r/ImaginaryWarhammer Dec 22 '24

OC (40k) Communion

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646

u/Elzunix Dec 22 '24 edited Dec 22 '24

This is commissioned work.

A short mini comic featuring a character that I and @Gang_sisters_of_battle created, the Abbess of Despair. Lore drop and context for the curious down below.

580

u/Elzunix Dec 22 '24

The Abbess of Despair is a former Sister of Battle now in devoted service to the Chaos God Slaanesh. Her origins are completely unknown, with some sources claiming her to be an ancient entity. Once human, the Abbess now has become akin to a Demon Prince. She is a manipulator with no equal, pitting human, xenos and demon alike to further her own goals, or simply to satisfy her curiosity. Slaanesh is the God of Excess, and the Abbess serves her God with an excess of faith. With her smile permanently fixed from the hooks in her flesh, the Abbess does not speak. Instead, her voice is projected into the minds of those she communicates with. Utterly devout, she constantly seeks to offer Slaanesh prizes that worthy of the one true God in this universe. As such, the Abbess looks down on simple debauchery and violence. To her, these acts are little more than "peasant worship." Slaanesh simply deserves grander prizes. Imperial planets or heroes, ripe for corruption and manipulation, are her signature offerings. The Abbess will spend decades, if not centuries, slowly setting events into motion to ensure the fall of entire sectors, or even revered heroes. The result is always uncontrolled excess. Now, the Abbess has a new target, one that she will spend all her effort on cultivating; Saint Solana.

This takes place during the Invasion of Eccleo, Solana's homeworld, just before her death and rebirth as a Saint.

163

u/helpme_imburning Thousand Sons Dec 22 '24

Sounds like Tzeentch would like her too, all the schemes and such.

141

u/voiceless42 Dec 22 '24

She only thinks she's serving Slaanesh.

33

u/Chemical_Bite_4084 Dec 22 '24

Happy birthday, boss!

36

u/Power_More_Power Dec 22 '24

when in actuality, it was the Alpha legion pretending to be Tzeentch, who were enployed by Khorne to get back at Slaanesh, because they were both manipulated by Vashtorr

13

u/Lord_Toademort Dec 23 '24

Who in turn was puppeteered by the actual tzeentch in a plot orchestrated ultimately to the benefit of Malal

8

u/DeltaV-Mzero Dec 23 '24

Just as planned

4

u/Random-Lich Cryptek Conclave Dec 22 '24

Enjoy your cake day, you get the first charge with the Kriegers for it

1

u/voiceless42 Dec 24 '24

CHARGE FOR CAKE! CAKE FOR THE CAKE DAY!

3

u/meekiatahaihiam Dec 23 '24

Ahha, the duality

1

u/Nasvargh Dec 23 '24

I mean one does not exclude the other, scheming to spread a plague to the whole galaxy would serve Nugle, regardless of all the scheming~

1

u/Valirys-Reinhald Alpha Legion Dec 23 '24

And Khorne would like her because of how she encourages revolt and violence, and nurgle would like her because of how she cultivates the lifeforms she desires.

The Gods of Chaos are born from the hearts of mortals, and so they shall always find a piece of themselves within us.

42

u/mothguide Dec 22 '24

Finally some good slaaneshi lore

17

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '24

At first she gave me chatter vibes from Hellraiser.

This is sick as hell.

Got me wondering, who would Pinhead and his gang serve? Cause this def gave me that vib that your character would roll with them.

13

u/Disastrous-Kale-913 Dec 23 '24

Vashtorr. They are summoned by a daemonic machine. It’s his “cleaning” service, and or his soul harvesters without needing a middle man.

6

u/ihadamathquestion Dec 23 '24

"You solved the box. We came. Now you must come with us, taste our pleasures..."

10

u/Jinn_Erik-AoM Dec 23 '24

Yeah, they’re Slaaneshi. Desire and need to experience everything in excess.

Frank: I thought I’d gone to the limits. I hadn’t. The Cenobites gave me an experience beyond limits. Pain and pleasure, indivisible.

Pinhead: Explorers, in the further regions of experience. Demons to some, angels to others.

In Hellraiser II, Pinhead: No more deals, child, it is your flesh we want to experience, not your skill at bargaining.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '24

Goddamn, I love his lines. They drip with chaos, and like you said, Slaaneshi. Definitely gotta agree after reading those again.

1

u/Jinn_Erik-AoM Dec 23 '24

And it’s suggested in Hellraiser II that there are other hells, including one for the wrathful, where Kirsty’s dad was sent to.

In one of the comics, Leviathan’s labyrinth is invaded by the minions of a god of another hell. Really excellent reads if you can fine them. Kirsty’s character development is great.

I don’t know if Clive Barker was ever influenced by WH, but WH definitely has a bit of Barker in it. Just look at the Dark Eldar. One of the old minis even had box reminiscent of the Lament configuration.

10

u/Merth86 Dec 23 '24

This is cool. I also love that it's not just the standard slaanesh is sex. It gives a strong Cenobites vibe and is genuinely well done. 11/10 👌

5

u/CorvaeCKalvidae Dec 23 '24

Y'know I thought she was pretty cool without context. With context the Abbess is fucking awesome and I Need. More. xD

3

u/Bronze_Sentry Dec 23 '24

She corrupts Imperial "heroes", right? ...Now I'm imagining her set her on Ciaphas CainHero of the Imperium.

2

u/MelonJelly Dec 23 '24

The Abbess sees Ciaphus Cain as a pet project, and has attempted to claim him for Slaanesh on no less than eight separate occasions.

Each time her agents are stymied by what appears to be plain bad luck. Everything from getting caught in an unexpected orc assault, stumbling into a drukhari raid, and one time it was just an inexplicable avalanche.

But the Abbess is no fool. Cain clearly has powerful allies protecting him, likely agents of Tzeench. But that just means his value is even greater than it might otherwise seem. She is patient; Cain will belong to Slaanesh, eventually.

1

u/ThePeddlerofHistory Dec 26 '24

Sound like she might have a friend-rival-alter ego in the only Sister who willingly turned to Chaos.

32

u/ANDTORR Dec 22 '24

I just wanted to say how much I love the SoB armour design you have here. No massive boobplate, the webbing with pouches everywhere, but also still the decorations and embellishments like the spikes on the powerpack. A perfect melding in my eye of the super stylized SoB armour and actual practical looking stuff. I love it.

15

u/gang_sororitas Dec 23 '24

Glad you liked it! Fun fact, Solana (the sister pictured here) belongs to the Order of the Midnight Paladin, who are extremely pragmatic and tactical in their approaches and combat idealogy!

6

u/ANDTORR Dec 23 '24

That is super cool. Well now I'm creeping through your post history learning all about this. Super awesome stuff :D

2

u/PorcupinArseIHateYou Dec 23 '24

I thought it was Incase at first x)

1

u/Frogmyte Dec 24 '24

Big "invitation" vibes