Kroot Anatomy | Warhammer 40k Lore

within the diverse and Metropolitan populace of the young taao Empire there exist numerous client species who have pledged their existence to the furtherment of not only the tow but also of the greater good this is a core philosophical teaching which has bound together the various worlds septs and alien races behind a unified Banner of one cohesive set of principles intended to Foster an innate sense of Cooper ation for all who follow it one of its foundational doctrines is that those within the Empire should always attempt to bring any newly discovered sentient species under their fold and it is from this that we will discuss one of the more striking and unique of aliens which has agreed to this proposition today we shall investigate the crout a rather uniquely gifted Xeno species who have sworn themselves to cooperating with and defending the taao Empire since the 38th Millennium this incredibly Dynamic race is easily identifiable upon a battlefield however it is best if we learn of some of their more striking details for if we are to combat the zenos then we must understand them on a fundamental level firstly we will discuss their anatomical and physiological features before investigating their peculiar ability to selectively take on the genetic traits of their consumed foes all of which is overseen by the tribal leaders known as the Shapers finally we shall discuss some of the genetic aberations of the crout caused by the unrestricted consumption of maladaptive species which oftentimes has a rather disastrous effect on their form the crout termed as crued Aviana by Imperial Scholars is a species of humanoid xenos most commonly found in the Eastern fringes of the Galaxy where they reside upon feral worlds controlled by their tribal leaders whilst they do rule over these planets themselves they will contribute some of the naturally occurring resources as well as forces from their own tribes towards the military auxiliary branches of the TOA armies there will exist some sparse contingents of Tow cast members found within small settlements and outposts on these worlds but aside from them it is almost entirely inhabited by the cruit themselves along with the diverse species of wildlife which they co-inhabit the planets with the crout are thought to have evolved from an ancestral Aven species found upon their home world of PEC and to this day they still exhibit some traits of their distant genetic cousins we will soon discuss some of these features in more depth but the primary features which they seem to have retained from their Aven ancestors would be their easily recognizable beaks and somewhat light bone structure the most commonly encountered crout have been colloquially referred to as crout carnivores due to their habit of consuming the foes which they kill in battle and although there are several sub species which we will soon discuss I shall focus on the carnivores during this sermon they stand taller than most humans with their slightly hunched stance still bringing them to around 7 ft tall it can be rather imposing to stand next to one of these creatures since their feral and rather piercing gaze can often shake the morale of those from the smaller species of the Galaxy their skin is rough and rather thick being covered in hundreds of small Barbed spines which likely act as some form of defensive adaptation against creatures who would surely have aimed to hunt the cruit themselves as they age their skin grows increasingly more tough and leathery with the oldest of cruit displaying heavily pitted and gnarled hides aside from protecting them from the harsh conditions of their own worlds it has also proven useful in battle where only the sharpest of blades or precisely aimed of strikes will be able to puncture their leathery hide their skin pigmentation varies from group to group mainly being influenced by their diets and it can take on a myriad of colored patterns ranging from Deep earthy Browns to striking vibrant yellows and greens as a part of their tribal culture the recruit will decorate themselves with rudimentary tattoos scarified etches and War paints across their entire bodies all of which display their familial allegiances as well as to signify their role within the tribe in addition to this the cruit who choose to wear pieces of clothing will often Adorn themselves with naturally sourced totems and trophies which may take the form of bird feathers or Bon from the great creatures found upon their worlds upon first appearance the crout may seem deceptively weak as their tall and gangly nature May remind Some Humans of atrophied individuals who reside within low gravity conditions furthermore Imperial autopsies have revealed that their bones are still somewhat avian in nature as they are found to be rather small with parts of their skeletons still being made up of hollow bones clearly evident of their skybound ancestors despite this presuming them to be inept in battle would be an incredibly foolish mistake to make beneath their tough skin the crout have incredibly dense and wiry musculature making them far stronger than all but the most highly trained and augmented of humans their tendons are also impressively resilient and Powerful which supports this explosive musculature in allowing them to move and strike with rapid and destructive force with their long legs they bound and Traverse their planets with a slightly hopping Sprint they appear to be incredibly dextrous in their movement with their large tetradactyl feet possessing four widely spread toes which they have been observed to use for gripping onto trees as they climb high into the canopies some cruit settlements have been built within the Towering jungles of their worlds and they will often leap and spring from tree to tree in order to reach their tribal homes as such it would do one no good to think that they could somehow hide out or survive upon a cruit world since no matter where they found purchase the Nimble xenos would quickly be able to root them out and potentially devour them as I previously stated several traits have been well conserved from their ancestral Aven days in their evolutionary past their descendants possessed small beaks used for crushing open small fruits and seeds however over countless Generations they have evolved and transformed into becoming incredibly powerful tools which can crack open even the strongest of bones found within the large animals of their worlds though the preferred diet of the carnivores would consist of the dense fleshy meat and organs of an animal they too have a taste for the rich buttery marrow