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Name: Necromunda Imperial Classification: Hive World Cartogalactlc Index: 700-35745 435643.109.02 ref 56754.71 System: Necromunda Sector: Araneus Segmentum: Solar Primary Star Type: F4- Y Orbital Cycle: 723 Terran Standard Planetary Classification: Eta Alpha (cf. Super Terran) Gravity: 1.3 Terran Standard
Orbital Bodies: 3 Major Moons - ++ 1: A-class (cf. Juggerata) ++ 2: C-class Population: +CENSUS FAILED/UNQUANTIFIABLE+ Planetary Governor: Lord Gerontius Helmawr TltheGrade: Exactis Extremis Aestimare: B50 Aggregate: 1 , 400 Principal Export: Sma lI Arms and Munitions (cf 'Clan Houses' Cross ref. Hive City Factorums 764643577.3287ce)
AN INTRODUCTION TO NECROMUNDA
For millennia, Necromunda has been no more than a sandblasted wasteland. Ash storms scour its continents of life, vast barren swathes punctuated by the sharp spires of hives. These towering megastructures house countless billions, the vast majority of whom will never breathe the poisoned air of their dead, charred home world. Ancient stories claim the planet was once a green paradise, burned into the ash wastes that now consume its outlands when the Imperium of Mankind forcefully brought it into their empire. However, the truth has long since been lost over tens of thousands of years.
Despite its inhospitable living conditions, Necromunda is a bastion of industry. Its hives comprise innumerable layers of forges, refineries, processing plants and factoria. The items it produces are vital for nearby planetary systems, as well as the far-flung armies of the Imperium that use Necromundan weapons and wargear on a thousand battlefronts. Anything and everything of value on Necromunda has been stripped to the bone. Mountains have been hollowed out into great ore pits, so barren after millennia of mining that workers will toil for decades just for the smallest finds of value. Even history does not remember a time when fish teemed the oceans, which are now nothing more than great seas of slag and toxic waste. Whilst on land other, more insidious, wildlife has moved in wretched creatures that feed on the planet's decay, mutants spawned from the sump of the underhive, and more twisted things besides.
The hives, in which the majority of Necromunda's population live, allow the Imperium to focus the efforts of the planet's greatest resource to the best possible effect: its people. Workers crowd the floors of cramped factoria where they are born, raised, eat, sleep and die, never stepping foot beyond their sector. Attempts to record the planet's
swollen population have always ended in failure, though the last estimated census several centuries ago concluded that the population of a hive's aboveground levels runs into the billions without even taking the underhive into account. With a hive's foundations stretching kilometres below the ashcaked surface, the true number of people packed into the hive clusters is unfathomable. Luckily, with lifespans short enough to be measured in work cycles and gang violence rife in every level of society, there is plenty of fresh biological matter to recycle. Necromunda's primary foodstuff is a blend of reconstituted, powdered materials known simply as 'corpse starch', with 'real' food an imported delicacy enjoyed only by society's upper echelons.
Between the hives stretch vast deserts of ash, accumulated over millennia of extreme industrial activity. The atmosphere within these ash wastes is practically unbreathable without filtration masks or lung enhancements, so dense is the airborne pollution. Yet even within this hellscape, Mankind clings to Necromunda like a mould - the thousands of kilometres between hives dotted with waypoints, shanty settlements and strongholds. These are often even more lawless than the hive cities, with local authorities having limited purchase.
Necromunda's planetary governor, the Lord Helmawr, does not take a direct hand in all aspects of Necromunda's administration, it is instead distributed by necessity amidst the countless hives on the planet. This has resulted in an elaborate, urbanised feudal system in which loyalty is pledged upwards. Most gangs that exert control over munitions trading or factories answer to a Clan House; these clans answer upwards to the nobility of the hive spires, who in turn enjoy their wealth at the pleasure of Necromunda's ruling family.
Map of Necromunda, western half Open full-size chart ↗
Map of Necromunda, eastern half Open full-size chart ↗
++ VOX LOG: VOICE RECORDING FROM LORD GERONTIUS HELMAWR TO HIGH JUSTICAR VERDAINE ++
++ ID: IMPERIAL HOUSE: ENCRYPTION CODE GOLD-ALPHA-OI ++
++ WYNDSPYR 008.2
++ It appears the latest attempt on ny life has had a lasting effect on my heirs, Namely -that many of them are now dead. My youngest daughter became rather overzealous when the prospect of succession arose and slaughtered a number of her siblings over dinner. Of course, Haera must be commended for besting multiple contenders at once. The girl knows her way around a blade better than most hardened groundlings of the underhive. She reminds me so much of myself back in my Spyrerw days all glory, bloodlust and •ruthless -energy.
++1 survived, of course. Usually this kind of scuffle would be reserved for after my body had cooled in the grave. Timing has never been Haera's strong suit. At this rate, succession will -simply be too easy for hero för -my remaining heirS have Shown an appallingly unfilial cowardice in their reticence to take the throne. Thus T would like it on record that I have elevated the most promising of my illegitimate offspring, Kal Gerontius Helmawr. I am sure that, when the time comes, he will prove new and exciting challenge for little Haera.
++ Though of course, they will have to outlive me first...
THE HOUSE OF HELMAWR
Since Necromunda's inhabitants were first united under one banner, it has been the banner of House Helmawr. Indeed, the scions of the ruling house appear to be the only rulers in its history - and that stretches back seven thousand years; any records of Necromunda before it submitted fully to the Imperium have been carefully censored or expunged. The current, and arguably greatest governor, is Lord Gerontius Helmawr. Rejuve treatments and astronomically expensive imported technology have allowed him to clasp Necromunda in his clammy fist for centuries. He has survived assassination attempts, coups and even cryostasis, with only a few extra scars to show for it.
Lord Helmawr occupies the top of the feudal pyramid of Necromunda. He is entirely unconcerned with the petty squabbles of Hive City or the shadow wars within the depths of the underhive; his allies are the most powerful factions amongst the nobility, each house responsible for entire sectors of industry. Yet such is the power that Lord Helmawr commands that he could destroy them with but a word - it would be as simple as withdrawing his support and allowing a house's enemies to finish the job.
