Gang Wars of Hive Iacomus

Necromunda narrative campaign

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 2

Thought we'd gone dark, did’ja? No such luck, I’m afraid. Just a little hive quake knocked out our broadcast station and dumped it in the sump. We're all set up again, and crampy if we don't have the tale for you.

Compulsory Vivisection, those punk rock queens, were heard singing a funeral dirge for a girl named Stabitha Shifty. How'd she bite it? "She fought the Cult and the Cult won." as the song said.

Speaking of — El Orden opened up a new rogue doc shop and it seems they're happy to provide free medical service — to any scummer who attends one of the Orden's special sermons, that is! Ah well. Your soul for your life. Who's to say that isn't a fair deal, if it stops you from bleeding out in a filthy Underhive hole?

The Serpent Syndicate and Red Hand clashed again, and again it didn't go well for the snakes. Their sniper couldn't hit the broad side of a tank. I guess it's hard to fire a rifle when you've got no arms, hehehe… Then they got surrounded by screaming Red Hand lads and lasses and it was all over.

Managed to snap a pict of the moment it all went wrong. I don't think I've ever seen a baldhead look so shocked!

So remember, scummers: things can always get worse!

So keep all your eyes open!

-iii

—

“TONIGHT! PARTY AT WITCHES END BAR! SERPENT'S BLOOD COCKTAILS HALF-OFF!”

- Posters found scattered throughout Slagg's Drift

"Seems them Hand boys are having quite the ruckus over there at Witches End. I can see the lights shining from here. What colour is that exactly? Don't know that one. My head hurts..."

- Toothless Pete, underhive resident

"Thumper is a doughnut thief!" 

- Graffiti scrawled near Witches End bar (context unknown) 

[hiveiacomus]

It is the 41st millennium, and mankind rots among the stars. Its decrepit Empire is fed by hive worlds, gargantuan planets of misery whose industrial creations fuel the countless xenocidal wars in which mankind squanders its last remaining days. Necromunda is the greatest of these failures. Its hive cities, each home to hundreds of millions, rise from the ash wastes, termite mounds the size of mountains. Sector upon sector, spire upon spire, the hive cities climb so far above the poisoned clouds they cleave the heavens, and sink so deep into the toxic earth they approach hell. Necromunda, and all it represents, is the grave of humanity.

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 1, Red Hand vs Serpent Syndicate

More skirmishes in our fair Underhive, my friends. The Red Hand took a crack at the Serpent Syndicate for control of Deacon’s Hold, and judging by the number of baldheads carried out on their backs, the Chaos lads came out on top. Seems all it took to ruin those snakes was leadership, a long rifle, and a (red) handful of screaming cultists! Say what you want about them (“they’ll be the death of us all!”) the Red Hand aren’t lacking in fighting spirit!

Here’s a little mystery. While trawling comms traffic, something caught my eyes: A message from an old terminal down by Sump Bay. I opened it up, hoping for some juicy, but what did I find? Gibberish. 

Junk code? Servitor malfunction? Some juve’s prank? Maybe. 

Or it could be Delaque secret whispers, ‘crypted in manual-style.

Never been much of a codebreaker, but maybe you clever scummers will crack it.

>>> Subject: RedHand

>>> Conduit 8516-JX12

Iig Oaag vrjhgrg zr evrqhimqn srwkphteaw. Vrhty udu trziglfrds aag eyplrvfrp dkvnqkejl. Wr vljilrrg yidcy yrjwhz aag iiwyenwvh. Wdo tkfwwz ia uvgrceeb, frh yecorghk af svv voaqrn tuvtbffp.

Glsclki glfrdk, ejlngv uissolhu zre-rrffvglrf glvlug ehkvhht. Cltohk uc UY thyfbudmqn chokmf yigxrp svsg vbmutifk. Klh Soeg fj Foaajv eqzwruvh. 

A real head-scratcher. If one of ya figures it out, send a com-you-know-kay and I’ll cast it long and broad. That’ll make the serpents squirm... Hehehe. Unless that’s just what they want! Can never tell with those baldheads! 

Keep all your eyes open! 

-iii

---

"Crimson claw and azure serpent clash, blood spilled upon the ground of Deacon's Hold. The serpent's fangs avail it not, for the hand catches its tail and casts the serpent down. Its body is broken. The red witch tastes blood, and a great eye of power gazes down, pleased for the moment. Portents of doom surround the hand. A storm gathers."

- Spatia the Hag, underhive soothsayer

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 1

I hope none of you was in Pipetown today, where a brutal little dust-up ended in shrapnel, blood, and bad feelings spattered all over the plasteel.

What caused it? Creative differences. Compulsory Vivisection was punk-rocking-out with an all-night-cycle concert, and refused to "pipe down" even when their new neighbours complained! So El Orden created a different tune to fill the settlement: a ditty called "Dakka Dakka". The fight overed quickly, but C.V. left in such a state! Who knows when they'll strike back, but I'd wager a mouthful of '-starch it'll be nasty. If you're eager, tune your ears to the voxes and comms. My instincts tell me they'll be humming soon! Some people just can't keep their mouths shut. Hehehe.

