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Kabal of the Lords of the Iron Thorn

2020-10-05T08:40:31Z

2601:193:4103:9A20:7D83:80A:5C9D:3895: Created page with "{{Infobox Drukhari Kabal |Name = Kabal of the Lords of the Iron Thorn |Heraldry = 200px |Lead Archon = Khadys Abrahak |Kabal Specialties = G..."

{{Infobox Drukhari Kabal
|Name = Kabal of the Lords of the Iron Thorn
|Heraldry = [[Image:LordsOfTheIronThrone.png|200px]]
|Lead Archon = Khadys Abrahak
|Kabal Specialties = Gravship manufacturing, Overwhelming firepower
|Colours = Black, Iron Grey, Red Highlights
}}

The unwieldily named Kabal of the Lord of the Iron Thorn are a major [[Dark Eldar]] [[Kabal]] in the city of [[Commorragh]]. The best way to look at them is that if the [[Kabal of the Obsidian Rose| Obsidian Rose]] is the pointed teeth of the Drukhari war machine, the Lords of the Iron Throne are the legs that get them there, basically being the luxury carmakers of the entire race.

== Origins and Organization ==
The Lords of the Iron Thorn are Commorragh's greatest comeback story. In that they were ''allowed'' to have a comeback story. Truly one of the very oldest, and possibly ''the'' oldest Kabal in the entire society, as they can trace their roots back to when Commorragh was merely an especially rowdy port city in the Webway. This has made them arrogant even by the standards of the Dark Eldar, which means these fuckers must just be the worst person you know times cloned a million times. Combine that with ambition that is nearly limitless, and they are a Kabal that has carved a pretty respectable niche for themselves, but it's that same level of total ambition and complete arrogance that got the Lords of the Iron Thorn almost completely erased from the face of the Webway.

See, the Lords of the Iron Thorn's enormous Biker-Bar-Gravship-Factory is called '''Pandaimon''', and it is a transdimensional satellite realm to Commorragh. While it's been very close for eons, it's never exactly been ''directly'' in Commorragh's backyard. And it is that unusual combo of technicality on a dimensional level and Kabal-wide arrogance that caused one very, impressively, holy-shit-are-you-this-dense arrogant Archon named '''Draylin Qu''' to decide to secede from the city in M38. Now, there were three theories as to why this had ended up happening: The first was simple, idiotic greed that had gotten Qu so hopped up he was willing to throw down with Asdrubael fucking Vect of all people, the second was that he was trying to galaxy brain up a civil war so that he could sell Raiders to whichever side, and end up richer than all of them. But the opinion who mattered was that of Vect himself, who saw this upstart little shitbird as a personal affront to everything he'd built, and decided that it was time to remind him who his betters were, and showed up in Pandaimon ready to level it back down to the foundations. Qu on the other hand, had planned for this, and had outfitted his Kabal with the best attack craft and guns he could get his hands on, and quickly stalled out the fighting into a bitter stalemate: The Iron Thorn countering Vect's much larger force by simply pounding it with firepower too powerful, too fast and too numerous to break, but also being too pinned down on one location to start gaining any ground. But like any good evil mastermind, Vect had an ace up his sleeve; Qu's own daughter.

Veryna Qu had become one of Vect's consorts, and in a grand betrayal the likes of which has only ever been matched by other Archon, killed her own fucking father with a poisoned kiss, and he died in utter agony. With him gone, Vect picked up Qu's daughter, and rode his overwhelming forces right up into Pandaimon, where after they surrendered, a culling was done that was so brutal that even thinking about it still gives other Kabalites shivers. Think about just how bad that has to be for [[PROMOTIONS| OTHER DARK ELDAR]] to get a little green around the gills thinking about it. But, in the rarest act of his entire life, Vect left survivors. Finally free of his annoyance, he admitted he was impressed by their spirit, and thought that their skill could come in handy someday, and so he withdrew his forces, and encouraged them all to rebuild, just to see what would happen...but not before tacking up Draylin Qu's face up on a wall somewhere to remind them just what they should ''avoid'' doing in the future.

