Komra

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

Komra
Status at the end of the Great Crusade	Reduced in strength due to the Core Worlds Campaign
Role in the Hektor Heresy	Various fractions of Komra side with the Loyalists and Heretics
Area of influence	Ultima segmentum, especially the Galactic Core

The Komra are a subspecies of humans originating in the mineral-rich worlds of the galactic core. In the Imperium, they are formally known as Homo Sapiens Robustus for their shorter, stocky, powerful builds, the Eldar refer to them as Baj-Ha, while in the poetry and sagas of the Orks they are called stunties.

History

Unlike most of the humans of the Galaxy, the Komra are well aware of their origins. The progenitors of their people embarked on the Long March Starship Trantor and their descendants arrived decades later on the Komra homeworld, Karzor. The Komra Calendar dates from the arrival of the Trantor on Karzor in the Year of Landfall (224.M6), typically abbreviated to 0LF in the Komra Calendar.

The Landfall

Karzor
Segmentum	Ultima
System	Valaya System
Population	0, peak 25 billion
Class	Destroyed World
Gravity	1.98G
Temperature	average 12.4C

The colonists on the Trantor set out from Terra hoping to isolate themselves from a human race that they felt was decadent, avaricious, and dishonourable. Their ambition was to build a new, virtuous society in which industry would be a beneficial purpose in human lives rather than a devouring blight. The colonists were all volunteers, choosing to set aside their loved ones on Terra in pursuit of a grand idea. Although the volunteers knew that they would not be the beneficiaries of the new society, they chose to embark and raise a new generation for a new world that would be free of the flaws of old Earth.

This mission of isolation succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of its originators. Due to a freak accident, the Trantor was flung thousands of light years from Earth, ending up in the Galactic Core long before any other humans would travel so far. Lost beyond hope of return, the colonists determined to find a new home for themselves and their great arkship wandered the bitter worlds of the core searching for one that could sustain life. For all of its deprivations, the decades aboard the Trantor forged a great spirit of togetherness among the ship's complement. The name "Komra" is derived from the familiar term of address used aboard the Trantor.

Although the Trantor's complement rejoiced on discovering a world that could meet their needs, their ideals would be hard-tested on Karzor. The Komra's new home was a hard, unforgiving planet. Although Karzor's crust held valuable deposits of minerals, including adamantium, living organisms struggled. The only plants were tough grasses, grazed on by rodent-like reptiles. Karzor's air was all but poisonous, thin in oxygen and filled with carcinogenic dust. Any thought of escaping Karzor had been abandoned on landing: the world's mighty gravitational pull was too strong for the Trantor to escape. Imprisoned by their own decisions, the settlers from the Trantor were forced to do all of their outdoor work in exo-suits with much of the population sheltering in the habitation modules of their craft. Even with these precautions, Karzor's hostile environment began whittling away the ship's complement. Bone and lung cancer were major killers, but the hazards of working in high gravity also took their toll.

Through centuries of collective struggle and self-sacrifice, the descendants of the Trantor expedition established a stable home. Karzor's crust was forced to give up its precious minerals and became the home of teeming billions, nourished by hydroponic farms and proud of their traditions. The planet's fierce gravity was overcome with a series of great tensile towers about its equator. Beyond Karzor's atmosphere, new colony ships were assembled and dispatched to nearby worlds, initially establishing colonies on the other planets in Karzor's system. Crude space-warping technology was developed in 1694LF (928.M7), allowing Karzor's inhabitants to travel at superluminal speeds and set about exploring the stars near to their homeworld. The first interstellar colony ship, CH3-H0, was launched in 1741LF (965.M7) and Karzor's subterranean factories churned out successors throughout the next three centuries. Karazak, Chelob Hold, Rakizor, and Shifbar were the most successful of Karzor's colonies, and they too set about building settler ships to spread the Komra way of life to new planets.

The Severing

By 2013LF (237.M8), differences began to emerge among the ruling councils - the Sojt - of the most sophisticated Komra worlds. For all that their ancestors had sought unity in their common labour, their communication technology could not bridge the gaps between the stars. Without the Warp Drive, the most sophisticated transmissions took months to travel from one world to another. Communiques travelling the breadth of Komra space were over a year old on their receipt. It was impossible for their civilization to co-operate under these conditions. The first hostilities broke out when colonists from Karazak arrived on the world of Dabnug to find Komra from Chelob Hold had already settled the world. Rather than combine their efforts, the settlers began to war over Dabnug and sent messages to their homeworlds requesting material aid. Karazak was first to respond, re-directing its newest settler ship to reinforce Dabnug. For their part, the Sojt of Chelob Hold resolved not only to send aid to Dabnug but to send punitive expeditions to outposts of Karazak. So began a long period of internecine conflict among the Komra.

