Avernite Wildlife (Utilised)

## Military

### Phase-Tigers

Phase-Tigers are feline carnivores that range from three to five meters in length and weigh between three and eight hundred kilograms. In most respects they act like any other large feline predator, but one strange ability makes them far more dangerous. This ability has been called phasing and has a many similarities to the ability possessed by Necron Wraiths. When a Phase-Tiger is phased it turns transparent and insubstantial, making it far harder to detect and giving it the ability to move through objects and ignore attacks. Fortunately it can not effect the materium while phased, thus it has to phase back before attacking which takes a small fraction of a second. It is believed that there is a limit on how long a Phase-Tiger can remain phased but this is unknown. Phase-Tigers' ability to ignore defenses and great stealth makes them one of the biggest killers in Lindon.

* **Preliminary Examination**: Thanks in part to his experiences with the tamed Phase-Tigers of the Catachan 813th​, Magos Biologis Saren was highly successful in his research into Phase-Tigers. One of his first discoveries is that some Phase-Tigers, generally those who are older and more experienced, can phase part of their body in or out of reality at a time. This makes them significantly more dangerous as it reduces the area that is vulnerable when they are attacking. He also discovered that the amount of time it takes to Phase in or out seems to decrease with age and experience while the maximum amount of time that can be spent Phased seems to increase. One of the more interesting discoveries that Saren made was that there are over a dozen different breeds of Phase-Tiger, each of which uses a sightly different form of Phasing, which means that void shields tuned to stop one breed might not stop others and that the other characteristics of Phasing seem to vary with breed. For example the Western Phase-Tiger is far more capable of partial Phaseing than other breeds, but cannot remain Phased for as long.

* **Detailed Survey**: This year, after several years of study, Magos Biologis Saren handed in his report on the Phase-Tigers. He tells you that there are five major breeds and an unknown number of less numerous breeds. The different breeds are all part of the same species and can easily interbreed leading to offspring with a mix of characteristics, several of the less common breeds are mixes of the major breeds. The most common breed is called the Common Phase-Tiger and is considered the base-line in every way, the Phase-Tigers tamed by the Phase-Tigers are members of this breed. The second breed is the Southern Phase-Tiger which is smaller then most Phase-Tigers and is capable of staying Phased for longer then any other breed but is slower to Phase in or out. Third is the Northern Phase-Tiger which is the largest breed, averaging around seven hundred kilos, and is far less visible when Phased but slightly less capable in the other aspects of Phasing . Fourth is the Eastern Phase-Tiger which is capable of Phasing far quicker then any other breed but at the expense of the amount of time it can spend Phased. The final major breed of Phase-Tiger is the Western Phase-Tiger which is more capable of partial Phasing then any other breed but otherwise has inferior Phasing capabilities. From what Magos Biologis Saren can tell each breed of Phase-Tiger Phases on a different wavelength and void shields can only be tuned to keep a single breed out at a time. However by making sure that each city has void shields tuned to keep out the type of Phase-Tiger most commonly found in the area which should reduce deaths by a significant amount.
* **In-Depth Examination**: Magos Biologis Saren's efforts to determine anything new about the Phase-Tigers Phasing were ineffective and he has come to the conclusion that he is running up against the limits of his knowledge. While his understanding of Biology and its effects his extensive Avernus lacks a similar expert in the Warp, at least among the Adeptus Mechanicus.
* **Taming**: Magos Biologis Saren's attempts to tame and breed Phase-Tigers were far more successful and he has managed to tame at least a few breeding pair of all of the major breeds. Even better he has found that the high level of intelligence that Phase-Tigers posses, by animal standards anyway, allows them to understand more complex commands then other domesticated animals. According to Magos Biologis Saren there is no reason that forming a large population of domesticated phase-Tigers would not be viable and work could begin on gathering one as soon as next year. It will take a while for this to have major effect however as it has proven to be necessary to raise a Phase-Tiger in captivity if you want to tame it and it takes three years for a Phase-Tiger to reach maturity.
* **Telepathica Research (Phase-Tigers):** This year Primaris Xavier researched Phase-Tigers in the hope of getting a better understanding of Phasing so that he can teach others how to use it. His research is off to a good start as he has figured out exactly what Phasing is. From what he can tell rather then going into another dimension phasing is the ability to move on what is in effect a separate wavelength of the same dimension. When phased the only things that can affect someone is gravity and Immateriam based attacks, such as psychic powers and Warp-tainted items. Xavier is certain that with this knowledge he will be able to figure out how to teach other psykers how to phase in no more then a year or two.

### Thundabeasts

The most numerous of the creatures in Elysium are Thundabeasts, who roam the plains in herds numbering in the tens and hundreds of thousands. A Thundabeast is a horned, heavily armored lizard that is around two meters tall at the shoulder and weighs around three tons. It gains its name from the thunderous noise that a herd makes. They usually move at around fifty kilometers an hour but can reach eighty. Rhinos have some sort of innate psychic ability that increases the kinetic energy they deliver on a charge and reduces the kinetic energy of any object that touches them, providing a high degree of resistance to physical attacks. This ability increases slightly with the number of Thundabeasts in the area. The defensive field also provides limited protection against other forms of energy such as lasers and, combined with their natural armour, makes them impossible to take down without anti-tank weapons. A herd of Thundabeasts will not stop for anything, preferring to smash through any obstacle, a tendency that has led to many clashes with Imperial forces.

