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| “ | For as the rising sun brings the coldness of night to its end, so I have come to bring an end to toil and bitterness. Let every land set aside their wrath and despair, and release the empty promises of change, for I am the joy of now and the vindication of life. I will love you as no other ever has or ever will and you shall love me in turn: with your bodies, with your minds, and with your souls. I shall be your wife and your husband, your mistress and your lover, and in my arms you will find purpose and delight. Pleasure beyond all imagining is mine to bestow, if only you take me into your hearts. | „ |
| ~ Liber Chaotica, The Satin Throne (Vol II). |
Slaanesh (Slaaneth in the Dark Tongue) is the Chaos God of Excess, Perfection, Depravity, Pleasure, Pain, Obsession, Passion, Creativity, and Hedonism.
He goes by many epithets, but is most commonly known as the Dark Prince, Perfect Prince, and She-Who-Thirsts. Slaanesh is one of the overaching anatagonists in the Warhammer Fantasy, Age of Sigmar, and Warhammer: 40,000 franchises. Of the Dark Powers, he was the last to gain sentience, and is thusly considered the youngest and most immature of the Chaos Gods. He is also the only Chaos God who isn't particularly interested in the utter ruination of reality, though this is a fact he kept carefully concealed from his brothers.
Slaanesh has little love for any of his siblings, but it is Khorne he deems the most objectionable. Finding the Blood God brutal and crass, Slaanesh has entertained a rivalry with Kharneth for countless millenia and their mutual hatred is eons old. To the God of Pleasure, Khorne is that very worst thing of all: boring. Slaanesh takes deep satisfaction in particular in besting the Blood God and his daemons at their own game: bloody murder and battle.
In Age of Sigmar it has two offspring in the god-spawn Synessa and Dexcessa, created in a ritual-gone-wrong with Morathi.
General[]
In 40K, Slaanesh was born from the excesses and hedonism of the Aeldari race, his birth swallowing many of them and even many of their gods. In Fantasy, Slaanesh was said to be born from a unspecified cataclysmic show of avarice and was already established amongst his brothers when Chaos Came to the World.
Characteristics[]
| “ | In bodily form, Slaanesh is perfect: long-limbed and elegant, with a haunting Androgynous Beauty. | „ |
| ~ Slaanesh (Realms of Chaos, 1997) |
| “ | Long golden hair spread like a mane around his head while two sets of shiny black horns sprouted from his brow. His body was lithe and supple, male on the left side and female on the right. The most wondrous gowns and robes were draped about his form, adorned with fabulous jewels fringed with the finest velvets. | „ |
| ~ Slaanesh, The Dark Prince[4] |
| “ | Slaanesh is depicted in the artwork and verse of the depraved as a radiant and slender colossus, male on the left side and female on the right, with a subtly disturbing voice that can bind a man as a spider binds a fly. | „ |
| ~ The Prince of Pleasure[5] |
Slaanesh, imprisoned in Ulg-Hysh.
Slaanesh alone is divinely beautiful, seductive, and glamorous among the Gods of Chaos.[6] He is most often described as androgynous, with some accounts naming him male on one side and female on the other. Though capable of shapeshifting into anything, he most often prefers to take the form an androgynous humanoid being, though he leans more to the male side of things. The Prince of Chaos is a youthful deity, clean of limb, slender, and elegant. He is described as statuesque and it is said that even the merest glimpse of his allure can drive mortals to complete subjugation, if not madness or death. He has lustorous eyes, twin pairs of horns, and a long mane of golden hair.[7] A protean creature, Slaanesh can assume the form of anything he wishes and when dealing with mortals, usually appears as their deepest desire.[8]
Slaanesh's realm, the fiendish paradise of the Dark Prince.
However, the elegance and beauty of Slaanesh masks a darkness, for the Prince of Pleasure is a cruel and thirsting god. Arrogant and prideful to the extreme, he rarely experiences any such emotion as mercy or pity, even towards his own daemons.[9] His desire is domination, but unlike hated Khorne, the Perfect Prince values the subjugation of others through guile, promises, beauty, and charm. It is these things that are the Dark Prince's weapons and tools of the trade, though his legions are perfectly capable in the application of force when needed.
