Khoswe

One of the youngest and most dynamic people of Avernus, the Khoswe have a deeply mixed reputation among their peers. Wielding unstable and often untested technology into battle, the Khoswe rely heavily on numbers and industry to overcome their individual weakness.

## Physiology

While deadly by the standards of the wider galaxy, Khoswe are shockingly weak on an individual basis by the standards of Avernus. A typical Khoswe is approximately a match for a human physically, being somewhat weaker but also somewhat more nimble. This leaves them immensely weak by the Avernus standards, making them rely heavily on raw numbers and a reckless disregard for their own lives to compensate. Driven and reckless, they have more than almost any other people taken control of their own evolution, dividing their species into distinct subspecies. This makes the definition of what a Khoswe is somewhat elastic, further complicated by the addition of common subspecies, one-offs, limited runs, or warren specific breeds that are far from unheard of. To the Khoswe, what is or is not of their race is a matter of mindset more than genetics, and more than a few gene-forged creations have been declared to be Khoswe, despite having little to no physical or genetic similarities with them.

A notable limit of their psychic development is that the vast majority of Khoswe are born without significant psychic potential. While it does vary based on subspecies, approximately 87.1% of Khoswe are born lacking any notable psychic powers. Of those born with psychic potential, 90% will be minor psykers, with only 10% being what mankind would consider major psykers. Despite the relative stability of their birth rate, the exact ratio of non-psykers to psykers varies over time, primarily due to psykers having notably longer life spans on average. Even this relatively minority of psykers is the result not of slow natural evolution, but of a sustained program of reckless experimentation stretching back thousands of years. The Khoswe have been recklessly striving to gene forge new disciplines and a greater propensity of psykers into their population since the start of their recorded history, and while this pursuit has cost them countless lives, it has also met with great success.

While a full catalog of Khose sub-species and variants would be long, and ever-changing, there are a relative handful of common subspecies found throughout their warrens, that have been deeply woven into their society. The below sub-species and their variants make up the vast majority of the species, though as ever the ratmen are ceaseless iterating on themselves and this may in time change.

### Baseline

Physically, the baseline Khoswe appear as humanoid rats, possessing a somewhat hunched posture and standing between 1 to 1.7 meters tall. Compared to an adult human Avernite, they are slightly weaker on average but are somewhat more nimble, and possess a far more advanced sense of smell. A Khoswe can be considered an adult by the age of 5, and often begins taking on responsibilities as young as 3. Barring assistance, they will typically live around 20 years, though they are advanced enough to provide rudimentary life extensions to most Khoswe who live past that point. The quality and reliability vary, but in general, they can live at most an additional half-century.

Baseline Khoswe make up the majority of the population, and while the exact portions vary, it usually hovers around 55%\*numbers are taken from the censusconducted shortly before the grand inclusion. Subject to change. of the Khoswe. The baseline makes up the bulk of the species, performing most non-specialized jobs, and filling the ranks of the military. Baseline Khoswe are capable of normal reproduction, but this is seldom done, instead generally relying upon a specialized breeder sub-race.

\*numbers are taken from the census conducted shortly before the grand inclusion. Subject to change.

### Fersteel

One of the most common subspecies, Fersteel makes up almost 25% of the Khoswe population, and the proportion is rising. Fersteel have been modified to be incredibly compatible with cybernetics, their immune system easily accepting implantation, and their nervous system quickly adapting to new limbs and forms. However, this comes at a significant cost. A Fersteel that does not have significant cybernetic implants will suffer from mild to moderate body dysphoria due to their neurology being poorly optimized for their base forms. It is considered unacceptably cruel for a warren to allow this, thus the numbers of Fersteel are limited by the need for each individual to need relatively expensive cybernetics. In general, Fersteel serve as experts or elite soldiers, leveraging their cybernetics to enable far greater performance. Since being uplifted to Conclave level of technology, Fersteel has been in a state of flux. With significant reworking of both cybernetics and genetics to incorporate the more advanced technologies of modern cybernetic implants. It is suspected that soon this breed will become far more common once these hurdles are overcome. Psykers appear among the Fersteel at a normal rate with little difference, save that those gifted in biomancy can extend their self-focused power into their cybernetics to a surprising degree.

