Primary Location: @Desoleum
Notable Characters: @Achkovas Spengh (Preceptor Poxifex, overall master), Tormus Fayne (Preceptor, leader of the Mournful Song Strain), Ferrue Fayne (former Preceptor and sorcerer)
This is an entrenched and highly dangerous cult dedicated to the Chaos God Nurgle, the Lord of Decay. The cult was founded centuries ago, likely by Achkovas Spengh, and spreads its corruption like a cancer unseen among the hive populace. They view Hive Desoleum as already dead—a great creature of metal—and their purpose is to actively hasten its inevitable collapse, seeing attempts to forestall this doom as futile. They operate using a rigid cell structure, with each cell known as a "Strain," and each Strain focuses its rites and activities on a different aspect of decay or disease, plotting to damage the hive in ways corresponding to their specialty (e.g., damaging air-cyclers to spread respiratory pathogens). The cult uses numerous aid houses as a cover, offering help and comfort to the sick and despairing who lack medicae support. Members are recruited from all strata, from sickly dregs in the Gorges to Apex nobles. The higher a member rises, the more his body reflects the decay in his soul, manifesting as festering wounds and pox-scars, which many view as blessings from the Plague God. They eagerly seek out psykers to utilize in rituals. Currently, the cult is involved in conflicts to seize and utilize xenos artefacts, which they discovered can amplify psychic abilities, as demonstrated by Ferrue Fayne who used one to raise the dead. Achkovas Spengh, the Preceptor Poxifex, directs the cult from deep in the hive, sustained unnaturally by Nurgle’s blessings, appearing as a bloated mass of ruptured and rotting flesh. The crippling of this cult is viewed as a major victory against the forces of decay.
Primary Location: @Desoleum
Notable Characters: Lord Karheit Vorf (Magister, chemist and fugitive)
This is a malevolent, decadent cult primarily based in the upper strata of Hive Desoleum (the Apex and Pinion). It serves as a front for the worship of Slaanesh, the Prince of Excess. The cult operates under multiple guises, including exclusive boutiques selling exotic, unnaturally bright flora. The cult's core doctrine is to cast off the rigid, pervasive system of oaths and duties that binds Desoleum society, allowing members to indulge in forbidden passions without restraint. Recruitment starts with exposing members to rare sensory pleasures (like nature) and progresses to outlandish and blasphemous experiences, often using the highly potent narcotic phoria—a drug that heightens sensations and causes vivid hallucinations, developed by the fugitive cultist Lord Karheit Vorf. The cult fosters an upheaval of the social hierarchy, where low-ranking members might hold authority over nobles, finding perverse satisfaction in this inversion of order.
Primary Location: @Thaur
Notable Characters: Arch-Rector Legatarius @Carolus Renthear (Overpraesul, secret leader), @Parathas Hayne (high-ranking cultist)
This is a highly heretical xenophilious cult that evolved from radical sects within the Eulogus Askelline, the order charged with maintaining Thaur's tombs. The cult's true origins trace back to a forgotten mandate of the Eulogus Askelline's precursor order, which was created to guard against ancient horrors (xenos) that once dwelt on Thaur. Under the leadership of Arch-Rector Carolus Renthear, the cult perverted this knowledge into the profane worship of these forgotten xenos deities. They believe that humanity is an intruder on Thaur's sacred soil and must be swept away when their ancient xenos patrons—referred to as "Ancestors"—return. The cult's central deity is Izumat, whom they believe is a slumbering xenos god, but who is, unbeknownst to most members, actually a Daemon of Chaos seeking ingress into reality. The Inheritors are obsessed with retrieving xenos artefacts from across the sector, which they use in complex rituals involving exposure to generate "Blood of Izumat," believing this will transform them into members of the superior xenos race. Their ultimate plan involves a mass sacrifice of thousands of human souls, such as pilgrims aboard the Oath Unspoken, to awaken Izumat and cleanse the sector. They fund their activities through the raiding of human tombs and maintain semi-permanent, lucrative business arrangements with smugglers like the Trade Sable.
Primary Location: @Cerix Magnus
Notable Characters: Arch-Magos Kappellax (rumored to be the true leader)
This is a highly specialized heretical cult devoted to the great Warp storm, the Pandaemonium, viewing it as the object of their devotion. The cult originated from the arcane theories of Arch-Magos Argo Kappellax, who discovered the correlation linking the sector's Warp storms into a single entity. The Childes blasphemously claim to possess a complete understanding of the Kappellax Correlation and have demonstrated the startling ability to predict the shifts and squalls of the Pandaemonium with great accuracy. Their stated, horrific intention is to nourish the Pandaemonium and guide it to cleanse all of Askellon of existence. The cult's leadership is highly secretive, suspected to be fallen Navigators or Tech-Priests, and they operate from their headquarters on the Mechanicum's sovereign domain of Cerix Magnus, using staging points like the asteroids of Port Aquila for their operations across the sector. They represent an Inquest Extremis threat due to the calamitous nature of their goals.
Primary Location: @Ossuar
Notable Characters: Prelate Ynnin Narlos (leader), Saint Akalrus (the trapped Daemon vessel)
This is a secret, blasphemous cult operating within the clergy and laity of the Shrine World Ossuar, a world devoted entirely to the Cult Imperialis and the adoration of saints. The Recollectors hold a twisted version of the truth concerning Saint Akalrus, who, in reality, was responsible for a daemonic incursion in the past and is currently trapped as a Daemon vessel inside a stasis shrine. The cult denies the Emperor's divinity, claiming a mere corpse sits on the Golden Throne, and instead believes that Chaos is the sole source of otherworldly power and miracles. They believe many so-called saints were actually in league with the Ruinous Powers. The Recollectors are locked in a hidden conflict with the loyalist "Keepers" (a secret group of dedicated priests) who work to maintain the secrecy and the stasis field. The Recollectors' ultimate, devastating goal is to bring down the stasis field trapping the Daemon vessel Akalrus, revealing the truth to the masses and shattering the faith of the sector. The cultists hide in plain sight, maintaining masks of piety while scheming to acquire proof powerful enough to cause a massive purge and undermine Imperial faith. Prelate Ynnin Narlos is the current leader planning the ritual to bring down the stasis field during a major ceremony.
Primary Location: @Pellenne
Notable Characters: Magisters Consanguinitae (shadowy, masked leaders)
Founded on Pellenne three centuries ago, this is a highly dogmatic and secretive sect dedicated to the absolute extermination of all mutants and anyone who might offer them support. Their founding manifesto was famously branded onto a charred mutant corpse nailed to a temple door. The cult is notorious for its extreme fanaticism, the horrifying scale of its atrocities, and its willingness to engage in extreme violence against both mutants and untainted citizens. They refuse any policy of accommodation with mutant communities, often seeking to assassinate Imperial figures who resist their dictates, falsely portraying these murders as the work of mutants. The cult operates under a highly organized cell structure, with Frater Consanguinitas wearing identity-concealing black robes. Their hidden masters, the Magisters Consanguinitae, are skilled in rhetoric and treachery. They have become a major destabilizing influence in the mid-level slums of Pellenne and the Stygies Cluster by instigating armed conflicts between mutants and untainted citizens, threatening the economic stability of the entire sector.