Viacota Gai Zelem

## Viacota Venturous Gai Dertht Zelem

### Relatives

Father: Venturous Gladez Gai Nemora ZelemMother: Relakarissa Iridanous Gai Dertht Zelem Brothers: Vixous Venturous Gai Dertht Zelem, Vernar Venturous Gai Dertht Zelem

## Viacota Gai Zelem

His Sacred Harbinger, Supreme Commander of the Legionary Sacristy, Legate of the Immortal Sentinels of the Lord Knight of Heaven, Chapter Master of the Honorable Chantry, Honorary Archbishop of the Suron Palatinate and the Ultraverse Diocese, Sovereign Representative of the Great Lord Valeez, God of Heaven, Zyyntoria, and the Zyyntorean Laity, Emperor Apparent of the Holy Zyyntorean Empire, High Imperial Admiral of the Holy Imperial Navy, Sacred Host to the High Priest and the Missionary Cohorts, Ordained Priests and Seminary Dean of the See of Valeez, Capital Authority in the eyes of the Legion and the Monastery Bishopric Diocese, Chief Priest Officer of the Orders of Canticle Honor, Holy See, Seraphic Valor, Hymnal Canons, Palatous, Zelem, Honorable Chantry, Telei Dames, and Beneficent Ardor, and Honorable Member of the Laity, Legion, and Clergy of the Holy Zyyntorean Empire, Blessed be his name and all who hear it, Hail Valeez.

Viacota Venturous Gai Dertht Zelem, commonly referred to as the Harbinger Zelem, was a zyyntorean military and political leader and was almost unanimously recognized as one of the most honorable and skilled zyyntorean warriors in all of galactic history. Known for his spearheading of hundreds of military campaigns and wars, Zelem was already a legend before he even obtained the rank of Harbinger, serving dutifully in several wars and operations before his ascendance.

Beginning 4869 CE, Zelem was the longest reigning Harbinger in the zyyntorean’s known history and was generally considered by his peers and the imperial public as the best as well.

## History:

### Zelem Rises:

“Preceptor, this recruit wishes to fight and die for the Empire.”

* Zelem when asked by Senior Preceptor Galtaen on why he joined the Legion.

Born November 19, 2673 CE, Viacota Gai Zelem was born in the city of Vesporeae on Suron, one of the Holy Zyyntorean Empire’s most prosperous and holy worlds. Like his father and many men of the Empire, Zelem volunteered to join the Legions following his twentieth birthday, the legal age of physical maturity. By that point, Zelem was already a skilled swordsman, trained in the art of Victrix Gladanae by his father, who was a renowned swordsman himself within the Legions.

Upon recruitment, Zelem found himself along with a cohort of other recruits standing in a line awaiting the introduction of their Senior Preceptors, prepared to excel so he could better serve his people and the Empire. During training, Zelem went above and beyond the training, distinguishing himself as a natural leader and teacher to his fellow recruits during physical training and combat drills.

After four months of grueling training, Zelem and his peers were all tasked with the final test; beating their Senior Preceptors in single combat. Zelem volunteered first, challenging Preceptor Galtaen, who he had a tenuous rivalry with, to combat with training Gladanae. To Galtaen’s surprise, Zelem beat him almost instantly, knocking him to the ground within two minutes of fighting. Begrudgingly impressed, Galtaen congratulated Zelem, cementing him as an official legionnaire of Suron’s 5th Legion.

### The Twin Crusades:

“Face me, coward and accept your death with what little dignity your evil race has left!”

* Zelem challenging Joleg the Twin to a duel.

Zelem spent the first 9 years of his service without note, reaching the rank of Centurion and commanding the 10th Century of the 65th Sword Cohort, an all swordsman unit that worked in tandem with the 64th Lancer Cohort. As a Centurion, Zelem finally was given his first combat assignment. His cohort, along with five others, were tasked with dispatching an infamous pair of ayar warlords who had begun terrorizing the Jewel System, where the politically vital world of Jolothane was located. Zelem, as recommended by his Cohort’s Primus, Gurnious Gai Vaedrous, was tasked by the Legate to lead the initial charge into the ayar forces. The ayar, commanded by Joleg the Twin, had situated themselves on Jolothane’s largest moon, Garamantious.

