vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Gyrinx - Gyrinx: Gyrinx, also known as Grynix, are strange, feline-like xenos creatures utilised as familiars to enhance the psychic abilities of both Aeldari and Human psykers.A Gyrinx resembles a large Terran domestic cat, with very thick and fluffy ginger or orange fur and bright blue eyes. They can grow up to a metre in length. Gyrinx are not truly sentient as such, but they have an astounding ability to empathise with other creatures, forming a mental bond with their owner which is comparable to true friendship. This mental empathy is of great benefit to the creature's owner, whose own speed of thought and action are actually improved while the Gyrinx is in close proximity.What benefit the Gyrinx obtains from the relationship is unclear, but there is plainly some deep-seated need being fulfilled, because an owner-less Gyrinx will actively seek out and adopt another sentient creature. Oddly enough, Gyrinx show a slow metabolic change so that they can come to resemble their owner physically, temperamentally and in habit.If a Gyrinx's owner dies, it will defend the body, and will then either run away or allow itself to be adopted by one of its former owner's friends or associates. It takes a period of several solar weeks to establish a complete relationship with the new owner, but this bonding time might prove to be less if the old and new owners were close friends or relations and the Grynix already knew them well.Obviously, Gyrinxes are creatures of great value, and unlikely to be owned by ordinary people. Gyrinx are highly prized as pets by psychic Inquisitors, Rogue Traders and high-level members of the Ecclesiarchy and the like. Evil xenos, such as Drukhari, might also own Gyrinx -- the creatures inherit their owner's morality, which in turn can transform them into a being as nasty and vicious as their owners. Aeldari Harlequin Shadowseers have also been known to take on a Gyrinx as a companion, and they are popular companions amongst the more psychically-potent Craftworld Aeldari such as the various types of Seers.
Gyrinx - Sources: Rogue Trader: Lure of the Expanse (RPG), pg. 127Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (1st Edition), pg. 213
Haarken Worldclaimer - Haarken Worldclaimer: Haarken Worldclaimer is a Chaos Lord of the Black Legion and a Heretic Astartes Raptor. He is known among the forces of Chaos as the "Herald of the Apocalypse" and the "Proclamator" of Abaddon the Despoiler's coming reign over the galaxy after the death of the False Emperor.Haarken was sent by the Despoiler to the embattled Imperial Sentinel World of Vigilus during the War of Beasts. Upon his arrival, he proclaimed to the planet's beleaguered defenders that it would fall to the forces of Chaos within 80 solar days.
Haarken Worldclaimer - Wargear: Power ArmourHelspearLightning ClawsSerpha-V Pattern Jump Pack
Haddrake Tor - Haddrake Tor: Haddrake Tor was the scene of a great battle between the Imperial Fists Space Marines and the Forces of Chaos. The battle for Haddrake Tor lasted for 3 standard years and involved both the 1st and 2nd Companies of the Imperial Fists. Tragedy occurred when Captain Darnath Lysander of the 2nd Company led a Drop Pod assault into the rugged terrain of the world's vast mountain ranges. Once the region was claimed for the Imperial Fists, Lysander set up Teleport Homer devices to allow the Terminators of the 1st Company under the command of Captain Kleitus to teleport further down the mountainside.Unfortunately, the Heretics present on the planet had manipulated the Warp in such a fashion as to disrupt all attempts at teleportation. The 1st Company's Terminators began to materialise within the mountainside's bare rock or over deep precipices where they fell to their deaths. Captain Kleitus himself materialised within a portion of the rockface. Facing an agonising death, Kleitus handed his unique Power Hammer, the Fist of Dorn, to Lysander and then expired. Lysander went on to lead the Imperial Fists to victory at Haddrake Tor and was promoted as a result to serve as the new Captain of the 1st Company.
Hades-class Heavy Cruiser - Hades-class Heavy Cruiser: Once a design considered suitable to serve as the backbone of an Imperial Battlefleet, the Chaos Hades-class Heavy Cruiser is an exceptionally dangerous and well-armed vessel, a dire threat to any ship of the line. Hades-class Heavy Cruisers can put out a devastating amount of firepower at long range, including dual banks of lances and heavy clustered weapons batteries on each broadside.It is suspected that the Hades-class contains certain non-Euclidian quirks of architecture, perhaps placed deliberately by its corrupted planners, that inexorably lead towards madness and worshiping daemonic entities of the Warp. Whatever the truth, it is well-known that this heavy cruiser is often found serving at the forefront of Traitor battle formations.
