Hdvari or 'Lightning Bugs'

[Alyster Wick]

Not content to just create any old mercenary alien, I decided to generate a ludicrous amount of background for my Xenos Merc's race (I'll post the WIP model, Laacoon, shortly in my WIP log and his stats will be posted after I hopefully get some feedback). 

Hdvarians, or 'Lightning Bugs'


The Species

   Hdvarians come from the planet Hdvar (no longer in exsistance) located on the fringes of the Southern rim.  Though it is often mistranslated to mean "heaven" by other species it is actually closer to "haven" in the original Hdvarian.
   They are a physically ugly species, comprised of a midsection sitting on two squat legs and an upper body comprised completely out of tentacles.  While there is a slight variation in tentacles (some house more vital parts than others) it is next to impossible (for a human) to tell the difference between them without performing an autopsy.
   While the Hdvarians may seem like a very dull species do not be fooled.  Compared to humans their sense of sight, smell, taste and hearing are incredibly under developed.  However, their sense of touch gives them an almost prescient understanding of the area immediately surrounding them.  This combined with a very high level of psychic activity can make them a formidable foe.  While few Hdvarians are capable of launching powerful offensive attacks telepathy is incredibly common; even the most mundane of their species can carry on a conversation without making a sound.

Technology

   The Hdvarians are an incredibly scientifically advanced species.  While slow to develop there was a technological boom for their species upon discovery of what has been termed bio-psych technology. This allowed the Hdvarians to harness their innate psychic power as an energy source. 
   Now producing an excess of energy, Hdvarian production boomed and their planet became a Mecca of trade in the area.  They began development on their signature biotech suits (you rarely see a Hdvarian without one) which allowed them to fit in with "more civilized" species.
   
Galactic Confinement

   During the course of their development the Hdvarians (as all aspiring galactic powers) attempted to conquer the stars through space travel.  It was on their first attempt at leaving the planet that a frightening discovery was made. 
   The entire Hdvar civilization watched and cheered (or chittered, as they are wont to do) as they witnessed their massive interstellar ship head skyward.  However, just as the craft left the upper atmosphere it exploded in a burst of blue light so intense that even the Hdvar could see it unaugmented.
   After years of research it was discovered that a mineral (named Mithryl) that laced their planet acted as a psychic shield for the Hdvar species.  It worked to mask their presence from the warp while at the same time allowing them to tap into it.  Rather than appearing as a vulnerable host, Mithryl made Hdvarian activity seem like a random anomaly to passing daemons. 
   Leaving the planet without Mithryl was considered a death sentence, and what's more it meant that the Hdvarians needed an alternative energy source as it was impossible to have enough Mithryl to protect the crew while allowing them to power a ship with their psychic energy. 
   Unable to conquer their energy problem the Hdvar were confined to their planet.  The occasional Hdvarian would be able to trade their way into a spacecraft but they were only ever large enough for small expeditions. While their progress into the stars may have been stifled, the planet Hdvar remained a favorite stop for traders of all species who marveled at their advanced bio-pysch tech.   

The Death Pact

   Eventually the Hdvar came into contact with the human race via rogue traders.  At first the two species enjoyed a very profitable relationship, until one day a man from the Emperor came bearing 'The Mark.' He was an odd man, not at all jovial like the others of his species, nor was he concerned with their technology (in fact he seemed to hold a level of disgust for it).  He was, however, interested in setting up a facility on the planet in exchange for their comparatively advanced methods of space travel.  The Hdvari, who had long dreamed of traveling the stars, accepted.  The men from the Emperor set up their mining facility and were to be left alone in return for building a large factory which allowed the Hdvari to produce warp-capable spacrecraft (it should be noted that Hdvarians cannot survive warp travel without being heavily sedated and encased in a Mithryl coffin so were still dependent on other species to copilot for longer space flights).
   The humans remained on Hdvar for years, bartering for more mining facilities in exchange for resources to advance Hdvarian space-flight capabilities (including the technology to vat-grow humans and convert them into servitors, finally enabling the Hdvari to travel in warp space with autonomy).  As the decades piled up and more mines developed, frequent altercations broke out between the human mining crews and local Hdvarians.
   Over time the objections of a small but strong faction of Hdvari Purists (who believed in racial purity on their haven planet) began to spread and oppose the Explorators (the Purists started this label for their opposition as derogatory, intimating that they were racial traitors with more in common with the humans than the Hdvari).  The once pristine planet of Hdvar had been transformed into a scarred industrial waste.  While many believed the sacrifice of a planet for the galaxy was worth it there were many who believed Hdvar was sacred beyond all else.  It was the only source of Mithryl which was considered the only holy thing to their species. 
   As the environment became hostile more and more of the Explorators left the planet on newly created ships until at last the Purists had a strong enough majority to revoke the earlier trade agreement with the humans.  To their surprise, when the Hdvari Council went to deliver their decision to Mon Keigh (which they had picked up from Eldar traders) leaders they were met with no objections.  In fact the man with 'The Mark' said politely that they would be gone within the year.
   This was met with much rejoicing from the Hdvari species who planned a massive celebration for the reclamation of their planet.  For months all trading on the planet ceased as merchant vessels were turned away while the Hdvari worked to restore the area around their capitol city for a month long celebration beginning on the Eve of the humans' departure.
   The celebration, however, was never to be.  During their opening ceremonies the planet was wracked by heavy explosions.  Seismic charges had been set by the humans at the bottom of their many mineshafts.  When detonated they caused the entire planet to crack and fragment, destroying Hdvar and all life on it.
   As it turned out, the high concentration of Mithryl in the planet had been blocking telepathic communications in the area and had impeded Imperial progress.