While the Kabal was probably down to about less than a few thousand very beat-up survivors, the reality is that their sheer capital and resources, combined with their unique location and relentless personal philosophy, meant that it was relatively easy for them to rebuild around the thing that had made them so hard to fight in the first place: Attack craft. Their entire Kabal is now dedicated to the creation of Attack Craft, and their marque is a sign of quality: They put out the very best [[Raider]]s, the fastest [[Venom]]s, and the shootiest [[Ravager]]s. If you're a Dark Eldar, chances are you're salivating at the idea of going into battle on the backs of one of the Iron Thorn's machines, and fantasize about being the one behind the wheel. That level of brand recognition and trust has single-handedly gotten them back at the table in Commorragh, being able to intimidate, bribe, or scheme their way back into the politics of the Dark City simply by throwing these things around as gifts, and while they've never shaken their arrogance, the current Archon and a Trueborn survivor of the Pandaimon war, '''Khadys Abrahak''', knows all too well the dangers of getting in Vect's sights. At least, directly, anyway, and so they work night and day to undermine him however they can.

Of course, their need to put out more and more grav-ships means that the Lords of the Iron Thorn are pretty regular raiders of realspace, grabbing captives who can work the forges and hammer the signature marques into shape by the millions, all so that they can have their machines out and in the lots of Commorragh. Like his predecessor, Abrahak has a talent for combat involving gunning things down through sheer volume, and often loves joining raids personally just to prove that his weapons are far superior to that of inferior race's air and skimmer-craft. Unlike his predecessor, Abrahak is far more cautious, planning his raids to the letter, and won't commit forces unless he's sure he can get an edge on the hapless bastards he's about to put on his manufacturing line, and would rather have every last Trueborn he has die horribly rather than let even one of his Skimmers go.

Also in the time of the 41st Milennium, Vect "manipulated" them into going out and smashing a rival Kabal into dust for daring to convert Dark Eldar into Ynnari.
[[category:Dark Eldar]]
[[category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Kabal

2020-10-05T07:39:07Z

2601:193:4103:9A20:7D83:80A:5C9D:3895: /* Tabletop */

A '''Kabal''' is a sort of clan or House of [[Dark Eldar]], with a big heap of organized crime family (and, obviously BDSM) thrown in.

== Origin ==
There used to be proper royal houses in [[Commorragh]], dating back to the [[Eldar]] Empire, and persisting even after the Fall. They operated cautiously, raiding Imperial worlds infrequently, so as to avoid attracting the ire of the Imperium. [[Asdrubael Vect]] didn't much like their aristocratic/nepotistic ways (having been a slave before clawing his way into a position of relative power), so he arranged their downfall by intentionally raiding the Imperium, eventually luring the [[Salamanders]] into Commorragh to wreck things. Since he was expecting them, his Kabal of the Black Heart stayed intact, and cut-throat (figuratively and literally), meritocratic Kabals like his became the ruling bodies of the Dark City.

== Organization ==
Each Kabal is headed by an [[Archon_(Warhammer_40,000)|Archon]]. Unlike most mob bosses, Archons are often in the trenches, getting into the thickest part of the raids, as hanging back is a sign of weakness, and in Drucharii society weakness is death, or rapid replacement, most likely by way of death. Archons are also almost always the best fighters in their Kabal (see below for why). Under them are the Dracon, the officers of the Kabal and leaders of the deadliest squads, who often plot against their Archon. Then come Kabalite Warriors, who are themselves segregated into the "Trueborn", those born from an actual mother and father (and potentially more actors are [[Slaanesh|involved]] in the [[PROMOTIONS|process]] if you believe some of the older lore), and the mass-produced vat-grown "half-born". At the very bottom are the slaves who do all the menial work and, when they aren't good for anything else, get tortured to feed the souls of the Kabalites with their pain.

