The Brotherhood of the Laughing Father

Deep beneath the surface of Kalfu in the underhive city of Maalik lies New Heaven.

In one of the titanic layers of Maalik, which was flooded many hundreds of years ago by a disastrous failure of an upper level's water system, a vast swamp has grown to encompass nearly the entire level.There are three massive spire cities within the layer and these are the only means of reaching higher levels. The canals of these cities are just as likely to be plied by vicious gang members as they are the Imperium's enforcers. The spire city of New Heaven is rife with gang warfare and violence. Worse still are the vast swamps that stretch between the cities. Dark creatures live in the forbidding swamps that have grown in the hive. The swamps provide safe haven for mutants and beastmen who escape persecution in the cities. They breed and flourish among the mangrove forests of the fetid swamps forming "families" of inbred monstrosities.

Deep in the heart of the spire city of New Heaven a rot festers. The Brotherhood of the Laughing Father appears, at first, to be a harmless religious group which emphasizes family ties and ancestor worship. Above all sits the Laughing Father, a father figure who looks upon his followers' deeds with parental pride. Below the Father are the First Sons, the most blessed of the cult's followers. But this appearance is only skin deep. It is known to the gangs of New Heaven as one of the oldest and deadliest groups in the city. The Brotherhood ruthlessly hunts down and slaughters any of the gangs that encroach on its considerable territory. There are rumors that the Brotherhood travels into the swamps at night to converse with families of unspeakable countenance. Those who spread these rumors are mercilessly crushed by the followers of the Laughing Father.

The truth of the Brotherhood of the Laughing Father is far darker than any of the gangs suspect though. In truth the Brotherhood is a coven of genestealers whose goal is to spread their influence throughout Maalik and into the other hive cities of Kalfu. Darker still are the pacts they have made with the Plague Father's daemons. For a hundred years the cult has been spreading its influence throughout New Heaven. They have secured allies both in the city and beyond. An army of beastmen and mutants lurks in the swamps surrounding New Heaven awaiting a call to arms from the Brotherhood. While within the city limits members of the Brotherhood have infiltrated several levels of Imperial law and the group's illegal activities and violence are largely overlooked. As the years pass and the Brotherhood's influence grows it will soon be too late to stop them from taking the city and spreading to the other layers of Maalik.