'Lightning Bugs'

   After the destruction of Hdvar there is only one recorded incident of a large scale battle between Hdvarians and the Imperium.  With the destruction of Hdvar there was a new Imperial shipping lane opened and the first convoy to pass through was attacked by a significant Hdvari fleet.
   While the Imperials traveled with two large battle barges as escorts the Hdvari forces were small and quick.  The assortment of space craft gleaned from centuries of trading were difficult for the Imperials to target, their logic computers unable to find a common targeting algorithm for the swarm.
   Amidst the chaos of the battle a number of Hdvari boarding parties were able to enter one of the battle barges.  It was here that they earned their nick name, 'Lightning Bugs.'  Initially the boarding party carved a deadly path through the ship.  The Imperial Storm Troopers on the ship were ill-prepared to handle an enemy who could read their thoughts, warp their mind and even make them turn on each other.  As the slaughter went on the Imperials fell back to the bridge, ready for one last stand.  It was during this fight that the Storm Troopers noticed some of the Hdvari dropping without being shot.  Their heads would spontaneously explode in a florescent blue nova.  Finally, as the Storm Troopers whittled down their numbers one of the Hdvari was lifted off the ground, electricity shooting from his body in a fantastic discharge which left the xenos a husk, taking the remaining boarding party and a number of Imperials with him.

Rules

Unstable:
Hdvari will suffer from the special rule 'Unstable' for d3 turns after they use a psychic power.  If the Hdvari is a powerful psycher (GM discretion) they will always count as Unstable.  If multiple psychic powers are used in a single turn then they are at -10% WP for every power used above one. 

Mithryl:
After the destruction of Hdvar Mithryl has become incredibly rare.  Only the richest Hdvar nobles will have Mithryl, usually in the form of a necklace, ring or other trinket.  A Hdvar with a 'rare' amount of Mithryl may reroll an tests made under the 'Unstable' special rule and a Hdvar with a 'legendary' amount of Mithryl may ignore the Unstable rule all together.

Departure's Eve:
Departure's Eve is still observed by most Hdvarians as a sign of respect to the Purist Sect which the species now reveres as profits.  During the observation of Departure's Eve it is customary for a Hdvari to never engage in communications with any other species.
   A Hudvarian Year is the equivalent of 30 terran days (any mention of years previously in this article has been terran years, this rule is the only place in which Hdvarian years are used).  Before any game with a Hdvari character role a d10.  On a role of 10 the character is barred from communication in any way with a non-Hdvari character (strictly speaking it should be 1 in 30 but that wouldn't be nearly as fun).

Clawed feet:
Hdvari  have massive claws on their feet.  All Hdvari count as being armed with an implant knife on their feet (when they attack with their feet in close combat they gain no bonus on their roll for which area of the body they hit)

'The Mark':
If you couldn't guess, 'The Mark' is the sign of the Inquisition.  All Hdvari treat any character with an Inquisitorial Seal as suspicious and use the "Distrust" special rule (found in Dark Magenta Issue 1).  This may be applied to characters bearing the Imperial Eagle as well depending on the character/GM discretion/in game events.

Ambidextrous:
Hdvari long ago began using their tentacles in unison to allow them to act as traditional arms. Because they do not have dominant tentacles all Hdvari are ambidextrous.

Taking Damage:

Hdvari physiology is very different from humans and observes the following special rules:

Arms:
   Hdvari, over time, became accustomed to utilizing their many tentacles in unison to create units that function like a traditional arm. Because they have many excess tentacles, if a tentacle making up their arm unit is hurt then they may just replace it another.
   If a Hdvari character suffers an injury level on an arm role a d6 during the recovery phase.  If they have one injury level to that arm they will be able to regenerate one level of damage on a roll of 2+ (meaning they replace the injured tentacle), if they have two injury levels they will be able to regenerate one level a 3+, etc.
   Note, if more than two injury levels are taken on an arm (included levels recovered from) then the Hdvari treats that arm as an offhand (because they are using tentacles not used to functioning as an arm).
   