Hades-class Heavy Cruiser - Notable Hades-class Heavy Cruisers: Contagion - Originally designed as the Vengis when still serving the Imperium, the Contagion was captained by the Battlefleet Gothic's legendary Flag-Captain Hendrik Morreau. Morreau sold his ship and soul to Nurgle when he became trapped in the Immaterium. A keen tactician, Morreau's specialisation was to power down his ship as to be undetectable, and overwhelm his opponents from an unexpected quarter. Morreau and the Contagion joined forces with Abaddon the Despoiler during the Gothic War, and the vessel was ultimately destroyed during an engagement with the Dictator-class Cruiser Lord Solar Macharius.Injustice - An infamous Hades-class Heavy Cruiser that took part in Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade, known as the Gothic War. Destroyed in a suicidal boarding action undertaken by the Elysian 234th.Malignus Maximus - An infamous Hades-class Heavy Cruiser that took part in the Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade, known as the Gothic War.Optimus Nemesis - The vile pirate warlordKarrad Vall of the Koronus Expanse uses a Hades-class Heavy Cruiser, the Optimus Nemesis, as the flagship of his Chaos Reaver fleet. Its name spoken in fear by Rogue Traders and Imperial Navy officers alike, the Optimus Nemesis has engaged dozens of ships from Battlefleet Calixis and several Rogue Traders. Although it has been brought to battle many times, the Optimus Nemesis has never been destroyed, its deeply-scarred hull a testament to the warship's unholy resilience. Some whisper that the ship is often commanded by a Chaos Space Marine, thus explaining its exemplary battle record. Despite this, however, there are reports that Karrad Vall is currently constructing a much larger class of warship in orbit over the planet Iniquity. It is likely he intends to shift his flag to this new vessel, whatever it may be.Warmaker - An infamous Hades-class Heavy Cruiser that took part in Abaddon the Despoiler's 12th Black Crusade, known as the Gothic War. The Warmaker was once one of the most highly praised vessels in the Gothic fleet, but is now numbered amongst its most hated enemies. Before the Gothic War, the Warmaker acted as a training vessel, having been retired from active duty following thirteen highly praised centuries as flagship to the 4th Heavy Cruiser Flotilla. It is unknown how long the foul grip of Chaos had festered, before being spread to every corner of the fleet to promulgate their despicable beliefs amongst their crews. This base treachery was only discovered with the outbreak of the Gothic War, when the Warmaker opened fire on Jarnu Orbital Station, shortly after breaking from dock. The wreckage of the space station fell onto Jarnu Capital, killing over 3 million Imperial citizens in the resulting mass conflagration. The Warmaker easily outdistanced the few vessels in position to give pursuit and was next sighted accompanying a fleet of marauders blockading the Slavonis System. To this date, the Warmaker had eluded capture or destruction, twice being crippled, but managing to limp to safety under the cover of its Escorts.
Hades-class Heavy Cruiser - Dimensions: Hull: Heavy CruiserClass: Hades-classDimensions: Approximately 5.2 kilometres long, .8 kilometres abeam.Mass: Approximately 33.5 Megatonnes.Crew: Approximately 130,000 crew.Acceleration: 2.4 Gravities maximum acceleration.
Hades Autocannon - Hades Autocannon: The Hades Autocannon, also known as the Hades Pattern Autocannon, is a six-barrelled, rapid-firing Autocannon variant that is used by the Forces of Chaos. The Hades Autocannon is most commonly found on large Chaos Daemon Engines, specifically the Heldrake and the Forgefiend, as the weapon is far too large for most smaller vehicles to carry and operate to its full capacity.The weapon possesses six barrels and can sustain a high rate of fire. The Hades Autocannon's fire is powerful enough to tear through massed infantry and well-armoured targets with ease. Hades Pattern Autocannons also have increased power per shot compared to the standard Imperial Autocannon. It is a weapon that the Imperium of Man has come to fear just as much as the hideous creatures that wield it.
Hades Autocannon - Sources: White Dwarf 394 (UK), pp. 8-10Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 51-52, 65
Hades Breaching Drill - Hades Breaching Drill: The Hades Breaching Drill is a piece of industrial equipment that has been used for both civilian and military purposes by the Imperium of Man.The Hades drill is normally used on Imperial Mining Worlds to help miners dig new mining tunnels to find deposits of strategic ores and remove rubble and debris, but there have been several occasions where the Hades has been pressed into military service with the Astra Militarum.When the Hades is used in a military role it is usually during a prolonged siege, where it serves as a breaching drill that can break into a bunker or through the wall of an enemy fortification. The Hades Drill is equipped with a forward-firing Melta-Cutter that can turn rock and metal into molten slag in seconds. Its massive drilling blades are tipped with Diamantine and can easily cut through most materials, be it rock, metal, or even flesh.While the Hades is normally used for mining, when it is deployed as a siege weapon it can not only be used as a breaching drill but also to attack the enemy from underground. During a prolonged siege, the engineers of the Imperial Guard may spend solar weeks or even months digging tunnels and saps towards and around the enemy lines.The Hades will be used to quickly breach the last few yards until it hits the surface, where engineers and other specialised units will come through the breach and attack the enemy. While the Hades Drill is on the surface it is not completely useless in combat, as its Melta-Cutter and drill blades are capable of ripping apart enemy structures and even tanks. The Hades can even be turned on enemy infantry and used as a makeshift tank in dire circumstances.
Hades Breaching Drill - Armament: The Hades Breaching Drill is not armed with any true weapons, nor was it ever meant to see actual combat, but the needs of the Imperium demand that it be used when needed, even during war. The Hades' forward firing Melta-Cutter functions the same way as any Melta Weapon and can be used to melt armour and structures into piles of liquid slag.The Hades' massive drill blades can penetrate through almost any material and are perfect for destroying structures and walls. The inside of the Hades consists of a conveyor belt to move the rubble and debris away from the area the vehicle is trying to cut through.
Hades Breaching Drill - Known Users of the Hades Breaching Drill: Imperial Mining Worlds - On Imperial Mining Worlds, the Hades Breaching Drill is a standard piece of equipment for all Imperial mining operations.Imperial Guard Siege Regiments - The siege regiments of the Imperial Guard have found an alternative use for the Hades Breaching Drill during sieges against fortified enemy emplacements.The Death Korps of Krieg - The regiments of the Imperial Guard's Death Korps of Krieg used Hades Breaching Drills during the Siege of Vraks to get behind enemy lines, attack supply routes and sabotage enemy vehicles.
