vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Ur-Ghul - Hidden Masters: Taproom tales at Port Wander tell that these things have been seen in close approximation to Drukhari pirates and raiding parties, used as some kind of tracking hound. Those who have survived some of these xenos raids have even spoken of seeing creatures whose features resemble the Ur-Ghul taking part in the attack. They had been used to hunt down those who sought to escape the raiders, fleeing away in frantic attempts to reach safety or hiding places where they could wait until the xenos departed. The attempts were doomed to failure. The Ur-Ghuls were loosed to roam the area, and soon caught the exhilarating scents of desperation and fear left in the air. In each report, none escaped the beasts, and their prey were dragged weeping and screaming back to the xenos raiders to meet their terrible fates.One unverified but popularly recounted account relates that a particularly high-ranking member of this enigmatic xenos species personally commanded one such beast, using it as part of vile blood-sport raids and other foul practices. The story says the xenos employed the beast to track down a Human the Drukhari believed had wronged him in some unfathomable way. It managed to track down the unfortunate prey across the varied surface of Janto III deep within the Unbeholden Reaches, a world known for its bleak rocky plains and pestilent marshland.The hunt went on for solar weeks, ranging far across broad swaths of a remote and scantly inhabited continent, but finally the Ur-Ghul caught up with its victim, who did not long survive the debt he had to pay. The cruel xenos directing the beast seemed to delight as much with the hunt as it did with the method of payment.Such thoughts are likely just so much fancy, mere void travellers' stories to enliven hive spire parties or to put fear in their trading associates' dreams. Some xenos scholars worry though that beings able to command such terrible beasts are perhaps even more puissant than previously believed. It is definite that, as mindless hunters, the Ur-Ghul are certainly dangerous enough; if actually under the direction of sapient xenos races as sadistic and intelligent as the Drukhari, their threat level can only increase.
Ur-legionaries - Ur-legionaries: The Ur-legionaries were a failed experiment to enhance Space Marine genetics conducted by the Selenar gene-cult of Luna during the Great Crusade following their conquest by the Imperium of Man.
Ur-legionaries - Origins: Heavily involved in attempts to accelerate the development of new Astartes for the Space Marine Legions during the Great Crusade, the Selenar who survived the First Pacification of Luna had sought ways to improve upon the Emperor's genetic designs for the Space Marines.Unfortunately, all their efforts failed, and the supposed "Ur-legionaries" turned out to be mutants who were often mindless brutes as a result of the constant pain they endured. Some developed multiple eyes, limbs and even heads.Even more disturbing, several of the Ur-legionaries developed facial features that closely resembled the appearances of the Primarchs.After the project suffered from repeated failures, the Selenar decided to abandon the Ur-legionaries and admit that they did not know how to enhance the Emperor's original design.All but 10 of the failed Ur-legionaries were euthanised and the gene-labs where the project had been pursued secretly beneath Luna's Herodotus Omega dome were sealed.
Ur-legionaries - Recovery of the Magna Mater: Almost two centuries later during the climax of the Horus Heresy at the Siege of Terra, the mortally wounded Selenar gene-witch Ta'lab Vita-37 freed the remaining Ur-legionaries to help her prevent the Traitor forces of the Warmaster Horus from claiming the Selenar's Magna Mater relic.She did so to defeat a squad of Sons of Horus Justaerin Terminators commanded by Captain Trastevere, who were assaulting her and the group of Loyalist Shattered Legions Astartes from the Iron Hands Strike Cruiser Sisypheum who had answered her call for aid broadcast into the void around Luna.Despite their mutations, the Ur-legionaries were much larger and stronger than even the Justaerin Terminators and their altered Black Carapace implants allowed them to survive even multiple bolt wounds before dying.So strong were the insane, raging Ur-legionaries that they were able to tear open the Justaerin's Terminator Armour as if it was no more than tissue paper.Though the Justraerin ultimately prevailed over the unarmed and armoured mutants, only Trastevere and two other Terminators of the squad survived after killing all of the remaining Ur-legionaries.However, due to the sacrifice of Vita-37 and the Ur-legionaries, the Shattered Legion Astartes commanded by the Iron Hand Captain Cadmus Tyro managed to escape from Luna back to the Sisypheum with the Magna Mater.Though all of the Strike Cruiser's crew were later slain escaping from near-Luna space with the artefact save for Nykona Sharrowkyn of the Raven Guard, the Magna Mater would eventually fall into the hands of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman after the end of the Horus Heresy.Renamed the Sangprimus Portum, the artefact would ultimately prove crucial in the eventual creation of the Primaris Space Marines.
Uralon the Cruel - Uralon the Cruel: Uralon the Cruel is a Dark Apostle of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion who has taken the Host of Word Bearers under his command into the Koronus Expanse of the Segmentum Obscurus. He seeks nothing less than to transform the Expanse into a region whose people are dedicated to the worship and service of the Dark Gods of Chaos.Uralon was a powerful Dark Apostle who possessed the ability to summon and control Daemons and Daemon Engines from the Warp to do his bidding, as well as a large cadre of Word Bearers Heretic Astartes. He first met the newly appointed Rogue Trader of the von Valancius dynasty on the Industrial World of Kiava Gamma in the von Valancius Protectorate. He sought at multiple points to convince the von Valancius Lord Captain to turn to the service of Chaos, seeing a Rogue Trader a s a powerful potential ally in delivering the Koronus Expanse and all its riches over to the service of the forces of Chaos.The Lord Captain thus faced a choice of whether to embrace the darkness but great power offered by pursuing the path of heresy and allying with Uralon and his Word Bearers and Daemons, or remaining true to the ideals of the Imperium and eliminating the Chaos scourge from the von Valancius Protectorate and the rest of the Expanse.
