Slaanesh is the The Enemy Beyond associated with excess, transgression, and depravity, all of which are vices that have tainted the souls of mortal men since time immemorial and by which the Lords of Askellon have long been enslaved. Though none are immune to such sins, the indolent and the idle rich, of which there are many among the higher echelons of the sector’s ruling class, are highly likely to become ensnared in the embrace of the so-called Dark Prince of Chaos. Countless numbers of the Imperium’s worlds are ruled by such a class, the nobles enjoying a life of unimaginable luxury and privilege while those who toil to support it suffer short, miserable lives of back-breaking labour. The Askellon Sector is said by some within the Ordo Malleus to be overrun with such a class, a sector-wide stratum of society riddled with sin and corruption of
every conceivable variation.
But it is not only the bored scions of the lords and ladies of Askellon who find their souls ensnared by the Dark Prince. Those who seek perfection in their craft or trade might also fall victim to Slaanesh in what amounts to a faint echo of the long-passed doom of the Eldar species. Artists are often driven souls, and the most obsessive can be tempted to seek ever greater expression and thereby find themselves exploring paths no sane mind can comprehend. Warriors too can find themselves so entrapped, a fate said to have befallen so lauded a class as the III Legiones Astartes—the Emperor’s Children—during the Horus Heresy. Across the sector, countless warrior confraternities hone their martial skills, seeking unattainable heights of perfection. From savage feral worlders to the duelling clans of the high-hive aristocracy, warrior classes gather, often in secret, to master their calling, invariably driven to attain perfection in the quest to defeat their foes. Inevitably, this crosses the line into obsession, following which the mores of normality are cast aside and all barriers are torn down. In the grips of transgression, the damned soul is already dedicated to Slaanesh, whether he knows it or not.