Hades Breaching Drill - Also See: Imperial Subterranean VehiclesImperial VehiclesImperial Guard Vehicles
Hades Breaching Drill - Sources: Armies of the Imperium, pp. 32, 59-62Imperial Armour Apocalypse II, pp. 16-17Imperial Armour Volume Six - The Siege of Vraks - Part Two, pp. 98-99Imperial Armour Volume One - Imperial Guard (Second Edition), pp. 9, 209-210, 267Imperial Armour Volume Twelve - The Fall of Orhpeus, pg. 195Ork and Squat Warlords (Warhammer 40,000 Epic Supplement), pg. 62White Dwarf 116 (UK), "Imperial Vehicles," by Graeme Davis & Jervis Johnson, pp. 10-11, 15White Dwarf 123 (UK), "Epic Battles - Space Marine War Machines," by Karl Tebbutt and Roger Gerrish, pp. 24-25White Dwarf 136 (UK), "Games Workshop Catalog: Imperial Tanks & War Machines," pg. 75
Hades Gatling Gun - Hades Gatling Gun: The Hades Gatling Gun is a massive Daemonic Weapon that is commonly used by the Lord of Skulls Daemon Engine, typically mounted on its left arm.The weapon is a large, multi-barrelled gatling weapon that is capable of shredding groups of enemy infantry with a hail of fire composed of its massive ballistic shells.
Hadex Anomaly - History: In the Cellebos Warzone of the Jericho Reach, there exist twin aspects of one malefic phenomenon: the Hadex Anomaly. Although unclassified, it is similar to a Class III Warp disturbance, an overlapping vortex of turbulence in the Æther that spills over into realspace, distorting and twisting its fabric and making navigation and observation almost impossible within its baleful influence.While considerably smaller than the great and legendary Warp rifts such as the dreaded Eye of Terror or the Maelstrom, it is no less dangerous. The "Charon Stars," in turn, is the name of those stellar bodies trapped within the Warp-breach's grasp, stars that now cast a murderous and unclean radiance wherever their light falls.Resembling a "red hole" in space, the Hadex Anomaly rarely stays in the same place for long, having been reported in different regions of space on numerous occasions. The Anomaly's mobility suggests that it may have some malign sentience.One theory amongst the Adeptus Mechanicus forces present as part of the Achilus Crusade is that the Anomaly spews time from other dimensions into our own, distorting all attempts to monitor it more closely. The outer rim of the Anomaly contains a debris-strewn ring of ghost voidships, starfaring vessels that have become trapped in some kind of temporal stasis from which there is no release.The origin of the Hadex Anomaly is shrouded in mysteries as impenetrable as the Anomaly itself. What is known with any certainty is that the Hadex Anomaly came into being during an ill-portented planetary alignment in 656.M40. The Deathwatch's records state that the vortex was the result of some great and bloody design of the mortal worshipers of Chaos come to fruition on one of the lost worlds it now has swallowed: a ritual unleashing the abyss of the Warp into reality.Thanks to the former Jericho Sector's fall into anarchy, no Throne Agents were there to stop it. Apocryphal accounts link the Anomaly to the blood rites practised by the corrupted lords of Verronus, a decadent Hive World thought destroyed during the Anomaly's violent birth.Astrologers claim the Anomaly is the result of an inauspicious planetary -- or possibly galactic -- alignment, a confluence of forces that ripped the void asunder. Darkest of all explanations are those espoused by Warp dabblers across the Jericho Reach who claim the Hadex Anomaly is only a prelude to a future calamity set to lay waste to the entire Jericho Reach.
Hadex Anomaly - A Stain Upon Space and Time: Of all the properties ascribed to the Hadex Anomaly, its most perplexing feature is its visibility. When the Hadex Anomaly first manifested it was immediately visible across the Ultima Segmentum, its appearance recorded by observatories and scout stations as distant as Nocturne.The fact that the light cast by the Anomaly was instantly visible across so vast an area, in flagrant defiance to the laws of the physical universe, has not gone unnoticed by the Magi Physics of the Cult Mechanicus. The flow of time is inconsistent within the purview of the Anomaly. On a world suffused in the Anomaly's glow, the length of day and night is in constant flux.Shadows cast betray hints of future events while the voices of the past are forever at the edge of hearing. Voidships undertaking brief Warp jumps emerge from the Immaterium solar months after they departed or solar days before they left. Astropathic communication is all but impossible as fragments of messages never sent infiltrate astrotelepathic sendings.Navigators fare worst of all. The Hadex Anomaly's infectious brilliance overwhelms the light of the Astronomican, rendering all but the most keen-eyed Navigators unable to plot accurate courses along the Acheros Salient.
