"It cannot have escaped any of the Council's notice but we are still plagued by alien aggressors in the Donorian Sector (Segmentum Tempestus). These are believed to be of the same xeno-type as the invaders of Prospero Colony three decades ago! [I've included the only known holo-file of these aliens: it's the big furry thing with the claws.] Why can these fell creatures not be dealt with? Why must the blood of innocent colonists continue to be spilt while we do nothing? How can we let the magnificent Palace of Caleb on Assumptus V serve as a barrack house to the festering soldiers of the K'Nib?"
- —Erasmus Phramtle, Prefect of Soliden, City of Pyres, Danub, 334.445.M41
The K'Nib (sometimes spelled K'nib) are a xenos race of which almost nothing is known. According to Radical Inquisitor Maturin Ralei, who studied an artefact of unknown material and function related to this species, they have ten limbs.
History
K'Nib artefact, possibly analogous to a Power Fist.
There is speculation amongst Imperial savants that the K'Nib were one of the many potential warrior races nurtured by the Old Ones during their ancient war against the Necrons and their C'tan masters.
Imperial records make passing references to the "festering clawed fiends of K'Nib" or the "festering soldiers of the K'Nib," which imply this species uses the Clawed Fiends from the Donorian Sector of the Segmentum Tempestus as shock troops in their campaigns in this region.
For at least three solar decades they plagued this sector, invading Imperial worlds such as Prospero Colony in 415.M41 and Assumptus V in 445.M41.
The ravages of the K'Nib in the Donorian Sector were halted by a Deathwatch Kill-team commanded by Battle Brother Artemis of the Mortifactors Chapter following a request for aid from the colonel of the Kaslon Astra Militarum regiment.
Artemis slew the Alcayde of the K'Nib on Assumptus V and ended their incursions into Imperial space (though official records credit the Kaslon regiment with this victory, for which it was awarded the title of Hero of the Donorian Sector).
At some later point in the 41st Millennium, Imperial Navy Admiral Bregant de Corte fought the K'Nib, and his masterful strategy halted their invasion of the Sulacus Rim.
Sources
- Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook (3rd Edition), pg. 116
- Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd Edition, 1st Codex), pg. 28
- Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition), pg. 25
- Xenology (Background Book) by Simon Spurrier, pg. 81
- White Dwarf 259 (UK Edition), "Defenders of the Imperium," pp. 42-43
- Warriors of Ultramar (Novel), by Graham McNeill, Ch. 5