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Corpse Grinder Cults

2022-12-29T17:12:20Z

2A01:E0A:26A:4A60:28DB:E975:F062:4D49:

{{heresy}}
{{NeedsImages}}
{{sick|Even in the grim darkness of 40K, cannibalism still sticks out.}}
{{Topquote|It is better that the masses do not know the truth behind what they consume; for many find their sanity overwhelmed by the necessity of our great work. That is what the Corpse Grinders are; weak-willed fools who have seen the truth and seek now comfort in the arms of heretics.|Quirinos, Mercator Pallidus}}

'''Corpse Grinder Cults''' are a faction within the [[Necromunda]] tabletop game, introduced in the 2019 splatbook ''Book of Ruin''.
They are a very specific kind of [[Chaos Cults|Chaos Cultists]] in that they are crazed [[cannibalism|cannibals]] that typically gravitate together out of the shared madness of realizing that the primary food source on the Hive World [[Grimdark|is other people.]]

While they appear to devote themselves to [[Khorne]], it likely that their patron is rather a powerful daemon of Khorne acting under various other guises such as the ''Lord of Meat'' or the ''Lord of Skin and Sinew''.

==History==
Corpse Grinders are not new or exclusive to the world of Necromunda, they arise with regular frequency, in part due to the nature of life on a Hive World. Agriculture is unknown on polluted hive worlds (except perhaps amongst the wealthiest of the elite) and fresh food is a rarity. Even constant imports from agri-worlds can't always match the demand for food. To prevent the population from starving out, Imperial sanctioned '''Corpse Guilds''' are legally entitled to collect the bodies of the dead and recycle them into more useful materials such as "Corpse Starch" or ''[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs-gocza6t8 Soylens Viridiens]'' (Subtle, GW).

Thing is, the knowledge that you are eating your former colleagues and loved ones is often too much for many to handle already. When combined with hacking apart bodies to make burgers 12 hours a day; it is enough to make all but the strongest minds crack. Therefore tired and jaded members of the Corpse Guilds become the perfect candidates for charismatic demagogues to turn to the forces of [[Chaos]].

This first Corpse Grinder cult arose before the world had even been fully brought under unified control, hinting that it may go as far back as the [[Great Crusade]] during a period called the ''Great Road War''. An Ash-Rider called '''Waz Bonepicker''' managed to unify various clans under the cannibalistic direction of the '''Lord of Meat''' before he was put down. Though many cults have risen and fallen since then, nearly all record of these uprisings has been brutally scrubbed from existence in order to conceal their presence from the Imperium. Rumours still persist, particularly in the ash-wastes which are further from suppression of the Imperium, that the "Lord of Skin and Sinew" has walked the surface of Necromunda before, or that he might be a powerful daemon that [[Caliban|is somehow tied to the planet, seeking its escape]] or to be given the opportunity to transform the world into something else entirely.

===Organization===
Despite the grimdark inevitability of eating the processed remains of your fellow citizens leading to madness, it still takes a spark to ignite the rebellion of a Corpse Grinder cult. It tends to start with one individual who will later be known as the '''Harvest Lord'''. These individuals, either by listening to the whispering voices in their head, or through the desperate pains of hunger, will succumb to the cannibal madness and forgo waiting for the final product and start eating raw flesh. The high protein diet of their former friends allowing them to become stronger than normal, but only enticing them to become hungrier and hungrier and seeking out new sources of food. Shortly afterward, they will share the revelation that "fresh food makes you healthy" with trusted individuals, and eventually a cult begins to form around them, starting to revel in the meat-eating practices. Such cults grow and grow, with the ego and power of their leader only growing with them, with the eventual end-point of the Harvest Lord becoming directly possessed by their mysterious patron and becoming the living embodiment of the "Lord of Meat".

Beneath the Harvest Lord will be any number of '''Butchers''' who lead splinter sects of their own, and may or may not be closer to the truth of their connection to the malign forces of Chaos. Beneath them sit the '''Cutters''', then '''Skinners''', then '''Initiates'''. As members of the Corpse Guilds, they would have been forced to wear masks as part of their daily duties, in order to stop them from becoming tempted by the promise of fresh meat. Clearly such precautions failed, and so with each division in the cult, they decorate their masks to signify their proximity in rank from the leader and to act as tools of intimidation when they eventually declare themselves.

