#Drawlloween #Inktober 23 - Gore

The Darkhive is a savage and dangerous place, especially when one wanders away from the larger settlements or off the main trade routes. Gore is a common site, and a tactic used by many uncivilised groups across the hive as a signalling method.

It is rumoured that many castes of Shellbrood feed off strong emotions, and the darker ones such as fear and anger are easier to incite than lighter ones such as love or pride. The theory continues by saying that the Shellbrood deliberately leave the bones and other remains of their victims on the outskirts of their warrens to invoke these emotions in people who might come too close. This works as both a warding tactic to keep away those who are frail of heart, and as a feeding mechanisms for the warriors who might defend the hive. Those who attack are rarely unmoved by the sight of viscera and entrails, and those who continue to approach the Shellbrood warren have typically either steeled against their fear, or gain strength from their righteous outrage. Either way, they feed the Shellbrood with psychic emotional energy.

Shellbrood aren't the only group who use gore in this manner. Bandit groups sometimes hide in hive cells surrounded by others filled with bone and viscera, Some do this to make nearby towns believe that a Shellbrood warren is nearby (and thus scare off any lesser law enforcement officials who might come looking for them). Other bandit groups are actually hidden blood cults, possibly focused around a vampire, or some other dangerous creature that has become caught in the Darkhive, in these cases the bone and viscera may simply be the left-over remains from regular rituals, thrown away in nearby cells to quickly dispose of them.

The next most common reason for finding gore in a hive cell might simply be the fact that this cell (or an adjacent one) is the home to some kind of predatory creature. The remains might simply be what is leftover once the creature finished its meal.

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