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Attention, Empire Citizens!
This article may contain older content that is now considered non-canon
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Like the other great cities of the Old World, Middenheim has long been home to followers of Chaos, secretly plotting the downfall of the Old World or simply giving in to their own perverted pleasures. Several years ago, the city was rocked by scandal when it was revealed that a cult called the Purple Hand, loyal to Tzeentch the Changer of the Ways, had reached into the highest echelons of Middenheim’s government, and into the very court of Graf Boris Todbringer. Severe measures were taken, and those cultists who were not caught are presumed to have fled the city.[2a]
The Cult of the Jade Sceptre, on the other hand, had no such lofty ambitions. Recruited from among the city’s idle rich by the promise of endless indulgence in forbidden pleasures, these followers of Slaanesh the Dark Prince sought nothing more than to slake their darker appetites undisturbed.[2a]
All that changed, however, with the approach of Archaon and his forces, in particular the Slaaneshi contingent of Styrkaar. As his followers assaulted the southern causeway, Styrkaar commanded the Jade Sceptre to rise up within the city and slaughter the defenders from within the walls. The pleasures he promised would reward their success were such that none could resist.[2a]
The uprising of the Jade Sceptre was not an unqualified success. From their base in an Eastgate den of vice known as the Templar’s Downfall, they summoned a handful of Daemonettes, with the idea of attacking the South Gate from within and letting Styrkaar’s forces into the city. However, the cult priests proved too weak and unskilled to control the Daemonettes, who ran wild through the streets of the Eastgate district. Because of Archaon’s continued attacks along the eastern causeway, the East Gate was one of the most heavily defended areas of Middenheim, and the Daemonettes were cut down by wizards and priests of Ulric as soon as they showed themselves. The surviving cultists were rounded up and executed, and the Templar’s Downfall was razed to the ground.[2a]
Once the largest Slaaneshi Cult in the Empire, the Jade Sceptre has fallen on hard times. Named for the jewelled rod carried by Slaanesh, the Cult worships the Chaos God and revels in debauchery and torture. Their goal is to spread pain and pleasure as far as possible, breaking down the social strictures and allowing people to delight in the full expression of their bodies and senses.[1a]
No one knows who founded the Cult, but for many years, its core was a group of wealthy young men and women known as Deviants & Decadents. Though only twenty or so in number, these young nobles possessed enough power and money to draw in other members, and each formed a larger group in his or her home city. The Deviants & Decadents controlled the Cult, leading its rituals and approving its new members, and the Cult grew in size and power until its tendrils were ensconced in every large town and city across the nation.[1a]
The Cult’s strongest base was always in Middenheim, where many believe it began. One of the nobles involved, a young woman named Anika-Elise Nikse, moved from Nordland to Middenheim and caught the eye of none other than Graft Boris Todbringer. They eventually married, and in her new role as mistress of the city, Nikse was able to raise the Cult to new levels.[1a]
Unfortunately, their new prominence brought the Jade Sceptre to the attention of several rivals, including the Purple Hand Cult. Nikse was brutally murdered at the tender age of twenty-three, and with her death, the Jade Sceptre lost much of its direction. The more casual members fell away, frightened by the notion that the same violence they practiced on others might be turned upon them as well.[1a]
Several of the core members decided it might be a good idea to lay low for a while. They let the larger Cult disperse and spread tales of the organization’s destruction to deter further attacks. But this was merely a ruse. Several key Cultists escaped Middenheim, taking the Cult’s central treasure with them. They fled the Empire altogether, leaving behind only a few visible former members as bait for their enemies.[1a]
Whether the Jade Sceptre Cult will resurface as a potent Empire-wide force or pursue its goals in private remains to be seen.[1a]
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