Head:
   If hit in the head a Hdvari only counts levels of damage in relation to its Hunter Auspex (see Hunter Auspex).  Other than that, it's just another tentacle and injury levels are not counted.

Chest:
   If hit in the chest role an additional d6 dice.  If the role is 1-3 count the damage towards the Hdvari's injury total and disregard the damage in terms of injury levels.  On a 4-5 count the damage as hitting the Hdvari's chest for purposes of injury level.  On a roll of 6 count the damage as hitting the Hdvari's head for purposes of injury level.

Dulled Senses:
   Hdvari are at -30% for all awareness tests not involving touch.

Heightened Sense:
   Due to their heightened sense of touch, Hdvari are aware of everything around them in a circular 8 inch radius.  They gain +20% to detect a character attempting to sneak up on them.

Hunter Auspex:
   A common piece of wargear for the Hdvari is the Hunter Auspex.  It gives them +20% detection involving sight and hearing (not smell) and may incorporate a number of other targeting devices.  However, when taking damage to the head this piece of equipment may be destroyed.
   Whenever an injury level is taken on the Hdvari's head role a d6.  For every injury level there is a chance that the auspex is destroyed (it's destroyed on a 1 for one injury level, 2 for 2 injury levels, etc).  If the head suffered a crippling injury then the auspex is destroyed.

Bio-tech Suit:
   All Hdvari wear bio-tech suits (despite a harsh Purist reaction against the suits in the waning days of the Hdvari Empire, are true Purists are dead).  Bio-tech suits generally confer 4 points of armor on each location they cover (this may vary depending on the suit).  The original intent of the suits was largely aesthetic, allowing the ugly species to fit in better with the races they traded with.  As such bio-tech suits are generally designed to resemble the bodies of more traditional species.  They may also incorporate protections against various toxins or certain types of weapons depending on the suit (they are highly customizable). 

Bio-Plasma Pistol:
   This piece of wargear counts as a plasma pistol but is powered by the Hdvari's psychic energy.  It has no reload time or magazine size but a WP test must be taken in order to use the pistol and it counts as using a psychic power in terms of instability.

[Brother_Brimstone]

Very nice - a really inventive creation. It is most certainly unique and could make for some interesting gameplay. Thye have an almost Lovecraftian feel to them; an aberration from the dark reaches of space. I don't have much to say in the way of criticism, but thought i'd ciomment to say I read and enjoyed, and look forward to seeing the model.

[Gnaeus Conlitor]

Is it possible that they are related to the Vespids? Both are bug evolved and both use bio plasma weapons. Coincidence?

[JoelMcKickass]

You owe me a new laptop. This line -
"As it turned out, the high concentration of Mithryl in the planet had been blocking telepathic communications in the area and had impeded Imperial progress."
made me spit tea all over my laptop for laughing. The rest of it was so serious, and this was quite epic, i can imagine this being a sort of Twilight Zone story, i really like it.

How would the model look? I can imagine it being Marine esque, without the back pack and marine icongraphy. Or even Imperial icongraphy.

Just out of curiosity, how would the Mithryl translate for other races? It wouldn't be hard to imagine an Ordo Xenos Inquistor getting his hands on some, or even a Malleus one tracking some down for his own uses.

[Alyster Wick]

Thanks for the comments!

Is it possible that they are related to the Vespids? Both are bug evolved and both use bio plasma weapons. Coincidence?

I have to admit that when the Tau first came out I hated them so much that I just treated them as though they didn't exist (except for kroot, I liked their models and their bits).  As such, I never really paid attention to the Vespids, though now that you mention it, they as perhaps too similar.  Though I don't intend the unarmored Hdvari to look very buglike, their armor will take on that appearance (largely because I have extra tyranid parts so that's what I'm using to build them).

How would the model look?

I'm about to commit the sin of double posting so you can check out what I have so far: http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=619.30

Just out of curiosity, how would the Mithryl translate for other races?

I've been thinking about this.  And don't really have a good answer, although I am planning to make it vary based on the amount.  Perhaps I'll create a table and say that individual reactions vary (I am planning on having the effects be different on humans than on the Hdvari, having it act more as a dampener as opposed to protection.  Then again, they may be way too powerful if the mithryl ends up having pariah-like properties vs humans but allows the Hdvari to be more effective psychers (a little overkill).  Any thoughts?

[JoelMcKickass]

It could be like the Space Wolf Wolf Tail Talismans, in 40k they give you a chance to completely nullify a psychic power aimed at one of your characters. It could be something similar, giving psychers who have it a boost to their chances of nullifying someone elses power, but at the same time increasing the amount they need to cast their own.

I like the model, looking forwards to seeing how it'll look when it's finished.