Uralon the Cruel - Wargear: Chaos Power ArmourAccursed Crozius
Urani-Surtr Regulates - Urani-Surtr Regulates: The Urani-Surtr Regulates, also called the URSR, is a stoic and long-suffering major league of the Leagues of Votann located in the galactic core. The Kin of the Urani-Surtr Regulates have a reputation for survival against the odds. Courage and hardiness are their watchwords and, while they might seem more dour than most of their species, there are none more dependable to have at one's back in the face of peril.The Kindreds of the Urani-Surtr Regulates prize stoicism, self-reliance and -- unusually for their race -- inflexible determination no matter the odds of success. They disparage wastefulness above all else, and will subsist uncomplainingly upon the absolute minimum if doing so will bring them victory, and their Kindreds survival.The URSR have suffered greatly over the millennia, yet still they endure. Their grim warriors have disdain for every foe, and are known to fight to the last. While they can still stand, they can fight.
Urani-Surtr Regulates - League History: Known throughout the Leagues of Votann as the "URSR," this league and its Kindreds have long held onto a swathe of heavily contested and foe-haunted territories in the southern reaches of the galactic core. On one border they face the awakened and warlike Necrons of the Samnokh Dynasty, whose single-minded phaeron appears intent upon claiming the Urani-Surtr Hold Worlds. From the Shattered Stars to their east come the raiding fleets of Bogg Da Freeboota King, an Ork privateer who commands a seemingly endless empire of ragtag Greenskin pirates.Then there is the Gnawstar Cluster, lodged like a splinter amidst the URSR's northernmost Kindreds. These worlds are haunted by an infestation of Tyranids that exhibit strange, almost nesting behaviour patterns unusual for their species, and are ever-hungry to claim new worlds to infest.Other Kindreds might have given ground in the face of such relentless threats, but the URSR refuse to do so. Nor do they show any inclination to explain their apparent stubbornness to the other leagues, beyond asserting that the Ancestors would abandon them forever if they gave up tl1eir Hold Worlds, or allowed them to fall.Some among the Grimnyr believe that the Urani-Surtr guard some secret site of great import, or are privy to knowledge whose burden they shoulder alone. Others suspect they are bound by rash Grudges sworn by their forebears against their encroaching foes, and that they must see these through to whatever bloody end. The most cynical claim that the Kindreds of the URSR are simply too stubborn to admit the poor return they get for their hardships, and too proud to relinquish their lands.The Kin of the URSR give no outward sign that they care what the rest of their species thinks of them. They admit new Kindreds into their ranks only infrequently, and then only after rigorous tests and secretive meetings -- about which the new applicants are oath-sworn never to speak. No Kindred has ever left the URSR once admitted, though whether this is out of loyalty or for some other, more sinister reason, remains unknown.It is expected of every URSR Kindred that they maintain as large a population as they can, accepting an ascetic lifestyle with the bare minimum of food, light, air and heat in exchange for keeping their fighting ranks replenished. This selfless commitment to their cause is writ large upon the battlefield when the Urani-Surtr march to war. Their Kin are ferociously loyal to one another, and to their league, and they refuse to countenance defeat or despair while breath remains within their bodies.
Urani-Surtr Regulates - Abiding Mantle: By their own insistence, the name of whichever skilled URSR craftsman fashioned this cloak was never recorded. Laced through with chamelioweave and contramotive optic damper circuits, this seemingly plain garment, the Abiding Mantle, causes its wearer to blend in amongst the ranks of their comrades -- their survival aided by understated anonymity.
Urani-Surtr Regulates - League Colours: The Kinhosts of the URSR wear dark and light green.
Urani-Surtr Regulates - League Insignia: The insignia of the Urani-Surtr Regulates is Kin script in the form of a large, green "R" placed on a line above a smaller green inscription that says "UCS."
Urani-Surtr Regulates - Trivia: "Surtr" is a reference to Surtr, a jötunn in Norse mythology. Surtr is attested in the Icelandic Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Surtr is foretold as being a major figure during the events of Ragnarök; carrying his bright sword, he will go to battle against the Æsir, he will battle the major god Freyr, and afterward the flames that he brings forth will engulf the Earth.In a book from the Prose Edda additional information is given about Surtr, including that he is stationed guarding the frontier of the fiery realm Múspell, that he will lead "Múspell's sons" to Ragnarök, and that he will defeat Freyr. The use of this name would accord with the general reliance upon Norse imagery and mythology used in the fictional culture of the Leagues of Votann.
Urdesh - Urdesh: UrdeshImperialForge WorldAdeptus MechanicusSabbat WorldsSectorSegmentum PacificusUrdesh was once the homeworld of the Legio Damicium Titan Legion before the Horus Heresy. That Traitor Titan Legion was ultimately purged from existence after its betrayal of the Imperium during the campaign of the Heresy remembered as the Cataclysm of Iron.Urdesh was a principal supplier of materiel to Imperial forces fighting in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.