If the wars that developed in this period were low-intensity, they were still costly. The most powerful worlds were too populous to succumb to a direct assault by their rivals, but a colony with a few million settlers could be overwhelmed by the arrival of a hostile fleet of transports. Komra warfare was total and undivided from civilian life: the tools that had been used to battle with the harsh environments of the core worlds were used just as ruthlessly against the scions of rival worlds. As the wars raged on, it became clear that Karzor's great population and industrial might made it more than a match for any one of its boisterous colonies. After a Karzor fleet was barely beaten back from Rakizor itself, the Rakizor Sojt determined to found a league of the young worlds against the Komra homeworld.

The building of the league took considerable time and patience. Karazak demanded that it host the first conference, and the Chelob Hold Sojt nearly boycotted a discussion on the soil of their arch-rivals. In the end, Rakizor's emissaries had to threaten the other young worlds with defection, promising to submit to Karzor and fight for the subjugation of the young worlds if the league could not be founded. The bluff was not called and in 2362LF (586.M8) a new body, the Brysojt was brought into being to lead the war against Karzor. Even with their strength combined, the young worlds were outmatched and quickly settled on a desperate measure. The space-warping superluminal drives of the Komra were known to unleash a hugely destructive burst of particles at their destination. For centuries, the standard practice of Komra vessels, even in wartime, was to disengage the space-warping drive far above the elliptic of their destination solar system to allow this burst to dissipate harmlessly into space. Rather than succumb to the might of their homeworld, the league massed its ships and used the combined fleet to unleash a massive particle wave at Karzor itself.

The destruction was total. Unforgiving Karzor and its tens of billions of inhabitants were wiped out. Many of the league's ships were lost in the attack, victims of the abominable energies they had unleashed. In achieving victory, the league had thrown their civilization back hundreds of years. Although unrepentant, the victorious worlds were chastened. If the Komra were to survive, they could never again wage such total wars against one another. In order to govern the new era of limited conflicts, the Brysojt was established as a court of arbitration over the disputes of the Komra worlds. It would be housed on a great space fortress, Valaya Station, built from the ruins of Karzor as a monument to the victims of fratricidal war.

The Age of Tribute

Construction of Valaya Station

Annihilating Karzor had cut the Komra's ties to Terra. The descendants of the Trantor expedition had already been physically changed by the pressures of their harsh environment. Most obviously, their bodies had become short and stout to better endure high gravity conditions. But more profound changes had occurred beneath the surface. Komra developed extraordinary bone density and great lung capacity relative to their mass, making these stocky creatures deceptively quick and strong. Cellular changes lengthened the Komra lifespan, although the bloody centuries of war had concealed this benefit.

Cultural differences had emerged as well. The humans who had arrived on Karzor brought with them a utopian model society divided only by place of work and recognising no rank, religion, or private property. Although the general shape of Komra society was still egalitarian, the workplace divisions had calcified into Gelkzaft - variously translated as "Clan" or "Guild" - ruled by committee and responsible for all spheres of their members' lives. When a Komra was born, he or she was assigned to a Gelkzaft (typically that of one of the parents) and raised in a communal creche. Education is broad and encourages scientific thought, but each Komra is encouraged to find work in the shops and factories of the Gelkzaft. The Komra do not marry, though they do forge long-standing friendships and romances. Thus changed, the Komra slowly recovered from their self-inflicted catastrophe. They slowed the rush to colonise new planets and instead expanded their existing holds. The four "young worlds" grew old and by 2478LF (702.M8) they came to rival the lost riches of Karzor.

Then the Eldar came.

Unbeknownst to the Komra, their actions had been observed for centuries by the Eldar Empire. Their achievements were as nothing to this ancient race, until the destruction of Karzor. This act caused a few elegant eyebrows to be raised. Clearly the act had not been undertaken lightly, but to see primitives with the power to destroy an entire planet was - distressing. A minor noble named Lord Kharion was dispatched at the head of a small force to ensure that the Komra did not interfere with the whims of the Empire. Kharion was a just and merciful son of his race. He spurned the advice of his betters to simply do away with these barbaric mammals and instead offered the Brysojt the choice to either submit to the Eldar Empire, abiding by its dictates and enjoying its protection, or to be destroyed. As Valaya Station had been effortlessly disabled and occupied by Kharion's troops, the judges of the Komra felt that they had little choice and surrendered despite their lack of formal authority. Their decision was questioned for a time, but once reports of the Eldar's superiority became widespread the Komra accepted - grudgingly - that they were no longer a free people.

