Trajann Valoris

Valoris as he appears in the Custodes Codex.

"He was silent as I spoke, but slowly reached up to his helm and took it off. I don’t know what I was expecting to see – perhaps something like Valerian had been, with his smooth skin and pleasant complexion. Valoris was nothing of the kind. His visage was hard-edged, broken by scar tissue, the skin veined and vivid. His lips were thin, his nose flared, his neck sinewy. In that low light, no doubt amplified by my own fear, he looked almost ghoulish."

– Lev Tieron, Imperial Chancellor, on Trajann Valoris

Trajann Valoris is the current Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, and as of writing he is one of only two named HQs available to the Custodes that can be fielded on the tabletop.

He features prominently in the novel Watchers of the Throne, where he is convinced by the-then Imperial Chancellor Lev Tieron to take a seat on the High Lords of Terra, replacing the late Chancellor of the Estate Imperium, in the hopes of overturning the law keeping the Custodes tied down to Terra (officially; unofficially the Custodes have been ranging far and wide since at LEAST the 36th Millenium according to their Codex). Said law eventually got repealed anyway, partially due to the action of a technically-unsanctioned mission of Custodes and Sisters of Silence, as well as the newly-returned Roboute Guilliman dissolving the Lex Imperialis. It can be assumed that him being part of the bureaucracy prevented some of the more rebellious High Lords from staging a coup to remove Papa Smurf from power.

It was he that ordered that the scattered Sisters of Silence to be gathered on Terra in the wake of Warzone Fenris. This bit of foresight paid off, as not only were the Sisters pivotal in tipping the balance in the duel between Guilliman and Magnus the Red on Luna, their presence helped the Imperial forces claim victory in the Second Battle of Terra that followed soon after.

Codex Biography

Valoris took over the post of Captain-General when his predecessor Andros Launceddre fell at the Battle of the Black Pyre. Many claim that he's the greatest warrior ever to hold the position since the Horus Heresy (as a testament to this during the Demonic invasion of Terra with the opening of the great rift it was claimed he took down a Bloodthirster single-handedly during the midst of the fighting. Something few beyond Primarchs could accomplish). In his first decade of service alone, he ran two successful Blood Games, and this record remains unbroken in the present day. During his tenure among the Allarus Custodians he participated in the destruction of the Space Hulk Mournful Siren and the defeat of the Genestealer Cult of the Emperor's Writhing Shadow, earning many names for his deeds.

Valoris has been noted to be unusually proactive, preferring a strategy of so-called "active defense"; in his years of service he has often led pre-emptive strikes, and at the same time cultivated networks of informants and agents across Segmentum Solar and beyond to keep him abreast of emergent threats. He is aware of his own aggressiveness however, and tries to temper it by doing as much research and preparation as possible before committing to an attack, so that none of his comrades lives would be needlessly lost as a result.

On The Tabletop

Clocking at 180 points, Valoris sports a Movement 6", WS 2+ BS 2+ S5 T5 W7 A5 LD 10 SV 2+ statline. He is equipped with the Watcher's Axe (an S10 AP -3 D1d3 greataxe with a Rapid Fire 1 S5 AP-1 D2 ranged option) and a Misericordia (+1 attack at S5 AP-2 D1) for weapons, and an Auramite Halo (giving him a +3 Invul save), as well as the Moment Shackle, a relic dating from the Dark Age of technology that provides him with various useful effects such as fighting twice, regaining health and regaining CPs for equipment. Finally he has Legendary Commander ability, which grants all friendly Custodes within his aura of awesomeness rerolls to hit and wound. If he is the Warlord, he gets Champion of the Imperium as his default Trait, which allows Custodians around him to Heroically Intervene, even if they aren’t a Character.

Tl;dr: this guy is good at buffing, comes with cool shit that does cool stuff, has decent shooting, and has the ability to tear Abaddon a new asshole in melee.

Trivia

• As the current Captain-General of the Custodes, Valoris is, essentially, the canonical counterpart of Little Kitten.
  • In recent video (potentially NSFW, it's one of the stripper-stodes talking about it) it is stated that Valoris was a competing candidate for the position of Captain-General, confirming he does exist in TTS continuity.

Gallery

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  This little kitten roars.