Dolan Chirosius - The Great Confessor: The messenger's remains were nailed to the gates of the Palace where the rats and crows feasted upon them. Confessor Dolan would be coming to Gathalamor soon, and Bucharis wanted his populace to have their first glimpse of their supposed saviour be one of a man bound in chains and whipped through the streets. Soon enough, Dolan's shuttle arrived and the Confessor was taken into custody, charged with various acts of heresy and treason against the Emperor. As Bucharis had promised, Dolan was chained and driven through the streets, while soldiers from his army whipped the Confessor with flails and hurled stones at him. They stuck hooks into his flesh and hung them with weights, driving him onwards with kicks and punches. However, the crowds that lined the streets were sullen and wary.There were no cheers, but there were no cries of condemnation either. Dolan was dragged across the primary continent of Gathalamor in this way, his journey filled with over six months of constant torture and torment. He was not allowed to sleep, he was starved and had but a mouthful of fetid water a day to survive on. Yet all the while, his fiery stare was not dimmed and he never once bowed his head to the blows of his persecutors.Bucharis ordered a public show trial of Dolan, charging him with blasphemy and heresy, along with other crimes of treachery, sedition and rebellion. He needed Dolan dead, but Bucharis did not want to provide the desperate people under his heel with a martyr. Dolan would be humiliated and scorned and then found guilty of the charges against him. Only when he was proved to be the enemy of Mankind would he die -- painfully and over a long period of time. The show trial was broadcast across the entirety of Bucharis' stellar domain, so that those who witnessed the event would be in no doubt as to its validity. Of course, Bucharis had no thought of giving Confessor Dolan a fair hearing, but to the masses it had to be made to appear so. Following all the correct Imperial procedures and precedents, Dolan and hundreds of others were questioned and cross-examined. Dolan agreed to conduct his own defence and when, after five long months, the prosecution had completed its work and rested its case, a thousand worlds waited in anticipation.Dolan explained how he had preached to the people of Chiros, explaining the tyranny of Bucharis and decrying the Apostate Cardinal's false doctrines. He instilled in them the will to fight for their freedom in the Emperor's name, rousing the townsfolk and the hunters with his fiery speeches. With his own testimony this power was witnessed. His eyes burned with religious zeal, he gesticulated wildly to punctuate his thoughts and his manner reached into the soul of everyone who watched and grabbed it tightly. He was a fierce man whom some might have even called insane in his zealotry. Yet there could be no doubt that he was loyal to the Emperor and his faith's most sacred teachings. Chirosius would suffer any personal sacrifice and indignity to see Bucharis toppled and he passed on that fervent hatred to those who listened to him.For three days Dolan spoke, declaring how he had whipped up the grain harvesters of Bellis XIV to drive their massive scythed machines into the enemy camps, though they would be killed in doing so. He told of how he had led the Farradites as they charged the Immortal Tower, spurring them on when over 9,000 of their number fell to the minefields and defence cannons. It was a speech from him that so incensed the population of Resto Primis they overloaded the geo-thermal power network of their hive city, cracking apart the planet's continents with a wave of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. "What matter," he cried as his crushed hands formed fists raised before him, "if a home is lost or even a world destroyed, if the sacrifice means the end to evil and the heresies of the Emperor's worst foes!"At the end of the Confessor's long tirade, Bucharis finally spoke. He explained that Dolan's own testimony had condemned him, that he had freely admitted to all the grievous acts and crimes he stood accused of. He had not denied a single charge. The Cardinal addressed his followers and reiterated Dolan's flagrant opposition to the true authority of the Ecclesiarchy. He called Dolan and his followers anarchists and idolaters, a threat to the stability of the entire Imperium. Dolan's acts of rebellion and heresy left him no choice but to order the Confessor's execution. Appealing for the mercy of the Emperor upon Dolan's soul, he commanded his men to take him to the dungeons. For almost eight long months Dolan endured unknown torment at the hands of Bucharis' torturers.When at last he died, his body was flung from the walls of the Palace for the scavenging dogs and birds to feast upon. His body had been maimed beyond recognition. Hideous scars and burns marred his flesh, telling a tale of great pain and misery. Despite the horrendous torments inflicted upon his body, Dolan's face exuded a calm serenity and peace lay like an aura across his corpse. Those who saw it wept openly, even though any who exhibited such grief were themselves accused of heresy and put to death by the Cardinal's security forces. Yet the carrion eaters never had their banquet: Dolan's body disappeared shortly after and was never found.