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| | <span style="font-size:150%">"'''I'''</span> <span style="font-size:120%">would prefer not to discuss Uriel Starikov." |
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| | '''-Gaspard Lumey, private correspondence.'''</span><br/> |
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| {{Infobox /tg/-Heresy Primarch | | {{Infobox /tg/-Heresy Primarch |
| |name= Uriel Starikov | | |name= Uriel Starikov |
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| |title= | | |title= |
| |alias= | | |alias= |
| |where=Perfidiae V, although some doubt as to the accuracy of this exists | | |where= Unknown. Homeworld listed as Perfidiae V, though considerable doubt as to the accuracy of this exists |
| |when=c.817.M30 | | |when= circa.817.M30 |
| |legion=[[Children of Astarot|Thirteenth]] | | |legion=[[The_Justicars|Thirteenth]] |
| |crusade= | | |crusade= |
| |sigil=[[File:Children loyalist emblem.jpg|100px]] | | |sigil=[[File:Children loyalist emblem.jpg|100px]] |
| |weapon= various | | |weapon= Various. |
| |trait= gregarious, calculated, observant | | |trait= Gregarious, calculated, highly-observant |
| |flaw= sociopathic, manipulative | | |flaw= Amoral, sociopathic, manipulative |
| |heresy= Traitor. Carefully manipulated events to ensure his legion are seen as Loyalists. Started the Heresy. | | |heresy= Traitor. Started the Heresy as its first heretic. |
| |fate= Unknown | | |fate= Unknown. Confirmed to be Daemon Prince. |
| |dominion= | | |dominion= |
| }} | | }} |
| {{/tg/-Heresy-Head}} | | {{/tg/-Heresy-Head}} |
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| ''I would prefer not to discuss Uriel Starikov.''
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| (Gaspard Lumey, private correspondence.)
| | <span style="font-size:90%"> |
| | ++ Report Request Pending... ++<br/> |
| | ++ <span style="color:red">Alpha-Omega Clearance Required.</span> ++<br/> |
| | ++ Clearance Challenge: Recognised. ++<br/> |
| | ++ <span style="color:green">Report Request Accepted.</span> ++<br/> |
| | ++ Subject: [[The_Justicars|Legio XIII: The Justicars]] ++<br/> |
| | ++ Topic: Primarch, Uriel Starikov. ++<br/> |
| | ++ Authored by: Departmento Logistica, '''Logistician Merlynn Xavius.''' ++<br/> |
| | ++ Accessing// ++<br/> |
| | ++ Welcome, Inquisitor. ++ </span><br/> |
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| Uriel Starikov was the primarch of the Thirteenth Legion, now known as the [[Children of Astarot]].
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| By use of guile and deception, he lead the legion in the Great Crusade. He was the first traitor primarch, and started the Heresy, while ensuring he was trusted as an ally by the loyalists up until the Siege of Terra. He would eventually become a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch.
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| ==Personality==
| | When I was assigned the task of documenting the Justicars for the Administratum's record, I not once imagined it would become my life's work. I have spent over ''140 years'' studying and researching the XIIIth Legion, and despite being recognised as the Imperium's chief expert on '''Legio XIII''', I feel that I know as little about them now than I did at the beginning of my research; their reputation for counter-intelligence was and still is (frustratingly) well deserved. |
| | But my feelings aren't relevant here, only my observations and professional opinion, so I shall digress, and get to the point: |
| | Uriel Starikov is the key to understanding the Justicars, but also, perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest enigma of all. But having analysed every known source available to the Imperium on the Primarch, I believe I have the best picture of who he was, and insights onto who he is now. |
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| In a word, Uriel is contradictory. In one moment he can be affable and gregarious; in the next blunt and menacing. The only constant is his unpredictability.
| | The best evidence to the elusive 'true' portrayal of Uriel Starikov come from two sources. The first is drawn from private correspondence; Uriel spent a significant effort in maintaining contact with a countless number of important and influential individuals ''throughout the Imperium'', cultivating and maintaining deep alliances and friendships across the burgeoning Imperial territories. He is remarkably candid in these letters, and though doubt does exist to the veracity of Uriel's character therein, there is certainly at least ''some'' level of Uriel's true character in them. |
| He perfected the social arts in his youth, and used his guile and wit as a devastating weapon alongside the sword and gun. Manipulation and deception are perhaps his most favoured tools, and one can never truly be sure of his intentions or actions, even long after the fact.
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| Ever the decisive pragmatist, who puts purpose and practicality above all else Uriel has no time for redundancies or bureaucracy in his command. Yet he is also an aesthete - a man with an eye for the arts, food, drink, and luxury - and a strange dichotomy emerges, with non-essential elements being removed, and that which remains is lavish and exquisite in quality.
| | The second are sources from within the legion itself. Several of the legions leadership maintained detailed records on the legion and Uriel himself, including the last great bastion of Justice, '''Arkady Balotin''', thanks to whom many of my theories were confirmed. Many of these sources fortuitously fell into Imperial hands during the Scouring, when a well hidden intel-storage cache was discovered on ''Bessiter Primaris'', deep beneath the Capital. This cache contained millions of records on the legions operations, personnel, crimes, and even blackmail on high-ranking Imperial figures. |
| | Most of these files were painstakingly decrypted and analysed by my esteemed colleagues in the Departmento Logistica, with invaluable assistance from the Inquisition and Adeptus Arbites investigators, though a great percentage of these files are still encrypted to this day with cryptography and machine-spirit encoding that is frankly bewildering. Praise the Emperor that over 50% of these files have been decrypted and analysed. |
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| To others he appears careful, and guarded, but also genuine and understanding, a combination that can be quite disarming.
| | The findings have been most illuminating. |
| Of course, he is a consummate actor, and an excellent judge of both character, and personality, able to read individuals and audiences, and tailor his approach on the fly accordingly.
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| He leads as a father would his children, and never punishes failure, but will also never forgive a betrayal to his person, no matter how patient he must be to enact his vengeance.
| | ==Personality== |
| He is demanding of those under his command, but does not judge those who fail to meet his exacting standards.
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| ==Appearance==
| | Finding a ''complete'' answer to the question ''“Who is Uriel Starikov?”'' is likely an impossibility; He was an extraordinary and gregarious social actor with a diligent and ever-observant eye, manipulating everything and everyone around him, and controlling his public image, and that of his legion with unerring skill. |
| The first things people noticed about Uriel, were his easy smile, and his large, knowing eyes - described as both alight with mischief and predatory alertness. He often raised his right eyebrow questioningly in response to unforseen circumstances. His chin was well defined on his jaw, and his cheeks were gaunt. His hair was dark brown, and kept short, high and tight; the top combed over neatly to the back. His face was clean shaven or lightly stubbled.
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| He stood at a middling height among his Primarch brothers, neither tall, nor short. He was strong but not thick-set.
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| Now a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Uriel is a shape-shifter.
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| He has been recorded as adopting many forms, from small children to, to his original form, to well-known public figures, to twisted daemonic visages of insanity.
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| There is some evidence to suggest Uriel is not entirely in control of this power, evidenced chiefly by his surprise revealing on the steps of the Imperial Palace at the Siege of Terra, though given his and his legions propensity for pranks, it could have been intentional.