Hadex Anomaly - Wreck of the Limitless Grasp: The parsecs surrounding the Hadex Anomaly are haunted by a voidship that is far more real than the stuff of voidfarer legend. It is an ill-omened ship with a cursed crew, shunned by all who detect its faint but distinct energy signature at the limits of long range augur sweeps.It is the Limitless Grasp, and it alone is the key to understanding the origins of the Hadex Anomaly. The Imperial Navy first encountered the Limitless Grasp in 781.M41. Of the battle group involved, only the frigate Sebastian's Gauntlet survived the surge of Warp phenomena now known to follow any manifestation of the Limitless Grasp.The auspex logs and officer's testimony regarding the incident recount events that have played out numerous times in the history of the Achilus Crusade. Their encounter, and those that followed, are nearly identical.An elegant merchant voidship, its hull a masterwork of lustrous silver and gleaming brass, translated from the Warp into open void. After a moment's silence, the vessel's vox channels opened, broadcasting on all frequencies. The ship identified itself as the Limitless Grasp, a free trader under the command of Chartist Captain Olympia Thyatira, followed immediately by a formal request to enter orbit around Verronus, a planet conspicuously absent from charts of the Jericho Reach.After another period of silence a woman's voice requested audience with "his pharaonic eminence, the Sanguine Oligarch of Verronus." Again, silence, followed by a burst of vox-chatter as the crew of the Limitless Grasp bear witness to a strange phenomenon consuming a planet only they can see. The engines of the Limitless Grasp flare to life, the ship banking hard as if to escape some onrushing horror.The Hadex Anomaly becomes agitated, flooding the void with red light. Distress signals and agonised screams flood all Vox channels as the Limitless Grasp is reduced to shreds of titanium alloy and ceramite by devastating tidal forces. Any voidship unfortunate enough to remain in the vicinity is assailed by similar gravitic phenomena. When this period of turbulence ceases, nothing remains but the void.Weeks may pass, or solar months, or standard years, before the Limitless Grasp appears again. It is only a matter of time before her crew die screaming at the void once more, their deaths repeated and relived countless times, any witnesses to their tragic end unlikely to survive the encounter.The wreck of the Limitless Grasp is but one of many phantom voidships haunting the Anomaly. Countless other vessels caught in temporal ebbs drift between past dooms and future calamities. Some claim this is the fate of all voidships that risk an engagement with the Grasp.Other fear the phantom ships are casualties of an apocalyptic battle yet to be fought. None dare investigate these mysteries too closely. To do so, they warn, is to join the phantoms of the void.
Hadex Anomaly - The Lamentation Wave: In the Limitless Grasp's final moments the vessel's chief astropath, one Dien Xquin, transmitted a single message. This cry of awe and horror echoes throughout the Empyrean. Those astropaths unfortunate enough to encounter this psychic missive are overwhelmed as they experience the final agonised thoughts of their dying counterpart.An unfortunate few astropaths in service to the Achilus Crusade have perished as a result of intercepting this so-called "Lamentation Wave." Some die in a moment of apoplexy as Dien's final thoughts surge through their minds. Others fall upon Psykana mercy blades, taking their lives rather than risk intercepting the wave again during a future manifestation of the Limitless Grasp.More unfortunate astropaths are driven to madness. Their minds lost to the bemoaning cry of Dien Xquin, these psykers spend the remainder of their lives sequestered in hidden compounds of the Inquisition, their incarceration broken only by periods of intense questioning.Through the interrogation of these psykers the Inquisition hopes to gain some understanding of the true origins of the Hadex Anomaly.
Hadex Anomaly - Lexicanium Aratron and the Lamentation Watch: Since the discovery of the Limitless Grasp, the Librarians of the Deathwatch's Watch Fortress Erioch have monitored the Lamentation Wave, documenting each manifestation and recording whatever information can be gleaned from the minds of the unfortunate astropaths chosen to assist with the task.Designated the Lamentation Watch, the task currently falls on the shoulders of Lexicanium Aratron of the Marines Errant Chapter. Known to isolate himself within his personal chapel for solar weeks at a time during bouts of ardent meditation, Lexicanium Aratron tirelessly correlates over one thousand Terran years of psychometric data regarding the time, location, and intensity of each occurrence of the Lamentation Wave.Now, after over a solar decade of study, Aratron claims a pattern is emerging. According to a report recently filed with Watch Commander Mordigael, Lexicanium Aratron believes he has enough data to predict the exact time and place of the Limitless Grasp's next appearance.Aratron now seeks a company of battle-brothers to await the next coming of the Grasp and, if possible, board the vessel. In this way Aratron hopes to witness the birth of the Hadex Anomaly first hand. Watch Commander Mordigiel has yet to authorise such a mission.Many doubt the wisdom of Lexicanium Aratron's plan, and several among the Deathwatch doubt Aratron's sanity. It is rumoured Aratron opened his mind to the Lamentation Wave in order to study the phenomenon firsthand. If so, a seed of corruption carried by the Wave now roots within his mind.The Chamber of Vigilance tolerates Lexicanium Aratron's eccentricities out of respect for his service to the Deathwatch. However, there are those within the Chamber preparing to move against Aratron should rumours of his corruption prove true, preferring to deal with the matter internally, lest the Ordo Hereticus choose to investigate Deathwatch affairs.
Hadex Anomaly - Kokabiel's Drop: More so than any Chaos corsair, Stigmartus battle cruiser, or Warp-borne leviathan, the officers and voidsmen of the Acheros Salient fleet of the Navis Imperialis fear the peril of Kokabiel's Drop.Branching from the Araqiel Main between the Vanity and Blood Trinity Systems, the Drop is far more than a navigational hazard in the Warp.It is a vortex leading to the churning heart of the Hadex Anomaly and a haven for a degenerate Chaos Cult of rogue Navigators called the Cyclopean Congregation who have turned their sight from the blessed Astronomican.