Urdesh - History: Unfortunately, the early history of this Forge World has been lost down the long millennia.Across the border sectors of the Segmentum Tempestus and Segmentum Pacificus were located numerous lesser Forge Worlds, which included Urdesh, which were known collectively as the "Belt of Iron."For much of the Great Crusade, these Forge Worlds helped to mass-produce much-needed arms and equipment for the military forces of the expanding Imperium of Man.
Urdesh - Horus Heresy: With the outbreak of the galaxy-wide civil war known as the Horus Heresy, the Imperium was sundered, with many of the Forge Worlds of these sectors declaring for the Traitor cause at the behest of the treacherous fabricator-general of Mars, Kelbor-Hal, while others remained loyal to Terra or in some cases sought to remain aloof from the conflict as much as possible.Strife and tentative conflict between these once-aligned worlds erupted finally into full-scale war in 010.M31, which pitched the Mars-aligned Dark Mechanicum Forge Worlds of Urdesh, Incunabula, Valia-Maximal and Kalibrax against the forces of the Loyalist Forge Worlds Graia, Arl'yeth and Atar-Median, while Arachnis and Jerulas Station both fell into the anarchy of civil war.The resulting conflict, later known as the "Cataclysm of Iron," saw the forge lords, their armies and allied Titan Legions and Knight Households turn on each other in protracted warfare, with scores of Human-inhabited worlds in the region suffering as they became the battlegrounds upon which the combatants fought.Urdesh was reclaimed by the Loyalist forces during the campaign known as the "Censure of Urdesh," its Legio Damicium Traitor Titan Legion destroyed. As censure for their crimes against the Imperium, the largest forge cities of Urdesh were laid waste by massed Titan fire, its knowledge banks purged of any technology the Loyalist Mechanicum deemed Urdesh unworthy of.Soon, the battered industry of the Forge World was turned towards supplying Loyalist forces, operated by fresh numbers of displaced tech-priests now part of the newly-formed Adeptus Mechanicus.By order of the Regent of Terra, Malcador the Sigillite, the Mars-based Legio Ignatum was left to stand guard over Urdesh and its holdings and given authority to punish any who dared rise once more against the Emperor.Following the death of the Warmaster Horus at the Siege of Terra, the Loyalist forces fell upon the fleeing Traitor Legions and their Dark Mechanicum allies from the Throneworld.Those who now ruled in the Emperor's name had neither the ability nor the desire to prevent a war of reciprocity. Thus began the time known in the histories of the Imperium as the Great Scouring.Many of those Forge Worlds that had colluded with the Traitors were brutally scoured of Hereteks and those who had made truck with the Ruinous Powers, and suffered the ignominious fate of Exterminatus, while others were brought back into the Imperial fold and eventually granted the Emperor's forgiveness.Urdesh was one such world, which did not share the fate of some of its more unfortunate allies. Since that time, Urdesh has proven to be a productive and loyal vassal Forge World of the Imperium.
Urdesh - Sabbat Worlds Crusade: Urdesh does not appear again in the annals of Imperial history until the Sabbat Worlds Crusade (755-778.M41). This Imperial Crusade was one of the largest and most significant Imperial military operations undertaken in recent history and ultimately ended in the reconquest of the sector by the armed forces of the Imperium of Man. During the Crusade, Urdesh mass-produced arms, equipment and vehicles for the Imperial forces.Unfortunately, midway through the crusade in 765.M41, following the defeat and subsequent retreat of the Archenemy from the world of Balhaut, some Imperial worlds were "visited" or "seeded" by fleeing enemy elements seeking hideaways or bolt-holes, or new opportunities to rebuild footholds. Urdesh was one of the more significant planets among the Sabbat Worlds to suffer this fate.Urdesh had resisted the predatory attacks of the Ruinous Powers for many Terran years, but finally succumbed to mass assault in the post-Balhaut period, 766-767.M41. As a consequence, many of its stockpiled weapons and armoured war machines fell into enemy hands, and were then used against Astra Militarum regiments during the course of the campaign.This was a grievous blow to the forces of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, as the advancing armies of Chaos were now able to fully equip themselves with several deadly patterns of Urdeshi weapons and vehicles which were turned on Imperial troops.However, the Imperial forces were ultimately able to launch a fierce counteroffensive aimed at the nearby world of Phantine, which also liberated Urdesh in the first few solar months of 772.M41, and prevented the Forces of Chaos from performing a flanking manoeuvre that was aimed at the weak underbelly of the Imperial Crusade.
Urdesh - Military Forces: Urdesh has a proud tradition of founding excellent Astra Militarum regiments, units noted for their shock troop and assault capabilities, and famous for their black and white "puzzle camo" battle-dress. This includes the Urdesh 4th (Light), 6th and 10th Regiments, and the famous 7th Urdeshi Storm-troop.
