vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Bright Lance - Bright Lance: The Bright Lance is one of the most powerful heavy weapons in the arsenal of the Craftworld Aeldari and is an equivalent of the Imperial Lascannon in utility and power.It can be added as an optional weapon to Wraithlords, War Walkers, Falcons, Wave Serpents and Vypers. It operates in the same manner as a Lascannon, firing a concentrated blast of coherent light that is primarily intended to destroy enemy vehicles.The Bright Lance is a far more efficient weapon than its cruder, Human-made counterpart, in part due to its use of psychically-grown crystals to serve as a lasing matrix. It also possesses greater accuracy than a Lascannon and can penetrate any form of armour that is less than a certain thickness.
Brimlock Dragoons - Brimlock Dragoons: The Brimlock Dragoons are the regiments of the Imperial Guard that hail from the Imperial world of Brimlock. Regiments drawn from this world are known to have a preference for operating as mechanised infantry, deploying in Armoured Fist squadrons. Multiple Brimlock Dragoons regiments fought in the Damocles Gulf Crusade, the first military conflict fought between the Imperium of Man and the rapidly expanding Tau Empire in the Lithesh Sector of the Ultima Segmentum in the galaxy's Eastern Fringes during the late 41st Millennium.
Brimlock Dragoons - Regimental History: The Civilised World of Brimlock is a world defined by heavy industry and manufacturing located in the Ultima Segmentum. This world is at a late Industrial Revolution-era level of technology, with the rich living well and the millions of workers manning semi-automated production lines. Some of these workers are literally born and die there. The poorest of Brimlock's populace live in slums known as "rookeries." Some workers work on the outside of large dirigibles which float over the planet's hive cities. Brimlock is a planet that is particularly famous for producing ornate rifles and other high-quality military equipment.Brimlock is the administrative and military centre of its star system. The other planets in the Brimlock System are "tribute worlds" which fall under the control of Brimlock's Planetary Governor. The tribute worlds provide material and a tithe of men to fight in the Brimlock Auxilia. One of these planets was renamed Marguerite by the Brimlocks after they conquered it in honour of the patron Imperial Saint of Brimlock, St. Marguerite ("Blessed Marguerite" is a common oath on Brimlock, alongside "God-Emperor"). The inhabitants of Marguerite are commonly known as "margoes." Some within the Brimlock System consider this term purely descriptive, but most use it to be mildly derogatory.
Brimlock Dragoons - Regimental Recruitment: As a highly populated planet, Brimlock is able to provide several million men to the Imperial Guard each standard year. These men are volunteers, driven by poverty or a sense of adventure, though Brimlock could choose to conscript men in times of crisis. These troops are organised into regiments normally between five and ten thousand men each. Due to Brimlock's high manufacturing capacity, all regiments begin as Armoured Fist units, fully equipped with Chimeras and other armoured transport vehicles. Over the course of a regiment's existence, these may be destroyed or break down, leaving the regiment to go into battle on foot as regular infantrymen.
Brimlock Dragoons - Auxilia Troops: The Brimlock Auxilia are troops drawn from the tribute worlds and vary in terms of troop type and combat ability. The troops drawn from Marguerite are very similar to Ancient Terra's Ghurkhas. However, instead of carrying a kukri (a Nepalese knife with an inwardly curved edge, used as both a tool and as a weapon), they use a heavy chopping blade that curves inwards called a falcata (actually of pre-Romanii Iberian origin from Ancient Terra). Marguerite Auxilia are nicknamed "fell-cutters" after this blade and, in contrast to the low opinion that most Brimlockers have of margoes, the "fell-cutters" have a fearsome and savage reputation amongst the regular Brimlock regiments.
Brimlock Dragoons - Horse Dragoons: Brimlock provides regiments of armour, artillery and sappers (nicknamed "beards" due to their tendency to have profuse facial hair). Brimlock also provides regiments of Rough Riders known as "Horse Dragoons" (but typically referred to as simply "Dragoons"). These specially mounted horse cavalry squadrons can fight as regular infantry but prefer to fight as cavalry troops. They are typically equipped with Autopistols and explosive lances. The Horse Dragoons wear gold and silver ceremonial armour and are nicknamed "tin bellies" by the regular infantry. Brimlock cavalrymen are typically highly religious and are devout followers of the doctrines of the Imperial Cult. They are also highly disciplined and consider themselves an elite unit.
Brimlock Dragoons - Regiment Numbering: As is common to all Imperial Guard regiments, Brimlock regimental numbers are always recycled. When a new regiment is raised, it is given the number and the colours of a previous regiment that has been retired (or in most cases, annihilated). The regiment takes the colours with it on campaign until it finally loses so many men that the regiment is consolidated into another or dissolved entirely. When Brimlock regiments are consolidated, the lowest regimental number is retained and the higher number is retired. As lower numbers are also given out first to new regiments, low regiment numbers such as the Brimlock 1st are constantly used. At the point that a regiment is dissolved, the regiment's colours are returned to Brimlock in the company of a few of the most decorated officers and men of the regiment (known as a colour-guard).Once a regiment leaves Brimlock, only the members of the colour-guard ever come back. It is a high honour in a Brimlock regiment to be part of the colour-guard and competition to become part of this esteemed formation can be intense. Its men are feted or promoted after their return to their homeworld and either become the core of a new regiment or, if they are too old or injured, they become magisters (teachers) at the officer schola. Along with experience, military strategy and knowledge of different foes, the colour-guard also bring more mundane items with them. One of these is tanna, a Valhallan beverage which was brought back to Brimlock by a returning colour-guard. Tanna is now a popular drink on Brimlock and their regiments spread it to wherever in the galaxy they are assigned. Brimlock troopers also use tanna to stain helmets and uniforms as improvised camouflage.
