What historical events in Golarion did you take inspiration from real world historical events to create?
In my homebrew campaign setting, it's the American Civil War and the Salem Witch Trials. The witch trials were turned up to 11 and are a major historical event that colors the past of my favorite nation in the setting heavily, and the war is because I'm a big Civil War enthusiast, and in a world based off of 1890s steampunk stuff I couldn't resist the temptation to put in a recent civil war fought with the same types of technology.
How do you feel about playing a Bakeneko or Nekomata using the Kitsune and changing the fluff?
I'm kind of a fan of Samurai Cat and Fudoki by Kij Johnson, if you want reasons... Given that the Chinese Fox legends that influenced the Kitsune were also applied to cats, and the resemblance of the cat shifters to the foxes in Japan as well, I'm thinking they would work as essentially parallel races.
If you think this would work, what sort of changes might you make, while keeping them at the same CR?
Dear Mr. Jacobs,
Hawk the Slayer
or
The Sword and the Sorcerer?
Dragonslayer, starring Peter MacNicol, tyvm :P
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I've actually not seen "The Sword and the Sorcerer," but I'll pick that one BECAUSE I've seen Hawk the Slayer and... hoo boy... some powerful Krull Effect going on there.Dear Mr. Jacobs,
Hawk the Slayer
or
The Sword and the Sorcerer?
What is this Krull Effect thou speakist of?
And how far around the Worldwound do the wardstones go?
What historical events in Golarion did you take inspiration from real world historical events to create?
Not to step on JJ's toes, but I think the simple answer to that question is, "All of them."
The Muse finds you where she finds you...
Creative Director
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What historical events in Golarion did you take inspiration from real world historical events to create?
In my homebrew campaign setting, it's the American Civil War and the Salem Witch Trials. The witch trials were turned up to 11 and are a major historical event that colors the past of my favorite nation in the setting heavily, and the war is because I'm a big Civil War enthusiast, and in a world based off of 1890s steampunk stuff I couldn't resist the temptation to put in a recent civil war fought with the same types of technology.
All sorts of historical events have inspired Golarion stuff, from the vanishing of the Roanoke colony to the Oak Island money pit to legends of the Jersey Devil to accounts of the founding of my home town of Point Arena. WAY too many to list here, in any event! Looking at history is a great way to get ideas for RPGs.
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Creative Director
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How do you feel about playing a Bakeneko or Nekomata using the Kitsune and changing the fluff?
I'm kind of a fan of Samurai Cat and Fudoki by Kij Johnson, if you want reasons... Given that the Chinese Fox legends that influenced the Kitsune were also applied to cats, and the resemblance of the cat shifters to the foxes in Japan as well, I'm thinking they would work as essentially parallel races.
If you think this would work, what sort of changes might you make, while keeping them at the same CR?
I would rather just design a bakeneko or a nekomata from the ground up, honestly, than just reskin the kitsune. That said, I'm not familiar enough with Samurai Cat or Fudoki to really know where to start at doing something like that.
I'm creating a half-elf sorcerer who resembles her elven parent so strongly that people cannot tell she is a half-elf and not a full blooded elf. Is it possible for even elves not to be able to tell, or would they somehow know? I hope it is possible for them to not be able to tell, because this character has never met her elven parent, knows nothing of elven culture or lifestyle, and does not know a single word of the elven tongue, and it would be so cool for an elf to greet another "elf", only to find out she can't even speak the language.
I would rather just design a bakeneko or a nekomata from the ground up, honestly, than just reskin the kitsune. That said, I'm not familiar enough with Samurai Cat or Fudoki to really know where to start at doing something like that.How do you feel about playing a Bakeneko or Nekomata using the Kitsune and changing the fluff?
I'm kind of a fan of Samurai Cat and Fudoki by Kij Johnson, if you want reasons... Given that the Chinese Fox legends that influenced the Kitsune were also applied to cats, and the resemblance of the cat shifters to the foxes in Japan as well, I'm thinking they would work as essentially parallel races.
If you think this would work, what sort of changes might you make, while keeping them at the same CR?
Hmm. I'll get to work on it myself then... The Bakeneko does seem a little more powerful than a kitsune, given its monster-sized form, though that might be assigned to an oni version, similar to the Nogitsune. It would obviously be more interesting to make them substantially different, but I'm not sure whether the legends justify that. Thanks!
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Creative Director
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What is this Krull Effect thou speakist of?
And how far around the Worldwound do the wardstones go?
