Hence, by at least 004.M34 and certainly by 043.M34, the Ovokers had discovered the relationships between, and the characteristics of, the eight Skylocks to which they were continually at risk. Thanks mostly to the insights of Ěnē and his successors, the Ovokers were able to publish – in 047.M34 – the Ða̷ī̱nða̷îl Ȑa̷īv (Ȑiþȑa̷în: ‘The Eight Skylocks’), which described how these daemons were all attracted to the various aspects of ‘worthiness of status’ and ‘pride’, and could gain control over individuals who obsessed over such emotions excessively. Of course, thanks to the marðâlan, the ‘lessons’ drawn from the Ða̷ī̱nða̷îl Ȑa̷īv were all moral in character, making it an extremely influential publication in terms of popular behaviours and conceptions of ‘vice’. For the Ovokers, it marked a great advance in their knowledge of the daemonic.
The Eight Skylocks – the Ba̷itâmmo̱ȑ (Ȑiþȑa̷în: ‘Allies of Ammo̱ȑ’)
1. AMMO̱Ȑ
1.1. Gender: Male
1.2. Aliases: Akh’iakashslaa, The Slayer of Temperance, The Rebel, The Revolutionary, The Wrathful, Kur Sunsunu, Amurdath, The Waning of Balance, The Usurper, The Envious, The Jealous, The Wrathenvy, The Vandal of Birthrights
1.3. Aspects: Worthy, Proud, Low Status
1.4. Alignment: Independent daemon/god allied to Slaanesh (waning of balance); aspects of Khorne (wrath); aspects of Tzeentch (change); minor aspects of Nurgle (vandalism/entropy).
1.5. Description: Ammo̱ȑ is a daemon of deep time, created from impulses to subdue temperance, end caution and destroy history. He does not embody pleasure, but the essence of the urge to end temperance; the great anti-ascetic impulse that yearns for a more fulfilling life – it is the noble rebellion of the lowborn mutated into avaricious jealousy and wrath. An affront of the worst kind – the greatest moral endeavour turned against itself. Ammo̱ȑ embodies the pure wrath of jealousy and the arrogance of natural superiority – the tragic figure of the once-noble lowborn rebel succumbed to wrath and vengeance and forgetful of magnanimity. It appears as a tall humanoid figure of noble bearing, powerfully muscled and wielding a huge, double-handed club of wanton destruction, the Thronebreaker, its grey skin covered only by ornate loincloth and usurper’s cloak.
2. NȈĒ
2.1. Gender: Female
2.2. Aliases: The Paragon
2.3. Aspects: Worthy, Proud, High Status
2.4. Alignment: Possibly Slaanesh
2.5. Description: Nȉē is born from the pride of the high and mighty, energised by unassailiable warlords, arrogant geniuses and incorruptible saints. She can embody feelings of natural right order and justice, in addition to those of elitism, arrogance and boastfulness, preying on those talented few with equally high opinions of themselves. Attracted to competent tyrants, her influence can be seen where compassion and brotherhood drains from societies, only to be replaced by competition and ruthlessness. Her preferred appearance is unknown.
3. ÐORON
3.1. Gender: Male
3.2. Aliases: The Striver
3.3. Aspects: Worthy, Ashamed, Low Status
3.4. Alignment: Possibly Slaanesh; aspects of Tzeentch
3.5. Description: Ðoron represents the striver – the one born into a low station, internalises his own inferiority by the ideology of his time, and struggles earnestly to improve his social standing. He can snare those who believe that there is some justice and meritocracy in the world, and who attempt to climb the ladder without disrupting the system. He is energised by the conservatism and struggle of the low-born; those who fail to see or realise inherent injustices, those who are ultimately motivated by avarice, status and power, and those who are willing to step on their fellows in their rise. In appearance he is a powerful beast adorned with golden ornaments, representing the lowborn status, power and avarice of his aspects.