found within the hard bones of their victims they have also retained long dense quills which protrude out from the backs of their heads after several autopsies imperial agents now suspect that this Crown could be some form of a sensory organ to the crout each quill contains several small bundles of sensory ganglia which connect to their frontal lobe providing them with vital stimuli regarding their surrounding environment this theory is supported by viewing their jungle home world of PEC which is covered by an incredibly thick layer of foliage and so possessing these long quills would enable them to better interpret their surroundings almost in a similar way as to how a feline can better understand its environment through Sensations received through their whiskers within their skulls they have several distinct olfactory organs held within a markedly enlarged cavity presumably granting them an excellent sense of smell given their carnivorous nature these enhanced senses would enable them to effectively detect and hunt down their prey within the dense jungle environments which may prove to be somewhat of a sensory overload to species who cannot accurately distinguish the Myriad of different smells and stimuli their milky white eyes are devoid of pupils but it is suspected that they can perceive light in the near infrared Spectrum this would enable them to detect Creatures based on their emitted temperatures further enhancing their hunting capabilities within the Jungle the crout secrete a rather pungent oily sweat which provides a multitude of benefits to them whilst its specific properties will vary depending on the crout's diet it typically provides some degree of heat resistance and acts as both a potent antibiotic and antiparasitic to protect their skin this sweat also contains several pheromones which they will utilize to signify their territory or to leave as complex communicative markings to other nearby crout it has never been proven but we suspect that they can also leave empathic pheromones which subtly relax and calm other species resulting in their prey becoming more LAX or comfortable but undeniably easier to hunt in addition to their pheromone based communication methods they verbally speak with each other in a complex mixture of clicks growls and whistles that being said after consuming certain species they have been observe to quickly pick up some of the language cues and subtle mannerisms of their prey this combined with their propensity to quickly mimic other creatures allows them to learn new languages at a surprisingly rapid rate and it is not unheard of to encounter a cruit who can speak in low or even high go IC as such while this may be seen as somewhat heretical or xenophilic to some of you some of the more extreme of inquisitors or Rogue Traders have been known to keep a cruit carnivore within their retinue since despite their alien nature they do provide a great Aid in the art of tracking and of hunting now I have alluded to the cruit taking on different physiological features depending on their diet and this is due to their rather unique and species defining trait known as shaping after devouring the Flesh of a fallen creature they can selectively absorb genetic features of that species integrating it within their own genome allowing them to rapidly Express those characteristics within themselves for example if a cruit was to repeatedly consume orc flesh then they would begin to grow more muscular and their skin would take on a greenish tinge one of the Lesser known examples of abilities gained from shaping would be from a very select group who managed to consume the Flesh of the migratory reptilians known as cids these creatures would move from world to World teleporting themselves through the warp to new Lush planets all in the search of new prey however one one group eventually found themselves on peek where they were hunted down by the members of the Mist Hound Kindred though only a small group of the cruit were able to gain this warp traversing ability from their fallen foes it is still rather amazing to see the extent of genetic abilities which they can procure from the simple Act of consumption this shaping ability is innate to all crout however they do not all possess the gift of being able to recognize which traits would be most advantageous to them and of which traits should be avoided this skill is almost only observed in the Elders of the cruit tribes and they are known as the Shapers most crout are rather animalistic and single-minded when it comes to the art of survival but for these Learned Elders they have been shown to understand the benefits of patients and have risen to a position within in their tribe where all would respect their directives and orders as they age their wisdom and understanding of not only the Galaxy but also of their own unique biology becomes more and more comprehensive until they stand in a position where they can act as somewhat of a shamanic leader to their tribal Kindred through Decades of experience the Shapers have developed an insightful knowledge in analyzing a creature's DNA to determine whether or not it would provide any benefit to their kin if they were to consume a newly encountered life form and discovered that it would somehow corrupt or taint their genome then the Shapers will forbid their tribe from ever feasting upon their flesh in this sense we can view the Shapers as somewhat of a guardian to the cruit not only in that they will lead their Kindred through challenging situations but also in that they will safeguard their very genetic material each Kindred will be led by their own shaper who will determine the best path for their kin to take and this will greatly differ depending on their surrounding environments for this reason no two kindreds will ever be the same as their genetic makeup will always depend on the local flora and FAA resulting in some tribes displaying Inc incredibly vibrant and unique physiological characteristics for example on the ice world of yunen the Shapers direct their tribes to consume the Flesh of the Native Ice Bears resulting in these cruit being coated with thick Shaggy white fur conversely the cruit upon the oceanic world of hydrix will hunt and feast upon the Aquatic Life providing them with webbed limbs which vastly improve Pro their swimming capabilities this has resulted in an incredibly diverse species with cruit from around the Galaxy displaying vastly different appearances which have made them extremely well adapted to their habitats some may have small Wings allowing them to glide through the air whilst others will be far more muscular