Urdesh - Manufactoria Capabilities: Urdesh is responsible for producing numerous patterns of weapons and vehicles for the military forces of the Imperium throughout the Sabbat Worlds.This includes the famously potent U90 Autogun, as well as light and heavy armoured vehicles, many of which were utilised by Chaos forces, including the Blood Pact and later, the Sons of Sek.Urdeshi armour patterns that were to become ubiquitous among the forces of the Archenemy included the STeG 4 light armoured car, N20 and N22 Pattern half-tracks, Usurper Pattern self-propelled guns, AT70 Reaver Pattern battle tanks and the monstrous AT83 Brigand Pattern super-heavy tanks.
Uriah Jacobus - Uriah Jacobus: Uriah Jacobus, called the "Protector of the Faith," was an Adeptus Ministorum Missionary who travelled among the star systems to the galactic west of Bakka in the Segmentum Tempestus converting many worlds to faith in the God-Emperor before his death from disease.
Uriah Jacobus - History: By the age of fifty standard years, Jacobus had introduced fifteen new worlds to the Imperial Creed, a remarkable achievement considering the scarcity of inhabited planets in the region. He achieved even greater recognition on the half-frozen world of Solstice.After spending three Terran years learning about the inhabitants of the world, whose technology and society had reached a feudal stage, Jacobus started to introduce the doctrines of the Ecclesiarchy into the beliefs of the natives' own rather disorganised religion.When meeting the king of one particular realm, Jacobus was disturbed to see an idol of the kingdom's god -- a four-armed god of death. Guessing a Genestealer Cult to be involved, Jacobus returned to more friendly kingdoms and persuaded their rulers to ally with each other to attack the xenos-worshipping ruler.As suspected, when Jacobus arrived with a mass of crossbowmen and armoured cavalry at his back, his army was attacked by a horde of Genestealers. Although many of the horrific creatures were felled by a storm of quarrels, the Genestealers started tearing apart the infantry with ease.Jacobus split his knights into two forces. One he left as a reserve while he led the other on a flank march that struck at the rear of the Genestealer Cult.Smashing his way through a screen of Human Brood Brothers, the knights attacked the heart of the cult. The Patriarch was finally slain, though a mound of bodies lay heaped around its corpse, and the Magus was spitted on a lance.The cult was momentarily confused by the loss of its leaders. Seeing the inaction of their foes, the rest of the knights attacked, sweeping away the disorientated aliens in one glorious charge.After the Battle of Solstice, Jacobus became a legendary figure, able to call on the Emperor's aid to thwart whatever odds opposed him. He converted another six worlds to the Emperor's worship before he finally died of a lung-destroying virus on the Death World of Gorang.
Uriah Jacobus - Wargear: ShotgunChainswordKrak GrenadesFrag GrenadesCarapace ArmourRosariusLitanies of FaithBanner of Sanctity - The Banner of Sanctity was woven by the daughters of King Ellesan of Solstice from the finest threads. Foes who see the banner are filled with awe and dread. Friendly troops following the banner will fight their utmost for the honour of the Emperor.
Uriah Olathaire - Uriah Olathaire: Uriah Olathaire was a Human priest of the Church of the Lightning Stone who lived on Terra at the time of the Unification Wars in the late 30th Millennium. He is the man Imperial history refers to when it is said that, "The Emperor cast the last stone of the last church upon the body of the last of the Terran priests after engaging and besting the resident unbeliever in a match of ideas, wit and dogma."The truth of the matter is slightly different, for while Olathaire did meet with the Emperor of Mankind in person, and was overwhelmed by His depth of knowledge and experience, he chose to die with his church of his own volition after issuing the prophetic warning to the Emperor that His subjects would start to see Him as a god if He deprived them of the benefits of religion and succeeded in His plans to conquer the galaxy.
Uriah Olathaire - Faiths of the Past: Irritated by Revelation's attitude rather than his words, Olathaire then stated that he, too, had received a spiritual vision in his youth. Revelation once again warned that belief did not equate with reality, but told Olathaire to explain himself nevertheless.Olathaire explained that he had been at the Battle of Gaduare. When Revelation said that the rebellion at Gaduare against the forces of the Emperor had been a pointless waste, Olathaire answered by saying that Revelation was too young to know what had happened at Gaduare.Revelation looked up with sadness, and they locked eyes again, and again Olathaire felt that strangeness, and no longer doubted that when Revelation spoke of Gaduare, he spoke of events about which he possessed personal knowledge, despite his youthful appearance. Even more shaken, Olathaire then explained how in his youth he had been a rebel, and had fought and almost died at Gaduare. He told of how he had been wounded, had witnessed God and been healed, and how this had given him a valuable purpose in an otherwise wasted life.Again, Revelation was doubtful. He began to speak of the Human religions of old, and how they had so often been used as an excuse to justify cruelty. Olathaire retorted that they had also been the cause of much good, but Revelation stated with finality that the evil done by Human religion far outstripped the good, citing examples from old and recent religions built on terror, repression, crusades and Human sacrifice to keep whole populations in check and in chains.An unbelieving Olathaire then pointed to himself, saying he had done nothing else than spread kindness since he became a priest, giving comfort to the living and easing the passing of the dying, basing his life on the message of tolerance contained in the holy scriptures of his religion.Revelation praised him for these actions, but told Olathaire he had lived according to his own interpretation of the content of the text, for if taken at face value, the sacred text of the Church of the Lightning Stone was a bloodthirsty call to spiritual superiority and warmongering rather than a book promoting peace and tolerance.Revelation further compounded his condemnation of religion by citing examples of the times in history when prominent Humans had interpreted holy texts to better their own position and abuse their fellow Human beings, rather than bring prosperity to their community.