Kabals often work in parallel with other Dark Eldar organizations. Most Archons sign a contract with a coven of [[Haemonculus|Haemonculi]], promising new victims and working material (often the two are the same) in return for access to resurrection chambers and the assistance of whatever horrors the coven has at its disposal. Wych cults, Reavers, and other unsavories looking for glory may tag along (or be paid to come along) on a raid.

A Dark Eldar who stands out from the crowd can earn prestige and leadership, but the ambitious can also move up in life by killing their immediate superiors and taking their place. This is not seen as problematic by Commorragh society -- in their eyes, a leader who cannot stop his subordinates from killing him obviously isn't much of a leader. On the other hand, he's also considered not much of a leader if ''no-one'' wants to kill him.

== Tabletop ==
In game terms, The Kabals offer different bonuses depending which one you choose since the 8e codex dropped, though as of right now only a select few have out and out rules, that's never stopped you from plucking some off the generic list and plunking thematically appropriate ones onto [[Your Dudes]], did it?

== Notable Kabals ==
There are a shit-ton more than these, especially petty ones operating out of Low [[Commorragh]], who might as well be pissant [[Necromunda]] gangs. The fun comes in though when you hear a name that could, perhaps plus or minus a little grammatical change, just as well be that of an [[edgy]] [[Space Marine]] chapter as a Deldar Kabal or Coven (read the ''Path of...'' series and you'll encounter a bunch not enumerated here which to be perfectly honest I could not tell you if cross-quizzed which category they were in...White Flames, anyone?)
===== Major Kabals =====
* [[Kabal of the Black Heart]] - the most powerful Kabal in [[Commorragh]], headed by [[Asdrubael Vect]].
* [[Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue]] - The "subtlest" Kabal, while also one of the most openly dickish. Headed by [[Lady Malys]].
* [[Kabal of the Obsidian Rose]] - The arms dealers of Commoragh, run by a former slave who went absolutely bugfuck nuts and now holds a stranglehold on the weapons trade in the dark city.
* [[Kabal of the Dying Sun]] - a bunch of Boomers who swear up and down they still can blow up suns if they feel like it, and thanks to their absolutely insane archaeotech, they can. But more often than not end up blowing themselves up in the process.
* [[Kabal of the Last Hatred]] - A bunch of truly [[Edgy]] necromancers who plan to somehow transcend mortality, and kill their craftworld counterparts to a man.
* [[Kabal of the Flayed Skull‏‎]] - A bunch of truly bloodthirsty murder pirates that zerg rush pretty much everybody in their way on-site. Also one of the fastest growing Kabals, apply today and get your own Jetbike!
* [[Kabal of the Broken Sigil]] - (Sounds like a CSM warband to me...) And you'd be right! As they take their entire raiding strategy from the [[Night Lords]].
* [[Kabal of the Lords of the Iron Thorn‏‎]] - The makers of the skimmers that the Dark Eldar depend on, and brought themselves back up from nothing after a failed rebellion.
* [[Kabal of the Black Myriad‏‎]] - Nothing known about them but their name and symbol.
* [[Kabal of the Bladed Lotus]] - Nothing known about them but their name and symbol.
* [[Kabal of the Bleaksoul Brethren]] - Known for a twisted sense of humor and their shark like teeth.
* [[Kabal of the Wraithkind‏‎]] - A Kabal that got on Vect's bad side, and are now forced to essentially be a bunch of Mandrake vampires who can only feed on pain in the material plane. Understandably, they are nonplussed about this.
* [[Kabal of the Baleful Gaze‏‎]] - Make use of beast masters and wych cult allies.
* [[Kabal of the Falling Moon]] - Rivals of the Dying Sun Kabal. They are just as old but originate from a pre fall lunar cult instead of solar one.

