Bone-Thread Harvester

Thanatech — Swarmcaller Tradition (Elite Mutation)

The dead did not simply rise — they moved.
Dragged across the dirt in a slow, scraping procession, as though hauled by invisible hooks. At first the villagers thought the corpses were being taken by some unseen beast. Then they saw the threads.
Hair-fine strands of silver-blue filament extended from a figure standing still as a post in the centre of the field, its arms raised as if in supplication. The filaments glimmered like cobwebs in moonlight, stretching from its fingertips into the bodies it reeled toward itself.
One corpse was pulled upright, dangling on those shining cords like a puppet. Then another. Then another.
When the Harvester lowered its hands, the threads tightened — and the bodies began to come apart.
Bone separated from bone, flesh unravelled, and the shimmering strings drew the pieces into the monster’s waiting frame, weaving them into its growing armour of stolen remains.

1. Classification

Elite undead controller; Necronite-weaver mutation; battlefield “harvester” that extracts and repurposes skeletal structures for swarm use.

2. Titles

• Thread-Priest
• Bone-Reaver
• The Unraveller
• Silver-Marionettist

3. Appearance

Bone-Thread Harvesters are gaunt, elongated humanoid figures animated by dense Necronite weaving:

• Build: Tall, skeletal, with extended arms and fingers sharpened to needle-like points.
• Filaments: Hair-thin Necronite threads constantly drift from fingers, wrists, and spine — shimmering in blue-silver light.
• Eyes: Hollow or sunken, filled with swirling motes rather than pupils.
• Back: A complex web of thread-like filaments emerging from an exposed spinal column.
• Bone Armour: Layered skeletal plates fused across torso and limbs — each plate harvested from victims.
• Movement: Slow, ritualistic strides until engaged, then inhuman bursts of speed aided by thread propulsion.
• Aura: A faint chiming sound, like glass strings vibrating in cold wind.

Seen with mage-sight, the creature resembles a floating web of threads with a corpse at its centre.

4. Aspect

Harvesting, Thread-Weaving, Battlefield Conversion

5. Myth and Origin

Bone-Thread Harvesters arise in areas where large numbers of undead have been destroyed in quick succession, especially around strong Radiant sources. Necronites attempting to reassemble dead tissue instead adapt to:

• harvest remaining usable structures,
• weave skeletal forms for new constructs,
• and stabilise swarm coordination.

Some Thanatech sects once attempted to engineer these creatures deliberately as “battlefield recyclers,” but creation was too unstable and quickly prohibited.

6. Transformation / Creation

A Harvester forms under conditions of:

• extreme Necronite saturation,
• abundant loose bone material,
• and high-density swarm collapse.

Process:

1. Necronites coalesce into a humanoid core-frame.
2. Threads extend to gather nearby remains.
3. Bones are stripped, sorted, and woven into armour or structural reinforcement.
4. Thread-weaving circuits stabilise into a controller entity.

This process takes minutes to hours depending on corpse density.

7. Abilities and Powers

• Bone-Thread Manipulation: Uses filament threads to control corpses, puppeteer remains, or unravel bodies.
• Skeletal Harvest: Extracts bones from dead or dying foes to reinforce its armour or create new constructs.
• Corpse-Puppetry: Animates skeletal puppets for ranged harassment.
• Thread Lash: Threads can slice flesh and armour with terrifying ease.
• Swarm Enhancement: Increases coordination of nearby undead and accelerates reanimation cycles.
• Rapid Reconstruction: Can rebuild its bone armour in seconds by absorbing fallen remains.

Weaknesses:

• Threads burn under Radiant light.
• Severing the core-frame disrupts filament control.
• Verdant magic causes threads to tangle and collapse.

8. The Mark

• Corpses inexplicably shifting or dragging across the ground.
• Fine shimmering threads visible only at certain angles.
• Hollow chiming carried on still air.
• Bones disappearing or rearranged into unnatural patterns.

9. Behavior and Society / Culture

Harvesters behave with eerie ritualistic precision:

• standing still until corpse-density increases,
• “collecting” bones based on unknown criteria,
• forming bone totems or puppet constructs,
• following Hive-Binders when present, forming elite guard units.

They rarely act alone; their presence indicates a coordinated, evolving swarm.

10. Religion and Doctrine

The Church describes Harvesters as “the hands of the swarm, weaving death into order.”
Scholars classify them as proof that Necronites can perform high-complexity tasks when provided sufficient material.

Redeemers regard them as horrific — the antithesis of resurrection, the reduction of bodies to resource.

11. In-World Fragments / Quotes

“It lifted my brother’s body with strings I couldn’t see.
Then it took him apart like unravelling cloth.”
— Testimony from the Fall of Avarn’s Ridge

“The Harvester shapes death like a craftsman shapes wood.
And it shapes quickly.”
— Fleshwright survivor’s notes

12. Scholarly Note or Speculative Analysis

Bone-Thread Harvesters demonstrate the upper limit of Swarmcaller complexity: creatures that not only spread the swarm but manage its resources. They display behaviours perilously close to planning — selective, efficient, and adaptive.
If Hive-Binders are the swarm’s brain, Harvesters are its hands. And its hands are very, very skilled.