The Krull Effect, first documented by Erik Mona, is the effect that time has on movies you thought were super cool and awesome as a kid, but when you see them again as an adult SOMEHOW the movie doesn't remain as awesome, and in fact, got really terrible.
The wardstones go about halfway around the Worldwound; they don't really block much to the north or northwest or west—vast stretches of empty land do that on their own.
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Creative Director
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Do you think it's unusual that my entire 16th level group can fly all day? I see a lot of encounters that I wind up moding because of this and wondered if my players were an anomaly.
I don't find it unusual at all.
As PCs level up, the types of adventures they can/should go on change. Adventures that work fine at lower levels just don't cut the mustard at higher ones.
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Creative Director
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I'm creating a half-elf sorcerer who resembles her elven parent so strongly that people cannot tell she is a half-elf and not a full blooded elf. Is it possible for even elves not to be able to tell, or would they somehow know? I hope it is possible for them to not be able to tell, because this character has never met her elven parent, knows nothing of elven culture or lifestyle, and does not know a single word of the elven tongue, and it would be so cool for an elf to greet another "elf", only to find out she can't even speak the language.
Generally, a half-elf looks enough like a half-elf that it'd be easy to tell. Having a half-elf that looks almost totally human or almost totally elven is fine, though... you just need GM approval for that type of concept if you don't have some sort of trait or feat to justify things.
Better than both of those, and better than most fantasy movies. For the most part.Dragonslayer, starring Peter MacNicol, tyvm :PDear Mr. Jacobs,
Hawk the Slayer
or
The Sword and the Sorcerer?
ZOMG, just don't ask me to reconcile the visuals of Ladyhawk with the soundtrack, that was *awful*
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What is this Krull Effect thou speakist of?
And how far around the Worldwound do the wardstones go?
*snip*
The wardstones go about halfway around the Worldwound; they don't really block much to the north or northwest or west—vast stretches of empty land do that on their own.
Wait what?
I mean, why don't the demons just go *around* the wardstones then? Demons aren't stupid, and they aren't likely to starve or die of thirst on a long walk. They are immortal so a month or two of boredom is like a blink of an eye. Why would they crash repeatedly in to the wardstones when they can just walk around?
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Creative Director
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What is this Krull Effect thou speakist of?
And how far around the Worldwound do the wardstones go?
*snip*
The wardstones go about halfway around the Worldwound; they don't really block much to the north or northwest or west—vast stretches of empty land do that on their own.
Wait what?
I mean, why don't the demons just go *around* the wardstones then? Demons aren't stupid, and they aren't likely to starve or die of thirst on a long walk. They are immortal so a month or two of boredom is like a blink of an eye. Why would they crash repeatedly in to the wardstones when they can just walk around?
The wardstones make a sort of C shape around the Worldwound. The two "tips" of that C focus at each other, more or less, constraining the entire area within the "C". This works out well for Mendev and the rest, since the far side, facing the Crown of the World and the Mammoth Lords, is pretty vast and far away.
So the field that contains the demons and the Worldwound covers all of the Worldwound... but the wardstones don't have to make an "O" to do that is all.
Will we ever see an adventure path that sees PCs having to 'sneak into' the World Wound to recover a sacred relic or assassinate a powerful Fiend (obviously not the 'leader' of the region! Dear god that would be an Epic-level Campaign at the least!) to prevent the Wardstones from failing/prevent the whole 'Great Maw' scenario from the Warhammer universe (Great Maw, Cannibalistic Daemon-God of the Ogres, literally chewed it's way through the world, one Maw in the Mountains of Mourn, the other in the middle of the sea on the other side of the world.)
Also my cats are currently all trying to snuggle me at once. They have plenty of food, water, scratching posts and catnip filled toys. What do you think they are plotting and how much time do you think I have before they enact their plan?
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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With the announcement of the Moonscar module being set on the moon and the scar being some sort of demonic incursion, I'm wondering is there any connection between the demon invasion on the moonscar and the demon invasion on the worldwound? How long has the moonscar been visible to astronomers? If there is a connection, is there essentially a demon scar/wound/invasion on all planets in the Golarion solar system (or plans for those which haven't already had one actually happen)?
Greetings Mr. Jacobs,
1) Who are Shelyn's and Zon-Kuthon's parents?
2) Am I correct in assuming the the wardstones prevent demons from passing or teleporting past them as well as preventing them from summoning other demons?
3) If a Worldwound demon is slain is it permanently dead?
4) Do the wardstones affect any other creatures besides demons?
