Kabal of the Void Reaper

In the far corners of the Dark City exist untold numbers of portals and entrances to various sub-realms of all manner of size and power structures. Some are little more than dens of debauchery, pain and pleasure flowing like water for all those with the coin to claim it. Others are hyperactive hives, abuzz with the industry of trades born on the backs of innumerable slaves gathered from across the galaxy. It is in one of these pocket realms that the Kabal of the Void Reaper quarters itself. Despite its relatively modest size, the realm of Marsgrech is heavily fortified and highly militarized. Spartan by the standards of Commorragh, the soaring buttresses of black stone fortresses bristle with deadly weapons and adamantine defenses. Here, every soul of the realm works like a well oiled cog in the machine that is the kabal. Everyone does their part, striving to ever better themselves both individually and collectively. Those who don't are cast aside, broken and useless. This culture of discipline, evolution, perfection, and heavy emphasis on technology has bred a fearsome kabal of ruthlessly efficient hunters.

Origins:

For centuries, the satellite realm of Marsgrech lay independent, largely removed from the politics and troubles of Commorragh proper. That was of course, before the rise of Asdrubael Vect. Before the scouring. When the streets of the Dark City and the realms connected were free to pursue their own course, troubled only periodically by the wars of the nobility and the temperamental Solar Cults. In Marsgrech, the realm was heavy with the spoils of farflung raids and was a known haven of the sensual pursuits. Exotic slaves, rare drugs, and every other delight for the senses could be purchased, used, abused, and replaced in the plush chambers of the realm. A steady stream of patrons brought great wealth that filled the soul-coffers of the depraved noble Lokarr the Starbreaker. Himself a minor member of the aristocracy of Commorragh, his sire had carved out his realm by blood and coin when bitter in-fighting saw him ousted by his siblings from High Commorragh.  Lokarr however, had little interest in politics, warfare, court intrigue, or industry. His world was a world of physical indulgence.  He claimed the very best of his slave holdings for himself, spending century after century in a drug induced haze of sex and violence. The fact that he was never assassinated in his narcotized state is nothing short of amazing.

Lokarr’s “hobbies” were not without some consequence. A number of offspring were produced from the decadent ruler’s slaves. Most were quickly put to death for their tainted bloodline. No noble would stand for a slave to carry their trueborn child, or stand for a slave to be foolish enough to try. However, for some unknown reason, one child, a trueborn with the name of Amornar was allowed to live. Whispers said that the child was begotten not by a slave, but another noble circulated. For whatever the reason, the child lived, and grew. While every posh luxury was laid upon the young eldar from birth, the child never found its place in the court of Lokarr. The carnal pleasures so beloved in Marsgrech carried little interest for the young prince. Those of blade and battle however, did. As soon as he grew to age, Amornar left the house of his father, leaving pain and pleasure behind to embrace the life at the realm’s only other point of interest: the small incubi temple at the Shrine of the Reaper. It was this ancient temple for which the satellite realm was named.  

Lokarr’s fury at Amornar’s departure from his court saw the blood of a thousand slaves bathe his obsidian hall red that day. Afterall, any trueborn son of nobility should crave power and wealth in equal measure. Lokarr cut all ties with his son, ordering his name stricken from the annals and only kept from ordering his death for fear of a repercussion from the temple for an assassination of one of their own. Time crept on in the webway as Amornar progressed through the initiate ranks of the temple before becoming a full Incubus and after some centuries of service, dueling for the right to bear the title Klaivex. In the heart of Marsgrech, the depravity and decodance had reached such heights (or depths) they even rivaled the grand courts of High Commorragh. The rise of the Black Heart kabal and their slave turned archon lord: Asdrubael Vect. The overthrow of the ruling nobility and the institution of Vect as supreme overlord set shockwaves so great through Commorragh that even in the satellite realms, the foundations of society were rocked. Alliances, betrayals and new alliances were formed and reformed anew on a daily basis as those who felt at risk to this sudden and unexpected threat fought to protect the power they had never rightly earned. Lokarr, for all his wealth and luxury had spent his many centuries of life in a haze of flesh and spice, leaving his political skills…lacking.

Vect’s wrath washed across the Dark City and into every corner of the webway in a fiery inferno of conquest. Aristocracies were torn down in a shattered collage of broken history and replaced with ruthless meritocracies breeding nothing but the most cunning and savvy of archons. In the realm of Marsgrech, chaos reigned as all knew it to be only a matter of time before the wrathful  gaze of the overlord fell upon Lokarr. The screaming roar of razorwing fighters and voidraven bombers and the howling thunder of dark lance bursts heralded the arrival of the great conqueror. The pitiful defences of Lokarr were swept away in the flood of the Black Heart like they were but primitive mon-keigh with pitchforks and clubs. Only at the height of the destruction, as hunter packs of enemy kabalite warriors roamed at will through the realm did the prodigal son return. His smooth ebony incubus suit caked with blood, Amornar burst into his father’s court, his klaive taking the lives of the closest guards with barely a pause in his gait. Without a word or pause the snow-maned Klaivex sliced his own father from shoulder to waist in a massive downward strike. Clicking a section of his gauntlet, a small holographic screen projected outward above his taloned arm. Clicking a few projections, a vid-feed of the killing materialized across the satellite realm on every available vid-projector. As the scene played itself and the image of decadent Lokarr split in two before his throne the rolling machine of the Black Heart slowed to a stop. Several long seconds of silence washed across street and spire before all attacking forces turned and began a full scale exodus of the smoking shell that had once been Marsgrech. A pact had been struck by the young incubus and his new master...

