The Fleet of the Bleeding Klaw

Tis is some of my constant WIP background for my army, I kind of focus more on the cloning end of the background with some of it, mixing in EvE Online style 'clone jumping' as to how my archon stays alive.



The Fleet of the Bleeding Klaw is a fleet of Dark Eldar ships, usually operating around the Ulster Expanse.
the fleet is formed from an alliance of the Kabal of the Bleeding Klaw, the Sprial Coven, and the Kult of the Blade.
When raiding a world for slaves, they don't just take the slaves, tey make it a whole procedure. a world will often be afftected by horrifying nightmares at first. cases of strange dissappearances will be on the rise. Then sightings of scuttling shapes and horrifying monsters will start to increase, until, when the population is at their most terrified, webway portals will open, unleashing swarms of kabalite warriors, wytches, and haemonculous creations to attack. The fighting, torture, and taking of slaves will continue for days, weeks, or months, until satisfied, the fleet will move on. Occasionally some of a world's population will be left, but they won't be free, with a small force left behind to oversee, the population will grow again, as a slave population, awaiting times to be harvested like crops. These worlds are often then hidden in the webway.

Archon Danu Ke'the leads the fleet, she had arrainged the alliance between the three groups, offering the haemonculi endless subjects and materials for their fleshcraft experiments, and the wytches endless combat and slaughter.

Before the alliance, the Spiral and the Bleeding Klaw were enemies. There were rumors as to the extend of the coven's ability with cloning, and Danu's interest was perked. After many years trying to break the Spiral and get their cloning technology, both sides found themselves at a stalemate, and an agreement was reached. Danu offering samples of her own genetic material for the coven's work, in return, they keep her alive, using their techniques for 'jumping' clones at the time of death.

I am fascinated by this fluff, it is very reminiscent of the Night Lords. Terror is a perfect tool when utilised correctly, and I look forward to seeing more about your Kabal, Coven and Wych Cult.

Good work.

The Kabal of the Bleeding Claw:

Lead by Archon Danu, the whole kabal lives on a fleet of ships, with some planetary holdings primarily used as 'slave farms' She is considered reckless by even Dark Eldar standards, as her fleet is more often in real space as it is the webway, where it conducts frequent raids on planetary settlements, however, only a small proportion of slaves are taken, the rest of the planet's population are often killed.

the 'slave farms' are where she often will go to replenish supplies of food, fuel, and other resources, all the food is farmed and produced by slave labor, with a garret of slavekeepers keeping control of the settlement. The fleet rarely comes to Commeraugh, when it does, it is often to trade slaves and resources taken from raids.



What most don't know, the haemonculi of the Spiral Coven, Miacha, and Ormiiach had developed a technique for retreiving, and converting souls to an entirely new flesh and blood body. Danu in a way, is ther first test subject. Long ago, the archon gave Miacha a genetic sample, the ancient Haemonculous has used that sample, to create a series of clones of Danu. Each clone is currently souless, and unsentient. stored in stasis until the archon dies, in wich case, due to a device implanted in her body, her soul is extracted, and sent through a type of 'webway tube' to a stored body on Ranyldan's ship, where she is then ressussiated, and after a breif recovery, ready to assume comand again.

This secret is only known to the archon and the two haemonculi, as well as a select elite of their wracks that tend to the clone bodies.

The haemonculi's experiment's have also lead to many of the kabalite warriors developing from Danu's own DNA, making them her children in a way. the truborn of the kabal however still see them as inferior, their attitdes are not helped by the fact that a flaw in the most recent strain has left the warriors slightly shorter than the trueborn.


Kabal of the Bleeding Claw:

The Kabal left Commaraugh after the apparant death of Archon Danu, returning with a freshly cloned Danu at their head to gain vengence on those who killed her. Since then, they left again on their fleet.

In Commoraugh, the kabal's home, the Blade, is largely left empty save a garrison force of kabalites and some mercs, the majority of the kabal only populating it when they return on a raid for trade or rest, before taking off again.

Danu's rivals spread rumors of supposed phsyker ability, true or not, causing her kabal to be attacked. As a result, even after putting her enemies to death, she largely stays out of Commoraugh. barely leaving the Blade when she is in the city.

The kabalite soldiers are not just born from artificial vats, but are often cloned or mingled with Danu's genetic material, making them all her children to an extent. the Trueborn and incubi in her kabal are ignorant of this fact, and only see the warriors as pod borned freaks no different than any other pod born freaks. Due to this, and Danu's own unique status, the coven has much sway and power over the kabal. Danu beleives she is in control, but many times they raid due to the Spiral's wishes.