Brimlock Dragoons - Combat Doctrine: While the Brimlock regiments vary their strategy to the tactical demands of the campaign, they prefer to operate from fixed, defensible bases. A typical Brimlock campaign will begin with the landing of one or more Deployable Outpost Vehicle (DOV) from orbit at a suitable location. These vehicles will then be deployed into a standard pattern fort in about a day, providing the regiments deploying from orbit with a secure headquarters and base of operations. Once that is done, they will proceed to carry out the overall campaign objectives.
Brimlock Dragoons - Notable Dragoon Regiments: Brimlock 4th Dragoons - The Brimlock 4th participated in the Damocles Gulf Crusade in 742.M41. They also participated during this campaign in the action known as Operation Hydra.Brimlock 8th Dragoons - The Brimlock 8th was assigned to the 4621st Imperial Army, XI Corps during the Taros Campaign, to reclaim the Imperial desert Mining World of Taros from the Tau Empire and its Kroot and human (Gue'vesa) allies of the Taros Planetary Defence Force in 998.M41. The XI Corps was to assemble after the X Corps had departed and act as a second wave for the invasion. The 8th Dragoons was selected because of the reegiment's experience in fighting the Tau in the Damocles Gulf. The 8th was wiped out when its transport convoy was attacked and destroyed by a Tau battlegroup led by the Lar'shi'vre-class Cruiser Io'Tar.Brimlock 17th Dragoons - The Brimlock 17th participated in the Damocles Gulf Crusade. Around 750.M41 on the world of Sy'l'Kell, an armoured column of the 17th was ambushed in transit to the front lines from their landing zone by a small force of three Kroot kindred of a mercenary Kroot Carnivore Squad. Scores of Imperial Guardsmen were killed in the opening moments of the ambush. The column was continuously harried by the kroot warriors until it finally linked up with a detachment of Space Marines from the Scythes of the Emperor Chapter. By this time they had lost 30 Dragoons, 2 scout vehicles and their Commissar was severely wounded. Augmented by additional Imperial forces, the Kroot withdrew, and the Scythes Astartes pursued them to enact their fiery wrath upon the perfidiousxenos. Unfortunately, they were led into a cunning trap, as the Kroot were now augmented by Tau armoured vehicels which proceeded to decimate the column. The Imperials -- mortal and Astartes alike -- died to a man.Brimlock 19th Dragoons - The Brimlock 19th participated in the Damocles Gulf Crusade. Following the conclusion of this campaign, they were left behind in Tau space after the Imperial Crusade forces withdrew to redeploy against the new threat posed by the Tyranid Hive Fleet Behemoth. According to Tau propaganda, the regiment had supposedly surrendered after all of their Commissars had been killed in combat (allegedly) and was allowed to settle a world under the control of the Tau. Private Jeakim Slovaz, listed as 'Missing In Action' during the Damocles Crusade, continued to broadcast this propaganda decades after the conflict and was eventually declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the Imperial High Command.
Brimlock Dragoons - Trivia: The Brimlock Rough Riders known as the "Horse Dragoons" are based on the seventeenth century's English Civil War's New Model Army cavalry rather than the reckless and aristocratic British cavalry of the same name who fought in the Napoleonic and Crimean Wars of the nineteenth century.
Bringers of Decay - Bringers of Decay: The Bringers of Decay are a special formation of Chaos Space Marines found within the Black Legion who are wholly dedicated to the service of the Chaos God Nurgle.The Plague God has a strong following within the Black Legion; his putrid touch is evident throughout the ranks of its warriors. Under the dominance of the Chosen of Abaddon lieutenant Skyrak Slaughterborn, the current Lord Corruptor of the Legion, the Nurglites have converted many to their cause.In battle, the Bringers of Decay are Abaddon the Despoiler's plague carriers and heralds of contagion, often appearing before other warbands of the Legion on the field to sow infection and sickness. This could also be why many other warbands of the Black Legion will have little to do with the Bringers of Decay, repelled by the blessings of the Plague God they bear, and the pervasive stench that follows them.
Bringers of Decay - Sources: Black Legion: A Codex: Chaos Space Marines Supplement (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 65Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition), pg. 19Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition) (Revised Codex), pg. 19
Bringers of Enraptured Joy - Bringers of Enraptured Joy: The Bringers of Enraptured Joy are a nomadic Genestealer Cult. During the Era Indomitus, far-ranging patrols from the Deathwatch watch fortress Castilos Nullifact in the northern Segmentum Ultima found evidence of a mobile Genestealer Cult travelling between fringe worlds aboard a fleet of voidships and posing as Rogue Traders. They set off on the trail of these so-called Bringers of Enraptured Joy, and fought several battles against the monstrously corrupted settlements the xenos-worshippers had seeded in their wake.