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| ===Wargear===
| | His incomparable talents for strategy, politics, and espionage were widely known, and commanded considerable respect from others, even if they did not trust or like Uriel as an individual. |
| | Numerous secondary sources, notably the memoirs and correspondence of various Primarchs, depict Uriel as being remarkably gifted, showing deep understanding and innovative applications of everything from mathematics and the sciences, to the arts and philosophy; his ability to digest vast quantities of information and extract the most salient points with incredible speed was according to Hektor's memoirs "utterly astounding". Despite his wealth of knowledge, Uriel appears to have remained modest and personable, traits that one could certainly admire. Though Balotin questions whether this was Uriel's natural temperament, or merely a method of portraying power, noting that more was gained by modesty than by arrogance. |
| | Uriel seems to have sought a balance between pure practicality and the aesthetic ideal - his flagship, the ''Eris'', was noted as having very little in it that served no purpose, but everything which did remain was of an exceptionally high quality and of exquisite artistic taste. |
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| His battle armour is no different from any other marine from his legion, apart from being crafted to a higher standard as befitting a Primarch, and larger given his stature over his fellow marines. He wields a one-handed war-hammer, wrought from a silver-adamantium alloy, a curved Perfidian cavalry power sabre that had been crafted by his brother Brennus as a gift for their first meeting, and 2 small adamantium power daggers that are concealed on Uriel at all times, also forged by Brennus.
| | In the files [[The_Justicars#Notable_Personnel|Arkady Balotin]] recorded, he describes Uriel as "especially protective", and even "paternal", of his legion and their close allies. Several other sources even portray Uriel as forgiving and generous, never punishing failure, even those which were incredibly costly to him. This succeeded in engendering loyalty in those around him, and served as an effective means of getting the most out of his subordinates who came to hate disappointing him. |
| He also uses a master-crafted Grizwold-pattern Bolt-Revolver, which has an over-sized cylinder holding 24 shots.
| | In his last recorded records, that he updated even as he fled from assassins, Balotin ''wistfully'' reminisces of moments where Uriel had shown his appreciation of and flair for the dramatic, and fondly recalls a scene where Uriel outsmarted and cornered a notorious rogue gene-wright who sought to steal mankinds brightest minds to form a new Imperium, so convinced was he of mankinds extinction at the hands of a great shadow. |
| | Balotin goes on to express bewilderment at Uriel's loyalty; prior to the Heresy, Uriel and the Justicars held a reputation as the "most trustworthy legion of the Great Crusade", Uriel himself possessing a close relationship with the Emperor. Balotin struggles to reconcile this, with the truth he had to his horror discovered in his legion. It is clear to us now that it was the corrupting influence of chaos, but in his characteristic implacable logic, Balotin highlights that such corruption cannot have been missed by Malcador and the Emperor in their many meetings with Uriel, and throws significant confusion onto exactly what transpired with Uriel to lead to his fall. |
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| Uriel likes to collect weapons and other artifacts, and has an awe-inspiring personal armoury aboard his flagship the ''Perfidus Iter'', including some artifacts believed to date back to the dawn of mankind, as well as various patterns of Imperial and non-Imperial weaponry. | | However, for all his positive spin and justifiably 'good' traits, Balotin and several of the other primarchs highlight a darker side to Uriel too. Piecing together their observations one sees another side of Uriel; an immoral, ruthless, and Machiavellian individual, with a deep cynicism and an almost sociopathic aloof detachment. There is room for speculation on just how far Uriel was in control of his image, but it is inconceivable that he was not on some level actively manipulating people with his actions. |
| | Balotin notes that a level of paranoia was present in Uriel too, although goes on to defend this as necessary preparation for the legions role as "executioners", as it manifested itself in countless contingency plans for eventualities that were simply inconceivable (prior to the Heresy at least). |
| | One startling assumption of Uriels character was made by Hektor, who posited that Uriel's hyper-diligence lead to great boredom and a lack of feeling challenged. This in turn, Hektor theorised, pushed Uriel to develop ever more creative means of furthering the Great Crusades aims. Hektors theory arose from a discussion he had with Uriel on the "lost legions", of whom Hektor observed Uriel spoke with enthusiasm, implying to Hektor that Uriel had found enjoyment in the challenge of taking on fellow Astartes in a deadly game. Though Hektor elaborates on the topic no more than this, it does add a lot of indirect context to Uriel's fall and participation in the Heresy, and provides some potential insight into his motives for turning on the Imperium. |
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| =History=
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| ++ Report Request Pending... ++
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| ++ Alpha-Omega Clearance Required. ++
| | ==Appearance== |
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| ++ Clearance Challenge: Recognised. ++
| | <span style="font-size:150%">"'''T'''</span>he first things people noticed about Uriel, were his easy smile, and his large, knowing eyes - described as both alight with mischief and predatory alertness. He often raised his right eyebrow questioningly in response to unforseen circumstances. His chin was well defined on his jaw, and his cheeks were gaunt. His hair was dark brown, and kept short, high and tight; the top combed over neatly to the back. His face was clean shaven or lightly stubbled. |
| | He stood at a middling height among his Primarch brothers, neither tall, nor short. He was strong but not thick-set. |
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| ++ Report Request Accepted. ++
| | Now a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Uriel is a shape-shifter. |
| | He has been recorded as adopting many forms, from small children to, to his original form, to well-known public figures, to twisted daemonic visages of insanity. |
| | There is some evidence to suggest Uriel is not entirely in control of this power, evidenced chiefly by his surprise at his apparent ''"reveal"'' on the steps of the Imperial Palace at the Siege of Terra, though given his and his legions propensity for pranks, it could have been intentional. |
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| ++ Subject: Legio XIII: The Justicars ++
| | ===Wargear=== |
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| ++ Topic: Uriel Starikov. ++
| | <span style="font-size:150%">"'''I'''</span>n accordance with his favouritism for balancing aesthetics with pure practicality, his battle armour is no different from any other marine from his legion, apart from being crafted to a higher standard as befitting a Primarch, and larger given his stature over his fellow marines. He wields a one-handed war-hammer, wrought from a silver-adamantium alloy, a curved Perfidian power sabre that had been crafted by his brother [[Brennus]] as a gift for their first meeting, and 2 small adamantium power-daggers that are concealed on Uriel at all times, also forged by Brennus. |
| | He also uses a master-crafted Grizwold-pattern Bolt-Revolver, which has an over-sized cylinder holding 24 shots. |
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| ++ Authored by: Imperialis Logistica/Corpus Logistician, Merlynn Xavius. ++
| | Uriel likes to collect weapons and other artifacts, and has an awe-inspiring personal armoury; some are gifts from other primarchs and important individuals, some Uriel commissioned from the Mechanicus, others are 'appropriated' from their homes. He appears to consider himself both a collector, and a fighter, selecting whichever he feels like using on a whim, or planned he would need. His armoury includes some artifacts believed to date back to the dawn of mankind, as well as various patterns of Imperial and non-Imperial weaponry. |
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| ++ Accessing// ++
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| ++ Welcome, Inquisitor. ++
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| When I was assigned the task of documenting the Justicars for the Administratum's record, I not once imagined it would become my life's work. I have spent over 150 years studying and researching the XIIIth Legion, and I feel that I don't know any more facts about them than I did at the beginning, I have merely become more lost in the mazes of their design the closer I got to what I thought was the truth.
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| But my feelings aren't relevant here, only my observations, and professional opinion, so I shall digress, and get to the point.
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| Uriel Starikov is the key to understanding the Justicars, but also, perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest enigma of all.
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| All of the Legiones Astartes are reflections of their Primarch's genetic banding, each marine embodying some degree of their Primarch's character.
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| To this end, much of my observations are based on the characters of key members of his legion, then cross-referenced with records and interviews with those who met the evasive Primarch in person.
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| To begin I will address Uriel's youth.
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| The following is the official story of the Primarchs life
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| ==Youth== | | ==Youth== |
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| The world Uriel was discovered on, was rather advanced by most standards, even starting to progress into inter-system space travel once again. But the world of Perfidiae V was still divided by nation states, with their armies and political agendas. Recovering in the aftermath of a great, world-spanning war, and facing mutually assured destruction at the hands of archaeotech weaponry, the nations of Perfidiae V were forced to use politics and espionage to further their agendas.
| | <span style="font-size:150%">"'''U'''</span>riel Starikov's youth is an actual mystery. No story exists ''at all''. Not even in the legion's own logs from their recovered archives is there record of Uriel's youth or upbringing. Why no story exists, official or otherwise, is quite perplexing, though it should be noted that Imperial records do not even report of Uriel being 'found'. The first mentions of Uriel in Imperial record start in 817.M30, but the source simply mentions that this is when he introduced himself to Hektor at an Imperial celebration of Hektors latest victory. Whether this means Uriel had found the Imperium himself, or merely erased all evidence of his discovery after the fact will forever remain an unanswered question. |
| It was in this 'Cold War' state, that Uriel arrived on Perfidiae V.