Slaanesh has been described as aesthetic[10], melodramatic, crass [11], indolent, guileful[12], and of course sybaritic.[13]
Of the gods, Slaanesh is the hardest to please and his mutating touch is the deadliest. His attentions are fleeting and he bores easily, even of his own champions. Only very few individuals have the constant attention and favor of the Dark Prince.
Slaanesh is the hardest to define of the Chaos Gods and unlike his siblings, takes pains to never appear the same way twice. Thusly, the maddened depictions of him by his followers are broad indeed.
The Dark Prince has a single blemish on his otherwise perfect face, put there by the Lord of Murder Khaine during a titanic battle. Though Slaanesh won this duel, casting Khaine into the realm of mortals, the scar Khaine left in his wake has never fully healed.[14]
Warhammer Fantasy/Age of Sigmar[]
Legends & Manifestations[]
- There was once a pair of daemonettes consigned to the cleaning of Slaanesh's realm who turned their dull task into a dangerous thrill ride. Before them, the Chariots of Slaanesh were used to mince the corpses of defeated interlopers into small enough pieces for the flora of Slaanesh's realm to consume. Because they were already dead, thus unfeeling, there was little emotion or sensation to be had from this. So dull was this punishment that those assigned to do it were known to simply wither away from ennui. However, a wily pair decided that what could mince dead flesh could mince living flesh just as well and they took their bladed chariots to the realms of Slaanesh's enemies and of men. They predicted correctly, experiencing thrills and joy, running down prey at lethal speeds. It wasn't long until Slaanesh heard of their exploits. He was pleased that his children had found yet a new way of eliciting sensation from prey and to drive a charior of Slaanesh became a place of honor rather than toil. However, the Chaos Gods are leery of their edicts being disobeyed or otherwise shirked and those two Daemonettes were turned to stone and faced away from the racing of the Chariots, unable too see or feel anything, for all time.
- A Tzeentchian Daemon called The Changeling took the form of a Slaaneshi daemon and crept passed the servants and senechals of Slaanesh's grand palace. There, he caught the Dark Prince dozing, and cut the hair from his head, fleeing the Realm and then presenting the prize to his master Tzeentch. Tzeentch in turn spun the hair into a cloak, which now adorns the shoulders of Egrimm Van Horstmann. While worn, the Servants of Slaanesh will hate but not attack the wearer, for fear of harming anything made from Slaanesh's own essence.
- The Changeling was also the Daemon who inadvertently lured Slaanesh into a war with his brother, Nurgle. The Daemon had snuck into Slaanesh's realm and stolen Silver Apples from the garden of the Dark Prince. He then grew bored of his game within Nurgle's realm, abandoning the fruit there to rot. Slaanesh would eventually discover the "theft" and declare war. For his part, Nurgle accused Slaanesh for engineering a pretext for invasion, and so the two gods came to blows.
- Seeking to allure his siblings, Slaanesh made four chalices: The Chalice of War, The Chalice of Entropy, and the Chalice of Lies, which he gifted to Khorne, Nurgle, and Tzeentch respectively. Tzeentch and Nurgle were glad, despite themselves, to be thought of as worthy of such effort in Slaanesh's eyes. Hoever, Khorne could not resolve his nature with the attraction Slaanesh provoked within him. Thus, he shattered his own Chalice. But even as it broke, the Blood God felt compelled to reassemble it, only to shatter it once more. He has since rebuilt and shattered the Chalice of War an uncountable amounts of times.
- During a darksome time beneath Slaanesh's rule, the Pleasure God suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of Nurgle and Khorne's combined forces, a war engineered by Tzeentch. Angered and hurt of pride, he turned his rage on his favorite daemonettes. The Masque of Slaanesh was a dancer who's displays were so skilled as to move the hearts of even the gods and when Slaanesh's mood was sour, she would dance for him to lighten his thoughts. However, after this defeat, Slaanesh could only see a jest at his expense from her dance and decided to curse her to dance ceaselessly for the rest of time. Thus she is known as the Eternal Dancer, an exile of Slaanesh.