With the fires of destruction still warm the overlord summoned his newly subjugated forces to the forefront of his war in the webway. The war leaders of the Black Heart kabal and the rest of the subjugated kabals believed these kabal-less survivors would be little more than meat shields. Amornar and his warriors proved this assumption wrong. With his new mantle as archon, Amornar gathered those of Marsgrech together and organized them into small, elite tactical units. Most were veterans, their experience being what allowed them to survive Vect's assault. Willing and able to follow the more martial and pragmatic archon over Lokarr, their training regime exploded under the one-time klaivex. As the realm saw rebuilding efforts begin, Amornar named his fledgling kabal after the shattered remains of his ancient incubi temple shrine: the Kabal of the Void Reaper. Ruthless and tactically brilliant, the kabal soon earned the grudging respect of the larger Vect-aligned kabals. This elevated their status from cannon fodder to useful tool. As this happened, the increased monetary compensation for subjugations, raids, and more injected new life into their home realm. Every bit was shared communally and reinvested into the kabal. First came battlefield equipment, then war production, and finally realm wide defence systems.

Two key individuals to this entire effort and irreplaceable in Amornar's goals was the only haemonculus resident of Marsgrech and the senior dracon of the Void Reapers. The ancient haemonculus Sarathai the Fleshweaver had occupied the realm as a freelance haemonculus long before Lokarr's arrival. Whispered rumors claimed Sarathai was cast out of one of Commorragh's premier covens at the time of the Fall but the truth will likely never be known. Regardless, his assistance has been instrumental in the formation and success of the kabal. In particular, the augmentation and cybernetics that have become so integral to the culture of the Void Reapers keeps the Fleshweaver busy in his deep workshops. The second integral figure in the Reapers has been the dracon Val'en. Once the senior dracon for Lokarr, Val'en reestablished his title under Amornar. A strict drillmaster and a peerless warrior, Val'en had trained generations of kabalite warriors and was a trusted source of guidance and loyalty for the archon.

As the centuries passed and Vect's forces completed their stranglehold on the webway, the Kabal of the Void Reaper also solidified their power and strength. Despite never reaching above a moderate size, the merocratic political views and spartan socioeconomic status of each member has resulted in a huge amount of wealth for the kabal that has continuously been folded back into kabalite industry and technology. This has made the Reapers one of the best equipped kabals in the Dark City. Consequently, being so well equipped and supplied, together with their ruthlessly efficient tactics and highly trained forces has made them into an elite fighting force fielded to attack and destroy other elite forces. Most notably this means taking on the genetically engineered mon-keigh forces of the pathetic human empire, their misguided craftworld cousins, and the rebellious upstart kabals of Commorragh that dare insult the Supreme Overlord. While assassination, subterfuge, and political manipulation are the penchants of many kabals in the Dark City, there comes times when total destruction is required. It is times like this, when a kabal must be made made an example of, it's forces exterminated, and it's holdings razed to the ground without mercy or pause. That is when Vect calls upon his "attack dogs", as the Void Reapers have been derogatorily labeled, to do his dirtiest work.

The safety and stability of any kabal in Commorragh however, is never assured in the turbulent and traitorous culture of the Dark Eldar. In the last few centuries, without warning or apparent cause, the work and duties of the Reapers suddenly dried up like a parched riverbed. No longer were the enforcement duties assigned to subjugate the unruly kabals. No longer were the requests to be the armoured spearhead for real space raids sent. The effect had a profound impact on both the kabal's treasury and it's kabalites' happiness. Everywhere across the satellite realm, infighting and open rebellions bleed the kabal's forces. Brutal counters were put in place by Amornar but to little avail as the realm descended into anarchy. Ultimately, as the kabal ripped itself apart from the inside out, events culminated in an assassination attempt on Amornar himself. Though badly wounded, the archon emerged victorious, a half dozen would-be assassins dead by his hand. While the attack was not unsurprising given the kabal's history making enemies via Vect's orders....but what was surprising was the identity of the lead assassin. Dracon Val'en, Amornar's most trusted officer and loyal servant for millennia, had raised the first blade against his archon. Upon further inspection the body of Val'en was branded with the sigil of the Kabal of the Black Heart itself......

