cooperative psykers on vessels of the Black Fleet. When worn nullifies the powers of a psyker. Hood version is Unique in rarity.
Jokaerian Field Near unique Daemonhunter page 72
This odd Jokaero altered Imperial force field operates on similar technologies to the massive Gellar Fields that protect vessels while in Warp transit. Inquisitors of the Calixian Ordo Malleus prize this rare and practical device as a means for defense against Warp entities.The Force Field only functions against psychic attacks, but provides its defense against all psychic powers, even friendly ones, that originate more than 5 meters from the user. In addition, any creature with the Daemonic trait that passes or remains within 5 meters of the user suffers 1d10 damage that ignores armour and Toughness Bonus.
Unguents of Warding, Common, Daemonhunter page 76
These blessed and pungent ointments may be used to scribe sacred rituals and litanies of protection onto armour, which grant the bearer a measure of protection against Warp entities and psychic attacks. Inscribing the unguents onto armour takes 10 minutes per location and each location must be warded. A single pot of unguents is enough to grant protection to one armour location. Inscribing the unguents requires a Hard (–20) Scholastic Lore (Occult) or Scholastic Lore (Imperial Creed) Test for each location. Failure means the runes and litanies must be cleaned off and started again. Any character who is warded gains a +20 bonus to Tests to resist Fear from Daemonic entities and +10 to all Willpower Tests to resist psychic powers. Wards last for one month, though their benefits may be removed earlier at the GM’s discretion (if the character is set on fire, doused in water, or other effect that would remove the Unguents of Warding).
Null Rod Dark Heresy 2nd edition, page 177
Few things invoke terror as much as a psyker calling on the unholy powers of the Warp to twist reality and rend souls. While faith in the Emperor is always essential, a null rod can also be effective
in negating such threats. Most null rods appear as short obsidian cylinders, often crawling with arcane icons and glyphs. Each can dampen the powers of any psykers within 2d10 metres, causing
them to take all tests to use any of their psychic powers with a –30 penalty.
They also offer an Acolyte personal protection from psychic attacks by granting a +30 bonus to resist any psychic power that directly affects him. A null rod acts as a truncheon with the Power Field quality when used in close combat.
Psychic Dampener, Inquisitor: Thorians, page 33
Used almost exclusively by the Ordo Hereticus, a psychic dampener disrupts the flow of Warp energy within its range of effect, disturbing the psychic powers of others. Any psyker attempting to use a power within fifteen yards of a psychic dampener must re-roll a successful Psychic test – if the second test fails, there is no chance of psychic feedback.
Soul net, Inquisitor: Thorians page 33
A soul net was one of the Thorian’s crude attempts to replicate the technology embodied within the Eldar spirit stones. It is a latticework of psycho-conductive material that is designed to activate upon death to trap the escaping soul of the wearer.
Unfortunately, it interferes with the psychic aura that surrounds the wearer, reducing them to a comatose state or even killing them. This side effect has now seen use as a weapon against Daemons and psykers. A soul-net is used in the same way as a bolas. A Daemonic or psychic character entangled by a soul net loses any Daemonic or psychic abilities they have whilst entangled.
Ways to subdue or banish the daemon
There are many ways to banish a Daemon, almost as many as there are Daemons themselves. So it is that delvers of the forbidden lore of the daemons possess a myriad means for vanquishing the denizens of the Warp, though not every method works on every Daemon, or even twice on the same creature. The daemonologist is therefore always adapting to reveal and subdue the ever-changing face of their foe and unique weaknesses carried by these incarnations of the Warp. It is a constant war of escalation that has been waged across the Materium and Immaterium since the inception of the Warp. For every weapon and tactic the daemonologists develop and employ, the Daemons counter with Warp-sorcery and trickery and vice versa.
TRUE NAMES
Chief amongst the daemonologists strategies concerning the subduing of a Daemon is obtaining knowledge of the it’s true name. Knowledge of a Daemon’s true name grants great power, which is why many Daemons adopt misleading pseudonyms or titles and seldom use their true names save in their most secretive of dealings. In the hands of a psyker or sorcerer, a true name can be invoked to bind or even banish a Daemon, regardless of its power. Ordinarily, these complex incantations take long hours, or even days. Each word must be carefully enunciated and each gesture precise, lest the sorcerer become corrupted by the magicks of the Warp. Invoking a true name is a daemonic pact of sorts – albeit one in which the Daemon is at a severe disadvantage. For a daemonologist, however, a true name is a weapon as reliable and immediate as any mundane weapon. Lesser daemonologists can invoke a true name with practice, disorienting and weakening his foe, and leaving it open for a advantage. In the hands of an accomplished daemonologist, a true name becomes even more deadly, able to bind or destroy the Daemon’s physical form and imprison it or cast it back into the Warp, leaving only a lingering sulfurous stench and ectoplasmic residue or pentagrammic prison of unimaginable power and danger. To subdue a Daemon in those manners are the closest that the daemonologist can come to a lasting victory – a Daemon bodily slain will return to the mortal realm far sooner than one banished body and soul. Alas, if true names are a daemonologist’s surest tool against the Daemon, they are also the hardest of all to acquire. As with all things daemonic, a true name is born of the Warp, and its reflection in the minds and tongues of mortal men is as shifting and mutable as the beast to whom it relates.
WORDS OF BANISHMENT
Daemons are beings of the Immaterium, and are made up of the very stuff of Chaos. This makes them creatures of nightmare, rage and fear, crafted from the base emotions and thoughts of Mankind. When fighting such a foe, strength of will and faith are as deadly as any weapon, flesh tearing and ichor spillings with but a word of power. There are words of banishment, each one a closely guarded secret and learned at great cost. Most men that look upon a word of banishment will lose their minds, its eye-searing symmetry and terrible definition breaking all but the strongest of wills. Just like the Warp, the words of banishment are always in flux, each one changing and mutating. The daemonologist must be ever vigilant for subtle variations within the words of banishment while they search for the true names of Daemons. The creatures of the Warp and even the Dark Gods themselves are constantly altering, as is the nature of the Immaterium, so that a word that once held power inevitably changes or loses its meaning entirely. An invocation against daemonic entity that could once enslave or bind is therefore robbed of its power. However, such is the fickle nature of Chaos that for every Daemon that unravels a word of banishment, another is creating more for its own amusement; and so the endless war continues.
Source: Codex Grey knights, edited for Ultima Tectum campaign
Ultima Tectum 