Pech is the home world of the Kroot, a jungle planet in the Ultima Segmentum that shapes the whole species. Even Kroot born light years away feel pulled back to it eventually, and its history explains why they fight for the Tau.
What Pech is
Pech is the Kroot nest world, sitting in the Ultima Segmentum within its own system. It has three main continental masses, and the largest is warm and temperate, blanketed in evergreen jagga trees.
The landscape is steaming jungle, huge forests, tall mountains, and plenty of wildlife. The parts without forest tend to be rocky, parched, or hammered by violent storms, so they’re pretty inhospitable.
Almost nothing native survives there anymore. The fauna is basically Kroot and their subspecies: krootox, kroot hounds, and the kroothawk, which may be the original Kroot genus.
How the Kroot live there
Kroot build their homes from hides and regurgitated wood up in the tree canopy. They’ve gone back to traditional ways, so the ruins of at least five hive cities from their expansionist era now sit overgrown and wild.
Pech is also full of places that matter culturally. Mount Kaikown has an enormous carved jagga tree where Anghkor Prok is buried, the Kamyon Mountains hold the Grove of Ancestors, and the Plain of Bones has the Oathstone where Prok pledged the Kroot to the Tau.
Not everywhere is welcoming. The Ygothlac Forest, with its black twisted trees and monsters distantly related to the Kroot, is a place they avoid.
History and the Ork wars
Before 844.M38, an Ork Rok crashed on Pech. The Kroot killed and ate the survivors, then started showing the abilities of the Ork Mekboyz they’d consumed. That kicked off a period of expansion, with Kroot settling nearby worlds in Warspheres and Pech becoming heavily urbanised.
A few thousand years later, Orks overran Pech and its surrounding worlds. The Tau Empire agreed to liberate the planet at the request of the Kroot leader Anghkor Prok. After ten years of hard fighting that began with the War in the Place of Union, Pech and other core Kroot worlds were freed.
Prok then pushed for a return to the old ways, so the hive cities were never rebuilt and Pech reforested. Later troubles came anyway: the Dark Eldar Pech Raid in 991.M41, and in 999.M41 a lone Tyranid bio-ship from Hive Fleet Gorgon dropped swarms onto the planet.
Why Pech matters
Pech has an instinctive hold on the Kroot. Most of them, even those born elsewhere, feel called to migrate there at some point in their lives.
It’s also the anchor of their alliance with the Tau. The Oathstone on the Plain of Bones is where that loyalty was sworn, and the planet’s recovery from Ork occupation shaped the Kroot into the traditionalist, mercenary culture they have today.
Key facts
- Pech is the Kroot home world, also called the nest world, in the Ultima Segmentum.
- It has three main continents, the largest warm and temperate and covered in jagga trees.
- At least five Kroot hive cities exist as overgrown ruins after the species returned to traditional life.
- Anghkor Prok is buried at a carved jagga tree on Mount Kaikown, and the Oathstone on the Plain of Bones marks the Kroot pledge to the Tau.
- Orks occupied Pech until the Tau helped liberate it after ten years of fighting.
- The Dark Eldar raided Pech in 991.M41, and Hive Fleet Gorgon attacked it in 999.M41.
FAQ
Where is Pech?
Pech is in the Ultima Segmentum, in its own system, and it’s the Kroot home world. It’s affiliated with the Tau Empire.
Why do Kroot return to Pech?
Pech has an instinctive pull on the species. Most Kroot feel drawn to migrate there at least once, even if they were born on another planet.
What happened to the Kroot hive cities on Pech?
They were built during an expansionist phase after the Kroot absorbed Ork Mekboyz abilities. After the Orks were driven off, Anghkor Prok pushed for a return to old ways, so the cities were abandoned and the jungle took over.