Reading through the Malleus section of DotDG, this idea struck me like a slap in the face.

Why don't Radical Inquisitors of Ordo Malleus deal with these cults (obviously not including those that worship the Ruinous Powers directly) by binding the Daemonic patrons into Daemonhosts. The cult's own patron could then be used to destroy the cult, not to mention give information on cult activiities etc.

Obviously, this would be far from easy for the Warp sorcery using Inquisitor. Researching information such as the Daemon's True Name and acquiring the knowledge to conduct the ritual would be difficult but surely not beyond the means of said Inquisitor. Barring execution for heresy and given rejuvenat treatments, time would not be a constraint, the Inquisitor could spend decades, perhaps centuries on this research.

What would happen to the cult if this occurred? Or to individuals who had made Dark Pacts with the Daemon? Would the boons from the Pacts simple cease to exist? Would the cult immediately implode through sheer terror? The mind boggles!

For an interesting variant, the aspiring Radical (extremely Radical) Inquisitor could bind the Daemonic Patron into a weapon creating a Daemon Weapon. Fun and frolics ensue.

Why haven't any Inquisitors even thought of this? Or maybe they have....?

You mean almost exactly like Eisenhorn did to Cherubael? he was worshipped as a god on a Feral World, until Eisenhorn bound him into one of the world's warriors. Being the big softy he is, Eisenhorn didn't turn his new pet on them, but the effect was the same - ending a cult by binding the patron.

you're also making two pretty major assumptions - Firstly, that it doesn't already happen, and secondly that the risk would be worth it just to take down a cult (in many cases it's probably much easier to just kill the cult - no worshippers makes for a much weaker daemon).

I think the difficulty of creating a Daemonhost and the time involved would limit this option to large widespread cults that prove extremely difficult to deal with. Cults that operate under a cell structure for example. In this case, it's far easier to deal with the cult's root, the Daemonic Patron, rather than the Cult itself.

Of course, a large, widespread cult means a powerful Daemonic Patron but that also means a more powerful Daemonhost!

Or Daemonweapon.

A few thoughts on this...

Its impossible to rob cults their base for worship. Binding daemonhosts is long, complicated and dangerous. And the result ist not that the warp will be empty of dameons when you bound a large number of hosts....there are still more.

What are you going to do with these daemonhosts? Eisenhorn made false assumptions and only weakly bound cherubael at the first attempt. Then he made the second error and took him on combat missions - assuming he would be able to control him PLUS nobody would be able to kill cherubaels physical form. Both things can happen very easily and then you have a stray daemon at hand that is very angry....

Eisenhorn got it right later and bound cherubael with strong wards, weakening his powers. And he locked him in a warded dungeon (probably never letting him out again). Lets see that version in a bigger context: a warded prison world where you store dameonhosts en masse. I couldn´t imagine a place more dangerous for any human. One small error, just a minor slip in security....unimaginable.

Ikkaan said:

That is a very cool idea for a story actually, a radical Inquisitor who sees this as THE way to deal with things until one the daemonhosts breaks free...hmmm *wrubs hands* I think somebody would be nuts enough to actually try it but yes it would be insanely difficult, cost lots of resources, take forever (as as far as I know the number of daemons in the Warp is close to infinite) and just be considered too dangerous (even for some radicals).
I think it does happen but only with very large and dangerous cults whose threat far outweighs that of one daemonhost.

What do people think would happen to the Boons granted by a Dark Pact with a Daemonhost bound Daemon Patron?

For the sake of argument, assume that a Radical Inquisitor managed to bind Baphomael, the Daemonic Patron of the Brotherhood of Horned Darkness.

Would those individuals who had formed a Dark Pact with B. lose their boons? Would binding the big B effect the cult in any way (apart from having them ripped in half by the Baphomael Daemonhost. The example of Cherubael from the Eisenhorn Trilogy suggests that it would certainly have some effect. That's the nub of my argument.

I'm not suggesting binding every daemon in the Warp. That's impossible. Only those identified as being the patrons of major cults. Bind the patron, use it against the cult, does the cult collapse once they realise their own patron is being used against them?

I was under the impression that it was Quixos who bound Cherubael into the body of a feral-worlder, before Eisenhorn got him. And indeed, Cherubael was used as the patron godhead of at least one (recurring) cult on Cadia after Quixos bound him. Admittedly, this was at Quixos' behest as he tried to turn the necron/old one ruins into a psychobaric warhead, but the point stands.

Anyway- simply binding the daemon won't necessarily rob the cult of it's power- yes, the daemon won't be able to do any further mojo for them (unless either you let it or it breaks loose), but the cult itself will still exist. The extra oomph that their belief and worship give it will actually make it easier for the daemon to break free.

As for whether any existing boon would remain, I'd say that's up to the nature of the boon in question- if it was one directly powered by the daemon and required a connection to the warp or something similar (so, any particular boon which might be disrupted by psychic shielding and/or wards of some description) would go when the daemon is bound into a weapon and possibly when bound into a host, likewise if the boon is a manipulation of fates to ensure that two particular people meet, any meddling with fates from then on won't happen; but if the boon is an alteration of the recipient then that would stay... essentially, I'd say it came down to the GM as he irons out the Pact with the player.

Alasseo said:

Yup, it was Quixos. stupid lack of sleep