As ordered, Zelem led the initial charge alongside the 7th and 3rd Centuries, drawing their blades and advancing boldly into the withering ayar fire. Zelem, in a decisive act, ordered that any soldiers who were seen being shot by corruptor weapons were to be euthanized on sight to keep their bodies pure of the taint of ayar technology. Sure enough, nearly half of the Century fell to the ayar, but nevertheless advanced into the catacombs of the massive factory that the synthes were defending.

Once inside, the labyrinth of metal and flesh became a bloodbath, with many zyyntorean warriors falling, though many of them died with piles of ayar synths beneath their corpses. While fighting, Zelem took a shot to his armor from an ayar disruptor, the bolt of corrosive liquid burning through his armor and eating at his flesh. Despite his grievous injury, Zelem pressed on, slashing through hundreds more ayar synthetics before he reached the inner sanctum of the factory. The chamber of metal was lined with spikes and robotic limbs, all attempting to extend and slay Zelem and his surviving brothers. Zelem boldly mocked Joleg, demanding that he face his death like a man than hide behind his metal traps and cannon fodder.

Sure enough, Joleg emerged, a horrible union of a durge, agthrarki, and zyyntorean. Disgusted by the perversion of living flesh, Zelem drew his sword, still gripping his burnt left side, and charged at the towering being, sliding between his legs and cutting one of them clean off. His brothers took it as a sign and also attacked, stabbing hundreds of blows into the warlord’s body until he started to beg for them to stop. Zelem ordered his men to stop, only to finish the warlord off by rending his head from his body before ripping out his synthetic heart and crushing it beneath his foot.

After the Battle of Garamantious, Zelem was put into intensive medical care to heal his wound, however he would not allow for it to fully heal until he knew the other warlord, Moleg the Other Twin, was killed. Choosing only to bandage the mark, Zelem joined his brothers in their assault on Moleg’s ship, the Twilight Destructor. Using embedding boarding pods, Zelem and the other cohorts valiantly fought through the expansive corridors of the massive ship, cutting down thousands of synths of all sizes. Upon reaching the central foundry, Zelem came face to face with Moleg, who was guarding himself with a detail of four Tyrannosaur Synths. Zelem and his own Primus, Gurnious, both drew their swords, agreeing to each take on two of the four Rexes. As the Rex made a swing at Zelem with its axe bladed hand, Zelem narrowly dodged it and cleaved it clean off, sending the beast in a roiling rage. The beast attempted to grip him in its jaws, but was slain after Zelem maneuvered around the bite and jammed his sword straight through its robotic eye socket, impaling its head and killing it.

While Gurnious dispatched the other synths, Zelem decisively slayed the last one, cutting off its head after it attempted to use it as a bludgeon. With his guards destroyed, Moleg was forced to engage Zelem and Gurnious, drawing his dual short-handled scythes. The duel was brief but brutal, with Zelem nearly dying after his wound was reopened by an incisive cut from Moleg’s weapons. However, before he could make the killing blow, Moleg was stabbed through the heart by Gurnious, distracting him long enough for Zelem to spring back to his feet and chop off the ayar’s head.

With both Twins killed, the zyyntorean fleet withdrew to Jolothanes surface to repair and heal. For his bravery in battle and as a reward for the wounds he suffered, Zelem was awarded the Order of Printarious, a prestigious award for those who were wounded in battle but continued to fight.

### Battle of Bythane:

“We are about to embark on a noble crusade, my brothers. I cannot promise that you all will live, but I can promise that by the end of this we will all live eternal by the side of Valeez in some way or another!”

* Zelem, now a Praefectus, to his men in the 1st Combined Infantry Brigade

In the two centuries that followed the Twin Crusade, Zelem spent his time rising in the ranks putting down rogue pirate bands and criminal gangs. By 2997 CE, he had become the Praefectus of the 1st Infantry Brigade, which was part of the greater 5th Suronith “Hunterkillers” Legion. Early in the year of 2997, Zelem’s entire Legion, along with the 10th Crystarian “Lightning Blades” and the 7th Vaxez “Headhunters,” were mustered to invade the ayar hive world of Bythane and its moon, Colai.

When the zyyntorean fleet, which included an Imperator Supercarrier known as the Reverence. The fleet began by relentlessly bombarding the ayar fleet, which was made up of thousands of ships. The Hunterkillers were sent in along with the Lightning Blades to board the ayar flagship belonging to Rennias the Greater.