* **Preliminary Examination**: Last year ago Magos Biologis Saren conducted basic investigation into the Thundabeasts of Elysium. After a year of investigating, focusing on their social behaviour, he has discovered more about the migratory behaviour of Thundabeasts and can now reliably predict the paths that their migrations will take, reducing the amount of damage they will inflict. Magos Biologis Saren mentions that the next stage of research that he is planning is into whether it is possible to tame Thundabeasts.
* **Detailed Survey**: Three years ago Magos Biologis Saren spent a pair of years further studying the Thundabeasts and whether they can be tamed. He did this by a combination of studying their social life, neurology and attempting to tame some. After a few years of study he came to the conclusion that while Thundabeasts can not be conventionally tamed it is possible to get the same effect using cybernetic implants. Magos Biologis Saren he will have to spend a few years designing a implants tailored to Thundabeasts but that once that it done it will be possible to tame large units of Thundabeasts.
* **In-depth Examination**: A bit over five years ago Archmagos Biologis Saren completed his research into taming Thundabeasts with cybernetics. He was incredibly successful and reports that he has come up with a relativity easy to implant and cheap way to tame Thundabeasts. He has already tamed a herd several thousand strong as a test and believes that it would not be too hard to tame enough for all of your Rough Riders to ride.
* **Telepathica Research (Thundabeasts):** Two years ago Primaris Xavier spent a year studying Thundabeasts in order to find out exactly what their powers do. He found that their force field redirects incoming kinetic energy into the object hitting them, meaning that the Thundabeast gets only a small fraction of the total energy of the collision. Primaris Xavier is sure that he will be able to figure out how to copy this effect given a year or two and believes that it will be a great replacement for standard kinetic shields against certain enemies.
* Thundabeasts are used as mounts for the infamous Thunderbeasts Riders, Avernite units that take advantage of the Thunderbeasts bulk and powers to crush all before them.

### Utter Bastard Dragons

The next species that you have encountered is the Invisible, or Utter Bastard, Dragons. They are a agile flight capable species who combine a breath attack that does not pinpoint their location with an ability to go invisible and a talent for hiding their Warp presence. From what you can gather they nest in the mountains to the east of Tarascon, making them far more common in Tarascon then any other region so far explored.

* **Complete Examination (Utter Bastard Dragons)** Archmagos Biologis Maximal recently finished his examination of the Sky Dragons, more commonly known as Utter Bastard Dragons. He has made several important discoveries about the Sky Dragons in the time. One of the most useful discoveries is creating a reliable way to detect Sky Dragons while invisible. This method relies on detecting the changing air currents as a Sky Dragon moves and should be able to provide you with vital seconds of additional warning of a Sky Dragon’s attack, and allow you to track a Sky Dragon in combat, if only approximately. Another discovery which maybe be useful is that Sky Dragon’s are just below the level of intelligence that can be called sapient, and that the older ones sometimes achieve sapience. While so far attempts to cyberneticaly tame Sky Dragon’s have failed, due in large part to the number of delicate psychic powers that they use, more traditional methods of domestication my be possible if you can start young enough. This leads on to his final discovery, that the feeding rampages that Sky Dragons sometimes go on are carried out by fertilised females just before nesting. If you can track a female Sky Dragon after a rampage it is likely that you will be able to find a Sky Dragon Nest, and possibly steal the eggs from it allowing you to try rearing Sky Dragons.
* Tamia then spent a year looking into Utter Bastard Dragons to see if their invisibility or Warp Stealth powers can be learned. She found that the Invisibility power should be possible to copy and is significantly different from current versions, falling more under pyromancy then telepathy. It does require pretty extreme control and a good deal of power to use though.

### Skylasher Toad

A recent addition to the eastern reaches of Tarrascon, the skylasher toad is a land raider sized beast that preys upon the lesser dragons of the skies. The creature's tongue, mouth, and digestive track are subject to a spatial anomaly making them far larger than they should be. This allows the beast to strike at ranges more usually expected from artillery, and with enough strength to snatch a juvenile sky dragon from its domain and swallow it whole.

Noteably, skylasher toads do not possess the augmented senses needed to properly target objects beyond visual range. They compensate for this through a symbiotic relation to the Spotter Tick, which feeds them targeting data in exchange for nutrients.

According to Vlad, these creatures are a smaller(?)/larger(?) wildlife variant of a weapon species endemic to the space warped vale: the void ripper frog. These 1-3cm long creatures were/are capable of snatching frigate sized objects from the planets near orbitals. In an interesting bit of trivia, the first colonization/research efforts of the Helheim system were nearly canceled after one of the initial automated orbital platforms was destroyed in what Vlad has since concluded was a void ripper attack.

* **Complete Examination (Skylasher Toads):** Archmagos Biologis Maximal just finished his studies of the Skylasher Toads, and the Spotter Ticks that they form a symbotic relationship with. He tells you that while Skylasher Toads are not domesticatable, it is possible to use cybernetic implants to mimic the input of Spotter Ticks, which allow targeting data to be fed to the Toad. Issues remain with ensuring that the Skylasher Toad does not attack allies that come witin it far more limited range, but removing its base sensory organs so it relies enirly on the cybernetics seems to be viable.
* **Skylasher Implants:** It took two years for Archmagos Biologis Maximal to design implants for Skylasher Toads that can mimic Spotter Ticks and their normal senses. This will allow you to make use of the Skylasher Toads in war, though it is likely that Avernus itself will never make use of them, with their role better suiting newly established colonies.

### Void Sails

* **Complete Examination (Void Sails):** Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent half a dozen years investigating the Void Sails, massive plants which orbit Avernus III. He tells you that while the Void Sails main body is not exactly large by naval standards, being a little larger than an orbital weapons platform, the massive solar sail from which it gets its name often covers entire square kilometres. This solar sail is used to gather gas and solar power from a far larger area than it should be able to, with the Void Sail able to use its psychic powers to create gravitational lensing, focusing more sunlight on its sail. As well as absorbing the hydrogen bourn on the solar wind and making use of the solar power gathered, the Void Sail collets the solar ka, storing it in several unique organs deep in the main body for later use. When threatened, a Solar Sail unleashes a searing lance of Ka-empowered plasma at its foe, causing far more damage than any plasma of that quantity and intensity should be able to. Archmagos Maximal has already intensified certain electromagnetic pulses that can be used to ensure that a Void Sail does not view a ship as a threat but has not yet determined how they decided that distant predators are threats and how to take advantage of it.
* **Void Sails: Targeting:** It took Archmagos Biologis Maximal five years to figure out enough about how Void Sail identify potential threats to be able to direct their fire. Eventually, he found that one of the methods used is via a particular symbiotic organism that uses divination to find threats and can communicate with Void Sails. Once that method was found, it did not take too long for Archmagos Biologis Maximal to figure out how to mimic the spotters communication and paint his own targets.
* **Void Sails: Breeding:** Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent five years examining the life-cycle of the Void Sail in an attempt to figure out how to hasten it. He found that while it is impossible to affect their rate of maturity or how often they create seeds, it is not too hard to collect the seeds after they are released and ensure that they grow. With proper facilities in place, Archmagos Biologis Maximal believes that he will be able to increase the number of Void Sails fivefold every twenty years.