- Slaanesh partially manifests himself during the Final Battle of Ulthuan during the End Times. As the Elves fight around the Great Vortex on the Isle of the Dead, Morathi draws from the Vortex's energies to fuel her magic and later slaying almost all the mages holding it check once Tyrion and Malekith had fallen battle. This opened a rift at the heart of the vortex and through this rift, the Dark Prince forced through his great taloned hand, groping blindly for prey. However, as the winds of magic fled the vortex to find hosts, the Vortex itself would collapse and the rift would close. Slaanesh, screeching in fury, would be denied full entry into the material realm. However, before being ejected, he is able to grab Caledor Dragontamer and Morathi and pull them into the Realm of Chaos.[15]
Foremost Servants[]
N'Kari[]
- See main Article: N'Kari
N'kari is Slaanesh's finest Keeper of Secrets and the daemon lord who led the Slaaneshi on the attack on the Isle of the Dead. He was the Greater Daemon to lead the Rape of Ulthuan and has a particular vehemence against the elven race, especially those descendants of Aenarion's bloodline. N'kari is also a rival of Skarbrand, whom he duelled with his Slaanesh-granted blade, Witstealer.
Shalaxi Helbane[]
- See main Article: Shalaxi Helbane
Shalaxi Helbane is one of Slaanesh's finest Keepers of Secrets and a Hunter without compare. They are the manifestation of Slaanesh's eternal fued with Khorne and excel at killing other Greater Daemons, especially Bloodthirsters. Shalaxi has dueled Skarbrand, most deadly of the Bloodthirsters, to a stand-still twice and has designs on a third duel, one which will surely draw the eye of their respective gods.
Morathi[]
- See main Article: Morathi
Morathi is the mother of Malekith and a Dark Elf that has forged many pacts with Slaanesh in exchange for power and influence. She is the reason the pleasure cults abound in secret within Druchii society, even though the official religion of the Continent venerates Khaine. As of Age of Sigmar, Morathi is a goddess in her own right and no longer serves Slaanesh. However, that achievement came with two unintended consequences in the forms of Dexcessa and Synessa.
Dexcessa[]
- See main Article: Dexcessa
Dexcessa is the battle-lust of Slaanesh made manifest and the twin of Synessa. Called The Talon, they are one of the two accidental god-spawn of Slaanesh. Morathi is their mother.
Synessa[]
- See main Article: Synessa
Synessa is the silver tongue of the Dark Prince made flesh and blood and the twin of Dexcessa. Called The Voice, they are one of the two accidental god-spawn of Slaanesh. Morathi is their mother.
Sigvald the Magnificent[]
- See main Article: Sigvald the Magnicifent
Sigvald is the incest-borne adopted mortal son of Slaanesh. He is astronomically vain and this greatly pleases his daemonic father. His sword, Sliverslash, was a gift from the Pleasure God himself and a piece of Slaanesh's own blade.
Azazel[]
- See main Article: Azazel
Azazel is a Daemon Prince and the captain of Slaanesh's Ecstatic Legions. He is considered the most beautiful of daemons, able to rob the will of the enemy by being in their presence. To fight him, and lose, is to damn the very soul. Thus he is known as the Prince of Damnation.
Warhammer 40,000[]
Followers[]
Noise Marines[]
Noise Marines are the dedicated Slaaneshi Chaos Space Marine foot soldiers, commonly found in the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion, but also in other Slaanesh-devoted space marine warbands such as The Flawless Host.
Their trademark is the use of devastating sonic weaponry that confuses and demoralizes enemy forces in a wild show of “deafeningly loud, psycho-sonically and pyrotechnically explosive attacks”. -please see Noise Marines for more information on these depraved hedonists.
Champions Of Slaanesh[]
Desire is a powerful emotion and Slaanesh is the embodiment of all desire, with it's Champions revelling in their pleasures. Being former noise marines, They take joy from the ending of life on the battlefield, a perverse pleasure for which the desire is constantly increased. The senses of the Champion are increased beyond human recognition and their minds are so fast to react that they fight in a blur which many enemies cannot even see, let alone defend against. Most champions are typically armed with some form of daemon weapon. Slaaneshi Champions are often the greatest swordsmen in the galaxy and may also be found wielding master-crafted sonic weapons unavailable to most.
Lucius the Eternal[]
One of Slaanesh's most favored subjects and a mighty champion of the chaos god - please see Lucius the Eternal for more information on this dangerous opponent.