Bringers of Judgement - Bringers of Judgement: The Bringers of Judgement are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter and a successor of the Dark Angels, created during an unknown Founding.
Bringers of Judgement - Chapter History: The Bringers of Judgment are possessed of a fanatical zeal that gives the other Unforgiven Chapters pause. When they encounter rebellion, they deem the entire world guilty. In their view, weakness in even one citizen indicates weakness in the entire population, and the punishment for weakness is death.The many atrocities they have committed have drawn the ire of the Inquisition, though this has not dissuaded them from their genocidal course of conduct.
Bringers of Judgement - Chapter Colours: The Bringers of Judgement primarily wear white power armour with gold as a secondary colour on their helms, shoulder pauldrons, vambraces and gauntlets. The Aquila or Imperialis worn on the chest guard is also gold.The Bringers of Judgment are known to decorate their greaves and sabatons with golden flame iconography, representing their fiery and zealous nature.The black squad tactical specialty symbol -- battleline, fire support, close support, Veteran or command -- is indicated on the right shoulder pauldron. A red coloured lozenge (diamond) is centred upon the squad specialty symbol while a white High Gothic numeral is prominently displayed upon it.The left shoulder pauldron displays the Chapter's iconography.It is unknown how the Bringers of Judgement indicate a battle-brother's company assignment.
Bringers of Judgement - Chapter Badge: The Bringers of Judgement's Chapter badge consists of a black scale centred upon a field of gold. This symbol represents the Chapter's mission to balance the scales of justice and render their unforgiving retribution upon those whom stray from the light of the Emperor.
Broken, The - Broken, The: The Broken was a warband of Chaos Space Marines that was once the Viridian Consuls Chapter, a Second Founding Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines.They were corrupted by Chaos after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what horrors they endured during their sojourn in the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Heretic Astartes known as The Broken.The Broken were encountered by the Ultramarines Chapter in the late 41st Millennium as they investigated the space hulk designated Fury that broke from the Warp close to the Agri-World of Iax.As the Ultramarines ventured deeper into the space hulk, they were horrified to learn that their foes were once a Loyalist Chapter derived from their own parent Legion.The Broken are believed to have been eradicated by the Ultramarines and their allies amongst the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Inquisition during this campaign.
Broken, The - Fate of the Viridian Consuls: Almost on cue, the scout party reported contact with a lone Space Marine -- visibly injured -- approaching their position near the eight dead Viridian Consuls. His pauldrons were dirty but one displayed the emblem of a sword. Believing they had located a survivor, the Ultramarines did not open fire at once but let him draw closer. It was only when the unknown Astartes had halved the distance between them that it became obvious he had been corrupted by Chaos.His entrails spilled openly from a deep wound in his abdomen, a dark red smear on the dirty green of his Power Armour. The arm he was clutching, mimicking a wound, was no arm at all, but a slimy tentacle, coated in some kind of transparent fluid which proved to be acid. Worst of all was his face, the lower part of his Mark V Heresy Pattern helmet replaced by insectoid mandibles.Upon seeing this abomination the Ultramarines opened fire, cutting the Heretic Astartes down. A roar of rage answered from the darkness and soon the scouting party faced heavy return fire.After requesting support from their brethren, the Tactical Squad of 5th Company moved to hold their position. They accounted well for themselves until Marneus Calgar personally led a demi-Company to their aid.With the Chapter Master's arrival, the remaining corrupted Chaos Space Marines retreated back into the dark, giving the Ultramarines the time needed to analyze their foe -- their first unwitting contact with The Broken. The signs of corruption were obvious and written large on their former brethren's bodies, the curse of mutation running rife among them.The original heraldry of the Viridian Consuls had been subtly altered, the Ultramarines' own sigil having been inverted to form an Omega, an ancient Terran symbol for the end of all things. Some of the corpses also displayed the mutational "gifts" of the Plague God Nurgle, having been transformed into the feared Plague Marines.Others wore the blood-encrusted crimson armour of the Khornate Berserkers usually encountered amongst the World Eaters Legion and other servants of the Blood God. To see Heretic Astartes dedicated to two separate Chaos Gods fighting side-by-side outside of large campaigns such as the Black Crusades was extremely rare -- and disturbing.
Broken, The - Warband Beliefs: After fighting the forces of Chaos for many Terran years in the Eye of Terror, the Viridian Consuls lost all hope and felt betrayed by the Imperium who they believed had sent them into the Warp rift only to die.That anger and despair ultimately drove The Broken to turn to two of the major Chaos Gods to seek succor in their angst: Khorne and Nurgle.The Broken accepted Khorne as the manifestation of their anger towards the Imperium that had betrayed them. Nurgle represented the sense of hopelessness and despair that had come upon the Viridian Consuls as they fought within the Eye.Despite their veneration of the two Ruinous Powers, The Broken seem to hold Nurgle in somewhat higher regard and devote themselves to his worship more fervently.Those Astartes of the Virdian Consuls who refused to accept the Chapter's turn towards Chaos were crucified alive, Nurgle's maggots gnawing within their rotting innards while the Plague God refused to let them die.