In some ways, the establishment of the Baj-Ha Protectorate (named after the condescending Eldar term for the Komra people) was beneficial. The Eldar prohibited further colonisation and demanded regular tribute "as a show of respect". But the ancients also made good on their promise of protection. For thousands of years, a minor Lord of the Eldar held court at Valaya Station, occasionally interfering in the affairs of the Komra but largely leaving the Brysojt to manage their people as they had done before Kharion's arrival. Komra science and technology flowered in this period. New biotechnology and asteroid mining techniques allowed ever-greater populations to live on their homeworlds. The space-warping drive was slowly improved to allow for easier communication and commerce.

As on other human-descended worlds, psykers became more prevalent from about 4000LF (M10) onwards, though Komra psykers were different to their cousins on Terra. For one, their powers developed much more slowly, barely being noticeable in Komra under the age of fifty. Perhaps as a consequence, these psykers found their powers easier to keep under control and there are no recorded incidents of daemonic incursion. Komra psykers also found it more natural to harness the Warp to protect their kin rather than smite their enemies.

The Age of Trade

The blood-thirsty Orks

The Baj-Ha Protectorate endured thousands of years, but when it was truly tested it would be found hollowed out by the decay of the Eldar Empire. In 9711LF (935.M15), explorers from Terra re-established contact with the Komra, though the differences between the subspecies had become so profound that the humans of Earth initially believed that they were dealing with aliens. A proposal to reunite the Komra with their Terran cousins was met with disdain by the Eldar Lord Hyllkon and little enthusiasm among the Baj-Ha. A brief war (9713-4LF/937-8.M15) with the men of Sol and their robotic warriors, the Men of Iron, saw the Protectorate defended by a combined force of Eldar and Komra until the arrival of the Empire's fleet discouraged Terra's ambitions.

It was not the strength of the humans that spelled the end of the Protectorate. Terra settled for peace and trade instead of conquest. Rather, Hyllkon's reliance on the Baj-Ha to defend his fief showed that the Eldar Empire lacked the will to keep the sons of Trantor in their dominion. Rather than rebel and shed the blood of a people who had done them little harm, the Brysojt opened a series of talks with Lord Hyllkon in which they argued that the Protectorate was already a dead letter and appealed to him to exchange his unsustainable rule over the Baj-Ha for the enduring friendship of the Komra people. Judging by the patience shown by both sides over talks spanning five years, there was substantial common ground, but the Eldar Empire was not accustomed to giving up its possessions. Hyllkon eventually granted the Brysojt liberty to resume colonisation in 9719LF (943.M15) and this concession was seen among the Komra as a sign that their Lord Protector would give them all the liberties he could without offending his own overlords. His continued use of the name "Baj-Ha" was only an insult.

Hyllkon's opening of the Komra frontier did not lead to a great rush of colonisation. During the Age of Tribute, other races had moved into the space around the Baj-Ha Protectorate and new worlds were hard to come by. Terran humans could perhaps negotiate and trade, but the savage Orks mocked even the concepts of peace and reason. Orkish Waaagh!s swept away several Komra colonies during the centuries leading up to 10000LF (224.M16), when the greenskin menace was debated in a special celebratory session of the Brysojt. Experts from throughout Komra space were invited to propose new techniques and projects for combating the Orks. This work was prescient, as the intensity of Ork attacks only increased with passing centuries. The invasion of the Stem World Shifbar by Waaagh!Gutz! in 10841LF (168.M17) brought the problems of the frontiers right into the heart of Komra space. A disinterested Eldar Empire waved the problem aside and it was left to the Brysojt to rally their own people. Although the council lacked any formal authority, it was able to popularize the plight of Shifbar and new Gelkzaft began to be formed purely for the purpose of fighting the Orkish invaders. For decades these military associations held the line against successive Waaagh!s, before the Brysojt managed to persuade newly-arrived Lord Protector Maiken and nearby Terran worlds to lend assistance. A combined force of Eldar, Terrans, and Komra forced the Orks from the soil of Shifbar in the Year of Triumph, 10933LF (157.M17). Although inspiring, the victory proved short-lived and Savage Orks were menacing the world only months later. Waaagh!'Ardkace brought Shifbar back to crisis in 10935LF (159.M17). Only after decades of war and destruction was the threat finally suppressed in 10976LF (273.M17), when the biological genius of Karazak developed the Phage Tower, a device capable of interfering with the Orkoid reproductive cycle.

