Siege of Vraks - Prologue: After the previous Cardinal-Astra Borja of the Scarus Sector in Segmentum Obscurus died in 366.804.M41 following 400 standard years of life greatly extended by the ministrations of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Magos Biologis, his successor, Cardinal-Astra Scarus Xaphan, took his place as the Cardinal of the Scarus Sector. Over the course of 5 Terran years, Xaphan undertook a pilgrimage across the Scarus Sector, his new domain. Along with the Cardinal, he traveled with a full entourage of a thousand preachers, deacons, chatelaines, servants and menials, along with a personal bodyguard of the Adeptus Sororitas. These warriors were a gift from the Abess of the Artorus Priory of the Order of the Argent Shroud, to celebrate Xaphan's enthronement. It was a dangerous galaxy beyond the fringes of the Artorus System, and a Cardinal had to be ready to protect himself and his flock with force as well as with faith.Xaphan conducted his grand tour of his new diocese, for he wished to see the places he must now rule, and he wished to bring a spiritual revival to the people. Where he and his entourage passed, he amassed ever more followers in a series of religious uprisings. Criminal governments and oppressive tyrannies were shattered with each world he traveled to. From world to world his small entourage grew into a small army. The Cardinal's arrival had been like a spark that ignited the fires of faith across the Scarus Sector. Some extremists were even calling him a messiah. Amongst all this fanatical devotion Cardinal Xaphan saw, perhaps for the first time, the true power that came with his esteemed rank. Out in the frontiers of space, he felt that he could take real action against the doubters and Heretics that threatened the Emperor's divine rule.Xaphan voiced his opinions to his advisors, in particular Deacon Mamon, a young man (and secret devotee of Chaos), who had recently joined the Cardinal's advisors on Thracian Primaris. Favoured by the Cardinal as a practical man of action, and for his local knowledge, the Deacon encouraged the Cardinal into believing himself to be a sacred champion of the Emperor of Mankind, who would single-handedly reignite the faith of the people of the Imperium and lead them to new heights of righteousness. Mamon continued to whisper in Xaphan's ear, twisting and poisoning the Cardinal's mind, convincing him that there were those who opposed him and his thousands of loyal followers. These naysayers were weak-willed fools who lacked the Cardinal's clarity of vision and his holy purpose. With Mamon whispering in his ear, it seemed that Xaphan could not trust anybody. The Cardinal gathered about him an inner circle of trusted advisors -- reliable men who could be vetted and kept under surveillance in return, to safeguard their loyalty. The Cardinal tread softly, for if his desired War of Faith was ever to come into being, he needed a safe, secluded planet on which to prepare and plan.After years of pilgrimage, during which he was increasingly received as a living saint by the people of his sector, Xaphan went into seclusion on the Imperial Armoury World of Vraks in 809.M41, also the site of a popular Imperial Cult shrine to Saint Leonis the Blind, an Ecclesiarchy Missionary who had been martyred in the 38th Millennium after having his eyes removed while spreading the word of the Imperial Creed across the less civilised worlds of the Scarus Sector. A shrine had been built to contain the saint's remains and relics, as well as a palace for the Cardinal-Astra of Scarus should he ever choose to make a pilgrimage to the shrine. Here, Xaphan chose his battlefield. As the Cardinal had come to hold, through Deacon Mamon's careful encouragement, that corruption was eating away at the Imperium, he now saw himself as a messianic figure destined to ignite a holy war and give the faithful a chance to purge the galaxy of darkness.Though the Cardinal could not command any forces himself, in times of peril the Basilica of St. Leonis the Blind could raise a substantial Frateris Militia to protect itself. So, the Deacon's preachers and missionaries moved amongst the pilgrims and labour gangs preaching sermons that forecast that Vraks was under threat. The mood on Vraks soon became one of religious zealotry. Simultaneously, Deacon Mamon was also busy establishing an inner circle around the Cardinal of fanatically loyal followers drawn from the many Frateris who had sworn oaths of loyalty during his pilgrimage, or from the pilgrims already on Vraks. Mamon instructed the Cardinal's preachers to recruit what he called the "Disciples of Xaphan." Also into the inner circle were enticed the commanders of the Vraks' garrison, the Steward of the Citadel and the high-ranking commanders of the Vraks' militia. The loyalty of such powerful men was deemed vital by the Deacon. The Cardinal soon had almost all of Vraks' military forces under his control. Only the Adeptus Arbites contingent on the world remained outside his influence.