Lord-Inquisitor Magnus
The Eye of Terror is the biggest region of warp-realspace interlap but it is by no means the only one. In the galactic south lies the Maelstrom, another such region where the warp spills over into the material realm. On the very edge of the Maelstrom lies the fortress-world of Magnamund. Due to its close proximity to the Maelstrom, daemons manifest easily and more psykers are born there than almost any other world in the Imperium.
Strangely, apart from this, there are no more degenerate mutant births than anywhere else. Imperial Scholars speculate that this is due to the strange Eldar way-stones that are scattered across the planet. Magnamund was once an Eldar maiden world but was abandoned millennia ago when the first warp-rift opened. The people of Magnamund are a warrior culture, every last one of them are trained to combat daemonic incursions whether in hand to hand combat or in the realm of psychic mastery. Their minds and souls are hardened against the horrors of Chaos and they are fearless in battle.
As such they provide an excellent recruiting ground for the Grey Knights, their natural resilience against the daemonic, prepares them for the harsh rituals of initiation. It was into this world that Magnus was born, the eldest son of the Battle King of Magnamund who also functions as the Imperial Governor. From young he displayed a talent in swordsmanship and his latent psychic powers soon became apparent. Trained in the way of the sword by the Weaponmasters of Durenor and to harness his powers by the Battle-psykers of Sommerlund, he grew to be a formidable opponent who would frequently lead armies to combat daemonic incursions.
At eighteen his path to become the future Battle King seemed assured. All this changed soon when the great Inquisitor Lord Vashna arrived on Magnamund seeking the Staff of Aurenacht, an artefact that was said to be able to quell the warp, closing warp-rifts. Lord Vashnas retinue were attacked en-route and his men were slaughtered, the great Inquisitor would have perished too had Magnus not arrived with a force of men, driving the daemons off. Recognising his great potential, Lord Vashna, upon completion of his quest decided to recruit Magnus to replace his Acolyte who was killed in the attack. Leaving the throne to his younger brother and sister, he set upon his first step in his Inquisitorial vocation.
Lord-Inquisitor Magnus (Part II)
Recently apprenticed to the great Inquisitor Lord Vashna, Magnus was tutored in all the skills of an Inquisitor and his formidable master honed his latent psychic powers. Lord Vashna was a Thorian Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus and under his tutelage, Magnus who had battled daemons so often in his life seemed set to join him there. In battle Magnus wielded the Greatsword Anaris crafted in the forges of Durenor on his homeworld, It was a formidable weapon, four feet of gleaming mag-steel, double edged and razor-sharp.
His master presented him with an ornate psycannon by to aid in the vanquishing of the daemonic. With his new Acolyte, Lord Vashna carried on with his great works, destroying the forces of Chaos wherever they were found. This continued for four years. Then, just before Lord Vashna was due to support Magnus' petition to be promoted to full Inquisitor, tragedy struck. On the world of Davin, they were investigating a cult suspected of worshipping the dark gods of Chaos. As they entered the cult fastness rooted high in the Myoo Mountains, they were beset on all sides by cultists and mutants. Fighting their way to the heart of the cult sanctum, only the two of them were left from a retinue of twenty, their bodies awash with gore.
There a Space Marine of the corrupt and damned Astartes confronted them, a Chaplain of the Word Bearers, spreading the corruption of Chaos wherever he went. At his command, more cultists appeared, daemons sprung from the warp baying savagely. Lord Vashna was intent on confronting the abomination personally, vowing to destroy this blasphemy utterly. He stormed through the fray; his power hammer was a thunderbolt smashing any that got in his way, destroying those nearby with flickering warp energies and his armour turning away the blows of his enemies. Magnus was barely able to keep up, hewing left and right with Anaris, guarding his masters back. Just as they reached the raised dias where the chaplain stood, a new wave of daemons burst from the warp and descended upon him. Cut off, he could only watch helplessly as his master stood alone against the marine.
They traded heavy blows, Vashnas psychic attacks nullified by the tremendous psychic capacity of the chaplain. Vashna was a formidable opponent, but weakened from his earlier struggles he could barely defend himself against his foes attacks. All the while, Magnus fought the daemons, trying to cut his way to his masters side, but the foe were too numerous. Then Vashna fell, a blow from the Crozius staving in his chest plate.