### Geryon

Geryon are massive Khoswe, standing over 2.5 meters tall and incredibly bulky. Designed for physical strength and durability, Geryon were initially created as laborers, but as technological development made strength less important for such purposes, they have increasingly been optimized for warfare, often carrying heavy weapons into the field or wading into melee covered in heavy armor. Due to their robust physiology, Geryon are extremely receptive to further biometric enhancement. As such there are numerous upgrade procedures, and even dedicated symbiotes designed to further enhance and specialize Geryon. For unknown reasons, Geryon are notably less likely to be born as psykers. They make up approximately 10% of the Khoswe.

### Den Mothers

The key to their numbers is the use of created Den Mothers, altered females capable of birthing and teaching new Khoswe at a staggering rate. Den Mothers are significantly larger than their smaller children, often 4 or more meters tall and almost as wide, looking more like a furry mound of flesh than a sentient being. Den Mothers are sessile and are usually kept in the safest parts of a warren, and defended with a near-fanatical zeal. Despite their appearances, Den Mothers are keenly intelligent and are universally psykers of some power, possessing limited forms of both biomancy and telepathy. Typically, the skill in one is inversely related to their skill in the other, though there are exceptional individuals who possess great skill in both. Both skills are limited in that they can only be applied to a Den Mother’s own children, using the sympathetic link as a point of contact. Biomancy is typically used to alter and enhance their children, while telepathy is used to help guide and teach them. Keeping young Khoswe alive is considered the more difficult job by most, as the combination of a child’s curiosity, the Khoswe's bizarrely atrophied survival instinct, and the dangers of Avernus make keeping them alive a challenge. Den Mothers that favor telepathy can raise more and better-taught children, and those that favor biomancy can produce stronger and larger children. The rare Den Mothers who are skilled in both are considered strategic assets of immense value. In recent years, more focus has been given to telepathy, as the Khoswe's ever-advancing technology has come with a greater demand for skilled labor.

As den mothers act as both mother and teacher to the next generation, they are near-universally very well-read and knowledgeable. A den mother can often tease out her children’s aptitudes within a year, and then ensure they are succinctly educated to take up their place in society by the time they reach adulthood. A Khoswe at the age of 5 can often boast of a more extensive education than a human ten times their age.

### White Ones

White ones appear to exist in set numbers, numbering no more than 4 before the Khoswe expansion, with a new one being born only after the death of a predecessor. Since their population explosion following their colonization efforts, new white ones seem to be born as they pass certain population thresholds. As of yet, they have been unable to work out a stable ratio, but have been studying the phenomenon closely.

White Ones are uniformly major psykers, ranging from delta to low beta in terms of power, though the true strength comes from their versatility. White ones are natural omnimancers, able to use a wide range of powers, often even drawing upon other races' traditions. They are seen as sacred by the Khoswe, and allegedly their powers are a direct gift from the Planet Mind.

Historically, white ones have driven Khoswe's psychic research, and are responsible for the development of each of their existing disciplines, a dangerous field of study that often leads to their frequent deaths. In recent decades, however, breakthroughs in biometric constructs have opened alternative methods of research, enabling others to carry out this risky research on their behalf, and allowing them to take up other duties. This has resulted in a generation of white ones that have lived an unprecedentedly long time, with even the youngest of them being over sixty years old. Notably, their present leader, Thanquol is over two centuries old. Despite this advanced age,  none have shown notable signs of aging. If they are truly ageless or simply long-lived is not considered an important distinction, no white Khoswe expect to die of old age.

## Culture

The Khoswe have been described by one particularly frustrated Remnant diplomat as “monstrously selfless”, and while that description is somewhat impolitic, there is some truth to it. A typical Khoswe would lay down its life to save another without an instant’s hesitation, and their society reflects this. To them, the root of evil is selfishness, with much of their society being a total rejection of the concept. This results in near eusocial behavior and a disturbing disregard for their own lives.

