Index Daemonica: The Maceran Fellowship

[TDF]

I've not intended to be too tasteless, but this is a warband of Slaaneshi daemons. If you don't want to read about a Slaaneshi warband whose USP revolves around anorexia and bulimia then don't read this article.

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“Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.”
– attributed to the Moss Kat, a figure of pre-Unification mythohistory

I first heard of the Maceran Fellowship in the reports of Chaplain Turak in 990.M30. My brother, eager to explore the hidden empires of the Ruinous Powers, had been summoning as many varieties of neverborn as he could and carefully documented them for dissemination to the legion. On this occasion he summoned what we now know as a daemonette, who introduced herself as Skariethexx, Herald of Bulistiannea, Eldest of the Maceran Fellowship. The following is quoted from Turak’s reports:
 

“She, for despite her alien, non-Euclidean, form she was undoubtedly feminine in design, was clearly of the caste of she-daemons that served the Prince of Pleasure. Her figure was unsettling emaciated: her limbs appearing to be little more than sticks, her abdomen alarmingly concave. Her visage was pulled tight, revealing sharp cheekbones that were both like and unlike that of an eldar. Despite this appearance she lacked nothing of the finesse, agility and unexpected strength belonging to all members of her kind.”

I do not know if the Maceran Fellowship was summoned during Horus’ war but I find it unlikely that they were summoned intentionally for their favoured method of preying on mortals requires an extended period of patience rather than a quick strike to the jugular.

The Maceran Fellowship delight in the sensations that arise from starving the mortal body of its necessary sustenance. The despair and lack of self-worth that drives a mortal to deliberate starve himself is but the first course of a long and protracted feast for the daemons of the Fellowship. The pain of the hunger pangs are like sweetmeats and the stubborn delusion required to disobey the instructions of the body and conspire to bring about one’s own end is sweeter still.

Other daemons of the Fellowship pursue the twin sensations of the bulimia sufferer. The gluttony of the consumption is paired with the self-disgust of the regurgitation. A mortal that falls under the sway of the Fellowship in this way will be driven to ever higher heights and ever lower lows until every waking moment is spent eating or vomiting. Such is the desire for further sensation that many will consume their own vomit, every piece of food passing dozens of times between the stomach and the basin.

I have made use of the Maceran Fellowship on four occasions and twice succeeded in summoning Bulistiannea itself. The Eldest is a greater daemon of Slaanesh: a bovine-headed Keeper of Secrets. Like its servants its appearance is emaciated, with its ever-shifting bone structure clearly discernible beneath almost transparent skin. A still-living human girl-child was visible within Bulistiannea’s stomach both times I encountered the greater daemon. The Eldest’s speech was slow and hesitant, as if it barely possessed the energy to vocalise and thus had to choose each word with great precision. Despite this I was under no illusion that Bulistiannea was any less physically deadly than any other greater daemon.

My most notable usage of the Maceran Fellowship was on Leucan Secundus. Mortal agents possessed by daemons of the Fellowship infiltrated the large monastery of the Corpse-God in the mountains outside the capital city. Over several years they were able to subvert the numerous fasting rituals so they served the desires of the Pleasure God. The resulting suicide by starvation of over ten thousand faithful servants of the Corpse-God was enough to rip open a warp rift, which I then amplified using profane rituals until the entire world was drawn into the Realm of Chaos.
 

– extracted from the records of Kanan Raam, Dark Apostle of the 46th Host

[Teetengee]

I like it, although I wouldn't mention bulimia within the context of the description by name, since using the same name for it seems incongruous with the rest of the post.

 

Also, any thoughts on the fluff from the last daemons book that keepers of secrets are just about the kill? It seemed like a poor line to put in originally, but I wanted to make sure you were intentionally ignoring it.

[TDF]

I like it, although I wouldn't mention bulimia within the context of the description by name, since using the same name for it seems incongruous with the rest of the post.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I use the word bulimia both in the warning and in the main body of the text. It's a specific medical condition, so there's not much leeway for using synonyms.

 

Also, any thoughts on the fluff from the last daemons book that keepers of secrets are just about the kill? It seemed like a poor line to put in originally, but I wanted to make sure you were intentionally ignoring it.

Haven't got the latest daemons book. Sounds like a stupid line, for a daemon of slaanesh especially. What about the chase? The hunt? The self-inflicted harm done in the frantic attempt to escape? The horrifying realisation that a grisly death is inevitable? The pathetic hope when the prey is given a reprieve?

[Teetengee]

First part. The use in the trigger warning wasn't the issue, I just thought the technical term in our day and age probably wouldn't still be around in 40k (it seems to modern for the gothic fantasy in the future environment and strikes me as out of place). Not that I have a suggestion for a specific replacement, but I figured I would mention it.

 

 

Second part. Those are all part of it, but the point was that slaanesh only sent out keepers when (s)he wanted someone dead, not for toying with mortals so much. I thought it was pretty dumb too, but just wanted to make you aware of it.

[TDF]

Hmmm... Well I guess those mortals who get attention lavished on them by the Fellowship do end up dead (eventually). Just not as quickly as usual.