Stay safe out there, scummers. It's only getting worse.

And keep your eyes open! All of them! -iii P.S. I snapped myself a hidey-hole pict right before the blood started shedding! It's the Orden heavy support on its way to the kill zone. What a pair of brutes they are!

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 0

[Excerpt from Monitor Servitor 12-Rho, Sector 22A, "Slagg's Drift", audio only]

Voice 1: "Damn that Yotan Bliss! We ought to track him down and send him to the void! Let him scream as he is punished for his treachery!"

Voice 2: "We will get to him. What about the others? Are they a threat?"

Voice 1: "Those Eschers pack quite the firepower, the snakes are as unreadable as ever, but those strange Orden frakkers? They had a bloody Ogryn with them!"

Voice 3: "I have seen Ogryn before. That was no Ogryn."

Voice 1: "Well, whatever it was, it bloody ripped the head straight off a zombie like the tab off a ration pack. I saw it rip the entire head and spine out like nothing."

Voice 2: "We will watch them for now. Prepare to move out." [End recording]

[hiveiacomus]

Slagg’s Drift, Week 0

What a spot of fun that was! When a Guilder of dubious reputation named Yotan Bliss cracked open an old vault in Slagg’s Drift, he found more than anyone bargained for. He bottled as soon as he heard the moans, and the gangers who’d had the bad fortune to sign on with that drokkhead found themselves locked in the vault with hundreds of plague zombies! Four gangs, three fighters apiece, trying to survive the hoards until their buddies outside could get the doors open. They hurried to climb off the killing floor, and even worked together well enough, though they clearly didn’t much care for it. The chaos lads (Red Hand, they were called) went off on their own, and climbed pretty high, but the flesheaters followed ‘em up, and it weren’t long ‘fore they tumbled off the catwalks with their guts spilling out. The others fared a bit better, though the Eschers (Compulsory Vivisection, the combi-gang of killers and punk rockers) got mobbed pretty bad. I saw one girl go down, and another was surrounded ‘til the “Ministorum priest” from El Orden de San Miguel del Vacio (try saying that three times fast!) tossed a gout from his hand-flamer and set half of them on fire. He seemed to be aiming squarely at the lass, but it worked out well, so I suppose all’s well that ends well. Those whispering Delaques (the Serpent Syndicate, the snakes!) got caught up in a tight space, and that grenade-launcher-toting Orden lass blasted ‘em all out, doing some significant damage to the zombies, but hitting the Delaque leader squarely in the back! ‘Course, the Delaque got their own share of backstabbing. When the Delaque girl shotgunned the Escher into a hoard of zombies, I was pretty sure it wasn’t an accident, until she threw herself into the fray to save her! They’re a weird lot, those Delaques. Never know where you stand with ‘em. By the time the doors got opened, all the gangs were banged up pretty bad, ‘cept the Orden, on account of the big lad with the 4-foot claws tearing up zombie after zombie.

When they got out, they found medicae, crates of loot, and a note reading:

"Thank you for your assistance with the vault. Distracting those zombies was what I needed to get access to what I wanted. As a token of thanks, I have arranged for a medicae to nurse any of your members back to health. You may also have some of the equipment of the previous crew I sent in there to do the job. Obviously they were not as successful as you were. No hard feelings yeah? - Yotan Bliss"

Funny little thing that cookin’ up here, eh?

Keep all your eyes open!

-iii

P.S. I snapped some picts of the action. Take a look,  scummers!

[hiveiacomus]

Hive Iacomus is getting lively. The chants and exaltations of a blasphemous cult compete with the scream and skronk of punk rockers' guitars. Long-coated figures pass coded messages, while a far-too-generous "Ministorum order" distributes food and more to the downtrodden. And beneath all that clamour, I hear the muffled moan of a zombie hoard...

Tomorrow, the Underhive will be a sea of blood and lead, and the show will be on in earnest.

Keep all your eyes open.

[hiveiacomus]

Well, well, well...

Looks like we've got some eager eyes. You scummers shared around our despatches before the bodies even started dropping.

We don't mind. You can watch all you like.

We'll be watching back.

-iii

[hiveiacomus]

The date has been set. Something stirs in the Underhive, something that hungers... for flesh.

On 10 September 2021, Hive Iacomus Dominion campaign begins, with the Meeeeeeeeeat! scenario from the Book of Ruin.

[hiveiacomus]

Welcome to Hive Iacomus, the newest worst place on Necromunda. In an Underhive plagued by cults, xenos, chaos, psykers, the living dead, and plain old-fashioned ultra-violent gangers, we're going to see just how bad it gets! Dominion campaign begins September 2021.