Hadex Anomaly - Exploration and Illumination: In 789.M41, Lord Militant Solomon Tetrarchus charged the highly decorated Commodore Bronislave Tenermaritus with the task of charting a stable Warp route between the Cellebos Warzone and Samech, allowing Achilus Crusade forces to make a direct strike against that planet of Hereteks, crippling the manufactoria and orbital shipyards supplying the Stigmartus war effort.Taking as his guide one Kokabiel Grigoris, a relatively young but gifted Navigator following his house's long tradition of service to the Navis Imperialis, the commodore set out upon his flagship Burden of Vigilance, an Avenger-class Grand Cruiser.Despite the best efforts of the Burden's commander, Navigator, and crew, the Warp beyond the Cellebos Warzone proved nearly impossible to chart. Warp eddies terminated into immaterial shoals, aetheric currents flowed back upon themselves, and the bilious emissions of the Hadex Anomaly obscured the sight of Kokabiel and his subordinate Navigators.After solar months of fruitless exploration the Burden of Vigilance fell prey to the Haruspex, a pack of xenos marauders believed to originate within the Slinnar Drift. Commodore Tenermaritus perished in the ensuing battle, atomised during a valiant boarding action against the commanding Haruspex Lifeseeker.The commodore's sacrifice routed the xenos fleet, granting the Burden enough time to flee through a recently discovered Warp passage veering dangerously close to the Hadex Anomaly. The Burden's final message, intercepted by the astropathic listening post on Pyrathas, claimed a great discovery waited at the end of the route.In the standard years following the disappearance of the Burden of Vigilance, the site of its last battle gained a sinister reputation. Voidships passing through the area drifted far off course. The sendings of all but the most powerful astropaths faded into the void. A rare few vessels vanished outright. Superstitious voidsmen dubbed this region of Warpspace "the Drop."
Hadex Anomaly - A Burden Returned: In 793.M41 a mysterious vessel of Imperial design began preying on voidships passing through the Drop. Lucia's Gauntlet, one of the few voidships to escape such an attack, identified the vessel as the Burden of Vigilance, now re-christened the Burden of Revelation and captained by Kokabiel Grigoris.Quickly recognising the threat presented by the rogue Navigator, the Acheros Salient fleet of the Navis Imperialis stepped up patrols in the Drop. Regrettably, this move served only to provide Kokabiel with more prey. Of the flotilla dispatched from Calist, a third fell to the Burden of Revelation's guns.A half dozen vanished beyond the Drop in a futile search for Kokabiel's sanctuary. Of the remaining vessels, only three are accounted for, arriving at Khazant over a decade later after limping through the Warp without Navigators.
Hadex Anomaly - The Tariff: Grigoris claims the Drop and all space beyond as his domain, requiring tribute from those passing through. Voidships unfortunate enough to run afoul of the Burden of Revelation must pay the toll or face reprisal. The exact nature of this toll depends upon Kokabiel's whims and the needs of his vessel.Fuel, provisions, and crew are the most common price for safe passage. On other occasions Kokabiel demands a teratonne of bilge water, spent macrocannon shells, or some other voidship by-product of little apparent use. Lord captains who refuse to pay the tariff face Kokabiel's vengeance. Most are fired upon outright, their voidships raided by mad acolytes of the Cyclopean Congregation.Warships capable of defending against hit-and-run attacks are stalked for days, hounded by the Burden of Revelation as it flits into and out of the Warp just long enough to unleash volleys of Lance fire. A lamentable few are given the illusion of escape.Left untouched by a seemingly resigned Kokabiel, these vessels soon find themselves off course, lost in the Drop and drifting ever closer to the core of the Hadex Anomaly. By special order of Lord Militant Solomon Tetrarchus, all commanders of the Acheros Salient fleet of the Navis Imperialis are prohibited from acquiescing to Kokabiel's demands.Those who fail to abide by this order face a Traitor's execution. Naval commanders are left with a difficult choice; brave Kokabiel's Drop and risk an encounter with the master of the Cyclopean Congregation, or bypass the Drop entirely and add solar weeks to the length of a voyage.
Hadex Anomaly - Kokabiel Grigoris: Kokabiel is a scion of House Grigoris, a Navigator bloodline whose service in the Navis Imperialis stretches back to the Age of Apostasy. Though his household is renowned for producing Navigators of distinction, Kokabiel's brief commission is shamefully unremarkable.The discovery of the Drop marked the end of Kokabiel's obscurity, as well as his loyalty to the crusade. Once considered handsome by Navigator standards, Kokabiel's few pleasing features are lost to pallid skin, elongated bones, and a perpetual grin both sardonic and beatific. However, Kokabiel's most striking features are his eyes, or lack thereof.At the moment of his first revelation, Kokabiel plucked out his eyes, sacrificing mundane sight for the visions imparted in the Hadex Anomaly. Now only his Third Eye remains. Kokabiel's Warp Eye is forever open, shedding a purulent red glow that casts no shadow. This eye is a thing of cosmic terror. Some claim it is a window into the Anomaly. Others claim it contains a fragment of the Anomaly itself.Still others speculate that Kokabiel's blighted eye is a microcosm, a fleshy orb containing the Hadex Anomaly in miniature. The truth is known only to Kokabiel and his most trusted followers.Strangely, though Kokabiel is familiar with the Jericho-Maw Warp Gate, having passed through it with the majority of his household at the onset of the Achilus Crusade, he is content to keep the gate's secret to himself. Whether Kokabiel holds his tongue out of some remaining vestige of honour or plans to use his knowledge as a bargaining chip in the future remains to be seen.