The origin of this focus originates from their founding myth. While it is far from uncommon for people to mythologize their early history, the Khoswe have made these myths a cultural touchstone for generations.

> Long ago and far away, across the greatest sea, upon distant shores, the Creators made those who would become the Khoswe as a tool against the great enemy. 12 times was their kingdom found wanting, too weak, too foolish, or unable to wield the 7 Arts and so 12 times where they remade. Finally, the 13th kingdom was found worthy. Wielding the 7 arts with brilliance, and strength the 13th kingdom overturned all who would stop them. The Creators saw this, and smiled, before leaving their newest creation to its task. But where the first 12 kingdoms were too weak, the 13th kingdom was too hungry. Silently the Enemy snuck into their midst and dripped the poison of selfishness and betrayal into their minds. Brilliance turned to treachery, a strength turned to selfishness, and the 7 arts were twisted to serve the Enemy. Maddened by the foul whispers of the Foe the 13th kingdom Fell and forever damned itself. For ages did the 13th kingdom blight the distant shore until in their madness they sought to bring the Enemy to their lands in full. Such was the weight of their crime that the world itself turned upon them, the dead rose in indignation, the forests rebelled in rage, the mountains thrashed in disgust, and the distant shores burned. But all was not lost, as the distant shores burned in cursed flame another hand fell upon them. The will that guides the world had seen the wonders and horrors of the 13th kingdom and saw a few faint glimmers of potential untainted by madness. It plucked them from across the greatest ocean and once more remade them, thus rose the 14th kingdom, first of the Khoswe.
> But to undo the work of the great Enemy is no simple thing. For every sin cut away a sliver of virtue was removed as well. The first of the Khoswe stood before the will that guides the world naked and incomplete, holding only the scraps of a single Art. They wept at their own weakness, for how could they repay the mercy if they could barely survive? Distraught, the 14th kingdom begged the Will for the power to pay back its kindness and to atone for the shame of their ancestors. In its infinite mercy, the Will was moved by their pleas and gave them a great gift. I took from its own essence the smallest of sparks and poured it into the incomplete shell of the Khoswe's souls, filling some small number of them with their arts. So was born the first of the White Ones, those who shall see our people complete at last. Overjoyed, the Khoswe swore that they would remake themselves, again and again, and again, until they could repay the kindness the Will had shown them. So, it has been since before there was Khoswe. Through toil and sacrifice do we complete ourselves, so that one day our distant descendants shall, at last, prove themselves worthy of the world's mercy.
>
>

It tells the tale of a race that achieved greatness, only for its arrogance and selfishness to lead to its corruption. How much of this myth is true is unknown, but there does seem to be evidence that they were transplanted to Avernus rather than evolving upon its surface, and their souls do seem to have suffered some form of diminishment. The shame of having fallen to chaos in the past, and the desperate desire to repay their debt to the planet might have historically been the source of the Khoswe’s manic drive to improve.

The focus on selfishness as the ultimate root of evil has compounded with a natural tendency toward collectivist thinking over time, with social and genetic engineering being used to reduce the selfish impulses of the Khoswe. While Khoswe are not quite suicidal, they are often as willing to lay down their own lives for others as most would be for their immediate family, and will build their governments with this in mind. Reckless industrial practices, unsafe research, swarm tactics, and dozens of other ways to spend blood have become woven into Khoswe society. This remains one of the few constants of their governments, as they are no more hesitant to conduct grand social experiments than they are any other type of dangerous research. It is only recently that this has begun to slowly change. The mad churn of short-lived governments slowing to something more sustainable.

Oddly, while the Khoswe have been callous in regards to life, they have been less tolerant of suffering. The individual will die for the group, but in return, the group must care for the individual. This manifests in many ways, both large and small. Be it the dissolution of governments that fail to maintain a baseline standard of living, lab practices that ensure lab-born creates do not unduly suffer, or other such steps to mitigate pain, if not death.

