Antonidas

**Antonidas was** the First Captain of the Scions Hospitalier, and prior to the arrival of Pionus Santor, their Legion Master.

## The Spectre of Anatolia

Antonidas was recruited during the last decade of the Unification Wars, beginning his service as a Scout Marine in their first battle beyond the Sol System when his Legion were known as the Stygian Phantoms. Unusually for a warrior of the XIXth, Antonidas was taken from Anatolia rather than their usual recruiting ground of Marianna.

Three decades of war saw him ascend rapidly, despite a temperament which ran counter to the growing arrogance and exceptionalism among the Phantoms. Antonidas had the support of a vocal minority within the Legion who feared their unusually high attrition rate would have dire repercussions in the future. Those who opposed him were confronted with the simple fact that Antonidas was now unmatched as a commander among the Phantoms.

Just over thirty years after his ascension, Antonidas was Legion Master, and he worked hard to curb some of their excesses and yoke them back to the economical ways of the old Mariannan assassins. However, he met stubborn resistance from many of his captains. Despite their stable gene-seed, their numbers fluctuated, narrowly avoiding total disaster at Sulairn and losing over 10,000 warriors. Consequently, the Phantoms remained one of the smallest Legions for decades.

## First Captain

Primarch and Legion Master found themselves of common purpose, seeking to undo the flaws in their Legion. Finally the XIX, now known as the Scions Hospitalier, took their place in the front rank of the Legion. Ironically, it was Antonidas who ensured that something of the old Phantoms remained, both in name and appearance, in the Legion's elite body of assault marines. As Chapters were transmuted into more flexible Battalions, Antonidas exchanged his old title for that of First Captain.

Often leading detachments independently of his Primarch, Antonidas continued to build an enviable reputation both as a warrior and commander, earning admiration from some quarters and antipathy from others for his unbending honour. He took on Metis Odyssalas, a young Scion, as a protege after one battle, tutoring him in the arts of command.

While he made enemies in the Berserkers of Uran along with the rest of his Legion, it was with the XX that Antonidas had the worst relations. The Ebon Blades had a bloody history of ill discipline and excessive violence, and Antonidas was one of those who made his contempt for their methods clear. Matters came to a head with the Ulgion Rebellion, in which the Scions were forced to confront their cousins to protect civilian lives. Kallast, Legion Master of the XX, insulted Antonidas and challenged him to a lethal duel. Accepting the risk to his own life, Antonidas fought and killed his opposite number. However, he took no pride in his victory, and ever after he deemed the act of kinslaying to be a profound stain on his honour.

Greater deeds came with the Qarith Crusade, in which Antonidas was the first to discover the true, once-human nature of these vile xenos. He fought in the climactic battles on their homeworld, and was present at the momentous Qarith Triumph and Vizenko Prosecution.

## The Insurrection

When the Day of Revelation dawned, Antonidas was far from the side of his Primarch. An ambush was laid for him, but the First Captain fought his way clear, and would make the Insurrectionists rue their failure to kill him.

## Wargear

* ***Hoarfrost*** - a unique relic blade, Antonidas wielded this weapon in conjunction with a curved Mariannan dagger when duelling

 Domains