Kabal of the Drowned Hope

The Kabal of the Drowned Hope is the largest Kabal in the subrealm of Port Vermilion, effectively controlling the webway port and extracting tribute from the smaller Kabals.

The Eldar of the Kabal take great pleasure in watching their victims despair in the face of a slow and inevitable death, hence the name of the Kabal. They are especially fond of suffocating their victims and therefore favour neurotoxins that paralyse the victim's lungs and heamotoxins that cause internal bleeding, making the victim literally drown in their own blood. In his spire the Archon A'ren Vyerith keeps a pool filled with freezing water, with captive slaves chained to the bottom. They are implanted with crude breathing apparatuses that let them survive (barely) underwater, but do nothing to remove the constant feeling of suffocation.

The Drowned Hope sponsors the Wytch Cult of Fatal Kiss, and is often accompanied by the Cult's members when launching raids on realspace. The Kabal also has a large space fleet, which is led by the Archon's second in command Dracon, Raider-Captain Ezash.

Archon: A'ren Zar'khlavh Vyerith
Allied Cult: Cult of the Fatal Kiss.
Allied Coven: Dark Labyrinth Coven.
Territory: Are surrounding the webway port of Port Vermilion.
Uniform: Blue armour over glossy black bodysuit.

Awesome job. I can't wait to see more on these guys. I like your start. Your Kabal will be added to the list. PM me your Coven and Cult names again and their leaders' names and I'll get them added to the appropriate lists.

Thanks! Now that I've started writing, I might aswell go onto more details.

Port Vermilion:
The webway port of Port Vermilion started as one of the many port-cities of the old Eldar empire that later got absorbed into Commorragh. Now it is one of the subrealms of the Dark City, linked to Commorragh with several great dimensional portals. The subrealm used to be governed by a noble house that had founded the port-city. When Asdrubael Vect rose to power, the ruler of the house was unwilling to submit to Vect's rule. The war between the house and the Black Heart ended when the ruler of the house was asassinated (whether by Vect's men, Kabalite supporters within the house, or just someone who saw it as his change to rise to power is unknown). Several ambitious nobles attempted to become the new leader, but ultimately it was A'ren Vyerith who rose to the position. His first act was to accept Vect's Kabalite system. Many of his rival nobles declared him a traitor and attempted to asassinate him, but lord Vyerith was prepared for their attempts. Many of his rivals were killed as Vyerith's forces retaliated, while the remaining ones left to found their own Kabals.

Archon Vyerith:
Archon A'ren Zar'khlavh Vyerith was a scion of the noble house that used to rule what would become Port Vermilion. He was known as an accomplished tactician and had lead multiple successful realspace raids. However, he was too far removed from the Archon's family line to have any reasonable chanse of ascending to the throne himself. This all changed when the Archon was asassinated: Vyerith managed to take advantage of the chaotic situation and the fact that he had a large amount of followers in the house's military to become gain the seat for himself. Following his surrender to the Black Heart, many of the nobles believed that he had been secretly working for Vect, but in actuality he merely aknowleged that the Black Heart was much more powerful, and fighting them would only result in the utter destruction of his forces. Unlike many of the other nobles he did not have problems accepting the Kabalite system, reasoning that the system allowed those most fit to rule do so, and anybody afraid of the change knew they were unfit for their position. He remade the house as the Kabal of Drowned Hope, replacing the house's original colours and heraldry in the process, for he wanted the Kabal to be seen as his own creation, not a continuation of the work of those before him.

Archon Vyerith usually appears calm, polite and even friendly (by Dark Eldar standards, anyway), but behind this mask he is constantly looking for signs of weakness in his opponent. He prefers to create his schemes well in advance, then wait untill a perfect opportunity arrives to execute them before the opponent has time to react. When fighting he follows a similar philosophy, harrying his opponent and avoiding their blows until the enemy makes a mistake or lets their guad down, then attacking with extreme speed and brutality to bring the enemy down before they have a chance to recover. He is old even by the standards of the Dark Eldar (tho not as ancient as Vect or some of the most powerful lords of High Comorragh), and rarely shows his face, preferring to hid his weathered appearance behind intimidating masks and helmets. Many of his Dracons think of him being past his prime and the throne ripe for the taking, but so far any who has tried has been proven wrong, with fatal consequences. Archon Vyerith knows that one day he will grow too old to resist his underlings' attempts to seize power, and when that day comes he will welcome it as the weak have no right to rule over their betters, but he is confident that day is still far in the future.

Rise of the Drowned Hope:
Following the fall of the noble house, Vyerith founded Kabal of Drowned Hope with his supporters. Besides Drowned Hope, there were several smaller Kabals in Port Vermilion, founded by the nobles unwilling to accept Vyerith's rule. The largest of them was the Kabal of Bleeding Shadows, which was large enough to challenge the Drowned Hope for supremacy of the subrealm. However, after intense rivalry and inter-Kabalite warfare, Archon Vyerith managed to strike a great blow against the Bleeding Shadows, and gain controll of most of Port Vermilion. After securing an assistance of the Black Heart Kabal (the Bleeding Shadow Kabal was known to oppose their rule, giving the Black Heart incentive to support Vyerith, especially since he promised to pay substantial tribute to Vect should he become the sole ruler of the subrealm), Drowned Hope launched a large attack on the Bleeding Shadows territory. The amassed forces caught the Bleeding Shadows Kabal's forces by suprise, and managed to take large amounts of territory and destroy several of their key facilities. The Kabal of Bleeding Shadows was never able to fully recover from the losses and the Kabal of Drowned Hope eventually absorbed most of their former holdings, driving them out of Port Vermillion

Awesome. Inspiring even. *plots further updates*

I say - ruling over Port Vermillion? They have some serious might, this kabal. I love the name too, keep it up!

Port Vermillion isn't that big of a port, however, atleast when compared to the likes of Port of Lost Souls.

I'm not sure if I should make a new post for it, but I think it's convenient if I put the stuff about my Cult army here aswell:

Cult of the Fatal Kiss:
The Wytch Cult of the Fatal Kiss started from the gladiatorial arena set up by the noble house ruling Port Vermillion. It is sponsored by the Kabal of Drowned Hope, and members of the Cult often accompany the Kabalites on their raids.

The fighting style of the Cult focuses on avoiding the enemy's blows and slowly bleeding them out. Once the enemy is exhausted, the Wytch will deliver the "kiss of death" or the finishing blow, usually performed by the Wytch first pressing her blade to her lips, then slashing open the victim's throat in one swift motion.

(Also, here's a quick picture I did of the colour scheme and banner of the Kabal).

The Dark Labyrint Coven:
The Coven of the Dark Labyrint is a Haemonculus Coven based in the underbelly of the Dark City. They derive their name from their stronghold, the Dark Labyrint. As the name might imply, it is a labyrinthine complex of dark winding corridors and dead ends, many of which are fitted with lethal traps to deter any would-be intruders.

Unlike the Cult of the Fatal Kiss, the Dark Labyrint does not work exclusively for the Kabal of the Drowned Hope. The Drowned Hope is only one of the Coven's clients. However, the relations between the two are quite close, with the Kabal employing some of the Coven's Haemonculi full time, having constructed a laboratory for them to work with within their fortress. Thus the forces of Dark Labyrint are a common sight in Drowned Hope's realspace raids.

I really dig the banner. Quite unsettling.

great Kabal idea, really good setup and detail

Thanks. I've been updating and rewriting the description a bit from time to time untill I've found it satisfactory.