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| Uriel was only a baby when Fyodor Zhilov found him in the forest located on the grounds of Fyodor's estate.
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| As a general and spymaster of his nation, Zhilov didn't have much time for babies, yet despite the cunning, ruthless patience he was known for, Zhilov took the baby in anyway. Zhilov's diary became public after his death, and revealed that while he has no interest in the child, he had not the heart to leave the child to die, and put the boy into the care of his servants.
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| Once he was of age, Uriel began to play games with the staff and children, occasionally getting into trouble for eavesdropping on meetings Zhilov held with government officials and the officers under his command. Uriel was described as an inquisitive child, always eager to learn, and this thirst for knowledge would be what saved Uriel.
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| Uriel still very young, had walked in on Zhilov and his henchman, Reinhardt Gerhlen during a meeting. They were talking worriedly about the fact one of their head spies had been caught by an enemy intelligence agency.
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| Gerhlen was insistent on killing the spy before he could spill any secrets, when Uriel asked a simple question: "Why?"
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| At first Zhilov was furious at the intrusion, and was about to beat Uriel, but as he raised his fist, the question sunk in - why indeed?
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| Zhilov laughed, confusing both Uriel who expected a beating, and Gerhlen for the sudden change of mood.
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| Zhilov explained that the spy knew many secrets, but he still only knew so much, so he was worth more to the enemy as an active asset - thus Gerhlen could feed the spy new lies to inform the enemy of along with the real truths he did know. Zhilov's nation would lose several of their established but still minor assets they had painstakingly developed over the years, but they had gained a much more valuable thing: a way to control the enemies moves.
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| Gerhlen caught on, so Zhilov explained to Uriel, that if the enemy thought that Zhilov was unaware they had captured Zhilov's agent, they would 'turn' him, or make him work for them instead, while he pretended to work for Zhilov.
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| This way, enemy would believe the intelligence and secrets the captured agent would give them.
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| But because Zhilov knew that the agent is working for the enemy, they could tell him lies, and mislead the enemy into doing things they wouldn't do otherwise.
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| Zhilov noted that Uriel seemed to understand, and decided to educate the boy, now seeing that young Uriel might grow to be a useful asset.
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| As his education progressed, Uriel's thirst for knowledge, and aptitude for learning did not diminish, and his love for games and play lead him to Regicide.
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| At first he didn't quite understand how to think so many moves ahead of the game, but under Zhilov's demanding standards, Uriel prevailed, learning in the process that patience is a virtue, and that things fall into place over time.
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| Before he was 10, Uriel was able to beat almost everyone at Regicide, everyone except Zhilov, who was always able to stay several moves ahead of him.
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| Zhilov, a former world champion Regicide grand-master, who had in-part earned his moniker 'Starik' (meaning 'Old Man') through the patience and meticulous forethought that Regicide had imparted on him during his own youth, decided to shape Uriel into a grand-master too.
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| It took some time to get Uriel to see so many moves ahead, but as Uriel grew the concept stuck, and Uriel became astute at predicting people's behaviour and reactions. There was however, an unforeseen circumstance of teaching Uriel this; Uriel began pulling elaborate pranks on people, predicting how they would act, and laying his prank accordingly.
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| At first Zhilov was frustrated by Uriel's apparently immature change of character, but Gerhlen would point out that it was because Uriel was reading people and playing them against themselves - exactly what any good spy would do.
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| With this new perspective, Zhilov ordered Gerhlen to take Uriel on as a trainee, and teach him the ways of politics and espionage.
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| And so once he had come of age, Uriel entered the world of espionage. Gerhlen placed Uriel in the field, under the direct supervision of an Ambassador, and would periodically check up on Uriel to see how he was getting on.
| | However, we can induce from his personal traits and characteristics that his youth involved a great deal of education, as evidenced by his remarkable intellect. His paternal and manipulative traits, combined with his supposed callousness and Machiavellian deviousness point to a background in a high-powered political background, though his clear mastery of espionage and counter-espionage implies a background in the intelligence world. |
| Life under the Ambassador, Valentin Hesse, was not what Uriel had expected, or indeed trained for; He spent most of his time talking with dignitaries and accompanying Hesse on diplomatic trips to rival nations.
| | However, the veracity of these inductions is limited; Uriel also exhibits a strong understanding of strategic theory and practice, and is by many accounts a capable fighter. So while his skills at his "reunification" are indicative of his youth, they are so broad and in line with the Primarch norm that we can only guess at the true nature of his upbringing. |
| But the thirst for knowledge still drove Uriel, and so he studied everyone he met, learned their likes and dislikes, and crucially, how best to play to them as an audience.
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| Under Hesse, Uriel's social abilities increased to impressive levels, and as Uriel's accelerated growth kicked in, Uriel gained a commanding presence; it didn't take Uriel long to learn to use that as a tool for his aims too.
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| As the years passed, Uriel rose rapidly through the ranks of his nation. He survived purges, political and military flash-points, and even the capture of his friend and mentor Gerhlen, all the while acquiring secrets and manipulating events well in advance, so that when the time came to deal with an identified threat, Uriel had already won.
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| On his 27th year, Uriels foster-father Zhilov passed away. Uriel was saddened by his loss, the old man having been instrumental in his rise, and responsible for the man Uriel was.
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| Uriel was chosen to be the new leader, and was give the moniker 'Starikov', meaning Son of the Old Man, as a sign of respect; acknowledging that Uriel was truly like 'Starik', a master of the 'Great Game' that is espionage and war.
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| ==Coming of the Emperor==
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| The arrival of the Emperor was not entirely the great event it should have been.
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| After Zhilov's death, Uriel found himself in a position of power. Zhilov had never ruled, but had wielded immense power in his nations political sphere, largely due to the blackmail he held over many of the governments leaders. His power had let him get his way, but he never controlled the nation, nor lead the people.
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| But where Zhilov was respected yet disliked by his nation, Uriel's control of social interaction had made him many friends, and his fairness in allowing assets to control their fate under Uriel earned him begrudging respect even from his assets.
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| He had never sought out to lead, but by moving in the realms of politics and power, Uriel had acquired ultimate authority in all but name.
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| Now the defacto leader of his nation, Uriel began to consolidate his power on the planet, uniting the nations of the world one person at a time. He meticulously ensured that many of the positions of power in his opponents nations were held by agents and assets Uriel controlled, assassinating and blackmailing those who stood against him. With impressive secrecy Uriel meticulously brought the other nations of Perfidiae under his sway, outwardly appearing to be nothing more than an era of peaceful foreign policy and unity as politicians and generals alike called for an end to the hostilities and tension of the past.
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| It was now that the Emperor arrived. Flanked by his towering Custodes guards, the Emperor landed and demanded to speak with the leader of the Perfidian people.
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| Several nations sent their delegations, still believing that they were a conglomeration of national interests without one leader. The Emperor was frustrated, and his searching did not reveal his lost son, just scores of minor state leaders who were disgruntled and fearful of the Emperor's splendour and towering armed guards.
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| Tensions rose as the Emperor grew tired of explaining that the gathered leaders were not his son, and that he had no desire to speak with them, causing many to make preparations for war.
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| Tensions subsided however, as word reached each party present that finally, recourse would be had, and a formal diplomatic meeting would be taking place. The leaders of the worlds nations gathered, resplendent in their robes of state. The Emperor was waiting with them, and an awkward silence filled the room, as each side waited for the other to speak.
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| But they waited in vain, as words were not why they were there. Gunshots rang out around the hall in a deafening crescendo. In only a few seconds, the grand hall had been transformed from an exquisite and stately room, into a visage of blood strewn corpses, smoke, and shattered glass.
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| The Custodes guards about the Emperor closed ranks in the first split-seconds, looking for the threat, but found themselves confused by the Emperor's calm order to hold fire.