Hadex Anomaly - Fate of House Grigoris: Kokabiel's heresy brought shame and scrutiny upon House Grigoris. With the household's susceptibility to corruption called into question, Lord Militant Solomon Tetrarchus ordered all of its members recalled from active duty and confined to the Grigoris' temporary estate on Carmyn, pending a full investigation by the Ordo Malleus.As of 817.M41 all but three members of House Grigoris are accounted for:Penemue Grigoris - Vanished in the Charon Stars shortly after Tetrarchus' recall order. Intercepted astropathic communiqués suggest she planned to seek out Kokabiel and return him to the Emperor's light.Azazel Grigoris - Still serving aboard the Might of Terra, an Apocalypse-class Battleship long trapped behind enemy lines in the wake of the arrival of Hive Fleet Dagon.Araqiel Grigoris - The status of the House Grigoris Novator is currently unknown. Taken into protective custody (some say abducted) by an agent of the Ordo Xenos, Araqiel's disappearance weakened the already faltering position of his house. Puritans within the Ordo Malleus loudly accuse Radical elements of the Ordo Xenos of intentionally sabotaging an ongoing investigation.
Hadex Anomaly - Cyclopean Congregation: A self-proclaimed prophet, Kokabiel Grigoris presides over a mystery cult of degenerate Navigators and decadent voidsmen known as the Cyclopean Congregation. Named for Kokabiel and his inner circle of renegade Navigators, all of whom are blind save for their Third Eye, the Congregation cult promises illumination through communion with the Hadex Anomaly.Practicing complex rites of initiation, the cult's upper echelons are open only to full-blooded Navigators. Only those with the Warp Eye, preaches Kokabiel, can appreciate the Anomaly for what it truly is.According to his own blasphemous lore, Kokabiel's Drop is more than a convoluted region of the Immaterium. It is the entrance to a stable Warp route spiralling into the heart of the Hadex Anomaly, a place where the meanings of space and time are inverted.The fallen Navigator leads his Cyclopean Congregation on blasphemous pilgrimages along this route, each journey a profane recreation of the Burden of Vigilance's first passage through the Anomaly. During these voyages, acolytes ritually blind themselves, sacrificing an eye for each level of initiation attained within the cult.The lowest tiers of the Congregation are a collection of outcast voidsmen. Largely ignorant of the true nature of the cult, many of these Voidborn fanatics lost their Humanity to madness and mutation long before pledging fealty to Kokabiel. Wandering corridors and groping along bulkheads, the most devoted acolytes eagerly trade their sight for deeper initiation.Most revered outside Kokabiel's inner circle are the Typhlotics, bearers of the dormant Navigator Gene. Culled from Renegade houses and the extended families of raided Navigator households, these priests of the Congregation command the voidsmen flock and act as intermediaries between the cult's inner and outer circles.Having sacrificed both eyes already, Typhlotics go a step further, carving jagged spirals into their foreheads. Symbolising both the coiling route of Kokabiel's Drop and the swirling energies contained in their prophet's Third Eye, these scars mark the high priests of the Cyclopean Congregation.The inner circle of the Cyclopean Congregation consists exclusively of Navigators personally initiated by Kokabiel at the nucleus of the Hadex Anomaly. The Congregation's oracles and hierophants, these prodigal scions of the Navis Nobilite, are the unquestioned masters of the cult.Spending most of their time in quiet contemplation, these "Cyclopean Oracles" speak only to disseminate prophecy and issue orders to the Typhlotic clergy. The Cyclopean Oracles possess the greatest secret of the Congregation. Using the Hadex Anomaly as a guide in place of the Astronomican, they navigate the Congregational Fleet safely and nearly instantaneously across the Jericho Reach.
Hadex Anomaly - Promise of Illumination: Kokabiel foretells a coming age of chaos and despair, a time when the Astronomican will fail, leaving the Navis Nobilite scrabbling in the abyssal dark.The Nobilite's only salvation, Kokabiel preaches, comes in the form of the Hadex Anomaly, a new and vital light in the Warp. Those who comprehend the mysteries of the Anomaly and use its light to guide their passage through the Warp will be the masters of the coming age.Kokabiel envisions a time when the influence of the Anomaly encompasses the galaxy entire, every segmentum awash in its bloody glow.
Hadex Anomaly - The Unconverted: Not every Navigator brought before Kokabiel Grigoris is a willing convert. Navigators abducted in raids, captured in boarding actions, or traded to the Cyclopean Congregation by desperate crew, are loath to risk damnation at the foot of a self-proclaimed prophet.Those who reject Kokabiel's offer of enlightenment and initiation into the Congregation suffer a fate few planetbound Humans understand. With a savage twist of his talon-like fingers, Kokabiel rends the apostate's Third Eye, plucking the sensitive organ from the victim's forehead.Deprived of their Warp sight and rendered useless in the eyes of the Navis Nobilite, Kokabiel turns these unfortunates free. Some are dropped into Imperial territory, mutilated reminders of Kokabiel's private crusade. Others are ransomed back to their households. The worst of these wander bilge decks of the Burden of Revelation, their pitiful cries reverberating throughout the ancient bulkheads.
Hadex Anomaly - Congregational Fleet: A development unknown to the masters of the Achilus Crusade, Kokabiel Grigoris commands a growing fleet of voidships. Dubbed the "Congregational Fleet," this flotilla of ramshackle spacecraft is composed of ships lost to the Anomaly over the past millennium.Patiently gathered and retrofitted by the Cyclopean Congregation, the fleet is currently moored among the remains of a shattered moon. Repaired with archeotechnology cannibalised from derelicts considered beyond all hope of redemption, these ships are being prepared for war.