Daemons[]
Keepers of Secrets[]
- Main article: Keepers of Secrets
Keepers of Secrets are the Greater Daemons of Slaanesh. Created subconsciously by the Prince of Pleasure, these Daemons are the ultimate manifest of his desire for physical excess and pleasure in battle. Each Keeper of Secrets has a unique appearance that mirrors Slaanesh's mood at the time of its creation. Their looks can range from terrifyingly haunting but almost human to bestial, though all are tall and lithe with long claws and limbs and a crown of horns that sprouts from their head and intoxicating eyes that look like black crystals. Nearly all Keepers of Secrets are armed with a giant daemonic weapon known as a witstealer sword which can sap away the mind of enemies, stripping more away with every cut until nothing of their memories, personality or sanity remain.
As well as being vicious warriors, Keepers of Secrets are also capable of weaving powerful spells of misdirection and mystification. They invade the thoughts of their enemies, sending them visions of glory, titillating their egos, and caressing their inner desires to lead them astray. They seek to give and receive sensation in all forms, be it pain or pleasure, but there is nothing more enjoyable to them than the corruption of the noble and pure. They also are surrounded by a breeze that confuses all enemies around and allows the daemon to prey on them easily.
The Keepers of Secret live to feed from others' emotions, especially fear, hope, despair. They love the sensation of cutting through flesh and bestowing the feeling of pain onto its enemies. As well as striking amazingly fast with their limbs, they also cause corruption in another way, they love to turn emotions such as courage, bravery and valor into selfishness and other emotions.
The most powerful Keepers of Secrets are known as Exalted Keepers of Secrets. Glamour-wreathed, stiletto-clawed and black-hearted, Exalted Keepers of Secrets are the ultimate expressions of every obsession, their sickening presence enough to drive lesser warriors to rapturous seizures. Perverse acts of tortuous intensity are committed with lightning speed and dark glee.
Daemonettes[]
- Main article: Daemonettes
Daemonettes are Lesser Daemons of Slaanesh. They are the most numerous of her daemonic minions and serve him as handmaidens, warriors and agents. Daemonettes appear as both beautiful and repulsive to those who look upon them. Their bewitching opal eyes and enchanting aura veil their androgynous features and grotesque claws, revealing an alluring appearance the beholder will always consider the epitome of beauty.
Depending on the situation Daemonettes can be gracious and swift warriors, using their razor-sharp claws when violent force is necessary, or subtle messengers and seducers who will haunt the dreams and nightmares of their victims.
Those Daemonettes that excel in their servitude may serve the Lord of Pleasure personally as courtesans on his throne. The more privileged a Daemonette is, the closer she is allowed to approach the throne.
Steeds of Slaanesh[]
Steeds of Slaanesh are swift and powerful Daemonic steeds of Slaanesh, capable of running for eternity without ever tiring. A Mount has a serpentine body propelled on two long, muscular legs. Its head is extremely narrow, little more than a slender snout with eyes, from which a tongue several meters long flicks and darts and can taste the desire of mortals. Steeds are vicious when roused, their tongues lashing like whips, their clawed feet kicking and eviscerating. They are incarnations of Slaanesh's free spirit, insatiably curious and, like all Damons of Slaanesh, always crave experience.
Fiends of Slaanesh[]
Slaanesh fiends are warp-birthed monstrosities that perversely mix human, reptile and insect characteristics in a single form. They are endowed with long, slender bodies covered with delicate scales, whip-like tails with mesmerizing movements, four legs with humanoid feet and two claw-like arms they employ for disemboweling their enemies. Their heads are bovine-like, covered with horns and gleaming eyes; their mouths narrow and fanged, with a characteristic long tongue used for tasting the air and endowed with a soporific substance which induces coma in those caressed by it.
In battle, the Fiends show an unnatural ability and speed, leaping towards their prey and balancing on their tail and pincers, and running in a confusing side-to-side movement which often confounds their enemies. As they gather for the kill they let out a keening song that by itself can cause death or terrible damage to organs.
Hate-Angels[]
A new form of daemon created by Slaanesh that are capable of flight. Little else is known about them currently.