Broken, The - Notable Broken: The Witness (Chapter Master Phrynon) - Formerly the Chapter Master of the Viridian Consuls, the noble Astartes once known as Phrynon led his Chapter alongside the other Space Marine Chapters of "The Judged", whose gene-seed was deemed to be impure by Saint Basillius the Elder, the corrupted Living Saint who initiated the infamous Abyssal Crusade. After centuries of warfare against the servants of Chaos within the Eye of Terror, Phrynon lost hope for his Astartes' redemption. He and some of his fellow warriors felt as if they had been abandoned by the Imperium to die a worthless death. Phrynon then began corrupting his fellow Space Marines, seeking to convert them to the service of the Chaos Gods since the Emperor no longer cared for them. Those that did not accept the new truth either fled or were killed. As a reward for his corruption of his own Chapter, Phrynon eventually was allowed to ascend to become a Daemon Prince of the Dark Gods known as "The Witness." The Witness met his end when he confronted Chapter Master Marneus Calgar in the heart of the space hulk Fury. Though Calgar was wounded and exhausted by the relentless battles against the space hulk's corrupted inhabitants, he was able to slay The Witness with the help of the Terminators of the Ultramarines' 1st Company.
Broken, The - Warband Colours: The Broken warband's colours were red and green.
Broken, The - Warband Badge: The Broken warband's badge is a subtle but meaningful alteration of their former heraldry. The Viridian Consuls' badge was an Ultima icon like the one worn by the Ultramarines, bisected by a sword and flanked by two wings of flame, on a green background.The Broken inverted the Ultima to form an Omega, a symbol signifying the end of all things and the finite nature of existence.
Broken Triplets - Broken Triplets: The Broken Triplets is a Hold World of the Trans-Hyperian Alliance of the Leagues of Votann. The Broken Triplets are actually a trio of worlds found in the galactic core where the three planets were smashed together during some ancient catastrophe, and the colossal quantities of debris from their demise still whirls and ricochets in a vast cloud to this day, trapped by the gravitic anomaly that caused the disaster.Few other peoples could consider such a devastating region home, yet the hold of Nôthka's Kindred -- Sunder Stair -- sits at the heart of the anomaly behind a breathtaking bulwark of interwoven force fields. These both shelter the immense void station that serves as the hold and also maintain clear space lanes for its voidcraft to take in and out of the system. Not only do the Kin of Sunder Stair enjoy the natural defence of the ruin-belt -- which would swiftly cripple invading voidcraft -- but they have also spent Terran centuries mining the exposed innards of the Broken Triplets.
Bronislaw Czevak - Bronislaw Czevak: High Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak was a distinguished and controversial member of the Ordo Xenos active in the Moebius Sub-sector during the second half of the 41st Millennium. After almost 400 standard years of service to the Imperium and the Inquisition, and already suspected by some of corruption, he disappeared during an archeotech reclamation on the planet Darcturus.Except for a short interval, he was missing for some 30 standard years and was presumed dead. He secretly resurfaced in the first century of the 42nd Millennium having spent much of the intervening time as a prisoner in the Black Library, the secret Aeldari craftworld that is hidden in the Webway and acts as their repository for Chaos lore.He eventually acquired a new retinue of Acolytes, and has since embarked on a self-imposed mission as a freelance agent, working to thwart Chaos and champion the cause of the Imperium of Man. He directs his main efforts against the Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman, who is his prime opponent and nemesis.Imperial authorities regard him at best as a Renegade in possession of dangerous but valuable knowledge, and at worst as a Heretic and Traitor liable to be summarily executed.Throughout the galaxy, Traitors, Chaos Cultists, Heretics, Imperial opportunists and many aliens crave his knowledge of the Black Library and its lore, while the Aeldari Black Council has likely condemned him to death, considering the same knowledge too dangerous to be held by an untrustworthy Mon-keigh.
Bronislaw Czevak - Origins: It is not known where or when Czevak was born and raised. He attended a Schola Progenium called the Schola Byblos, which indicates he was the orphaned son of Imperial servants who died for the Emperor's cause. As he does not possess psychic ability, is not gifted physically, and is only an average fighter, he was presumably selected to become an Acolyte of the Inquisition due to his heightened survival instincts, his razor-sharp intellect, and his keen curiosity.Czevak served as an Acolyte to Inquisitor Furneaux of the Ordo Xenos and eventually achieved the status of High Inquisitor (equivalent to an Inquisitor Lord), who served primarily in the Moebius Sub-sector.He was considered a learned and opinionated proponent of the Thorian philosophical sect of the Inquisition.However his unconventional views, which some of his fellow Inquisitors considered to be of the Radical persuasion, prevented him from becoming the Grand Master of the Inquisition's Moebian Conclave, even though he was its senior-most member.After almost 400 standard years of service to the Imperium, Czevak had undergone extensive rejuvenat treatments that kept him alive long past the human body's natural lifespan.By the late 41st Millennium he was little more than a dessicated frame held together by a specially constructed cryogenic suspension suit. A blister helmet concealed an implanted bionic controller for the suit as well as his hairless scalp and deeply lined face.However, his intelligence, curiosity and argumentative, opinionated manner had remained as sharp as ever, coupled with his accumulated vast knowledge and experience.
