Irthu Haemotalion
Irthu Haemotalion was the Master of the Administratum and a High Lord of Terra, during the fifth year of the Thirteenth Black Crusade.[1]
Serving as the primus inter pares of the High Lords, Haemotalion was a cold and ruthless man who nonetheless was perhaps the greatest intellect of the High Lords and a master of numbers and political procedure.[1b] He was a key player in the opposition of the attempts by Chancellor of the Imperial Council Lev Tieron's to push through a Dissolution act that would free the Adeptus Custodes from the Edict of Restraint.[1a] Haemotalion was known as a strict conservative who was a leading member of reactionaries known as the "Static Tendency", which believed that the Imperium was in a perfect established state and any attempts of reforms amounted to treason.[2a]
In the aftermath of the Noctis Aeterna and the Second Battle of Terra, Haemotalion became a nervous wreck and partially blinded. He resented Roboute Guilliman returning to lead the Imperium as its Lord Commander and conspired with Lev Tieron and the other High Lords to limit the Primarch's power. While discussing his plan with Tieron, Haemotalion expressed his disdain for the Primarchs as a whole, considering them fratricidal monsters who ripped the galaxy apart in their feuds. He feared that if Guilliman had his way, the Imperium would become bogged down in a new massive war.[1c]
By the time of the Indomitus Crusade, Haemotalion had been dismissed as Master of the Administratum as part of Guilliman's reforms. The official reason was his refusal to allow for any counterattacks from Terra during the Noctis Aeterna, an act that would have resulted in the loss of the Vorlese Gate had the Custodes not defied the order. However in truth, Guilliman simply used this as an excuse to rid himself of a hardliner resistant to any reforms[2a]. Wishing to undo Guilliman's reforms and have the High Lords resume control of the Imperium, he organized the Hexarchy in an attempted coup. However in the end the conspirators were betrayed by Grand Master of Assassins Fadix and slain by a Vindicare Assassin.[2]
Source
- 1: Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor's Legion (Novel), Tieron
- 2: Watchers of the Throne: The Regent's Shadow (Novel) Chapter 28
- 2a: Chapter 4
