Oriax
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This article is about the Iron Warrior; for the Imperial Fist, see Oriax Dantalion. |
Oriax was a high-ranking Warpsmith and Fabricator of the Iron Warriors stronghold on Castellax.
History
Critically wounded in the crystal-swamps of Tarsis IX, Oriax should have died, but was carried to safety by Over-Captain Vallax.[1a] Thereafter, he rarely left his sanctum beneath the Iron Bastion, communicating with his brothers through a series of servitor proxies.[1b] Only Warsmith Andraaz and a select few others were ever allowed into Oriax's sanctum.[1a] He also monitored the fortress, and the rest of Castellax, through a network of his Steel Blood, a warp-tainted version of the Imperium's servo-skulls.[1h]
Vallax exploited Oriax's debt to him several times over the centuries.[1a] He was unaware that Oriax, far from being grateful, would have preferred to have died on Tarsis IX and plotted revenge against Vallax for preventing that.[1c]
Oriax's prize creation was the teleportation array known as the Daemonculum.[1a] He resented having to give "his" technology to his masters and even more resented having his precious Daemonculum used solely for the Iron Warriors' own plans, something he viewed them as unworthy of doing. Determined to be free of his overlords, Oriax secretly sent out deep space probes and contacted the Ork Warboss Biglug to draw him towards Castellax.[1d]
In the ensuing Siege of Castellax, Oriax's plan at first worked perfectly, as the Iron Warriors faced defeat at the hands of the Orks. Oriax also secretly manipulated a cabal of loyalist Techpriests who had been enslaved by the Iron Warriors when Castellax was first overrun. Believing they were building a bomb that would obliterate the Iron Warriors' fortress, they were paralyzed when Oriax took control of them and detonated the bomb, blasting a breach in the fortress wall that let the invading orks in.[1e][1f]
The culmination of Oriax's plan came when Warsmith Andraaz ordered the Daemonculum be used to teleport him and his Terminator bodyguards into Biglug's lair for a final duel against the Warboss. However unknown to Andraaz, one of his Steel Blood, taken by Biglug as a trophy, had been programmed to emit a binary pulse that shut down Anxraaz's Terminator Armor. Oriax also manipulated the Daemonculum to reduce the Warsmith's Terminator bodyguards to hunks of slag and flesh upon activation. Falling for Oriax's trap, Andraaz and his Terminators met an embarassing end at the hands of Biglug.[1d][1f][1g]
However in the end his treachery was discovered by the Iron Warriors Captain Rhodaan. Battling Rhodaan and his few remaining Iron Warriors, Oriax revealed that he had since infected himself with the Obliterator Virus, using his newfound abilities to nearly kill the Iron Warriors. However in the end Oriax nonetheless met his end when he was attacked by the Obliterator Merihem, giving Rhodaan enough time to kill him with his Chainsword.[1g]
Sources
