Urehikau Kauaeroa

Urehikau Kauaeroa
Title/Honours	Urehikau of the Kauaeroa, Haere - the Traveller
Discovered (world)	Tekikinga
Discovered (period)	826.M30
Legion	Twenty-first
Heraldry/Sigil
Unique Weapon	Artificed Pouwhenua

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

Birds sleep sound and peacefully upon the tree branch, but man is ever wakeful and in dread of his world. As for me, I have greater things to be concerned over.

Appearance and Personality

Compared to his brothers, Urehikau was of average height and build, though he was proportionally more broad and sinewy than most. Well-muscled and tanned, Urehikau’s heavily tattooed face, when it wasn’t contorted into the horrifying grimace that accompanied his war-stance, easily conveyed the harsh conditions of his homeworld. Dark eyes set deep into his rough, broad visage spoke leagues of his attitude towards even his brothers - Always evaluating, always taking stock.

What with the scarcity of basic living necessities on his homeworld, Urehikau had long been surrounded by death, especially of those he loved. Ingrained, therefore, was a fairly binary sense of priorities; will it benefit the tribe or not? This extended to his relationships with his brother primarchs. The tribe ran deeper than blood within Urehikau, having been raised by people with no hereditary commonality taught him that family didn’t have to mean related, and blood relations did not carry any weight when it came to taking sides.

When it came time to choose sides in the midst of the heresy, Urehikau thought only for the tribe - and he found mankind wanting.

Childhood and Ascension

The child who become Urehikau of the Kauaeroa was torn from Terra by the powers of Chaos and flung deep into the Segmentum Obscurus. He crashed landed on the second moon of Vindico Majoris, known colloquially as Tekikinga - the cycle of vengeance. A death world, Tekikinga was lost early in the Age of Strife and swiftly regressed into superstitious tribalism. Food was scarce, controlled by a handful of powerful tribes who laid absolute claim over the only relatively stable sources of prey and gathered material via military strength. Smaller tribes were left to squabble over nearly empty hunting grounds, lest they be crushed beneath the heel of their more powerful neighbors.

The Kauaeroa were one such small tribe. As the larger tribes nearby travelled about in search of food, the Kauaeroa was confined to skirting borders and striking quickly into enemy territory in search of food. Birth rates were abysmal, and even then infant mortality was high. Hunting parties were frequently lost, only to be discovered three weeks dead once their killers had moved on.

Skirmishes between small tribes were common as well, usually instigated when one party stumbled into another’s ambush when both were planning an incursion into a larger tribe’s territory. It was during one such meeting that the child primarch made his entrance. The Kauaeroa were locked in combat with the Oneone when a pod came screaming through the atmosphere above. The warriors stood still and stared, dazed, into the heavens. Moments later, the capsule thundered into the earth, crushing the Oneone chief in the process.

The Oneone fled at this obvious divine intervention, leaving the Kauaeroa to pry the pod open and find the boy within. The hunt forgotten, the tribe set camp around the artifact of their deliverance as their spiritual leader, the Tohunga, examined the child. Flawless and strong, the boy was named after the the roar of his appearance - Urehikau, the god of thunder. Above, a second pod tore from the Warp and whistled through the sky.

Urehikau grew strong in spite of his malnourishment. Where other children would have perished, he pushed on, pulling his weight with the tribe’s hunters far before any his age would be expected. He learned the tribes ways and took them in stride - the tribe above all, vengeance above all else. His body was quickly consumed, his skin blackened by moko, the tattoos of his people. They spoke more than he would ever say aloud; they recorded his kills, his victories, his talents.

Above the other markings, the sign of Heru’s blessing was most noteworthy. The Lord of Tides, Heru ensured safe journey, accuracy of navigation, and protection from storms. Urehikau made this blessing evident, leading war parties as early as his fourteenth year. These were no hunting groups, these were Taua, aimed solely at engaging other tribes in combat and seizing territory and renown.

Under Urehikau’s leadership, skirmish after skirmish drove the larger tribes away and for once the Kauaeroa were well fed. Urehikau himself became something of a myth as his relationship with Heru grew stronger. The god opened doors for him, tearing him from one end of the battlefield to the other in seconds, suddenly at the throats of a terrified enemy.

