Which Mark(s) of Chaos for Lord Selpher Zaronax?

[HappyDaze]

I've been reviewing locations and enemies in the Great Parch, and Castle Drakesbane (Soulbound Core, p.222) provides the Daemon Prince called Lord Selpher Zaronax (hereafter LSZ).

From what I know of AoS lore, all Daemon Princes need to be marked by a Chaos god (excepting Be'lakor), but LSZ doesn't have a noted patron power. It notes that he works as an esteemed agent of Archaon.

• He is used to destroy, never to conquer. (?)

• When he finishes with a region, he corrupts it beyond use. (+ Nurgle)

• He uses a variety of tools, including sorcerers. (- Khorne)

• He is cruel an regards torture as an art form requiring dedication and endless practice. (+ Slaanesh)

• His legions are widely known to be depraved and motivated deviants. (+ Slaanesh)

• He has been selected to stamp out hope. (+ Nurgle)

From what I saw, there are some arguments that lean him towards both Nurgle and Slaanesh, but neither is exactly definite. If you were the GM, which way would you rule it?

Is it possible to be marked by both Nurgle and Slaanesh (yes, I know Be'lakor is marked by all of them)?

[HappyDaze]

Having considered it a bit more, I'm comfortable going with Slaanesh for LSZ.

Why Slaanesh?

Well, destroy rather conquer and corrupting beyond use give me the "done with this, what's next" vibe. Once LSZ has had his enjoyment from unleashing destruction, he wants to move on, not develop (even in a corrupted state) conquered lands as a champion of Nurgle would do.Further, cruelty is also a trait much more aligned with Slaanesh than Nurgle.

[Hyarion]

I see no reason why you couldn't introduce Archaon as a new minor chaos God alongside Malal/Hashut/Horned Rat if you wanted to. Have Larry S Zooman report to Archaon directly?

[HappyDaze]

I see no reason why you couldn't introduce Archaon as a new minor chaos God alongside Malal/Hashut/Horned Rat if you wanted to. Have Larry S Zooman report to Archaon directly?

LSZ does report directly to Archaon, but I don't think it fits to have Archaon providing his own Chaos Mark (but he can, or course, provide non-magical heraldry linking LSZ to his command). I'm OK with Archaon having lieutenants that each bear the marks of one Chaos God or another. This will certainly lead to some...chaos, but that's OK. Archaon can worry about keeping the Khorne folks away from the Slaanesh followers and making sure the Nurgle crews aren't playing too close to the Tzeentch crowd.

Much of the Great Parch has Chaos forces (largely Slaves to Darkness) aligned with Khorne and (to a lesser extent) Tzeench, so throwing in a base for some Slaanesh flavor seems a good change.

[Orin J.]

mark of chaos undivided is a thing, you've always been able to choose that for daemon princes (although it's always been a really sub-optimal choice).

[HappyDaze]

mark of chaos undivided is a thing, you've always been able to choose that for daemon princes (although it's always been a really sub-optimal choice).

They don't give the Chaos Undivided option for Daemon Princes in either the Soulbound Bestiary or in the AoS Slaves to Darkness Battletome (consulted for background, if not for mechanics). The flavor text in the latter specifically mentions that to become a Daemon Prince requires submission to one of the Chaos gods and that the only example that did not (Be'lakor) is specifically the only example because the Chaos gods have decided it was not a good idea.