Amornar's paranoia ran rampant in the days following the assassination attempt as he culled a third of his already strained forces that he labeled as possible traitors. Even support staff and work slaves were not safe from the purge Amornar inflicted across Marsgrech. The intended effect however succeeded as order was restored through terror and a desire for self preservation. Taking advantage of this stability, Amornar assessed his situation. He had no doubt that the Black Heart...and likely Vect himself had ordered the assassination. But to rebel against Vect was to court death and would see Marsgrech put to the void-torch in an instant. Any accusation or insult would also likely result in destruction of far more than himself. This Amornar was left with but a single option....to ignore the attack and serve without question. Curiously, orders for new jobs and requests for military assistance restarted almost immediately was if nothing had ever happened...

Thus Amornar and his Kabal of the Void Reaper find themselves in a difficult position. They are pawns caught in the spider web that is Commorragh, between the fickle grace of their traitorous patron Asdrubael Vect and a collection of neighboring kabals harboring deep hatred for the rough treatment at the hands of Vect's dogs. To stray toward either camp would mean a death sentence....to stay in limbo merely a postponement of said death sentence. Amornar's only hope is that an opportunity for survival presents itself before the executioners are themselves executed....

Homeworld:

The satellite realm of Marsgrech, the home of the Kabal of the Void Reaper, is an industrialized fortress of modest size, but immense proportions. Soaring black stone towers bristle with gun emplacements and imaging surveillance. Ancient obelisks crackle with deadly energies barely contained within gravitational force fields ready to discharge their wrath upon any invaders. Even the obsidian paved streets and sky bridges twist and turn at strategic points giving vantage points to gun emplacements and defensive positions while offering an attacker little to no recourse to strike back. In the realm of the Reaper everything revolves around the arts of war and all, birthed and tubed alike, fight for the kabal lest they are executed for their wasteful presence.

Each facility and virtually every building in the pocket realm exist to this end. A string of high tech factories produce the war materials for the kabal. Thousands of slaves taken from across the universe for their strength, intelligence and skill work under the lash of their betters to produce the highest quality weapons, armour, skimmer tanks, aircraft, and battlefield equipment. The kabal's war leaders personally inspect each item, taking the very best for themselves and selling to rest in Commorragh proper to lesser kabals, street gangs, and anyone willing to shell out the coin. Additionally, they purchase and obtain the raw materials for war production. The traders that facilitate these sales are the closest thing to real merchants for the kabal.

Other standard points of interest in most kabalite bases of operation like wych arenas and training grounds have been transformed to be more martial and less entertaining. Here, assault and support elements train separately and in tandem, while the closest thing to large scale arena matches is the battle dome. Here, a thousand galactic worlds are recreated complete with armed inhabitants set against the kabal's forces. The most popular are always those where the superhuman mon-keigh savages or the misguided craftworld cousins fight Void Reapers in a show of brutal tactics and lethal skill.

Physical Characteristics:

To gaze upon the assembled host of the Void Reaper is to stare into the yearning maw of the void itself. Sleek matte black armour seems to exude a veil of shadow making the warriors and skimmer craft haze with an unnatural cloak as shimmering silvered metal flashes like menacing teeth and glowing emerald energies flare with power like daemonic eyes leering in the darkness. The terror of such a mysterious force has destroyed the morale of many-a foe before a single splinter round is fired. Cruel segmented armour bristles with spikes and barbs, some even draped with the flayed flesh of mortals. Blacked chain, hardened psycho-plastics, and power cable bundles protect many of the soft areas the segmented plates don't, while still allowing for maximum movement and agility. Likewise, the kabal's skimmers and aircraft bristle with all manner of spikes and barbed hooks creating deadly and terrifying silhouettes.

On a more individual level, the pursuit of absolute perfection has long infected the Void Reapers like a disease. The drive to craft oneself, and consequently the kabal as a whole, into a perfect machine built solely for war and the arts of death has resulted in a number of unique cultural differences but none more so than self-augmentation. Typically this is done through the implantation of cybernetics. Despite the kabal centric attitude, a strong streak of individualism sees each warrior with unique characteristics, traits, equipment, and augments. Many of the kabals pilots favor neural implants allowing them to link with their crafts, or alacrity implants designed to boost a pilot's reflexes and response time. Warriors and front line troops prefer more durable cybernetics: adrenal stim injectors, cardiovascular implants, and regeneration augments designed to clot a wound faster, dull injury pain, and speed healing. Still, others prefer sensory implants boosting sight, hearing, and all other senses. The most extreme of kabalites opt for neural implants fusing their brains with machines to enhance data collection, processing, problem solving, battlefield analysis, and more. The most insane however resort to drastic weaponizations. Implanting bombs within their bodies should they fall in battle, replacing limbs with full bionics, and implanting hidden weapons under their skin.