If it was not a complete protection from Orks, the Phage Tower at least allowed Komra to secure their homeworlds and key colonies and begin a slow expansion through following centuries. Long-distance expeditions were dispatched to the far corners of the Galaxy, seeking out new worlds suitable for Komra settlement. Although these colony ships took hundreds of years to reach their destinations, the subjective time aboard was much shorter and there was no need for a repeat of the Terran "generation ship" technique. At the same time as their holdings expanded, the Komra were engaged in more vigorous trade with nearby Terran worlds, fostering increased industrial development on the Stem Worlds of the decaying Protectorate. The Eldar themselves became ever more distant, until in 15145LF (367.M21) Lord Protector Jhaella departed Valaya Station without explanation or replacement.

The end of nominal rule by the Eldar Empire hardly changed the lives or destinies of the Komra people. Many now dwelt well beyond the reach of the Brysojt, in enclaves such as the League of Dawi (in the south of Segmentum Ultima) or in systems shared with Terrans, as was common in the Juvian Reach. In the old Protectorate, the Komra redubbed their realm the Core Worlds Confederation, a name that would become synonymous with their culture until the time of the Great Crusade. But in this earlier age of science and trade, Terran dominion over the Galaxy rested easily with the Komra while unseen threats developed. The tragic Fall of the Eldar and the horrors unleashed by the Men of Iron are well-known, but corruption also took hold within the Komra people.

The Cult of Krenz

On ancient Rakizor, a miner named Edsten encountered a mysterious entity while prospecting the depths for mineral deposits. The being presented through impression, not being, flooding Edsten's mind with his memories of powerful machines. Though his vision and hearing were unaffected, the Komra was internally assailed by remembered sensation; the vibration of heavy engines, roaring motors, and the stench of burned fuel, and within this cacophony was a glimpse of the impossible brightness of the fusion reaction. Edsten's stout heart quailed and he fell down trembling, begging the entity to release him. Whether Edsten was released or he simply became more accustomed to the presence of the entity is unknown, but he began to become aware of its wishes. The miner returned to his Gelkzaft, claiming to have found rich deposits and urging his brethren to help verify the find. Those who followed Edsten into the depths were similarly brought into the thrall of the entity, which they dubbed "Krenz".

Edsten's Cult were able to assume control of Rakizor relatively swiftly. None of the citizens expected a threat like Krenz and the cellular structure of Komra society made it easy to win over one Gelkzaft at a time. Only Rakizor's most powerful psykers noticed anything amiss, and they were either slain or brought before Krenz. As the Cult gained power, the pit in which Krenz had been discovered was refurbished into a dark temple and terrible rites were held to venerate the entity. Gelkzaft working in biotechnology began to carry out experiments without any heed for ethics, while industrial Komra developed specialized weapons. In 17843LF (067.M24), Edsten was appointed to Rakizor's planetary Sojt and began to meet with the Brysojt of the Core Worlds Confederation.

Unlike on Rakizor, the psykers on Valaya Station could not be picked off. Roxum, a native of Karazak, was the first to sense something amiss and quickly confided her suspicions to her compatriot, the warrior-psyker Karnech. The two began a careful investigation across the stars, undertaking long journeys to Rakizor's colonies and searching for others under the same shadow as Edsten and his partisans. Although they found no widespread corruption beyond Rakizor, new migrant Gelkzaft from the dark world were all thralls of Krenz. Horrified by the implications, Roxum and Karnech met with the oldest and most powerful psyker among the Komra, Kakau of Chelob Hold, in 17885LF (109.M24). To their relief, Kakau supported Roxum and Karnech. The old psyker used his prestige to speak before the Brysojt, calling for an investigation of Rakizor. Edsten responded vigorously, denouncing the psykers for demanding that their senses be considered as absolute evidence. He argued that no world, be it Rakizor or another member of the Confederation, should have to submit to such a humiliation without the presentation of physical evidence. Unwilling to alienate one of the Stem Worlds, the Brysojt representatives - even those of Karazak and Chelob Hold - moved to defer Kakau's request until physical evidence could be submitted. This "compromise" avoided the embarrassment of dismissing the old psyker entirely while completely defending Edsten's agenda.