The power that Lord Helmawr wields is afforded to him as part of the duties he carries out for the distant Imperium of Mankind. He serves as Necromunda's commander and planetary governor. As long as the planet continues to pay its tithes, Lord Helmawr's position is secure and his leadership permitted to be passed down to members of his bloodline. Centuries of his rule have resulted in a great brood of children. Luckily, they are perfectly content to slaughter each other until an obvious successor emerges - a challenge of survival that Lord Helmawr trusts will weed out the weaker contenders.
Necromunda feudal hierarchy Open full-size chart ↗
| Tier | Houses |
|---|---|
| The Lord Helmawr | |
| Noble Houses | Ulanti, Catallus, Ran Lo, Ko'iron, Ty, Greim |
| Clan Houses | Cawdor, Delaque, Escher, Goliath, Orlock, Van Saar |
Ancient noblesse of Necromunda, the Noble Houses can trace their roots back many millennia.
Masters of Necromunda's industry, the Clan Houses work to fulfil Necromunda's tithes.
With six competing official Clan Houses and countless smaller ones, tensions between the Noble Houses are always high. Though Lord Helmawr prohibits open fighting, there are plenty of house gangs lurking in the shadows of the underhive to wage war in secret...
Palanite Enforcers: Standing apart from the rest of the hierarchy are the Palanite Enforcers, House Helmawr's personal peacekeeping force. They ensure the Pax Helmawr is enforced, though with certain legal violence quotas to ensure tensions never quite boil over into outright war.
THE CLAN HOUSES
Clan Houses are masters of industry and many such houses exist on Necromunda, the six most powerful rivalling the Noble Houses in wealth, though none have (or are allowed to have) interests off-world. Most of Necromunda's hive cities host at least a minor presence of all six Clan Houses, but in some hives, one or more of the six houses is absent entirely, or conversely one dominates. It is only in Hive Primus where a balance exists between the six, a deliberate policy long ago enacted by Lord Helmawr.
The Clan Houses lack the privileges and status of the Noble Houses. Their people are confined to the cramped main hive layers where conditions are squalid and dirty. The hivers, as they are called, are used to dim light and rank air. Knowing no better, most live contented lives of toil in the guild factories, workshops and other industries which form the chief business of the hive. The houses are manufacturers of goods of all kinds, from foodstuffs to armaments. These products are traded with one another and with the Noble Houses, and in this way the wares of Necromunda reach the wider universe.
HOUSE ESCHER
The all-female House Escher are experts in the concoction of gene-potions and poisons, which not only course through their blood, but also coat their weapons and are used in the creation of their exotic beasts. Women from the House of Blades are taught to fight with deadly precision and speed. Their keen minds are well-suited to fluid and acrobatic combat, able to change tactics quickly and gain the upper hand.
HOUSE GOLIATH
Although only a few centuries old, House Goliath has risen to become a powerhouse. Its subjects believe that might makes right. They wield the tools of industry as their weapons, slicing· opponents with rock saws and mining lasers as readily as swords or axes, and carry the heaviest and most unwieldy of guns. With their musclebound Alphas and near-uninhabitable territories, few would dare oppose the House of Chains.
The six pre-eminent Clan Houses are House Cawdor, House Escher, House Goliath, House Van Saar, House Orlock and House Delaque. Many lesser clans exist across the hives of Necromunda, but none are as powerful as these six. Many are in effect feudal subjects of a house, but others might be outcasts or upstarts. Each of the Clan Houses is master to countless subservient gangs, the fighters serving as the disposable foot soldiers in the endless proxy wars fought in the darkness of the underhives, allowing the Clan Houses to continue business with one another with a semblance of civility in the spires above.
HOUSE CAWDOR
House Cawdor possesses the most dangerous weapon of all on Necromunda, one that has secured their house's future for centuries: faith. The Clan House boasts billions of subjects across the planet's surface, and though many eke out the most pitiful of existence, they share a common belief that unites them so fiercely that they can influence Necromunda's power balance at the highest levels.
HOUSE DELAQUE
Though House Delaque was established several hundred years ago, its origins are said to stretch back much further. Known as the House of Shadows for its trade in secrets, its members communicate using gestures alone, sending thoughts and information through a gestalt consciousness. This allows them to prowl the shadows of the underhive like ghosts, striking out with silenced weapons.
HOUSE ORLOCK
Though the House of Iron is famed for its refinement of ore and scrap, its fighters also enjoy infamy from controlling the roads. Orlock road gangs are a formidable sight, boasting bikes and ridgehaulers modified for combat. The Road Bosses that lead these convoys are notoriously tough, often becoming local legends for their feats of spectacular violence using nothing but grappling hooks and sawn-off shotguns.
HOUSE VAN SAAR
Luxury, quality and power are all synonymous with Van Saar goods. Their weapon components outperform those of their competitors several times over. However, all good things come at a cost: the secret to the House of Artifice's wealth comes from a corrupted Standard Template Construct system. The radiation from this ancient machine steadily corrupts them, forcing the Van Saar to encase their bodies in protective suits.
HIVES OF NECROMUNDA
The hives of Necromunda punctuate its barren landscape, the only safe bastions against the planet's environment. Each hive hosts countless billions, and so heavy are these superstructures that hundreds of floors have sunk into their foundations, forming sprawling underhives. Clan Houses send their gangs into these dark tunnels to wage their proxy wars for power.
HIVE PRIMUS
The oldest and largest surviving hive on Necromunda, Hive Primus serves as Lord Helmawr's seat of power. Known as the Palatine, and home of the most powerful family on Necromunda, it is the only hive permitted a spaceport, where all incoming traffic through the Eye of Selene, Necromunda's sole shipping nexus, is required to land. As a result, it also boasts a considerable shipyard and a large amount of the planet's trading districts, attracting high concentrations of Clan Houses in search of lucrative contracts and deals with the elite. The restrictions on shipping enable Lord Helmawr to maintain his rule over Necromunda and control its economy with an iron fist. He has to - lest the planet fall short of the ever-increasing tithe demands of the wider Imperium.