===== Minor Kabals =====
* [[Kabal of the Slashed Eye‏‎]]
* [[Kabal of the Bloodied Claw]] (Definitely sounds like a possible [[Blood Angels]] successor chapter.)
* [[Kabal of the Fiend Ascendant]]
* [[Kabal of the Crimson Woe]]
* [[Kabal of the Ebon Law]]
* [[Kabal of the Onyx Scar]] (That'd be the exact opposite of a [[White Scars|White Scar]], wouldn't it?)

== Homebrew Kabals ==
* [[Dark Eldar Kabal Creation Tables‏‎]], a set of fluff tables for generating your own Kabal.
* [[The Enshrouded]], a [[/tg/ 40,000]] Kabal composed mostly of [[Haemonculus|Haemonculi]] and their covens.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Dark Eldar]]

Kabal of the Last Hatred

2020-10-05T07:37:53Z

2601:193:4103:9A20:7D83:80A:5C9D:3895: Buying this book was a fucking riot. Deldar lore tidbits are like little mini horror comedies

{{Infobox Drukhari Kabal
|Name = Kabal of the Last Hatred
|Heraldry = [[Image:LastHatred.jpg|200px]]
|Lead Archon = Thyndrak
|Kabal Specialties = Necromancy, Torture, Racism
|Colours = Purple and blue
}}
The Kabal of the Last Hatred is one of the great [[Kabal]]s of [[Commorragh]], and even among an edgy group of BDSM elves, these guys are up there in the edge department. Like...REALLY up there.

== Origins and Organization ==
Deep within pain-farms across the Dark City and across Haemonculus laboratories hidden away in maddening corridors, the Kabal of the Last Hatred works to, as they say, master the craft of necromancy. But anybody who's even slightly aware of them knows that they have bigger aims. Aims so high there are rumors they plan on completely transcending mortality itself, or even, and this is the darkest rumor of all, wiping out the entire Aeldari race and enslaving whatever being is born from the ashes of such an event. What makes other Kabals uneasy is that while the idea sounds insane (because it is), the look in every one of the Last Hatred's kabalite eyes gives the impression they seem to have at least some form of idea on how to do it, and if they don't, they know that the Last Hatred will stoop to whatever level necessary to get the results they truly desire.

Naturally, this open hatred of the Aeldari means that [[Exodites]] and [[Craftworld]]ers were the chief targets of the Last Hatred for Milennia...right up until [[Yvraine]] showed up and effectively re-flipped the coin on how doomed the Eldar were, and that pissed them off ''royally'', to the point that the [[Ynnari]] are almost exclusively their new prey, which they hunt with the fury that is only ever matched by [[Khorne]]-worshippers.

When they aren't trying to hunt Yvraine down and pin her from one end of Commoragh to the other by her skin, The Last Hatred is known for their expansive pain farms, and are both reknowned and infamous for their ability to keep their captives alive and suffering long past the point of death, to the point that they have learned the art of pinning the poor unfortunate wretch's soul to their dead body just at the moment they finally leave this mortal coil, leaving them in a constant state of undeath and agony. But that's just the fleshy, morbid outer crust. Deep inside their stronghold, still groaning and agonizing undead are hung like art and studied by their aligned Haemonculi and the Kabal themselves, looking to unlock the secrets of life and death. Needless to say, if they ever actually get anywhere on this insane mission, pretty much everything in Realspace, and ''especially'' the Aeldari, is completely boned.

Their Archon, '''Thyndrak''', is naturally an utter maniac, ever obsessed with the secrets of mortality, and a master of truly incredible and wasteful uses of her raiding time; [[Edgy | having fashioned what is effectively a disco ball of half-dead, screaming dolls out of the governing family of an imperial planet that can be lowered down onto a dance floor so that her guests can mock dance with their whimpering, sobbing bodies and laugh at their pain.]] It's said that any Drukhari on her dance floor get a massive pick-me-up of energy when she has this happen, so in the grand scheme of things she's probably at the very least the most "fun" at parties of Dark Eldar leadership.
[[category:Dark Eldar]]
[[category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Kabal of the Flayed Skull

2020-09-26T23:04:44Z

2601:193:4103:9A20:7D83:80A:5C9D:3895: Created page with "{{Infobox Drukhari Kabal |Name = Kabal of the Flayed Skull |Heraldry = 200px |Lead Archon = Vraesque Malidrach |Kabal Specialties = Lightning Assault..."