### Void Kraken

* **Complete Examination (Void Kraken):** Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent the last half dozen years examining the Void Kraken. He tells you that while clearly a derivative of the Tyranid Kraken, they also have many similarities to the Avernite Kraken that you have encountered in the Azure Bay. The Void Kraken is a fast escort-sized bioform armed with powerful tentacles that it can use to literally rip apart ships it manages to close with and Bio-Plasma projectors that provide even more of a powerful short ranged punch. Defensive the Void Kraken is unshielded, but between its powerful regenerative abilities, worryingly tough carapace and ability to Phase out of the way of incoming damage, it is surprisingly sturdy for an escort. Archmagos Biologis Maximal has figured out how to convince Void Kraken schools that you are friendly, but has yet to get beyond that.
* **Void Kraken: Directing**: It took five years for Archmagos Biologis Maximal to figure out how Void Kraken packs communicate with each other and how to mimic it. While impossible to do fine directions, it should be fine for directing them to particular areas or against particular foes.
* **Void Kraken: Breeding**: Archmagos Biologis Maximal’s investigation into Void Kraken breeding found that they tend to breed faster the more food is available, so by providing them with large amounts of their preferred food, you can notable increase their breeding rate. At the highest, each female will birth a calf every two years, and take twenty years to reach maturity, which ends up as approximately doubling every decade.

### Lightning Dragon

* **Complete Examination (Lightning Dragon):** The Lightning Dragons of Terascon are dragons that mostly prey on other dragons using their deadly lightning breath and unmatched speed and maneuverability. While below average sized for a Dragon, with a wingspan of twenty meters, their forking lightning breath is both long-ranged and well suited to piercing the tough scale of dragons. Their greatest ability, however, is the ability to teleport to anywhere touched by their lightning at will, and modify their facing and velocity with their teleport. This gives them a level of speed and mobility that few creatures on Avernus can match, and even fewer of any notable size. Archmagos Maximal tells you that Lightning Dragons seem to be related to Sky Dragons and should be tamable in a similar way.
* **Starting Lightning Dragon Breeding Program:** Martinus Argall has set up a Lightning Dragon Breeding Program based on the program used for Sky Dragons. Currently most of the hatcheries stand empty, but given enough time that will change, and you will eventually be able to start deploying them to war, as you have recently started doing for Sky Dragons.

## Defence

### Congregation Asps

A less dangerous but more peculiar animal in the Everglades is the Congregation Asp, which in appearance resembles one of the thousands of other venomous snakes in Everglades but seems to share a hive mind with all the other Congregation Asps in its colony. A colony of Congregation Asps can contain tens of thousands of Congregation Asps and cover anything up to a hundred square miles. Fortunately, Congregation Asps are little harder to deal with than any other snake.

* **Preliminary Examination**: This year Magos Biologis Saren examined the Congregation Asps of the Everglades in an effort to determine more about them. He has found that Congregation Asps of each separate colony have different genetic markers indicating that there is no interbreeding between colonies. This can only explain some of the genetic diversity that there is between the colonies and does not explain the fact that they seem to have evolved several new traits in the time that humanity has been on Avernus, traits that seem to be specifically designed to help them hunt humans. Magos Biologis Saren's current theory is that they are able to change their own genetic code in a manner similar to the Kroot of the Eastern Rim.
* **Detailed Survey**: Magos Biologis Saren has yet to discover the secret behind Congregation Asps rapid evolution. His three main leads include a biologic process similar to the Kroot, a strange for of Biomancy or outside intervention. From what he can gather all three options look equally likely and he will need to spend some more time working on the problem to solve it.
* **Detailed Survey (Congregation Asp): Take Two**: Magos Biologis Saren continued to have trouble determining exactly what the cause of the Congregation Asps rapid evolution was until Headmaster Ridcully visited one day. After being told Magos Biologis Saren's main theories Headmaster Ridcully offered to examine them in the hope that he could either prove or disprove the second or third theory. After almost an entire days worth of examination Headmaster Ridcully discovered that it was a combination of the second and third theory. The Congregation Asps are using a form of Biomancy but are doing so with, very, subtle guidance of something else.
* **In Depth Examination (Congregation Asps):** This year Magos Biologis Saren has finished his investigation into the Congregation Asps with mixed success. He has not found any method to control the Congregation Asps though he has found several, crude, ways to influence their development. He tells you that they always evolve to deal with any new problems so if he puts a colony in a location where they will be forced to evolve in a particular manner to prosper they will. He has created several new strains using this technique, one heavily radiation resistant and another aquatic. Both new strains were naturally thoroughly wiped out after he finished his experiment.
* **Telepathica Research (Congregation Asps)**:This year Headmaster Ridcully research the Congregation Asp, one of the few creatures on Avernus that displays powers in two separate psychic disciplines. So far he has only been able to study one in depth but think that he will be able to study the next in a year or so. His investigation of the Hive Mind that the Asps use has determined that while it is is some way based on the slightly different colour, or rather frequency as it is officially known, that is unique to the minds of each Congregation. He has determined that to a large extent "like calls to like" in the Warp which allows different minds that are exactly the same frequency to easily reach each other in the Warp. He believes that this is most likely a major part of the reason that Astropaths, which have taken on an echo of the power, and therefore frequency, of the Emperor can so easily communicate over large distances. If it was in some way possible to cause Neo-Astropaths to share frequency it would be far easier to send messages though the Warp, which would greatly expand their maximum range. However that is far easier said then done and there is currently no method to change the frequency that a psyker operates on, other then binding to a Warp entity which is obviously not going to happen, or any real idea to how to create such a method.
* **Telepathica Research (Congregation Asps): Part Two** –After another year of study Headmaster Ridcully has determined several important bits of information about the Biomancy of the Congregation Asps. The first is that it takes constant effort of months to years to get any changes and second that changes are irreversible with Biomancy. Between these two discoveries learning the Biomancy of Congregation Asps seems far less attractive, particularly as it does not have consistent results for people on different Psychic Frequencies.
* **Congregation Asp Breeding:** Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent five years creating a breed of Congregation Asps that do not view humans as either prey or a threat. He succeeded in not only creating said breed, but making it consider humans to be allies, and willing to actively protect them from other threats to a level. To make matters better the breed created is also one of the more deadly varieties of Congregation Asps, with fangs capable of breaching power armour, some of the time, and venom that can bring down an Astartes.

