Eradin Duras

Pict-file of the mysterious Fallen known as Eradin Duras.

"*I had moved on from my past, built a life outside of this war, now you drag me back to into it. You will pay the price of your mistake.*"
— Eradin Duran to Interrogater-Chaplain Raziel Zothar
**Eradain Duras** is a softly spoken, wise astartes currently serving Da'tha "The Thrice Fallen" Armaros within their warband. Wielding a mighty *Halberd of Caliban*, he has lived several different lifes ever since his birth. Now an astartes serving within The Foretoken warband, he uses both his mind and mastery of combat to slay his foes and defend his allies.

## History

### Great Crusade

Eradin ascended to the rank of astartes shortly after the Emperor reunited with his son, Lion El'Jonson, on the world of Caliban. He excelled in melee and was placed into the role of a despoiler. This role suited him as he often found himself at home in the thickest parts of the battles the first legion was deployed to. Alongside his squadmates he stepped foot on and slew countless xenos species. With each new species slain another mark was added to Eradin's chainsword.

Eventually Duras stepped onto the world of Delta-8156 also known as 'Agrona' by those who didn't wish to repeat the full name over and over again. This world was inhabited by a xenos race known as the Sha'va. The Sha'va had adapted to void travelling capabilities despite being a savage race. They wielded mighty jagged weapons and were numbered in hordes who praised a god of bloodshed and violence. Eradin was sent into warfare against this vile xenos race and was unfortunately his squad was seperated from the main strike force. Slowly each member was cut down until only he remained. Hours seemed to go by as he cut and slaughtered through endless hordes of xenos. He even resorted to using some of the xenos own weaponry on his way to survival after the loss of the weapons that had served him so well to that campaign. The bloodshed was so much so that his black armour turned red by the Sha'va hordes' blood. The horde nearly overwhelmed him however as they clawed onto him after hours of fighting, gunfire from imperial troops tore the xenos off of him.

When he returned to his legion, he received various glances due to his appearance. His commander took note of both this and his combat skill. He was ordered to clean his armour of blood, replace broken pieces of it and then report back as the company champion. The previous one had been slain in a breach attack against one of the Sha'va's space vessels. Now a champion of his company he would go on to exterminate the xenos race. During this campaign he wielded a power sword that he would grow fond of during his time in the Great Crusade.

### Banishment

A year after the campaign against the Sha'va, the Lion sent out a decree. This decree would have Eradin fell under. He was banished to garrison his homeworld of Caliban alongside Luther and many of his brothers. He felt ashamed of this punishment and fell into deep meditation over it. He wondered on what he had done so wrong to suffer his gene-father's wrath in such a manner. He felt anger and resentment at the Lion. He hadn't done anything wrong. Why is he being punished for this? This was strange to him. He had only felt such wrath amidst the Sha'va horde. This resentment only grew the longer he remained upon the world of Caliban. His combat training became more aggressive, violent, brutal and undignified. He ignored the concerns his brothers provided for him due to own personal pride.

During this time, he would meet several astartes such as Agiel Ramian, Kazarin Aradas among others. He was often seen as a young and brash figure who had yet to mature. These views would be correct of course and Eradin would learn the folly of these flaws all too late. The days that led to the end of the Siege of Terra were difficult for the astarte. His wrath and hot headedness began to end leaving a hollow shell. Soon the lion returned and Caliban was engulfed in fires of the war that would spell doom for the world.

### Destruction of Caliban

The experiences gathered by Eradin during this terrible era are known by few. Those do know it tell that his anger, wrath and fury led to him challenging the wrong foe and losing an eye and a suffering grievous wounds around the eye as a result. This injury left him out of action for the remainder of the campaign only returning at the end of it. With a renewed battle fury he returned and tore into countless foes. He wielded several different weapons in this time though most were melee. Ceramite was split apart by grinding blades, melted by power weapon energy fields and blasted apart by boltguns across Caliban as he cut his way to his new target. A relic shown to him in visions known as the Shrouded Requiem.

The Shrouded Requiem was held within a locked down location several miles beneath the planet's crust. The building it was held in had grown lush with vegetation originating from the key's holding zone. Supposedly it had the ability to win the Caliban war. Accompanying Duras were two astartes. Althial Otheel and Astilur Decar were their names and now they are known only to Eradin and a handful of others. As the trio approached the key, the nature turned against them and all but the future wielder of the Shrouded Key were swallowed by the ground they walked upon. As soon as he grasped his prize all light vanished as the warp enveloped him. Caliban was gone and he would go with it.

### Post Caliban

When Eradin Duras awoke, he found himself on a random hive world on the borders of the imperial space. He decided to take up the mantle of punishing the criminals of the planet. Yet as he moved through the hive, posing as a large and cloaked figure, he read several history texts and learned that time had passed to M41 year 100. He had somehow been sent 10,000 years into the future by the Shrouded Key and when he viewed his reflection he found that his looks had changed quite considerably now being more similar to an elderly mortal in looks. So he decided to remain on the world and started to become a sort of protector figure for the people. This matured him greatly as he acted as the hive's guardian for several centuries. The decision taught him patience, planning and overall made him wiser. He eventually discareded his old name and when by the alias of 'Delmarak' and was known rather fondly by those he protected. Eventually he wished to retire from this aggressive life and left the hive to wander the ash wastes.

