Kabal of Shattered Hopes

“I remember petals floating in my mind's eye. They would drift ever so slowly to the ground. They were the colour of darkest flint and they were perfect. This was winter on Acheron, where the snows would never fall unless we willed it. Those were our halcyon days.”

“When the mon-keigh, bastard ape-spawn, forced us off our paradise we resisted with all the wrath of our people..sSo they destroyed our world, too petty to leave us to rebuild our raped world. We were cast out; our voidborne brethren had abandoned us. Whither could we go?”

“The webway offered us succour and led us to the darkest of realms. Commorragh. The Vile Metropolis, City of the Damned. We were all that remained of the forest clans; we were unsuited for the fear that boiled amongst us, the shadows that preyed on our number. For what seemed an age in this timeless pit it seemed like the exodites of Acheron faced extinction for a second time.”

“But our lineage is of the blood of heroes. From a band of refugees we built an empire, a kabal feared across the breadth of this filthy galaxy. From destitute vagabonds devoid of hope we constructed armies! As our dreams crashed upon our heads and as the tears threatened to drown us we realized that hate made us strong. We live now for vengeance; Acheron is our home no longer. But we will not lay down our arms until every last being in this galaxy has suffered as we have, with their faith sundered and their hopes shattered.”

Abban, Archon-Sire of the Kabal of Shattered Hopes



Origins:

The Kabal of Shattered Hopes was first formed in the outskirts of Commorragh by a band of exodites refugees from the destroyed world of Acheron. Although life on the edges of Commorragh was fraught with danger the surroundings were far more favourable to the exodites than the cramped twisting alleyways of the Unholy City. In place of towering mountains and grim forests the outskirts of Commorragh were plains of warp stuff, the ruins of cruel citadels and the hunting grounds of strange slavering beasts. But for the fledgling Kabal it was home.

The first formation of the exodites as a cohesive group came when a minor Kabal (the Kabal of the Chilling Gaze) assaulted the tent-camps of the Acheronian exodites in search of plunder and slaves. Unwilling to give in the refugees banded together under the guidance of their foremost elder, Sire Abban and repelled the invaders. Realizing that they represented an easy target unless integrated within Dark Eldar society the divided clans signed a formal blood oath binding their families together to form the Kabal of Shattered Hopes.


Organization:

In a rare example of discipline and organization matched only perhaps by the Incubi of Commorragh the set hierarchies of the Kabal are adhered to unquestioningly. Perhaps their origins have inured the former exodites to the violent power play of their neighbours or perhaps it is merely the fearsome martial reputation that surrounds the rulers of the Kabal that keeps petty politicking at bay but the fact remains that as a whole the Kabal of Shattered Hopes is cohesive, a fact that has spelled doom for many a foe when confronted by ordered and lucid warriors instead of raving fanatics and reavers that the foes of the Dark Eldar have come to expect.

Archon-Sire Abban is the leader of the Grey Council, a collection of the heads of the former clans that were integrated into the Kabal. Although all are equal in the Council it is Abban who represents the Kabal in matters of diplomacy amongst the Dark Eldar and he is widely regarded as the supreme ruler of the Kabal, much to the relief of other members of the Council mindful of the popularity of assassination in Commorragh. As insurance the Immortals of the Kabal constantly patrol for the slightest hint of discontent, and the crucified corpses of dissidents and protesters line the walls of the Conclave that the Council gathers in.

The forces of the Kabal are pooled together and no squad is ever comprised solely of members from one clan. Every fighting kindred is comprised of warriors of half a dozen different family groups to reinforce the interdependency of the Kabal. This frightening dedication has seen the Kabal reap a far greater tally of souls and slaves than their far larger competitors and it has seen the Shattered Hope expand its territories from the wilds of Commorragh to substantial tracts of the city itself.

The Kabal maintains its insular character, a throwback from their days as conservative farmers and tenders of Acheron’s petal groves and instead of contracting the services of the Incubi or tempting a cult of Wyches to their service all warriors of the Kabal are trained first as foot soldiers before being employed as raiders. For most soldiers of the Kabal their progression through the ranks will stop ultimately as a lordling of a raider kindred. For the supremely gifted however promotion beckons in the ranks of the Reivers, whirling dervishes of razor sharp wraithbone and mottled steel. For those who survive the ferocious conditions of the Reivers promotion into the ranks of the Immortals beckons. Clad in heavy plate and wielding terrifying blades they protect the leaders of the Kabal. Finally from the Immortals lies ascendancy to the ranks of the Archons and Dracons of the Kabal of Shattered Hope.


Beliefs:

Commorragh is a faithless place and it shows in its inhabitants. Although some maintain their worship of the old pantheon or try to placate She-Who-Thirsts in futile attempts for clemency the majority of the Dark Eldar live secular lives, intent only on harvesting as many souls as they can to prolong their wretched existence.

After the destruction of their homesteads, of their orchards and academies the refugees of Acheron turned from the light of Kurnous and Isha and have taken to reaping souls along with the rest of their delusional brethren, hoping to prolong their lives long enough to strike total vengeance against the galaxy at large. For this reason Khaela Mensha Khaine, Lord of War, the Red Handed, the Slayer remains the most prominent god worshipped by the Kabal of Shattered Hopes. Although a fraction of the Kabal retain the soul stones that tied them to their World Spirit, most of the dispossessed members of the Kabal have voluntarily cast aside their salvations and have allowed the taint of Commorragh to flow through them.

Souls:

The ethereal vampirism that fuels the vicious cycle of Dark Kin existence is a trait that has yet to fully manifest in the ranks of the Kabal. Though the corrupting influence of Commorragh has successfully developed this ability in most members of the Kabal there remain a stubborn few, too proud of temper or pure in spirit, who cannot absorb the souls of the deceased. For these individuals lie two choices, either be cast out to walk the path of the outcast or ritual suicide. Members of the Kabal who choose the latter option are known as the Martyrs of Isha.

These unfortunates are ritually purified and immolated. Each martyr gathers around his closest kin and comrades so that when the funeral pyres turn his body to ash his essence can live on, strengthening the bodies of his allies.


Battle Cry:

The Kabal of Shattered Hopes doesn’t maintain a battlecry. Instead, tortured psykers are driven insane through the application of various arcane rituals and immolated in pyres of witch fire. Their psychic death screams have been known to rout armies before the battle has started.