Slaanesh
From Free net encyclopedia
Slaanesh is the youngest God in the Chaos pantheon. It is the Chaos God of Lust, Excess, Pleasure, Perfection and Hedonism in the fictional universes of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. According to publication Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, Slaanesh typically appears in a form which is a woman on the right side and a man on the left, unerringly and inhumanly beautiful with two sets of graceful but devilish horns rising from its flowing golden hair, seductive as only a god can be. In bodily form Slaanesh is perfection : long limbed and elegant with a haunting androgynous beauty. It is said that it is impossible for a mortal to look upon his divine face without losing his soul, for all who see Slaanesh become slaves to her slightest whim. It can however assume any form; male, female, hermaphrodite or asexual, but to his followers she manifests himself as a young man, clean limbed and fresh with the vigour of youth. Its sacred number is six. It is known as the Prince of Chaos or Prince of Pleasure.
Publisher Games Workshop originally intended Slaanesh as an obscene god of perverse pleasure, but as the company re-established its main demographic as children/younger teens, the storyline was changed to make Slaanesh the god of pain and sensation and thus avoid direct sexual references which might offend the parents of younger players.
Recent Warhammer books have created full languages for worshippers of Chaos, with the name Slaanesh being a corruption of the Chaos term Slaaneth (Slaa meaning "ecstasy" or "pleasure" and Neth meaning "lord" or "prince"; hence, the Prince of Pleasure).
In Warhammer 40,000, Slaanesh was born during the time the Eldar call The Fall, from the decadence of the Eldar in the Warp. The Birthcry of Slaanesh created the Eye of Terror and slew most Eldar (and their gods, except for Khaine who was dispersed into many pieces, and the Harlequin's Laughing God), except those very far away from the Eldar Worlds. In the same universe, Slaanesh is served primarily by the Emperor's Children Chaos Space Marines, hedonistic psychopaths who wield unique sonic weaponry in battle.
According to publication Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, the symbol of Slaanesh combines the conventional symbols for male and female, although it is seldom worn openly by its followers. In its place, they often wear items of jewellry bearing erotic motifs. Followers dress in robes which are often opened to leave the right side of the chest uncovered, a requirement of many of the rituals involved in his worship. Pastel and electric shades are the chief colours, although white is often used as well. These colours are also sometimes carried over into everyday wear, although they may be modified to fit in with current fashions. Regardless of any considerations, all Slaanesh followers wear garb of sensuously high quality.
Slaanesh has a neutral attitude to many of the gods of Chaos, and is generally too caught up in its own pleasures to be interested in alliances and co-operation. Particular enemies are the followers of Khorne, whose belief in death is completely opposed to Slaanesh's principle of a life of unrestricted pleasure in any form. Followers of Nurgle and Tzeentch are subject to Slaanesh's usual neutral attitude, though the disgusting rot of Nurgle is the cause of occasional violence.
Although Slaanesh represents pleasure and perfection, there is a darker side to his nature. Because Slaanesh was born from the Eldar psyche he represents the worst excesses of the Fall. The Eldar sought perfection in all things and created great monuments of art and culture, but they also brutally tortured and murdered one another in the most perverse ways imaginable, hence Slaanesh embodies pleasure and unnatural depravity. It is this depravity which leads the followers of Slaanesh to torture their victims, delighting in each delicate stroke of the blade until the victim is wasted and used.
Slaaneshi daemons
- Daemonettes are feminine-looking creatures whose seductive bodies are at contrast with their grotesque claws and lightning speed. Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness states that they are not truly male nor female, but true hermaphrodites. Original Daemonettes each had a single female breast, had deep green saucer-like eyes, two-toed clawed feet and a razor edged tail.
- Keepers of Secrets, the greater deamons of Slaanesh, are huge and indescribable creatures whose very prescence is capable of bringing the bravest warrior to his knees in anguish and ecstasy. Original descriptions from Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness describe them as massive bovine-headed creatures (similar to minotaurs) with two pairs of arms, one set ending in powerful crablike claws, the other in dextrous hands. They have the single female breast that distinguishes all servants of Slaanesh.
- Mounts of Slaanesh are bipedal smooth-skinned creatures with prehensile tongues. According to Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, they have the appearance "of a horse and an ostrich, with two long, feminine legs, and a crest of vivid green hair that runs the length of its back". Their heads have long tubular snouts that contained their prehensile, poisonous tounge. They often have a single row of breasts like all other Slaaneshi daemons.
- Steeds of Slaanesh are newer (year 2002) additions to the bestiary that are snake-like equivalents of Mounts of Slaanesh.
- Fiends of Slaanesh are described in Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness as "an unholy mixture of scorpion, reptile and Human." It has six limbs and a scorpion tail, and often has a row of humanoid breasts marking it as a servant of Slaanesh.
- Pleasureseekers are a new term for Daemonettes riding Mounts of Slaanesh.
- Chariots of Slaanesh are composed of two Daemonettes on a chariot pulled by a pair of Steeds of Slaanesh.