| Tyrannolodon (talk) | |
|---|---|
| Date Created: | 1/27/11 |
| Status: | Under Construction |
| Editing: | Please feel free to edit constructively! |
| Overdeity | |
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| Symbol: | A pink symbol that bears striking resemblance to the male and female gender symbols stuck together |
| Home Plane: | The Warp |
| Alignment: | Chaotic Evil |
| Portfolio: | Pleasure, Pain, Sex, Hedonism, Torture, Art, Entertainment, Beauty, Love, Lust, Passion, Desire, Hedonism, Intimacy. |
| Clergy Alignments: | Any |
| Domains: | Pleasure, Pain, Desire, Torment, Evil, Chaos |
| Favored Weapon: | Whip, Rapier, |
Summary::The Prince of Pain Pleasure and weakest and youngest of the Chaos Gods, though compared to most other deities, Slaanesh is mighty indeed.
Slaanesh was birthed from the Hedonism of the Eldar, who upon the slumber of their Necron foes and the abating of the Enslaver Plague, had no real opposition, and with their great psychic power and scientific might, the need for work didn't exist. For over sixty million years the Eldar grew increasingly decadent, which grew so great that even their gods partook in it save for a few gods and Eldar who refused to partake in the hedonism. But eventually, the sheer amount of passion the Eldar were experiencing, combined with their great racial psychic power, created a mighty front in the warp that swirled into a being of untold malevolence; Slaanesh, the great enemy.
The birth of Slaanesh was so violent that it could not be wholly contained in the warp, and it bled over into the materium in the form of a gaping 15,000 light year in diameter area where the warp and the materium intersect, a hole in reality that encompassed the core worlds of the Eldar Empire. Those Eldar worlds who were not already within the so called Eye of Terror were not safe either, for the formation of the eye sent out a great psychic scream that killed Eldar across the galaxy, leaving only some tens of trillions of Eldar who had fled on craftworlds, sought refuge on exodite worlds, or hid in the webway.
When Slaanesh was born, he immediately did battle with the Eldar Gods and slaughtered most of them, but Khaela Mensha Khaine, the Eldar God of War rose and met Slaanesh's challenge, allowing Cegorach, the Eldar Laughing god to sneak into the webway, as well as allowing Isha, the Eldar goddess of healing to be "rescued" by Nurgle. But even Khaine's martial prowess was being overmatched by Slaanesh's raw power, however; before Slaanesh could deal the killing blow, Khorne emerged from the warp and rightfully claimed Khaine as his property. The battle between the newborn pleasure god and the old war deity was so intense that it shattered Khaine's form into thousands of shards that spread across the remaining Eldar. Slaanesh was eventually defeated by Khorne who was vastly more powerful.
Slaanesh currently resides in his realm in the warp in a mighty palace dedicated to hedonism. The Palace is divided into many cocentric sections, each of which seduce oncomers with untold pleasures or flattery, but to fall to any of them even once is to have one's soul instantly consumed by the Dark Prince. But even if one could best all these challenges, their stoicism would be in vain, for even the mightiest of mortals are unable to resist Slaanesh himself, who immediately and utterly enslaves those who manage to enter his personal chamber.
His dreadful faith came to the Great Wheel some time ago when the churning chaos of Limbo and the Far Realm created a permanent series of gates to Slaanesh's home universe, both it's materium and the Warp. His faith quickly became tremendously popular, for it's true nature was disguised to most, and due to the great amount of religious tolerance that existed throughout the Great Wheel, there was little to stop it's spread until it's true nature was finally discovered when the native gods of the great wheel investigated it out of curiosity and upon discovering it's true vileness warned their followers against it, though by then Slaanesh's faith and those of the other Chaos gods was far too entrenched to dislodge.
Dogma[]
Slaanesh's Dogma is hedonism in it's ugliest form. All who worship the Prince of Pleasure are expected to live for the senses and let their passions run free, and while there are some who try to focus on the positive aspects of Slaanesh, there are not enough of them to change his official Dogma to one that good folk would find acceptable through the power of belief.