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| Still only moments from when the first shot had rang out, the grand halls great doors swung open, and a towering, broad figure strode purposefully into the room, utterly unfazed by the dead bodies and gun-toting bemasked soldiers who had abseiled in through the windows of the ancient hall and begun their bloody work. The figure marched up to the Emperor, soldiers forming up behind him in his wake, unflinching at the wall of bolter barrels and halberd blades turned on him as he approached.
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| "Sorry to have kept you waiting, father, I believe?"
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| And so Uriel and the Emperor spoke at great length. Uriel explained how the leaders slain at his entrance were no great loss, as any man or woman of substance and talent had been recruited by Uriel's networks. And in turn, the Emperor revealed to Uriel his purpose in life, and the role he would play in the Imperium.
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| ==Great Crusade== | | ==Great Crusade== |
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| '''Author Note:''' | | '''Author Note:''' |
| Despite being clouded in ambiguity and mystery, Uriel Starikov's participation in the Great Crusade has far more documentation, and despite significant doubt still remaining, the sheer weight of material at least provides us with a guideline of his actions. I have also examined personal correspondence, of Uriel himself and those who knew him, as well as cross-referenced sources of information to corroborate where possible. | | Despite being clouded in ambiguity and mystery, Uriel Starikov's participation in the Great Crusade has far more documentation, and despite significant doubt still remaining, the sheer weight of material at least provides us with a guideline of his actions. |
| I believe that the following account is as accurate as one can say for anything regarding Uriel Starikov.<br /> | | I believe that the following account is as accurate as one can say for anything regarding Uriel Starikov.<br /> |
| ''- Merlynn Xavius'' | | ''- Merlynn Xavius'' |
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| | While his youth may be an enigma, what is clear, is how quickly the inscrutable Primarch set about integrating himself and his legion with every facet of the Imperium; He had a purpose, and he set about achieving that purpose with haste and diligence. Uriel quickly earned himself a reputation as a reliable and remarkably well-informed individual, and became a valuable asset to both Hektor and the Emperor. |
| | | Uriel also seemed to take to his legions role as ''“executioner”'' with characteristic seriousness, and made great strides on and off the battlefield to improve the Imperium, going as far as to counter and prevent crime and dissent. However, what is perhaps most striking is that Uriel made a point of supporting economic and cultural growth after the conquered worlds had been subjugated. |
| Despite his innate mastery of espionage and strategy, Uriel's first forays into legion scale operations were not as spectacular as one might expect given his future reputation.
| |
| In fact, those inclined to show the primarch no mercy, might even go as far to say that his initial campaigns were laughable for an individual such as a primarch.
| |
| However, the often overlooked point is that he still managed to win said campaigns, so this may be a bit harsher than fair, although there is certainly evidence to suggest that he was outplayed by his opponents, and under-prepared in his own plans.
| |
| | |
| Uriel's first campaign, the [[Daicham Campaign]], is highly illuminating reading if one wishes to gain an understanding of the individual Uriel would grow to become.
| |
| In 817.M30, the same year Uriel was discovered, a Rogue Trader named [[Jan Houtmann van Oranje]] made contact with a small multi-sector human empire, based out of the Daicham Sector. Despite a highly militarised society imperial emissaries concluded that the Metnaviran Empire was willing to join the Imperium peacefully, on the stipulation that they be officially accepted into the fold by a high-ranking member of the Imperium. This task was requested of Uriel Starikov, who was passing through on the way to his first designated campaign. And so Uriel arrived on the planet of Metnav I, the Capital of the Daichampan Republic to formally accept them into the Imperium and discuss their future.
| |
| However, the intelligence seems to have been bad, as Uriel was taken prisoner with a small entourage of his honour guard, the fleet was forced to disengage from orbit by concealed orbital defences, and the rest of Uriel's forces were scattered into the deep jungles of the planet by the overwhelming surprise onslaught of the Metnaviran military attack.
| |
| From this position of weakness, Uriel seems to have slowly put his shattered force back together, and carefully engineered a plan to snap victory from the jaws of defeat; regardless of how he did it, what is clear is the effect it had on the primarch.
| |
| | |
| Previous to the ''"Metnav Incident"'' as it was later called, Uriel had exhibited a trust in the Imperial infrastructural administration, and this trust had lead him to forgo undertaking his own checks on the provided intel. While clearly his own mistake, what is curious is that the primarch bore no ill will to the Imperial groups involved in the ''Metnav Incident'', but accepted responsibility personally and has evidently since gone to improbably lengths to ensure he never makes the mistake again.
| |
| After the conclusion of the Daicham Campaign, Uriel further reformed his legion, officially creating the Kokolny who had helped win the Daicham Campaign, and developing the countless vast networks he is known for. Steps were taken to ensure the legion always had preparations in place to deal with any eventuality, even some might conclude to the point of paranoia, although the evidence shows that there always seems to be a logic to Uriel's preparations, however twisted or cynical it may be.
| |
| | |
|
| |
|
| With the establishment of his intelligence networks bearing fruit, Uriel began to play politics with his brothers, sharing information relevant to their campaigns and interests, and coordinating efforts for the Crusade with his own clandestine operations.
| | He was renowned as being implacably loyal to the Emperor and the Great Crusade, putting every asset and resource toward further their goals without any (apparent) selfish thought. |
| From this point also, we see the Justicars as they are understood today, begin to form. Worlds were brought into the Imperial fold through careful diplomacy, and worlds torn asunder by civil war and xenos invasions steered and manipulated into being by the XIIIth Legion's guiding hand.
| | However, it is worth noting that Uriel and the XIII were politically savvy and went to great lengths to control public perceptions of the Imperium, and their own image especially. This PR-spin extended to Uriel himself, who was careful to portray exactly the image he needed to achieve his aims, which throws some level of doubt as to the accuracy of how close Uriel truly was with the Emperor. |
| | What is apparent from wider research however, is that Uriel built a cult of personality around himself, and by extension the legion, within non-Astartes forces and civilian circles alike. This engendering a trust and loyalty that in retrospect should have been rather worrying. |
| | It was his ties to the Emperor however that encouraged others to look past concerns, and cemented Uriel and his legion as the ''“most trustworthy and reliable”'' of the Great Crusade. |
|
| |
|
| Threats such as the Eldar were tackled head on, many forced into the webway to avoid the Justicar's operation.
| | Despite his reputation for strategy and espionage, Uriel faced many setbacks. Though these would be given a positive 'spin' to play down their significance, research does show that Uriel and the legions leadership had to think on his feet regularly. Occasional intelligence failures and strategic mistakes, incompetent or inexperienced allies, and effective strategies employed by opponents all culminated in creating a myriad of problems for Uriel and his legion to overcome on a regular basis. |
| So too was the enemies within the Imperium itself dealt with; Uriel growing into his role as his father's spymaster. The defeated human foes, now part of the Imperium, who sought to covertly work against the Imperium they swore fealty to, were tracked down and brought to justice or slain by the Justicar's many operatives.
| | Uriel managed to overcome these setbacks and challenges and cemented himself and his legion as a premier force of the Imperium, despite not having as many victories as some of his other brothers, or as many heroic victories. |
| Secret societies and clandestine brotherhoods were infiltrated, subverted, or destroyed, their efforts to hinder or reverse the Imperium's successes negated with some delicately placed bolt shells.
| |
| Even dissenting voices among newly conquered worlds were prey to the XIIIth Legion, who actively engaged with the population and carefully manipulated public opinion, often drawing worlds closer into the legions web in the process.
| |
|
| |
|
| There are suggestions that the Justicars allowed some groups to survive, utilising their established connections to other Imperial dissenters and networks to reveal yet more threats to the Imperium, although some have also gone further, and claimed the Justicars used these dissenters for their own ends. These claims range from greed and corrupt motives, to harnessing the evil the anti-Imperials represented, and using that to direct Imperial attention to places the Justicars deemed in need of Imperial assistance.
| |
| I have found no corroborating evidence for these theories, yet a great number of these claims seem plausible, when looked at through the twisted logic of the 13th legion.
