Malcharion
Malcharion, also known as the War Sage, was Captain of the 10th Company of the Night Lords Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.[1a]
History
During the Great Crusade Malcharion was a member of the Kyroptera, commanding the 10th Talon.[5]
During the Horus Heresy he went on to slay Xorumai Khan, swordmaster-captain of the White Scars 9th Company, Lethandrus the Templar, paladin of the Imperial Fists Legion, and Raguel the Sufferer, captain of the Blood Angels 7th Company, in a single day at the Siege of Terra. However after this feat, the famed commander and wise strategist of the Night Lords was interred into Dreadnought Armour. The Dreadnought sarcophagus depicted Malcharion holding two astartes helms with his foot resting on a third representing the three Astartes champions he had killed, the Dreadnought's right arm was a Reaper-pattern double-barrelled autocannon [1b] and the left arm a power fist and flamer.[1c] Malcharion never wanted to be revived as a Dreadnought and initially refused every attempt to awaken him until the battle at Crythe.[1b]
Like many in the Night Lords, he is fiercely loyal to the original vision of their Primarch, Konrad Curze, and has a disdain for the Ruinous Powers, as well as those Chaos Space Marines who serve them, most notably Abaddon the Despoiler. He is also loyal to Talos, whom he believes to share many qualities with their Primarch.[1d]
Recent History
In late M41, the Dreadnought holding Malcharion's remains was awoken by Talos during his power struggle with The Exalted, who attempted to prevent the ancient Captain and hated rival from threatening his power over First Claw, the first time he had ever been awakened since being placed within the Dreadnought chassis.[1b] Malcharion went on to lead the assault on Crythe with the Black Legion against the forces of the Imperium, including the Blood Angels. Just as First Claw were to be deployed to the surface Talos had another vision showing that the Blood Angels were not several weeks as had been predicted and were going to arrive imminently, the Exalted refused to take action over this information but when Malcharion was informed he immediately started withdrawing the Night Lords[1e]. As Talos predicted the Blood Angels emerged from the warp and deployed boarding pods into the 'Echo of Damnation', Malcharion responded to Talos' request for reinforcements and once again faced Raguel the Sufferer now also interred within a Dreadnought chassis. Both Dreadnoughts were mortally wounded leaving Raquel dead at the hands of the Nightlords once more, Talos chose not to let Dark Mechanicum Techpriest Deltrian attempt to recover Malcharion so that he could finally have the eternal sleep he desired. However Talos was countermanded by Malek who ordered Deltrian to repair and sustain the life of Malcharion, the sarcophagus was returned to the Hall of Remembrance but hidden from view to prevent Talos from discovering that Malcharion had survived. Talos would eventually find that Malcharion had survived when Deltrian transferred the sarcophagus onto the 'Echo of Damnation' at which point he ordered Malcharion to be awakened.[2]
Initially it appeared that the damage Malcharion had suffered at Crythe was too severe leaving his mind shattered as attempts to awaken him only resulted in a constant screaming across the vox. Deltrian and Variel both believed Malcharion was ruined beyond recovery and suggested that he could be controlled through pain injectors and focused excruciators making him still a formidable foe on the battlefield.[3a] Talos would not allow this for a Hero of the Eighth Legion and instead intended to end the perceived torture by killing Malcharion instead however he chose to destroy the consoles connected to Malcharion to abort the awakening sequence. Although it appeared Talos had succeeded in killing Malcharion instead the Dreadnought finally awakened correctly and fully functional.[3b]
Malcharion descended into the catacombs on Tsagualsa to aid Talos and his warband in their final stand against an assault by Ulthwé Eldar although chose to fought alone as the constant fawning regard from the other Claws irritated him.[3c] The Dreadnought took extensive damage from the Eldar but still kept on moving as he returned to the surface to summon a gunship for the crew member Marlonah as his last action before permanently going to sleep. [3d]
Sources
- 1: Soul Hunter (Novel)
- 2: Blood Reaver (Novel), Chapter 27
- 3: Void Stalker (Novel)
- 4: The Horus Heresy: Legions (Facebook) (last accessed 6 June 2019)
- 5: Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter (Novel) - Chapter 11
