The Jade Scepter, named after the rod carried by Slaanesh, used to be the largest Slaaneshi cult in the Imperium. Today its numbers are rather small and its Armageddon base only numbers some twenty individuals. But it is only a matter of time before this sleeping giant awakes. There are so many people out there who worship pleasure above everything else and the Jade Sceptre is committed to recruiting them.
The reason for the Jade Scepter’s recent decline can be put down to the untimely death of its energetic leader, one Anika-Elise Nikse the daughter of Baron von Hades and second wife to Governor Hermann von Straab. She was only 23 years old and her death remains something of a mystery. Some have claimed that she was murdered by a witch-hunter or, as is the popular belief, she was murdered by Purple Hand cultists who were alarmed at the Jade Scepter’s growth.
Despite the death of the Anika-Elise, the Jade Scepter has a powerful member, a one Gotthard von Wittgenstein or Gotthard Goebbels, as he is known in his professional life. Gotthard was bored with life in Hive Hades and left for the planetary capital. He sought the cult of the Jade Sceptre and made such an impression on Anika that he was made Deviant Master or DM. Through Gotthard’s charisma and his reputation as a swindler, Anika suggested to Gotthard that he infiltrate the Merchant’s Guild. This he did and within six months, through much string-pulling and crooked dealings, he was made not only the Chairman but head of the Komission for Commerce, Trade, and Taxation.
The Jade Scepter holds the night of Geheimnisnacht above all nights. It is a night of perversity, debauchery, decadence, hedonism, orgies, pain, and rapturous torture. The night of Geheimnisnacht, a time dear to all Slaanesh worshippers starts with the ritual sacrifice of a newborn baby and ends with the sacrifice of a beautiful young girl – or boy, but a female is always the preferred choice.
Power Base
The cult is centered on Armageddon but can be found throughout the Segmentum Solar and Pacificus. They have enough cash to live a life of limitless pleasure.
Aims & Methods
The cult seeks to give pleasure and pain to as many people as possible, especially those from the upper and ruling classes.
Members of the Jade Scepter enjoy using a cocktail of alcoholic beverages and drugs when any of them are invited to attend a formal dinner or ball, which are their favorite occasions to prey on victims or to recruit new members, in order to induce a near paralytic state in a protagonist. Once a victim has experienced enough pleasure they are usually tortured and then killed.
Antipathies
The Jade Scepter is not warm to any other Chaos cults although they are willing to ally for a brief period when necessary if it means their continued survival.
Organization
The cult centers around the ‘Deviants & Decadents’; a group of wealthy young rakes some of whom are the sons and daughters of Nobles. They represent the Inner Circle and are themselves heads of smaller groups throughout the Imperium, each numbering about six to twelve people (always multiples of 6, Slaanesh’s sacred number.) All of them are very wealthy and with wealth comes plenty of opportunity for debauchery.
Gotthard von Wittgenstein is the head of the Jade Scepter since Anika’s death. He managed to survive the purge of von Straab’s government after the Third Armageddon War and is quite influential on Armageddon, as one would expect being the Komission Governor where he is known as Gotthard Goebbels and is able to gain access to places that other cultists could only dream of in the upper echelons of Armageddon’s society. He is also able to protect the Jade Scepter from any unwelcome involvement from the Arbites.
613th Lyubov Rifles 