He felt his doom come upon as the Crozius rose a second time. Magnus felt the power of death laden in the weapon and desperately fought with renewed savagery, but with every foe that fell, another took its place and it seemed that he too would be overwhelmed. Knowing his death approached, Lord Vashna summoned up the last reserves of his power, teleporting Magnus safely away from the temple and relaying a last telepathic message into his mind; "Go, become a full Inquisitor". "After you are fully prepared, come and claim vengeance on this chaos filth, claim the armour of Helshezag." Swearing vengeance, Magnus returned to his masters Orion gunship, setting course for distant Terra, and the Inquisitorial conclave, where he would be judged for his promotion to Inquisitor.
Lord-Inquisitor Magnus (part III)
Fully ordained as an Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus, Magnus set upon his task with grim efficiency. Unlike his puritan master, Magnus' beliefs leaned more towards Xanthism. Thus he set about cleansing the worlds of the Donorian sector of the taint of Chaos, destroying Chaos cults and rooting out heretical elements. He would use any artefacts he found, studying them to better understand Chaos. All this time he did not forget his master's killer and his oath of vengeance.
He bided his time, preparing for the confrontation. He learned more about Morgrim Doomblade, the Chaos Chaplain who slew his master. Finally, he assembled a force of warriors, and with them by his side he descended upon the Chaos temple with fire and sword. At the heart of the temple, he found the armour of Helshezag, and standing over it was the object of his vengeance. The battle between the two was titanic, pitting the superhuman strength of the Chaplain against Magnus' puissant skill and unwavering hatred. Eventually Magnus was victorious, though he sustained grievous injuries in the process. Thus the armour of Helshezag was recovered, an ancient suit of ceramite armour that was handed down from master to pupil over generations.
After this, Magnus resumed his normal duties, gaining great renown through his many exploits. He burned the daemons out of Mount Amalath and uncovered a Tzeentch coven on the shrine world of Gathalamor, putting them all to the sword. His knowledge of Chaos grew and he used this knowledge to aid him in his fight against the outerdark. On the world of Na'roth, he fought the exalted daemon Kraagenskull, a being of tremendous power that had enslaved the entire population and sacrificed them to the Dark Lords of Chaos.
In the apocalyptic combat, Anaris was broken even as Magnus struck his deathblow. Not content with the Daemons' banishment, Magnus summoned forth its spirit from the warp and attempted to imprison it in a blade had specially made by the warsmiths of the Adeptus Mechanicus. The mighty banesword was formed from a solid adamantium core, the folded mag-steel skin around it was beaten and folded twelve-hundred times using nano-precision technology unmatched to this day. Pentagrammic runes were inscribed on each side, made from Nyaxator, a psycho-absorbent crystal that contained drops of his own blood. Even with all his preparations, only a part of the daemons essence could be bound into it, its full power too much even for him to contain.
He still searches for ways of achieving greater strength so that he might wield the whole of the daemons power. He is currently scouring the region around the Eye of Terror in preparation for the Black Crusade that is forming there.
Interrogator Jenna, Inquisitor Acolyte
Born the youngest child of the Viscount of Praxis, Jenna suffered from an extremely rare genetic defect. Though no one knew it at that time, she was an untouchable; a person with no existence in warp-space, a psychic blank. Despite her beauty, people would always feel uncomfortable around her without knowing exactly why. The court psykers and astropaths avoided her as much as possible, they being especially affected by her.
So she lived her life not quite knowing the reason why people avoided her so much and felt uncomfortable in her presence. All this was to change one day however. A cult of Tzeentch had been formed amongst some of the other planetary nobles; they yearned for power over their station and planned to take control of the government without force which would have alerted the Imperium. They had Jenna kidnapped, to blackmail the Viscount and also to study her strange powers. The Viscount was helpless to do anything and could only follow the orders of the cult, in effect being their puppet.
Fortunately, a Black Ship performing a psychic levy of Praxis was in system and travelling with it was Inquisitor Magnus and his retinue. By chance he uncovered the cult when investigating the reports of missing psykers. Wasting no time, he descended upon the coven, putting all of them to the sword. There he discovered the young untouchable, bound upon a Chaos icon. Recognising in her talents that he could use, he asked her to join his warband.
For the first time, she had found someone who was willing to disregard her shortcomings, instead seeing the good in her. For his part, Magnus felt strangely attracted to the young untouchable despite being a psyker. So she left her normal life behind, vowing to fight the darkness that had threatened her home once. Seeing her determination and willingness to learn, Magnus took it upon himself to train her as his apprentice, tutoring her in the ways of an Inquisitor.
