Castomar Zuran

Castomar Zuran

## History

### Origins and Great Crusade

Born in the Delchonian region of Olympia prior to the Emperor's arrival, Castomar would be among the first generation of Olympians to be inducted into the IV Legion. His early career in the Legion would be turbulent, as Castomar was plagued with accusations of insubordination. As a punishment, Castomar was assigned to a Destroyer squad throughout the early stages of the Great Crusade. The time spent among the Destroyers promoted two traits in Castomar, first to hide his rage and bitterness until an opportunity presented itself. Second was a love for the more exotic and destructive weapons in the Legion's arsenal.

While the few decades among the Destroyers took a heavy toll on Castomar's body, dutiful service would eventually earn him a transfer back to the main Legion in the 38th Grand Battalion. Within this Grand Battalion, Castomar became involved with the Lyssatra society, joining the Brethren of Thunder in their pursuit of developing ever more dangerous weapons. Here he developed a love for the forge and weapon crafting, which would finally see Castomar rise out of the ranks of the common warriors, and become a specialist of the Legion.

### Horus Heresy & The Scouring

During the Horus Heresy, Castomar served with the main force of the Iron warriors, participating in the Dropsite Massacre, the Battle of Phall, and the Siege of Terra. During the Heresy, Castomar began tampering with the Warp sooner than most of his Legion. Castomar was convinced that there was a science behind the operation of the Warp, and that if an individual were to understand it, they could control it. To the modern day, Castomar maintains mountains of manuscripts on demonology and sorcery, in an endless mission to convert all the knowledge of the Warp into a logical rulebook. His end goal to be able to use demons as a resource like iron or steel.

### Joining the Foretoken

While Castomar still considers himself an Iron Warrior at heart, he grew frustrated with his Grand Battalion's inaction. His warsmith preferred loitering on Medrengard, ebdlessly reinforcing the Battalion fortress. Wanting to strike at the Imperium more directly, Castomar left to seek out the Foretoken.

Castomar's endless search for daemonic lore turned up other tales as well, and he had heard of the organization through his web of informants. Seeking out the Foretoken, Castomar faced the same initiation challenge as any other, slaying a chimera.

Castomar's hunt was unorthodox. Rather than stalk the beast, he dug pits by hand, laid traps, and stripped his weapons to present himself as weak prey. When a chimera finally came for him, stakes, snares and pits harrased and trapped the beast. With the monster cornered, Castomar calmly gathered his weapons, and put the beast down, claiming a long, braided lock of its fur as his trophy.

At the time of his induction Castomar was one of the most senior warpsmiths in the Foretoken. His advancement to Lord Smith was rapid, and it is a post he has jealously guarded since.

## Appearance

Castomar is tall and broad like most Astartes. His bearded face bears tattooed whorls, an indicator of his Delchonian heritage. His skin is a sickly, pallid pale, crossed by shock blue veins, a relic of his time in the Destroyers.

Castomar's Battle gear is a blend of ancient 'Iron' pattern and more modern 'Errant' pattern armor. His plate is never polished, but always expertly maintained. The one exception to the dull appearance of his wargear is a shimmering cape of steel sclales, occasionally appearing almost iridescent.

## Personality

When most look upon Castomar, they see a calm, logicall man with a slightly concerning obsession with 'cracking the code' of the Warp as he crafts weapons and binds demons. Those that have observed him long enough know that his stoic demeanor hides a long simmering hatred for all that even slightly irritates him. This bitter hate manifests most often in Castomar spitefully inconveniencing anyone that has annoyed him when they require his services, and a smug air. In rare but terrifying instances, Castomar's rage has boiled over, leading to explosive, violent outbursts that and maimed and killed several over the centuries.

## Abilities and Traits

Castomar is a skilled weapon smith at his core, crafting fine bolters and blades, but also keen on experimenting with binding demons to his weapons. Castomar's skill at finely tuning deamon weapons has earned him particular renown, not just for the power of his weapons, but their relative stability. Castomar considers himself an expert at shackling deamons, and while he admits symbiosis makes for the greatest weapons, he trusts no deamon, and thus does not trust to make such an item.

In personal combat Castomar is a close range brawler, lashing out with axe and blade in a terrifying storm of blows. His time in the Destroyers ingrained in him the importance of always moving. When Castomar dashes to an enemy, he always seeks to overpower their defenses as quickly as possible with rapid attacks, letting the neverborn in his weapons grant his quick strikes unnatural power. This flurry of action feeds movement to his rippling scale cloak, which can daze an unfocused mind, and when outnumbered, he uses a toxic wrist-flamer to thin herds of enemy warriors.

## Mutations

Castomar abhors mutation in any form. He had his arms removed millenia ago as mutation set in, and routinely replaces the bionics as Warp-taint seeps into them.

## Equipment

### Armour

Castomar wears a suit of custom artificer plate, and a rippling steel-scale cloak possessed by a daemon of Slaanesh. The reflective hues of the cloak while it is in motion can daze an unfocused foe.

### Used Weapons

Castomar wields an axe possessed by a daemon of Khorne, a hammer possessed by a daemon of Tzeentch, and a wrist flamer, possessed by a daemon of Nurgle

## Quotes

### By:

" *Did you know that even the date of one's birth has ritual significance in a sacrifice? What stars were brightest at the time can call one neverborn, or repell another, even if only by the smallest margin. Nevertheless that margin can make a shell fired by a possessed bolter skip off a pauldron or sunder it. If that is not sufficient reason to leave me alone in my work then I will add; I know the birth stars of every warrior here, and what neverborn you could help me call...*"
— Lord Smith Zuran to an impatient champion
### About:

" *It was uncanny, blessed lords. The Lord Smith and the Champion were playing regicide. Did not hear what the Champion said, but as quickly as the Lord Smith scowled, he was stood over Champion, beating him bloody with a steel stool!*"
— Unknown slave, recalling one of Castomar's rages