HIVE TRAZIOR
At the southernmost point of the Palatine hive cluster is Trazior. It is a favoured landmark of travellers journeying across the ash wastes, marked on their maps as the 'Three Sisters'. This is due to Trazior's unique configuration of spires, split into three distinct prongs. The final bastion of civilisation before the swathes of wasteland, Trazior is looked down upon somewhat as a frontier hive, yet this position has allowed Hive Trazior to become a hub of trade for the Spider Points. Houses Orlock and Goliath maintain a particularly strong presence there, the former controlling trade routes converging upon the hive's shipping yards, the latter enjoying the constant demand for metalwork both within the hive and in the surrounding settlements.
HIVE TEMENOS
Hive Temenos is renowned as a fortress of religious wonders. Cathedrals and temples form its layers, sprawling from one floor to the next in a never-ending parade of devotion. Of course, for all its wealth, its inhabitants live in pious squalor, spending their entire lives polishing carved marble or mass-producing religious iconography. Lord Helmawr maintains that Hive Temenos is a great tribute to the God-Emperor, ruler of distant Terra to whom Necromunda pays fealty. However, there are darker forces at work: a heretical cult festers within Temenos, praising a figure known as the Father of All Saints. Temenos' Enforcers seek to eradicate these heretics before the Imperium hears of them, though this mission is confounded by sympathisers within their own ranks.
GOTHRUL'S NEEDLE
Long is the rivalry between Gothrul's Needle and Hive Primus. When Lady Cinderak Helmawr fought her brother Gothrul for rulership, it was to the Needle that her brother fled in order to recruit followers and create his own stronghold. Though Lady Cinderak ultimately won the war, Gothrul's former seat of power stubbornly continued on. Now Gothrul's Needle is ruled by the most insidious of organisations: democracy. Still refusing to bow to Primus, they elect members of a ruling body to ensure equal treatment for the hive's citizenry. Being one of the furthest hives from Primus, it thrives in Lord Helmawr's blind spot and continues accruing support, infuriating the Imperial House. Unable to justify completely wiping the Needle from the map, Lord Helmawr has instead waged a shadow war to overthrow it from the inside, with House Delaque agents believed to be active within the Hive City seeking to destabilise the government's fragile power.
HIVE MYNERVA
Toxic mould and its byproducts make up the main trade of Hive Mynerva, famed for its vast spore mines, fungus farms and chem-factoria. Sections of Mynerva's underhive are much more hotly contested than most due to their ideal growing conditions for such highly poisonous flora. Ulanti brat gangs and Spyrers are a frequent sight, securing their house's interests, as are their allied Escher Chymist Cults. Due to Mynerva's wealth hinging on its harvests, however, it is more prone to famine and poverty during particularly rough seasons. The past few decades have seen House Ulanti hold an almost total monopoly on Mynervan trade. Most recently, they have started construction on what they have named the 'Mynervan Defence System', following the disastrous rebellion incited by House Aranthus. This is ostensibly to prevent any future uprisings, but darker rumours swirl as to who exactly is helping House Ulanti build such extravagant protection measures and for what reason.
HIVE SECUNDUS
Once· known as the Jewel of Necromunda, Hive Secundus was a renowned institution of knowledge, frequented by off-world scholars. Unfortunately for the hive, one such scholar was the Tech-Priest Biologis Hermiatus, who sought to unravel the mysteries of the Genestealer curse. The strain was released into Secundus after Hermlatus' experimentation went too far. Such was the threat that the ;,.:;iaer Imperium became involved, levelling Hive Secundus with orbital bombardment in an attempt to eradicate the Genestealer Cults that had taken root within it. Yet, as Necromunda would eventually discover, survivors persisted in the irradiated shell of Secundus. Only the surrounding Dust Wall prevents the descendants of these malformed xenos from escaping and infecting the wider planet though rumours claim a handful may have already broken free ...
ANATOMY OF HIVE PRIMUS
THE SPIRE
"Spire? Not been there, me. Heard lots about it, though! My mother's cousin's gal's in with Queen Cyniss, and guarded her when they went up for dealings with the Ulanti lot. Said they met in an obscura lounge on the edge of a lake, and - get this! - it was full of actual water, put right there in the middle of the dome 'cus Jorenna Ulanti thought it was pretty. It was surrounded by all these trees. Not like our trees, either! Not a single bit of fungus on 'em, she said, and instead of ooze pods or tendrils, they were covered in these green things they call 'leaves'. It don't sound real, if you ask me."
HIVE CITY
Mims 'Trigger Finger' Pelia, Dime Knives, House Escher
"Harshtarg, Neotek. Hive City's where the goods change hands and the credits go to line people's pockets. Yes, it's not that much Jess cramped, dark and violent than the underhive, but it's legal - that's the difference. It's where the factoria churn and the non-teks toil and live their lives in their squalid little hovels. That's why we keep the standard-issue stuff up here, nice and clean, and send the more ... experimental kit to the tech bazaars downhive. So, if I catch you bragging about the void grenades one more time when those kaccing 'Forcers are within earshot, I'll put a round through your skull myself."
SHIPPING YARDS
Ulrike Shaafen, Daeyglow Dragons, House Van Saar
"Listen up, you miserable Jot. The shipping yards are our turf. If those pasty Delaque freaks think they can score an easy win by turfing us out and nicking our jobs, they've got another thing coming. Ever seen a Delaque make a trade agreement? Find a way to get that weird off-world stuff all the Noble Houses demand? Don't think so. Stack up the crates and load up yer guns, you bunch of drudges, and we'll give them a battle they'll never forget. Oh, and we've already accounted for six boxes of explosives 'stolen in transit'. They're in row 812 - plant 'em wisely. We'll give those De/aque a proper Or/ock welcome."
HIVE CLUSTERS AND ROADS
Slate Merdena, Sump Dogs, House Orlock
"The next person who questions why we hired those brutes is getting a boot to the face. No, I don't like working with these Goliath louts, either. But you know what happened to the last delegation that travelled without an escort? A dust storm started right over them - last vox swore it was summoned to that exact spot - and we lost contact. It was a/most four eye/es before we found the bodies, picked clean of their goods. Those waster nomads will chew us up, rob us blind, and spit out our corpses. So yes, we're stuck with House Goliath. I DON'T CARE that they broke the treasurer's spine. Now give them their damn credits."