Individualism doesn't stop at augmentation though. Many of the warriors of the kabal have made specific customizations to their weapons and armour. This practice has always been heavily promoted by Amornar. By sacrificing a small amount of uniformity, the forces of the kabal can ensure its warriors move more fluidly in their armour, have more durability in locations more apt to suffer damage, weapons fit perfectly to each hand grip, eyes have molecularly perfect sight lines, and more. Tank and flyer crews replicate this same concept with their crafts, tweaking engines, weapons, and even defensive measures to tailor each transport, tank, and jet to its crew's skills and preferences.

This promotion has cultivated an elite force mindset that splits battlefield roles down to specific squads custom built to complement each other. These squads then coordinate in tandem to achieve larger battlefield roles in a carefully choreographed ballet of death. This micromanagement of the kabal's military strength is the obsessive compulsive obsession of its archon and it's primary strength when added together in full effect.

Combat Doctrine:

The Void Reapers are specialists in mobile armoured warfare with a heavy emphasis on mechanized infantry in raiders and venoms combined with large numbers of heavy armour- ravagers, reapers, and even a few heavy tantaloi. These highly mobile ground forces are supported by close air support in coordinated bombing runs and air to air superiority missions. Without cult or coven support, the Reapers operate in small elite squads with highly specialized roles. By integrating kabalite and wych training together, squads are formed and deployed in ranged support roles and melee assault roles that perform lightning fast hit and run attacks. This combined arms approach works to unbalance enemy forces making it difficult to respond to any individual threat. This style of blitzkrieg warfare is supplemented by heavy use of advanced technology and troop augmentations. When deployed in support of other forces, the Reapers form an armoured spearhead to punch deep into enemy lines, encircle their positions and surgically pick apart defenders while their allies clean up the disorganized remnants and round up slaves and other valuable commodities.

Technology:

Simply put, the Kabal of the Void Reaper are masters of technology. Where other kabals specialize in slaving, drugs, luxuries, assassination, poisons, flesh crafting, and other number of dark, devious, decadent, diabolical, and perfectly respectable dark eldar pastimes, the Reapers focus on high tech warfare. A veritable army of slaves, those best suited for advanced technological development and production from across the galaxy reside in Marsgrech. Enslaved craftworlders, tau earth caste, and most prized, rare demiurg combine with ogryns, zoats, tarellians, and more to create a highly intelligent and physically capable (though never both combined) workforce. Combined with their dark eldar betters overseeing this industry, the kabal is very well equipped and always changing up their war kit with new changes and developments.

A favorite of the kabal is the use of void tech, using the eldritch energies collected from the dark forgotten corners of the webway most commonly seen in the payloads of voidraven bombers. In Marsgrech, void tech comes everywhere from loaded on ravager gunships to localized power fields of highly experimental melee weapons and everywhere in between. Beyond this are attempts to miniaturize the storm vortex projectors of the aptly named reaper gunships, integration of infantry based night shields, haywire mines to be dropped from aerial bombers, jet fighters equipped air to air heat lances, transports equipped with supersized cluster caltrops, and far, far more. Beyond this, technological obsession plays a key role in the heavy augments and cybernetics of the warriors of the kabal. This emphasis on technology, including cybernetics, has largely eclipsed things like combat drugs and poisons. The only true use of these usually common elements in dark eldar forces is within technological uses. Combat drugs relegated to carefully administered and regulated cybernetic stimulant injectors while poisons exist almost exclusively as virulent ammunition for splinter and other weaponry.

Organization:

The structural organization of the Kabal of the Void Reaper is highly ordered with near absolute power held by those above over those below. At the top of the pyramidal power structure is Archon Amornar who rules his kabal with an iron fist. Discipline, obedience, pragmatism, and ruthless efficiency are demanded from every kabalite less they be exterminated as unwanted and wasteful. Below Amornar is his heirarch Turomen. Once a low level dracon, Turomen Heirarch has slowly risen in power over the millennia through loyalty and a ruthless penchant for advanced tactical thought. After the betrayal of Dracon Val'en, Turomen filled the power vacuum left behind. He has since become master of recruits and personally trains the kabal's forces as well as developing tactical strategy. On the battlefield he frequently commands the support forces moving to assist the kabal's assault elements.

These assault elements, those trained in cult-style combat are instead commanded by Hekatrix Aelenari. The title of hekatrix is largely ceremonial as the kabal does not officially have cult forces. In reality, Aelenari is truly a dracon herself, commanding the pseudo-Hekatarri elements of the Void Reapers. Herself a lithe and ruthless combatant, Aelenari was originally an aspirant in the incubi temple at the time of Lokarr's fall. After the temple's destruction, Aelenari followed her klaivex as Amornar formed the Reapers from the shattered remnants of the realm. Whispers of a relationship between Amornar and Aelenari going deeper than master and subordinate have long abounded in Marsgrech.