Eventually the illicit whispers grow into impatient screams of [[Meatbread|MORE MEAT]]!! and they finally make themselves public. At this point the followers would have grown in number to a threatening uprising, and their members grown strong on their diets of fresh meat, and armed with various cutting and sawing tools; making them a force to be reckoned with, their main limiting factor being the fact that they are mostly a collection of madmen who eschew ranged weapons with only the lowest and "sanest" members actually remembering how triggers work.

==Eightfold Harvest Lord==
Perhaps the most infamous member of the Necromundan Corpse Grinder cults. It is believed that "it" is no longer -or ever was- human, more of a vicious "thing" than a mortal person. It is drawn towards sites of murder, its arrival always precedes times of starvation, terror, and cannibalism. It appears as a tall, powerful figure wrapped in spikes and strips of human skin, with bladed fingers and wrist mounted chain-cleavers.

Its existence is a potential indicator that the so-called "Lord of Meat" is not necessarily a daemon of Khorne; or more likely considering that most denizens of the Imperium are utterly ignorant of the nature of Chaos gods at all, that the Corpse Grinders do not fully understand or care to differentiate between the manifold divisions of Chaos. The Eightfold Harvest Lord quite comfortably associates with chaos cultist of all shades on the tabletop.

==Unique Mechanics==
Corpse Grinders are a <u>very</u> melee-centric gang, with universal access to the Combat, Brawn and Ferocity trees. Additionally, ''only'' the Juves may be equipped with any sort of ranged weapon. The rest of the gang have to make do with melee weapons only unless they want to hire some Hangers-on temporarily. During campaign games they are also always counted as Outlaw, which immediately restricts from taking certain options.

The trade off is that each type of gang member a special rule as default, with Initiates (Juves) gaining ''Infiltrate'', Skinners (Gangers) get ''Berserker'' as well as ALWAYS counting as specialists to gain access to more skills. Their Cutters (Champions) get ''Dervish'', allowing for 360 degree attack arcs, while Butchers (Leaders) gain ''First to the Fray'' to add D6 to their charge distances. The gang also gets exclusive access to the ''"Savagery"'' talent tree, which amplifies their melee potential, and potentially heals them or makes them more effective as they cause more and more unsaved wounds.

{{Necromunda}}

[[Category: Necromunda]]
[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Chaos]]

House Ko'iron

2022-12-29T16:56:12Z

2A01:E0A:26A:4A60:28DB:E975:F062:4D49: /* Tabletop */

House Ko'iron is one of the noble houses of [[Necromunda]].

They are a matriarchal House that can trace their ancestry as far back as the [[Age of Apostasy]], and indeed may have had some hidden connection with the [[Adepta Sororitas]]. The noble women apparently have the confidence of the sisterhood's mission on Necromunda, and many noble daughters go on to join the battle sisters.

Though they are not the most powerful house with only a small number of holdings both on and off planet, they remain Necromunda's main link to the Ministorum and made for natural sponsors of the rising [[House Cawdor]] when it discovered their faith in the late 39th Millennium. Though they do not have roots in the particular doctrines of the [[Cult of the Redemption]], they do recognise the need for fanatical faithful amongst the poor in the low hives, and frequently conscript members in their thousands into the '''Frateris Militia''' and send them off-world to fight in far away wars, or serve directly in Ko'iron's standing armies.

Whether this is a ploy to use Cawdor for their own gain remains to be seen, as the nobles of House Ko'iron are just as duplicitous as any other noble house. Members of House Cawdor will fanatically flock to the agents of Ko'iron and can be easily manipulated into acts of violence or sabotage that benefit the noble house. Conversely the relationship has granted Cawdor some level of security, as well as access to legitimate religious relics that they would be otherwise unable to get their hands on.

Regardless of any uncertainty in their sincerity towards House Cawdor, recently, Maxterius Fae, the Lord of Ko'iron, ''(and oddly a male in a matriarchal House)'' offered himself up to the Redemptionists of House Cawdor as an act of contrition for "failing" his people. The Redemptor Priests ritually scarred him with icons of the Redemption in front of a horrified audience of assembled nobles, and afterwards resumed his place as leader of House Ko'iron.

==Alliance Benefits==
Any gang can ally themselves with House Ko'iron, though naturally Cawdor treat them as strong allies.

Their benefits are actually quite limited; because of the relics that Ko'iron supply, the gang leader gains a single "blessed" item that allows them to reroll one failed hit or save roll per game.

They may also send a Ministorum delegation to join the gangers without any additional effort on the part of the gang and count over and above the gang size limit for the battle.

