Darius Versallez

Early Life

Born on Bradell’s World to a salt merchant, the second son of six siblings. Observing the local tradition of sending one child to serve the Ministorum, the planet’s ruling body, his father secured patronage from the Order of the Lantern Borne Aloft, a local sect of the Missionarus Galaxia whose primary tenets called for redemption through healing of body and soul. Darius studied at the scholam, learning of the Imperial Creed, its philosophies and teachings, before being moved to Hospital of the Saint’s Repose in the capital city. As an assistant for the senior physicians he practiced the fundamentals of corporal healing. For his work in aiding the recovery of Guard veterans injured during an Ork incursion, Darius was initiated as a fully-fledged Brother of the Order and Missionary of the Ecclesiarchy.

Though the Order of the Lantern first teaches its brothers and sisters how to teach and heal, the next stage of service is the development of techniques for persecuting of the enemies of the Imperium. Oratory techniques for persuasion and castigation are foremost amongst a missionary’s arsenal, and members of the Order must debate with senior priests in order to prove their ability to teach the Creed and convert unbelievers. Lastly, Brothers take up blades and train in the delivery of the Emperor’s final justice.

The Dolsene Conflagration

After the liberation of Surealis VI from the forces of Chaos, the planet’s population was subject to intense scrutiny by the Inquisition; however, a number of dangerous cultists escaped the purge. While they were eventually hunted down in the following years, a number of the cultists went to ground in the nearby Dolsene system. A highly militarised planet, it had raised a number of Guard regiments famous for fighting in the Black Crusades. The cultists subverted a martial lodge and turned its members into blood worshippers, spreading agents across the planet over the course of several months. Following a rapid series of assassinations that destabilised the local government, off-world support was requested in order to quash the growing anarchy. Imperial Guard regiments, including the Sameter 11thInfantry and Gudrunite 53rd Rifles, were deployed and became involved in a planet-wide scouring, culminating in a massive battle on the plains outside the fortress city of Dolsene Kappa. Darius joined hundreds of other members of the Ecclesiarchy dispatched to reaffirm the faith of the populace.

However, while the Guard were distracted fighting the bulk of the cultists outside the city, traitors stormed the Temple of the Emperor Ascendant and executed the resident Cardinal. Incensed at this unforgivable blasphemy, the surviving clergy rallied at the Administratum halls, calling upon the citizens to take up arms and join a Frateris Militia. A brutal street battle erupted between the traitors and the Milita, the faithful singing praises to the Emperor as they marched back towards the desecrated Temple. Darius walked at the forefront of rabble, directing the anger of the citizens towards a holy purpose, putting a score of heretics to death at the edge of his sword.

The Mission into the Triton Sector

The clergy of Dolsene recognised Darius’ purity of purpose in reclaiming the Temple, and commended his actions in a missive to the Order. The Order’s masters determined that Darius was fit to take on a much more challenging task: the establishment of a new outpost of the Missionarus Galaxia in the newly-discovered Triton Sector, deep in the Halo Stars. A host of other Missionaries, pathfinders, and Imperial envoys have been sent to the region as part of this initiative, but they have become scattered across a wide expanse due to the vagaries of warp travel. Darius has since joined the crew of the Wandering Son, a ship owned by a Rogue Trader who keeps his faith in the Emperor.

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