Zelem led the first assault on the ship, called the Dread of Menlo, with his sword drawn, cutting down hundreds of synthes as his men carved a way towards the core of the ship, intending to detonate an Arc charge to destroy the ship along with hundreds of others, which would clear the way for the Reverence’s lightspeed missiles. After placing the charge, Zelem came face to face with Rennias, who had mustered up the courage to stop the zyyntoreans when he realized his soldiers had failed.

Rennias drew his sword, pulsating with raw plasma energy, gesturing obscenely for Zelem to fight him. Zelem charged without even drawing his blade, strafing to the side of the hulking monster before unsheathing his sword, cutting clean through Rennia’s right leg. Enraged, Rennias slashed at Zelem, scorching his armor but not puncturing it. Zelem, surprised that the swipe did not hurt him as badly as he thought it would. However, while he was knocked down, Rennias escaped, abandoning his ship to be destroyed along with most of his fleet.

Frustrated, but content that he had completed his mission, Zelem departed along with his men, detonating the Arc charge and wiping out the rest of the ayar fleet. With the fleet destroyed, the Reverence was able to launch its lightspeed missiles into Bythane, breaching its surface to make way for the rest of the zyyntorean fleet.

While within the maze-like hive of Bythane, which was a hollowed out gas giant, the zyyntoreans painstakingly fought for every inch of ground, slaughtering hundreds of ayar warlords in the first day of combat alone. The ayar became so desperate that they even began using their own people as soldiers rather than their synths, which were beginning to fall in numbers after several key foundries were destroyed.

Desperate to halt the zyyntorean advance, the ayar fired their Turbo Plasma Laser on Colai into the surface of Bythane, destroying several cohorts of zyyntorean warriors in an area known as the Steel Pocket.

With the pocket wiped out and with nearly a third of the Lightning Blades destroyed, Zelem was brought to the front lines to hold off the renewed ayar offensive while the 10th retreated. Zelem did so valiantly, leading his men in a countercharge that decimated the ayar forces, killing the warlord leading the assault, Berro the Resplendent. With the ayar attack halted, Zelem bought the zyyntoreans enough time to land on Colai and disable the TPL, taking control of it and using it against Bythane, firing multiple rounds into the breaches on the planet, destroying entire sectors of the planet’s many hives.

Zelem continued to fight on the world for several months, tirelessly holding back hundreds of hordes of ayar synthetics as they tried to puncture the zyyntorean battle line. The siege came to a climax with the Battle of Sevos Ra, where Zelem finally killed Rennias the Greater, effectively beating the ayar forces.

With their goal achieved, the zyyntoreans withdrew from Bythane, leaving it a shell of its former self as it collapsed into infighting as the ayar warlords attempted to fill the power vacuum left by Rennias’ death.

With the Bythinian Crusade a success, Zelem and his peer, Legate Vactous Gai Venturous of the Lightning Blades were both awarded the Legionary Service Medal for their participation in the battle.

### Battle of the Scintillan Crest:

“That Zelem, he is no man, he is the bane of all.”

* Sarcorn after retreating from the Battle of the Scintillan Crest.

In 3108 CE, Zelem had reached the rank of Tribunus, commanding the 64th Legionnaire Corps within the 5th Suron Legion. The Legionary Sacristy had learned of a collection of asteroid space stations that was being raided by a band of gorgon and stalaxian pirates. This string of stations, known as the Scintillan Crest, was a semi autonomous colony of the Drag Republics, and petitioned the zyyntoreans for aid against the pirates. As Suron was extremely close to the Crest, Zelem was tasked with leading the 64th in safeguarding the Crest from the pirates.

The pirates, led by a gorgon simply known as Sarcorn, were heavily armed, effectively a paramilitary rather than a simple pirate band. His pirates, known by the Scintillans as the Blue Shredders, first came in contact with Zelem when they attempted to raid the outermost station of Traelta Succor, an agricultural center that provided much of the Crest with its food rations. After taking over the Succor, Sarcorn’s lieutenant, a gorgon named Fui Sel Menshus, demanded that they pay 45 million standard credits in exchange for access to their food, unaware that Zelem and his corps was present.

Unwilling to deal with the pirates diplomatically, Zelem sent his detachment of SAR troopers, led by the Centurian Vendrezza Gai Jaluthi, to infiltrate the Succor and kill the pirates. The SAR did so expertly, killing all of the pirates without losing a single soldier. The loss of Menchus angered Sarcorn, who sent a fraction of his fleet to instead destroy the Succor. However, Zelem and his men were waiting, deploying anti-air plasma guns to shoot down any of his dropships carrying his men.

