Editing Abhuman (section)

===[[Squat|The Kin]]===
''Homo sapiens rotundus''

The Kin, or Squats as they are called in Necromunda, grew up on high-gravity mineral-rich worlds near the core of the galaxy and became adapted to be short, robustly built, and adept miners. If this sounds familiar, it's because they were intentionally designed to be the space-equivalent of [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy Battle)|Dwarfs]] from [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]].

They were introduced in the [[Rogue Trader (Sourcebook)|First Edition]] of [[Warhammer 40,000]] as a separate army to the various Imperial forces (being fiercely independent), and were mentioned sparingly thereafter until they were written out of the background (hence the term "squatted"), but the [[Warhammer 40,000 6th edition|Sixth Edition]] rulebook has written them back in again and in Necromunda [[Squats#2022: Squats are back on the menu|they actually have models]]. And in [[Warhammer 40,000 9th edition|Ninth Edition]] finally made a [[Leagues of Votann|triumphant return]].

They are morphologically very similar to Ratlings but have the inferior eyesight one would expect of a race adapted to low-light and/or interior conditions (where nothing to be looked at is ever very far away), as well as the increased [[Catachan Jungle Fighters|musculature]] and robustness to be expected of an environment harsher than Terra. Where Squats seem to be more adapted to hunting and gathering, Ratlings are more adapted to farming.

And in the new Votann lore we learn that they originated from cloning, with their ancestors using "cloneskeins" to modify their bodies, leading to their current body, and even neutering their psychic presence to avoid Chaos, making them almost invisible to them like the Tau. And, unlike the greater Imperium, their society is centered around the [[Votann]], AI supercomputers which they get their name from. And are kept secret for [[Adeptus Mechanicus|obvious reasons]].

They have set up various [[prospect|prospecting companies]] across the [[Imperium]] and to a lesser extent the [[Tau|Tau Empire]]. A Prospect is a militarised exploratory & commercial fleet. These expeditions seek out new mineral and energy deposits, trade routes and other lucrative opportunities for the Kin. Notably one of these are the [[Ironhead_Squat_Prospectors|Ironheads]] who were invited to [[Necromunda]] around M31 in a deal where the squats would receive priviliged mining rights in exchange for their service in repairing the wartorn world. The name of each [[Charter_Master|Chartermaster]] is added to their clans copy of the charter detailing this contract.