Culexus Temple

The Culexus Temple is one of the most sinister and feared orders of the Officio Assassinorum and its assassins have been described by Eldar Warlocks as nothing short of the embodiments of pure evil. Even amongst the upper echelons of the Officio Assassinorum this temple is always viewed with extreme caution. The reason for this is not because of the way that the Culex Assassins carry out their operations, or the heinous methods of killing they employ. It is because of the very nature of the Culexus Assassins themselves.

The Assassins of this particular temple are not chosen because of their innate savagery, cunning or combat skills. First and foremost, potential candidates are chosen to be Culexus Assassins because they are born with an extremely rare human genetic mutation called the Pariah gene -- which means they have no presence within the Warp like all other sentient beings, and thus no soul. The Culexus Assassin is exceptional because they appear to have no presence within the Warp -- there is just a void. For all intent and purposes they are thus soulless beings.

This extremely rare genetic defect occurs for no known reason in less than one in a billion individuals. However, in recent years evidence has emerged that the Pariah gene was engineered into Mankind's ancestors million of years ago by the C'tan and their Necron servants so that humanity might be used as a weapon against the psychic species like the Eldar and the Orks that the Old Ones had created to defeat the C'tan. It is for this reason that the Necrons capture humans with the Pariah gene and transform them into the hideous Necron Pariahs.

Even normal humans find the presence of a Pariah extremely disturbing, but the effect is most pronounced on psykers, who find Pariahs genuinely terrifying, as though staring into a hole in the universe when they use their Witchsight. It is hardly surprising that Pariahs are often treated like outcasts or lepers in Imperial society, rejected by their parents and banished from their homeworld's local settlements. Local superstitions on many worlds often warn about touching them, saying that to do so would bring bad luck. Resigned to their fate, many Pariahs lead simple, solitary existences, as far away from heavily populated areas as possible.

All psykers and intrinsically psychic species like the Eldar consider a being like a Culexus Assassin to be an absolute abomination. Even monstrosities such as a Tyranid Hive Tyrant can balk at the prospect of being permanently severed from their psychic abilities and the Hive Mind. The Culexus Assassin causes absolute terror in all psykers -- which is why they are so useful to the Imperium.

History
When the Sisters of Silence first captured and transported large numbers of Pariahs back to Terra during the Great Crusade, humanity had its first disturbing revelation of the potency of these strange mutants. As large groups of Pariahs were brought to Terra, they began to cast a shadow in the Warp, blocking out the Astronomican, the vital psychic beacon used to guide starships to the far reaches of the Imperium.

Other branches within the Imperium of Man, especially those that relied upon the abilities of psykers, were horrified by the existence of Pariahs. Several members of the Council of Terra sought to have Pariahs outlawed outright like other dangerous mutants -- tasking the Sisters of Silence with the ruthless extermination of any more Pariahs that were found just as they eliminated renegade psykers who presented a threat to humanity. A number of members of the Council of Terra, including the Paternal Envoy of the Navis Nobilite were pushing the Emperor of Mankind to issue an official decree to rid the Imperium of the "anti-psyker" mutants that threatened their Adepta's very existence.

This was unfortunate, for the Officio Assassinorum had been working in secret with the Magos Biologis and Genetors of the Adeptus Mechanicus on the order of Malcador the Sigillite, the Regent of Terra and the founder of the Officio as the first Grand Master of Assassins, to see if it was possible to harness the Pariah's strange abilities and use them to kill psykers. Their work was almost complete; many years had been spent developing specialist wargear and training techniques, all of which was about to be ruined by a zealous witch-hunt.

Fortunately, the Emperor never had to issue an official decree, for at Malcador the Sigillite's behest, the Adeptus Mechanicus announced that it was ending the Pariah Project, making a great show of closing down its laboratories and executing many of the "specimens" it had tested there. Satisfied that no further action was needed, the bureaucrats of the Council of Terra turned its attention to the more important matters at hand.

However, closer study of the fragmentary Imperial records from this time reveal that the number of executions did not match the number of Pariahs contained within the laboratories of the Mechanicus. Working in collusion with the Officio Assassinorum, the Adeptus Mechanicus spirited away the most promising Pariahs to a specially constructed fortress hidden on Terra, beyond the reach or knowledge of the more zealous branches of what eventually became the Adeptus Terra after the Horus Heresy. It was there that the Culexus Temple, originally known as the Culexus Clade, was born in its modern form under the direction of its first Director Primus, the individual known only as Sire Culexus. Culexus had sworn an oath alongside Malcador and the five other Directors Primus of the newborn Officio Assassinorum to defeat every enemy of the Emperor no matter where or how they sought to hide from Imperial justice. The Culexus Assassins would become an important component of keeping that vow.