Although rebuffed, Kakau, Roxum and Karnech did not abandon their cause. As with all space-faring Komra, the trio ended up falling centuries forward in time relative to their planet-dwelling brethren. Roxum and Kakau travelled through the other Stem Worlds - Ork-blighted Shifbar, gleaming Karazak, and unsmiling Chelob Hold - and the rising Circle Worlds searching for allies among their fellow psykers. Fearless Karnech infiltrated the colonies of Rakizor and slowly made his way to the dark world in the hopes of finding the physical evidence the Brysojt demanded. The warrior-psyker's harrowing journey would eventually become the stuff of legend, but it was a saga with a tragic end. Karnech endured the gaze of Krenz by absorbing the entity's influence into a shell personality which he later subsumed into his iron-willed whole. This act allowed him to gather a sampling of Rakizor's innumerable horrors and send that precious evidence to his allies before Krenz's awesome mental strength overwhelmed him.

The Age of Sorrow

While the psykers of the Core Worlds Confederation prepared for a struggle against Rakizor, calamities overtook the Galaxy. The Eldar Empire's vice and degeneracy began to cloud the warp, crippling the communications of the Terran colonies and driving their once-faithful Men of Iron to madness and destruction. As the Terrans of the near-Core collapsed, Rakizor's new warfleets were unleashed upon the brutalized colonies and seized millions of human captives. The most fortunate of those brought back to Rakizor were merely offered up as blood sacrifices to Krenz. Others were worked to death as slaves, while the truly damned were used as subjects in vile biological experimentation and converted into the twisted Scab race of slave-warriors.

Although Rakizor's anti-Terran atrocities were unknown to the Komra at large, the proof of depravity won by Karnech's sacrifice was presented to the Brysojt in 18981LF (205.M25) and the council immediately moved to censure the dark world. Its members were expelled from the Brysojt and Rakizor was to submit to a full investigation of its practices. Edsten, aged but defiant, dismissed the ruling with contempt. Even when hurled into the donjon of Valaya Station - a prison unused since the days of the Protectorate - Krenz's disciple mocked his captors and promised that soon they would kneel before him.

These were not idle boasts. Even with the full strength of the other Stem Worlds arrayed against them, Rakizor's legions of Scabs, backed by ruthless warrior Gelkzaft, took a bitter toll on their kin. Centuries of fratricidal warfare were required to slowly roll back the dark world's forces, but the Confederation lacked the strength to invade, especially as the Ork threat re-emerged and Waaaaghs! began to assail Komra worlds. Under these conditions, Rakizor could not be conquered. In 19542LF (766.M25) the Brysojt ordered the establishment of Karnech Squadron, a force to perpetually blockade Rakizor and supported by all of the Confederation's member worlds. Unfortunately, long-distance colony ships bearing fragments of the Krenz-stone had already spread Rakizor's corruption far beyond the borders of the Core Worlds.

For thousands of years, the Komra of the Core Worlds Confederation would stand vigil against the enemy within and the enemies without. Their long watch would only be changed by the re-emergence of the Solar System and the coming of the Emperor of Mankind's Great Crusade. The initial contact between Komra and Imperial was made by the War Scribes of Arelex Orannis, who greeted the Confederation with curiousity rather than wrath. A slow feeling-out process between the two branches of humanity ensued, with the Komra glad to trade and the Imperials anxious to unify the galaxy.

Culture

The long history of the Komra has seen them spread far across the Galaxy, but the bulk of their population remains clustered near the Galactic Core. The Brysojt recognises three broad classes of planet. The Stem Worlds are the old core of Komra space that was settled by lost Karzor and brought under the Eldar Empire's laws in the Protectorate. These worlds are all heavily populated and highly industrialised, in some ways similar to the Imperium's Forge and Hive Worlds. Younger Circle Worlds are often still quite powerful, having been founded in the late Protectorate or afterwards and established their self-sufficiency, but they lack the prestige of the Stem Worlds. March Worlds are the largest and broadest category. Included are; new colonies that rely on more established worlds, strategic worlds fortified against enemy incursions, and hostile planets that the Komra have invaded.

Government

The basic unit of Komra organisation is the Gelkzaft, unevenly translated into Low Gothic as "Clan", "Guild", or sometimes even "Tribe" or "Warband". In truth it is something else entirely. The Gelkzaft is an association of working Komra organised around their workplace, be it a factory, mine, or starship. Brymun (another term that loses something in the translation) are elected from the ranks to oversee the community's collective interests. For the Komra, private life is a limited sphere, consisting mainly of the individual's aesthetic and social preferences. Even children are collective property and, once weaned from their mothers, are raised collectively in the Gelkzaft's creche. The legendary discipline and martial courage of the Komra is no doubt a consequence of their working, living, and fighting in the same company.