| |
|
| |
| One such network of cults uncovered by the legion was so skillful at causing havoc, and then eluding the Imperium that Uriel himself took all operations pertaining to them under his direct command. With the knowledge of the Heresy, and the Ruinious Powers known to me, it seems highly likely that these cults were linked with at least one chaos god, and their elusiveness was bait to lure Uriel into some form of meeting, but this is purely speculation as little to no written records of them remain past their very existence.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| <nowiki>WIP</nowiki>
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| During this period, Uriel seems to have also decided that the Eldar were one of the greatest threats to the Imperium, believing them to manipulate factions to the detriment of the Imperium, and as such, Uriel took it upon himself to oppose this threat, entering into what the XIIIth refer to as '"the Great Game"', whereupon they actively sought out and opposed the Eldar. going to great lengths to prevent their plans from fruition.
| |
|
| |
| It seems that with his many fights with the Eldar resulted in Uriel building up quite a repertoire of knowledge on his chosen foe, always seeking to know his foes movements and secrets wherever they could be extracted, often through torture, coercion, and mind-delving.
| |
|
| |
| This lead him to an obsession. I have only a letter from a former legionnaire of the XIIIth legion to support my theory, but I believe that Uriel heard of the existence of the mythical Black Library. I presume that the Black Library Uriel seeks is the same that I found reading the Inquisitor, Enoch Vestin's, ''The Heirs of the Old Ones'', who claims that the Black Library is a great repository on all the knowledge the Eldar have, including the nature of the Ruinous Powers.
| |
| If Uriel knew that the place he presumably sought was a repository of knowledge on the Chaos Gods, it could be presumed that he seeks information and secrets on the gods themselves, to what end I cannot say, but based on his character, I would theorise that Inquisitors of the Radical faction may approve of his plans.
| |
| But this is all of course, conjecture; Why exactly Uriel seeks the Black Library, if indeed it is the same Black Library that he seeks, is a mystery, but I would go as far to assume it is for the ultimate good of the Imperium.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| ===Unofficial theories===
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| '''Foreword:'''
| |
| Despite his youth being clouded in ambiguity and mystery, Uriel Starikov's participation in the Great Crusade has far more documentation, and despite doubt still being present, the sheer weight of material at least provides us with a guideline of his actions. I have also examined personal correspondence, of Uriel himself and those who knew him, as well as cross-referenced sources of information to corroborate where possible.
| |
| I believe that the following account is as accurate as one can say for anything regarding Uriel Starikov.
| |
|
| |
| ''''By Merlynn Xavius''''
| |
|
| |
| ++
| |
|
| |
| Despite his innate mastery of espionage, and nascent understanding of strategy, Uriel's first forays into legion scale operations were not as spectacular as one might expect given his future reputation.
| |
| In fact, those inclined to show the primarch no mercy, might even go as far to say that his initial campaigns were laughable for an individual such as a primarch.
| |
| However, the often overlooked point is that he still managed to win said campaigns, so this may be a bit harsher than fair, although there is certainly evidence to suggest that he was outplayed by his opponents, and under-prepared in his own plans.
| |
|
| |
| Uriel's first campaign, Metnav I, is highly illuminating reading if one wishes to gain an understanding of the individual Uriel would grow to become.
| |
| In 817.M30, the same year Uriel was discovered, Imperial intelligence made contact with a small human empire, in the Metnavira Sector. Despite a highly militarised society, imperial emissaries concluded that the Metnaviran Empire was willing to join the Imperium peacefully, on the stipulation that they be officially accepted into the fold by a high-ranking member of the Imperium. This task was given to Uriel Starikov, as a means of giving a newly commissioned legion an easy win. And so Uriel arrived on the planet of Metnav I, the Capital of the Metnaviran Empire to formally accept them into the Imperium and discuss their future.
| |
| However, the intelligence seems to have been bad, as Uriel was taken prisoner with a small entourage of his honour guard, the fleet was forced to disengage from orbit by previously hidden orbital defences, and the rest of Uriel's forces were scattered into the deep jungles of the planet by the overwhelming onslaught of the Metnaviran military attack.
| |
| From this position Uriel seems to have slowly put his shattered force back together, and carefully engineered a plan to snap victory from the jaws of defeat; regardless of how he did it, what is clear is the effect it had on the primarch.
| |
| Previous to the Metnaviran campaign, Uriel had no existing intelligence networks set up, instead trusting in, and relying on, the intelligence gathered by the Imperial Intelligence Corpus.
| |
| Uriel also used no human agents, although there is evidence of numerous human individuals working for him in various roles, none of those seem to have been field agents.
| |
| After Metnav I, Uriel would form the 'Kokolny', and establish the beginning of what would become a frightening network of spies and assets.
| |
|
| |
| But the greatest effect the campaign may have had is on Uriel's personality, as the person he was when entering the jungle hives of Metnav I was man far more naive and trusting than the one who left it.
| |
| Upon exiting those jungles, Uriel had become a harder man, no longer would he trust the words of others, more resolved to never again let himself be caught off-guard or unprepared by the machinations of others.
| |
| This, and the campaigns following Metnav, shaped Uriel into the cynical, and calculating man known to history today.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| With the establishment of his intelligence networks bearing fruit, Uriel began to play politics with his brothers, sharing information relevant to their campaigns and interests, and coordinating efforts for the Crusade with his own clandestine operations.
| |
| From this point also, we see the Children as they are understood today, begin to form. Worlds were brought into the Imperial fold through careful diplomacy, and worlds torn asunder by civil war and xenos invasions steered and manipulated into being by the XIIIth Legion's guiding hand.
| |
|
| |
| Threats such as the Eldar were tackled head on, many forced into the webway to avoid the Children of Astarot's operation.
| |
| So too was the enemies within the Imperium itself dealt with; Uriel growing into his role as his father's spymaster. The defeated human foes, now part of the Imperium, who sought to covertly work against the Imperium they swore fealty to, were tracked down and brought to justice or slain by the Children of Astarot's many operatives.
| |
| Secret societies and clandestine brotherhoods were infiltrated or located and destroyed, their efforts to hinder or reverse the Imperium's successes negated with some delicately placed bolt shells.
| |
| Even dissenting voices among newly conquered worlds were prey to the XIIIth Legion, who actively engaged in propaganda and careful manipulation of public opinion, isolating the dissenters, removing their very ability to become a threat to the Imperium, before silencing them forever.
| |
| There are suggestions that the Children allowed some groups to survive, utilising their established connections to other Imperial dissenters and networks to reveal yet more threats to the Imperium, although some have also gone further, and claimed the Children used these dissenters for their own ends. These claims range from greed and corrupt motives, to harnessing the evil the anti-Imperials represented, and using that to direct Imperial attention to places the Children deemed in need of Imperial assistance.
| |
| I have found no corroborating evidence for these theories, yet one such claim seems plausible, as a group of anti-Imperial anarchists managed to enact a coup d'etat on the world of Sarros III, a locally important forgeworld, right under the noses of the Children. This coup resulted in Imperial Army forces being dispatched to pacify the planet, with a small contingent of marine support from the Children themselves. The arriving Imperials found that the anarchists were already dealt with, only for a small Ork incursion (seems to have been a splinter from a larger Waagh) to strike the sector.
| |
| The larger Ork Waagh would have surely defeated the under-supplied Imperial forces had the Orks captured the forgeworld, as Serras III was the primary producer of munitions and armour in the sector.
| |
| If the Children did indeed use the anarchists to draw attention to what they had foreseen as the critical point of the campaign, they used but a handful of marines and changed the fate of the entire sector through their manipulations.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| During this period, Uriel seems to have also decided that the Eldar were one of the greatest threats to the Imperium, believing them to manipulate factions to the detriment of the Imperium, and as such, Uriel took it upon himself to oppose this threat, entering into what the XIIIth refer to as '"the Great Game"', whereupon they actively sought out and opposed the Eldar. going to great lengths to prevent their plans from fruition.
| |
|
| |
| It seems that with his many fights with the Eldar resulted in Uriel building up quite a repertoire of knowledge on his chosen foe, always seeking to know his foes movements and secrets wherever they could be extracted, often through torture, coercion, and mind-delving.
