[Organisations] The Warhounds

[LightDark]

The Warhounds

General

The Warhounds are a Khornate cult who prefer to work more subtlely. Eschewing the direct favour of Khorne, they prefer to make pictures and recruitment posters, teaching children that violence is always the best answer. They are one of the most dangerous cults of Khorne, for where they go, Khornate cults spring up like weeds and violent crime rates triple. Their commissions are relatively simple - advertisements, recruiting posters, and other such things, yet all these things added up cause many others to turn to Khorne, some accidentally, others intentionally. They are responsible for several Khornate cults that have been discovered by the Inquisition, yet none have discovered their true secret.

Base

They do not have a fixed base or organisation, preferring to travel the Anargo Sector alone or in small groups, only rarely making planetfall. When they do, they take their commissions from Planetary Defence Forces or trading guilds, and then make their advertisements. The pictures are done just so, the letters and font exactly right, to appeal to the innermost core of an adolescent's psyche. This leads them to become markedly more violent, perhaps seeking to enter the PDF, but within lies the secret urge to worship Khorne. A few years later, the Warhounds' work will have borne fruit, and Khornate cults begin to thrive. By the time they are detected, the Warhounds are already far way, where none will suspect them.

History

The Warhounds began their history in 130.M41, when a man employed by the PDF of Invictona to make recruitment posters became frustrated and angered, and, driven by whispers in his mind, created a poster that spoke, albeit secretly, perfectly to humankind's inner rage, the subconscious emotion that creates and sustains Khorne. The PDF approved the poster, the man left on a ship and took an apprentice, and the Warhounds were born.

A century later, the Inquisition discovered a massive Khornate cult that had grown within the Invictonan PDF. Called the Bloodfrenzy, their goal was the annihilation of Invictona's population, and the forces at their command were not inconsiderable.  An immense battle was fought in the desert, and eventually the Khornates were defeated, the Inquisition taking decades to supress the evidence and mop up the survivors. The Warhounds had left long ago.

So it has continued, Khornate cults appearing on worlds the Warhounds have visited. They are bringers of woe, but not in the way the Imperium suspects, as it has yet to draw a connection between the Warhounds and the cults that follow them. To it, the Warhounds are a minor trading concern, a small guild of advertisers that travel the spaceways in the Esquiline Quadrant.

History is replete with incidents where the Warhounds' work has paid off - the treason of General Karjan, the battle of Samasha and the Purgation of Thayan to name but a few. They have killed billions without lifting a finger, but appear innocent of any wrongdoing.

The Warhounds are uniquely dangerous, but not in any way that the Imperium recognises. It is not a cult, but a spreader of cults. And to this day they remain obscure and undetected. Let the Imperium hope that they are soon revealed.

Organisation

The Warhounds do not have an organisation or hierarchy in any meaning of the word, but a loose group of masters and apprentices. This may appear innocent, but in actuality it is not so. While they learn their craft, the apprentices learn to create the pictures that the Warhounds make, how to turn simple advertising into a diabolical spreader of heresy.

The Warhounds meet occasionally, when discussing matters of import, but for the most part they travel alone, accepting commissions from various trading concerns and PDF detachments, as well as the Imperial Guard itself. They are well-known in the Anargo Sector and some areas of the Esquiline Quadrant, but utterly and totally obscure in the larger Imperium.

The Warhounds number about 888, not counting apprentices, and do not have a priesthood of any type, and what can be said a mercenary outlook on life - whoever offers the greatest reward for their services, they will eagerly work for. This is a front, of course, for their real goals - spreading the word of Khorne in secrecy and causing chaos in the Imperium.

Due to the recruitment system that the Imperial Guard uses, and the common practice of garrisoning regiments on worlds that they have liberated or conquered, the Warhounds are far more insidious than you might think. Regiments with Khornate cults hiding within them are liable to spread those cults to worlds that they visit, resulting in chaos and pandemonium on those worlds later. In this way the Warhounds spread war and conflict to many worlds at once, through what can be just one advertisement.

The Warhounds' founder was inspired by the Herald of Khorne known as Bloodchaos, the fragment of Khorne that represents the spreading  and escalation of war and conflict.

[LightDark]

C&C please. I'm tired of how nobody responds to this thread.

[Malika]

The forum has been quiet for quite some time now, this is mostly due to the fact that our key players (CELS, Kage, Dazo, Tynesh and so on) are either too busy with real life stuff or need to find motivation again. I'm currently in the middle in my research project in Peru so I don't have that much time to read large amounts of texts (my eyes are tired from all the other stuff).

However, I will try to catch up when I have more free time!

The Warhounds

Hmm, funny name you picked there! War is Khorne's terrain of course, and the hound...or dog has always been a part of Khorne as well. Another kind of interesting bit is that the World Eaters used to be called the War Hounds before Angron was forcibly re-united with them.

The Warhounds are a Khornate cult who prefer to work more subtlely. Eschewing the direct favour of Khorne, they prefer to make pictures and recruitment posters, teaching children that violence is always the best answer. They are one of the most dangerous cults of Khorne, for where they go, Khornate cults spring up like weeds and violent crime rates triple. Their commissions are relatively simple - advertisements, recruiting posters, and other such things, yet all these things added up cause many others to turn to Khorne, some accidentally, others intentionally. They are responsible for several Khornate cults that have been discovered by the Inquisition, yet none have discovered their true secret.

I like it! I think that must be one of the most original Khornate ideas I've seen! Do the other Khornate cults that spring up because of this propaganda know that Khorne is behind it all? How would they feel about this cult though? They are quite subtle and use indirect (and thus "cowardly") tactics...