The drawbacks for this "support" can seem dire. If the gang loses a battle, then the matriarchs of Ko'iron lose their shit and give the gang leader a severe mauling, forcing them to start the next battle with a Flesh Wound.

Also, ''every game'' they will recruit one member of the gang into the Frateris Militia temporarily, forcing them to roll on the lasting injury table, though if they survive they get D6 extra experience.

==Tabletop==
The Ministorum Delegation sent by House Ko'iron is surprisingly well equipped. Consisting of a Prima Materis and two Frateris bodyguards.

The Prima Materis is armed with a master-crafted bolt pistol and a shock maul, as well as carapace armour and a refractor field and all allies can use her Cool or Willpower for check they need to make.

The Frateris can take a chainsword and lasgun, or a laspistol and a motherfucking EVISCERATOR (which automatically come with built-in Flamers in Necromunda). The Frateris will automatically jump in the way and take ranged hits for the matriarch if they are within 2".

All models have Devotional Frenzy from the Piety skills table, granting them the ability to boost their stats for a turn at the cost of taking an automatic hit.

{{Necromunda}}
[[Category: Necromunda]]

House Ko'iron

2022-12-29T16:55:44Z

2A01:E0A:26A:4A60:28DB:E975:F062:4D49: /* Tabletop */

House Ko'iron is one of the noble houses of [[Necromunda]].

They are a matriarchal House that can trace their ancestry as far back as the [[Age of Apostasy]], and indeed may have had some hidden connection with the [[Adepta Sororitas]]. The noble women apparently have the confidence of the sisterhood's mission on Necromunda, and many noble daughters go on to join the battle sisters.

Though they are not the most powerful house with only a small number of holdings both on and off planet, they remain Necromunda's main link to the Ministorum and made for natural sponsors of the rising [[House Cawdor]] when it discovered their faith in the late 39th Millennium. Though they do not have roots in the particular doctrines of the [[Cult of the Redemption]], they do recognise the need for fanatical faithful amongst the poor in the low hives, and frequently conscript members in their thousands into the '''Frateris Militia''' and send them off-world to fight in far away wars, or serve directly in Ko'iron's standing armies.

Whether this is a ploy to use Cawdor for their own gain remains to be seen, as the nobles of House Ko'iron are just as duplicitous as any other noble house. Members of House Cawdor will fanatically flock to the agents of Ko'iron and can be easily manipulated into acts of violence or sabotage that benefit the noble house. Conversely the relationship has granted Cawdor some level of security, as well as access to legitimate religious relics that they would be otherwise unable to get their hands on.

Regardless of any uncertainty in their sincerity towards House Cawdor, recently, Maxterius Fae, the Lord of Ko'iron, ''(and oddly a male in a matriarchal House)'' offered himself up to the Redemptionists of House Cawdor as an act of contrition for "failing" his people. The Redemptor Priests ritually scarred him with icons of the Redemption in front of a horrified audience of assembled nobles, and afterwards resumed his place as leader of House Ko'iron.

==Alliance Benefits==
Any gang can ally themselves with House Ko'iron, though naturally Cawdor treat them as strong allies.

Their benefits are actually quite limited; because of the relics that Ko'iron supply, the gang leader gains a single "blessed" item that allows them to reroll one failed hit or save roll per game.

They may also send a Ministorum delegation to join the gangers without any additional effort on the part of the gang and count over and above the gang size limit for the battle.

The drawbacks for this "support" can seem dire. If the gang loses a battle, then the matriarchs of Ko'iron lose their shit and give the gang leader a severe mauling, forcing them to start the next battle with a Flesh Wound.

Also, ''every game'' they will recruit one member of the gang into the Frateris Militia temporarily, forcing them to roll on the lasting injury table, though if they survive they get D6 extra experience.

==Tabletop==
The Ministorum Delegation sent by House Ko'iron is surprisingly well equipped. Consisting of a Prima Materis and two Frateris bodyguards.

The Prima Materis is armed with a master-crafted bolt pistol and a shock maul, as well as carapace armour and a refractor field and all allies cam use her Cool or Willpower for check they need to make.

The Frateris can take a chainsword and lasgun, or a laspistol and a motherfucking EVISCERATOR (which automatically come with built-in Flamers in Necromunda). The Frateris will automatically jump in the way and take ranged hits for the matriarch if they are within 2".

All models have Devotional Frenzy from the Piety skills table, granting them the ability to boost their stats for a turn at the cost of taking an automatic hit.

{{Necromunda}}
[[Category: Necromunda]]