EYE OF SELENE
Urman Tessel, Ridgehauler Driver, Mercator Gelt
"All off-world ships pass through the Eye of Selene. All visitors, imports and exports. The hundreds of shipwrecks that litter the ash wastes are testament to the spaceport's devastating firepower. And yet, you have come to me still. Believing that I can point you in some hidden direction that bypasses the a/I-seeing Eye. I may have such information, I may not. But unless you pay my price, you'll never know will you?"
Cxauth 'The Night Serpent', Silent Ones, House Delaque
THE NECROMUNDA CALENDAR
Time within the hives of Necromunda is measured differently to the rest of the Imperium. While those who dwell in the spire - more connected as they are to the Imperium of Mankind - still use the calendars and clocks of the Adeptus Terra based upon the ancient measurements of hours, days and months first devised on Mankind's birthplace, it is not so for those who dwell below the wall. For those in the factories, forges and habs of a hive city there are three factors in the keeping of time and these are often displayed on the face of the local Horologium, the great clock that also records the production quotas and disposition of the local workforce.
The first measure of Necromundan time is Season. Arguably more important to those who dwell outside the hive, it divides the Necromundan solar year into seven segments: three for the Storm Season, or Season of Ash, three for the Dry Season, or Season of Fire, and one for the Season of Change. Each is denoted by an ancient Necromunda name: Solchem, Solsear, Solset, 0rwyrd, Wyndawn, Wyndspyr and Wyndloss, running from Fire to Change to Ash respectively.
The second measure is the Work Cycle, or Cycle. A Cycle is broadly analogous to a Terran day, though longer to match the revolution of the hive world. Within each seasonal segment there are 100 Work Cycles .
The third measure is Shift. There are three Shifts to each Work Cycle, named Vigil, Laudate and Magnificat. Each covers a third of the day and in many ways are indistinguishable from each other, save for the people who work within them.
These are then combined into numbers and letters to timestamp the events of Necromunda. In long form, Cycle and Season are used together, with Shift added if relevant, i.e., Solset 034.2 - which would denote the second Shift of the thirty fourth day of the third seasonal segment. In short form, the same date could be written as 3.34.2
Interestingly, there is no official time unit for a year on Necromunda - meaning when one seasonal cycle ends another simply begins. The people of Necromunda informally refer to years as Grand Cycles, marking them only with the name of the current ruling Lord Helmawr. However, they are not numbered or tracked in documentation.
THE GREAT.HOROLOGIUM OF NECROMUNDA
Known to the masses as the 'Eye of Helmawr', or more fatalistically as the 'Death Clock', the Great Horologium of Necromunda serves to inform industrial helots, as well as shift overseers, of every detail of the world's prodigious industrial output. The face of the Horologium tells a myriad of truths, the most important to the average helot being the current work shift (Vigil, Laudate or Magnificat) and expected targets. The central panel lists the hive (Hive Primus in the above example), refined by zone and sector. Workflow is graded according to a complex set of parameters ranging from Unacceptable to Treacherous.
The Horologium relates a plethora of further data which is readable only by senior shift overseers and industrial commissars, including Expenditure, Wastage, Yield, Tolerance (measured in souls blessed be their sacrifice), average psychopathology and current worker maladjustment grade. An experienced shift overseer can instantly gauge the situation in their workplace and determine exactly just how many helots to execute in order to meet current targets.
THE
AN INTRODUCTION TO NECROMUNDA
Down you go, down and down. The journey from the hab zones towards the hive's depths takes you cycles on foot. As you fork over what few credits you have to replenish supplies, you can only pray that the journey will be worth it - that you will forge your name in steel and gunfire amidst the gangs of the underhive.
Stories tell of a thousand different ways to slip through the cracks of civilisation and into the endless dark. Yet you are no dome runner, nor information broker: you travel via the Nexus, the last of your wealth crossing Enforcer palms to let you descend the great gate and into Dust Falls, largest of the underhive settlements. The Enforcers laugh at you like you're out of your mind and tell you only bloody war awaits. You continue nonetheless. After all, better blasted to pieces than ground to meat on the factoria floors.
Dust Falls lives up to its name, every surface coated in thick layers of the detritus that falls constantly from further uphive. Walkways built up from compacted trash connect shanty hab stacks and cobbledtogether drinking holes. Yet the people down here are nothing like as drab: colourful warpaint slashes dirty faces and makeshift armour plates. You have always dressed to blend in with what scraps you had, whereas these gangs wear their colours as a warning. Rotted and sharpened teeth are flashed, smiles black and yellow. Mohawked fighters, their bodies scarred
with old wounds, toy with razor-toothed weapons on street corners. Barter is traded. Offers are made. Eyes follow you from every direction, sizing you up. If you're lucky, some will be considering how to use you to bolster their numbers - but most see a walking stack of goods waiting to be picked to the bone.
On you go through the settlement, through heaving tech bazaars strung with fabrics, leathers and gang symbols you don't recognise. You've never seen so much firepower in one place. Plasma coils flicker and spark in the half-light beside battered stub guns, stacked like tins of corpse starch. Strange folk move amongst stalls as they hawk their wares: pale-faced veterans sealed in armoured suits, men and women as well-built as factoria machines, and leather coated gunslingers with the oil-streaked fingers of techs. The thick scent of blood and fried corpse starch lines the roof of your mouth.
By some miracle, you reach the centre of this colourful web with only the occasional shove into the muck. The Six Clans drinking house proudly displays the skulls and tattered coats of the last scummers who attempted to drink and dash. Hopefully whoever you find work with is less foolhardy. Toxin-loving Escher, brutal Goliath, technologically enhanced Van Saar, Orlock road crews, mysterious Delaque or pious Cawdor - who amongst them would accept a dirty hangeron like you?
OUTLANDERS
Those known as Outlanders can be treated with anything from fear to suspicion and mistrust. They often hail from the most dangerous places upon Necromunda, emerging from irradiated corners of the Ash Wastes or Underhive. Many have their own cultures - some more violent than others. However, 'Outlander' has also been used as an insult for those a little closer to home. Those who stand apart from the denizens of the underhives are Outlanders of a different kind, unable to ever find trustworthy allies.