Uriah Olathaire - Revelations: Finally angered by his guest's behaviour, Olathaire bade him leave, and went to continue his interrupted midnight prayer. The Emperor then simply dropped His psychic veil of disguise, and an astonished Olathaire recognised the face he had seen in his vision of God on the killing fields of Gaduare.The Emperor simply bade the priest to follow, for while He was still baffled by Humanity's eternal desire for faith, He had been impressed by Uriah Olathaire's intelligence and assertiveness, and would gladly offer the man a place in His new world despite the fact that he had been a priest for the best part of his life.Gazing around dazedly as he was guided outside the church and the Thunder Warriors opened fire upon it with their fire lances and grenades, Olathaire at first felt a keen sense of despair, stemming from having lived a lie all of his life. But then he reconsidered, thinking of all the good he had done and brought to his parishioners. His own personal idea of God might have been false, but the good it had brought was still tangible and very real. His despair made place for a familiar sense of accomplishment, and he listened to his august visitor, who spoke of His grand vision for Mankind, and offered Olathaire a place in it.For the last time, Uriah Olathaire gazed into the eyes of the Emperor and looked deep into the core of a being who had lived for long millennia, witnessed countless wonders and horrors and was possessed of an unfathomable sum of knowledge.Olathaire saw both the limitless compassion and the ruthless core of violence of a being who ultimately no longer was even remotely Human, if He ever had been. A being who truly believed that His absolute vision of the future was just and right, no matter the slaughter or bloodshed its fulfillment might require. A being for whom the ends truly justified the means.Olathaire realised that the Emperor simply could not comprehend the Human need for faith, for He had never encountered a question He could not answer. Bereft of the need for the reassurances only faith could bring to mortal men and women, the Emperor found it a wasteful and extremely dangerous distraction, and Uriah Olathaire was at a loss as how to explain the comfort it brought to mere Human beings.Understanding that he could never follow such a being or become part of this new atheistic Imperium, Uriah Olathaire bade the Emperor the best and commended His intentions as seeking a better future for Mankind, but warned Him that His subjects might come to see Him as a god if He deprived them of religion. The Emperor nodded sadly, recognising Olathaire's choice and ordered His Thunder Warriors to not interfere when the priest turned and walked back into the burning sanctuary.The Emperor and His army remained throughout the night as the ancient building collapsed upon itself. A thunderstorm extinguished the flames after dawn and the Emperor and his warriors moved on, leaving the last church on Humanity's homeworld a smouldering ruin, and the last priest a charred corpse.
Uriah Olathaire - Personality: A deeply devout and faithful man, Uriah Olathaire had been shaped by the events of his wasted youth into a kind and caring priest. Intelligent and open-minded, he was able to discuss with the Emperor without sounding too dogmatic or intolerant. He attempted to explain Humanity's need for religious faith to the Master of Mankind, but proved unsuccessful.During this momentous discussion, Olathaire was deeply troubled by the apparent duality of his august visitor, not understanding how a man could be so wise and possessed of so much knowledge at one time, and yet so blunt and intolerant as to sound like the most uninformed anti-religious bigot on the other.It was only in the end that Olathaire came to understand that the Emperor simply could not comprehend the Human need for faith, for He had never encountered a question He could not answer. Bereft of the need for the reassurances only faith could bring to mortal men and women, the Emperor found it a wasteful and extremely dangerous distraction, and Uriah Olathaire was at a loss as how to explain the comfort it brought to ordinary Human beings.Ironically, his last warning to the Emperor would prove prophetic, for the Emperor would mere centuries later become His Imperium's living god as the Imperial Truth was replaced in time by the Imperial Creed.
Urian Vendraig - Urian Vendraig: Urian Vendraig was the second Grandmaster of the Ist Legion of the Legiones Astartes who commanded the Legion during the early days of the Great Crusade. He was killed in action on the Fortress World of Karkasarn when he disobeyed the orders of Primarch Roboute Guilliman in a foolish hunt for glory that resulted in his death and that of numerous warriors of his Legion in an atomic explosion.
Uriel Ventris - Uriel Ventris: Uriel Ventris is the young captain of the 4th Company of the Ultramarines Chapter of Space Marines.Captain Uriel Ventris was born in the subterranean cities of the Imperial Civilised World of Calth in the Realm of Ultramar and chose to become an Ultramarines aspirant when he came of age to participate in the Chapter's trials. He succeeded in his quest and became an Ultramarines neophyte and then earned his way into the ranks of the Ultramarines' officer corps through his bravery and devotion to the ideals of the Ultramarines primarch, Roboute Guilliman.However, some of his battle-brothers, like Sergeant Learchus, questioned Uriel's commitment to the Codex Astartes because his friend, mentor, and predecessor Captain Idaeus, though a hero of the Chapter, was known to break the Codex 's teachings regularly.Uriel's distant ancestor, Lucian Ventris, had been a hero of the Chapter and was a Terminator in the 1st Company who was killed during the defence of Macragge from the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Behemoth in the Battle of Macragge.Ventris went on to become a hero of the Chapter himself, playing a role in most of the major conflicts to consume the Ultramarines in the final years of the 41st Millennium, including a leading part during the Invasion of Ultramar in 999.M41 by the Daemon Prince M'kar the Reborn, the Warsmith Honsou and their army of Iron Warriors Heretic Astartes and other Chaos Space Marine warbands called the Bloodborn.In the wake of the birth of the Great Rift and the dawn of the Era Indomitus, Ventris was sent to return the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman to Macragge to defeat Mortarion and his Death Guard during the Plague Wars.Ventris continues to command the 4th Company and has now crossed the Rubicon Primaris like his Chapter Master Marneus Calgar to become a Primaris Space Marine.