The Fortress
Within the secret fortress that the Culexus Temple operates, it is the Officio Assassinorum that is responsible for maintaining the establishment and ensuring that all Pariahs are contained within its bounds. Though most of the other Assassin Temples are granted a certain amount of autonomy in their affairs, the Culexus Temple is ruled directly by high ranking officials of the Officio Assassinorum. All Pariahs and Culexus Assassins are kept within the confines of the fortress. If any are ever allowed to leave then it is always under a veil of secrecy and with the highest levels of security. It cannot be doubted that the Culexus Temple has proven itself of invaluable use to the Imperium on countless occasions. Even so, there are still factions within the Imperium that would see every Pariah executed and the Culexus Temple utterly destroyed.

Abilities
Pariahs can nullify psychic powers, and if they are in close quarters to their targets their very existence drains the strength from psykers. Culexus Assassins therefore specialise in psyker-hunting, most notably of Eldar Warlocks and rogue human psykers. Culexus Assassins have also been shown to be useful at combating daemons, as daemons are entirely composed of psychic power drawn from the Warp and given form in realspace only so long as they have a link to the Immaterium. A Culexus Assassin carries no gun or hand-to-hand weapons, for he needs none and would be distracted by their use. Once on the battlefield the Assassin's chosen Custodian will release his hold over the Assassin. The large eye in the Assassin's Animus Speculum opens and only then does the full intensity of the Assassin's horrific anti-psyker capabilities flood the battlefield.

The Culexus Assassin attacks using his own innate abilities enhanced by years of training, mental exercises and arcane wargear. He slips through the battle lines and bodyguards, his negative aura muddling the minds of conventional troops, allowing him to close upon his targets. Bolts of negative Warp energy blast the minds of enemy psykers and strip them of their powers before he moves in for the kill, sapping the very life-force from their bodies.

Wargear
When the Culexus Temple receives a mission, an Assassin is chosen and transported to the arena of conflict on board a specially shielded ship (much like the Black Ships of the Inquisition). In addition to this, the Assassin is specially equipped with their most notable piece of equipment -- the Animus Speculum. This stylized skull-like helm helps conceal much of a Culexus Assassin's soulless nature from onlookers and particularly from psykers. The helm is only partially effective even while active, as most people can barely stand to be in the same room with a Pariah. During battle, however, the arcane "eye" of the helm opens, allowing the Assassin's full abilities to be unleashed. The Animus fires bolts of negative psychic energy, and can drain nearby psykers of their connection to Warp energy to increase its own power. Each Culexus Assassin is accompanied by a Custodian, who operates the Animus Speculum and ensures that his charge remains under his control and does not arouse suspicion amongst the other allied Imperial forces fighting in the campaign.

Culexus Assassins also use the exotic Psyk-Out Grenades, a weapon used exclusively by the Culexus Temple and the Daemon Hunters of the Ordo Malleus. Each grenade is similar in design to a Frag Grenade, however it is laced with a highly dangerous substance that is only produced as a metabolic by-product of the Emperor's Golden Throne on Terra. The dust-like substance is heavily impregnated with negative psychic energy and is very rare. When some has been collected, the Imperium's finest armourers use the dust to make Psyk-out Grenades and Psycannon rounds.

The Culexus Assassin wears an advanced Aegis Suit known as the Etherium, which is built into the Culexus Assassin's own synthskin. This, combined with the Culexus Assassin's innate anti-psychic abilities, means that psychic attacks pass right through him as if he were invisible. This induces confusion and disorientation in his foes and makes it near-impossible to target the Assassin even with convemtional weapons. Another important aspect of the Etherium is the Force Matrix, the numerous psychic conduits that run within the Assassin's Etherium. The Force Matrix is made from a material similar to that used in Force Weapons. When a psyker taps into the Warp, they are not always totally efficient at using all of the energy they can absorb: a lot of excess energy is simply left to dissipate into the surrounding space. The Force Matrix acts as a conductor, absorbing this excess Warp energy and providing the Culexus Assassin, who is unable to tap directly into the Warp, with a source of energy to enhance his abilities. The closer the Culexus Assassin gets to psykers, the more energy the Force Matrix will absorb.