{{Infobox Drukhari Kabal
|Name = Kabal of the Flayed Skull
|Heraldry = [[Image:FlayedSkull.png|200px]]
|Lead Archon = Vraesque Malidrach
|Kabal Specialties = Lightning Assault, Aerial Superiority
|Colours = Red and Black
}}

The Kabal of the Flayed Skull is one of the younger, but by far fastest growing [[Dark Eldar]] [[Kabal]]s in the city of [[Comorragh]], born from a nutjob death racer who brought his level of speed and violence addiction from mere hobby to business opportunity. And since it's inception, business has been very good.
== Origins and Organization ==
'''Vraesque Malidrach''' didn't start life as some high-born spoiled murderbrat. He was once Vraesque the Reaver, a gladiator in the arena of Khad Metrul, where he made his name surviving the Bitterspire's death-races over a hundred times, and became so well known for his vicious and furious competitive nature that he managed to get a fan club together, and the riches and fame he'd gained from surviving such violent competitions were enough to buy his freedom, which he immediately used to go about getting his fan club together to go bully or steal enough followers into going from "Hyper-fanatical Death-NASCAR fan community" to "Fully fledged Kabal", and the rest they say, is history. And like everything they do, history is happening fast.

The Flayed Skull has grown exponentially thanks to Vraesque's addiction for going fast and raiding as hard and brutally as Drukhari-ly possible appealing greatly to Commoragh's citizenry, especially those lucky few gladiators that manage to fight their way out of the arenas in death races or those who manage to afford some form of attack craft, since that means they can join one of the fastest and most furious group of pilots ever to blight Commoragh's skies with one of it's quickest thinking Archons, who has ensured that unlike many other Archons, his skills have never dulled with time, nor has he seen reason to ever stop raiding personally. It's this level of fan engagement as well as breakneck pace that's allowed the Kabal to swell to the size it currently is, only rivaled in terms of military might by that of [[Kabal of the Black Heart| Vect's ample group of homeys]].

The Kabal gathers at one of the most jagged points in the city; ''The Poisoned Crown'', which is a maddening tower of pipes and caves that is only ever reachable by flight, and it's moorings are overloaded with every kind of Dark Eldar flyer you could imagine, and several thousand more hide within. There, those Kabalites within wait impatiently to get back to the thing they love to do more than anything else in the world, go fast, and strike fear into the hearts of their foes. They all have a tendency to coat their faces in their own blood, in streaks like their logo, or in intricate runes. Apparently they do this to say that it's the only blood that they will spill during their raids. They also take the time to ensure that their flaying skills are up to snuff, as the Flayed Skull didn't take the name without reason, they are ''very'' good at it, using the [[Grimdark|flayed skin of their foes as trophies, craft-decorations, and clothing, with the very richest of the Kabal able to afford master crafted face skin coats that still moan with agony when the owner moves around.]] Those who can't afford that kind of cartoonishly evil craftsmanship stick to more basic creations like loincloths or cloaks, and frequently affix their armor with spikes, chains, and barbed hooks to look even more edgy than they already do. It would be unwise to look at them as mere maniacs indulging in edgy nonsense however, as a whole Kabal fell victim to their brutal predation, and a gallery in the Poisoned Crown holds their still screaming faces to this very day.