Contemporary Khoswe culture is in a state of massive flux. The technology given to them by the remnant has seen their mastery of mundane physics move from the late industrial period to modern conclave power. They had not even begun digesting this technological windfall when the Wanderlust hit, and they were allowed to reach for the stars, but the greatest shock of all has been the Repayment. Imbac personally ensured that the Khos were convinced that the Planet mind considers their debt repaid in full. The shockwaves this has sent through thor society have yet to settle but seem to have given them cause to rein in their excesses of self-sacrifice.

While the Khoswe maintain strong ties to many people of Avernus, their relationship with mankind bears special notice. Rotbart has agreed to provide the resources they need to industrialize, tithing a full tenth of his own people's wealth to fund the rapidly expanding Khoswe industry until it is no longer needed. This has established a strong foundation for a future relationship. The Khoswe have come to see mankind as similar to them in many ways, a people driven to intense duty by the ancestral shame of the imperium and the foul God it birthed. What if anything will come of this only time will tell.

## Psychic Powers

The Khoswe have had an extremely strange psychic evolution, even by the standards of an Avernite People. According to their own mythology and history, they once possessed seven distinct disciplines, before losing them in a grand catastrophe. They have ever since been striving to recover them. While the exact truth of what happened is unknown, there does seem to be some truth to this belief in a spiritual diminishment. While this has drawn comparison to the Remnant, the cultural views of those quests are fundamentally different. The ratmen believe the catastrophe was self-inflicted, and that they owe their survival to the Planetmind who saved them at great cost to itself. They do not wish to become whole to fill some sense of loss or incompleteness, but because they believe it is the only way to become strong enough to repay the kindness shown to their race.

The process of recovering their arts has been a major focus of the Khoswe for their entire history. It is unclear if they are truly healing some ancient wound in the souls of their race, or are simply shaping and directing their own psychic evolution, but either way, the result is the same. Through aggressive and dangerous warp and genetic experiments, the Khoswe have been able to widen the pool of powers they have access to. As can be expected, the process is immensely dangerous, though it has resulted in a rate of psychic evolution second only to humans.

Despite the debt being repaid, their search for their lost arts has slowed only slightly. Their understanding of the state of the galaxy, and its need for strong champions, has seen them remain driven to reclaim as much of their power as they can before long night comes to a head.

Khoswe disciplines are paired, each one having a major and minor branch of the same discipline. Typically, the minor power will function to support, or augment the major branch. In the past, a Khoswe psyker would be capable of only a single discipline, but breakthroughs in recent centuries have removed this restriction. Instead, a Khoswe will simply be born with a discipline they have a far greater affinity for. In most cases, Khoswe will not branch out from their primary area of focus, but there are a growing number of exceptions as new ground is explored.

### Warp Forging

is the oldest of the Khoswe disciplines and is the foundation of Khoswe technology. Warp forging is centered around the creation and control of stable warp anomalies, typically binding them to a physical object or location. Such anomalies distort the laws of the Materium in mostly consistent ways, enabling literally impossible feats of engineering. This has enabled the creation of such marvels as the famous blink rifles and chill casters, as well as less flashy uses such as great forges and digging machines. Unfortunately, such devices are unstable, especially the most potent that combine multiple anomalies. The two branches of warp forging are the major psykers Warp smiths, and the minor psyker discipline known as Fixers.

#### Warp Smiths

The greater practitioners of warp forging, warp smiths are capable of forcing consistency onto the warp, binding it into moderately static structures. Once bound to a physical object, the result is a semi-stable warp anomaly. While these strange creations can, to a degree, be standardized, the nature of the warp ensures no two will be identical. Further, they are not fully static, with the intensity and sometimes even nature, of the effect fluctuating within a set range. In general, the stronger the effect, the less stable it is, with greater variance between instances and a larger range of variation.

The effects can be almost anything, two points of space tied together, regions where one form of energy becomes another, regions where a specific color will produce specific effects, compressed or stretched bubbles of space-time, or simply a fountain of some form of energy. In most cases, these anomalies are of limited use alone but can be used to massively enhance more mundane technological devices. While they can be dispelled like any working, their relatively static nature makes them surprisingly resilient to such methods.