Most Clan House gangs would consider an Outlander to be bad news. Bloodthirsty cults of Chaos worshippers or the seemingly inhuman tribes of Ash Waste Nomads both roam the wilds of Necromunda, and encounters with either would spell a quick death for the unprepared. Worse still are the Outlanders that can be found within the irradiated Hive Secundus. Three-armed mutants crawl endlessly from the ruins to consume any that encroach upon their territory. The zealous killers that hunt them are arguably even worse, for these hunting parties are made up of Spyrers - bored hive nobles that see death as a sport and will happily slaughter their own allies if it ticks up their kill count.
PALANITE ENFORCERS
Enforcers are the long arm of the law within the hives - and that arm belongs to Lord Helmawr. Akin to a personal army, these warriors subjugate citizens and suppress gang warfare using acts of extreme violence. Their primary directive is to uphold the Pax Helmawr, the irrefutable rule of the Imperial House that forbids open warfare. Enforcers are equipped with the finest weapons, from shock batons to devastating boltguns.
CORPSE GRINDER CULTS
Praise be to the Lord of Skin and Sinew, who leaves no mortal hungry and rewards those who feast! Corpse Grinder Cults are devoted to their dark master, and will cannibalise anyone in their path. With each meal they grow stronger, faster and more feral, reason giving way to brute strength and a near-constant hunger for flesh. Flensing and boning tools are common amongst their ranks to prepare fallen enemies.
Some Outlanders, such as the lronhead Squats, provide a service that no one else could by maintaining the planet's hives. However, the insular and abhuman nature of the Squats still sets them apart from the rest of Necromunda's society. The Squats themselves consider humankind to be uncivilised and ineffective workers.
Finally, there are Helmawr's Enforcers, who are kept at a distance by other gangs. These peacekeepers are universally disliked, though underhivers will not start fights with them unless pushed - after all, one dead Enforcer usually just results in two more taking their place.
IRONHEAD SQUATS
The lronhead Squats have spent nearly ten millennia on Necromunda's ash-blasted surface, extracting every ounce of resource. Their work tools often double as weapons, with gem extractors and circular saws common amongst Squat gangs. Their hefty frames and musculature also allow them to use heavy guns with ease a necessity when fending off the monsters of the ash wastes.
ASH WASTE NOMADS
Though they are presumed to be human, the Ash Waste Nomads appear as unsettling to the people of Necromunda as any xenos threat. They materialise out of nowhere under the cover of ash storms that would be impenetrable to even the most experienced duster gang, and many a legend describes them walking effortlessly through the deadliest of storms.
MALSTRAIN GENESTEALERS
Genestealer Cults are a known evil upon Necromunda: humans infected with the genes of an alien race to become its servants and gradually infect their planet. Thus, when Hive Secundus had the Genestealer curse unleashed upon it, the hive was mercilessly wiped from the planet's surface. Officially, an irradiated chasm is all that remains of Secundus now - yet the Malstrain Genestealers still persist, corrupted beyond recognition.
SPYRERS
Once the young nobles of House Helmawr come of age, many will take part in the rite of passage of becoming a Spyrer. Their bodies are sealed within advanced and powerful hunting rigs, crafted and coded to their gene-signatures. Spyrers will often travelto the most dangerous or inhospitable environs in the hives to test their mettle, travelling either alone or in competitive hunting packs.
THE WORLD OUTSIDE THE HIVES
SEAS OF SLUDGE
The Ash Wastes of Necromunda, whilst made up of vast swathes of flat and barren land, are also punctuated by hollowed-out mountains and great dry basins. These are the remnants of the planet's natural resources; the mountains having had their bounty scraped away and the seas mostly been boiled to nothing.
What does remain of Necromunda's original water has been transformed into semi-solidified bodies of sludge. Drudging ships capable of crossing these clogged sumps carry mysterious groups of nomads and even the occasional gang. There is money to be made here - as these hulking creatures that called these sludge seas home died, their remains have created large reserviors of oil. However, reaching these reserves involves being able to fend off such horrifying monsters. Sump Spiders and Serpents are rife here, as are darker things that lurk in the deep.
THE NEEDLES
Necromunda's volatile seasons are, in fact, a best-case scenario for the decaying planet - total destruction of its biosphere is only prevented by great thermal convergence towers at its poles and equator. These so-called 'Needles' process the planet's inhospitable amount of carbon dioxide and prevent the ash storms from becoming planetscouring in scale.
These wondrous devices were created by the Squats, who arrived on Necromunda shortly after its surface was scorched. The first Squat ships made a bet that even such a damaged world could be squeezed for profit, and established trade contracts for their geomantic technologies. At a hefty cost paid to these off-world visitors, the population was kept alive and working. Squat clans remain on Necromunda millennia later, continuing their essential work in keeping the Needles operational.
SQUAT HOLDS
Descendants of the first Squat visitors live within great Ancestral Holds. Built on the sites where the first of their kind arrived on the planet all those millennia ago, each has developed into a sprawling technological holdfast. These are the pinnacle of Squat architecture, able to withstand the Necromundan elements. There were supposedly once twelve of these, one for each of the great lronhead Mining Clans, though the years have whittled their number down. Sprawling networks of tunnels theoretically connect the holds to one another and to every major settlement in the Great Equatorial Wastes - the product of countless years' mining - though only the Squats themselves could ever hope to navigate them.
CINDERAK CITY
The largest settlement in the ash wastes, Cinderak City, is one of the only major civilisations between the Palanite and Mynerva clusters. This has made it a lynch pin for trade - and a hotbed of violence as Clan Houses, dusters and guilders all fight to seize control. Much of its success can be attributed to the Cinderak Crater it is nestled within, which protects it sufficiently during the scouring storms of the Season of Ash. Some call it the Heart of the Wastes, for it is crossed by both the southern Road of Bones and the northern Bullet Road. It is true enough that without Cinderak City - beating with life within the wastes - travel and trade between hive clusters would become infinitely more difficult.