### Illusory Pine

Equally strange but far less dangerous is the Illusory Pine, which is capable of short distance movement and projecting illusions of a different landscape around it. While Illusory Pines rarely cause direct harm to humans, their ability to seemingly change the landscape combined with the way they interfere with communications and auspex readings has led to many people getting lost and into trouble. Someone observant enough can spot the inconsistencies in an the illusions while someone of strong enough will can ignore them.

* **Preliminary Examination (Illusory Pine):** Magos Biologis Maximal spent a year examining the Illusory Pine of Lindon. He found that the illusions they project are entirely mental and that someone who fails to resist or see though them will see and hear as if the landscape was different. Interestingly enough the Illusory Pine does not seem to use this power either aggressive or defensibly, and in fact seems to be totally mindless. It is possible that with enough study of the Illusory Pine Magos Biologis Maximal will figure out a way to control what it projects, which could make them a useful tool in the right circumstances. They are also one of the few Avernite lifeforms that may be safe to take offworld.
* **Detailed Survey (Illusionary Pines):** After a few years of study Magos Biologis Maximal was able to determine that patterns in the Illusionary Pines circularity system determine the illusion that it projects. It may be possible to alter these pattens as a tree is growing and change the illusion but it will be a complex process. He has however been able to determine that the Illusionary Pines can be easily rendered sterile and are safe to take offworld.
* **In-Depth Examination:** Magos Biologis Maximal was proud to inform you that he was able to determine how to make Illusionary Pines grow to create particular illusions. While moderately expensive to set up once a Pine has reached maturity the illusion that it projects remains constant, reeving the need for upkeep. These pines could be used to create camouflage within your cities, increasing the already significant home field advantage that your militia posses over invaders. It will however take some more research before this can be done en-mass, as the current methods of modification require to much attention.
* Illusionary Pines are a common sight in Avernite cities, and are used to make disguise the true make up and condition of your Hives, and to confuse invaders.

### Carniflowers

The Carniflower is by far the most dangerous plant in Lindon, being able to rampage through all but the strongest defenses. A Carniflower tree resembles a giant oak with a single huge flower on the base. The Carniflower itself grows inside the flower until at some point the flower opens releasing the Carniflower, which then rampages through the forest, killing all animals it finds before finding a place to take root and turning into new Carniflower tree. Attacking the tree causes it to release the Carniflower prematurely in an effort to drive the attacker away. The Carniflower is greatly resembles a Tyranid Carnifex in both appearance and combat capabilities. So far they have only been brought down by repeated fire of anti-tank weapons or massed lasguns and have smashed their way thorough the meter thick plasteel walls that once surrounded Mirkwood. The Void Shields and heavy guns that have now been emplaced in all cities have proven to be capable of holding off even a Carniflower swarm.

* **Complete Examination (Carniflowers):** After six years of dedicated study Archmagos Biologis Maximal has finished his research into Carniflowers. He tells you that he has been able to figure out a method in which Carniflowers can be kept docile by certain chemicals, and unleashed with others. This allows you to effectively grow Carniflowers and keep them docile before unpleasing them on attackers. Unfortunately given the size of a Carniflower required root system you will not be able to use them aggressively, and you will also not be able to target them on your enemies. The ability to form entire groves of Carniflowers which you can unleash with the flick of a switch is highly valuable however. Of particular interest is the fact that unlike many Avernite species it is relatively easy to prevent Carniflowers from going feral, so they could be used offworld.
* All Avernite Hives have multiple parks full of pacified Carniflowers to unleash on attackers, and many building have a few in their lobbies for more local defence.

### Neutrality Cow

The Neutrality Cow is notable for being able to eat and digest virtually anything. Be it rocks, venomous plants, razorgrass, carcasses, even daemonic remains - All are digestible by the Neutrality Cow. The cow is even highly resistant even to diseases, producing highly nutritive milk from it's udders. It's lack of apparent self-defense capabilities, however leads it to being distrusted greatly among Avernites.

Maybe it spreads diseases whilst immune to them, like a typhoid mary? Perhaps it's milk mind-controls those who drink it? Does it inflict death curses on those who kill a Neutrality Cow, summon unknown allies to it's aid when attacked? Is it capable of invisible luck-theft?!

Suspicion is rife.

* **Complete Examination**: Archmagos Biologis Maximal tells you that while the Neutrality Cow is biologically little different than any other highly optimised bovine psychically they are capable of inflicting bad luck on those that attack them. This bad luck lasts longer the more damage is done to the Neutrality Cow, reaching a week or so for killing one. This timeframe is greatly extended if the killer than consumes part of the cow, with the bad luck usually lasting months or even years afterwards. Interestingly the curse only affects those that had something to do with the Cows death, and scavengers are unaffected.
* **Neutrality Cow Milk**: Martinus Argall spent eight years setting up small Neutrality Cow Dairies scattered throughout all of your Hives. As well as providing you with a steady supply of nutritious milk this will ensure that any large scale attack on your Hives will most likely end up killing some Neutrality Cows and suffering from their curse. While ineffective against most foes this should be of major use against the Rouge Psykers that often devastated entire districts at a time.

