Xaphan
"At my word, the maelstrom shall come and Vraks shall drown in blood. Even the dead shall find no peace. I shall be the herald of the oncoming apocalypse and the true gods shall know my name."
Xaphan was the Cardinal-Astral of the Scarus Sector[3b] and instigator of the infamous Chaos rebellion on Vraks in M41.[1a]
Biography
Service in the Ecclesiarchy
Xaphan began his career in the Adeptus Ministorum as a protégé of the Cardinal-Astral Borja. Xaphan rose rapidly through the ranks thanks to his patron, so much so that when the Cardinal-Astral passed in 366804.M41 Xaphan would, after a sanctioned period of mourning, find himself selected as the new Cardinal-Astral.[3b]
Xapahn would go on pilgrimage to his many worlds, his passionate sermons and charisma made him a popular figure throughout the Scarus Sector. Xaphan's new domain was so large that this pilgrimage was expected to take over five years. Thousands of believers accompanied him, including Sisters of the Argent Shroud, who pledged to defend him. Xaphan was an accomplished public speaker, and his sermons drew large zealous crowds. On Thracian Prime in particular, rioting took place among the populace desperate to get a glimpse of the Cardinal-Astral. It was on Thracian Primaris where Deacon Mamon would join Xaphan's flock.[3b]
On the next planet Xaphan visited, San Artorus, he begun to see the real difference he could make. He begun to voice this to his followers, in particular Deacon Mamon. The Deacon had become a favourite of the Cardinal-Astral and Xaphan listened to his consul.[3b] Xaphan was encouraged to launch a War of Faith in the name of the Emperor. On Mamon's advice and fearful of raising the suspicions of the Inquisition, Xaphan decided to organise this war on the secluded world of Vraks.[1a]
Arrival on Vraks
"The Scarus Sector is a Tinderbox - one spark may soon become a great conflagration. I shal light the fires."
Xaphan's arrival on Vraks was carefully orchestrated by Deacon Mamon, to the extent that he arranged that, when the Cardinal stepped out of his shuttle, light would appear behind him to appear as a halo from the Emperor.[3c] The Cardinal was greeted by fanatical mobs on Vraks,[1b] and he stood before them for three hours and preached. He praised the good work the people of Vraks had done. It was the workers of Vraks, not the Astra Militarum or the Adeptus Astartes, Xapahn claimed, who were the true warriors of the Emperor.[3c]
With a final word that war was coming to Vraks,[3c] Xaphan retired to his palace with his closest advisers and his public appearances became increasingly rare. Aided by Deacon Mamon, the Cardinal started to plan the first steps in his war of faith and realized he needed far more men for this holy mission. Mamon's preachers recruited more to their cause by spreading rumors of attacks by heretics on nearby worlds, and the Vraks must be ready to defend himself. The mood on Vraks became one of religious zealotry, and any who spoke against the Cardinal was quickly branded a traitor and dragged to Vraks' dungeons.[1b] Mamon knew that when the Cardinal's intentions became clear there would be reprisals, as such, he purged Xaphan's inner circle and created the Disciples of Xaphan. Mamon brought the commanders of Vraks' Militia into the inner circle.[3c]
Mamon was unable to convince the Sister Superior of the Argent Shroud to join the Disciples. The local Adeptus Arbites were also resistant to Mamon's attempts to sway them. These refusals caused Xaphan to doubt the Holiness of his cause, but Mamon was able to convince him to continue with it. The Sister Superior had grown suspicious of the Cardinal and sent a message to the Ordo Hereticus,[3c] which deployed a Vindicare Assassin to dispatch the Cardinal.[1b]
Assassination Attempt
The Ordo Hereticus agent dispatched to Vraks disguised himself as a pilgrim visiting the Basilica of St. Leonis the Blind. The assassin climbed the tallest tower and waited for days for a chance to kill the Cardinal. On the fourth day of his wait he sighted the Cardinal and took the shot.[3c]
The sniper's bullet deflected off of the energy field of Xaphan's rosarius and his faithful guards acted as human shields to save his life. Xaphan's preachers spread the word that heretics and traitors had been behind the assassination attempt. Rioting soon erupted on Vraks as Frateris Militia and Planetary Defence Forces loyal to the Cardinal overran the Administratum's, Adepta Sororitas, and Adeptus Arbites compounds on Vraks. Xaphan had become the supreme ruler of Vraks and commander of its Militia.[1c][3d] Only six of the Battle Sisters survived the riots and they were taken as prisoners by the Cardinal's men.[3e]
The Cardinal then appeared in public before the people of Vraks. The Cardinal gave an impassioned speech where he encouraged those who followed him to seek out and punish those who claimed to follow the Emperor, but did not stand behind the Cardinal. The Master-Prefect of the Administratum, his workers, and the Astropaths of the citadel were slaughtered by the crowds, though not before a garbled was sent off world, warning the Imperium of the Cardinal's heresy.[3e]
The Vraks Rebellion
Forces from the Death Korps of Krieg of the Imperial Guard were dispatched to wrench the world from the now-renegade Cardinal. Meanwhile, the Cardinal and his armies began to fall under the influence of Chaos at the urging of Deacon Mamon and the newly arrived Chaos Space Marine warlord, Arkos the Faithless. As the uprising on Vraks increasingly became a war for the Gods of Chaos, Xaphan's influence over his forces diminished in the face of increasing numbers of Chaos Space Marines who assumed direct command over the Vraksian renegades. Soon Xaphan had become but a figurehead and the Traitor Astartes were overseeing the Vraks war.[2a]
After he lost control of his forces, Xaphan appeared in public less and less until he finally stopped appearing altogether. When the eighteen year-old Siege of Vraks finally came to an end with a victory for the Imperium, the fate of the Cardinal was revealed. He had become a Chaos Spawn, mutated and twisted into a gibbering beast by the Dark Gods.[2b]
