They move with an unlovely grace, often held aloft by powerful anti-gravitic suspensor crystals. These racks are hung with special syringes that channel their noxious concoctions directly into their spinal sump.Īs they are for all purposes functionally immortal, the Haemonculi do not pursue the hurried, frenetic pace of the younger Drukhari. From their backs emerge horn-like protrusions of bone that frame the Haemonculus' head like an organic rack. Their spines have been elongated so that from the lower back, their vertebrae meld into prehensile bone-tails that can lash out at their victims. Others replace their blood so that searing ichor or even a potent molecular acid now runs through their modified veins. Some Haemonculi place their intestines, lungs and heart within a powerfully-muscled piece of additional tissue that sprouts from their shoulders and serves as a repository for stimulants and other alchemical mixtures as well as boasting secondary limbs of mechanical or biological origin. Their wan, pale-skinned frames do not have a spare ounce of flesh upon them, and their waists are devoid of internal organs to better present what they view as a fashionably disturbing facade. While the physical modifications will differ from Haemonculus to Haemonculus, representing their personal tastes and particular brand of insanity, they are always attenuated and twisted in form. It is possible that the oldest of the Haemonculi, known as the Haemonculi Ancients, contain among their numbers those individuals who inaugurated the very first Aeldari cults of pleasure and pain before the Fall, but this also remains unknown, as all Haemonculi physically alter themselves to the point that they barely even resemble other members of the species they mockingly still call their own. They are all of an ancient age, even for the long-lived Aeldari, and their withered and horrific appearances speaks of Drukhari so old they have passed beyond the ability to regenerate a youthful appearance no matter how much of others' torment and agony they immerse themselves in. How a Drukhari becomes a Haemonculus is unknown. If their client wants barbed quills added to his shoulders, the scaled face of an alien reptile, or the eyes of a Viridian Wraithspider, no request is too difficult or bizarre for a Haemonculus to fulfill. Haemonculi specialise in body modification and flesh-sculpting and they love to work with a new "canvas" of flesh. The Haemonculi are organised into units called "covens" that are integral to Commorrite society since they are the true masters of the Drukhari's necessary regenerative processes as well as of torture, but they remain the embodiments of terror and paranoia even for others of their species.Īll know that to anger one of the Lords of Pain is to end up as the subject of one of their horrific tapestries of agony. Even other Drukhari secretly fear the Haemonculi, for they can reshape not just the body but also the soul. To pass the long centuries they compose loving symphonies of agony from those unfortunate enough to be held captive in their dungeons. They are master torturers, the Drukhari's greatest connoisseurs of pain and terror. The Haemonculi, the Lords of Pain, are horrific and insane Drukhari flesh-sculptors who have lived within the depths of Commorragh for many Terran centuries, if not millennia.
Vynquiliac Xorl, Marquise of the Fabled Few Still, delectable sweetmeats remain there for the taking if one knows where to find them." " Realspace is a spoiled banquet, turned rotten by the passage of aeons.