Genestealer Cult - Cult Organisation: Those cults unearthed by the Inquisition have a common hierarchy, largely dictated by the generations and cycles of xenos infection. Though variations occur, the Genestealer Patriarch is analogous to the monarch of this kingdom, with the Magus as his grand vizier and the Primus the leader of his holy crusades. Together this top tier of leadership of the cult is known as the Brood Coven. The dynasty that serves the Brood Coven can number in the millions.Every iteration of the Genestealer infection can spread anarchy and disaster. Better known as "brood cycles," the mockeries of family lineage that form the framework of each cult are all slaves of the Patriarch's greatness. To celebrate his magnificent strangeness by echoing his form is a privilege like no other. Though all pay homage to the Patriarch, each brood cycle has a strong internal coherence, and many will bear markings that bind them further to their brethren within the cult.Though the broods of each cycle are similar in organisation, the Genestealer Curse does not conform to the strictures of mortal science. Anomalous bioforms rise to the surface with every new generation, for interbreeding within the cult is common, and Tyranid gene-matter is, by its very nature, highly mutable. Even as the second and subsequent cycles spread the infection anew, the original brood cycle will still be active, casting the web of the Patriarch's influence ever further.A fully mature Genestealer Cult is huge; it can number in the millions or even billions, perhaps more if it covers several worlds. The Cult of the Pauper Princes, for instance, originated on the world of Chancer's Vale, but has taken its fervent creed to the Sentinel World of Vigilus, and fifteen other planets besides. The original instance, known as the "genesis infestation," is the most numerous, but all subsequent infestations -- sometimes known as "splinter cults" -- have much the same colouration of chitin and flesh.There might be small differences in markings and even temperament, but they are cut from the same cloth; they may even use fundamentally the same heraldic colours to show their wider allegiance to the cult. Necessity often demands that these colours are adapted to fit in with local uniforms and societal norms, but armbands or tattoos are sometimes employed as a unifying feature, albeit often hidden from sight.All the cultists of a given world are known as an "infestation," and each populous area can propagate several full brood cycles. All the cultists in a given population centre are known as a "gene-sect." Some populations are only numerous enough to support one gene-sect, but on those worlds that teem with life, several can coexist.Though each gene-sect may further differentiate itself with markings and subtleties of colouration, ultimately they all hail from the same Patriarch, and usually work together seamlessly. Each gene-sect has its own specialist bioforms and war leaders, including a Magus, Primus and Nexos. These usually hail from the fourth generation, and hence can pass for fully Human. So close are they in thought and deed that they and their peers in other gene-sects may even band together to fight in the same place at the same time.These gene-sects, usually at least several hundred members strong, are further subdivided into "claws." Claws typically number between fifty and a hundred warriors; formed for specific duties, these are assembled and disbanded according to the cult's needs. Claws will have at least one leader figure that guides them in their mission, and each Magus and Primus will have several claws at their disposal, ranging from Neophyte Hybrid groups that can pass for Human to monstrous broods of Aberrants that are unmistakably alien.Once the cult reaches a point of maturity where it feels secure enough that it can spare the resources to spread, it sends out a Genestealer -- or even an entire brood -- to find new prey. These will either come from the original brood to have made planetfall, known as the "First Curse," or the Purestrain Genestealers born of a brood cycle's fifth generation. These vectors of infection will start a new gene-sect should they find another suitable population centre on the same world, or an entirely new infestation if they reach a planet that can support a splinter of the parent cult.Typically each planet only has one Patriarch, but it can have many Maguses and Primuses as its lieutenants in different parts of the world. If the existing Patriarch dies, the next Purestrain Genestealer to have infected a host on that planet will adapt and grow to become the new Patriarch over time. There are exceptions -- should an infestation's outrider organisms find a population centre so rich in life it has the equivalent of a small planetary populace unto itself, the Purestrain Genestealer that is sent out to colonise it can become a new Patriarch in its own right.This will very rarely happen in contiguous land masses, due to the psychic backlash in the cult's Broodmind that could result, but provided the sites are sufficiently removed it can theoretically occur. The two gene-sects will be competing for resources, and may even come into conflict, but when the hive fleet arrives, the far more potent gestalt Hive Mind of the Tyranid species takes overall control.