Daemon Engines[]
Usually found supporting both the demonic legions and mortal followers of Slaanesh are daemon engines. Daemon Engines can vary greatly in form and function, but they are all unified by one factor - the physical shells of the vehicles/walkers contain bound daemons which fully control their actions and movements. Daemon Engines have an insatiable bloodlust and revel in violence and destruction. They also exude an aura of death and hatred that can overwhelm lesser foes and typically possess vastly increased durability compared to a non-possessed vehicle. Slaaneshi daemon engines are usually exceptionally agile and hit hard and fast while moving in a graceful manner, but their armor is quite thin and can more easily be felled compared to daemon engines belonging to other Gods.
Slaanesh Subjugators[]
The Subjugator is a daemon engine the size of a small titan, dedicated to Slaanesh. The Subjugator embodies the essence of Slaanesh; being lithe, incredibly swift, and fully able to move quickly and still use its weapons with utmost accuracy. When the hordes of Slaanesh attack, the Subjugators will race ahead of the army, galloping towards its foe with its long, powerful legs, the daemonic spirits inside chattering and screaming with the sensations that battle brings. These shrieks turn to howls of elation as the machine's weapons are brought to bear and the foe is destroyed in exquisite agony. Despite the machine's intimidating size and unbelievable speed and the awesome power of its weapons that are capable of pinning entire squads down, those brave enough to face it will find that its armour is no better than that of a small combat walker, ending the Daemon Engine's pleasure far quicker than its possessing spirits desire.
A Subjugator is armed with a variety of weapons for both long-range and close combat. The Daemon Engine features two unique Hellslicer battle claws—one on each side of its chassis—that is capable of ripping apart enemies many times its own size, and is also armed with tail and dorsal-mounted Tormentor cannons A Tormentor Cannon is a psychically-charged warp-based (possibly made by Slaanesh's own hands) energy cannon that kills a Subjugator's victims with unbearable agony, leaving a trail of charred wrecks and ashen corpses wherever it is fired. A Subjugator is also armed with a set of two blastmasters and a single up-sized doom siren mounted on the machines front. These are Chaotic sonic weapons that destroy and rip apart enemies with the agonising power of extreme sound.
The Subjugator is also surrounded by a glittering wall of energy known as a "Glamour of Slaanesh." This is a result of the Warp-interface which keeps the daemonic spirit within them imprisoned in the material universe. This shifting, swirling aura makes these Daemon Engines very hard to accurately target. As the Glamour of Slaanesh is an interface with the immaterial universe of Warpspace it also provides a good amount of protection from attacks that use the power of the Warp, such as vortex missiles and psychic powers.
Questor Scout Titans[]
A noted variant of the Slaanesh Subjugator. The Questor possesses a higher stature and slightly thicker armour than its counterpart, but its powerful legs can still drive forward at a considerable pace. Graceful arms spread from the Questor's carapace, each tipped with a rapid-firing, warp-based energy weapon called a tormentor cannon. The Questor also carries a pair of powerful lascannons, one mounted in the head, the other slung between the legs. A Questor is also armed with a pair of Bolters to serve as an anti-infantry deterrent. Like the subjugator it is also surrounded by a glittering wall of energy, making it very hard to accurately target and protecting it from psychic powers and weapons which utilize the power of the warp.
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Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Warhammer: Chaos in the Old World (Rules of Play)
- ↑ The Three Hosts of Slaanesh Wage War With Lascivious Excess in The New Battletome
- ↑ Adventures of the Dragon Crag (WHRP)
- ↑ Age of Sigmar: Core Rulebook (1st Edition)
- ↑ Age of Sigmar: Core Rulebook (2nd Edition)
- ↑ Warhammer: Realms of Chaos (1997)
- ↑ Warhammer Fantasy: Slaves To Darkness
- ↑ Age of Sigmar: Slaves to Darkness (Limited Edition)
- ↑ Warhammer: Valkia The Bloody (Campions of Chaos)
- ↑ Liber Ecstatica: Book of Pleasure
- ↑ Battletome: Disciples of Tzeentch
- ↑ Liber Infectus: Book of Plague
- ↑ Liber Mutatis: Book of Magic
- ↑ Warhammer Fantasy: Wood Elves (8th Edition)
- ↑ The End Times: Khaine (Warhammer Fantasy)