Landunder

“Life’s mysteries are all but ripples in the steel.”
— Landrian proverb
Landunder is a hive world within the Malfian sub-sector of the Calixis Sector. The limp, untrustworthy planetary crust of Landunder floats freely on a deep chemical ocean. The colonies here are built to cling underneath the planetary crust in suspension. There are eight “hanging” undercities, containing almost a billion inhabitants, with trade deriving from ocean-depth mining and chemical treatment (processing plants that exploit the curious mix of oceanic chemicals).
Landunder lies along a stable Warp-route between Malfi and
the Lathes. The proximity of the sub-sector to the Halo Stars makes the hive
planets within an ideal recruiting ground for the Margin Crusade. Both Malfi and the Lathes rely on many of the
chemicals processed from the oceans of Landunder for their
own manufacturing, which has made the hives of Landunder
wealthy. The planet, which consists of nine hive-cities, is
ruled by a council consisting of one leader from each hive,
although most of the hives look to Hive Subrique for the more
important issues. Landunder was colonized during the Great Founding of 450.M39.
Due to the caustic nature of the sulphurous atmosphere, Landunder has no natural
inhabitants, not even at the microaugural level. However,
despite the presence of many cities that, technically, classify
it as a hive world, many Tech-Priests have treated Landunder
as a death world, adapting other life forms to survive the
harsh environment. This has contributed to the continuing
myth of the cyber-shark.
The most common makes of cyber-mastiff or grapplehawk in the Calixis Sector are built on Landunder, in Hive Subrique. The chemicals present in the Landunder’s ocean are required to process the cortical-capture technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus a procedure, developed locally for use in these fierce mechanical beasts. Tech-Priests chosen to train on Landunder to become Cyber-Mastiff Handlers spend their first several months on Landunder among the technical staff of the Precinct Tech-Priests learning the proper procedures to maintain the mechanical bodies of their future charges as well as the rituals and commands to appease and direct the machine-spirits housed within.
Landunder is home to a princess of the criminal Kasballica organization, Princess Yenga Kwill.
== The Blades of Landunder ==
“There is no blade that could not be sharper.”
–Landrian proverb
The crust of Landunder floats on a toxic chemical
sea, shifting over the planet’s surface at the whim of
the undersea’s deep tides. On the underside of that
crust cling eight great cities, their armored shells
covered by intake vents, portals and docking bays
like ancient organic growths. By ancient accord, no
citizen of Landunder is permitted to carry a firearm
because of the danger they pose to the structure of the
city itself. Over the generations, the use of blades has
become universal and this world has birthed some of
the greatest knife-fighters in Calixian history. Their
weapons (known to outsiders as “Landrian blades”)
have become so much a part of the culture of the world
that the guilds, crews and gangs of the eightfold cities
are each separated and distinguished by the blades they
favor. Each has a highly developed art of wielding
their chosen blade and, from the highest born satrap
to the lowest chem-scummer, everyone who lives in
Landunder does so with a knife less than a sudden
gesture away. It is rare indeed for a Landrian child of
either sex to pass to adulthood without at least one
good scar (and usually more than that) to prove their
honor. Tales of the Landrian blades and the skill
of their wielders has spread throughout the Calixis
Sector, and wealthy collectors on Scintilla often pay
large sums for “blooded” blades of good provenance.
==Power Groups==
*Loi Metalworks
*Brotherhood of the Horned Darkness - The cult has historically operated on Landunder
==Important Locations==
*Hive Subrique
==Unique Equipment==
Chain Knife
Class: Melee (Chain)
The chain knife works on the same principle as its larger kin: the
chain sword. It often appears similar to a short cleaver or wide dirk,
with a squat and murderous look to it. Powered by a compact cell
in the hilt, the weapon’s buzzing teeth rip through flesh with ease
and splatter onlookers with hot gore. Chain knives, also known
variously as “buzz blades” and “chain rippers”, are almost entirely
a hive-bound weapon and common from the infamous shredder
gangs of the Sibellian underhive to the fighting cages of Malfi.
On Landunder, the buzz blade is famously the province of the
labor gangs that control the docking airlocks of the eight cities,
notorious as they are for quelling dissent with a single ragged cut
to the belly, the art of which is to leave the victim screaming as
long as possible before death.
Melee, 1d5+3(+SB), R, PEN 2, Tearing, WT 2.5kg, Cost 80, Scarce
“Devil’s Kiss” Landrian Stiletto
Class: Melee (Primitive)
The Devil’s Kiss is a long narrow blade that is quenched
in blood during forging and sharpened only along the last
five centimeters, leading to the needle-like tip. In the cities of
Landunder, the Devil’s Kiss is also the name of a blade clan
notorious for quiet and subtle killing, their victims bleeding out
from a single, almost invisible, puncture wound. It is said that
unless you are learning the fatal tricks of the clan, you will never
see this deadly blade except with your own blood wetting it.
Melee, 1d5(+SB), R, PEN 3, Fast, Primitive, WT 0.3kg, Cost 55, Rare
“Emperor’s Whisper” Landrian Blade
Class: Melee (Primitive)
The Emperor’s Whisper is the blade carried by members
of the powerful Tithe Guild---the powerbrokers of the
eightfold cities. Crafted from ceramics and unique alloys,
the result they say is “as sharp as sin”. Each is a deadly
work of art, capable of slicing a hand off with a single blow
and punching easily through light armor. On Landunder,
the Whisper blade is more than simply a weapon; it is a
badge of office and a sign of great status. To be gifted with
a Whisper blade, if you are not of the Landrian Tithe Guild,
is viewed as an incredible honor.
