Sheen Bird
Sheen Birds are avian Necromundan biomechanical constructs that were created long ago by the Adeptus Mechanicus for a commission put forth by the Hive World's ruling Helmawr family.[1]
They were meant to evoke an illusory sense of the long-lost splendour of Necromunda's natural world and had a rudimentary suite of pre-programmed behaviours that allowed them to mimic real birds. After they were released within Hive Primus, the sheen birds flocked together, roosted, fed, and tended to broods of faux youngsters, created to mimic the sight of hatchlings within a nest. However, in the millennia since their creation, sheen birds have fallen out of favour and into decay. Their maintenance is no longer seen as a priority within the administratum of Hive Primus and, as a result, the sheen birds' numbers have gradually dwindled through lack of preservation. Worse still, the surviving sheen birds have become foul and corrupted beyond all recognition from their previous glorious state. Their flesh is now diseased and infected with parasites, their plumage scarce, and even their imprinted behavioural coding has corrupted, causing them to act as parodies of their former selves. This has led the sheen birds to still disturbingly parent their artificial hatchlings in their nests, which have long since been replaced by hideous things that are obviously not their young. Despite this, when a sheen bird finds itself in Hive Primus's Underhive, they are often greeted with awe by the devoted of House Cawdor. Its members view the decayed constructs as avatars of the Emperor's grace and, in the opinion of high ranking Cawdor gangers, those who possess a sheen bird are seen as possessing the direct blessing of the Emperor Himself.[1]
Known Sheen Birds
- Marrowpicker[3a]
- Sook - Sheen bird of Codic Cripplefingers.[3b]
Images
Source
- 1: Necromunda: Gangs of the Underhive, pg. 106 — Exotic Beasts
- 2: Warhammer Community: Faith, Filth, and Fury in This Week’s Forge World Pre-Orders (posted 6/11/2021) (last accessed 10/11/2021)
- 3: Necromunda: Gang War IV
