The Kabal of Inevitable Heresy

(This is what I have so far, comment and criticism welcome!)

Archon Nefas Darkanas has slowly risen to a point of respect among the Spires of Commorragh, and terror to the denizens of the Materium.

His early realspace raids were of no special note, small scale skirmishes of little risk and moderate reward. Commonly targeted were Missionary groups and lightly defended Ecclesiarchal worlds. Cults of the Chaos Gods that festered on back planets would go missing before Imperial forces would show up. All of this was initially attributed to various xenos threats, and even when the Dark Eldar were identified, other more powerful Kabals were often given credit. The Kabal of the Inevitable Heresy was not even identified by name in any records until early in M40 when they attacked a Tau vessel carrying an Ethereal. The Kabal took significant damage, and retreated. While the Ethereal himself was not harmed, the ship carrying his personal staff and attendants was captured in the raid.

It was later in M40 that the Kabal was named in the Imperium. A missionary ship taken in a raid years prior appeared in orbit over an Imperial planet. 100 people were found alive on board. The rescuers found the survivors horribly mutilated and branded with the tatoos of the Inevitable Heresy. Many of the priests spoke maddened blasphemies, cursing the Emperor and reciting obscene litanies of the most revered Saints. Most were broken husks of the pious devotion they once were. A few even attacked the rescuers upon viewing the sacred Aquila. All 100 were executed as heretics.

Less than 5 years later, the Chaos Marine Seldath, Instigator of the Crach Revolt, was seen stripped of his armor, large grafts of skin missing where his unholy markings had once glowed on his flesh, running through the streets of Bacchus IV, screaming about being chased by hounds. The glowing brand of the Inevitable Heresy was burned on his back. Seldath was never found.

Commorragh revelled in Nefas's newest fad. While the breaking of spirit has long been a refined art, few pursued the destruction of faith with the zealousness of the Inevitable Heresy. Nefas oftens plans near suicidal raids into real-space to capture those he sees as having the most faith, the most to give up. In most instances, he will send some token of those taken back, to show the world how even Faith is no shield against his wrath.

Nefas rarely seeks aid for his realspace raids, relying heavily on the Wyches of the Sundered Faith. The Succubus of the Cult is Mishaela Dwyrnth. Mishaela and Nefas have been consorts for as long as they have been in the public eye. Which will betray the other first is the topic of debate behind many closed doors of Commorragh, but their ongoing alliance is along the lines of a shared goal. The Wyches of the Sundered Faith focus on drawing a battle out as long as possible, taunting their opponent at every turn. Those that show no warrior-spirit are often cut to pieces. It is for the true warriors that the cult hunts. The Wyches focus on their ability to prolong a fight while inflicting as much pain as possible, their goal being the surrender of even those most brutal of warriors.

Mishaela herself is said to have battled the Space Marine Johan Bardasius of the Space Wolves for 4 days and nights before the warrior finally collapsed from exhaustion. Mishaela did not finish the warrior, but instead left him to the taunts and jeers of the audience and his captors for the next month. When she battled him again, it was a brief affair, Mishaela severing the limbs of the Marine, then leaving his body there to bleed to death to the cheers and laughter of the audience.

As with most Kabals, the requirements of regeneration have led Nefas and Mishaela to seek out a Coven. Both the Inevitable Heresy and the Sundered Faith have sworn themselves to the Coven of the Eternal Scream. The Haemonculi there take gleeful pleasure in preserving the lives of those the Kabal finds difficult to break, even treating the injuries of those captured by the Cult who refuse to let their prisoners die. They enjoy their work not only because of the painful procedures, but because those that are irretrievably broken are sent to the Covens for "re-introduction". The Eternal Scream delights in mutiliating those that are to be sent back, taking sadistic pleasure knowing that their works will be seen by those who cared for them most. In addition, the Coven will often booby-trap the bodies with some disease, to be sent back, either to weaken or kill the captives rescuers. Of great success was the Exterminatus of Fression II, in which the rampant virus unleashed combined with the blasphemies instilled by the Kabal caused the Inquisition to believe the Daemons of Nurgle had taken hold of the main population center. The entire planet was destroyed to save the Sector.

With their success in Commorragh, the Kabal has achieved a small amount of fame for its antics. However, targeting such highly prized targets has left the Kabal with a smaller force of Warriors and standing forces, with the majority at any time in the regeneration chambers of the Coven. Given his relative weakness, Nefas is often seen as soft-spoken and non-confrontational, at least for an Archon in the Dark City. Stronger Kabals are still reluctant to test his might in a coup, however, for fear of falling themselves to the one that makes his name destroying the minds and souls of the strong. Those who find themselves insulted, by design or by accident, often recieve a gift from Nefas, such as when the Archon of the Last Hatred made known his distaste for Nefas after the Inevitable Heresy raided a small church-moon that was to be a future target of the Last Hatred. Three months later, the Cardinal of the Church arrived at the doorstep of the Last Hatred, the Cardinal reciting with great fervor the date, location, and captive count of all of the Last Hatreds victories, praising the martial prowess of the Archon, going back hundreds of years. The Archon kept this living trophy until it dropped dead, Nefas's slight forgiven.