THE NAVIS MORTIS
Following civil war with her brother, the late Cinderak Helmawr erected the Eye of Selene orbital defense system. Never again would ships run supplies to traitors of the Imperium. The Eye has shot down thousands of craft since its completion - any unwilling to pass through its celestial gates and receive official decree to land meet their end as a smoking wreck. These wrecks form the Navis Mortis: a mortuary of blasted ship shells, still ripe with precious cargo. Smuggling is a 0ay of life for those living in the Navis Mortis. Nicknamed Helmawr's Graveyard, it attracts prospectors from across the ash wastes in search of archeotech, xenos weaponry and other hidden riches.
END OF THE DARK AGE
The Imperium of Mankind claims Necromunda as its own, bringing about a time of great destruction and change. Meanwhile, a new figure of legend rises to bring Necromunda into line to avoid their new masters' wrath.
AN ARANTHIAN ERA
In a time predating the Imperium's arrival, a race of godlike beings known as the Iron Lords rule the planet with absolute authority. They are recorded in legend as a metallic, golem-like people, though whether they were benevolently inclined or dictators may never be known. Their world, Araneus Prime, is a verdant paradise rich in resources. Great seas girdle the continents where unknowable beings swim deep below.
REDISCOVERY BY THE IMPERIUM
The Imperium of Mankind rediscovers Araneus Prime and casts down the Aranthians, the ruling Iron Lords. A combination of the fierce war between the Aranthians and Imperial forces, as well as an unexpected xenos attack, lead to the planet being bombarded from orbit. The devastated world left behind is conquered and brought into the Emperor's fold, renamed Necromunda.
WAR AND THE FIRST PACIFICATION
For the first two millennia of Imperial rule, the power vacuum left by the Iron Lords leads to bloody fighting between local warlords. They receive a rude awakening when fighting distracts them from meeting the Imperial Tithe. Punishment regiments visit the planet to bring order and restore manufacturing. Many warlords are made examples of, their corpses hung from spires, while several hives are decimated, a tenth of their population exiled to the ash wastes to perish in dust storms or at the hands of the nomad tribes.
THE SECOND GREAT PACIFICATION
A dozen gang kings claiming descent from the Iron Lords vie for governorship of Necromunda. In response to this rising chaos, Space Marines of the Imperial Fists begin the second great pacification. This time, almost all of the ruling elite are wiped out, spires are sealed off and their inhabitants purged, leaving midhive clan masters in charge under the careful watch of the Adeptus Arbites.
HELM'AYR'S WAR
Martek Helm'ayr swears an oath to the Imperial Fists that he will unite his people and restore the Pax Imperium. Impressed by Helm'ayr's devotion, Space Marine Captain Gaelos accepts his oath. The gang lord is given a chance to end Necromunda's unrest without further intervention by the Imperial Fists, a task he completes before the turn of the century.
FORGING OF THE CLANS
The division between the Noble Clans and House Clans of Hive Primus is ratified by House Helm'ayr, and becomes the template for many other hives on Necromunda. Six houses are officially recognised by the Imperial House and given a Writ of Nobility. A further six are given dominion over the various industries of the hive. All other houses are absorbed or declared outlaw.
DAWN OF THE HELMAWRS
Martek Helm'ayr's line evolves into the longest-surviving family of tyrants: the Helmawrs, who begin their millennia of rule over Necromunda. Their power waxes and wanes over the years but is firmly solidified by their descendants.
HELM'AYR'S LAST SON
Jar Helm'ayr, a deformed and frail creature, is the last true gene-descendant of Martek. Kept alive in a bed of nutrient cables, Jar spends his short life ensuring the preservation of his line. Harvesting favourable DNA strands from the strongest Necromundans and mixing them with his own, he creates the House of Helmawr. And then he dies.
OATH NOBILIES
Jar Helmawr IV, Lord of the Imperial House, inscribes the Oath Nobilies. This document is a pledge taken by all of the Noble and Clan Houses of Necromunda to never break the Pax Helmawr with open war. The sacred object and its thousands of signatures are sealed in the spire vaults of Hive Primus.
REBORN IN SILK
The Eschaki, ancestors of the current-day Escher, subsume their rivals and are reborn as a new Clan House. So begins a time of ascendance for the House of Blades, its people enjoying wealth and privilege unlike anything seen before in the cramped domes of Hive City. Soon they have won the greater measure of the drudging classes of Hive Primus to their banner, and their production rates soar as a result.
THE TWO-FACED WAR
Hyrodo Helmawr dies leaving no clear line of succession between his two eldest children, Lord Gothrul and Lady Cinderak. Brother and sister wage war against each other, Gothrul from the Needle and Cinderak from Hive Primus. Careful not to draw the ire of the Imperium, the conflict drags on for over a century until Cinderak cripples her brother's armies and industries.
EYE OF SELENE
Lady Cinderak commissions the Eye of Selene, a geo-stationary star fortress above Hive Primus, to form a gateway between the stars and Necromunda. She then issues an edict that all solar trade must pass through the Eye. For as long as a Helmawr holds sway over Necromunda„ any void ship or orbital craft landing anywhere but the Palatine Cluster will be destroyed. The fields of felled cargo vessels known as Helmawr's Graveyard become a grim warning to those who choose to go against the will of the Imperial House.
IRON DYNASTY
The Orlock family, a collective of duster mining combines, aggressively take over ore production for Hive Primus from House Orlund. After almost half a century of raiding ash convoys and attacking hive refineries, all that was Orlund is now Orlock, and the Imperial House officially recognises the collective as a Clan House.
CLAN HOUSES EMERGENT
Over the long years, not all of the Clan Houses endure. Some are cannibalised or replaced by younger, stronger bloodlines, who expand Necromundan industry like never before.
DOOM OF HERA
House Hera attempts to destroy the fledgling Van Saar. The response by the House of Artifice is as swift as it is final. Many speculate that perhaps Lord Helmawr had a hand in convincing House Hera it could overcome their new rivals, as punishment for some secret slight known only to himself and the house's late rulers.