I really like the fluff you've written so far. However, as your fleet is in Realspace more often than the webway, how do they keep their souls safe from She Who Thirsts?

the cloning factor, and whatever the haemonculi did to her that makes them able to retreive her soul immediataly in death maybe,

I just haven't worked out all the details or how the rest of her kabal isn't leached away, and really disliked the whole hiding in commoraugh or their souls are leached away bit of fluff personally.

sort of took the idea of the archons being regenerated, and combined it with the cloning of EvE Online if anyone was wondering

the shortness of the current strain of warriors is mostly because I use the old school DE for warriors, as I already have those, and the new ones as trueborn.
working on the next bit soon, the Bleeding Klaw and Spiral Coven's history

The Spiral Coven:

The coven is lead by twins, Ogmiach and Miacha.

The twins had been children at the time of the Fall, their father a noted healer.
They had escaped into what would become the dark city with the others, when the webway portal collapsed just as Miacha went through, horribly disfiguring her.
As they reached maturity, the twins had focused their attentions on the dark art of fleshcraft, Ogmiach caring for his sister as they looked for ways to rebuild her. Over time, their studies became more twisted, Miacha was rebuilt, but like nothing she had been before, Ogmiach quickly following up the changes to his sister, with his own changes. The coven built up around the twins and their work, eventually over centuries, compiling of thousands of wracks, grotesques, and lesser haemonculi who come to the twins to learn their secrets.
Pioneers of cloning technology that had started from their initial research into rebuilding Miacha's body, they've been rumored to not only create the best kabalite warriors, but also to be able to replicate souls themselves, wile the eldar even lives.
many kabals have come to the Spiral with offers, but the Bloody Klaw so far has been the only kabal to be allowed access.
Lately the twins have developed an interest in the biology of the Tyranids, often sending out a force to worlds being infested to take samples, wich they have been incorporating into many of their creations as well as themselves.

History with the Bleeding Klaw:
The alliance between the Spiral and the Bloody Klaw initially was a very violent one. The Spiral had offered it's services to many kabals to regenerate the nobels, supply wracks and grotesques in raids, and as interesting opponents for the wytches, but as rumors spread of their cloning ability, more kabals felt they were being denied the Spiral's full potential. Archon Danu of the Bloody Klaw was one such. She not only knew the rumors, but 'knew' them to be true, the Spiral had the potential to go beyond the simple regeneration of an eldar. Danu wanted this potential for herself. She set about staging a seige of the Crooked Spire, headquarters of the Sprial, by first inserting a Haemonculi , the fledgling aspirant Lia. The twins knew of this, but were amused by the spy. Allowing her to remain and learn from them. Then she tried to acess Miacha's private lab, this did not amuse them. Lia was returned to Danu, having been warped and twisted into a wrack who attempted to kill Danu.
The assassination failed, as Danu reacted just before the seemingly innocous Lia struck, driving her huskblade into the wrack's throat.

Enraged, Danu called for an all out assault on the Crooked Spire. The seige lasted for years, in a constant back and forth until a final stalemate. The twins had noticed Danu's behaviors, the fact she seemed to instinctually know what they were about to do just before it happened. Intrigued, the twins approached her. Showing at her spire unescorted. Curious, she allowed them enter, and they made their offer. Now, the Bloody Klaw is the only kabal the Spiral trades with, growing new warriors, supplying flesh constructs with every raid, regenerating the kabal's nobels every time they die, and keeping Danu alive everytime she dies, wether there is a corpse or not. And in return, every generation of Danu, is a guineapig for the coven's research

The Kult of Crimson Tears:

Formerly the cult of Bloody Tears under the Succubus Galeth, The cult operated an arena in Commoraugh, called the Bloody Couldron. They were known for their matches being extravagant shows, The wytches of the cult didn't just kill, they preformed as if it were a dance, They often would put on multi-cyclic 'seasons' of bloody combat, ending every season with a large scale battle royale dedicated to the dark muse of blades.

Elatha had been a bloodbride, one of the best of the cults gladiators. She had been rising to the top preformer of her cult, when Danu had arranged a meeting with her. What was discussed is not known, but shortly afterwards, as part of the 'season finale', Elathra challenged Galeth for leadership of the cult.
The arena cleared for the unheard of one vs. one match. As bith wytches met in the center, and without another word, lashed out at each other. The fight was long and intense, each wytch leaping off the walls of the arena, dodging the other's attacks, evenly matched, neither getting a scratch on the other.