Slaanesh has no special preferences for any race (even though most of his followers are human), though he will go out of his way to claim and devour the soul of an Eldar, and finds the resemblance between the Eldar of his native universe and the Elves of the Great Wheel very intriguing and encourages his followers on the Great wheel to focus a proportionally greater amount of effort into bringing them into the fold.
He encourages his followers to seduce those who would be the least likely to come under his banner like Paladins, Clerics dedicated to a lawful good deity, Knights, Crusaders, or Monks, as he finds the fall of one who is typically expected to be the master of their passions so that they can focus on their rigid doctrine to be a delightful experience. Most coveted of all are Archons or Lawful Good angels, especially those who have become Clerics, Monks, Crusaders, Knights or Paladins, for few things are more deliciously Ironic than a paragon of goodness, moralism, and ethics falling into the worship of the Prince of Pleasure.
Slaanesh teaches his followers to hate and oppose Khorne and his servants and all of those who are like him, for Khorne's martial honor, rage, bloodthirst, and very dismissive view of intimacy and pleasure are anathema to Slaanesh. The fact that Khorne has defeated Slaanesh in the every single one of the many battles they have had has only increased Slaanesh's loathing of him and any who are similar to him.
Clergy and Temples[]
Slaanesh's clergy come from all walks of life, ages, and races, though it is nearly unheard of for any but the most beautiful (and quite likely the most carnally able) to become clerics, though their appearances may become heavily mutated by their dark master's favor. Slaanesh's clergy are eternally kept at their physical prime by their patron, for the Prince of Pleasure finds the idea of beauty being lost to age abhorrent, and indeed, the majority of Slaanesh's clergy are biologically speaking young adults or younger.
When they are not attempting to hide from those who find them abhorrent, shielding themselves from hostile climates, or in battle, they wear pink robes of a quality typically reserved for royalty that leaves little to the imagination and nearly always leaves the right half of the chest exposed and bare without so much as an undershirt or bra to cover it, and they often go without clothing at all. Even when they are not in "uniform" they will typically wear clothing of great beauty and quality.
When they go to battle, they will often wear armor that leaves a rather odd amount of skin exposed or even go without armor at all as often as they would wear armor that offers more practical coverage. In any case, the armor they do wear is always highly ornate and possesses a wonderous aesthetic.
When it is safe for the followers of Slaanesh to be in the open, Slaanesh's temples will be extravagantly constructed with many immensely beautiful pieces of art ranging from paintings, to tapestries, to sculptures that depict scenes of great pleasure or pain. It is very common for permanent image spells to be used for yet more art, often of an erotic nature. The sounds of wondrous music are nearly always echoing throughout the halls of these temples, and intoxicatingly good smelling aromas waft through the temple, frequently originating from fine foods; for all the senses are attended to. Orgies are frequent within the halls of a temple dedicated to the Prince of Pleasure, and virtually every sexual fetish or fantasy or pleasures of a less erotic nature can be attended to.
Even pleasures as relatively harmless as fine literature can be provided to, but even these simple pleasures are typically used to draw people deeper into the worship of Slaanesh. The followers of Slaanesh also take pains to ensure that all races can be seduced by the pleasures they can offer, dwarves for example would be drawn in by offers of gold, while high elves would be met with a wonderful garden.
Even when the followers of Slaanesh must conceal themselves, they will typically meet within a building with a pleasing aesthetic, frequently using a Brothel or Pleasure House as a front for their operations, though any building dedicated to entertainment; from book stores to pubs will work for their purposes.
Pantheon[]
Slaanesh is part of the pantheon of Chaos Gods, and along with Tzeentch, Khorne, and Nurgle; make up the four major Chaos gods, though there are an substantial number of minor Chaos gods, though even these would make the mightiest of overdeities who call the Great Wheel home seem like insignificant insects in comparison.
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