While not truly a part of the kabal, the haemonculus Sarathai the Fleshweaver has been integral to its success from the kabal's inception. Primarily a source of expensive augmentations and cybernetic enhancements, the Fleshweaver, like all haemonculi, receives payment in all manner of unusual and odd ways. The ligaments of a Callidus assassin, the vocal cords of a tau ethereal, the scream of an unblemished Fenresian virgin, or the tears of an Adepta Sororitas. What the value is of these things to Sarathai is virtually unknowable. Equally unknown is what form of compensation Amornar has bargained Sarathai into working almost exclusively with the Void Reapers. Whatever the deal, it has apparently been kept over the millennia and only time will diverge the truth behind what has been promised.

The last notable element in the command structure of the kabal is the elite bodyguard of Amornar himself: the Voidborn. As much a cult as a bodyguard for Amornar, the Voidborn are the highest trained and most loyal members of the kabal. Each has been individually trained by Amornar in the arts of the incubus in a hybridized form of combat that combines the incubus combat discipline and methods with unique kabalite equipment. As the Voidborn are not true incubi they are not armed with the warsuit and klaive. Instead, they carry a unique power weapon that looks to be a crossover of a hellion hellglave and an incubi demiklaive. The power field however is a highly experimental void tech. For armour, the Voidborn wear modified ghostplate suits that attempt to maximize mobility and protection while integrating infantry-sized night shields. Amornar is rarely out of the company of at least two of his Voidborn and when deployed on the battlefield with the full complement of his bodyguard they are a terrifying force of pure destruction.

Threat Index and Imperial Policy:

Despite their penchant for war, and skill at what dark eldar would label large scale warfare, the Void Reapers are largely unknown within imperial space and ultimately the galaxy as a whole. This is in part due to the kabal's primary work taking place within the Dark City. Most experience in combat outside the webway against the Imperium or other xenos races is done in conjunction with other dark eldar forces. Unfortunately, mon-keigh are too dimwitted to pay attention to insignias and subtle differences in dark eldar attack forces while being slaughtered and enslaved. Given the way dark eldar wage war, there are few opportunities to fight against the Void Reapers favorite opponents, the Adeptus Astartes. The difficulty in breaking a space marine line, downing multiple power armoured genetically engineered super soldiers is a feat in itself, let alone entire company sized detachments. Such an enemy, no matter how primitive and misguided makes for a challenge worthy of a Reaper and one where the weakest will be culled and the kabal made stronger for it.

What outside force is aware of exactly who Archon Amornar and the Kabal of the Void Reaper is are many of the craftworld eldar. Unlike the mon-keigh forces of the Imperium, dimwitted and misguided, the craftworld cousins are merely misguided in their foolish pursuits, denying their inner selves and becoming but a shell of their true potential. These forces, specifically those of Ulthwe and Saim-Hann, but also several other smaller craftworlds have met the Void Reapers on the field of battle. Amornar would like to say each meeting has found the craftworlders found wanting…but that would be a lie. Regardless, the chance to meet their cousins head to head is a relished battle and another true test of the kabal’s martial skill.

Well good backstory im thinking of something for mine too but yours sounds good

as for a name hmmm maybe kabal of the endless void? sounded like it had a ring to it so maybe you will like it

Original Post:

Thanks for the thumbs up Tahlemar. Welcome once again to the site.

Hmmm endless void...certainly gives me some ideas....I'll get back to you on that one.... *up to no good look*

Anyone else care to weigh in? I'm most concerned that the kabal's skills and specializations seem appropriate and realistic for Commorragh. Thanks all!

RELOCATED FIRST POST:

Okay everyone, finally getting my loose outline for my kabal up. I have put a fair amount of thought into creating a unique, appropriate, lore-friendly concept that fits the type of army I will be fielding. Please remember this is all subject to change and still has lots of holes to be filled, tweaks made, and wrinkles smoothed.

Basic idea:

My archon's (Amornar) father, a old-school noble lord has his little pocket realm. Amornar cares little for the decadence of his father's court and joins an incubi temple much to father's irritation as he believes a Trueborn son of Commorragh should crave power and wealth. Vect comes along...we all know what happens next. Amornar's father is one of those who oppose Vect and as a result their pocket-realm is decimated. Father dies, almost entire realm is put to the (void) torch. Amornar survives and slowly rebuilds pieces of the realm, swearing allegiance (deal? whatever term is appropriate) with Vect.

Amornar rebuilds with that martial mindset from the temple and the pocket realm is heavily fortified with an emphasis on war and war material production and research. Wyches are few and quite integrated. Perhaps one old haemonculous hanging around but no grot/wrack/etc. support. I think he'll deal with body modification mostly as cybernetics and augmentations fit well I feel. Basically small numbers mean everyone trains together in more compact elite force. Armored warfare becomes their calling. Work comes through joining larger raids, sometimes with corsairs, often with the job of being that armored spearhead with their mechanized blitzkrieg tactics.