Hadex Anomaly - Dark Adversaries and Strange Allies: Kokabiel Grigoris and the Cyclopean Congregation do not exist in isolation. Grigoris' machinations are entangled with the disparate factions at war in the Jericho Reach, creating a complex web of alliances and rivalries worthy of the most experienced Aeldari manipulator.House Der'cel - Pronounced Excommunicate Traitoris for its involvement in the Sepphoris Secession, this Renegade Navigator House is a recent arrival to the Reach. Intercepted by representatives of the Congregation near Argoth, the entirety of House Der'cel converted to the Cyclopean Congregation in a single night. The Der'cel highliner Via Infractus is currently moored at an unknown location within the Charon Stars. The Via Infractus is currently the home of a massive breeding program, the birthplace of a new generation of Navigators raised from inception in the Cyclopean fold.Samech - The Cyclopean Congregation is on uneasy footing with the Hereteks of Samech. Once tentative trading partners, relations soured after Kokabiel purchased cloning technology to expedite the Congregation's first breeding program. The technology proved faulty, producing inchoate masses of palpitating tissue useless to the cult's long-term goals. Though Kokabiel swore revenge and bombarded multiple Heretek orbital stations at the edge of the Samech System, he has yet to deal a crushing blow against the Heretek magus responsible for crafting the faulty accelerated maturation chambers.The Stigmartus - Unbeknownst to Lord Militant Tetrarchus, the Burden of Revelation preys upon Stigmartus warships as readily as Imperial vessels. Though Stigmartus officer-bishops are not outright forbidden from bargaining with Kokabiel for safe passage through the Drop, Elak Sarda takes a dim view of subordinates willing to acquiesce to the rogue Navigator's demands. The cult-general's pride prevents him from entering diplomatic relations with the leader of a rival Chaos Cult, and his military actions against Kokabiel continually meet with failure.Word Bearers - The Deathwatch Rapid Strike Vessel Final Mercy recently witnessed a meeting between the Burden of Revelation and the Word Bearers Battle Barge Inexorable Ruination deep in the Charon Stars. Both ships vanished into the Immaterium after discovery. Investigation of the area revealed the remains of a third ship of xenos origin.
Haemastamen - Haemastamen: The Haemastamen, also known as the Blood Maker, is the 4th of the 19 gene-seed organs that are implanted into a Space Marine Neophyte to produce a new Astartes. Once implanted into a main blood vessel like the aorta, femoral artery or the vena cava, the Haemastamen alters an Astartes' blood's biochemical composition to carry oxygen and nutrients more efficiently.The actions of the Haemastamen turn a Space Marine's blood a brighter shade of red than that of normal humans because of its greatly increased oxygen-carrying capacity. It also acts to biochemically regulate the actions of the 2nd and 3rd gene-seed implants, the Ossmodula and Biscopea.
Haemonculi - History: Over the aeons, the Haemonculi and their ilk have committed a billion atrocities, each one fouler and more inventive than the last. At first, they did so out of malignance twinned with curiosity, then later to stave off the crippling ennui that curses all those who flirt with immortality. Now, they sew their tapestry of terror as a matter of survival.Though they maintain the facade that they are above such mundane concerns as nourishment, in truth their parasitic relationship with realspace is the only thing that sustains their existence.
Haemonculi - Notable Haemonculi Covens: Beneath the Dark City lurk the covens of the Haemonculi, a twisted brotherhood of ancient torturer-alchemists. These fiends are so steeped in evil that sustaining their existence requires the infliction of near continuous atrocities.Universally feared, these twisted beings are crucial to the continued survival of the Drukhari, for their unnatural sciences give them power over life and death. Yet those who deal with the Haemonculi should be wary, as there is always a price to pay.The most infamous of the covens are listed here, though there are a great many more less-powerful or newly-established covens whose names remain unknown to current Imperial intelligence:
Haemonculi - The Altered: The Altered are well-known for never wearing the same anatomy on consecutive occasions. However, their true expertise is in poisons, toxins and phages.They are the premiere suppliers of lethal elixirs in the Dark City -- if an artisan were to take a Splinter Weapon from any Kabal or Cult and break down its constituent venoms, they would find several that hailed from the laboratories of the Altered.Many of their number are Nemesists, dark scientists who collude with the Shaimesh-worshipping toxmaidens of Lhilitu. Though it may take millennia of experimentation, their single-minded quest is to unlock the death-secrets of every sentient creature in the galaxy.When raiding realspace, the coven will capture as many victims as they can, regardless of quality -- they think nothing of rendering down entire populations or even entire species into a single poison of unparalleled potency.To reap the raw materials they need for their deadly distillations, the Altered employ a standing army of Corpsethief Claws, each Talos equipped with stinger pods and ichor injectors that bubble with the most lethal liquids imaginable.