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Creative Director
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Will we ever see an adventure path that sees PCs having to 'sneak into' the World Wound to recover a sacred relic or assassinate a powerful Fiend (obviously not the 'leader' of the region! Dear god that would be an Epic-level Campaign at the least!) to prevent the Wardstones from failing/prevent the whole 'Great Maw' scenario from the Warhammer universe (Great Maw, Cannibalistic Daemon-God of the Ogres, literally chewed it's way through the world, one Maw in the Mountains of Mourn, the other in the middle of the sea on the other side of the world.)
Also my cats are currently all trying to snuggle me at once. They have plenty of food, water, scratching posts and catnip filled toys. What do you think they are plotting and how much time do you think I have before they enact their plan?
A Worldwound AP would indeed be cool.
The cats are obviously trying to be friendly! Cats aren't evil! They're just showing love! KITTIES!!!
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Creative Director
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With the announcement of the Moonscar module being set on the moon and the scar being some sort of demonic incursion, I'm wondering is there any connection between the demon invasion on the moonscar and the demon invasion on the worldwound? How long has the moonscar been visible to astronomers? If there is a connection, is there essentially a demon scar/wound/invasion on all planets in the Golarion solar system (or plans for those which haven't already had one actually happen)?
No connection. The Moonscar itself was actually first discussed in "Book of the Damned 2: Lords of Chaos" as one of several examples where the Abyss infected the Material Plane. Other examples include the Worldwound and Tanglebriar.
The event that caused the Abyssal corruption of the Moonscar is caused by something other than Deskari (Worldwound) or Treerazer (Tanglebriar). Details coming soon!
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Creative Director
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Greetings Mr. Jacobs,
1) Who are Shelyn's and Zon-Kuthon's parents?
2) Am I correct in assuming the the wardstones prevent demons from passing or teleporting past them as well as preventing them from summoning other demons?
3) If a Worldwound demon is slain is it permanently dead?
4) Do the wardstones affect any other creatures besides demons?
1) Unrevealed at this time.
2) Correct. Demons can teleport all they want WITHIN the Worldwound, but not out of the region. It does NOT prevent them from conjuring more demons.
3) If the demon was called, yes. If it was summoned, no. No difference there between the Worldwound and anywhere else on the Material Plane, in fact.
5) They mostly affect demons, but some of the effects affect all creatures. See page 301 of the Inner Sea World Guide for rules on how Wardstones work.
Yup; that's the first time I put Shensen into an RPG product.
So the Monk/Bard/Druid was your idea? I note that the NPC Guide version is a Bard/Fighter, with a much more manageable list of abilities. I was briefly involved with a group that was playing through The Shackled City (very slowly, they met once a month and there were too many players for things to run smoothly). One of the players had been given Shensen to run after his PC got torn to shreds by Tongueater; trying to fit her onto a PDF form character sheet was a huge headache.
Safari, for example (the one I'm currently using) has opposable in its dictionary.
So you're a Mac user? Is that a personal preference, the Paizo standard platform, or both? Just curious, my personal computers have all been Mac lap-tops since the very first one I owned (a Powerbook 160 on which I took all my notes in college back in the '90's).
I did some tarot work for someone and was paid for it in See's Candies gift certificates.
What should I get?
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Will we ever see an adventure path that sees PCs having to 'sneak into' the World Wound to recover a sacred relic or assassinate a powerful Fiend (obviously not the 'leader' of the region! Dear god that would be an Epic-level Campaign at the least!) to prevent the Wardstones from failing/prevent the whole 'Great Maw' scenario from the Warhammer universe (Great Maw, Cannibalistic Daemon-God of the Ogres, literally chewed it's way through the world, one Maw in the Mountains of Mourn, the other in the middle of the sea on the other side of the world.)A Worldwound AP would indeed be cool.
You are behind the curve! I was impatient and stated my own Worldwound adventure a few years back. Unfortunately, I still haven't updated all the NPCs and creatures from 3.5 to Pathfinder. And some of the canon has changed as well, but I have already adjusted for it.
Gist:
Lvl 1-3 Cultists trying to smuggle cannons into the Worldwound
Lvl 4-5 Cultists spreading the Tainted Plague in Nerosyan
Lvl 6-9 Blight druids try to divert river to wash away Wardstones
Lvl 10 Fight the Kakuen-Taka
Lvl 11-13 Travel to Realms of the Mammoth Lords to contain the outbreak in the Red Rune Canyon
Lvl 14-15 Travel to Undarin to search Ayeshalmoutey's writings
Lvl 16+ Infiltrate Iz and work to destabilize the Storm King's rule
Inspiration:
Lords of Chaos
Campaign Setting
Inner Sea World Guide
The Demon Within
Descent Into Midnight - Demon Lords article
The Worldwound Gambit
James, any sources I might have missed?