A few random thoughts that I thought might become included is addressing the relationship with Vect. I see a lot of kabals that oppose him so I thought it might be neat to run a supporter. At the same time there seems to be a lack of eldar v eldar. Killing two birds with one dark lance I thought perhaps my kabal has grown to be used by Vect to attack and subjugate outlier kabals (like the father's) as Vect conquers the Dark City. This would likely get them a reputation and insults like being Vect's attack dogs or worse names.. Also the martial lifestyle leads to insults of being odd, un-dark eldary with little politics and spartan living, even compared to (gasp!) craftworlders!

Other random thoughts. A focus on individualism, the cybernetics and augments but also vehicle modification by crews and strong emphasis on technology hence factories and development. Again very fortified atmosphere. Meritocracy rules the realm. Amornar would be extremely OCD about the whole realm, checking rechecking then checking 10 more times on every little thing. I see him like a mixture between a drill instructor, a technophile, and a mad scientist. Also with a healthy dash of Dark Eldar paranoia as he constantly keeps tabs on what's going on as he marches through the realm, bodyguard never far away. His position on Vect's bench makes him a target for other kabals along with advanced tech. He also doesn't care to play petty politics, preferring to settle his differences with a duel (back to his incubi instruction roots).

Lastly, for a name I really think something to do with "void" would be good, channeling the destruction of the realm by Vect, the mentality of the kabal, and the emphasis on tech. Current ideas are:

Kabal of the Void Wraith
Kabal of the Void Hunter
Kabal of the Eternal Void
Kabal of the Void Star
Kabal of the Void Klaive

I think that's the majority of my thoughts. A few minor ones but we'll leave that for the final product. Curious to see what this amazing community of writers and fluff-masters think of all this. Thanks in advance!

-Amornar

EDIT:

New addition based on some very excellent feedback and generously shared ideas. My slight tweets and integration:

With the destruction of the pocket realm the survivors lead my newly titled Archon Amornar band together with the help of his father's haemonculous (who will remain a mysterious figure with unknown motives) and his father's loyal dracon BLANK. Amornar quickly allied himself and his remnants with Vect for multiple reasons. First, purely for survival, but also for also because Amornar legitametly believed in the merocratic changes fueled by his own deep seeded resentment of his father and the nobility as well as some temple indoctrinations (maybe a klaivex? With the hierarch killed in the attack?). Vect accepts the pledge but thinks little of the group, quickly demanding their assistance in the subjugation of further kabals. During this time the kabal does surprisingly well, relying on tech, tactics and brutality to support their small force. They quickly impress Vect and earn their keep, fueling the rebuilding effort and become a useful, important tool rather than a meat shield.

Time goes onward and the kabal fully rebuilds, training specifically as an armored spearhead using a mix of tech including void tech and advanced cloaking to perform devastating hit and run armored assaults. The specalize in fighting other dark eldar, craftworlders and to some extent space marines all based upon Vect's directives. This usually entails the subjugation of other kabals through brutal assaults. A foil to other kabals specializing in assassination, subterfuge, politics, etc.

Eventually enforcement duties become fewer and fewer as The kabal is called upon less and less by the Black Heart. This causes a decrease in revenue coming in which causes chaos and infighting. During the turbulence an assassination attempt occurs on Amornar leaving him hideously wounded. This is of course not the first as he has made many enemies over the years at Vect's call. This time however, it is his Dracon BLANK who had been loyal since his father's time. The betrayal is surprising but not unheard of in an attempt to usurp power. The surprise comes when BLANK's body bears the tattooed sigil of the Black Heart. This leaves Amornar in a tough position. He purges his own kabal, becoming very paranoid. He augments himself in an effort to purge himself of weakness and becomes even more brutal. More thoughts on this to come I'm sure. Essentially he will end up coiling in a defensive pose to strike at any threat but continues to serve Vect, their contracts suddenly increasing again. Amornar has learned from the experience though, suspicious and less loyal of Vect but still recognizes that without Vect the kabals they have fought over the years would band together instantly annihating them...this leaves Amornar in a very tough place.

A few random thoughts that I thought might become included is addressing the relationship with Vect. I see a lot of kabals that oppose him so I thought it might be neat to run a supporter. At the same time there seems to be a lack of eldar v eldar. Killing two birds with one dark lance I thought perhaps my kabal has grown to be used by Vect to attack and subjugate outlier kabals (like the father's) as Vect conquers the Dark City. This would likely get them a reputation and insults like being Vect's attack dogs or worse names.. Also the martial lifestyle leads to insults of being odd, un-dark eldary with little politics and spartan living, even compared to (gasp!) craftworlders!

Hmm maybe they could be like Vect's enforcers and maybe who knows a special forces sort of thing that is only commissioned by Vect to keep other Kabal's in line or stop craftworld eldar interfering with our plans.

I thought about that, seemed too Mary Sue/OP to do which is why I watered it down a bit to what I presented. If the consensus around here is that I can push a bit more that direction I can certainly play that relationship/role up more.

