"The truly foolish thing, you realize, is this-even if you win, even if you succeed, you have served a purpose. Your victories add that perfect touch of pathos and charm to my great project of art, that one day I shall lay before the God-Emperor's feet."
-Said to Deathwatch Captain Nathanel Phule during the Third Radlix Extermination
What little the Deathwatch, the Grey Knights, and the Ordo Malleus know of the enigmatic Joysenda Lex starts out in 733.M40 when hir (all references to Lex use the term hir, due to Lex's fully functional androgynous status) ship arrived in orbit over the world of Sixth Matter. According to the interrogations, hir clamed to be a Captain in the Ultramarines, in full Space Marine armor and arrived at the Governor's Palace to request a military levy against "heretic incursions". Despite the fact that all auspects on the planet revealed the symbolism of Slannesh on hir's armor, every single person that saw hir claimed-even under torture-that hir was a loyalist Space Marine. The levy was marched onto hir ship, and would later be found fighting battles across several world of the Reaches, screaming out their loyalty to Slannesh and the Sacred Androdyne while fighting Imperial forces.
More appreances showed up. A purge of Meetera revealed a small cotiere of hir hejiras, linked relentlessly with the local planetary nobility to the point where a whole new governement had to be installed, from the scribes on up to the Governor himself. Attempts by the Grey Knights and the Deathwatch to stop hir, some failing by the barest of margins. Deadly campagns across a thousand worlds, as if hir was one of the Great Warlords of Chaos-Khorne berserkers, sorcerors, soldiers, rogue Mechanus...yet, hir appared to merely be a simple and single Chaos Space Marine of Slannesh. Plots and counter-plots that seemed to serve no purpose other than upping the violence and blood of war in the Reaches. All of which, it seemed, served only two purposes-the creation of a massive art project of war that would shock even the God Emperor and to stock hir Garden of Delights.
This does not mean that hir doesn't have more, tactical goals. For decades, hir has been trying to cause a schism between two factions of the Eccisarchy on the Shrine World of Maiden's Cry, for the sole purpose of gaining access to the Adeptus Sorietus training grounds there. The reason for hir interest? A preference for Sisters of Battle to stock hir Garden...
Or the battles fought for Radlix, vital because it controls no less than five warp nexus points to the Galactic West. No less than five times has hir tried to break Imperial forces on Radlix, to the point where the Administratium cannot trust soldiers levied from that world to serve on any other world in the Reaches. Loss of the nexus points would double travel times through the western parts of the Reaches at best.
Beyond that...Lex appears to be working on hir various projects. The first is hir "war of art"-a bloody strike by Khornate berserkers here, a fighting retreat there, a whispered bullet killing a commisoner over there. Whatever the project is...at the end of the day, hir plans to drown the entire Reaches in blood and is making good progress. The second is hir Garden of Delights-stocked with to most beautiful men and women the Reaches have to offer, bound to hir via hir blood that turns them into hejiras-beings of sensual beauty and perfection in the flesh masking the absolute corruption within. Hir has a preference for Sisters of Battle and has managed to turn two Space Marines (which does not endear hir to those Chapters or the Deathwatch). To hir loyal minions, the Garden is hir reward for their services. For hir enemies, the Garden is an execution ground, as the hejiras stalk and devour their prey and slay them in orgasmic cries of painful joy.
Oddly enough, hir is a very calm Demon-little can make hir angry or frustrate hir. The four things that can start out with incompetence-regardless of whom is demonstrating it. Several times in a rage, hir has bellowed out commands to slay Imperial officers that would use utterly stupid tactics and plans to try and defeat hir. It is known that he ripped the heads off of one Imperial general and his staff that ordered human wave attacks on hir positions-sloppy craftsmanship offends hir to no end.
Second is Inquisitor M-whom has spend the last twenty years beating Joysenda at hir own game. Plots foiled, ships sabotaged, plans put into confusion by M's efforts. Oddly enough, hir is merely angry at the results of these actions, treating hir battles with M as nothing more than a long, drawn out game of regicide for massive stakes. Hir respects the oppnent hir faces across the table, and enjoys the game-and will most certainly enjoy winning.
Third is Captain Cristobal Leary, a Rogue Trader working the Reaches. Leary has reasons for vengence against Joysenda (namely that during the forth Radix Campaign, hir took and made a part of the Garden his fiancee, a young Adeptus Sororitus Noviate that was going to marry him after the campaign). But, his revenge is a professional one-Leary wants to make sure that Lex suffers and plans on doing so for a long, long time. Raids on shipping depos, stealing drugs intended for hir forces and personal use and selling them to hir's enemies...as long as there's a chance to hurt Joysenda and make a profit (or at least break even), Leary will take it. Many captains are notciing this, and are joining with him to raid for bigger and bigger scores.
Finally, and most enigmatically, is one young Marine, Saltana Marx of the Black Talons Chapter/Regiment. Only recently made a Tactical Marine, he has just joined the Deathwatch for an assignment-and Joysenda wants him dead. So badly does hir want Saltana dead that hir is even willing to pay cash for the Special Murder Syndicate to do the job. A job that has been remarkably hard to accomplish, and hir frustration and anger-and fear-rise every day.