Uriel Ventris - Early Years: Uriel Ventris became captain of the 4th Company of the Ultramarines Chapter when its former captain, Idaeus, sacrificed himself during the Battle of Thracia in a desperate last-ditch attempt to stop a Night Lords Chaos Space Marine offensive.Despite his initial disquiet at Idaeus' unorthodox methods, Ventris saw merit in them, and in time would become just as unconventional as his mentor.
Uriel Ventris - Pavonis: Uriel's first mission was to Pavonis, a deeply troubled Imperial industrial world on the Eastern Fringes of the Imperium of Man. He was tasked with escorting an Adept of the Administratum, Ario Barzano, who was later revealed to be an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos in disguise, and ensuring his safety as the Adept attempted to restore order to an increasingly troubled and incompetent planetary government led by Governor Mykola Shonai. The troubles came from both Humans and xenos alike.The Church of Ancient Ways, a secret and heretical organisation, had plagued the planet by planting bombs in the world's manufactoria. In addition, a series of raids by the Drukhari had been on-going for six Terran years. Ventris successfully handled both problems, defeating a civil insurrection by disgruntled Pavonis nobles and crushing the Dark Eldar and their Human collaborator in the tomb of the C'tan known as the Nightbringer. Unfortunately for all the intelligent races of the galaxy, the Nightbringer escaped into the cosmos.
Uriel Ventris - Tarsis Ultra: Ventris' next task was the defence of Tarsis Ultra, a world threatened by a splinter of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan. In order to boost the strength of this system, Captain Ventris secured the aid of a Space Marine company from the Mortifactors, a Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines that was formed during the Second Founding.Despite the best efforts of the Ultramarines, the Mortifactors and Inquisitor Kryptman of the Ordo Xenos, the outlying worlds of the system were lost and Tarsis Ultra itself almost overrun by the Tyranid swarms. Only the destruction of the Hive Fleet's controlling Norn-Queen at the hands of Ventris and a Deathwatch Kill-team saved the planet from destruction. But in destroying the Norn-Queen, Ventris had deserted his men, and upon returning to Macragge, a furious Sergeant Learchus reported this breach of the Codex Astartes to the Chapter's leaders.
Uriel Ventris - Medrengard: Captain Ventris was spared the expected execution for his breach of Ultramarine doctrine and instead given a Death Oath by Marneus Calgar: he and his faithful companion, Sergeant Pasanius Lysane, were to seek out "a place of dark iron" where twisted reflections of the Space Marines were being wrought. Shortly after departing Macragge, Ventris' starship was attacked by Warp entities directed by a Daemon imprisoned inside a Daemon Engine called the Omphalos Daemonium. This Daemon Engine resembled a huge, grotesque steam locomotive, which could travel between the Warp and realspace.The two Space Marines were seized and taken deep within the Eye of Terror to Medrengard, the Daemon World that was the home of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. The pair soon linked up with a band of Renegade Space Marines and two surviving former Imperial Guardsmen, who were escaped slaves of the Iron Warriors. The group became a self-styled guerrilla band, engaging in hit-and-run attacks against the Iron Warriors. Ventris, Pasanius and the band of guerrillas were eventually captured by Warsmith Honsou of the Iron Warriors, and after defying him, Ventris was "implanted" in the womb of a Daemonculaba, a genetically-modified woman whose womb had been amplified with Imperial Fists gene-seed the Iron Warriors had stolen during the 13th Black Crusade from the world of Hydra Cordatus and which was intended to turn normal adolescents into new Chaos Space Marines.This twisted technology was a mechanism intended to accelerate the development of new Traitor Marines in the laboratories under Honsou's fortress. These new Heretic Astartes were intended to refill the ranks of the Iron Warriors Legion, which had been unable to replace its losses over the 10 standard millennia since the Horus Heresy. The Daemonculaba were also the mutated creatures that Uriel and Pasanius had been tasked with destroying in the first place. At the same time, Honsou was under siege by rival Iron Warriors Warsmiths for refusing to hand over their share of the untainted Imperial Fists gene-stock taken after the invasion of an Imperial facility on Hydra Cordatus.As the fighting raged, Ventris and Pasanius managed to get free and succeeded in destroying Honsou's labs and his fortress, although in order for this to happen they had to release a captive Khornate Daemon Prince. The Daemon Prince proceeded to annihilate the rival Daemon it had previously imprisoned in the Omphalos Daemonium, destroyed Honsou's fortress and minions, and attacked Honsou's rivals, driving them away. Later, Uriel, Pasanius, and a group of the so-called Unfleshed, who were the mutant rejects of the Iron Warriors' experiments to make new Space Marines using the Daemonculaba, escaped from the Eye of Terror on the Omphalos Daemonium, which had reverted to a normal starship.