4. BADDUȐA̱
4.1. Gender: Female
4.2. Aliases: The Doubting Bitch, The Imposter
4.3. Aspects: Worthy, Ashamed, High Status
4.4. Alignment: Possibly Nurgle; influences of Isha
4.5. Description: Badduȑa̱ is a daemon of those who feel themselves imposters; those who feel that their achievements were undeserved, or accounted them to the vagaries of chance or timing. As such, it has often been the patron of talented women who break into patriarchal environments and come to suffer from some measure of imposter syndrome, or happy and good mothers and wives who feel that they have parasitized their husbands or children, ultimately leading them to abandon all that they have rightfully earned. She appears as a beautiful woman with eyes shining like fire and glowing hair which flows around her body like an aureola, though her face is concealed by a mask displaying a doubtful expression.
5. ȐOZA̷ION
5.1. Gender: Female
5.2. Aliases: The Petty Tyrant, The Tin Queen
5.3. Aspects: Unworthy, Proud, Low Status
5.4. Alignment: Possibly Slaanesh; aspects of Khorne
5.5. Description: Ȑoza̷ion is a daemon of petty tyranny and those who esteem themselves far beyond their proper station. As such, she is the patron of bullies, minor superiors and typically women who feel that it is their right to be treated as royalty despite no such qualification, as well as those who make much of small distinctions, such as membership of a race, creed or gender. Her hosts are thus encouraged to continue on with their alienating behaviour, wrecking the daily lives of those under their charge with their preposterous posturing and demands. She appears as an ugly woman or female humanoid with a beast’s head, adorned with poorly-wrought ornaments of lesser metals such as tin and glass.
6. KHOLAN
6.1. Gender: Male
6.2. Aliases: The Hubrist
6.3. Aspects: Unworthy, Proud, High Status
6.4. Alignment: Possibly Khorne; aspects of Slaanesh
6.5. Description: Kholan is a powerful daemon of hubris, empowered by the inflated egoes of those in high positions, and especially so by mad despots who lack perspective. He can often cause the utter ruin of societies by encouraging the inept and haughty to gain positions of power and then watching as they inevitably destroy that over which they have come to preside. Since Kholan is often the cause of wars when his hosts over-reach themselves, he is favoured by Khorne as an instigator of bloodshed. In appearance he takes the form of an unarmoured and unarmed male humanoid wearing a high crown, symbolising hubris incarnate.
7. HAȐBAE̷IS
7.1. Gender: Female
7.2. Aliases: The Self-Pitier, The Wretch, The Sympathiser
7.3. Aspects: Unworthy, Ashamed, Low Status
7.4. Alignment: Possibly Nurgle
7.5. Description: Haȑbae̷is is the daemon of self-pity, victimhood and helplessness, empowered by those who see themselves as being in the most wretched state and deserving of help and sympathy from others. Empowered by pathetic pleas for aid and rejections of self-help, Haȑbae̷is encourages her hosts to beg and plead for more and more, to wallow in self-pity and ultimately to drastic measures of desperation. She appears as a wretched old woman with bandages over her eyes and a perpetually wailing mouth, holding out a pair of begging, cupped hands, with another pair of arms ending in oversized grasping claws.
8. KHAMȐÂN
8.1. Gender: Male
8.2. Aliases: The Vandal of Patrimonies, The Penitent, The Meek One
8.3. Aspects: Unworthy, Ashamed, High Status
8.4. Alignment: Possibly Nurgle
Description: Khamȑân is another powerful daemon, representing aspects completely opposed (and yet ultimately allied) to those of Ammo̱ȑ, embodying the self-aware shame of the unworthy in high positions. A tragic affliction, Khamȑân is attracted to royal heirs who know that they are unworthy of their patrimony, as well as those beset by excessive humility and meekness. His desire is to see his hosts destroy everything they have out of shame, encouraging abdications, resignations, self-exiles and other more drastic measures. Like Ammo̱ȑ, Khamȑân is at essence a vandal, whose only wish is to see the edifices of civilisation brought down by its own ashamed rulers. His appearance is unknown.
