Hello All

So after my group wraps up the current adventure, I am planning on sending them to Dusk to investigate one of their interrogator's Noble Brother and his involvement with Slaaneshi worship and rituals.

The Scenario is a heavily inspired version of "The Plantation" from Call of Cthulhu's Mansions of Madness. Its about Yig, or in this case Slaanesh, conspiring to kill one of his heralds that's taken shape in the mortal world and has been leeching life-energies from sacrifices intended for him/her.

He gathers up a number of people to achieve these ends, including a "Snake-Man". Described as a member of an ancient race that's fallen into decadence and thus destruction (Very much like the eldar). Ancient, deadly, poisonous. This guy is supposed to perform the ritual which will destroy the Herald, as COULD serve as a potential Ally for the players- granted, a very dangerous and temporary one.

I got a Dark Eldar vibe from him, and I was wondering if it was possible in the Lore. I know Dark Eldars don't actually worship Slaanesh, but are they influenced by him? Don't they perform their rituals and torture to somehow satisfy and satiate the god? In Einsenhorn, there's detailed mention of a human Witch that has managed to somehow join a Cabal, or a least form a cult, supervised by the Dark Eldar. I cant imagine it would be that much of a stretch to have one of them manipulate the players into aiding it, even as it sends them to their dooms.

If the creature, or should I say when the creature appears to the players, its likely going to be wearing a human disguise, or something less revealing as to its true nature.

Opinions, ideas?

Thanks!

I wlays took it that Slannesh was slowly drawing off the souls of the Dark Eldar and they did all the nasty bad evil stuff they do to focus the feeding of the Dark Prince on others near by them rather than themselves, I also think that it happens faster in Real Space which is why they only do raids rather than full scale invasions, because the can't spend to much time outside of Commoragh(sp?). Although that means that using a Dark Eldar as the "Snake-Man" is still likley to work, just have him doing it to set himself up to take the place of the Herald so he can get a steady stream of pain/suffering and all that other lovley stuff Slannesh likes to eat instead of Dark Eldar souls, perhaps in aid of allowing him/her to stay in real space for longer than would be allowed.

Although this would likley mean he would activly terminate the PC's after he was finished with his scheme rather than it being just a possibility, and it would serve them right for aiding with a foul xenos.

Apologies, couldn't find an edit tool so need to double post, as for appearing to the party it depnds on how smart/arrogant it is. If it knows about Imperials and is cunning it will likley to its best to appear as human as possible, very easy to do if it poses as a void born to explain its build and if anyone catches a glimpse of its ears, it may have difficulites if someone knows a good bit about Xenos lore but it has an easier time passing off as human than an Ork or Tyranid does.

Hmm, while dark eldar can certainly fit the "fallen ancient race" scenario, there are some issues that don't quite click. As already noted, Dark Eldar prefer not to stay too long in realspace. For one thing, the "leeching" of their souls is much faster there, and they would need a lot more pain and suffering to maintain themselves. On the other hand, so much pain and suffering tends to attract attention from the Warp, and the Dark Eldar really, really don't want that. They hate Slaanesh, but they fear it even more - even as they are essentially feeding it with what they do. And while it is possible that an eldar could dedicate itself to Slaanesh and be "accepted" enough to reside in realspace as an agent of She-Who-Thirsts, "going rogue" is not really an option for them.

On the other hand, there are many sentient races in the galaxy, some of which are a much better fit. Speaking of "Snake-Man", there is a race called the Sslyth that was introduced in the last DE codex that may fit the bill quite well., Here is how the Lexicanum describes them:

Sslyth are an alien species that inhabit the galaxy as mercenaries and are typically seen within an Archon's Lord's Retinue. Millennia ago, the race fell before the temptations of unbridled excess and quickly became one of the most favored beings by the Dark Eldar. Their serpentine bodies along with two sets of limbs allow them to carry enough blades along with weapons to quickly dispatch anyone foolish to harm their master. This along with their skills made them fearsome warrior fiends in combat which is why they are often chosen as a bodyguard detail for an Archon. This is because Dark Eldar make poor bodyguards due to their treacherous nature which is why Sslyth are often recruited from the ranks of the aliens that inhabit the Dark City of Commorragh in order to protect their master from an inevitable coup.

So, they are a race that fell to "unbridled excess", and now mostly works as mercenaries - and they are reckless and capable enough to ply their trade with the Dark Eldar. There is no mention of them having the same vulnerability to Slaanesh, so for them to do so is slightly less suicidal - not to mention that they can stay in realspace indefinitely. How does that sounds for your snakemen?

Ironically enough, the original version - where the "snake" is an eldar - may work better with a craftworld renegade. The ranger entry in Creatures Anathema mentions that there are rangers who "go bad", succumb to their baser desires and walk the path of Damnation, doing whatever they want and imposing their will on others for amusement. While it is unlikely that such an eldar would worship Slaanesh, s/he could act in pretty much the same way as the Eldar who caused the Fall. Remember, Slaanesh started as little more than an agglomeration, feeding off the decadence, pain and pleasure of the ancient Eldar. They, essentially, shaped IT in their image. That's part of why they are so scared and can't ever escape it - Slaanesh is, in a sense, the culmination of what they all are deep down.

