Hive worlds exist to feed the Imperium's endless appetite. Their vast metal cities rise kilometres into the sky, packed tight with factories, hab-blocks, and manufactoria. Compared to the precision of Forge Worlds they are crude, but their output is immense. Entire planets are stripped bare to fuel their industry, leaving behind poisoned skies and deserts of ash.

Life within a hive is short and unforgiving. Billions are crammed into decaying structures, labouring without pause for a system that offers nothing in return. Some accept this fate. Others abandon it, slipping into the shadows to join gangs, cults, or criminal networks, choosing danger over certainty.

Power on Necromunda is concentrated in the hands of the Great Houses, a small number of immensely wealthy factions who rule from the spires. Above them all stands House Helmawr, the ruling House of the planet, its authority recognised by the Imperium and enforced through control of law, charter, and tradition. The Great Houses beneath it are investors rather than producers, dealing in contracts, influence, and leverage rather than labour.

Beneath the spires stand the Clan Houses, each responsible for a critical part of Necromunda's industrial output. Every House has its own traditions, dialects, dress, and codes of behaviour. Power struggles between them are fierce and often violent, yet none can stand alone. Each relies on the others for resources, expertise, or protection, binding them together in a web of necessity and resentment.

The Houses are locked in constant rivalry, carefully maintained to serve the reigning House Helmawr. Open war in the spires would threaten production, contracts, and the tithe owed to the Imperium, so conflict is pushed downwards, into the underhive, where it can be contained and exploited.

House gangs descend to claim turf, seize factories, sabotage rivals, and win resources and reputation that can be traded for influence above, their existence and conflicts an accepted part of the system.

Not everyone fights for a House, though. The underhive also draws the desperate and the fallen. They come to get rich on things that cannot be easily seized or handed upward. As long as the hives keep producing and the spires remain untouched, this violence is not only tolerated, it keeps House Helmawr secure by ensuring its enemies remain divided.

Surrounding the hives stretch the Ash Wastes, vast deserts of radioactive dust and toxic storms. Though deadly, they are essential to Necromunda's survival. Trade convoys crawl between hive cities, hauling supplies, weapons, and raw materials across the wasteland.

Control of these routes is fiercely contested. Clan Houses, Guilds, and nobles all seek to dominate the wastes, sponsoring prospectors and settlements in the hope of uncovering new wealth. Where trade flows, so too do criminals, outcasts, and opportunists, carving out harsh lives beneath the open sky.

The spark is struck when Lord Gerontius Helmawr, long-ruling master of Necromunda, is left broken by an assassination attempt. His body survives, sealed within stasis, but his authority does not. With the Lord Helmawr removed from the throne, his daughter Lady Haera steps forward to rule in his name. It is not enough.

House Helmawr's grip begins to slip as unrest spreads through the hives. Old grudges surface, supply lines are sabotaged, and violence erupts across the planet. Amid the chaos, Lady Credo emerges as a challenger, openly opposing Helmawr dominance and presenting herself as an alternative voice of authority. What might once have been settled through inheritance or intrigue becomes something far harsher. The Succession is no longer about lineage - it is about survival.

The power vacuum left behind tears Necromunda apart. Lady Haera, now the de facto ruler, finds herself hunted by enemies on all sides. She has already removed as many rivals as she can, including her own siblings, but even that proves insufficient.

Hive Primus falls into open conflict. Noble allies turn against her. With enemies closing in, Lady Haera is forced to flee, attempting to reach the Dust Wall and the Enforcers still loyal to House Helmawr. Gangs flood the zones between Primus and Secundus, each hoping to either aid her escape or claim the bounty on her head.

Meanwhile, the forces loyal to Ozostium and his Prophet consolidate their hold over the Palatine Cluster. The old order collapses, replaced by something older still.

Ozostium Aranthus claims the throne of Necromunda, restored through faith, force, and legend. Yet the war is not finished.

Lady Haera, allied once more with Tamino, prepares for a final strike. The Sthenian-pattern Spyrer Suit offers a weapon capable of ending even an undying Aranthian. Loyal gangs and Spyrers rally to House Helmawr for one last gamble, pushing deep into Hive Primus to reclaim the spire in the name of Lord Gerontius.

They will face Enforcers, rival gangs, and the full weight of Ozostium's followers. And at the very peak of the hive, within the Imperial Spire itself, the Aranthian waits. The Succession ends not with a coronation, but with a reckoning.