While stable when maintained, these anomalies can be disrupted or dispelled like any other working. While their somewhat rigid nature makes them moderately resistant to being outright dispelled, increasing their instability is comparatively simple for a hostile psyker. Further complicating things is they tend to have strange, often destructive interactions with other forms of enchantment. At best, becoming more unstable, at worst explosively unraveling both the anomaly and the conflicting working. Efforts to find the limits of these interactions have been ongoing for decades, but have met with little success, leading many to believe the limit is based on some form of an abstract concept or varies wildly on the nature of the other enchantment.

Most warpsmiths will remain behind the lines, producing anomalies for use in Khoswe psy-tech, but there are exceptions. Some powerful anomalies are too unstable or complex to be used by anyone but their makers. Those warp smiths who march to war do so in terrifying strange and destructive panoplies

#### Fixers

The minor branch of warp forging, Fixers are not able to create fixed structures in the warp but are capable of manipulating existing ones with a high degree of fidelity. Unsurprisingly, they have a strong affinity for the structures created by warpsmiths and can manipulate them with a significant amount of ease. However, they lack the strength to exert much “force” on the warp, so what changes they can make are limited.

When it comes to interacting with warp ford anomalies, they can control where in their range they are and hold them relatively still with constant effort. Experts can even “fix” them in place for a short period of time, or manipulate them in odd ways to subtly change their effects. As a result, most fixers are dedicated to running the warp forged technologies of the Khoswe, ensuring they function with an acceptable amount of safety. This is not, the only use of their arts.

Fixers are able to touch workings other than those of warp smiths, though they find them deeply unintuitive. This makes manipulating them incredibly dangerous, as predicting the effects are incredibly difficult. In addition to the expected effects of random changes to a warp working, should they touch a portion of the working that is to highly charged they risk a lethal backlash. Nevertheless, desperation or curiosity has driven some fixers to attempt it, to two areas of success.

Runes are a consistent enough framework that documentation of their structure is possible. As a result, Khoswe fixers have found a degree of success modifying runes. According to siren rune smiths, they can make bizarre changes to the context of a rune word. The effects are only vaguely predictable, and mistakes can lead to a lethal backlash. While currently useless, the possibility of modifying another people's workings is considered an exciting, and possibly valuable new field of research.”

The second was discovered during the Grand incursions, as many fixers found themselves under threat by damons. They were able to figure out what the important parts of demons' metaphysical structure look like, and how to grab them. As can be expected, this is immensely dangerous, both due to the demon in question objecting and a high risk of backlash. Nevertheless, it proved an effective weapon of last resort against the infernal. In theory, this could be used against other warp spawn, possibly even to benign ends should it be developed further. However, given the effectiveness of the warp forged weaponry, a fixer could be maintained, it is unclear if this is worth pursuing.

### Flesh Shaping

The second discipline recovered by the Khoswe and in many ways their most potent. Flesh shaping is a specialized form of biomancy focused on permanent modification. It is the key to much of their advancement, and the cause of their rapid self speciation. It is notable for the sharpest divide between the greater and lesser branches, with no overlap in powers. Greater users are called life shapers, and are capable of modifying other organisms, but can not affect their own flesh. Lesser versions are called integrators and are capable only of affecting their own bodies.

#### Life Shapers

Life shapers are consummate experts at the modification and even creation of new life forms. While skilled at shaping the flesh of others, they are inherently incapable of altering their own flesh with biomancy. The discipline has over the centuries become difficult to separate from the various supplementary tools, with a wide range of living and traditional equipment being used to supplement their abilities. However, at the core of the art remains the first two disciplines, mutation and grafting. Mutation is the ability to induce, and influence mutations. Unassisted, it induces minor and controlled changes, but it can also be used to direct and increase the effects of other mutagens, though at the cost of far less control. Indeed, this is often the cause of many of the rampaging beasts that tear apart laboratories, as an effort to induce a specific mutation succeeds too well.