PILGRIMAGE TO TEMENOS
An apparition of Saint Valdor appears in the Ayrus Basilica of Hive Temenos. As word spreads across the world and out into the surrounding sector, pilgrims flock to Necromunda. House Helmawr grows rich minting pilgrimage coins the only currency that allows passage through the Eye of Selene - while dozens of splinter faiths of the Imperial Creed form within the hives, the Redemption among them.
BIRTH OF THE GOLIATHS
After almost two centuries of trial and error, the Van Saar and Escher grow the first Vatborn Goliaths as a servile class for the Imperial House. Tens of thousands of gene-smithed workers, with an intelligence of little more than animals, are herded into the factoria and taught the simple tasks they will perform for the rest of their short lives - the Clan Houses little expecting them to break free of their chains.
HOUSE DEI-AQUE RISES
House Delaque takes control of the secrets trade in the Palatine Cluster, its agents ending a century-long shadow war against their rivals. Few are aware of the long, silent conflict coming to an end, and fewer still that the flow of information between the hives has fallen into the hands of the Delaque.
SECUNDUS INFESTED
In his hubris, the Tech-Priest Biologis Hermiatus unleashes the Genestealer curse upon Necromunda. By the time Lord Cyar Helmawr acts, it is far too late to stop the spread. For his incompetence, the Inquisition arrest and publicly execute Cyar. Years of bitter warfare fail to uproot the Genestealer Cults now firmly in control of Secundus, though they are contained within the hive. Deciding to level the hive with an orbital bombardment, the Imperial forces pull back. Nuclear fire rains down on Secundus and the great hive breaks, falling down across the plain until its spire rests in the ash like a broken spear.
BIRTH OF A TYRANT
Gerontius Helmawr is born to the Imperial House. The reading of the Emperor's Tarot at his naming ritual proves especially portentous, revealing that he will be a ruler greater than any to bear his name before him. His sire, Kael Helmawr, invokes the rite of succession, and makes Gerontius his sole heir among his many children.
CORRUPTION AND REBELLION
After ten millennia of Imperial rule, rebellion and corruption simmer beneath the surface of Necromunda's hives. Even the iron grasp of Lord Helmawr cannot crush all of the ImperiumS enemies on his world, and some whisper that perhaps the planet's long and glorious history is finally coming to an end.
THE DARKNESS COMES
A global blackout known as the Great Darkness descends upon Necromunda, plunging it into chaos and disorder. While the Noble Houses seal themselves away in their spires, it falls to the teeming masses of the hive world to survive as best they can against the horrors that come boiling up from the depths. The wastes and hives become a war zone, while the underhive spirals into complete lawlessness with settlements and gangs fighting for their lives.
AN ASSASSIN STRIKES
Crisis strikes the Imperial House when there is an assassination attempt against Lord Helmawr. Gravely wounded, the Lord of Necromunda is placed in stasis. Houses fight amongst themselves and old scores are settled, while the children of Lord Helmawr bicker and scheme with each other as they seek to
ORWYRO 097.2-
WYNOLOSS 049.1
ascend to the throne once held by their father.
THE SECOND PILGRIMAGE
A nameless figure known only as the Prophet emerges from Cinderak City. Gathering tens of thousands of Redemptionists, he sets out for Hive Temenos in a strange echo of the original Great Pilgrimage that founded their faith. This time, however, the Prophet and his new followers claim to worship a figure known as the Father of All Saints. Unable to be stopped due to the lawlessness created by Lord Helmawr's absence, they awaken their saviour the ancient Iron Lord, Ozostium Aranthus.
THE ARANTHIAN SUCCESSION
Conspiracies and plans, millennia in the making, come to fruition as the mechanisms of House Aranthus take over the social hierarchy of Necromunda. With the blessing of the guilds, clans and nobles, Ozostium takes the throne of the hive world, having turned its most ancient traditions against it and subverted its people to accept him as their new overlord.
BATTLE FOR PRIMUS
Finally awoken from his stasis pod induced slumber, Lord Helmawr enlists his daughter, Haera Helmawr and his illegitimate son, Kal Jericho, to take back Hive Primus and oust Ozostium. After bloody cycles of fighting their way up the spire with no rest and little sustenance, the two rebel parties converge on the throne room. A costly battle finally forces Ozostium to retreat into the wastes before they are able to end his life.
A NEW ERA
Necromunda has survived, broken and limping after Ozostium's rule. Lord Helmawr retakes his rightful place upon Necromunda's throne. However, the threat of the Aranthians may not be fully quelled - with silence in the Mynerva Cluster and a new Great Pilgrimage sparking within Hive Temenos, Necromunda's problems may be only just beginning...
FOUNDING A GANG
The first thing any aspiring gang leader needs is a group of followers. Most gang leaders are experienced fighters, champions or 'heroes' who have struck out on their own to further their legend and strengthen their position within their house. Accompanying these renowned fighters will be close allies from their former gang; competent and seasoned combatants all. These models will form the core of the new gang and its hierarchy.
To these dangerous individuals will flock aspiring gangers, the foot soldiers of their house. These fighters will be joined by green and youthful prospects. Prospects are inexperienced rookies - in the parlance of Necromunda, those individuals with little to no fighting experience hoping to be accepted into a gang and prove their worth; the young hopefuls of the house or the relatives of past gangers. Such fighters bring with them great potential, and a great weight of responsibility to their forebears.
HOUSE GOLIATH
The gangers that fight in the name of House Goliath are hulking vatborn brutes, each a pillar of muscle and pent-up violence, straining to be unleashed. Far larger and stronger than an ordinary human, they flaunt their power wherever they go and it is difficult to ignore the air of brutality which Goliaths wear like a mantle.
FORGE BREAKER WITH
CRUCIBLE HOOKS
FORGE PATCHER WITH BOLT PISTOL
& CHEM SLUGGER
FORGE HAULER WITH
HEAVY STUBBER
FORGE GUNNER WITH
'KRUM PER' RIVET CANNON
HUNTRESS WITH AUTOPISTOLS
& MULTI-HARNESS
BLADE MAIDEN WITH LASPISTOL
&SHOCK WHIP
HOUSE ESCHER
House Escher is unique among the Clan Houses of Necromunda, for its gangs are made up entirely of women. Masters of pharmaceuticals and chemical manipulation, they are known for their excessive use of poisons and their vicious, gene-crafted pets, combined to deadly effect with the speed and martial skill of their gang fighters.
