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At a glance
Necromunda is a hive world in the Segmentum Solar, and it is often regarded as the archetype of its kind. Its surface is a toxic wasteland of ash and slag, scoured by acid storms and polluted beyond any hope of recovery. Its billions of inhabitants live in vast hive cities, towering structures that rise kilometres into the sky and plunge deep into the ground. The greatest of these is Hive Primus, the seat of the planet's ruler, Lord Gerontius Helmawr.
Necromunda's hives are rigidly stratified. At the top, in the Spire, the noble families live in luxury, breathing filtered air and enjoying every comfort. Beneath them, in the Hive City, the great Houses toil in vast factories, producing goods for the Imperium. And beneath the Hive City lies the Underhive, a lawless realm of ruined domes, toxic sumps and gang warfare, where only the strongest and most cunning survive.
The planet is one of the most productive in the Imperium. Its factories produce weapons, armour, vehicles and countless other goods, and its tithes feed the Imperium's war machine. It also provides regiments for the Astra Militarum, drawn from the toughest of its hive-born citizens. Necromunda is a world built on industry and violence, and it is a microcosm of the Imperium itself.
Geography & environment
Necromunda's surface is a barren wasteland. Its atmosphere is thick with pollutants, and acid rain falls frequently. The Ash Wastes, vast deserts of ash and slag, cover much of the planet, and they are swept by storms that can strip flesh from bone. Little lives on the surface, save for mutants, nomads and scavengers who have adapted to its harsh conditions.
The hive cities rise from the wastes like mountains of metal and stone. Each is a self-contained world, with its own industries, government and population. The hives are linked by roads, railways and tunnels across the Ash Wastes, and they trade with each other and with the wider Imperium. Hive Primus is the largest and most powerful, and it dominates the planet.
Beneath the hives lie the Sump and the hive bottom, where centuries of waste and pollution have collected. The Sump is a vast lake of toxic sludge, and it is home to mutated creatures and worse. The hive bottom is a ruined, abandoned realm, where the remains of earlier hive levels have been crushed beneath the weight of the structure above.
The layers of the hive
The Spire
The Spire is the highest part of the hive, home to the noble families and the planet's ruler. Its inhabitants live in luxury, breathing purified air and enjoying the finest food, drink and entertainment. The Spire is isolated from the rest of the hive by fortifications and guards, and few of its inhabitants ever descend to the lower levels. Young nobles sometimes do, however, hunting the gangs of the Underhive for sport in their powered Spyrer hunting rigs.
The Hive City
Below the Spire lies the Hive City, the domain of the great Houses. Each House controls a portion of the Hive City and specialises in a particular industry. The Houses compete fiercely for resources, territory and influence, and their rivalries often spill into violence. The Hive City is crowded and polluted, and its workers toil in dangerous conditions for long hours.
The Underhive
Beneath the Hive City lies the Underhive, a vast, lawless realm of ruined domes and abandoned settlements. It is home to gangs, outlaws, mutants and scavengers, who survive by fighting, scavenging and trading. The Underhive is extremely dangerous, with collapsing structures, toxic sumps and constant violence. Yet it is also a place of opportunity, where those who are strong, cunning or lucky can find wealth and power.
The great Houses
The great Houses of Necromunda are the powers of the Hive City. Each has its own culture, industry and way of war. House Goliath is known for its brute strength and its gene-forged workers, who toil in the foundries. House Escher is a matriarchal House known for its chemical industries and its fierce warrior women. House Orlock controls much of the hive's mining and ironworks, and its gangers are hard and practical.
House Van Saar specialises in advanced technology, and its members wear protective suits against the radiation of their ancient machines. House Cawdor is a House of religious zealots, devoted to a fervent form of the Imperial Creed and masters of the hive's waste recycling. House Delaque is a secretive House of spies and information brokers, whose members are pale and shun the light.
The Houses send gangs into the Underhive to claim territory, resources and prestige. These gangs fight constantly with their rivals, and their battles are bloody and brutal. The Houses also compete through trade, diplomacy and intrigue, and their rivalries shape the politics of the hive.
Lord Helmawr and the Spire
Lord Gerontius Helmawr is the Imperial Governor of Necromunda. He rules from the Spire of Hive Primus, and his authority extends over the entire planet. He is ancient, kept alive by rejuvenat treatments, and he has ruled for longer than most of his subjects can remember. He is cunning, ruthless and utterly devoted to maintaining his family's power.
Helmawr's rule is enforced by the Palanite Enforcers, a paramilitary force that maintains order in the Hive City and the Underhive. They are feared and hated, and they are brutal in their methods. Helmawr also relies on the support of the noble Houses of the Spire, who share his interest in maintaining the existing order. He plays them against each other, ensuring that none grows powerful enough to challenge him.
The great Houses of the Hive City are subject to Helmawr's authority, but they have their own interests and ambitions. Helmawr must balance their demands with the needs of the Imperium, which expects Necromunda to meet its tithes. This balancing act is the key to his long reign.
The Guilders and the Mercator
The Mercator, the great guilds of Necromunda, control trade between the hives and between the Hive City and the Underhive. Their members, known as Guilders, are respected and feared in equal measure. They control the flow of water, power and goods, and they enforce their own laws in the settlements they control. Without them, the hive's economy would collapse.