Haemonculi - The Black Descent: The Haemonculi of the Black Descent love to lay traps and sit back to enjoy their lethal denouement. These range from the feigned flights and baited ambushes of their realspace raids to thousand-year intrigues that see their rivals fully humbled.To cross the Black Descent is to invite a punishment darkly twisted to fit the crime. One who uses brute force against them may later find himself stung by an insect-sized Wrack, the hyperdrenaline introduced into his bloodstream forcing him into a frenzy so severe he literally tears himself apart. One who delays payment for the Black Descent's poisons may awake one morning trapped in a Sslyth venom-nest.Even unintended offense can yield retribution -- when an ambassador from the Kabal of the Baleful Gaze wrinkled his nose at the stench of the coven's dungeons, he soon found himself coughing on transmutative gas. Later that night he sprouted the quivering nostrils of an Ur-Ghul, his eyes sealing over so he could better appreciate the fine bouquet of rot.The Haemonculi of the Black Descent have constructed a pyramidal labyrinth of glass that hangs inverted beneath the Dark City. Promising captives are thrown into the labyrinth's sensory deprivation chambers whilst the covenites leer outside.The only way out is to negotiate the maze's trap-strewn confines through touch and instinct. Almost all of those that undertake this journey are killed, caught in Paradox Cubes or falling eternally into Moebius pits as they try to avoid the labyrinth's bladed convolutions.Those that pass through safely are rewarded with a new life as a Wrack, becoming a part of the coven forever more.
Haemonculi - Coven of Twelve: The Coven of Twelve is a conclave of several Haemonculi, each of whom considers themselves the foremost practitioner of the dark arts. Membership of the coven is restricted to just eleven individuals at any time -- the twelfth spot is left open for Urien Rakarth, should he ever deign to accept the coven's invitation.Since Haemonculi have a habit of overcoming death, the only way that a new aspirant can ascend to join the Twelve is to dispose of a current incumbent in a manner so thorough that even a master Haemonculus cannot undo it. Shegmeth Kro was pushed into a mirror dimension the size of a coffin too small for his frame.Khaebrys Xulfur was posed an impossible riddle that, with each wrong answer, turned more of his body into bone until finally he was nothing more than an osseous statue.Zakrodevia was rendered into a sentient soup using acids from captured Tyranids and then imbibed by his peers at a banquet.A warped arms race consumes the Coven of Twelve. Their quest to stay one step ahead of each other ensures these Haemonculi bear the deadliest devices their arcane science can yield. These tools of atrocity feature strongly in the arsenals of the coven during their realspace raids -- flesh gauntlets, electrocorrosive whips, null batons, Mindphase Gauntlets and even stranger weapons abound.Many of the coven's members are Scarlet Epicureans, their tastes for inventive fatalities so all-consuming they seek to experience them in person. Many of the Wracks in the service of the Twelve are flayed of their skin, their nerves left raw so they can better appreciate the full spectrum of sensation.
Haemonculi - Coven of the Crawling Dark: A notorious conclave of Haemonculi of the Dark City of Commorragh. There is little information on this coven in official Imperial records beyond the fact of its existence.
Haemonculi - Coven of the Thirteen Scars: A notorious conclave of Haemonculi, the Thirteen Scars are notable for having created the stronghold known as the Tower of Flesh in 796.M37 -- a living, breathing fortress, made of the bodies of those who defied them.The Renegade Chaos Space Marine fleshcrafter, Fabius Bile, of the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion, was tutored in the dark arts within its blood-slicked halls. Bile was accompanied to the Dark City by Lucius the Eternal, who was declared by his "hosts" -- the Wych Cult of the Wrath Unbound -- to be endlessly entertaining both on and off the arena floor.Nearly two Terran centuries later, in 993.M37, Bile betrayed the trust of his Commorrite mentors. By teaching the secrets he had been entrusted with to the Emperor's Children in his employ, Bile diluted the art of the fleshcrafter to an unforgivable degree.The Thirteen Scars had long watched for just such an infraction. The vengeful Haemonculi coven were able to breach a long-sealed Webway node on the world of Belial IV, and their animated living fortress lumbered into the ancient Aeldari palace that the Emperor's Children were using as a base of operations.Furious battle erupted between the coven's flesh-crafted army and Primogenitor Bile's private army of horrors. Confronted by the coven lords of the Thirteen Scars, an understanding was eventually reached.Bile's augmented Emperor's Children were granted death by masochistic ecstasy, and the Haemonculi departed after surgically ensuring that the Renegade cannot speak of his learnings to any other living creature.
Haemonculi - The Dark Creed: Specialising in the arts of terror, the Haemonculi of the Dark Creed have a deep reverence for the indirect kill. They love nothing more than seeing their victims debase themselves in fear, and will drive their captives to madness or suicide purely to show they are above such primitive notions as physical intervention.Having long grown bored of traditional murder techniques, the Dark Creed believe it is the height of sophistication to end a victim's life without making a direct attack. An abstract death, perhaps caused purely through heart-stopping emotion, is considered the finest victory. Aside from any aesthetic considerations, such a demise has the practical benefit of being difficult to trace.Even their Wracks prefer the esoteric kill; each cell boasts at least one Liquifier Gun, Ossefactor or Hexrifle with which to slay their targets from a distance, where their death throes can be enjoyed by all.It is because of their preference for unusual deaths that the coven has a great many Cronos Parasite Engines in its number. Strung with blooded chains and grisly trophies, these constructs generate so much negative energy that they can kill without striking a single physical blow.Likewise, the Dark Creed's forces are often joined in battle by the night-clad denizens of Aelindrach, for that realm too thrives on the weaponisation of fear.During their realspace raids, the coven is often accompanied by packs of Mandrakes that hurl soul-blistering balefire to terrorise their victims, before the Haemonculi close in for an elaborate kill.