Dark Eldar Wych Cults

Dark Eldar Wych

A Wych Cult is a self-governing organization that trains and employs coliseum fighters known as Wyches. The abilities of these fighters are often sought after by a Kabal , who will employ the warriors of a Cult to assist with raids when necessary.

Wych Cults of sufficient strength and numbers have been known to perform raids by themselves with marked success, although occurrences of this are significantly less common than a Kabal performing a raid due to the high mortality rate of Cult members. Wych Cults operate out of schools of combat referred to as Coliseums. Where each Kabal owns, maintains, and operates out of a Palace, each Wych Cult owns, maintains, and operates out of a Coliseum.

History

Wych Cults are similar to the Kabals of the Dark Eldar , in that they originated from the Pleasure Cults of the pre-Fall Eldar. While Kabals evolved to be a collective of Dark Eldar claiming territory and cooperating with each other to collect souls and thus stave off death, Wych Cults evolved to further their skills in combat. A Wych Cult member is obsessed with honing their skills in hand to hand combat, and once they are sufficiently competent with Wych Weapons, they may choose to train in the use of Hellion Skyboards and Reaver Jetbikes. The fighters of a Cult train constantly with each other, and they are expected to kill their opponents if possible. In this way, the weakest members are very quickly weeded out, producing only the best warriors with which to represent the Cult. Wych Cults don't usually have large enough numbers to perform their own raids, so they work as mercenaries for Kabals, lending them their strength in exchange for slaves, the currency of Commorragh . The coliseum puts on fights regularly as an exhibition of their talents, pitting Wyches against each other as well as groups of slaves, or even fearsome alien beasts collected during raids. In this way, they are able to advertise their skills to Kabals, and bring in more work.

Dark Eldar Wych Cult Hierarchy

Wyche with Hydra Gauntlets. Image Courtesy of beckjann.deviantart.com

Wych Cults have a simple hierarchical structure to their ranks, similarly to Kabals. The chain of command for a standard Wych Cult is:

Archite / Succubus - The Succubi are the ruling elite of Wych Cults. They are impossibly beatiful and elegant as they stalk through the fiercest battles like they were born to it. Each one of these ultimate killers is known across Commorragh for the grace of their skills, and each succubus is an icon of the gladiatorial arenas. Each of these talented murderesses are held in high regard in Commorragh. They are superb in what they do, killing, and there are no scars on their skin to spoil their fair beauty. Traditionally each Wych Cult is ruled by three of these Succubi. In practice, only one of them has true power over the cult, while the two others are constantly trying to outdo each other in magnificent gladiator spectacles. Unlike Archons of Dark Eldar Kabals, Succubi prefer straight decapitation when resolving their feuds, not the twist of the political knife. Succubi are sometimes called Archites but collectively they are known as ynnitach, or brides of death. Equipment Succubi are able to take whatever they want from their cult's armoury. They might be armed with wych weapons, take haywire grenades or even blast pistol to destroy enemy vehicles during raids. It is not uncommon to see one wielding a Venom Blade, agoniser or Electrocorrosive Whip. Unlike archons, succubis never wear any other armour or defensive gear than a wychsuit as they trust in their ability to dodge the most lethal attacks.

Male Wych. Image Courtesy of beckjann.deviantart.com

Dracite -  A Dracite is a secondary leader of Dark Eldar Wych Cults. They are of a similar standing to Dracons and are numerous where Archites are rare. They usually progress to their position by assassinating the previous Dracite and are attempting to work their way towards the top, so Dracites are generally untrustworthy in relation to Archites.

Weapons Dracites generally have almost total (if not complete) access to the Cult's equipment stores but they are always seen with the weapons they bore before becoming Dracites, their Wych Weapons. Generally, due to their combat orientation, they tend to go for stronger close combat equipment which will give them fearsome abilities in combat.

Armour Dracites are lightly armoured to allow them easy and fluid movement in combat, sacrificing ranged defence for this. They are, however, extremely proficient in combat and can see where attacks will be coming from before they strike and as such can avoid them, however they are not as good at avoiding incoming ranged fire. Retinue Dracites are often seen with a bodyguard of the most loyal and powerful Wyches in the Cult. They provide protection both on and off of the battlefield.

Hexatrix. Image Courtesy of beckjann.deviantart.com

 

Hekatrix Bloodbrides -  Each wych squad is led by Hekatrix. These elite wyches form in time to time a clique of murderesses known as Bloodbrides. These Bloodbrides are under command of Syren who answers only to high command of Wych cult. Bloodbrides are known to have fierce rivalries between each other but in time of raids they unite their bloodthirsty powers on battlefield. As Bloodbrides are the elite among wyches they are granted a greater number of special weapons than "normal" wyches.

Wych -  Wyches are gladiatorial warriors of the Dark Eldar, they each belong to one of the various Wych Cults of Commoragh. Wyches fight in arenas in duels with one another and with various captured aliens and beasts; few survive their first duel but those who live learn quickly. Ruled over by their Succubi, the Wyches are highly proficient at close-quarters combat, practising their skills for their entire lives. Wyches often use a cocktail of combat-enhancing drugs to improve their performance on the battlefield. A Wych squad-leader is known as a Hekatrix. Equipment Wyches possess great variety of different kind of close combat weapons. These are, for example, weighted flails, vambrace blades, knives, swords etcetera. Each Wych owns an elegant dagger made invidually for her only by artisans of Commorragh. These knives are kept in a sheath with an inbuilt sharpening field to ensure it stays eternally keen. Wyches generally also carry splinter pistols and plasma grenades. In battle they can also be armed with haywire grenades and be carried into combat on a Venom or Raider. As most of Wyches master their skills with knife and splinter pistol some choose more destructive weapons:

• Razorflails - Wyches using razorflails are known as Lacerai. These weapons are a kind of retracting sword which can be wielded either as a solid blade or as a flexible whip-like series of segmented blades. Razorflails are usually wielded in pairs an are a difficult weapon to counter, as they are almost impossible to block or parry.
• Shardnet and Impaler - Yraqnae are Wyches who use a shardnet and an impaler. These weapons are a lethal combination - the impaler being a long, wickedly sharp close combat weapon, whilst the electrified shardnet leaves opponents unable to strike back at the wielder. Being caught by a shardnet is an extremely painful way to die as the net constricts around its victim, cutting through flesh, muscles and bone leaving a pile of shredded gore.
• Hydra Gauntlets - Hydrae are Wyches mastered skill of using Hydra Gauntlets. These gauntlets are extremely strange weapons of unknown origin that can grow multiple deadly crystalline blades in combat. Even though a Wych cannot control the amount of blades grown on gauntlets, they are still very lethal as they can cause many times more damage than conventional weapons.
• Wychsuit - Wyches wear a flexible bodyglove known as a Wychsuit. The most notable feature of this suit is that it has been designed to particularlly protect one side of the wearers body (usually the side they most often expose to their opponents) whilst the other side has sections cut away, baring naked flesh.