Uriel Ventris - Salinas: However, the former Daemon Engine brought them through the Warp to a troubled world called Salinas, and more specifically to a forbidden zone on that world's surface that reeked of death. Ventris and Pasanius were then confronted by the veteran Astra Militarum regiment that ruled the planet as a gift of conquest, led by Leto Barbaden, the suspicious and ruthless planetary governor and the regiment's ex-commander.The Astartes requested help in reaching Macragge, but their astropathic transmission was intercepted by the Grey Knights, who were monitoring Salinas for other reasons. A squad of them arrived on the planet, arrested Ventris and Pasanius, and after grueling physical, mental and spiritual trials declared them untainted by their exposure to Chaos during the events on Medrengard. In the meantime, it was revealed that a powerful psyker had likely brought the Omphalos Daemonium to Salinas in order to use the freed Unfleshed as an instrument of revenge against the governor and his former regiment. This was vengeance for the regiment's murder of tens of thousands of civilians, including the entire population of a town that was the birthplace of many of the leaders of a small-scale guerrilla campaign that now operated on Salinas.The campaign itself had been caused by the brutality and heavy-handedness of the Imperial Governor. This ravished town was the forbidden zone the Ultramarines had first found themselves in when they arrived on Salinas. After being possessed by the psyker, the Unfleshed went on a killing rampage, but they were eventually killed by Uriel, Pasanius, and the Grey Knights, who after appeasing the vengeful psyker and exacting justice on the overthrown Governor Barbaden, subsequently returned the Ultramarines to Macragge.
Uriel Ventris - Return to Pavonis: Having successfully completed their Death Oath, Uriel and Pasanius were welcomed back to Macragge, the homeworld of their Chapter, but were subjected to interrogation and tests by the Ultramarines' Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius to ensure they had not been tainted by their time on the Daemon World of Medrengard. After both Uriel and Pasanius were deemed free of Chaos taint, Uriel was reinstated as captain of the Ultramarines 4th Company and given the opportunity to prove himself in the eyes of those who still doubted him by returning to the world of Pavonis and defending it from T'au invaders.The T'au had taken advantage of economic turmoil on Pavonis to offer diplomatic overtures to the planet's rulers with the intention of incorporating Pavonis into the T'au Empire, launching a full-scale invasion when their offers were rebuffed. After tense fighting over key cities pivotal to control of the planet, the T'au invasion was ultimately thwarted when Uriel and the entirety of the Ultramarines 4th Company assaulted the T'au command centre and overcame the Ethereal commanding the T'au forces. Uriel pointed out that even if the T'au succeeded in conquering Pavonis, their forces would be insufficient to hold it against an inevitable Imperial counterattack.Uriel delivered an ultimatum to the T'au; either their forces withdrew unharmed, or he would have the 4th Company Strike Cruiser Vae Victus unleash an Exterminatus action on Pavonis to deny the planet to the T'au. Realising Ventris' threats were not empty, the T'au reluctantly retreated.Pasanius was not so fortunate, as he was demoted in rank and forced into one hundred solar days of isolation from the Chapter. This harsh treatment was a punishment for hiding the unusual regenerative abilities of his bionic arm, which he had gotten after the C'tan called the Nightbringer had scythed off his biological arm during the earlier Ultramarines mission to Pavonis. Apparently because of this contact with the C'tan, the bionic arm had become infused with the Necron's living metal, the substance called necrodermis. After one hundred days he was reinstated as a Battle-Brother of the 4th Company and rejoined his captain.
Uriel Ventris - Era Indomitus: During the Ultramar Campaign of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, Ventris and the 4th Company were operating in defence of Ultramar like the rest of the Chapter but were not present on Macragge itself during the campaign that led to the resurrection of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman at the hands of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl and the Aeldari faction called the Ynnari.In the aftermath of that campaign, following the departure of Guilliman for Terra during the Terran Crusade, Ultramar came under a renewed assault by the servants of the Plague God Nurgle that was led by the Daemon Primarch Mortarion and his Death Guard Traitor Legion, a conflict known as the Plague Wars.As the Chaos assault worsened and the Loyalist defenders of Ultramar found themselves slowly losing ground, Ultramarines Chapter Master Marneus Calgar despatched Ventris to find the primarch, now the ruling lord commander of the Imperium, and seek his help in safeguarding their common home.After Guilliman had left Macragge behind, a visibly aged and scarred Ventris finally caught up with the primarch in the aftermath of the Battle of Raukos, the final battle of the Indomitus Crusade, aboard his flagship, the Macragge's Honour. Ventris informed Guilliman of his brother Mortarion's assault upon Ultramar, and that the realm was likely soon to fall to the warriors of the Plague Lord if no outside help was forthcoming.Upon receiving this dire news, Guilliman decided to bring the Indomitus Crusade to an official end and personally led reinforcements back to Ultramar to face his traitorous brother. Ventris accompanied his primarch back to Ultramar and commanded the 4th Company in the Spear of Espandor counterattack that was to finally bring the Plague Wars to an end.Ventris crossed the Rubicon Primaris to become a Primaris Marine and led the 4th Company against Necrons on Sycorax during the Indomitus Crusade.