Once the desired mutation has been created, it will usually be removed from the host organism, before being attached to another, via a technique known as grafting. If done properly, the new organ will seamlessly meld with the new host. Life shapers have been known to construct creatures wholesale via this process, with every organ and bone being crafted separately before being united to create a potent creature. Such efforts are both extremely difficult, and extremely dangerous, as the psychic nature of most life on Avernus can produce unpredictable effects.

Over the ages, life shapers have created a vast array of war beasts, food crops, livestock, and even Khoswe subspecies. While they are often reckless, they possess a surprisingly stringent code of ethics. Non-sapient specimens may have a short life, but all practical measures will be taken to ensure it is not a painful one. Should a creation attain self-awareness, it will be granted citizenship and will often be adopted by the research team responsible for its creation. It is quite common for life shaper labs to hire their own creation as orderlies or security. A common example of this is the present head of flesh shaping research for the Khoswe empire, many-voices. A massive many-headed amalgamation of over a dozen creatures, and widely hailed as an administrative genius.

Life shapes are fully capable of creating modifications that will be passed down, as well as truly new species capable of self-propagation. Bucking the trend, giving their creations the ability to reproduce is one of the few things the Khoswe approach with an abundance of caution. Many catastrophes in their past taught them to respect the risks. As such, anything given the capacity to reproduce will either be relatively safe to handle or extensively tested.

While potent, life-shaping is of next to no use in combat, requiring physical contact to function and being remarkably slow. Should a life-shaper find themselves in combat, they will rely on their guard beasts. Such monsters are often incapable of surviving without regular maintenance by their creator but are immensely deadly. Nevertheless, life shapers are rarely on the front lines by choice, preferring to stay in the lab. Though given the dangers of their laboratories, the few who survive for any length of time are typically immensely deadly combatants, having survived numerous encounters with escaped war beasts.

#### Integrators

Integrators are minor biomancers, and are both quite limited and quite versatile in their power. While unable to twist or augment their bodies in supernatural ways like a typical biomancer, they have near-perfect control over their mundane functions. Named for their discipline's first use, the integration of a wide number of grafts from life shapers, they have grown far beyond that for all that the name has stuck.

Through increasing refinement of cybernetics and biological augmentation and experimentation with the limits of their power, Integrators have come to utterly master their own body. This has allowed them to even make pinpoint changes to their own neurochemistry, allowing them to in effect, create an affinity with a specific skill. This has come to be the core technique of the entire discipline. Integrators often specialize heavily in their self-chosen area of expertise. In general, the more narrow the field, the greater the effect. as mastery of integration increases, they can either add more areas of expertise or deepen their existing ones. These changes are, however, permanent once put in place, as changing them would nearly guarantee irrecoverable brain damage.

Most Integrators fill the role of magos or similar among the Khoswe. Providing the highest levels of skilled labor needed to produce their more advanced technology. Even civilian Integrators will often fill their bodies with biological and cybernetic enhancements, both to allow them to better survive Avernus and to fulfill their duties. It is known that Integrators who are born Fersteel can extend their powers into their cybernetics, controlling them from within much like they do their own bodies. This has resulted in many Fersteel Integrators replacing the vast majority of their bodies with cybernetics, drawing some comparisons to tech-priests, much to the annoyance of both parties.

Those Integrators who dedicate themselves to war are some of the deadliest Khoswe to exist. Their minds and bodies honed to the absolute peak of what is possible, and then further augmented with grafts that would be lethal to anyone incapable of consciously controlling their own immune system. These minor psykers act as scouts, champions, and elite formations for the Khoswe.

### Mind Song

A telepathic art developed only a few centuries ago, shortly before Crimson skies, Mind song has been integrated into Khoswe society with surprising speed. Observation and limited experimentation involving several siren groups were involved in its creation. This has resulted in most practitioners seeing their powers through musical metaphors, though this has started to fade over the generations. Neither the greater or lesser version of this art is well suited for combat, as it is focused almost entirely on communication and coordination. Major psykers of this art are known as soul singers, and minor psykers are known as conductors. The two branches work more closely together than any other discipline.