And so the Inevitable Heresy continues its climb among the Spires of Commoragh, the recanting of vows and surrending of souls echoing from the depths of its torture chambers. Among the highest spires of his realm, Nefas continues to seek out high profile targets to defile, weakening not only the forces of the galaxy but the very Gods themselves.

CDSzafraniec wrote:

Given his relative weakness, Nefas is often seen as soft-spoken and non-confrontational, at least for an Archon in the Dark City. Stronger Kabals are still reluctant to test his might in a coup, however, for fear of falling themselves to the one that makes his name destroying the minds and souls of the strong. Those who find themselves insulted, by design or by accident, often recieve a gift from Nefas, such as when the Archon of the Last Hatred made known his distaste for Nefas after the Inevitable Heresy raided a small church-moon that was to be a future target of the Last Hatred. Three months later, the Cardinal of the Church arrived at the doorstep of the Last Hatred, the Cardinal reciting with great fervor the date, location, and captive count of all of the Last Hatreds victories, praising the martial prowess of the Archon, going back hundreds of years. The Archon kept this living trophy until it dropped dead, Nefas's slight forgiven.

I love this bit. It's so... classy in a Dark Eldar way.
Plus, it covers a part of the courtly intrigue of Commoragh in a way I don't think has been covered before.

O.K. criticism time. While the destruction of faith is a cool idea, it has been done before. The Wych Cult of the Pain Eternal is an official GW Wych Cult with the same raison d'être. As a small Kabal that does catch and release for zealots, the Kabal of the Inevitable Heresy is certainly different enough from the Wych Cult. But you should make a mention or two of why the Kabal is allied with the Cult of Sundered Faith instead.
A Wych Cult focused on stamina and exhausting their opponents is an inspired idea. I have no complaints about the concept of your Wych Cult, and every word about the Coven of the Eternal Scream is perfect. Still, I would like a name to put to someone in the Coven.
On that subject, the names. The Kabal of the Inevitible Heresy is a perfectly good name, but seems a little on the nose. I think a name that references the deaths of the Eldar Gods and/or the worship of the Dark Muses would work just as well as a name and also better represent the very symbolic and theatrical Eldar language. (ex: Kabal of Justice Slain, referencing the death of the Eldar God Asuryan, or Kabal of the True Muses)
The Cult of Sundered Faith is even worse. The themed name would be O.K. if the Cult had the same defining drive the name implies, but the description you give of them has nothing to do with sundered faith. The name should at very least reference 'drawing a battle out as long as possible' as some vague way.


This is great background you've written here. But I think it needs a little refinement.

Much appreciated. Truth be told I havnt been totally sold on the names. Even of the Archon/Succubus. The only reason there isnt a named Haemie yet is I havnt come up with one!

I came from an Orky 40k background, so ive been trying to do some more research. Dont get me wrong, Warboss Badkilla is a mean dude, but Orks require a little less thought to put together.

On top of that I had never heard of the Cult of the Pain Eternal. I love them. Theyre great. Right now im thinking of just making my Wyches Pain Eternal, with Mishaela being a Hekatrix, perhaps one of the two below the Succubus, though I hate stepping on existing mythos. And then id have all sorts of the word 'Eternal' in my fluff! I am very much willing to change my Wych Cult, but is there a lot of room for offshoots within a Cult? I guess im just unsure about the size of Cults.

Given me something to work with, I appreciate it.

CDSzafraniec wrote:

On top of that I had never heard of the Cult of the Pain Eternal. I love them. They're great. Right now I'm thinking of just making my Wyches Pain Eternal, with Mishaela being a Hekatrix, perhaps one of the two below the Succubus, though I hate stepping on existing mythos. And then id have all sorts of the word 'Eternal' in my fluff! I am very much willing to change my Wych Cult, but is there a lot of room for offshoots within a Cult? I guess I'm just unsure about the size of Cults.

There are three Succubi in each Wych Cult, with one normally being the dominant one and the other two fighting over second place, so you could keep Mishaela a Succubus if you wanted. You make her one of the lesser Succubi, and you'll even get a built in rival for your trouble!

If you don't like that idea though, I am sure that break-away cults do happen. Think of the Cults as a theater troupe of violence; some Wyches are just better at the role they play, and others aren't cut out for playing their character.
If some Wych tries to re-right the script, either she better be very good or go out and get the backing to create her vision on her own.