### Electric Mice

Another avernite creature that has appeared in cities, although this one has a far more obvious symbiotic cooperation with humanity. Simply put the electric mice are fulmancers that prefer to live close to sources of… well electricity like wires. In addition to normal food they can consume electricity. However, in defiance of natural laws instead of acting as parasites, they instead amplify the power, returning it to the system instead.

When they initially emerged the fuzzy mice caused problems not from draining home’s power sources, but rather overloading them by accident, and with them appearing more and more frequently the Avernite Administration has had to upgrade the power grid to deal with excess charge.

In spite of this the remarkably powerful mice are some of the most friendly avernite creatures yet encountered. Amongst the tameable city dwellers they are relatively easy to make friendly if provided with food, respected and are allowed to remain close to the electricity they need to grow with. In exchange, they help protect the homes they live in from blink spiders, more unpleasant squatters etc.

It’s not too unusual to see avernite children whose abodes have these creatures to be seen playing with them.

That being said they are still avernites and are still quite dangerous. The mice are seemingly comfortable on all fours or standing on their hind legs, and are immediately distinctive with their bright yellow and black fur. As they absorb electricity they grow in size and strength. This seems to be unconnected to what they need to survive. Preliminary examinations have revealed that they contain highly potent, biological power cells within their bodies. When they eat energy is stored within these cells for use as later fulmancy. Their absorption of electricity seems to be in order to strain, train and increase the capacity of these cells, which through unknown processes has an effect on their size.

At their smallest, the mice’s fulmancy is rather underwhelming, at best delivering a small static shock. However, the most powerful mouse on record fired a lightning bolt powerful enough to carve through a leman russ, which created an extended haywire zone. A helpful reminder that these creatures are still avernite, and are still terrifying by most reasonable standards.

* After six years of study Archmagos Biologis Maximal failed to find anything more dangerous about Electric Mice then was previously known. Much to everyone's surprise. Instead he found that they could easily be domesticated, at least to the same level as Temple Cats. A domestic Electric Mouse is a pet that as well as providing company for its humans will greatly reduce their electricity needs, sometimes even into the negative, and will protect their home to the best of its, formidable, ability. Within reason anyway, they often flee from overwhelming odds. While Electric Mice are too independent to accompany armies to war they will make a valuable addition to the defences of your hives, and in large enough numbers will cut down on your hives promethium requirements by a few percent.
* **Wildlife Integration: Electric Mice**- Electric Mice can act as both pets and supplement your power grid, as well as fight to protect their homes. As well as slightly reducing the power needs of your cities, this will add another set of powerful defenders for your cities, defenders that are like all Avernite wildlife near immune to Chaotic corruption.

### Toxicos

While Avernus has extremely advanced waste management technologies (more than enough to do little ecological harm to a normal world never mind avernus) pollution is still produced. Recently, however, literal gasbags have started to appear around these factories, sucking up the poison and concentrating it.

The creatures are for the most part passive, content simply float listlessly through the air and not bothering anyone…. This only changes under two circumstances, if they are attempted to be removed from the factories, where they will blow smog around and try to return. Or until they reach a certain concentration.

At this point they exhale, releasing all the toxins they have consumed at once in a psychically enhanced smog that hangs in the air for months and can eat through even specially constructed isolation gear. So far the exact form of psychic enhancements varies from causing intense hallucinations, to increasing its temperature to boiling levels.

Killing the Toxicos releases a weakened version of the smog early, so factory managers are attempting to figure out how to safely contain them so they do not harm the workers or disrupt production. Currently funnelling pollutants through a single chimney that is otherwise sealed, and locking the Toxicos in seems to be the best solution.

* Archmagos Biologis Maximal ended up spending half a dozen years studying Toxicos without finding out to much about them that he did not already know. He is still not sure how they spawn, or why, but has been able to determine how to tell when they are nearing their maximum concentration. He has also designed an electric net that can stun them for a brief period as they are puled into a specially made container able to contain their gasses. These gasses can be released anytime within the next few months, giving you access to a powerful chemical weapon, though one that will need to be help in stasis to be gathered in large amounts.
* **Wildlife Integration: Toxicos and City Turtles** Martinus Argall spent six years spreading Toxicos and City Turtles into their ecological niches throughout the Hives of Avernus. As well as helping to purify your air and water systems their presence will ensure that more dangerous to human species to not take their place, reducing the number of wildlife attacks that your people suffer each year

## Other

### Temple Cat

The other feline creature in Region Iota is the Temple Cat, a regal seeming cat the size of a Phase-Cat that hunts small animals such as Nogs. These cats seem to have an instinctive feel for both potential danger and potential food, being able to react to threats well before they arrive and lie in wait for prey that will not arrive for hours.