#### Soul singers

Soul singers are known for posing an impressive range for a telepath and are able to punch through interference very easily. While poorly suited for overcoming a resisting will, they can easily and deeply connect to a willing mind. Once connected they can allow for a massive transfer of information, and can even directly transfer memories, with some even being able to transfer skills between individuals. However, they are often unable to connect to a large number of minds at once, with even the greats only able to connect to a handful at the same time. In antiquity, Soul singers would often undergo flesh shaping operations that would turn them into living computers and data vaults for the Khoswe, however, this practice has largely been abandoned in favor of more traditional and mass-producible cogitators, though some niche applications of it remain.

It is known that the degree of integration with soul singers can be dangerous, as the transfer of memories can erode a Khoswe’s sense of self. While limited use of memory transfers is safe, frequent or unusually deep transfers can cause an ego collapse. Resulting in them mindlessly acting out the implanted memories or skills. This has so far foiled many attempts to create long-term hiveminds or multi-generational skill conglomerates by the Khoswe.

#### Conductors

the minor branch of Mind song, Conductors are both incredibly limited and incredibly potent psykers. They are practically incapable of any sort of unwanted psychic contact and are incredibly short-ranged. Further, they can only touch the surface thoughts of those they connect with. On the other hand, they can connect with a half dozen or more minds at once, allowing for a rapid flow of information between all members linked.

Despite this, the information transmitted is usually quite shallow. At a baseline, it is little more information-dense than speech, except that information, is transmitted without misunderstanding. Though should those linked be proficient in Mindsign, a purely mental language created for use with conductors, mental communication can be made several times swifter. This is often used to allow workers to coordinate both physical and mental tasks. Be in production lines moving in eerier synchronicity, a planning meeting conducted silently without misunderstanding, or a team of data smiths coordinating flawlessly on a single data-work.

With the use of the right focuses, or implants among the users, a conductor can push their mental networks to new heights. While they still can not penetrate deeper into minds, they can network the majority of a mind's throughput, including sensor information. This can enable a level of coordination typically seen among hiveminds, though at great risk. The confusion of whose thoughts one is hearing can cause rapid ego decay, causing the group to break down into a short-lived hive mind hyperfocused on whatever task it was created for. There are, however, methods to mitigate the risk. The more the conducted group knows and trusts one another, the better able they are to differentiate between their comrades and themselves, reducing the danger. Though it is far from uncommon for Khoswe formations in desperate situations to make mass use of this technique, becoming near mindless warriors intent on fighting to the death.

The greatest use of conductors, however, is how they can link with Soul singers. By linking multiple conductors and soul singers, it is possible to create massive networks of linked minds. Each conductor becomes a local node in a growing network, while soul singers act as bridgers between each node. The resulting Thought Nexus has a striking similarity to certain data structures used by info-sages among the Adeptus Mechanicus. While information can only be transmitted along so many soul singers before it becomes either incoherent or delayed, this can allow for small formations or officers to coordinate telepathically over long ranges, or large-scale collaboration of dozens of researchers for a key experiment.

The emergence of the Avernite battlenet has thrown this discipline into something of an uproar. While some synergies were found, efforts to incorporate the new semi hivemind into their practices have been the primary focus of all research in this field since the Grand inclusion, and this is likely to be true for centuries.

### Dynokinesis

A still incomplete art, Dynokinesis is an interesting case study on the mutable nature of a race's psychic development. As the latest tradition was in its nascent stages, Existing in a small group of custom-made Khoswe, it is centered around the manipulation of the most potent force they had mastered, atomics. It was at this point that the Remnant kingdom gave the Khoswe access to their far more advanced technology, including full access to conclave tech. Overnight, atomics went from the cutting edge to embarrassingly quaint.

The abrupt cultural shift in how atomics was viewed resulted in the nature of the forming discipline shifting with it. Within less than a generation, the focus shifted from manipulating atomics, to a more generalized manipulation of energy. While many of their old feats were still possible, few remained practical. Atomics no longer being as easily manipulated, even as the focus broadened. This shift was meticulously documented and has become something of a field of study in and of itself.