Above the Gelkzaft are various Sojt, or committees. Members of other races who have had dealings with the Komra are mainly familiar with the planetary Sojt that regulates contacts with outsiders and foreign affairs, but there are layers of administrative Sojt to govern the interactions of Gelkzaft at district, provincial, and state level. Each committee is staffed by Brymun appointed by its constituent bodies and subject to immediate recall. Where a collection of Komra planets have banded together (as in the case of the Core Worlds Confederation), they usually form a Brysojt for dealing with their common affairs.

Notable Domains

Karzor

Karzor was the original homeworld of the Komra, settled in the Year of Landfall by the colonists of the generation ship Trantor. It was destroyed in 2363LF (587.M8) by the combined forces of Chelob Hold, Karazak, Rakizor, and Shifbar. The officially accepted casualty count was twenty-five billion, though the true toll can never be known.

Core Worlds Confederation

The Core Worlds Confederation is the oldest region of Komra space. It was founded by the four Stem Worlds but spent thousands of years under Eldar dominion as the Baj'Ha Protectorate.

• Chelob Hold is a survivor. It was the first world settled outside of Karzor's system, with colonists landing in 1743LF (967.M7). For thousands of years, Chelob Hold remained second to other Komra worlds - first Karzor, then Rakizor, then Karazak. But none of these other powers had the sheer stubbornness of Chelob Hold. Where others fall, they have endured. By outlasting its rivals, Chelob Hold has become the bulwark of the Komra people.
• During the long Age of Trade, Karazak expanded greatly to become the leading Komra world. The genius of Karazak's biologists was such that they even devised the Phage Towers as a means of suppressing (though never eradicating) Orkoid spores. This gave Karazak an immense moral authority among the Komra worlds. The Brysojt recognized this seniority by always considered Karazak's new business before that of other worlds. Invasion by the Imperium of Mankind in 24764LF(998.M30) began with the near-total destruction of this wondrous world by the Winged Victory Space Marine Legion.
• The dark world Rakizor was seduced by a sinister cult led by Komra Edsten. They experimented in sinister microbial engineering, seizing huge numbers of Terran slaves during the Age of Strife and transforming them into horrible monsters. This corruption was spilled out across the Galaxy by colonizing expeditions before the Brysojt discovered the darkness within their ranks and instituted a blockade of foul Rakizor.
• Luckless Shifbar is the homeworld of the Dreigen Gelkzaft, Komra who centre their lives around war. Invaded by Waaagh!Gutz! in 10841LF (168.M17), the embattled world became a rallying cry to the formerly fractious Komra. For decades, Gelkzaft from across the Protectorate migrated to Shifbar to pit their strength against successive waves of greenskin invasion. In the Year of Triumph, 10933LF (240.M17), allied Eldar and Terran forces helped the Komra to completely eradicate the Orkish forces on Shifbar. Yet the Orks returned only two years later, when Waaagh!'Ardkace intersected with resurgent Feral Ork forces and stormed Shifbar's tunnels. Only in 10976LF (273.M17) was the Orkish menace finally suppressed by the successful installation of Phage Towers from Karazak.
• Built on the ruins of Karzor, Valaya Station is a space station that has grown to the scale of an artificial planet. It is the seat of the Brysojt, or supreme council, of the Core Worlds Confederation. The construction of Valaya Station began in 2365LF (589.M8). During the period of the Baj-Ha Protectorate, beginning in 2478LF (702.M8), the Station would be the seat of the Eldar Lord Protector.

League of Dawi

The League of Dawi is a small Komra domain in the Galactic south-east.

Technology

The ancestors of the Komra departed Terra long before the development of the Standard Template Construct. Subsequent generations have taken a substantially different scientific and technological evolution to the rest of the human race, but hardly an inferior one. Although Komra hardware is not the equal of ancient races such as the Necrons or Eldar, it is extremely sophisticated without losing the trademark ruggedness of human technology. Beyond their native qualities, the most important factor in the Komra arsenal is the state of their homeworlds: largely lifeless, mineral-rich planets highly suitable for mining and industry.