James, will there ever be another artist who can match the heart wrenching power of Johnny Cash?
IANJ, but No. Johnny Cash was one of a kind, and while there may be someone like him, that person will not be him, and shouldn't try to. You just can't replace the legends, of whom Johnny Cash is the greatest, immediately followed by Johnny Horton.
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Creative Director
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So you're a Mac user? Is that a personal preference, the Paizo standard platform, or both? Just curious, my personal computers have all been Mac lap-tops since the very first one I owned (a Powerbook 160 on which I took all my notes in college back in the '90's).
Mac is indeed the Paizo standard platform. Before I worked at Paizo, I'd been a PC/Windows person since 1990, but Paizo cured me. :P Been a Mac person for the last several years.
Mac is indeed the Paizo standard platform. Before I worked at Paizo, I'd been a PC/Windows person since 1990, but Paizo cured me. :P Been a Mac person for the last several years.
I've heard "once you go Mac, you never go back" from a fair number of converts. It doesn't surprise me that Paizo would be a Mac workplace; I've never met a graphic designer who prefers Windows to Mac, and I would imagine that the most computer-intensive work of an RPG publisher would be graphic design.
See I knew you weren't a sane man.James, will there ever be another artist who can match the heart wrenching power of Johnny Cash?Yes.
No, betting that someone in the future will excel the best of the past in any particular area of human endeavor is almost always a safe bet.
Do you like Warhammer 40K?
I have Bestiary 3 questions. What is a foo lion? What is a foo dog? What is an animal lord? Can I take a kangaroo as an animal companion? Can I use one as a mount?
No, betting that someone in the future will excel the best of the past in any particular area of human endeavor is almost always a safe bet.
QFT. Johnny's place in the pantheon is sure. So is Da Vinci's, and Einstein's, and any other geniuses you care to name. There are, and will be, others who will take what they've done and go even further with it. The honest ones will be quick to admit that they stand on the shoulders of giants.
Have you seen the new Thundercats series (seems to have had a 13 episode 1st season, my jaw is permanently affixed to the flaw) and if you have, would you ever make a 'Villain' like Mumm-Ra the Ever Living? Fiendish Mummy with a very Vampire-esque weakness to Sunlight....
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1) Isn't ZK's and Shelyn's father in fact The Prince in Chains?
2) I am working on my own pantheon of dark gods and I decided to step back towards the Moorcock's Chaos as an inspiration. So, I want to reskin a number of old D&D demon lords and princes and combine them with Warhammer Chaos Gods. So, now I am looking in real-world mythology for an inspiration and I am seeing a lot of stuff that is changed. A lot. So, here comes the question: Baphomet as described in D&D is a lot different than occult representation of Baphomet. I have your Demonomicon article, but I was wandering - if you were not constrained by the 30+ years of D&D history, would you make him something other than brute and personification of raw strength?
3) The four principle Chaos Gods in Warhammer are:
Khorne-Bloodlust/War/Death
Tzeentch-Change/Fate/Mutation
Nurgle-Plague/Despair/Disease
Slaanesh-Lust/Pleasure/Excess
Which would be their equivalent Demon Lords/Princes in D&D/Pathfinder?
Dear JJ,
the APG brought us quite a few new polearms. However one of the most famous ones (next to the halberd) is missing.
Will there ever be rules for a Pollaxe?
In the meantime, here's my house rules:
Pollaxe: Cost 12gp; Dmg(M) 1d10; Crit x3; Weight 12lbs; Type B or P or S; Special 'brace'.
What do you think?
1) Isn't ZK's and Shelyn's father in fact The Prince in Chains?
^This. Also, I don't think we know who their mother is. Would it be safe to say that ZK faced something Cthulu-eque to make him go koo-koo?
...I've never met a graphic designer who prefers Windows to Mac...
I work as a Design Intern and Prefer Win to Mac, I'd probably put Linux in first, but a little too lazy to learn how to unleash the awesome. Don't ask why, I just don't. Though that may have something to do with the fact I'm a Computer Science major and a Digital Art minor. :/
Now for some questions:
1) I seem to have an obsession with playing petite, female characters, and rogues in particular. Do I need an intervention or am I not a crazy as I think I am?