| |
|
| |
| This lead him to an obsession. I have only a letter from a former legionnaire of the XIIIth legion to support my theory, but I believe that Uriel heard of the existence of the mythical Black Library. I presume that the Black Library Uriel seeks is the same that I found reading the Inquisitor, Enoch Vestin's, 'The Heirs of the Old Ones', who claims that the Black Library is a great repository on all the knowledge the Eldar have, including the nature of the Ruinous Powers.
| |
| If Uriel knew that the place he presumably sought was a repository of knowledge on the Chaos Gods, it could be presumed that he seeks information and secrets on the gods themselves, to what end I cannot say, but based on his character, I would theorise that Inquisitors of the Radical faction may approve of his plans.
| |
| But this is all of course, conjecture; Why exactly Uriel seeks the Black Library, if indeed it is the same Black Library that he seeks, is a mystery, but I would go as far to assume it is for the ultimate good of the Imperium.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| '''Foreword:'''
| |
| Despite his youth being clouded in ambiguity and mystery, Uriel Starikov's participation in the Great Crusade has far more documentation, and despite doubt still being present, the sheer weight of material at least provides us with a guideline of his actions. I have also examined personal correspondence, of Uriel himself and those who knew him, as well as cross-referenced sources of information to corroborate where possible.
| |
| I believe that the following account is as accurate as one can say for anything regarding Uriel Starikov.
| |
|
| |
| ''''By Merlynn Xavius''''
| |
|
| |
| ++
| |
|
| |
| Despite his innate mastery of espionage, and nascent understanding of strategy, Uriel's first forays into legion scale operations were not as spectacular as one might expect given his future reputation.
| |
| In fact, those inclined to show the primarch no mercy, might even go as far to say that his initial campaigns were laughable for an individual such as a primarch.
| |
| However, the often overlooked point is that he still managed to win said campaigns, so this may be a bit harsher than fair, although there is certainly evidence to suggest that he was outplayed by his opponents, and under-prepared in his own plans.
| |
|
| |
| Uriel's first campaign, Metnav I, is highly illuminating reading if one wishes to gain an understanding of the individual Uriel would grow to become.
| |
| In 817.M30, the same year Uriel was discovered, Imperial intelligence made contact with a small human empire, in the Metnavira Sector. Despite a highly militarised society, imperial emissaries concluded that the Metnaviran Empire was willing to join the Imperium peacefully, on the stipulation that they be officially accepted into the fold by a high-ranking member of the Imperium. This task was given to Uriel Starikov, as a means of giving a newly commissioned legion an easy win. And so Uriel arrived on the planet of Metnav I, the Capital of the Metnaviran Empire to formally accept them into the Imperium and discuss their future.
| |
| However, the intelligence seems to have been bad, as Uriel was taken prisoner with a small entourage of his honour guard, the fleet was forced to disengage from orbit by previously hidden orbital defences, and the rest of Uriel's forces were scattered into the deep jungles of the planet by the overwhelming onslaught of the Metnaviran military attack.
| |
| From this position Uriel seems to have slowly put his shattered force back together, and carefully engineered a plan to snap victory from the jaws of defeat; regardless of how he did it, what is clear is the effect it had on the primarch.
| |
| Previous to the Metnaviran campaign, Uriel had no existing intelligence networks set up, instead trusting in, and relying on, the intelligence gathered by the Imperial Intelligence Corpus.
| |
| Uriel also used no human agents, although there is evidence of numerous human individuals working for him in various roles, none of those seem to have been field agents.
| |
| After Metnav I, Uriel would form the 'Kokolny', and establish the beginning of what would become a frightening network of spies and assets.
| |
|
| |
| But the greatest effect the campaign may have had is on Uriel's personality, as the person he was when entering the jungle hives of Metnav I was man far more naive and trusting than the one who left it.
| |
| Upon exiting those jungles, Uriel had become a harder man, no longer would he trust the words of others, more resolved to never again let himself be caught off-guard or unprepared by the machinations of others.
| |
| This, and the campaigns following Metnav, shaped Uriel into the cynical, and calculating man known to history today.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| With the establishment of his intelligence networks bearing fruit, Uriel began to play politics with his brothers, sharing information relevant to their campaigns and interests, and coordinating efforts for the Crusade with his own clandestine operations.
| |
| From this point also, we see the Children as they are understood today, begin to form. Worlds were brought into the Imperial fold through careful diplomacy, and worlds torn asunder by civil war and xenos invasions steered and manipulated into being by the XIIIth Legion's guiding hand.
| |
|
| |
| Threats such as the Eldar were tackled head on, many forced into the webway to avoid the Children of Astarot's operation.
| |
| So too was the enemies within the Imperium itself dealt with; Uriel growing into his role as his father's spymaster. The defeated human foes, now part of the Imperium, who sought to covertly work against the Imperium they swore fealty to, were tracked down and brought to justice or slain by the Children of Astarot's many operatives.
| |
| Secret societies and clandestine brotherhoods were infiltrated or located and destroyed, their efforts to hinder or reverse the Imperium's successes negated with some delicately placed bolt shells.
| |
| Even dissenting voices among newly conquered worlds were prey to the XIIIth Legion, who actively engaged in propaganda and careful manipulation of public opinion, isolating the dissenters, removing their very ability to become a threat to the Imperium, before silencing them forever.
| |
| There are suggestions that the Children allowed some groups to survive, utilising their established connections to other Imperial dissenters and networks to reveal yet more threats to the Imperium, although some have also gone further, and claimed the Children used these dissenters for their own ends. These claims range from greed and corrupt motives, to harnessing the evil the anti-Imperials represented, and using that to direct Imperial attention to places the Children deemed in need of Imperial assistance.
| |
| I have found no corroborating evidence for these theories, yet one such claim seems plausible, as a group of anti-Imperial anarchists managed to enact a coup d'etat on the world of Sarros III, a locally important forgeworld, right under the noses of the Children. This coup resulted in Imperial Army forces being dispatched to pacify the planet, with a small contingent of marine support from the Children themselves. The arriving Imperials found that the anarchists were already dealt with, only for a small Ork incursion (seems to have been a splinter from a larger Waagh) to strike the sector.
| |
| The larger Ork Waagh would have surely defeated the under-supplied Imperial forces had the Orks captured the forgeworld, as Serras III was the primary producer of munitions and armour in the sector.
| |
| If the Children did indeed use the anarchists to draw attention to what they had foreseen as the critical point of the campaign, they used but a handful of marines and changed the fate of the entire sector through their manipulations.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| During this period, Uriel seems to have also decided that the Eldar were one of the greatest threats to the Imperium, believing them to manipulate factions to the detriment of the Imperium, and as such, Uriel took it upon himself to oppose this threat, entering into what the XIIIth refer to as '"the Great Game"', whereupon they actively sought out and opposed the Eldar. going to great lengths to prevent their plans from fruition.
| |
|
| |
| It seems that with his many fights with the Eldar resulted in Uriel building up quite a repertoire of knowledge on his chosen foe, always seeking to know his foes movements and secrets wherever they could be extracted, often through torture, coercion, and mind-delving.
| |
|
| |
| This lead him to an obsession. I have only a letter from a former legionnaire of the XIIIth legion to support my theory, but I believe that Uriel heard of the existence of the mythical Black Library. I presume that the Black Library Uriel seeks is the same that I found reading the Inquisitor, Enoch Vestin's, 'The Heirs of the Old Ones', who claims that the Black Library is a great repository on all the knowledge the Eldar have, including the nature of the Ruinous Powers.
| |
| If Uriel knew that the place he presumably sought was a repository of knowledge on the Chaos Gods, it could be presumed that he seeks information and secrets on the gods themselves, to what end I cannot say, but based on his character, I would theorise that Inquisitors of the Radical faction may approve of his plans.
| |
| But this is all of course, conjecture; Why exactly Uriel seeks the Black Library, if indeed it is the same Black Library that he seeks, is a mystery, but I would go as far to assume it is for the ultimate good of the Imperium.
