Editing Syll'Esske (section)

==The Legend==
Once there was a cunning Herald of Slaanesh called '''Syll Lewdtongue''' (yes, that’s really her name). She did the usual Slaanesh gig of inspiring mortals to grandiose acts of depravity and indulgence, her ultimate goal being to create a glorious champion of Slaanesh to present before the Dark Prince himself. However what separated her from her kin was her tendency to grow emotionally attached to her chosen recipient, which earned her the ridicule of fellow Heralds. She ignored these jeers and eventually she found a new champion that would change her life forever.

'''Esske the Scarred''' was a proud but jaded warrior-slave in the gladiator pits of Slaanesh’s gardens. His origins are a mystery, apparently coming from neither the Mortal Realms nor [[Warhammer: The Old World|The Old World]] (so as far as we're concerned he's confirmed as a former [[Blood Bowl]] player until stated otherwise). The leader of some tribal society, he willingly traversed the Realm of Chaos to swear fealty to the Dark Prince, only to be stuck in the Moebius loop that was the outer arenas of Slaanesh’s Palace. Then came Syll.

She saw magnificence in the warrior and offered her service as a patron. He proved to be a perfect host for Syll’s blessings, causing him to skyrocket in the arena’s leaderboard, much to the ire of the Herald’s many rivals. Syll was killed in her sleep and then banished from Slaanesh’s palace by her jealous peers, leaving both her and Esske out in the cold. While Esske continued his fighting, Syll made a deal with some daemonsmiths to regain her original form. As part of the deal, she was temporarily reborn as a fucking [[Soul Grinder]] and began an obsessive search to return to her sugar baby. She did find him, fighting off an invading Khorne army, and attacked him in her mindless rage. This was the ultimate joke of her rival daemonettes; if she won, she would come to her senses and despair at the death of her favorite mortal, and if she died, she would be stuck for all eternity in a cycle of endless debt to the Forge of Souls. Esske, realizing the true nature of the creature before him, laid down his weapons, for he would forsake his dream to earn the favor of Slaanesh if it meant he could not keep the only other being he ever truly connected with. As Esske’s lifeless body fell to the ground, Syll returned to her original form. Howling in anguish, she desperately returned his soul to his body and fed him her own blood to return him to life. Although it worked, it seemed that they were doomed to be killed by the encroaching Khornate host, as Syll had lost much of her power to resurrect her lover and Esske had lost his eyes from his battle wounds. Forced to work together to survive, Syll stood atop Esske’s shoulders to serve as his eyes. They hacked and whipped their way into Slaanesh’s chambers, forming a rag-tag army out of their fellow gladiators and daemons which they led to slay a trio of Bloodthirsters just before the Dark Prince’s throne.

Slaanesh applauded the efforts of the bloodied mortal and broken lesser daemon, especially since he could gloat to Khorne about how his invasion was thwarted by an outcast Herald and a blind mortal, and rewarded them with stronger bodies, new weapons, and ascension to Daemon Prince (for Esske). And in front of the Dark Prince, the two swore to fight at one another’s side in synchronized harmony. They were now Syll’Esske, the Vengeful Allegiance. And their first action after swearing the oath to each other was slaughtering the gossiping heralds that tried to tear them apart.

===The Syll'Esskan Host===

In the Mortal Realms, Syll'Esske is worshipped by Slaaneshi cults as a demigod that represents symbiosis between mortals and the daemonic, especially for the purposes of revenge. Thus, the host of Syll'Esske consists of both mortals and daemons, who join in hopes of obtaining a permanent pact with the other half. Hellstriders are a common sight in these forces, since the union between mortal rider and daemonic steed is exactly the kind of thing the symbiosis cults are into. Another common unit are Soul Grinders; since the Forge of Souls was not very pleased about Syll saving Esske's soul instead of giving it to them, they have made a deal to compensate that they will always bring a cohort of Slaaneshi Soul Grinders with them to war, with the addition that every sixth soul the Grinders collect do not count towards their personal debt.

While there is little information on the two in the 40k setting (aside from a mention of participating in Shalaxi Helbane's attack on the Ynnari), one can easily assume they could have a similar alliance with Daemonkin cults of the Chaos Space Marines, also based on the union of mortal and daemon (albeit through [[Possessed Marine|possession]]).