2) My main character that I play for PFS is a rogue 3/fighter 1 that has recently gone through having her skull smashed by a gorilla, being brought back from said smashing, attacking herself by attacking a gelatinous cube that turned out to be a party member, finding out the large pile of gold she just dived onto was not gold and was poisoned, seeing party members vanish, seeing a party member have her soul stolen by a devil, playing the part of the damsel in distress while having a pendelum descend to bisect her, and becoming the avatar of on of the Four Horsemen. (NOTE: everything after being brought back from the dead happened in a homegame that was set on Golarion and dealt with recovering the Pathfinder Society treasury.) Do I need to consider getting her some therapy?
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Creative Director
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I've heard "once you go Mac, you never go back" from a fair number of converts. It doesn't surprise me that Paizo would be a Mac workplace; I've never met a graphic designer who prefers Windows to Mac, and I would imagine that the most computer-intensive work of an RPG publisher would be graphic design.
It's more than the fact that Macs are great for graphic design... pretty much every experience that frustrated the heck out of me with Windows, from the cost of the operating system to the difficulty setting up a network to the stability of the numerous PCs I've owned to the stability of the programs that it ran to the physical appearance of the computer to most everything else I can think of save for ONE thing (see below), Macs are just flat better than PCs.
The one exception is software choices. It's getting better, but the fact that most software continues to be for PCs and isn't also for Macs is frustrating. Fortunately, most of the video games I want to play are also available on consoles these days.
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Creative Director
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I have Bestiary 3 questions. What is a foo lion? What is a foo dog? What is an animal lord? Can I take a kangaroo as an animal companion? Can I use one as a mount?
Foo creatures are from Asian mythology; they're basically animal spirits in the flesh. Animal lords are powerful outsider guardians who guard and protect various species of animals. You can indeed have a kangaroo animal companion, but you can't use it as a mount because that's cartoonish.
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Creative Director
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Have you seen the new Thundercats series (seems to have had a 13 episode 1st season, my jaw is permanently affixed to the flaw) and if you have, would you ever make a 'Villain' like Mumm-Ra the Ever Living? Fiendish Mummy with a very Vampire-esque weakness to Sunlight....
I have not. I have no desire to see it. I am not a Thundercats fan.
I have Bestiary 3 questions. What is a foo lion? What is a foo dog? What is an animal lord? Can I take a kangaroo as an animal companion? Can I use one as a mount?Foo creatures are from Asian mythology; they're basically animal spirits in the flesh. Animal lords are powerful outsider guardians who guard and protect various species of animals. You can indeed have a kangaroo animal companion, but you can't use it as a mount because that's cartoonish.
I can't wait to buy my copy of the book. I want it so bad.
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Creative Director
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1) Isn't ZK's and Shelyn's father in fact The Prince in Chains?
2) I am working on my own pantheon of dark gods and I decided to step back towards the Moorcock's Chaos as an inspiration. So, I want to reskin a number of old D&D demon lords and princes and combine them with Warhammer Chaos Gods. So, now I am looking in real-world mythology for an inspiration and I am seeing a lot of stuff that is changed. A lot. So, here comes the question: Baphomet as described in D&D is a lot different than occult representation of Baphomet. I have your Demonomicon article, but I was wandering - if you were not constrained by the 30+ years of D&D history, would you make him something other than brute and personification of raw strength?
3) The four principle Chaos Gods in Warhammer are:
Khorne-Bloodlust/War/Death
Tzeentch-Change/Fate/Mutation
Nurgle-Plague/Despair/Disease
Slaanesh-Lust/Pleasure/ExcessWhich would be their equivalent Demon Lords/Princes in D&D/Pathfinder?
1) Perhaps. (Pathfinder #11 would know for sure, and I don't have one handy to refresh my memory.)
2) If Baphomet had not been turned into a minotaur demon by Gygax... I really can't say for sure how I would have dealt with him in RPGs. I probably would NOT have made him a demon. I probably WOULD have been inspired by his incarnation in Clive Barker's "Nightbreed" instead, as an overlord type figure over mutants and monsters. Althgouh the real-world mythology around him is pretty interesting as well. That all said... he's a minotaur demon now in RPGs and I actually think that's a pretty cool incarnation for him and so I wouldn't change it.
3)I'm not all that familiar with the deities, so just going by your supplied lists of characteristics:
Khorne: Kostchtchie
Tzeentch: Haagenti
Nurgle: Cyth-V'sug
Slaanesh: Either Nocticula or Socothbenoth