The new art retains the focus on power generation but is no longer tied to any specific method. While it is still not fully complete, the foundations of it have been set, and those with a talent for it are beginning to be naturally born, the tradition has yet to be fully fleshed out, and where its limits lay remain largely unexplored. The major psykers of the branch are known as Dyno-Creatia and can manipulate energy as it is generated, or changes form. The minor branch is known as Dyno-Transmissia and while unable to generate energy, is capable of transmitting it.

#### Dyno-Creatia

The exact limits of this art remain unclear, but its most basic use of it is to enhance reactions that create energy. Should one wish to create heat, they could not simply will it into existence, but could massively increase how much heat a burning log generates. While a novice may be simply accelerating the rate at which it burns, a more experienced Dyno-Creatist can increase the energy generated well beyond what could conceivably be in the log.

More advanced techniques can be used to regulate energy generation, causing the manipulated reaction to become more stable, or even abate. A master was at one point able to prevent a spec of antimatter from detonating for a handful of seconds, holding the explosive reaction at bay with their will. The exact definition of “generation” of energy has yet to be fully discovered. So far, some progress has been made in manipulating the transformation of one type of energy to another, such as the turning of a dynamo, or heat transfer of a heat sink. A few grandmasters have even accelerated the dispersal of energy, effectively increasing the rate of entropy for an energy source.

#### Dyno-Transmissia

Users of Dyno-Transmissia can act as living superconductors, for any sort of energy. Harmlessly allowing vast amounts of power to pass through them harmlessly. In theory, any sort of physical energy should be transmissible, in practice, only simple forms can presently be reliably channeled, heat, light, and electricity. Energy can, with difficulty, be stored in notable amounts, but this is immensely dangerous and any disruption of concentration during this will cause the energy to denote within the practitioner's body. To offset this, most users of this art will festoon themselves with various forms of batteries, or even implant them into their bodies.

Unaided, energy can only be gathered or released by touch, though already some foci that give at least a few feet of the range have been created. The crudest of them simply being staffs or weighted cords that extend the effect along their own length, and the most experimental able to project it across gaps of a few meters.

Dyno-Transmissia, even more so than Dyno-Creatia, is still in its infancy. So far only the most basic of uses for it have been perfected, though even this is of significant use when paired with Khoswe artifice. Transmissionists can provide massive and prickly focused amounts of energy to power either potent weapons or complex industrial processes. Efforts to push this art farther remain both intense, and often dangerous. With many possible techniques being experimented with, these experimental arts range from withstanding blows by redirecting their energy, to channeling warpflame, to pseudo cryomancy by absorbing all heat. What if any of these techniques will bear fruit remains to be seen.

## Technology

Khoswe technology has entered a period of immense flux, with them being gifted a tech base tens of thousands of years more advanced than their own. At present their designs are often standard conclave patterns with improvised psytech enhancements crudely incorporated into them. So far no true tech base has even begun to emerge as they madly scramble to digest their technological windfall. Nevertheless, it seems that some old truths of how their technology is shaped will hold true.

The nature of their arts lends itself to centralization, it is easier to create a single great warp forged wonder than a dozen lesser workings. This holds true both in war and in industry, with armies built around psytech super weapons and manufacturing districts built around a single warp enhanced forge. This is expected to hold true at least to some extent, even with far more advanced technology.

There is however, a limiting factor they have begun to run up against, Khoswe naturally live only twenty years, and even with their advancing medical technology they can live only a few decades more. To produce the most advanced technology requires nearly a century of study and practice. While the Khoswe have a great many methods to accelerate education, this has so far proved to be a largely insurmountable barrier. While in theory, Khoswe Life shaping should be capable of life extension, there is a significant cultural distrust of pursuing such means, limiting life extension only to those who are deemed absolutely key to the Khoswe nation. While they may yet find methods to mitigate this gap, it is unlikely that they will ever be able to produce a notable amount of Exotic technologies.