* **Preliminary Examination (Temple-Cats)**: Magos Biologis Maximal spent the last year examining the Temple-Cats of Duat in order to discover what he could about them. He found that while in most ways they seem to be a highly evolved feline they have an additional section of their brain that seems to be used when they are making a decision. This section of their brain is most likely responsible for their precognitive power, which only seems to activate some of the time. So far Magos Biologis Maximal has not been able to determine when their precognition will activate except that it will always activate for important matters like food and danger.
* **Detailed Survey (Temple-Cat):** Magos Biologis Maximal spent a pair of years continuing his examination of Temple-Cats. He has been able to determine that the precognition only activates either to provide a significant benefit to the Temple-Cat or to avoid harm, though said benefit or harm can be years in the future. As far as he can tell it can activate against almost all threats, with the normal limitation of divination in that very unlikely threats are sometimes overlooked. Interestingly enough this includes threats of types that a cat should have no way of understanding, such as poor nutrition.
* **In Depth Examination (Temple-Cat):** After another three years of study Magos Biologis Maximal was able to come to some new, and strange conclusions about the Temple-Cats precognition. The first of those discoveries was that when a Temple-Cat was sent out of the Helheim system its precognition seems to rapidly decrease, until it is barely existent when the Temple-Cat is more then ten light years away. Strangely enough how much it decreases by varies greatly by the direction travelled, with a massive decrease when moving away from the Imperial Trust but nearly no change when in orbit of Asgard. Currently Magos Biologis Maximal theorises that its precognition is in some way lined to Avernus, which seems to have relays of some type on the rest of the Nine Worlds, and between them.
* **Telepathica Research (Temple Cat)**: Xavier spent a year conducting a research project into Temple Cats in order to determine more about their divination. After months of failure an absent minded comment by Ridcully gave him the idea that perhaps they are not diviners after all. With this in mind it took Xavier only a few weeks to determine that rather then being diviners that the Temple-Cats are receptive telepaths tuned to a frequency.
* **Wildlife Integration: Temple-Cat** Jane spent eight years setting up a monitoring system on all of Avernus’ domestic Temple-Cats and trying to set up a system to determine what behaviour singles a rogue psyker. Between working out all of the other threats and the general confusion caused by normal cat behaviour, she is sure that some of it was to mess with her, this was a challenging project. While Jane and her experts were able to come up with a mostly effective system there are still a moderate number of false positives.

### Bloom Bee

* A species of pollinating insect, bloom bees are of little direct offensive use. However, they can be used to manipulate natural hazards or shape the terrain. The insects possess the ability to massively accelerate plants lifecycle, often moving them from flowering to fruiting in minutes to hours. This can be used to either shape the terrain or create deadly hazards depending on the what plants are available. A higher endurance version with a less potent power has been bred for use outside of war, speeding the growth of crops. The hives are typically directed via the application of specific chemical signals, though a specialized telapath is needed for fine control
	+ **Bloom Bees Investigation** Issac has recently finished his investigation into the use of Bloom Bees. He tells you that by using Bloom Bee Hives you should be able to increase food production of a region by a good twenty-percent, a massive increase. However to achieve this requires oversight by trained if not particularly powerful Psykers, limiting its use to the Imperial Trust as a whole for the moment. Fortunately the number of Psykers needed is not particularly high, so covering the entire Imperial Trust is still possible. Issac also found that with Bloom Bees the time required to set up flora based defences can be halved, a significant boost.
	+ **Complete Examination Bloom Bees**: Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent six years looking into Bloom Bees. In this time he examined everything that he could around them, from their biology to their behaviour and even what he could of their psychic powers. It was in his examination of the Bloom Bees behaviour where he made his greatest discovery. He created a method of arranging Bloom Bees where they will propagate the psychic directions of your Psykers on their own, tripling the number of Bloom Bees that a single psyker can influence at trivial cost.
	+ **Telepathica Research (** Bloom Bee**):**After a year of study Tamia was able to determine exactly what Bloom Bees are drawing on for their power, and that she has basically no chance of ever being able to do the same. After looking at High Grandmaster Ridcully’s explanation of the Primal Warp Tamia was able to determine that Bloom Bees tap into the Primal Power of Fertility and could discover nothing more.

### Spiderbane Dragonfly

A common insect that is the only known predator of the much feared Blink Spider. As such it is raied in numbers everywhere that Avernites inhabit.

* **Complete Examination (Spiderbane Dragonfly)**: Archmagos Biologis Maximal finished his examination of the Spiderbane Dragonfly a bit over a year ago. He tells you that the Spiderbane Dragonfly uses a pair of psychic powers to hunt Blink Spiders. The first power seems to be a form of divination that can detect the Warp signature of a Blink Spider exiting the Warp within ten meters. The second is a demonology power that temporarily disrupts the targets connection to the Warp, preventing them using psychic powers, though it only seems to work against a target that is significantly less powerful then the user. While these powerful may be useful if studied the most useful result of Archmagos Biologis Maximal's research is that he has determined that Spiderbane Dragonflies are safe to have in numbers around humans and how to build up their populations. The Spiderbane Dragonfly is already a common sight in some areas of Avernus, and will become more common in the years to come.
* **Telepathica Research (Spiderbane Dragonfly):** Tamia spent a year looking at the Spiderbane Dragonfly. She found that its divination ability to spot incoming teleportation is only slightly more effective then current versions of the same power. The second power allows the Spiderbane Dragonfly to temporarily cut off the Warp connection of a significantly weaker psyker. Tamia is pretty sure that it could be copied, and tells you that while its combat applications are few it would be incredibly valuable for teachers.

### Imaginary Morels

Among the most insidiuous varieties of fungus ever recorded in Biologis archives, the Imaginary Morel possesses the unique ability to infest not only the boughs of mangrove trees where they are commonly found in the deep marshes, but also the very dreams and imaginations of those who fall victim to these terrifying- yet delectable- fungi. The Imaginary Morel, like many fruiting species, reproduce via the spread of spores. At first brush, the Morel's spore cloud seems inoccuous and, indeed, the specimen appears to produce a much thinner cloud than many of its relatives. However, this is only a deception.

Should a spore (even a single spore is sufficient!) find its way into the resperatory or digestive system of a host, it will rapidly disappear into the immaterium. Consultation with Headmaster Mudstrum Ridcully revealed that victims will, at this time, undergo a subtle change to their psionic resonance which will only become more pronounced as symptoms intensify. The subject's dreams will soon begin to exhibit mushroom-like imagery, first as peripheral themes, then as central themes. In time, this obsession with the fungal extends to the waking world. They begin to see mushrooms in the corner of their vision, hallucinate the growth of fruiting bodies throughout their surrounding environment. This worsens over time, eventually driving the victim mad.

