The Leagues of Votann are returning from the high-gravity depths of the galactic core, laden with millennia of secrets. We’ve already glanced over their long history and explained what the Votann are, but what about the Kin themselves? Where do these militant miners and truculent trikers actually come from?
It is possible that the Ancestor Cores contain records of all Kin history since their earliest days. If such information survives, however, it is likely buried beyond recovery. Accordingly, even the perennially thorough and practical Kin have been forced to accept that – after a certain point – their ancient histories blur into myth.The Kin may not know much about their earliest days, but there are certain articles of lost history deemed indisputable, known as “First Truths”. One such principle is that the First Ancestors departed their original homeworld – almost certainly pre-Imperial Terra – millennia ago, aboard vast fleets of generation ships. It is also deemed to be true that these Ancestors set out as prospectors, miners, and void-dredgers, charged with exploiting the riches of the heavens.
The eventual fate of the First Ancestors is uncertain, for Kin myth solidifies into intelligible history only after the long-march fleets began to arrive at their destinations near the galactic core. The records of this period boast the last references to the First Ancestors – and the earliest mentions of the Ancestor Cores.
Likewise, it is a First Truth that the Kin have been a cloned people from the very start.The First Ancestors are held responsible for the cloneskeins – the systems of stable mutations that underpin the entire genetic structure of the Kin to this day. The gene pool drawn upon by the Leagues of Votann is stable, deep, and varied – this is no race of identical clones. In practical terms, the cloneskeins have produced a species with denser bones and muscles than baseline humans, higher red and white blood cell counts, and formidable strength and resilience.
Such was the craft of the First Ancestors that even Kin souls are engineered – they shine more dimly against the tides of the warp than their distant human cousins, with no evidence of uncontrolled psychic mutation. Indeed, only those with the appropriate psychically active cloneskein can activate the so-called barrier-tech the Kin employ to access the empyrean.
Cloneskeins differentiate the division of labour in Kin society, and impart useful abilities on those who possess them. Some Kin might have enhanced reaction times, the ability to see the infrared spectrum, or limited resistance to cosmic radiation and extremes of temperature or gravity. Many cloneskeins manifest in visible fashion, with giveaways including distinctive bodily odours, unusual eye colours, or thick subdermal layers. Such physical variations would be a cause for concern in Imperial society – but to the Kin, they are a badge of honour.
There’s much, much more to say about the Leagues of Votann, and we’ll be imparting it over the following weeks and months. The best way to stay clued in is by signing up to our newsletter to get the latest info delivered straight to your inbox.