When Agrippa Teff, Herod's great, great, grandfather, was leader of the Royal Guard, a terrible event occurred which would falsely tarnish the family's honor, and cause a hatred that lasts until this day. In Agrippa's time, rumors were abounding of strange noises, screams, and lights coming from the highest pinnacle of the Grand Palaces' spire. Agrippa, the leader of the High Guard, held his curiosity and did not investigate the matters of the King's private life, or his inner sanctum, where none but the King and his family could go.
The King was known to be rather unhelpful to most Imperial officials who looked for his aid, but that was just seen as bitterness on his family's part about the Imperium controlling the planet. On one occasion, the King was charged with treason for failing to act on news of a Space Hulk appearing in the sector, which ended up unleashing a chaotic horde in a nearby system. All charges were dropped when documents showing the monitoring system had been down were revealed, but some people were still suspicious.

The rumors continued to circulate, until one night in the height of winter, there was a security breach in the palace defenses, of what was believed to be an assassin. To protect the King and his family, and help them escape to safety, Agrippa and a few chosen Guards entered the high spire. When they reached the pinnacle, they were shocked and disgusted by what they found. The Kings family kneeling before a carved obsidian altar, pulsing with black energy, on which was tied a young girl. The King stood behind the altar, a black dagger raised above his head, chanting blasphemous rites in a hollow voice which chilled Agrippa to the bone. Above the King rose a statue of an eyeless, tentacled daemon.

Realizing then what the noises in the night had been, he ordered his men to detain the Royal Family. When they did not respond, and leveled all of their weapons at him, he new there was something wrong, and saw that the Kings past behavior was explained by his secret worship of the dark gods of chaos, and that his fellow Guardians had been seduced by the whisperings of chaos as well. Despair took him, as he saw his whole world crumble around him. He was falsely charged with treachery, and was sent to be imprisoned. On the way to the palaces sell block, Agrippa managed to fool his guards and slay them. He made his way as quickly and discreetly as he could to his quarters. He arrived to find his wife killed, set up to look like a murder on Agrippa's part, and his four year old son, shaking with fear in a hidden corner of the apartment.

Knowing he could do nothing now to avenge his wife or restore his family's honour, he fled, stealing an Imperial Shuttle, taking him and his son and going renegade. He vowed that either he or one of his descendants would return to Malastorne, restore his family's honor, and avenge his wife's death, by killing Claudius and his progeny, and restoring a truly loyal Imperial Lord. He changed his identity so he couldn't be tracked, and became a Bounty Hunter, using his combat and hunting skills to become one of the most feared Bounty Hunters in Segmentum Obscurus. Whenever the name Teff was mentioned, it inspired fear in all those who had wronged someone enough to expect revenge. Teff was ruthless in his work, and would hunt relentlessly, never giving up on a chase. His son became his apprentice, and took the same oath that his father had.

Four generations on, Herod Teff is now the inheritor of this terrible legacy. The name Teff still inspires dread, and stories the date back past the memory of most who could remember when they started. He has gained legendary status in some places because he 'just doesn't die'. Only Herod knows the truth.

Herod Teff: The time has come
Herod Teff has indeed made a mark for himself, capturing many enemies of the Imperium, such as Siles Hernod the Pirate scourge of Gethsemane, and Vagkot-def-srekyon, the alien smuggler. Herod also used to take jobs from assorted gangsters and crime lords, when the offer was high enough. Herod took on the Guise of the bounty hunter eight years ago, when his father was killed on the hunt.