All manner of scum gathers in the underhive, from crazed xenos-infected cultists and worshippers of profane powers to psychopathic seditionists and rogue psykers. Most hide deep in the badzones lest the long arm of Lord Helmwar’s Law reach them, but some have made a home for themselves among the criminal cartels and gang bosses, gaining a measure of acceptance by the underhivers. In this instalment of the Apocrypha Necromundus, we take a look at the pit of criminality that is Heretic’s Hole.
Den of Heresy
Far from the inhabited regions of the underhive, where the few still functioning flood lights and guttering lumens grow faint, ancient paths and tunnels lead to Heretic’s Hole. Only the most dedicated travellers come this far, the journey in itself almost as dangerous as the destination. And yet, through the tangled
of the outlands, the settlement endures, built into the hull of an ancient spaceship, itself jutting from a lake of slime. So old is the vessel that houses Heretic’s Hole that it conforms to no known Imperial pattern, only the barely legible human scrip on its hull ‘AN-A-R’ hinting at its origins. The ramshackle town clings to the partially sunken ship like some kind of obscene growth, its citizens living inside gaps between hull plating, gloomy cargo holds, and the ship’s flame-scarred engine mount. The most prominent inhabitants of Heretic’s Hole reside in the vessel’s rusting conning tower. This twisted spire rises up from the town centre at an alarming angle, but provides an excellent vantage to see anyone approaching the settlement.*
The people of Heretic’s Hole are as you would expect for such a lawless and remote place. They are the scum and outlaws who have been thrown out of more respectable places like Dust Falls or Rust Town, or those who find themselves with a pressing need to disappear. As an outlaw settlement, no-one is turned away from its gates, provided they are willing to respect its ruler. Ursan Graves, the current overlord of Heretic’s Hole, has only one rule: if you do something he doesn’t like, he’ll kill you. Graves and his cabal of ‘Lost Ones’ have survived due in no small part to the overlord’s psychic gifts of precognition. Rumour has it that he was once one of Lord Helmwar’s slave psykers, reared in the Psykanarium of the spire and put to work hunting down recidivists. After escaping he went to the only place he believed to be beyond the reach of the Palanite Enforcers – Heretic’s Hole.
Since then, Graves and his coven of wyrds have had to contend with numerous gang assaults, zombie outbreaks and the odd wandering sump horror attracted by the big metal tin full of crunchy things. In recent times, the crime lord Balthazar Van Zep has taken an interest in Heretic’s Hole, and its access to the hive bottom, as a means of circumventing the monopoly on spider eyes and deep sump fungi held by the rulers of Sump City. So far though, Graves has countered every one of Balthazar’s moves and sent the crime lord's agents back to him in pieces.
True Resurrection
Ursan Graves’ open door policy on outlaws has its drawbacks, however. While the welcoming atmosphere has seen his motley collection of wyrds grow exponentially, it has also seen some less than desirable elements take root. For as long as Heretic’s Hole has existed, it has been a favoured haunt of Cawdor gangs. The frontier nature of the settlement meant it served as a good forward base for scavenging expeditions into the outer Badzones of the underhive, while the non-judgemental locals didn’t seem to mind the lax personal hygiene of the ragged gangers. Graves tolerates them provided they direct their religious zeal toward the Badzones and not his subjects. It is, however, not a perfect system.
Over the years, Graves has clashed with Cawdor gangs who thought they could ‘clean up’ Heretic’s Hole. Each time, though, the gangers have come off the worse for it – like the time Old Tym the Preacher’s head exploded in the middle of giving a rousing speech about killing wyrds,** or when the Pipe Rats gang tried to attack the tower and were found the next day all inexplicably turned inside out. Recently however, a new and more insidious threat has begun taking root in the settlement. A collection of outlaw Cawdor gangs have taken up residence in Heretic’s Hole, calling themselves the Cult of the True Resurrection. Outcasts from the Clan House, they believe that only with the death of the Emperor and his domain can the galaxy be reborn, and they will spread their message to all who will listen. Part of their crazed beliefs also espouses self-mutilation, the cult cutting off limbs, putting out eyes and carving their own flesh to show their devotion to the notion that all things must die. Most of the other inhabitants of Heretic’s Hole avoid those areas controlled by the True Resurrection, but their influence is building. More worrying than their dark beliefs is that they have found purchase in other settlements such Sump City and Dust Falls, converting those dedicated to the Redemption or who have lost all hope or reason. Though Graves keeps an eye on the cult and its activities, they are not his main concern. He has learned that there is a secret war going on within House Cawdor between the traditionalists of the Redemption and extremists such as those who believe in the Path of the True Resurrection. It is a war Graves fears might one day find its way to his town, and one he prepares for everyday by bringing in new outlaw gangs and more wyrds for his Lost Ones.
Wyrd and Wonderful
The true value of Heretic’s Hole for underhive gangs comes not from its criminal elements or black markets, but rather its large collection of wyrds. Outlaws willingly brave the strange occurrences of the settlement, like ghostly apparitions of long-dead gangers or reflective surfaces showing glimpses of the future, with the hope of contracting the services of one of Grave’s Lost Ones. For most outlaw gangs, the risk of employing a psychic Hired Gun is no more dangerous than spending a night cycle out in the Badzones, or eating at Heretic’s Hole’s main drinking hole, the Slopper’s Grave.*** Annoyingly, many wyrds tend to find gangs before the gangs even go looking for them. More than one visitor to the settlement has been greeted at the gates by a shifty-looking individual claiming their fates are intertwined – sometimes these individuals even turn out to be genuine psykers.
Psychic phenomena are a daily occurrence in Heretic’s Hole. Hive-wisps are often seen lurking at the edges of the settlement, luring gangers out into the wilds and their inevitable doom – or sometimes to hidden stashes, giving credence to the belief they are the spirits of dead hivers. Frost creeps around the chambers of the void ship with a life of its own, while ancient dead screens might suddenly flicker to life showing glowing eyes, grasping hands or grinning fangs. Gangers might even experience “Heretic’s Luck”, which is often another way of saying “misfortune”. Guns jam at the most inopportune time or perfectly good blades become dull while in their sheaths. Perhaps the most notorious incident related to these phenomena was when Venators came for Joe Twice-Shy and tried to execute him outside the Slopper’s Grave. After three broken ropes, two failed beheadings and every gun the Venators’ had misfiring, they decided the bounty wasn’t worth the effort and gave Joe a job instead.
* And also pump them full of lead, thanks to a number of heavy stubber turrets.
** Old Tym’s flock later claimed it was the best sermon he ever performed and there were even reports of spontaneous applause the moment the preacher’s brain was psychically destroyed.
*** It’s said that there are actual Sloppers buried under its kitchen floor.