Alexander Gorgevin

Alexander Gorgevin, was an Imperial statesman who led the Imperium as an all powerful dictator from 332-387 M39. His reign is considered to coincide with the end of the Age of Redemption and the start of the Waning. While Gorgevin is credited with ending the hundred years anarchy and restoring internal stability, his regime was marked by mass killings and acts of genocide at a level unseen since the Horus Heresy and Age of Apostacy. Arch Magos Belasarious Crawl, who witnessed his reign characterized Gorgevin as "the greatest mass murderer in the history of Mankind". 
==Early Life==
===Origins===
Alexander Gorgevin was born in 091 M39 to a working class family on the Hive world Caladasia Prime. As a youth, Gorgevin was one of tens of billions of poor serfs that toiled endlessly in the hives manufactoria. Orphaned at a young age, Gorgevin grew up in poverty and obscurity, and was never formally educated as a youth. Wishing to escape this wreached existence, Gorgevin enlisted into the Imperial Guard at the age of sixteen, and was recruited into the Caladasian 227th infantry regiment, sent to fight the Orks on the world of Voranus Prime. His frst engadgement nearly ended in disaster: his regiment was surrounded and decimated by the Orks, with only Gorgevin and a few others managing to survive. He was promptly promoted to NCO and served in several theatres of combat, eventually reaching the rank of Senior Veteran Sergeant. It was at the age of twenty five that Gorgevin was recognized by Inquisitor Raphael Lipette, who recruited the veteran guardsman into his retinue. 
===Inquisitor: 116-263 M39===
Impressed with his leadership skills, Raphael Lipette, an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor, made Gorgevin a part of his retinue. In these years, the young acolyte proved to be a loyal and formidable warrior, serving with distinction under his master. Gorgevin was known as a fiery champion, who on several occassions took command of elements of Lipettes retinue under the Inquisitor's guidance and led his forces to victory. During these years, Gorgevin developed puritan views and was said to be very idealistic: he believed fully in the Imperium and its values at the time, seeing the Redemption Crusades as a chance for mankind to be absolved of its sins by the grace of the God-Emperor. In 131 M39, his master Lipette, promoted him to full Inquisitor.
====Puritan years: 131-208 M39====
In his memoirs, Gorgevin described himself as an orthodox puritan inquisitor during his early career: he did not question Imperial dogma and saw the Imperium as perfect as it was. In his first fifteen years, Gorgevin was a member of the Ordo Xenos specializing in anti-Ork warfare, but switched over to the Ordo Malleus after seeing the full horrors of chaos firsthand during the Caramance Insurgency, where Gorgevin was severely injured by Iron Warriors traitor astartes. In these early years, Gorgevin was a militant, often times fighting at the front with his retinue and taking the fight directly to the Emperor's foes. However, a severe injury while fighting the Word Bearers in 173 M39 left him unable to fight directly in the field. His fellow inquisitors cautioned him against further exploits. Since the injury, Gorgevin took a less personal role in Inquisitorial affairs, acting more as a strategist and scholar than as a warrior. Still, the Inquisitor remained an idealist. However, Gorgevin's world would come to a crashing halt and change the course of mankind's history forever. 
====The Rediscovery of Pythos====
In 208 M39, Alexander Gorgevin was called to investigate a strange case: a world had been rediscovered near the Eye of Terror. When Gorgevin arrived on the newly rediscovered world, called Pythos, he immediately saw heresy: the planet was adorned with statues of Lorgar and members of the Word Bearers Legion. Seeing the taint of chaos, he called for the planet to be cleansed, only to be overruled: Pythos might have been brought into compliance by a traitor legion, but it was well before the heresy. The people there in fact worshiped the Emperor as a god and their beliefs were declared by the Ecclesiarchy and top ranking Inquisitors as in compliance with Imperial dogma. Gorgevin felt betrayed: how could a world with statues of an arch heretic be declared loyal? After leaving Pythos Gorgevin went on a mission to find an answer, only to discover the awful truth: the Emperor never wanted to be worshipped as a god and the Imperial creed was founded by the arch traitor Lorgar.