| |
|
| |
|
| ==The Heresy== | | ==The Heresy== |
| Line 303: |
Line 118: |
| ==Post-Heresy== | | ==Post-Heresy== |
|
| |
|
| There is a theory that Uriel is now essentially Tzeentch's personal field agent, travelling the galaxy and furthering Tzeentch's plans personally, his form changing against his will to whatever his mission requires him to look.
| |
| This could be the truth, but he has also been recorded as leading traitor forces in battle on several occasions.
| |
| Further theories have suggested that Uriel is losing his free-will, and is actively seeking a way out of his deal with Tzeentch to regain it, much to the latter's amusement.
| |
|
| |
| ==Wargear==
| |
| Uriel himself has a significant armoury of weapons, considering himself both a collector, and a fighter, selecting whichever he feels like using on a whim, or planned he would need. Its hard to tell why he does anything.
| |
|
| |
| However, he often favours his custom Soltek pattern bolt pistol, his power warhammer and his power sabre.
| |
| His interest and enthusiasm for exotic weapons, has lead him to have a remarkably extensive collection of close combat weapons, from mundane weapons to power and even force variants, which he selects from seemingly at a whim.
| |
|
| |
| Some are gifts from other primarchs or Imperial forces, some Uriel commissioned from the Mechanicus, others are 'appropriated'.
| |
| It is perhaps evidence of an obsession with history and combat, but it could just be a primarch who likes to have all the toys to play with he can get his hands on.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| - He normally wields a power warhammer, wrought from pure silver encircled with bands of adamantium.
| |
|
| |
| - A power sword in the shape of an ancient curved Perfidian Kazakh horseman sabre.
| |
|
| |
| - A custom Soltek pattern bolt pistol - it's a revolver-style bolt pistol with 24 shots in a drum style magazine.
| |
|
| |
| - And 2 adamantine combat daggers that are always concealed on his person, and seem to appear from nowhere.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| {{/tg/-Heresy-Primarchs}}
| |
|
| |
| ==Post-Heresy==
| |
|
| |
| There is a theory that Uriel is now essentially Tzeentch's personal field agent, travelling the galaxy and furthering Tzeentch's plans personally, his form changing against his will to whatever his mission requires him to look.
| |
| This could be the truth, but he has also been recorded as leading traitor forces in battle on several occasions.
| |
| Further theories have suggested that Uriel is losing his free-will, and is actively seeking a way out of his deal with Tzeentch to regain it, much to the latter's amusement.
| |
|
| |
| ==Wargear==
| |
| Uriel himself has a significant armoury of weapons, considering himself both a collector, and a fighter, selecting whichever he feels like using on a whim, or planned he would need. Its hard to tell why he does anything.
| |
|
| |
| However, he often favours his custom Soltek pattern bolt pistol, his power warhammer and his power sabre.
| |
| His interest and enthusiasm for exotic weapons, has lead him to have a remarkably extensive collection of close combat weapons, from mundane weapons to power and even force variants, which he selects from seemingly at a whim.
| |
|
| |
| Some are gifts from other primarchs or Imperial forces, some Uriel commissioned from the Mechanicus, others are 'appropriated'.
| |
| It is perhaps evidence of an obsession with history and combat, but it could just be a primarch who likes to have all the toys to play with he can get his hands on.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| - He normally wields a power warhammer, wrought from pure silver encircled with bands of adamantium.
| |
|
| |
| - A power sword in the shape of an ancient curved Perfidian Kazakh horseman sabre.
| |
|
| |
| - A custom Soltek pattern bolt pistol - it's a revolver-style bolt pistol with 24 shots in a drum style magazine.
| |
|
| |
|
| - And 2 adamantine combat daggers that are always concealed on his person, and seem to appear from nowhere.
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| {{/tg/-Heresy-Primarchs}} | | {{/tg/-Heresy-Primarchs}} |
"I would prefer not to discuss Uriel Starikov."
-Gaspard Lumey, private correspondence.
| Uriel Starikov
|
|
| Discovered (world)
|
Unknown. Homeworld listed as Perfidiae V, though considerable doubt as to the accuracy of this exists
|
| Discovered (period)
|
circa.817.M30
|
| Legion
|
Thirteenth
|
| Heraldry/Sigil
|
|
| Unique Weapon
|
Various.
|
| Distinguishing Traits
|
Gregarious, calculated, highly-observant
|
| Flaws
|
Amoral, sociopathic, manipulative
|
| Fate
|
Unknown. Confirmed to be Daemon Prince.
|
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.
++ Report Request Pending... ++
++ Alpha-Omega Clearance Required. ++
++ Clearance Challenge: Recognised. ++
++ Report Request Accepted. ++
++ Subject: Legio XIII: The Justicars ++
++ Topic: Primarch, Uriel Starikov. ++
++ Authored by: Departmento Logistica, Logistician Merlynn Xavius. ++
++ Accessing// ++
++ Welcome, Inquisitor. ++
When I was assigned the task of documenting the Justicars for the Administratum's record, I not once imagined it would become my life's work. I have spent over 140 years studying and researching the XIIIth Legion, and despite being recognised as the Imperium's chief expert on Legio XIII, I feel that I know as little about them now than I did at the beginning of my research; their reputation for counter-intelligence was and still is (frustratingly) well deserved.
But my feelings aren't relevant here, only my observations and professional opinion, so I shall digress, and get to the point:
Uriel Starikov is the key to understanding the Justicars, but also, perhaps unsurprisingly, the biggest enigma of all. But having analysed every known source available to the Imperium on the Primarch, I believe I have the best picture of who he was, and insights onto who he is now.
The best evidence to the elusive 'true' portrayal of Uriel Starikov come from two sources. The first is drawn from private correspondence; Uriel spent a significant effort in maintaining contact with a countless number of important and influential individuals throughout the Imperium, cultivating and maintaining deep alliances and friendships across the burgeoning Imperial territories. He is remarkably candid in these letters, and though doubt does exist to the veracity of Uriel's character therein, there is certainly at least some level of Uriel's true character in them.
The second are sources from within the legion itself. Several of the legions leadership maintained detailed records on the legion and Uriel himself, including the last great bastion of Justice, Arkady Balotin, thanks to whom many of my theories were confirmed. Many of these sources fortuitously fell into Imperial hands during the Scouring, when a well hidden intel-storage cache was discovered on Bessiter Primaris, deep beneath the Capital. This cache contained millions of records on the legions operations, personnel, crimes, and even blackmail on high-ranking Imperial figures.
Most of these files were painstakingly decrypted and analysed by my esteemed colleagues in the Departmento Logistica, with invaluable assistance from the Inquisition and Adeptus Arbites investigators, though a great percentage of these files are still encrypted to this day with cryptography and machine-spirit encoding that is frankly bewildering. Praise the Emperor that over 50% of these files have been decrypted and analysed.
The findings have been most illuminating.
Personality
Finding a complete answer to the question “Who is Uriel Starikov?” is likely an impossibility; He was an extraordinary and gregarious social actor with a diligent and ever-observant eye, manipulating everything and everyone around him, and controlling his public image, and that of his legion with unerring skill.
His incomparable talents for strategy, politics, and espionage were widely known, and commanded considerable respect from others, even if they did not trust or like Uriel as an individual.
Numerous secondary sources, notably the memoirs and correspondence of various Primarchs, depict Uriel as being remarkably gifted, showing deep understanding and innovative applications of everything from mathematics and the sciences, to the arts and philosophy; his ability to digest vast quantities of information and extract the most salient points with incredible speed was according to Hektor's memoirs "utterly astounding". Despite his wealth of knowledge, Uriel appears to have remained modest and personable, traits that one could certainly admire. Though Balotin questions whether this was Uriel's natural temperament, or merely a method of portraying power, noting that more was gained by modesty than by arrogance.
Uriel seems to have sought a balance between pure practicality and the aesthetic ideal - his flagship, the Eris, was noted as having very little in it that served no purpose, but everything which did remain was of an exceptionally high quality and of exquisite artistic taste.