If not restrained, the victim will soon retreat into a dark, damp place- ostensibly to escape the crushing, inevitable tide of mushrooms. There they will soon meet their end. Their corpse will rapidly decompose, and a new Imaginary Morel will emerge from the immaterium to use the victim's remains as a host for further growth.

Children, adolescents and artisans are especially vulnerable to this variety of fungus, owing likely to their relatively more intense imaginations. Psykers have exhibited resistance to this strain. At least one Biomancer has apparently achieved a state of 'oneness' with the fungus, and has begun exhibiting unusual control over fungal species.

Consumption of the Imaginary Morel is considered a culinary heresy. Even those in the wild may have spawned directly from the death of some sapient creature. The Mycenids assure us that their cultivars are carefully controlled to ensure that this is not the case, but the threat of infection by consumption remains; the precise mechanism of the Imaginary Morel's spread in the immaterium is unknown, and it may be that ingesting a sample and would result in memetic infection through a taste-based vector.

Headmaster Ridcully has expressed some interest in the mushroom's ability to affect the psionic resonance of its victims, and preliminary research is being performed to investigate whether this property can be controlled to improve Psyker stability and insulate against Chaotic memes.

* Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent half a dozen years looking into the Imaginary Morels, looking both for ways to reduce how much damage they do and ways to make use of them. He found that the current methods of detection were around as good as could be practically achieved and that there were few ways to make use of them. The main methods to make use of Imaginary Morels are as bio-warfare agents, where their long incubation period and the difficulty in detecting an infection for those not familiar with them makes them an effective bio-warfare agent, though one that would be hard to remove from a planets ecosystem after use. Probably worthwhile against Orks or Chaos though.
* Tamia spent a year studying the Psychic Powers of Imaginary Morels in order to determine if anything can be gained from them. She found that Imaginary Morels grow on a victim soul and that the changing of their psychic frequency as the infection takes root is a result of their soul being remade. In a way worryingly similar to Chaos taint in fact. While she is unable to find any way to make use of the power Tamia was able to figure out how a psyker can purge an early stage infestation of Imaginary Morels, though not without side effects.

Tamia tells you that Imaginary Morels infestations could be added onto the trials that prove a Psykers stability, and doing so would increase the ability of your Psykers to resist taint at the cost of lowering the pass rate.

* **Imaginary Morels as Training Aid**: After a six-year research project Tamia was able to determine how effective Imaginary Morels are Training Aid, and how dangerous they are. She tells you that Imaginary Morels will raise the fatality rates of training by between ten percent, for minor psykers, and four percent, for Alpha-level psykers. The additional skills and experience that this training will provide should cut down the time needed to reach Veteran levels of skills by around a fifth. Given that the deathrate of Veteran Psykers is around half that of their less-skilled peers this is probably worth the price.

### Alchemical Slug

The Alchemical Slug possesses no known predators. This is not due to being particularly large or powerful, and they do not go up in thermonuclear explosions when under duress. Instead, the Alchemical Slug is simply incredibly, phenomenally poisonous. The toxins found in the Alchemical Slug can rival and exceed even the most deadly of Avernite arachnid species. They are, however, largely harmless. So long as one does not disturb the slug, it seems content to simply carry on its way.

Alchemical Slugs are beautiful creatures. Each one seems to possess a unique combination of colorful plumage, color pattern and horn shape. It's believed that these traits serve as signalling to local fauna that the slug is present and not to be eaten. Indeed, one of the only two truly offensive abilities exhibited by the slug appears to be basic bioelectric emission, and the resulting shock is so weak that its only purpose appears to be to produce a light signal to would-be predators.

The slug appears to be immune to all known forms of toxin. Their name is in fact derived from their unique ability to take in and refine any toxin to which they are exposed. Slugs grow more colorful as they grow more poisonous. Incredibly, these toxins are all stored internally; simply touching the slug will not have any detrimental effect, one must kill them to release their toxic cocktail. That is not to say the slug is defenseless; when under significant threat, they are able to launch debilitating, venomous spines to protect themselves. These spines can often prove lethal, if the slug is of sufficient age and toxicity. Moreover, the toxins the slug absorbs appear to retain their original effects, only amplified several times.

Study is underway as to whether these slugs can be used as chemical factories. Their ability to refine toxins into hitherto deadly and unknown forms may be applicable to other chemicals as well, and at the very least they may be able to allow us to create even more potent biochemical weapons. In the best case, they might somehow hold the secret to protecting Avernite populations from similar assault.

Subspecies of slug have been discovered which prefer certain forms of toxic flora in their diet over others. They seem to serve a useful role in Avernite ecology in controlling the population of toxic plant species to ensure they do not run rampant over their local environments.

* **Complete Examination**: Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent the last half dozen years looking into the Alchemical Slugs that are most often found in the Everglades. Alchemical Slugs are effectively living chemical refineries, able to digest the most deadly of toxins and amplify their effects, a process that seems to be both chemical and psychic in nature. After a good deal of study Archmagos Biologis Maximal has confirmed that using Alchemical Slugs to refine your own toxins is effective and that they can be used on large scales. This will allow you to create far more deadly toxins for Bane Wolves and their successors, and for the use by your snipers and other special operatives.
* **Utalisation:** Archmagos Biologis Maximal has now created a detailed guide of how to safely raise Alchemy Slugs on an industrial scale. While space-consuming raising them is not even that expensive. Now you just need to set up a farm and you should be able to mass-produce hyper-lethal toxins.

### All Seeing Owls

Starting to be seen as a sign of good luck, these strange creatures are powerful present time diviners with the ability to seemingly grant themselves decently potent omniscience within an area. The exact limitations of this ability are still being studied by the university, but it seems to be quite significant. Activating their abilities primarily in search of a good meal, more than one avernite has been prevented from suicide (or worse) as a result of one of these owls appearing, glaring and then flying away. This is usually a prelude to the others it has led to there appearing.

