Snope's World - Beneath the Masks: Life within the Saturnal Court is an increasingly fragile pageantry of which every participant is painfully aware, yet no one is willing to shatter. Instead, the lords and ladies of Snope's World cloak their every action in elaborate veils of serenity and luxury, even as their social hierarchy continues to fracture.Many have even become so self-deluded that they are easily disconnected from reality, their minds retreating into the opulent fantasy of Saturnal society's relentless succession of balls, dinners, grand coronations, and other frivolous formalities.Status is everything among the elite here, and any Saturnal Court member who successfully garbs themselves in the trappings of authority can quickly become a formidable opponent. As a result, the nobility of Snope's World go to great lengths to outdo each other with incredible displays of affluence and status.Though such spectacles are not uncommon amongst the unfathomably wealthy of the Imperium, here such demonstrations are elaborate in the extreme, including grand parades of press-ganged marchers and pampered aristocrats whose ostentatious titles take solar hours to recite.In order to survive in such a society, one must not only appear powerful but also perfectly calm and composed, for even the slightest hint of uncertainty can betray weakness to a potential adversary. For this reason, the nobles of Snope's World are masters of the art of dissembling, with many further augmenting their abilities with neural implants and delicate servo-muscular modulators designed to hide their emotions behind veneers of tranquillity. Others instead choose to conceal their face entirely, through the use of rictus masks of flawless vat-grown flesh, or intricate carvings of delicate porcelain or pearlescent silicate.In light of such rampant duplicity, reliably untainted information is a rarity, and its acquisition and exchange has become a lucrative profession for those who conduct business among the elite of Snope's World. Such returns come at a high price, however, as witnesses to even the most circumstantial evidence of actual wrongdoing or weakness are often subject to assassination, torture, and other unspeakable atrocities in order to protect the image of the individual in question.Personal servants and fellow conspirators are often highly suspect in this cutthroat world of information-dealing, and it is now customary for noble houses to entomb senior or favoured servants alive with their deceased lord in order to ensure their secrets die with them. These servants go willingly, in the belief it is a true honour for themselves and their families to accompany their masters on these final journeys to become one with the Emperor.Environments as adapted to deception as this are ripe breeding grounds for heresy and recidivism, and the Saturnal Court is no exception. Here, among the endlessly power-hungry nobility, the promises of Chaos -- of power, wealth, endless pleasures, freedom from mortality, or the blood of a hated enemy -- are tempting offers for aristocrats so desperate to regain their former glory. Among such individuals, the countless secrets of the Saturnal Court shield their dark ambitions from discovery, thus allowing their truly malevolent intentions to grow and fester among the shadows and furtive whispers.This influence is usually subtle at first, often taking many Terran years to manifest within the blighted souls of its victims; they plot and scheme against their rivals in an attempt to sow seeds of corruption among their fellow citizens. By their very nature, any such individuals must always keep their affiliations a closely guarded secret, meaning that, by virtue of their upbringing, the Heretics of Snope's World are amongst the most devious in all the Askellon Sector.