Children of Thorns - Calixis Sector and the Spinward Front: In 779.M41 Duke Severus XIII of Kulth assumed power over what little remained of his house and its territories in the Periphery Sub-sector of the Calixis Sector. Unlike his predecessors, Severus XIII had managed to claw his way up the rungs of power in the Calixis Sector, drawing upon methods and means yet to be fully revealed. Yet, just like his predecessors, Severus had been raised to believe that his forebears had been denied their rightful place as the masters of the new sector by the machinations of Saint Drusus, the man who had completed the Angevin Crusade to conquer the Calyx Expanse and establish the new sector in the 39th Millennium.In 799.M41, Severus XIII assumed the appointment to which he had worked his entire life, the position from which he might finally realise the dreams of his entire line. He ascended to the position of Lord Sub-Sector, the Adeptus Administratum prefect of the region his eponymous forebear Severus I had founded -- the Periphery.But in truth, Severus XIII could never have gained ascendancy over his peers to become the recognised Imperial governor of the Periphery without the aid of the Drukhari group known as the Children of Thorns. This outcast Drukhari kabal, exiled from the Dark City of Commorragh.In aiding Severus XIII, the Children of Thorns kabal gained easy access to a region in which the Imperium's forces are unable to oppose their realspace raids. Thousands of men, women and children were dragged screaming back to the dark sub-reality sinks of the Dark City in the Labyrinth Dimension of the Webway, yet there are those that question whether the kabal's involvement in the wars of the Spinward Front that now consume the Periphery might be more pernicious still. Some fear that the Drukhari might be working towards another agenda entirely -- one that can only bring more doom and disaster upon the war-torn worlds of the Periphery and beyond.His ambitions echoing those of the progenitor of his house, Severus XIII believed that the Periphery should be his, yet he knew that overtly declaring secession from the Imperium would cause the sub-sector's Loyalist planetary governors to rise up against him and bring the force of the Imperium crashing down upon his head.Instead, he sought allies in the darkness spinward of the Periphery, his spies seeking out any who might lend him aid, no matter their price. Waiting in the darkness, his spies discovered the Drukhari of the outcast Children of Thorns, and vile pacts were made in exchange for the aliens' lethal services.Severus XIII consigned entire Frontier Worlds to the Drukhari's cruel mercies, ensuring that when realspace raids occurred, the sub-sector's military reserves were always too distant to intervene. Xenos chattel-barques swollen with slaves delivered hundreds of thousands of Human beings to their doom in the pits of Commorragh, while the court of Severus XIII gained a host of new veiled courtiers and black-eyed assassins.For over a solar decade, Severus and his cruel xenos agent-allies worked tirelessly to cut the ties between the Periphery and the sector at large, one at a time, so that none even noticed as it was slowly transformed into his personal realm. Planetary governors resistant to corruption or subversion were quietly removed, but always the eight worlds closest to the border with the Malfian Sub-sector were maintained in a state of outward normality.The worlds spinward of them were entirely in the sway of the secessionist noble, who had at last attained his ancestor's dream of an independent stellar empire of his own in all but name.The Children of Thorns had long tolerated and exploited the Human presence in this region of the galaxy. Prior to the arrival of the Imperium, the scarcely populated worlds of the Periphery presented a steady supply of slaves to be used for their needs in Commorragh.As the Imperial presence intensified, worlds which were once easy prey became increasingly resistant to the kabal's slave raids. When Severus XIII offered to selectively lower defences against realspace slave raids in exchange for assistance in consolidating his power in the region, the Drukhari were swift to agree to his generous terms. Since their initial agreement, the duke has mercilessly condemned entire worlds to the Children of Thorns. Hundreds of thousands of Imperial citizens have gone screaming into the slave pits of the Dark City. Outwardly, the duke has shown no remorse for these actions. He firmly believes that without the assistance of the xenos, his fledgling nation might have already collapsed.More recently, however, problems have begun to surface in the agreement between the Secessionists and the xenos. As the Severan Dominate has lost control of worlds due to the invasion of the Ork WAAAGH! Grimtoof, their available assets have significantly decreased. As the duke is losing his stranglehold on additional planets, he is unable to consign the inhabitants of those worlds to a life of torture at the hands of the Children of Thorns.Several worlds which have already been restored to the Imperium after the intervention of Astra Militarum forces in the Periphery to both reclaim the Severan Dominate and