There is not much I can add besides that I quite like the idea! you might want to reformat the article into the format that is generally used for cults/organisations.

[LightDark]

The forum has been quiet for quite some time now, this is mostly due to the fact that our key players (CELS, Kage, Dazo, Tynesh and so on) are either too busy with real life stuff or need to find motivation again. I'm currently in the middle in my research project in Peru so I don't have that much time to read large amounts of texts (my eyes are tired from all the other stuff).

However, I will try to catch up when I have more free time!

No problem.

The Warhounds

Hmm, funny name you picked there! War is Khorne's terrain of course, and the hound...or dog has always been a part of Khorne as well. Another kind of interesting bit is that the World Eaters used to be called the War Hounds before Angron was forcibly re-united with them.

I wasn't thinking of the World Eaters when I wrote it, it just sounded right.

The Warhounds are a Khornate cult who prefer to work more subtlely. Eschewing the direct favour of Khorne, they prefer to make pictures and recruitment posters, teaching children that violence is always the best answer. They are one of the most dangerous cults of Khorne, for where they go, Khornate cults spring up like weeds and violent crime rates triple. Their commissions are relatively simple - advertisements, recruiting posters, and other such things, yet all these things added up cause many others to turn to Khorne, some accidentally, others intentionally. They are responsible for several Khornate cults that have been discovered by the Inquisition, yet none have discovered their true secret.

I like it! I think that must be one of the most original Khornate ideas I've seen! Do the other Khornate cults that spring up because of this propaganda know that Khorne is behind it all? How would they feel about this cult though? They are quite subtle and use indirect (and thus "cowardly") tactics...

There is not much I can add besides that I quite like the idea! you might want to reformat the article into the format that is generally used for cults/organisations.

[/quote]

I imagine that the cults they create would see the Warhounds as cowards and attack them if they had the chance. I also think that the cults created wouldn't know that Khorne was behind it unless they actively start to worship him. And I've formatted it.

[Dragon Lord]

A very interesting variation on the typical Khornate cult.
A couple of things I would say, given what I said about the danger of Invictona becoming 'chaos cult haven' and that changing the point of origin for the warhounds wouldn't really affect their background much (it could have been the PDF of any world really), I think it might be a good idea to move their point of origin.
I'm not too sure about there being 888 of them, I realise you were nodding to Khorne's number being 8, but I think given the fluid nature of the organisation, and that it started from only 1 man setting there as being 888 now seems unrealistically exact.
It also might be interesting if because of their very loose nature the Inquisition has discovered a few individuals but has thus far either failed to link them to their warhounds or failed to realise they were part of a larger group.

[LightDark]

A very interesting variation on the typical Khornate cult.
A couple of things I would say, given what I said about the danger of Invictona becoming 'chaos cult haven' and that changing the point of origin for the warhounds wouldn't really affect their background much (it could have been the PDF of any world really), I think it might be a good idea to move their point of origin.
I'm not too sure about there being 888 of them, I realise you were nodding to Khorne's number being 8, but I think given the fluid nature of the organisation, and that it started from only 1 man setting there as being 888 now seems unrealistically exact.
It also might be interesting if because of their very loose nature the Inquisition has discovered a few individuals but has thus far either failed to link them to their warhounds or failed to realise they were part of a larger group.

They didn't stay on Invictona. And now, I see that making them 888 wasn't exactly my best idea. And the idea of the Inquisition discovering a few of them, it's perfectly possible.

As for Invictona bvecoming a 'Chaos cult haven', I think that it's a bit too unrealistic for only one cult to exist on a world, particularly a hive world. Multiple cults should definitely exist on a single planet, which leads to interesting possibilities if they run into each other...

[Dragon Lord]

And the idea of the Inquisition discovering a few of them, it's perfectly possible.

My thought was that it might be interesting if it was set up so that the Inquisition is beginning to uncover this cult, it would set it apart from the other cults we have that all (if I remember correctly) say that the Inquisition have yet to discover them.

[LightDark]

And the idea of the Inquisition discovering a few of them, it's perfectly possible.

My thought was that it might be interesting if it was set up so that the Inquisition is beginning to uncover this cult, it would set it apart from the other cults we have that all (if I remember correctly) say that the Inquisition have yet to discover them.

Hmm...I might add it to the article, it would certainly be a change...

[Destecado]

General

The Warhounds are a Khornate cult who prefer to work more subtlely. Eschewing the direct favour of Khorne, they prefer to make pictures and recruitment posters, teaching children that violence is always the best answer. They are one of the most dangerous cults of Khorne, for where they go, Khornate cults spring up like weeds and violent crime rates triple. Their commissions are relatively simple - advertisements, recruiting posters, and other such things, yet all these things added up cause many others to turn to Khorne, some accidentally, others intentionally. They are responsible for several Khornate cults that have been discovered by the Inquisition, yet none have discovered their true secret.

Just a suggestion, but you might want to tie this cult into something like underground blood sports.   This brings money into the cult, while at the same time desensitizing the public to gory spectacles or actually making the public more blood thirsty.   To the young men and women who fight, it teaches them to seek adulation in the roar of the crowd, when they spill the blood of their opponents.   The posters may be a byproduct...perhaps commissioned by rich spectators who wish to have a lurid reminder of the thrill of the kill.  They may have the death scene of a famous gladiator illuminated in a richly detailed painting.   The reds are from the blood of the gladiator that has been sopped up from the ring or leached out of the dying gladiator...to add the extra level of realism...but also unknowingly act as Khornate icons.  

Took the liberty of adding the first bit of the quote tags to ascribe it to LightDark.  And I really must look to adding some form of admin/moderator tags to the forum.