CHEM WYTCH WITH SHOTGUN
& SERVO-MEDICAE
HOUSE ORLOCK
House Orlock is known as the House of Iron, due to its roots in the ferrous slag pits located if:~'f across the blasted surface of
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Necromunda. The Orlock control
"i:__~/ not only the mines, but the most vital transmotive lines between them, and are famed for their tough, fearless fighters who defend them from ash wasters and rival house agents alike.
GUNNER WITH AUTOGUN
GREENHORN WITH
AUTOPISTOL & KNIFE
GREENHORN WITH SAWN-OFF
SHOTGUN & FIGHTING KNIFE
PRIME WITH PLASMA GUN
& SHOCK STAVE
TEK WITH LASGUN
HOUSE VAN SAAR
House Van Saar is the technological powerhouse of Necromunda, its artisans and armourers creating the finest weapons and wargear of all the clans. Their position, however, stems from a poisoned well - a malfunctioning artefact of the Dark Age of Technology - the ancient and esoteric machine creating archeo-wonders for the Van Saar, even as its radiation is
PRIME WITH COMBI-MELTA
slowly killing them.
& ENERGY SHIELD
TEK WITH LASGUN
HOUSE CAWDOR
The men and women of House Cawdor are the bonepickers, scrap herders and midden-thieves of Necromunda, their vast empire built on the discarded scraps of other clans and bound together by an unshakeable faith. Devotion to the Cult of the Redemption guides the actions of all members of House Cawdor, as they unearth and make use of 'blessed' relics from amongst the detritus of
BONEPICKER WITH
the underhive.
AUTOPISTOL & FLAIL
BRETHREN WITH AUTOGUN
WORD-KEEPER WITH HAND FLAMER
& TWO-HANDED AXE
BDNEPICKER WITH
TWO STUB GUNS
MASTER OF SHADOW WITH SHOCK
STAVE & FLECHETTE PISTOL
GHOST WITH SHOTGUN
& AUTOPISTOL
HOUSE DELAQUE
Skilled in stealth and subterfuge, House Delaque are the mysterious cloaked spymasters of Necromunda. Adept at ambush and assassination, there is something undeniably alien about the House of Shadow, its pale fighters appearing barely human as they skulk among the shadows of the hive, always waiting, always watching, and preparing for the
GHOST WITH TWO AUTOPISTOLS
moment to strike.
SHADOW WITH AUTOGUN
& THROWING KNIVES
IRONHEAD SQUAT PROSPECTORS
The Squat clans of Necromunda have mined, traded, and thrived outside the hives for over 10,000 years, travelling the wastes in massive land trains to search for deposits of rare resources. Gangs of prospectors patrol tightly-guarded excavations or scout for fresh finds in the ash wastes, armed with meticulously designed weapons.
OIGGERWITH
IRONHEAO AUTOPISTOL
ORILL-KYN WITH TWO
IRONHEAO BOLT PISTOLS
CHARTER MASTER WITH STONE
BURNER & POWER HAMMER
ORILL-KYN WITH
IRONHEAO AUTOGUN
CHIEFTAIN WITH MONO-HOOK
& CHAIN LANCE
WARRIOR WITH BLAST PISTOL
& STALKING KNIFE
ASH WASTE NOMADS
Ash Waste Nomads have inhabited the Great Equatorial Wastes for as long as anyone can remember. Their ragged clothes, rebreather masks and scavenged weaponry strike terror into the denizens of the hive cities - a fearsome reputation the nomads foster as they raid caravans crossing the wastes, seizing sustenance and equipment.
WARRIOR WITH BLAST RIFLE
WARRIOR WITH LONG RIFLE
PALANITE ENFORCERS
The Palanite Enforcers deliver Lord Helmawr's justice to the miscreants of the underhive without hesitation or mercy. They are the elite lawmen of Necromunda. Armed with the finest tools of subjugation, their duty is to put down rebellions as brutally as possible and make an example of all those who would defy the will of the Imperial House.
SERGEANT WITH BOLTGUN
PATROL OFFICER
WITH SNIPER RIFLE
SERGEANT WITH CONCUSSION
CARBINE & SHOCK BATON
PATROL OFFICER
WITH STUB GUN
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SKINNER WITH
ROTARY FLENSING SAW
CUTTER WITH PAIRED
HEAVY CHAIN CLEAVERS
CORPSE GRINDER CULTS
The cannibalistic Corpse Grinder gangs are savage heretics dedicated to the Lord of Skin and Sinew. These raving madmen care only for slaughter and the chance to feast upon their vanquished foes, the call of meat drawing them out of the shadows to wage an apocalyptic war upon the people of Necromunda.
INITIATE WITH STUB GUN
& BUTCHER'S CLEAVER
INITIATE WITH BONING SWORD
&STUB GUN
MALSTRAIN GENESTEALER CULT
The insane Malstrain Patriarch rules over the Underhells of Hive Secundus from deep within its ruins. Those who dare venture into its territory are as likely to be overwhelmed by the Broodmind and join the Malstrain Genestealer cults as to survive.
BROOD SCUM WITH
STUB GUN & AXE
BROOD SCUM WITH AUTOGUN
MALSTRAIN GENESTEALER
MALSTRAIN TYRAMITE
ORRUS
SPYRE HUNTER
SPYRER HUNTING PARTIES
Before they can take their place as the rulers of Necromunda, the scions of the Imperial House must first prove their cunning and strength by being surgically fitted into Spyre hunting-rigs and going forth into the Underhells of Hive Secundus to attempt to kill the Malstrain Patriarch. In recent years, they have instead taken to the underhive in order to root out the Aranthians.
CARYATID
PRIME
NECROMUNDA
CAMPAIGNS
Power in the underhive is more than a gun in a ganger's hand. It is reputation, it is coin, and the worth of the ground that you can call your own. For gangs that wish for more than bloodshed, that wish not just for infamy, but to rise from the ashes and ruins to something greater, for them, dominion over the soul and iron of the hive is everything. And to that end, they will fight bitter war without mercy.