and dense making them excellent shock troops for large engagements the Shapers have universally decreed that there are thus far only three species which the cruit are utterly forbidden from ever consuming firstly they shall never Feast upon TOA flesh the cruit are utterly indebted to the TOA for saving their home World from an orc Invasion and they have become so ingrained within each other's societies that it would be a most heinous crime to ever turn upon their saviors secondly they are to avoid any humans who have have succumbed to the worship of chaos crout who have been seen to Feast upon the followers of the ruinous Powers have been observed to develop incredibly unstable and violent mutations which are in no way advantageous to their species it has even been observed most notably in the calamitous cronis campaign that any crout who were seen to Feast upon the Flesh of chaos Space Marines were hunted down and exterminated by their kin all to prevent any trace of chaotic taint from corrupting their genome the final forbidden fruit would be the Flesh of the tyranids the Shapers are utterly disgusted by these creatures and the everchanging Genome of these bioforms produces an innate feeling of repulsion to them they cannot reliably or safely incorporate tyranid traits within themselves even if they may seem beneficial and as such the resulting genetic instability has led them to declare their flesh as being utterly inedible to their kin some crout have attempted to Devour the Fallen constructs of the necrons and their powerful beaks are more than strong enough to break down their shattered necrodermis frames this however has also proven itself to be a most tainted delicacy upon the world of kro any cruit who had feasted upon nekron remains were afflicted by a terrible nanoc Scarab plague in which tiny scarabs burst out of their bodies utterly devastating the tribal forces and leading to the unnecessary deaths of Untold cruit Warriors that being said the cruit are free to indulge themselves with any other species which has been declared as safe to consume they almost universally have an innate urge to feed upon Fallen foes likely as a vestage of their ancest estal animalistic days so the Shapers will allow them to feed to their heart's content once a battle has been one if appropriately directed by the Shapers the crout will maintain a healthy diverse genome enabling them to maintain their intellect and physical strength however if left to their own devices they may consume too much of the same creature or too much of a prey animal which corrupts their genome leading to stunted subspecies who are seen as nothing but genetic dead ends the first of these would be the cruit hounds they have feasted upon the feral wild canine likee creatures found within the jungles of peek and as such have devolved into being mindless quadrupeds who are kept in packs by the Shapers and are only Unleashed during a large hunt or during times of War they are incredibly ferocious and they have been known to turn upon members of their tribe if they are poorly disciplined or if their handlers simply let their guard down around them the crews are similarly seen as genetic dead ends to the cruit they have developed into being huge beasts of War standing as something similar to a monstrous ape where they will pound enemies into nothing but pulp and shattered bones with their gigantic brutish for liims the cruit will often Mount large weapons upon their backs and will ride them into battle making them into a form of a mobile weapons platform thanks to their unusually thick and dense hides the cruit will rarely find a need to mount armor upon a crout tox since their skin is more than tough enough to withstand Small Arms fire narlock are similarly cruit who have devolved into being gigantic terrifying beasts they stand as creatures similar to an ancient dinosaur with their massive Jaws being able to crush through the strongest of Imperial tanks and their sheer bulk can crash through defensive lines to utterly demolish any enemy troops which may oppose the cruit that being said they seem to be rather maladapted to their environmental Niche upon peek their immense size makes them inept at traversing the thick jungles whilst their small eyes have cursed them with fairly poor sight and yet they still have their own unique hunting tactics which have served them well rather than striking from an ambush narlock are persistence hunters and they will simply chase after their prey for hours until the poor creature finally Falls exhausted where the narlock will fall upon it for a tremendous feast some Scholars have also suggested that given the physiology of these beasts that they may be obligate scavengers who only feed upon the Fallen remains of other animals however this has never been entirely confirmed since it would be near impossible for an imperial agent to gain access to a cruit world purely to study their Mega forer whilst these subspecies are utilized by the crout there there are some which are seen as pure Abominations and they are hunted to Extinction wherever possible deep within the jungles of peek some cruit have devolved into a state of pure Madness where they can serve no purpose to the kindreds and these monstrous creatures must be exterminated at any cost often times the forboding depths of the jungles in which they reside is seen as being cursed and so only the bra bravest or most fool Hardy of cruit will delve into the oppressive Darkness to end the suffering of their corrupted kin this brings us to the end of our exploration into the crout I will quickly mention that it is not only their bodies which will change upon feasting for their minds will also be altered by their prey if a cruit consumes the Flesh of a foul duari then they have been observed to become more cruel and more sadistic towards their enemies often leading to darker methods of hunting down more potential victims to feed upon some scant sources have also suggested that if a cruit diet includes a healthy dose of pyer Flesh then they will become more in tune with the wild tides of the warp allowing them to better navigate their great ships through the emerium nevertheless the crew fruit are seen as incredibly valuable allies to the tow and even if they are slightly disturbed by their propensity and desire to devour their fallen foes they still accept and embrace their differences bringing them into the great fold of the greater good [Music]

Channel: Scholar's Lore

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Length: 24min 30sec (1470 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 29 2024