Uriel Ventris - Personality: Uriel Ventris is a flexible military commander who due to the efforts of his mentor, Captain Idaeus, learned to think outside the confines of the Codex Astartes, the masterpiece of Roboute Guilliman and the manual of war that most Space Marine Chapters base their tactics, strategy and organisation upon.Ventris appears to be a tenacious and honourable Space Marine who genuinely cares about the well-being of the average Imperial citizen. A notable example of this can be found when he saved Pavul, a member of the Erebus Defence Legion, during the Battle of Tarsis Ultra, from a swarm of attacking Hormagaunts after he had previously had his life saved from a rampaging Carnifex by this particular Imperial soldierVentris also struck up friendships with members of the 44th Lavrentian Hussars (particularly their commander, Colonel Nathaniel Winterborne) and the Pavonis Planetary Defence Force during their efforts to repulse a T'au invasion of the planet.
Uriel Ventris - Wargear: During his conflict with the Iron Warriors, Uriel Ventris was shot in the head by a bolter round fired by his Chaos-corrupted clone, the Newborn, which led to the loss of his right eye. It was later replaced by an augmetic eye created by Magos Biologis Vianco Locard.The bionic replacement's only difference with Ventris' organic eye was that it was metallic blue, rather than storm cloud grey. The bionic eye offered Ventris access to a wide variety of new visual spectra, heightened spatial awareness, a more efficient targetting mechanism for his weapons that could interface with his power armour's auto-senses, and visual image capture and storage capabilities.
Uriel Ventris - Notes: The sight of the Blade of Ventanus terrified M'kar, who called it the Shard of Erebus. It is not known whether this blade is one of the eight athames split from the Kinebrach Anathame, the sentient xenos weapon First Chaplain Erebus of the Word Bearers had stolen and then utilised in the plot to poison Horus, eventually turning him into an agent of Chaos.It is likely, however, that it was the same athame that Remus Ventanus had taken from the Word Bearers officer Hol Beloth during the Battle of Calth, though it could also have been the dagger Ventanus had taken from one of the other Word Bearers officers to bear an athame, Morpal Cxir, and used to banish the Daemon Samus.
Uriel Ventris - Canon Conflict: According to the chronology presented in the 5th Edition Codex: Space Marines, pg. 40, Uriel Ventris succeeded Idaeus as Captain of the 4th Company in 010.999.M41. The Tarsis Ultra campaign in this same chronology was fought in 540.997.M41, two Terran years earlier, while Idaeus was in command of the 4th Company.However, in the novel Warriors of Ultramar, Ventris was already in command of the 4th Company on Tarsis Ultra after having succeeded Idaeus. This two-year discrepancy in when Ventris took command of the 4th Company has not yet been resolved.
Urien Rakarth - Urien Rakarth: Urien Rakarth is a Drukhari and the Master Haemonculus of the Prophets of Flesh coven. A depraved genius in the fields of bodily manipulation and anatomical sculpture, Rakarth's skill as a fleshcrafter is legendary.Though he once enjoyed a senior position in the intrigues that bind Commorragh, he has transcended squabbles over power and prestige entirely. Now, only the most grandiose transmogrifications of Commorrite society pique his interest -- those that allow him to revel in the depravity of his twisted imagination.From the lowliest menial to the highest lord, there is not a soul in the Dark City that does not know the name Urien Rakarth. He is a dark legend, to some a figure of virtual folklore, to others a grim and monstrous fact.Infamous for his perverse carnivals of pain, the ancient Haemonculus is feted amongst the Dark City's upper echelons as a truly gifted artist of agonies. Yet the black well of Urien Rakarth's evil desires is dug far deeper than anyone knows.
Urien Rakarth - Asdrubael Vect's Funeral: Few spectacles are as extreme as the gnashing, thrashing carnival of pain Rakarth unleashes upon his prey, and competition is extremely fierce for the honour of the Master Haemonculus' presence.For this reason, Commorragh was abuzz when the Sculptor of Torments announced he would display his craft openly at the wake of Asdrubael Vect.  Archons from every corner of the Dark City came to view the grim spectacle, little knowing it was they who would become the subjects of Urien's latest masterpiece.Vect had been slain during the dysjunction that had occurred on the Night of Revelations, when Yvraine was chosen as the prophet of the partially awakened god of the dead Ynnead.Following the death of Vect, a funeral by the Harlequins of the Masque of the Veiled Path was organised and attended by many of the Archons of the Dark City who had been both allies and rivals of Vect. However, at the crescendo of the service, the Archons were massacred by the Harlequins in a bloody spectacle.Their blood was used to resurrect Vect, who was reborn with a perfect body imbued with a new "dark power." After the massacre, Rakarth and his Prophets of Flesh coven resurrected many of the dead.All who had remained faithful to Vect were resurrected back to their full health, but his foes were reborn as grotesque abominations and twisted monstrosities enslaved to Vect's will. They were to become immortal mockeries of their former selves, living embodiments of the fate of all those who dared to cross the supreme overlord of Commorragh -- and testaments to the skill of Urien Rakarth in the art of agony.