To call the Black Tide a ghost is true but it behaves more like an elemental force. It has been around since humans have inhabited The Chapel and so no one could tell you who it used to be, the only thing those who have survived it can agree on is that it isn’t just one soul but many.

It gets it’s name from the fact that it not only has a taste for souls but it also has a voracious appetite for pollution and other filth. Polluted areas are many within The Chapel as vast districts are given over to industrial use, where the fumes and sludge are at it’s highest levels and prone to outbreaks and spills. Many such incidents have happened over time and it is then that the Black Tide is at it’s most dangerous. It appears, like all ghosts, as if from now where and proceeds to suck up the filth, oil, fumes and waste at an alarming rate growing in size as it surges forward in a tide of unstoppable sludge and damned souls. Laughter, shouting, weeping and rage comes flowing out of it as the souls bound to it writhe within it’s mass and it soon floods the area consuming all you can’t escape and swatting aside those who attempt to shoot it with their puny weapons. One such incident will go down as the worst as the monster tide of death it became grew to such a size that it threatened to flood three whole districts in the southern area of the Hive. Many lives had been lost and in desperation some fool decided to use a flamer (see if you can guess who that was) Cackling with unsurpressed joy the Black Tide caught fire and with it so did three districts. The death toll and damage was huge and when the fires finally went out no sign of the Black Tide could be found. Those who survived thought it had been destroyed but in truth it takes more than just flame to destroy a ghost.

Other encounters with this hazard to your health have been small compared to that day and when it has disappeared it has been a mystery as to how. Much speculation and questions as to those responsible with some rare sightings of beings not seen before have been made but never answered. So the Black Tide remains lurking in the depths with it’s collection of souls feeding on the pollution that follows humanity where ever it goes.

On the plus side though, even after all the life loss and disaster, the places it passes through are left cleaner than they were……. Just don’t set it on fire.

The 5th Ghost has been the hardest to make and paint and for this reason has also been the most fun. Getting the movement right and the colours was a challenge as portraying surging pollution was difficult but the idea was in my head and I had to see it through. The result is pleasing and I’m glad I did, I hope you agree 🙂

Oh yes one more thing. To Mr Wudugast and The Ordo Mors I hope you’re ready for this particular pain bringer and I dare you to bring a flamer 😉