Lords of Contagion rank among the senior warlords of the Death Guard, champions whose devotion and martial prowess have earned them command of entire spearheads. Each is a titan of rotting muscle and corroded ceramite, encased in heavy Terminator armour so thickened by corruption that it resembles a walking mausoleum. They lead from the very front, drawn to the heaviest fighting like flies to a corpse.
What sets a Lord of Contagion apart is the sheer virulence of the diseases he carries. A cloud of pestilence roils around him at all times, more concentrated and deadly than that of any common Plague Marine, so that enemies begin to sicken and die simply from being near him. He is a living plague-vector on a monstrous scale, capable of hollowing out an enemy formation without landing a single blow.
When he does strike, it is with a plaguereaper, an enormous scythe-like weapon that cleaves through armour, flesh, and bone in vast, unhurried arcs. Warriors who face him find their blows swallowed by his bloated, near-indestructible frame while his own strokes reap a terrible harvest. Fearless, tireless, and radiating death, a Lord of Contagion is the spearhead of a Death Guard assault made flesh, driving his brethren forward toward the slow, certain victory their god demands.