If you go that route, Slaaneshi cultists may want the fallen ranger killed as an offering to their master, or possibly because said ranger has taken an interest in their kind, perhaps killing them to prove his/her superiority or capturing them for study. It is even possible that the fallen ranger has indeed fallen far enough to be a follower of Slaanesh; Chaos is not one big happy family. What can spice this up further is that rangers seek out and kill their renegades (again, as per CA) , so there may be a third side to the conflict - other eldar, who want to kill the "traitor" either for personal reasons, in order to prevent a possible warp breach their ex-fellow may inadvertently be causing, or for another, inscrutable reason.

You might want to check out the entry on the "Seven Devils of Dread Calix"- I think it's in the Inquisitor's Handbook ? Anyway, one of them, the Eater of the Dead, is worshipped by natives of Dusk. It's possible that he/it might be a better godhead for this scenario that Slaanesh.

Thanks for the replies!

So let's recap!

The Eater of the Dead is actually Pretty Cool- I think he'll serve as the "Herald", or in this case, the Red Herring- Its a point in the Scenario to have the players doing work for one of the Major Daemons, being pawns in his plan to remove another entity stealing his intended sacrifices.

You guys are right, Dark Eldar won't really work in these conditions- and I'd very much like to stick to the lore as much as possible. I very much love the Sslyth, perhaps as a way to show the players that more Xenos exist than the iconic races.

However! I wonder, if these guys can be sorcerers? Well, I guess there's nothing really keeping me from making one of them a shaman, or some such.

On the other hand... The players are about to meet an Eldar this Friday: one that's been imprisoned by a Heretech. They are going to get the option to free him or obviously keep him locked up for the Inquisition. Perhaps even kill him, if they are so inclined. After that, were running another mission, sorta unrelated- no Xenos. After that, the trip to Dusk. So it won't be for several weeks, perhaps a month between meeting this Eldar and the next.

Now, having an Eldar turned bad there would fit VERY well, because there are different parties attending the Ceremony. From the Malfian Noble, who believes himself to be doing Slaanesh a great sacrifice (who wouldn't mind sacrificing the Eldar once his purpose was complete)- to the Eldar himself, who would rather have the humans complete the ritual and become Daemonhosted.

I would easily be able to include a couple of Eldar Rangers who've come to hunt down the renegade and who, depending on the player's choices back in the day, would either side with them or actually serve as another side to the conspiracy.

I will do a write-up of the Conversion of the Scenario soon and see how well it holds up together. But so far, its looking pretty good.

A Herald, posing as Mord'dagan (P. 101 of the Radicals for the list of the Seven devils) has "angered" Slaanesh by stealing energy rightfully dedicated to the God. As such, the latter has pulled strings- and arranged for several people to gather and slay the offending party.

Caleb Gist, Malfian Noble, has retreated to Dusk in order to worship a more esoteric version of Imperial Creed barely tolerated on Dusk. This is due to its potential links, depending on your interpretation, to another, Dark Daemon- the Eater of the Dead. Caled has managed to satisfy what little authorities there exist around his area- but he himself is being fooled by the Herald.

In order to destroy this Daemon that's overstayed its welcome, Slaanesh has sent forth a relatively unwitting minion- a fallen Eldar. He knows what Slaanesh expects of him and serves the god, but only because he feels he has little choice. By infiltrating Caleb Gist's circle, he's offered up some modifications and corrections to the noble's rites and rituals of worship (learn decadence from the best). These modifications, he promises, guarantee a successful calling/summoning of the Elder god, so that he may bless all with his presence- something Gist's family has been attempting for nearly a century. Obviously, the Eldar despises Caleb- and all humans, and is simply making use of him.

The change in the ritual involves a specially chosen Sacrifice- mostly, a powerful psyker child. Though this is not really true: any powerful psyker or sorcerer would do. Caleb, his mistress or... the Eldar himself, who, at all costs, will seek to avoid this fate.

There are over 150 cannibalistic cultists, who claim to worship a version of the Emperor, attending the Orgiastic rites: in reality, they worship Mord'dagan and, trough their debased actions, Slaanesh himself [if not for the leeching Herald]- quite enough to warrant to the creation of a host, assuming all goes according to plan.

Again, an actual detailed write-up will follow, but this is looking pretty good- I think its going to make a darned cool Dark Heresy Scenario. Though the ending WOULD need a bit of tweaking...

Well if you're not afraid of ignoring a bit of retcon, The Slann from 1st ed 40k would fit the bill perfectly. Ancient, reptillian, perfect. They are even suspected of having created some of the younger races.

This article even makes heavy reference to the Lovecraftian Old Ones.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Slann

P.s. Change 'frog' to 'snake' and you're done.