In this week’s Apocrypha Necromundus, learn about the ancient history of Necromunda itself and the seismic events that helped turn Hive Primus into the ganger’s paradise we all know and love today.
Necromunda is a vast world, ancient even by the standards of the Imperium. Much of our knowledge of this industrial hive world is limited to the Clan Houses and their constant wars for supremacy, but there is much, much more to discover.
In this occasional series, named Apocrypha Necromundus after Surverator Sykas Gellen’s seminal work, we’re shining a light on some of the peoples, regions and settlements of Necromunda, delving down into the world’s lore. First up, we’re paying a visit to the legendary underhive town of Dust Falls.
AN ANCIENT AVALANCHE
Dust Falls straddles the divide between Hive City and the underhive of Hive Primus, and is a centre for gangs, Guilders and criminals. Like most things in the underhive, however, Dust Falls was created by chance. Much of the lower hive is made up of domes, each a cavern of plasteel, pipes, factories and hab blocks all stacked on top of each other. Between these domes even more tunnels, conduits and cables link everything together. Over centuries of neglect, the spaces between the domes gather dust – a lot of dust – among other things.* Sometimes this dust builds up so much it causes a collapse. Such was the case with Dust Falls, an avalanche of powdery detritus smashing down all the way to hive bottom. Around the ragged hole left behind, the settlement of Dust Falls grew, a place where travellers from above and below could traverse the hive. While the disaster that created the settlement has long since faded into memory, the dust still falls from above, a fine pale rain that covers everything and gives the town its name.
GATEWAY TO THE UNDERHIVE
The wealth of Dust Falls comes from the Abyss. This is the name given to the yawning chasm that dominates the centre of the town. Scavengers, gangs and Guilders all use its hanging cages to be lowered down and winched up and out of the underhive. Given the depth of the Abyss – literally miles of dark all the way to hive bottom – landings have been built at various heights down the shaft face. Some lead to other settlements like Two Tunnels or Dead End Pass, while others have their own transport cages leading down into the Badzones below, or even deeper. This area in the middle of the settlement is collectively known as the Gates, and it is why most folks come to Dust Falls. The town itself hangs from the upper edges of the Abyss and then sprawls out into the wreckage around it left by the ancient avalanche. Roads wind their way through this morass and on toward Hive City above, and are constantly filled with traffic.
The second most important part of Dust Falls is its markets, known locally as the Haggle Market, or just the ‘Haggle’. Here the wealth pulled up from the underhive is sold to traders from Hive City and tourists who visit the town for a taste of the wild frontier – though one that is not too far from home. The importance of Dust Falls also means both the Guilds and the Clan Houses have heavily invested in its infrastructure. Warehouse silos and Guilder slave pens litter its outer streets. The town’s largest structures are the fortified Trader’s Tower controlled by the Mercator Gelt, and the Six Clans drinking hole, designated neutral ground by the Clan Houses. The size of Dust Falls also affords it a Palanite Enforcer presence, and Precinct 1313 looms over the settlement entrance like a dark sentinel, its troopers watching travellers come and go through the sights of their guns.
COUNCIL OF DUST
Like most underhive settlements, Dust Falls is a den of criminality tempered by the greed of the Guilders and the brutality of Lord Helmawr’s Palanite Enforcers. It is ruled over by a loose alliance of civic leaders and Guild Procurators tolerated by the local Enforcer Precinct Proctor. In fact, Proctor Clause Bauhein doesn’t care much about the goings-on in Dust Falls as long as the caravans keep running and the Gates stay open. Only twice has the Proctor mustered the full might of his command. Once it was to lock down the town when Lord Helmawr’s 17th son Gilbarn was found passed out in a Haggle parlour room, the second time was during the great Plague Zombie outbreak of ’93, famous for Bauhein’s chief sergeant Rosco barging into the taproom of the Six Clans and deputising everyone sober enough to stand.
The day-to-day running of the settlement falls to two individuals – Mistress of Coin Melerva and the Narco Lord Balthazar Van Zep. Together, they govern the Guild and criminal businesses respectively and, despite their differences, get along quite well. Gangs find equal employment with both and there is more than enough wealth flowing out of the Abyss for them to enjoy. This does not always prevent conflicts, as neither Melerva nor Balthazar is the type to play well with others.** For the most part, Balthazar tolerates the hefty bribes he must pay to move chems up into Hive City while Melerva ignores the screams of those who have displeased the narco lord as they are thrown head-first into the Abyss.
All told, Dust Falls works for the various parties involved in its dealings. Discounting the crazies like the Brotherhood of the True Resurrection or the Hunters Triumvirate, it is pretty safe by Necromundan standards, making it one of the most important settlements in Hive Primus as one of the gateways that guard the underhive.
We hope you enjoyed this insight into one of Necromunda’s most notorious trading posts. We’ll be back next week with another offering, but until then, let us know which Clan House has your allegiance on the Necromunda Facebook page.
* Imagine if a septic tank on the roof your house started leaking…
** In Dust Falls, death by crossing Melerva or Balthazar is the second most common cause of fatality, right behind drinking the Six Clans’ Second Best.