The Guilders are protected by tradition and by their own forces. Attacking a Guilder is a serious crime, and those who do so are hunted down by bounty hunters and the guilds' own enforcers. In the Underhive, the Guilders are often the closest thing to authority, and their trading posts are the centres of settlements.
The guilds also deal in water, one of the most precious resources in the hive. The Water Guild controls the supply, and its power is immense. Those who control the water control life itself, and the Guild uses this power to keep the Houses in line.
Life on the Underhive frontier
The Underhive is a frontier, and its settlements are like frontier towns. They are built in the ruins of ancient domes, around sources of water, power or valuable salvage. Each settlement has its own leader, and its own rules. Some are relatively peaceful, others are lawless and violent.
The Underhive is home to many kinds of people besides the gangers. There are scavengers who pick through the ruins for anything of value, bounty hunters who track down outlaws for the Guilders, and Ratskins, the native tribes of the hive's depths, who know the tunnels better than anyone. There are mutants who have been driven from the upper hive, and outlaws who have fled the Enforcers. And there are stranger things, too: cults, monsters and horrors that lurk in the deepest ruins.
Settlers come to the Underhive for many reasons. Some are fleeing the oppression of the Hive City, others are seeking fortune or adventure. Many are simply trying to survive. Whatever their reasons, they face a hard and dangerous life, and few of them grow old.
The Ash Wastes
Beyond the hives lie the Ash Wastes, a vast desert of ash, slag and toxic dust. The wastes are crossed by roads and railways linking the hives, and by convoys of trucks and armoured vehicles. These convoys are vital to the planet's economy, but they are also vulnerable to raiders, storms and other dangers.
The Ash Wastes are home to nomads who have adapted to the harsh conditions. They live in mobile camps, and they survive by scavenging, raiding and trading. They are fiercely independent, and they resist the authority of the hives. The hives regard them as savages, but the nomads know the wastes better than anyone, and they are formidable enemies.
History
The founding
Necromunda was settled in ancient times, long before the Imperium. Its hives grew over millennia, built layer upon layer, each new level constructed on the ruins of the last. In places, the oldest domes have been crushed so far down that no one living remembers who built them, and explorers who reach them find machines and relics no one can explain. The planet's history is buried beneath its hives, and much of it has been lost.
The House of Helmawr
The Helmawr family has ruled Necromunda for millennia. They rose to power through a combination of cunning, ruthlessness and the support of the Imperium. Their rule has been challenged many times, but they have always prevailed. Their rule is maintained through force, intrigue and the careful balancing of the great Houses.
The Great Rift
The opening of the Great Rift brought new dangers to Necromunda. Warp storms disrupted its trade, and the planet's psykers suffered. Cults and uprisings flared in the hives, and the Underhive grew even more dangerous. Yet the planet's industry continued, and its tithes were still paid. Lord Helmawr made sure of it, for he knew that a world which failed the Imperium in its hour of need could expect no mercy from Terra.
People & culture
The people of Necromunda are tough, hardy and used to adversity. They live in crowded, polluted hives, and they work long hours in dangerous conditions. They are loyal to their Houses and their families, and they regard outsiders with suspicion. They have a strong sense of identity, and they are proud of their hive and their House.
Life in the hives is hard. Food is scarce and often synthetic, water is recycled, and the air is polluted. Disease is common, and life expectancy is short. Yet the people of Necromunda are resilient, and they have adapted to their harsh environment.
The Underhive has its own culture. Its inhabitants are gangers, scavengers, outlaws and mutants, and they live by their own rules. They are fiercely independent, and they resist the authority of the Hive City. Settlements are run by the Mercator guilders and local bosses, and justice is rough and swift.
Defenders & war-machine
Necromunda is defended by its own forces, including the Palanite Enforcers, the planetary defence forces and the House militias. These forces are well armed and well trained, and they have defended the planet against many threats. The planet also provides regiments for the Astra Militarum, and the Necromundan regiments are known for their toughness and their skill in urban warfare. The Necromunda Spiders, raised from the planet's hive-born, are among its most famous.
The hives themselves are formidable fortresses. Their walls are thick, their defences are strong, and their populations are vast. Any invader would face a long and bloody struggle to conquer them. Every level of a hive is a potential fortress, and every corridor and stairwell can be held by a handful of determined defenders. Generations of gang warfare have taught the hive's people how to fight in close quarters, and that experience would make them deadly opponents for any army that tried to take Necromunda by force.
Notable battles
- The endless gang wars: the gangs of the Houses fight for territory and resources in the Underhive.
- The plague outbreaks: zombie plagues sweep through the Underhive, leaving settlements dead.
- Tithe regiments: Necromundan regiments fight across the Imperium, alongside the rest of the Astra Militarum.
Trivia
- Necromunda is in the Segmentum Solar, relatively close to Terra.
- Hive Primus is the largest hive on Necromunda.
- House Escher is a matriarchal House, and its male members are rarely seen outside its own domains.
- The Spyrers are young nobles who hunt in the Underhive for sport.
- House Goliath's workers are vat-grown and bred for strength, and many of them live short, brutal lives.
- House Van Saar's members suffer from a wasting sickness linked to the ancient technology they tend.
- House Cawdor's gangers often hide their faces behind masks, and they despise heretics and mutants with a fanatical zeal.
- House Delaque's agents are said to know every secret of the hive, and they sell those secrets to the highest bidder.