Danu and her court were seen in one of the VIP booths, watching the battle with interest.

As the combatants fought, neither one getting the upper hand, Galeth adjusted her drug dispenser, trying for that extra edge against Elathra. The crowd watched as the succubus grinned at the rush going through her veins, then her eyes widened and she started to groan as she vomited foaming blood. Her drugs had been tampered with. She sank to her knees holding her stomach, as liquified organs spewed out of ther mouth, Elathra swinging in and decapitating her, winning leadership of the cult.

Before the evening's battle, Galreth's personal slave had been distracted from preparing the late succubus's drugs. A new slave, just gifted to Galeth by the Bleeding Klaw in appreciation of the anticipated nights entertainment, had taken the task instead. Mixed into the drugs was a form of virus developed by the Spiral, one that rapidly liquifies the insides, unfortunatly the haemonculi abandoned attempts at weaponising when no matter what they tried, it had no lifespan in the air without a host,

Since then, the cult was renamed the cult of the Crimson Tears, and had kept close ties with the Bleeding Klaw, even leaving the city with the fleet to preform on the arena on board, and follow Danu's promises of battle and violence wherever they go.

Archon Danu Ke'the:

Earliest reccolection of Danu was was of a member of the Hellion gang, "The Hounds"
the gang would raid through the streets of lower Commoraugh. She had shown up the leader more and more over the course of the last few raids, and the muttering among the gang was that she was eyeing his position.
The Hounds soon went on an ill-concieved raid in upper Commorragh against a highly successful, and well secured, merchant house. Danu had advised against it, but the leader wouldn't be swayed. They attacked the next day
. The raid was actually going well, when Danu was struck from behind by a splinter rifle held by her leader. The round went through her torso, rupturing organs and leaving her slowly bleeding to death as the Hellions retreated.
The merchant house captured her, fixed her wounds only to torture her for weeks, after wich she was sold to the Kabal of the Hand as a slave.

She became the personal attendant of the archon, Ceocal, an ancient Archon, providing him his regular drugs , tending to his personal gear, and often acting as his personal entertainment, either in the bedroom or the torture rack.
One night, he let his guard down during one of their bedroom sessions, and she killed him, strangling the life from him with the sheets.
Taking control of the Kabal, She renamed it the Kabal of the Bloody Claw.
The first century of her rule, she had lead some highly siccessful raids, bringing in many slaves and resources. She became known in this early stage of her career, for developing unusual ideas and strategies, taking worlds and territories in realspace and setting up 'slave farms' with the surviving populations, overseen by warriors of the Sslyth clan, the 'Naga" long allied with the kabal back when it was the Hand. She was heard to proclaim many times at her events and parties, that Commoraugh were the only 'true' eldar left, and the need to retake their former glory. Generally her proclimations were waved off as too much alcohol or drugs, though her beleifs were always apparant. Some kabals became worried that her desire for the old days of the Eldar Empire, would attract She Who Thirst's attention to Commoraugh.

Eventually, an alliance of kabals, worried after attending too many of her galas and hearing her speaches, and desireing her power and wealth, attacked the kabal at their stronghold, during a party to celebrate the latest successful raid. The allied kabals attacked in the midst of the feast she held around the fighting pit where she had contracted bloodbrides of the Bleeding Tears to fight captured space marines as the main attraction. The attack was unexpected by the assembled guests, though Danu had, during her toast to the attending kabals, gave each of the plotting archons a glare just before the attack was launched. The fighting was fierce, none had expected the Bleeding Tears to have more wytches mingled through the party. The wytches and bloodbrides joined in the fight, attacking the attackers with the Bleeding Claw.
Despite her kabal's push back of the attacking force, Danu was seen by the assorted warriors as she was struck down, decaptated in battle, by an assassin that got through behind her, as she was occupied holding off a pair of trueborn. The assassin then used a flamer, a human weapon, incinerating her body right then and ther to prevent her from being regrown.

The remaining warriors fled to their ships and left Commoraugh, and the house was considered destroyed, the stronghold left empty.

Weeks later, all the nobels in the attacking houses were found dead in their chambers.
and then the fleet returned, with a full accompanyment of warriors, and Danu, back at the head. rater than reclaim her home, she instead, claimed the resources, slaves, and warriors of the assassinated houses, adding them to her own. and the fleet left again, this time accompanied by the Spiral Coven's ship, and by the full Kult of Bloody Tears, and leaving a force of warriors to watch over the stronghold.