More than that they frequently aided the arbites in searches for cultists and the psyker hunters in search of rogues. Both groups the owls take an especially dim view of and will very intentionally lead groups of both to their respective targets.

This also makes them hated by these chaos affiliates, who will take almost any opportunity to eliminate them.

* **Complete Examination:** Archmagos Biologis Maximal has spent a good bit of time studying what seems to be one of the more helpful species on Avernus. He tells you that biologically All-Seeing Owls are little different from what you would expect of an Avernite Owl, with their main abilities being psychic in nature. All-Seeing Owls seem to have an incredibly powerful but relatively short ranged Farseeing ability that allows them to detect pretty much everything above the microscopic scale within three hundred meters of them. This includes detecting psychic powers and effects, such as those displayed by awakening psykers or the taint of cultists, and even a level of telepathy. While animals, All-Seeing Owls seem to possess an altruistic nature and have regularly been seen aiding other Avernite wildlife or humans using their knowledge. Their tendency to help humans with mental issues is a result of this tendency, as may be their hatred of Chaos in all its forms. Archmagos Biologis Maximal suggests integrating All-Seeing Owls into your population immediately.
* **Security Forces: All-Seeing Owls**Thanks to a network of monitors and a new division within the Security Forces jane has taken full advantage of the spread of All-Seeing Owls. She tells you that between their ability to detect awakening psykers and nascent cults that they are one of the greatest boons that Avernus has given her forces. Cheap to.
* **Wildlife Integration: All-Seeing Owls** Five years ago Martinus Argall finished spreading All-Seeing Owls throughout the Hives of Avernus and integrating them into your health systems. All All-Seeing Owls within your Hives are constantly tracked by your standard monitoring equipment, and when they show behaviour suggesting that they are trying to help someone an alert will be sent to the mental health system. This allows significantly earlier detection of a wide range of mental issues, and therefore significantly improved outcomes. While mental health is not a major direct killer, it is a common secondary cause of death on Avernus and improvements to its treatment quickly have effects on your death rate.

### Knight Reaper

Intelligent humanoid data-entities who appear encased in vaguely ‘knightly’ data-armour. The Knight Reapers are a communal species which form small collective ‘orders’ dedicated to maintaining and protecting certain small domains of digital space, within which more peaceful data-lifeforms have been able to arise and propagate. Knights within a particular order are outwardly nearly-identical, but typically possess unique, individual abilities akin to specialization which exists within Psyker classifications. The allegiance of a particular knight is, however, readily determined, as each order presents unique characteristics such as colour, armour decoration and digital heraldry. Knight Reapers are uniformly highly skilled combatants armed with a wide assortment of advanced anti-viral, anti-intrusion protocols. Despite their relatively small size and compact data structure, their processes are extraordinarily efficient and streamlined, and individual Knight Reapers have been observed honing their skills (and thus improving their own abilities) in the field. This is a trait unique to the Knight Reaper, as other data-lifeforms are typically only able to advance their own protocols via predation and consumption.

Peaceful interaction with Knight Reaper orders is possible; their heightened intelligence and cognitive functions relative to other data-lifeforms have allowed them to acquire swift mastery with our own communication protocols. However, depending on the alignment and bylaws of specific orders, Knight Reapers may not necessarily be considered neutral or friendly. A full list of known Knight Reaper orders is presently being compiled.

* **Complete Examination (Cyberspace Biome - Knight Reaper)** Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent six years studying the Knight Reapers of the Cyber Biome. He tells you that while they might seem to be People at first, further interaction reveals major limitations in the mentality of Knight Reapers, and shows that while adaptable they are only able to adapt within existing limits. Strangely enough, they seem to lack a spark of authenticity, as if they were bad copies of an existing being. Within their predefined limits, however, Knight Reapers are incredible cyber defence experts, and if you can find an order of Knight Reapers with defence protocols that cover your own equipment you could gain a powerful addition to your cyber defences.
* **Finding the right Order:** Due to some timely guidance from High Grandmaster Ridcully it only took three years for Archmagos Biologis Maximal to find a Knight Reaper Order with protocols that will cover defending your equipment. Now all that news to be done is to find ways to move members of the Order and build u its numbers.
* **Moving the Order:** It took Archmagos Biologis Maxima three years of work to determine how to lure members of his selected Knight-Reaper order to locations where they are useful. His methods mostly rely on baiting them and are labour intensive and time-consuming, but at least they work.
* **Expanding the Order:** It took Archmagos Biologis Maximal six years to find a way to expand the size of the Knight-Reaper Order that he has selected. He eventually found that the order will expand when there is both a surfeit of available data and when the order is under pressure from a viral attack. The expansion is not quick but does grow exponentially, so with enough time you will be able t massively expand your Order.
* **Building up the Order:** Archmagos Biologis Maximal spent eight years working on building up the size of the Knight-Reaper Order that he has found, dubbed the Avernite Order. Between the expertise required to pressure them stand the equipment needed to feed them it was not cheap, but over this time the Order grew massively, to the point where it could now cover all of your key infrastructure.
* **Spreading the Avernite Order:** Archmagos Biologis Maximal has recently finished expanding the Avrenite ORder enough to firmly establish it in several out of system locations. While expanding it further is not his responsivity, he believes that it should be able to spread over the entire Imperial Trust within fifty years.

### Dreamlace

* **Dreamlace Growth**: After examining it Archmagos Biologis Maximal found that Dreamlace had rather strict, and strange, requirements for growth that include psychic and well as environmental factors. This is enough to ensure that you will only ever be able to gather it in small numbers, limiting the amount of Mindguard you can produce to Jaegers.
* **Growing Dreamlace**: With the aid of Archmagos Biologis Maximal’s subordinates Martinus Argall has set up Dreamlace gardens in all of the Hives of Avernus. Due to the rather precise and unusual conditions that Dreamlace requires, building and running these dreamlace gardens is rather expensive, but you are sure that it will easily pay for itself once you start providing the Psyker Hunters with Mindguard.