Bronislaw Czevak - The Aeldari Connection: During his long and distinguished service as an alien hunter for the Imperium Czevak came into close contact with the Aeldari many times, and established a relationship with them, especially the leading Aeldari of the declining Iyanden Craftworld.Notable among them was Iqbraesil, one of the Iyanden Farseers. These contacts were apparently officially sanctioned or tolerated by Inquisition authorities, at least at the start.At some point, while Czevak was the Aeldari's guest in Ilyanden at Iqbraesil's invitation, he was treated to a unique spectacle. In an unheard-of gesture, the Aeldari allowed him and members of his entourage to witness a performance by the Harlequins -- this honor, however, as well as his whole interaction with the Aeldari, may have been part of their plans to manipulate him.Czevak learned a lot about Aeldari culture, history and science. This included some knowledge of the Wraithguard and of the related Aeldari reanimation and soul-transference technology encapsulated within the Soul Stones.
Bronislaw Czevak - Radical Ideas: Czevak was deeply dissatisfied with the Imperium's cultural and technological stagnation and repression. Through his congress with the Aeldari he had come to believe that the terrible nature of threats like the Tyranids required nothing less than the physical leadership of the Emperor of Mankind Himself once more.Czevak became obsessed with utilising the Aeldari's resurrective incarnation technology in order to make the dying Emperor whole once again.This was thought by others in the Inquisition to be at best misguided and at worst treason. Heated Inquisitorial Conclaves were held, and Czevak was often threatened with sanction by the more Puritan Inquisitors and generally admonished to stop pursuing the study of alien lore.
Bronislaw Czevak - Darcturus: In the late 41st Millennium, Czevak discovered the ancient crash site of the lost Aeldari Craftworld Uthuriel, which had fallen to the planet Darcturus in the Moebius Sub-sector. Czevak lead an Ordo Xenos expedition to the planet, a large operation that required support from the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Adeptus Ministorum and the Imperial Guard, and required the presence of his full retinue of Acolytes as well as a Deathwatch Kill-team.Czevak was specifically looking for the splintered craftworld's shrine dedicated to Kaela Mensha Khaine, and its Avatar of the Aeldari war god. The shrine was indeed found, and accompanied by the Deathwatch Space Marines and his retinue, Czevak entered it to discover the intact, enormous statue of Khaine on his throne.Czevak secretly hoped to glean further knowledge concerning Avatar reanimation technology by studying the artefact, in order to further his aim of resurrecting the Emperor. Czevak's retinue discovered their master's true purpose only at the last moment.Unbeknownst to Czevak, the Inquisition hierarchy of the sub-sector had reached the limit of its tolerance for his radical ideas and continuing involvement with xenos, and had decided to rein him in.Upon discovery of the Avatar of Khaine, the Deathwatch, secretly acting under the direct orders of Moebius Inquisitorial Conclave Grand Master Ephisto Specht, placed orbital bombardment markers on the statue while also announcing their intention to take Czevak and his retinue into custody for transport to an Inquisition base.There, Czevak's eventual fate would be decided. Although Czevak accepted his arrest, a misunderstanding caused violence to break out amongst the Imperials. In the middle of the firefight, a troupe of Aeldari Harlequins made a wholly unexpected appearance and proceeded to kill the members of the Deathwatch squad, while leaving Czevak and his Acolytes untouched.
Bronislaw Czevak - Black Library: The Harlequins activated a Webway communications interface to a meeting of the Black Council, the governing body of the Black Library within the labyrinthine dimension. The Black Council was the closest thing the Aeldari had to a centralised advisory body for their entire species.The Council made Czevak an offer he could not refuse: he was "invited" to the Library to study its accumulated lore concerning Chaos and to help thwart the Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman, who had tried to gain entry into the Webway and the Library for millennia in pursuit of his own quest to better understand and master the power of Chaos and his own patron, the Chaos God Tzeentch.Over the objections of his then-Interrogator Raimus Klute, Czevak accepted the Black Council's offer. Klute, previously Czevak's chirurgeon, then proceeded to inject him with various vaccines as a precaution for the journey, among them a vaccine for a powerful strain of the meme-virus.This virus infected the carrier and altered his neural patterns to produce an insatiable, irrational thirst for knowledge, a near-photographic memory and enhanced pattern recognition ability. It also had occasional side-effects, including the inducement of vivid hallucinations.Klute knew that Czevak's cryo suit would probably inhibit the inoculation of the meme-virus, leaving Czevak infected. Czevak accepted this, as this meant that the lore of the Black Library would be even more accessible.The Black Library is a "dark" craftworld eternally travelling through the Webway. Its location and route are secret, hidden from all but the Harlequins and the members of the Black Council. Like all craftworlds, the vessel is conscious and psychoactive, hiding itself from all psychic probes, while simultaneously repelling Warp entities and intrusions.It is an enormous construct with a scorched, crystalline appearance, covered in vanes and flourishes but with the typical flowing grace of Aeldari architecture. The interior is an intentional labyrinth with all manner of convoluted passages, corridors, and chambers.Bubble vaults full of stasis caskets containing forbidden lore and dangerous artefacts hang from the superstructure, whilst inside and above are myriad citadels, obelisks, monoliths, and spires where the rest of the Craftworld's arcane contents are kept.Czevak was taken to the Library, where he mainly studied at the Wraith Tower, the section of the Library devoted to humanity's interaction with Chaos, the accumulated lore of the Imperial Traitors. Several standard years later, and no longer needing his cryogenic suspension suit to enhance his mobility due to the Webway's natural regenerative effects upon human tissue, a much younger-looking Czevak returned to realspace and the Imperium.
