Cult of the Quarried Flesh
The Cult of the Quarried Flesh is a Genestealer Cult originally composed of miners from Eta Corridon. The xenos infection spread among the menials throughout the Corridon System. During the Underwar, the miners rose up in the mines of Eta Corridon, the asteroid refineries in orbit, and among the innumerable farms of Lambda Corridon. Though they were defeated planetside by Archmagos Dominus Andrissa Varashivi, their many stolen voidcraft enabled them to remain a threat in orbit. After the Battle of Shipyard Resh, they are fleeing with a valuable STC, hoping to find a populated world to blend in and further spread their infection.
Structure
Before the end of the Underwar, the cult was lead by its Patriarch, as well as Primus Rouix Valdanite and Magus Flux Zhirish. Although the Patriarch was killed by Archmagos Dominus Andrissa Varashivi, the Primus and Magus escaped, and still lead the Cult through the void.
Beneath the Cult's three leaders, the Cult's forces are divided into several broods, each representing a cycle. Each of these typically operates an armada of the Cult's stolen voidcraft. Each Claw typically operates a ship, though larger ships may have several claws aboard. Each claw is further divided into a clutch, a smaller group of related Genestealers who fight together.
Culture
The Cult's members view themselves as a single, unified family. They long to bring all the stars into their family, into the warm, loving embrace of their brood. In the territories they inhabit for long enough, even the very walls and floors are brought into the family, covered in spawning pods and strange, fleshy growths.
The Genestealers themselves organize strongly along their familiar bonds, with each group devoted around a particular progenitor, who in turn follows the 'purer' Genestealers who lead the Cult. The Cult works to ensure that all of its family is protected and cared for, and provides for them far better that the Imperium or the Mechanicus ever had or would. In this way, they have lured in many who were not Genestealers, bringing them into the fold, and eventually luring them beneath, to the Patriarch, where they are used to create a new brood of Genestealers.
Public Agenda
Publicly, the Cult claimed to be a fraternal society that worked to ensure that its members were healthy and able to properly work for the glory of the Omnissiah. This was accepted by the Mechanicus, who never truly understood the scale and scope of what seemed to be a small workers cult, still devoted to the Cult Mechanicum. Beneath this, however, the Cult was secretly plotting the overthrow of both planets of the Corridon System. Weapons were stockpiled, positions were infiltrated, ambushes were planned. After the rising, the Cult abandoned the pretense of orthodoxy, swaying even more menials with their message of freedom and prosperity. Only now, as they flee, is their true goal obvious: to spread their 'family' across all the stars.
Assets
Before the rising, the Cult had a massive array of designed and improvised military equipment. Many of their troops were armed with Astra Militarum lasguns, stolen from the production lines, as well as heavier Guard weapons, such as stubbers, lascannons, and even some Leman Russes. The Cult also made good use of its mining equipment, including Goliaths, Jackals, and even stolen mining drills. It's greatest improvised asset, however, was the mines themselves. In the vast asteroid mines in orbit, the Cult had secretly hollowed out whole asteroids, fitting them with engines and weaponry to turn them into formidable voidcraft, capable of matching even purpose-built warships.
With the destruction of virtually all of their ground-based forces, it is these voidcraft that are now the hope of the Cult. They flee from the Corridon System, using engines and Gellar fields jury-rigged from stolen transport haulers. Yet their large numbers, and unbreakable determination, have enabled them to stand against the Mechanicus.
History
The Cult began with the few miners who the Patriarch infected. It soon spread to the whole shift, and then all the workers in their mineshaft. The cult began converting what was once a prosperous mineshaft into a headquarters, with much of the Cult's stolen equipment. The cult's members sought out new members to lure beneath to the Patriarch, or to otherwise induct into the Cult. The few Tech-Priests who bothered to pay attention to the menial laborers were convinced of the harmlessness of the Cult, or were dealt with silently.
The Cult soon sought to expand beyond the mines and tunnels. Soon, members found their way to the orbital mining platforms that provided many of the rare minerals need for Eta Corridon's many arcane industrial processes. Here, they began carving secret fortifications and hideouts among the asteroids, what would eventually become their voidcraft.
Wherever the Cult lingered, the intensity of their 'family' extended even to their surroundings. Cult tunnels and hives soon became fleshy and slime-filled, as various Tyranid microorganisms transmogrified the environment. For an outsider to enter their domain would mean death, as the very walls and floors turned against the invader, emptying vats of acid or disgorging Genestealer Familiars on unsuspecting intruders.
By the time this transformation was complete, the Cult was ready to begin their grand uprising. Using their vast arrays of stolen equipment, they rose from the mines to attack the Tech-Priests in their Hive Spires. Though Skitarii forces tried to push them back down into their tunnels, the success of the Broodhoard Rising prevented such a counter assault. In the chaos that followed, the Cult took control of much of the surface, and successfully connected with their voidships in orbit, with much of the Cult leadership heading up to lead from above.
However, with the collapse of their tunnels engineered by Archmagos Dominus Andrissa Varashivi and Lady Katarina le Corridon, the Cult found its reinforcements cut off. Their forces on the surface were quickly defeated, and, most dangerously of all, the Patriarch was killed. With Primus Rouix Valdanite assuming control, despite the loss of the Patriarch's psychic influence, the Cult managed to stay in unison. Pushed back by the resurgent Mechanicus's voidfleet, the Cult began a guerilla campaign among the Corridon System's many asteroids. However, the overwhelming superiority of the Mechanicus fleet made this only a short-term solution.
In a final attempt, Primus Rioux Valdanite organized a lightning strike against Shipyard Resh, the largest of Eta Corridon's orbital shipyards. His forces badly damaged the shipyard, and stole much valuable technology, including an STC fragment, though the Cult did not truly understand what they had stolen. Now, fleeing through the stars, they hope to find somewhere to avoid the Mechanicus, and once more spread the message of the Star Siblings.
Mythology & Lore
According to the Cult's elders, the Star Children were once a family, spread across the stars in love and joy. All creation was tied together by the love and togetherness of the Hive Mind. However, a warp-daemon, the Omnissiah, attacked the Star Children, driving them deep underground and into the depths of space. Now, they are sundered apart, and long once more to be together, though the Omnissiah and his followers try to keep them apart.
Divine Origins
The Cult first learned the truth of reality when they encountered one of the Star Children driven underground. Their Patriarch readily shared the truth with them, and beseeched them help reunite with his - and their -family. As the message of love and familiarity spread, the Cult sought to reunite all the people of the Corridon System with their true family.
In truth, a Tyranid Genestealer had somehow been buried beneath Eta Corridon, probably by some irresponsible Biologis. It was uncovered by the miners, whom it infected; from there, the infection spread quickly through the menial population.
Rising from Beneath
Founding Date
3 385 763 M40
Training Level
Semi-trained
Veterancy Level
Experienced
Demonym
Genestealer
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Hive-mind
Economic System
Command/Planned economy
Official State Religion
Permeated Organizations
Deities
Notable Members
