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Gregor Eisenhorn

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Inquisitor Eisenhorn

Gregor Eisenhorn was an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos.

Initially a Puritan of the Amalathian faction, Eisenhorn's ideology would alter over the course of his career to the point where other members of the Inquisition would wonder if he was perhaps such a radical that he might be deemed heretical. Indeed, Eisenhorn has been officially considered a rogue agent at least twice in his Inquisitorial career, only to be proved righteous in the end.

History

Born in 198.M41, on DeKere's World, Gregor Eisenhorn became a pupil of Inquisitor Hapshant at a young age. He studied alongside fellow trainee Titus Endor and was elevated to the rank of Inquisitor in 222.M41, aged 24.

Carving out a stable and competent career, Eisenhorn eventually found himself being drawn into events that would change the course of his life in the year 240.M41. During this year Eisenhorn succeeded in ending the career of the mass-murderer Murdin Eyeclone, an investigation that is notable not only for bringing Godwyn Fischig and Alizebeth Bequin into his employ, but also for setting him on the route of both Pontius Glaw and the Necroteuch.

Following leads from the Eyeclone investigation, Eisenhorn became tangled up with a herectical cabal on the world of Gudrun. In the process of prosecuting the cabal, he was briefly captured and tortured by cabal member Gorgone Locke. The cabal was eventually broken by a full Inquisitorial purge led by Inquisitor Voke. During the purge, Eisenhorn was able to capture a device known as the Pontius. It later transpired that this device held the encoded engrams of the long-dead infamous heretic Pontius Glaw; one of the cabal's schemes had involved arranging his resurrection. Eisenhorn held Pontius Glaw captive and interrogated him regularly for some lengthy time, before finally choosing to have the Pontius device incarcerated by Magos Bure of the Adeptus Mechanicus. This decision would have a profound effect on Eisenhorn's future.

Following up further leads from the Gudrun heretical cabal led Eisenhorn into one of his most famous investigations; the affair of the Necroteuch, a tome of chaotic knowledge. Eisenhorn tracked the survivors of the cabal to a world inhabited by the xenos Saruthi, a strange and mysterious race whose bodies and architecture were marked by a complete (and maddening) lack of any sort of symmetry. The Saruthi were able to work in and shape the three dimensions as well as the fourth: Time. This ability had a confusing and terrifying effect on humans who encountered them, Eisenhorn included. The Saruthi had come into the possession of a copy of the Necroteuch, and had translated it into their own language, creating two versions of this powerful chaotic tome. Additionally, they created a primer that could be used by humans to translate their version. These three items became the focus of the investigation. The human Necroteuch tome was quickly found and destroyed by Eisenhorn himself. Some Radical Inquisitors deemed this a heretical act, and damned Eisenhorn for it. However, the majority of the local Inquisitiorial conclave supported Eisenhorn's decision to burn the tome, outvoting the radicals. Eisenhorn was therefore spared from censure and was in fact instrumental in planning a raid on the Saruthi homeworld during which the remaining items were destroyed. It was during this attack that Eisenhorn also met Cherubael, a powerful daemonhost who would plague Eisenhorn and the Imperium in later endeavours.

The following year, 241.M41, Eisenhorn lost his left hand during an investigation on the world of Sameter. This investigation had started with the discovery of bodies found murdered in a ritual manner, with their eyes plucked out, spine extracted, brain removed, and hands and tongue cut away. At first believing the killings to be of standard heretical nature, Eisenhorn approached the investigation as a purge of some chaotic cult. Soon, however, it was revealed that the culprits were ex-soldiers of the Imperial Guard. These former soldiers of the Sameter 9th Infantry had been driven mad by the horrors they had faced in war, and were ritually killing regular citizens. Backed up by the local Adeptus Arbites, Eisenhorn managed to corner the fanatics in an abandoned and decaying building that they had converted into an Imperial temple. There, a firefight broke out and Eisenhorn lost his hand to an experienced former-sharpshooter. He was offered a prosthetic but declined, making do with a fused stump until he could have a vat-grown hand grafted on two years later.

Appearance and Abilities

A psyker, Eisenhorn possessed considerable natural willpower and resolve, which combined with his pool of psychic power, made him a potent telepath. He normally channeled his psychic talent through his voice, compelling people to follow his instructions. He could focus this talent upon distinct individuals in a crowd, or upon many people at once.

Clean-shaven and dark-haired, Eisenhorn was forced to shave his head when accepting the augmetic system that would allow him to walk near the end of the Pontius case. He normally wore sober suits of dark greys or blacks under long blue or black high-collared coats. Underneath the coat could be found his sword, sheathed at his hip, and the chest-rig for his sidearm, normally holstered under his left shoulder.

In the early part of his career, Eisenhorn carried a power sword of unusual design; instead of having a conventional metal blade as the focus its energy-field, the blade was itself made of pure energy. This antique, graceful and deadly blade had been blessed by the Provost of Inx. In contrast to this priceless weapon, his standard sidearm during most of the same period was a Naval pattern Scipio stub-pistol that had been crudely gang-marked by Lores Vibben, an ex-ganger employed by Eisenhorn as his bodyguard and personal aide. The grips had been replaced with ivory, upon which was etched an entwined skull and rose; droplets of blood from the rose thorns were represented by inlaid carmine gems. Eisenhorn was initially rather embarrassed by this customisation to his pistol, but later realised that he was being honoured by Vibben's marking of his weapon in her gang-colours. When Vibben was killed by agents of Murdin Eyeclone, Eisenhorn made sure to use the pistol she had altered to execute Eyeclone. It was then buried with her.

Eisenhorn's next signature weapon was a heavily customised Bolt Pistol given to him by a Librarian of the Deathwatch. Made of green-hued chased steel, it was hand-crafted to be of compact dimensions and given an unusual feature of the magazine housing being in the handgrip.

Eisenhorn and his retinue also employed their own personal form of coded language, named Glossia. The basic format was created by Eisenhorn when he was 32 years of age, but it grew organically with use over the years, with several of his employees contributing to its form.

Retinue

Inquisitor Eisenhorn created a considerable organisation during the first part of his career, starting out with a bare handful of hired hands and eventually employing dozens of retainers. This world-spanning organisation was destroyed by the machinations of Pontius Glaw, who also ensured the deaths of most of Eisenhorn's retinue. With Eisenhorn missing at the end of the Pontius case, his surviving followers became part of the retinue of Inquisitor Ravenor. After his reappearance, Eisenhorn largely avoided acquiring servants other than Cherubael for some time, but in the later stages of his career began assembling a small retinue around himself once more. His notable employees and associates are listed below:

  • Uber Amos (Savant)
  • Alizebeth Bequin (Untouchable)
  • Midas Betancore (Pilot)
  • Cherubael (daemonhost)
  • Lucius 'Slick' Devlan (Warrior)
  • Severina and Sevora Devout (Warriors)
  • Godwyn Fischig (Investigator)
  • Tobias Maxilla (Merchant Captain)
  • Harlon Nayl (Warrior)
  • Quovandius (Warrior)
  • Gideon Ravenor (Interrogator)
  • Lores Vibben (Bodyguard)

Sources

Related Publications