He became known as Haere to his enemies - the traveller, the one who was in two places at once. He raised up a team among his tribe, the Whawhati berzerkers. Icons of Heru as well, these men were a terror to the other tribes. Gone were the days of lying in wait for the uncertain opportunity of an ambush; the Whawhati and their Lord could be anywhere and anywhere else from one moment to the next.

As the years trudged onwards, the Kauaeroa grew to be a prominent figure of Tekikinga, opposed only by the Kakari of the West. One of the last surviving large tribes, the Kakari claimed to have a divine warrior of their own. Known as Atua, he led the Kakari in a massive conquest to quell the upstart threat of the Haere. He challenged Urehikau to a duel, but first invited him to a feast.

In a show of power, Atua allowed the Urehikau and his Whawhati companions into their home fortress, a coastal structure of wood and stone. A great display of food was prepared, a gesture emphasizing the power the Kakari enjoyed over their domain. The Kakari warriors stood by, well fed and strong. Urehikau stood before Atua in order to offer greetings, but as their eyes met it was made clear that neither party expected this to be a peaceful meeting.

Standing a full head taller than Urehikau, Atua was truly a beast. He was a warrior through and through; having never been short of food, the Kakari enjoyed the luxury of maintaining a dedicated fighting force. The club at Atua’s side was the size of a small man, and his fighting staff was at least thirteen feet long and as broad as a small tree. If there was any hesitance within the Kauaeroa, though, it wasn’t made clear.

The food was brought forth, but never touched. As soon as the Kauaeroa were seated, the Kakari warriors leapt into action - however, their blades found only empty air. Tearing back into realspace from all sides, the Whawhati made short work of their larger opponents, slicing tendons and gouging eyes. Urehikau rose slowly, in unison with Atua. With inhuman speed, they dove for each other’s throats.

The two warriors met above the center of the feast and tumbled to the ground. Weapons were lost almost right away, deemed ineffective at such range. Atua opened with the upper hand, driving a massive fist into Urehikau’s face, breaking his nose and jaw in a single blow, but the primarch fought on in spite of the pain. Atua was incredibly fast for his size, but Urehikau was faster. He made use of everything about him; stones, sticks became weapons when they were whipped about with the strength of a son of the Emperor.

At some point in the brawl, Atua hefted Urehikau and tossed him across the room, and in doing so sealed his own fate. Striking out blindly, Urehikau found the shattered haft of a spear broken in the battle. With a whispered prayer to Heru, Urehikau tore into the Warp. If Atua ever realized his mistake, it was over before anyone could tell. Urehikau leapt screaming at Atua throat, appearing not an arms length away with the spear extended. In his enemy’s dying moments, Urehikau stared deep into Atua’s eyes and found something familiar.

He recoiled in sudden, inexplicable fear, but turned back and beat Atua’s face into a pulp; no one could see the resemblance now.

The Coming of the Emperor

With Atua gone, Urehikau led the Kauaeroa to dominance over the rest of Tekikinga, absorbing the strong and driving the weak into subservience. He ruled from Atua’s fortress, the faceless corpse of his adversary crucified above the entrance. But the heavens proved that they had bestowed their last visitor upon Tekikinga when dispensed one final guest.

On great columns of fire came the golden ships of the Emperor. They alighted before the great fortress, opening wide to procure the ruler of man and father of Urehikau. But the Emperor’s gaze first met the sight of the body above Urehikau’s hall, and in his horror he nearly wept for the loss of his son. But Urehikau stepped from the doorway to meet the stranger, and the golden warrior’s grief was exchanged for confusion. The man standing before him was surely his son, but no death world could produce such a being as was crucified before him.

The Emperor’s eyes met with Urehikau’s, and this time is was Urehikau who recoiled, then knelt. He had seen those eyes before.

As the Emperor escorted his lost son back to humanity and his Legion, but ordered a team to scour the planet for evidence of his son’s birth pod; sure enough, two were found.

Both were marked XXI.