Her innate talents have proven decisive in many occasions. After the part she played in the defeat of the Tzeentchian daemon prince Ixiataaga, Magnus had his old weapon Anaris reforged and presented to her. Her skills also thwarted a group of renegade tech-priests who were trying to psychically control Titans in the forge world of Reeza. In gratitude for this, the Master of the Forge Heironymous Land handcrafted for her a suit of ceramite armour of silver and bronze, calling upon the Machine God to protect this guardian of the machine. Till this day she follows Magnus on his quests, little knowing that the feelings she feels for him are mirrored in his soul.
Xeno-Magos Arkhan of the Adeptus Mechanicus
Magos Arkhan was inducted into the priesthood of Mars at the age of eighteen. He was first apprenticed to the mettalurgy labs, learning the secrets of metalworking and forgework. There he also learned the arts of a biologis and genetor, skills that would change the course of his life in the near future. In his late fifties he was transferred to the Titan forges of Mars where he partook of the knowledge in construction of the massive war-machines.
In his first century he became a warpsmith in the shipyards of Cypra Mundi, building and designing warp-engines and geller fields, which are so critical to interstellar travel. A century later, his hunger for knowledge unsated, he ventured out to study the various alien races, gaining a reputation as an expert in that field. He accompanied a Deathwatch assault into one of the Necron tomb-complexes, an assault that led to the destruction of the complex. He sustained horrific injuries to his upper body from the Necron weaponry as well as wounds sustained in close combat with one of the leaders of the Necrons. He would have died there and then if not for Magnus who was one of the accompanying Inquisitors, pulling his battered form out as the Deathwatch made a fighting retreat.
His wounds were grave, almost every inch of skin being flayed from his torso. He ordered the implantation of bionics that echoed the appearance of the Necron warriors that did this to him, his right arm which was severed, was replaced by a captured gauss flayer. His appearance is chilling, His mechanical body showing no hint of emotion, his eyes two blazing points of light. He decided to continue his work aiding Magnus, considering it repayment for him saving his life. The Magos talents have indeed proven useful, aiding in the crushing of several alien cults and maintaining his comrades arms and armour. He remains a trusted friend and ally to this day.
Battle Brother Haephasto of the Grey Knights
Battle Brother Haephasto was born on the hiveworld Corsica in late M41. At a young age he was recruited into one of the hiveworld gangs known as the Vipers of Anroth. A warrior born, his natural skill and ferocity in combat led him to rise through the ranks quickly and at a young age earned him the grudging respect of his foes. The day he was taken by the Grey Knights started like most others for him, incessant conflict, a rival gang attacked his gang but they could not stand up to his ferocity and fled. Eager for combat, he and his friends gave chase. Little did they know that their rivals were part of a Chaos cult that was planning to overthrow the planet by opening a rift into the warp, enabling warp entities access to the material realm.
The Imperial governor had known about this and sent for assistance from the Inquisition. A force of Grey Knights was dispatched to handle the impending crisis. As soon as they arrived they started taking apart the cult fastness, tracing their way to the heart of the corruption. They would have been too late had the Vipers not followed the routed cultists to their master, disrupting the ritual. As it turned out, the rift was never opened. Haephasto, leading the Vipers struck intending to find weapons or valuables, instead they were plunged into the middle of a cult gathering. Undaunted, Haephasto charged in and spurred on by his example, the Vipers followed him too.
Haephasto slew the Magus in hand to hand combat but took mortal wounds to the fight. All the Vipers gave up their lives, unknowingly their sacrifice averted catastrophe. The Grey Knights found Haephasto lying atop a mound of corpses, transfixed by the Magus' blade. Recognising his valour, they took him back to their ship; their apothecaries brought him back from the brink of death. After returning to Titan, they subjected him and a few other recruits to the rituals and trials needed to become a Grey Knight space marine. He alone survived out of twenty aspirants. His training complete, he joined the second company where he served for fifty years.
As news of a Black Crusade forming in the Eye of Terror, nearly the entire chapter was dispatched to the Cadian Gate, Brother Haephasto amongst them. With the rise of recidivist elements that always presaged such Black Crusades, many Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus requested for Grey Knights to be assigned to them. Brother Haephasto was assigned to the retinue of Lord-Inquisitor Magnus who had fought alongside their Chapter Master in the Carssidian campaign. Thus did their fates become entwined, Brother Haephasto sometimes silently questioning Magnus' radical ways but always putting faith in his Chapter Masters decision to assign him. He is nevertheless an essential part of Magnus' retinue.