After his failed invasion, Sarcorn himself led the rest of his fleet to spread throughout the Scintillan Crest, killing hundreds of drag civilians and zyyntorean legionnaires. Zelem personally tracked Sarcorn down, following him to the main station known as Avis Relta. In the Battle of Avis Relta, Zelem and his soldiers battled through the arcologies of the station, killing thousands of Sarcorn’s heavily armed raiders before Zelem came face to face with the pirate lord. Sarcorn, in a stunning lack of courage, retreated, taking what remained of his fleet with him and retreating into space. Zelem stayed for another three weeks to ensure that Sarcorn would not return. When he was sure, he requested that the zyyntoreans deploy an Honor Chapter and arm the populace, forming the Scintillan Foreign Legion to defend the Crest, which still stands guard to this day, ever watchful of any who would attempt to raid it.

For his quick victory over the Blue Shredders, Zelem was awarded the Order of the Crimson Sword for his decisive leadership and skill under the stress of battle.

### The Crystal Wars:

“From now until the last day of the Empire, serve with me, my brothers, and we will purge the heresy of evil from the very core of the galaxy!”

* Zelem during the Battle of Zyyntorier

Zelem’s exploits in the Scintillan Crest and his dutiful service to the Empire earned him the rank of Legate by the time the war with the gorgons broke out. When the Crystal Wars began with the gorgon invasion of Suron, Zelem immediately rushed to the aid of the planet with the 5th Legion behind him. On the ground, Zelem personally defended villages from gorgon attack, slaying 30 in a single raid alone by himself. The battle of Suron came to a head at the Battle of Sparatous, which Zelem personally oversaw and faced off against the gorgon general Jei El Thornus.

Zelem personally led from the front, suffering alongside his men to defend his home planet from the invaders, eventually winning the battle and thus repelling them from the planet. With Suron secured for the time, Zelem and what remained of the 5th was mustered to assist Nova, which was invaded in late 3390 CE, when Zelem and his forces arrived, they easily repelled the gorgons, which in turn encouraged the Novan Republic to ally with the zyyntoreans and join the war effort in earnest.

The losses at Nova and Suron forced the hand of Vamzor, the leader of the gorgon forces. Thornus, Vamzor’s second-in-command and son led an invasion of the Cirrus Cluster, hoping to distract a large portion of the zyyntorean forces to prevent a counter invasion. The 5th Suron Legion and the 6th Tysorian were deployed to deal with the gorgons on Cirrus 5, which devolved from a lush jungle paradise into a brutal hellscape. Entire jungles were defoliated into twisting rows of trenches as the two sides monstrously ripped each other apart. Zelem ferociously led the Battle of Cirrus 5, taking acting control of the 6th Tysorian after its legate, Tortorous Gai Zaela was slain in the Battle of Pelatonn Springs.

Zelem came to his greatest challenge of the Cirrus 5 Campaign at the 2nd Battle of the Ferixous Line, during which he faced Inquisitor Thornus in single combat, eventually succeeding in slaying the gorgon general, cutting off his head and right arm. After the death of Thornus, Zelem’s forces began to steadily push back the gorgons.

### Earth:

“Rest your heads, tend to your wounded, the men of Zyyntore come to beat back the blasphemy that has tainted your lands.”

* Zelem to the Sol Confederacy after announcing the Empire’s involvement in the Plater War

### Harbinger:

“All that I have earned is a simple title before my name, I am still a man in service to the faith and our God. I will not compromise His Will or mine for the sake of politics, I am Harbinger!”

* Zelem to the High Priest following his coronation as Harbinger

### The Usurper War:

“They will be ground to dust beneath our boots, with only the ghosts of their tortured past left to mourn them, crush them!”

* Zelem during the Battle of Vaxez against Victus the Usurper

### War in the Traverse:

“We beat them once, and we’ll beat them again.”

* On the Gorgons after the Cajik Holocaust

### Purging the Zealots:

“The zyyntoreans come for us, surely we are lost.”

* Unknown Ckitlam Zealot

### The Slavers of the Alphaverse:

“The slaver scum have made the mistake of questioning our will, we will teach them.”

* Zelem on the Xamon Slaving Empire

### The Hateful War:

“Death is finally upon me, the Harbinger has come.”

* Darkhanus the Hateful after learning of Zelem’s arrival to the battle

### Crimes of Jansola:

“With this cleansing blade we will cut away the heresy of this verse, ensuring that the evils that lurk within its dark passages are finally exposed to the light of our justice.”