Bronislaw Czevak - Ahriman and Xarchos: Czevak's return to the Imperium was a major political event. Adding to the controversy surrounding him, he had become a celebrity, looked on as a champion by the Radicals in the Inquisition while serving as a lightning rod to Puritans, who nevertheless craved his newly acquired knowledge even as they sought to destroy him and any who supported him.The politically astute Inquisition authorities allowed him to resume his duties and reassemble a retinue of Acolytes. They assigned Klute (now an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor in his own right) to look after his protection, mindful of his knowledge's value.However Czevak’s return to the Imperium proved to be short-lived. Not long after, while attempting to run through the blockade erected by the Forces of Chaos around the world of Cadia that signalled the beginning of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, he became the victim of a superbly executed Thousand Sons' illusion and ambush, and eventually found himself captive in the Impossible Fortress, the Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman's own flagship, where he was held for several standard years.Ahriman wanted Czevak's knowledge of the Black Library, and more specifically, the activation runecodes for a Webway portal discovered by the Thousand Sons on Etiamnum III. Ahriman's apprentice Korban Xarchos was tasked with Czevak's lengthy interrogation during which Czevak went through unimaginable physical and psycho-spiritual torture.He confessed all his most embarrassing and personal secrets, as well as his knowledge of the methods and assets of the Inquisition. He even revealed damning secrets held in the Library -- but nothing of the Library itself or of a way to find it.Under the most arcane and unbearable torture, Czevak resisted all attempts to divulge the Library's own secrets, and he realized that the Library had somehow psychically secured his knowledge of it, rendering him unable to reveal information about it under any form of coercive pressure.Finally, the Traitors produced the ravaged form of Joaqhuine Desdemondra, a former associate and secret love interest of Czevak's who had been canonised as a Living Saint by the Ecclesiarchy. Being a Reanimate, an immortal mutant, she was tortured in front of Czevak with repeated death by incineration. Czevak's love and sorrow over the suffering of another finally broke the Library's psychic wards, and Ahriman's subsequent and forceful mind-invasion forced Czevak to unwittingly reveal the Etiamnum III portal's runecodes.Even more damaging unwilling revelations by Czevak were averted when the troupe of Harlequins assigned to watch him suddenly appeared, boarding over from a cloaked Aeldari vessel. After a fight with Ahriman, they managed to take Czevak away from the Traitors.
Bronislaw Czevak - Return to the Black Library: Czevak was returned to the Webway and the Black Library. This time he was imprisoned (for his own and the galaxy's protection according to the Aeldari) as one of its living specimens and exhibits. Confined in a cell within the Wraith Tower that, like the rest of the Library's interior, was mostly transparent, he spent his days furthering his knowledge of how to combat Chaos.Thanks to Aeldari medical attention and healing techniques, as well as the wraithbone environment's restorative properties, he quickly recuperated from the Thousand Sons' tortures. He naturally rejuvenated, acquiring an even younger, athletic appearance, and boundless energy.He had occasional visitors, curious Aeldari who wanted to personally see the human polymath, Chaos expert and famous prey of Ahriman. He was once even scrutinized by a rare human visitor, likely an Illuminatus, an incident that set his mind to thoughts of escape.His personal attendant was Iqbraesil's daughter Adara-Ke, a long-serving Guardian-Scribe of the Library, but it is not known whether she was assigned because of Czevak's previous relationship with Iyanden.Czevak became the subject of a Black Council meeting as quite unexpectedly to the Aeldari Farseers, Ahriman had used the knowledge extracted from Czevak to breach the Webway.Because of this threat, most of the Council's members were in favor of either imprisoning Czevak for life or even better, terminating him, as he was deemed too independent, unpredictable and dangerous due to his knowledge –- which, most Farseers were convinced, would eventually somehow fall into the wrong hands.Farseer Iqbraesil, who sat on the Council as Iyanden’s representative, disagreed with the majority’s verdict on Czevak, believing that he still had a worthwhile and beneficial role for the Aeldari to play in the galaxy. He instructed Adara-Ke to help Czevak escape while the Craftworld’s attention (and most of its residents) were at the Black Council meeting.
Bronislaw Czevak - The Atlas Infernal: Adara-Ke informed Czevak of the Black Council's proceedings and of her father's plan to have him escape death and the Library. She gave him a bulky, ancient Imperial tome with covers of burnished, golden, astonishingly lightweight and resilient metal with a unique sheen. The book's title, written in High Gothic, was the Atlas Infernal.It was an organic, adaptable map of the Webway, dating from before the time of the Horus Heresy. A psionically-negative item, its "pages" were the stretched pieces of the skin of an Untouchable who had once been a Sister of Silence, attached to lightweight golden frames.The veins, capillaries, and arteries on the "pages" could reconfigure themselves to show the reader his desired destination within the Webway, being constantly fed oxygen by an intricate regulated pump embedded in the book’s spine.Using both the anti-psyker and adaptable-mapping properties of the Atlas, Czevak was able to escape the Black Library through the Webway. He subsequently used the book to traverse the galaxy through the Webway in order to outsmart his Harlequin pursuers, and also in a quest to thwart Ahriman and his minions.Another likely objective was locating his former associate and secret love interest Joaqhuine Desdemondra, still held captive by the Thousand Sons. Ahriman in turn was fervently looking for Czevak, craving his knowledge.