throw back the Greenskins are no longer suitable targets for the slavers. This is increasingly true of worlds where the Imperium has chosen to maintain a significant number of reserve forces -- in those star systems, slave raids are often overwhelmed by the coordinated Astra Militarum efforts.In reaction to this difficulty, representatives of the kabal were swift to bring their "concerns" to the duke and his court. After all, their agreement to ally was based entirely upon his ability to provide them with worlds well-suited to their slave-raiding efforts. However, as he continued to lose worlds, the duke's ability to provide such access became limited.The fact that he has become increasingly dependent upon the limited number of worlds he still controls has only exacerbated the issue at hand. Unless there is a swift change in his fortune, the Severan Dominate might soon run out of worlds that can provide an adequate number of slaves to the Children of Thorns. The duke is well aware of the deteriorating situation, and has begun efforts to renegotiate the scope of their agreement.Key to that negotiation is the issue of the compensation that the Secessionists receive from the Drukhari. To date, the xenos have provided the Severan rebels with a limited supply of advanced Drukhari weapons and technology. In general, these armaments provide the Secessionists an edge only within a very constrained set of circumstances.Additional favours have been promised -- including actual direct military support from the kabal in the form of mercenary troops. However, that support has only materialised within a very few, specific situations -- ones in which the Children of Thorns were able to acquire additional slaves in the face of minimal resistance.As the Severan Dominate's resources have begun to dwindle and its needs increase, it has begun to try to press the Drukhari ever harder in their negotiations. This creates a situation where neither side is negotiating in good faith. Just as the duke and his representatives make promises that they have no hope of delivering, the representatives of the kabal also have no intention to honour many of the pathetic Human lord's desperate requests.To date, both sides have continued to pay lip service to their agreements, but both factions have also begun to push the boundaries wherever it is possible to do so. Both sides now recognise the deceptions posed by their opposite parties, and seek to take full advantage of the situation before everything completely collapses in the warfare consuming the Spinward Front.Each side has responded to the perfidy in its own way. On the part of the Severan Dominate, this has been to attempt to decrease the number of opportunities that the xenos have to take Human slaves. In part, this has meant better securing many of their isolated facilities from kabal assault. However, this has not always been an effective deterrent.The Children of Thorns have technology that exceeds Humanity's, and the ability to strike at a moment's notice through the Webway. In contrast, the Severan Dominate's resources have become increasingly strained by the ongoing, multiple wars in the sub-sector. Resources which they could not effectively guard prior to the agreement remain very poorly protected. Consequently, in spite of their best efforts, the Secessionists remain largely dependent upon the kabal honouring its word to only strike at previously agreed-upon targets.In contrast, the Children of Thorns have continually looked for ways to exploit their relationship with the Severan Dominate. As they consider the duke little more than a talking prey animal like all other Humans, they hardly feel any strong obligation to honour their agreements with him. As long as it serves their purpose, they are likely to continue to at least pay lip service to his nation and his cause.For the time being, this also includes cooperating with him, for exactly as long as the Drukhari can fully take advantage of his information and his assets. However, they feel no loyalty at all to his cause. In situations where they may be able to acquire additional assets without any added expense, they are certain to do so. They feel no qualms about exploiting the duke, as they have every expectation that he treats them in the same manner. Notably, in the event that they can confirm an act of betrayal or accumulate strong evidence of his deception, they are certain to turn against him. If this were to happen, the Secessionists would suddenly add an additional front to their war -- one which might well spell their doom.A further complication in their agreement is the loyalty of Severan Dominate citizens to the Imperial Creed. A working relationship with these sadistic xenos is anathema to their religious beliefs. To assuage this issue, the Severan-Drukhari alliance is a highly-kept secret; only the highest-ranking Dominate officers are even aware of the cooperation, and soldiers of the line are warned to ignore any scandalous rumours about the matter by Ducal Legates and other authority figures. Should the true extent of the alliance become known, the Dominate's war efforts could completely unravel as large portions of the duke's people return to the Imperial fold.