* Zelem on the Sollians

### Coastcaistio’s Penance:

“We will make your loss quick, for your people’s sake.”

* Zelem to the Prime Minister of the Drag Republics

### The Delta War:

“These zyyntoreans fight well, I will enjoy killing this ‘Zelem’”

* Étvác Vólóm on Zelem

### The Crakes:

“These demons are an abomination, and we will destroy every last bit of their taint from the whole of the galaxy. They are a plague, worse than spavac, they are pure evil manifested in a disheveled corpse, killing them is a service to themselves and the galaxy.”

* Zelem on the Crake Empire

## Personality and Traits:

Regarded by the galaxy as one of the most skilled warriors and military leaders in galactic history, Viacota Gai Zelem was well known for his personal honor and piety. His remarkable skill with a blade was unmatched by most everyone he fought, save for a few choice exceptions such as Étvác Vólóm, Kail De Sasheem, or Vir’Kon. However, Zelem was also known for his unbreakable will and confidence, and was undeniably extremely wise. Even when under the influence of gorgon and later crake torture, Zelem remained silent, and even as Harbinger was willing to give up his life without divulging any information.

This mental fortitude was thanks in part to his hobby of meditation, which he would do alongside sparring and prayer when he was not engaged in political meetings or warfare. As the Harbinger, he was an absurdly busy man, and had very little time to rest, sometimes going days without sleeping. He kept his mind sharp and at ease through meditation, a form of prayer that he learned from his early years as a legionnaire.

He would sit for hours at a time with his arms outstretched, holding his blade forward toward his personal shrine of Valeez, humming and mumbling prayers beseeching Valeez to grant him strength and nerve in the coming battle. As such, Zelem was an unfailingly humble individual, and gave his god all of the credit for his achievements, believing that Valeez was responsible for his success, whereas his failures were his own fault. Zelem held himself accountable for a great deal of things, and at times took personal responsibility for things that were out of his control, leading many to believe that he was overly solemn and at times insufferably penitent. As an officer in the legions, Zelem valued the lives of his men over his own, and on numerous occasions risked his life to save the lives of others, even fighting off enemies with one hand while his other carried a wounded comrade. Even as Harbinger this sense of duty to his men continued, and during campaigns he would eat with the legionnaires instead of his personal quarters, where he would drink and converse with them. This was one of the few times that he would drink, however, as he typically avoided doing so in the presence of higher ranking officers and allies to establish himself as a role model that avoided vices such as drinking or drug use.

As a fundamentally pious man, Zelem always sought the need to pray during campaign, and would even ask that his fellow generals would pray with him as they were drafting battle plans. The zyyntorean generals typically obliged, whereas others would politely humor him, almost out of fear of how he would react if they denied his request. Zelem also led prayer for his men, and would often read passages from the Script of Valeez from memory, reciting battle hymns and verses of heroic deeds to spur his men to do the same, further inspiring them further by leading from the front with his sword drawn, even as Harbinger.

As Harbinger, Zelem was tactically brilliant, and was renowned for his ability to break entire armies with his mere presence, carrying himself with an air of superiority and intimidation when on the battlefield. However, Zelem disliked this aspect of himself, and attempted to lessen tension around his peers and underlings when around them by telling jokes or making friendly conversation, though many still attested that this only made them fear him more. In his later life, Zelem leaned into the fear that surrounded him more when engaging in politics with the troublesome Baneful Ire or the Xamon Empire, though he still disliked it when people would suddenly stop talking and straighten up whenever he entered a room.

In his private life, Zelem never married, though this was primarily due to his life as the Harbinger, which forbade him from marriage or siring any children. A duty which Zelem fulfilled with purpose and enthusiasm. Oftentimes, his peers joked that Zelem need not worry about marrying a woman when he was already married to the Empire.

As a warrior and zealot by nature, Zelem, though presenting himself as humble when it came to his accomplishments, was extremely proud of his devotion and zeal in the name of the faith, and it was his one true wish that when he died, he not be remembered for his wars or his skill in battle, but his piety and honor in the name of his faith. As such, when he was asked about his job or his current military campaign, Zelem instead diverted the conversation to proselytize and draw attention to his religion, which in turn due to his popularity helped quite a deal in creating new converts to the faith, which was one of his ordained goals as Harbinger of the Holy Zyyntorean Empire.