Hello Amornar. I like the basic premise and fluff for your Kabal. Having a Kabal that are more like Vact's lapdogs who sit and bask in their master's protection is refreshing to see.

I've toyed with an idea like this in the past. I think having them be good infiltrators and very good with guerrilla tactics (such as knowing how to destroy a Kabal from the inside) would work well for this kind of Kabal.

I think if you want to stay away from any possibility or Mary Sue make sure to keep elements of treachery in there. Yes, they may be more loyal and obedient to their Archon than other Kabal's Kabalites, but aspiration for power is always going to be something that the Dark Eldar posses.

I do have an idea of something that could help eliminate any such risk, if you'd like to hear it? I don't want to impart unwelcome ideas.

Anyhow, nice background and I really like where you are going with this. Keep it up.

Thanks for the feedback Cavash! Really helpful and I'm glad people are liking the concept so far. I would love to hear every idea and thought out there. Like my archon I am always hungry for new ideas and perfecting my works.

I'm glad that you're so welcome to ideas. I do love to get my creative juices flowing with helping out with new fluff.

So, what I was thinking was that you have your Kabal of the Void 'something or rather' (I quite like Void Scorpion myself, they like to see themselves as Vect's deadly venom) and they have acted for a long time as Vect's hounds. They hunt out treachery to earn the Supreme Overlord's favour and protection, or whatever motive you decide to chose. Over the course of a few centuries or millenia they could become a much hated symbol for the main Commorrite Kabals; when not slaughtering traitors they could be conducting formal visits and investigations that are not shunned easily, as they do not want to appear to have anything to hide.

Some Kabals could catch on that bribery is an effective way of stopping some of the Dracons bringing their strikeforces to investigate and they canconvince them to look the other way.

Over a few decades the Archon could notice that his Dracons aren't really being disloyal, but are being bribed not to bring down Vect's wrath. This, naturally, would anger the Archon and could lead him to conduct his own paranoid investigation into his subordinates within the Kabal.

So, the Archon has turned his sights inward and strikes more fear than usual into his Kabal, determined to find the route of this corruption. He was a loyal servant of Vect, so he was determined to stamp out any potential treachery.

Whilst his eyes are turned away from the rest of Commorragh he comes under attack from an assassin in the form of one of his own Dracons whilst the Archon sleeps. This could lead to a large fight in which the Archon becomes gravely injured but is able to defend himself and slay the assailant. Upon further inspection the Dracon has a Black Heart Kabal symbol tattooed onto his back. The Archon, knowing of the tattoo and (later on) that this Dracon was one of the first to be bribed is unsure if his enemies are within his own Kabal, within other Kabals, or within the Kabal who's Overlord he has pledged to protect.

This mistrust, not knowing whether his own Kabalites or the Overlord want him dead, could leave his with his heightened paranoia and a mistrust of the Black Heart, but he continues to protect the Overlord despite this. This may appear to be to regain favour, to act as normal as they had done previously, or to mask over further schemes that the Archon could be formulating in his own mind.

So here you have reasons for mystery and mistrust. I hope you like the idea. Feel free to use it, or not, or modify it, or discuss it.

Ooo good sir that is masterful in its effectiveness and relative simplicity of form. I will totally incorporate that, with a few tweaks for sure. I'll think on it a little bit and post an integration into my existing stuff in just a little but when I'm on lunch from work and can type on something larger than my phone. Thank you very much for the help and the wonderful creative ideas!

Wow Cavash you are really good at this stuff! I would quite like some help with my fluff for my Kabal if you are willing. It is the Kabal of the Crimson Tear or something like that.

I'm glad you both like it! I really look forward to seeing how you incorporate it.

Sure, I'd love to help. Over PM or do you have a new thread?

Also, thanks for the kind words.

I really like Cavash's idea of the name - Void Scorpions. It works on several levels, as, Cavash's reasoning aside, it also echoes well with your Archon's background as an Incubus. I am sure Arhra would approve of one his sons taking up the name of a Void Scorpion.

I also agree on Cavash's suggestion. As the Dark Eldar Path trilogy has shown, loyalty to Vect does not eliminate danger of becoming disposable in his eyes, as pretty much everyone (bar maybe Archon Sythrac who is loyal like a dog and cares only about adding more souls to his armour to increase his personal power that way) is constantly on the lookout from Vect. So, a little test of loyalty with a Black Heart infiltrator seems like par the course - a complacent Archon soon falls, and Vect has built Commorragh society to keep everyone on their toes and absolute vigilance. Anything less means death in the Dark City.

All in all, I like the idea of the kabal, as I see some similarities with my own Dark Kin corsairs - of course, were they not a bunch of corsairs that denounce Vect. I am very interested in how you advance this concept further!