Biotechnology

The Trantor's complement was nourished by hydroponic farms. Although state of the art at the time of their construction, these farms relied on artificial lighting to sustain photosynthesising plants. In the centuries in Karor's underground halls, the Komra explored alternatives that would free up power from lighting. Their efforts led to the cultivation of microbial vaults that efficiently fixed carbon without light, through chemosynthesis. These vaults were then tailored to produce important organic compounds for use in food and textile industries. Komra biologists have developed many other micro-organic cultivars for industrial and medical purposes. Bacterial infections are typically treated with designer viruses - "phage" - which seek out and destroy the bacteria. Medical kits are similarly exotic to Imperial eyes, with wound dressings grown, rather than spun.

A crowning achievement of Komra biotechnology was the creation of the Phage Towers of Karazak. These great structures, first built on that mighty Stem World, were exported to the Komra worlds subject to Ork attack. The series of towers would cultivate and release vast swarms of carefully engineered viruses that attacked Orkoid spores, interfering with their reproductive cycle. The virulence and fecundity of the Orks was such that Karazak's bioengineering Gelkzaft were constantly recovering tissue samples from emerging Orkoid organisms and tailoring their phage viruses in response. Nevertheless, Komra scientific genius and tireless labour were able to check the greenskin advance for thousands of years without maintaining massive armed garrisons.

Scabs

See Cult of Krenz.

Interplanetary and interstellar communications

Drydock at Valaya Station

Lacking both the Gellar Field and the Navigator gene, the Komra have had to devise a means of traversing the void independent of the Immaterium. Their method for achieving the physics-violating feat of superluminal speed is to bend the shape of space itself with phased energy fields. By the time of the Imperium's Great Crusade, development of the space-warping drive allowed Komra vessels to travel hundreds of light years in a few weeks - impressive, but still much slower than using the Warp.

Until the Age of Trade there was no method for superluminal communications other than having "mail ships" go from system to system receiving and broadcasting radio signals. The emergence of psykers among the Komra has not entirely replaced this old-fashioned method and civilian correspondence (typically between Gelkzaft rather than individuals) is still carried by mail ships. However, urgent messages are sent by astro-telepathy, much as in the Imperium.

Planetary Transport

The Komra homeworlds are marked by many canyons and mountains, making surveying and transport by land extraordinarily hard. Some regular transport routes benefit from subterranean rail services, but for occasional delivery the Komra Aerostat is the vehicle of choice. These massive airships are not fast, but their great size gives them a significant cargo capacity - and great resistance to damage. There are significant difficulties in using lighter-than-air vessels on high-gravity worlds, but the Komra pride themselves on overcoming such problems. The abundant helium reserves of their homeworlds make the maintenance of rigid airships inexpensive, while ultralight ceraminium struts and kevlon fibres are used in robust frames. Finally, the Komra mastery of fusion technology provided them with a power source capable of driving their great ships through the dense atmosphere of their homeworlds. In times of war, the Komra Aerostat is used primarily as a gunnery and bombing platform. Troop transport is usually left to ground vehicles. Drone technology, initially developed for seismic surveying, allows an Aerostat to insert area-denial weapons behind enemy lines. Finally, it has been a constant pleasure to the Komra that their airships perform even better on foreign worlds, with their lighter gravity, than on the homeworlds.

Mining operations are typically serviced by super-heavy vehicles. Two different solutions have been developed. The mighty Risung chassis typically mounts a haul truck of immense proportions, capable of moving up to 800 tonnes across difficult terrain. Despite its great size, the expense of refitting the Risung for war sees its use limited to the most severe campaigns. On such dire occasions, this huge vehicle is configured either as a Titan-killer or a combination fortress and troop transport. More versatile is the Uhs class prime mover, capable of drawing a kilometre of heavily-laden wagons over difficult terrain. Although ultra-long "land trains" suffer from severe mobility problems, the Uhs is commonly deployed to battle with one or two wagons in tow. Komra militias outfit their war wagons with a great variety of different weapons.

Although the surface is foreboding, small rovers are common on Komra Worlds. Light vehicles are used to meet recreational as much as economic needs, and these designs are readily modified for military purposes. Sheldkrode - reinforced rovers fit for resisting collapsing caverns - are particularly favoured on the battlefield, where they serve as troop transports.

Weapons and Personal Equipment

Komra are unusual in the Galaxy in that they rarely forge single-purpose tools for killing other creatures. Most of their weapons are civilian tools with military applications. Their standard firearm, the Las-Borer, is a powerful laser used in mining. Heavy Las-Borers are also fielded in war and peace, but their mass requires a vehicle mount. Similarly, Komra equipped for close-combat employ the deadly Las-Cutter, a tool more often used for carving construction materials than slicing living beings. Although demolition charges see use on both the battlefield and civilian life, Komra expertise in explosives is also used for specialised grenades.