Melee or Thrown, 5m, 1d5+1(+SB), R, PEN 2, Balanced, WT 0.5kg, Cost 150, Very Rare
Render
Class: Melee (Primitive)
Considered a cursed and ill-omened blade on Landunder
for its dark history, the Render was created to take its victim
apart slowly, piece by painful piece. A butcher-blade as long
as man’s forearm, its double cutting edges are covered with
dozens of intricate serrations and hooks to maximize the
victim’s suffering and blood loss. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the
Render clan, nominally meat-mongers and tanners, have been
repeatedly linked with murder cults and the worst criminal
atrocities, and of all the Landrian clans they have the most
sadistic and sinister reputation.
Melee, 1d5+1(+SB), R, PEN 0, Primitive, Tearing, WT 1.2kg, Cost 50, Rare
Landrian “Sigilite” Knife
Class: Melee (Primitive)
Named after a half-forgotten holy figure from a time
long past, the Sigilite is a curious weapon wielded by the
gelt-brokers of Landunder, (it is they who barter the price
with crystal miners for the load yielded from the deepsea
mineral chimneys). Traditionally a defensive weapon
intended to protect the broker from robbery, the weapon is
formed outlandishly from a set of intersecting steel crescents,
sharpened along their edges, tapering-off to wicked points.
The blade’s curious shape, combined with the twirls and
circling passes of the gelt brokers knife-work, allows it to
deflect incoming blows before delivering savage raking
counter-attacks.
Melee, 1d5(+SB), R, PEN 3, Defensive, WT 0.75kg, Cost 85, Rare
Aerial Pinions
A somewhat misnamed apparatus, aerial pinions were not
designed to allow a user to soar through the air, but rather
to prevent divers from sinking to their deaths in the chemical
oceans of Landunder. The “hanging” colonies of Landunder
are mounted on the undersides of the planet’s continents
floating upon a vast chemical sea. Chemical mining, research
and undercity maintenance must all be done “outside”,
which is when aerial pinions are employed. A set of pinions
resembles a webbed body harness festooned with articulated
blades each of which is connected to a coiled, reinforced
ceramite line. The lines are in turn attached to small motors
that contain integral highly specialized logic-engines. A diver
using a set of aerial pinions typically connects two or more
lines into the city or ground above, using the blades as either
grappling hooks or spiking them deep into the crust of the
planet, as the pinion’s logic-engines dictate. Most harnesses
support four blade-and-line sets, allowing a user to set two
lines, while using the other two for cautious movement.
Skilled users eventually upgrade to a six blade-and-line set
and are capable of moving at truly remarkable speeds. A fully
extended set of aerial pinions resembles a great pair of wings
from a distance, hence the name.
There are rumors of acrobatic individuals finding uses for
aerial pinions far from the chemical oceans of Landunder.
There is no shortage of dark places where it would be useful
to hide, unobserved and unsuspected, on many worlds. The
upper shadows of a hive city are an excellent spot for an agile
aerial pinion-equipped assassin to attack from. A character
using aerial pinions can move at half his normal rate, but
can neither Run nor Charge. A character using the advanced
six blade-and-line aerial pinions can make an Agility Test in
order to move at normal rates for as long as he wishes, until
he comes to a stop. A separate Agility Test is required to use a
Run or Charge Action. Failure indicates that one of the lines
doesn’t connect or one of the logic-engines fails momentarily,
instantly halting the character. Three or more degrees of
failure mean that the character has overstretched his aerial
pinions’ lines and become unmoored. On Landunder, that
means he’s sinking; elsewhere that he is probably falling.
4 Line: Cost 300, WT 10kg, Scarce
6 Line: Cost 500, WT 15kg, Rare
Landrian Revealer
The Cyber-Mastiff ’s of Hive Subrique are well known for their
augmented gene-spoor and scent tracking abilities. Several
attempts have been made to create portable versions of the device,
but none have met with any success among the Calixian Adeptus
Mechanicus. Refusing to believe that such a thing was impossible,
Tech-Wright Ontuo began a lifelong quest to uncover the secrets
of the chemicals in the oceans of Landsunder, and to unlock their
detection secrets. The end result was the Landrian Revealer.
Rather than processing the data through a cogitator, the
Landrian Revealer fills the users eyes with phero-conductive
chemicals, literally allowing him to see scents and other
biological markers. This augmetic is typically installed on a
single eye, so that the user may still choose to see the world
normally most of the time. A character equipped with a Landrian Revealer gains the
Heightened Sense (Smell) and Talented (Tracking) talents.
In addition, when blinded he may locate targets by their
smell and only suffers a -10 penalty to Ballistic or Weapon
Skill tests. It is a half-action to flood the eye with chemicals,
activating the device.
Good Quality versions of the Landrian Revealer impose
no penalty to Ballistic Skill and Weapon Skill Tests when
blinded. Those of Best Quality also include powerful Photo-visors
or Infra-Red goggle augmentations.
Category:Hive Worlds
Category:Planets
Category:Calixis Sector
Category:Malfian Sub-Sector
Category:Death Worlds