New addition based on some very excellent feedback and generously shared ideas. My slight tweets and integration:

With the destruction of the pocket realm the survivors lead my newly titled Archon Amornar band together with the help of his father's haemonculous (who will remain a mysterious figure with unknown motives) and his father's loyal dracon BLANK. Amornar quickly allied himself and his remnants with Vect for multiple reasons. First, purely for survival, but also for also because Amornar legitametly believed in the merocratic changes fueled by his own deep seeded resentment of his father and the nobility as well as some temple indoctrinations (maybe a klaivex? With the hierarch killed in the attack?). Vect accepts the pledge but thinks little of the group, quickly demanding their assistance in the subjugation of further kabals. During this time the kabal does surprisingly well, relying on tech, tactics and brutality to support their small force. They quickly impress Vect and earn their keep, fueling the rebuilding effort and become a useful, important tool rather than a meat shield.

Time goes onward and the kabal fully rebuilds, training specifically as an armored spearhead using a mix of tech including void tech and advanced cloaking to perform devastating hit and run armored assaults. The specalize in fighting other dark eldar, craftworlders and to some extent space marines all based upon Vect's directives. This usually entails the subjugation of other kabals through brutal assaults. A foil to other kabals specializing in assassination, subterfuge, politics, etc.

Eventually enforcement duties become fewer and fewer as The kabal is called upon less and less by the Black Heart. This causes a decrease in revenue coming in which causes chaos and infighting. During the turbulence an assassination attempt occurs on Amornar leaving him hideously wounded. This is of course not the first as he has made many enemies over the years at Vect's call. This time however, it is his Dracon BLANK who had been loyal since his father's time. The betrayal is surprising but not unheard of in an attempt to usurp power. The surprise comes when BLANK's body bears the tattooed sigil of the Black Heart. This leaves Amornar in a tough position. He purges his own kabal, becoming very paranoid. He augments himself in an effort to purge himself of weakness and becomes even more brutal. More thoughts on this to come I'm sure. Essentially he will end up coiling in a defensive pose to strike at any threat but continues to serve Vect, their contracts suddenly increasing again. Amornar has learned from the experience though, suspicious and less loyal of Vect but still recognizes that without Vect the kabals they have fought over the years would band together instantly annihating them...this leaves Amornar in a very tough place.

Edit: on the topic of the name, I agree void scorpions would be very good and fitting but alas taken and used by someone already on here and I would prefer not to steal her name and come up with my own original but nice suggestion guys!

Few more:

Kabal of the Void Reaper
Kabal of the Ravenous Void
Kabal of the Faceless Void
Kabal of the Endless Void

Another edit, playing around with double V names:

Kabal of the Virtuous Void
Kabal of the Venomous Void
Kabal of the Vicious Void
Kabal of the Venerable Void
Kabal of the Voiceless Void
Kabal of the Volatile Void

Alright done some nice chats with Cavash and got some good feedback on here. So far lots of great ideas that I thank everyone for with the background, events, history, specialties, etc. Still stuck on a name but again with some input, they have been whittled down to just four real contenders. If you want so suggest something different please do but I put up a poll for the four to see what others think. Hopefully everyone that stops by leaves their vote so we can more than one or two.   Thank you very much all. Really appreciate all the literary and fluff support here in the Dark City.  

It's finished!!!!

Took me far longer than I had hoped to get around to actually getting this project past the drawing board but it is finally done. Bit long but I hope each of you that enjoys reading this kind of stuff enjoys it! Excited to finally have this out of my head and on here for all you to read. Let me know what you think!

Love it! I like it how they are stuck in a bit of a dilemma on who to support, it adds a sense of hopelessness too it.

Thanks Theatakcat, I really like adding in good solid weaknesses. Yeah it's a very good powerful force but you are totally screwed in Commorragh without "friends" (allies of convenience).

-claps slowly- Now I need to get to work on my Guild.

Alright well I know this is a bit of threadomancy...but.... With 8th edition dawning on us I am now bringing my dark eldar out of cold storage where my 40k models have been for a few years now. The insanity that was 7th edition soured me on 40k but 8th is looking a lot better. Definitely some things I am not wild about but overall I am ready to give it a go.

Consequentially this means I now can "finish" my dark eldar army which got suspended due to real life getting busy and the drop off out of 7th. Right now I have what was my 1850 army sitting primed, ready to go. Messing with some wargear with the new edition and will hopefully start painting soon. Need to make sure the color scheme I picked out way back when still sounds good. This also allows me to revist the background for my force. My Kabal of the Void Reaper as I named it. I have read through my fluff and might make a few changes. Couple aspects I think could be better or sound improper for what I want. I also think I might rebrand the kabal's name. In retrospect I do really like the Kabal of the Void Scorpion. It really did fit with lots of different aspects to what I wanted. Thanks again Cavash. If anyone has any suggestions for changes or things I should do differently I am very interested in hearing them. Will be making some changes over the coming weeks here and hopefully getting a WIP thread for painting going in the next few weeks/month.

Excited to be back home in the Dark City!