Bronislaw Czevak - Reappearance: Czevak spent a number of standard years wandering the galaxy through the Webway making plans against Ahriman, consumed by guilt over the deaths caused by his torture-induced revelations.In the meantime Klute, who respected and admired Czevak, was remorseful over failing to prevent his capture. He spent two standard decades after Czevak's disappearance over Cadia on a mission to find him, a secret objective his superiors and even his retinue was unaware of.He had assembled a highly unconventional cadre of Acolytes and based on the Rogue Trader starship Malescaythe, he made frequent extended forays to the Eye of Terror. In his search for Czevak, Klute was looking for artefacts that would allow him access to the Webway.Sometime during the first few decades of the 42nd Millennium Klute and his team found, and transported to the Malescaythe, a Webway portal called the Lost Fornical of Urien-Myrdyss. To everyone's surprise the portal soon activated, and a visitor who turned out to be Czevak stepped through, pursued by an ichneuplasm which he eventually managed to vanquish.Following the initial surprise and a heated argument, his associates accepted Klute's assertion: this was indeed the infamous, irascible Czevak, known among Imperial, xenos, and Chaotic operatives galaxy-wide and long presumed dead or worse, having become Ahriman's plaything. Czevak for his part looked almost four centuries younger, and had lost none of his opinionated ways and cutting sarcasm.Klute and associates were now ready to return to the fold of the Imperium. Yet Czevak had no illusions: the only thing the Imperium and Inquisitors of any persuasion wanted was his knowledge and the conclusions he had drawn from it. In the eyes of the Imperial authorities he was considered too compromised, and either a Heretic or a Traitor.Before this argument was resolved, the first part of a typically ingenious and cunning long-term plot by the Thousand Sons to recapture Czevak -- or rather, to take the Atlas Infernal -- started to play out, in the form of an encounter with a Khornate Berserker vessel.
Bronislaw Czevak - Mammoshad: A complicated series of clues to Korban Xarchos' whereabouts followed, involving a captured cogitator from the defeated Khornate vessel, and the avoidance of a trap set by Xarchos to ensnare Czevak. He and the retinue reasoned that Xarchos was attempting to replicate daemonic psychic vivisection as practiced millennia before by the Daecropsicum, a long-destroyed Dark Mechanicum cult, while simultaneously carrying out a campaign of carnage and death in order to provide the necessary psychic power to summon a suitable daemonic subject.Czevak and company eventually acquired a piece of a vivisected daemon that was the only successful result of the Daecropsicum's experiments: the psychic fragment of the ancient and extremely powerful Tzeentchian Lord of Change Mammoshad, whose greed and ambition had been bound into a coin.Czevak proceeded to interrogate the daemonic fragment about Xarchos and Ahriman's whereabouts and plans. It was an unceasing multi-day session without respite, during which the increasingly unhinged Czevak mercilessly tormented the daemon. Mammoshad in turn was taking advantage of the raging meme-virus within the Inquisitor's mind to apply equal torture on Czevak through denials and obvious misinformation.Eventually Czevak found out that the Thousand Sons were planning to reassemble and re-release Mammoshad as their servant, spreading havoc in the galaxy, and helping Ahriman breach the Webway again. The event was to take place on Melmoth's World, a Nurglite planet in the Eye of Terror, which became Czevak's next intended destination.By now Klute had had enough. He had realised that his hero, friend and mentor had been drawn into an elaborate trap by the master deceiver Ahriman and his minions, who knew the workings of Czevak's brilliant, hyperactive mind all too well.Klute secretly ordered a change of course towards Cadia, and specifically the nearby top secret Inquisitorial fortress at Nemesis Tessera. Another heated argument with Czevak ensued when the latter found out. The naivete and brilliance of both men became apparent.Finally Czevak agreed to return to the Inquisition and the Imperium, but insisted on a secret approach to the base, and entry through a "back door." Klute and his retinue reluctantly accepted.
Bronislaw Czevak - Nemesis Tessera: Czevak never intended to return to the stagnant Imperium. Drawing on his tremendous conviction about stopping Ahriman and doing his part to better the galaxy, he continued his ongoing campaign of counterbluff, counterintelligence and oneupmanship. He therefore turned the wishes of his only remaining friends (Klute and company) to his advantage.Using the Lost Fornical and the Atlas Infernal Czevak lead his associates to an Inquisition Reliquary Chamber kilometres below the sub-surface base. One of the relics was a functioning, unguarded Webway portal, a major lapse in the millennia-old base's security, which Czevak had taken advantage of before. Thanks to the portal the team from the Malescaythe entered the fortress undetected.Czevak instructed the astonished and fearful team (which included witches, daemonhosts and Renegades under Inquisition kill-orders, all now trespassing within a heavily defended Inquisition fortress) to start looking for a specific item. It wasn't long before the team was detected, and was assaulted by Grey Knights and Inquisitorial Storm Troopers.Czevak saved the day by brandishing the sought-after relic, which was a long-abandoned heretical experiment: a cloned Pariah embryo in a bell-jar stasis casket, a virtually unheard of (outside of the Culexus Temple) Omega Minus null entity.The severely mauled remnants of the team then returned to the Malescaythe, which had been detected and was simultaneously engaged in battle with an Inquisition flotilla.Sustaining heavy damage, the starship managed to extract itself by making a desperate, blind Warp jump, during which Czevak came close to being slain by the mysteriously appearing and equally inexplicably disappearing Harlequins.
