A look at the phenotypical diversity created by cloneskeins found among the Kin of the Leagues of Votann.
The cloneskeins are advantageous, genetically-engineered, hereditary mutations that exist within the gene pool of the Kin of the Leagues of Votann. To the Kin, cloneskeins are always badges of valuable ability, either bequeathed by the ineffable Ancestor Cores or encouraged by the Cloners' Guilds during gestation.
The cloneskeins were originally introduced into Kin genomes by the First Ancestors to help ensure their race's survival within the hazardous conditions of the galactic core. Most cloneskeins are intended to make their recipients better able to work or defend themselves.
The rarest cloneskeins are those that grant their recipients psychoactive abilities similar to those of true psykers, like the Grimnyr who interface with the Votann and the Embyr who protect a Kin hold's artificial wombs, its crucibles.
History[]
Though they are a race of Abhuman clones, this does not mean that each Kin is exactly physically identical or that the Kin suffer from the common defects which can result from a lack of genetic diversity. The First Ancestors who were responsible many Terran millennia ago for shaping Kin society to deal with the environmental rigours of life in the galactic core engineered a series of stable mutations and unusual phenotypical expressions into their people's genomes which they named "cloneskeins."
In practical terms, these alterations provide the Kin with physiological enhancements over the Human baseline such as denser muscular and skeletal systems to provide greater physical strength and more endurance in the face of trauma. Their bodies are capable of higher red and white blood cell production to ensure the Kin possess more efficient respiratory systems that enhance their capacity for rigorous work and an immune system that is more effective at combating the effects of ionising radiation common to the galactic core.
There are many cloneskeins that were intended to provide specific physical benefits to those Kin that possess them. These include enhanced reaction times beyond those available to baseline Kin, the ability to see into the infrared and other electromagnetic spectra beyond visible light, increased resistance to extremes of temperature, gravity or ionising radiation, and many other enhancements that aid navigating the turbulent environments of the core.
Such genetic alterations also manifest in the phenotypes of those Kin who bear them, again giving the lie to the idea that just because the Kin are all clones, they are also all identical. Such expressions include an unusual colour of the skin or eyes by Human standards, altered subdermal layers displaying various craggy surfaces or ridges on the cranium or elsewhere on the body, unusual odours and similar cosmetic changes. These differences do not breed prejudice or other forms of discrimination among the Kin, who view them as the marks of valuable abilities and enhancements to the capability of the Kin to work or defend themselves that they were intended to be.
Alterations were also made to the Kin's mental acuity and psyches through unknown means, such that they are far less able to make use of the powers of the Immaterium -- or be affected by its unnatural denizens. Even those Kin who carry the psychoactive cloneskein are not literal psykers in the true sense of the word as Humans would understand it. Like a shuttered lantern whose aperture has been opened a little wider, the souls of these psychoactive Kin shine just brightly enough to mesh with barrier-tech that makes use of the energies of the Immaterium, such as Ancestral Warding Staves and armoured crests that can project psyker-like abilities.
The Kin's physical and mental hardening has made them much less prone to the physical mutations brought on by exposure to the energies of Chaos, and possession by Daemons or a Kin's corruption by Chaos are also blessedly extremely rare.
The Kin are highly resistant to the exercise of any powers upon them that draw upon the energies of the Warp. The downside, or some might claim the advantage, of this psychic hardening is the lack of true psykers among the Kin, for whom that mutation simply does not exist. Additionally, such psychic alterations also seem to have contributed to the conservative, stoic and deeply stubborn nature of most Kin.
In place of the psyker mutation, the First Ancestors provided the Kin with a specialised cloneskein that expresses itself among the Grimnyr, the Living Ancestors who serve as the Kin's primary link with the wisdom of the Votann and are the closest analogue that these highly secular people have to priests. These bearers of the psychoactive cloneskein are the only ones able to activate the advanced barrier technologies that the Leagues do possess to allow limited interactions with the Warp.
Sources[]
- Codex: Leagues of Votann (9th Edition), pg. 12