This life of peace would not last for much longer however as Interrogator Chaplain Raziel Zothar would hear rumours of the fallen known as Delmarak and quickly arrived on the ship known as the Obsidian Tower. Descending onto the world alongside a squad of five deathwing knights, they tracked Eradin to a cave hidden amidst the dunes of the world and a fight ensued. Though the ancient warrior put up a good fight, years of fighting foes not on his level had eroded his prowess in combat and he was captured by Zothar.

### The Breaker of the Obsidian Tower

Zothar committed countless tortures upon the fallen to get him to repent. Psychic skills, severe beatings and mind games were used to try and force Eradin to repent his crime. Yet he did not. Even when the chaplain severed one of his hands he would not repent. It infuriated Raziel time and time again he would never give in to the methods used to force the old astartes to repent. So he was left alone in his cell to rot and go mad with the screaming silence which filled the room aboard the vessel.

This silence did little to break the warrior however and he managed to break out and begin his path to freedom. The ship itself had only been filled with the 5 deathwing terminators and Raziel Zothar. Carefully he snuck through the ship and managed to acquire his old power sword. This led him to have a chance of fighting against his captors. The deathwing terminators were the first to discover his escape and promptly were the first to fall. He picked up a plasma pistol and used it to great effect during this time. It aided him in acquiring a Halberd of Caliban which he uses to this day.
Eventually he faced down the Interrogator Chaplain who had brought him aboard. Their duel was a mighty thing and ended near the ship's engine. Eventually, Eradin managed to gain the upper hand over his foe and decapitated the Interrogator Chaplain. Now alone, he turned to the ship's engines. He retrieved a bandolier of krak grenades and tossed them at the engine. He then made his escape as the ship came crashing down. Fires erupted all over the ship as he made his escape. Eradin managed to escape as the Shrouded Requiem helped him another time in exchange for bonding more tightly with the fallen. This ended up transporting him to a world in the eye of terror known as the Crimson Heart.

### Foretoken

The Foretoken were a warband who held great influence on the world known as the Crimson Heart, considering they were those who controlled it. He heard rumours that they only accept those who had slain a large, aggressive and dangerous beast known as a Chimera. Eradin sought out one of these beasts and tracked it to a cave in the northern regions of the planet.
The battle lasted for nearly an hour as the astartes fought against the feral beast. He fired plasma bolts and cut at the beast with his halberd as the beast slashed at him with its claws. Blows were traded for what seemed like an eternity as Eradin fought the creature but eventually conquered it and cut a horn from its horrible head.

## Appearance

Eradin Duras's face is aged by war and has a face similar to an mortal man in his 60s. His hair has stopped growing but he does have a short grey beard and his eyes are a calm green colour. His armour is coloured black and red as he never changed it from the legion's original colours. A red cloak covers over his right shoulder moving across his chest and back and his helmet has been forged into a new design by his hands with lenses which glow a menacing red. Most of his right arm has been replaced by a cybernetic replacement and wields a plasma pistol, with a holster attached to his waist as well as using a Halberd of Caliban to great effect. The Shrouded Requiem is attached to the back of his neck and has merged with his flesh.

## Personality

Eradin is a calm and soft spoken figure most of the time though he has a fearsome temper but it rarely surfaces. Overall, Duras is a kind figure to the other members of the black bastion be they astartes or mortal servant.

## Abilities and Traits

* **Combat Skills**

Eradin has gained considerable martial prowess throughout his years as an astartes. He has fought countless foes and trained with many more types of weaponry. He particularly favours melee weapons thoough he has used ranged weaponry when the need called for it.
His marksmanship is notable as he is very proficient with pistols and has often used dual pistols when melee is not available. This use of pistols has granted Eradin with a good amount of experience in close quarters combat. The new addition of a halberd to his equipment has caused his fighting style to take on a new matured form. He utilises the skill of keeping his distance from his foes and never allowing them to get close to him.

## Mutations

Eradin Duras has suffered no mutations throughout his lifetime.

## Equipment

* **Power Armour** - An ancient relic from the Great Crusade patched with replacement pieces taken from other astartes he has slain, Eradin's armour is a patchwork of various marks f power armour.
* ***Halberd of Caliban***
* ***Firesong* - Master-crafted plasma pistol.**
* **Frag Grenades**
* **Krak Grenades**
* ***Shrouded Requiem*** - The *Shrouded Requiem* is an ancient relic retrieved by Duras upon Caliban shortly before the world's destruction. This device is constructed from a strange metal that was saturated with warp energy which emits never ending mists from it. The implementation of it into Eradin's body causes metallic vines to grow into the area where it has merged with the fallen's flesh. The full capabilities of this device are unknown however the abilities it has shown so far are: teleportation to seemingly random worlds within the galaxy, increased speed and increased strength. Though he has yet to uncover this ability it will also allow the wielder to develop psychic talents. Eradin rarely uses this item as every time it used it is merges more and more with the fallen's flesh. In truth this key, while granting great power, increases Eradin's warp presence with every use. This could be beneficial for the fallen however with the hungry eyes of daemons and the Dark Angels looking for the fallen it may prove to be his doom unless it is removed.