The Dreigen Gelkzaft - professional warriors - use militarised versions of their militiamen counterparts. Among the dead-eyed Totarg Gelkzaft of lost Karazak, the Thermal Blade is the weapon of choice. These terrible close combat weapons are capable of cleaving through even the stoutest armour, but it is impossible to fully isolate their output from the bearer. As a result of the constant burning, the rare veterans of the Totarg are known as "Blackhands". Less fatalistic soldiers prefer the Rapid Pulse Borer, a militarised version of the Las-Borer, as their standard arm. Also popular among the Dreigen Gelkzaft is the Thermal Blaster, a potent anti-tank weapon similar to Imperial Meltas.

Heavy armour is something of a rarity in the militias of the Komra. Their typical garb is spun from sophisticated Kevlon or Nomlar fibres far superior to naturally obtained fabrics. This material is comfortable but still fire-retardant and sturdy enough to provide fair protection against small arms and shrapnel. While remarkably tough, Komra clothing is of little use against heavier guns like the Imperial Bolter. The threat of such weapons - not to mention generations of tunnel warfare against the Orks - has taught the Komra the importance of specialised squads with significant personal protection. The Grummel exo-suit is ideal for this purpose, second only to the mighty Terminator armour of the Adeptus Astartes.

In battles above or below ground, the rugged Lakmal serves as a heavy support platform. These six-legged machines combine the maneuverability of walkers with the low profile of tanks. Their strength and weakness is ever the vehicle pilot, whose own skill and initiative is the decisive factor in Lakmal operation. More reliable but never brilliant are Spimal walkers, crude robotic machines fashioned after the Lakmal and given remote direction by a Komra overseer. Spimal are often used to spearhead assaults without risking living soldiers. Both designs were developed for work in construction and emergency relief.

Physiology

Adult Komra have a short and stocky build. Males typically stand between 110cm and 150cm, with most falling around the average of 129cm. Females are somewhat shorter, averaging 119cm and having a typical range of 101cm to 136cm. Due to their broad, dense frames, their overall mass is similar to that of Terran normal humans. These compact bodies are extraordinarily hardy. Their load-bearing bones are 50% thicker than those of a human of the same mass and denser besides, giving the Komra remarkably sturdy frames. Life under high-gravity results in powerful musculature even among the more sedentary members of the species and most Komra do significant manual work every day of their lives. The Komra heart, although similar in basic form to that of their human cousins, is extraordinarily large and powerful. For all that they are stocky folk, they are surprisingly quick and agile - a necessary adaptation to the risks of falling on high gravity worlds.

Such direct adaptations have also produced certain unexpected changes from the human baseline, including an impressive immune system and great longevity. Short of accident, Komra are long-lived and can expect to survive four centuries. Infections, even when untreated, are rarely a danger to healthy individuals. It is even thought that the Komra are somewhat resistant to the touch of Chaos. However, they reproduce slowly. The period of gestation is slightly over a Solar year and miscarriages and stillbirths are distressingly common. Childbirth among Komra women is seen as so risky that Caesarian section is the preferred method of delivery.

Due to their relative isolation, Komra descended from each of the Stem Worlds have distinctive physical features. The children of Chelob Hold typically have light brown or blond hair and light skin. Their cousins from Karazak are characterised by their extremely pale complexion (sometimes alleviated by ruddiness) and firey red hair. Rakizor's sons and daughters are swarthy and their hair is blue-black. Due to the long period of war migrations to Shifbar, Komra from this world are far more mixed in appearance and the same can be said for most itinerant Dreigen Gelkzaft (warrior associations).

Psykers

Raw crystal, protected in a brass sphere but ready for rune-shaping

Most Komra are somewhat resistant to the touch of the warp, but the human psyker gene still expresses itself in the subspecies. Komra psykers - Zabers - do not come into their powers until much later in life, typically around the age of fifty, and with rare exceptions they are incapable of drawing on significant warp energy in a short time-frame. To compensate for their short-comings, the Komra developed complex crystal structures to act as "reservoirs" for warp energy. These structures are typically given a runic shape and embedded into a more resilient material. When drawn on by a Zaber rune structures can provide the fuel for the prodigious feats that characterize other race's psykers, but they can also be given an inherent purpose.