Heymlik Chass
Heymlik Chass[Note 1] was the Patriarch of the Noble House Chass at the time of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.[1a]
Contents
Biography
Although House Chass was one of the oldest and most powerful of Vervunhive's noble houses, Lord Heymlik Chass himself was regarded by his peers as weak due to his more liberal views and perceived lack of guile. He was also in a precarious position as, unlike the Lords of other powerful Houses like Anko and Croe, Heymlik was openly critical of the leadership of Salvador Sondar (Lord of House Sondar and High Master of Vervunhive). As a result, Heymlik's daughter and only heir, Merity, was extremely protective of him.[1c]
When Vervunhive was attacked by the Fallen Hive Ferrozoica in the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, Heymlik disagreed with most of the other Houses' representatives and General Noches Sturm (commander of the Imperial Guard taskforce sent by Warmaster Macaroth to aid the efforts on Verghast) as to the best plan of defence for the hive. Heymlik was not the only dissenter, however, as Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt and a number of other Guard officers protested Sturm's plan.[1b] This led Heymlik to invite Gaunt to his residence; having studied Gaunt's career and determining him to be an honourable man and a decisive and effective military commander, he sought to ally with Gaunt, anticipating that the Siege would go badly under the likes of Sondar, Sturm, Croe and Anko. On meeting Gaunt, both Lord Chass and his daughter agreed that Gaunt would indeed be an ally for them; Heymlik presented Gaunt with a metal rose as a sign of his support.[1c]
Later in the battle for Vervunhive, Heymlik's worst fears were realised when Salvador Sondar, corrupted by the whispers of Chaos, dropped the energy field protecting the hive.[1d] After ordering his chief bodyguard to escort Merity to a shelter[1d], Heymlik led a team of his bodyguards to stop Sondar but was fatally wounded while fighting Sondar's tainted servitors.[1e] As he bled out, more Imperials arrived to stop Sondar, one team sent by Marshal Croe under the command of Isak and a group of Imperial Guardsmen including Gaunt.[1e]
Although Heymlik did not survive, the remaining Imperials destroyed the servitors, killed Salvador Sondar and turned the shield back on.[1e] Heymlik would posthumously return the favour to Gaunt in the final stages of the war; the metal rose that Gaunt had been wearing protected him when he was shot in the heart by the Chaos warlord Heritor Asphodel and saved his life.[1f]
Trivia
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Notes
At one point in the novel Necropolis, the character's name is spelled Heymlick Chass.[1c]
Sources