The Flayed Skull as a military entity favor Aerial superiority above all else, preferring to attack from the skies if at all possible for the entirety of their realspace raids; coating a planet's atmosphere in [[Razorwing Jetfighter| Razorwings]] and [[Voidraven Bomber| Voidravens]] in lightning fast interwoven strikes on key targets and harrowing gang-ups on any resistance. It is supplemented by bringing about as many [[Scourge]]s as Vraesque can summon, leading to less of a raid and more like a planetwide cloud of hornets descending on some poor sucker, hoping to sting it to death through sheer numbers and speed. The Kabal rarely, if ever, fights on the ground, to the point that they've actually taken whole worlds without ever needing footsloggers at all. The rare souls that do end up having to hoof it fight at breakneck speed in order to facilitate getting back into their vehicles, and only ever do so in order to break up aerial defenses on the ground, or to actually flay the skulls of their opponents, a signature move of their Archon made into a terrifying practice of their warriors. [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device| They're also known for their many interactions with Sly Marbo.]]
[[category:Dark Eldar]]
[[category:Warhammer 40,000]]

Kabal of the Obsidian Rose

2020-09-26T21:23:49Z

2601:193:4103:9A20:7D83:80A:5C9D:3895:

{{Infobox Drukhari Kabal
|Name = Kabal of the Obsidian Rose
|Heraldry = [[Image:ObsidianRose.png|200px]]
|Lead Archon = Aestra Khromys
|Kabal Specialties = Weapons testing, Long-range assault
|Colours = Crimson and Blue, Armor is Black and Red.
}}
The Obsidian Rose is a [[Kabal]] of the [[Dark Eldar]], and one of the major ones vital to the Dark Eldar success. They are a bunch of perfectionist gun nuts obsessed with building the very best guns and the very sharpest knives, and as such have a stranglehold on the weapons manufacturing in the city of [[Commoragh]].

== Origins and Organization ==
The Kabal of the Obsidian Rose was previously a relatively uninteresting among Commoragh's gaggle of edgelord gangs, with your typical asshole [[Archon]], by the name of Vhorlac, who happened to toss a certain '''Aestra Khromys''' into the weapon shops, hoping she'd just die from boredom doing menial labor for daring not to suck his dick or something. Because the Dark Eldar are sense-freak sweatgoblins, anyone stuck to this fate often go deliriously mad or their soul starves, but Khromys...Khromys had a plan. She became obsessed with weapons, how to make them better, fire harder and faster, make the swords and knives sharper, make the whips even more painful, and she set to work making weapons that were beyond compare, all to her insane exacting standards. It paid off; within a year she went from slave to artisan master gunsmith, with many Archons asking for her workshop's gear by name. Eventually, Vhorlac, who had long forgotten about her, purchased her workshop wholesale, and Khromys lavished him and his retinue with some of the very best and edgiest weapons she had ever made. On the day of the sale, she and the other smiths gifted him a bunch of well-made but seemingly useless trinkets, but in fact were a bunch of concealed weapons that just so happened to disable the stuff Vhorlac and his men were wearing, and with that, Khromys slew them all to a man in an act of meticulous, perfectly executed treachery that is still talked about to this very day in Commoragh.

The Obsidian Rose since then has entrenched itself deep into the heart of the Commoragh arms business to the point that they're almost the only game in town, and they do it by instilling that same level of obsessive perfection into everything they do. Khromys got to where she is by planning literally everything out to the letter and by having only the very best quality weapons and armor, and she expects the exact same thing out of her gunsmiths and Kabalites, because anything less would tarnish their flawless reputation, and that shit cannot happen. Normally because she personally makes her way down to the workshop with her [[Talos Pain Engine|Pain Engine]] known only as "The Overseer" to go dole out some especially brutal punishment when they dare to be anything other than perfect. This extends even into their warfare, where they practice their roles in the coming battles to the point that the average warrior can do their part in the fight blindfolded, and those who get caught daring to allow blood to get on their weapons during raids will often get strung up with the slaves they capture, that's just how anal retentive they are when it comes to perfection.

Khromys these days spends most of her time raiding, specifically looking for [[Eldar]] slaves of any variety, as only they have the dexterity required to meet her insane standards, meaning she is probably on a lot of hitlists around [[craftworld]]s.
[[category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[category:Dark Eldar]]