Bronislaw Czevak - Melmoth's World: Czevak's manipulation and his willful endangerment of his associates' lives in order to get the Pariah embryo resulted in a further violent confrontation with Klute.Czevak finally apologized and acknowledged his friends' loyalty and concerns, while Klute realized that they were indeed on their own, as the Imperium would not tolerate loyal but unconventional warriors with an independent streak, questionable associates, and a knowledge of deep and frightening secrets.With the Malescaythe and its crew hiding in an inaccessible and unstable area of the Eye of Terror called the Scorpento Maestrale, Czevak used the Lost Fornical Webway portal to arrive at Melmoth's World.Knowingly walking into the trap Xarchos and Ahriman had so painstakingly laid for him, he realised that the whole planet was to be used as a birthing cradle for Mammoshad, and the Thousand Sons had forced the slothful Nurglite population to mine a Warp mineral that would accelerate the Greater Daemon's birth.He was arrested and taken to Xarchos, who being a shapeshifter and telepath, was being "worn" remotely by Ahriman. He had no need of Czevak any longer except as a sacrifice to Mammoshad, who had expressly demanded Czevak's life. Ahriman knew he could get all the information he wanted from the Atlas Infernal.Mind-forcing Czevak to reveal where he was hiding the book, Ahriman was actually fooled by the Inquisitor into handling the Pariah casket instead, which immediately started draining his psychic essence. The wounded Ahriman hastily retreated from Xarchos' body, who was then destroyed by exposure to the Pariah.Mammoshad was next. Just as it was hatching back into existence from a colossal daemonic egg, Czevak threw the Pariah embryo at it, stunting its rebirth and ultimately banishing it back to the Warp. After a skirmish with the ubiquitous Harlequins who were also on the planet, Czevak returned to the Malescaythe, which was again in trouble because it had been detected by Ahriman's fleet.In an extremely dangerous and ingenious play typical of Czevak, he had the ship elude its pursuers by entering a huge Webway portal on the surface of the area's highly unusual cryo star.While the Malescaythe was drydocked in the Webway for repairs, the Harlequins again appeared. However this time Czevak was expecting them. Knowing they wanted both the Atlas and his life, he tricked them into approaching and then opened the book.The volume's potent psychic null field mortally wounded the troupe's Shadowseer and injured the rest of the Harlequins, who disappeared to save themselves. Through the dying Shadowseer Czevak sent a message to the Black Council: he was going to find and stop Ahriman on his own terms, and not as an Aeldari puppet.
Bronislaw Czevak - At Present: In the early 42nd Millennium, Czevak, Klute, and his retinue carried on with their self-appointed crusade against the enemies of Mankind, and especially Ahriman and his plans. Although now hunted by almost every faction in the galaxy, Czevak has remarkable freedom of action thanks to the Atlas Infernal, his vast knowledge and intelligence, and his able and loyal associates.His multi-decade sojourn in various parts of the Webway had a naturally rejuvenating effect on him, and he currently looks about 400 Terran years younger than his actual chronological age -- he is almost 440 standard years old, but with great amounts of newly acquired energy.He is still willingly carrying the meme-virus, refusing treatment. He still uses the previously implanted cybernetic Mind Impulse Socket to interface with all kinds of machinery.When in combat Czevak favours a pilfered Harlequin overcoat, whose holographic cloaking abilities, embedded wrist-mounted monofilament wire weapon, and unnatural extradimensional storage capacity he often puts to good use.Inherently dangerous, independent, and unpredictable, Bronislaw Czevak is a worthy opponent of the enemies of the Emperor and of Humanity who should not be underestimated.
Bronislaw Czevak - Base of Operations: Malescaythe -- The Malescaythe is a Rogue Trader starship owned and commanded by Captain Reinette Torres of the Torres-Bouchier Mercantile Sovereignty which is based on the world of Zyracuse. Its full crew complement consists of former Imperial Navy recruits and Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-priests, serfs, Menials and Servitors. The vessel's security detail is provided by detachments of the Penitent Savlar Chem Dogs Regiment of the Imperial Guard. The ship's armament and weaponry is typical of starships of its class and function. The ship contains a specially constructed "Archeodeck" full of stasis cases and other vaults housing a large collection of relics, some holy to the Imperium, most others illegal, alien, heretical, or Chaotic. These include a functioning Webway portal known as the Lost Fornical of Urien-Myrdyss. The vessel also contains a specially fortified chapel. For the past few decades the Malescaythe has made extensive forays into the Eye of Terror. While in the Eye, the ship always runs with an active Gellar Field, regardless of whether or not it is actually in the Warp, and is additionally fortified with numerous psychic wards against daemonic intrusions. Despite the prolonged missions in the Eye, the vessel has never been psychically breached, and her crew has remained generally untainted. Recently, the Malescaythe withstood extensive damage and was eventually repaired within the Webway after Czevak identified a large portal into the Labyrinthine Dimension with the assistance of the Atlas Infernal.