One other idea ive been toying with is having the Archon be a secret Slaanesh worshipper. That he targets pretty much all of the other gods, except Slaanesh, and perhaps only a few beings in existence have recognized the pattern (like Vect), but theres no solid proof. Im not talking about 'worshipping' either, as opposed to recognizing Slaanesh's power and hoping that by performing some acts in service (namely taking out rivals), he and his Kabal may be spared, or at least devoured last. Not full out rituals, but perhaps he recieves visions of certain targets or such that She Who Thirsts really wants every now and then. That in turn would lead me to change my Kabals name (which is a little blunt, admittedly) to the Kabal of the Six Heresies. I love the word 'heresy' and the six is obviously Slaaneshs number. Obvious, in a tragic way for the Eldar race as a whole, he would list six great Heresies, something like Faith, Family, Self, Race, Love, and Home, and to cause all six betrayals destroys a soul.

I think im sold on going with Mishaela being one of the lesser Succubi in the group...perhaps because she strings her fights out so long instead of going for the showy, and more gruesome kill. She can be referred to as the 'Lady of Lassitude'. Do you think that its too presumptious to say shes one of the three Succubi? Im thinking her dalliance with Nefas will have led her and a section of her cult to stay in Commoragh instead of heading out with the fleet as much, perhaps setting the stage for forming her own cult in the future. Either that or she has just either split off, or been banished for not leaving with the fleet, keeping a small number of the cult that followed her fighting style. Though you know what that means...another name! Though then im not as tied down to the purple and red, though I think id want her to keep some part purple and red to show her 'parenthood' of Eternal Pain.

As for the Coven, im leaning toward Unceasing Scream, since I dont want too much 'Eternal' in my fluff! Led by an Ancient Haemonculous, Sla'Arien, the Unceasing Scream has also been a newcomer to the Dark City. Nefas was True Born, and Sla'Arien was given a planets population in payment by Nefas's unknown lineage to protect the child-eldar. While Sla'Arien has never revealed Nefas's heritage, he did tell Nefas that his fathers kabal was destroyed in one of the many civil wars, his parents slain.
While Nefas has suspected for a long time that Sla'Arien helped to orchestrate his father's demise in order to take additional souls, he has accepted Sla'Ariens offers of loyalty and alliance, assuming his birth father for a fool...but whether he has the same fate planned for Nefas remains to be seen. Regardless, the alliance between the two has allowed Nefas access to the required services of the Haemonculi, and Nefas's particular brand of terror has allowed the Unceasing Scream to achieve a new level of notoriety.

CDSzafraniec wrote:

One other idea ive been toying with is having the Archon be a secret Slaanesh worshiper. That he targets pretty much all of the other gods, except Slaanesh, and perhaps only a few beings in existence have recognized the pattern (like Vect), but theres no solid proof. I'm not talking about 'worshiping' either, as opposed to recognizing Slaanesh's power and hoping that by performing some acts in service (namely taking out rivals), he and his Kabal may be spared, or at least devoured last. Not full out rituals, but perhaps he receives visions of certain targets or such that She Who Thirsts really wants every now and then. That in turn would lead me to change my Kabals name (which is a little blunt, admittedly) to the Kabal of the Six Heresies. I love the word 'heresy' and the six is obviously Slaanesh's number. Obvious, in a tragic way for the Eldar race as a whole, he would list six great Heresies, something like Faith, Family, Self, Race, Love, and Home, and to cause all six betrayals destroys a soul.

I love it. Admittedly, you'll have to walk a very fine line to keep the Kabal distinct from the idea of Chaos Eldar, but the idea is sound. However, I would suggest dropping the visions and making it vague on whether or not he is actually knowing the will of Slaanesh. The ambiguity would work better for leaving open further story developments and a person mistakenly believing that a God is guiding their actions fits the arrogance of the Dark Eldar.

For the six heresies, might I suggest Cowardice, Restraint, Weakness, Submission, Humility, Doubt?

I don't actually have something to add about the Coven of the Unending Scream or your Wych Cult. They're going great.

I appreciate the help. Its always good to bounce these ideas around!

As for the Chaos Eldar...yuck. Definitely not my goal. Im all about leaving the story somewhat vague, does he know or doesnt he, etc. That gives me a lot of wiggle room.

Love the Heresies. Love em. I was thinking of things that could be betrayed, but even seeing those words on a Dark Eldar Forum seemed off.

Ah, the Kabal of the Six Heresies feels so much more fleshed out now. Or, flesh-crafted at least.

Outside of what Spanna said, I've got nothing else to add. You provided very vivid and wonderful imagery, while suspension of belief was suspended due to your naming scheme. Once you iron out a name, let me know and this will get added to the lists.