Malkum Victus

Malkum Victus Parvinus is the youngest child of *Primarch* Adrien Victus of Palaven and his second wife and former daughter-in-law, Iacoba Parvus. He has three siblings; an older full-blood sister, Aritaea Victus, and two older half-blood brothers, Tarquin Victus and *Primarch* Fidellion Victus of Palaven. Due to the complicated nature of his parents' marriage, he is also Fidellion's uncle; while the pair share a mother, Malkum's father is instead Fidellion's grandfather.

Malkum is married to Alia Sparatus, the daughter of *Primarch* Domitia Sparatus of Bostra. The couple have two children together; a son named Aren Victus, who, like his father, serves as a *cubernator* ("helmsman") in the *Classis Coloniaria Bostrae* ("Bostran Colonial Navy"), and a daughter named Claudia, who is both a spirit priestess and the *Vox Maiorum* of House Victus.

## Family and Lineage

Malkum has an older sister called Aritaea Victus. Due to the complicated nature of his parents' marriage, Malkum is both a half-brother and an uncle to Fidellion Victus, despite being twenty-two years his junior. Fidellion's late father, Tarquin Victus, is also Malkum's half-brother, albeit Tarquin died twenty-two years before his birth.

Malkum is married to Alia Sparatus, daughter of Domitia Sparatus, the incumbent Primarch of Bostra. The match was cultivated by Fidellion upon his ascension as Primarch of Palaven, to consolidate his family's political security. The union between Malkum and Alia not only stabilised Bostra, the traditional homeland of House Victus, but also pacified the radical traditionalists who had supported Antraxes, protecting his family from any unforeseen attack. The couple have two children; a son named Aren and a daughter named Claudia.

Malkum is a blood member of House Victus, through his paternal line. He is also a direct lineal descendant of his house's founder, Valexus Victus, and his wife Aritaea, the first Primarch of Bostra. Through his maternal line, he is a blood relative of House Parvus.

## Biography

### The Tyranny of Antraxes

#### The Bostran Rebellion

##### Mutiny

Malkum trained to become a helmsman in the imperial fleet. He was sent to Bostra as part of Antraxes' naval forces during the Bostran Rebellion but refused to follow his captain's orders to fire upon Bostran ships. He attempted to turn the cruiser around and travel back to the mass relay but was restrained by his cremates. Other Bostran crewmen aboard the ship came to his aid, with shots quickly being fired. An all-out firefight erupted on the ship's bridge between the pro-Imperial and pro-Colonial sides. Malkum was shot in the leg when he tried to intervene, only aggravating the situation. In the chaos, he dragged himself back to the helm and locked himself in, taking the flight controls and turning the cruiser back towards the mass relay. The rebels eventually won out, locking those who surrendered in the brig.

Malkum was contacted by his commanding admiral, who demanded to know why he was breaking formation. Malkum simply replied that he could not ethically follow an order that demanded him to break Aurelion's Peace and stated that he had relieved his captain of duty. When the admiral threatened to fire upon his ship if he did not return to formation, Malkum simply answered him with: *"I'm the son of Adrien Victus; I don't cower in the face of impossible odds."* before terminating the call.

He next contacted the Bostran admiral on the other side of the conflict and told them that he was Malkum Victus and was retreating towards the mass relay. *"This is Helmsman Malkum Victus, piloting the THV Interritus of the 1st Imperial Fleet. Hold fire. I repeat, **hold fire**. I have relieved the captain of this vessel of command, on the grounds of issuing an illegal order. We are breaking formation to return to the mass relay. Allow this vessel safe passage to the mass relay, along with any who choose to follow us, and we will not engage you. I repeat, we will **not** engage you. On the spirit of my father, Adrien Victus, I swear this to you."*

This peaceful act of defiance threw the imperial fleet into complete disarray. Malkum's boldness encouraged other ships to break rank, ones captained by those who secretly believed Antraxes was a traitor to the empire. In total, twenty cruisers broke rank to follow Malkum, along with a host of fighters and frigates. Their retreat did much to embolden the Bostran colonial fleet's morale. After allowing Malkum's ships to peacefully retreat, they opened fire upon the remaining imperial loyalists, utterly destroying them in their reduced numbers.

"Malkum's Mutiny", as it came to be known, rocked the Palavenian military establishment and caused age-old ethical questions on when a soldier should be allowed to disobey an order given by a superior to resurface. Some believed that, while he certainly had the authority to disobey orders issued by Antraxes, who was illegally occupying the Aurelian Throne, he did not have the authority to disobey orders given by a lawfully promoted superior officer, and thus should be punished accordingly. Others believed that the orders issued by his superior were also illegal because they had been handed down by Antraxes through the chain of command, which would have rendered Malkum innocent of any crime.

### Reign of Fidellion

#### Fallout of "Malkum's Mutiny"

Such discourse continued even after Antraxes' death, prompting Fidellion to convene a summit amongst the various Radiata of Palaven and its colonies to find an answer to two pressing questions: "Under what circumstances would a soldier possess both the legal and moral authority to disobey a given order?" and "If in possession of both the legal and moral authority to disobey a given order, should a soldier then be expected to do so?".

## Trivia

### Character colour palette

* **Plate colour**: Carbon Grey (#625D5D)
* **Skin colour**: Cloudy Grey (#6D6968)
* **Eye colour**: Sage Green (#848b79)
* **Markings colour**: Bone (#E3DAC9) (originally White, faded with age)