In the files Arkady Balotin recorded, he describes Uriel as "especially protective", and even "paternal", of his legion and their close allies. Several other sources even portray Uriel as forgiving and generous, never punishing failure, even those which were incredibly costly to him. This succeeded in engendering loyalty in those around him, and served as an effective means of getting the most out of his subordinates who came to hate disappointing him.
In his last recorded records, that he updated even as he fled from assassins, Balotin wistfully reminisces of moments where Uriel had shown his appreciation of and flair for the dramatic, and fondly recalls a scene where Uriel outsmarted and cornered a notorious rogue gene-wright who sought to steal mankinds brightest minds to form a new Imperium, so convinced was he of mankinds extinction at the hands of a great shadow.
Balotin goes on to express bewilderment at Uriel's loyalty; prior to the Heresy, Uriel and the Justicars held a reputation as the "most trustworthy legion of the Great Crusade", Uriel himself possessing a close relationship with the Emperor. Balotin struggles to reconcile this, with the truth he had to his horror discovered in his legion. It is clear to us now that it was the corrupting influence of chaos, but in his characteristic implacable logic, Balotin highlights that such corruption cannot have been missed by Malcador and the Emperor in their many meetings with Uriel, and throws significant confusion onto exactly what transpired with Uriel to lead to his fall.
However, for all his positive spin and justifiably 'good' traits, Balotin and several of the other primarchs highlight a darker side to Uriel too. Piecing together their observations one sees another side of Uriel; an immoral, ruthless, and Machiavellian individual, with a deep cynicism and an almost sociopathic aloof detachment. There is room for speculation on just how far Uriel was in control of his image, but it is inconceivable that he was not on some level actively manipulating people with his actions.
Balotin notes that a level of paranoia was present in Uriel too, although goes on to defend this as necessary preparation for the legions role as "executioners", as it manifested itself in countless contingency plans for eventualities that were simply inconceivable (prior to the Heresy at least).
One startling assumption of Uriels character was made by Hektor, who posited that Uriel's hyper-diligence lead to great boredom and a lack of feeling challenged. This in turn, Hektor theorised, pushed Uriel to develop ever more creative means of furthering the Great Crusades aims. Hektors theory arose from a discussion he had with Uriel on the "lost legions", of whom Hektor observed Uriel spoke with enthusiasm, implying to Hektor that Uriel had found enjoyment in the challenge of taking on fellow Astartes in a deadly game. Though Hektor elaborates on the topic no more than this, it does add a lot of indirect context to Uriel's fall and participation in the Heresy, and provides some potential insight into his motives for turning on the Imperium.
Appearance
"The first things people noticed about Uriel, were his easy smile, and his large, knowing eyes - described as both alight with mischief and predatory alertness. He often raised his right eyebrow questioningly in response to unforseen circumstances. His chin was well defined on his jaw, and his cheeks were gaunt. His hair was dark brown, and kept short, high and tight; the top combed over neatly to the back. His face was clean shaven or lightly stubbled.
He stood at a middling height among his Primarch brothers, neither tall, nor short. He was strong but not thick-set.
Now a Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, Uriel is a shape-shifter.
He has been recorded as adopting many forms, from small children to, to his original form, to well-known public figures, to twisted daemonic visages of insanity.
There is some evidence to suggest Uriel is not entirely in control of this power, evidenced chiefly by his surprise at his apparent "reveal" on the steps of the Imperial Palace at the Siege of Terra, though given his and his legions propensity for pranks, it could have been intentional.
Wargear
"In accordance with his favouritism for balancing aesthetics with pure practicality, his battle armour is no different from any other marine from his legion, apart from being crafted to a higher standard as befitting a Primarch, and larger given his stature over his fellow marines. He wields a one-handed war-hammer, wrought from a silver-adamantium alloy, a curved Perfidian power sabre that had been crafted by his brother Brennus as a gift for their first meeting, and 2 small adamantium power-daggers that are concealed on Uriel at all times, also forged by Brennus.
He also uses a master-crafted Grizwold-pattern Bolt-Revolver, which has an over-sized cylinder holding 24 shots.
Uriel likes to collect weapons and other artifacts, and has an awe-inspiring personal armoury; some are gifts from other primarchs and important individuals, some Uriel commissioned from the Mechanicus, others are 'appropriated' from their homes. He appears to consider himself both a collector, and a fighter, selecting whichever he feels like using on a whim, or planned he would need. His armoury includes some artifacts believed to date back to the dawn of mankind, as well as various patterns of Imperial and non-Imperial weaponry.
Youth
"Uriel Starikov's youth is an actual mystery. No story exists at all. Not even in the legion's own logs from their recovered archives is there record of Uriel's youth or upbringing. Why no story exists, official or otherwise, is quite perplexing, though it should be noted that Imperial records do not even report of Uriel being 'found'. The first mentions of Uriel in Imperial record start in 817.M30, but the source simply mentions that this is when he introduced himself to Hektor at an Imperial celebration of Hektors latest victory. Whether this means Uriel had found the Imperium himself, or merely erased all evidence of his discovery after the fact will forever remain an unanswered question.
However, we can induce from his personal traits and characteristics that his youth involved a great deal of education, as evidenced by his remarkable intellect. His paternal and manipulative traits, combined with his supposed callousness and Machiavellian deviousness point to a background in a high-powered political background, though his clear mastery of espionage and counter-espionage implies a background in the intelligence world.
However, the veracity of these inductions is limited; Uriel also exhibits a strong understanding of strategic theory and practice, and is by many accounts a capable fighter. So while his skills at his "reunification" are indicative of his youth, they are so broad and in line with the Primarch norm that we can only guess at the true nature of his upbringing.
Great Crusade
Author Note:
Despite being clouded in ambiguity and mystery, Uriel Starikov's participation in the Great Crusade has far more documentation, and despite significant doubt still remaining, the sheer weight of material at least provides us with a guideline of his actions.
I believe that the following account is as accurate as one can say for anything regarding Uriel Starikov.
- Merlynn Xavius
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While his youth may be an enigma, what is clear, is how quickly the inscrutable Primarch set about integrating himself and his legion with every facet of the Imperium; He had a purpose, and he set about achieving that purpose with haste and diligence. Uriel quickly earned himself a reputation as a reliable and remarkably well-informed individual, and became a valuable asset to both Hektor and the Emperor.
Uriel also seemed to take to his legions role as “executioner” with characteristic seriousness, and made great strides on and off the battlefield to improve the Imperium, going as far as to counter and prevent crime and dissent. However, what is perhaps most striking is that Uriel made a point of supporting economic and cultural growth after the conquered worlds had been subjugated.
He was renowned as being implacably loyal to the Emperor and the Great Crusade, putting every asset and resource toward further their goals without any (apparent) selfish thought.
However, it is worth noting that Uriel and the XIII were politically savvy and went to great lengths to control public perceptions of the Imperium, and their own image especially. This PR-spin extended to Uriel himself, who was careful to portray exactly the image he needed to achieve his aims, which throws some level of doubt as to the accuracy of how close Uriel truly was with the Emperor.
What is apparent from wider research however, is that Uriel built a cult of personality around himself, and by extension the legion, within non-Astartes forces and civilian circles alike. This engendering a trust and loyalty that in retrospect should have been rather worrying.
It was his ties to the Emperor however that encouraged others to look past concerns, and cemented Uriel and his legion as the “most trustworthy and reliable” of the Great Crusade.
Despite his reputation for strategy and espionage, Uriel faced many setbacks. Though these would be given a positive 'spin' to play down their significance, research does show that Uriel and the legions leadership had to think on his feet regularly. Occasional intelligence failures and strategic mistakes, incompetent or inexperienced allies, and effective strategies employed by opponents all culminated in creating a myriad of problems for Uriel and his legion to overcome on a regular basis.
Uriel managed to overcome these setbacks and challenges and cemented himself and his legion as a premier force of the Imperium, despite not having as many victories as some of his other brothers, or as many heroic victories.
The Heresy
Uriels Fall and Operation Ouroboros
Post-Heresy
